Sena

PART ONE CHAPTER 1

The man carefully poured the liquid into the little grenades. The grenades were made out of fragile transperent glass that allowed you to see the blue liquid that was being poured into them.

As each container was filled the man screwed a lid onto it and then carefully placed them into a padded box.

As the last one was carefully placed into the box and the box sealed the man let out a sigh. His breath froze as he let it out. The man was wrapped in heavy furs and wore a huge parka suit to protect himself from the cold. Lifting up the box he carried it to a door and exited the room.

As soon as he left the room he began to heat up. The thermometer next to him read 120 degrees. Taking off the heavy furs he had been wearing he carefully hung them up on a hanger being carefully not to hit the box which was emitting a hissing noise as the liquid inside turned to gas in the heat. The man smiled at the noise for he needed the substance to be a gas for the next stage of his plan but it had been to hard to get it into the containers in its gas stage. Hence the cold room.

The man was almost 6 foot with blondish brown hair that fell to his chin. He looked to be about twenty-five years old and very full of himself. He cradled the the box to his chest and left the changing room. As he left the room he was greeted by a blast of cool air from the air conditioning unit. Walking over to his computer he placed the box down next to it and placed his headphones over his ears. He placed the play button on his walkman and music began to play. Sitting down at the computer he turned it on and waited for it to boot up. As the screen turned on he pulled up the instant messenger program and began to type.

He pushed the send button and waited for the response.

< This thing had better work Sadi or its your life on the line. I’ve wasted too much money on your sorry ass. Bring it to New York and you better pray to God this thing goes as planned.>

Sadi stuck his tongue out at the computer, muttered “jackass” under his breath and turned off the computer. Picking up the box and packing it into a another box he walked outside onto the airstrip.

A small plane waited on the strip ready to go. The paint was faded but it had once been a deep royal blue with a vibrant stripe down one side. Walking up the steps and pulling them up behind him Sadi secured the box before sitting in the pilots seat. Flipping a few switches he pulled the throttle back and headed the plane down the airstrip.

CHAPTER 2

Six hours later Sadi was preparing to land his plane on a private airstrip in the center of New York city. As the plane slowed to a stop he glanced at his watch. It read 3:50p.m. 7-7-2013. He picked up the box and leaving the airport hailed a taxi. After five minutes of cursing at every taxi that drove by a taxi finally pulled over allowing Sadi to get in.

“Where to?” asked the cab driver. He had a scraggly beard, pot belly and smelled of sweat.

“The new Archers building at the corner of Pine and Pearl street.” The cab driver arched his eyebrow in the mirror before heading into the center of the business district of the city. Skyscrapers loomed on either side of Sadi. He had lived the first 18 years of his life in New York but after seven years of living alone in the middle of the desert he started to feel claustrophobic.

“That will be thirty bucks” said the cab driver as they pulled up to a tall glass building with trees and a fountain in the front.

Sadi pulled out his wallet and extracted two twenties, “keep the change” he said getting out of the taxi and slamming the door behind him. Walking up the steps and past the fountain Sadi went through the revolving doors and into the foyer beyond.

CHAPTER 3

“So is that it?” Kojo asked looking at the box in Sadi’s hands.

“Yes” said Sadi his chest swelling with pride.

“It better work” Kojo said turning away. Kojo was half african and was one of the richest men in the world. His bald head reflected the lights as he walked out of the room.

“So” said a thin reedy voice behind Sadi “you finally finished whatever you working on out in that desert of yours did you.” Sadi turned around to see his rival and only enemy. His name was Bill and he was only 5 feet 7 inches with thin stringy black hair that Sadi was surprised wasn’t dripping from all the grease in it.

“You’d think you would be a health hazard dripping so much grease on the floor.” Sadi replied. Bill just sneered at him.

“Someone’s not in a very good mood, afraid your experiment is going to fail just like everything else you’ve ever done?” Bill said his sneer spreading across his face looking at the small box in Sadi’s hand.

“Fuck off” Sadi said turning away from Bill “ you zitty faced, greasy hair bastard” he muttered to himself as he walked to the small lab he was working in while he was in New York.

Sadi placed his hand on the scanner that opened the door to his lab and waited for the light to turn green. Walking into the lab he looked around. It was just how he had left it when he left a year ago after his first experiment failed. Setting the box on the desk he saw the picture on his desk. It was of a pretty brown haired women. Sadi had been married to her for all of eight months before she had asked for a divorce. That was six months ago. Sadi dropped the picture into the thrash and sat down at the desk.

Lifting the plastic cover off the computer he turned it on before taking the samples out of the box. The program he worked with had already told him that his substance should work, allowing humans to understand and talk to animals, but computers could be wrong so Sadi was going to go through a test run on a human before he did it in front Kojo and his lackeys.

Sadi walked into a sealed section of his lab and making sure the area was airtight dropped one of the grenades. The blue gas slowly spread filling the whole area in a thick blue cloud. After a while the gas dissappeared through a vent in the ceiling and Sadi walked out of the room. He headed to another section of the lab where he kept a few lab rats. As he opened the door he was greeted not by the usual squeaks but actual squeaky voices. A smile spread over his face as he walked over to one of the rats and attempted to have a conversation with it.

CHAPTER 4

Bill waited by the door of Sadi’s lab waiting for him to leave. He was there for 23 minutes before Sadi finally left his work area, too happy to notice that his door didn’t close all the way due to a small rock, or the fact that as soon as he left the building Bill was searching around his lab.

Taking out of his robes a vial of clear unknown substance that he had found earlier, Bill made his way to the freezer. Sneaking inside he found the other grenades and opening them carefully, inserted a small amount of the clear liquid to each one before leaving for the day a huge smile across his face.

CHAPTER 5

Sadi wiped his brow as he watched the men and women gather before him. The effects of the substance had worn off over the night and he now stood with his second grenade to test it in front of this small group of people.

Kojo stood in the front row in a black suit guarded on each side by one of his muscle men. The rest room was filled by men in suits and women in neat bland colours.

“Ladies and gentlemen” he called trying to make himself heard over the din.

“We have gathered here today to see an experiment which will change our life.”

