Leana looked out her bedroom window in silence, watching the city sleep beneath the midnight sky. From all she'd seen and heard, she wondered if the thought of the city sleeping might not be far from the truth. Leana's bedroom gave a view of the south of Phoenixbrook, and she could see the ancient stone walls and mysterious twin turrets of the south tower not far away, which 'guarded' one of the four city entrances. Distant twinkling lights beyond the city walls indicated where the various neighbouring towns and villages lay.

She heard a gentle knock at her partly open bedroom door, and she nodded as her twin brother stood in the doorway. Eliki wandered in, taking Leana's paw in his, and they quietly watched the peaceful view from the window.

Two days had passed since the Elysia attacks on the Arcadian in Fintel, and the Burrow nightclub in Phoenixbrook. It had seemed a painfully unreal few days as those involved struggled to make sense of the events. Not that it had been the first time the snowkittens in Phoenixbrook had crossed swords with the Elysia, but it didn't make it any easier to comprehend.

In Fintel, on the night of the attack, an exhausted Leana had done her best to tell the police as much as she could. She considered that it wouldn't do them much good, but did give them credit - they knew full well who they were up against, but they had a job to do and fully intended to do it. However, it hardly helped that the two Elysia officers and the FL7 had vanished without trace, and this was despite the police having surrounded the Arcadian as soon as the FL7 had broken in. But then, Leana was used to hearing this - the Elysia were especially good at disappearing when necessary.

That night, Leana and the Nightlights band members had stayed at a hotel, along with Serien the vixen, and each room was guarded by armed police. Nobody expected to get any sleep after such nerve-shredding events, but they knew they had to try. Of course, Leana knew that if the Elysia did turn up intending to finish the job that night, they'd cut through the armed police with no trouble at all. She kept the fact to herself though, since the semblance of protection provided comfort to Serien at least.

Serien had, through Leana's insistence, shared the snowkitten's room. She'd been in such a state, unsurprisingly, that Leana had snuggled up to her in the bed, and just held her until the vixen finally fell asleep through sheer exhaustion. Like everyone else, she had gone to that gig with the intention of seeing her favourite band and enjoying herself. Nobody could have expected events to change so horrifically into a near-massacre.

The Arcadian was damaged, but not irreparably. However, after all that had happened there, it remained to be seen if anyone would ever want to return there. Likewise, Leana knew that Nightlights would be unlikely to recover from that attack. A callous comment from a journalist hadn't helped - "This is the sort of publicity that you just can't buy!"

When they first arrived at the hotel, Leana had received a panicked call from Eliki, and it had proven far from easy to reassure him they were okay, at least considering what could have happened. That was when she first heard about the Burrow being obliterated on the same night, at which point everything seemed even more nightmarish.

And so next day, under extremely tight security, Leana returned to Phoenixbrook on a private airship hired by Nightlights' record company. She wasn't alone. Koreen had returned to the city with Leana, reasoning that with the Elysia's return and herself being an imminent target, she'd rather be with her family. Instinct also told her, though she couldn't explain why, that Phoenixbrook was the best place to be right now. Koreen was currently sleeping on a camp bed downstairs at the twin's house, until they were able to sort out the spare room which Eliki had been using as an art studio.

Serien had also travelled back with the snowkittens to the city. She had no ties back in Fintel and just wanted to get as far away from the place and the memories as possible. (Clearly Leana's warning, that Phoenixbrook was an even more likely Elysia target, had fallen on deaf ears.) The vixen had a cousin living in central Phoenixbrook who agreed to let her stay at her flat, and Leana was in no mood to dissuade her.

Still looking out the bedroom window, Leana rested her head on Eliki's shoulder, as she murmured, "Looks like tomorrow is the day of reckoning."

"Hmmm?"

"All those months ago, me and the mayor agreed that any mentions of the Elysia to the rest of Phoenixbrook would cause panic and hysteria. Somehow I don't think anyone is under any illusions after what happened to the Burrow. We agreed I'd make the official announcement when the time was right, so that has to be tomorrow."

Eliki sighed. "The city will go into lockdown again. It's as if those five years since the last attack have never happened. Still, everyone has a lot of respect for you. I'm sure it's the right way to go about it."

"They're good people," Leana replied. "It's so unfair they have to go through hell just because the Elysia want to get at us."

"It'll be okay," Eliki told her. "In the end I just know it will be."

Leana closed her eyes. "I hope so. Speaking of 'knowing things,' is Keryan asleep now?"

"Yeah, she went to sleep just before I wandered in here," Eliki replied.

Keryan was increasingly a mystery. After collapsing from exhaustion on the night of the attacks, she had recovered rapidly. And although she always looked deadly serious when asked or told about anything to do with it, she seemed fairly unaffected by it all - at least once she knew Ailee and everyone else was okay. Maybe it was just how kids were, Eliki thought, and Keryan had a strong enough personality that she perhaps simply didn't worry about things for long. Even when in such a threatening situation. Whatever the case, she either couldn't or wouldn't explain how she'd known that Leana's bracelet needed the protection spell - which had saved Leana from serious harm when the attack at the Arcadian first started. Likewise, the little snowkitten couldn't really explain how she'd known that help had been needed at the Arcadian and the Burrow, or how she'd diverted her powers there, which had saved the lives of Ailee and Jarret, and helped Leana out too. She simply said, "I just knew."

