Red Hand Heights (Location A)

[Max Dirks]

This mountainous area is reminiscent of the former Red Hand's base within the mountains of southern Corone. The area is connected to the Treslizn River Valley to the south.

This is Twisted Infinitum's starting location.

Round two begins at 3:00 PM CST. Good luck to everyone involved.

[Twisted Infinitum]

“Combat, previous to this point, has been inconclusive,” lectured The Astounding Relativologist to his group of a hundred students. “Undoubtedly, the danger will increase. Don’t allow yourselves to be hampered by pride for advancing this far.”

Many of the students, dressed in bulbous metal helmets and shiny vests like their instructor, looked at him as if the brown noonday light filtering through the tent’s ceiling was muddying his image, or his mind. “He’s telling us not to be prideful?” was the unspoken question passed about by their eyes.

The Astounding Relativologist appeared not to notice. With the wide array of devices stuck to or holstered upon his belt and vest glittering like party favors, he continued unabashed in his studious, never faltering voice. “If you must enter combat, follow the directions of our… associates.” He glanced about the massive tent to find the other section of the army.

It was sparsely thin, the group of hares that milled about with their hands full of medical supplies or trappings of afternoon tea. The professor stepped over to the nearest few, a group sitting still upon their haunches and nibbling small cakes. As he came within earshot of their whispers, he caught the word “greasy” in a disgusted tone. Clearly, they weren’t talking about their lunch.

When they noticed him watching, they clapped their little rabbit mouths shut and stared back. Their ears twitched worried. The Astounding Relativologist let his mouth curl into a smug smile. Despite the fact that these snow white beings were taller than him and built of muscle with silver armor upon their torsos and weapons at their sides, they still felt uneasy around him. It was enough of an honor for him to let the comment about his skin slide. They wouldn’t understand, anyway, that he had the “greasy” lotion upon his face to protect him from the harsh rays of this world’s sun. Perhaps their own world was more like Althanas than his was, for they seemed to fit quite naturally into the environment. You just had to suspend your sense of disbelief to appreciate a regiment of humanoid rabbits with a curious tilt to their dialect.

“Very sorry, but you and your chillins missed afternoon tea,” said one of them with his nose bravely aloft. “Some of them seem to not fancy a good cup, anyway. Jolly bizarre, that.” The nearby hares made high-pitched sounds in the back of their throats, likely the rabbit equivalent to chuckling.

The Astounding Relativologist sniffed indignantly, but he went on with what he had planned to say, lest the encounter prove longer than expected. “I need to speak with your commander. Direct me to him,” he said curtly.

Another hare took a long, noisy sip to finish off his cup of the strong liquid, then responded. “I’ll be a lucky charm if he isn’t outside. The lot of our brothers should be with him. He said they were moving out on the Queen’s orders, may she live eternal forthwit!” The last words, he pronounced grandly as if they needed to reach the heavens. Then, with a sly hunch forward, he said, “I’m thinking TAR and TAR’s minions slept too late again.” Every hare within earshot, which is quite a few with those ears, burst out laughing.

The professor had to hold himself back from a scathing retort that probably would contain words beyond the intellectual capacity of the hares. Instead, he stomped away from them with his heavy metal boots leaving angry prints in the earthen floor. “My name should not be shortened to an acronym,” he said bitterly to himself as he thought of this “Queen” of theirs, the one who had given him and his students those names. As a figure of royal prestige, she was a disgrace. As a tactical leader, she seemed to be similarly inept. He and his class were not supplies to be stored in the tent. They were soldiers capable of combat maneuvers that still went beyond the understanding of the hares. Or, at least, he envisioned his students as soldiers someday. That day would never come if they were left in the home base at every opportunity.

Wordlessly, the young men and women followed The Astounding Relativologist out of the tent. Immediately, the sun hit them with its full force, which can be very uncomfortable with the heavy clothing and equipment they all bore. The students in the lead were already sweating by the time the last filed through the small canvas opening. More than a few eyes glanced around for cover. But, a sheltering shadow would have been an alien element in this landscape. Beneath them was nothing but barren rock. Occasionally, it bulged up in the shape of a small boulder, but those shadows wouldn’t be enough to hide one of their helmets in.

Eventually, all the metal heads turned to face one direction. Around the side of the tent, there lay a truly alien element. It was the vehicle the humans had brought with them, a cunning contraption of metal and anti-gravity thrusters that looked like a huge, blocky insect. Making it look even more alien was the metal plates that stuck from the body on numerous arms as if the transport lay within the core of a tank tread. Sadly, that modification was necessary in a world that had not fully grasped the concept of straight, level roads, and it was because of such inconvenience that pushing the transport to this rocky location was a point of pride. To all the students, it was also a blessing. Of one mind, they swarmed toward the vehicle and piled either into its innards or under its shadow. Their helmets clanked so close together that they appeared to be human legs supporting a metal forest.

The Astounding Relativologist felt the quivering of the ground and the sudden rush of air behind him as his students bolted for the transport. He didn’t bother to turn around, though. The hares he was looking for weren’t visible on the barren rolls of rock that stretched to the horizon in the north, or toward the river valley to the southeast. If the pace of this day was any indication, the students would have time to find comfort before they were thrust into combat.

Only one creature other than his class was visible. To the other side of the tent, far enough away so as to appear aloof, stood a grey feline humanoid in foreign garb. As far as The Astounding Relativologist had surmised, this creature was definitely not the hares’ queen, but was related in some way. She certainly looked royal in her robes of white, blue, and gold with an assortment of charms both around her neck and up the length of her staff. Her head was topped with a hat so high and ornamental that it could be nothing less than a status symbol.

The professor started toward her purposely. She, however, didn’t seem to notice as he drew nearly upon her. Her hands were wrung tightly around her staff as she used it to draw patterns and symbols in the dust that lay atop the rocky ground. The lines were barely distinguishable, but she put so much effort into each stroke that she clearly expected to scrape away the ages-old rock with a wooden rod. The Astounding Relativologist took a moment to study her work as he stopped at the border of it. Some of the symbols looked familiar. One was a bird, though he couldn’t specify any more detail. Another was an eye, and yet more were distinctly reminiscent of an alphabet. It would be an interesting pursuit to learn this creature’s language. She, however, still didn’t acknowledge his presence.

“Tortured Mau,” he stated to get her attention. There was a hint of a question in his voice as if he wasn’t sure he was remembering her name correctly.

She nodded her head slowly and quirked her feline mouth into a little smile. “Thank you for not stepping on them,” she said with only the barest hint of gratitude. Then, her tense face of concentration returned and she etched another symbol ineffectually into the ground. “What do you need?” she asked.

