Fox Magic

Chapter 6

Blaze's pov

"What do you mean you can't climb?" I ask, smiling down at Twister from my spot on a low tree branch, "You're a fox aren't you?"

I couldn't keep the laughter out of my voice. What kind of fox can't climb?

Twister just looked annoyed and said, "Not all foxes live by trees, you know."

"You can still learn," I tell him.

"Just get down before you fall," he said.

"Relax, I won't fall," I reply, "At least let me enjoy the view."

Twister just sat down and sighed, flicking his tail impatiently. I climb up to the next branch and look around, admiring how much more I could see from from up here. A strange scent hits my nose and I turn towards the direction it came from. A thick patch of leaves blocks my view so I climb up higher to find an opening to see through.

"The higher you climb, the harder you're gonna land when you fall!" Twister shouts his unneeded comment from below.

"I know what I'm doing, ground fox!" I shout back, then turn towards the opening I found. As I peer through, I'm shocked at what I see.

A little ways away from the treeline, there's a road with roaring metal beasts racing back and forth on it. One beast is sitting quietly in the grass on our side, with wood boxes and metal cages beside it and the most hideous creature I've ever seen standing nearby. From Twister's description, I think it's a patch-head. As I looked closer, I noticed there was an animal in one of the cages. I didn't know what kind, but I knew it didn't belong there. It glanced up and I could see its bright blue eyes giving an almost pleading look.I quickly turned away to climb down out of the tree.

"Satisfied?" Twister asked me as soon as I touched the ground.

"No," I replied, then quickly told him what I saw.

"We have to help!" I finished.

"First we need a plan," Twister started, "There's only two of us and we don't know the layout of - hey, where are you going?" He cut off as I began walking away.

"You're taking too long," I say without stopping, "We'll just wing it."

Twister sighed and followed me. In the past week, I've learned that grey foxes sigh a lot. We sat in a bush at the treeline, waiting for the coast to be clear. The patch-head is in our way so we have to wait for it to move.

"Seriously, we need a plan," Twister said.

"Run in, save the animal, and run out before the patch-head sees us," I tell him, "Simple." I continued watching the patch-head as it began walking.

"That's not a plan! You're going to get us caught with a plan like that!" Twister said, but I was no longer listening. The patch-head is now out of the way.

"It's clear," I say before racing straight to the cage with an annoyed Twister on my tail. When we got there I could now tell the animal inside was a dusty brown fox. The fox's eyes widened when it saw us.

"What are you doing? You're going to get caught!" A girl. Figures!

"We're here to save you," Twister said, sniffing around the cage trying to find an opening while I pawed at the sides, searching for a weak spot.

"The cage won't open unless you can get the lock off," the vixen said, pointing to a small metal box hanging from the front if the cage.

"Do you know how?" I asked.

"The patch-heads always use a small metal stick," she replied.

Suddenly, we hear a loud bark and turn to see a large dog snarling at us. It was different than the hounds, it was black with brown legs and a huge head. It lunged at us, but the moment it did a huge gray shape crashes into it from out of nowhere. It looks like a wolf! The dog and wolf both growl and screech as they tear into each other. I could hear a patch-head yelling as it ran over to them holding a stick.

"Time's up!" I say before biting into the hard lock. Ouch! My teeth hurt instantly, but I ignored it as best as I could.

Twister had forgotten his tactics and was desperately biting at the bars of the cage. The lock is harder than I could ever imagine and I'm not even putting a dent in it. The vixen is pacing anxiously inside the cage, watching the fight.

After a few more moments, the vixen stops pacing and says, "It's no use. Just leave before you get caught, too."

Twister stops chewing at the bars and steps back with a defeated look in his eyes.

"She's right," he says, sadly, "there's no way we can possibly get her out."

I let go of the lock and glare at him.

"We can't just just leave her here," I say.

"Just go," the vixen said, "I'll be -"

"NO!" I snap, cutting her off, "I'm not leaving anyone with that monster! We are all leaving here together!"

Just as I open my mouth to bite down on the lock again, I'm blinded by a bright light and close my eyes. Not wanting to give up easily, I snap my jaws on the lock. But when I expect to feel the hard, painful metal, I instead sink my teeth into what feels like soft, fresh prey. My teeth cut through easily and the stuff drips from my mouth.

When I open my eyes, the light is gone, the cage is open, Twister and the vixen are both looking at me with shocked expressions, and there's an odd grey puddle at my paws.