** This is my first complete short story on here. It came about from a challenge with my friend and fellow blogger Renee Goetz (http://rengoe84.blogspot.com). I challenged her to write a story about a cat from hell with a mission to destroy the worlds children. Here is my story that came from that challenge. To read hers and compare just visit her blog http://rengoe84.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave feedback.**
They will be our destruction!" Lord Dombree Bellowed, slamming his fist on the gleaming basalt table. His voice echoed from the shadowy depths of the vast hall, making the council of under lords cringe, twice.
For a moment all that was heard was the sputtering of the clay deepam lamps and the skittering of tiny feet in the packed earthen walls.
"But, My Lieges, what can we do to stop them?" Under Lord Gillim asked in his customarily fawning tones.
"I'll tell you what we can do." Lord Dombree, his words just under his recent shout, smirked, as he saw his captain standing by the chamber door, waiting to be acknowledged. "Come closer Captain Barm, and tell me, are the preparations ready?"
"Yes My Lieges, everything is awaiting your orders." Captain Barm rumbled in a voice so deep it was almost a growl.
"Does the Brew work as it should?" Lord Dombree asked with a gleam in his eye.
"A Brew, My Lieges? What does this Brew do? Isn't that going too far?" Under Lord Ciddi asked in his usual ster, rapid manner.
"Relax Ciddi, it is not a Brew for them, it is a Brew for us." Lord Bombree said in an unusually soft and indulgent voice. Turning back to his captain he asked, in his former coarse manner, "Well, Captain Barm?"
For answer Barm, a being of few words, pulled something small, furry, and dark brown from the leather sack slung over his massive, muscle bound shoulder. He brought it up to the table the Council was sitting around and set it down in front of Lord Dombree. Who looked at the small creature with interest.
"It's quite ugly isn't it?" Under Lord Gillim asked the table at large. Nervous laughter circled the table, but quickly died with one look from Lord Dombree.
"Who is it?" Lord Dombree paused, then asked with a sneer, "What is it?"
"That is Mugon, My Lieges. And the creature that he is in the form of now is called a cat." Barm rumbled.
"Cat? Are you sure this," He picked Mugon up by the back of the neck and inspected him closely. "Thing is something that can easily infiltrate the domiciles of the targets?"
"Yes, My Lieges, I am sure. Our intelligence informs me that the targets live with these cats and treat them as if they were of the same Breed."
"Can it communicate?"
"The real cats do not. The Brew is expected to let more than one changed being talk telepathically with each other but we will not know until Mugon changes back in a few hours. They cannot communicate with any of us. They do understand and fallow orders when we speak to them."
"How many are like this?" Lord Dombree asked shaking Mugon for emphasis.
"Five, that have survived, for the moment, My Lieges. Acumen The Geneticist insisted on evaluating what happened to the changed ones before letting another take the Brew." Captain Barm explained.
"What do you mean survived?" Lord Dombree was back to thundering at the large chamber.
"Acumen started with twenty beings. Using one or two for every change he made to the Brew, and every time he changed the amount of Brew they received. The first fifteen expired from the unsuccessful Brews. Mugon was the first to live for longer than two days, My Lieges."
"How long has he been like this?" Lord Dombree asked shaking Mugon again.
"Two weeks at Glooming hour, My Lieges. That is when he is to change back."
"Take him!" Lord Dombree said, thrusting Mugon in Captain Barm's direction, still holding the cat by the scruff.
Captain Barm, knowing when he was dismissed, gathered Mugon a little more humanly than Lord Dombree and put him back in the leather sack, drawing the top closed. He saluted Lord Dombree and took several steps backward, before turning to stride to the chamber door. Before he reached it Lord Dombree called after him.
"Captain Barm, you make sure Acumen has everything ready in a weeks time. Or it will be your head!"
"Yes, My Lieges." Barm called, without turning, as he pulled the massive stone door open.