There was silence in the room.

“All of this is thanks to Kojo Archer” there was scattered applause throughout the room.

Sadi turned around and walked into the sealed room where a tiger sat with suction cups connected it to a machine. The tiger was Kojos' idea, he liked to really impress his audiences. As he closed the door he saw Bill in the back row sneering at him. Sadi walked over to the table where the second grenade was waiting. Sadi lifted it out of its stand before allowing to crash on the ground. The room was soon filled with a blue smoke but soon cleared through a vent in the ceiling. The tiger looked confused for a second but then a spark of intelligence lit up his eye and jumping up he headed towards the door.

“Stop” Sadi screamed at it but all that came out was English. The tiger reached the door and swiped at the scanner tearing it from the wall. The door started to malfunction and opened allowing the tiger to escape into the audience who ran screaming from the room.

CHAPTER 6

Sadi landed the plane on his airstrip and carried the box into his office. Sitting down at his desk he cradled his head in his arms.

“Damn it” he yelled getting up and kicking his desk.

He paced around the room not knowing what to do. He couldn’t stay here, Kojo didn’t like being made a fool of and would be sure to come after him. His pacing finally took him to the box with the remaining samples. He stared at it for a while thinking. He suddenly grabbed the box and headed back to his plane. He refuelled it and climbed in.

Taking out a map of the world he kept he started putting small dots on it with circles around them. Once the map was covered completely in over lapping circles he took off.

Every time he reached a dot on the map he dropped on of the grenades out of the window. His last stop was over Africa near the desert where he lived was. He dropped the last grenade just as the gas gauge blinked empty. Ignoring Sadi headed back to his house in the desert.

He was still a few miles from his house when the plane started to fall jerkily through the air crashing into the ground. As the plane came to a stop Sadi looked out the window as a blue cloud spread over the surface of the earth.

CHAPTER 7

The blue cloud covered the earth for three days getting into every nook and cranny. It then slowly disinergrated into the atmosphere but not without leaving its mark. By the time the cloud lifted off the earth every animal with the exception of humans could not only communicate with each other but were also a lot smarter then before.

For the first three months there was a lot of fighting as animals took over and a lion asserted himself as king. The king soon hired a scientist to try and create a drug that would allow a human to communicate with animals. The scientist was Sadi. His first experiment gave the babies it was tested on a weird elemental ability allowing them to control the elements all but two of the babies, one boy one girl, died within a week of getting the drug.

The second experiment gave the babies the ability to either heal and give health or to take it for themselves. Once again only two survived this time twins, one boy on girl. The third experiment gave the desired effect but not only could the babies talk to animals but they were also shape-shifters. Once again only two survived.

CHAPTER 8

Sadi looked down at the six babies. Two sisters, two brothers, and twins. Images flashed through his head: his wife leaving him for another man, Bill sneering at him as people fled from the room in terror, his hopes and dreams of ever being someone going up in smoke as he watched his house burning down as Kojo’s men flew away. His whole life had been crappy and worthless but he was going to do something with it now. And these kids were going to help him.

Picking each kid out of the cradle he placed them into the carriage he had brought replacing each one with a different child. Sadi’s only thought was of taking the present kings place. If anyone deserved to be king it was him, he was the reason the world was like this weither that was a good thing or not. His whole life the people had walked all over him and now he was going to do the same right back. Two wrongs don’t make a right my ass he thought as he exited the building and made his way home.

As he walked in the front door the phone rang. Sadi lifted up the phone with one hand and closed the door behind with the other.

“Hello” he said walking down the hallway pushing the carriage in one hand.

“They’ve been taken care of” a voice said followed by a click as the other end hung up. Sadi pushed the off button on the phone. He thought about what this meant, he had just stolen six babies from the king of the world and had their parents killed. Pulling out a bottle from his pocket he gave each baby a pill that he had created to suppress there abilities for the time being. He didn’t want to deal with the house being burned down or the other two turning into something and running off. It was too late to turn back now he thought as he looked at the sleeping babies.

PART TWO CHAPTER ONE

“Sarah” I yelled out to my assistant. Sarah’s full name is Sarah Krisada Tannenbaum. She was 5 feet 4 inches tall with shoulder length, straight light brown hair. She was 15 years old and her favourite pastime was chewing the skin around her fingers. Sarah had worked at the same den as Mieraku and me for as long as I can remember but she had only started to be my assistant for the last two months. Mieraku Mason Pew was my sister, she was also 15 years old and 5 feet 5 inches with wavy/curly dark brown hair that hung down to the small of her back but which she always wore in a bun. My full name is Sena Shannon Pew. I’m 16 years old and 5 feet 7 inches with wavy reddish brown hair that I prefer to keep in a braid.

“What do you want” Sarah asked sticking her head through the flap of the tent.

“Go up to the den and get the cubs meal would you...Oh and make sure Mieraku knows that the cubs are allowed to go down to the lake when their done eating.” I called out as Sarah's head disappeared through the flap.

Inside the tent were two of the six cubs that my sister and I were in charge of. There was also a small desk were I kept my records, at the moment the papers were in a wide array across the desk, but I knew Sarah would sneak in here later to fix it. Sarah was a total neat freak. As I sat down on the dirt floor the younger of the two cubs climbed up into my lap. It was the youngest of the litter and had a pale creamy brown coat. The second cub began playing with the long braid that hung down my back. Unlike his sister the second cub was more of a golden color, the only one in the litter to be of such a color. He was the oldest of the litter and so if my master, the cubs’ father, was to die this small cub would inherit everything; including Sarah, Mieraku and myself. I had started to drift off when Sarah returned with the cubs meal.

“Hey, Sena. Wake up, I’ve got the cubs’ lunch” Sarah said as she entered the tent holding a large pail in both hands.

