Around 8:00 the following morning, Eliki woke to see the sun streaming in through the window - a very welcome sight after the chill of the previous evening. He blinked a few times, yawned and stretched, then sat up. Partly due to the sunny weather, he felt a sense of optimism about the day. The snowkitten wasn't due to work on Andrina's market stall today, so he had the whole day to work on a new painting and...

Then he remembered. Today, Keryan would move in, and Ailee would have to give her up for an unknown, potentially considerable, length of time. The initial optimism faded very rapidly. He was looking forward to his daughter being there for a lot longer than usual, but the thought of seeing Ailee struggling to let her go wasn't something he relished.

Eliki sighed, clambering out from under his thoroughly crumpled blue and purple duvet cover, and then searched for his light blue t-shirt. Despite having put it out to wear only last night, there seemed to be no sign of it anywhere. To the left side of his bed was a tall bookcase, crammed with novels, art books and collections of photographs and postcards from all over Venuvia, compiled into neat binders. The other side of the bed was home to a small white bedside cabinet, on top of which were several brightly coloured bracelets and pendants, a small collection of little fairy ornaments, and Eliki's rarely used alarm clock (shaped like a black cat's head.) Next to his locked, hefty cupboard was his computer, around which lay an extremely untidy mess of cables, paper and random pieces of spare hardware. Leana had remarked that if he ever needed to unplug any of the various devices, it would be a challenge of untangling wires that would baffle even the top boffins from Phoenixbrook University. Various shelves lined the walls, covered in more books, assorted films on memory crystals, and a weird and wonderful collection of gadgets and unusual ornaments.

Eliki stepped out of his thin, woollen pyjamas, praying that Leana wouldn't suddenly burst into the room. It took him considerable effort and several more yawns to coax himself into his jeans and the wayward blue t-shirt (strangely found under the bed), while he listened to the weather forecast on his small, handheld radio. A sunny and pleasant start to the day, it claimed, but - there was always a 'but' - heavy rain was predicted for the afternoon. Somehow it seemed ironic, given the two sides of the events of the day to come.

Eventually he headed down the stairs, wandering across the living room which led from the bottom of the stairs, and into the kitchen, where he found a note from Leana. It seemed she had set out to work early, as she often did. He decided to read the note aloud, in an attempt to take the edge off the lonely silence that permeated the entire house.

"Sorry, missed you this morning. Had to go early, as Kalia is on a business trip again and I'm in all day. You were being all bone-idle and sleepy as usual, so I didn't wake you. Guess it'll all be over by the time I get back. Hope it goes well and try not to worry. Looking forward to seeing my niece when I get home. Love, Leana."

Eliki pocketed the note. He wasn't much in the mood for breakfast, so he passed the time looking at a few news headlines on the internet, then on a sudden whim at 9:00 he grabbed his faded denim coat, checking he had what he needed in the pockets, and headed out the front door, locking it securely behind him. As luck would have it, the bus he needed was just turning the corner, so the snowkitten ran down the stairs, almost rolling down the last few, sprinting along the front path and just about making it in time to board the bus.

A few minutes later, he stepped off the bus, crossing the cobbled street to the other side, and headed into the Pure Magick shop, where Loganberry was warily balancing a pile of small, thick blue slates on a glass cube. As with the vast majority of the items here, Eliki had no idea what they were, but that made them no less fascinating.

"Be right with you!" Loganberry called out as he heard the bell above the door chiming to announce the visitor.

"No rush, it's only me," Eliki replied.

Loganberry looked round smiling, recognising the voice, but keeping a paw firmly on the unstable pile of slates. "Oh, hi! I don't suppose you could do be a really big favour, and fetch another of these glass cubes from over by the till?" Eliki grabbed the nearest cube, and Loganberry split the slate pile in half, using the other cube to display them much more safely.

"Thanks," the rabbit said, rubbing his paws together to remove some of the stray dust. "So what brings you here on such a nice, sunny day?"

Eliki grinned. "I heard rumours that you had a new pack of biscuits in the back room."

Loganberry gestured at the door, grinning too. "And no doubt you thought I needed help finishing them off? You're better at reading the future than I am! C'mon, I'll put the kettle on."

Shortly after, Eliki sat in the small staffroom clutching a mug of hot chocolate, munching his way through a banana-toffee biscuit, while Loganberry sipped at a large mug of tea. He sat nearer the door, so he could keep a watchful eye on the shop, though it was rare for many customers to visit so early on a morning.

