IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, I FEEL SO BAD!

every time i tried to edit it, something happened and it got all screwed up again, like the universe didnt want me to post. plus, i got distracted by watching Avatar the last airbender. sry but that show is worth it :3

Disclaimer: I dont own anything. But enjoy what i have given :)

"So you think Boggans broke into your house...with the help of humans?"

Thryn's clarifying question echoed into silence. Nobody could believe M.K.'s claim; well nobody wanted to believe it but M.K. didn't look like the kind of person to make up stuff about this. That was Thyrn's impression at least. Ross's distrustful looks were not unnoticed, and she sensed that Mason had his doubts as well. Lex could go either way but she tended to be too trusting. Jason was an open book; he backed M.K. up on everything, even if he didn't know what it was.

Thryn was so busy thinking over everybody else, that she missed M.K.'s reply. Crap, I'm doing it again! Because of her reserved nature, she spent more time thinking about things instead of listening to things around her. It was her biggest problem in school. She'd daydream instead of paying attention, and the minute she came back to the 'real world,' she missed ten whole minutes of essential lecture and be totally lost.

She bit the inside of her cheek, an effective way to stay focused. It hadn't been a problem when she was with the Leafmen. All the superior officers made sure you were listening to them. Now she was with people her own age. Great, I'll start watching butterflies float by.

The conversation had moved on without her, and she pretended that she was thinking of something really important.

"Maybe some humans had discovered Boggans and they struck deals with them," Mason suggested.

"But doing dirty work for them? That's downright crazy!" Ross pointed out.

Nod turned back to M.K. "What would someone want from your house in the first place?"

"Leafmen research is all I can think of that has value...beside my phone." The red head got blank looks, except from Jason. Thryn started to wonder what a phone was before she caught herself and focused. "Maybe Boggans want to know more about you guys..."

"What do they not know?" Thryn said. "Unless Ronin told you all our military secrets and tactics, which I doubt he did."

"No, he didn't tell us. Probably for this exact reason."

"What would the humans get out of it anyway?" Ross muttered.

M.K. shook her head. "We can't keep throwing out questions we don't know the answers to. Let's just wait for Ronin to send word and relax. You guys got the whole house to explore if you want. Just stay out of my room and don't go on the floor, or Ozzie will eat you." The disfigured pub barked to confirm this, then started chasing a fly into the living room.

Bells chiming broke the silence like a sledgehammer to a window. Thryn jumped, despite herself. Following the bells came ringing, then after that blaring, then bird calls, barking, and booming noises.

"What is that?!" Thryn tried to shout over the din.

Bomba stumbled in and ran to the computers. He was everywhere at once, fingers dancing over various keyboards and eyes flicking from one screen to another.

"So much for relaxation," Nod muttered.

"Dad! What's going on?!"

Luckily, the professor had not taken his helmet off. "It's the motion alarms!"

M.K. rolled her eyes. "Obviously, but which ones?!"

"All of them!"

Suddenly, a screen went out and started blinking weird black and white dots that look like ants swarming over each other. Thryn's eyes hurt to look at it. The small teens jumped closer for a better look but was careful to stay out of the bumbling professor's way.

"Whatever it is, it has to be huge and numerous to trip them all at once!" Bomba exclaimed. Another screen flicker black and white, then a third. Thryn's eyes went to the fourth screen, and just before it was disconnected, she spot a body. It was large and black, but she didn't get a good look before the screen went out.

In the corner of her vision, something moved. Thryn's gray pupils flicked to the window and to the forest outside. She scanned the trees and foliage for anything. An increasing unease was running laps in her veins. On her shoulder, Sterling buzzed nervously.

"What is it?" Nod asked from beside her. The others followed her gaze.

The long, tangled grass that surrounded the house turned gray and withered. To her growing horror, Thryn watched as a young birch tree's leaves died and then the tree itself toppled over and crumbled to ashes. The blight spread through the grass, moss, trees, saplings, ferns, flowers, and thorns. Birds and squirrels fled as their home trees fell over and rotted. The thriving forest that surrounded the Radcliffe home for years withered away in seconds, the proud trees now lifeless husks, and gave way to a desolate wasteland.

