‘And - and, several Emerald Guards came and so we had to get out of there pretty,…pretty fast, sir.’

Tani had one eyebrow raised, and a frown on his face.

‘What did you manage to get pictures of?’ he questioned.

‘Guns. Guns and other illegal weapons, sir,’ Katrina replied swiftly. ‘As well as a few pictures of whatever those things were in their cages.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘They looked like experiments. They had been locked up in cages. One of them was what attacked me, sir,’ explained Kat.

* * *

The three Emerald Guards that had been trying to keep a hold of Katrina and Jonnie each received a slap around the face from a furious Count Takeshi.

‘You let them go!’ he yelled, flushing red in his anger. ‘There were three of you, and only two of them! How did they escape?’

‘There was your beast, sir,’ replied Becca viciously, a hint of sarcasm in her tone, ‘they let it out. So that kind of…evened things up a bit.’

‘Well, I don’t care what it takes, I want you to get it back. Katrica, you can go out and find it. Rebecca, Vyrla…you can stay with me. I want revenge on Tani for breaking in.’

Katrica swept out of the castle as quickly as she could without making the Count think that she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. She lingered in the dark forest that surrounded the castle, keeping a lookout, trying to see if she could spot the escaped beast.

Her footsteps were dull thuds on the grass and dried mud. She scared herself a few times, by allowing her imagination to run wild with her; she made herself believe that her own footsteps were the sounds of somebody - or something - following her. She kept her hand on the waistband of her trousers, where she had a knife secretly hidden.

The traitor thought was out before she could choke it off. She stepped back, looking at her sides, and keeping a view of what was behind her, the knife raised, and clasped tightly in both her hands.

The very blood in her veins chilled as she heard a low growl. She froze, her eyes widened in terror. Where had the noise come from? Was it the creature she was after, or was there something else lurking in the trees? She heard a nearby rustle of leaves high up above her head. She scanned the dark branches, trying to make out anything hiding in them, but failed to see anything.

Feeling more than just slightly anxious, she headed away from the source of the noise, secretly hoping that she was going to be unable to find the beast. She had no inclination to come anywhere near it.

She shot around, when the sound entered her ears. The sound of padded paws hitting the ground from a height. It was accompanied by yet another low growl. Katrica was frozen solid, the wolfman advancing on her. She dropped the knife and retreated, slowly, her breath coming out in short bursts and gasps. Soon she was too far away from her only weapon to get a hold of it again. To be able to get anywhere near it, she would have to make her way around the wolf. No way, she thought. If I can take it by surprise…maybe I can get away…

She took off suddenly, her boots slapping the hard ground as she fled for her life. Rhythmic thuds and snarls behind her told her that she was being chased. Her breath was coming out of her mouth in clouds of steam. She knew that she was not going to be able to outrun the creature; it was, sooner or later, going to catch up with her, and if she was nowhere near safety, probably hurt her badly.

She staggered and nearly tripped over a tree root that was half sticking out if the ground. She was nearly thrown to the ground. She felt a nip on her ankle as the creature tried to bite her.

Katrica called out in panic and attempted to run faster than she already was, but her legs found it impossible to carry her along at a greater speed. She felt a nip on her ankle as the wolf creature tried to bite her. She let out a cry of terror. Her feet met with another exposed tree root, which caused her to overbalance completely and sprawl helplessly on the grass as the beast closed in on her.

She tried to push the creature away as it stood over her, but was unable to summon the needed strength. She pummelled at the beast’s snout, attempting to deter it, to put it off her, but was having no luck. It raised a paw and clawed at her face, leaving several long, blood red marks across her cheek. They stung as the fresh wound met with the chilled air.

Katrica could feel the beast’s elongated canine teeth piercing the flesh on her throat, slicing easily through the skin and onto her jugular vein. She could feel something trickling on her, and thought that it was the beast’s saliva. As the creature bit into her, it released a secreted venom into her wound. She managed to push it off her, but it was too late, the beast had already achieved what it had tried to do. Katrica watched in fear as the werewolf tore off through the trees.

* * *

Takeshi was waiting impatiently for Katrica to return, with the beast in tow. The front door to the castle opened, and she staggered in, struggling to stay upright, and clutching at a weeping, bloody wound on her throat.

Sonomanma Higashi and Vyrla both gasped out loud and ran over to support the wounded Emerald Guard. Sonomanma slid his shoulder under one of her armpits, whilst Vyrla kept a hold onto her from the other side. Together, the three limped over to Takeshi.

‘So, I can only assume that you failed to get the beast back?’ he asked, coldly.

‘Yes. I failed,’ murmured Katrica, pain soaring through her neck. The Count seemed to notice her injury for the first time, and paled slightly.

‘Is that wound from claws…or…is it a bite wound?’

‘A bite wound,’ snarled Katrica in reply. ‘You’re in for it now.’

‘Put her to bed you two,’ snapped Count Takeshi at Vyrla and Sonomanma, ‘she needs her rest.’

The three limped off towards the Guards’ bedrooms where Katrica was left on her own to sort herself out. Her room was freezing cold; she swiftly made her way over to the window and closed it. She left the blinds open, and rested on her bed, feeling tired.

* * *

An hour later, Katrica was rudely awoken by violent convulsions which rippled through her entire body. Her arms were stiff against her sides, almost as though she had been tied up. Her back arched as she opened her mouth to utter a silent scream. She slumped back against the mattress and noticed movement underneath her skin. It felt like something was trying to break through, as though she had an alien inside her body, that was struggling to get free.

Fur had started to sprout on her backs of her hands, and along her arms and legs. Her entire body had turned wolfish. She vaguely noted that with the blinds open, bright moonlight was shining through the window, and onto her metamorphosing body.

Within minutes the torturous transformation was complete, and the creature in the small bedroom was no longer recognisable as Katrica. The wolf prowled around, grunting and growling, before leaping athletically out of the window, smashing the glass instantly. A few shards stayed in the frame, ripping through flesh and drawing blood.

* * *

Nicole Webster and Däyna Axtell were on night duty, guarding Tani’s compound. The pair separated, with Nicole watching over one side of the compound, and Däyna on the other.

* * *

Katrica stalked through the trees, keeping low in the grass, moving stealthily. She raised her head slightly and looked up at the large building she was creeping up to. There was a tall brunette wearing a white uniform pacing back and forwards impatiently. She stopped for a second, sighed, and continued. She was unaware of what was hiding in the trees so close to her. Katrica moved silently, swiftly closer.

* * *

Sonomanma knocked on Katrica’s door, to check up on her and make sure that she was alright after her attack. There was no response, so he opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes swept over the empty bed and the smashed window.

‘Oh my God…’ he muttered and dashed out, searching for Count Takeshi, who was on his way back to bed.

‘What now, Higashi?’ sighed Takeshi as the counsellor caught up with him.

‘She’s escaped! Katrica - she - she’s gotten away!’ exclaimed Sonomanma, panic etched into his tone.

‘Well go and find her,’ snapped Takeshi ‘and do it without bothering me, I want to go to sleep, I’m tired.’

‘Becca, Vyrla, go and track down Katrica. Preferably without getting bitten yourself. It’s bad enough Katrica is a werewolf, we don’t need any more,’ ordered Higashi.

‘Yes sir,’ chorused the two girls, and exited the castle.

* * *

Nicole stopped in her tracks. She was so sure she had just heard a woman screaming. She listened for a second, as another shriek rang out loudly.

She ran around to the front of the castle, where she saw Däyna being attacked by a wolf.

‘Hey - no! Get away from her!’ cried Nicole, hurrying over.

She pulled the Private away, out of the reach of snarling jaws and sharp claws. She had a vast number of cuts and scratches over her arms and torso; her white uniform jacket was stained with blood.

Nicole kicked the wolf away. Her boot caught the animal’s long nose. It growled at her and tried to slash the flesh on her arm. She continued you wrestle with the beast until two girls burst in on them.

They momentarily helped Nicole until they realised who she was. Nicole punched the closest of the girls on the nose, who called out to her companion:

‘Vyrla, get the other one! I’ll handle this.’

Nicole turned round to the fallen Private after temporarily disabling Becca.

‘Go back into the compound, quickly,’ she whispered. Däyna nodded and darted round Vyrla, and back into safety.

‘Vyrla!’ called Becca, ‘leave her.’

Then Becca mouthed something to the younger Guard that Nicole failed to make out. Becca came close to being bitten, but was saved by Vyrla. Nicole saw her chance and tried to make a run for it, but Becca managed to seize her around the waist and pulled her to the ground whilst the werewolf still ran rampant.

After a few minutes desperate struggle, Becca struck Nicole sharply around the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. Vyrla was still fighting with Katrica in her wolf form.

‘Get her out of the moonlight, moron!’ snapped Becca. Vyrla nodded and tried to drag Katrica into the shade.

Once she was harmless again, Becca easily picked up Nicole’s unconscious form and slung her over her shoulder. The small group made their way back to Count Takeshi’s castle. He would be pleased with them. Not only did they manage to subdue Katrica without getting bitten, or any damage of sorts, but they also found one of Tani’s troops to force back with them for interrogation.

* * *

Back in the compound, Däyna listened for anymore sounds that might hint as to whether Nicole was still struggling with the two Emerald Guards or not. She heard silence. No sounds of the Emerald Guards, but she could not hear Nicole, either. Assuming that her friend was alright and going to be coming back inside soon, the Private left and made her way back to her small bedroom.

* * *

‘Däyna,’ whispered a voice, urgently. ‘Däyna, wake up. Wake up. Däyna!’ She sat up groggily, and looked around to see Eve crouched down by her bed, trying to rouse her. ‘About time! Tani’s looking for you, he’s got a few questions he said he wants to ask. And please, don’t give him any smart answers; he looks to be in a very bad mood.’

Sure enough, as soon as she had properly woken up after Eve left, and gotten dressed, Tani was one of the first people she ran into. Däyna noticed that Eve was still nearby, pretending to be busy talking to anybody that happened to walk past, but she was really listening in, trying to hear what Tani was going to say.

‘Where is Nicole?’ he asked.

‘Huh? What do you mean “where is she”?’

‘I would have thought that my question was clear enough. You and her were both on night duty last night. You’re still here. Nicole isn’t. She hasn’t been seen.’

‘Oh my God. Last night, I got attacked by this wolf type thing, right, and Nicole heard me screaming and came to help me. Then these two girls came ambushing us, and started to help Nic with the wolf, but stopped when they saw her. I reckon they might’ve been Emerald Guards. I didn’t see much after that, ‘cause she told me to come back into the compound and she’d deal with the problem herself,’ explained Däyna, speaking rapidly.

‘And it never occurred to you to come and get somebody? Maybe to give her a hand?’ asked Tani, scornfully.

‘I thought she was okay! I listened, when I got back here, I listened for her, to - to see if I could hear any sounds of fight, and there was silence, so I thought that everything…must have…gone okay…’ her voice trailed off pathetically underneath the stone cold glare of her General. She could feel Eve’s eyes blazing on her. The Private stared at her feet, not wanting to catch anybody’s eye.

Tani watched her as she rolled up the sleeves of her jacket, revealing lots of cuts and scratches on her arms. Tani raised one eyebrow.

‘What? I’m hot in all this!’ protested Däyna. She heard footsteps behind her.

‘Oh, Däyna, how did you do that? You need to get them sorted out!’ exclaimed the voice of Eve, who had just hurried over.

