crept up to the entrance quietly.

There was a lone sentry on guard.

Talkeet knew him. His name was Tyron. He and Talkeet had trained together.

Talkeet smiled.

“But I always won.” He thought.

Talkeet continued to walk around the side of the cave, approaching the entrance from the side, so Tyron wouldn’t see him.

“Not until it’s too late.” Talkeet thought.

He stopped beside the entrance.

He felt his heart speed up, and he got a lump in his throat, not of fear, but of anticipation.

He was here!

Talkeet took a deep breath, and charged.

Tyron saw Talkeet about ten seconds before Talkeet was on top of him.

Talkeet snapped out, and caught Tyron around the throat with his jaws.

He threw the young wolf sideways, and heard a sharp snap, as Tyron’s neck gave way.

The wolf went limp, and Talkeet tossed him into the foliage that covered the ground outside the cave.

Then he walked quietly inside.

As Talkeet crept up to the cave, Melody opened her eyes in the chamber.

She’d tried to stay up all night, in her ever present vigil by Timbre’s side.

Since Dash and Lightning had brought him up yesterday morning, Melody hadn’t left his side.

She was beginning to think that Timbre wasn’t going to wake up.

He hadn’t so much as stirred since he’d been hit.

The wound had stopped bleeding, but the blood that had covered his face and chest, had hardened.

Melody leaned over and began to lick his face, cleaning the blood off.

As she did, she thought about how she’d treated him… what she’d said.

“God,” she thought, “what if he doesn’t wake up, what if he dies… what must he think of me?”

She sighed.

“He must hate me.” She said aloud.

“That’s not true.” Dash said, from behind her.

Melody turned.

“Oh, hi Dash.”

Hey sis,” Dash said, walking over to her.

“What do you mean?” Melody asked.

“We talked, we talked quite a lot actually, and he loved you.”

“I wish he knew.” Melody said

She sighed.

“I just… I wish he was alive… wish I could talk to him, tell him… tell him how I now realize I’ve felt since I met him.”

Dash smiled.

“Sis, he’s not dead, don’t write him off just yet. Timbre is a tough guy, he could pull through this.”

Melody nodded, and bit her lip, trying to stop the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

She looked down at Timbre, and any control she might have had, or thought she had, vanished. She began to sob.

Dash laid down beside his sister, and put his paw around her shoulder.

“Hey… it’s gonna be alright.” Dash said.

Melody buried her face in her brother’s shoulder, and sobbed.

Dash just held her.

Talkeet walked out into the center of the main chamber.

It was odd to him, scanning for enemy’s, alert to danger, in what had once been the place he felt safest, his home.

Now though so much had changed…

“Everything has changed.” Talkeet thought.

Suddenly, Talkeet felt the presence of someone behind him.

He turned and saw a group of about eight wolves encircle him.

“Talkeet.”

It was Lightning.

The hairs on the back of Talkeet’s neck stuck up, and he turned.

“How did he get so close to me?” Talkeet thought.

He shook his head.

He’d been thinking too much. He needed to clear his head.

“I’ve got to concentrate.” Talkeet thought.

About then, Talkeet heard a howl, a distress call.

He smiled.

“It’s begun Lightning.”

“What has?” Lightning asked his former student… and friend.

“The fall of Aleu,” Talkeet said, “and war along with her.”

“Talkeet… why?” Lightning asked.

“You still don’t understand.” Talkeet said. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Talkeet please…” Lightning said.

Talkeet stared down his former friend.

“Lightning, get.. out… of my… way.”

Lightning shook his head.

“I’m sorry Talkeet.”

He looked to one of the wolves that had circled Talkeet, a brown one, and nodded.

The wolves suddenly sprang at Talkeet, from all directions.

Talkeet just smiled, as Lightning turned and started to walk away.

The fight was a blur of paws, teeth, and blood.

Talkeet was vaguely aware of the fight, almost as if he were watching it.

He felt his strength increase, and struck another of his attacker’s, his paw actually tearing through the wolf’s head.

