Restating trigger warnings: attempted kidnapping, foul language used against a child, fantasy-typical fight for the entire chapter, panic/feeling overwhelmed/desperation throughout the chapter

Chapter 3

See You Never

I freeze as Guard and Soldiers stream into the Field.

There's far too many of them. Far more than I can count.

The Guard wear brown uniforms, and the Soldiers are dressed in silver. The Guard carry bows, while the Soldiers hold onto swords.

They all look so sharp.

"Grey, you're gonna have to kill," Alex says.

"You'd better fucking kill," Phoenix adds. "I'm coming after you if you don't."

I look up at Grey. He closes his eyes and swallows.

"I-..."

"No time," Alex says quickly. "Kill. If they try to kill you first, it's justified. Worry about it later. Kill a few. Or at a minimum knock them very unconscious."

Alex turns into a wolf.

"Just fucking kill them," Phoenix growls.

Grey shakes his head and turns into a dove. He's almost as tall as Brook as a bird.

I jump up onto Brook's back. Her horn starts to glow as Phoenix races off, his flames burning bright.

"Astra, stay close. No matter what, don't let them touch you. And if one of them does, I want you to make as big of a scene as possible and wiggle as much as you can."

They're going to kill the Guard and Soldiers? I swallow as I start to tremble. The Guard and Soldiers are going to kill us?

"Brook, they're gonna kill us!"

Brook sighs above me. She's not saying no. I take a step back and hop down to the ground, hiding behind Brook's back legs and tail.

"We are going to fight them off," Brook says.

Phoenix makes the first move against the Guard and Soldiers. Fire bursts to life in front of him, and he sets a dozen ablaze.

"Leave, little shits," he spits, tail lashing.

In a jerking motion, Ky tilts his head to the side. A huge creature unfurls from the ground, with a thin tail and broad shoulders and moss that hangs off its frame. Huge hands curl into fists and it bellows. The Field shakes with every step it takes.

"That's just an illusion!" a Guard shouts, pointing at the creature.

Ky laughs. "Is it?"

I stop listening when a group of Guard and Soldiers come around from the side. I trip over my paws as I scramble backward. The grass of the Field is soft against my back, but one of the roots of the oak tree digs into my spine and I squeal.

Grey blocks an arrow coming toward me with a wing. He grabs it in his beak and yanks it out, blood dripping from the wound.

Brook rears up and slams her hooves on the ground when Guard and Soldiers draw too close.

"Leave," she demands.

"You know who we're here for. The King of Ragdon has made his wishes clear. You, Brook, will be tried for your crimes in hiding Astra for ninety years."

"I will not repeat myself."

Brook glares at the Guard and Soldiers as I press myself back against the oak tree, sides heaving as I try not to cry.

xxxx

It happens so fast.

Brook impales two Soldiers on her horn, lunging forward and blinking blood from her eyes. Grey pins more to the ground, talons digging into bodies until they don't rise again. Alex darts off and grabs a Guard that she wrestles with, tearing at his leather armor.

But a Soldier sneaks around back. Russet hair gleams in the sun and looks like fire. It matches the fire Phoenix has as he brawls through Guard and Soldiers.

"We're not here to hurt you," the Soldier says, "but you have to come with us."

"I-I-." I shrink back against the oak tree and shy away as the Soldier draws closer.

"Come with us, and we will all leave."

"You're trying to hurt Brook," I whimper, starting at the sight of Brook rearing up yet again and crushing a Soldier beneath the weight of her body, but not before a Guard carves a gash along her chest.

The russet-haired Soldier glances at the others around him. They watch and slowly draw near.

"Come on, Astra. We have to go."

He draws his sword and reaches out for me.

I scream at the sight of his hand so close. Blood roars in my ears as I leap to the side. I flare out my wings and push my toes into the ground, jumping forward. The edges of my vision blur, and a whistling clap rolls across the Field.

