A few hours into the night I heard Kitten growl at me. She didn't look like she was mad at me but was instead warning me about something. I had never had her help me like this before so I stopped and did my best to see what would finally get her to help.

It only took me a minute to see. In the direction I had been coming from I saw figures running from shadow to shadow down on the road and at least one figure on the rooftops on each side of the road.

My instincts told me I would have a better chance standing my ground and attacking first than letting them catch up to me and forcing me to stop. I probably could outrun them if I dropped everything, but I had no idea what I would find ahead of me.

I readied my bow. I aimed at the figure on the rooftops just behind me and shot just before they jumped. The figure showed no signs of knowing that I had shot at him and the arrow caught them in the chest mid-jump. The force of the blow nearly pushed them back onto the roof behind them, but they bounced off the edge and then fell to the ground.

I quickly went to aim at another of the figures when I noticed a movement in my peripheral vision. I turned just in time to block a kick but the blow snapped my bow in two and sent me stumbling backward.

"You have improved Child of Terra." The attacker said in a familiar voice.

"Bad Kitty?" I said, recognizing the voice.

The man sighed. "I wish would not call me that. If someone hears you call me that…"

"Bad Kitty," I said loud enough for the other figures to hear and pointed at the man.

"You would do us both a favor if you did nothing unnecessary." He said and put one of his hands on his hip.

I hurriedly glanced around me. The men on the street had nearly reached me and at least two more had climbed onto the rooftops.

"Do not expect your friend to come and save you this time. We promise to make your death quick."

"What happened to the job offer?" I asked him.

"I cannot say. I only know that they ordered me to kill you this time, and after the last time I am more than happy to do it, even if you look like a child."

I edged towards the edge of the roof. If I was going to fight, I would rather do it where I had more room and there was nowhere to fall off of.

Bad Kitty pulled out a short sword from a sheath at his hip. It was crystal forged.

Some of the men were now directly under me. If I were to jump now, they would stab me as I landed.

Instead of pulling out my sword, I grabbed some flint and a candle from one of my pouches.

"What are you planning?" Bad Kitty said and readied himself to attack.

"Just stay there and I will show you. You can be a good kitty for once, can't you?" I said.

Bad Kitty laughed.

I hurried and lit the candle.

"I will not allow you to finish whatever you are planning." He said and lunged at me.

I dodged Bad Kitty's attack, grabbed a Molotov cocktail from the large pouch off of my back, lit it and tossed it as hard as I could at the two men under me and then jumped off of the roof just in time to avoid Bad Kitty's follow up attack.

One man slashed at the Molotov cocktail just before it hit him, shattering it. The oil still caught fire and not only covered him but also splashed onto the other.

Despite this, the fact that they had just been caught on fire only distracted them briefly, but it was still enough time for me to land and roll out of the way. By the time I had recovered from my roll I had to roll again to avoid a sword strike from the closest of the two.

I pulled out my sword as soon as I finished my second roll and immediately had to block a second sword strike.

"Pull back." Bad Kitty said after he jumped from the roof onto the street. He then looked at the burning men for a second as they stepped back and then shook his head. "Extinguish the flames and see the healer."

The two men knelt and began covering themselves with dirt to stop the flames.

"Brainwashed soldiers are such a pain." Bad Kitty said. "They never disobey an order, but they will also do nothing unless you tell them."

Great, I now had to fight some brainwashed lackeys that didn't care for their wellbeing.

I grabbed my last two Molotov cocktails and lit them.

"Still resisting?" Bad Kitty said and lunged at me.

I threw them both on the ground directly in front of me, hoping the flames would create a barrier between us.

"Haaaaa!" Bad Kitty yelled and jumped over the flames.

I blocked his attack but nearly staggered under the blow. His blow almost felt inhuman. Not even Martu had come close to hitting this hard. If my sword hadn't been crystal forged, it would probably have shattered.

Bad Kitty whistled. "I knew Terrans were strong but even as a child you should be no stronger than a grown man."

It was then that I noticed I had finally been surrounded. The two men that had been on the roof had jumped back down and were now on either side of me.

"Goodbye Child of Terra." Bad Kitty said.

All three of the men lunged at me. I jumped back just in time but not far behind me was a wall so I could only retreat so much more.

I grabbed one of my jars packed with gunpowder. I had dropped the candle when Bad Kitty had attacked me. It was still lit, but it was the oil fire behind Bad Kitty that I would aim at.

I threw the jar in a high arc over Bad Kitty's head and then rushed at the man on my right. The two men rushed me, but Bad Kitty had his eyes on the jar and was backing away from it.

I met swords with the man I had rushed at. He skillfully blocked, but before he had the chance to counter and just before the other man reached me the jar hit the fire.