My eyes snapped open. Seeing Sarah with the bucket I slowly got up being careful to set the cub in my lap down gently as I got up. I followed Sarah back out of the tent with the two cubs behind us. As we stepped out of the tent I had to shield my eyes form the sudden brilliance of the sun. Mieraku, my sister, was waiting outside with the other four cubs. Filling two silver bowls with the raw meat I walked off a few paces. Both Sarah and Mieraku did the same making sure that each cub got it’s fair share. As the cubs ate their lunch I looked around me: further up the hill we were on was the entrance to the cubs den, behind that was the forest that even now in the bright sunshine looked dark and sinister, on my other side down the hill was the lake that blended in perfectly with the horizon. As soon as the all the cubs were done eating we all headed off down towards the lake. We soon arrived at the small sandy beach and the cubs all ran off into the water, Mieraku right behind them. Sarah pulled out three brown bags and threw one at me. Inside was an apple, a cucumber sandwich on brown bread, and a container of juice. Sarah opened her bag and we both quickly ate our lunch.

“Don’t go to far” I yelled as the cubs and Mieraku drifted farther and farther away. Sarah lay down on the ground and closed her eyes trying to get some sleep before the cubs returned.

I sat down and stared at the greenish blue water and started to drift off again. I was woken half an hour later by splashing as Mieraku and the cubs returned to the shore.

“Hey Sarah get your lazy butt up” I said leaning over to poke Sarah in the small of the back. Sarah jerked awake and looked around blearily before getting off the ground. Walking over to the cubs we started to dry them off with the towels that Sarah had brought down with us, while Mieraku dried herself off.

“Oh, shit!” Sarah exclaimed looking wide-eyed in terror at the cubs.

I looked down at the group of cubs we were drying. I realised right away what had terrified Sarah; the familiar golden fur that had always stuck out amongst the duller brown fur of his brothers and sisters was no longer there.

“Shit” I yelled jumping up and looking out across the lake.

Off in the distance I could just make out a sparkle of gold. Mieraku and myself both dived into the water at the same time. ‘Please don’t let him be dead’ I thought and with the thought of what would happen to me if he was I sped up swimming faster then I ever have before. Mieraku was still the faster swimmer and reached the cub first. Just as she reached the cub he started to go under.

“Oh God no’ I thought as Mieraku dived down after the cub. When Mieraku didn’t surface after the first minute I began to panic even more. Just then I heard a gasp of breath from behind me. I turned around slowly afraid of what I might see. Mieraku was trying her best to stay above water while carrying the limp body of the cub in both arms.

“He’s dead” she whispered looking at the cub.

CHAPTER 2

‘This is not happening to us. It’s all some twisted dream’ I thought as we headed back towards the shore. As we came out the water Sarah saw the limp water sodden cub and took control.

“Lay him down on the ground” she yelled dropping to her knees next to the cub. She desperately began pumping his chest up and down.

“”Sena, breathe into his mouth” she said pausing in what she was doing. I bent down and breathed a few deep breathes into the cubs body watching his small chest rise and fall with each breath.

“O.k.” Sarah said continuing her pumping. She then placed her ear to the cubs chest and listened for a little.

“He’s dead, his lungs are to full of fluid and I can’t get it out.” she said sitting down hard on the ground.

“We’re dead” Mieraku whispered her eyes glazing over in disbelief and fear.

After a short silence were the cubs fought with each other I finally spoke up.

“Sarah, Mieraku go up to the tents and get everything you need” I said my mind working as quick as it could to make up a plan “Mieraku take Sarah to that underground cave we found the other day. . .hopefully they won’t find us there” I mumbled as an afterthought.

Sarah looked confused and dazed as Mieraku dragged her back to the tent. Picking up the dead cub I headed up the slope with the other cubs following. The den was at the top of a small hill overlooking the lake. As the entrance to the den opened up at my feet it seemed darker and scarier then it had done even in my first days working here. The cubs ran down the tunnel like always but this time I followed them down. Halfway down the tunnel I met my master coming up towards were I stood. He growled at the sight of his eldest cub lying limp and lifeless in my arms. I could see his large white teeth, each as long as my middle finger gleaming in the faint light. I carefully set down the cub and started to back away, but my master shot out a paw and raked my arm with his huge claws. As his claws raked down my arm exposing the white bone beneath it something inside me snapped. It was as if something inside had been let free and was taking over my body. My mind went blank from the pain in my arm and I felt the newly released power take over. I gazed in horror as my arms grew golden fur and my nails lengthened into claws.

‘What the hell just happened’ I thought as looked up into my master’s surprised face. Fortunately for me I was able to recover myself faster then my master. Turning around the cramped space I ran on all fours out of the tunnel and into the nearby woods. I soon reached a clearing in which there was a large thorny bush in the centre. Crawling under the thorny branches I fell into the opening of the cave and down the tunnel. As I tumbled down the tunnel I felt myself revert itself to it’s normal shape. The transformation was finished right as I burst out of the entrance tunnel and into the large cave it led to. I landed at Sarah’s feet whose arm brushed my injured arm. Grimacing in pain I made my way under a natural stone overhanging in a corner of the cave. The spot was damp but protected on all but one side. Sarah and Mieraku were staring at my injured arm in disbelief. I looked down just in time to see the wounds finish healing over.

“How nice” I murmured as my head hit the ground.

CHAPTER 3

“Owww” I moaned as I sat up holding my head. My vision was fuzzy and unfocused and my head felt as if their was a tiny imp inside beating on my forehead. My vision slowly focused as I looked around the cave. It was basically round and made of a reddish stone. There was a natural stone ledge going around a quarter of the cave and at one end of the ledge was the entrance of the tunnel. I noticed how both Mieraku and Sarah were sleeping on the opposite side of the cave and Sarah looked paler then usual. Holding onto the side of the cave I pulled myself. My vision blackened for a second before returning to normal. I set off up the tunnel and out into the clearing. The air was cool and refreshing compared to the still, stale, air of the cave. I could feel the power inside of me, waiting to be let out. Even though I had only been aware of it for all of 6 hours it felt familiar as if it had always been there.

Convincing myself that I should try using it... just to be sure I turned myself into a large falcon. Using the natural instinct that seemed to come with the shape I took off into the trees. Everything was sharper from behind my new eyes and I could see a lot farther then before. Flying just under the treetops so that I could see the ground below me I set off in an ever widening circle around the area we were camped in.

