Authors note - The start of chapter 5 and a part near the end of chapter 8 have been edited to allow for the new character, Keryan, who is introduced properly to the story during this chapter.

"Aha! One down, one to go!" Leana announced cheerfully, padding quickly down the small wooden stepladder, clutching a large hardback book. Blowing the dust off the cover, the snowkitten handed the book to a tall, middle-aged grey wolf in a battered old navy blue suit.

The wolf reached into his pocket for a pair of reading glasses, squinting at the dark blue cover. "Ah yes, this is definitely the one. 'Mosternal Myths and Legends.' So there is only one volume?"

Leana clambered swiftly back up the slightly wobbly stepladder to examine more books. "Apparently so. Kalia always ensures sets of books are kept together, and there isn't any trace of a number on that one. I can only imagine parts of it have been somewhat condensed."

As soon as Leana had mentioned his name, Kalia thundered down the stairs as though he had been magically summoned. He had been checking the book stocks in the rooms over the shop, used to store whatever they couldn't fit onto the shelves in the main shop area. Nobody lived over The Bookshelf, so this was an ideal use of the available space, though if there was any order to the stock upstairs, Leana defied Aredria's top cryptographers to crack it.

The snow leopard ambled into the main shop, commenting, "No luck with the 'Mosternal Airships' book, I'm afraid."

Leana descended the stepladder once again. "And I've checked down here. It's not among these either. Sorry about that."

The wolf nodded. "No problem. That one, especially, was a long shot. I'll just take this one then."

As Leana went through the usual process of charging the book to the wolf's cash card, then ensuring it was safely wrapped, Kalia leaned on the counter. "Of course, I could put the airships book on my search list. I travel to book fairs all over the globe, so if you were interested, I can try to track it down. No extra charge, and if I can't find it, nobody can."

With a smile, the wolf replied pleasantly, "You're very… confident… of your abilities."

Leana grinned. "He's not exactly Mr Modest, is he? He's right though. Kalia is exceptionally good at finding rare books."

"Nothing to lose," the wolf mused. "Sure, I'd appreciate that. If you do manage to find it, this is my contact number." He produced a pristine, plastic backed, business card - somewhat in contrast to the battered suit it had been kept in. It was placed on the counter with a sharp click and an air of authority.

As the wolf left, Kalia tapped away at the temperamental old computer in the back room, adding the relevant details to his search list before printing it out. A minute later, back in the main shop and stacking the small pile of papers, Kalia watched with his usual fascination as Leana used a spell to float several magazines from the counter to their new home on the shelves, their pages flapping like wings. Under Leana's care, they were perfectly safe from harm, but nonetheless, Kalia was wary of saying anything until she had finished, just in case it snapped her concentration and the magazines tore to shreds.

Before she began working on the next pile, Kalia told her, "Leana, I've got to go to the main book fair tomorrow, in Elmsford. It looks like being an all-dayer. So will you be okay to watch the shop tomorrow? I know it was your day off, but…"

She thought for a moment. "Well… I did have a few things planned, but it should be no problem. Nothing I can't put off." Inwardly, she was considerably less happy. She had hoped to spend the day with Andrina. But one of the main reasons Kalia originally gave her the job was because he went to book fairs frequently, and Leana had always been willing to take care of the shop in his absence.

"Thanks," Kalia told her, sweeping his long, white hair out his eyes for the hundredth time. "That's a big help. I knew I could rely on you. Well, things are pretty slack this afternoon, from the look of it, so if you want the rest of the day off, that's no problem."

"Paid?"

Kalia grinned, feigning an exaggerated sigh. "You'll bleed me dry."

"Well, someone has to do it," Leana retorted.

Kalia stretched and yawned. "Of course you'll be paid. Now hop it before I change my mind."