"Oh my god..."

Yesterday, at Moonhaven.

General Ronin, legendary leader of the Leafmen, strode up to the topmost balcony of the hallowed rock structure. His hummer was ready, his armor was polished, his sword sharp, and his helmet and vest adorned. If the Boggans wanted a fight, he'd sure as hell give them one.

His blue eyes squinted as he adjusted to the sunlight. Finn was already on the lookout, peering through a spy glass at the invaders in the distance. He looked away when he heard Ronin's approach.

"Sir, the Bogs are still a long way off but they'll cover the distance pretty quickly," the red bearded Leafman reported.

"What's your estimate on the size of their army?" Ronin asked as he adjusted the spy glass and put it to his eye.

"The closest I can say is four hundred and fifty...maybe more." Ronin grunted in agreement when he saw the close up of the army. He expected to see a jumbling mass of grackles in an unorganized fashion, but was surprised to see the birds in tight, arrowhead formations. It was very similar to the Leafmens' own flying tactics. Ronin refocused, and the glass got bigger as it zoomed out, giving him a larger scope.

He mentally pat himself on the back for sending Nod away. No mattered how skilled his soldiers were, the boy and the rose couldn't be anywhere near this.

"Send the fliers," Ronin ordered. "Whatever happens, they cannot reach Moonhaven. Are all the civilians out?"

"Yes sir, all of them fled or were evacuated." Finn replied before telling the Leafwoman at the horn to sound the command. She blew two short notes and then a long note, over and over. Emerald flocks of hummingbirds took to the sky like one entity, their riders clad in green armor and brandishing their swords.

"Godspeed," the general whispered.

To Ronin, the fateful battle went on for hours but when in the midst of fighting, one can never tell exactly how much time had passed. Yet he wasn't fighting; he was watching and directing from afar. He issued orders to fight but he never joined in the combat himself. Ronin was just trained that way. All his predecessors did it; all his successors will do it.

It was times like these that he really hated being general.

The Leafmen on the hummers were holding out, but from his distance, Ronin couldn't tell. One minute it looked like the Boggans were pushing forward, then you see the Leafmen surge and push them back. Neither side seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

Then out of the blue, the cloud of black grackles retreated. The Boggans were fleeing; turning tail and running like rabbits! The Leafmen and women on their hummingbirds howled victorious war cries, convinced on their win.

Ronin smelled a rat.

"Call them back," Ronin said to Finn. The man's eyes widened.

"But sir, we have them on the run. We need to push them out of our territory, take the offensive-"

"Boggans don't randomly abandon a battle unless they're losing badly, and in case you were watching a different fight, they were not. I sense a trap. Call in the troops before my commanders out there get ahead of themselves."

"Right sir," Finn consented, seeing Ronin's reason. "You heard him!" he shouted to the Leafwoman. She filled her lungs with air and sounded a long note, a short one, then another long. Ronin grunted in satisfaction when the hummer flocks heeded the call and returned to base.

The first formation to make it back was led by Kane. As the troops landed and dismounted, Kane steered his hummer up to the balcony where Finn and Ronin perched. His hummingbird touched down lightly and the broad-shouldered man removed his helmet, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"They've retreated Ronin!" he exclaimed. "Now is the time to pursue and drive them out! What's the hold up?"

The general replied crisply, "My orders, that's the hold up."

Kane gestured in the direction where the battle had taken place. "This isn't the time to get nervous! You're giving them a chance to regroup and-"

"Enough," Ronin hissed and Kane immediately quieted. "The Boggans retreated too eagerly. They wanted you to follow! But whether it's a trap or not, I'm not sending my army to leave Moonhaven unguarded."

"We can have this all cleared up before nightfall if you would just-"

"How many of them were there?"

