The ground rumbles and quakes, and the Limp Dicks start scrambling like dogs with burning tails. Their drones scatter and fly away as a huge shape barrels through them. The shape is huge, furry, and green, and it's moving fast.

The catbird is on the offensive.

"Hostile lifeforms incoming! Form a line! Form a line!"

The ground keeps surging, and the sounds of more animals begin to fill the air.

Looks like he brought some backup!

Through the floodlights, scrambling, and panicked gunfire, I catch flashes of other animals. Bullpigdogs ram and bite the shit out of dudes, crunching through their weird chrome armor. I see one of those weird giant green guinea pig things barrel through some ATVs like a huge furry van, scattering a handful of dudes. There's even a girafficorn pulling up from behind, shooting beams of sunlight from its horn.

"Holy shit!" I yell, shielding my eyes from the floodlights.

"Hmph. Told you she was here." Zazel wiggles in my arms. "Let me go! I am the Elemental of Chaos, not some toy for you pack around!"

"No. We're gonna jet as soon as we find Del."

"You're going to carry her around like your personal property as well?"

"Lay off me! I'm trying to make sure we come out of this alive!"

"Then let me help, you absolute braindead creature!" She wriggles her left arm free and jams it into the air. "Elbmurc sllaw nori eht sekam hcihw taht dna stnaryt fo enab eht ma I! YtinasnI fo Niamod!"

The pearly, psychedelic light of Zazel's go-to spell spreads out a point in the ground like a pool of mercury, turning the earth into a fucked up, glowing arthouse project. The sensation it makes is too bizarre to describe. It's like being tickled inside your skull while you taste the air with your eyes.

At first, the Limp Dicks don't react the spell - they're too focused on getting their asses kicked by the local wildlife. But then, one by fucking one, they start to freak out.

"Hey, who the hell are you!?"

"Help! On me!"

"Ahhh! Monster!"

"Get it off! Get it off!"

"Shut up and shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"

"What's wrong with you?! How did you- ARGH!"

The whole place devolves into a bloodbath, and the Limp Dicks are all too busy shooting each other and the animals to notice me and Zazel. Even the drones seem to be freaking out - they fly around wildly, shooting and flashing everywhere.

I get on the ground and pin Zazel and Pinky tight against me, covering them like a turtle shell. "Shit!" some stray bullets zip by my head. "Where's Del?"

"She's- She's here!"

"Here where?"

"Right here, egg!"

"Yo, quit fucking around and-"

That's when I see it. Just inches from my face, some cute, but strange tiny mouse-lookin' thing staring at me. It's a light gray color, with big, cute, red eyes and a fluffy tail that looks like a cross between a mouse and a raccoon. The critter is sniffing the air in front of my nose.

"Is that-"

"Eh?" Zazel shifts around under me, straining to see what I'm looking at. "Oh, ho! Now it all makes sense. Very clever, Nature."

Del squeaks and scampers up me and jumps into my jacket.

Oh, that's right. The pendant said Del's armor can change her into an animal.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Boom. The ground shakes.

I look up, and it's Del's catbird. It's covered in cuts and scrapes - and a bullet hole or two - but doesn't seem any worse for wear. It's standing over a couple of mangled drones and a dead Limp Dick.

"Hey! You're okay, buddy!"

It yowls and turns its body toward me.

"You ain't gotta tell me twice!"

The catbird lowers itself and I crawl up its side. As I reach the back, I feel Del and Pinky shift in my jacket. Zazel just grumbles.

As the catbird stands up, I look out and take in the battlefield.

It's like watching Storm Troopers go up against the forces of Narnia. The forest animals are going to town on the Limp Dicks, and the Limp Dicks are going to town on each other and the animals. But, unfortunately, it looks like the Limp Dicks are gaining the upper hand.

They're killing the critters. Not all of them, but they're dropping 'em good. They're forming small lines, firing on the poor animals, and mowing them down. It's an absolute bloodbath.

A knot forms in my throat and turn back. "Let's go!"

Our big green furball yowls and starts pumping its wings. As the catbird lifts us up into the air, Del squeaks, and I rub her head through my jacket. "It's alright, Del. We're gonna make these fucks pay for-"

Pop. Pop-pop-pop. Pop-pop.

Something hits me in the back, and the pain is instant. It's like a bunch of hot nails punching into my skin.