A while later, in a thin purple summer coat, Leana headed westwards. An unexpected few hours off work was an opportunity not to be wasted, so she planned to visit the market, collecting her reserved copy of a book catalogue along the way from a small newsagents. Her first task once she arrived was to head for Andrina's jewellery stall, but Rich was still taking care of it, and by his estimates there was a good half an hour left till Andrina and Eliki would return from the café. So Leana invested the time wisely, roaming the stalls and enjoying the near overwhelming bustle of people and noises, smells and traders. It wasn't long before she had found herself a new yellow, frilly dress - perfect for the hot weather in a few months - and a small box of pebble shaped blue crystals, which, when dropped in a bath, would foam up at a phenomenal rate. Much like bubble bath, but far more fun to watch. Before heading back to Andrina's stall, she armed herself with a bag of cherry and banana sherbet, with a spade shaped lolly to dip in it - a childhood favourite and a fond memory.

Thankfully, not least from her bank account's point of view, Leana noticed that Andrina and Eliki had returned from their lunch break. After a quick hug, and near-manic explanation of lunch from Andrina, Leana then listened intently to Eliki's news about Fennerton, the tragic gangster cat.

Leana, arms folded, the bag of sherbet safely in a pocket out of Andrina's sight, commented, "That explains a few things, but it raises more questions than it answers, really. It does prove one thing though - it looks like the Elysia really are concentrating their efforts towards Jarret this time, albeit indirectly."

Eliki replied, "Or that's what they want us to believe. We can't get complacent. But then again, going after Jarret as a priority target would hardly be surprising, considering how much damage he inflicted on them last time."

"I know…" Leana said quietly, shuffling some of the bracelets around on the stall. "Well, it looks as if you two will be here for a while yet, so I think I'll head home."

"Sure, and before I forget, here's the crystal for the mask," Eliki told her, handing over the small box.

"Thanks, I'll see if I can hook it up when I get back," Leana replied.

Andrina, having just completed another sale, called across, "Is it okay if I come over tonight, when we're done here? I want to see the mask and how it works. Well, if that is okay with you?"

Leana smiled. "Silly. Of course it's okay. I'll only set the mask up. I won't actually try it out. Maybe we can head out early evening and find a good place to give it a test. Somewhere quiet, hopefully."

Shortly after, she headed home, pretty much heading straight up to her bedroom, and taking the mask from its secure hiding place under the bed. Routine then demanded that she check her emails. While waiting for the computer to finish loading the operating system, Leana looked out the window, taking in the sight of southern Phoenixbrook - the gateway and twin turrets visible in the distance. The whole scene was calm and quiet, illuminated in the warm, mid afternoon sun.

Around the same time at The Burrow, upstairs, Jarret glared at the email which glowed emotionlessly, and silently, from the screen of his laptop computer. The message had been encoded and sent using several layers of sophisticated security, from one of his contacts abroad and flagged as "extremely important."

It detailed, though thankfully not in explicit detail, how one of Jarret's other contacts had been found dead that morning. There was no doubt whatsoever as to who had been responsible, since a note on the unfortunate wolf's body had been left with the intention that Jarret would eventually see it. It stated simply:-

"We know you've been watching us. Not long to wait now. Looking forward to seeing you again soon, and this time you can introduce us to your niece."

Jarret's first instinct would have been to break the laptop into a hundred pieces, but it was with considerable willpower and restraint that he opted instead for the less costly option of obliterating just the email, using some custom written 'shredding' software - a far more secure method than simply deleting it.

It wasn't so much the death of one of his extremely useful contacts which had angered Jarret. To him, that was more of an inconvenience than anything, and finding backup to fill the gap was tricky, but not impossible. Instead, his anger was towards the Elysia's direct threat to him, and more importantly, to his niece, Keryan. Since the day of her birth, there had always been the risk that the Elysia would find out about Keryan and seek to find a way of using her against Jarret, via threats of violence or kidnap. Or both. But until today, they hadn't even hinted that they knew she existed. Surprise or not, this thinly veiled threat against her in that email was a wake-up call Jarret had hoped never to see.

The black furred snowkitten snapped out of his trance, and decided to send prompt messages to his various other contacts, warning them to step up their security and be extremely vigilant. However careful they may have been, at least one of them must have slipped up. Something must have triggered the Elysia's suspicions.