‘Boring’ I thought after about fifteen minutes of flying. I had started to play a game that Mieraku and me had played when we were younger dodging in the shadows, trying to avoid the light. Seeing as just about the whole forest was in darkness because practically no light got through the trees, who like greedy children going after the fallen candy of a piñata at a birthday party, were crammed so tight that barely any light reached the forest floor that I soon changed my game to trying to stay in what light there was. I soon got bored of this game and was about to return to the cave when I spotted movement below me. Alighting on a low branch I watched as three shapes moved into the clearing right in front of me. They were huge grey wolves. They had their snouts glued to the ground drool dripping from their open snouts. One of the wolves was slowly moving away from the other two in the direction of our cave. In its way was a leafy bush with bright green leaves.

‘Shit’ I thought as I noticed a glint from one of the leaves. A drop of blood, my blood, was sitting boldly in the center of one of the leaves contrasting greatly with the green leaf. I knew it would only take another minute at the most for the wolf to smell the blood. Taking flight I headed off as fast as I could back to the cave.

“Come on’ I thought as the new muscles in my back which controlled my wings began to cramp. Just when I thought I would never make it back to the cave I saw the clearing with the bush in front. Just then my wings gave way and with an effort I fell into the bush and down the tunnel it concealed. I turned back to my original shape at the bottom and stood up. Mieraku was just starting to get up and stared at me in wonder as I changed back but Sarah was still fast asleep. Grabbing the bag of things Mieraku and Sarah had grabbed on their way here I headed over to Sarah's sleeping form.

“Hey, Sarah. Get up we’ve got to go. “ Sarah’s eyes opened and she flinched at the sight of me. Choosing to ignore this I helped her up and pushed her towards the tunnel.

“What the hell is going on” Mieraku asked following us up the tunnel. Before I could answer we heard a howl from close by to our right.

“Shit” Mieraku murmured fear and understanding coming into her eyes. Sarah’s face became even paler, if that was possibly and she looked as if she were about to be sick. Pushing both of them in the opposite direction of the wolves. Mieraku and me both started running but Sarah stood frozen in terror.

“Come On!!” I yelled at her pulling her after me. She managed to get her legs to obey her and started to run on her own. I felt my hearing grow keener as I tried to listen for signs of pursuit. ‘How convenient’ I thought noting that I could take on only certain characteristics of certain animals as well as the whole shape. I could hear noises from behind us and knew they were getting closer.

‘This is not going to work’ I yelled to Mieraku who was in front of me and stopped in my tracks. Turning into a wolf like the ones who were chasing us only larger I turned to face our pursuers. I could hear Sarah gasp at my new shape and Mieraku yelling at her to keep going. Lucky for Sarah, Mieraku managed to keep her head in dangerous situations; it was one thing we had in common. The three wolves soon came bursting through the bushes and looked confused at the sight of me, one of them even sat back on its on haunches in its confusion. I snarled bearing my long, glinting, teeth at them. This seemed to confuse them even more. One of them started to go around me but I snarled at him and he hesitated. Taking my chance I leapt at him digging my teeth into the back of his neck. The wolf howled in pain and tried to bite me but I had already backed away the taste of blood in my mouth. The second wolf leapt at me teeth bared and anger in his eyes. Rolling to the side I heard a sickening snap as the second wolfs leg snapped. The third wolf sat staring at me calmly as the other two wolves limped off into the woods.

“Pretty good fighting for a wolf” it said getting up and heading towards me.

Snarling and backing away I thought “What does he mean for a wolf...he’s a wolf!’ “Or is he?’ a second voice said in my head. I stared at him ‘Of course he ...’ my thought was interrupted at the sight of the “wolfs” claws and teeth growing longer. ‘Oh’ said the first voice.

While my mind tried to grasp the fact that the thing I thought was a wolf was not the “wolf” attacked. He tried leaping for my exposed neck but I dropped to the ground. I could feel him pass over me and hit the bushes behind me. Turning around I saw he was already on his feet.

“Look” he said acting as if he hadn’t just fallen into a thorn bush “ if you just come quietly no one will hurt, you might even be able to get a job on the police force.” He wasn’t actually moving his lips, it was as if his words were reaching my mind without going via my ears. ‘I wonder’ Reaching out with my mind I found I could speak back without speaking.

“You do know that you happen to be standing in a very large patch of poison ivy.”

He jumped back I think more at the surprise at my voice in his head then at the fact that he was standing in poison ivy. As he jumped back he hit a low hanging branch and fell on his back. Taking my chance I leapt at him and gripped his neck with my teeth.

“Don’t try anything or I’ll snap your neck” I mumbled through a mouth full of fur. Releasing my hold for a second I grabbed his right leg and snapped it. He grimaced from the pain.

“Now get up” I said getting up and turning back into my original shape. He must have decided listening to me was the lesser of two evils because he got up, but he decided to stay in his wolf shape.

Heading off in the direction Sarah and Mieraku had headed we soon found their trail and were able to catch up with them. We found them resting in a clearing. I sent the “wolf” in front of me and was just about to walk into the clearing myself when the wolf was lifted off its feet by an invisible force and slammed against a tree.

“That was interesting” I said inspecting the wolfs unconscious form. As I watched it reverted to its original form. He was a few inches taller then me with dark shoulder length hair which was full of dirt and twigs from our trek through the forest.

“When did you learn that Mieraku” I asked turning to face her.

CHAPTER 4

“How do you know it was me” she said looking slightly startled.

“Because unless Sarah has two powers it has to be you.”

“What do you unless Sarah has two powers, she doesn’t have any so far” Mieraku said looking at Sarah who had found something very interesting about her feet.

“I didn’t heal myself last night” I said looking at Sarah “ and something freaky happened when Sarah touched my arm; and since that was right before my arm healed it must have been Sarah.”

Mieraku stared at Sarah in disbelief, “Oh.” she said.

We should keep moving, I didn’t kill the other two and they might get others.”

“What do you mean might” Mieraku grumbled.

Sarah finally looked up from here feet and saw the boy behind me starting to stir. "Who’s he?” she asked really looking at him for the first time.

“He was one of the three wolves following us but obviously first impressions can be deceiving.” I said looking down at him as his his eyes started to open.