In a dark reflection to Leana, Jarret stood glaring out a window in northeast Phoenixbrook, rage boiling away just below the surface, his paws clenched into fists. He could just about see the remains of the eastern city entrance - the gateway still intact but the tower long destroyed during the war with the Eraskites centuries ago.

There was nothing left of the Burrow. What the initial explosion hadn't destroyed, the fire certainly had. A moment before the explosion, as Alder had ended the phone call, instinct had told Jarret to create an energy shield as fast as possible. However, there hadn't been anywhere near enough time. Despite that, the partially formed shield had suddenly flared into life, undeniably saving him and Ailee from certain death. (He was rather less happy that the explosion not only rendered him and his twin sister unconscious, but it had also flung them both down the stairs into the cellar.)

They'd both woken in the Phoenixbrook hospital north of the river, but their powerful healing abilities meant it hadn't been long before Jarret discharged himself and Ailee. Not long after, Jarret headed over to what remained of his nightclub. Several ACU officers surrounded the site, since it was obviously now under criminal investigation. Police or not, they moved aside pretty swiftly once they saw Jarret approaching, and he analysed the remainders of the spell energies. He hadn't been able to determine what caused the explosion, though it appeared to be a hybrid of magic and technology. However, Jarret did pick up traces of the shield spell, and realised with no real surprise, that it had been boosted by Keryan. He didn't know how she'd accomplished such a feat, or how she'd known what had been happening there at that precise moment, but then it was Jarret who had given her the red pendant for protection. So he had his ideas, but he kept them to himself.

He and Ailee had moved temporarily into the spare room at Enigma's house, though in Jarret's case it was somewhat begrudgingly. Enigma and her husband, Fenesk (a fox she met in 2022 and married three years ago) had no children, so the room was just standing empty. Of course it had been at Ailee's request, since Jarret's pride was such that they'd have ended up sleeping in the closed market at night rather than ask for any sort of help. Describing it as a 'request' was possibly stretching the imagination a bit far though, especially when Ailee told Enigma that they'd continue to pay her wages, even though it would be a long time till the club was up and running again. After hearing that, Enigma would have been hard pushed to have not offered them a room at her house. Whatever the case, Jarret had vowed that their stay would be for as short a time as possible, and to his mind it wasn't for Enigma's benefit.

Jarret turned away from the window, momentarily watching Ailee sleep, before he sat on his own bed in the opposite corner of the room. He reached under the bed, pulling out his new laptop, purchased earlier that day. The fire at the Burrow had destroyed the other one and all it contained, but aside from the expense, Jarret wasn't overly concerned. He used the new laptop to connect to a server hidden somewhere in the depths of Phoenixbrook, and downloaded everything he needed via a highly secure connection. After that, he spent the next few minutes sending emails to his contacts as quickly as possible.

Jarret may have been enraged by what Alder had done, but he was also intrigued by how Alder had managed to destroy the club. He knew the Elysia leader hadn't been in the city at the time. According to checks he'd run the following morning, Alder had been just outside the city walls, somewhere to the south, when he made that phone call. Without Jarret knowing, Alder had gained access to Aredria, evidently, but despite his arrogance, Alder wasn't stupid enough to enter the actual city. Doing so, particularly to perform an attack on one of her buildings in such a way, would have brought about severe recriminations, and even Alder wasn't going to risk that. He knew more than most about the fate of the Eraskites...

Jarret waited for any email replies as patiently as an impatient and angry cat ever does. His eyes widened when one arrived, not from one of his contacts, but from Leana. It was extremely rare that they ever contacted each other by email, but then he knew she'd had firstpaw experience of the Elysia abroad, and there was bound to be important information that she wanted to pass on.

The message said simply, "Meet me at 'the bench' tomorrow morning, 10 a.m."

"Not bloody likely!" Jarret muttered.

He arrived at his destination at 10:10 a.m. instead, doubtless thinking "That'll show you." Leana didn't look round as Jarret sat on the bench next to her, overlooking the vast Phoenix River.

"It's strange to think that this is where we first crossed paths all those years ago as kids," Leana said with a smile, finally turning to face him.

Jarret just stared out across the river. "You didn't drag me all the way here just to discuss baby stories, I hope. I have a lot to do..."

"Haven't we all," Leana retorted. "Okay, straight to the point..."

"Thank the goddess!" Jarret interrupted, kicking a piece of gravel into the water.

"...if you'll let me," Leana snapped. "You already know the gist of what happened at the Arcadian. What the press won't have mentioned is that Attra claimed it was little more than a 'test run' or some sort of training for the FL7."

