“Dear Diary,

Toto and his forces pulled out in the time we were stuck in those blasted caves. Finding our way out is going to be difficult since Toto blocked up all the entrances and exits. Vincent, the spirit guard, was intoxicated and the others were all injured and tired. I also recently had a strange dream, like I was back in the battle of the throne room of Lord Toto.

Coming out of my deep sleep was like being splashed with boiling water from deep sleep.

“Come on!” Ethan shouted. “Stop writing in that stupid diary Amelia, and lend us a claw.”

“Lay it off her. She’s come out of a coma.” Linton reminds him.

“Yeah.” Lucinda adds.

“Technically, it was a vegititive com…”

“Quiet.” Ipzitch says.

After a long silence, Lucinda comes up with a plan and asks Vincent for confirmation.

“Don't ask me,” he says, gesturing to Ethan and Linton. “Run it along with them.”

“You two.” Vincent says pointing to Ethan and Linton. “Wingus and Dingus.”

“Our names are Ethan and Linton.” Ethan says.

“Wingus, can you blast the rocks with your ice shurikens?” Lucinda asks.

Ice Shurikens are small blades frogs use to throw and create giant explosions on impact. However, their explosions can be large and unpredictable, even dangerous to allies who stand close to the impact.

“That won’t work, an explosion might destable the cave causing a cave in.” I replied.

We sit silently.

“Hey… where’d the triplets go?” Ipzitch asks.

“Over here! We found an exit!” Duey yells.

“It’s huge!” Huey adds.

“Come on.” I gesture to Vincent.

“Can’t.” he says. “I need to stay and guard the spirits.”

“Well, this is goodbye then.”

Walking or, in my case, limping towards it, we gasp.

“How did you find it?” I ask.

“Well, judging by the cave structure, air sam…” Louie begins but Duey shushes him.

“Oh, we just lit this gunpowder here.” Huey says.

“You what?” Vincent says, sobering up. “That leads to the gunpowder mi…” but the rest of his words are drowned in an explosion.

“Run!” Ethan says. “And owls fly, just move!”

“Very specific.” Linton says, picking him up. “DON’T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME, I’LL DROP YOU.”

“Sorr-y. Sheesh.” Ethan says, rolling his eyes again.

I take to the sky, stretching my wings for what feels like the first time in years.

And then the gunpowder goes off, and the world goes white.

The blast rocks us off our feet, but we continue flying, but soon, out of nowhere, Southern Owls dive from the skies. Ethan and the triplets go down.

“Spread out!” Ipzitch yells indicating that this was a battle that they could not win.

“With my last breath I curse Vincent!” cursed Ethan as he toppled down. I dove down after him, surpassing the others in speed and scooped him up.

We flew higher and higher, above the clouds and watched as the mountain crumbled below.

“Has anyone seen the triplets?” I ask.

“I didn’t see them recover from the drop.” Linton says.

With a look from Lucinda, we both dive down faster and faster.

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And below, are the battered bodies of the triplets, lying prone at the feet of Toto. The Southern army stands grim behind them.

“So Amelia, Lucinda and my brother Ipzitch. You made it out? And you took down my best lieutenant. Consider this my thanks.” and with a crack, he strikes Duey. Duey groans but the other two remain silent.

With a screech and a bang, Ipzitch dives down, wrestling on the ground with Toto, while me and the others defend Duey from harm. Linton swipes a Southern Owl off the cliff, while I slash, block and hit anything and anyone that isn’t a friend.

“Come on nerd, please don’t die on me.” Ethan begs to Louie. “Red Owl, please Huey, wake up.”

“There’s no pulse.” Linton sadly says after we defeat the others. “Amelia, go help Ipzitch.”

I fly away and scour the area for evidence of a fight. First, I see red stained snow, and feathers flying in the wind. Then I see the battle equipment of Ipzitch.

Next to it lies a body. Short shallow breaths signal that he is alive. But barely.

Scratches fill his body with pain and his right leg and left eye are gone. Beyond repair.

“Have you found the old man yet?” Ethan yells.

However, hearing my tears, the others come, Linton supporting Duey. Lucinda comes up to him and looks over his injuries.

“Quickly, I need a cave.”

Filled with rage, I fly up to the sky, looking around for my target.

“Amelia! Go find some sticks! We’re going to need to set up camp!” Lucinda called from below.

“Here Duey, I’ll come with you.”

“What about me?” Ethan asks.

“Go with Amelia you idiot.”

Ethan was an ice frog from the North, and was young and naive. He was quick and nimble. His entire family was wiped out by the South.

Linton had the same story. He was really a Southern Owl, one of the few pure remaining ones. And not in pure south, no, I mean he was one of the last remaining Southern Owls pure from the corruption of Toto..

And me? I am the last North Owl.

“Amelia, look at the forest!” Ethan yells over the mist. “We’ll land here!”

I agreed and we landed into the forest.

“Stay alert Ethan, we still don’t know where the Southern Owls went. They could attack at any moment.”

Ethan nods his understanding and pulls on his mask, holding out his sword.

After a few minutes of poking around, we realised that it was a fruitless effort. We found a few sticks, some logs but as we were on a mountain, everything was just about wet.

“Let's go check on Linton.” Ethan suggests. “Just in case. This place gives me the creeps.”

