I watched the smoke rise from the tree tops as the fire raged on, feeling a strange peacefulness.
"Rachel, what do we do now?" Aslan stood beside me. I quickly took a head count, and counted all of my team members present.
"We wait and see what Big Green does." I answered simply, sitting down on the dirt road, waiting. It didn't take long for First and Second Squad of Big Green to reach the shore, the horror on their faces apparent. I had to force myself to stay still instead of confronting them. "Alright, go back to East Citadel." I ordered my team.
"What about you?" Dazaan asked.
"I believe I'll stick around for a while." I stalked off into the forest, walking carefully around the burning tree trunks. Using the smoke as my ally, I hid in the shadows, watching for any sign of life in the forest. My ears twitched as I picked up the sound of voices, and I crept forward, looking through the ferns that weren't burnt yet.
"How could this fire have started? It wasn't dry enough for anything to light!" I recognized the voice as Mr. NoHands. I growled, eyes sparking as I realized that the members of First and Second Squad were both in the forest.
"Maybe they'll burn…" I said to myself, neck fur bristling. Looking around and seeing a rock in the middle of a clearing, I jumped from my place on the ground and up onto the rock. I stood there, eyes narrowed, watching for the slightest movement. I didn't have to wait long; I could see silhouettes rushing through the smoke, and I snarled loudly. A few of the shapes stopped, and then some of the members of First Squad rushed into the clearing I stood in.
"You!" Lin Chung hissed.
"W-what are you doing here?" I heard AppTrully ask fearfully. I grinned maliciously.
"Just watching the show." I growled, eyes glowing.
"You did this?" Mighty Ray yelled.
"Just what I was ordered to do. It looked like fun, anyways." I shrugged and started to walk away.
"You'll pay for this, Lei!" Lin Chung yelled. I turned around slowly, looking down at Lin Chung coldly.
"I'll pay? I believe you are mistaken. This, Lin Chung, is because of you." I growled. The other members of First Squad looked at Lin Chung in horror.
"What does she mean, Lin Chung?" Sonia asked.
"Oh, you haven't told them, Lin? Well, it's time they knew." I said gleefully. "You see, First Squad and AppTrully, Linny here killed my son." I said, using a nickname I had for Lin Chung when I was a little kid. "That night when we took the amulet, my son, Razaan, was just trying to help us escape, when Lin shot him in the heart."
"What? Lin Chung would never kill an animal!" Mr. NoHands shouted.
"Really, then? Then why did Razaan die? Did he fall on a sharp bamboo shoot himself? If Lin Chung didn't kill him, then explain to me why I watched Razaan die before my eyes!" I snarled, eyes blazing. I took a deep breath, calming myself. "Oh well. I'll leave the judgment up to you." I shrugged, and then turned around and ran off through the fiery forest. I felt a small, strange sense of guilt, but quickly pushed it away. The fire was worth it; Big Green now knew what would happen should they cross me again.
*At East Citadel*
"Well? What happened?" Highroller yelled from his throne.
"We sent Big Green into a panic, as usual." I explained.
"Good. I want you all to be prepared; the final battle is coming soon." Highroller said coldly.
"What?" I asked, surprised.
"What did I just say!?" Highroller snapped. I nodded once to him before turning around and walking out of the throne room.
"The final battle is soon." I growled gleefully to my team.
"Are you serious? Already?" Azaan asked. I nodded to him, and the others sat around and discussed what they thought would happen while I rested my head on my paws and dozed off…
*Two Weeks Later*
"Go, go, go!" I snarled at Yeshai.
"A'ight, I'm goin'!" Yeshai picked up the pace and ran around the edge of the line of fighters.. The final hour was upon us. This would be when we finally won the war; when Big Green would finally be defeated. I rose ahead of my team, taking the lead, and we sprinted to the front lines. I was given the honor of giving the command for the battle to begin. My team stayed at the back of the battle segments to catch anyone of Big Green that broke through the first frontlines. As I stood in front of the rows of animals on Highroller's side, I felt adrenaline rush through me. A few of the animals on Highroller's side were the Gorillas, the Bears, the Eagles, the five Deer Kingdoms of the north, the Jackals, and the Vultures. I turned around to face the forces of Big Green, who were arriving on shore just now. Though they had more variety of animals, we had strength in numbers. The clouded sky flashed with dry lightning; TwinMasters was helping us from the sidelines from his cave. The whole of nature seemed to send a bad omen through signs: The clouds were blood red, and a cold wind blew through the land. Whirling around to face my side of the war, I rose my voice above the sound of the wind.
"This is it! This is the final battle! Fight with all your will to serve Master Highroller and TwinMasters!" I roared. I sprinted down the front of the frontlines, the other animals joining in on my battle cry. When I reached the other end of the line of battle-ready animals, they charged. I snarled as my team joined around me.
"This is it, boys. The darkest hour!" I crowed, eyes flashing. I sprinted ahead of my team, and soon broke into the fighting. I launched myself at the first animal I saw, which was one of the lions from Lion Kingdom. I growled and leapt up onto his back, biting down on his shoulders. The lion roared in pain, but then rolled over on his back, crushing me to the ground. I gasped as my shoulder cracked slightly, and flinched when I tried to get up. I looked up to see the lion raising his paw to strike me down, when Aslan bolted out of nowhere and threw the lion off.
"Rachel!" He growled, nudging me to my paws.
"I'm okay." I gasped as I put weight on my shoulder, but shook it off. I couldn't let anything distract me. I charged farther into the battle, looking for one person only. I dodged around fighting animals and humans until I found my target: Lin Chung. I snarled, grabbing his attention.
"So it's come to this?" My arch-enemy asked.
"Indeed it has." I growled. I prepared myself to leap at him, when all the sudden, a great earthquake shook the ground, throwing me off balance. I turned around to see lightning erupting down from the blood red clouds. Suddenly, a huge explosion ripped through the air, and cracks appeared in the ground everywhere. When the lightning faded, my heart nearly stopped: Where the explosion and lightning had come together, stood the massive of who I could only think of as TwinMasters. I had never seen TwinMasters before, but something just told me this was him.
"Big Green and Highroller's army! Your times have come!" TwinMasters roared loudly.
"What!? TwinMasters, what are you talking about!? We had a deal!" The loud outburst had come from Highroller himself, who I hadn't expected to be even near the battle. Highroller yelped as he was suddenly thrown into the air, and TwinMasters looked at him disdainfully before flicking his left wrist. In an instant, the form of Highroller had been superheated to ash, and then the man known as Highroller was no more. I stood stock still, as did everyone else in the whole battle.
"This is no longer the age of man and animals!" TwinMasters shouted. "I am now the ruler of the overworld, and you all are my slaves! There will be no more hierarchies between animals, nor humans!" TwinMasters started to vaporize the animal hierarchies present into ash immediately. The air was suddenly filled with shrieks of terror and horror. I turned on my paws, eyes wide in fear. As I ran near the devastated forest, I found the rest of my team huddled in the shadows. They looked at me with horror filled eyes, and I stared back at them.
"Go! Run! We can no longer stay here! We must get away!" I shrieked, panicked. I picked Gray up by his scruff and took off at a dead sprint, running away from the mounds of ash that soon filled the clearing of the battle.