The Astounding Relativologist looked up from studying the newest symbol. “Have you seen where the majority of the Leporidae ranks have moved?” he asked. Then, he opened his mouth again to specify in language she might better understand.

She answered before he could rephrase. “The cottontails,” she said with sad amusement in her eyes, “They followed the one with the monocle down to the valley there.” She gestured dismissively toward the southeast.

“Thank you,” the human professor said hastily as if caught off guard. Not all of the bizarre creatures here were as simple as the hares, apparently. He quickly remembered his goal, though, and looked in the indicated direction with annoyance heavy on his shadowed face. “I’ll have to send the eyes to pinpoint them,” he mused to himself. With a crash like bricks falling, he let his large metal backpack fall to the earth and pulled a strange device from within. It looked like the end of a plunger, a rather deep one, with a piston-like handle sticking from the top. “I hope you are not bothered,” said quickly to Mau, knowing that she seemed to like her space.

Her answer was another wave of her hand and the barest flicker of humor in her face. The Astounding Relativologist paused for a moment, and then decided that was the only answer he would get. It seemed to be affirmative.

Alongside the obsessive artwork of Tortured Mau, he went to work as well. He placed the open end of the device upon the ground and braced himself over it. With visible exertion, he pressed the piston down amid the loud hiss of a sudden pressure change. Then, with a pop, he pulled it from the earth and revealed a newly-created object. The front half was that of an eyeball, and the back was a dome of metal and flashing wires. The entire body of the object was the size of a bowling ball, yet it hovered easily upward until it was many times his height above the ground. Without watching its graceful ascent, he pressurized the device against the ground once more. Determinedly, he kept up a rhythm of creation next to the frantic scratching of Mau’s shrine.

*~*

In the Dream World, a place beyond the petty laws of physics and order, the one who had summoned The Astounding Relativologist and his students to Althanas waited. It wasn’t long until, against the formless multi-colored fog of thought, rifts began to open up. Each showed a similar view of the rocky earth with the helmeted man and the reclusive cat-woman at the center.

With a contemplative sigh, Amethyst Possum lifted one fuzzy white hand to his pointed snout and straightened his spectacles. The purple gem in his forehead sparkled with studious intent, matching the gleam of his blue robes with silver stars and moons from the hem to the top of the pointed hat. An enigma, he mused with his eyes locked on the image of the feline figure as rift after rift opened to show the same scene.

Omega what? asked a chipper voice behind him, and he turned to see the hovering form of another feline figure. This one was far less regal in short shorts and a fishnet shawl, her long white hair and tail fanning out behind her brown-furred body. An onyx was embedded in her forehead, a dark feature in an otherwise sweet face. However, despite her appearance, this was none other than the Queen that the hares wished to live eternal forthwit. Onyx Calico was her true name, though, as appropriate as Possum’s own name.

It’s not important, he muttered over his shoulder as he turned his eyes back to the scenes of Althanas landscape. They each began to change under his gaze; some moving around the tent where the one hundred hares came hopping out to patrol the surrounding area, and the rest heading toward the different horizons. With a total of twenty screens to watch and control, he might have been excused in ignoring Calico.

Of course, Calico was forever able to find the insult in acceptable actions. Also, in a very Calico-esque manner, she always found interesting ways to repay such insults. Now now. Don’t be a gloomy possum, she said as she drifted behind him. With preemptive giggles, she reached forward and covered his eyes.

It was a scene that was nearly unheard of in the Dream World. Normal dream demons would have exploded from their auras interacting too closely. It was only because of their strangeness that the two involved did not, for Calico had lost her aura long ago in the presence of reality invading the Dream World, and Possum had voluntarily mutilated his to the point where it no longer could interact with matter from any plane. Despite such safe measures, it was not a comfortable position for Possum. He had heard about the first time Calico had tested her aura-less body on another named Ruby Lynx, who still carried the mental scars of the incident. Perhaps due to his inquisitive nature, Possum was not disturbed to that extent. He even allowed it to continue, letting it stir the rudimentary tactile senses of a thought-form creature. There was the distinct sensation of an interchange of energy where her hands touched his face, and an even stronger interchange where her chest pressed against his back. Curiosity begged him to delve deeper into the sensation. But, Possum wasn’t one to put his existence on the line for an experiment… at least, not often.

That’s enough, he said sternly as he shoved Calico’s arms away from him. There was a different sensation when he pushed against her matter, but he relegated it to the back of his mind as an interesting note.

Calico slowly drifted back from him, her arms hugging her torso as a wide grin split her face. The expression in her eyes and the lines around them showed a mix of revulsion and excitement as if she had partaken of exotic cuisine, the kind that could kill while tasting delicious. Before she could lend voice to the sensation, though, another voice piped up behind her. She turned quickly and looked at her own window to Althanas, a large red bubble with an organic frame. It looked like a man would if you erased his entire left side, stole his skin, made his muscle translucent, and bend him into a hoop. The frame’s large orange eye quivered at the attention and the mouth wobbled open, letting a stream of drool run down the bubble that it hugged with its whole body.

The voices came not from the creature, but from the bubble that showed a view of Althanas as it was seen by this dissected creature’s other half on the mortal plane.

*~*

Edgar wobbled along the rocky earth as he starred into the back of the hare commander. The rest of the hares followed behind in two lines two hundred men long. The line on the left bore spears and shields that glittered as brightly as their armor and the right line held crossbows that could rip a human’s arm off if he managed to pull the thick line back. Despite the floppy ears and cotton tails, they were an intimidating group. It was evident that they didn’t follow Edgar, but rather the hare in front of Calico’s puppet.

Sergeant Puddles Butterworth may not have been much more intimidating than the average hare, but he was certainly the shiniest in gold-gilded armor and monocle, and the heaviest in both haunches and belly. Edgar, comparatively, was a diminutive contraption of jelly-like flesh and a mannequin half replacing what had been left in the Dream World. A too-large black cloak spared them the sight of his organs, and over it lay a mismatched collection of armor and decoration. The puppet wore a hare’s chest and back plate upside down like a massive armored kilt, and he bore a shield on his back the way a turtle carries its shell. Wrapped around his one-eyed head was a bandana emblazoned with the whimsical symbol of a smiling cat. He struck a marginally better pose now that he had figured out which end of his pilfered spear to point up, but it wasn’t much help. Not caring for public opinion, though, the puppet toddled after the supreme hare and listened as he led them in a marching song.