Captain Barm stepped out into a small corridor, without a passage leading in any direction away from the council chamber. After pulling the door closed behind him, Barm disappeared in a burst of black mist that glittered like coal dust. A moment later Barm was in another small corridor, outside a smaller set of stone doors. Without knocking, Barm walked into Acumen's sanctum, startling The Geneticist, who had been hunched over one of the many gleaming metal work tables spread about the room. Acumen had a maze like cluster of rooms that were an odd place in the realm of Tartaroo. The hard packed dirt walls were covered over with brick and painted white. The rooms were also bright, lit by electric bulbs, and filled with whirring machines, that came from the Over World, the enemy. The constant noise grated on Barms nerves. Acumen insisted that he needed this electricity to formulate and produce the brews and his other creations to help win the battle with
the Tome-Warders. Captain Barm always squinted for the first few minutes when he visited The Geneticist's sanctum. It made him feel like he was above, enemy lines, and this made him gruffer than usual. Barm walked with purpose over to the table where Acumen still sat, his back to his work, his eyes never leaving Barm as he approached. Barm stopped a foot from Acumen's chair, opened the leather sack still dangling from his shoulder, and placed the cat that was Mugon in Acumen's lap. He turned and strode back to the door.
"One week." He called back to Acumen, without breaking his stride.
Acumen watched as Captain Barm walked out the door, closing it firmly behind him. He wished not for the first time that he was full breed, then he wouldn't be stuck here, like he had been for the last ten years. If he were fully Human then he wouldn't be here at all, he would be up there with all the other humans. If he were fully Demon he could Port to get around like Barm, and he wouldn't be treated like a prisoner. Being a Half Breed, the only thing he got worthwhile was his intelligence and the face of the enemy, according to everyone down here. He looked just like a human lacking all the distinct physical features that the demons had; the longer jaw line ending at an inhumanly narrow chin, the ears that came to a sharp point on top, a full inch higher than a human's, and the immense size. He also lacked the non-physical traits that would mark him as a demon; no Porting ability, no Elemental Power, not even the ability to frighten others. At least
he was accomplished at potion making and had a degree in bioengineering and genetics. The respectable education was owing to the fact that he had been raised by his mother among Human, not by his father among Demons. His skill making Brew, as they called it down here, was the real reason he was still around, not the fact that his father, Under Lord Ciddi, was one of Lord Dombree's cousins.
"Time to get back to work." Acumen said as he absentmindedly scratched Mugon behind the ears, still thinking about his father and how he came to be down here with him. He stood with the cat in his arms and carried Mugon over to his cage. The cage was big enough to hold Mugon in his Demon form with bars close enough together to keep a cat from getting out. There were other cages along the wall next to Mugon's, all containing a cat. Acumen walked down the line of cages, stopping at each one and inspecting the cat inside. He then went back to his vacant seat and turned back to the book laying open on the table. He picked up his pen and finished his notes on the latest Brew.
About an hour later Acumen started to hear some noises coming from the cages. He went over to see what was happening to Mugon. When he got over to Mugon's cage the cat was much larger and a lot less furry then he was before. In less than ten minutes Mugon was back to his Demon form. All seven feet six inches of his muscle bound frame, itching for freedom.
"Let me out of this damned cage!" Mugon roars griping the bars hard enough to make the cage rattle. "I'd like to shake Lord Dombree by the neck! Acumen! Let me out!"
"If you would just steep back from the door I'll be able to remove the lock and the Port block." Acumen said calmly, trying hard to hide his unease with the angry Demon.
As soon as the door was open Mugon grabbed his cloths from a nearby table, and started to dress quickly. Acumen turned his back to give Mugon some privacy. When he was clothed again Mugon's mood seemed to improve exponentially.
"Acumen, my friend that experience was what the humans would call trippy!" Mugon said happily as he clapped Acumen on the back.
Acumen couldn't help grinning at the Demon. He genuinely liked Mugon and was happy this test was a success.
"Glad you're back with the bipedal!"
"I am as well. I do not wish to be a cat ever again."
"So how was the communication with the others?" Acumen asked as he motioned Mugon to a chair.
"It was something to get use to. It felt like I was just thinking to my self but if I was within sight of another, they would answer me and I could hear them fine no matter the distance or partial obstruction. But if they were out of sight or blocked by something that could not be seen through I could not hear them and they could not hear me. It was a little strange having others in my thoughts."
"I will need you to debrief Captain Barm on all aspects of your experience." Acumen says after adding Mugon's words to his notes on the Brew.
"No problem. Is it okay if I go? I'm ready to get back to my normal life!" Mugon says with a sly grin.
"Yes, just come back in the morning so I can make sure there are no lasting affects of the Brew."