With that done, Jarret sighed, then stretched his paws, hearing the knuckles pop. He looked briefly out the window. The view from here was a good deal less inspiring than the one Leana received from her window. The buildings at the back of The Burrow were tall, so any view of northern Phoenixbrook was mostly obscured, though it did give a good view of the gully at the back of the club. Jarret wandered into Ailee's bedroom, where he was able to peer at the southern city wall - still a good distance away, but far nearer than the view Leana had. Jarret was hardly the sort of cat who had an interest in picturesque scenes, but he had immense pride in his city, and the view lifted his heart after the grim sight of that email.

He turned away from the window, noticing a new poster Ailee had put up over her bed, although what it portrayed was beyond him. It appeared to show three large petals growing from a large silver eye, with hundreds of black petals spiralling in the background. Arty farty pretentious crap, thought Jarret, nearly losing his balance as he stepped away from the bed (with its black and red duvet hanging half off) catching his foot on a small bedside cabinet. On it, the small red reading lamp shook slightly, but just about stayed upright, next to a large golden cat statue. The dark purple wallpaper encompassing the room gave everything a slight purple tint, while across the windows hung net curtains, which reminded Jarret of spider webs. He seemed to approve.

He stopped suddenly, tilting his head slightly. Tapping sounds were coming from the living room. Somebody had sneaked in and they had grabbed his laptop. With a tiny smile, he leaned in the doorway.

"Ahem…"

Sat on the floor in front of Jarret's laptop, a small snowkitten girl, aged no more than six, jumped and turned to face him. Her fur was a similar light brown to Ailee's, but a black stripe ran between her eyes, the same as the markings on Eliki. She had a white muzzle, with more white fur trailing down her neck, similar streaks visible along the sides of her arms and legs - or at least what was visible of them below the long, near-hypnotic tie-dye dress she wore. Her hair was long and mostly black, except for a few blue streaks, and much of the front of her hair was a vivid red. A long, blue, fluffy tail swished behind her as she frowned.

"Uncle Jarret, you changed your password again."

Jarret strolled calmly across, closing the laptop and jabbing a button on the lid, which switched it off. "Maybe, Keryan, that is because you keep finding out what it is."

Keryan looked at the closed laptop, mischievously using her snowkitten powers to open the lid again, till Jarret clicked it shut with a look that definitely said, "No more." However, as he turned away to place the computer on the nearest shelf (it was pointless putting it totally out of reach, as it was laughably easy for naughty snowkittens to float it back down again) Keryan made a quick gesture, and the end of Jarret's dark brown tail, unknown to him, fluffed out like a large cactus.

"I wanted to play Scuzzball!"

Jarret scratched the back of his neck. "You know full well I don't keep games on there."

"Well, mum has plenty on hers."

"I'm sure she does," Jarret told Keryan, peering down the corridor. "Speaking of which, where is your mother?"

Keryan stood up, wobbling slightly as the full impact of a healthy dose of pins and needles numbed her legs briefly. "Down, down, allllllll the way down there. She wanted to ask Ms Pandahead something."

Jarret shrugged. "That's Mrs Pandahead to you." He watched as the little snowkitten twirled on the spot, then she headed into Ailee's bedroom, levering the laptop she found off the shelf. Ailee had given her permission to use it whenever she wanted, which was fortunate, since at the moment, the toffee coloured snowkitten was heading back up the stairs.

Ailee joined Jarret in the bedroom doorway, gazing in. "What are we looking at?"

Jarret muttered, "Your daughter. Who I caught hacking into my laptop again…"

Ailee folded her arms. "My daughter is only six years old. I very much doubt she could be hacking into anything. More likely you just make your password too bloody obvious."

She looked mildly amused when Keryan let out an excited "Woohoo!" as a marauding 3D sockbeast paid the ultimate price. Jarret wandered back to the main living room, beckoning Ailee to follow. She leaned in the doorway, while Jarret sat, perched on the end of a chair.

He gestured at his laptop on the shelf. "I had an email. Tressington is dead."

Ailee looked vaguely bemused, replying, "And Tressington is…?"

"He was my North Mosternal contact. The Elysia got to him, and that would have been no simple task. You know as well as I do just how careful those contacts are. They're untraceable so that just simply should not have been possible. Usual method - swift and brutal, and they left a happy little calling card behind this time, which points directly to this place being a priority target."

Ailee looked as if she was somehow amused, a slight smile visible. "And after the fun you had with the Elysia last time, are you really surprised?"

