Cat Out of the Bag Read online

  “What happened?” Pappi asked me.

  “I was weakened from the healing and couldn’t summon my dragon, but we finally found our strength.”

  Mythril shifted into his tiny ethereal form and coiled around my neck.

  “Maybe you should stay out until we get back home, Mythril,” I said, climbing back on my hover bike.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have attempted to heal twenty people all at once with a brand-new spell,” he replied.

  “I’ll remember I have limits from now on,” I said with an eye roll.

  I checked to see if anyone had been injured in the gunfight. Most of the damage was to the larger vehicles. I helped the other mechanics fix up the bus and a van, and we started off down the road. We crossed the river, and there was a great cheer among the people when we reached the opposite riverbank and entered Sho’kin Forest for the first time in over a decade. It was the best homecoming I could have asked for.

  Chapter 24

  The caravan moved through the grasslands growing close to Sho’kin Forest. I tried to recognize my surroundings from my kittenhood, but it had been so long ago that none of it quite made sense. Then up ahead, we saw a tree line stretching out for miles. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever beheld, and my heart burst with a joy that I didn’t recognize. I caught Pappi’s eye, and he gave me a thumbs-up. I returned the sign. Everyone in the caravan cheered as we approached, and I felt as if we had finally won. We were finally coming home.

  As soon as we crossed the tree line into the stillness of the woods, I got a strange sense that something was wrong. Something was off, and I couldn’t recognize what. No birds sang, no squirrels ran in the trees, and a deep sense of uneasiness filled my gut as we moved down the muddy road, deeper and deeper into the forest.

  “This is not the home you once knew,” To’tonya said from deep inside my mind. “Much has changed since the Sho’kin left, much you should be prepared for.”

  I braced myself for what her words could mean. I had come to accept that To’tonya spoke the truth, and I was not in a big hurry to experience the disappointment I knew would come.

  Sasha rode up behind me, her face grave. “Can you feel it?” she asked.

  “Something is definitely off.”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure we are about to find out.”

  The caravan slowed as uneasiness spread through the people. We passed through a thick grove that opened out into a clearing, but it was an unnatural clearing. Tree stumps filled the ground as far as the eye could see, continuing up the hillside in the distance. The caravan stopped in its tracks as our eyes went wide with wonder and despair.

  “What is it?” I whispered to Sasha.

  “It is the work of the Landlords. They cut down our ancient trees. A village once stood here, but now there is nothing but rubble and barren land.”

  “How could they do this?!” someone yelled from the back of the caravan.

  “It’s just not right! We will make them pay!” shouted another.

  I felt as if I should say or do something, but I was at a loss for words. The elders were trying to calm the people, but I could hear the years of suppressed rage in their voices. The healing I had given to the people had brought back their energy, which they used to express their absolute hatred for what the Landlords had done to our forest.

  “We are home now,” my father said, “and now we can rebuild. There is nothing else for us to do.”

  I was glad Pappi spoke and brought the people back to their senses. I found my own mouth would not work.

  “He’s right,” said Sasha. “All that is left for us now is to rebuild and to protect our forest from further damage.”

  There was agreement in the voices of the people as we continued our march through the decimation of our land. My family’s farm was still several miles away, and I hoped to the deepest depths of my heart that it remained, even though I felt selfish, for so many others had lost their homes. But I couldn’t help the desire to find my family’s farm intact.

  As we continued through the clear-cutting and back into the forest, we heard the buzz of saws, smelled smoke, and heard the call of workmen’s voices.

  “That must be them,” I said. I stopped my hover bike in the middle of the muddy road.

  “What are we going to do?” Toby asked as the bus pulled up beside me.

  “I’m going to put an end to this.”

  Chapter 25

  “Stay here, everyone,” I said, lifting my hand and facing the people. “I’m going to take care of this.”

  “We can’t let you go alone,” Pappi said.

  “I’m not going alone. I’m taking Mythril and the goddess, To’tonya.”

  “Are you sure you have the strength?” Sasha asked, stepping up beside me and gazing into my eyes.

  “I’m sure.” I squared my shoulders. I winked at my father and the shaman then called on my dragon and my avatar. To’tonya sprang out of the top of my head, and Mythril emerged from the center of my hand, coiling around my arm and shoulder like kinky, black smoke.

  “Blessing of intuition, To’tonya,” I said, beginning to understand the activations and the words I needed to say to make them happen. I felt her spin above me, and she spoke her blessing, sending it down from the top of my head until I was covered from head to toe. Suddenly, I had a clear picture of where to go and what to do.

  From the sounds of the loggers’ voices and their machines, I could decipher where they were and their number. I waved at the group, who waved back silently. I felt their energy, and their love filled me with power and strength. I rode away on my hover bike, following the sound of the machines deeper into the forest. Mythril was coiled around my neck, and all I had to do to activate him was say the word.

  I rode into another clearing and saw machines chopping up the trees one by one as they went along a streamlined assembly line. As one machine chopped down a tree, another machine caught it, stripped it, and dropped it onto a trailer. Once it was full, the trailer drove away and deposited the load of trees into a truck that drove down the road in the opposite direction. The loggers had not seen me yet. But that advantage did not last for long.

