"I suppose we were lucky we had as much time as we did,"
Feneon said tiredly to Teikoubou.. He wasn't the same man he had been eight
years earlier. He was world weary and streaks of white were beginning to find
their way into his once platinum blonde hair. There was a look of perpetual
exhaustion in his eyes. The war had begun.
It had all started when an army of strange creatures
had attacked King Skarl's castle. That's what set everybody off. Now he had
to mobilise the hybrids, who were now sixteen. Get them into action as soon
as possible. The faster the better. He could not hold off telling them any longer.
"Be thankful Fen. They could have been eight
when it happened," Teiko replied firmly. "I'll go tell them. Should their parents
come too?"
"No, they only seem to make things worse at times..."
the graying wizard replied in a melancholy tone. "Just bring the hybrids so
I can give them their commands." The mutant Lupe nodded briskly and was out
the door.
They weren't ready. Feneon knew it, knew it deep
down in his heart. He had tried his best to prepare them. Tried his best to
expose them to everything they would have to deal with. Every situation. Every
evil. Anything that could be possibly thrown at them, but even after all the
work he'd put into teaching and training them that it wasn't enough.
The worst part was that he knew they'd blame
him for it. Blame him for not warning them about every little detail. They'd
be in a rage at their own failure and blame him for everything. Why am I
doing this? Why? I'm borrowing trouble. They can do it. It could have been worse.
It could have. Fen tried to tell himself. He tried. He did, but he just
couldn't honestly convince himself that it was the truth. In spite of everything
it was going to fall from beneath him. Everything he had worked for. Everything
they had worked for.
"It's here, isn't it?" Hope said quietly as she
walked into Feneon's workroom, followed by the rest of the hybrids.
"It is," Feneon responded, rubbing his forehead
wearily.
"Hey, no problem guys. We can handle it no problem.
I mean, we're a lot stronger then our enemy. These, weird creatures or whatever
that we're fighting," Daemon piped in, flicking his silver tail back and
forth slowly.
"Do not be overconfident Daemon. How many times
have I told you that?" Feneon sighed, not believing how Daemon still took things
so calmly as if they didn't really matter. "Now. You all must get going now.
Spread out. I want each of you in different positions. You should be able to
take out whole squads on your own while the locals pick off the rest of the
army around you, but whatever you do. Do not stop long enough for anybody to
figure out who you are. If they do, the information could get to the enemies
and they will hunt us down. Game Over. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Uncle Feneon," Flame replied calmly. "We
can cover the entire Meridell border on our own. I'm sure of it."
"Yes...yes. You can. Now go. Get busy. I do not
want to see you back here until this war is done with." Feneon clenched his
fists slightly. "Of course, I don't mean that. At any time, if you can, you
may come here for advice, help, rest, or food. This is your sanctuary."
"We know," Flash responded solemnly. The rest
nodded their agreement with the Eyrie hybrid.
"Now go. Use what I've taught you. Magic, Physical
Prowness, Stealth. Whatever you need. I have a feeling all of the things I've
taught you will come in handy," Feneon said plainly.
"Thank you Feneon," Hope said simply before exiting
the workroom. The other hybrids didn't say anything as they filed out behind
Hope.
"Good Luck," Feneon said more to himself then
anybody.
"They'll need it," Teikobou said with a shake
of his head as he laid his head on top of his paws.
***
"Augh!" Hope soared through the group of creatures that had been attacking
Meridell, swinging her claws about and giving them good clouts in the head.
Ones that she couldn't physically knocked down she hit with her magic. She shot
beams of black rays at the out of reach creatures. It was not long before the
entire squad was finished off. Quickly she flew into a tree which she used as
her base of operations. It was almost impossible to see if she was in the tree
from the ground, so she was relatively safe from view there. She sighed to herself.
The faster this war was over the better. She couldn't help but feel horrible
for all of the creatures she had beaten, whether they were her enemy or not.
She kept remembering the time how Fen had told them that nothing was ever in
black and white...
***
"Hmph! Take that!" Flame hissed at a group of the creatures she was fighting,
she hurled a fire ball at them with her powers taking a good chunk of them out
of the fight. She rushed through them, punching left and right while kicking
out every once in awhile to defend herself. It was easy finishing them all off.
The Aisha hybrid yawned in a bored manner. This was much too easy. She remembered
how Feneon told them that war was a scary thing, Flame saw nothing frightening
about it.
***
Silently Flash glided above a squad of the creatures. He had been following
them for half the day, waiting patiently for them to hit the Meridell border.
They had now done just that and the Eyrie hybrid was ready to initiate his plan
for attack. One of one he picked off soldiers form the squad, one by one, with
bolts of electricity. This way he couldn't be seen by anybody else, and he was
also keeping himself from being endangered. He remembered how often Feneon had
told them that Patience was a virtue. Flash smiled lopsidedly. That was the
truth.
***
"This is a cinch," Star thought to himself as he knocked all of the creatures
out of his way without a problem. He didn't even need to use his magic it was
so easy. He had taken out every squad that had come near his area of the border.
He sneaked back into the little bush he had made his fort. At this rate the
war would be over in a day or so. Easy peasy. Star recalled Feneon telling them
that there were no breaks in war. That was certainly a lie, Star got to rest
plenty while he waited for the next squad to show up....
***
"I'm so good." Daemon had made such a show out of his that a group of spectators
had gathered around his little area. They didn't even bother fighting, because
they knew he didn't need the help. He just took down the creatures left and
right, without the bat of an eye. He knew Feneon had told him something about
staying out of sight. Oh well, what harm could it do to have a few people cheering
him on?
***
On the outskirts of Meridell there was a small area of the border that none
of the hybrids had covered. Just small enough not to be noticed, and just big
enough for the creatures to be able to sneak through the unwatched bit of land.
Once past the border the small squad of creatures made it's way towards the
Meridell castle, unnoticed by all of the fighters who were preoccupied fighting
the other groups of creatures. Now was the time their real group could strike.
Now Meridell would go down.
To be continued... | 
