Chapter 4: Preparation

(Samantha's P.O.V)

Curling into a small ball under the covers of Lyons bed, I could only take comfort in the fact that his scent permeated my senses. When he had chosen to protect me instead of force me to go outside with him, I had thought it was just a trick; until he fought the Templar in his own strange way. I still had no idea how he made that loud explosion noise from his weapon, and how it was affecting the Templar, but I knew it meant he was fighting for me. A human actually chose to fight for me, instead of against me…

The brief gratitude I had started to feel was once again shattered as fear took over my senses again, and I knew that whatever the Templar had said meant there was going to be a large fight to come. Lyon was different than any other human I knew, but I knew he couldn't win this fight, and I would only get in the way if I tried to assist him with what little magic I knew. I don't know if I should stay, or if I should continue running…

The loud sound of whatever Lyon was doing stopped, and that must mean that he was finished, or he was coming inside to grab something else…

(Lyon's P.O.V.)

Placing my drill down, I smiled as the last light was set, and I know was prepared for any form of night fighting that should come. Tomorrow I was going to lay down pressure pads around the edge of the forest that would set off sirens that would alert me to any possible danger. With it being the middle of the week, no one was going to be hiking through the forest or trying to camp; which meant only that Templar freak and his goons would set it off. That or a bear would be the only other thing that would be heavy enough to set them off. Grabbing the metal handles of my ladder, I slid down it and landed on the porch to my room, but I left the ladder up. I will take it down later; for now I want to go check that the door is locked before I go to sleep.

Moving across my room, I could've sworn I saw my blankets move, but after staring at them for a few seconds, I just shook my head as I took it for weariness. Moving out of my room and down the stairs, I looked around and saw all the windows were sealed shut, so I moved over, and checked the dead bolt to my front door. Pulling the door just in case, I confirmed it was locked down so that he couldn't possibly break in without me knowing. "I swear, it's as if the kids weren't bad enough, now I need to deal with some freaky guy that throws blue powder and wears medieval suits…"

Before I walked upstairs, I saw that my phone was lying on the ground, so I moved over to it and picked it up. Turning it over, I pressed the end button, but it didn't turn on, indicating that it was dead. What was Samantha possibly doing with the phone if she doesn't even know how to start the water to the bath…? I let out a sigh as I placed it back on the stand, and watched as the light remained off, meaning that thing was extremely drained. Shaking my head, I moved back over and went back upstairs so that I could finally go to sleep.

Entering my room, I closed the door, and I moved across my room and closed the shades to my porch. Now that my room was bathed in shadows and darkness, I moved over and sat on the edge of my bed so that I could take my pants and boots off. As my boots hit the ground, I slid out of my pants, and was left standing there in my shorts, boxers, socks, and shirt. I quickly discarded my socks and shirt, before I sighed and slid under the covers of my blankets. It was then that I noticed I wasn't alone in my bed, and that wasn't a pleasant revelation.

"Samantha… go back to your own room." I said as I rubbed my face with my hand.

She uncurled to an extent, and I heard her ask, "D-Do I have to?"

Dragging my hand down my face as she stayed in the bed, I opened my eyes and looked up at the dark ceiling. I felt brief annoyance flash through my mind, before it was gone, and I said with sarcasm heavily accenting my words, "Not unless you want to cuddle up and sleep with me tonight…"

Now, I was sure I had used sarcasm more than ever to say that, but I didn't think she would actually go and wrap her arms around my chest. "What the…?" I muttered as she entirely cuddled up to me, and her head was placed beside my own. Letting out a heavy sigh, I said, "That was a question that wasn't supposed to be taken literally… you still need to go back to your room."

"But I don't want to…" Samantha said, but for some reason, she still didn't get the message. Looking towards her, I barely made out her ears in the dark, but I flipped the covers off of us, before I wrapped my arms under her. I sat up as I held her, and she asked, "W-What are you doing?"

Placing my feet on the ground, I said, "I'm taking you to your room…" and then I was up and walking towards my door. Opening it up, I walked into the hall, but that was when her grip tightened on me, and she shuddered in my hold.

"I h-heard something… p-please don't leave me a-alone!"

The fear was heavy in her voice, and I chuckled as I said, "It was nothing... and even if it was something, nothing can get in here."

She only tightened her grip as I opened the door, and I walked in, but she still held me tightly as I walked over to the bed. Her head looked away from me, and she tensed up as her arms tightened around me drastically. "T-THERE!"

