The Hunt for Freedom

Chapter Twenty Five

    By six the war room was crowded and loud. Last minute encouragements were given and the plan was gone over again. Dinner was pizza and sandwiches, but most lay untouched as the focus was on the rescue mission.

By eight everyone knew the plan down to the last detail and helicopters could be heard landing in the training yard. It was time to load up.

Farsi had many trained pilots in his squad of elite soldiers and three had been selected based on their knowledge of the area. Helicopters had been secured on the mainland and rented for the evening. This solved the problem of how to get out of dragon territory with speed and stealth.

The helicopters were too small for Penny and the others to all shift, so it was decided they would fly into a neighboring territory where they could get out and shift. The invisible shapeshifters would then run in on foot. The drones had been in the area all day doing fly by's to gather as much information on the whereabouts of the prisoners as possible. We still did not have a confirmed location but we only had one section of the grid left to explore.

Last minute information came in from Dalya, she could confirm the prison location within a three square mile circumference. The helicopters lifted off and flew into the last rays of sunlight.

It was an hour flight into the northern region, and the weather was on our side. The drones had sent video feed of clouds so thick that all light from the moon was blocked. It was pitch black out but you could hear the occasional rustle of wind in the trees. I was hopeful it would be enough noise to cover the sound of invisible warriors. All my efforts to project a thunderstorm had resulted in a light breeze, my range was not capable of reaching that far yet. I rolled my eyes heavenward at this thought. The most I could do was a severe cloud storm. The irony was not lost on me, the one who begged Maggie and I to practice more was the one suffering because we didn't follow his advice.

As the helicopters approached the landing area, we lost all video feed. We still had audio but we could decipher nothing from the few grunts we heard. Hand signals and mind transfers were being used, but not a word was spoken. I could imagine all the bobcats, ocelots, and lynx's invisibly running to the area.

Not having eyes on the military advance taking place was causing anxiety amongst those of us left at home. We were all still looking at the screen like it was a crystal ball. It was not safe to distract the rescue team with mind transfers but all of us had loved ones there, the intensity was like a physical element in the room.

Farsi was pacing, Abe was drinking energy drinks like they were water, and Grandfather was wringing his hands while Joseph kept trying to fix the video feed from our end. I sat in stony silence and prayed to the goddesses to guide our shifters to victory.

Suddenly there was a lot of banging and shouting in a language I did not recognize. It went from shouting to complete chaos on our speakers. The roar from the ocelot was sheer agony. I heard human shouts stop in mid scream as I imagined a werecat stripping a weredragon of its vocal cords. The battle raged for what seemed like forever, and then there was silence.

The phones of the missing soldiers all dinged at once. I picked up one and accessed the incoming picture. The same room as before, but no soldiers now. I could see chains and shackles mangled and broken, what looked like blood on the walls.

I passed the phone around and we sat in silence, cautiously optimistic that the plan had gone off without a hitch. There was no sound at all coming from our feed. We were completely severed from the mission. I tried to mentally message Dalya, or Dakari, but I was still too far out of range. Using our powers at great distances was another skill we all must improve. I have been lazy with this too, not seeing the need as I always have my phone nearby for communication. Technology wasn't as foolproof as magic.

An hour passed . The kitchen staff brought in fresh coffee and pastries. They went untouched. The anxiety in the room was palpable. Abe tried to hold my hand but I wanted no part of chivalry. These were my people that I had sent into danger, and I would stand strong and confident waiting for them to return.

At midnight we heard helicopters in the distance. As one, the entire congregation of attack planners ran for the training yard. We watched in silence as the helicopters landed.

As the rotor blades slowed we approached the helicopter quickly. Doors were thrown open to the cargo area and people and werecats lay half unconscious all over the floor, entwined in a horrible mangled mess. There was blood, ooze, and the stench of burnt flesh.

"Get them to the hospital!" I yelled. I kept looking through the helicopter, no Dakari.

I found Dalya, comforting Penny off to the left of the helicopters. It seemed she felt responsible for all the injuries. Dalya was trying to explain to her that even with the injuries, we still won a victory tonight. Our soldiers were home! As a Pride, we would do anything to help our brethren.

I took Dalya aside and asked about Dakari. She told me that when the dragons figured out what was going on the rescue team already had our soldiers unshackled. The dragon leader had shifted and blasted sulphuric fire from his mouth. Apparently you can still be burned while invisible, and in fact, burned body parts lose their invisibility. In the resulting chaos, soldiers were able to shift and those with small feline form were made invisible. All rushed to the door and ran for the awaiting helicopters. No one noticed when Dakari was taken from the room. No one knew if Dakari was alive.

Someone yelled from the war room, we hurried back only to discover that a new message had come through to the phones. Who could be sending us a message? It was another picture, this time just a single red rose, broken at the stem. An ominous sign to be sure.

Maggie came running in, "I just got a mental message from Dak!"

All attention was on her as she caught her breath. "He is safe, he is alive, they are moving him but he doesn't know where. They kept him blindfolded and drugged but when the attack happened he was able to break free long enough to clear his mind and send a message."

My heart was racing. Dakari was still alive! We had to bring him home.

"He also said not to try to find him yet. He thinks he can fight off their drugs with magic, but pretend to sleep, all the while listening to their plans. He took Russian in school, and they don't know he can understand. He thinks he can get information out of them that might help us not only rescue him, but put an end to the weredragon's existence."

She turned to me, "He sent this for you, Katalea. Work on your weather spells, they can't fight in extreme weather. Do you know what he's talking about?"

Leave it to Dakari to still be teaching, even while being held prisoner in a dragon's lair. I would do what he asked.

"I do. Go home everyone, we start training at first light."