I'm gone from the base of the oak tree in an instant. I duck my head and charge forward, unaware of where I'm going, just that it's away from the Soldier who tried to grab me. My tail swings out to the side for balance as my wings angle to change the flow of wind over them.

I swerve to the side when Alex collapses in front of me under the weight of several Guard. My claws rake through the grass as I change directions. The plates on my tail slice through the backs of a Guard's knees, bringing him to the ground.

I wouldn't have hurt you if you'd never come. Go away. Leave us alone. Please. Please. Please just go away.

My heart pounds in my chest as I shake.

All around me, Guard and Soldiers flow together, moving, undulating, shifting around the Field as they each try to kill Brook and the newcomers. Sunlight glints on their weapons. It's so bright and blinding. An arrow flashes beside me as it streaks through the air. A sword swings beside me. It cuts through fur and just misses flesh.

I draw in a sharp breath and stumble, paws tripping up. I flare my wings to slow down so I can right myself.

I pant for breath as the ache in my muscles shows itself, the exhaustion from running. I can go fast, but I can't go for long.

"Ahh, there she is," a Guard goads. "No stamina? Can't run for long, can you? That's ok. You won't have to with My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Gardona XIV. He doesn't want you to run. He doesn't want you for you, even. He's just got a little friend whom he can't wait to show what he's found."

"All you're gonna do is come with us, alright?" A Soldier crouches down. He's smiling, but he looks like a snake. His eyes twinkle, but they're not friendly. He steps forward, metal armor grating as he folds his legs into a squat.

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I look between the Guard and Soldier, and then look past them. A few others stand a ways behind, but most have moved away, going after Brook and the others.

I take a step back.

"No, Astra," the Soldier says, holding out his hands.

I stare at him with wide eyes. My heart races in my chest, and I can hear its every beat. My nostrils flare with quick, shallow breaths. I tense when he crawls another small step toward me.

"See? It's alright. You don't need to run. We're here to help, ok? Brook has held you hostage here. I know she seems nice and I'm sure she acts the part, but she's keeping you from your real family."

That's not true.

I wrinkle my nose and flash my teeth at the Soldier.

"I know it's hard for you to understand, and that's ok." The Soldier ducks his head to meet my gaze.

I look over him at the fight sprawling out across the rest of the Field, although I tune out the ruckus, too overwhelmed to process it all. But I do see Brook way on the other side. Her sides are soaked with sweat, and her ears are pinned to the sides of her skull. Scarlet blood stands out against her blue fur. It drips from several gashes.

"I know it's hard for you to understand," the Soldier repeats, drawing my attention back to him.

The Guard and Soldiers behind him move in a little closer, forming a semicircle around me and him. I draw my ears back and curl in on myself.

"We can bring you away from here, and you can meet your real family. They're waiting to meet you, and they miss you dearly."

"Brook is my family." I bare my teeth and spread my wings in a display of anger.

"I know you think she is, I do not doubt that, but you have real family outside of here."

"No," I reply firmly, glaring at him.

"I-."

"No is a full sentence," I growl, echoing the words Brook had told me.

The Soldier pauses.

"We're trying to help, Astra," the Soldier says. He sounds annoyed.

I shift on my paws, holding his gaze despite how doing so makes my skin crawl and my fur stand on end.

He looks like a snake.

The Soldier looks above my head and nods. I almost miss the movement, but I hear a Guard take a step and then lunge.

I dig my claws into the grass of the Field and pull myself forward. The edges of my vision blur, and then I'm slinking through the mass of beings fighting. I pass by Grey, who lashes out with his talons at nearby foes before I launch myself up the oak tree. I only stop myself once I'm halfway up, and I flatten myself to a branch in hopes of not being spotted so quickly.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to slow my breathing, the racing of my heart, the panic spreading through every bit of my body.

Before it was just me and Brook, just like every other day. Now it was the newcomers, and now it's too many people and they're trying to hurt me. They've hurt Brook. They're hurting my stepmother.