Jarret didn't look amused. "Keryan was mentioned too…"

The obvious threat from the Elysia's message didn't need explaining. Neither did Ailee's expression as she slumped into the chair next to Jarret. "What the hell do we do…?"

In the room opposite, still jabbing at the controls for the game, Keryan couldn't hear much of the conversation, but she had guessed it was to do with her, and they were evidently arguing. Though she couldn't tell what they were saying, their voices were raised at times and sounded angry. Over the noise of the game, there wasn't any chance of picking out exactly what they were saying, and switching the game off now would have looked far too obvious. However, Keryan was used to the constant arguments between her mother and Jarret, and although she could be nosey, the thrill of pummelling another 3D sockbeast into the ground proved far more alluring.

A short while later, there was silence from the snowkitten twins, but Keryan was far too busy to notice. She had given up on the game and was instead gazing at the collection of Phoenixbrook photos left on the laptop for her, in a special "Keryan" folder. She marvelled at a panoramic view of the suspension bridge at night, all the lights glowing and reflecting in the river. The little snowkitten seemed entranced, only reacting when Ailee entered the room and sat on the bed next to her, stroking Keryan's ears which gained a quiet but decidedly happy purr.

As Jarret stood in the doorway watching silently, Ailee asked her daughter, "Do you remember what we told you about the Elysia a few months ago?"

Over at the marketplace, Eliki slid the last of the unsold necklaces into one of the three large travel bags, zipping it shut securely. Since most of the stock had been sold, during what had been a very productive day, this bag and the other two were considerably lighter than when he and Andrina had set out that morning, and that seemed just as well now the weather was becoming warmer. The two snowkittens planned to head straight to Eliki and Leana's home, as promised, but the journey was longer than the one taken earlier, from Andrina's cottage to the market.

"Ready?" Eliki asked.

Andrina nodded, hefting her bag onto her shoulder as Eliki lifted the other two. "Ready as I'll ever be. I hope it doesn't take too long to get there, 'cos I've got the munchies, and when I get back to your house, I fully intend to empty your pantry."

Eliki was about to reply when his mobile phone rang. "Hold that thought. It's Ailee and the call is flagged as important…" He placed the bags back down on the ground, digging the phone from his pocket and flipping the lid open to answer the call. "Hello? This had better be good. Andrina is hungry and that constitutes an emergency situation."

Andrina wandered over to a nearby information point, just at the side of the marketplace fountain, idly going through the various adverts displayed one after another, promoting the many businesses in and around the city. She looked bemused as an advert for the local Gurgle Burgers was replaced by one for The Evening Male - some sort of posh escort agency. Shaking her head and smirking, Andrina randomly chose different shops from the lists, calling up a map that indicated where they were, alongside directions on how to reach the shop in question and with as many other details as possible about what they actually sold. She already knew many of the places and locations anyway, but it helped to pass the time while the lengthy phone call continued. Glancing across occasionally, she noticed that Eliki was becoming somewhat agitated for a while, but looked happier once the call finally ended, and he wandered across, scooping up the two bags again.

"Good news?" Andrina asked hopefully, unable to read the snowkitten's expression.

"Hmmm… yes and no," Eliki sighed as they walked in the direction of his home. "Apparently Jarret was sent a threatening message from the Elysia. Jarret thinks that Keryan is in danger if she stays in that area, and after a blazing row, Ailee agreed that Keryan should stay with us, away from southeast Phoenixbrook. Ailee hates the thought of having to do that and I'm hardly surprised. But for once in their lives, the pair of them agreed that if the Elysia did go after Keryan specifically - and I hope to the Goddess that never happens - at least if she is with us, Leana has a far better chance of protecting her."

Andrina pondered the facts for a moment, before concluding, "So the reasons are bad, but… ooooh, Keryan would be staying longer this time! That means I can visit and we can go on quests to find out all of Leana's secrets, and build donut machines and…"

As she rambled on, Eliki couldn't help smiling, despite everything. At least Andrina's eternal optimism had taken the edge off what was a pretty serious situation. However, it was extremely surprising that Ailee would ever have agreed to this. When she had discovered she was pregnant with Keryan, the relationship between her and Eliki had fallen apart, and was beyond any chance of recovering despite the sudden change of circumstances. Once Keryan had been born, at least the friendship between the parents had recovered to some extent, and as a result they were able to agree on a very simple custody system. Keryan would stay with Ailee for two weeks, then with Eliki for two weeks. Simple, and it worked well. The little kitten loved the fact that she had two homes, and a chance of a change of scenery every two weeks.