As he says that, a weird mist rolled in.

The Misty Mountains that we were camping on were full of legend. My father used to tell me countless stories about it. According to Myth, the Misty Mountains was the place of the signing of the United Forces of the Forest pact, where the North, West and East agreed to join forces. Legend has it, spirits haunt these mountains, which turned out to be true.

The Misty Mountains were located in the middle of the Forest. Currently, we are only trying to survive now. Before, we had a target, but now, we cannot continue.

As we arrive at the forest that Linton was at, I see Ethan’s eyes go wide. So do mine.

The forest is a wreck. It seems a fire has spread throughout here but not even that, it seems there was a battle. Feathers and bloodied blades litter the ground.

Ethan hopped down to take a look around. I see a body with its beak crushed and cut.

“Over there! By the cave!” Ethan points out. “Its Ipzitch and Linton and everyone!”

“It's high time you came back. The Southern Owls were camping here, so we simply took their camp...by err, force.”

He shuffles to hide a head behind him.

“Your eye! There’s…”

“Don’t worry girl, I’ll live.”

“I’ve done my best with him. His leg and eyes were long gone.”

Ipzitch flexes out his metal leg.

“It's nothing compared to real flesh and bone but I think it's a good replacement for now,” says Linton.

“Don’t worry, you did what you could.” he reassures him. He steps back, revealing three freshly dug stones, and three freshly dug mounds of dirt.

A tear leaks out of Duey’s eye.

Linton beckons me closer.

“Hey listen, Duey’s just lost his entire family. Not meaning to make you upset, but maybe you could help him?”

Alright. Here goes.

I walk over to Duey. He sits with his head in his palms, slightly sobbing.

I sit there in silence, unable to comprehend what has just happened.

“Oh hey Amelia. Linton told me about you. You...you lost your family too right?” he says.

“Yes.” I say, memories flooding back to me.

“Then tell me. What is this burning, fiery sensation inside me right now!” he cries.

“A feeling of both revenge and hatred.”

Silence.

“Why them!” he suddenly cries out.

More silence.

“Where are your parents?” I ask silently.

“They were killed. When the South attacked.”

I look into his tear covered eyes.

“I’m sure they died nobly. Your brothers didn’t die by any fault of themselves. They were murdered,” I say my voice cracking, “by the same animals who have ruined so many lives.”

I look behind me at Ipzitch who has lost his eye and leg. Lucinda, who lost her father and mother to the horror of war. And Ethan and Linton, newly orphaned.

As a child, I learned about the splendor of war. The heroism. The glory. The victories. But no history lesson, no bedtime fable could teach a child or anyone the feel of war, the taste of war, the pain of war. There are no winners in war. Only losers.

“It’s called war lad,” Ipzitch whispers behind us. “Are you feeling it? It’s like a snake slowly twisting itself around a rabbit.” Ipzitch turns away with a grim laugh. “At first the rabbit tries to escape, full of optimism. But slowly, it is choked to death and slowly, it loses hope until it is frozen. Stiff. Dead.”

“Thank you,” Duey says to me. “But I need some time by myself.”

I leave. I really do hope Duey is okay. It must feel terrible to lose all your family, and right in front of your eyes, too.

---

We bury Huey and Louie.

Duey steps up to say some words at their grave.

“I’m sorry this had to happen. I loved you both, and I want you to know-” A hitch in his voice. “I want you to know I will avenge you.” A fire has sprung up in Duey’s eyes.

“I will avenge you!”

---

We set off once more.

Ipzitch’s plan is fresh in our minds.

“There are three routes into the Southern lands. Here, here and here,” he said, pointing to the corresponding places on the map. “These are the only pathways through the mountains that border the South. Each one of them is under strict control by a heavily-guarded stronghold. We’ll need to take control of these so that the Arbonoc army can attack the Southern capital. But that's not the only problem.”

He pointed to smaller lines drawn on the map.

“These are the Walkways, hidden passages through the forests and mountains, leading directly to the Capital. Unfortunately, no amount of pushing will fit an army through it. Even worse, we can guarantee that messengers will be passing through each of these to check on the strongholds. If word gets to the South that a major stronghold has been taken, they’d mobilise the full forces of the South.”

“That means we need to take each stronghold within 5 days of each other. That’s how long it takes for a messenger to make their way down the Walkways.”

“What then?” Ethan had asked.

“We’ll have to wait and see.” replied Ipzitch.

---

The sounds of the forest surround us. We’re hiding in a forest, looking down to a clearing containing a military-looking compound. It has four thick walls topped with razor wire. Towers adorn its corners, guards walking inside them.

“Tell me why we are here again.” Ethan whispers.

“We need food. Water. Maps. This is Fort Bruxburg.”

“Fort Bruxburg?” I whisper surprised.

Fort Bruxburg was one of the most secure fortresses of the West. Not even the Northern Elite could infiltrate it. How did the South get in?

“Over there.” Linton said, as if reading my thoughts.

Over where his wing was pointing was a scene of devastation. A gaping crater in the ground, strewn with the bodies of Western Owls, Frogs and Wolves with various other animals. The crater glowed red and pulsated.

“Just like the holes in the North.” I whisper.

A memory shakes itself loose in my head, and I fall unconscious.

“I see a light.” I whisper.