Pandora Adams

Today was going to be a cell day. Azera told me as much when he locked the door. It was the choice I picked over not having dessert at all for eight months for what I told Kobe. I wasn't sure what made him wake up and decide that, but here I was. I could break out, have a few workers crawl into the keyhole, and adjust the tumblers, but that was against the rules. I didn't regret my decision, eight months was twice as long as I had been alive!

It didn't bother me too much, since I could just watch through the eyes of my Hive. I had a few ghosts sneak onto Azera's clothes, and he hasn't noticed yet. I wasn't going to miss out on the super-secret mission. I'd just watch it through the bugs. The bars were made out of wood, so there were a lot of ways to get out. The real problem was that guards came in every ten minutes to ask if I needed anything. They were nice about it, but it was got a little annoying after a while.

I closed my eyes, focusing on my Hive, on my magic. I felt like I was sinking again, falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. I was one of the nibblers in the walls, my ears flicking as I heard the guards talking. "I gotta say, this is the worst." Oh, it was mister fox and wolf today.

Wolf flicked his ears, shrugging, "It's easy. We just check on her and make sure she hasn't gotten out. If she does we tell her that we'll tell Azera."

Fox held his staff and groaned, "Yeah, but it's so boring. I mean the way she smiles, it's creepy!" Fox was boring!

Wolf chuckled, his voice making him sound like he was growling. "Oh? Then you're lucky you didn't get paired with one of my whisper kin. They can't stop smiling."

Fox shivered, "It's still hard to think an elf would do that willingly. I mean, shouldn't your people hate the others?"

Wolf tilted his head, "Why? We're both wolves, and we were cast out by the same tribe of elves. It's a miracle we both made it here, the least we could do is accept those that share our fate."

Fox rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, but didn't they get to stay with the elves longer? I mean this was before my time, but they came fifty years ago, wasn't it?"

Wolf shrugged, "I'm sure it might have been different if they came now, but our old chief remembered their time serving the elf tribe."

Fox shook his head, "It's still so strange that you guys follow the oldest among you."

Wolf shrugged, "I think it's better than just following the one you think is the most clever. Your leader could use your tribe, and you'd just accept it."

Fox sighed, opening the door. "Hey, you need anything?" He paused, closing it slowly. "I think she's sleeping." He relaxed a little. I rattled my tail and hissed, unable to giggle with this nibbler. He straightened right up, looking around. "See? She's creepy!"

Wolf chuckled, "Well you are calling her names, of course, she's going to mess with you. It's what kids do."

They went back to telling each other how it was weird to put this or that person in charge, or how their cultures were different. It was funny because I knew the wolves and foxes got along pretty well. Even Azera said they should just marry each other and become one tribe already. I shifted to another nibbler on the streets. He had lost his wooden hat somewhere along the way, and the silk tickled his nose, but I was in control now. I looked at the others that had nibbled on a discarded sign.

"Plz, gib crumbz. Wil dantz 4 crumbz." It was perfect.

People were walking along the market streets and weren't looking into any alleys. All ten of my gentle rats worked together to carry out the sign. I had to make sure it would work just in case Azera found the bugs I put on him. He might get upset enough to carry through with his dastardly plan! A few people stopped what they were doing and stared at my gentle rats with wide eyes.

Five of them had tiny little cups and went around on their hindlegs holding it out for crumbs. A couple of them retreated, while one of them snacked on their bread. All five flocked to him, and the person looked around, "What's all this about?" He took a bite, spitting crumbs out, which we caught. "I can't read."

The crumbs were caught, and four of my gentle rats immediately stood up. The five that caught the crumbs retreated, rattling their tails for a bit of music while the four shimmied and hopped. Some of the people gasped, while one even dropped their jaw. Pretty sure he was undead since he discreetly picked it up.

More people were gathering, and I joined in with the one I controlled, twirling the cup and letting it roll down my back to my tail. I twirled my mustache when someone kept walking while carrying a box. Another guy tossed a toothpick onto the ground and I rolled catching it to the applause of the crowd. I tapped it against the ground, swinging my tail and twirling it while letting out squeaks as people were just astonished.

Needless to say, operation gentle rats was a complete success. We got whole sandwiches and even some candy! I had the others take the haul to the bug orphanage I was starting to prepare. It was a crate lid leading into the wall of some merchant shop. One of the ones mommy didn't like, so I didn't have to ask permission. I felt something was there when I saw all those bugs and viper rats gathered together. The snakes were out on a super-secret mission of their own.

