Phoenix Rising

Prologue

A helicopter flies overhead. The night air is crisp and cold. Branches break and leaves crunch underfoot as the two run as fast as they can. They are naturally faster than them, sure: Just the way that Felids are made. Made for speed and forest-y terrain. But the people behind them have the advantage of numbers. One wrong move could mean the death of both of them. They hurdle through the forest, hearing the barking of bloodhounds behind them, the roaring of the helicopter's blades. After 3 more excruciating minutes of running, lungs burning from both the lack of air and the chilling cold of the Little air they did get, they see the portal in sight. They are about 300 meters from the familiar opening when one of the two figures feels a sharp pain in her leg. She's been shot. The other figure turns to help her, but when he does, he sees a man in dark clothes and a featureless mask put the end of a gun against her head, pulling the trigger. The remaining felid only has enough time to scream "NO!" before a bullet punctures his abdomen. He falls to the ground, clutching the wound. He looks up to be greeted by the sight of the barrel of a gun pointed at his nose. The man, no, boy behind it is in the same black clothes as the others, but without the mask. Which makes it worse, as the felid twitches his catlike ears, recognizing the face. "Why are you doing this?" The felid asked. The boy smiled sadistically. "To save humanity," he says as he puts a bullet in the catman's head.