Loganberry looked at the snowkitten, making an educated decision to grab one of the few remaining biscuits before they all vanished. "I'm sure it'll be okay, you know," he told Eliki. "Jarret is right. Keryan needs to be somewhere safe, and that's vital, no matter how difficult it is for Ailee to part from her. She'd prefer that to the thought of her daughter being in danger, obviously. And let's face it, Ailee is pretty damn tough. I'm not saying it'll be easy at all, but you know she'll find ways to cope."

Eliki nodded, silent for a time, before saying, "Yeah, I hope so. I really hope so, and it's not forever. This'll all be over soon, I'm sure of it."

Loganberry smiled. "That's more like it. Now excuse me for asking a very silly question, but do you want that last biscuit? Then I can chuck out the box and get a bit more space back in here." Moments later the biscuit was whisked into oblivion, and Loganberry tutted, with a grin.

"Back in a moment. Looks like I've got a customer at last."

"Righto," Eliki mumbled through a mouthful of mashed up biscuit. As Loganberry went onto the shop floor and began promoting the strange blue slates - which it transpired were a bizarre form of bubble bath which fizzed up at a phenomenal rate when dropped into a bath - Eliki looked round the disturbingly tidy little staff room. Or at least it was tidy compared to the state of the staffroom at The Bookshelf, where Leana worked. There were neatly stacked books, leaflets, dream charts, and all manner of other paperwork, stashed in boxes and trays above and around the nearby computer. On the notice board were unfathomable symbols on small pieces of paper, and amid all this was an ordinary piece of scrap paper, reminding Loganberry to meet his boss for lunch tomorrow. Among all the arcane symbols, it somehow seemed very out of place.

Loganberry returned, having successfully sold several of the slates, along with a dream catcher and a handful of weather prediction crystals. "Okay, let's have a look at that mysterious pendant then."

Eliki reached into his coat pocket, producing the blood-red jewel which Jarret had entrusted him with, that would eventually be given to Keryan. "Jarret refused to say what the purpose of this thing was. He just said it'll work from instinct, and that Keryan had to keep it with her at all times, no matter what. According to him, it will help her 'when she needs it the most.' All far too ambiguous. I just wondered if you'd ever seen a jewel like it before and could clear up the mystery."

Loganberry took the jewel carefully, scrutinising it silently for a while before shaking his head. "Sorry, I've honestly never seen anything like it before." He shook the jewel gently, watching the smoky red substance within, swirling around. "I'm not picking anything up from it myself, but from what Jarret said, and what you told me about the feelings you got when you held the jewel, I'd say it's pretty powerful. Perhaps only in the paw of a snowkitten though. Beyond that, I've honestly no idea."

"Not to worry," Eliki said. "Just so long as it does what Jarret claims, if things ever did get that bad. That's the main thing."

Loganberry thought for a moment. "I could always do a quick 3D scan of the jewel, if that was okay? Then I'd have an accurate image of it on my computer, and I could research it a lot more effectively when I have more time spare." He gestured to a cube-shaped device by the side of his computer.

Eliki nodded. "Sure, that would be great, thanks. Nothing to lose, after all, and if anyone can find out more about it, you can."

"I can't make any promises," the rabbit told him, "but I'll do my best." He switched on the scanner and they waited for it to warm up.

Upstairs above The Burrow, Ailee helped Keryan to pack. It was truly bewildering just how much one small snowkitten actually needed, in terms of clothes, toys, books and goodness only knew what else. Even allowing for the fact that Eliki already had spare duvets, sheets and such like at his house, negating the need to take those, the two large suitcases looked likely to be packed to bursting point.

Ailee sighed. The one time she could have really done with Jarret there to help out, especially in terms of emotional support, and he'd cleared off to somewhere unknown. He'd mentioned the attack from the night before, not long after he'd ambled in, dragging a somewhat worse-for-wear fox with him. The fact that Jarret had crossed paths with Attra right there in Phoenixbrook was, unsurprisingly, a massive shock. If there was one silver lining to it all, it had strengthened Ailee's resolve to get Keryan to the comparative safety of Eliki's house, but even thinking the Elysia had been so close and undetected, sent a cold chill down her spine. Either way, Jarret had apparently "loosened a few facts" from the Elysia soldier, who had since been taken away by the ACU - Aredria's police force, known as the Anti Crime Unit - and first chance he'd had after a quick nap, Jarret had gone straight out again "on business." As was often the case, Ailee had decided it was far better to just let him get on with it.