Kane's face twisted into an ugly scowl before replying. "It looked close to five hundred."

"And we have two hundred Leafmen, probably less now thanks to the battle. At this point, every man and woman count. I'm not risking it."

He could see that Kane wanted to argue further and opened his mouth to say so, but Ronin fixed the most deadliest look he could muster. Kane caught the steely glint in his eyes and closed his mouth. The man snarled like a frustrated wolf before stomping back to his bird and taking off.

Ronin shook his head in disappointment. "He's an excellent leader and tactician, but that temper of his..."

Finn nodded in agreement then asked, "Do you really think it's a trap?"

"Every instinct I have is ringing alarm bells. But whatever happens, the whole bloody affair did tell us one thing." Finn raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The Boggans have a new leader. And whoever he is, he's good. Really good."

Night fell. The Boggans hadn't come back for another go, which served to make Ronin feel more uneasy. The Leafmen stood at the ready from their posts, with their eyes on the sky and foliage. With the absence of noise, some of the Jinn began to return, but Ronin sent the soldiers to escort them out. He wasn't taking any chances until he was sure that the treat had passed. A crescent moon shone weakly through the thin clouds that scudded across it.

"They aren't coming back?" Finn inquired. His legs and back were aching from standing for so long, waiting for a second attack. Ronin stood erect and alert, not once relaxing from his stance. Not for the first, Finn admired Ronin's seemingly infinite amount of patience.

"They will," the general replied. He was certain of it now; Boggans were notoriously persistent and would not have given up that fight so easily if it wasn't a part of their plan all along. Since Ronin didn't rise to the bait, they were probably readjusting their plans to attack again. That, or they have given up and gone home. Wishful thinking.

"How do you think they kids are doing?" Finn brought him out of his thoughts.

"They should be far away and hiding by now."

His friend rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, ideally they should be doing that. But let's face the facts. Both Nod and M.K. would want to be nearby to see if they could help one way or another."

Ronin chuckled. "That would be just like them. You're probably right. When this is over, we'll send search parties out to look for them."

The two old friends enjoyed a companionable silence, content with just listening to the humming crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl. The forest had a way of being active and restful at the same time at night. The music it made lulled you to near sleep then could pull you back awake in one moment. Only forest dwellers like the Leafmen, Jinn, and animals knew which sounds were normal and which were a warning for danger.

In this silence, Ronin's ears caught the tell-tale sound of metal clashing against stone, dim and faraway as it was. Finn heard it to, and they strode over to the edge and peered below the balcony, trying to locate the noise.

Ronin pinpointed the sound. It was coming from the main entrance on the ground level. Three sentries that were posted to the entrance were staring into its dark, inky depths, their weapons drawn as they tried to find the source of the noise.

A scream suddenly echoed out of the tunnel, making the hair rise on Ronin's arm. The Leafmen sentries jumped nervously.

What happened next happened so fast, that Ronin wasn't sure if he even saw anything. One moment, the sentries were ready to charge to the screamer's aid...and then next they were being pulled into the tunnel by three dark masses, like they had been swallowed up by a black mouth. Their cries were cut off abruptly by something hissing and clicking.

"Sound the alarm!" the general barked. Finn drew in breaths as he bellowed a frantic call. Moonhaven came alive with shouts.

Ronin drew his sword and was about to dash down the stairs, when a young Leafman emerged from the hall, holding a glowing lantern and breathing hard with exertion. His face was pale and streaked with sweat, his eyes wild with fear. Deep bite marks scored his breastplate like something had tried to eat his heart.

"Sir..." he panted. "The Boggans...they dug tunnels under Moonhaven...and they've got-" his words were cut off by a yelp as he was suddenly pulled off his feet and dragged back to the tunnel. Ronin dropped his sword and dived, grabbing the Leafman's hand and held it tightly, stopping him. He caught a glimpse of a white, glistening string attached to the Leafman's back trailing back into the pitch black tunnel.

