Stolen Souls

Fourteen

Athena lay restless that night, staring up at the stars. She knew there was no chance she could sleep. She felt terrible, letting the tribes be taken from the forest. Now, everything around her belongs to the humans. She thought back to the time when she was younger, when she would run wild and free through the forest, not worrying about the humans. She remembered the warm summer days, and shapeshifting into a lioness so she could feel the warm fur. But instead of making her happy, the memories made her more and more sad.

Athena woke with a start the next morning. She had been thinking all night about how to get the tribes back, and had a pretty good idea how to. She remembered that even though the injection they gave the tribes took away the ability to shapeshift, it was only temporary. If the Muverian and Mandalorian tribes shapeshifted, they could free the Linonians, and the humans wouldn't be able to stop them all at once.

That night, she crept carefully and quietly into the human camp, so not to disturb even a fly. The humans kept strange suns on top of strange gray trees, which helped her see in the dark. After searching the city by scent while a tiger, she finally found the building where they kept the tribes. She could smell fear and death, which made her stomach turn.

She made her way around the building towards the front entrance, and rocked on her haunches, preparing to break through the glass. But, she thought about it more. If she broke the glass, it would give her less time to rescue the tribes. Instead, she unsheathed a long claw and stuck it into a hole, and moved it around, until it flew open.

Inside, it was cold and dark, not even a sound. She shapeshifted back into a human and carefully looked through each door. She found the humans separated the tribes by their colors. When she found the Mandalorians, she shapeshifted back into a tiger to pick the locks. The door swung open, and she burst inside. The first she spotted was Harian. "Harian!" Athena whispered. Harian slowly turned his head, then flew open his eyes. "I thought you were dead!" He whispered. "Well, here I am. Shapeshift into a tiger, and free the others, telling them to do the same." Athena shapeshifted into a tiger as she ordered Harian.

"Free the rest, tell them to shapeshift, and get out of here. I need to free the others." Athena crept out of the room and picked the next, where the Muverians were. "Muera!" Athena whispered. Muera tilted her head. "Shapeshift and help the others get out. I need to go help the Linonians. When everyone is free, get out of here, the exit is down the hall." Athena ordered over her shoulder as she sprinted to the next room.