Keryan, kneeling on the bed among assorted toys, had been busy making executive decisions about what to take and leave behind. She pointed excitedly at some multicoloured cubes, all held together by thin wires in such a way that the cubes could be twisted, turned and manipulated into any number of shapes and colour combinations. The little snowkitten watched as Ailee found a safe place for the toy in the suitcase, and then Keryan reached under her pillow.

"And this is the last one," she told her mother. "I have to take this. This is my favourite."

Ailee looked as Keryan handed over a slightly grubby, cuddly toy cat - a little bit podgy and made from very fluffy purple and blue material. It was a toy she had brought Keryan for her first birthday, and it always went with her whenever she was away from The Burrow. It nearly broke Ailee's heart to see Keryan squeezing the toy in a tight hug, before handing it over to be placed - very carefully and ceremoniously as she had insisted - in the suitcase. For her sake though, Ailee stayed strong and hid her sadness as best she could, as the last thing she wanted to do was upset Keryan.

She clicked the suitcase shut, pushing it over by the other one, and told her daughter, "Right, that's everything. Now we just have to wait till Jarret gets back. And if he's late, I'll give him hell." Keryan nodded in approval, looking towards the clock. Inwardly however, Ailee was hoping Jarret wouldn't hurry back too soon.

Behind the counter at The Bookshelf, Leana took a huge pile of books from a tall, thin otter, and began the fairly monotonous task of ringing the prices up on the battered old till. Normally this would be done at a fairly leisurely pace, as nobody expected the job rushed in a shop such as this, and the laid back atmosphere was something the customers loved about The Bookshelf. But this time, Leana worked more quickly. Wandering round the shop, looking at random books with no real interest, was Jarret.

Normally he wouldn't be seen dead in the shop, but he'd walked in at the same time as the otter, and insisted he had something vitally important to tell Leana. Despite his impatient insistences, she had refused to tell the otter to leave. So Jarret refused to leave too, and had been walking round the shop trying to look intimidating, in an attempt to make the customer hurry and leave. It hadn't worked. Either the otter was braver than he looked, or he was so keen on books that he simply didn't care, but either way, he certainly hadn't hurried himself, and Jarret looked disturbingly annoyed.

As soon as the otter cheerily left, Jarret kicked the door shut behind him, flipping the sign on the little window to "Closed" and leaning back against it, so nobody else could enter.

"You could always try locking it," Leana smiled. "It might be easier than using your backside to block it."

Jarret muttered something unheard, perhaps luckily, clicking the latch so the door locked, just as a young rabbit girl was about to enter. Finding it closed, she wandered away, disappointed.

Leana frowned. "This had better be good. You just lost me one of our regular customers."

Jarret put his paws on the counter and grinned. "Oh trust me, you'll love this one." He explained dutifully about the attack from Attra and all it entailed. It doubtless took him considerable effort to not embellish it with extra heroics, but somehow he kept to just the facts.

After he'd finished, Leana looked unsurprisingly shell-shocked, as she murmured, "I can't believe it. I just can't believe he was in Phoenixbrook and we never knew..."

Jarret muttered, "Well if only I'd thought to bring my damn camera along, I'd have a whole collection of photos as evidence."

"Don't be so bloody stupid," Leana snapped.

Jarret shrugged. "I had a few words, shall we say, with the Elysia fox before he was carted off to the ACU. Nothing has changed. The scum at the top of the chain let very little news of their plans filter down to the bottom of the pile. So he didn't have a lot to say. But at least it explains why Attra wasn't overly concerned about leaving that fox behind. He knew there was virtually nothing to tell if the fox hadn't been told anything in the first place."

There was a pause. Leana said, "Except...?"

"Except," Jarret continued, "he did confirm a hint from Attra. Somehow word did filter down to ground level that the Elysia had developed, or are developing, something new. Something specifically intended for dealing with me and you, or so they believe. Whatever it is, it's based on science rather than magic. That's all the idiot knew, but that's what we're up against, one way or the other. So it didn't tell us much, except there's a new threat, and somehow I've got to find out more about it."

Leana nodded solemnly. "Well maybe this time you'd like to try keeping me better informed if you do find anything out."

Jarret seemed to ignore that comment. "Of course, finding anything out now has been made tougher since they assassinated Tressington..."

"Tressington...?" Leana echoed, looking puzzled.

He replied, "Just one of my contacts abroad. Except he wasn't abroad at the time. Actually you were probably the last person to see him alive. Well, except for his murderer, of course." Leana looked more puzzled, so he explained. "Tall wolf guy, often wore a battered, navy blue suit. Apparently he almost certainly knew he was being followed, so he drifted in here till the danger passed, or so he thought. Oh yes, and it was only yesterday..."

