While events between Jarret and Attra had been rapidly unfolding in Aredria, equally terrible events had been taking place in Mosternal. Triska, a male snowkitten, black furred from head to toe, was fighting for his life.

With the events at the Arcadian and Jarret's Burrow nightclub, not to mention the very public murder of Kael by the Elysia, it was unsurprising that worldwide, every snowkitten knew they were potentially in danger. And each had to be constantly vigilant.

Almost always, a snowkitten's powers gravitated towards a particular strength - for example, Koreen's telekinesis and Andrina's powers over water. Triska's powers had developed into strong attack spells. Unlike Kael, who stood no chance - if indeed he'd been given a chance - against his killer, Triska was a born fighter, and quite a formidable one. He had joined Mosternal's police force in the hope of putting his skills to use.

However, this had led to two major problems recently. The snowkittens in Aredria had been able to take shelter from the Elysia in the highly secure Phoenixbrook city. Living in Mosternal, Triska and other snowkittens had no such similar option, so he'd made arrangements for his wife and daughter to be flown out to Phoenixbrook. However, bureaucracy had delayed this by another week, and also Triska himself was trapped for another month by his contract and loyalty to the police. He couldn't leave, but at least his family could be safer.

His second problem was that his job meant he had to respond to any distress calls, wherever possible. He and his police partner had received such a call. The other officer, a short, slightly chubby snowleopard with black hair, who was affectionately known as Spots, had taken the call. A call for help from a disused warehouse. It could have been a blatant trap, and Triska knew it, but this was the third time this month that a pair of homeless foxes had managed to get into the building, despite repeated warnings, and needed rescuing. The first time, due to Triska's unsurprising suspicions, a different team had gone in. The second time, Triska and his partner had known what to expect, and he knew this third time would be no different.

They barely had time to see what hit them.

To Spots' credit, when they arrived in the main storage area and found themselves surrounded by six armed Elysia soldiers, her lightning fast reactions hadn't let her down at all. She managed to fire off three shots from her laser pistol, fatally wounding the nearest soldier, before the others immediately unleashed a barrage of return fire.

Several shots caught Triska on the shoulder and one struck Spots on the leg. Triska used his equally fast reactions to grab his partner, flinging them both behind a pile of steel crates, avoiding the worst of the onslaught. The soldiers continued firing, pinning them down where they were. Even as he drew his own pistol, setting it to rapid fire, the snowkitten's healing powers sealed off the wounds on his shoulder, as though they had never been there.

Spots had no such healing abilities. While she fumbled for her police radio, Triska did what he could to lessen the damage to her leg, using a spell. He then tore a strip off his own black uniform, tying it tight around her wound. She winced, and then yelled into the radio, "This is Spots and Triska. Come in! Damn it, can you hear me?! We need backup and..."

Triska shook his head as several shots ricocheted off the top of the crate. "Forget it. They've blocked the signal. I can sense the spell they used. We have to get out of here."

Neither of them bothered to speak of how badly outnumbered they were, or the fact that history showed that, in this sort of situation, an even more deadly Elysia officer was rarely far behind. They didn't speak of it simply because they already knew, in the same way there seemed little point in wondering how the Elysia had managed to create such an elaborate trap.

From their previous visit, in an attempt to seal off some of the entrances, both cats knew the layout of the building reasonably well. Triska nodded towards the far entrance, opposite the one they had used to enter the room. Trying to leave the same way they had entered was almost certainly going to lead them into a trap, and that route was also much too in the open.

Spots counted to three and they both ran - in her case with more than a slight limp - to the far exit. Once they left the safety of the crates, one of the Elysia soldiers spotted them instantly, and shouted to his comrades. The time it took them to notice gave enough of a distraction for Triska to fire a volley of highly charged energy bolts in their general direction. The resulting chaos gave Triska and Spots time to reach the far exit, and the explosions collapsed several huge girders, injuring one soldier and slowing the others down before they could attempt to give chase.