Sighing as I followed her gaze, I looked out the window, and then I felt myself tense up as there in the darkness of the forest rested a pair of large glowing eyes. They had a malicious intent to them, and while I didn't know what or who they belonged to, I felt fear and a bit of hostility flow into my blood. Forcing Samantha to her feet wasn't easy as she was holding onto me tightly, yet once she was off; she immediately grabbed hold of my torso and held me close as the eyes disappeared into the darkness. I was focused on the spot where the eyes had been a moment ago, and another shiver ran up my back before I turned away. Whatever that thing is, I will need to kill it, and soon… that must've been what tore off that crazy man's arm…

It wasn't until I started to pay attention to Samantha again that I realized just how scared she was from the amount of trembling. She was clinging to me while also pressing against me like she wasn't physical as well, but her head was no longer facing the window. "P-Please don't make me sleep in h-here!"

The amount of fear that was in her voice did give me second thoughts about making her sleep alone, but then I was reminded of where that meant she would sleep. I sighed heavily, before I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and led her out of the room, and with one final glance, made sure the eyes in the forest were gone.

Closing the door, I walked towards my room as I said, "Now, if you are to be sleeping in my bed, then no grabbing me, touching me, rubbing up against me, and the such… are we clear?"

She nodded, and I opened the door to my room and let go of her shoulders, yet she still didn't let go of me. Once more I sighed, and I said, "Now is when you let me go…"

When she did let me go, I moved her around me bed, and set her on the one side, before walking to the other. I got in without so much as a fuss, and when I finally got to lay my head down on my pillow, I heard Samantha say, "Thank you for letting me stay in here Lyon…"

I only grunted before I said, "Don't mention it… and remember what I said about sleeping in my bed with me." I don't need her feeling me up, since I know that would only go bad… not to mention she may discover something a little more than she can expect. It may not be noticeable, but it she does touch my shoulder; she will notice something off about it. I need to see if they made proper prosthetics yet; the metal plating is starting to hurt again…

Without waking Samantha up, I had managed to already do a number of tasks; such as setting up the pressure pads with air horn warnings, prepping my generators in case they cut off power, along with just having finished making breakfast. It was the same as yesterday, but this time we would be guaranteed to finish it with peace in mind. I went upstairs so that I could wake up Samantha, but as I reached the last step; the door to my room opened to reveal a very tired and disheveled looking keidran wolf. When her eyes trailed up my body slowly, she seemed to grow confused, until her eyes reached my own; and then recognition seemed to dawn over her expression.

Nodding my head slightly to her, I leaned up against the wall and asked, "How was your sleep?"

She smiled, before she yawned, and that was my first time at actually seeing her canines, and I had to marvel at how sharp they looked. My eyes only widened a little bit, before I let my expression relax as a small smile played across my lips. When she stopped yawning and stretching, she said, "That was the best I have ever slept."

Smiling slightly, I nodded and said, "Good… breakfast is on the table, and don't worry about that Templar guy, I have stuff in place that will warn us if he should show up again." With that said, I turned, and walked down the stairs.

…

(Aldor's P.O.V.)

Stepping into the brightly lit chamber to the audience chamber, I stopped as I closed my eyes, before moving forward with a confident smile on my face. It wasn't until I came upon the first guards did I open my eyes and stop, only to look up and see the six council men that led this sectors Templar installment. They were all staring at me with various expressions, and the lead council member asked, "What has become of you Aldor…?"

"My arm was lost to a beast in the forest as I chased an escaped keidran slave…" I said, my smile falling only by a fraction, and I reached over and shifted the armor that rested over my armless shoulder. The council all exchanged looks, before I myself noticed one of them was looking towards me instead of discussing with the others.

"When you say a beast, do you mean a mere filthy keidran?"

Chuckling, I let my head drop, and I shook my head. He is trying to imply that a mere wild keidran can harm me… how rich! Lifting my head as the chuckles died down, I said, "No brother, rather one of the masks helped aid the keidran in escape… but I followed her to that other realm I have mentioned before…"

The council all now gave me looks of disgust, while a few looked towards me angrily, but another said, "Not this load of child's tales again!"

It was then that I raised my remaining hand up to my chest, with my palm up, and I said, "I come with proof that this world exists, and with it, I bring you a new source of magicka more powerful than what we have ever managed to achieve from crystals!" As I finished, I let the last of the magic I had from the other realm where no keidran exists, and I let it flow from my body, and slowly collect in my hand in its purest form. It was bright and was formed into a swirling ball of energy, before I sent it up, and watched it spiral out in jagged formations much how lightning would. It was tinged with blue, but it emitted a yellow glow as it filled my hearing with a buzzing sensation.

When it dissipated fully after a dozen or so seconds, I was smiling widely, and I was shaking as I lowered my hand to my side. Letting my crazed gaze turn back to the stunned council, I placed my confidence in its place, and was pleasantly surprised when the head councilmen skipped the long procedure of questioning and discussion and asked, "What do you propose we do…?"

(Lyon's P.O.V.)