"Sure." Mugon said as he disappeared in a shower of glittering black mist.
One Week Later
Acumen was at one of his gleaming tables, pouring a bright yellow, slightly glowing liquid into several small stone tumblers. After he set the large glass beaker back onto the table, he turned to face the roomful of Demons, dressed only in their undergarments, lined up in perfectly still rows.
"Everything is ready." Acumen said to Captain Barm, who stood rigidly in front of his troops.
"Proceed." Barm said shortly.
Acumen turned back to the table and picked up one of the trays full of the tumblers. He carried it over to the troops, with slightly trembling hands. He grew more confident as he emptied the first tray and began on the second. When he finished with the fourth and final tray full, he set it down on top of the other trays and turned to face the troops again.
"When I say," at this Barm nodded in agreement, "Everyone drink every last drop of the Brew. At the bottom of each vile there is a small stone shard, do NOT swallow it. You need to hold it on your tongue until you complete your transformation, then you may drop it out of your mouth."
"Understood?" Barm rumbled.
"Yes, Sir!" Echoed, deafeningly, off the pale walls.
Acumen waited for it to quiet before taking a deep breath and saying, "Drink." In a strong voice.
Acumen wasn't sure if it was the confidence in his Brew or the training of the troops but everyone in the room drank the Brew without a single hesitation. Then they all stood perfectly still again, waiting. It took several minutes for the Brew to take effect. The transformation started with an overall shrinking, bringing the very tall and very broad Demons down to about three feet tall, with a shoulder span of about a foot. They then began to turn more feline and get covered with fur. The change took less then five minutes. When it was all over the troops, now looking like a clowder of cats, started dropping the stones onto the ground between their front paws. All except the two that swallowed their stones, they were obviously dead, half changed and covered in sparse and spotted fur. The cats were all different in their coloring, as different as the Demons they use to be were different in personality and looks. Acumen stared for a moment shocked that
the process worked so flawlessly and with so few deaths. Based on his experiment data he had expected at least ten of the one hundred troops to be dead on the floor of his lab right now. He shook himself, and looked at Captain Barm, now a large pure black cat. Looking like the biggest Main Coon ever, sitting in the same spot as Barm stood moments before.
"It is all up to you now." Acumen said with obvious relief. His part was over.
The cat that was Captain Barm gave Acumen a very un-cat like nod and turned back to his troops. Acumen quickly slipped out of the lab and back to his personal chambers. Eager to be away from all those cats sitting perfectly still, watching him. It was one thing when it had been a group of Demons, quite another when it was a glaring of cats. It was very unsettling.
Captain Barm surveyed his troops. They were all awaiting his orders. Even with the assurances from Mugon and Acumen that all he had to do was think directed thoughts at the troops and they would hear him, he felt a little silly doing it this first time. Acumen had told him that was the reason for holding the stone on the tongue, it was a communication charm. The reason it killed when it was swallowed Acumen did not explain. Captain Barm Squared himself, as much as he could in the form of a cat, and focused on his troops.
"Time to commence the mission! Fallow me. Fall in!"
"Yes, Sir!" Came back to Barm's mind from many different voices, his troops didn't seem to have any misgivings about talking mind to mind.
Captain Barm lead his troops out into the entrance corridor, where a new set of steps, recently carved into the rock wall, lead up into enemy territory. Without hesitation Barm loped up the stairs with his troops streaming behind him. He didn't slow as he reached the top, he knew where the stairs ended. It was a warehouse in a rundown section of the city that lay above this part of the Under World. Though it was dark outside, the warehouse was dimly lit by a few bulbs. Bram lead his troops through a rectangular hole cut into the concrete floor. At the top of the stairs, just inside the opening in the floor, Barm stopped and watched his troops flow into the warehouse like a furry wave. When they were all inside Barm touched what looked like a bit of graffiti carved into the floor with his front left paw. At the touch, a hidden door slid silently into place, seamlessly covering the stairs. Captain Bram immediately turned back to his troops, who were
waiting in formation for his orders. Almost one hundred cats lined up in rows of ten, ten rows deep, all looking at him. It was a little strange being in front of his troops on four legs instead of two. He shook off the feeling and addressed the troops.
"Alpha team!" Barm was still not use to this speaking with his mind.
"Sir!" Ten voices intoned as the first row of cats stiffened.
"Secure the perimeter".
