I stood slowly and turned, seeing Ash tense beside me as we both realized what was coming. Sure enough, three Erasers were coming up through the forest, halfway morphed into wolves and looking ready to kill. "We've been looking for you," the Eraser in the middle said. "We weren't ready to let you go yet. Looks like you'll have to come with us, willing or not."

This was bad. This was so bad. How had they found us? And how had they snuck up without anyone noticing? I suppose we just weren't used to having to listen for danger. Before, danger was just a common thing. I glanced slightly at Ash, knowing a fight was coming. Would we be able to take on three Erasers? We'd never really had a chance to fight them before. Sure, we'd defended ourselves a couple of times, but they always had the upper hand. We were either caged or hooked up to shock machines or somehow disadvantaged. Now it was an even match. And I still wasn't sure we could do it.

"We're not going with you," Ash said, his voice low. I glanced at him again and could see he was crouched in an offensive position. This was new for him. I'd never seen Ash preparing for a fight like this. I slightly wondered if he even knew what he was doing.

"Where are the others?" the second Eraser asked. I kept my mouth shut. I could only pray that the littles ones saw what was going on and got the hell out of here. I had to keep them safe. I wasn't going to let another one of them get hurt. "Come on, now," the Eraser continued. "We can't be taking back just two of you. The School wants all six of you back." The School? They wanted to take us back to The School? They had just moved us into the Institute and now they wanted to bring us back. Why?

"You're an idiot," I growled at him. "If you think we're going to go willingly with you, than you're just plain stupid." The Eraser smiled slightly, as if this was the reaction he had wanted. Than again, it probably was. After all, fighting and killing was just about the only thing Erasers were good at. He probably wanted to fight me.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the middle Eraser launched himself forward. I ducked just in time for him to fly over my head, then spun on my heel, getting ready to defend. To my left, Ash lunged at the second Eraser, taking him off of his feet. It was crazy, being able to actually fight the Erasers without being tested or examined at the same time. This was just us. No side liners, no scientists standing close by to restrain us if they needed. Just us.

I wheeled back as the Eraser caught me in the nose with his fist. I could feel the blood come instantly. Reaching back, I swung at his side, earning a howl of pain in response. The Eraser swung at me again and I ducked, waiting for his momentum to swing him around before landing a solid kick in the middle of his back. There was a sickening crack that I wasn't sure came from his rib or spine. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know.

Just as I was about to pause and congratulate myself, the third Eraser reached out and yanked my hair back. My head slammed against the ground and my vision started tunneling slightly. Not good. Using my hands to push off, I rolled backwards and kicked at him with my feet, landing them both solidly in his stomach. It wasn't enough, though. The Eraser stumbled a few steps back before coming at me again. Glancing at Ash, I could see he was holding his own against the other Eraser, but the first one was recovering and preparing to join the fight again. How could we take on three Erasers?

Just as I was preparing to turn on the first Eraser, a small figure caught my eye. Looking up I could see Flint dive bombing the first one, feet stuck straight out. I wanted to scream at him, but I didn't have time. Flint's feet connected with the side of Eraser one's head and he went down like a ton of bricks. Pep talk could wait until later. Turning quick I landed a hard blow in Eraser two's side before running to Ash and grabbing his arm. Eraser three was on the ground at his feet, his muzzle nose spurting blood.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I screamed, practically dragging him into the air with me. "Flint! Willow! Cedar! Apple!" I screamed, then waited as each of my little guys took a running start into the air. Then, we started flying.