"So, exactly how much do you know about DuruVile?" Jason asked.

"Only what was written about him." Angel replied. "Naturally, I am now disregarding the he was killed on Wren8 part."

After four days of room arrest Angel was allowed out, in them four days she had to deal with Bile being brought to her for his meals then having him taken away afterwards which had hurt her greatly! She also had to deal with Atlas, the two weeks and six days of her absence had not dampened his interests in sex. She had to get creative to calm him down the first two days, letting him walk in and grab her and start in on her before rolling over and pleasing him, after the first day she had actually gestured for him to sit down, she had started off their sex act that night and he claimed he enjoyed every bit of it. The next two days she was left alone, Atlas came in a few times only to check on her then would leave. After four days had passed she was allowed to walk around outside of her bedroom chamber, she went to Bile's chamber and checked on him then she walked to the courtyard, for the first two days she had Hannibal as an escort, after three days of her post-room arrest she was allowed to walk around un-escorted. She had collected the Chronicle of the Surfeit book and had gone off, with Atlas' permission naturally, to see her friends.

"What does it say fully?" Kat asked. "About DuruVile, his powers and his offspring, that is."

Angel was seated with her legs crossed Indian-style, the book layed on them opened to the chapter on her great-grandfather. She was still very confused about the dating, on her grandfather's section, actually on all of the dating she was confused over. It seemed that the numbers were ticking back, her grandfather had been born on November 23 of 4340 while the book claimed her father had been born on Octre the 6th of 3905, this was extremely confusing since it was only April of the year 1998. Billy had suggested that maybe the numbers counted back from prehistoric times, that the aliens in the universe had added a system to their dating to count back and while it may be 1998 for humanity on Earth it might be a different number elsewhere. Angel had no answer, she had simply shrugged her shoulders and said possibly then went on reading.

"Being born on Decembre 11 3650, DuruVile Surfeit was the son of ShaamVile Surfeit and his late mistress, Egla Shaar. Egla passed away during the birth of her only son and child to ShaamVile and DuruVile was raised without a female figure in his life. This fact, though, did not mean much to the young DuruVile as his father spent quite a lot of time and energy on his only son, even going as far as to denounce his two other children, both girls, by his former wife and former mistress." Angel read from the book.

"Damn man so ShaamVile denounced his other children?" Lieutenant Rollins shook his head sadly. "That's sad."

"ShaamVile took his young son with him on his planetary conquests and personally trained him in both elemental powers, which DuruVile was a prodigy of, energy powers and swordry skills. By the time DuruVile Surfeit left for Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic he was already very powerful and knowledgeable. ShaamVile also tutored his son himself, it is known that DuruVile was an excellent pupil but he did have issues with math."

"Ha! So he isn't so smart after all." Kat snickered.

"DuruVile Surfeit isn't only known as the conquerer of the planet Shai5, he is also known the the conqueror and ruler of the Binya Galaxy which consists of a full three hundred planets and of his conquerings in the Keyla Galaxy, he was killed during his attempted conquering of the planet Wren8 in the Keyla Galaxy when he met his match with the planets protector, KankuRanger." Angel continued reading.

"And we know that part is a lie." Tommy said. "If that was so, he wouldn't be here now. Fully alive and in the flesh."

Most of the men in the shack decided at once that they had to go to the bathroom, Angel marked her spot in the book and waited. She had never really looked at the chapter on her great-grandfather, she was just learning about him and she had a feeling that the author of the book had left a lot out. There was surely a way why her great-grandfather, DuruVile Surfeit, was the way he was towards TazirVile. Could it be because he, himself, was abused as a child? Could he of picked favorites among his children? Or could it be something else, something that was so deep in his black heart that would make anyone gasp out in horror. She hadn't seen him acting in any way fatherly, concerned or even happy over TazirVile, he acted like his secondborn was a complete failure, even though he himself was conquering his own planets and had fathered his own child. When the men returned after their bathroom break Angel resumed reading.