Whatever was on the other end gave a violent, viscous tug. Ronin's hold broke as the hand was torn out of his grasp. The young man screamed, terrified, as he disappeared into the shadows. His voice died as something cut it off.

The old warrior couldn't stand up. He felt weak in the legs as if all his strength had been drained out of his body. The terror he witnessed on the lad's face made him sick with fear. He realized with dread that he had been the same age as Nod. That fact alone disturbed him greatly.

Finn was at his side, helping him up and retrieving his sword. "You okay, Ronin?" His voice brought the general out of his horrified daze and Ronin regained his control of his emotions. Now wasn't the time to let fear win him over, not now and not ever.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I really hope Nod actually listened to me this time."

His brother-in-arms grimaced. "Me too."

The little light they had from the crescent moon was suddenly switched off. The general's gaze darted from the tunnel to the sky, his eyes widening at the scene. Bats. Thousands of bats blocked out the moon, screeching winged rats mounted with bloodthirsty Boggans. Except this time, they didn't stay in the sky to keep the moonlight blocked, like the previous year.

This time, they attacked.

The colony of bats swept down, a black furry tsunami of sharp claws and leathery wings. The outer ring of bats rained down on the barracks and defenses surrounding Moonhaven. The inner ring spiraled into the stone palace itself, entering through the blooming chamber and hummer roost.

"Leafmen, to me!" Ronin shouted over the din. "Finn, take command of the archers, I'll lead the fliers!"

"Yes sir!"

Ronin whistled sharply and in seconds, his hummingbird heeded his call, zooming to him. Ronin flipped into the saddle, taking the reins and wasting no time in joining the melee, a war cry erupting from his lips.

Other soldiers followed his lead and the hummers converged to make a formidable force. They met the wave with clashing weapons and screeches, trying to push the bats back.

Instinct had Ronin ducking as an arrow whistled in the space his head had been. Slipping his bow from his back and nocking an arrow, he shot the Boggan that would have taken his life. His hummer slipped through the colony smoothly, like a sleek fish through a frothing river. Ronin parried every stroke dealt to him and returned in kind with fatal blows of his katana. Further he went, pushing and fighting his way up, stopping a few times to shoot arrows at any targets when he had the space.

It felt like an eternity before he broke through the cloud of bats. He had an uninterrupted scope of Moonhaven and the forest. The view was not welcoming. Bats were streaming from every crevice and opening of Moonhaven, carrying Leafmen and women. The outer defense barracks were completely overrun by the overwhelming numbers. Boggans lept from their mounts to the ground, engaging the soldiers in combat.

Ronin shot off another arrow as a Boggan came too near him for his liking. But he could feel the hopelessness set in. There were so many, twice the amount Mandrake commanded, and there were less that two hundred Leafmen to defend their home. The birds were flying valiantly, but from where he was, Ronin could see that their animilistic fear of death was winning over the control of their riders.

How were they supposed to fight so many? Yet as he looked down from his bat mount, he saw flashes of green armor and silver swords in the throng. The brave, resilient Leafmen were fighting. Living up to their name. It was that feeling when it didn't matter if you live or die; you just had to fight. Ronin's hope swelled.

And just like that, it plummeted. For now, he could see what else was overrunning Moonhaven. A carpet of black scurried from the openings, dragging white cocoons behind them like prizes. The creatures who killed the Leafman that was trying to warn him.

Spiders.

General Ronin hated spiders.

"Attention all Leafmen and women," a voice boomed from below, being heard over the cacophony. "If your heroic general doesn't turn himself in and you don't surrender immediately, we'll slaughter every single last one of you."

Ronin clenched his fists in fury. A Boggan had gotten hold of the Leafmen's shell horn! It was specially designed to amplify a speaker's voice, used for communicating across a noisy battlefield. Whoever was speaking through it spoke very well, without a hint of the guttural, throaty accent of a Boggan. The seasoned Leafman bet ten out of ten that it was the Boggan's mystery leader.

