FINNY
After a long sigh, I grab the door handle. I let the metal of it dig into my palm as I twist the handle. Then I enter the room.
"So you've come back, my love," she says in her smooth voice. The words that roll off her tongue sound poisonously sweet to my ears.
I won't fall back as easily this time. This isn't a time to be romantic.
"Why are you still here? Don't you know how horrible the two of them are? Everyone besides them left, so why not you?" I say, throwing question after question at her.
She comes up to me. The tips of her fingers brush the side of my neck. My face heats up when she kisses me on the cheek.
"He has to be brought down. Being his cousin shouldn't mean anything to me, and neither should the fact that you were once friends."
I step away from her. This isn't the time to be romantic.
"I'll always be his friend. We'll always be," I say with a shaky voice.
She gathers all her red-pink hair and ties her hair up. Sparkle looks so beautiful, but now she looks ugly on the inside.
"I'm not going to let you wait until he ends up killing you too. I won't let him hurt you, my love."
I don't realize my paws are in fists until I feel my claws pierce the skin at my palms. I look down at them before looking up into her eyes.
"Come on, Sparkle. Please. Think things through," I beg her.
"It doesn't matter anymore," she replies.
"You heard what they said. They plan on torturing him, Sparkle. It's gone too far. We have to stand up to them and tell them no. What they plan to do is not okay."
Sparkle grabs onto one of my wrists. My paw relaxes.
"Duke is Fierdan. What don't you understand about that, Finny? Fierdan was a mass murderer, and if Duke is the living version of him then he doesn't deserve to stay alive."
I force her paw away from mine. I frown at her and yell, "Duke isn't Fierdan. He didn't kill anyone. How dare you compare your own family member to someone so horrible. How dare you betray someone you loved! How dare you say he doesn't deserve to be alive. Everyone, no matter who they are, deserves to live!"
If my eyes don't feel as dry, then tears would be streaming down my face. I don't care if I'm a boy. I'll cry if I want to.
She glares at me. "Then tell that to him. Fierdan killed lots of innocent people with his black flames. Guess what Duke has, Finny? Duke has black flames just like how Fierdan did. Anyone who comes in contact with black fire dies."
I glare back at her. "Duke and Fierdan are two different people. They aren't the same."
Sparkle's reply is only laughter. She doesn't say anything.
"I won't let you betray him, Sparkle. You have to stop being brainwashed."
She stops laughing. She looks into my eyes.
"It's not just about that!" she exclaims, her paws at her hips.
"Then what is it about?" I ask, my voice sounding cold.
"There's a war going on. Duke is between the two sides. Phantoms keep on coming. People are dying all around us. Ever since Duke obtained black flames and discovered that he is a version of Fierdan, phantoms won't stop arriving. He, or Fierdan, are the root cause for why there are so many phantoms in Jamaa. They're destroying our little part of the world."
Oh, that's right. The phantoms.
"What side are you on? Are you on the fox side with people like Taurel and I? Or are you on the traitors' side? Are you siding with people who work with phantoms like Duke and Calliah? Are you on the side of saving the world or not, Finny?"
I close my eyes.
"The fox government is corrupted. If fox territory has to be destroyed from the inside out, then I'm all in for that for saving the world. I'm on Calliah's side."
I open my eyes to see Sparkle frowning at me.
"You're just like them. You're not making any sense."
I turn away from her. My paw is on the door handle.
"You're the one not making any sense. I hope you realize the truth soon. Before it's too late."
I twist the handle. The door opens.
"Goodbye Sparkle."
TAUREL
I turn my head back and forth. Seeing that the coast is clear, I run down the hallway.
Not even a minute after running, I whisper swears. I've accidentally hit my left paw on the wall. Slowing down, I hold the limp paw in the other paw.
I had to break my left paw to escape. I can't stay here with Mr. Missing Finger.
Where even is the exit to this place?
It takes me around twenty minutes to find it.
After all these days, I'm free. I've escaped that idiot.
Now it's time to get back to work. I hope Risak wasn't so much of an idiot that he stayed around here to wait for me. I hope he went to wolf territory. Hearing the news that the wolf leader's son has gone missing in fox territory gave me an idea.
We can work together to bring down Duke.
My eyes look up at the blue sky.
"Thanks for taking the bait, you stupid wolf."
RISAK
The Tall Tower stands in front of me. I smile when I look at it.
The strong wolf turns his head to look directly at me.
"Isn't this the place where your fox government works? What job do you have?" the wolf asks.