“Wot wot. Jolly good day to break some baddies’ heads,” Sergeant Puddles sang in a deep voice that bounced off the rise and fall of the boulder strewn terrain. The double line of hares sang the line after him, each in perfect time as they descended from the heights and wound between the large, shady outcroppings that marked the border of the mountain range.

“Marchy march fo’ the eternal Queen,
May she shine on us forthwit,
As we kick them bloomin’buggers,
In the spot with which they sit.

“Wot wot. Jolly good day to break some baddies’ heads.”

The troops emphatically repeated the last line as Butterworth twisted his head about and gestured to the rocks with grand sweeps of his spear and shield.

“Hidey hide behind the rocks,
A stick and shot for each,
So we can jump the lollygags,
When our camp, they try to reach.

“Wot wot. Jolly good day to break some baddies’ heads.”

Each pair of hares, starting from the front of the line, let their voices leave the song as they broke off to take positions in any crevice or shadow that would afford them cover from the valley below. Those behind them moved forward against Edgar’s back and continued to sing until they too found suitable dips in the rock.

“Snoopy snoop o’er the rocks,
But only two ears at once,
Let the other nap the day away,
So we can always see to pounce.

“Wot wot. Jolly good day to break some baddies’ heads.”

By the time the verse was finished, nearly every hare had disappeared into the rocks. Butterworth turned grandly, almost knocking Edgar back with his shield, to observe nothing more than the occasional pair of ears sticking up from the terrain. “Jolly good,” he said as he hopped backward into the shadow of the closest boulder to the grass of the valley. Edgar stepped over the lip of rock, and he was promptly facedown next to Sergeant Puddles.

“Sweet song hoppy,” said the puppet with a click of his wooden jaw as he righted himself.

Butterworth had spent enough time with his Queen’s ambassador to know that the words were a sloppy translation of what she had actually said in whatever world she resided in. So, he filled in the gaps and took it as a compliment. “Tell her thank you, my good man,” he said quietly as he stuck his head over the boulder and looked at the empty expanse before him. Grasslands spread out to the earthy rise to his right, and the area to his left was slow moving water until it, too, met a rise in the earth. In order to approach their camp without crossing a mountain range, an army would have to move through that funnel of earth and up the jagged, winding path the hares had used to come down.

Satisfied with their position, Sergant Puddles sat down next to Edgar in the boulder’s shadow. His monocled face turned to the puppet, then quickly away. However much respect was due to the Queen’s messenger, it was still hard to look him in the eyes, one bright orange and bulbous, the other an empty wooden socket. Edgar just stared straight ahead, perfectly content to ignore everything until some new stimulus got his attention.

The only visible movement came in the form of The Astounding Relativologist’s inventions. “Bloomin’ nutter if he’s going to run those chillins out into danger,” muttered Butterworth as he watched a group of the flying eyeballs move overhead. They quickly made their way like a flock of sparrows out over the valley.

Then, something else followed them into the air. In the distance, where the tent was barely visible if you knew where to look, four projectiles shot into the air. Two appeared to land behind the camp and rather widely spaced from it. The other two screamed over the hare-filled rocks like shrieking bats. Startled into silence, Butterworth popped his head over the rock to watch as they landed. One disappeared with a small splash into the water, and the other became nothing but a puff of dust in the nearby grassland. “What’s he doin’?” the hare commander muttered to himself.

After a few moments, Edgar spoke on behalf of the Queen. “Sandbox.”

[Twisted Infinitum]

Possum studied the rifts with such intent that his head was craned forward and his shoulders hunched. At least five of the eyes had a good view of the army that had moved into the valley, and one, in particular, held a very interesting scene. Such a superfluous use of the allotted time, he mused haughtily with his eyes fixed upon the diminutive bathing figures.

Possy-poo! gasped his companion, her head hovering over his shoulder, I had no idea you were into voyeurism! You’re just full of surprises today. She gave him a playful poke on the shoulder, and he inched away from her hand as the exchange of energy sent a ripple through his form. Another hint of curiosity burned in his bespectacled eyes, but he tucked it away for later.

Simple reconnaissance, he responded, not embarrassed in the least. His attention stayed focused on the screens and their patchwork masses, species indeterminable from the All-Seeing Eyes’ vantage point.

Awww… isn’t that romantic? Calico cooed. Possum turned to see that she was studying the images as well. That one, she said and pointed when she noticed his raised brow, Blondie-girl and black hair guy are bathing together… in front of an audience. I think it’s kinky!

You can determine gender with such low detail? Possum asked with his raised brow as still as if it would become a permanent feature.

Of course! she responded sweetly. Then, her voice became sultry. It’s all in the curves of the shoulders and hips, honey. She stroked her hands down her sides to emphasize her body’s own gentle curves, and she couldn’t help but giggle when Possum’s brows climbed higher.

To her chagrin, dream demons didn’t equip themselves with anything else that would climb higher in such a situation.

*~*

Patience was not a job requirement for a professor of such high standing. If a student was late, they had to deal with locked doors and sentry automatons in ‘silence please’ mode. The Astounding Relativologist would have traded a month’s salary to have a few of those sentries with him. Contrary to the implied gentleness, ‘silence please’ mode would be forceful enough to put some sense into the thick skulls of the hares.

When news came from Father Brain that the enemy had been sighted, he gave up those wishes. He and his students had only their wits and centuries worth of technology with which to prove their skill, both to the hares and to themselves.

“Assemble behind me as per teleportation protocols,” he said to the nearest of the students. They had emerged from their cool haven now that sunset was nearing, but they suddenly seemed to want to crawl back into it. Without any apparent notice of their hesitation, The Astounding Relativologist pulled a device from his numerous belt holsters that looked like a large metal letter ‘T’ with a glass eye in the middle. Teleportation devices were standard in their world, but he knew that this homebrewed design would serve them better here, where there was no teleportation grid to guide them. It was very representative of their descent into a barbaric world that such a basic technological convenience would be guided by only his hard work and steady hand.

Sweating more than usual, the students formed a tight mass directly behind him. Many of them braced themselves. With a prideful glow to his greasy face, The Astounding Relativologist held the device up so that the eye gazed upon him and his students. “I will transport us to the base of the mountains. Our… comrades will be waiting. Let’s show them what Canunbrium stands for,” he said without a shred of the peppy enthusiasm that would have fit the sentiment.

His eyes glimmered, and some students behind him cringed, as he pushed the button under his thumb. The eye began to glow like a small star, from red to white as it gathered energy. Then, the head of the device creaked to the side, welds popping noisily. At the last moment in which the head was connected to the base, a beam of white energy shot out like an arrow’s trail. It went wide of the professor’s shoulder and flew, unhindered, through the opening of the tent. A second of silence passed among the students, some horrified, others relieved.