I had just finished the dishes when I felt a cold chill run up my spine when the loud blaring noise of an air horn permeated the calmness of my home, and I instantly bolted towards the front door. I grabbed the shotgun I had placed near the front door in case he decided to show his ugly face again, and now I was going to make sure he didn't come back again.

Just as I got to the bottom steps to my front porch, the air horn alarm finally stopped, but by then I had turned and started bolting towards that section of the clearing. When I rounded the corner to my house, I raised the shotgun up, but kept my finger off the trigger until I made sure he was in range. When the figure stumbled from the forest, I felt the gun lower in my hands as nervousness and shock took hold of my gut, "Murphy?" Said officer was looking towards the tree I had rigged the air horn up to, so I called out, "Hey Murphy, get over here!"

When he looked towards me, his eyes widened when he saw what I was holding, but he quickly jogged towards me, with a noticeable limp in his stride. I looked around to make sure there wasn't anything or anyone else lurking in the shadows, and when Murphy made it to me, we turned and began to walk towards the front of my house. "Lyon, I'm hoping yesterday when I heard the gunshot over the phone you killed that Templar bastard…"

This caught me off guard, and I asked, "How did you know he was a Templar… and how did he manage to piss you off?" Murphy was a policeman, but he was also an investigator, but the reason why he did his job so well was because of his laid back personality. I only knew him for probably two days' worth of time, but it was during those hours that I did get to know him really well.

"He woke up in the hospital and kept spewing on something about a keidran… he referred to whatever it is as a whore." He practically spit out, and I looked over at him briefly before we started walking up the steps to my porch. Before I asked him what else he had against the man as well, he added, "It will be a few days until the military gets here, but for now, I need to ask you to come back to what is left of the police station… what is left of the police force has barricaded the main roads in case he comes back…"

Stopping in front of my door, I asked, "How many people were with him…?"

When Murphy and I faced each other, he said, "He had nobody with him, but from the reports and surveillance video's I have seen, he does something… he somehow takes electrical energy and manipulates it. For god's sake, he threw a car without even touching it!"

I let out a low whistle as I opened my door and walked in, and I said, "He didn't do anything like that yesterday, but he did do something like form a bolt of blue… it would've got me, but it spread around me when it got close; almost like it hit a shield." Wait, if Samantha really is a hominoid keidran wolf… then what is stopping magic from being real?

Walking inside, Murphy followed me as he said, "Whatever it is, we have no way of getting around it… just pack your things so that w-"

"I'm not leaving." I said as I stopped and faced Murphy. "I fought him off just fine with this shotgun, and I'm not going to let him destroy my home. If you and the other officers want, you can set up shop here, in my fortress." Of course they don't know this thing is almost like a fortress, but what does that matter with them, I can and will guard this place.

Looking towards Samantha as she chose that moment to walk into the hallway, she stopped as she looked towards Murphy, and I saw her tense up. When Murphy spoke, I could hear the edge and tightness in his voice, "Lyon, who is that…?"

"That my friend, is who that Templar guy was after… that is a keidran." I said, and I looked towards him, and saw him eying her warily, "I have no idea how she can honestly be a wolf that stands up and speaks, but that is no costume… she had a wound that is part of her fur and all."

When Murphy looked towards me, he said, "Then isn't that all the more reason why you should come with me to the police station, along with her then?" Shaking my head, I walked over to the cabinet I had near the front door, and upon unlocking it, I looked inside, and grabbed a cloth a covered a pair of grenades I had inside. Opening it the rest of the way, I heard Murphy gasp, before he said, "Surely this is all illegal Lyon, why are you showing this to me?"

First I closed the cabinet, before locking it up, and I said, "It isn't illegal, considering my military ID and old rank grants me more than a few special privileges. This is all legal, not to mention I have a few more additions that would impress SWAT." Placing my shotgun down on the wooden shelf of the weapon cabinet, I backed away from it before I faced Officer Murphy and asked, "Now, is there anything I can do for you before you need to go?"

He stood there for a few seconds, and he only looked around sadly, before he looked towards me and held out his hand to me. I chuckled as I grabbed his hand, and wrapped my fingers around the back of his hand; it would possibly be the last time if what that Templar guy said was true. "It hasn't been long enough, but it was nice knowing you Lyon… you helped the police department out numerous times."

Nodding as I released his hand, I looked over, and grabbed a small book, and placed it in his hands. He looked down at in in confusion as I said, "That is a list of my few friends… give them a call and tell them about our predicament. Mention my name, and I'm sure they will try to help out however they can." He opened it up, and when the surprise spread on his face, I added, "My friends made it to some high places… don't come back unless your life depends on it; because I'm sure this forest won't be safe after today."

He nodded his head, and when he said his farewells, I watched as he walked out my door, before he closed it, and I heaved a sigh. Turning back towards Samantha, I said, "If I am going to protect you in my home, I'm going to require you to help me. Also, since you know more about that Templar guy, how many of his friends do you think he will bring with him?"