“You mean he’s like you?!” Mieraku exclaimed looking at me.

“No he’s not” I said looking at her and rolling my eyes. She stuck her tongue out at me.

“His arms broken” Sarah said moving closer to him.

“That would be me” I said “couldn’t have him running away now could I” I said as Sarah glared at me.

“He’s kind of cute” she said bending down and healing his arm “what's his name”

“How the hell should I know, I was busy fighting for our lives thank you very much.”

“ It’s Shane” he said sitting up against the tree.

“Well, I’m Sena, the one who just healed your arm is Sarah and the other one is my sister Mieraku.”

“If your all done introducing yourselves then can we get a move on” Mieraku said annoyance in her voice.

I looked around at her “What's wrong with you” I asked noticing her sulky behaviour. Before she could answer I heard a gasp from behind me. Shane had Sarah around the neck one nail grown to the length of a small dagger and which was just as lethal pressed against Sarah's throat.

“Now look what you did” Mieraku said walking towards me.

“Don’t come any...” the rest of the sentence was cut off as a huge clod of dirt flew off the ground and into Shane’s open mouth.

“My fault, how’s it my fault?” I asked grabbing Sarah while Shane was preoccupied with the dirt in his mouth. I twisted her out of his grip and shoved her behind me.

“If you hadn’t brought him here Sarah would never have been in danger.” Shane had turned into a wolf and had managed to bite Mieraku’s leg. There soon came a smell of singed fur as a flame made its way towards Shane.

“I didn’t know you could use fire as well” I said looking at Mieraku.

“Yeah, it seems to be an element thing.”

“You do realise he left don’t you” Sarah said looking at us.

“Yes” I said at the same time as Mieraku asked “What?” Mieraku looked around and saw that Shane had left the clearing.

“We should go” I said heading out of the clearing “ you know he has a brother” I said to the world at large.

CHAPTER 5

“How would you know that” Mieraku asked catching up with me.

“Because he fights like us, as if he was depending on someone to back him up. I wonder if he's like you” I said looking sideways at Mieraku.

“What about me?” Sarah asked glancing at me.

“I’m not sure. If there is someone else out there like you it would be a big coincidence if whoever Shane worked for also has him working for him.”

“How do you know its a him” Mieraku asked.

“I don’t, but I would guess it would be because Shane happened to be a guy and working against us so it only makes sense that Sarah's opposite would be male too.”

“When did you figure that out” Mieraku asked looking at me disbelievingly.

“I just made it up as I went along” I said smiling “I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about.”

“I thought so” Mieraku said triumph in her eyes.

“It’s a good theory though” Sarah said on my other side.

“Thanks. I think I’ll go scout ahead” I said turning myself into a falcon and launching myself into the air.

CHAPTER 6

Shane crashed through the woods trying to find his brother who he knew was somewhere nearby. He could still taste the dirt in his mouth as he ran into a clearing where he promptly crashed into his brother.

Lorenzo looked down on his brother. “What happened to you?” He asked looking at Shane who was covered in dirt and blood and whose fur was singed on one side.

“You know those girls we were set out to find?” he said turning to his original shape. His hair was singed in parts.

“Yeah, the ones who ran away after they drowned a cub, why?” Lorenzo said sounding confused at the sight of his brother in such a state when usually he was so calm.

“Well they're just like us.”

“What do you mean just like us?”

“They have our same powers.”

“What about the third one?”

“She has some healing power. She healed my broken arm.”

“When did you break your arm?” Lorenzo asked starting to sound confused.

“It’s a long story.”

“Hey look at that falcon up there” Lorenzo said losing interest in Shane and pointing to a point behind Shanes head. As Shane turned around to look a bolt of lightning hit the bird and it came spiralling down to the ground.

CHAPTER 7

I was about half a mile away from the point that I left Mieraku and Sarah when I spotted Shane and what I guessed was his brother. His brother was slightly smaller then Shane and his hair was lighter but the two were remarkably alike.

I started to head to a branch where I would be able to see what was going on in the clearing when Shanes brother pointed at me. I felt a jolt throughout my body and pain filled my whole body as I blacked out.

CHAPTER 8

I woke up to find Shane and his brother looking at me. Sarah's right he is kind of cute I thought as I sat up. There seemed to be a weird semi- transparent shield around me. It looked like it was made out of sand from the ground that we were standing on. I reached out and touched it. I immediately regretted it as I was thrown back to the ground by an electric shock.

Getting up again I had an idea but it required Mieraku’s help. In the meanwhile I looked up at the brothers. I didn’t like the look of the second one, he looked like the kind of person who tortured little creatures for the fun of it.

“What are you going to do with her?” Shane asked his brother. An evil glint came into his eyes as he contemplated this idea.

“I’m not sure yet” he said as I felt another shock of electricity run down my spine and spread throughout my body. I tried to keep my face blank like I used to do with Mieraku when ever we got into fights when we were younger.

I felt a few more shocks and it became harder and harder to keep a straight face.

“I think you should leave her alone Lorenzo” Shane said in a concerned tone.

“I thought you said she was the one who broke your arm” Lorenzo said anger resounding in his voice at the prospect of losing his fun.

“Yeah, well...” Shanes voice drifted off as he his gaze was drawn to the sky.

I looked up and saw Mieraku coming through the air, Sarah hanging grimly onto her, her face a mask of terror. Mieraku didn’t seem to be standing on anything solid but I guessed it was like when she used the air as a solid wall to hit Shane back in the clearing.

This was the sign I had been waiting for. Remembering back to when I was younger I recalled all the mystical animals I would draw for fun. I remembered my favourite which was a large dragon with long claws, spikes down its back and two huge leathery looking wings. As I imaged it as a flesh and blood thing in my head I felt my body change. Opening my eyes I saw that the ground was a lot farther down then before. Seeing that Shane and Lorenzo were preoccupied with Mieraku I let out a jet flame at my prison and watched as it turned to glass. Lashing out with my long prehensile tail I easily broke the glass and was able to stretch out my wings.