Then, a hare-sized bubble of the energy ripped a hole in the tent wall and shot out toward the valley like a long drive up the fairway. The Astounding Relativologist followed the blistering flight with dull eyes as his device fell brokenly from his hand. “It appears to have functioned appropriately,” he said quietly, a hollow analysis, as he watched the ramifications of the Canunbrium Instructional Facility’s extraordinary science, and the shoddy construction it was wrapped in.

Amid the rising bustle within the tent, a single hare emerged from the open flaps. “Binky?” he asked incredulously as he looked around at nothing more than rocks and a group of guilty looking humans.

[Twisted Infinitum]

It took Possum a moment to realize what the white creature was that had appeared in the bathing scene. When he did, his mouth twisted into an amused smirk. How improb-

Oh no! My sweet Binky! screamed Calico as she hovered behind Possum’s shoulder. Despite his lack of eardrums, he winched at the volume. Don’t let them eat you! Aaaaaah! They got him! They’re going to eat him! she continued with the hysteria of ten distraught soccer moms. As the enemy army pushed and nipped him along, Calico’s cries became, at times, as unintelligible as Binky’s own wails that drifted clearly up to the All-Seeing Eye.

That one is a very unfit warrior. Why did you include it in your force? Possum asked coldly and with a hint of disgust. Apparently, the constant shrieking was getting on his nerves.

Instead of being offended, Calico answered him matter-of-factly. Her face went from wild and dramatically weepy to calm and dry in a split second. Well, I’ve found in my research, she stressed the word as if it were from a foreign language, that bunnies work best when they have an underdog with them. Or an underbunny… Anyway, the underbunny makes them feel good about themselves because they can never be as bad as the underbunny. When the underbunny does good, they get all proud and happy and really good at killing things. I think this is option A that’s going on right now.

Possum looked at her blankly for a solid minute. Then, he sighed and shook his head as if the information before him was too contradictory to understand and too unimportant to be worth the effort. You are full of surprises as well, Calico, he said with his face once again pointed at the rifts, but there was the slightest hint of something in his voice. It might have been respect, or perhaps just pleasant surprise. Calico didn’t notice, though, because she was busy giggling at the image of Binky getting a reversed Mohawk.

*~*

As much as he strained his beady eyes, Sergeant Puddles Butterworth couldn’t make out the white bubble’s destination in the fading light. He thought it was a white bubble, at least. Its flight was so fast that it could have been dismissed as imagination if a gasp of surprise hadn’t rippled up the rabbity ranks in its wake. Baring a mass hallucination, it had to be something real and potentially advantageous. Butterworth noted that it came from the direction of their camp, which would suggest that the affectionately name TAR had gotten of his sleepy metal behind and done something to help.

With a heavy grunt, the hare sat down behind his and Edgar’s rock once more. He could only play guessing games in his head for so long before his ears got tied in a knot. “What just popped on by us?” he asked slowly, speaking through Edgar instead of to him.

In the required delay between question and response, Edgar worked his jaw as if to loosen its creaky joints. Then, he blurted out, “Poor Binky-boo flew away. Captured by mean nakey girls.”

It became clear, then, that the hare regiment was truly born and bred from their Queen’s tutelage. They laughed. The mountain shook with it as word spread up the craggy path and more hares rolled in hysterical convulsions. “Maybe… maybe,” Butterworth gasped through his high pitched laughter, “Maybe this’ll put some punch into the boy. By the Queen’s light, may she live eternal forthwit, he needs it.”

The few ears that were visible along the path bobbed as their owners agreed. Quickly, the laughter died down. The nearest concealed hare lifted his face over the rock and, with a big grin still on his face, asked, “So, Sergeant, we gonna rescue the bugger?” Chuckles ran up the ranks in response.

Butterworth took a moment to straighten his monocle thoughtfully. “I’d say not,” he said dryly, “They’re likely headed this way, anyway.”

“Yep,” Edgar said, “Drivin’ over.”

“Good good,” the sergeant chirped, “let’s keep our cottons under cover until they’re right on top of us. That’ll give us enough surprise to poke ‘em in the rumps.” He waved his spear high, and dozens of spears waved over the rocks in salute. The last rays of sunlight made them glitter prettily. “It’ll give them nakey girls time to play with good ol’ Binky,” he added, causing another chorus of chuckles to run round as the ears and spears ducked behind the rocks.

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

From my customary nighttime position of sitting on top of the truck, anchored down by a Shadow, I pounded on the roof. The loud punk rock that poured out of the windows abruptly stopped. Leaning over as far as I could I yelled into the window.

“Turn the high beams on! I want us to have a clear view of what’s coming up.” The sight of one of the two solders we had captured earlier moving in a near by truck snapped my attention over to that truck. I chuckled as the man slumped down, obviously unconscious. Several Mandas took the opportunity to use him as a foot stool. I winched in sympathy for the man when the booted feet laid on him were less than gentle. He’ll be sore when he wakes up.

I shrieked when, beneath me, the truck came to abrupt halt. Behind us, the other trucks also slammed on their brakes. Several trucks veered out of line to avoid a collision.

“What are you doing?!” Punching the roof of the truck angrily, I yelled down at them. I could hear both the General and Kelly barking orders behind me, at the moment, I ignored them.

“Hey genius, look ahead of us, the trucks can’t go over that type of terrain.” The Manda driving leaned her head out the window and glared at me. Shooting a look at the rocky, pitted ground a yard or so in front of the truck I scowled. Great. Directing the Shadow that held me to slide off the top of the truck and take me with it. I stood a moment later, my body from the waist down encased in the Shadow as it flowed over the ground faster than I could hope to clamber over the rocks. I wandered the area a little, looking for a way through. Hearing some one shouting my name I looked up, the General waved at me to come back in.

“One of the girl’s spotted what might be an army coming up behind us.” The General murmured. I held back the curse that burned on the end of my tongue. Perfect, what else can happen? We’re trapped in this area unless we decide to ditch the trucks.

“Right. What are the girl’s doing?” I asked, my gaze following several Mandas hurrying back the way we came from, their arms laden with bottles, both empty and full.

“Normal orders so far. I have the Mandas putting the bottles to use, they will make following us on foot hard. I’ve also told the girls to kick dirt over the broken glass so it doesn’t shine as much. Eddie is placing several crates around the area and soaking the wood with more alcohol.”

“You realize that also blocks our potential attack with the trucks. We cannot replace blown out tires. Have the trucks moved... never mind, I’ll move the trucks and you handle the normal preparations.”