"Fuuuck!" My core surges, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have to swallow the rage.

The catbird yowls, and swerves a little. He caught some lead, too.

I growl. "Come on you fuckin' fleabag! Don't give out on us now! We need you!"

It yowls again, seemingly trying to reassure me, but it's clearly having a hard time. It swerves a little more, and slows down some.

"Don't worry, fella. We'll get Althea to patch you up. Just get us to Domina or Raelith."

"A silver lining to tall of this is," Zazel climbs out of my arms and sits on the catbird, "Domina and Raelith appear to be in the same place. But they aren't moving, so they may be pinned down by more of these individuals."

"Get me to over to 'em as soon as you can, Del. I can turn this shit on its head, but I need something from Domina."

Del squeaks and the catbird picks up speed. As we fly away from the carnage, my core is boiling. The pain is spreading through my body and the heat is making it hard to focus.

"I'll be honest," Zazel says with a sigh, "this isn't exactly how I wanted this evening to go. But we must make do with the hand we've been dealt."

I barely hear her. My ears are practically ringing with anger. Buzzing, more like.

I twist around. A cloud of purple LEDs.

Motherfucking drones. "Dell, the drones are back! Tell the furball to land!"

The buzzing gets louder.

"They're gonna shoot us!"

"We're almost there!" Zazel hisses. "We just-"

Pop-pop-pop-pop. Pop-pop. Pop.

I get showered in the back. "Motherfuckers! Shit!"

"Aaaahhh!" Zazel cries. "Curse them! I can't cast my magic under these conditions."

"Land! Land!"

The catbird yowls and swerves, and the wind is rushing in my ears. Del is squeaking, and Zazel is shouting. The pain is so bad it's hard to focus on anything.

Zazel points to the ground. "Down there! War has made some kind of construct!"

I catch a glimpse of something black tall in an upcoming clearing, it looks like a little fortress or castle or some shit. I also see the floodlights of more Limp Dicks pointed at it as well.

"Nature," Zazel shouts. "The top of the building is open! We may be able to land inside!"

I twist around and they're spreading out as they get closer.

I twist back around. "Go! Go! Go! They're gonna surround us!"

The catbird dives straight for the opening of the structure, and we hold on to its fur with an iron grip.

It lands with a huge thud on the side, giant paws clinging on the edge. It kicks its legs, climbs over, and jumps down, nearly squishing Domina and Raelith as lands with a huge thud.

Domina reaches to help us down. "Master! Lady Zazel!"

Raelith isn't far behind. She's covered in something that looks like oil - her blood. "Is the enemy pursuing you?"

"Yes!" Zazel says. "We need to seal the top of this building!"

Raelith looks up just as the drones fly by overhead. "What are those?"

I stomp. "Raelith! Now!"

She nods and lifts her left hand. The iron starts to glow crimson, and the whole tower vibrates and groans. Above us, a dome of iron slowly seals up the entrance to the makeshift tower. The drones fly down and crash into it, breaking apart and falling to the floor. One of the drones lands by my feet. Its body is a mess of chrome, but its LED is still on and bright. I crush it with my boot.

"Master!" Domina shouts. "I was so worried-"

"I need to get into my storage!" I practically yell at her. I don't mean to, but I'm pretty much at my limit.

"Yes, Master." She bows her head obediently and pulls her apron forward, stretching out the big pocket in the front.

I plunge my hand in there. I grope about in the cold, empty space, keeping the Dice in mind. Soon, my fingertips hit something small and velvety. I grab the pouch and pull it out.

I nearly tear the back as I open it and peer inside. Two golden twenty-sided dice glow back at me.

I reach in and grab 'em. Their surface feels smooth, but I can feel the numbers etched into 'em. I can feel a strange energy radiating from them, like fate and chaos and creation and destruction all mashed together and swirled around like a big mixed bowl of cosmic ice cream.

"What are those?" Asks Zazel, brow furrowing hard.

"Master?" asks Domina.

"What are those?" asks Raelith.

Pinky pops his head out of my jacket. He locks onto the dice, their glow shimmering in his big black eyes.

Del comes hopping out of my jack and runs down my leg. In a flash of green light, She returns to her normal form. "Leader," she says, her eyes fixated on the Dice, "I sense a strange power from those objects. What are they?"

I look up at them and crack a little smile. "The Divine Dice. And they're gonna help us beat the Liberation Society."