"Yes, Sir." Alpha team responded, with a bow of their cat heads, the best they could do for a salute in this form.
"Bata team!" Barm called as Alpha team left.
"Sir!" Nine voices answered this time. One of Bata team had swallowed his stone during the transformation.
"Search the premises for any intruders."
"Yes, Sir!" Bata team answered, with the same bow of salute. They left as well.
"Delta team, Gamma team!"
"Sir!" Twenty voices called, sounding oddly like one echoing voice.
"You will be the first to infiltrate the enemy's living quarters. You must go out and roam around the city. Look for the targets and make sure you act like the moving images we watched to prepare for this mission. Be sure that you split up. Do not be found in groups larger than two."
"Yes, Sir!" Twenty cats bowed their heads and left out the same door as Alpha team.
"The remainder of you may have your leave for the rest of the evening. Report back here at first light."
"Yes, Sir!" Came from nearly sixty voices.
"Captain Barm, Sir!" Came from the shadowy depths of the warehouse.
"Bata leader?"
"We have uncovered three intruders." Bata leader Kepi replied, as he and the rest of the cats of Bata team herded three confused looking humans into the throng of cats.
One of the humans was an older man with long graying hair, a longer graying beard and dirty, tattered cloths. He was clearly homeless. The other two humans were teenagers and clung to each other, their eyes huge. The young man had softly curling brown hair, brown eyes and was dressed in dark jeans and a white t-shirt. The young girl was wearing a tight white tank top, a pink plaid skirt and had long blond hair and blue eyes. All three looked terrified.
"Is the rest of the premises clear?" Barm asked.
"Clear and secure, Sir!"
"Present company!" Barm called.
"Yes, Sir!" Nearly seventy cats called back.
"These three humans need to be destroyed! Attack at will!"
With an otherworldly meowing the cats converged on the frightened humans. The three tried to fend them off, but once they hit the ground it was all over. The cats attacked and devoured the humans with the ferocity of wolfs on a kill. Soon all that was left of the humans were red tinged bones. The bones were soon carried off in all directions by the cats.
Five Days Later
A few hours after day break, Captain Barm was up on a high balcony that ran the length of three walls inside the warehouse. Barm had clamed the middle section of the balcony as his quarters, leaving the rest of his troops to make camp in the lower portion of the warehouse. He was going through the steps of the plan to infiltrate the targeted human dwellings, when he spotted Gamma team leader and Delta team leader being ushered through the main entrance of the warehouse, fallowed by four members of their teams. Barm made his way down the stairs that connected the balcony to the floor of the warehouse. There was not to be word from the first teams out this soon. Barm stopped in the middle of the warehouse floor and waited for Gamma team leader Welt and Delta team leader Rame to approach him. When the team leaders got near they stopped and assumed what looked to be an attention posture, at least as much of one as two cats could manage.
"Sir!" The team leaders said in unison.
"What do you have to report?" Barm asked.
"Sir, most of our team members have been captured, Sir!" Gamma leader Welt said nervously.
"How many?"
"All but the six of us that made it back here, Sir!" Delta leader Rame stated.
"Who did this and how did they know we would be making our move now?" Barm asked, not expecting much of an answer.
"I saw several of my team taken at one time, Sir," Leader Welt started to explain,
"The transport device and the human's clothe that took them said 'Animal Control' on them. The humans put them in the back of the transport device and moved them to a different location. Two of my team and I fallowed them to a building that also said Animal Control on it. We thought it was some kind of code, but we then saw other transport devices with other cats and another creature that was bigger then the cats and a lot louder," With the description in words Barm also received a vague image of what he knew to be a dog, from the intel he received from Acumen.
"Some of the cats were our team members," Welt continued.
"But most were not. We tried to communicate with them but got no response. We concluded they were normal cats. We further concluded that the team members that had been taken were thought to be normal cats as well. The humans are still unaware of our plans."
When Welt had finished his explanation of events Barm sat very still, thinking how to proceed. When he finally spoke he seemed to startle the two leaders, still sitting in front of him.
"Gamma leader Welt!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Can you find this animal control building again?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Then I will need you to take me and my Omega team there when it gets dark."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Dismissed!"