There was a large crack as the gunpowder ignited. It wasn't as loud and spectacular as I had hoped, but it was enough to stagger my attackers and gave me just enough time to roll past them.

I ran as fast as I could and pulled out my flint and another jar of gunpowder. The men were right behind me and it would not be long until they caught up to me.

I heard a loud thump behind me. When I looked back I saw that Kitten had tackled both of the men.

Keep running. I heard a voice in my head say.

I had no problem running away from these men. Even one on one I knew I would have a tough time.

Duck! The voice said.

I did. Not long after I did, so I felt something rush past my head. It was a ball of fire. Now that someone was lobbing magic at me, I needed to get out of the open even more as avoiding another one would be even harder, so I headed towards the nearest alley.

I had nearly made it the alley and was about to enter it when I finally looked back. Bad Kitty had finally turned himself into a cat and was fighting Kitten. The two men were ignoring the fight and would enter the alley soon.

I lit the rag on the jar of powder I was still holding. I then tossed it at the feet of the two men and lept in the alley. I soon heard a shattering of pottery but there was no explosion.

I also soon found out that the alley I had entered was filled with rubble from a collapsed wall. It was not high and I could climb over it but not fast enough to avoid the men, especially if they had throwing knives or something.

I turned around and pulled out my throwing knives, dropped my bags, and then threw.

The first knife I threw was just a little too early, but the second hit the first of the men in the shoulder as he turned the corner. I didn't have time to throw another dagger, so I charged him hoping the small alley was too narrow for the other to get to me and that the injury I had inflicted would be enough to make a difference. I also hoped that my small stature would give me greater room for maneuverability and would work to my advantage.

I clashed swords with the man. His strength appeared weaker thanks to the knife sticking out of his shoulder, but whether it would be enough…

It was. With each blow we traded he seemed to get slightly weaker and thanks to the fact that he could not swing his sword very wide to avoid hitting a wall I began to push him back.

Then the unexpected happened. The second man pushed the man I was fighting into me. It was all I could do to keep myself from being stabbed as he fell. I kept myself from falling, but my sword was now pinned between us. The second man then stabbed at me.

I gave in to gravity and let myself fall to the ground. While the attack missed me, it also meant that they now pinned me under the weight of the first man.

The first man abandoned his sword and grabbed my neck. There was nothing I could do. My right arm was pinned and my left arm alone could do nothing to the heavy grip of the man. Instead, I tugged at the fabric covering my neck. If I could only get a little skin contact…

Unlike the other men I had killed this way I felt no real emotions, all I felt was energy, or whatever it was, entering my body. In an instant, I felt the strength leave the man and was soon dead.

Now all I had to do was take care of the last man and I could get out of here.

The man standing above me stabbed at me again. I pushed the limp body off of me and towards the attack. The sword pierced the dead man in the back and erupted from his chest, spattering blood all over me. The sword had also nearly made it to me but thanks to its length was a few centimeters away from my skin.

I used all of my strength and pushed the body to the side before the remaining man pulled his sword out. The man did not fall but let the sword go.

The man kicked me as I tried to get to my feet. I blocked the blow with my arm but was sent stumbling backward and then landed hard on my butt.

The man pulled out two small daggers and rushed at me. I barely had enough time to roll out of the way before he reached me and he only gave me small cuts on my shoulder and back. My head wrappings also fell off, letting my hair spill out and revealing my face. Not that that made a difference right now…

I sprung to my feet.

The man had wasted no time and was charging at me again. I attacked him with my sword but the man blocked my sword with one of his daggers and then slashed at me with the other.

I lept back. The dagger missed my skin but cut a huge gash across my clothing.

I attacked the man again, except this time I only used one of my hands to swing the sword. The man blocked my attack again and countered with his dagger. This time, instead of jumping back, I used my free hand and caught the man by the wrist.

I was wearing gloves, but I hoped if I tried hard enough I could drain him through the leather gloves. It worked, but it was not as quick as it would have been without the gloves.

The man pushed my sword away and attacked me again. He was visibly weaker, and I easily dodged his attacks. A moment later I tried attacking him again. This time he only barely met my sword with his daggers but I was now too strong for him and I pushed my sword past his dagger and slashed him across the chest.

This was not enough to kill him but with a quick stab, I pierced his heart. The man's body went limp and fell to the ground. I then pulled my sword out and wiped the blood off on the man's clothes.

Now that I had taken care of the two men, I focused my attention on the other fight that was still happening. I could only hear the two large cats here in the alley but judging from the noise their fight was still going strong.

I ran out into the street and saw that not far away the two cats were grappling with each other.