‘It’s okay, they look worse than they are. Seriously!’ added Däyna as Eve cast her a sceptical look.

‘Excuse me - Eve? Can I finish talking to her myself? You can mother her later,’ snapped Tani.

‘Sorry sir.’ The General rounded onto Däyna again.

‘Next time something like this happens, you are to notify either myself, or if that’s not possible for whatever reason, Eve or Katrina immediately. Do you understand?’ demanded General Tani.

Däyna nodded meekly and allowed Eve to drag her off, to get the cuts on her torso treated.

* * *

Nicole woke up, keeping very still, and extremely silent when she heard voices in the same room as her. She had only just regained consciousness. The slightly touch to her head would be enough to knock her out once more. Careful not to let so much as an eyelid flicker, she listened hard.

‘Who did you say she was, again?’ asked a male. The voice was so cold…so callous. Nicole wanted to shudder just from hearing it.

‘Nicole Webster, sir. General Tani’s First Lieutenant. Vyrla and Rebecca were trying to restrain Katrica when they found her, and another girl. They say that it was the Private. A real bumbler apparently. She got away, but Nicole here didn’t, so they brought her to you, Count.’

‘Tell them that they shall be rewarded for their good work, Higashi,’ spoke the callous, icy cold voice again. ‘Then come back here. You can help me question her.’

Footsteps left. Nicole listened to the sound of a door opening, and then being closed. She could feel slight vibrations in the floorboards as whom she assumed was Count Takeshi stepped ever closer to her.

‘Are you awake?’ he said, softly. With the tone of his voice lowered, he came close to losing the contemptuous chill that always clung onto every syllable.

She listened to his footsteps as he paced, walking around her, circling her repeatedly. She knew that he was waiting for Higashi to come back, and then she was going to be in real trouble. She wondered what Tani was doing, and whether he already knew that she had been kidnapped. She hoped that he knew, and that he was already working on a plan to get her back.

After a few minutes, Nicole heard the sound of a door opening and closing again, closely followed by footsteps. She assumed that Higashi had returned.

‘Is she awake, sir?’ he asked, tentatively.

‘I’m not sure. She might be, and just faking being asleep, or she might genuinely be out cold. Only one way to find out.’

She listened to Takeshi standing in front of her, and then he bent down, and slapped her around the face, roughly. In her weakened state, just the one slap was enough to send Nicole spiralling back into the depths of unconsciousness.

* * *

Däyna was perched on the edge of a table, with Eve standing before her, treating the cuts on her arm. The Private winced as the disinfectant touched her broken skin.

‘Ouch. That hurts, Goddammit,’ she complained.

‘I am trying to be gentle. Surely you can appreciate that I can’t treat your wounds without them stinging a bit?’ shot back Eve, wearily.

‘I suppose so,’ admitted Däyna, grudgingly. ‘Although, what would be even better would be if you didn’t have to treat them. I’m fine. Honestly.’

‘They could get infected,’ replied the Corporal, in a distant voice.

Däyna sarcastically rolled her eyes, and let Eve continue, only wincing occasionally. They were silent for a while, until the Private voiced something that had been lingering on her mind for the past few minutes.

‘When Tani gathered us all together, on the night he ordered Kat and Jonnie to break into Takeshi’s Castle, when he called you round his desk, what were you talking about?’

‘Hmm?’ Eve looked up, ‘oh, nothing of interest.’

‘I saw both of you shoot looks at me. He was talking about me, wasn’t he?’ pursued Däyna. She was determined not to let the topic drop.

‘Yes. He didn’t say much though. Okay, I’ve finished, you can get dressed again.’

The door opened swiftly and Tani entered, eyes fixed on Eve.

‘I’m going to need you tonight,’ he said. She gave him a curious look. Däyna dared not wonder what thoughts were going through her friend’s mind. ‘I’m going to go and get Nicole back from Takeshi’s castle tonight, and I want you to come along with me, as assistance. I think the time that Kat and Jonnie went was fine, but the alarm was only raised because Kat decided that it was necessary to scream her head off at the sight of what was probably a teddy bear.’

Eve nodded, to show that she had understood Tani’s orders. He smiled at her, and then walked back out of the room, leaving her and Däyna alone once more.

* * *

When Nicole was roused into consciousness once again, the first thing she noticed was that she had been tied to a chair. She rolled her eyes scornfully. A swift look at the clock behind the Count told her that it was coming up to the evening. She had been unconscious for most of the day.

‘Oh please…if you’re going to threaten me to give you information, or whatever, then you could at least do something more original than tying me to a chair. I know it’s a classic thing to do to your hostages, but it’s boring now.’

She watched Count Takeshi’s features harden in fury. Nicole suspected that nobody had spoken to him in such a cheeky manner before. She felt pleased to have been the first one to be so rude to him.

‘Well, at least you know why you’re here,’ snarled Takeshi. He came closer to her, until they were only inches apart from each other. ‘I want you to tell me exactly what Tani is planning. I know he sent two troops into my castle, because one of them raised the alarm for my Guards. What was he looking for?’

‘If you want to know that much, go ask him yourself,’ replied Nicole, sarcasm making her voice louder than before.

Takeshi nodded solemnly at Sonomanma, who looked momentarily worried. Nicole scanned his face, trying to read the expression, almost as though she was trying to get inside his mind, and figure out what was making him look so fearful.

He disappeared out of the room for a second. Nicole was listening carefully. She thought she could just make out an eerie clanking noise, which sounded like something metallic clicking on the tiles on the floor.

Sonomanma appeared back in the room, under the almost disdainful gaze of Takeshi. He was holding onto a rope, the other end of it attached to something that had not yet come through the door and into sight. When it entered the room, Nicole found herself biting her tongue painfully to prevent herself from screaming.

The overall shape of the creature would have been human, had it not been on all fours, crawling about like a spider, with only half the amount of legs. It flicked itself upright, standing menacingly, almost haughtily. From the creature’s elbows and knees onwards, somehow instead of more flesh, there were, long, sharp and deadly looking blades, which appeared to be strong enough to obliterate anything that got in its way.

‘I’m not afraid to use force on you, Nicole,’ whispered the Count. He noticed her staring, clearly terrified of the grotesque beast. ‘I will allow this to kill you if you fail to co-operate.’

‘I’m not telling you anything.’

‘So be it,’ retorted Takeshi. The beast pulled Sonomanma along, with him only half resisting the tug.

‘You won’t be able to capture any more of Tani’s troops!’ blurted out Nicole suddenly. ‘So…so if you kill me, you’ll definitely never be able to find out anything!’

‘Oh really?’ questioned Count Takeshi, stepping closer to her.

* * *

General Tani and Corporal Evelyn were silently, yet swiftly making their way through the same forest that Katrica had prowled through after her first werewolf transformation. The pair were ducking under low branches and nimbly jumping over protruding tree roots without making a single sound at all.

Evelyn was only a few steps behind Tani, and so therefore was out of his view. She felt something cold clasping over her mouth. Her lips were going numb, preventing her from uttering a single sound. The chill rapidly spread down her entire body, trickling over her like water, freezing every inch of flesh that it touched, until she was completely immobilised. She tried to call out to Tani, to try and get him to realise that she had been frozen by something - or someone - but failed to make a sound, as he shot off further into the forest, disappearing into the trees.

Another freezing charm was sent flying at his back as he sped off, but missed, and instead caught a tree behind him, turning the brown bark and the dark green brown leaves to a pale blue. Within seconds, the tree looked so fragile by the charm, as if it was made entirely of crystal.

‘Damn,’ whispered a voice behind her. ‘Ah well…I’ve got you at least. I’m sure something’ll take care of Tani later…’

* * *

Tani turned back to see how Eve was holding up, when he realised that he had been travelling on his own. She was nowhere in sight. He cursed under his breath.

‘Where the hell did she go?’ he asked venomously. He wondered if maybe Takeshi had scouts in the forest, keeping watch in case they saw either him or any of his troops.

He turned back on himself and searched for Eve. He was tempted to call out to her, just in case she was trapped somewhere and was unable to get to him, if he was in her sight. He decided against it. Only God knows who - or what - else is hiding in here, he thought.

After ten minutes of searching for her, and not having the slightest bit of success, he decided to continue with what he was supposed to be doing, which was going after Nicole. If he was right in thinking that she had been taken captive by an Emerald Guard, then she was more than likely going to be taken back to the castle. So there’s a chance that I could find her on my way to Nicole…he told himself.

* * *

‘I hope you’re not scared,’ murmured a deep voice in Eve’s ear. ‘Fear only makes the charm harder to escape from…’

Eve desperately wanted to shudder. She was so cold, and was faintly surprised that her skin had not turned entirely blue yet. She was not even able to blink, the charm was holding her in place so fiercely. She decided that the only way to break free would be to summon the strength inside her to cast a charm of her own.

The Guard that had cast the charm on her, saw a noticeable change coming over Eve. The ice that had settled onto her body was starting to crack. Her entire form started to shake, causing long runs in the ice, which dropped off her, as she continued to draw power deep inside herself.

There was an explosion of magical force as Eve cast her spell. The Guard that had tried to freeze her was blown head over heels, sprawled on the grass. The trees nearby were being thrown around spectacularly; a few were coming dangerously close to being ripped up. She turned to face the fallen Guard, and flicked her hands towards herself, as though motioning him to come over to her. Another gust of wind swept him back to his feet, and he was inexorably pulled closer. In the few seconds she had before he was right in front of her, she pulled out her katana and held it out, so the strong gust forced him onto the blade. The tip of the blade penetrated his chest, and protruded out the other side. She turned away from the lifeless body, and made her solitary way towards the castle, in hope of finding Tani.

* * *

Tani gave the forest one last, interested look before heading inside Takeshi’s fortress. He thought he saw a disturbance in the trees, almost as though a hurricane had gone tearing through, coming close to destroying anything nearby. He broke silently into the castle.

After a few minutes searching, he came across one room with a closed door. He pressed his ear to the wood and listened. He could hear the sounds of whimpering coming from inside. It sounded a lot like Nicole. He just about managed to make out Takeshi talking to her in a low, threatening tone.

Tani kicked the door open and dashed inside. He saw Nicole, tied to a chair and looking helpless, with some disgusting beast practically breathing down her neck. Sonomanma hurried forwards, to try and get rid of Tani, to prevent him from doing anything that might help him rescue Nicole.

The General gave Sonomanma a hard punch that almost knocked him immediately to the floor. He staggered theatrically and crashed into a wall. He called out, his face a mask of pain as Tani stepped ever closer. The beast’s leash he had been clasping onto slipped out of his hand.

Higashi pushed himself away from the wall and faced Tani squarely, his face set in a determined expression. Tani lunged again, but missed. Sonomanma had turned out of the way, and then threw his fist back, catching Tani directly in the small of the back. Tani kicked up behind him, striking the Guard’s shins. Sonomanma swore vulgarly.

The door swung open again, revealing the slim figure of Eve. She ran around Tani and made her way to Sonomanma, grabbing a handful of his hair and ramming his head hard into the wall. The three were distracted from their fight by a shrill scream from Nicole, sharply cut off.

The creature that Takeshi had used to threaten her with had gone out of control and was flailing its bladed limbs around. The ropes that bound Nicole to her chair were sliced clean, and fell to the floor. Nicole quickly dashed out of her chair, and felt something pull her back. The Count had seized the back of her top to stop her from getting away. He threw her past him and slammed her in the corner of the room, and then stood directly in front of her, as though trying to shield her from view.