Omega team lead by Barm, and the remainder of Delta and Gamma teams lead by Welt, trailed out of the warehouse just as dusk fell. Welt was half a step in front of Barm as they wound their way through back alleys and small side streets. Soon the buildings, shops and dwellings, gave way to stretches of grass and sparse trees, than a proper but young and wild woodland. They were not in the wooded area long, Barm noticed they were taking an arcing path through the trees. When they came back to the tree line, they were on a gentle rise, overlooking a building similar in structure to the warehouse they had just left. The only notable difference were the barred windows, the fenced in yard in back and the noise that could be heard all the way up the rise.
"This is the rear of the building, Sir. The transport devices and the entrance is on the far side of the building." Welt said when all the cats were lined up just inside the tree line.
Barm, looking like an agitated feline, paced back and forth as he addressed his troops.
"We will observe what these humans do with these animals they bring here. We will look for weaknesses in their defenses that we can use to retrieve our lost members. Above all you must not be seen or captured. Surround the premises and make sure there are no gaps. I will take the front door. Fall out!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The line of cats split in half and seemed to flow down the rise on either side of the building. Barm was leading the cats going down the left side of the rise, while Welt brought up the rear of the line on the right placing him at the back of the building for the watch. When they were all in position, they found what they could for cover, most in the tall grass near the tree line, some behind trees, others were hiding in trash left about, and settled in for the long night of watching.
Soon after the cats clamed their posts, a group of humans, about six, came out of the front door, talking and calling things back to a few humans still in the building.
"Goodnight."
"Bye."
"See you in the morning."
"What are you up to now?"
"You want to go grab some pizza."
"Not tonight."
"My daughter is in a play to night."
Barm was the only one close enough to hear all the words but the humans were all talking at the same time that the conversations were all jumbled. Even though he understood the language none of it made any sense.
After the humans left most of the lights inside the building went out. More lights came on around the perimeter of the building. Postponing Barm's plan of moving in for a closer look. It was a long, cold wait, Barm was grateful for the fur of his current form. After half the night observing the schedule of the watchmen, Barm realized they were more concerned with keeping the animals in than keeping anyone out. One of the watchmen came out of the building every hour, not to secure the perimeter as Barm thought, but to light a small white cylinder on fire and suck the smoke into his mouth and then blow it back out until the cylinder is too small to hold. Then he goes back in the building without so much as a glance around the front door where he stood. The other watchman only came out once, took a leisurely ten minute walk around the building and then went back in. Barm decided that it was time to get a closer look at the inside workings of this building.
"Stand your ground!" Barm said turning to the closest member of Omega team.
He slowly slunk forward, keeping to the shadows as much as he could. He headed for the large window next to the front door. When he reached it, he stood on his hind legs to look in over the sill. He could see nothing through the window, the blinds were closed. Barm decided to search the out side of the building for a window that he could see something through. He started to the left oft he door and rounded the corner with caution. That side of the building was mostly dark, with one small square of light interrupting the pitch. Barm fallowed the path of light, with his eyes, up to the window it came from. The window was halfway up the wall. As Barm approached he realized the window was too high for him to see inside. He scanned his surroundings for something to stand on. As he looked out toward the scattering of trees, he spotted something pale, almost glowing in the tall grass. Barm slowly crept forward to investigate. It was a bucket laying on its
side. Barm walked all around the bucket, it appeared to be sound. When he got to the open end he was a little startled to see one of his team crouched inside it, keeping watch.
"Miggs."
"Yes, Sir!" Miggs said as he rose to his feet as best he could while inside the bucket.
"I need this bucket. Help me move it over to the building."
"Yes, Sir!"
Since the bucket was already on its side Bram and Miggs went to the same side and started pushing on it with their heads, making it roll fairly easily over to the wall under the window. Standing the bucket on it's open end was more difficult. Barm used his front paws to pull down on the top edge of the open end, while Miggs used his nose to push up on the bottom edge of the closed end. After several attempts they managed to get the bucket upright. Then Barm nudged it forward, keeping his head low, until the bucket rested against the wall right under the window.
"Return to your post." Barm ordered Miggs when they were done.