“What about the man we captured earlier?”

"I saw a few of the Mandas knock out the other earlier.” I stopped and thought about what to do with the man for a moment, finally I shrugged.

“Have him stripped down to his skivvies and tie him up to the rabbit. Remember to bind the rabbit’s feet. Leave them in the center of everything that way everyone can keep an eye on them.’ Directing the Shadow to release me I gave it orders to spread to the others of its kind, before returning to me with four others. They were to spread out into the shadows, head back towards the army coming up behind us and kill any humans they encountered. The red wolves I directed to spread out along the perimeters, especially along the shore and the far side of the group. I was leery of being attacked from the sides.

The trucks I moved so they were spread out in a large half circle. The bright beams of each truck were kept on to illuminate the night between us and the approaching army. A last minute serving of liquor to the Mandas and we were as ready as we could possibly be. As a Shadow enveloped me from the waist down and hoisted me up off the ground a few inches I could not help but feel like I was missing something very important.

[Twisted Infinitum]

Why isn’t there any light? Calico asked as she once again hovered over Possum’s shoulder like a parrot on a sugar trip.

He turned his head and looked at her over the edge of his glasses. It’s night, he said, his annoyance crystal clear.

Calico made a petulant face and crossed her arms. Edgar and Puddles are coverting, so it’s boring, she explained, And I know it’s night. Why don’t you turn the eyeballer’s lights on?

Because, he gestured to one of the rifts, There is clearly a second force approaching. I cannot make out the number or species, but they will likely encounter the force that has your… underbunny. We can defeat them when they have weakened each other.

Calico nodded slowly to herself, then she smiled prettily. You’re so smart, she cooed as she pulled a gold star sticker from the nothingness and pressed it to his forehead.

Possum instinctively crossed his eyes in an attempt to follow it. The sensation of such a small foreign thought-form on him wasn’t unpleasant, just different. It felt very similar to what the mortals called a tickle. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of the whole situation. Calico responded with her own ditzy giggle.

*~*

If Calico hadn’t been distracted, she would have noticed that the view from Edgar’s eye was getting a bit more interesting.

“Let’s keep our mouths zippered,” Butterworth whispered to him as if Edgar might be tempted to do otherwise. He didn’t seem to be alive, at the moment. His gaze was pointed straight into the ground as if his batteries had run out. The hare commander decided to write off the oddity as one of many, and he listened to the sounds beyond his hiding place. There had been numerous beams of light moving above him, but their sources were too noisy to be the floating eyeballs. If the enemy had contraptions similar to what that human professor kept in his pockets, this battle would be a true test of his regiment’s mettle. “Better to be the first to pop it off, then” he mused quietly to himself after someone had shouted the name ‘Kahlina’ and, hopefully, drawn the attention of all away from the base of the mountains.

Edgar snapped out of his daze and looked to his hiding companion. But, Sergeant Puddles had already bounded on top of the boulder. The hare took a second to analyze the situation. In the red glare from the back end of their contraptions, he could see a large mass of men, women, and stranger shapes that were indistinguishable in the low light.

With a quick thump of his spear against the rock, he bellowed the cry of all righteous and noble hares. “For the glory of the Queen!”

“May she live eternal forthwit,” echoed every single soldier. From the nearest hidey-holes, the crossbow-wielding hares bounded to a position similar to their commander’s. The large bows creaked almost in unison as they were drawn tight, and then a racket of dancing strings filled the air. The hares danced with them, each vaulting backwards from the force of their own weapons, and landing squarely in their hiding spots.

Butterworth felt the air throb on both sides of him as about one hundred thick steel bolts shot forward. In such low light, even his soldiers’ aim would be compromised. But, there were many bolts for many targets, and nothing was as satisfying as the first volley.

*~*

Both of the dream demons turned to the Edgar bubble as the sound of the first attack reached them.

This places us in an unpleasant situation, Possum grumbled darkly. He didn’t seem surprised, but still annoyed.

Weeeee! Calico screamed as she hopped around like a cricket. Turn the lights on so we can see what happened.

The view from the Edgar bubble shifted as the puppet stood and looked over his concealing boulder. Butterworth’s feet were at the side of his vision as, alone, the commander stood in plain view with his shield ready and his legs tense.

“The lead hare never stands down when the bloomin’ raucous gets going!” he belted out when he noticed Edgar’s orange eye, dreadfully bright in the darkness, staring at him.

The eye focused on the enemy, and Calico inched closer to the bubble as if nervous. Possum sighed behind her and gave a quick mental command. Suddenly, the scene was lit magnificently as five of the eyes lowered close to the enemy formation and turned on their high beams.

Kahlina? Calico asked, oblivious to the fact that the name should have already come to her attention. What’s she doing here?

Possum made a sound as if he had a question ready, but Calico already had her fuzzy hand pressed against the Edgar bubble and became deaf to him as her presence reached to the lower plane.

*~*

Edgar jolted backward as if he had taken a battering ram to the throat. Then, just as suddenly, he popped up behind the rock and waved his gummy and wooden arms wildly. “Kahlina!” he shrieked in a voice that was more coherent than his own, and definitely more feminine.

The possessed puppet’s eye was locked on the woman riding upon darkness. But, there was something else that caught Calico’s attention. She turned her borrowed head a fraction to see a strange procession forcing its way out of the confused army. “Underbunny!” she called. Binky didn’t seem to notice as he, naked as the day he was born, hopped frantically forward and bowled humans out of his way as best he could with his legs tied together and a man dragging behind him limply like a ball and chain. A wolf, pursuing hungrily, latched onto the unconscious man’s foot, and he wasn't unconscious anymore. The man's scream increased the volume, but the bizarre parade didn’t slow.

Butterworth made a strangled gurgling sound until he could remember how to speak. “I say, that’s a bloody barbaric way to handle prisoners! Run, Binky boy!”

[Amaril Torrun]

((Two adolescent dragons and 100 Faoi have entered area A from area D. The rest of the army arrives in area A from area D about an hour or two later.))

Jerichol and Laverne watched from the end of the final stream of the river valley, fresh beads of water falling down the sides of their faces. They had not caught up with the retreating army like Kataneen had ordered. The metal contraptions on wheels that the army used were much too fast to keep up with. The only reason they could watch the army of drunken women, shadow figures and wolves was because the retreat seemed to have stopped. Many of the Faoi closest to the edge of the water eyed the army hungrily. It took almost all of dragons’ mental strength to keep them from attacking.

