Chapter 3

"Pom," Tianhuo whispered. "Stay behind me." Pom nodded without hesitation and hid behind Tianhuo. Tianhuo then approached the predator, whose mouth was drooling.

"What do you want?" Tianhuo asked.

"THEEE KEEEY!" the predator said. "WEEE WANT THEEE KEEY!"

"Oh, now, wouldn't that be a fine gift for you lot?" Tianhuo said. "But I'm not going to grant you that wish today. I'm Tianhuo, Champion of The Volcano, and as long as I'm here, I won't let you get that key!"

"SO BEEE IT!" the predator said and quickly swung his claws at her, them nicking her armor that she had on.

"Then let's fight!" Tinahuo announced and kicked the bear in the stomach, followed by a range of uppercuts. The predator roared and charged forward at Tianhuo, but she quickly dodged and tripped the bear up to the ground. She then used her strength to pick the bear up and throw him against the wall.

"Huff, is that all you got?' Tianhuo asked as the bear got up again.

"Tianhuo, watch out!" Pom said from behind her.

"Huh?" Tianhuo said, turning around just in time for another bear predator to smash into her and send her flying into the wall. She hit the wall with such force that it jolted her for a second before she regained her bearings. But right as she figured out where she was, the predators tripped up her feet and threw her up in the air before smashing her to the ground.

Oww, now that hurt. Tianhuo tried to get back up, but one of the predators pinned her to the ground. She tried to struggle out of its grip, but she couldn't, and then she heard a scream from Pom. She looked up and saw the other predator walking up toward Pom, who was frightened.

"Pom!" Tianhuo screamed. "Help!"

"But… I…, I don't know how to fight!" Pom said.

"Then go get help!" Tianhuo said. "Get Velvet! Get anyone!"

"But, what about you?" Pom asked while dodging an attack from the predator in front of her.

"I'll be fine!" Tianhuo said. "Just go!"

Pom hesitated for one moment before ducking underneath the predator's claws and running out of the room.

"LEEEAVEEE THEEEEM!" the bear said that was pinning Tianhuo down. "WEEE GOT WHAT WEE WEEEREEE AFTEER!" Tianhuo then looked up just in time to see a claw coming down at her face, and she got knocked out.

Tianhuo woke up in the darkness with no light anywhere. She tried to light up her mane, tail, and wings, but they didn't ignite. Tianhuo then realized that half of her body was in a body of water. She then felt that her face was drenched in water as well.

Great, whoever has me knows about our weakness, Tianhuo thought. She heard footsteps approaching her as a torch ignited in front of her face. It was a predator wolf in front of her, and he turned around to whoever was walking toward them.

"WEEE FOUND ONEEE!" the wolf said. "JUST LIKEEE YOU ASKEEED!"

"Good," the mysterious voice in the shadows said. "Now WEEE can REEOPEEEN up THEEE STATUEE!"

"Who are you?" Tianhuo asked the mysterious voice. "What do you want with me?"

"All will COMEEE CLEEEAR in TIMEEE," the mysterious voice said, and Tianhuo heard it walking away. "Now bring them to THEEE STATUEEE!"

"YEEEEES!" the wolf said. "BAG HEER!"

Tianhuo felt a bag thrown over her as she was lifted out of the water and put on flat ground.

"WALK!" the wolf said and pushed her forward. Tianhuo tried to struggle, but the chain around her neck got grabbed.

Come on, Tinahuo, you can get out of this! Just got to get this chain off!

Tianhuo tried to wiggle out of the chain, but it wouldn't budge. It wasn't long before she was thrown forward and had the bag ripped off her head. She saw a statue of a box in front of her. She lit up herself to see better but felt water splash on her and extinguish her flames.

"NO, NO, NO!" the wolf said. "CAN'T LEEET CARGO EEESCAPEEE!

"What do you want with me?" Tianhuo said. "Because I would never help you!"

"BUT YOU HAVEEE!" the wolf said. "ONEEE DROP OF YOUR BLOOD WILL OPEEEN UP THIS PORTAL!" Tianhuo saw the box in front of her open to show a dormant portal.