Both of the cats had their fair share of injuries. Not only were they clawing and biting at each other, but they were also using magic. Kitten had several claw marks and a bad looking burn. Bad Kitty also had some claw marks, a bite mark and a less severe looking burn.

The surrounding area was in even worse condition. Several of the buildings had caught on fire while others even had pieces of ice sticking out of them. I also noticed several large pieces of wood and furniture that looked to have been thrown around.

Go back out of sight. I cannot guard you against his magic. Kitten said to me.

No sooner had Kitten said this when Bad Kitty focused on me. A large ball of fire had formed near him and soon launched at me.

I raised my sword. I had had some training at the school to defend against magic with whatever I had and my crystal forged sword was second only to a crystal forged shield or armor.

The fireball slammed into my sword. The crystals in my sword did their job, and they nullified the fireball.

I should have taken the opportunity to retreat into the alley but I instead pulled off my gloves and then rushed towards the two cats. Kitten said nothing but resumed her attacks on Bad Kitty.

Bad Kitty backed away from Kitten and I saw I saw several pieces of furniture and large pieces of wood lift off the ground. Instead of being thrown at me, Bad Kitty threw them at Kitten. None of them hit Kitten, but it soon became clear that that was not what Bad Kitty had been trying to do. He had put enough debris between him and Kitten that she could not reach me in time to stop him from attacking me.

I had nearly reached Bad Kitty. Kitten was trying to move the debris out of the way but by the time she had finished I had already reached Bad Kitty.

How brave. Bad Kitty said to me. Trying to fight me without magic? Yes, I know you cannot use it well if at all.

Instead of using magic Bad Kitty lept at me.

I dropped my sword and grabbed at his outstretched claws. It looked as if he had been expecting to deal with my sword somehow so my barehanded attack caught him by surprise as his aim had been made for if I had still had my sword.

This gave me more room to maneuver and I ducked under his claws and grabbed his front legs.

"Thanks for the meal," I said.

The cat's life force quickly entered me. Aside from the feelings of confusion, waning confidence, and a strange sense of regret for having to kill me, I noticed that not only was his energy stronger, but it "tasted" different.

I fell on my back, the air almost getting knocked out of me, as Bad Kitty's body finally slammed into me.

I wasted no time and pulled myself out from under his body.

"I hope Helnion won't get mad at me for killing you," I told his body. "She wanted to make you a good kitty."

Kitten came up to Bad Kitty's body. She poked at it and then sniffed it.

"We should go," I told her. "Don't feel like fighting anyone else."

Kitten nodded.

I looked at the surrounding scene. I saw no one and was surprised that no one else had come, if only to watch. I knew one thing. Thanks to all the fires that the cats had started someone would come, and if it was like Flaern, there would be mages to put out the fires.

For a second I thought it might be worth staying to see if I could get one mage to take the collar off of my neck but I doubted they would do anything other than attack me so I retrieved my things from the alley and began to make my way back to the inn.

It was slow going back to the inn. Now that Kitten no longer had the help of adrenaline, her wounds had started to affect her and she had a hard time keeping up with the puny human. Avoiding the patrols hadn't helped either.

When we finally made it back to the inn, I found we had another problem. Kitten couldn't climb to our window. I offered to carry her, but she huffed at me.

This meant we would have to go in the normal way. Normally the innkeeper would probably be asleep at this time of night but with all the noise that had happened and the noise that the soldiers that had been mobilized since the fight were making I would be surprised if anyone in this section of the city were still asleep.

"If you turn into a person you could just walk in with me, you know," I said to the cat.

Kitten huffed at me again.

"Come on. I want to see what you look like."

Kitten sat down and started licking her wounds.

"While you're at it, you can use your magic and take this thing off," I said and unwrapped the cloth covering the magic collar on my neck.

Kitten ignored me.

"I guess Kitten gets to sleep outside tonight," I said and started climbing.

When I was in my room, I looked back out the window. Kitten was still there but seemed content to stay where she was.

"Goodnight," I called down to her and then shut the window.

I undressed myself so I could look at my wounds. Mostly I was fine but the two cuts on my back I would need to take care of before I went to sleep.

There was no mirror in the room so I could not see the cuts on my back and shoulder, but they weren't too deep from what I could feel. They also had already stopped bleeding. I wanted to disinfect them, but the only thing I had access to was salt, though it probably wouldn't be hard to find some alcohol. I didn't know if it would be enough to stop an infection but it was better than just leaving it and if my last wounds were any indication these would heal in no time anyway.

I fell into my bed. I was happy the night was over. Well, the waking part. It was the sleeping part that I was now not looking forward to. Well, except maybe dream I would have about Bad Kitty. I hoped his dream would tell me where the cat people came from.