“What do we do? Mother told us to come back if there was any sign of trouble.” Laverne quivered for only a moment, but it was enough for Jerichol to see she was scared.

He turned to the enemy again, studying their every move. The day had turned to night, but he could still see, and more importantly hear, what was going on due to his dragon senses. “We can’t just desert our instructions. Can’t you hear them breaking glass and yelling orders at each other. They aren’t running anymore, so they must be ready for a fight.”

Laverne’s voice strengthened in resolve. “Then we can’t just sit here and let our mother and our siblings run into a trap. We must go back and warn them about our enemy’s defenses.”

Jerichol couldn’t help admitting his sister’s wisdom. The rest of the army needed to know what was going on. Yet, he also couldn’t help hearing his mother’s words about bravery. “Alright, you go and take half of our Faoi back with you. I don’t think I could hold all of them under my control. I’ll stay here with the other fifty and we’ll continue to keep watch.”

Laverne didn’t say a word, but she was obviously troubled by the idea of leaving her brother behind. Her brother was a stubborn one though, and she didn’t have time to waste on arguing any further. He’d stay no matter what. Brushing her cheek across one of his was the only goodbye needed before she took off with fifty Faoi following closely behind.

Jerichol turned his attention back to the enemy. Besides, this is too good of a position to lose. When they start fighting against our main force, I’ll be able to get in from the side. There was hardly any light now and he didn’t see the defenses that were also being placed on the side flanks of his enemy.

-----------

By the time Laverne returned to the main force of the Split Breeds, the army had already detected a halt in the enemy’s movement. Not wanting to run straight into a trap, they had made a makeshift camp while planning the best way to attack. Kataneen remained silent during the plans, thinking about her son, left all alone against an entire army. Darith was absent from the meeting completely, keeping the diminishing morale of his draconian troops up by explaining that the time for honor and glory was near. This left Hector with almost complete control of the battle plans. Only the inexperienced leader of the entire army stood in his way.

“I still think the Faoi would be the best first wave…” he muttered.

Amaril shook his head. “We don’t know the full extent of our enemy’s power.” Hector’s constant idea of sacrificing anything but his own men was agitating the Split Breed leader. “We need to use a different tactic than a head on attack. Hector, I know you don’t want to lose anymore of your men, but you have a trained force that could attack in many different ways. This is what I think would work best…”

The half-dragon’s plan went into effect immediately, though Hector still disliked it. The Faoi would travel in front, controlled by five of Kataneen’s children, with Hector’s archers right behind. Rather than starting a melee battle right away though, the archers would unload volley after volley of arrows on the enemy until the battle went into much closer quarters. Then, and only then, would the Faoi go into battle. Hector’s soldiers, mingled with Darith’s small battalion of draconians would follow the Faoi. Hector’s rogues would use the advantage of night to sneak around to the side opposite of Jerichol. There, they would meticulously take out as many foes as they could without getting caught.

((Rumple, I’m leaving you to post before my army’s actions take place, since you were prepared, ready to defend and then got attacked from behind first. This post merely got my army into their positions.))

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

Standing, held aloft by the Shadow, I looked back the way we had come. Watching for the group of Mandas that had gone back to litter the path with broken glass. I watched several of the Mandas drag the over sized rabbit into the open and tie the man to it. I shook my head, wondering just when the damned thing would stop blubbering. Briefly, I entertained the thought of using the man’s jockeys as a gag for the rabbit.

A low snarl drew my attention to the wolves; several of them stared out into the river. I stared at the dark water for several minutes yet I was unable to see anything. Beckoning over several of the Mandas I passed a quiet order for them to pepper the other side of the bank with a couple of the molotov cocktails.

The first bottle broke on the far side of the bank, fire spreading and lighting the dryer of the vegetation on fire. A sound I had never heard before warned me a half a second before I heard the thud of something impacting. Around the camp, several Mandas screamed. I blinked, more than a little surprised to find myself suddenly pressed to the ground, my shadow covering me.

I could hear the General, Kelly and Eddie yelling at the Mandas and DDP’s, trying to get them settled and back in order. I looked down at the shadow and noticed the large bolt from a cross bow embedded in the Shadow and the ground, a scant inch from my side. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the rabbit struggling to run away. I scrambled out from under my Shadow.

“Stop the rabbit! Fall into ranks and use the trucks for cover. Use the cross bows. After the first volley I want the half of the ranks to charge. Use the rocks for cover.” I was caught up by the Shadow that shuddered and pulled itself up off of the cross bow. My stomach did a flip at the sight of the hole in the Shadow closing over.

The sharp pinging sound of the cross bows firing filled the air. I followed the flight of the bolts as best as I could. I spotted a rabbit, one far bigger than the one I had captured, standing proudly on one of the rocks. I could dimly see a figure behind him, waving its arms. It almost looked like it was dancing behind the huge rabbit, a single glowing orange eye gleamed brightly in the darkness. I started to take a step forward then remembered that I was enveloped by the Shadow.

“What are you waiting for? Come on let’s go!” The Shadow and I hurried after the group of two hundred Mandas. It was not until I had crossed half of the space between me and the large rabbit that I realized that the figure was Edgar. The Shadow slowed and stopped at the sudden jolt of my body jumping. Small tendrils extended up from the main body of the Shadow and gently felt me over, as if checking for a wound.

“What in the hell?” I said just loud enough for my voice to carry over the sounds of a skirmish.

~~~~~~~~~~~
The General watched Kahlina follow after the attacking force of the Mandas and checked the impulse to yell at her. Instead, she turned to the pile of Mandas that covered the rabbit and the unconscious man. She looked on in surprise when she noticed one Mandas held on with hands and teeth. The long velvety appendage was firmly clenched between the Manda’s teeth. Shaking her head, she turned to look at the preparations Kelly and Eddie was setting up.

Kelly had groups of Mandas re-setting the cross bows and lining up bottles to be used as moltov cocktails. Many were stationed near or behind trucks to keep an eye on the other army. The sight of the dark elves helping willingly was an unexpected one.

“Ladies, let the rabbit up. Make sure you tie him up firmly this time so he cannot get away. After wards, I want four of you to watch him. If he moves, shave him.” The General walked over to one of the dark elves.

“I have a job for you to do. We need people out there, with more intelligence than the Shadows have. I trust you and your fellows to keep out of sight well enough. The orders are the same as the Shadows. If you can, kill, but don’t get caught.”

~~~~~~~~
Halfway between their camp and the enemy’s army the Shadows sank into the ground to hide from the light of the trucks and any light that would come from the enemy army. Unperturbed by the slower movement through the earth, they continued on their mission.