"A LITTLEE COW DESTROYED IT!" the wolf said. "BUT YOUR PREDATOR BLOOD WILL REACTIVATEEE IT!"

"NO!" Tianhuo yelled, trying to run away, but the wolf stepped on her chain. She fell to the ground and turned back to the wolf. "You will never get my blood! I am not a predator!"

"BUT YOU AREEEE!" the wolf said.

"It's only half!" Tianhuo yelled and tried to swing at the wolf, but he tied her chain to a pole.

"IT WILL STILL WORK!" the wolf said and grabbed a syringe with his paw. "HOLD STILL!"

"NO!" Tianhuo screamed, trying to kick the wolf, but it wasn't working. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HELP!"

"NO ONEEE CAN HEEAR YOU!" the wolf said. "NO REESCUE IS COMING FOR YOU!" The wolf then pinned Tianhuo to the ground. "THIS MAY HURT."

Suddenly, a scream came down from the end of the hallway, and a predator bear flew and hit the wolf off Tianhuo.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" the wolf yelled at the bear.

"SHEEE HAS REEESCUEEEE!" the bear said.

Tianhuo smiled. "Now you've messed up."

"Tianhuo, vhere are zo?" Velvet asked, appearing in the room with Pom behind her.

"She's up there!" Pom said, seeing Tianhuo, who had just ignited her wings.

"ARGH, THIS ISN'T OVEEER!" the wolf said and tried to run away, but Velvet jumped in his way.

"Going somewhere?" Velvet asked before blasting him with three ice crystals and making him evaporate. "Hah, zat was easy."

"Velvet behind you!" Tianhuo yelled as the bear snuck up on Velvet.

"Huh?" Velvet said and turned to the bear, swinging his claws down at her. Tianhuo knew she wouldn't have time to escape, but out of nowhere, a pack of dogs started attacking the bear. Tianhuo was also confused with Velvet, and after the bear evaporated, they both saw the dogs run back to Pom.

"Vha…?" Velvet said.

"Did they just…?" Tianhuo asked.

"Oh, I did teach them a few tricks," Pom said. "The Meadow can be dangerous with predators now."

"Um, can you get these chains off of me?" Tianhuo asked.

"Oh yeah, sure, zing," Velvet said and went over to Tianhuo and froze the chains. She then stepped on them, and they broke off. Tianhuo could then slip out of the chain around her neck and turn to face Velvet and Pom.

"Thank you for your help," Tianhuo said. "Things would have ended badly if you didn't show up when you did."

"Ya, vell zis sheep came up to me and said zat you needed help," Velvet said. "And let me tell you, she is very persistent."

Tinahuo smiled at Pom. "I'm glad she was."

"Anyway, what were the predators doing with you down here?" Pom asked, inspecting the syringe by her feet.

"Um," Tianhuo said. "They just wanted… uh…" she glanced at the statue behind her before finishing her sentence. "They wanted information!"

"Really?" Pom asked.

"Yep!" Tianhuo said. "They wanted information about this statue here!"

"Huh, very veird statue," Velvet said. "I've never seen something like zis before."

"Yeah, me either!" Tianhuo quickly said. "But I guess the predators thought that I knew something!"

"Hmm," Velvet said, approaching closer to Tianhuo.

Tianhuo started slowly backing away until her back hit the wall. She waited as Velvet inched closer, stopping an inch before her face.

"I see," Velvet said.

"You do?" Tianhuo asked and realized that Pom must have told her about her half-predator blood.

"Yep," Velvet said. "Zey… must have zought zat you knew because your tribe is very secretive."

"Huh?" Tianhuo said before realizing what Velvet had said. "Oh yeah! That's it!"

"Vell, it's a good zing you didn't tell zem!" Velvet said. "Zat vay zey can't use it against us!"

"Yup!" Tianhuo said and felt herself sweating. "Now, we should get out of this place before more predators appear."

"Good idea!" Velvet said. "Follow me to ze inn."

Velvet started to walk out of the room, and Tianhuo was about to follow her, but Pom stepped on her hooves.