Eve had thrown Sonomanma unceremoniously to the floor as though he was a rag doll, and was preparing to hit him again. The Guard rolled out of the way and was within seconds, back on his feet, almost gracefully. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms down.

‘You know, most people get taught not to hit a man whilst he’s down,’ taunted Higashi.

Eve struggled to run around him, and with his hands still firmly on her wrists, the effect of her escape attempt was her being twirled around as though dancing with Sonomanma.

‘I think I must have skived off that lesson,’ she retorted, as he held her around the waist to stop her from running off again.

She stamped on his feet, and elbowed him in the stomach, winding him. She unsheathed her katana once more and made wild flings at him, which he had to carefully avoid.

Sonomanma could feel something cold through the material of his clothing and knew that he was pressed up against a wall. Eve was still advancing on him, a malicious smile playing on her lips. She thrust the blade of her katana through his stomach, skewering him, before ripping it out of his flesh. He collapsed weakly at her feet.

Tani was dodging left and right, moving his body almost in time with the freed creature, in his attempts to avoid being injured. He had yet to see an opening in which he could fight back. It made a huge stab at him, which missed by inches as Tani rolled to one side, out of the way and turned back to faced it. The steel blade which came so close to penetrating his body drove itself with extreme force into the cold tiles. The creature struggled to pull free, but its limb was well and truly embedded.

Knowing that he was going to be hard pressed to get another opportunity like this, his hands moved swiftly to his waist, where he drew the twin pistols he was carrying instead of his katana. He backed off a bit and fired shot after shot at the creature. The bullets hardly seemed to do any damage to it at all. It gave a massive tug and managed to pull the blade out and stalked nearer.

Hundreds of gunshots were ringing out, bouncing off the walls, sounding loudly in the ears of anybody nearby. They were hitting the creature, and shooting out the other side, before cascading into the wall, but seemingly failed to cause so much as the slightest bit of harm. Tani glanced behind him, and looked back, still shooting rapidly. He could see Eve edging ever closer to the battle.

‘Stay out of the way!’

Two bullets were blasted out of the pistols simultaneously and careered into the beast’s skull, via the eyeballs. Blood trickled down its ruined face as it paused. Tani stopped shooting and cautiously lowered his guns as the monster swayed dangerously. He was breathing heavily, never once taking his eyes off the creature.

Instead of falling down dead, it lunged suddenly at him, twirling gracefully in the air, the bladed arms outstretched. It pirouetted into Tani, clawing at him, piercing skin, destroying flesh, causing rivers of blood to trickle down his body. Eve shrieked and started to run forwards.

‘Stay!’

It tried to make another attack, but he held out one of the guns he was holding, quick as a flash and deflected it, giving himself some time to get back onto his feet. He winced with every movement and coughed. A drop of blood and spittle trickled down his chin. The guns were raised again, shooting away erratically, half the shots missing his target entirely. He was soon backed up against a wall himself, with the beast still getting closer.

More blood splashed onto him from the creature. It was spraying off the beast as every bullet tore through it. Tani raised the gun held on his right hand and placed it against the forehead of the beast and pulled the trigger. The entire head exploded, clean off its shoulders, brains and blood ands pieces of skull coating Tani. Yet the arms and legs were still moving.

The creature got back down onto all fours and scuttled away.

‘Why won’t it die?’ he screamed, looking down at the useless weapons in his hands.

It raised itself up again and came charging at him. He knew it was futile, he knew the bullets were not going to kill the creature, but he had to try and fight back anyway. The left gun clicked, instead of emitting loud shots. It was out of ammunition. Tani cursed with extreme vulgarity and threw it down in a temper and continued shooting with the other one.

He squeezed the trigger twice; two more shots resounded. The pulled it a third time, and that one also made a dull clicking sound. It was also empty. He looked up at the beast, after the final two bullets drove themselves into the beast’s body. It had stopped moving, and at last, slumped to the ground. Tani had finally managed to kill it. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then remembered what he and Eve were there for.

Takeshi was still standing in the corner, in front of Nicole, not allowing anybody to get near to her, and not allowing her to break free. Tani was shaking, covered from head to foot in his own blood, the blood and brains of the beast he had struggled so much with to annihilate.

Eve had spotted another bullet magazine on the floor, not too far away from her, and thought that it looked like the ammunition needed for Tani’s twin pistols. She quickly picked it up and tossed it to Tani, who rapidly reloaded his guns before the wounded Sonomanma or Takeshi could do anything about it.

‘Get out of the way, Takeshi,’ snarled the General.

‘No,’ he replied.

‘You are not in the best of situations here, Count. If you don’t move, I will shoot.’

‘So shoot me then.’

Tani gave a shrug as if to say ‘whatever you wish’ and shot one bullet to the chest. It ricocheted off the Count as if he was wearing a bullet proof jacket underneath his clothing. But Tani could see that he had on nothing of the sort.

The General shot again. Like before, the bullet just made a loud noise and pinged off. Tani started shooting fiercely, his fingers never stopping on the trigger. Nicole had screamed again, and ducked down underneath Takeshi, her hands on her head.

Eve was watching in horror. What was happening? How come the bullets were not doing what they were meant to be doing? Tani lowered the pistols again, a look of confusion on his face. Takeshi laughed.

‘Not much use, was it? Shooting me,’ he sneered.

‘Guns may not be much use against you, but I should imagine katanas would be more effective,’ challenged Eve, moving forwards.

‘You mean, you hope a katana will work more,’ corrected Takeshi.

‘Eve, don’t!’ warned Tani. Eve ignored him and stood face to face with the Count.

She struck. She tried to stab him through the stomach, but the blade just bounced off him.

‘Just let her go!’ she screamed at him. He laughed again, and slapped her around the face.

‘Make me. And if you try anything clever, you just need to ask yourself whether you think that creature Tani just managed to kill is the only one in here. For all you know, I might have an entire army of them, just waiting for my command.’

Eve made another pointless attempt to stab Takeshi whilst Tani groaned softly into his hands in exasperation. She took everybody in the vicinity by surprise by snatching at the back of Takeshi’s head and forcing him out of the way. She managed to grab hold of Nicole’s hand and led her out from behind him, taking care not to strike her with her katana. They made a run for the exit.

‘Higashi, get after them!’ ordered Takeshi vehemently.

Sonomanma struggled back to his feet, at the same moment Tani knocked him back over. He then followed the three out of the room, and they fled from the castle, seeking the safety of the compound.

* * *

Back at Takeshi’s castle, the Count was fuming.

‘You imbecile!’ he yelled at Sonomanma. ‘You absolute imbecile, you let them go!’

‘I am sorry sir. Maybe,…maybe you could plan out an attack on Tani’s men? Get everything worked out beforehand, right down to the last little detail…you could annihilate them all in one go.’

‘You know Higashi,’ started Takeshi. ‘That’s not a bad idea…’

* * *

‘What was that creature, Nicole?’ asked Tani, looking down at his shaking First Lieutenant.

‘I - I dunno,’ she replied in a trembling voice. ‘He…Takeshi said that he was going to let it kill me if I didn’t do what he wanted. He wanted me to tell you what you were looking for. But I didn’t say.’

‘Well done,’ said Tani, flashing her a smile. ‘Go to bed, get some rest. You’ll need it.’

* * *

Takeshi and the two counsellors spent next day entirely by meticulously planning an attack on Tani’s compound.

‘We could always go at night, get Katrica in the full moon,’ suggested Saburo, looking hopefully at the Count, who shook his head.

‘No, too risky. She could bite one of us, rather than one of Tani’s men. I spoke to her about the night they attacked those two girls in Tani’s army. She couldn’t tell friend from foe. One werewolf on our hands is bad enough,’ replied Takeshi.

‘What about your creatures?’ interjected Sonomanma. ‘After all they are your…disposable army. Don’t forget, Tani had a lot of difficulty fighting that one. Just imagine what an entire hoard could do.’

Takeshi’s face split into an evil grin.

‘I am really starting to like the way you think.’

‘Then it is settled,’ stated Saburo. ‘Just set a time, Count.’

* * *

The last remaining minutes of the day were slipping away as midnight crept ever closer. The Corporals, Lieutenants and the Private were standing in Tani’s desk, doing the same as Takeshi was, and trying to think of a decent plan of action. He was going to have to let them go soon, though, he suspected, as some of them had started to fall asleep.

Jonnie’s head fell to one side, onto the shoulder of the person next to him, which happened to be Katrina. She jerked his head off her shoulder, and he let out a loud snore, which woke him up. He looked around, feeling embarrassed with himself.

‘Go on, get to bed you lot, we’ll continue with this plan tomorrow,’ called Tani. The five gathered in front of him let out a collective sigh of relief and started to file out of the door.

Katrina broke off from the group and paused by one of the windows, staring out at the moonlit sky. She could see the forest that hid Takeshi’s castle clearly. There were lots of figures dashing through the trees. She watched them, wondering who they were, before realising that they were not human.

‘What the -’ she started.

One of the figures stepped directly into the moonlight. The silvery beams threw it into sharp relief. The Corporal gasped and held her hands to her mouth as her eyes rested on the four limbs, ending in blades, and the mutated bodies.

She ran past her colleagues, who gave her half interested looks as they were heading to their rooms.

‘General Tani!’ she yelled, breathlessly as she barged through his office door, ‘there’s something outside that I think you should see!’

He followed her to a window, and saw the creatures that were heading towards them. His jaw dropped, eyes bulging so much, they looked like they might pop out of their sockets at any second.

‘Kuso yo,’ he cursed. ‘Kuso!’

‘Do you want me to raise the alarm?’ volunteered Kat. Tani shook his head.

‘No, just get the others back here sharpish! They’re going to need guns, they’re going to need their katanas. Maybe a bit of magic as well, those things are not easy to kill!’

‘Yes sir.’

The beasts had started attacking the front door, hammering loudly, trying to break in. Tani’s heart was filled with fear. He took off suddenly, running full pelt back into his office, leaping on his desk and sliding over, landing on the floor on the other side in a crouch, and opened one of the drawers, pulling out his twin pistols and katana.

* * *

Jonnie was one of the first to encounter one of Count Takeshi’s beasts. It took a swing at him with one of its bladed limbs, and he had to duck to avoid being struck. He could hear commotion behind him, and knew that somebody else had seen what he was fighting against. He turned back, and saw that it was Nicole who had called out in shock.

His distraction cost him. The beast pulled down an arm and slashed Jonnie’s back. He cried out in agony. As the steel ripped through his flesh, blood trickled down his back, over the blade, down his clothing, and dripping onto the floor, forming a small puddle.

He could see Tani running out of his office with Katrina following close behind. Both were weighed down with weapons. The rest of Tani’s main troops were gathering around the break in, where the creatures were continuing to try and force entry. Tani and Katrina handed out the weapons, before trying to fight themselves.

Jonnie parried another attack with his new katana, with the metallic sound of the two blades clashing together, and rebounding. He moved around the beast with lightning speed, ducking underneath another assault and then reappearing behind the creature, catching it totally by surprise.

He penetrated its skin with the tip of the katana he was wielding and drew blood. No matter how much he slashed and stabbed at the beast, it would not fall down.

‘Tani!’ he called out, unnerved, ‘I can’t kill it, it won’t die!’

Tani spun around the side of the beast he was currently fighting, and then took quick but careful aim, and pulled the trigger. A solitary bullet tore through the air, and embedded itself in the skull of the beast.