"DuruVile Surfeit is famously known as having a total of five wives, each from a different planet. His first wife was Dapira, who was born and raised on Gamma-Vile and was his only wife from his birth planet. She gave birth to three daughters by him before they broke their marriage. DuruVile's second marriage was to Resha7's Cyla Dybla. Although DuruVile claims he only had three children with Cyla he really had four as an unnamed son was born while he was away conquerering the Binya Galaxy, DuruVile's firstborn son passed away in his sleep at only a month of age. The next child born through his marriage with Cyla was a girl named AraimeVile and then afterwards a son named KurukVile who was born during the rare event of three blue spheres, the next born through his marriage to Cyla was AzvaVile." Angel read on. "DuruVile's next wife is a strange one as he was not on Zeta Ren to conquer the planet, he was simply there on vacation. Ashaklar was from an affluent family, one of Zeta Ren's best, and was right young when she met DuruVile Surfeit, it seemed that love was struck quickly, DuruVile divorced Cyla and married Ashaklar quickly afterwards. After a hundred and fifteen years of marriage Ashaklar became pregnant and had their first child, TazirVile Surfeit, DuruVile's claimed secondborn son who is really his thirdborn."

"I like how the author wrote that." Jason sat up. "DuruVile's secondborn son who is really his thirdborn."

"After five hundred years Ashaklar gave birth to her second child by DuruVile, a girl named QeetaVile." Angel continued to read. "After Qeeta's birth the marriage took a severe downturn and DuurVile near divorced Ashaklar before their children reached adulthood. The second that QeetaVile reached her final years of Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic DuruVile took out the papers and filed for divorce. He next married Cardalir from the planet Dekka in the Keyla Galaxy, through this marriage he produced two children, both daughters. He divorced her after their children reached adulthood then married his last wife, Kovina who was also from the Keyla Galaxy, the planet is unknown. Through that marriage DuruVile produced two more daughters. He had just divorced Kovina when he met his match on Wren8."

"Someone needs to put a collar on your great-grandfather." Aisha sniffed. "Sounds to me like he more used them women."

Angel looked up from the book, DuruVile had quite an impressive education! Not only did he got to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, but he also went to The Dark University for three hundred years, School of Dark Arts and four other schools she had never heard of before. Bjork's School of Evil, Semil's Military Academy, Woolwerk's School of Business and The University of Conquering. She was wondering why he had married and divorced so many women when suddenly she remembered that his own father had been married once then had divorced his wife after she had not had any male children then had became engaged twice to two other women afterwards.

"Could my great-grandfather of had family continuation so high up on his list that he forgot about the feelings of the women he was with?" Angel asked. "I mean, could he of wanted a group of son's so friggin' bad and when his wives kept producing girls he remembered what had happened with his father and had done what he had done?"

"Possibly," Billy replied. "but I wouldn't think so, usually people that go through that have a good haad on their shoulders."

"I was wondering about abuse as well," Kat spoke up. "does that book say anything on DuruVile being..."

"No, not a word." Angel replied, she then started reading the next chapter. "DuruVile Surfeit was rather close to his father, even through his father's hard training he was close to him. When ShaamVile was killed one day on an unknown planet DuruVile was fresh out of The University of Conquering, DuruVile showed great mourning on the discovery of his father's passing and did all he could to find the planet his father perished on. After two thousand years of searching he stopped his search and turned towards being a husband and a father and a conqueror."

"Okay so maybe ShaamVile was abusive towards DuruVile." Kat said. "I mean, hard training? Maybe ShaamVile was only abusive then."

"Again, I don't think so." Billy spoke up. "The abused when they have children of their own don't want their own children to go through what they went through when they were kids."

"Some people can be born mean and can keep that meanness all throughout their lives." Aisha spoke up.

Angel had promised Atlas that she'd be back for lunch so she marked her spot in the book, which was now filling up with small tags of spots she had marked, and went back to his palace. Atlas hadn't been able to hunt for a while now and it was obvious when a small meal was placed in front of her. After she ate lunch she pulled Atlas to the side, naturally she had to wait as Atlas was one of habit, he preferred that everyone eat then wait until everyone else was done eating before leaving the table, this was good manners so she stayed quiet. When she had him to herself she found her had a problem, Atlas, who was now very clean shaven and who had a better step to him now that she was back, wanted to spend some time with her. As he fooled around with her hair, bringing his hand over her shoulder, grabbing a lock of her hair then pulling it forward the pet, she spoke to him.