Leana reached under the counter, pulling out the business card left by the wolf the previous day - the wolf who had been requesting a book about Mosternal airships. She slid the card silently over to Jarret. He looked at it momentarily, before sighing. "Then it's true. He was in here."

"Yeah, he was after a book about Mosternal. Myths, legends, and he put in a request for a book about the history of their airships."

Jarret tore the card up, flinging it into a bin at the side of the counter. "He was obsessed with that country and its history. Something that made him a valuable contact when it came to research. You might as well cancel the order for that book. Trust me, he won't be needing it now." He made the last comment almost casually as he unlocked the door, striding out and not even looking back.

Back at home, Eliki looked at his watch. Ailee had phoned to say there was a delay, and that she'd be round no earlier than 5:00. Since that call, he'd spent much of the time wandering around on the internet, mainly as a distraction, and wondering where the promised rain had vanished to. Not too long ago, Leana had also phoned to say she'd be heading over to Andrina's cottage for a while after work, since she didn't want to be in the way when Ailee and Keryan arrived. Mostly, Eliki was glad of that - the fewer people there, the better, at least until Ailee had gone. As 5:00 arrived, Eliki watched the sun setting over the suspension bridge in the distance, from his bedroom window. The sky had turned a fiery red, reflecting across the entire river and giving it a sense of total calm, which he appreciated immensely.

The sunset over the bridge was a scene he had painted many times in the past, with varying levels of success. He pondered the possibilities of using the mask to view the same scene, but from several centuries ago, and then recreating the older vision of the sunset in a painting. Actually, the snowkitten thought, the same idea could be applied to just about every inch of Phoenixbrook. The possibilities for future painting ideas were enough to make his head spin. Still, that was something for another time.

Eliki snapped out of his daydream when the doorbell rang. If nothing else, Ailee was punctual. He quickly headed downstairs, through the living room, and checked the door monitor to confirm who was there.

Almost as soon as the front door opened, Keryan pounced in and grabbed Eliki. "Daddy! Look! I got all my stuff, all squished into two suitcases. I can't carry them though. They're way too heavy."

Eliki recovered his balance, grinned, and kneeled down to hug her close. "Hiya kitten. Missed you a lot." He hugged her tail with his and she purred quietly, as he told her, "You're getting bigger by the day. I'm sure one day you'll be more than strong and big enough to carry things like that." He looked out the front door and down the white stairs, where Ailee stood with her arms folded, using her snowkitten powers to levitate one of the suitcases up towards the door.

Eliki called down to her, "All of Keryan's things she needed in just two suitcases? What did you do? Shrink them to the size of peanuts?"

She walked up the stairs just behind the floating suitcase, her black, gothic skirt swishing around her knees, managing a half-smile. "Maybe I'm just better organised than you. I'll carry this one through to the living room, if you could carry the other one up from the car. Jarret drove us here, but he left us to it so he could go walking by the river. I'd float the other case up too, but I'm exhausted."

Eliki ruffled Keryan's hair, gesturing towards the living room and telling her to help herself to the cakes he'd left there. She ran off at breakneck speed, while Eliki strolled down the stairs towards Jarret's car, calling back to Ailee, "Was Jarret's 'walk by the river' his idea or your order?"

"Don't be silly," Ailee called back. "Both. It was my order, but I made him think it was his idea."

"Probably the best way," Eliki thought. He headed over to the dark blue, ultra-streamlined, electric car on the drive, lifting out Keryan's second suitcase with considerable effort. It took even more effort to get it up the stairs and into the house. Unlike Ailee, his snowkitten powers were nowhere near strong enough to levitate the case. Exhausted, he left it in the hall momentarily as he locked the front door again, and then slid the suitcase the rest of the way into the living room, next to the other one. It was noticeable that Ailee had bought in the smaller of the two suitcases though...

Sat on a beanbag, Keryan had opted to chew her way through a blueberry jam tart, though most of the jam was smeared round her muzzle. Sitting next to her on Leana's recliner, Ailee noticed and sighed, producing a tissue from a pocket on her purple blouse, using it to clean her daughter's face as best she could. While Ailee searched out a bin for the tissue, Keryan began shuffling around on the beanbag, until she ended up on her tummy, looking as if she was trying to learn to swim, as the beanbag did its best to up-end her onto the floor.

Ailee made a subtle gesture to Eliki, indicating they needed to chat, away from Keryan, so Eliki told the little snowkitten, "Okay, kitten, see if you can find something on the film crystals that you want to watch. Me and your mum are just going upstairs to make sure your room is okay." They headed up the narrow stairs, while Keryan rolled off the beanbag and began sifting through the pile of films Eliki had sorted out for her earlier.