Looking fairly bored up till that point, mentions of the FL7 grabbed Jarret's attention instantly. "FL7...? So you got to play with the Elysia's new toy."

"Yeah, it must have been that new creation you told me they were working on, when you were at the Bookshelf not long ago, being a pain in the butt as usual." She ignored the frosty stare. "Yes my dear, that was the FL7 in the Arcadian. A heavily armoured, scary looking cyborg thing covered in blades and spikes, and with more weaponry hidden inside it than you've had hot tempers. Oh, and the damn thing is self-regenerating."

"What do you mean?" Jarret asked, frowning.

Leana stood up, walking to the river bank, arms folded. "I used an extremely powerful bolt spell and managed to punch a hole in the thing about the size of your head. And for good measure I hurled it into my energy shield. By rights, its circuits should have been fried. Moments later, the wretched creature literally rebuilt itself as I watched, and the hole welded itself shut. It was as if I'd barely scratched it, let alone blasted half its vital chips out its back."

Jarret swore under his breath. "They stole our healing magic and twisted it for themselves in ways it was never meant to be used. And then the scum twist it further and embed it into a damn machine..." He was silent for a while before asking, "So how bad IS this thing?"

"Very. It's fast... faster than anything I've seen before, and it took a huge effort just to put so much as a dent in it."

Jarret muttered, "Then I need to do some research on it, and fast. Alder might not dare to set foot in this city, but that thing could..."

"It's hardly likely to have a fan website. Where exactly do you think you'll dig up any facts?" Leana said.

"I have my ways. Wait... You said Attra claimed the attack was a test run?"

"So he said."

Jarret thought for a while before saying, "Damn it... That creature must have analysed every move you made and every spell you threw at it, so it can use them against us later. Back in January at the Burrow, there was a cat stirring up trouble, under some delusion that he was a gangster."

"I heard about that," Leana commented, nodding.

"It turned out he was sent by the Elysia, and had loads of equipment hidden on him which did much the same - transmitted masses of data back to the Elysia HQ about the Burrow and the spells me and Ailee used. Doubtless those got fed into the FL7 as well."

Leana sighed. "More than likely. Whatever they found out about the Burrow, it obviously did the trick. How did they manage that? How could they have destroyed the entire club?"

"I don't know," Jarret scowled. "All I could detect were vague traces of spells mixed with some sort of device, but beyond that..."

"Right," Leana said with considerable authority. "Then we're going there right now."

Leana surveyed the wreckage of the Burrow and shook her head. She'd known it was bad, but she hadn't been prepared for quite such a sight. The smell of burned wood hung in the air thickly, as it would for a long time yet. Once again, the ACU officers around the remains of the building moved aside at the sight of the two snowkittens, giving Leana a solemn nod.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," Leana commented quietly.

With a look that could have soured milk, Jarret said coolly, "Well, it's changed a bit since then. Now maybe you'd like to explain why you dragged us both all the way over here?"

She looked back at him briefly. "I'll tell you if I find what I'm looking for. Now shut up and let me concentrate."

It took considerable effort for Jarret to resist snapping, "Nobody tells me to shut up!" But he knew that whatever Leana had planned - and he had his suspicions - it was going to be difficult to do without total silence.

Leana stepped carefully into the wreckage of the nightclub. Any potentially dangerous areas had been sealed up with solid pieces of wood, just in case, but she was still wary. She reached the area where she knew the bar had been previously, reaching down to touch the charred wood on the ground. Leana reached out tentatively with her powers, connecting them with what was left of the memories 'trapped' in the timbers and ashes.

At first, it was impossible for the snowkitten to make the slightest sense of what she 'heard.' The voices and memories were like a huge whirlwind, like trying to listen to a thousand people talking at once. Gradually though, her powers untangled the memories and sights from the Burrow's past, and Leana focussed specifically on the events from the night of the explosion. She didn't find what she needed, so she moved to another area and continued her search there.

Jarret watched in silence, until Leana drifted out of her trance, stepping away from the destroyed club back onto the footpath.

"Well?" Jarret asked impatiently.

Leana replied, "It was a small device, attached underneath one of your tables. The device contained a mass of highly compressed explosive spells, and Alder would have probably triggered them fairly easily by remote, from outside Phoenixbrook. The explosives wouldn't have been enough to destroy the entire building, but the fire did the rest of the work pretty swiftly."

Jarret glared. "Well how the heck did that get in the club?"

"One of your customers. I saw him putting it under the table. I have no idea if he was a regular. Timid looking mouse guy. He didn't exactly look like a typical Elysia agent. Maybe they were blackmailing him. I really don't know..."

"Impossible!" Jarret muttered angrily. "The security in the club, especially recently, was very tight."

"Clearly not tight enough," Leana replied coldly. "Believe me, that device was small. In a crowded nightclub, nobody would have noticed him bringing it in, let alone sticking it under a table."

There was silence for a long time, before Jarret spoke again in a disturbingly calm voice.

"Who was he?"