Little sand tornados were formed as I flapped my wings and slowly lifted myself off the ground. Shane’s jaw dropped as he looked around as sand flew up around him. I rose to the point were Mieraku and Sarah were floating above the ground. She was throwing thunder bolts and fireballs at Lorenzo. I watched as tiny thunder bolts flew off Mieraku and hit Sarah who was trying her best to the dodge them.

“Jump on” I said in Sarah's head as I pulled up next to her. She almost fell off the cushion Mieraku had made in her surprise and a miny thunderbolt took its chance and hit her in the back. She fell off the cushion of air but fortunately fell onto my back. As soon as I had made sure Sarah was secure sitting right before my wings I took off above the trees with Mieraku following me.

“Why didn’t you stay and help me fight them” Mieraku yelled at me as she caught up with me, disappointed at having to run away from a fight.

“Because you kept hitting Sarah with those little miny bolts that kept coming off you and who knows when a stray shot could hit her. You seem to forget that Sarah’s only protection is her healing power and one direct shot would be the end of her.” I said once again my words went straight to her brain not via her ears, I found it hard to talk normally when your mouth was full of sharp dagger like teeth. Mieraku didn’t answer but I could tell she was sulking from the usual pouting face she always put on when she’s angry.

We flew in silence for about an hour when I saw something glittering against the horizon. “We must be getting near the shore” I pointed out to the other two.

“Doesn’t the king have a palace along the sea front?” Sarah asked from her perch on my back.

“Yeah” Mieraku said her pouty face gone as the prospect of an even better battle .

I knew she was thinking about revenge, that's all used to talk about. Our former master had always’d bragged that the king, who was a great friend of his, had had our parents killed. I didn’t see why he thought this great enough to brag but it fuelled Mieraku’s want for revenge. She used to talk to me at night of her latest plan to escape and get back at the king but I always shot them down by asking practical questions like, how are you going to get into the palace without an army or how do you plan to escape the police patrols, or when you are caught what are you going to do when your sent to a master who whips you all the time. These questions were always met by silence and a sulky face in the morning but it kept her from trying to run away. But now all those plans had returned with full force because not only had we run away and avoided the police but now Mieraku had no need for backup, she was an army all by herself.

CHAPTER 9

“So what’s this amazing plan of yours?” Mieraku asked. We were standing on the edge of the forest look down onto the beach. The palace was huge stretching back into the forest and forward into the water with huge walls on the shore front to protect it from the sea when the spring storms came in.

“Welllll, your not going to like it very much...” I trailed off my eyes glued to the palace below us. There was a barbed wire fence and guards patrolling the edges.

“What is it” Mieraku said threateningly this time.

“Well I was thinking if I turned into a wolf I could go in undetected and check it out.”

“And what about us” Mieraku asked glaring at me.

“Well, you would have to stay here till I got back.” Mieraku snorted but didn’t say anything.

“And how are you going to get in” Mieraku asked.

“I’ll say I want to join the police force” I answered still not looking at her.

“What about your age, your only sixteen.” she said trying to find some fault with my plan.

“I’ll make myself looking older” I said trying to think fast enough to answer her questions.

“”I think its the best plan were going to come up with” Sarah said avoiding Mierakus angry glare “but you should go now before Shane and his brother show up and warn the palace about us.”

“You always were the wise one” Mieraku snorted sitting down against a tree her arms folded against her chest.

Walking over to Sarah I looked her the eyes “make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” Sarah nodded meeting my gaze “ as long as you promise not to do any thing stupid.”

“Deal” I said smiling and turning towards Mieraku.

“Hey, Mieraku” I said as she looked up “if you see Shane or his bastard of a brother make sure you delay them for me” I said winking at her before turning into a wolf.

Chapter 10

I picked my way down the sandy slope trying my best to stay out the sight of the guards who were patrolling the edges of the castle. The forest ended a few feet above the edge of the palace in a miny cliff. Losing my footing I slid the last few feet and over the edge of the cliff and fell the few feet to the ground. I finally stopped rolling at the feet of one of the guards.

“Who are you” he growled looking at me in obvious disgust. He was a lion with a dirty brown coat, straggly mane and chipped yellow teeth. I wrinkled my nose at the smell that came from his mouth; it was like rotting meat, bad eggs and shit all mixed together.

“I’m here to try and get a job in the police force” I said getting up and looking the lion in the face. He grunted and looked me up and down. I held my breath when he began to speak, “follow me.”

I followed him around the corner of the wall and up to the gate. They where massive doors that rose fifteen feet up into the air and were made of wood polished so that they reflected the forest behind us, but the bottom foot or so was marred by scratch marks. My guide lifted one paw and scratched at the door. There was the sound of a wooden bar being nosed out of its slot and a small door opened revealing a small grizzly looking wolf.

“She’s here to try and get a job in the police force.”

“I see” said the wolf in a interested tone looking me up and down “this should be interesting to watch.”

My guide snorted “ just take her to a room and tell the king about her” he said before turning and returning to his post on the other wall.

The wolf headed off into the inner walls with me in tow. I looked around as we walked, there were people and animals alike running around performing different tasks. A few people looked frightened at the sight of me but many of them glanced at me with disgust and anger etched into every detail of their face.

We followed an overgrown dirt path to a second pair of wooden doors that led into the palace. I was soon ushered through the doors and down a dark corridor. The walls reeked of damp and mould and I could feel the temperature drop a few degrees. We took a few turns before reaching a small stone door. The wolf who had been leading me opened the door and waited for me to go in.

“You’ll wait here till his majesty is ready to see you” he said before shutting the door and slipping the wooden bar back through its slot.

CHAPTER 11

Sarah watched as Mieraku paced back and forth looking down at the palace.

“She’ll be fine” Sarah said knowing that wasn’t why Mieraku was looking at the palace.

“What” Mieraku said distracted, prying her eyes from the palace to look at Sarah.

“I said that she will be fine. She’s been in there for almost a day now and I’m sure she would be able to get away if she needed to.”

“Oh, I know but even though if she hasn’t given us a sign on the tenth day I’m going in after her.”

Sarah looked at Mieraku knowing the worry for her sister was mixed with her want of a fight and revenge. The king had ordered both of their parents to be killed and was the reason for her want for revenge.“ What would you do if you became queen?” Sarah asked.

