"They're over here, I see them!" One of the soldiers crept around the corner, gripping his spear readily. He was slowly joined by two others, cautiously maneuvering around the fires. Their eyes settled on the trio, surrounding them like a pack of wolves cornering their prey.

  Felix flexed and softened his hands, wiping the sweat onto his pants.

  CRASH!

  He turned around, realizing that came from the backdoor. Na'Vi hissed, raising her cws up as she seemed ready for combat. But Emyri looked calm, out of pce. Her paws fell to her side; her eyes were closed, and she didn't seem at all fazed by the appearance of several more men coming to join them.

  One of them cocked his head. "Are these them?"

  "I can't tell, bring them alive."

  "What of the boy?"

  "Who cares? Father demands we bring the women to him. Let the boy burn."

  Felix felt a heavy lump in his throat, stepping back as Na'Vi pushed ahead of him. He watched as she growled back, baring her fangs.

  "You want him, you'll need to get through us first!"

  One of the other men scoffed. "That's the idea, heathen. You and the other are coming with us."

  "Tell the others to search the area, there should be more of them roaming around!" His friend ordered to the approaching group of soldiers entering through the back. "We'll bring these two in."

  "You sure you won't need any help?"

  "Ah, with these? it's either with us or burn. No real option but to join us, ain't that right?" He grinned a crook-toothed smile, head bobbing lightly as he had himself a good chuckle.

  It irritated Felix to no end.

  But before the other soldiers could leave, Emyri's tail wrapped around both spears by their shaft. She whipped them toward her direction, making the pair of men stumble forward and nearly lose bance. With a quick spin, her leg swung across their faces, sending them crashing over the tabletop with a heavy thud!

  "You piece of-" The third man removed the sso from his belt only for her tails to snag him by his wrists, flinging them upwards. His hands spped into his face, leaving him open for a swift kick to the gut. He fell back on his ass, out of breath and folded over clutching his stomach. As he was wheezing, the reinforcements turned their heads from their fallen allies to the mother cat as she tossed the spear over for Felix to catch.

  Now with a weapon in hand, he felt his confidence grow. Still, he clumsily held the weapon in hand, revealing how little he knows about combat.

  "Hraaaahhhh!" A soldier shed out, his sword held up high as he rushed toward him. Felix felt his soul leave his body as he raised the spear over his head like a metal bar in self-defense. The sword struck the shaft right between his hands, had he not acted in time that sword would have carved into his head.

  "Felix!" Na'Vi acted with quick precision, moving on all fours and swinging both feet forward. It sent the man reeling back, rolling across the floor and even falling through the burning wall and nding outdoors. She locked eyes with Felix with concern. "You okay?"

  "Y-yea, thanks!" He chuckled nervously, thanking the gods for their protection.

  "Stop being stupid, if you're here to fight then fight! Don't just stand there and watch!" She scolded him, pausing as she ducked away from an incoming swing. More of Perdilius' men entered through the back door, crowding down the hallway to meet with them.

  Nodding to her advice, Felix gripped the spear, closing the gap between his hands by the bottom end. He pnted himself against the wall, waiting for those soldiers to appear. On sight of the first helmet he saw, he held his arms back and swung with all of his strength, striking the front man with a blow to his chest pte.

  "Oomph!" He took the spear but fell back, pushed aside by the soldiers lined up behind him. There were about five more that came in, with Felix noticing the girls begin to shake their heads with their legs wobbling. Emyri coughed out, feeling the effects of the smoke polluting her lungs. The stench was overwhelming for their enhanced sense of smell. They only need to stall a bit more until they could retrieve-

  The satchel! Vardare!

  Felix's eyes popped open. "I need to get the satchel!"

  "Go! We'll stay here, hurry!" Na'Vi coughed out, clearing her lungs.

  Felix cursed under his breath, covering his mouth as he was beginning to feel a headache begin to form. Fleeing down the hall, he stopped as a chunk of ceiling dropped down to his feet, scraping his leg. The fire was out of control; the heat made the air too thick to breathe and the sweat stuck his clothes to his skin. Stepping cautiously around where he could, he found his way to the front entrance where the stairway was, only to find the rail appeared like a trail of fmes leading upstairs.

  "Damn it." He gnced around, stomping his feet to keep the heat from burning his soles. Breathing in and out, he readied himself before climbing up the stairs as fast as he could.

  "Stand down!" One of the soldiers demanded, charging in first with a crossbow in hand.