"When was the last time you went hunting?" Angel asked him.

"Fahevur!" Atlas replied. "One week an' two deys."

"Think you need to head out on a hunt." Angel pulled her head back and the lock of her hair that Atlas was petting slipped out of his fingers.

"I be huntin' soon." Atlas replied.

"Still want that shield up?" Angel asked. "I cannot teleport but I can still put up a shield."

"Na,am!" Atlas exclaimed. "I want dat sheed up!"

"Do you want it to go to the Bahariya Oasis or just around the Crystal Mountains?"

In answer, Atlas grabbed her wrist gently, the cuff that TazirVile had put around her wrist had been snapped off and although the skin around that wrist was rough she felt no pain. She let Atlas lead her to his study, he took out a map and spread it over his desk then looked up at her, his eyes said what he wanted her to do. She came forward and looked at the map, he ran his hands over the Crystal Mountains going both north and south. He wanted not only the Bahariya Oasis in the shield but also the Farafras Oasis and a place called the Dakhia Oasis which was much more south of the Bahariya Oasis. This was a large territory and when she questioned him about why he wanted three oasis' in the shield he grabbed another map and spread it out over the top on his desk.

"Oh so this is all your territory." Angel said in amazement.

"Na'am, it is." Atlas nodded his head.

"What was that tribe that I came up against before I met up with you and Hannibal three months ago?" Angel asked. "Before Bile was born."

"Whut twibe?" Atlas looked up sharply, clearly alarmed.

"I don't know, I know I was taken in by a man who seemed to be in a tribe." Angel replied. "He was darkly tanned and had a headful of dark brown hair. Had a thick black beard and bright brown eyes. He was wearing Camel's hair breeches and a short jacket bearing rips and sweatstains."

"Woolow!"

Atlas was more than alarmed, he was pissed! He pushed back from the maps and started walking around his study, he was yelling in Arabic and Angel guessed he was cursing. Angel looked at the map closer, the Woolow tribe was suppose to be more north that the Farafras Oasis, just before Saqqara, Egypt. Angel figured that Atlas had fought hard for his territory and to find out that the Woolow had actually been in the area was a sort of insult to him. Angel had no idea who the man was, not even a name, all she knew was that he had taken her in for a short while then after she had mentioned Atlas' name he had thrown her out.

"Who is he?" Angel asked when Atlas had calmed down.

"Adjo, he be bad!" Atlas replied. "Be fightin' me fah yeyas fah dis place."

"Oh." Angel said, then she sat down on Atlas' lap. "I can put up the shield, can even make it so that animals that only I can flush out to come in."

"Floosh out?" Atlas repeated the words she had used. "Yeh no huntin'! Yeh steein' heh!"

"The only way, Atlas." Angel said defensively. "They won't know it's me, I'll be in a different form."

"I no like dat." Atlas said.

"Would you rather head out on a hunt and get ambushed?" Angel looked up at Atlas.

"No, I no want dat." Atlas sighed. "Okie, yeh get sheed up, do dat change fohm ting an' bring us geem. I wants yeh back afer fiveteen minoots. Dat meh wool."

"Deal." Angel held her hand up for him to shake and Atlas smiled, he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

TazirVile had moved his ship, he was forced to by his father who was now being really hard on him. EshalVile was kept inside at all times for her safety, he wouldn't say that to anyone's face though, surely his father would have a bird if he found out that his barely known granddaughter was being hidden from him because her daddy was afraid he'd do something to her. TazirVile set down just outside of the Bahariya Oasis, a very lovely place which he was right fond of. His brother, nephew and father's ships were nearby, he had made the decision of having his ship away from them after his brother had grabbed him by the balls. That had hurt! He had applied ice bags like crazy, he had throbbed for all of two days then the throbbing had gone away. Having his sack grabbed like that had hurt, yes, but having his brother grab him down there and having his father let him do so and watch with a sickly smile on his face had hurt even more. The grabbing and choking by the neck had been bad, the grabbing of his balls, his manly sack, the sack that he hoped would one day be used to create more children, had been far worse.

