-The Greencloaks are coming my dear child. They fight for what is right. Let them take you. But the one that is evil approaches you at this very second. Wake up my child, they are coming-

Cinder was in the war room for a meeting to discuss war plans with Shane, Gar, and many other important Stetriol members. They also had to discuss what would happen in case of the event of Greencloaks attacking. Cinder sat there in silence during the meeting only answering when asked to. But, one of Gar's plans seemed irrational to her.

Cinder raised her hand "Permission to speak General Gar, sir?" Gar looked at her suspiciously then nodded "You may," he responded. Cinder looked at Fell who was sitting next to her with the same merciless yet, kind eyes and she finally spoke "Shouldn't we take the troops through Shar Liwao instead of Xin Kao Dailin so it will be quicker to invade the wall. It will be less of a walk for the troops as well." Gar's face went from emotionless to absolute fury. "You dare speak against my plan!? May I remind you that you are not a advisor or even old enough to be making these decisions!? Haven't you learned your lesson from the first time!?" Gar snapped at her then waved his hand and Cinder felt a sharp sting across her back and her eyes widened with disbelief fore she was being whipped.

Shane and Fell moved at the same time. Shane had grabbed the whip before the guard could do more harm and Fell was biting on the guards leg angrily. The guard screamed in response and Cinder immediately bit down on her hand to stop herself from screaming, but she was shaking badly. "Nephew, what do you think your doing!?" Gar snapped

"This isn't your war room Uncle! I didn't give you permission to order any punishment at all, especially to a important ally!" Shane glared back

"Ally? You mean you think this child is an ally?"

"Watch your mouth General! Or else I can take your badge for speaking against my word and make you suffer!" Shane turned to 2 guards "And you two go get the medics quickly! Everyone else out! I will talk to you uncle about this later!" with that Shane snapped his fingers and everyone quickly got out and the guards quickly exited to get the medics for the guard Fell bit and Cinder. Fell started licking the blood dripping down her back and Shane walked over to them. "Here lemme help stop the bleeding." Shane said while he starts untying the top of his tunic, Cinder shook her head "No, my king you mustn't waste such things on me, I'm only a soldier in the war room." Shane stopped lifting up his shirt, sighed, then looked at Cinder "That may be true, but no meeting is going on. So, right now your my best friend." Shane took off his shirt and pressed it against her back to help stop the bleeding. "Where is Renneg?" Cinder said turning to look for Renneg's tattoo "Oh, um... he is wandering about the castle."

A little while later, 4 people from the infirmary came, 2 of them helped the guard, and the other 2 helped Cinder. A hand maid came in also with new shirts for both Shane and Cinder, but left quickly. The guard was carried out on a stretcher into the infirmary but the medics had to heal Cinder there. They had the Bamboo talisman of Jhi with them and Shane had to leave the room, Cinder's screams of agony could be heard ringing throughout the halls, but the wounds were healing just enough so that she could move more easily. Once they were done, Shane came back in "I want you to stay in the castle tonight. Just in case the Greencloaks come after you and so the medics can look after you." Fell whined at the thought of being in the castle for much longer.

"I can't, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the people."

"Kings orders, Cinder. But I am going to have to leave early in the morning in order to travel to Nilo to "attend to some training." (meaning meet Abeke)

"But, Shane."

"No buts, the kings orders are absolute. You can stay in the room across from mine if that will make you more comfortable."

Cinder shut her mouth she never really argued with Shane, there was the rare occasion of course about the war, but other than that there was nothing.

That night Fell slept on the bed with her in a protective way just in case Gar came in and Shane's room was across the hallway. In Cinder's dream she was walking through a forest and came to a clearing where she saw glowing yellow eyes. Fell emerged from the darkness except he was the full size of a Great Beast.

"Great evils lurk throughout this castle. One approaches in a group at this moment they fight for what is wrong. But a light approaches that is not from this castle. They are not evil. They fight for what is right. Fore a silent invasion will happen when the moon grows yellow. They will take back what is rightfully a beasts as well as you."

"Fell, what do you mean by that?"

"The Greencloaks are coming my dear child. They fight for what is right. Let them take you. But the one that is evil approaches you at this very second. Wake up my child, they are coming."

"Wait Fell!"

With that the wolf disappeared in a burst of flame and Cinder snapped awake to find Fell waiting for her to wake up. She could barely make out the wolfs figure in moonlight but she could clearly see his golden yellow eyes. Fell just blinked and started growling and snarling at the door.

Cinder felt her senses enhance and she could fully make out the details of Fell and everything else in the room. She could hear footsteps coming down the hallway it sounded like 5 men and 1 women. She silently grabbed hold of the sword sheath by her bed and unsheathed it. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and Fell's ears flattened and he snarled even more.

The door flung open and in came some guards carrying pieces of rope. Fell and Cinder attacked at the same time with her clashing with another guards sword and Fell tackling another. Cinder felt the metal of her sword start heating up and it was soon being swirled by fire and she took a slash at one of them, wounding their arm in the process. Another grabbed her arms so she wouldn't move, but Fell took a bite into his side and the guard screamed. The women had an axe and hit Fell to the side. "No, Fell!" Cinder screamed and quickly got in front of him, she saw a burst of light and at that moment a Grizzly Bear rammed into them and knocked them against a wall, forcing Cinder to drop her sword and bash the back of her head.

Her vision blurred and she fought to keep consciousness. The last thing she saw was Shane entering the room ready to fight and Fell nuzzling her trying to wake her up.

She woke up a couple hours later, just before daybreak, in her room, and heard people yelling and screaming at each other. She assumed it was Shane yelling at Gar over something. She hated feeling weak and she felt that she always caused trouble for Shane. Like she was a burden to him, he already had so much weight on him. Then the yelling stopped and Shane came into the room

"I'm sorry, Shane."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I caused you trouble."

"No, its fine the guards you could say got rebellious a little."

Cinder got out of the bed and began looking for her sword

" I'm sorry Cinder, but..."

Shane held up her sword and the once silver blade was stained charcoal black. The sword was a gift from her father before he joined her mother in the war. Both of her parents were Generals just like Gar, but they died after a Greencloak attack on their fort they had captured the day before. It was the only piece of memories she had of them.

Shane handed her the weapon to inspect. 'The blade has somehow gotten sharper and seems more durable than steel. Almost like the material itself changed elements.' Blaze thought

"Well, I have to find Renneg and head to the ships. Send a messenger bird if anything happens. Ok?" Shane held up his hand for her to give him a high five but immediately stopped once Fell started raising his hackles. "It's ok, Fell. It's just a high five." Cinder said. They then high fived and Shane left for the port, Cinder on the other hand went into the forest surrounding the city and began walking the trail.

Hardly anybody went off into the part of the woods that Cinder lived in. She lived in her childhood home it was a 2 bedroom with white paint, a red tiled roof, and a small cobblestone wall with a wooden gate outlining their property that was up to Cinder's hip. She kept it in the same state it was when her parents left for war.

"Well, this is where I live...umm I can leave the door cracked if you want to venture out. But there are dingos and other creatures roaming here." she looked at the wolf expecting him to run out the door but the wolf began to lick her palm which startled her. "Oh, I know do you want some food?" Fell barked and wagged his tail and ran outside with Cinder following close behind.

The hunt began.