"Ow!" Tianhuo said. "What was that for?"

"Oh, I don't know," Pom said. "Maybe a thank you for not spilling your little secret to Velvet."

"Why do I have to thank you for that?" Tianhuo asked.

"Because it is obvious here that the predators wanted your blood for some reason," Pom said. "If I showed Velvet the syringe, she would have caught onto it in a second."

"Ok, well… fine," Tianhuo said. "Thank you for keeping it a secret, you ungrateful sheep."

"Hey, that option to kill me is still on the table," Pom said. "If you want to keep me quiet."

"But I'm not a predator!" Tianhuo said.

"Then I suggest you start treating me with respect," Pom said. "You know, like how every non-predator does."

Tianhuo got angry, but then Velvet called out from down the hallway at them.

"Are you two coming or vhat?" Velvet called out.

"We're coming!" Tianhuo called back and looked back at Pom. "Listen, I'll treat you better, but you don't know anything about my life."

"Ok," Pom said. "Then let's go!"

She and Tinahuo walked out of the room with Velvet to the local inn. Velvet walked in before them and Pom right after. When Tianhuo walked into the inn, all the reindeer inside stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Tianhuo heard a few whispers between them, but she ignored them and went to where Velvet and Pom were sitting.

"Argh, why is everyone looking at me like this?" Tianhuo whispered to Velvet and Pom once she sat down.

"Oh, zat's because ve reindeer usually are interested when other tribes visit, but ve still like keeping to ourselves."

"Ok, but they don't look at Pom like that," Tianhuo said. "Just me."

"Oh, zat's most likely because zey don't know what tribe you're a part of. You know most tribes don't know much about you. It's strange."

"Yeah, strange," Pom said. Tianhuo looked at Pom, annoyed, but Pom gave her innocent-looking eyes.

"Ok, well, let's move on from that," Tianhuo said. "Velvet."

"Yes?" Velvet said.

"I remember you saying that you would tell us about the battle you were in when we got to the inn," Tianhuo said. "So, do you mind telling us? That is if it's okay with you."

"I'll tell," Velvet said. "I've kept a promise, and von't break it."

"So what happened?" Pom asked.

"I vas at ze museum here looking for information on ze Prophet's key when I saw zis calf zere."

"What about this calf was interesting?" Tianhuo asked.

"Vell, she was studying an ancient relic zat talked about ze Prophet Key, and get zis, said zat she was ze Champion of Ze Prairie."

"Oh, you two must have fought to see who's better," Pom said.

"And this calf beat you fair and square," Tianhuo said. "Interesting."

"It wasn't fair!" Velvet shouted, and every reindeer looked over in their direction. Velvet shot a glance over to all of them. "What are you looking at?!" Every reindeer shook and immediately went back to what they were doing, pretending that they weren't just looking.

"Argh, soo frustrating," Velvet said and grabbed a spray bottle that one of her winter sprites was holding and sprayed it on herself. It made her coat shine, and she took a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"Anyway, zat's what happened," Velvet said. "So is zat all you vanted to know?"

"Not quite," Tianhuo said. "You said something about an ancient relic that told information about the Prophet's key, correct?"

"Yep," Velvet said.

"Why I would like to see this relic," Tianhuo said. "If I can study it, I may find out where the Prophet's key is."

"Zat is an interesting proposal," Velvet said. "But I vant something out of zis too."

"Oh, and what's that?" Tianhuo asked, leaning in to hear.

"I will show you ze relic and tell you everything I know about it," Velvet said. "But I vant one favor in return."

"And what's that?" Tianhuo asked.

"I journey with you across the lands until we find zat calf," Velvet said. "And once ve do, I get my revenge on her!"

"Woah, Woah, let's not go crazy now," Pom said. "She beat you fair and square; no need to get mad about it."

"It vans't fair," Velvet said. "I just know it." She then turned to Tianhuo and put one of her hooves onto the table. "So, do ve have a deal?"

"Tianhou, think about this!" Pom said, but Tianhuo ignored her.

Tianhuo nodded her head and shook Velvet's hoove.

"We have a deal."