His brother and father were out, he saw them walking around talking, every once in a while one or both would turn towards him but neither walked over to say hello and he was glad. He had been in a great mood after again finding himself doing more of the elemental powers that he had not had a chance to learn. He wanted to learn more and he hope that by capturing Angel again that would be done, she was a fine teacher. He had gone out hunting that morning, taking with him his M-Special Curved Bow and feather tipped arrows, his knife and his sword, he had left his MO-Snapshot06 back on his ship. He had gone south and had bagged himself a rather impressive, or at least to him as he was sure that if his father saw it he'd start on his insults, Hippopotamus. His mood had been great after he had seen Angel using his rather impressive water wave to go to the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, now it was completely gone, replaced with dread. He simply got up each day and did his routine, his daughter was the only comfort he had, he was simply walking around like a Zombie, almost double checking over his shoulder to see if anyone was rushing out at him from his family.

Better to be prepared and safe than sorry later on, especially so since his father and brother, and nephew, were all much bigger and stronger than he. He sighed frustratingly at himself, he chided himself. As he was cutting the limb off of the Hippo he thought to himself, well if you can do elemental powers then what say you're not equal to them? The other side of his brain answered for him, because if you show them they'll laugh and say you don't deserve such skills and don't need such skills, they'll insult and put you down and then demand you put an end to the mad disrespect of his wanting to train to learn these new skills. Har de har har har! He had heard it all before from his father when he had been in the pool inside the mansion he and his parents lived in on Gamma-Vile, his father had come in and had seen him playing in the water then had said booooooy, you shouldn't be playing you should be training! Oh yes, that first encounter had been good! His father had made the water rise up in a wave in the pool and had made it go over his head, and to make matters even worse he had been terrified and had discovered that his father had frozen the water above him. He had near drowned and now, being a hundred and fifty five thousand three hundred and thirty-four years old he thought, if he wanted me dead why not just come into my room at night and smother me with a pillow? He snorted and cut off the other limb from the Hippo, these thoughts hurt him! He loved his father for goodness sakes regardless of his treatment of him! He shouldn't be thinking such horrid thoughts, yes his father was more respectful towards Kuruk but it was because Kuruk was bigger than he, he was strong and not just in the body with his great bulky muscle mass but in his powers, he was smarter than his brother but in the body department he wasn't very impressive. He liked the shape of his body, he preferred the shape of his body to anyone else's, but as they say in the animal kingdom, the strong always win out on the weak and for him that meant that if he was in a pit with his father and brother and they and he were Lions or any other of the universe's vast array of carnivorous cats he'd be felled fast because he was not as strong or big.

He was just reaching over to cut off the back limbs of the Hippo when he heard a rumble, this planet was prone to have quakes at times and he figured it was just one of those getting ready to be released. He went back to the limbs and had the first hind leg off when a blast shot him to his side, it was powerful and he felt sand wrap around him almost like it was acting like it was giving him a hug. He got up, shook the sand off of him and looked around. His father and brother were running over to his side of camp, why was that? They hadn't done so before, he blinked his eyes a few times then stood up. He did a quick turn and saw it, a pink hue all around him. What the hell was going on? Homsi ran from his ship and stopped, Eclaire stopped behind him, they stared at the pink hue. Dusting his pants off he walked over to the pink hue closest to him and looked at it. It had a quality to it, like waves. He touched it, smooth as glass and it zapped his hand when he touched it. He looked around, saw that the pink hue wasn't just in front of him but over him and on the other side of his camp, it went around and past the Bahariya Oasis. As he looked at the pink hues an idea came to him and he jumped back, the smooth as glass pink surface behind him zapped him forward.

"Shield!" TazirVile said a loud. "She put up a shield and I happen to be right smack in the middle of it."

Oh oh! A shield, he was inside of a shield! He ran towards his ship and disappeared inside of it, the communicator on his black belt that had the gold buckle which had his initials on it was going off like mad! He knew it was either his father or brother, trying to get in contact with him. He had no time, the shield had been put up by one being and that was Angel Irene, what an opportunity! She was obviously in the area, where though? He'd find out, he ran up the spiral staircase to the very top of his ship and flipped the swinging hatch up. He grabbed his spyglass from his belt and focused it, he looked from the way the shield had come from and focused on the bottom of the Crystal Mountains. There was something about them mountains, he couldn't remember at the moment but there was something about it. He pulled the spyglass away from his eye and flipped the settings, made it pull in closer, then he looked through it again. Jackpot! There was a group of people leaving a tunnel at the foot of the mountains, there was a red furred Lioness in front of them. He took the spyglass away from his eye again and readjusted the lense then looked through it again. Hot damn if that Lioness didn't have fiery red hair!

