ndrew opened and closed his eyes slowly, over and over. It sure didn’t look like he was inside a stomach of a dragon, unless the stomach of a dragon appeared very similar to the
outside world. He looked down and found he was riding on the back of a large bird. It wasn’t a hawk, but it wasn’t anything he could conceivably recognize either. He studied its back, its plumage black and white. It seemed familiar.
“Are you okay?” said the giant bird.
“Uh, yeah,” Andrew answered. “I think so.” He ran a brisk check to make sure. His hands, feet, and head were all there. He wasn’t poked full of holes either.
“Good.” The bird glided through the air, scouting the city. It searched for the tallest point, which was a skyscraper with gray walls and blue windows.
Andrew hopped off the bird’s back and curiously cast his gaze upon it. There was no way for it to be true, he thought. But at the same time, it was hard to deny. The bird looked like a blue-andwhite budgie, except budgies were normally smaller than his hand, but this one was slightly larger than him.
“Do you not recognize me?” said the large budgie, putting a wing across his chest. “It is I, Terminus.”
“It can’t be,” gasped Andrew. “What are you—really?”
Terminus explained, “I, along with Genesis and Luna, are Relic Knights.”
Andrew raised a brow. “What are Relic Knights?”
“Peacekeepers of the animal kingdom. There are six Relic Knights in all. So as not to be biased, three are allies of humans and other three are wild. We were chosen from both sides to prevent war, though it seems we have failed.”
“That still doesn’t explain why an itty-bitty parakeet turns into a giant one!”
“Oh,” said Terminus, nodding, “you were wondering about that. This is a special form we can invoke for emergency situations. We wield relics of great power that greatly enhance our physical abilities. But we can only use them for a short time. We have but an hour or two.”
“Then what?” Andrew wondered.
“Then we lose consciousness for about a day.”
Andrew’s jaw dropped. “That’s extreme!”
“Well, it is what you would call a desperate measure.”
“What are you waiting for?” said Andrew. “Why are you waiting here while your powers have a limited time? Shouldn’t you be out doing something?”
“Andrew,” said Terminus softly, pointing at the city with a wing, “tell me what you see.”
Andrew looked out across the city, squinting. Since he was on the highest structure in Korgen, the entire breadth of the city was in plain view. Smoke and flames rose into his sight. Then he caught a glimpse of large shadows being cast over the factories. The dragon was there and it was locked in combat with a massive yellow wolf.
The two gargantuan beasts attacked each other. The dragon kept his distance and spewed hot balls of fire from its mouth. The wolf dodged the flames, which now ended up leveling some of the buildings behind him. Then the wolf managed to get up close to the dragon and mauled on its wing. The dragon yowled and flailed its wings about, smashing the wolf into the tall chimneys of the factories.
Andrew said in awe, “What’s happening over there? It’s like a monster movie!”
“Genesis is dueling with Kain,” Terminus replied.
“That’s Genesis?” Andrew turned to Terminus worriedly. “It doesn’t look like he’s doing too well.”
“He can’t win…alone. I’m going to help him, but I need to wait for the right moment to strike. Even with the relic, my body is frail. I wouldn’t survive a single blow.”
“What’s the right moment?” asked Andrew. “Is Genesis setting up a trap or something?”
“No, that is too hard given our limited time. All I can do is wait for a moment of weakness. That is why I will stay here.” Terminus turned to Andrew, smiling. “But I wonder…what will you do?”
Kevin nodded, taking a seat near a concrete wall of a grand hotel. Kevin took the bag of sliced bread, ripped it open and chomped into a slice. After tasting the first bite, he gobbled it whole and went on to devour half the bag. It didn’t matter if it was bland. He was famished. “Thanks a lot.” He guzzled an entire bottle of water, wiped his mouth dry and let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, that’s good. So good.”
“We await your command,” the German shepherd said, bowing.All of the pets around him in the empty parking lot bowed down before him.
“Um.” Kevin looked confused. “What’s going on here?”
The dog replied, “You are our only hope. Because of your perseverance we have hope. It would mean a lot to us if you could save our masters. We’re ready to go with you. We’ll help you with whatever you need!”
Kevin’s heart felt heavy, weighed down with the burden of responsibility. He had never expected to have to bear the weight of all the lives of the world. When he first started this quest, he had low expectations. He would try to succeed, but even if he failed, it was fine because it wasn’t like he had much of a chance anyway. He never thought he would feel so anxious, so nervous. This was it. He was finally given the chance to save everyone. They now had a solution and the only thing in his way was the Forest Army.
Kevin smiled. It was strange for him to be smiling at a time like this. He never used to smile in the face of adversity. He would have never smiled on the due date of a final project or research paper. But there was something about this that made him smile. It was the fact that he wasn’t alone in this. He would have to face an army of wild beasts with an army of his own. It seemed a bit silly when he thought about it. But it was also kind of cool.
“You don’t need to beg me to do anything.” Brimming with enthusiasm, Kevin raised his hand high. “Now rise! All of you! We’ll teach these guys not to mess with us!”
