The Howler's

Chapter 15

     Katy woke up, snuggling close beside Carter, for warmth. The sun was partly shining over then, with tweeting birds flying overhead. She sighed happily. She never had such a calm time in a long tim-

     "OH SHIT!" Katy clapped her hands to her head bolting upright, stirring Carter." THE FRICKIN LETTER!"

     Katy had just remembered they had forgotten about the letter. How foolish! They were just escaping, like dweebs! They had an advantage on him, with garlic over his eyes, they could've had more time looking for the letter!

     "Wuuuut...?" Carter drowsily got up, rubbing his eyes. 

     "The letter, Carter!" Katy wheezed." We forgot the LETTER!"

     "Sssssh! I'm sleeping...." Carter flopped back down.

     "NO your NOT!" Katy shrieking punching him in the face.

     "dammit! Trying to look my best, you know!" Carter growled rubbing his head." You know, if you were - WAIT A GOD DAMN MINUTE! KATY! THE LETTER!"

     "Genius! Glad you just figured that out!" Katy snarled, rolling her eyes."Anyway, have we ever thought about whether or not the letter's important?"

     "Of course it is!" Carter gasped." If my da- if Tooth came there personally, then it must be!"

     "Who do you think the letter is for?" Katy asked, mind whirling." And if she knew something she didn't know, then why didn't she tell us personally all along?"

     "Yeah, I guess that is fishy..." Carter rubbed his chin.

     "Right?"

     "So...what now?" 

     Katy slapped her fist into her palm." I think we should still get it...maybe,"

     "With the risk of da- Tooth still being there? Hell's no!" Carter growled, rubbing his bruised head.

     "True, oh crap." Katy realized something." And what if he took it with him?"

     "Took what?" 

     "Took the LETTER dummy!" Katy moaned." Start using your head, jeez!"

     "Haha...." Carter looked up into the sky." If your gonna ask, I don't know where he would hide..."

     "Would somebody else know?" Katy asked.

     " I don't know!"

     "HEY! Wait a second! What if the Guardians would know?" Katy gasped." YES! They're super close to him...maybe they'd know!"

     "Hell's no!" Carter groaned." They're the strongest ever wolves-men, and they wouldn't tell us anything and would rather die! They're that loyal!" 

     "Hmmm....I think we should give it a shot, at least," Katy thought." You know, this is crazy. We're running after your dad, not knowing what he's behind, thinking he may be evil. But hasn't he already proven he's evil?"

     "Yeah, well, I'd still like to know what Tooth is behind..." Carter shrugged." I'm hungry...."

     "Wait, this is a serious discussion," Katy said." Maybe, he has pillars,"

     "What?! 'Pillars' ?!?" Carter sneered." Bonkers, totally bonkers. What's gotten into you? what are PILLARS for crying out loud!" 

     "Pillars...it's like pillars holding up a platform. You depend on the pillars to keep you up and strong!" Katy said." Maybe...he depends on his..guardians?" 

     "Yes! It makes sense now!" Carter seemed to wake fully up.

     "What does?"

      Carter got up and grabbed a stick, and ushered Katy over to some dirt ground. Carter started drawing a diagram on the 9 guardians, circling around the leader, Tooth. It was a terrible drawing, but Katy took this seriously, and decided not to tease Carter. Carter drew lines connecting the leader to all the guardians. Carter dropped the stick aside.

     "We wolves-men have 9 abilities, 9 advantages against humans, sort of," Carter said, looking into Katy's eyes." One is hearing, then it's feeling, perception, taste-"

      "How's taste anything good?" Katy asked, Carter then clapping his hand to her mouth.

     "Then, so that's five...." Carter counted his fingers." Okay, then there's Strength, stealth, that's 7... then there's also memorization, and then charisma."

     "What's charisma, smarty?" Katy chuckled.

     Carter grinned." Charisma's manipulation, yeah, that I guess,"

     "Sooo, point is...?" Katy asked, sighing.

     "Point is, that there's 9 guardians!" Carter smiled.

     Katy raised an eyebrow." So? Some coincidence that there's the same amount of guardians as the abilities!"

     "You don't know..." Carter smiled even more." Okay, so whenever you become a leader, you nominate 9 guardians. Each guardian will grant you one of their abilities, two double yours-"

     "YES! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" Katy yelled excitedly, punching the air." all we haft to do is defeat all 9 guardians..then he'll be weaker?"

     "Yep," Carter nodded slowly." He's now depending on his added abilities-"

     "Wait, so if we defeat the guardians...will the special ability wear off?" Katy asked.

     "Yeah, because there's still a connection between them!" Carter said." A string, feeding him with that ability, over and over. If the guardian dies, then the string is lost and his ability dies with him!" 

     "Wait- dies?!" Katy yelped, flicking her black tail nervously." We'll need to kill people?"

     " Not people, villains!" Carter said." I mean, if we don't kill them successfully, then they'll kill us." 

     "Carter!" Katy gasped." Don't say that!" 

     Suddenly out of the blue a man stood in the exit of the alley, flashing them an evil glare.