Before he knew it, there was only one left, and he was in Talkeet’s jaws. Talkeet bit down, and ripped through the wolf’s neck.

He remembered playing with the wolf and his siblings, back when he was a pup.

The wolf fell, very dead, to the floor.

Talkeet was covered in blood, as was the floor around him.

Talkeet snarled, and howled, stopping Lightning in his tracks.

“It’s… It’s not… possible.” Lightning said, dumbfounded by the speed in which Talkeet had dispatched the eight wolves.

Lightning shook his head.

“Come on… buddy.” Talkeet taunted.

Lightning knew he didn’t stand a chance, not against Talkeet.

He thought of running away…

“No.” Lightning thought. “I can’t, my duty, my allegiance is to Aleu, and I will do what I must to protect her.”

With a calm resolve, Lightning prepared to start what very well might be his last battle.

Talkeet smiled, as he heard another howl.

“My forces are here Lightning.” Talkeet said, walking around him. “Give up, let me through, and I promise no harm will come to you, I don’t want to hurt you.’

Lightning shook his head.

“I don’t know how, but somehow, someone, has turned you against us, against me, I won’t let it happen to me.”

Talkeet nodded, and smiled.

“If that’s the way you want it.”

Then Talkeet ran at him.

Lightning wasn’t prepared for the charge attack that Talkeet started, and was hit with the full force of it.

Talkeet hit Lightning with his shoulder, and knocked him off balance.

Lightning knew that to fall so early in the fight, was to die, so he reared up on his back legs to keep from stumbling backwards, but this opened up his belly.

Talkeet launched a fury of attacks into Lightning, knocking him down, and continued to press the attack, even when Lightning was trying to crawl away.

Lightning’s face was already a mess of crisscrossing slash marks, that oozed blood, making it hard for him to see.

Talkeet hit him again in the back of the head, and his vision swam, as his face slammed into the rock.

Again, and Lightning didn’t know if he could keep grasping onto consciousness.

He did know that if he passed out, Talkeet would kill him.

Lightning struggled to his feet, and Talkeet wrapped his leg around Lightning’s neck, and slammed him into the wall of the cave, until the wolf went limp in Talkeet’s grasp.

Talkeet dropped him to the floor, looked at him for a moment, and then spit on him.

Then he ran, making his way up to Aleu’s chambers.

Chapter 13

Melody finally stopped crying, and lifted her head off her brother’s shoulder.

He smiled.

“Hey, you okay?”

She nodded.

“I guess so, I just wish…”

She was interrupted by Shadow, who ran into the chamber.

“Shadow?” Dash asked, standing up.

Shadow was out of breath.

“How’s… how’s Timbre?”

“About the same.” Dash said, “why, what’s up?”

Shadow sighed.

“Man, I could… could really use him right now.”

He paused to catch his breath.

“Dash I need you to come with me, the Uniea are attacking, and I haven’t seen Talkeet yet, so chances are he’s headed this way.”

Dash nodded.

“Dash?” Melody said, as she stood up.

“What is it sis?” Dash asked.

She smiled.

“Be careful.”

He smiled back at her.

“I will.”

Dash turned to Shadow.

“Let me go tell June what’s going on, then I’ll be out there.”

Shadow nodded.

“Hurry.”

“I will.” Dash said.

Then he and Shadow ran out of the chamber.

Talkeet was indeed headed there, in fact, at that moment, he stepped through Aleu’s Chamber, and into the chamber Aleu called her View.

“There she is.” Talkeet thought. “Soon it will all be over.”

Talkeet stepped lightly forward.

Aleu sighed, and hung her head.

“Talkeet.”

Talkeet stopped in his tracks.

“What?” He thought. “How…”

Aleu sighed again, and turned.

There were tears in her eyes.

“I knew you’d come, I knew it…”

She paused.

“Why Talkeet?”

Talkeet’s face was blank, and free of emotion when he spoke.

“I’m sorry Aleu, sorry it has to be this way.”

Aleu shook her head.

“It doesn’t Talkeet, it doesn’t.”

Talkeet slowly nodded and stepped