Ronin kneed his bird and they dived, angling back down toward the direction of the speaker. As they neared, his bird pulled up and gently lowered down on the stone, landing on a ledge above where the horn was positioned. Ronin dove off his saddle and crawled over to the edge, looking carefully over to be sure he wasn't spotted.

"I repeat!" the voice shouted. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! General Ronin, I know you're out there."

He pressed against the stone wall as bats flew passed him and back to the sky. The colony circled the air above Moonhaven, as if watching them. Groups of Leafmen and women were back to back in defensive circles, surrounded on all sides by jeering Bogs. They had not thrown down their weapons, yet the Boggans have ceased fighting them, only watching like hungry animals.

With the bats gone, Ronin had a clear picture of the leader. He stood with his back to the warrior, straight-backed and his gloved hands holding the horn. His entire figure was covered, not an inch of skin. The hide of a black window swayed on his back, its legs dragging on the ground and dangling over his shoulders.

The Boggan spoke again. "By now, you will have realize that I, Batlash, lord of the Boggans, have with me my eight legged friends."

The spiders were crawling over the ground of the forest. White silk webs spun from their thoraxes and laced itself across the foliage. To Ronin's horror, he realized that they were building a wall around Moonhaven's pond- a wall of sticky, inescapable web.

"Ronin!" Batlash yelled again. "Surrender to me now or I'll kill them all!"

The General watched helplessly as his troops fended off the enemy. There were too many. The spiders were cutting off them off from help. He looked at the brave men and women below him, and spotted Finn among them, his face grim but determined to fight until the last drop of blood. All of them willing to fight at his command.

All that blood on his hands.

He could not have it.

His hope shriveled when the sense of defeat took over. With a heavy heart, he got to his feet and made way down to the dark figure stood upon. As he approached the self-named Batlash, Ronin rekindled a little of his hope. It was small and as weak as a candle; but it was there.

Nod, M.K., and the rose were not here. All was not lost.

Batlash didn't turn around when Ronin came up behind him. The general's hand gripped his sword hilt. The thought of plunging his blade through the Boggan's back was an enticing one, but before he could do anything, Batlash chuckled, low and mocking.

"Leafmen," he said without turning around. "You enjoy pretending that if you fight a little longer, a hero will appear and save the day. There's no one coming to help you, General." Now, Batlash did turn and Ronin saw the skull spider mask shielding his face. The Leafman couldn't see any eyes through the holes; just eight pools of black. "If I die an unnatural death, my Boggans have orders to wipe out the Leafmen. And then the Jinn."

The old warrior's hand clenched painfully on the sword hilt, his hopelessness replaced by intense hatred. He wanted nothing more than to skewer this monster's heart! But he was powerless to save his men, his home, his family. And that made him even angrier.

The Boggan lord stared at him coolly. The spider legs of his cloak swayed in the wind. The bats in the sky continued to circle Moonhaven, waiting for orders. The spiders ran rampant, scuttling over the rocks and weaving a tight, thick wall of web, encasing Moonhaven in their clutches. The Boggans and Leafmen stilled and watched the two authoritive figures, straining to here the outcome.

"Throw down your sword," Batlash ordered.

Ronin had never given up, not in his life. Not when his parents said he couldn't join the Leafmen because he wasn't good enough. Not when he looked like he wouldn't pass the final tests to join the ranks. Not when his relationship with Tara had grown more formal than it should have been when she was chosen as Queen. Not when Aaron and Liscity died. Ronin would submit but he was far from giving in.

He allowed his sword to fall out of his hands, the clang reverberating for everyone to hear. The faces of the Leafmen and women fell when they realized it was over. One by one, they let their weapons fall.

Moonhaven had fallen. The Boggans had won.

Ronin sighed and held up his hands, closing his eyes in resolution.

I surrender. But is was far from over.

0_o

so it may be another long update. school is back and ive got AP classes coupled with cross country training and meets. yippee.

my muse says hi and please review!