Like when he was fighting the first beast up at Takeshi’s castle, after Nicole had been kidnapped, the monster’s head exploded, this time, drenching Jonnie in all kinds of unpleasant substances.

‘Aahh, oh my God, that’s sick!’ he called out, looking thoroughly disgusted.

A torrential rain of blood spewed from out the severed necks, spraying over everything nearby. Jonnie ran out of the way as the creature threatened to topple over. But it regained its balance, and slid down to all fours, scuttling towards him in the usual, spidery manner. Jonnie let out several frightened cries, and backed off, trying to get as far away from the creature as was possible. He held his katana tightly, and continued to retreat, waiting for the right moment for him to attack…

The beast paused slightly, about to right itself back onto its hind legs again. Jonnie saw his chance, and struck. He thrust the point of the katana deep inside the ribcage of the monster, splintering ribs, breaking blood vessels, destroying flesh. Jonnie only stopped pushing down on the mutation when he felt the katana start to dig into the tiles underneath. He had trapped the creature, leaving it pinned to the floor.

* * *

There was an eruption of flames, which illuminated the entire vicinity, throwing them all into blinding light. The enchanted flames seemed to creep up the walls, and rolled onto the ceiling, where Katrina’s beast was lingering, trying to spot the perfect opportunity to leap down on her and attack. Her spell worked well; soon the entire body of the beast was engulfed in fire. Its grip on the ceiling loosened, and it fell off, cascading to the floor. Katrina took out the handguns she had and fired off numerous rounds, her finger tugging at the triggers almost non-stop. The gunshots did not sound like they were coming from simple pistols, but resembled the shots of a machine gun more.

The beast picked itself up off the floor and charged at Kat, catching her full in the face. She staggered back, temporarily stunned. She took another step back and prepared herself for the spell she was about to perform.
As her shoes touched the cold floor once more, as though somebody underneath her feet had ignited her soles, more flames shot up, from her toes, sweeping up and engulfing her entirely. Liquid fire poured upwards, smothering her, until she looked like a burning effigy. Her arms were outstretched in front of her, still tightly clasping the pistols, as they too started to burn.
Her skin should have been blackened to a crisp by now, but she showed no signs of any burns or discomfort at all, as the roaring fire continued to rage and roll over her. She aimed carefully at the beast, and pulled at the triggers again. Her gun shot off a few blasts, but then emitted a clicking sound. She was out of bullets.
‘Damn!’ she cursed, throwing the useless weapons to the ground.
The bullets that she had fired off had penetrated the body of the beast, and had started to internally burn it. She stepped forwards, and aimed a high kick which nearly snapped the beast’s head clean off its shoulders. A look of panic spread across its face as the bullets that embedded themselves deep inside it continued to do more damage.
She backed away, as far as she dared to go, and drew the katana that Tani had entrusted to her. She held it cautiously, watching the beast, never letting her guard slip, not for so much as one second. She flinched slightly when it imploded in front of her, and then the first few flames started to flicker out, slowly spreading more and more over the entirety of the beast. It did not take long before the pressure inside the body of the creature became unbearable, in which, in so much as a split second, it exploded. Katrina flung herself sideways, out of the way, so that she could avoid the sickening splatter as much as possible.

* * *

Evelyn and Däyna found themselves side by side, trapped by two of the creatures, who were stalking their way over menacingly. The young Private looked at Eve and gulped softly.
‘Got any ideas?’ she murmured quietly, out of the side of her mouth. Eve almost missed what she said.
‘Staying alive sounds good for starters,’ whispered the Corporal, in reply.
Just moments before the pair were about to launch an attack on Count Takeshi’s creations, they both leapt forwards and struck them, before they had the chance to defend themselves. The two were separated, and held down, unable to get to one another, unable to defend themselves, or help the other.
Eve struck the one holding her in the face, immediately thinking that she should have known better than to think that a mere punch would help her get away. She remembered Tani taking it on, just before she had to get Nicole. They had only just got the First Lieutenant back, and already she was in danger once more.
She pulled away from the creature, and dared to try and help Däyna, but the back of her uniform jacket was instantaneously seized, and she was forced back, away from the Private, the front of the jacket cutting into her throat, making her choke. She rubbed her throat as she turned around to face the beast.
Eve held out a hand to the monster, and waved it vaguely, as a jet of icy cold air was shot out of her fingertips and swept the beast up, high into the air, above the heads of everybody in the vicinity. She allowed it to struggle in vain against her magic, wriggling as though it though that the more it moved, the more chance it would have of falling back to the ground. She taunted it for a bit longer, waving her hands lazily around, enjoying watching it high up above her, helplessly sprawling its limbs.
‘For God’s sake Eve, stop showing off and kill the damn thing!’ snapped Tani, breaking away from his fight momentarily, to watch what she was doing. In his lapse of mind, he found a bladed limb working its way inside his stomach, and he called out in agony, blood rushing up and into his mouth.
Eve turned away, horrified as she watched the General vomit up a mouthful of his own blood, and allowed the beast to crash back down. It made its way shakily to its feet again, and started to come for her, but hesitantly this time, not wanting to be caught with the same spell twice.
She let it creep closer, as it started to regain confidence in the fact that she was not going to try the same thing again, and just before she got the chance to make an attack with her katana, it lunged. She let out a shriek, and only just about managed to block it with her own weapon.
The metallic noise of blade on blade rang out as it continued to try and hit her, every attempted at skewering her parried. She was moving constantly, waving her katana around as another fresh lunge rained down on her, avoiding the sharp, pointed tips with well placed dodges.
She thrust her blade forwards, as it leant backwards, almost out of reach. She half stumbled into it, and half gave it an almighty shove, and nearly toppled the beast over. As it straightened up, it reached out, at the same time that she did.
Evelyn stopped suddenly. Pain was racking up her torso, flowing through her entire being. Her eyes were watering. She let out a shuddering gasp, and looked down. The katana in her hands seemed to weight a ton, but yet she was still clinging onto it, she had not dropped it. It was not even hanging loosely by her side. Most of the blade had been forced, inexorably into the stomach of the beast.
Däyna saw the look of open-mouthed horror on Eve’s face, and then noticed the bright crimson blood that had been shed, trickling rapidly out of her body from slashed arteries.
She fought tooth and nail to get to the wounded Corporal, to assist her, be her backup, but was unable to get anywhere near her. She felt rage growing up inside of her. She kicked out to the right, her foot landing squarely in the chest of the beast that had been restraining her, nearly bowling it over. It seemed to freeze in mid-stumble. The beast that had stabbed Eve, as she was stabbing it had frozen as well, as though something was holding them in place, preventing them from moving so much as one muscle.
The flesh on Däyna’s hands had blackened, as though they had been burnt by Katrina’s spell. She held them out, palms up, the skin on her palms starting to tingle. There was a faint glow around her hands, almost invisible, but growing stronger. It was a deep purple and black aura which strengthened and crawled up her arms, becoming brighter and more visible with every passing second.
She threw her arms out in front of her, a black shadow, which looked strangely solidified, bursting out from her palms. As though it was a dark lasso, it wrapped itself around the beast that had injured Eve tightly around the neck. With one sharp tug, it was pulled towards the Private, a look of anger still washed onto her features.
She held the lasso at the end, close to the beast’s neck, and pulled it face to face with her. There was a brief look of utmost disgust on her face just before she threw the creature heavily down to the ground and bounced it off the chilly tiles, and smashed it into the ceiling. She bounced it into the other creature, which had been trying to injure her until she started to work her magic, still stuck in mid-stumble. The translucent ghostly lasso snapped from out of her hands, and bound the two monsters together.

* * *

Nicole had been dodging her beast with super speed, never stopping, always in a blur, enraging the beast. It launched another attack at her, and once more came into contact with nothing more than air. A furious howl burst from its larynx. Nicole suddenly stood perfectly still. The beast noticed this, and took the perfect opportunity in front of it, and brought a blade down, swiftly moving towards her heart area.
All Nicole did in her defence was hold up a solitary finger. The blade that was moving at her with such a killer instinct, with such speed, slowed down, almost to a stop. The very point of the blade made the lightest contact with her fingernail, which acted as the cue for a jolt of electricity to surge through her, along the bladed limb, and into the body of the beast. She cried out in agony, feeling the charge tearing through her, leaving her feeling weak. After a few minutes, she was panting with the effort of continuing to shock the beast. She only stopped when it fell to the floor, landing heavily on the tiles, stone dead. As her finger was removed from the blade, some stray strands of electricity shot back though her, causing her hair to stand on end. She sighed impatiently and rolled her eyes sarcastically.
‘Every damn time,’ she muttered to herself.
Every eye turned to Tani as he let out a small cry of pain, his hands clasped to the weeping wound in his stomach. Eve dashed forwards and tried to help him stand up straight. He raised a hand to stop her.
‘No, I’m fine, honestly,’ Eve’s face was a mask of sceptism.

There was a hubbub of voices, as others started to appear, having heard the deafening sounds of the fights which had taken place.

‘Oh God, I don’t need the rest of the troops awoken,’ muttered Tani to himself, and started forwards, to tell them to return to their rooms. Eve stopped him by resting a hand on his shoulder.

‘Allow me sir,’ she said, and started to bark orders at them in a firm, authoritative voice.

He grinned at her in his appreciation, and then remembered something that he had been meaning to speak to her about for a while.

‘Can you come with me for a minute, please? The rest can sort out place out, after those…things attacked.’

She nodded and followed him. Tani ushered Eve into his office and moved around to his chair, dropping down in it wearily. His wounds were giving him such pain, and the situation with Takeshi weighed heavily on him. Eve studied his face, sympathetically, and waited for him to speak. He rubbed his forehead before looking up at her.

‘At least we got Nicole back unharmed,’ he said.

‘Yes sir, we did,’ Eve replied. ‘And there’s no permanent harm to you.’

He smiled slightly. Eve knew that there was something else he wanted to talk about, and waited patiently for him to broach the subject himself.

‘Sit down Eve,’ he said. ‘There’s something I need to discuss with you.’

Eve complied, feeling that she knew what was coming next.

‘What is it, General?’ she asked gently.

‘It’s Private Däyna,’ he sighed, shaking his head. ‘I don’t think she’s going to make the grade.’

‘Sir…’ began Eve.

He held up his hand to silence her.

‘She should have summoned help after she and Nicole were attacked.’

‘She’s just inexperienced, that’s all. She’s not incapable.’

Tani gazed at Eve’s concerned expression for a long moment. She looked back at him, understanding what he was saying, but not afraid to disagree with him.

‘You seem to have faith in her,’ Tani observed.

‘Yes, I do,’ Eve told him. ‘She can gain those skills, and the confidence she needs, she will gain the experience it takes. She’s young, these things come with time.’

‘I need to be able to rely on my people.’

‘I know sir, I know. She will make good, I’m positive of it.’

‘Her training sessions haven’t exactly sparkled lately,’ Tani sighed.

‘We-e-ell,’ some have been better than others.’ Eve looked down.

Tani noticed a slight smile playing on her lips.

‘What?’ he asked, his curiosity piqued.

‘It’s just that…when you’re present, and she’s directly under your scrutiny, it makes her nervous.’

Tani’s brow furrowed and he stared at his Corporal. What was he, an ogre?

‘I make her nervous?’ Tani got up and went to the window, shaking his head. ‘What is Takeshi going to make her, then? If she mucks up fighting him because she’s nervous…’

‘…That’s not what I mean,’ Eve said gently, getting up and approaching Tani.