[Twisted Infinitum]

Calico watched the crushing end to Binky’s escape attempt with as much of a frown as Edgar’s face would allow. “Poor underbunny,” she whimpered, “He did try hard, though- Aaaah!” She saw the throng of women raise their own crossbows and take aim at the only target available, her dear Sergeant Puddles. With a mother’s gooey yet skillful hand, she pulls the hare’s legs out from under him. Before he could even gasp, he was laid out on the boulder at a speed that threatened to squish away his potbelly. The gasp, finally released, came out like the air in a squeaky toy. Wheezing, he slid behind the boulder as bolts flew overhead and bounced, harmlessly, off the mountain’s lower teeth.

“Thank you, my Queen,” he said in a voice like escaping steam, “Sometimes, I do get a bit too excited.” With the agonizing wince that followed, it was clear that he only thanked her out of loyalty.

“You’re very welcome, my dear,” Calico told him sweetly. Then, she leaned her disturbing head close and said sternly, “We need to protect my daughter in law.”

Butterworth lost what little air he had left as his eyes ballooned dramatically. The only response he could manage was a squeak of, “Da-i-law?”

Calico clapped her hands together as she set he legs elegantly under her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but Edgar only got married to her very recently. She’s that pretty blonde girl who was riding around on the ink blob. Don’t go shooting her, now.”

Butterworth shook with regret, his eyes closing and his breath returning in a whimper that said nothing less than “Too late”. However, before he could present a proper confession, a tide of angry women with razor-laced paintbrushes swept around their hiding place. With a powerful, yet painful shove, he righted himself to keep her borrowed body between him and the boulder. “Through my bloody belly first!” he wheezed as he took a wide swipe at the bodies. His spear’s golden details sparkled in the radiant light of the eyeballs, dazzling the dream demon into silence as she crouched behind his arm.

The bodies flowed wide from them for a moment, then came crashing back with weapons thrusting and curses thick as molasses. Butterworth hefted his shield to block the assault, taking numerous small wounds on his upper arm as a result. Recoiling with gritted teeth, he shouted up the rocky path that could no longer be seen. “For the Queen!”

The ocean of women and blades readied for another press when four spear points came into view. “May she live eternal forthwit!” chorused the hares that had thrust forward from their hiding spots. With frantic pokes and shields twitching to deflect razor strikes, they parted the sea to reveal, for the barest of moments, a view of the land not yet washed over by the enemy.

Calico squawked as her long-eared champion grabbed her with his shield hand and hopped for freedom. The force of his bouncing, whipping her behind like a streamer, was too much stimulation, and the prospect of those flickering blades finding her physical body filled her with dread. So, with a concentrated effort and a violent jolt that went unnoticed in the frantic flight, the dream demon left Edgar, once again, to weather the storm.

Butterworth, oblivious to the change, bounded a fair distance from the crush of humans before bringing Edgar to a gentle halt. The puppet stared blankly at him with his jaw limp as if it had unhinged. “Tell ‘er we’ll be fine as flowers,” he said when the sad realization hit him. Then, he turned back to the fight. The masses of identical female faces were spotted with hares visible from the shoulder and up. Others were completely visible as they leapt onto the boulders and dove back into the current with spear points leading. The hare commander smiled proudly as he bounded forward to rejoin them. “Wot wot. Jolly good night to break them lasses’ heads!” he sang as both his voice and his bloodied body were swallowed in the maelstrom.

*~*

From his vantage point in front of the tent, The Astounding Relativologist watched the scene with wide eyes. It had exploded so suddenly, from the noisy approach of vehicles to the loud, eyeball-lit crash of bodies and blades.

“I guess something is finally happening,” Tortured Mau said with cold disinterest.

“They need assistance,” the human responded, his voice more urgent than it had been in his whole visit to Althanas.

Mau shrugged and leaned lazily against her staff. “Yours, not mine,” she said flatly, “I will do what I do.”

The Astounding Relativologist raised an eyebrow for a moment before he turned and called for his students. “Ready the transport!” he instructed to the teenagers who were nothing but shiny patches in the night. “Father Brain,” he said in a softer voice as he adjusted a microphone in his helmet, “Please help us move quickly before the hares find themselves extinct.”

Mau watch his retreating back with a hint of amusement in her smile, but not in her eyes. “We dance the dance again,” she said bitterly to herself as she extended her staff in front of her, “And try to fight the steps.” The charms jingled as, under them, the night grew thicker. A shape formed there, the color of obsidian emptiness and dense stars. “You shall have a name when your work is done,” she told the sleek leopard that seemed to have been born from a constellation. Immediately, the beast shot out into the pitch black night and the radiant struggle at its core.

*~*

Daughter in law? Possum asked, forming, with just as much surprise, the question that Butterworth had choked on.

Calico didn’t respond as she jerked her hand away from the bubble and clung to herself as if to keep her chest from exploding. Despite the fact that she was a lung-less being in an airless world, she panted wildly. I hate it, she hissed, So cold. So… cutty. She cringed at the made up word, imagining the pain she would have endured if she inhabited a puppet full of razors.

Possum drifted from his usual spot before the rifts. That plane is not for us, he said in what was almost a soothing voice.

Calico nodded forcefully. It’s too small, she agreed as she wrung her hands together emphatically. Everything is too close. Then, she shook off her fear the way an animal does rainwater. I want to play with the ground, she said excitedly, her face pleading.

Possum, taken aback at the sudden change, took a moment to comprehend what she was saying. Well, my minion did request a secure transportation route, he said with a wave of his hand.

The nothingness below their feet became real, in a miniaturized way. Like the scenery to a model train set, the mountain stretched under them from the tent to the middle of the nearest army’s ranks. Over it all, ethereal bodies waged war. The path up to the tent was a mess of color as hares and women clashed, their small semi-transparent representations nothing more than a pointy fog over the relatively solid image of the terrain. Giggling, Calico drifted onto her stomach and poked at the people. Her clawed finger passed through without even shifting the image.

You can only affect the topography. Mortals are too insubstantial to give us a solid reading, Possum instructed blandly, Now, if you could make a road, of sorts, from the tent to the combat area, my forces can move into the-

He kept talking, but Calico wasn’t listening. I’ll make a half pipe! she squealed as she dug a hand into the earth near the tent and dragged it right down to the base of the mountain.

*~*

“Half pipe!” Edgar clicked in mock excitement. The ground suddenly dropped under him, and it continued to drop in a line from his position to the fight going on below. In an instant, the battle that had been breaking around the boulders became a short fall for every fighter. A moment of surprise stilled the shouts and blood as they all realized that the ground under them had been punched down and now rose in high, curved walls on either side. One breath later, the fighting resumed as the lack of cover left everyone open and vulnerable. Spears and brushes met in equal proportions as crossbows snapped and rocketed their wielders onto their rumps.