Miggs silently stalked back to his post, melting into the tall shadowy grass like an apparition. Barm turned his attention back to the window before Miggs tok his fifth step. He jumped onto the bucket, landing with a slight thud. Barm tested the balance of the bucket before he positioned himself in the center of the bucket. He slowly rose up onto his hind legs, keeping his balance with his front paws on the bricks just below the window. This window had blinds too, but they were open. Barm moved so he could see into the room through the space between two of the slats. He settled in to watch. No human or animal was in the room on the other side of the glass. It was dimly lit, three tables spanned the center of the room, the middle one padded the two flanking it stainless steel. There were wall to wall cupboards to the right of the window, a sink in the center of the counter. One door was in the wall opposite the window standing wide open. Through that
doorway Barm could see one of the humans leaning back in a chair looking at a box with a bluish flickering light coming from it. That must be television, Barm thought to himself. There was another door in the wall to the left of the window, this door was wide open too. through this door, Barm could see some of the cats, all curled up in small cages. Barm did not see any of his troops, but his blood still boiled to see the cats locked up. He was about to get down when the human that kept coming oout the front door came into the room. He had come from the cat room and was carrying two boxes that looked a lot like the cages in the next room. He set one on the steel table closer to the cat room and the other on the padded table.
"It's time for the next group, Carl." The human called as he walked over to the cupboard and turned on another light.
"Damn it, Ray!" Carl said half jokingly. "Why are we doing so many tonight?"
"Fred and Al brought in twice their normal numbers this time. There'll be no room for the ones that come in tomorrow if we don't make room tonight." Ray said while he pulled different things from the cupboards, both above and below the sink. He laid his items on a tray next to the sink.
Carl came to the doorway and asked, "Why can't we wait until it's light out?"
Ray shakes his head, scowling down at the tray. "Because they want it done before the public starts showing up to adopt the ones that are fit for families. Now stop jabbering and get the cat out of the carrier on the middle table, while I get this ready." Ray said holing a small bottle upside down and sticking a sharp needle into the top of it.
Carl is petting a small white fluff ball of a cat when Ray walks over with the needle.
"She seems like a sweet one." Carl said tenderly.
"Yeah, well she's a sick one and has been here six weeks already. No one wants to take on a sick animal. This is better for her anyway." Ray says indicating the needle. "Just hold her still and keep her head from turning."
"Okay." Carl just gets out as ray sticks the needle into the skin on the back of the cats neck.
The little white cat twitched for a minute then was still. Carl reached under the table the cat was on and brought a cardboard box up onto the table. He gently picked up the cat and put her in the box. Ray went back to the sink to get the next needle ready.
"You're gonna need these." Ray said as he pulled a pair of gloves from his back pocket and tossed them to Carl.
"Thanks." Carl said, pulling them on before opening the other carrier. "Isn't this one of the cats that came in today?" He asked struggling with the wiggling, fighting, yowling, tiger striped cat.
"Yes, but he has been very difficult, biting and scratching everyone. He is not fit for a family." Ray said the last as the tiger cat sank his teeth into the glove covering Carl's wrist.
As soon as the cat was out of the carrier Barm recognizes Gild from Delta team. He could hear the desperate begging coming from the cat. Very unlike the silence that was the white cat.
"Gild!?"
The cat stopped struggling and stared at the window. He can't see anything, Barm's dark coat blended into the night, but he could hear Barm.
"Sir?" Came the half frightened, half disbelieving reply.
"What has been going on?" Barm demanded.
"We were caught." Gild started to explain.
"What is he looking at?" Carl asked Ray puzzled at the sudden lack of struggle.
"It doesn't matter, let's get this over with while he is still." Ray said as he brought the needle to Glid's neck.
"They brought us here and I was the only one that tried to escape. All...the...rest...told...me...to...stop..." Glid's words came slower and slower until they stopped altogether.
Barm watched as the humans put Gild into the box with the other cat and closed it up. He slowly came down off the bucket. Then he called fro Miggs to come back to him.
"Get Leader Welt. Tell him they just killed Glid and we need a plan to retrieve the rest of our troops."
"Yes, Sir!" Miggs took off like a streak.
Barm threw caution to the wind and raced to the front of the building. He didn't pause as he rounded the corner of the building and ran right into Ray's leg. He was by the front door sucking his smoke again.
"Hay there." Ray said slightly startled as he bent to pick up the stunned Barm. "Let's get you inside."