‘What then?’

‘Well….let me ask you, sir….when you were a lot younger, was there someone you really admired? Someone whose approval you wanted so badly that you were afraid of looking stupid in front of them? Someone you wanted so much to impress that you ended up being rude or looking daft just out of sheer terror?’

Tani thought for a long moment. There were people he had admired and craved respect from, in his youth. And if he was honest with himself, he had messed up more than once through being afraid of that person’s opinions. It seemed awful at the time, and he blushed at the memory.

‘Däyna looks up to you,’ Eve told him. ‘She desperately wants your approval and your good opinion. If you got to know her a little better, the nerves would ease, and she’d feel more at ease around you. She’s a good person, sir, and she really does want to serve you well. She works hard, and I can see the potential in her. And like I said, she’s young and she just lacks experience. All she needs is for you to give her a chance.’

Tani smiled at Eve, with fresh understanding.

‘Alright Corporal, she’ll get her chance,’ he nodded. ‘I’ll take what you say on board, and perhaps you should personally organiser her training schedule so she gets what she needs.’

‘Thank you General,’ Eve replied gratefully.

‘I will try to get to know her better. Can’t have junior officers pissing themselves with nerves every time I walk into a room.’

‘No sir, that would never do,’ Eve smiled.

‘Alright Corporal. Dismissed.’

Eve nodded and left the room, grinning as she shut the door behind her.

* * *

Katrica was sitting in her room, accompanied by Becca and Vyrla, who were both watching her anxiously. The werewolf was shivering slightly, sitting on her bed and hugging her knees, eyeing the window nervously. The blinds had been shut, but she knew that there was still a risk of catching some moonlight. She vaguely listened into the other two girls’ conversation.

‘Why hasn’t Count Takeshi moved her to a different room?’ asked Vyrla, in a low voice. ‘He knows the risk she has, staying in this room. I don’t think he could possibly manage to find a room with more exposure to moonlight if he tried!’

‘I don’t know why he hasn’t done anything about it. Maybe he wants us all to get bitten and turn into werewolves, or something,’ suggested Becca, bitterly. ‘I heard him talking to Sonomanma the other day about it and he said something about all the rooms being cast in moonlight.’

‘That’s rubbish, and he knows it,’ snapped Vyrla.

‘Isn’t he looking into finding a cure for me?’ spoke Katrica, in a tiny voice. She looked hopefully from one girl to the other. They exchanged a dark look, and Katrica felt her heart sink.

‘Uh…no, he hasn’t. Not yet, anyway. I’m sure he will soon. He can’t let you stay like this, even if he’s thinking about the rest of his Guards,’ replied Vyrla, slowly.

Katrica looked glumly at the bedroom floor. So far, the only measures that Count Takeshi had taken so far – that she knew of – was making sure that she had proper harnesses at night time, in case she turned in the middle of the night. It was very depressing for her. She wondered how come nobody had come to attach the harnesses yet tonight.

‘Sonomanma’s late tonight,’ remarked Becca, as though she just read her friend’s mind.

Vyrla got to her feed and opened the door, sticking her head out into the corridor, looking to see if she could spot the counsellor. He appeared from around the corner, holding Katrica’s harnesses.

‘You’re late,’ stated Vyrla, coldly.

Sonomanma shot her a piercing glare and then strode past her to Katrica, still huddled on the bed. She stood up, in front of the counsellor, and allowed the harnesses to be attached.

Just after her arms were restrained, the flimsy blind that was blocking out most of the moonlight fell down, silvery beams shooting in the room, lighting Katrica up eerily. She let out a howl of rage as the transformation started to take place once more.

It felt like there was something hot bubbling underneath her skin, trying to burst free. Fur was sprouting on her hands and arms, and on her neck and face as she turned more and more grotesque. Sonomanma struggled with her, him holding onto one harness, Becca and Vyrla clasping the other. A sharp breeze was coming in through the window frame, the glass still smashed.

Within minutes, she was a wolf again; unable to identify who were her friends, and who were her foes. She broke free from the chains that were attached to her, and dashed out of her room, the three Guards tailing after her.

Count Takeshi heard the racket, and when to inspect, to see what was making such an unholy noise, when he saw the struggle with Katrica, who was wreaking havoc. There were footsteps behind him; he wheeled around, nervously, and saw Saburo, holding a large rifle in his hands.

Ishikura stopped when he was right in front of Kat, who had reared herself onto her hind legs, and prepared to attack. He raised the rifle, and shot her.

There was a scream from both Becca and Vyrla as their friend toppled backwards.

‘What the hell are you trying to kill her for?’ screamed Vyrla, taking a swipe at Saburo. Becca had sunk to her knees, watching as Katrica started to change back into a human.

‘Since when do tranquilisers kill?’ retorted Saburo, scathingly. Vyrla snatched the rifle out of his hands and inspected it. Grudgingly seeing that he was right, she threw it back at him.

Becca got back to her feet and seized the front of the Count’s kimono.

‘You’ve got to do something to put her right!’ she pleaded, staring into Takeshi’s face. His expression was cold, contemptuous.

‘I don’t have to do anything, thank you very much,’ came the icy reply.

‘She – she can’t go on like that, being a werewolf, it’s not fair on her! The rest of us are at risk every single time she enters moonlight, as well, because she’s just out of control! She could break free from her harnesses again and bite somebody else. This time we were lucky. We might not be next time,’ exclaimed Becca.

Count Takeshi mulled her words over carefully.

‘No,’ he replied.

‘It’s not her fault! She’s just got a problem, she’s still human!’ snapped Becca. The Count looked at her with mild surprise, not expecting to see such rage coming from her.

* * *

General Tani trained his troops relentlessly the next day, Eve watching over the Private, as he had suggested in his office. Däyna was starting to get irritable as she tried to control her magic and failed.

‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ she snapped, as a spell zoomed over the Corporal’s head, just narrowly missing her. ‘I give up, I can’t bloody do it.’

‘Just keep trying,’ replied Eve in a soothing voice.

The Private sighed and had another attempt, even though the expression on her face clearly said that she thought she was wasting her time.

Nicole was sparring furiously with Jonnie, both with magical powers and using their own katanas, whilst being watched over by Katrina, in case one of them got injured.

Everybody stopped when Tani entered the room, and stood to attention. He had something in his hand, zipped up in a large black bag. He gathered them over.

‘I need somebody to go into Count Takeshi’s castle soon. As soon as possible. I want somebody to break in and try and get to the bottom of everything in there. I want to find out what the hell those monsters he’s been messing around with are, and how to kill them. The only real problem is if you’re recognised, obviously, so I managed to get a hold of an Emerald Guard uniform,’ he added, motioning to the bag he was holding in one hand.

His eyes travelled around, sizing up each of them, as though trying to see who would be able to fit into the uniform. His gaze stopped on Nicole.

‘Nicole,’ he began, in a contemplative voice, ‘what size are you?’

‘What the f- ?’ she bit her tongue, knowing that cursing in front of Tani was not the best move she could possibly make.

‘Do you think you’d be able to fit into this?’ he asked, unzipping the bag and pulling the uniform out. It was even more lurid appearing than normal, she thought, feeling repulsed at the idea of being asked to wear it.

‘Probably…’ she said reluctantly. ‘But, I’m more at risk of being recognised, aren’t I? I mean, he - he tried to threaten me for information before, didn’t he?’

The two Corporals exchanged a smirk. Even though what Nicole was saying was true, they also knew that she was just saying it to try and get out of having to head back to the castle.

‘I see your point,’ mused Tani. ‘But will anybody else get into it? You’re the slimmest out of us all.’

He looked at Eve questioning, who shook her head.

‘No way, sir,’ she stated blunt, failing to hide the broad smile creeping across her face.

‘And don’t look at me, neither,’ interrupted Däyna, before Tani even got the chance to suggest her.

‘Sorry Nicole, but it looks like you’ve drawn the short straw.’ She sighed.

‘Okay, okay, fine, but if I get recognised, it’s your fault,’ she laughed.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll have to temporarily modify your appearance, so that there’s no risk at all of being recognised. Is that alright?’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ she replied. ‘But I draw the line at having a sex change!’

* * *

That evening, Nicole met Tani in his office, wearing the Emerald Guard uniform and trying not to look too displeased about it.

‘I feel really stupid in this,’ she muttered.

‘Rest assured, you’ll look really stupid as well, once the helmet’s on as well,’ retorted Tani, the corners of his mouth twitching. He snorted out loud when Nicole fixed him with a glare. ‘Just go in, and get any information possible. Just pretend to be a new recruit, one that isn’t on file yet or something.’

‘And what are you planning on doing so that I’m not recognised?’ she asked.

Tani beckoned her to come around to the other side of his desk. She obliged, wondering what he was planning on doing. He ordered her to hold out her hands, palms up, which she did. He then placed his hands over hers, holding onto her wrists gently. Her fingers coiled around the General’s wrists as well. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate, whilst Nicole watched, feeling somewhat bemused.

There was a small flicker in Tani’s eyes, like electricity was charging through his entire body, engulfing his whole being. He had a dark blue aura around him, which he concentrated on sending to Nicole. It was almost liquid in substance, and started pouring down his arms, and chest. Nicole was almost expecting puddles of this deep blue substance to form at his feet, but saw that it appeared to dissolve as soon as it touched the floor.

It started to spread from his hands to hers, creeping up along her arms, and soon taking her over, almost as though possessing her. As the substance spread over her skin, a feeling of contentment, of peacefulness washed over her as well. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to look at anything, but wanting to savour the feeling that nothing in the world mattered.

Nicole’s hair started to transform from how it always had been to waist length, sleek and blonde so light that it looked completely white. Her body changed; she became taller, towering over Tani himself. She opened her eyes and squinted. Her eyesight had suddenly become all blurred.

‘What the hell?’ she exclaimed. Tani rolled his eyes and slid off her glasses, revealing bright emerald coloured eyes.

‘You should have several hours before the effect of the spell wears off, so that should give you plenty of time to sneak around Takeshi’s castle and find information,’ commanded Tani.

Nicole nodded.

‘Ganbatte.’

* * *

Nicole had managed to sneak into the castle grounds without being detected, and wondered where the rest of the Emerald Guards would be. She jumped when she saw Count Takeshi and the two counsellors.

‘You there, Guard, who are you?’ demanded Takeshi, giving her a hard look. ‘I don’t remember seeing you around much before.’

‘Uh…’stammered Nicole, trying to remember what Tani had told her to say. ‘I’m…I’m new here. Not on file yet…?’

She was certain that Takeshi was not going to fall for it. She knew, just by the look on his face that he was not going to buy it. She had only been there a few minutes, and already her cover had been blown.

‘Count Takeshi, please, not all of your Guards have been listed yet,’ intervened Sonomanma, ‘I think you should just worry about her later.’

‘Fine. Since you’re new, you can actually do something worthwhile. Come with me, girl.’

‘Yes sir,’ mumbled Nicole, looking at her feet.

She followed the three into a small room where a few other Emerald Guards were already waiting. There was another door, which led to a different room, which Nicole thought must be joined on. It looked like a room to observe things in, giving anybody – or anything - the illusion of privacy.

Count Takeshi and the two counsellors went into the observation part of the room, where they were hidden from sight. Nicole started to follow, when one of the other Guards held her back.

‘No. We stay here.’