Tears sting in my eyes as they drip down my cheeks.

"Please, stop it," I whimper, jaw chattering with fear.

"Won't you please come down, little kitty?"

I jump, startled by the voice. A Guard stands at the base of the oak tree, looking up at me. I freeze.

"If you won't come down, I'll just have to come up."

A whine slips from my throat, high-pitched and shrill. I press my belly further against the branch and curl my tail against my body as I pull my wings in tight.

I find Brook across the Field, kicking at Guard. I try to call for her, to tell her I need help so she can come to me, but my voice doesn't work. I can only cling to the branch and tremble.

I can only watch as the Guard grips onto the oak tree and finds a foothold. He starts to climb.

"Come here, little kitty," the Guard says with a smile that doesn't look friendly.

My vision starts to blur as I distantly watch the Guard. He slowly climbs up further. I want to move, but I can't, and my heart beats too fast, and I can't catch my breath, and I'm shaking too much.

"Come here," he repeats as he pulls himself up another few branches.

With a sharp inhale, I hop up a little higher in the oak tree, panic rising further. The branches start to get thinner, and I have to spread my wings and use my tail for balance.

When I look down, the Guard still has the unfriendly smile. My skin prickles and my stomach squirms. Tears soak into the fur on my cheeks.

"My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV has been looking for you for a very long time. I hope you know that. He's been waiting for you."

"N-no," I whimper. "Please."

"We don't want to hurt you," the Guard says. "We just want you to come with us."

"I-I-I c-can't. Please."

The Guard balances on a branch a foot or two away from me, and I freeze, staring at him as he stares right back. He tilts his head to the side ever so slightly, and I tense, back arched and wings partially spread.

"Come here," the Guard repeats yet again.

He reaches out a hand, and I can only watched, paralyzed as his fingers draw closer and closer. I stop breathing, unable to even call out for Brook or anyone.

But the second his fingers brush the fur on my scruff, I react. Without thinking, I snap my jaws shut around the Guard's hand. My stomach churns at the taste of blood and I want to throw up, but I hang on for a few moments, biting down as hard as I can.

The Guard cries out, hissing through his teeth. I jerk back when he grabs at my muzzle with his other hand, digging a finger into the corner of my eye, my gums, my nose, any squishy parts he can reach. My teeth catch on flesh when I pull back, and I shake my head in an attempt to break free.

"Bitch!" the Guard spits. "Do you know how hard that's gonna be to heal?"

He shoves me in the shoulder, and I lose my balance. My claws scrabble on bark, but I tip back and fall from the oak tree.

I turn over in midair easily and find the spot I'm going to land. My paws aren't on the ground so I can't break the speed of sound, but I can control my speed. I flare my wings and splay my legs, twisting my tail to keep me level.

When I hit the grass of the Field, I sink down and don't move, only getting up when I hear the Guard climbing back down and complaining about his hand.

"Someone get that stupid cat!" he shouts.

I feel the weight of eyes on me and dart off, Soldiers running after me.

"Brook!" I squeal as they draw closer. "Brook!"

I slither between the legs of several Guard. They load their bows with arrows and fire them off one by one. A dagger nearly cuts into my nose, and I jerk to the side, changing direction.

"Brook!" I scream, blindly racing as fast as I can.

I trip over a Soldier's leg and tumble to the ground, grass smeared with blood staining my fur. I land on my back and stay there for a few moments, before I roll to my stomach, only to see Guard and Soldiers closing in. Each stands so tall, looming above me with the sun right behind them.

I curl up, ears back as I try to make myself smaller. I tuck my legs beneath my body, wings tight against my ribcage.

Swords glint in the sunlight. I start to cry again, vision blurring until I begin to grow numb.

"Yeah, that's not happening. Don't hurt kids, you piece of shit."

I blink to clear my vision, and Phoenix barrels into a Guard. I turn my head when he slams a forepaw down, wincing when I hear a wet crack.

