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“You must be joking. Chara, why did you call me?” Invincible eyed his friend beside him.
“I- You’ll see,” Chara replied.
Invincible could smell fear coming from his army. Fear? Coming from MY SPECIES? he thought, outraged and astonished. They can’t seriously be afraid, after all the power I’ve given them!
Invincible turned to what everyone was staring at. He growled as he saw his mother leading an angry Streak, who was. . . snarling at him.
He roared in fury. “How dare you growl at me! Let me see respect from each and every one of you right now or I will rip every one of your tails off!”
No one sat down.
No one dipped their heads respectfully or said any apologies.
Invincible’s ears flattened and his fur bristled. “I WILL GIVE YOU TO THE COUNT OF FIVE!” he screeched. “FIVE, FOUR, THREE . . .” He tried to make himself stronger, more agile, ready to attack, but he paused. He tried to transform . . . but he couldn’t.
What’s going on?
He glanced around, confused. All his species were there . . . but where were the Great Cats?
Where was the Great Tiger?
“What’s wrong? Powers not working?” Silver smirked.
Invincible’s gaze shot toward his mother. She had something to do with this.
“You explain to me what is going on with my powers, and I might actually let you live until sunfall.” His voice was dangerously quiet.
“I’m sorry . . . I’m afraid you won’t be getting your powers back.” Invincible saw triumph gleam in her eyes as she flicked her tail toward a group of Streak Guards clutching something white and starry in their claws. Invincible stifled a gasp as he realized they were pummeling the Great Tiger to and fro before he could efend himself from each push. Eco glanced helplessly at him.
Invincible screamed in outrage and began to leap at Silver, aiming for the killing bite...
He stopped a whisker away from Silver, halting in shock. His body was getting . . . smaller! His muscles shortened, and his glistening, powerful pelt shrunk to a weak and useless shape. With a pang stabbing him as hard as icy claws, he realized he was a cub again.
Silver swatted his face with a paw. Invincible growled at the blow but didn’t care about it as much as he realized he could feel pain. The swipe left a shallow mark, and he winced.
“Welcome back, Blite,” Silver smirked.
Invincible’s tiny claws itched to claw her throat out and feed her carcass to the vultures, rotting in a hot sun. He was filled with so much helpless fury that Invincible wondered how he could bear it.
“You’ll pay for this. You so much as poke a hair on The Great Tiger and you’ll regret it. You all will regret this with your life. You-”
“Settle down, Blite. It’s time to go to your den.”
Soldiers grabbed him roughly by the scruff and hauled him away. He threw a helpless glance at Chara and his army. All they did was glance fearfully at him and their own paws.
They must have lost their magic as well. It’s not their fault they can’t help me. His longing for vengeance made his pelt ripple. I’ll save you, Eco, if it’s the last thing I do.
He was dropped roughly in a nest full of dry leaves, the few bits of moss poorly grouped together. Silver poked her head in and looked at him. “You’re nothing without your precious Great Tiger, Blite.” she sneered.
Invincible growled back, but something told him she was right. The Great Tiger is being held captive, like me, and can’t keep hold of my powers. He’s the one who gave them to me. If something happens to him, my powers disappear. Invincible looked at his once-powerful-but-now-useless paws. I hate to admit it, but Silver’s right. I’m just . . . I’m just Blite without my powers. I’m not Invincible.
Blite had a sudden urgent thought pound into his skull. Pinwheel! Oh, no! Without my powers, I can’t teleport to him when he calls me! Nor can I protect him from ‘the Sleek’. I must get out of here, for all of us. He imagined something catching Pinwheel, holding him hostage as well, helpless and unable to call him for help.
Blite scrunched his eyes shut, trying to drone out the hateful smirks of the Guards around him. It was impossible.
“Go get him some food. Without his powers, he can’t just find a horn-head out of nowhere. We have to provide prey for him,” Silver laughed.
All Blite wanted was to throw himself at her, but he knew he couldn’t do that. For now.
Please, Great Tiger, if you can hear this, just give Pinwheel a warning. Maybe he could help me.
The Guards tensed as he poked his head out, and watched him closely as he looked around. Blite’s species were also marched somewhere behind a narrow crevice. He sighed.
They also need help.
Moments later, his father appeared with more Guards as Tigro pawed a black-furred rabbit at him. “Enjoy,” the tiger said and padded off.
Blite chewed on the stringy meat solemnly, his head lost in helpless thoughts. How did I get myself into this? Why did I bring my whole army here, unsupervised? I should’ve known. Now it’s my job to get everyone out of this. I promised all the species that nothing would happen to them. I may have broken that promise . . . but I can still get them out of it. I must find a way. Somehow. Sometime.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