I lose focus on appreciating the Tall Tower's beauty.
"Oh, I'm just a guard. Taurel is also a guard, but he's the leader of us."
The wolf laughs. I turn my head to look him in the face.
"Are you telling me that you and your leader aren't even leaders? You're guards? Guards aren't leaders."
"We guard the ways of the fox government. We make sure chaos doesn't come," I say.
The wolf points at a small dark gray cloud in the distance. I recognize what it is right away. Phantoms.
"You suck at your jobs then. Phantoms are all over your land. Chaos is already here, and your top priority is to hunt down a fox instead of helping your own citizens."
The wolf leader stands up on his two back paws. He leans against one of the four pillars in front of the Tall Tower.
"You two are disgraces. People are dying left and right, and you're doing nothing to stop more phantoms from coming."
"The Duke Fierdan has a way to control the phantoms. He's linked to the phantoms, so that's why we have to get him," I explain.
He still doesn't look convinced.
"Duke is threatening the fox society. He wants to destroy our territory, so he could become the leader of a new world. He has to be stopped. Fierdan can't have power ever again."
After a few minutes, we enter the Tall Tower.
"No one is here. Where's your team?" the wolf says.
Now I'm angry. I tear off the navy blue jacket. It drops onto the floor. I don't bother to pick it up.
I swear under my breath.
TWINKLE
Wearing a blue-gray short-sleeved shirt and black pants, I walk up to Dawn. I tell her good morning, but I get the feeling that she didn't hear me.
I repeat myself. She looks like she's in her own little world.
She faces me with a horrified expression. I gasp before dropping the blue sword.
I was planning on doing some more training with Dawn, but now I think that won't be a good idea. I even got dressed in one of the shirts she gave me. I brought the sword too.
"I won't use my blue flames to attack you this time. Even though you were pleased with my fighting, I feel guilty for suddenly becoming violent with you."
Still no reply from her.
I pick up the sword. But when I hear Dawn speak, I drop it again.
"Oh. Good morning, Twinkle. Thanks for being ready. We won't be using swords today though."
Before she walks away any further, I ask her why we won't be using swords.
"We'll be using a different weapon for today," she says before entering her cave home. It looks so small out here compared to how big it is on the inside.
I sit right outside the entrance and wait for her.
Dawn comes outside holding two new weapons. She gives me the blue one as she keeps the green one. Then she looks up at the trees and smiles.
I follow Dawn as we walk toward a tree. When we reach it, I look up to see the two boys sleeping. I giggle.
Then I helplessly watch as Ardere moves a little too far over. He's starting to fall.
But before he can fall too far, Duke falls off the tree branch. The two orange fire wings have appeared so naturally. It looks like he grabbed Ardere in his sleep. When the two of them are back on the branch, they lay down and go back to sleep.
"It looks like the two of them are getting along," I say to myself.
That thought makes me smile. They look like they're friends. They look so cute and innocent.
That thought disappears as soon as they wake up. Duke holds Ardere in his arms as he drops to the ground. Thank goodness for his wings.
Ardere stumbles when Duke lets go of him on the ground. His fur glows its golden color, and lightning appears when he stomps his foot.
"Who's there? Lightning and fire can take you down. We'll burn you," I hear Ardere say with his eyes still closed.
Duke speaks to him. "Relax, it's okay. It was just Dawn playing a little trick on us, that's all."
When he turns to give Dawn a disapproving glance, she giggles.
"Come on, that was pretty funny," she says. "Don't you agree with me, Twinkle?"
I look from Dawn to Duke to Ardere. "Umm," is all I can say.
Duke puts a paw on Ardere's shoulder. "You used your weird Elemental Power to wake us up. Making the tree move wasn't nice of you, Dawn."
"Yeah and what do boys do now? Do they leave their beds and sleep in trees now?"
Ardere looks at Dawn. "Actually, I was on the ground. Duke and I were talking for a while, but he got tired of me being on the ground. He flew down to pick me up and put me on the tree branch, so we could have less distance between us."
"Shush, young one. They don't have to know about last night," Duke says to him.
Ardere looks at the ground. "Oh okay."
When he looks up again, he looks confused.
I realize Duke has took notice in what is in my paws. He turns to Dawn and sees that she has the same weapon that I do.
"No way, you have bow and arrows. Dawn, do you have an extra? Oh my gosh, you have a bow and arrows. I've always wanted to use one. I bet they're way better than throwing darts."
