I pushed the motorboat to pull speed as I sped into port. I didn’t sense any danger, but better to draw anything that was hiding out here. ‘Avatar,’ I mentally called out.

‘Mittens. Something is wrong here,’ Mes quickly said while holding out their tiny sword in front of them.

‘Like the tree?’ I asked as the motorboat bounced along.

‘No. There is energy in the air. Far more energy than there should be. It is about ten times more than other areas. While still miniscule, it is an anomaly. Anything giving off that much energy is quite dangerous,’ Mes explained.

‘Any creatures or clues?’ I asked. Mes scanned the port we were heading towards.

‘There is one creature that has spotted you and is hiding in that boat house. I think they are trying to get a boat working. Nothing and no one in the fort and the interior of the island can’t be passively scanned. The energy increases in that direction, which is disrupting passive scanning. I don’t dare risk an active scan, since it would alert anything out there.’ I nodded at this.

‘Alright, you want to stay out and keep me updated if you spot anything serious?’ I asked.

‘Yes. User Mittens. Be on guard. Whatever is out there is using energy. That means it is not a simple creature,’ Mes explained. I focused on the port as I arrived. Cutting the engine, I brought the motorboat up to a pier, jumping out and tying it off to a pier. I left the radio pack in the motorboat.

Once that was done, I followed Mes’ pointed looks towards a nearby building. “Come out, I can smell you in there,” I said loudly. I really couldn’t smell whatever creature was hiding, but they wouldn’t know that. There were too many overlapping scents from previous creatures to make anything out.

“Alright, I am coming out,” a deep voice called out. My eyes went wide in surprise as the creature was a cat. No, a sub-species. Like I was a mountain cat, the male cat in front of me was a lion. His large bushy mane around his head and yellow coat gave him away.

‘Careful Mittens, that creature is slightly dangerous,’ Mes said.

“Who are you? Why are you here? And do you know what happened to the creatures?” I asked.

“A bit rude not to introduce yourself,” the lion said. I held up a paw and extended my claws.

“That was me asking nicely.” I pulled out my ID from my shorts. “I am acting under the authority of the Covenant Church to investigate this base. Now that was me asking nicely, either speak or else,” I put my ID away.

“Ah, well I am called Lionel. And I got shipwrecked here unfortunately. As for creatures. Well, no one was here when I arrived and I have been trying to find an undamaged boat, but haven’t had any luck,” he replied.

“And why were you on a ship?” I asked. I had my suspicions, since lions only had a large presence on a certain southern continent, inhabited by the snakes. A cat would never willingly go onto a boat. He winced at the question, and I saw his eyes looking around.

“I propose we work together. It is clear that something has happened,” Lionel suggested.

‘Mes is he wearing a snake pendant?’ I asked.

‘No. Nothing with energy on him,’ Mes answered. I considered the proposition carefully. While Lionel seemed relaxed, I had sparred enough I could tell he was ready to act. His muscles in his legs were taunt and he was leaning forward slightly on his hind paws.

“So, spying for the snakes or something else? Creatures missing, and you are the only one here, I that is awfully suspicious,” I countered while staring intently at Lionel. He grinned toothily at me.

“For the snakes of course. Not everyone is an Apostate you know. So, you want to dance little cat?” he asked and extended his claws with a flick of his paws. The tension increased. In the end the current mission was more important than one lion. And I might be able to get information from him about the southern continent.

“We can work together for now,” I replied, while retracting my claws. He did the same. “Mittens,” I replied. He nodded at that.

“A good name. I landed here two days ago. A storm wrecked my boat. Got to shore thankfully. No creatures around.”

“Did you check the interior of the island?” I asked.

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“The jungle, no way. I mean unless something was hiding in the military base, that is the next most likely option. Better to find a boat as quickly as possible and leave,” he replied. “So, you are investigating?” he asked me.

“Yes. There was a cursory patrol that came by a week ago. With all the creatures missing, the island was declared under quarantine, and I came to investigate.” I noted that Lionel looked at my motorboat. It was too small to safely cross the ocean. So, he probably knew I had support somewhere. While it was Mousethief, it was Mousethief on a cutter with weapons.

“So are you one of the legendary Assassins of the Covenant Church. Their shadows of death?” he asked me.

“Perhaps, but if I told you, I would have to kill you. And if you are not an Apostate? What then, snake dinner?” I asked. He chuckled at that.

“Strong. Just like your little Church has its military and paladins, there are other groups that work under the snakes. But it isn’t surprising. The Apostates get all the credit, just like you Assassins,” he told me with some bitterness. It didn’t escape me, he didn’t answer my question directly.

