Chapter 1:

The sound of giggling children broke the silence of the crisp night air. A small group of kits ran around one of the courtyards of Thundera trying desperately to catch lightning bugs in their paws. The eldest in the group, a male Balinese; called Ryland was the first to manage the task.

"I got one!" The young tom shouted, holding up his cupped paws victoriously and the other kits quickly gathered around him.

"Let us see!" A feisty, burnt red Somali cat demanded, jumping up and down eagerly.

Ryland opened his clasped paws just a fraction of an inch so the others could peek in and see. A faint glow emanated from the gap causing his cerulean eyes to shine brightly.

"You should let it go," a tawny, spotted cat told him.

"Nobody asked you, Servali!" Ryland retorted harshly.

"Leave him alone Ryland" A thin faced, calico, Oriental Shorthair told him, placing a small paw on his shoulder, her golden eyes pleading.

"Butt out of this Shyna!" He hissed back at her and she withdrew her arm quickly.

"What did I do to you Ryland? Why are you always picking on me?" Servali asked him.

"Because it's your stupid brother Arcadian's fault that my sister lost her ear!" He shouted at him, his fur standing on end in anger.

"It is not!" Servali shouted back, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.

Servali had the highest amount of respect for his elder brother. He had always been kind toward him when they were growing up despite the twelve year age difference. Unfortunately his family were about the only ones who got to see that side of him. Arcadian had a short temper and had joined the Thunderan army as soon as he came of age as a way to vent it. Most of the time he took out his pent up rage on the lizard armies that were scattered around the land, but on occasion he had been known to turn on the other members of his squadron. On one of these occasions he had been particularly harsh toward a Highlander cat, making fun of the way his ears folded over. Ryland's sister, Bianca had stepped in to prevent a fight from breaking out and Arcadian had stomped away fuming. The next morning when the troupe woke up they found part of their food supply had vanished along with Arcadian and Bianca had suffered a massive cut to her ear which became infected in the harsh wilderness they inhabited causing a doctor to have to remove her left ear entirely when the group returned. Nobody knew for certain, but everyone was sure given the circumstances that Servali's brother had been the culprit and when he showed up a week after the party did he did not deny their accusations and he was discharged from the army. His family, who had know little about his various outbursts could never bring themselves to believe these claims and accepted him back with open arms. Since that point however Ryland had decided to make Servali's life Hell and had never passed up an opportunity to call him out in public or to even stoop low enough to jump him when he was returning home from lessons. This caused him to return late many days and covered in bruises, once he even returned home with a chipped tooth. Servali was tough, but the slender framed eight year old was hardly a match for the thirteen year old.

"My brother would never do anything like that!" Servali protested, his fur bristling.

"Okay you two knock it off!" The Somalia; Hazari yelled getting between the two of them.

Ryland may have been older, but he knew better than to try and cross Hazari and he stood down. He shrugged his shoulders as if nothing had happened and walked away from the other kids, the tiny bug still confined within his paws. Servali stood, grinding his teeth together as everyone else went back to enjoying the little time they had left to play outside. He took a deep breath and closed his eye turning his attention to just listening to the sounds around him, a technique he had learned from his brother on how to calm down. Servali's ears began to twitch as he listened in to a small rumbling sound coming from off in the distance. The noise sounded like it was getting closer and he wondered if it was one of the Thunderan troupes returning. The number of feet sounded too great for it to be like a returning party though, it sounded more like a fully fledged army. Servali had just barley decided it was best to return home to make sure everything was okay before the inclosing noise became loud enough for the others to hear. The ground began to shake as Servali ran as fast as he could toward his home. He was thankful he did not live far from the courtyard they had been playing at. He flung open the door and his mother practically leapt out of her chair to embrace him.

"Servali! I was so worried about you!" She told him, practically sobbing as she held him. He could feel the gentle kick of his yet to be born brother or sister on his stomach as she pressed him closer.

"I'm okay mom" He said, pushing her off him with a smile. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, your father and brother went to go see if they could figure it out, but it can't be good" She told her son with a small shudder.

"It'll be okay mom, you'll see" He smiled widely at her.

Arcadian and his father; Stellano came rushing into their small home then. Arcadian immediately pulling one of the cloth blinds off of its hooks and rushing to grab various foods from the pantry.

"What's going on?" Servala asked her husband.

"You and Servali need to leave now!" Stellano replied, grasping her paws tightly in his. "The lizards, they've breached the main wall and they are working their way through the city. It isn't safe for you here," he informed her quickly.

"What? How can that be?" She questioned him, growing frantic.

"I don't know my love, but that doesn't matter now. You have to get out of this place." He told her as Arcadian tied the cloth with various nonperishable foods together and handed it to him. "Take this and Servali and get as far away from here as you can and I promise when this is all over we will come find you" He said placing a paw on her cheek which she clasped tightly as tears ran down her cheeks.

"You aren't coming?" She questioned

"Arcadian and I are two able bodied men and we know how to fight. We need to do whatever we can to prevent those lizards from taking over or at least slow their progress and give you and others a chance to escape. You must understand" He said nearly pleading as he kissed her forehead. "We will be okay, I'll watch over our son and we will do our best to meet you in one moons time near Shemlock. There are other groups heading there, you'll be safe"

"Dad why can't I go with you?" Servali asked tugging at his dad's sleeve

"Because you have to protect your mother." He told him smiling warmly as he placed both of his paws on his sons shoulders. "It's going to be boring where we are going, but you and your mother have a great adventure ahead"

"Really?" He said excitedly and his father laughed

"Yes son. Here I want you to have this-" Stellano pulled a small Billao knife out of a pouch on his side and handed it to him "use this if you mother is ever in danger" Sevali took is gingerly with a nod and stored it away in a pouch usually reserved for his habit of collecting stones. "Now take your mother and go"

"I love you" Servala said kissing her husband's lips softly. "Take care of him" she order as he ran out the door "and you be good," she continued brushing a raven black hair from Arcadian's face with a smile and kissing his forehead.

"I will mom" he smiled and followed after his father.

"Come on little one we have a long walk ahead of us" Servala informed Servali, taking his hand in hers as they left their home behind them.