I was walking towards her so that I could go into my basement, and when I got closer, she watched me nervously before she said, "I don't know… I think he will go to a barracks and get control of a group… I have never seen Templars attack in less than forty." I shuddered when I heard that, and after I opened the basement door, I heard her say, "But I don't think they will use that many to go after an escaped slave."

Walking down the stairs, I said, "Follow me…"

I didn't need to look back to know she was already doing so, so when I reached the turn in the stairs, I flicked the switch, and heard the hum of electrical lights. They took a second to turn on, but once they were on, brightness filled every inch of my storage and personal workshop. I smiled widely as I reached the bottom of the stairs, and this was where I knew we would survive if they managed to break into my house. This is my own little personal stash of illegal weapons… good thing Murphy didn't need to see these.

"Lyon, are those like your weapons upstairs?" Samantha asked as she joined me at my side.

Turning my head and looking over at a rack with a few… felon illegal guns, even with my military ID, I shook my head and said, "These are much… much stronger. I'm going to teach you how to use them, that way you will know how to help me." I couldn't help but smile at a few of them, knowing that nothing could stop a few bullets from some of those rounds. Holding my hand out, I asked, "Would you like to choose which of these you wish to learn from first? I personally recommend you learning from the ones upstairs, but if you wish to choose one of these, then by all means pick."

Oh, the joy of having the inexperienced picking their first gun to shoot, and from any one of these beasts too. I already know that they won't get anywhere near here if they try to attack, but I will kill them if they even know their faces. If what Murphy said is true, then retribution is in order.

"L-Lyon… can I use this one…?" Samantha asked as she struggled to hold one of my favorites in her hands, though she was only struggling since she was holding it in the wrong area.

Walking up to her, I smiled as I grabbed it and held it effortlessly in my hands, and I said, "Sure… any reason why you chose this one?"

"…Because it's big…"

I chuckled, and I walked over and grabbed an ammo box and began walking towards the stairs, and I said, "That isn't a bad idea, just means it is harder to reload… this baby is called the M249 Light Machine Gun… this gun isn't actually that bad of a choice for shooting from, even without experience."

Samantha followed me back towards the stairs, and I only shook my head in good humor, as I knew that this was going to be fun, but then I realized; her ears were going to be more sensitive to the sound of gunfire than my own were. Stopping, I looked back at her, and asked, "Uh, Samantha… since you're a wolf and all, can you lay your ears back?"

She looked at me with a strange look, and the confusion in her eyes was apparent as she asked, "What do you mean…?"

Setting the ammo box and LMG down, I turned and faced her, and I brought my hands up and cupped the base of her ears. Just how an angry dog would do, I gently and carefully placed her ears down and back, in case that motion did hurt her. "Like this…" it was then I realized how close I had gotten to her, and I saw her eyes weren't looking into my own as she had a blush under her eyes. I quickly released her ears and backed away, before I stumbled on the gun behind me. Oh god, sloppy… what is happening to me? I blushed a little as I turned around, and once I picked up the gun and ammo, I started to move a little faster up the stairs…

A.N.: Sorry this took so long to write everyone, I can only say that I was being lazy and relaxing instead of working on this story. I haven't even began working on the next chapter to Blizzard Storm, as I'm still formulating how to write it out, even though I know what I'm going to put in it. Hope you all liked this rather dull, but informative chapter… next chapter should have a bit more action to it, though I'm still not sure if I'm going to add romance to this story.

GrimlockX4: They will stop the Templar the same way we stopped attackers in Vietnam, with guns! xD

RT86: lol, that wouldn't help if you had to borrow, because then you would need to pay for damage reparations. Dude, I don't need to know what an EM rifle is, if he had an energy sword, he would be set… or two! Attack they to the sides of the dirt bike, and BAM, you have a badass assault vehicle! xD

Maturedeath: lol, less time to play, more time to work… find a Wal-Mart, they pay well and aren't that picky for workers… I still need to apply for them, as I'm good to work anytime, except early morning. And yeah, I saw your review in blizzard storm, or I think I saw the right one. OH, and if you want to buy the books, then amazon; other than that, I just rented them from my local library.

3-D Jak: I was thinking she would be holding a battery, feel the power and mistake it for magic, and take the power from it and manipulate it in front of Lyon… other than that, don't want her breaking the toaster. And if I was mad with power… well, let's say my imagination would be the most dangerous thing to everyone and anything xD

Waffletacostyle: lol, if that is true, then tell the Templar to go to Pepperdine in California… those ladies are damn right Gorgeous!

Rylak: lol, I'm thinking of having someone figure out to use conductors to use in place to drain the Templar of the electrical power. Almost like a light pole transformer works. Finding an army isn't as hard if you promise and show that there is a chance for extreme power.