The hole in the wall felt kind of lonely, and I think Brick would be disappointed without furniture. I set some of the nibblers on making it more like a bar harper spiders would visit. I stayed around for an hour or two, making sure they had the hang of it, before leaving on the super-secret snake operation.

General Slithers, named such because every snake general needed a scar over their eye and a silk eyepatch, was furious. He slammed his tail against the bottom of the crate that served as their base of operations. Monty the Python had escaped his coils for the last time! There wouldn't be a next time. General Slithers had gathered his best snakes, all four of them at the ready. We had: Scales, the best tracker sheddings could buy. Viper, the world's most notorious poison master. Scix Jr, the only snake to survive a run-in with the bug's pack and live. And finally, Madam Hiss Kiss. No one here knew her story, but she always managed to track down Monty without fail.

A snake general couldn't ask for a better team. I also couldn't give him one, since I only had like ten snakes and four of them were making eggs. General Slithers looked at his elite squad and hissed, "You know why I have brought you here today."

Madam Hiss Kiss nodded, "To find Monty, once more."

"Yesss, *hiss* he has secrets that could ruin our very organization! It is why we spared no expenssse on his capture."

Viper tilted her head, "Do you want him dead, or alive?" She grinned no doubt plotting how many poisons she could use on him. Aw man, I should have given her a silk belt, and put little splinters on it. That would have been cool! They were already at Robert's warehouse though. Next time.

General Slithers bobbed his head, considering the question. "Alive is preferred, but he has eluded us for too long." I got tired of making the s's longer. "

Scix Jr spoke up, "We don't have time to waste. *hiss hiss* We are in enemy territory, and the tiny tyrants might discover us, if we do not complete this mission quickly."

General Slithers slammed his tail against the bottom of the crate again, "Those blasted tyrants! They know we can't harm them, imagine if our secrets fell into their grimy snot-covered hands! I can hear them now." The children Mrs. Eris was taking care of were playing outside with her. It was a dangerous operation to be sure.

Scales licked the air, not offering much to the conversation. He began to slither off, the others following the tracker. He reared up, telling the others to stop when he smelt someone coming to the crate. All five of my dastardly crew managed to slither out, while the kid paused. I turned them around and hissed, scaring the little one away.

All five of them quickly slithering for the gap between the giants clinging to the walls of the warehouse. General scales cried out, "We've been discovered! The hissing only works once! They will return, and in far greater numbers!"

The others quickly spoke in unison, "We know!" Each of them quickly found a tunnel and slithered into the underground of the Underground. The place where the worst of the worst went. The only place Monty could hide, since no one asked for any background information here. The group slithered seeking tunnels that would reconnect them, but little did they know they had traitors among them.

Madam Hiss Kiss knew where Monty was because they were lovers! Madam Hiss Kiss had already laid Monty's eggs last season, and for the sake of their family, she would let him get away as many times as it took. Then there was Scix Jr, who was being gnawed on by Scix's pack when he was saved by Monty. He owed his life to the Python and would repay that debt.

Viper was firmly on General Slithers' side, however. General Slithers had befriended her when all she sought in life was perfecting her poisons. She had a very tragic backstory that I couldn't come up with right now, but it was enough to make all the gentle rats cry. Which was why she would one day have a small pack of them, if I could manage to get a few to the warehouse alive.

Scales the tracker was bought by the one offering the most sheddings. Which little to General Slithers' knowledge, Monty was almost ready to shed. Monty was the biggest and could offer the most. Yes, this plan was doomed to fail from the start, but neither General Slithers nor Viper knew that. Still, the excitement was in having the group descend down the tunnels, and making the story up as they went. All to find Monty first, or to regroup and find him together in a dramatic fashion.

My tummy grumbled, and I put the story on hold while I ate lunch. I forgot where I was going with the story, and Azera was making his way above ground. I was surprised he hadn't noticed the ghosts hanging on his sleeves or behind his belt. Seeing the above-ground through my bugs and getting them there was more interesting than General Slithers' doomed plot. Oh neat, I didn't know Azera had a portal that could go up in the wolf tribe's warehouse. I made a special note of it, so I could tell Mommy when we talked.

Azera walked out of a shop in the marketplace and kept to the alleys. He muttered, "Just in case." Azera teleported, leaving my bugs to freefall, while I took a more direct control of them. The ghosts landed, marching their wings, Azera was a cheater! They stamped their little feet, but I could play his game. My ghost spread out, bumping into other flying bugs so I could bring them into my Hive. What started as five, quickly became fifty. Their mission, to find Azera.

