Keelia’s shriek was turned into a groan when a Crypja who she didn’t know punched her hard in the stomach, then again in the chest. She wasn’t going to give up this easily, she fought back the hot tears coming from her tearing eyes and straightened her back. She reached for her pocket for any sort of instrument she could find, but there wasn’t a single thing inside. “Keelia?” Everie’s voice drifted over the hill and the Crypja hissed and ran back into the trees. Creep lingered and struck Keelia again. She fell to her knees, her eyes blurring till she could barely see Creep’s figure in front of her.

                “Don’t try and stop the inevitable, girl,” Creep whispered and punched her for the last time in the chest.

                “Keelia?” Everie shouted again, this time much closer and Creep hissed, running back into the trees. She struggled to her feet, her hand went to her side and her mind went dizzy as she stumbled over toward the house. She hadn’t ever been punched before, and she never wanted to be punched again. Keelia was grateful that there hadn’t been any weapon, well, blades, anyway. Metal fists definitely counted as weapons. She could taste faint traces of blood in her mouth, and she struggled to swallow them. She coughed and went to her hands and knees, and threw up. Everie was approaching, she tried to act normal as he came over the hill. She stood up when he grew nearer, but not for long, her legs collapsed with exhaustion.

                “Keelia? Keelia! What happened?” Everie said and ran up to her, “Delisa! Come and help me!” Everie knelt down and waited for Delisa to come to where they were.

                “Keelia! What happened?” Delisa whispered into her ear, and Keelia choked out a few words.

                “Crypja-followed us.” Before she could say anything else, her world went black.

                The band of Crypja ran swiftly to the cover of the trees, then they took out their Breaking Whistles and blew on them. They appeared in the Shen Drar Caverns and swam to the entrance of Straten’s cave door. “Come in,” Straten’s voice said wryly. The leader, Creep, opened the door and walked in without a sound. “Did you do it?”

                “Almost. You need a better plan, Straten. With Brinely out of the picture, we need somebody on the inside-”

                “We already have me on the inside! What else do you propose that we do?” Straten shouted. Creep smiled darkly.

                “We should attack Crecklington directly. You may not see the wisdom in the words I have, Straten. but if we destroy the Guardians, there will be none to demolish our plans. With them out of the picture, when the Colors have fully faded, the new King and Queen will have no choice but to-” Creep began.

                “No! I have a better idea. Take your army, and advance upon the Guardians, as you said. However; we need to fade the colors quicker! But, only in Nivara. If the colors fade all over the world, humans may find out about our existence,” Straten laughed.

                “Yes, Straten. I will take my army next month. We should choose a time that is dear to Nivarians.” Creep walked out of the cave and dove into the water once more.

                Keelia woke up in her old room. The furniture hadn’t moved a bit since she’d left, and Keelia was glad that she still had a place to come back to. She winced slightly when she tried to sit up. Her middle was bruised and she carefully laid back down. The door opened and her mother walked in. “Mom!” Keelia said. She embraced her mother gently.

                “I really thought you wouldn’t come back! Now look at you!” her mother smiled sadly as she stroked Keelia’s hair. “I’m so sorry that we weren’t there to stop those people from hurting you! How are you feeling?” she asked.

                “I’m bruised, but I don’t think anything’s broken. How long have I been out?” Keelia asked.

                “A few days. We had a doctor come over and check on you when you got hurt, and he said your body would need a while to recover. Whatever hit you must have hit you hard,” she murmured.

                “Yes, they got me with metal. But I need to get up-don’t worry! I feel fine!” Keelia assured as she got to her feet, but her mind swam and her mother helped her until she could walk. When she entered the kitchen, she was embraced tenderly by her father. She let herself sink into his strong arms.  She stayed in his arms for a number of minutes, and when she pulled away, her friends came at her.

                “Keelia! You have no idea how much you scared us!” Rachel said, giving Keelia yet another hug. She gave a quick hug to Samuel and Mabel, then turned back to the others.

                “We need to go back now,” she said with grim determination, “we’ve already been gone long enough.” The others reluctantly agreed. Keelia said goodbye to her family again and this time it was easier. She knew where to find them, and if she ever needed to stay somewhere that the King and Queen wouldn’t think to look, she could always go to Samuel’s place at college. Mabel’s hug was the fiercest of all, and Keelia winced for a second when the third desperate squeeze came. When she released Keelia, her eyes were watering. “Mabel,” Keelia whispered, “I promise that I will come and see you again, alright?” Mabel nodded, but it didn’t make it any easier for her. She’s alone all the time now. With me gone, and Samuel at college, she must be lonely. But at the back of Keelia’s mind, the daunting thought formed, and she tried to force it away. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep, Keelia. Keelia and her friends braced themselves for the trouble that they’d be in once they were back, and Keelia blew the Breaking Whistle.

                Just as they thought, the moment a person saw the group of friends enter Crecklington, shouts arose, and they all had to sprint to the Mickinson home. As usual, the door was locked and they had to enter one by one through the window. When they had all stumbled through it, Keelia went hurriedly up the stairs onto the second level. The doors to each room were closed, just as they had been when they left. They all filed into Keelia’s small room. A loud clearing of a throat made them aware that they weren’t alone. Brinely spun around and faced Cligan. “Cligan!” Brinely squeaked with surprise. Keelia had no idea that his voice could ever sound so feminine, and she had to fight back a small giggle. Brinely cleared his throat and continued in his normal tone, “what are you doing here?”

                “I live here, Brinely,” Cligan said. Thankfully, it didn’t sound like he was bothered, just…curious. Brinely’s eyes widened in unbelief and he jumped up. He ran over to where Cligan was standing and squashed him against the wall with a thud in his embrace. Cligan looked just as confused as the rest, but after a moment, he hugged his brother back. Keelia longed to enter the scene, but she doubted Cligan would appreciate that. She and Cligan hadn’t exactly been on good terms lately.  Cligan allowed them to stay in his room, because it was the largest, while they planned what they were going to do. Many suggestions came and went, although most of them were shot down by Brinely and Rachel, since both of them new how the Shen Drar worked.

                “I should really ask other Musictons to help us with this,” groaned Keelia.

                “Yes, we should. Do you think that Mr. Thisgy could round up some people willing to help?” Rachel and Brinely stared blankly at each other, and then back at the rest.

                “NO!” they said in unison.

                “Why not?” Alvis asked.

                “Don’t you guys already know?” Brinely asked at the same time that Rachel explained, “He’s Straten, the leader of the Shen Drar.”