Precious

*~Chapter 1~*
The tiger sat at her desk and wiped her forehead. It felt she'd been writing for hours, just trying to find the right words. Again, she turned to Google for help. "Scintillating," she said wonderingly, staring at the computer. "To shine or sparkle brightly."

Again, she turned to her document and typed the word in. It looked false, but she shook her head. She was 40. She should know words bigger than that. She rubbed her temples. College. She tried to remember... but she couldn't... she read her work so far over again in hope her memory would be at least slightly refreshed.

''The young man stared at the scintillating window, feeling consternation. What if the temp had risen? He tried to disregard this, but it sojourned in his mind until he noticed his daughter trudging through the snow.''

She looked the words upside down and sideways. They were horrible, she decided. She deleted every word of the passage and slumped into her chair.

"It's time," A cold voice demanded behind her. The icy tone seemed to grip her faith and tear it apart. Slowly, she obediently got out of her chair, closed the Shiveer, and saluted. "Yes, sir."

Did it seem weird to her that she was getting ready for her death? Obeying the person that would surely kill her? Unless, of course, he made a new recruit do it.

The Master, Wont, was not one to finish the job himself. The eagle looked shiny and more tough than ever, as if with a swipe of his talons he could slit your throat. The thought made Lelli shiver. Maybe he would make an exception for her...

"Your consent, Soldier Dean?"

"I will let my body be a sacrifice to the soldiers of your army."

"Good, follow me."

He led the tiger through the twisting, cold halls until he made it to a work room. The inside smelled strongly of dung and pipes that were transferring the deadly liquid, Regen, through the stone and to the battlefield.

A line of animals waited patiently, it seemed, although occasionally they seemed to fidget with something. Right before Lelli's eyes, Wont tore his claws through a bunny's fur.

The bunny was the smallest animal there, the biggest was a wolf.

"Prove to me," Wont said with a tone of abeyance, "that you can fight truly with your claws while you're already damaged."

I'd been a worker and a fighter for Wont for too long. I knew exactly what he wanted me to do.

He wanted me to kill the bunny.