‘Oh. Sorry.’

One of the creatures that Takeshi had threatened Nicole with after she had been kidnapped was brought into the room, howling, clearly enraged. It was all Nicole could do to stop herself from recoiling in panic.

‘What have we actually got to do?’ asked Nicole, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. The Guard shot her a suspicious glance

‘You should know, Takeshi told us, remember?’

‘No, he didn’t tell me. I’m new. He just dragged me along.’

The Guard remained looking suspicious for a second longer and then sighed.

‘Okay, Count Takeshi’s just messing around with those – those…things he created, and he’s trying to make them even stronger, since they didn’t do much damage, if any at all, when they went to attack General Tani. He’s getting us to do the dirty work, messing around with rays and stuff, all the dangerous stuff, and he and the two counsellors are just watching and taking notes. Basically, he’s getting us to work, and doing bugger all himself,’ explained the Guard, with a hint of viciousness in his voice.

Nicole set to work with the rest of the Guards, restraining the beasts that they brought in, and aiming rays at them, and then getting the hell out of the way whenever something happened to anger the creatures even more. When the UV ray had been tested on the being, it dropped down to the floor, stone dead. Nicole struggled to keep the excitement inside her; she had discovered what it was that killed the creatures!

‘Kuso,’ swore one of the other Guards. ‘Takeshi’s not going to like that.’

Nicole wanted to get out of the castle and back to Tani’s compounds as fast as was humanly possible, so she could relay all the information she had obtained. Surely Tani would be able to use it to his advantage? Count Takeshi emerged through the other door and pointed to Nicole.

‘You – new girl – go and fetch one of the other creatures. Take another Guard with you, he’ll show you the way,’ ordered the Count.

Nicole waited until she was completely alone with the other Emerald Guard and then succeeded in knocking him out with a single punch. She looked quickly for somewhere to hide the unconscious form, but failed to see anywhere, and then ran as fast as she could manage out of the castle.

* * *

Tani looked up from his seat as Nicole staggered into his office, clutching at the helmet which she was pulling off. He shot her a puzzled look.

‘What is it, Nicole?’

She yelled something incoherent at him, which, no matter how hard he listened, he could not decipher her words.

‘Do you think you could say that in English, please?’

‘I saw how to kill Takeshi’s beasts!’ screamed Nicole, frantically.

Her hair was starting to return to its original length as the effects of the charm that Tani had cast on her began to wear off. She noticed that her eyesight was becoming more and more cloudy; she was going to need her glasses any second. She was also vaguely aware of Tani having a growth spurt until he was able to look down at her, when she realised that she was shrinking. The look on Tani’s face was a look of stunned excitement.

* * *

‘She knocked out the other Guard?’ asked Count Takeshi, looking sceptical at the man before him.

‘Yes sir,’ replied the Emerald Guard. ‘When you sent me to look for them both, I found him, unconscious on the floor. Right out cold, and there was no sign of the girl whatsoever. I hate to say this to you, Count, but I don’t think she really was a Guard.’

‘Funnily enough, I had worked that one out for myself,’ retorted Count Takeshi, snappily. ‘Tani…’

Takeshi walked away from the Guard, and collared Katrica and Vyrla who were walking the other way.

‘Haven’t you girls got anything to do?’ he barked at them, making them jump. They practically saluted as soon as they saw him.

‘Erm, yes sir!’ replied Vyrla, her eyes widened with shock. Takeshi just glared at them,

‘Well, then you can drop those tasks for now, do them later. I’ve got a job for you that I want done now.’

Takeshi explained to them that they were to head to General Tani’s compound, and have a look around everywhere, to find out anything that they possibly could. Takeshi also told them about the girl that turned out to be posing as an Emerald Guard, and gave Katrica and Vyrla a brief description, and told them both to keep a look out for somebody that might resemble her in Tani’s compound.

* * *

They managed to slip into the compound grounds undetected, and started to have a look around, trying to see if they could find anything incriminating. They could hear the muffled sound of voices, and crept closer, listening into the conversation that was going on. Katrica managed to make out that one of the speakers was Tani, and whispered this to Vyrla. They could not figure out who the person he was talking to was. All they could say was that it was a woman.

‘So come on then, don’t keep me in suspenders - uh, I mean suspense -, how can those monsters of Takeshi’s be killed?’ asked Tani.

There was a snort of laughter from the woman Tani was speaking to. Tani chuckled as well.

‘Sorry, couldn’t resist that.’

‘UV rays. Takeshi was trying to figure out if he could make them stronger, and when he exposed one of those…things to UV rays, it just fell down, stone dead,’ replied the female voice.

Katrica and Vyrla exchanged a look. It must have been whoever Tani was talking to that snuck into the castle. Vyrla started to slowly creak the door open, so that they could catch a glance, but Katrica grabbed her wrist and shook her head.

‘No,’ she whispered in a tiny voice. ‘It’s too risky, they might notice. Let’s just get the hell out of here.’

Vyrla nodded, and they started to head back. Katrica, in a lapse of mind, crept past one of the windows, the blinds open, with moonlight drifting through. She failed to notice until it was too late.

Katrica was standing bolt upright, perfectly rigid, as her muscles tensed. Vyrla saw her reaction, and realised what was happening. She tried to tug Katrica away from the window, out of the moonlight, but she would not move. Vyrla prodded her on the arm. Her skin felt rock hard.

She started to make a noise, softly at first, but increasing in volume, until she was about to start screaming. Vyrla frantically clamped a hand over her jaw tightly, trying to close her mouth, so that they had a chance of escaping without being caught.

The door they were listening at flew open, Tani and Nicole standing in the doorway, looking dumbfounded.

‘What the -?’ started Tani, looking from the frozen Katrica to the worried Vyrla.

The four heard footsteps, and the feeling of foreboding in Vyrla’s stomach intensified. Jonnie was running over to them, having heard the noises that Katrica was making as well. Nicole and Jonnie started forwards, ready to wrestle Katrica into submission, but Tani held them back.

‘Yes sir,’ chorused the Lieutenants.

Katrica dropped into all fours as her transformation was completed, and started heading over towards Tani. He took a breath, trying to mentally prepare himself. He could hear the sounds of punches being landed, and grunts of pain as Jonnie fought with Vyrla.

Katrica leapt up at Tani, resting her front paws on his shoulders, and trying to bite him on the neck. Tani cried out in his surprise, attempting to shake the beast off. He saw in the corner of his eye, Jonnie coming forwards to help him.

‘No, you stay out of this, I can handle it!’ called the General.

Jonnie shrugged and continued with his fight against Vyrla.

Claws ripped at Tani’s clothes as Katrica and he wrestled with one another. She slashed a claw at his face, catching his cheek sharply. He let out a small gasp, holding one hand to the four cuts on his skin. They were bleeding slightly, and stung a lot.

* * *

Jonnie and Vyrla were facing off, trying to ignore the sounds of Tani and Katrica fighting furiously with each other. Vyrla swung her foot up, catching Jonnie's hand so that his katana came flying out of his hand, and clattered noisily on the floor. He turned his back on Vyrla and started to go and retrieve it, when Vyrla attacked him from behind, and pinned him to the ground. He let out a cry of surprise, and struggled to push her off him.

He punched her in the stomach; she exhaled noisily as the air was forced out of her stomach from Jonnie's attack. He saw his chance and threw her off him, onto the floor. Her head cracked loudly as it met with the tiles. Jonnie got back to his feet and hefted his katana once more.

Vyrla struggled upright, clutching at her stomach, and giving Jonnie the most evil look she could muster. He swung the katana at her wildly but accurately, missing her each time by inches. He thrust the blade at her again; Vyrla only just had time to dash to the side to avoid it. She was not fast enough, and the tip of the katana tore through the skin and flesh on her arm, blood leaking out of the wound. She uttered a small gasp of pain, and pulled away from Jonnie. He was grinning evilly at her.

He staggered backwards from shock as Vyrla smashed her fist in his face, almost breaking his nose. Her foot flew up again and cracked against his shin. He swore vulgarly, holding onto his leg, eyes watering. Vyrla grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him an almighty shove. He toppled over, coming closer to a wall behind him. He thought he was going to smack into it, and just put his back out. He was further away than he thought, and fell down, striking the back of his head on the wall's skirting board. He clenched his eyes shut and held his breath for a minute. When he opened his eyes again, everything looked black. His vision gradually started to return, foggy at first, but becoming more and more focused with every passing second.

When he could clearly see again, the first thing he noticed was Vyrla standing over him, his own katana in her hands, the tip of the steel blade lightly pressing into his jugular vein. He dare not even swallow, just in case the movement of his trachea caused the point to dig in even more.

‘What can I do to you?’ taunted Vyrla. ‘I have you completely at my mercy. You are semi conscious, and don’t even have a weapon. I do. Shall I make you beg for your life?’

‘Try all you like, I won’t beg. I will never beg to somebody in league with Count Takeshi,’ Jonnie shot back.

‘Very well…’

Vyrla raised her arms, the point of his katana hanging ominously over his chest. In the same split second that she started to lower the blade, a white blur cascaded into her. Tani had her pinned to the ground, working his fists onto her stomach repeatedly, ignoring her cries of pain. Jonnie slowly got to his feet, looking around for the wolf that was attacking the General earlier.

‘Ugh…’ he groaned, and slid back down to the floor.

When he came to again about a minute later, he saw Katrica speeding over to Tani. The General himself, still busy beating Vyrla, had not spotted.

‘Watch out!’ called Jonnie, feeling too weak to do anything more.

‘What -?’ started Tani, as Katrica slammed into him.

He screamed as teeth and claws ripped and tore at him, slicing at his uniform, piercing skin. Vyrla shot to her feet, out of the way of Katrica’s flying claws, not wanting to get caught.

She could vaguely make out the distant sound of people running, and then saw Eve, Katrina and Nicole hurrying over.

Katrina went to assist Jonnie, whilst Eve kicked at Katrica, kicking the wolf’s legs out from underneath her body. Eve crouched down at Tani’s side looking in horror at the General’s blood stained white uniform. Nicole charged at Vyrla, and smashed her roughly in the face. Vyrla managed to side step out of the way as the First Lieutenant aimed another attack.

This time when she tried to get Katrica to leave, she succeeded, and the pair dashed out of the Tani’s compound before they could be stopped. Nicole started to give chase, but gave up when she realised that she was the only one going after them, and then just gave a half hearted wave in their direction.

Eve was trying to sit Tani up. He called out in pain.

‘Sorry, sorry, I’m being as gentle as possible,’ whispered Eve to him.

She managed to coax him into a standing position, and supported him whilst Katrina propped up Jonnie, who was coming dangerously close to toppling over.

* * *

Tani was under orders to stay in the compound infirmary whilst his wounds were healing. He was told he was going to need a blood test since he sustained a number of attacks from a werewolf, in order to make sure that he was not going to become one himself.

When his Corporals came to see how he was doing, he requested that one of them brought him a pad of paper and a pen. Katrina and Eve exchanged glances when he asked for this, and them the younger Corporal disappeared into his office to fetch them. Every time somebody would come to check on his he was progressing, they would always find him pouring over a piece of paper, pen in hand, and writing something.

‘What do you think he’s doing?’ asked Jonnie to Eve, all five of Tani’s main troops in his office.

‘I really have no idea,’ replied Eve, a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘I asked him casually the other day what he was writing, and he just told me to wait and see.’