A stray shot from one of the soldiers caught Triska in the chest, the impact hurling him backwards through the doorway and into the corridor. He groaned in pain till his healing powers undid the damage, and he told Spots, "Get back!" She obeyed, moving further down the rusty metal corridor. The soldiers, running towards the doorway across the burning storage area, suddenly found themselves blocked by a large wall of fire that Triska had summoned, spanning the whole doorway.

Spots prepared to fire through the flames, till Triska told her, "Leave it. That won't hold them for long." They backed away down the corridor while, on the other side, one of the soldiers produced a crystal - a twisted and corrupted form of snowkitten magic - and began attempting to cancel the fire spell.

Spots led the way, warily, since they had no idea if there were more soldiers, or where the Elysia officer was doubtless lurking. They turned down several corridors, each dimly lit by magically charged crystals set into the rusting walls, before entering a smaller, but empty, storage area. Spots, limping more noticeably now as her leg injury caught up with her, slammed her paw down on a metal plate just behind her. A thick steel door slid down noisily behind them, preventing any stray soldiers from following them by that route. Ahead lay the exit leading to a small loading bay and the outside. Daylight streamed in through the half demolished exit doorway.

Much of that daylight was suddenly obscured by a tall, thin figure who stepped into the doorway, roughly a hundred metres away. The figure made a sudden gesture and the entire storage area was illuminated by a ball of light set high in the ceiling.

Even from this distance, Triska recognised the sinister figure from reports he'd read about the Elysia. "Ashden..." he hissed. The Elysia officer, and technology wizard, didn't move an inch. Instead, he shouted down the corridor, his voice echoing off the empty walls.

"Snowleopard. I have no business with you. Leave now or I'll kill him and you."

Triska fumbled for the metal plate behind them, but when he pressed it, the door refused to open again. Even as he turned back, Ashden had begun to walk towards them at a moderate, but unhurried, pace.

"Spots! For crying out loud, go!" the snowkitten yelled.

She ignored him, aiming her laser pistol and firing shot after shot at the approaching figure. The first shot struck Ashden's arm, sending sparks flying off it, but any damage done was instantly healed in a blaze of light, and Ashden didn't even break stride. The next two shots struck him in the chest and the side of his head, but once again the considerable damage was gone in moments, though at least this time it knocked him off balance temporarily.

"You can't stop him! Just run!" Triska yelled above the noise, hurling one of his own spells at the officer, which slammed him backwards, albeit with little effect.

"Damn you!" Spots snarled, grabbing a long metal pole from the ground. She swung it as hard as possible towards Ashden, but he simply grabbed the end of it, wrenching it from her paw and flinging it aside. At the same time, he grabbed the snowleopard by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

He spoke to her calmly and quietly. "I told you to leave. You made your choice. Never forget that." Sparks shot from around his paw where he gripped her neck, and she instantly went limp, her eyes wide in shock. Ashden flung her lifeless body aside as if she were a doll.

A moment later, Ashden's head met with the metal pole, swung at full force towards him. Triska yelled in rage as he struck him again and again. "You scum! You murdering, vicious scum!!"

Ashden's arm shot up, blocking the next crushing blow, then his other paw launched a bolt of energy that hurled Triska halfway across the room towards the exit. He gasped for breath, using the wall to steady himself as he stood, shaking his head to clear it. He bared his teeth, looking at Spots on the floor and then back at Ashden.

"You killed her..."

Ashden looked calmly down. "Yes. Yes, I did. Regrettable, but she had her chance and she chose to waste it. You're next." Lightning hurtled from his paw towards the snowkitten. Triska backed towards the exit, using his wrist to deflect each lightning bolt as they were thrown towards him almost casually, as if Ashden was just toying with him.