Before Barm knew what happened, he was being put into a cage in the cat room. Barm paced around and around in his cage, looking at all the cats that he could see. He recognized a few of his troops, they were all sleeping. He tried to wake them, but they did not stir. Barm decided to get his rest too, and hoped not fighting would keep him alive long enough to come up with a plan. He curled up into a ball in the far corner of his cage and was soon asleep.
The next morning Barm was up just after first light. soon after the human, named Carl, came into the cat room caring a large bucket. He set it on the floor in front of the cages across the room from Barm. Carl scooped some reddish brown bits out of the bucket and poured them into small bowls from the cages. It made a soft tinkling sound when it hit the bottom. Barm watched fascinated as Carl put the bowls back into the cages and the cats eagerly came to them and started eating the bits. Carl moved around the room giving the bits out to all the cats, talking to some. Barm assumed the cats that were being talked to were the ones that have been here the longest. Carl didn't talk to any of his troops or the cats near them.
"Hi, Star!" Carl says when he reaches a little black cat with a white mark on its forehead. "Are you ready for the adoption drive today?" He asked scratching behind Star's ear. "I think you will be one of the first to be picked. You're such a sweetheart." He sets the food down and shuts the door to the cage.
He finally works his way over to Barm's cage, which the last cage on his side of the room. Carl looks a little surprised to see a cat in this cage.
"Ray! Where did this black Main Coon come from?"
Ray looks around the door jam, "I found him running around outside last night. Seems friendly, he let me pick him right up without a struggle." Ray disappeared back into the next room.
"Okay, are you ready for some food?" Carl says to Barm.
Barm just stares at him, not moving from his seat in the back of the cage. Carl cautiously opened the cage, retrieved the bowl, filled it and returned it quickly. When Carl leaves the room Barm tentatively sniffs at the food. Barm took one piece in his mouth and chewed it. Even though the food smelled like meat it tasted nothing like meat. He made himself eat the rest, he wasn't sure when he would get anything else to eat.
"Okay, guys it's time for some of you to come out to the adoption room." Carl said happily as he comes back into the room.
He puts on a pair of heavy gloves, takes two cats from their cages, then takes them to the adoption room. Carl goes back and forth several times. Barm kept count, a total of twenty cats are taken out, about half of the cats in the room with him.
By mid-morning Barm was tired of being in his cage. He had talked to all his troops, and received little new information. Just when he had decided to try unlatching his cage a new animal control worker came into the cat room. She went around looking at all the cats, she seemed to be looking for something specific. She took two of Barm's troops out to the adoption room then came back. This time she spotted Barm and came right over to his cage and took him out. She grabbed another of his troops, and Barm realized she was getting all the larger cat this time. As much as he wanted to get away he didn't struggle, he could wait for the right time.
The human, holding the two cats, walked through several rooms before reaching the adoption room closer to the front door. When they reached the room it was in chaos. There were dogs and cats and humans fighting everywhere. Barm immediately leaped from the woman's grip onto a tall shelf next to the doorway to survey the scene. As he watched he saw more of his troops than were brought out of the cat room. He also noticed that not all the animals were fighting. It was his troops, lead by Welt, for the cats and only the largest of the dogs were attacking. Then he heard a voice in his head, but it was not one of his troops. This voice was light and sweet, and as he looked around he realized it came from a dog across the room. It was just staring at him.
"This plan of yours is not going to work! We will stop you, no matter what you plan or change yourselves into."
Barm saw the fight would soon be over, so he jumped down and raced for the front door. It had been propped open so he zoomed out looking for any of his troops that might still be on guard out side. He spotted Miggs just by the tree line and called him over.
"Sir!"
"What's your elemental?"
"Fire, Sir."
"Just what I need. There are Tome-Warders in there and most of our troops are dead. We need to burn the place down. And when you're done here come back to the warehouse and burn that too. I will make sure everyone is below before you get there."
Barm was off without another word. When he looked back from the rise he could already see faint wisps of smoke. Barm ran as fast as he could on his feline legs. When he reached the warehouse none of his troops were at their posts. He slowly moved forward checking every dark corner and sharp turn. When he entered the large space he saw why he didn't see his troops out side they were inside. All dead. Barm raced to the hidden door pushed the button and raced down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he jumped as high as he could to hit the button that permanently closed the door from below. He ran back to Acumen's chamber door, it was open he ran in. There was no one to be found.
Acumen was gone along with most of his things. Barm had no way out of there and he was stuck as a cat for at least another week.