Then, a new sound caught Edgar’s attention. He turned to see the source of a shrill, throbbing hum, and was greeted by the now-legless vehicle of the humans. It looked even more like a bug now with domed windshields and a glittering shell as the eyeballs from the camp tracked it with their lights on. At least twenty students clung to the sides of the hovering craft with their oversized guns at the ready like twitching feelers. Atop it, a squat platform sat and held aloft a weapon much like a cannon.

In the seat behind that cannon was The Astounding Relativologist himself. He waved frantically, his voice muted by the hum of the vehicle’s anti-gravity thrusters. Every ounce of Edgar’s self-preservation came into play as he interpreted the gesture as, “Get out of the way!” Unhurriedly, he hobbled to the side just in time to keep from being anti-gravititated into the rocky ground. The first of the students caught his arm and pulled him with them. Edgar flapped limpy in the air for a moment before many hands pushed him through a door. He fell inside the craft to join thirty shocked, yet excited, students.

Speeding along like a horse at full gallop, they were quickly approaching the battle. Edgar could see it through the cloudy window as he lurched toward the front of the craft. All around him, from the helmet speakers of every student, the voice of their professor rang. “Draw at the horizontal,” he commanded. The delighted hoots and shrieks of the students on the outer hull were almost as loud as the hovering engines as every thrill seeking bone in their bodies vibrated.

The air crackled with invisible energy as every gun sent a pulse toward the walls of their makeshift roadway. An instant later, the vehicle would have mowed down friend and foe alike, but for the fact that they were no longer in the way. Every hare and human not of the students’ world was plastered to the walls as the beams twisted gravity to point at either rock face. Untouched, the humming craft shot through the parting sea of bodies. Occasionally, someone would find a position directly between the two surfaces and get trapped in the worse place possible. That was when The Astounding Relativologist powered up his own anti-gravity turret. Like the eye of a great buzzing beast, he swept the transparent beam left and right so that its forceful push quickly sent any stragglers into the murals of hare and human and blood. In the vehicle’s wake, the other seventy students jogged and let their beams fly at the walls to slow the rate at which the writhing, shouting bodies slid back to meet the true direction of gravity.

The gravitopographers were almost near the end of the battleground when they came upon the group led by a bloodied Butterworth. Everyone there had plenty of time to witness the vehicle’s approach through the parting sea, and most of them had become more preoccupied with running than fighting each other. “Jump for it!” the hare commander bellowed to his remaining, non-gravitated soldiers. Their powerful legs pushed them high above the carpet of running humans, allowing most of them to grab onto the upper lip of the half pipe and haul their heavy, fuzzy behinds over before the bodies below them were shoved aside. The craft came to a gradual halt, every gravity gun still humming and students spilling out, at the location where the smooth road led into the enemy-filled grasslands.

“Halt!” came the shrill shriek from Butterworth as he stood upon the newly created rock wall. His eyes were locked on the woman that the Queen had indicated as she moved about and gave orders. Clearly, she was a superior within those forces. “Bloody halt!” he shouted again, and the screaming wall below him quieted slightly as the last of the students filed through the half pipe and let the living walls slide to a ginger landing in the base of it. “That army’s led by our princess!” he continued just as loudly, gesturing so forcefully that his steadfast monocle fell from his face and dangled on its chain.

Most of the hares within earshot voiced a question in unison. “We have a princess?!”

“Bloomin’ right! So stop the raucous!” howled their commander with a slight air of pleading toward the drunken, razor wielding forces.

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

A quick check in with Kelly and Eddie confirmed that the enemy army was getting ready for some form of attack. The General looked around at the girl’s as they readied to fight. On the faces of several, she found fear yet as many looked scared more looked furious, their face’s pinched with anger.

The General knew with out a doubt that all had their eyes turned towards those advancing on us but kept their ears tuned to the fighting on our rear. The sounds of screams, shouting and the metallic ring of metal on stone vibrated though the air. She looked around and made a split second judgment. Running over to Kelly, she pulled her aside.

“Change of plans. I want all light doused. Turn the trucks off and move the girls out of the way.”

“We’ll need light to fight.”

“Do you honestly think this army is ready to fight a two sided battle? Hell, none of our troops are battle ready. If we set up a ambush we stand a higher chance for surviving this damned battle. Get moving and talk to the Mandas let them know what we are doing. Also, see if any are willing to stay here to create a distraction so the rest can slip around to attack from the back and sides.” The General hurried towards Eddie as Kelly went to speak to the Mandas

“Eddie, in a minute the lights are going to go out. I want you to dip into the emergency crates and place three of them in the center of the circle, about four yards behind the closest truck. Don’t forget to douse the wood and place a couple of strips of cloth.” The General smiled as Eddie simply nodded and waited.

A few moments later, nearly as one, every truck was turned off and the lights turned off. The General had to strain her hearing to catch the quiet sound of footsteps. A light touch on her shoulder made her jump.

“Forty Mandas have agreed to stay. Several of them are in hiding within the camp, the rest are waiting by the crates Eddie just dropped.” Kelly drifted off, both of them noticed the sudden lack in the sound of the fighting going on in the rocks behind them. The shouts and screams were there though they sounded distinctly angry and disgruntled now.

“You go and wait with the DDP’s and the Mandas. Don’t worry about the wolves. They can handle things one their own.” The General felt another light touch then heard Kelly’s soft footsteps heading away. The general placed herself by the crates, finding one of the alcohol soaked strips of cloth by feel. She patted the lighter in her pocket and knelt on the ground, waiting for the enemy to appear.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sudden reforming of the ground coupled along with the shock of my troops plastered to the walls was more than enough to have me stand stupidly in one place for several minutes. I was glad that the Shadow had more presence of mind that I did. Once I stopped giving it orders, it continued to move me out of harm's way. The huge rabbit’s words, the commander rabbit I guess, finally sank in.

“Princess?” I echoed, my words drowned out by the indignant howls from my angry and injured Mandas. Not willing to look the gift horse in the mouth, I started yelling at my girl’s to shut up and settle down. A army of rabbits and Edgar. Where did he go?

Ordering the Shadow to move we, made our way up closer to the writhing mass of Mandas that were slowly sliding down the walls. I looked up at the head rabbit.

“Where is Edgar? I want to talk to him and Calico right now. I don’t have a lot of time, there is another army approaching from the other side.”