“What?” Mieraku asked drawing her eyes away from the palace again.

“I asked what would you do if you were Queen?” Sarah repeated not taking her eyes from Mieraku.

“Well, I guess its out of the question to go back to the way we were, then we would be just as bad as them.”

“Or them us” mumbled Sarah to her knees.

“Sena or you would be better at this” Mieraku continued as Sarah looked up “ you’re kind and Sena can talk to them, I just want revenge I guess and a ruler can’t be a good one if they want revenge on half their subjects can they?” Mieraku said turning to face Sarah.

“Maybe that’s why were in this mess in the first place” Sarah snorted looking down at the castle.

CHAPTER 12

I sat looking at the brick sized hole in the wall they called a window. Light was just beginning to stream through marking the tenth day I’ d been locked up in this damn cell. It was about the size of a broom closet with a bed of straw on one half and bare stone on the other. In the corner was a hole in the floor were I and in the door a flap were a bowl of water and a small serving of raw meat came through twice a day.

I was staring at the light coming through the window contemplating flying out of this dump and heading back to Mieraku and Sarah when the door opened. I looked around and saw a small wiry fox. He had a sly look on his face which gave me the creeps.

“Follow me” he said turning around and heading down a tunnel.

‘I could probably kill him’ I thought as I headed out of the cell, that was when I saw the two grizzly bears on each side of the door. “ or not.’

I followed the fox into wider and wider tunnels and there was also more and bigger windows along the way which lit up the tunnels.

We finally reached a small but ornate door that led into a huge hall. On either sides where columns that when I looked up I was unable to see the top of. At the end of the hall was a huge throne made of gold and set with rare gems. On it sat a man. He looked like he was in his late thirties early forties, he had blondish brown hair that hung down to his chin and an evil grin on his face. I was confused.

“Where’s my translator” he called out. Immediately a door behind the throne opened and in walked Shane. He walked up to the throne and stood beside it.

“If you want to join my police force your going have to pass a test” he told me his grin widening if possible “ do you accept?” Shane looked over at me for the first time and his eyes widened for a second. ‘Damn’ I thought knowing he had recognised me.

“I accept” I said wondering what Shane would do.

Shane translated what I had said to the man who I assumed must be the king. Up till this point I had assumed the king had been an animal even though no one had ever actually told me this.

“Excellent” exclaimed the king leaning over and whispering into Shane’s ear. He looked at me with sympathy which I soon understood. A tiger was led into the room, he was twice my size and about three times my weight, I could tell his teeth and claws were sharpened because no tooth was that sharp naturally.

The tiger lumbered up to a circle of raised stones that I had just noticed. He sat down just inside the circle looking very confident in himself. The fox shoved me into the circle. I looked up into the face of the tiger just as a drop of drool hit me in the face.

‘O.k. this is just disgusting’ I thought shaking my head all fear leaving my head to be replaced by anger. I could feel the natural instincts of a wolf, already close to the top, rise in me. I let them rise hoping they would help me survive the fight.

The tiger moved with surprising agility for his weight and swiped out a paw as big as my head. Jumping up I managed to land on the paw and sink my teeth into it. At the taste of blood in my mouth all thoughts of just defeating the tiger were banished as the thoughts of a wolf took control. I felt my thoughts forced to a corner of my mind. I was confused for a second at what had just happened. The tiger sensing my confusion took this opportunity to smash me against the rocks. One of the rocks cut into my shoulder leaving a deep gash. I felt myself moving but it was weird because it wasn’t me who was moving my body. I watched helplessly as the rest of my mind disintegrated to that of a wolf.

‘I always wondered what happened if I stayed in a shape to long’ I thought as the tiger prepared to leap at me. As the tiger sailed through the air I prayed that I would move, trying to force myself to move to no avail. Pain lanced throughout my body as the tiger crushed me but I felt myself reach and grip the tigers exposed neck. With one swift movement I watched as I ripped a huge gash into the tigers neck. Blood gushed out of the wound covering me from head to toe as I wiggled my way out from under the body of the tiger. By the time I had freed myself from under the body of the tiger it was dead. I was horrified at myself. The king was delighted.

“Very good” he exclaimed joy shining in his eyes” not enough to just to defeat him oh no you had to kill him “ my mind reeled in disgust “ truly a wolf after my own heart.” I saw Shane staring at me, confusion and thoughtfulness mixed in his expression.

“I’m not just going to allow you to join my police force” the king continued “but make you one of my personal guards.” I could tell I had the equalivent of a smile on my face even though I hated myself at the moment. “Come here and sit by my side.” Against my will I got up and trotted to the opposite side of the throne as Shane.

As I sat down on one of the steps leading up to the throne I felt the building shake as a an explosion ripped a hole along half of the ceiling. Through the hole came Mieraku and Sarah.

As soon as Sarah was on the ground she came running towards me. I growled as she came up. She gave me a confused look and placed her hand on my head. The wolf part of me struggled as Sarah reached into my head trying to help me. She was having trouble getting rid of the wolf part while I was still in wolf form but she was making progress reverting my mind to the way it was. Suddenly the wolf lunged out and sunk it’s teeth into Sarah's arm. ‘ This has gone to far’ I screamed in my head as I tasted blood in my mouth, angry at myself for biting Sarah. Lashing out I forced the wolf part to back down and as soon as I had control of my body again I turned back into my human shape.

“Sorry” I said to Sarah as I watched her arm heal over. Behind us Mieraku was having fun wreaking havoc.

“It’s all right... you know that man who was on the throne?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well he’s trying to sneak out that door.” she said pointing behind me. Whipping around I saw the man making his way towards the door that Shane had come through. I got up and ran towards him almost tripping on Shane’s unconscious body. I reached him a few feet from the door and slammed him into the wall.

“So your still alive” he said “squirming underneath me.

“I should kill your sorry ass right now” I whispered into his ear.

“You wouldn’t kill the one who gave you your powers would you” he said.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked him pressing him a little harder into the wall.

“How do you think you got your power? I gave them to you.”

“I’m listening” I said. I hadn’t had time to think about where we got or powers as of this point.