"Well well well, my niece seems to be heading out with a group to do some hunting." he said to himself aloud.

KurukVile was frantic, he had seen the shield going past and had caught the sight of his younger brother being blasted to the side by its forces. His brother had gotten up, yes, he looked fine but he wasn't on their side. His younger brother who could not do elemental powers, who might be able to last an attack by Angel with the skills he did possess but might not if he was attacked by more than one. Acidic powers were great powers, he had to agree on that, they burned and sent an enemy packing. His brother was a good fighter, hell he had fought and felled many of the forces on Caicla practically on his own before his army had gotten to them and that had given him an edge during the rest of the conquest of the Vaisha Galaxy, the other planets in the galaxy had been scared shitless of his baby brother and he had beamed in pride, he still was. His father was trying to get in contact with him, he was constantly speaking into the communicator, the last they had spoke to TazirVile was almost a week ago, he had forgiven his brother for insulting his wife and for letting the chase go to his head. Their father, on the other hand, was not so forgiving.

He had seen TazirVile go out on the hunt and had followed, really his only reason was to keep his disrespectful son in his sights at all times. He had seen his son fell the Hippo and had thought, damn well he is a fine hunter! No, he wasn't hating of his youngest son, he did harbor some pride in him for his son, but he also felt a lot of disappointment. He loved both of his son's but he did have to admit that he had a great beaming pride over Kuruk, Kuruk was everything a man wanted in a son. Successful, powerful and he had fathered two son's and was looking to father more. TazirVile, on the other hand, he was rather disappointed in. He was powerful, yes, he had a way of sending a chill through a being, yes, but he had his faults. The eyes, for example, were a disability that one could use to their advantage, them goggled glasses could be ripped off and his son would be vulnerable. His skin, so easily burned, someone could burn him so bad he had to stop fighting to take care of himself. His powers were great, yes he had to admit that but he did wish that he would acquire the elemental powers. Why, of his twelve living offspring he had just three that had acquired elemental powers, KurukVile and two of his sister's who had been born from his fourth and fifth wife. KurukVile had a fine way of seeing things and he liked that a lot!

"I just haven't yet had the chance to father a child who can do the elemental powers yet," KurukVile had said to him over lunch with the family when he had brought up that he hadn't fathered a child who could do elemental powers. "Irka and I are looking to have plenty more children, isn't that right sweetheart?"

"Plenty more with you Kuru-Boo." Irka had replied.

"So while Vile here is fathering babies with his daughter-mate you'll be fathering more offspring through Irka." DuruVile had hid a smile behind his hand. "Nice! You know out of twelve I've only got nineteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren?"

"I am aware of that yes." KurukVile had replied. "Should be higher."

It would be if the ones that had given birth had been born male instead of female, he thought as he again demanded that his youngest son answer his calls. KurukVile had fathered five, two had died and three were living still, one of those offspring had fathered himself, two girls and a boy and one of those offspring had given birth to a son just recently. Besides KurukVile he had to think of TazirVile, who had thoroughly surprised him when he had heard he had a young daughter. He had figured Tazir would never be able to do it, he had figured the boy inferior stock and wouldn't have any go for the deed. He had been wrong, he was still riding his ass over still being a bachelor after being three hundred and one years of being divorced, he had married six times, one woman twice and he planned on staying with Cyla now forever, why couldn't Tazir do the same? Why, KurukVile had two longterm partners, had gone on after leaving one to get with another and fathering more children through her. KurukVile had voiced he was staying with Irka when he had asked if he was ever going to leave if she never conceived again for him, the boy did love his wife greatly and that made him feel happy.