"You all are done with that. She ain't goin' with ya. See you never," Phoenix says, wrapping a foreleg around a Soldier's neck and bringing him to the ground after a swift bite to the back of his neck.

I squeeze my eyes shut at the sight of the blood. Just for a moment, I find myself pausing, exhausted from the stress of the battle, drained from having all my senses overwhelmed.

"What the hell are you doing, Astra?" Phoenix asks as he wrestles another Soldier to the grass. "I could hear you clear across this place."

"I don't know where Brook is. I got lost."

Phoenix looks at me for a moment, teeth embedded in the throat of the Soldier. He creates a wall of fire to push back the others.

He lets the Soldier go and moves on to the next one. "She's fighting. Where the fuck do you think she is?"

"I was trying to... to find her." I keep my gaze on my paws so I don't have to watch, but just hearing is enough.

My vision goes blurry as my breathing grows shallower and shallower and panic tightens its grip around my throat.

"Astra," Phoenix's rumbling voice snaps me to reality. He stands directly in front of me, and the flames crackling across his black fur keep me from seeing the rest of the fight.

"Don't do that. It ain't gonna help. Stay here, and whatever you do, do not move. You'll just get in the way, and I'm not dealing with that"

"I-... I won't," I whisper, voice hoarse.

Phoenix hums. "Good. Don't look if you don't wanna see. If you do, that's not my problem. But don't go off into your mind. Never helped anything."

"Ok," I say quietly, unsure of how to respond. My gaze drifts to the side, but I snap it back to my forelegs when I catch a glimpse of a split throat deep enough that I can see bone.

I wrap my tail around my body and hide behind the plates on the end of it.

I can't see, but I can still hear Phoenix wrestling with Guard and Soldiers. Distantly, I hear Brook's hoofbeats and Grey's chirps. I can't see, but I can still smell the scent of blood and sweat. I can't see, but with every breath, I can taste iron and smoke on my tongue.

I stay behind Phoenix. He keeps the Guard and Soldiers away.

I want Brook, but she's across the Field and I can't get to her.

And it works. Phoenix doesn't let any Guard and Soldiers near.

It works. Until it doesn't.

Phoenix rears up, just like he's done before, but when his forepaw hits the armor of a Soldier, his claws get stuck, throwing him off balance. He twists, and a Soldier gets an arm around his neck. His snarl is different enough that I peek out from behind my tail, and then snap my head up when I realize what's happening.

"No," I whimper.

Several Soldiers hold onto Phoenix. One has him in a chokehold, another wraps an arm around his chest to keep him on his hind legs, one grips him around his stomach, and another holds onto his tail. Phoenix writhes in their hold, and the armor of the Soldier gripping him in a chokehold begins to glow.

But Phoenix's flames start to flicker as he loses oxygen. His eyes widen, pupils growing. He flashes his teeth, but this time there's fear in his expression.

When I look around, I see everyone else in similar situations.

Sweat coats Brook's fur like a second skin, and her movements grow slower. An arrow sinks deep into her shoulder. She cries out, and I whine.

Alex tumbles to the ground with a yelp, tripped up by a Guard. Blood coats one of her paws.

Grey falls to his back when two Soldiers grab his tail and a wing, yanking back hard. A wing spasms.

Ky snaps the neck of a Guard with his jaws and quickly scans the Field, eyes calculating. His ears draw back and his tail swishes.

He finds me and sends me a sympathetic look, head tilting to the side. I'm sorry, he seems to say.

I frown in return.

"Stop!" Ky shouts.

The fighting slows, pauses, but it doesn't stop and continues on.

It only halts when Ky speaks again.

"STOP!" he yowls.

The fighting does stop. I swivel my ears, both curious and scared of what Ky is going to do. It feels like everyone holds their breath.

"I SUMMON THE BLOOD DEMON!" Ky screams, throwing his head back.