If I can just make it outside, he thought... And then he was, the warm, late afternoon air greeting him, along with the large courtyard and a high chain link fence. Ashden still approached, backing Triska up against the fence from a distance. The snowkitten knew that beyond the fence was a very quiet backstreet, between several more disused buildings, so the odds of attracting help were slim, but if he could just climb the fence and make it from there to the nearby main road...

Behind him there was a slick whirr of metal.

The snowkitten turned to see the terrifying sight of Ashden's creation, the FL7, watching him silently from the other side of the fence with its black, glass eyes. Across the courtyard, Ashden was joined by the remaining Elysia soldiers, but he held up his paw and they made no move to attack.

The emotionless FL7, its metallic head reminding Triska of a surreal cross between a goat's head and that of a praying mantis, stared at him the whole time as it raised one of its robotic arms. The entire structure gleamed with purple, silver and black metal which gave it a muscular appearance. Several long, cruel blades slid out of various slots along its wrist, quietly and smoothly and then, with a sweeping, liquid smooth motion, it cut a rectangular gate from the fence, stepping through.

It stood some seven feet tall and waited. Triska didn't. He hurled two red balls of energy at the creature, currently blocking the hole in the fence, but each spell dissipated as soon as it struck the FL7. The next attempt, one of the most powerful spells Triska had, also did no more damage than a slight scorch mark on its torso. The FL7 moved forward, and a long sword-shaped blade extended from its arm. As it swept the blade towards him, Triska grabbed a device from his belt, which expanded rapidly into a fairly lengthy sword, and he blocked the attack. But only just...

It swung the blade at him again and again, and each time he blocked the attack, but he rapidly realised just how phenomenally strong the creature was. And as he attempted to strike back, he also realised how incredibly fast it was too, as it defended itself and struck back, blocking every move, no matter how fast Triska struck.

As he fought the nightmare before him, he noticed that Ashden had folded his arms, leaning back against the wall. Damn it, he thought. I'm just some twisted form of entertainment for that scum. He kept a careful watch on the hole in the fence, attempting to edge towards it, but never quite getting the chance each time.

The FL7 made a sudden stab forwards, and Triska dodged under it, bringing his own sword up as fast and hard as he could. The strike severed the sword blade from the FL7's arm and took several other spiked blades with it, while Triska stepped away to catch his breath. He knew he should take the chance to run for the hole in the fence, but he was exhausted to the point where he could barely move, and what he saw next took away the last scraps of hope that he'd been clinging to.

The FL7 looked at its damaged arm momentarily, and then, with several loud clicks, more blades appeared along its arm, in triplicate, to replace the severed ones. It spun round, lightning fast, and Triska found himself pinned by his shoulder to the metal wall by a needle-like blade that had replaced the sword.

Ashden walked over, in no hurry, and stood calmly nearby, hands in his coat pocket as Triska gasped in pain. "It's nothing personal, snowkitten. But your entire race is an abomination. An anomaly spat out by Aredria. You should never have existed, but you do, and your race is far too dangerous to be allowed to continue. So it's nothing personal. I'm sure you understand that."

Triska snarled, teeth gritted. "You can go to hell... and you will..."

Ashden glanced at the FL7. "Finish it."

Triska showed no fear. Just resignation, and utter sadness as he thought of his wife, Mettrissa, and young daughter, Elaora. The FL7 raised its other arm, producing several whirling buzzsaw blades and...

In Aredria, the time difference meant that while it was late afternoon in Mosternal, it was past midnight in Phoenixbrook. Watching out of her bedroom window, looking at the night sky over the city, Leana suddenly felt as if she had been punched in the chest. She gasped, and had to grab hold of the curtain momentarily to steady herself. Around her neck, her diamond shaped necklace - normally glowing brightly - dimmed for a few seconds before returning to normal.

Outside the city, driving hurriedly back from Kela's former house, Jarret also suddenly felt winded, and had to swerve the car dangerously off the road, finding himself unable to drive for a few long moments.

Just as quickly, it passed, but both of them knew the Elysia had struck again, and another snowkitten had been lost.