He was in contact with all of his children, had just had dinner with his whole stock a few days ago. Naturally, the girls had been a bit teasing on TazirVile but they hadn't meant him any harm. It was only three of his daughters had produced children by him, he had been taken aback by that. Whosla had had three daughters, Bekla had four daughters and Vaiba had three daughters, this had really taken him aback. Why so many girls being born? Surely one of his get could produce a son. He had voiced this at the table and Whosla and had left saying that her husband had wanted her home at a specific time, most of his other children had done the say for some reason leaving him at the table with just KurukVile, Irka and their three children, TazirVile and his daughter, EshalVile, Master Vile's two children, Cyla and Bekla. After a silence he had asked what was going on for such disrespect and Bekla had answered that it was a girl thing and that she had two grandchildren, both girls. She had also said that Vaiba had four, one was a son.

"Ah, so my stock can produce son's of their own." he had said after being told of Vaiba having a grandson. "Why did she leave then if she has a grandson?"

"He's sickly." Bekla had responded then had left.

Twelve living children, nineteen grandchildren and only nine great-grandchildren, one he knew now as a sickly boy. What was up, had his line come to a halt or was it just that his daughter's had picked ill-gened males for their mates? Hell, KurukVile had married a fine woman and had three fine children by her. Master Vile had married and had fathered two fine children by his late wife then had fathered a daughter from a fling and then had mated with him and had produced a son. TazirVile had married a woman, of whom he knew very little about, and had fathered a daughter by her before divorcing. He had a lot to learn of his stock still and he planned on one day visiting each and every one at their homes, maybe even do a surprise visit. They had not a thing to be afraid of, they were his stock, his children, he loved his children, all twelve of them, to death and surely he'd not touch a hair on the heads of his daughter's. His son's he was hard on for the reason that he could, they were males of course! Could take more than a female, could take the insults and the abuse, it made a man strong. He was sure that there would be more grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren down the line, more son's and daughter's born to his stock and theirs. He just needed to wait, be patient is all. He was eternal, after all, he lived forever just like his offspring.

"Tazir!" DuruVile shouted loudly into his communicator. "Pick up boy!"

"Tazir here I am aware that I'm inside the shield." TazirVile replied. "I'll be fine, don't worry over me."

For the next two days Angel helped Atlas and his small hunting party of fifteen well armed men hunt. She transformed into a fiery red Lioness and would exit her shield, only she could enter and exit her pink shield and only her shield would allow for any game to come through if she was with the herd. She brought back from far south a herd of twelve Zebra which Atlas and his hunting party swiftly killed then she left to get more, knowing that there were many hungry people in Atlas' stronghold. An hour later she brought back a herd of fifteen Springbok Gazelle which Atlas and his hunting party took care of. After the second round Atlas gave the signal and she changed back to her true form, she wasn't allowed to carry any of the kills back, she was ordered to stay near Atlas at all times as he led his hunting party back to his stronghold. The kills were butchered, every piece was used, nothing was wasted and that included the intestines and bones. The plains animals were good food, Atlas told her after they slept together in his bed after that first hunt, but they would need something bigger to get back their storage size. The next morning she went out with the hunting party and led them far south, past the Bahariya Oasis to a place she had never seen before, the Dakhla Oasis.

At first, it was just sand under their feet, but then the grass started showing then they came to the oasis. Tall green shoots of grass shot up out of the ground, trees rose up all over the place, when Angel walked into the oasis she saw that the Dahkla Oasis had a lake, like the Farafra and Bahariya Oasis', but this one was down in a crater, a series of waterfalls surrounded the lake and it looked so gorgeous she was struck dumb. Bushes that had berries growing on them, Apricot, Dates, Mangos and Citrus trees grew all along the lake. Further other she saw Olives, Guavas, Grape vines and Carob's growing, and further from that she saw Cotton. She ended her amazement when she saw Atlas and his men take their positions, Atlas had told her that the larger game was here. She struck out on her own, keeping in the shadows and hidden in the tall grass shoots. She came upon a lone Zebra which leaped and ran away from her, she let it go. She needed a bigger animal; Elephant, Giraffe, Cape Buffalo or maybe even a Rhino or a Hippo, any of those would do fine for Atlas and his people. A Warthog leaped out of a bolt hole and ran away, a Gazelle jumped away, where were those larger herbivores? She exited the tall grass shoots and stopped, she hugged the ground, started her stalking, directly in front of her was the haunches of a Cape Buffalo herd, five animals. She went around them until she was staring at them face to face. She waited two seconds then bolted forward, water sprung up from her charge as she crossed the lake and the Cape Buffalo took to their heels and headed the way she wanted them to go. Crunch, crack, thud thud, the ground felt like it was shaking underneath of her. Thud thud thud, a Cape Buffalo veered away from the herd and she went after it and drove it back, she was near hit by an arrow from one of Atlas' hunting party when she went after the rogue Cape Buffalo.