  Emyri gritted her teeth and moved away, taking cover behind the corner to avoid a possible arrow shot. No, he hadn't enough time to aim when Na'Vi pounced on him, leaving him cratered against the back wall. She hissed and jumped back several feet to keep away from the hallway entrance, keeping the bottleneck advantage to their favor.

  Another soldier moved in, this time with a rusted shield for cover. He stepped in and pnted his feet, gesturing for his comrades to pool through safely. They were armed with rope and swords, keeping their distance from the pair of cat girls. The shield wearer charged in first, ramming Na'Vi in the chest and knocking her over the hatch.

  THUD!

  The noise echoed through the dark stairway where the Janette and the others were.

  "What was that?" KuliKuli asked, looking up. The only light came from the red glow outlined by the hatch at the top.

  "I don't want to think about it, they'll be fine." Dimyri reminded her, although it looked as if she were trying to convince herself. "Remember, they promised. And I can hear them, you can too."

  "They sound like they're in trouble," Syri whimpered.

  "They're giving us time." Janette mentioned, sliding her hands along the damp wet walls to guide her movements. "I can't see a damn thing here!"

  "Let me lead." Syri grabbed her hand, gently pcing a paw along her stomach. "Feeling better?"

  "Not the best time to ask me that."

  "Sorry." Her green eyes glowed faintly in the darkness that engulfed them, giving Janette a sense of comfort. "We can see better in the dark, maybe I should take the lead? You can tell me where we go, I'll be your legs."

  Janette nodded, leaning into her for bance. They were descending further down, with Syri freezing at the bottom step. "Why are we stopping?"

  "The pce is flooded with water." Syri pointed out, dipping her lower paw in. It sunk down until the water levels reached her ankle. "It's not too bad, but it looks dirty."

  "What is this pce?" Dimyri asked.

  "It used to be a wine celr, ter repurposed for urgent getaways." Janette expined. "Dad was paranoid about what would happen if I got in trouble. I'll need to send him a thank you ter after this."

  Upstairs, Felix hurriedly searched down the hall, counting the doors until he found Janette's bedroom.

  "AHH!" He pulled his hand back, grabbing the handle left his hand burnt. Thinking fast, he rammed his shoulder against the door.

  Bang!

  Bang!

  BANG!

  He nearly fell over, nding on his knee and shielding his eyes. The room looked like hell, a fire arrow had shot through the window and left the pce unrecognizable. He feared the worst, stepping lightly around the bed until he found the satchel.

  "No!" He gasped, snatching it away and pulling it into the hall. It was burnt bck with a flicker of fme on the bottom corner. Quickly, he spped it down until it went away. Digging inside, he held up the book and turned it around, briefly scanning the pages. He sighed, hugging the withered old book tightly and even kissing the cover. "Thank you."

  Relieved, he slipped it back into the bag and made his way back. As he descended down the stairs, his foot caved through a chunk of weak flooring, digging his leg in. He grunted, holding onto the steps as he tried pulling his leg back up. Chunks of the house were falling down around him; portraits had turned bck and chunks of the second floor were peeling off like wet paper. When he freed himself, he fell backwards, descending down until he nded at the bottom floor. He was met with the statue that greeted new visitors, pced at the center where the stairs would spiral around her. It was the figure of a beautifully tall woman, dressed in elegant robes with long wavy hair that curled at the tips.

  He remembered she meant a great deal to Janette and her parents. She was the only thing unaffected by the fmes, and he regretted being unable to save it. Something caught his attention from outside. Looking out, he noticed Perdilius and his followers were beginning to sing a weird chant in some nguage he didn't understand.

  "Festina! Festina! Agni perditi effugiunt!"

  He didn't know what to make of it, only that they had little time left. Composing himself, he sprinted down the hall as the chant began to grow louder.

  "Get off!" Na'Vi squirmed helplessly, feeling the soldier pnt his knee on her back with all his weight. Her wrists were pulled behind her and she could feel them begin to bind her with rope.

  "Na'Vi!" Felix shouted, kicking the soldier behind his knee and spinning his helmet around to blind him. Na'Vi was struggling on the floor, fighting with the ropes that kept her wrists bound. Emyri sent a spear man crashing into another before she moved in to help cut Na'Vi free. Felix was wrestling with the Na'Vi's assaint, feeling himself losing as he was smmed against the wall. His satchel slipped off the leather wrap, kicked away during their battle.