“After I the animals had taken power I was hired to try and find a drug that would allow a human to understand animals. The first king thought that if humans and animals could communicate we might be able to come to a peaceful solution. The first two experiments were failures giving the babies a weird elemental or healing power Sarah and Mieraku but the third experiment proved to be a success. The only problem was that most of the babies couldn’t handle the power and died within a few weeks. But three pairs of siblings survived. Two brothers, two sisters, and a boy and girl twins. I kept the boys for myself telling them they were my sons” here he snorted “of course I had all their real parents killed.” I tightened my grip “The twin died young, drowned in a pool I believe, but the brothers lived. Lorenzo took after me and with his help I became ruler. He always liked to watch things squirm. Of course Shane was always too soft, always caring for the animals that Lorenzo had injured.” he spit at the thought “The girls were sent to one of my right hand men who was supposed to raise them and make sure they didn’t find out about there powers. Of course as we can see he has failed me. So has Shane for that fact, he should have killed you when he had the chance.” I heard something stir behind me and then someone gripped me and threw me off of the king.

Shane bent over the kings body whispered something into his ear and then twisted his neck. He stood up walked over to me and helped me off the ground.

“Thanks” I said as my mind tried to digest everything I had just heard and seen. “I wish I had at least known the his name” I said looking at the dead body slumped against the wall.

“It was Sadi. At least that’s what he said it was” Shane said following my gaze.

“Sena” a voice called out. Looking around I saw Sarah pointing to two figures fighting. They were making their way out of the building through the whole in the roof and into the open sky. As I ran toward Sarah I turned myself into a dragon and allowed her to crawl onto my back before taking off after Mieraku and Lorenzo.

The two figures were throwing fireballs and lightening bolts at each other and each had a growing bubble of energy around them. Some of the stray bolts were hitting the people watching below them. Some looked around at me as I landed and ran off in fright.

“Take me up there” Sarah said over the noise. Stretching my wings I took off towards Mieraku dodging stray bolts on the way. As I reached her Sarah reached out to take Mierakus arm. As I tried to deflect most of the bolts with my thickly armoured skin I heard a gasp from Sarah. Turning my head around I saw Sarah's face drain of energy. She looked like she was trying to pull her hand off Mierakus arm but to no avail. Not knowing what to do I did the first thing that came to mind. I bit Sarah's hand off. As Sarah slumped forward on my back the bubble of energy around us exploded knocking us unconscious. CHAPTER 13

My whole body ached when I regained conscious. I lifted my head sending sharp pain to shoot through it. I managed to sit up and look around. I was sitting on a bed in what looked like a hospital, Shane was sitting in a chair nearby.

“Where am I?” I asked. Shane’s head jerked up and he headed towards the bed.

“How are you?” he asked showing real concern.

“I’ll live, what happened?”

“Were still not sure but we think Mieraku managed to absorb Sarah’s power for a while and used it to take away Lorenzo’s.” I didn’t even try to understand this at the moment.

“What about her hand” I asked guilty wondering if biting it off had been a bit to rash.

“If you hadn’t bitten it off Mieraku might have absorbed to much of her power and killed her, you saved her life.” he said.

“Well if Mieraku almost killed Sarah by taking her power then what about Lorenzo?”

“He’ll live but his power has been reduced to about a percentage of what it was. He’ll try to kill us once he wakes up, even me.”

“But you're his brother.”

“Yeah well he’s very big on revenge and he’ll think it’s my fault because I didn’t help him.” he bowed his head.

“Mieraku’s very big revenge to, that’s how this” I said indicating the castle and injured people in the hospital “whole thing started in the first place.”

CHAPTER 14

It was a month later and the four of us were sitting at a table. A few animals and humans who had proved themselves loyal sat behind us. I looked around the table. Sarah’s hand had healed over and the scientists who worked in the castle were working on a replacement for her, Mieraku, who was sitting next to her, ever since she found out she had almost killed Sarah she had been very silent, and next to her was Shane who still seemed confused at what had happened.

“So who knows what the hell we do now?” Mieraku asked looking up from the packet of papers in front of her.

“I think that you and Sarah should stay her and rule” I said hoping Mieraku wouldn’t disagree, she could be as stubborn as a donkey.

“And why do you think that” Mieraku asked a accusing tone in her voice.

“Well you're like opposites only in a good way, like Sarah would allows look for the peaceful way and you usually go for the violent way” I rambled on remembering past fights with her.

“And what about you two” she asked interrupting my rambling and looking Shane and me in the eye.

“Well we thought we could round up a group of loyal humans and animals and go out and, you know spread our rule, put down rebellions, that kind of thing” I said rambling again, Mieraku’s stare can have that effect on a person.

“And what about Lorenzo” Shane asked speaking for the first time.

There was an awkward silence before Sarah spoke up “Mieraku has agreed to set up an prison for him and with Sena’s and your help a guard as well, if that’s all right with you” she asked looking at him.

“That’s fine” he mumbled to the table. I wonder what I would have done if I had had to do that to Mieraku.

“Is that it?” Sarah asked.

“There are a few other small details we have to go over but we can do that after we’ve eaten something.” I said looking around relieved Mieraku hadn’t put up more of a fuss. She sure was a lot calmer since her battle. A few servants walked in with trays of food which they dished out onto the table and to the people around us.

“So when’s the wedding?” Mieraku asked looking up from her dish of raspberries with whipped cream.

“What?!” Shane and me said in unison spluttered spraying cider across the table. Sarah smiled into her dish as Shane choked on a raspberry.

“I may not understand you two” she said eyeing me “but I haven’t suddenly gone blind and stupid this last month” she finished.

CHAPTER 15

Another three months had passed before things finally started to settle down. Lorenzo had been imprisoned in a special prison of Mierakus design which incorporated different levels of elemental defence and a guard system. The castle had been cleared out and the holes in the roof had been fixed, it turned out that Mieraku had blasted her way through a few likely looking ceilings before finding Sena. The four found a few loyal people who hadn’t liked the way things had been going or simple knew when the power had shifted.

Sarah waved her new silver hand as Shane and Sena walked into the woods, the setting sun glinting off the swords by their sides and the silver and gold rings on their fingers.