"That enough?" Angel asked after she walked up to Atlas who was doing a quick count. "Or does mama need to head out for more?"

"Needs one moh." Atlas replied, he reached down and gently scratched the top of her Lionesses head.

So she went out again, repeating her first attempt. The herbivores liked the water, that was obvious, when she went back she found that there was two Giraffe's drinking from the lake. She walked around them then waited, a sound startled the animals and they took off, they came right at her. With a roar she lunged forward, the Giraffe's stopped and turned, they went to the right and she followed, she went around them and made them go back the way they had come from. One Giraffe kicked out at her when she came a bit too close, she barely missed getting the animals hooves in the side, a deaths blow for any being, human, lion or otherwise. She chased them straight, only breaking and going to the left when one ran away from the other, when Atlas and his hunting party sprang into action she suddenly felt a pain in her front left paw. She stopped slowly and sat down, she looked down and groaned, during the chase she had ran over an Acacia branch and one of the thorns had sunk in deep into her paw's pad. She started licking the wound, she tried to pull it out but found it was too painful. Seeing that Atlas was motioning her to come to him she stood up and limped over to him, favoring her hurt foot.

"What happen?" Atlas demanded, he was concerned. He dropped down to his knee and lifted her paw up.

"They say Acacia thorns are hard to get out." Angel said. "I can't get it out."

"Let me do dat." Atlas gently plucked the thorn from her paw then set it down. "Betteh?"

"Yes."

"We gots what we's heh fah." Atlas scratched her head fondly. "We go back now."

That was easier said then done for her, Atlas' men walked in front, a cart had some of the animals they had hunted that morning while the others, mainly the Giraffe's, were being partially dragged and carried. Angel limped along, she was in far back, it wasn't just her front paw that was hurting her, it was now her back right paw as well. She sat down and lifted that paw up, another Acacia thorn was embedded through her paw's padding. The group was up ahead and she didn't want to bother them or slow them down, they wanted to get home, Atlas was at the front helping one of the men with the Giraffe he both carried and dragged. Angel double limped along, her front and back paws stung her, her back paw more so as the thorn was still in her paw's pad and when she applied weight onto that paw the thorn was dug in deeper. Before long, she had to stop, Atlas and his group were far ahead now, just dots on the horizon. Angel wondered if Atlas would return when he noticed she was not with the group or if he'd just continue on. She didn't have long to wait before Atlas ran back, a frightened and angry mess.

"Why yeh no follow!" Atlas demanded when he ran up to her. "Git up now!"

She did and she limped a few feet before sitting back down, her tail flipped over twice, she was covered in biting ants so it wasn't just the injured front paw and the thorn in her back paw that was hurting her but also the biting fire ants. Atlas walked over to her and started slapping the ants off, he picked her back paw up and saw the deeply embedded, and very bloody, thorn sticking out of her paw. She screamed in pain as he pulled it out. When Atlas checked her front paw he saw it was still bleeding. He tore off the bottom of his robe and tore the piece in two, he wrapped her front and back paw up then gently pushed her up. He walked beside her as she limped painfully in the direction of the hunting party which, Atlas claimed, he had ordered to stop when he had found her missing. He still had that fright in him, that scare that she had been lost, but the anger had been replaced with understanding and concern. When they reached the hunting party Atlas ordered for everyone to start walking, he left her side and went up to the front and helped the man with the Giraffe, she limped behind everyone. Every step burned, sand was seeping into her wounds and she knew she'd get an infection. It seemed like forever before Atlas and his hunting group reached the Bahariya Oasis, when they did Atlas ordered his men to stop. He walked back to Angel and gently patted her head.

"Yeh stee heh," Atlas said to her. "I be bahk fah yeh."