“Actually, we don’t get any credit,” I countered.

“Not based on what they say. How interesting. So, what’s your plan?” he asked me.

“Right into the jungle, to find out what is happening,” I answered, and he looked towards it as a nervous expression took over his face.

“That seems like a bad idea. The damage to the town is incredibly small, very little fighting. There are no corpses either. Whatever did this has some serious hypnosis. I am trained to resist, but you, well…”

I smiled at Lionel. “And what do you propose?” I asked. His eyes darted to my motorboat and he let out a sigh.

“You won’t just let me leave?” he asked.

“No. And I have the key. Unless you are trained to start a boat without one?” I asked. He winced at the question. “I thought so. Unless you want to fight, that is always an option?”

“That would just be counterproductive. Less chance of escaping with whatever force is out there backing you up if I get injured,” he said.

“Oh, think you would win?” I asked. This time he looked at me much more carefully, as I stood relaxed in front of him. There was no way he was better than my father. He might have other tricks. But I was well versed in claw combat. It was my only tier 3 skill after all.

“Well, I can’t let you stay here. And I am going into that jungle. You can either come with me or I can kill you here and now,” I replied. Lionel let out a sigh and held his paws up.

“Fine, fine. You win this round Mittens. Let’s go poke whatever creature wiped out everyone on this island and a military base with no shots being fired,” he replied.

“I am going to radio in. You find a vehicle, one with a key,” I said. He winced at that and nodded. I went back to my motorboat and spun up the radio.

“Seven. Two. Eight. Seven. Two. Eight. Landing clear. No hostiles. Not snakes. One snake operative present due to shipwreck. Temporary alliance. Proceeding to interior. Fire on boat if negative contact. Over.”

“Confirmed,” Mousethief replied, and I shut down the radio. Hoping back out of the boat I followed Lionel’s scent to where he was checking vehicles. He looked at me as I approached.

“This one has a key, but it’s small,” he pointed at a compact car. That one was only made for smaller creatures. Well, it would have to do. Better than walking. Better to act swiftly than try and out stealth whatever was out there. I broke the driver’s window with my claws and squeezed in. I then opened up the passenger door.

“Really?” Lionel asked.

“Unless you want to ride on the roof or the trunk?” I asked.

“Trunk please,” he said. I hit a button on the dashboard and it opened. “I am going to rip it off, alright?”

“That’s fine,” I replied. He proceeded to rip the trunk lid off and crouched in the back as I started up the car. The entire car was riding quite low on its suspension with our weight, but it should be okay. At least I hoped it would be. I was no Mousethief, but I had been taught the basics of driving at the Island while I had been a Neophyte. I shifted gears, carefully applying pressure to the gas while letting off the clutch.

The car jumped slightly and got going. I switched things up to the next gear. “Alright back there?” I called out.

“Yes, hanging on,” Lionel replied. I drove through the port town until I found the road leading off into the interior of the island. I passed some fields, but it wasn’t long before we hit the jungle. There was the occasional abandoned car, but no corpses or signs of fighting as we made our way to the interior of the island.

That was when I had to come to a stop since there was a river and the bridge was broken. I looked for a spot to drive the car around, but there was nothing. I shut the car off. I pocketed the key and placed it next to the boat key. That had saved a couple of hours of walking at least. I got out of the car and Lionel hopped off the trunk.

“Now what?” he asked.

“We keep going,” I replied. I started running and easily leaped across the gap in the bridge. I landed and came to a running stop and turned around. Lionel quickly followed me, but his landing was a bit rougher. He was slightly taller than me and stronger, but not as agile. At least he didn’t shame us cats and landed on his hind paws.

I set off and Lionel quickly came up to my side. “You really aren’t afraid?” he asked me.

“No,” I replied, and he chuckled. We walked in silence.

‘Mes, anything?’ I asked mentally.

‘Well, the energy density in the air is increasing. So, whatever is causing it, you are getting closer. However…and I hate to say this. It might not be possible to kill,’ Mes replied with a grumble.

‘What? Why?’ I asked.

‘This much energy in the air. Is either something insanely powerful or an Energy Vacuum Lift. The first would be near impossible at your current ability. They would also sense my presence regardless if I hid or not, due to the energy you have within you. And the second one shouldn’t be possible by this world’s level of technology. But I am here, so something may have leaked through.’

‘If it is the second?’ I asked.

‘It isn’t bad, but that means things will get complicated very quickly. An Energy Vacuum Lift is the type of power generation you find at the very end of your tech tree, or any tech tree. But we don’t have time for a lesson. Stay alert,’ Mes said with a worried tone.