  Emyri pushed Na'Vi away from an incoming net, then jumped to her right as a man attempted to grab her. She threw her elbow back, breaking his exposed nose through the visor, all while Na'Vi sshed the other man's hands to throw his sword away. A sweep with her tails directed to his feet made him topple on his backside, falling victim to Na'Vi throwing her paws over his face with blow after blow until he was rendered unconscious.

  As the fight continued, the chant outside grew louder. "Festina! Festina! Agni perditi effugiunt!"

  Meanwhile, Felix pulled the helmet off his attacker, using it like a weapon and smming it across his face numerous times. It was effective, leaving him bloodied but still standing. The man spat into Felix's eyes, a foul tactic that gave him enough leverage to swing a balled fist into Felix's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Digging into his belt, the soldier surprised Felix with a dagger in hand, stabbing it into his left arm leaving only the handle exposed.

  "Aagh!! Yousonnovabitch!!" Felix screamed out, interlocking his fingers and smming his fists down into the man's balding head. The man fell to his knees, helpless as Felix grabbed a piece of the tabletop and swung it over his head for good measure.

  "Felix!" Na'Vi called out, "Your arm!"

  Felix groaned loudly, unable to pull the dagger off and giving up on the action. "Forget it, where's the bag?"

  His eyes danced around until he found Janette's satchel, reaching out when a fallen soldier shed out with his sword.

  "NNG!" Felix pulled back with a cut across his hand, only for the swordsman to swing for his leg. He skipped back in time, falling back when Emyri zoomed in and pnted his head into the floor with a stomp of her paw.

  "Festina! Festina! Agni perditi effugiunt!"

  Behind them, Na'Vi narrowly twisted her waist as a man shed for her chest. She swung her leg across knocking him down. She used her tails to whip the soldier sneaking behind her, ricocheting him off the wall before he tumbled down. Gncing down, she felt the side of her stomach and made out a rge gash off one side, a pierce barely missing her insides and slicing under her ribs instead. There was blood, but she felt better knowing the sword didn't go through and only grazed her.

  She saw Emyri swipe her cws at another man, striking and scarring his chest pte hard. His face showed nothing but fear and shock as he raised his hands, making no attempt to fight back. Eventually his back reached the wall, with Felix nding a nice kick him through, knocking several more soldiers out the back.

  "This pce is coming down!" He called out.

  Na'Vi looked around and grabbed the satchel "I got it, let's go!"

  "Agreed!"

  Felix reached for a wooden chair and threw it at the incoming soldier, knocking him off his feet with a grunt. Na'Vi jumped up and for a second Felix had thought he saw her attached to the ceiling upside down before pouncing on another man, kicking him back. One of them tackled her down, pinning her onto the ground nearby the door as more soldiers joined in.

  "Get off me!"

  Felix grabbed a vase nearby and shattered it over the attacker's helmet, pulling him away. He stuck his hand in and pulled something away before swinging it down on them, realizing he grabbed a mace as the impact dented the armor. But more of them pushed their way inside the house, he counted three holding Na'Vi down. Felix grabbed another chair to swing it down on the herd but stepped back as a sixth soldier walked in aiming his crossbow at him.

  "YYAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

  The man looked up in time to see a blur grip his helmet and throw him down the hallway. The others facing Felix kept their sight on him when two tails coiled around each of their necks, pulling them off him and knocking them onto the ground headfirst. Emyri then jumped on top of the other three and went to work, swiping her paws down at each of them and simultaneously using her two tails to grip and bash their heads onto the floor hard.

  "Yah! Yah! Yah-Yah-Yah-YAAAAAHHHHHH!" Emyri cried her lungs out, breathing hard as she stood atop three sleeping soldiers. Felix stared in awe, with Na'Vi groaning beneath the three bodies.

  "Get. Them. Off of me." She mumbled, with all three of them pulling the soldiers away and helping her up.

  Felix kept looking back at Emyri with wide eyes. "I didn't know you could do that."

  "I need to protect my kids somehow." She panted back. "You're bleeding."

  He nodded, reminded by the stinging pain pulsing in his right arm.

  A chunk of ceiling toppled over, reminding them of present urgency.

  "C'mon. we need to go."

  "Good!" Na'Vi shouted while kicking one of the men away, exposing the hatch. "I've got the back, hurry!"

  One by one they scurried down the hatch, with Na'Vi closing it behind them. The second floor had begun to colpse, falling apart piece by piece as the chanting grew ever so louder.

  "Festina! Festina! Agni perditi effugiunt!"