"Slowing you up aren't I." Angel snickered. "I'll be here when you get back, probably take a swim or something."

"Stee safe!" Atlas scratched her head then turned and left.

It was back and forth between he and his father, his father wanted him to try to take the shield down from his side and he had tried, half-heartily. His acidic powers were useless against the shield and his father had done his usual, he had shouted and insulted him, had threatened, had stomped off, sand flying out from his black boots, he had thrown his arms up in the air shouting that if it had been his brother on the other side he could get it down. Being that he was on the opposite side of the shield from his father he had said bravely, then why can't he get it down from your side. That had set his father off. His father had rushed at the shield and had started attacking it trying to get to him. Ha ha! that had been fun and he had studied his father's moves all the while as he fired blue and purple flames, had sent out purple and blue lightning bolts from the tips of each finger on both of his hands, had lifted the ground and thrown it and had swung high sand waves at the shield. The last attack, a combination fire, sand and lightning strand, he had liked quite a bit, he had plans to try to do that ability. If he had been on his father's side of the shield he would have said nothing, but seeing that he was safe on his side of the shield his great-niece had put up and had unknowingly trapped him in he had became somewhat brave.

When his father had seen the group walking out from the Bahariya Oasis he had pointed them out, TazirVile had noticed and had shrank back into the shadows. Naturally, his father had shouted at him and had said through his communicator what the hell are you doing you idiot, he had disregarded and turned off his communicator, he knew what he was doing. He waited, it was fifteen members in all in the group, all well armed and all carrying game. When the gray-haired man named Atlas walked by, taking up the rear, TazirVile's muscles quivered in his legs, Angel would be nearby and he'd rush out and grab her, wouldn't give her a chance to get away. Angel didn't show up, he became confused then worried, the hunting group flanked by the gray-haired man named Atlas walked out of view, they had never noticed him hiding in the shade of a tree, his ship had its force field around it and couldn't be seen, the only way it would be seen would be if someone walked into it or thrown something at it.

"What the hell?" KurukVile shouted in angry, in disbelief. "You let them get away Brother! What are you doing?"

"A fool! A blamed idiotic fool!" DuruVile shouted back. "A damned fool I am ashamed to of fathered!"

"I am deeply ashamed of you!" Cyla and Irka yelled together, then Irka walked up and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Coward! How dare you call yourself the brother of my Kuruk!"

She heard the shouting and went to investigate it, she barely placed her hind paw down before picking it up again, it felt like a hive of bees was stinging her unmercifully on her paw! She was able to use her front paw some but even it stung her and what was worse, more fire ants had collected on her. She shook her body to rid them then jumped into the lake to take a swim, she felt instant relief, at least for a short while then, after she transformed to her true form, she collapsed on the ground and shrieked at the top of her lungs, her arms went around her abdomen and she rolled forwards and then back. No way! Her father could not be nearby! She crawled, she slid along on her side and looked out from the edge of the oasis. There was her father, Master Vile was with his father and grandfather, they were shouting angrily at someone, DuruVile was insulting someone pretty badly. Her grandmother, Irka, and great-grandmother, Cyla, were also insulting someone but not as badly as DuruVile. Who were they shouting at and why were they at the shield? Atlas and his hunting party, possibly but they had gone off near ten minutes before, surely they'd be far from the Bahariya Oasis.

She decided to walk out of the Bahariya Oasis and head in the direction that Atlas and his hunting party had gone, the shouting had gotten on her nerves and her great-grandfather, DuruVile, was really angering her, as if she didn't already not like the man his insulting now was making her hate him more. The second she stepped out of the oasis, limping heavily and leaving bloody footprints behind her, her hand right dead in the center of her palm bleeding badly, the shouting and insulting stopped. Her father had a look of pure horror on his face, DuruVile's mouth was open in shock, KurukVile was the only one talking, he was ordering for a blanket to be thrown to him, Irka and Cyla had their hands to their mouths, they were both in shock. She went a few feet then stopped, the pain had gotten worse. She dropped to one knee, yelled out then got up and limped on. She told herself that the pain was nothing and it would go away soon. So immersed in telling herself that the pain would go away and in her hurting foot and hand that she never noticed TazirVile. That was, until he flattened her to her stomach and was on top of her.