But for Keryan's mother to actually give her up for what would be a far longer time - an unknown length of time, basically until the Elysia threat was over - seemed very surprising. Jarret was extremely good at winning arguments, but he must have used every bit of his considerable persuasive powers to get her to agree. The problem was, Jarret's methods and ideas may have often been very off-kilter at the best of times, but he was often right, and if he of all people believed Keryan to be in danger, and that she would be safer under the care of Eliki and Leana, that alone was a very convincing argument. Jarret deeply resented the fact that Leana had vastly more powers than him, so he rarely admitted when he was out of his depth. For him to have actually done so, Ailee would have had little choice but to see the sense in his argument eventually. And naturally, she could visit her daughter at the twin's house any time she wanted, though it was hardly ideal. Eliki really wasn't looking forward to the heartbreak of Ailee giving up her daughter in this way, when she would bring her round tomorrow evening.

As for what Keryan herself thought of it all, she apparently regarded it almost like some big adventure. When asked about the Elysia, she had replied, "Uncle Jarret kicked their butts!" (Ailee had then told her, "That may be the way he tells it…") She was only six, so it was hardly any wonder that Keryan didn't grasp just how dangerous the Elysia really were. Quite whether she had any stronger a grasp on the fact she'd be staying with Eliki and Leana for the foreseeable future was another matter altogether, but it seemed there was no time to worry about that.

Once they finally arrived at the twin's home, and Andrina was busy thoughtfully gazing through Leana's new book catalogue, Eliki explained to his twin about the phone call. She listened in silence, before telling him, "That explains this afternoon then. I must have picked up on Jarret's emotions at one point. I was just looking out the window when I sensed him becoming extremely angry, and that was followed not long after by a deep sense of worry. So it was pretty obvious something had gone astray earlier…"

Eliki nodded. "I sensed something was worrying Ailee too, but I don't know if she was trying to conceal it from me at the time. It was barely there at all." He sighed. "Well, it looks like I'll have to get Keryan's bedroom ready somewhat earlier than expected."

Leana picked up her favourite yellow hairbrush, and began brushing her hair, watching Andrina wandering towards the kitchen looking longingly at a cat-shaped cookie jar. "Help yourself. I refilled it earlier," Leana called out. She turned back to Eliki as she heard the cookie jar lid fly open. "And I need to prepare an industrial strength shielding spell. Once the Elysia find out that Keryan isn't at The Burrow, they'll start sniffing around very quickly trying to track her down. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out she was here instead, but there's always the hope that a good shielding spell will throw them, at least for a while."

Eliki wandered over to the window. He watched as Mrs Gare - an elderly vixen who lived in the house opposite - ambled up her path with a suitcase that seemed almost as big as she was. "I hope it works. I'm sure the spell would help. It worked last time, after all, and if Keryan is here, no Elysia bonehead is going to risk going after her. She'll be safe here. I just know it. It just worries me how Ailee is going to cope with all this."

He jumped a little as Leana wrapped her paws around him from behind and hugged him warmly. "Then it's up to us to make sure Ailee copes, whether she wants our help or not."

Eliki smiled at that. "You know as well as I do what it's like trying to give Ailee help. It's a pretty formidable task, and it only works if you do it by stealth."

Leana grinned. "Then it's lucky we're masters of stealth, isn't it?" As she spoke, Mrs Gare was somewhat bemused as her extremely heavy suitcase levitated and floated by itself through her open front door. Since this wasn't the first time something similar had happened, she knew exactly where to look, turning to spot Leana and Eliki waving and watching her from their living room window. She grinned and waved back, shaking her head before disappearing indoors.

"Right," Leana exclaimed energetically. "That's done. Now we have a meal to prepare, an Andrina to pry from the cookie jar, and once that's done, it should be twilight. Perfect timing for trying out that mask!"