All the animals stood up and shouted happily together. All the dogs barked, all the cats meowed, and all the birds shrieked. They were hollering and jumping for joy.
“That’s enough! Let’s get to work!” Kevin motioned for them to quiet down. Then he began forming a plan. He designated leaders and divided them up into several groups. He told them where to go and what to do, preparing them for the final battle.
Andrew cautiously wandered the road. He snuck around the blue mailboxes and cars, searching high and low for any sign of his friends. He saw some pigeons and squirrels around and guessed that they were probably being used as scouts by the forest animals due to their understanding of the city.
Even though Kain was busy fighting, it looked like the teens were still being hunted. Packs of wolves were scouring desperately now. Andrew was sure it was only a matter of time before he would be found. Reaching the limits of exhaustion, every step was a struggle—but even so, he trudged on.
His face became scrunched with worry over Katie’s whereabouts. She was the only one unaccounted for. Terminus had informed him that Kevin was in a safe place, but Katie was nowhere to be found.
Having heard a sound around the bend, he dove and squeezed under a car. He looked past the tires to see several pairs of paws and one pair of sneakers passing by. Summoning up his courage, Andrew inched forward to get a better view, but he still couldn’t see much. He had to get closer, but he didn’t have enough courage for that. He settled for less and began analyzing the sneakers. The sneakers were his only clue to the identity of the person in question. Andrew scratched his head. He couldn’t remember who had worn those sneakers.
But then he heard a voice say, “How much farther will you take me?”
It was Kevin’s voice. Andrew immediately recognized it.
Another voice said, “Not much farther. We’ll keep you in the building as a present for Lord Kain. He will be most pleased to see that you have given yourself up to be his first human snack.”
“There’s nothing else for me to do anyway,” said Kevin.
Andrew gasped. Kevin had actually given himself up! Andrew wondered why he would do such a thing. No, Andrew thought, Kevin would never purposely give himself up. He must have been captured. Andrew knew Kevin had to be just as tired as he was. With so many creatures looking out for them, Kevin must have gotten trapped somewhere along the way.
But there was nothing Andrew could do. Sullen, Andrew shrank back, like a turtle in its shell. He couldn’t save Kevin—that much was evident. Fighting against whatever was out there would be pointless. Frowning, he watched their feet cross the street. He was now able to see more of their legs. There were several wolves around Kevin. Should he do something? Should he try to do anything? Andrew closed his eyes and buried his face in his arms. Why couldn’t he do anything? He wasn’t sure himself. He had an urge to go out there and rescue Kevin, but there was a nagging voice in his mind that told him he couldn’t do anything. The voice was correct, Andrew decided. There was nothing he could do, but think and wait and worry.
Kevin said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll escape?”
A wolf answered, “Our forces are spread out across the area. If you do manage to escape, we’ll hunt you down.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” said Kevin. “But you don’t realize that it’s the other way around.” He turned around and whistled. “Everyone, come on out!”
The covers of dumpsters flinging open, a pack of dogs sprung out of the garbage and surrounded the party of wolves.
“Ambush!” A wolf tried to howl but was quickly tackled to the ground. Seeing as they were outnumbered, the other wolves decided not to resist.
Pointing at a door, Kevin ordered the dogs, “Shove them inside. I’ll lock it up.”
The dogs nodded and hurried the wolves into the building.
Kevin said to the dogs, “Alright. Now bring whatever wood you can find, or even garbage may have to do.”
There was not much wood around, but they did bring heaps and heaps of garbage. Even though he did ask for it, Kevin grimaced, knowing that the smell would be absolutely putrid. But they didn’t have much of a choice. He made the dogs rip open the garbage bags and dump the grossly messy contents all over the road in a straight line that went from one side to the other. In doing so, they managed to build a wall of garbage nearly four feet high. Quite an impressive achievement, Kevin thought. This was something he would never do again in his life, at least he hoped not.
The nauseating smell of sweat-stained clothes, rotten meat, moldy bread and other unidentifiable gunk filled the air. Kevin retched. He tried to breathe with his mouth, but the smell somehow still registered in his brain. It stunk so much that he was sure he would remember this smell for the rest of his life.
“Bring the stuff,” Kevin told the dogs.
The dogs brought bottles of alcohol.
“This is all you found?” Kevin shot them a look of disappointment. “Better than nothing, I suppose.” He looked at the cars nearby. “Hmm, you know what? Bring me a hose and some scissors, really sharp ones. And a bucket or large can.”
The dogs scavenged through a hardware store and brought the supplies he asked for.
Kevin nodded. “This is perfect.” He grabbed the scissors and cut a length of about three feet on the rubber hose. He inspected a car, removed its gas cap and stuck one end of the hose in the gas tank. Then he took the other end of the hose and put it in his mouth. He murmured, “This is going to be disgusting.” He sucked on the hose and siphoned out gasoline, into his mouth. “Ugh, yuck,” he sputtered, putting the hose down into the bucket. The bucket quickly filled to the brim with gas. He carried the bucket over to the wall of garbage and poured the gasoline all over it.
