I found a hill in the army's path, knowing that they would be there soon. I doubled my size and replaced my hoodie with a suit of blood red and black armor, just to seem more intimidating. I saw them long before they saw me and counted them to be 278 basic foot soldiers, 9 lieutenants, and a general. The general was not Drok, nor had i expected him to be. As they came near, they saw me and surrounded the hill. The general called up to me, "You will die otter. Prepare to meet your relatives at hellsgates." I wanted to end this quickly so i could get back to Nicole sooner, so i pressed the detonator. Canisters of anhydrous ammonia, synthesised by my OMNI, exploded at their feet. Within seconds every drop of water had been sapped from their bodies, leaving only leathery shells of bodies behind. I waited for the gas to dissipate and the crow spies to leave before returning to the village. I returned to my otter hologram, yet, the whole event seemed anti-climatic, somehow.
When i returned to Nicole's hut she was trying to explain to Corey what a hologram was, "It is colored light, shone on the insides of the force shield shell." Corey looked stubbornly confused," I still don't see how it's possible!" I snuck up on Corey and placed my hands in their place. I transferred knowledge of holograms to her, and the knowledge that Nicole and i were now Mates and why. I also stole all her memories and kept the fact secret from Nicole. When i was through and let her out of her trance, she stood and began to yell at me, " Don't you ever touch my face, not after what you did to that fox last night. And don't touch Nicole either, she..." She paused as if remembering thing for the first time and turned to Nicole and asked, " Mates? " Nicole nodded and said, " Yes, and the ceremony is tonight. Go, and invite everybody. And don't worry about patrols, Tungsted took care of them." Corey left looking thoughtful. Nicole thought to me, /I must prepare for tonight as well. Go chop firewood or something.\ /Aye, Milady!\ i thought back.
Drok was in a fowl mood. A "Demon Otter" apparently killed two members of a patrol, the First Army hadn't reported in yet, and there was rumors of something falling from the sky. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, "Well," he said aloud, "bad things do come in threes." There was a rap on the door. "COME IN!" he roared. A messenger crow from the First Army stumbled in. he started to speak but Drok cut him off, "So, how did the "Demon Otter" die?" The crow looked terrified but answered, "He didn't, Milord." he said humbly. "WHAT? WHY? HOW?" Drok bellowed. "Rumchugger yelled at the otter that he would die, then, there was a fowl smelling cloud that was there one instant and gone the next. And then the whole army was dead and dried, Sir." the crow reported, quickly. "Impossible!" Drok cried. " The other birds saw it too, and the otter stood unhurt!" the crow said, wishing that he didn't say what he just said. Drok was quiet a moment, then he told the crow, " Get me Lightbender, and tell none what you saw." The crow scurried off to do his bidding, and Drok struggled for a plan. Several minutes later Lightbender appeared. He was a deep black rat with red eyes like an adders. When he spoke it was with a chilling whisper, "What do you require, Lord Drok?" Drok replied,"My army went to this "Demon Otter" and were slain. We need him to come to us. Find somebeast that he loves and kill it. Gruesomely. Then he will come and fight on our terms." Lightbender thought a moment and said,"It is as good as done, My Lord." Lightbender left Drok's presents and went to the carrion stable. The stable was full of carrion bred for riding and trained by Lightbender himself. He saddled up his own personal crow, and soon was swiftly flying for refugee camp #148, where the "Demon Otter" supposedly lived.
Tungsted went back to his wrecked craft, and was salvaging material. He built and launched four aerial probes, designed to send recon pictures and video to my OMNI from the lower atmosphere. /One of the first things i need to do is establish a communication grid,\ i thought /and build some type of headquarters.\ I began to break down debris to a molecular level and store them in micro-storage in my OMNI. Then i could rebuild things with them later. While i was cleaning up debris i found my sword. The blade was 7.5 cm. wide, .5 cm. thick, and 150 cm long. It was honed by a laser to be as sharp as any metal could be, and made from an alloy that would not break, and could hold a point forever. The outer 2 cm. of the edge was a semi-transparent black and the center was a dark blue. The hilt was made from a super-dense black diamond and wrapped in leather. It was a prototype weapon made for my stealth missions. After i had stored every piece of debris that fell, i began designing underground probes to search out crude oil. Then it hit me. A wave of emotions, fear, helplessness, and the overwhelming sense that something was wrong. Something terrible was happening to Nicole. I summoned a force shield from my OMNI, jumped on it, and rode it to the village as fast as it would go. It was 14 miles from the crash site to the village, and i arrived there in 4 minutes. An Eternity. No less.
The village was on fire, and there were creatures running about, some on fire. I went to Nicole's hut, which was burning worse that the rest. I broke down the front door and found Corey's dead body. She had died from multiple stab wounds. I ran to Nicole's room and found her body. She had been badly beaten and raped. I left the burning hut in a daze, with it collapsing around me. Once outside the emotions that i had wanted to forget, the ones from The Wars, struck me like a fist. Anger, hatred, loathing and above all, rage. I wanted blood, i wanted revenge. My OMNI beeped, and it startled me. The aerial probe for this area had picked up a rat, fleeing the scene on a crow. Now i had a target. I began running after him. I dropped my otter hologram and summoned a new one. A human skeleton consumed by an inferno of black flames. And i grew. I grew to my regular height, and was snapping off mighty, old oaks like they were nothing. I was gaining on the rat, and he knew it. The faster he flew the faster i ran, and i could smell his fear. As i ran i picked up a rock and threw it with practiced aim at the crow's wing. The wing crumpled under the force of the blow, and the crow and rider fell from the sky. I caught the rat as it fell from the sky and absorbed all his mind, i left nothing behind. I set the limp body with empty eyes on the ground, and snuffed out its life with the heel of my boot.
Now that the rage had subsided, i filtered through the rat's memories. I now knew Drok's plans and intentions. I knew that his second army was residing at Drok's fortress. I shrank to Lightbender's size, raised a hologram to impersonate him, and activated my voice synthesysers to sound like him. I was Lightbender. I set off for Drok's fortress. As i came nearer to the fortress there were more and more patrols, outposts, and checkpoints. I had no trouble getting past any of them, for everyone stopped and saluted me. I was able to walk up to the fortress, get in, and walk right into Drok's quarters. He was napping but awoke at the sound of the door opening, "Lightbender, why didn't you knock?" he said. "I bring news," i said icily, "about the "Demon Otter" and his loved one." "Ah, yes. Then he is on his way?" Drok asked. I was ready. "Better, My Lord." Drok looked curious. I changed my hologram back to the otter and said, "I am here." In the instant it took him to realize what just happened, i put my hand on his head and did to him what i did to Lightbender. Then i burned the body. I changed my hologram back to Lightbender, created, and planted a bomb, then i left the fortress. When i had passed the last patrol from the fortress, i changed back into my otter and felt the ground shake. There was nothing left of Drok's fortress or of any vermin in the area. I walked on for two nights and a day just thinking about "things" and what to do now. My OMNI beeped. Apparently there is an inactive volcano full of rabbits and a badger only three days march away. "I found my next destination." i said to myself.