  “Where did you come from?” one of them asked as he turned off his robotic cutting machine. He was a goblin with beet-red eyes and dark-green skin.

  “I am a Sho’kin, and this is my forest,” I said calmly. “And I would like to ask you and the rest of your goblin friends to leave. If you leave now, no one gets hurt.”

  He started laughing hysterically in a way that only goblins could, alternating between deep rumbling and piercingly high notes, and the sound of it grated on my nerves. In all the days and years I’d lived in the junkyard, I never thought I would forget the sound of goblin guards laughing. When they hurt us, they laughed. When they stole our money, they laughed. When one of us took sick, went blind, and coughed to death from the toxins, they laughed. I was done listening to it.

  “If you leave cooperatively, then no one will get hurt.” I stroked Mythril under the chin. I could feel him purring and vibrating in anticipation. Mythril was not a violent or bloodthirsty dragon, but he did have a love of justice, and I had to admit that I did too.

  “What are you going to do, scratch me?” He laughed again.

  “I’m giving you one more chance,” I said. Mythril was powerful, and he could destroy them all with just a few breaths of his stardust. If I could avoid hurting anyone, I would much prefer it.

  “We’ve got work to do here, little kitty. Now run along before I call the Landlords’ guards and have you arrested for trespassing.”

  “This is my land, and you are the one who’s trespassing.”

  “That’s it. You were funny for a minute, but I’m tired of messing around with you. I got a deadline to keep.” He picked up a communication device and began to speak through it. “I got a Sho’kin down here that’s telling me to get off her land. I’m going to nee
d some guards to come take care of this nuisance.” He put the device down. “They’re going to be here in five minutes, little kitty. If I were you, I’d skedaddle before they get here.”

  “That was a mistake,” I said with a sigh. “I gave you a chance. But I’m afraid I can give you no more. Now, Mythril,” I said. My dragon jumped down my arm in his astral form, quickly growing and becoming more solid.

  The goblin’s eyes grew as he finally recognized the threat. “Wh-wh-what is that?” he stammered.

  “This is Mythril, my dragon. I forgot to mention that I am a summoner with great power. Mythril can destroy you in one breath. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  He picked up the communication device again and began sputtering incoherently. “Hurry. Get help. Dragon.”

  I sighed deeply. I didn’t like hurting anyone, but I had given him two chances, and the last time I hadn’t taken care of a Landlords threat immediately, it had come back to haunt me. The goblin turned his robot harvester around and began to run in the opposite direction. The massive mechanical creature’s feet slammed into the earth, sending a vibration through the ground and up into my body.

  That’s when the guards arrived. They shot first, asking no questions. I ducked down, and Mythril swept in, breathing his stardust over the kobold and goblin guards. The laser fire ceased, and the guards disintegrated before me in a cloud of dust and smoke. I smelled melting flesh and wrinkled my nose as I stood. Mythril flew back to me and hovered in the air above me.

  “There are many more,” To’tonya informed me.

  “Can’t the goblins see you?” I asked her.

  “I can only be seen by those with a pure heart.”

  I nodded.

  “We must clear out the logging town if the Sho’kin want to rebuild their homes. It is the only way,” she said.

  “Will they leave if we ask them?”

  She shook her head. “The more conversation we engage in, the more opportunity we have for their guards to shoot at you. That will be the only conclusion to trying to do this diplomatically, I’m afraid.”

  I sighed and kicked a stone. “Okay, then. Let’s get this done.”

  Mythril swooped down and landed so I could climb on his back. We swept through the sky like a phantom, diving low over the logging camp. We took them off guard as Mythril blew out his stardust, decimating the loggers in his wake. A stray laser singed my arm.

  “Blessing of healing. Healing wave, To’tonya,” I called. Just as my words left my mouth, the wound on my skin began to heal. As usual, healing took more energy than I expected, but not so much that we couldn’t finish the job.

  Mythril swept down over the loggers and let out another stream of stardust. The loggers below him screamed then disintegrated into the dust, dirt, and mud their machines left behind. The tree stumps and the grass also shriveled and melted, leaving nothing but scorched earth below us. I wanted to call to To’tonya to heal the land, but I knew that it would sap my strength. The lasers continued to blare at me from every direction as more loggers and guards poured out from all around.

  “Hit the dragon,” one of them said.

  “Hit the girl,” another said. They were screaming orders at each other from every direction as the lasers zinged and sirens rang out in the crisp air. Mythril flew upward then circled back around.

  “Blessing of intuition,” I called to my avatar.

  “Dive,” To’tonya said, and I repeated the word to Mythril. A laser buzzed over my head just inches from the top of my ear. If we had not heeded To’tonya’s command, it would have gone straight through my eye.

  “That was a close one.”

  Mythril swept down again, breathing out his stardust. Everything it touched melted or burned, leaving nothing but the smell of singed earth, metal, and flesh. It was not a pleasant scent.

  “I hope this is the last time I have to do this,” I muttered.