‘You don’t think…?’ started Nicole, looking uncomfortable.

‘What?’ asked Eve.

‘You don’t think that maybe…he’s doing a will or something like that? I mean, he knows that there’s risk that werewolf infected him, and not all werewolves live….it could be a possibility…’

‘You’re right,’ said Eve in a small voice. ‘It certainly is a possibility. But not one that I’d choose to go with until we’ve had the results back from his blood test.’

‘Why don’t you go into the infirmary and actually ask if the results are ready yet?’ suggested Däyna, sarcastic as usual.

‘They won’t be back for a few days yet. There’s no point in asking right at the moment.’

* * *

A week later, Eve and Katrina went marching down to the infirmary again, to speak to the doctor, to see if the results from Tani’s blood test had arrived yet. They turned to greet Tani, and were surprised to find that his bed was empty.

‘Where’s Tani?’ snapped Eve, glaring daggers at the doctor.

‘Discharged. Don’t worry, it’s all alright. I’ve got the results of his blood test back, and he’s fine,’ replied the doctor in a soothing tone of voice.

‘So, he’s…not going to -’ started Katrina.

‘No, he’s perfectly alright, I promise you,’ interrupted the doctor. Eve and Katrina both sagged with relief. ‘He told me before he left that he was going to his office to work on something.’

The two Corporals headed towards Tani’s office, and knocked politely on his door, waiting for him to answer before they walked in. When they entered, they found him reading through and adding parts to the same notes he had been making when in the infirmary.

‘Ah, Corporals. Glad you’re here, I was just about to call for you,’ stated Tani, flashing them a smile. ‘I’ve got plans for you both.’

Tani held out the sheet of paper to Katrina, who took it, looking puzzled.

‘Gather the others, and work on that together,’ he instructed her. ‘Eve, I want you to head back to Takeshi’s castle with me.’

‘Sir, are you sure that’s a good idea?’ questioned Eve, uncomfortably. ‘Not trying to question your orders, but…so far, most of the time when one of our troops has headed over to the castle, something bad has happened.’

‘There were Emerald Guards in the compound last week. I want to know what Takeshi has learnt.’

‘But sir, we’ve discovered how to destroy those creatures that Takeshi has been creating, so why can’t we just concentrate on that? I personally think that’s of higher priority!’ snapped Katrina, angrily.

‘Read what I’ve just given you, Kat,’ retorted Tani stonily, ‘and you’ll see that I’ve been working on a way to use the information that Nicole got for us to get rid of the beasts. So you, Nicole, Jonnie and Däyna can work on that, whilst Eve and me go and have a snoop around the castle. Do I make myself clear to you both?’

‘Yes sir,’ replied the two Corporals in unison.

‘When are we going to go then, General?’ asked Eve, reluctantly. She really did not think that anything good was going to come out of sneaking around the castle once more.

‘No time like the present. Let’s go now.’

* * *

Eve and Tani stopped at the back of the castle, keeping an eye out for any prowling Emerald Guards that might be about to take them by surprise. To their relief, they seemed to be completely on their own.

Tani was peering around one corner of the castle, having thought that he heard footsteps. Eve was staring in the opposite direction, attracted by the distant sound of voices. She shuffled along, away from Tani, hand on her katana, trying to see if she could make out who it was that was speaking. She could just about see the figures of Count Takeshi and Higashi.

They were standing on their own, looking around, as though waiting for somebody. Eve noticed that they were standing by what looked like two small one-seater buggies, and there were another two nearby.

Eve turned back to Tani, to get his attention, but the General was still gazing fixedly in the opposite direction.

‘Tani!’ she hissed. He paid her no heed. ‘Tani!’

When he still failed to acknowledge that she had called to him, she let out a quiet sigh and slapped him on the rear. He straightened up and spun around on his heel, looking shocked at her.

‘Corporal!’ he whispered at her.

‘Oh, shut up,’ retorted Eve, ‘and come look at this.’

They spied on the Count and his counsellor, neither of whom having any idea that Tani and Eve were secretly watching them.

‘Let’s just go, sir,’ said Higashi, impatiently.

‘No,’ replied Count Takeshi, ‘Saburo and Animal aren’t here yet.’

‘We’ve got the stuff you need to continue with your…research, and there’s nobody else around to try and attack us, please sir, let’s just go.’

Tani had to physically restrain Eve, so that she did not go after the pair.

‘Come on Tani, we won’t have another good chance to attack like this! Let me go!’ she whispered vindictively at him.

‘I guess you’re right,’ he mused. ‘Come on then, let’s go.’

Tani and Eve burst out of their hiding place and charged over towards Takeshi and Sonomanma, who both looked shocked beyond belief at the sight. The Count turned to his counsellor and screamed for him to get into the buggies and go. Tani and Eve made their way over to the left over buggies.

‘God, what the hell?’ started Eve, looking at what was on the seat. ‘It looks like a huge great grenade launcher!’

She pulled out a heavy set gun and showed it to Tani. He and Eve jumped into the abandoned one-seaters and took after the fleeing Count.

They raced down the same path Takeshi had disappeared into, his castle speeding further and further into the distance. Tani and Eve were hurtling along side by side, going so fast that several times, Tani thought he was going to spin out of control and crash.

Eve’s hands were turning the steering wheel furiously as she took a corner too fast, and came close to toppling her buggy right over. Tani was racing just ahead of her, and seemed to be having the same difficulties as she was at keeping the buggy under control. She saw a button on the side of the steering wheel, close to her fingers, and pressed it. She let out a sharp call of surprise as her buggy put on a large burst of speed, and crashed right into the back of Tani’s buggy. She heard him swear vulgarly.

‘What the bloody hell is going on?’ he shrieked at her, turning around in his seat to gape at her.

‘I don’t know!’ called Eve, over the roar of the two engines, ‘but you’re about to crash!’

Startled, Tani faced forwards again, and saw that the side of what seemed to be a cave was looming dangerously up close. Tani swerved even closer to the wall, and Eve nearly toppled out of the now conjoined buggies. As an attempt to stop herself from falling out, she stuck out a hand, and touched the side of the cave, skinning her entire palm. She reached over Tani and practically snatched the steering wheel away from him, directing them both away from the wall and then sat back down heavily in her seat, clasping her injured hand.

Within minutes they had caught up with Takeshi and Sonomanma, who looked back at their buggies, horror struck. Like Tani and Eve’s, their buggies had also melded together to make a larger one. Takeshi was at the steering wheel, like Tani was, and Sonomanma was sat in the seat behind the Count, aiming another one of the large guns that Eve discovered in her buggy.

Eve quickly ducked just before Sonomanma fired off the first shot, and reached for her own gun that was at her feet, and raised it, trying to aim it in the general direction of the two. It was so heavy, she felt like she was going to drop it.

She steadied it, holding onto the weapon with both of her hands, swaying precariously as Tani continuously groped at the steering wheel, trying to keep it on the road. She shot at Sonomanma and Takeshi, just narrowly missing them both, but getting ever closer with each shot. As yet another bullet tore through the air at the counsellor, he tried to duck out of the way, but got caught in the arm.

To add insult to injury, as he tried to avoid being shot, he overbalanced and toppled over backwards, sprawled on the floor of the buggy. Eve and Tani could both hear Takeshi’s furious reprimands as he glanced behind and saw Sonomanma on his back.

Tani put his foot down on the accelerator peddle, just pushing the buggy a tiny bit closer to the one he and Eve were chasing. The minutely increased speed took a lot of out of the buggy’s stability, which started to zip haphazardly across the path, no matter what Tani did to try and bring it under control. Eve was finding it impossible to aim another shot at either Takeshi or Sonomanma - who had just managed to get back to his feet - unless Tani slowed down.

The buggy gave a small jerk, which threw Eve forwards. She flung her arms out and dropped the gun in the process, one hand hitting Tani on the shoulder. She leant on him, trying to regain her composure.

‘For God’s sake Tani, slow down, at this speed, you could kill us!’

Instead of slowing down, Tani saw a lever standing out on its own, and reached towards it. He gave it a sharp tug, which caused the engine to give out an enormous speed boost, sending the buggy rocketing along the path. Eve clung onto the side of the buggy tightly, hurting her fingers, but reassured that she had not yet been tipped out. Tani’s surprised, and high pitched, girlish scream rung noisily in her ears.

Eve’s finger started to pull on the trigger, when she felt a burning hot pain in her shoulder. Hissing, she ducked down out of the way, and saw the bright red blood trickling down her shoulder. Sonomanma had succeeded in shooting her. She straightened up again, and managed to fire off one shot back at the counsellor, before he hit her again.

She screamed, and was nearly thrown out of the high speeding buggy as they split back into two again. She fell backwards and scrambled for the steering wheel as Tani cried out, looking back to make sure she was alright.

‘Never mind me, just watch where you’re going, damn it!’ she snapped back.

She vaguely noticed Sonomanma staring back at her, holding his weapon high, aiming at her. She tried to skid out of the way and felt a slight decline in height as he shot at one of her front wheels. She swore vulgarly as her buggy started to spin out of control. Her hands were clawing frantically at the steering wheel, desperately attempting to right what Sonomanma had done, but it seemed as though the vehicle carrying her had developed a mind of its own. She ploughed along the path, feeling as though she was gathered speed with every passing millisecond, also veering over more to the left, closer and closer to Tani.

He yelled at her, his voice only just carrying over the sounds of wheels roaring across the ground. She distantly heard the sound of another bullet exploding from the gun in Sonomanma’s hands, piercing the rubber of the other, in tact, front wheel. Sparks shot up from the ground as she careened dangerously close to Tani, until she smashed directly into him.

The force of her buggy colliding into his practically threw him off the road. The front of his buggy struck a wall, the horrible sound of metal screeching against rock sounding in the ears of both.

Eve could just about make out the sounds of the Count’s triumphant laughter, hear muffled curses abruptly cut off, and felt immense pain. She struggled to stay away, but her entire surroundings had suddenly turned a red so bright, that it burned her eyes. She tried to keep them clamped shut as the red turned to black, and she knew nothing anymore.

* * *

She came to only minutes later, aching all over, her vision blurred. She shook her head to try and clear it, but stopped almost instantaneously when it made her head thud. She groaned and rested her face in her hands, before remembering that the General was also with her.

‘Tani?’ she called out, groggily.

She felt a small spark of panic in her chest when there was no reply. Eve shakily forced herself to her feet, casting around for the wreckage of the crash. It was not difficult to find. Her eyes rested on the site of the smash, the two metal buggies almost twisted together, melded into one from the force of the collision.

Her knees gave out as she approached the buggies, damaged beyond repair, and crawled over to them. Her hands rested on cool metal, trying to pry the bits and pieces apart, knowing that Tani must be underneath them. If he had died, she would not forgive herself. She reached her hand down, groping, trying to find the warmth of human flesh, but only feeling cold steel.

The Corporal hauled herself back upright, and took a step away. She concentrated in magically separating to the two, moving them out of the way so that she had so much as a slight chance of finding Tani. A great shuddering gasp escaped her lips as she fought to think of some scenario where Tani could have survived. She failed to think of a plausible theory as to how anybody at all could get out unscathed.

Her attention was temporarily distracted from her General as she watched the destroyed vehicles be picked up by a sudden gust of wind she had generated. She stopped when she saw a human figure, unconscious, bloody, entangled in the metal. She lowered him back to the ground, without as much of the surrounding buggies as possible.