There were so many people, so many scents, but none of them were his. Staying close to the ground was the wrong decision, and I knew Cheshire liked moving from the rooftops. All fifty bugs flew upwards, each of them fanning out in groups of five. My ragtag squadron was led by the original five commanders. They weren't scouts, but they were armed and ready for decisive aerial combat. Our enemy also took to the skies, the birds of Eclipse. The cruel avians that tended to hang around the markets.

I knew my pilots might be lost, but each of them was ready to give their lives for the glory of the Hive. There would be no glory if we couldn't find the one we were meant to protect. Each rooftop was massive compared to my fliers, and Azera could have used any one of them. I just needed to find three spots to get an idea of where he was going. The first birds were coming, noticing the strange bugs flying in formation. Each one of these cooing rats with wings, was more than happy to pluck my fliers from their mission.

Evasive maneuvers! Mommy had me prepare for situations like this. She left me the memories of all her battles with creatures many times the size of my fliers. The rats with wings gave pursuit! Three of my five squadrons were being chased, as these flockers were coming closer! Squad one dived down, forcing the enemy into a narrow passage. Squad two quickly landed on the lip of the roof to meet their foe. Squad three circled back towards the other two, ready to provide backup or be helped themselves.

The enemy chasing squad one more or less divided themselves. Each flocker approached my fliers with two others in their own formation. Two of them chose to not chase my bugs into the alley, while one flew after them. What they didn't expect was that my bugs had latched onto the wall, and flew right behind it to land on the beast. Dull gray wings, with multicolored tips. The head of a flocker (pigeon), and the talons of a viper rat's front legs. The back legs were like that of a razor beak (chicken). They were formidable opponents, but my counterattack was starting!

Squad one latched onto the flocker, while squad two dove forward, forcing their pursuers to land on the lip to give chase. Squad three was still being chased, but they were closer to an unprepared flocker. They dove down, burying themselves in its neck plumage. Another one of the creatures almost crashed into it, causing the two to fight. As the groups came too close to each other's prey.

I felt a connection being tickled by squad one and was disappointed that five bugs weren't enough. Thankfully the other two groups of flockers were fighting. Squad two was to rejoin with squad three, and see if ten was the magic number! Both groups of flockers were cooing at each other angrily. They each had their hands scratching the air between them while spreading their wings and hopping a war dance.

Squad two silently crawled on the ground behind the one with squad three. The one they were riding on was about to have his turn, he was the leader of their group after all, which meant they would dance last. Slowly, so very slowly they made their way closer. Squad one and three were still hiding. Now! Squad two flew towards the butt of the leader flocker, rising higher to get on his tail feathers. The sudden noise startled the others, while my bugs made their way towards his neck.

Tiny rat paws were attempting to pluck the bugs out of their leader's plumage. I watched them through the eyes of squad three, adjusting course as needed. The connection was stronger, and I forced it to work as the leader slumped. Its mind was broken, and he would never go back to living a normal life, but it was enough to get the others on my side. Leader one headbutted the closest flocker, making a better connection. Then the two hit number three.

The enemy flockers were tilting their heads to stare at us with one eye, all of them cooing in confusion. They didn't understand what happened, and I had a dance contest to win. Leader strutted with all the grace he could bear. His head bobbing forward and back, in time with each step. The other two let out coos in unison. Leader flocker shook his tail feathers, doing a few squats before doing the ultimate dance move of the flockers. He hopped into the air, twirling, and landed on his tiny rat paw without his face or beak even touching the ground. He flexed his claws, making him spin and hop before laying lavishly on his side and saluting.

The enemy was left stunned, bowing their heads in defeat. They prepared to fly away when my three flockers headbutted them. The mission was a success, the air forces were growing! Wait... the mission, oh no! I forgot about Azera! The six quickly headbutted the other three that were watching, and my bugs were riding on five of the flockers, while the other four went higher to look for the man himself.

I noticed some people moving strangely, as they walked through the alleys. It was surprising how much I could see from so high up. Oh look, one of the hawks that hunted flockers was soaring just a bit higher. I could get that one to help me too, but I still didn't have any idea where Azera was! Oh look, the parade is about to start. The king is throwing candy to the kids, and I could grab some... no! Focus! I have a job to do! That's a lot of candy though...

The leader Flocker I controlled let out a small tear, as I doubled all my efforts on my job. If the hawk attacked, then I would take it, but I had to find Azera. I could get the candy later! All the weird people were heading towards the innermost walls by the looks of it. I got a few bugs to drop down on them, just in case one of them knew what Azera was doing. A few angry birds came to chase off my flockers that had entered their territory, but they decided to help me in my search after a headbutt.