  “You still don’t understand what it means to be a summoner, do you?” Mythril said between breaths of stardust.

  “If it means killing people, then I don’t think I want the responsibility.”

  “You asked them nicely to leave,” Mythril said, taking a deep breath before he sprayed stardust on another group of goblins and canines.

  “I did ask them to leave,” I said. “Is there anything else we can do besides melt people, To’tonya?” I asked.

  “Not with your current power. But you must understand that they want to fight you. Unless you want to leave the Sho’kin with no home to return to, what choice do you have?” she asked me.

  “But it all just feels wrong.”

  Another laser whizzed by my shoulder, and I screeched as I ducked away.

  “It’s not wrong to save your people. It was wrong to enslave them, take their homes, then cut down the forest. Eventually, you will come into power that enables you to solve problems without violence, but that day is not today.”

  I sighed, hoping she was right. To’tonya was often correct about most things, so I had to trust her. It didn’t make it easier to accept what I was doing. “Maybe someday, I’ll have a spell that makes people do what I tell them to,” I laughed.

  “That isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. But you must level up first,” she replied.

  “Level up?”

  “The more you use your power, the more power you gain,” she said as Mythril dove again.

  The last of the goblins and canines were screaming and running away. I told Mythril to leave them. They’d given up the fight, and I had no bloodlust or feelings of revenge that needed to be quenched. I was relieved to let them run away with their lives. When the last of the guards and loggers were gone and their entire worksite had been burned to dust, we landed lightly on the ground near my hover bike, and I slipped from the dragon’s back.

  “We did it,” Mythril said, sitting back on his hind legs. He stared at me and crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you proud of yourself?” he asked. “For a new summoner, you have achieved much. My last summoner wasn’t nearly as brave or powerful as you, and he didn’t have an entire people to lead from slavery back to their forest homeland.”

  “It’s been quite the adventure,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. I had the feeling that he was making fun of me, but it was coming across as praise. It wouldn’t be the first time. “I am proud of myself. Mostly, I’m happy that the Sho’kin are back in our own homeland, where we have lived for thousands of generations. We belong in the Sho’kin Forest, and the Sho’kin Forest belongs with us. But look at what the Landlords have done.” I swept my hand across the expanse of clear-cut forest.

  “There is still much forest left, and the Sho’kin have the gift of the green thumb. They will heal the land and bring life back to the forest. Plus, think of all of the crops you can plant in this cleared land. Maybe they’ve done you a favor,” he said.

  I smiled. “And we did them a favor by turning them into dust.”

  Mythril tapped his head. “It’s all in how you look at things.”

  “Right,” I said, opening my palm. Mythril turned to mist and slid back into my palm. A shiver went up my arm and down my spine as he entered my body, and I let out a deep sigh.

  “You have done well, summoner,” To’tonya said, spinning above me before she slipped down into the top of my head and disappeared into the back of my brain.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said. “All of the Sho’kin thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

  I climbed onto my hover bike and turned back down the road, heading toward where I had left my people. They had broken camp and were eating quietly, waiting for me to return. My father shot to his feet as I came riding up. I parked, and he ran to me.

  “We heard a great commotion. Was there a battle?” He grabbed my arm and saw the scar from the singe I’d received from the laser. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes went wide. “Were you injured?”

  “It’s just a scratch. To’tonya healed it immediately.” />
  “I knew you were going into danger.”

  “Good news is that I have cleared the forest of loggers and their guards. We are safe to return to our villages and homes.”

  A great cheer went up from the people, and everyone began laughing, clapping, and praising me. The old songs echoed through the forest as the people opened their hearts. There was so much love, so much strength, and so much togetherness in the air—it was a great day for the Sho’kin. All we had to do was find a place to sleep.

  After we packed the caravan, we continued down the road and through the forest, hoping that one of the villages would still be intact. It wasn’t until we nearly made it to the sea that we found a village with livable homes. We all decided to camp there for the night. The homes had all been ransacked and looted, and there was nothing but empty shells left, but they would provide roofs over our heads that night. It was beginning to rain, and we all huddled into the village buildings and homes, lighting fires in the hearths and singing the old songs of the Sho’kin as we lay down in our beds that night. There was a great sense of hope and purpose rekindled among us. I felt my family opening up into what it had been and what it could be.

  I woke the next morning with a deep sense of happiness and peace in my heart. Those who had decided not to settle permanently in the village packed up the caravan to continue on after breakfast that morning. We took the low road along the coastline before turning back into the forest, following the road that led up the mountain. That part of the forest still remained.

  Thousands and thousands of square miles of wilderness made up the Sho’kin Forest. Even in twelve years, it could not all be logged. Along the way, we found other ransacked villages, and the people returned to their old homes. The caravan became thinner and thinner until there were only a few left, including Pappi, Toby, Pepper, a dozen other people from our village, and me. We climbed altitude as the forest changed from coastal to alpine. When our old village, nestled in the mountains and the piney forest, came into view, my heart lifted like a sunbeam shooting across the sky. I stopped my hover bike, needing a moment to catch my breath. Memories of my youth came charging back, and I could barely breathe for several minutes.