“What are you doing?” asked Andrew suddenly.
Kevin jumped up, startled. “Andrew! Don’t sneak up me like that!” Kevin stopped whatever he was doing and stared at Andrew. “Wait…you’re okay! I can’t believe it. You really are okay! That’s really you…right?”
Andrew said, “Yeah, it’s me. I’m okay. So what are you doing?”
“Oh, this?” Kevin revealed a huge grin. “We’re going to light this disgusting baby up!”
Andrew looked at the rotting garbage and cringed. “Why would you want to do that?”
“To keep the enemy at bay,” said Kevin, refilling the bucket again. “We’re going to try to fight our way through. Since you’re here, mind helping me out? I could use an extra human hand.” Kevin threw a glance at a whimpering pup, “Not that you guys haven’t been helpful, but it goes without saying that I need hands—not paws—for whatever I’m doing.”
Andrew asked eagerly, “What should I do?”
“Help me form another line of garbage on the other streets and get some gas on them—”
A Rottweiler barked frantically, “They’re coming! I see them on the horizon!”
Kevin panicked. “Oh no! We wasted too much time!” He flapped his hand at the dogs. “Quick, bring me a flamethrower!”
Andrew raised his brow. “A what?”
“Oh—I mean a lighter, a torch or even a matchstick!” Kevin urgently examined Andrew’s hands. “Where’s your crossbow?”
Andrew replied, “I dropped it when I was running away from the dragon.”
“That’s too bad. Well, do whatever you can to stall them!” Kevin ran toward the hardware store. “I’ll be back! Don’t let them get past the barrier!”
Andrew did not have a good feeling about this. He looked over the wall of garbage and saw the horde of wild beasts drawing closer. The ground shook as they trampled across the city. The smaller, faster creatures were at the front, approaching with incredible speed.
“Not again! I hate this!” Andrew ducked down, placing his hands over his head. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t do anything!”
The Rottweiler came close to him and said, “Stand up and fight!”
Andrew huddled, knees wobbling. “I’m scared! How am I supposed to fight against that? I’ve never done this before!”
“We’ve never done this either,” the dog countered.
The sound of stomping grew louder. Andrew closed his eyes and covered his ears. “No, no, no! I can’t do this! I can’t!”
“That’s right,” said another voice, snickering. “After all, you’re just a wimp.”
Andrew looked up. It was Katie. She was standing next to him, holding her baseball bat by her shoulder and leaning forward with one foot on the barricade of trash. Even though her face appeared dead tired, she still had the confidence to smile.
“Ka-Katie…” Andrew stuttered, sounding ashamed.
“Get out of here. Cowards like you always get in the way,” said Katie. “You acted all tough before, but you’re still just a loser.”
“But Katie…I…”
“They’re here!” barked the Rottweiler.
“COME ON! LET’S CRUSH’EM!” Katie yelled. She hopped over the trash and all dogs followed her into battle.
The dogs rushed in first, clashing against the front lines. They were knocked back, unable to hold their ground. Then Katie jumped in and swung her bat furiously about. She was able to take down a few coyotes. One after the other, the coyotes leapt at her but Katie waved her bat around, keeping them away.
Katie glanced at the dogs for a moment as she watched them get back up. When the coyotes saw that she was distracted, they all charged at her. Katie regained her concentration and swung her bat all the way around in a full rotation, bludgeoning them to the floor.
Then the wolves came. Katie slumped over, using her bat to support herself. After flailing it around, she was too exhausted to even lift her arms. She grit her teeth, staring at the ferocious scowls of the carnivores as they raced to meet her. Gripping the bat, she straightened up, mustered all her strength and used the momentum of her hips to fling her arms once more. Her fingers slipped. The baseball bat flew into the crowd of wolves. A single wolf, ahead of the pack, jumped up on her.
“No!” Andrew picked up a metal pole, jumped across the trash, and batted the wolf away. While Andrew crouched over Katie, the dogs pushed forward to intercept the wolves. With their persistence, they managed to push the fierce beasts back several feet.
“Katie! Are you okay?” Worried, Andrew examined her face. Her eyes closed, she wasn’t responding. Andrew wasted no time to pull her over the heap of trash, out of the way of the chaotic battle.
“I’m ready!” shouted Kevin, wielding a flamethrower.
Andrew shot a mystified stare at him. “You really found a flamethrower?”
The dogs climbed back over the heap and Kevin let the flames loose. The fire roared in a loud explosion when the gasoline and alcohol ignited in a burst. The flames spread quickly over, feeding on anything it could find. The fire rose higher and higher. Even the buildings nearby started to burn, creating a massive wall of flame.
Kevin clenched his fist in triumph and exclaimed, “Yes! It worked!” Smiling, he turned around to see the others’ reactions. His smile disappeared upon seeing Andrew’s horrified look.
His eyes fixated on Kevin’s, Andrew gasped, “S-she’s asleep. Katie fell asleep…”
Kevin placed his hand on Andrew’s shoulder to comfort him. “Don’t worry. She’ll wake up soon. We’ll make sure of it.”