Eve made her way slowly over to him, not sure whether she dared look. She pulled a heavy engine off his chest, and collapsed right by him.

Tani was bleeding heavily from the head. His eyes were shut, his lips slightly parted. Eve tried to make out the rise and fall of his chest, tried to see any signs of breathing, any signs of life. She rested a hand on his chest, and attempted to make out a sound of his breathing. She was met with silence. No movement at all, not a single sound. She fumbled for his wrist, trying to see if she could locate a pulse.

The first tear slid down Eve’s cheek. She was so sure he was dead. Her fingers gently caressed his black hair. She moved it out of his face. She raised a hand to her lips and covered her mouth, rhythmic sobbing absorbing her.

‘Oh God, please, don’t be dead Tani, you can’t be! Please….please, just wake up. You’re not dead…you…..you’re not…please…’

Her words trailed off as he failed to offer her a response. She held a hand to the side of his face, softly stroking his cheek, as though he was only asleep, and would soon wake up.

‘You’re not dead,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘I know you’re not, you can’t be.’

Eve started to place her fingertips lightly on his neck, when his eyes snapped open. His breathing was slow and deep, as though he was taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down, after being stressed, or scared.

His body was jerking in a frenzied way, as though he was being possessed. Frightened and startled, Eve tried to hold his arms down, to try and stop the convulsions rippling over his torso and limbs. His head was nodding, his mouth wide open in a silent scream. The back of his skull kept rubbing against the ground, and his hands were scratching at the stones underneath his nails. The Corporal was horrified to see that his fingernails had almost snapped right off backwards as he continuously clawed at the ground. She held his hands in the air when she saw that blood was trickling out from underneath the torn off nails.

Eve was still struggling to contain the convulsions, when he let out a scream, loud, agonised and strained. As she wrestled with him, she thought that his voice seemed to have changed slightly. It seemed as though there was another tone, another voice screaming at the same time. It sounded slightly echoic, demonic. As the demonic pitch in his voice became more glaringly obvious, his back arched, and Eve thought she noticed his irises in his eyes turn to a deep, blood red, just for a fraction of a second, before they faded back to warm brown.

‘I am not going to lose you,’ she muttered, as she struggled to get Tani upright.

* * *

Däyna looked up from her work and cast am irritated glare at the Corporal, who was still gaping out of the window.

‘Hey!’ she snapped, ‘Are you planning on helping us build this or are you just going to continue staring out of the window?’

‘I’m keeping an eye out for Eve and Tani,’ replied Kat distantly.

‘You won’t need to keep an eye out for them, you know Tani likes to make an entrance. C’mon, help us out, this is difficult!’

‘Private!’ snarled Kat. ‘Stop answering back and make yourself useful! And preferably before you get into real trouble!’

Däyna turned her back to Katrina, and continued working as ordered, but not without vindictively muttering under her breath.

The group was distracted by a loud crash coming from the front of the compound. Katrina drew her katana and cautiously stepped forwards.

‘Lieutenants!’ she barked. ‘To me!’

Nicole and Jonnie ceased with what they were doing and hurried over to accompany the Corporal. Her bladed weapon struck the cool marble floor tiles as she stared at the figures of her fellow Corporal and the General.

‘Oh my God!’ she and the two Lieutenants sped over to assist the weakened pair.

‘What the hell happened?’ gasped Nicole, as she surveyed the trickle of dried blood on the forehead of the unconscious General.

‘Takeshi and Sonomanma,’ started Eve weakly. ‘High speed car chase away from the castle. Crash. We,…we crashed, me and Tani. He hit hard. Think he tried to yes a shield….’ her voice trailed off.

Katrina started to assist Eve back to her feet, when she grasped Kat’s shoulder tightly.

‘Kat…’ Eve managed, ‘Kat, he’s dying. I thought he was already… - after the crash. He went into convulsions, and after…still. So still. He’s dying.’

‘You’re in shock,’ replied Katrina. ‘You - both of you - need medical attention. Nicole! Jonnie! Help Eve and Tani to the infirmary, and then return to work.

‘Yes Corporal,’ they replied submissively.

* * *

Takeshi and Sonomanma clambered out of their now-separated buggies and dusted themselves down.

‘That was too close for comfort, Count,’ said Sonomanma nervously.

‘Nonsense, Higashi,’ replied Count Takeshi dismissively. ‘It was quite good actually. That was nice shooting from you. Not only have we evaded General Tani, so that he still doesn’t know where we are, he also crashed and with any luck, won’t be able to offer any resistance against me in future attacks.’

The pair walked into a small, one storey wooden shack, which was only a few minutes away from the buggies.

‘Did Saburo bring one of the Guards down here?’ asked Takeshi, looking at Sonomanma.

‘Yes sir,’ came the reply. ‘Haven’t seen any reports or anything, so I don’t know whether there has been any progress.’

The Count stopped before a battered wooden door when he heard monstrous roars and howls mixed with alarmed cries. The Count’s head snapped around to look at Sonomanma who looked deathly pale. Without another second’s hesitation, Takeshi threw the door open and swept through in a firm and authoritative manner until he took in the scene before him.

Saburo Ishikura along with three other Emerald Guards were struggling to restrain what almost looked like a mountain of flesh, muscle and claws. Takeshi spat out a long string of vulgar expletives.

‘What the hell is that?’ he practically shrieked.

‘That, Count Takeshi sir, is Sugato,’ stated Saburo, taking a step away from the beast.

It was exceedingly tall and towered over its human companions. The creature’s skin was thick, a tough, cracked and jaundiced hide. Long, sharpened and blackened claws were at the tops of the raw and scaly fingers, reaching about six inches in length.

‘What on earth did you do to him?’ gasped Sonomanma breathlessly.

‘We just…experimented,’ grinned Saburo evilly.

‘I have something that should make your…experiment -’ Count Takeshi placed a delicate stress on the word ‘- more interesting. Sonomanma, did you bring the box with you?’

The counsellor looked momentarily blank and backed out of the shack, almost quaking underneath Takeshi’s furious stare. When he came back, the Count snatched the securely locked box from Higashi’s unrelenting hands.

‘Here it is,’ announced Takeshi proudly. ‘A special chemical concocted designed to cause uncontrollable mutation in cells when injected into live tissue. The end result is a monster, not unlike the new and improved Sugato.’

‘Oh, that,’ started Saburo dismissively. ‘I already used some of that on Sugato, which was the main factor in the change of his physical appearance.’

Takeshi’s face was a mask of shock which was also incandescent with rage.

‘Have you collected a DNA sample from Sugato?’ interrupted Sonomanma, noticing the venomous expression on Takeshi’s face.

Saburo started that he had. And nodded at one of the Guards restraining the beast to show Sonomanma and Takeshi.

The DNA sample was in a tiny glass phial. Neither of the two counsellors noticed Takeshi take out the chemical brought with him. The tore the sample out of Saburo’s fingers and mixed it with the chemical before pouring it carefully into a syringe and injecting it into his arm.

‘Count Takeshi! What - what have you done?’ uttered Saburo, horrified.

Takeshi made a face.

‘Wasn’t it obvious enough? Shall I do it again?’ retorted the Count scathingly.

‘Sir, that’s not safe! God knows what could happen to you! Your body could react to the chemicals at any time! Injecting too much of the chemical in one go screws your body up so you won’t know when you could mutate! It could kill you!’

Takeshi shrugged as if to show that he failed to care.

* * *

For a week, Tani had remained comatose in the infirmary, whilst his two Corporals snapped at their inferiors and visiting him whenever possible.

Eve closed the infirmary door behind her with a sigh, and was met with Nicole and Däyna waiting to hear on Tani’s status.

‘How is he?’ questioned the Private cautiously.

‘Same. Hasn’t shown any signs of change, either good or bad at all. I’m starting to wonder whether he’ll ever get better.’

Eve shook her head sadly and motioned towards the large hall where the ray machine was still being constructed. It was coming ever closer to completion. In the distance, the sounds of Katrina yelling at Jonnie for slacking could he heard.

* * *

The following morning, Däyna woke up early - which took her a lot of effort - and rapped gently on the door to Corporal Evelyn’s quarters.

Eve opened her door and stared bleary eyes at Däyna.

‘I hope I didn’t wake you,’ mumbled the Private apologetically. ‘Just that I know you like to go and visit Tani in the mornings, and I thought I’d come with you today.’

The Corporal beamed and withdrew for a minute to dress.

A short while later, they were both letting themselves into the infirmary and headed over to where the General slumbered. They stood silently watching him for about a minute until Eve reached over and gently rubbed his shoulder.

Däyna could see how distraught Tani’s non improving situation was making Eve. She reached out and took the Corporal’s hand in her own, her fingers caressing the back on Eve’s hand. They exchanged a small sad smile and then turned their gazes back to Tani.

His eyelids flickered and his fingers twitched. Eve spotted it and called out involuntarily. The infirmary doctor came over to see whether everything was okay.

‘Tani!’ exclaimed Eve. ‘I - I think he’s waking up!’

The doctor came over to see what Tani was doing. As Eve had said, he was starting to come round back to consciousness.

It took several hours before be was completely out of his coma, all of which Eve remained by his side after ushering the Private back to work on the ray machine before Corporal Kat realised she had been missing and had a go at her.

* * *

A week had passed…

Count Takeshi had made his way back to the castle with Saburo and Sonomanma, with their mutated Guard Sugato in tow. The Count could feel the fear of his two counsellors. They were scared of Sugato, in case he broke free, and they were scared of Takeshi himself. He had not yet shown any signs of mutation himself, and it was worrying. They knew that it was only a matter of time.

At the moment, Takeshi was sitting down, looking bored, whilst the two counsellors were standing before him.

‘Sugato safely restrained?’

‘Yes sir,’ replied Saburo. ‘He’s locked tightly up in the dungeons.’

‘Good. We don’t want him getting free just yet, do we?’

‘No sir,’ chorused Saburo and Sonomanma.

‘However…..I want to launch an attack on General Tani again. Soon. He’s been allowed to live for too long. I think maybe…tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow we shall launch another assault on him, and bring Sugato along.’

* * *

The General had been up on his feet again for a few days now, but was still weak. He had been trying to help with the last few touches of the ray machine, but every time he came anywhere near it, Eve would come over and send him away again. Every time it happened, Tani would walk off with the distinct feeling that he was a five year old boy that had just been scolded by his mother.

He was meandering around the compound, with nothing in mind, when he came across both the Corporals.

‘Before you tell me off again,’ he started, looking at Eve, ‘I’m taking it easy, I’m just walking!’

She chuckled.

‘Pleased to hear it sir. Corporal Kat and myself just thought that you ought to know that the ray machine is completed.’

‘Excellent, pleased to hear it. Girls, you go and tell the others to take a rest, they’ll need it. You’ve both been working them hard to get this finished in time. Of course, they wouldn’t have had to work so hard, had I been allowed to help out as well,’ stated Tani, grinning at Eve.

She merely shrugged.

‘When you go and find the others,’ added Tani, ‘tell them that I want to launch the ray at Takeshi’s castle tomorrow.’

‘Yes sir,’ the two Corporals replied in unison.

* * *

The next morning, Count Takeshi deliberately woke up early, and repeatedly jabbed both the counsellors in their sides until they woke up. Sonomanma had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from cursing at Takeshi.

‘Wake up!’ hissed Takeshi, Saburo behind him, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

Soon, all three of them were up and awake - just about - and were ready to storm Tani’s compound.

* * *