animal jam - the first fox (book one) under editing

;Chapter Twenty-Four; (UNDER EDITING)

My eyes flashed open and my mother was standing in front of me. I instantly knew it was a dream. She lead me over to the same cherry blossom tree as my other dreams and sat down next to it. I then sat beside her. My mom looked at me and I looked at her. She shook her head and grabbed a branch that had fallen down from the tree. She scraped some grass to the side and began to draw in the dirt. I raised my eyebrows as she drew a phantom, then a crown, then a skull. I was so confused! I glanced at her and she was gone. Instead, it was Percy, and he lay there, limp, his one eye open, goo spilling out of it, staring into space.

I gasped and my eyes flickered open. I was in a dark room. No lights were on. I couldn't see anything. I tried to stand but my wrists were locked down, so we're my legs. I growled and tried to bite at the metal, but I knew it would never work. I sighed and hung my head but suddenly, the lights flashed on and I could finally see again. Pillars seemed to guard the walls and the floor was completely grey. The walls were black and so was everything else. Except for a purple throne in the middle of the room. On the throne was a phantom so big, it could be a phantom giant! His eye was big, his tentacles were big, and his head looked like it was cracked open! Sparks were constantly flying out of its skin. My eyes widened and my ears flattened. It looked at me and smiled creepily. Goosebumps began to rise below my fur and a shiver ran through my spine. I once again tried to escape.

"That's no use," the phantom said. I squinted my eyes and furrowed my brows.

"Who are you?" I snarled. The phantom laughed and got up off of its throne.

"If you were a Regular, then I wouldn't tell you... but you're a Special so I guess I may. You probably have noticed I am bigger and stronger than most of the phantoms..." it replied. "That is because I am their king."

Regulars? Specials? What is this madness! "Why am I strapped down?" I questioned.

"I want to kill you," it said simply. I opened my mouth to speak, but the king wrapped a gigantic tentacle around my muzzle. "I knew your mother... when she was still alive..." I tensed up. "I knew her quite well. In fact, I raised her! But one day, she betrayed us for... Jamaa! Fauna Flora was a traitor and I swore that I would get my revenge! She left us, after I took care of her, fed her...! Now, I will get revenge by killing her only daughter. Well, not her only daughter."

"What?" I stuttered.

"Oh yes Amelia," the king smirked. "Your older sister, Imara. She is quite powerful if I do say so myself." I clenched my teeth in anger. The language, my mom, now I have a sister?! How much more crazy is this going to get?

"And as you saw a few weeks ago, your little friend, Mira? She's gone," the phantom gestured over to a pile of stone near his throne. I let out a low growl. The king chuckled and nodded toward a door, hidden by a pillar. The deputy from before rolled out a cage. A cage full of Alphas! Greely, Liza, Peck, Graham, Gilbert, Cosmo... Even Revelon, Genie, and Juno were there! I gasped. I would've covered my muzzle if I could.

"Amelia!" Greely howled, at the sight of me. I, once more, tried to escape as I heard his voice.

"Shut up!" the king exclaimed. Then he wrapped his tentacle around my chin and squeezed hard. I winced. "You're going to fight me, Amelia... I just wanna see how weak you truly are. If you win, you and your friends will live and we'll never bother Jamaa again. But if you lose... you and your friends will die!"

"Don't do it, Amelia!" Greely yelled.

I flattened my ears. "Fine," I said, ignoring Greely. "It's a deal."

"No!" Peck screeched. The phantom king smirked and unlatched me. I dropped to the ground and looked up. Then, I dashed over to the cage my friends were held in.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, kissing Greely passionately. He glanced at me, his eyes red and puffy. I sighed and backed away from them, facing the phantom king. He stuck out his tentacle and I shook it. There was a flash as we both shot up into the sky. I sent a blow to the king's face but he dodged it and twisted my arm backward. I growled and scratched his eye, resulting in a stab with the tentacle through the left shoulder. I whimpered and took a step back, but then brandished my sword. The phantom king electrocuted me and I groaned, but continued on. I jabbed my sword, into the phantom's tentacle, slicing it off. But surprisingly, it grew back. My eyes widened and I snarled. He was a cheater! I grabbed onto the king's shoulders and we both catapulted toward the ground. I got up quickly and grabbed my bow and arrows. I shot an arrow, shooting it through another tentacle, but to it growing back again.

"Unfair!" I muttered. The phantom laughed and then slammed me to the ground. I yelped in surprise as he dragged me by the neck toward the nearest wall and then shoved me against it, his tentacle to my throat, pressing tighter every second. I coughed and tried to pry his tentacle off me with my paws, but I was too weak.

"Prepare to lose!" the king laughed. A bloodcurdling scream shook the castle as a blue figure jumped at the huge phantom, knocking him to the ground. The scream belonged to Mira. She was no longer a broken statue! I beamed with happiness. The Alphas and the others in the cage cheered. Mira rushed over to the cage and unlocked the door, freeing them. I smiled again but it faded as the phantom king got up. The grey heron paled and dashed at the phantom, blasting it with her mind powers. I watched them with great interest but out of the blue, the king shoved Mira to the ground, his tentacle pressing on her stomach. We, being Alphas (except Genie and Revelon), hurried to help Mira but the bird squawked and a transparent force-field flashed in front of us. I stepped back and then ran at the shield, but then quickly bounced to where I was before. Mira glanced at me sadly, and weakly flapped her wings. A portal opened up behind us and began to suck everything in its path into it. One by one, the Alphas flew into the portal, screaming.

I grabbed hold of a nail that was sticking out of the ground and held on for dear life, my whole lower body floating in the air towards the portal.

"I'm not leaving you, Mira!" I cried. Mira shook her head and I'm pretty sure I saw a tear slip out of her eye, but you could never be sure.
She quickly mouthed, "This is for your own good," before I flew through the air and into the portal entrance. The last thing I saw before the dark surrounded me was Mira escaping the phantom king's grasp, but to only get stabbed by his sharp tentacle. Blood seeped out of her wound and I screamed, darkness enclosing around me. And that was the last time I saw anything for a while.