Where are you Azera!? I was starting to get upset because he never told me what his super-secret mission was. Eclipse was huge, and an hour had passed since I started searching. Most of the shifty people were just trying to move goods around for the gangs, while others were just naturally creepy. Some were trying to run away from the King for some reason, and I didn't know why. Though I did find out the king would spend all day tossing out candy to everyone on the streets. He'd be out here until midnight! That's just visiting the better districts too, he wouldn't even bother with the slums, so a lot of kids weren't going to get candy.

I lost count of how many flockers I had, and my head was hurting. It felt like I was pushing the limits of my magic, and I gave up on trying to find Azera's scent. I let most of the bugs go, my ghosts riding on one of the three hawks that killed a flocker earlier. Hey, wait! I know that guy! One of my hawks looked down at mister assassin teacher. He was one of the people at the assassin's support group, the group founded to stop people from throwing their lives away in an attempt to kill the king.

What was he doing here? I let a few flockers go, and got a couple of bugs as a ghost rode down to watch him. The old man stroked his curly beard, "Hmmm, it was supposed to be somewhere around here." He tapped his cane against the bricks of the buildings closest to the innermost walls. The fancy place where people that were almost nobles lived. I think some of them were nobles that had fallen, but that wasn't the issue. This guy was friends with Azera! If anyone would know about the super-secret mission, it'd be him!

The old guy tapped a code onto a few bricks before a door suddenly opened. "Ah! Seems I finally found the right place." He chuckled to himself, while I put a few more bugs on him. He hobbled to the door, as my ghost landed on his shoulder, other bugs quickly flying in above him and getting whatever other bugs were close by. I let a few more flockers go, feeling the relief of not having to control so many. I flew the hawk with my other ghosts down to the wall.

Mister assassin teacher was walking through a dark hall, feeling his way with his cane. He grumbled, "That Azera, always coming up with the most contrived places to meet." He huffed at the end, lighting a pipe, "The boy is lucky he has something too good to pass up."

I made the hawk smile, as it landed close by to the brick the old man had knocked a code in. I pecked it, scraping my beak a little since it wasn't made to do that. It hurt, but the door opened. Azera had to be in here, or it was a trick, but the old guy hadn't noticed my bugs.

Mister teacher opened a curtain, revealing a dimly lit room surrounded by candles. I could smell Azera's scent, mixed with ten others through my ghost, and the bugs on mister teacher. He chuckled, "Seems that I'm the last one here."

Azera rolled his eyes, "Yes, I was starting to get worried."

The old man stroked his beard, "How did you find this place?"

Azera sighed, while my hawk quietly hopped inside. I didn't want to risk them knowing that I was coming along. "It belonged to a cult that I took out a few years ago. I checked on it a few times, and nobody else found it. This is the safest, closest place to the innermost walls that I have."

Mister teacher shrugged, "Are you certain you can manage it?"

Azera scratched the back of his head, "We'll find out, and like I said this is a one-way trip for all of you. I plan on escaping, but you all might as well be signing your final rites. I won't blame you for ducking out now. Once payment is on the table, I'll open a portal past the walls. They'll probably notice, so it's best if we split up immediately."

One of the random people chuckled, "As if we'd back off now. This is the closest we've ever been."

A woman I hadn't seen before laughed, "I'm going to kill the bastard that made my family fall to ruin. That noble's blood will spill at midnight. That way you all have your time to do whatever else you want."

Mister teacher rolled his shoulders "If a group of numbered assassins from the Kingdom of Fire can't achieve their goals for coming here, hopefully, the younger ones will learn it is pointless themselves."

Cheshire nodded slowly, "They get worse each year, it sucks that you guys are going to die to prove a point to them."

One guy scratched his temple, ruffling his hair. "Eh, might not die. Could end up being tortured in the hole for years to come. Might get turned into monsters, who knows what kind of stuff goes on down there." He shrugged. "Why are you going anyway? Must be something really powerful you plan on stealing, Cheshire."

Azera pursed his lips while he smiled, "I'm just looking for answers. I'll grab whatever loot I can on the way out. Are you guys ready?"

The others nodded, as I made the hawk screech and start flying towards Azera. His eyes went wide, as he opened the portal, "They're onto us!"

Mister teacher nodded, "We expected this! Go!"

Everyone rushed through the portal, but my hawk was too late. The curtains slowed my hawk down just enough for the portal itself to close.