Eliki stood in the doorway of the room he'd prepared for Keryan, leaning against the wooden frame with his arms folded. Ailee wandered round the room, moving things around here and there with an occasional tut, before she sat on the end of the bed. "So..." she said simply. There was silence for a while, before she suddenly burst into tears.

Somewhere along the borders of the huge Mosternal continent lay one of several vast buildings owned by the Elysia. This particular brick building was unremarkable, resembling little more, from a distance, than an old factory or warehouse, surrounded by a large forecourt. The entire site was spanned by a tall fence topped with cruel twists of black barbed wire.

If the outside was unremarkable, the inside appeared even less impressive, with its poorly lit, dingy corridors and large areas full of mostly unused machinery. Perhaps this was intentional - such a building was far less likely to attract unwanted attention than a big, flashy show of wealth and power, like some of Mosternal's corporate headquarters.

However, below the mundane ground and upper levels lay huge expanses of research laboratories, hidden from view to all but the Elysia members with the very highest security access. In sharp contrast to the grey and brown brickwork, and the few remaining clunky machines and rusting oil barrels which comprised the upper levels, this area was built up of long, brightly lit corridors and rooms full of cutting edge technology.

The phrase 'cutting edge' somehow seemed appropriate, thought Attra as he peered into one of the rooms that were usually used for testing the new weaponry the organisation had developed. The carnage he viewed was enough to make even the hardened Elysia officer shudder. When he had been told that there was something he needed to see, this hadn't quite been the scene he'd imagined looking at.

He turned angrily to face his fellow officer, Ashden - a white furred cat with a large patch of orange fur round his left eye and black tipped ears, sitting behind a gleaming white desk with his shirt sleeves rolled up, looking extremely casual.

Attra snapped, "Who the hell gave you the authority to use those soldiers for your damn tests?"

Ashden turned, slowly and patiently to face him, peering over his wire-framed glasses. "I didn't realise I needed your authority."

Attra snarled, "They are my soldiers. They have always been my responsibility. How dare you..."

Ashden interrupted with a sly, "I never knew you cared."

Attra clenched his fists as he struggled to control of his temper, before replying, "I don't. And if you had used any other five Elysia soldiers, I wouldn't have been having this conversation. But you specifically selected my five best fighters. You didn't even bother to tell me of your plans. These are men who are highly skilled in armed and close combat. Unbeaten, with first class track records. I can't just replace them with a click of my fingers!"

There was silence, briefly, as Ashden looked intently at his computer monitor. When he finally spoke, it was with a total lack of emotion. "Isn't that rather the point though? The technology we've developed to take care of our... problems... in Phoenixbrook has been in progress for nearly five years. The FL7 performed with exemplary results in simulations, but it needed a live test. If that creation is going to be up against the likes of Leana and Jarret - especially Jarret - it has to be unstoppable. It has to be perfect. What on Venuvia would be the point of throwing in five soldiers who were anything less than the best?"

He stood, slowly and methodically taking off his glasses and putting them into his shirt pocket, while Attra looked once again at the torn remains of his five soldiers, spread along the corridor beyond the locked steel door. Somewhere in the shadows at the far end, something silver and very vaguely humanoid moved, and for a moment he caught sight of a terrifying array of razor-sharp blades along the length of the creature's arm, before it vanished from sight.

Ashden finally spoke again. "Five highly trained Elysia soldiers, unbeaten in combat as you said yourself. All five armed to the teeth, against the FL7, and they lasted less than two minutes. I'd say the test was pretty conclusive and I don't know about you, but personally I think the results are excellent."

As he headed for the nearby door, which slid open with a hiss, he called back, "Tomorrow I shall be in touch with our chemicals division who can implement stage two."

Though he knew he was wasting his breath, Attra shouted after him, "Tomorrow you can also get in touch with Alder and explain why, just to prove a point, he has just lost five of his best lower-rank fighters."

Ashden didn't reply as he slipped silently down the white corridor. Attra was a warrior. Ashden was a scientist. To his mind, if it had been five lives or five hundred lives, it would have made no difference to him. "For the greater good" it would have been worth it to test his creation, regardless of the results. If the test had failed, he would have simply chosen another five soldiers and started again. There was no arguing or reasoning with Ashden.

Outside, the skies split and the threatened thunder storm finally began. It summed up Attra's mood perfectly as he smashed the computer off the desk and kicked it against the wall, before marching out the room.