It's hard for me to hide my laughter as the rest of us watch Duke become obsessed with the bow and arrows.
"I need one, Dawn. Please tell me you have a red or orange one. I've wanted to use a real bow and arrows for so long. You're so cool, Dawn."
A lot of things have happened, but one thing's for certain. We're still kids.
"No, these are just for Twinkle and me. Go do something useful with your wolf friend."
He doesn't listen though. When he's about to grab my bow and arrows, Dawn shoots an arrow at him.
I watch as the arrowhead turns into a leaf.
"These bow and arrows are only for my use. This green one has my Elemental Power. Twinkle's has her Elemental Power. That's why you can't use our bows, Duke."
Looking defeated, he says, "You're so mean. Let's go, Ardere."
I watch the two of them leave.
"Come on, Twinkle. Let's go," I hear Dawn say as she grabs my paw.
DUKE
"I can't believe I'm not allowed to use a bow and arrows. You don't know how many years I've dreamed of having one," I say while looking down into the valley from on top of a rock.
Ardere steps closer to the edge. I have to protect this wolf kid no matter what.
"Yeah, I don't blame you. I remember you telling me how much you used to throw darts at targets. That's such a bland alternative to using an actual bow and arrows," Ardere says.
I nod. "Yeah. It's weird though. I'm scared of actually using one."
Ardere sits down with his legs dangling off the edge. I sigh and sit down next to him. I put my left paw on top of his right one.
I'll do my best to protect you. I don't know what it is, but there is something about you. It's as if I want to be your brother.
Fierdan has a brother. I'm not Fierdan though. I'm Duke. I don't have a brother.
I want to keep you safe. I don't want you to be hurt by my actions as well.
I don't know what I'll do if I caused you to be harmed in any way. You're just a person in the wrong body. They won't understand that you're actually a fox in a wolf's body. You're not wrong.
I'll do anything to make sure you're safe from your father. I promise you, Ardere.
"A few months ago, I had these scary visions. In one of them, I had a bow and arrows. It started out with me just throwing darts, but the darts changed to arrows. In the end, I've killed someone I loved with the arrows."
I take a deep breath. My grip on Ardere's paw tightens.
"I looked terrifying. I watched this other version of me set the room on fire. That me wouldn't stop until there was blood everywhere. The target turned out to be my lover. I killed Twinkle."
"It's okay, Duke," Ardere whispers. "It's going to be okay."
My right paw is in a fist. My knuckles press into the hard surface.
"No, Ardere, it's not. It won't ever be okay. Life isn't okay right now, if you haven't noticed."
"Yes, it will. Stop being so negative. You won't kill Twinkle. You can't."
I look at my feet swinging back and forth.
"You don't know that."
Ardere faces me.
"If you're scared of using bow and arrows, then why are you so interested in using one?"
My eyes close. "I don't know. There are a lot of things wrong with me. Lots of conflicts going on in my messed up head."
I open my eyes when I watch Ardere start to get up. He smiles at me.
"Let's do our own training, Duke."
I nod and stand up.
Ardere goes first. He shoots out a few bolts of lightning. They drop down the cliff to the barren land in the valley right below us.
A patch of light brown dirt gets charred.
Then I go. It's hard for the orange flames to get off my claws. I don't think I ever shot fire off my body before.
Eventually, the fire escapes my claws. The area of black dirt Ardere created with his lightning gets covered in the fire.
It doesn't blow out.
Ardere sends out another lightning bolt. It zaps out the small fire.
I stare at it. I suddenly get the thought of something happening to Ardere that causes my demise.
The demise of Duke. The death of me. Of who I once was.
Then I think of that dream again.
I stand at the edge of the cliff and scream at the top of my lungs.
DAWN
I run away from Twinkle.
She follows me.
"Where are you going?" I hear her ask me.
I don't answer her.
I keep on running.
Taurel escaped. Duke is being hunted down. No one's safe here.
I suddenly stop. A few seconds later, Twinkle bumps into me.
"What is that?" Twinkle asks.
I listen to the screaming. It sounds like agony.
"It's Duke. He's being hunted down again."
"By who?" she gasps.
"Taurel and maybe a few others. I'm not that sure. I was speaking to one of my workers on my walkie-talkie earlier. That's how I know."
However, something about the screaming reminded me of someone else's familiar voice.
Fierdan is screaming too. I have the feeling that he finally knows something I wiped from his memory.
His humanity that was stolen from him.
