In a dimension outside of time and space, a monster glided between universes. It’s interior was a world unto itself and at the heart of that world was its master, the Elder of Chaos. Half-asleep on his black throne, he opened one golden cat’s eye. "Steward." He rumbled.

The gaunt servant appeared in the doorway, his shadowy black robes almost making him invisible in the darkness. "Yes Master?"

"I sense a disturbance, we are needed."

"Master?"

"Do you not feel it?" He opened both eyes. "The Blood calls, and we must answer."

The Steward bowed. "Your word is our will Master."

"Inform the Lady of this, and prepare to re-enter reality."

He bowed again. "Yes Master."

"This time I fear we may be too late." He whispered as he closed his eyes again.

* * * * *

In the eye of a hurricane, a gate between worlds opened and two humanoids appeared. The smaller one looked around with eyes that were candle points of red light, seeing far past the limits of mere vision. "The one we seek is not here." He rasped. The rain pelted his coarse brown robes and caused them to stick to his skeleton body.

The larger one seemed to be all muscle and the rain fell around him, pushed aside by pure will. "That is not our purpose here. We are still a very long way from that goal."

"Then what is our purpose here?"

"Perhaps to witness the end of this world. Or to prevent it." He said. "You had best go, there’s nothing for you to do here."

"The next dimensional interface is in twenty days."

"Then let’s hope that this world is still here then."

* * * * *

He opened his eyes slowly. It had been a long time since the scientists had come in to bother him. Had they finally gone home?, or did they think he was asleep? No, they were still here, he could feel them in another part of the building. He slowly uncurled from where he had been crouching in the corner. Stiff from being still for so long, he walked around his prison and tried to look through the large mirror that separated him from his tormentors. When they weren’t prodding or poking his body they were playing mind games to break his will. He couldn’t even remember clearly what he had been called before. They only called him ‘Lazarus’.

Focusing his will he managed to look through the mirror. None of the terminals were facing him, but he could see the devices that locked his cell. A quick push with his mind yielded the same results as always. He needed the card key that unlocked the door before he could get out.

How long had he been locked up like this? Months at least, probably even years. They never turned the lights off, never kept to any schedule, all to get him to tell them how he did what he did. He had told them, but they insisted that what he did was something he could teach them to do. Something on the table caught his attention. He pulled the papers over so he could see them better. They were trying to analyze something called Coffee², apparently it gave certain people heightened psychic abilities. The report specifically referred to someone called; ‘Cotton Taylor.’

They kept referring to him in the papers, they had stolen files and even blood samples from hospitals trying to figure out why Coffee² worked on him. They had all the samples in one of the freezers and all the information in the computers. Since they had all that, they didn’t need to try and grab him too. There was a mention in the paper about him being appointed to some kind of council in a place called Canovia.

He had to destroy those samples. They could not be allowed to analyze what they had. He sat back down in the corner, focusing on his breathing until his heart started to slow down. His eyes closed, but he could still see the room around him as his spirit floated free of his body. Invisible to both the scientists and their technology, he was able to escape his cell and move freely wherever he wanted.

The problem was that without a physical body he was little more than a ghost. Finding the samples was easy, but how could he destroy them?

A young technician who walked in startled him, but it also gave him the opportunity he needed. Possessing others was the ability he liked the least, since it opened up their minds to him. A quick touch of the technician’s mind gave him information he hadn’t learned from the paper in the lab.

Avariss Industries had recently implemented a policy that any employee belonging to any ‘Furry Friendly’ groups would be actively held back in their careers. Thirty-seven people had left the company as a result. It would have been thirty-eight, but this young man couldn’t afford to leave his job, no matter how much he hated it.

He had to risk communicating with this one. "Let me help you."

The technician looked around, then went back to work.

"Let me help you."

He looked around again. "Who’s there?"

"A friend." He whispered into the young man’s mind. "You want to leave this job, don’t you?"

"You bet. This place stinks, and it’s been getting worse."

"Then let me help you. I can get you the job you applied for."

"If you can do that, I’ll do anything you say."

"What is your name?"

"Tom Westlake."

"You will get a call on your cell phone in a few minutes." He said as he started to move away.

He knew where Tom had interviewed and which job he wanted the most. It was far away, in a town called Furriston. The Personnel Manager was going through the applications when he floated into the room. She was a female horse, and recent events had scared her. She picked up Tom’s application, then she put it down again.

"Give him another look." He whispered into her thoughts.

She picked up the resume again. "But he’s a human…"

He had to whisper harder to keep her from putting the folder down again. "Qualifications should matter more than species."

She looked at the application and smiled. "I’d better call him right now and give him the good news."

He got back to the lab in time to see Tom hang up his phone. "Are you still around?"

"Right here."

"You did it. I just got the call, I’ve been hired. I start Monday."

"Congratulations."

"Hey, what can I do for you?"

"One of these units is supposed to be sterilized, correct?"

"Yeah, that’s why I’m here. All the coolant has to be flushed out of the coils before the heat sterilization can be started."

"I want you to take a sample out of the freezer on the left and put it in the one to be sterilized. Make it look like it had been done by accident."

"That’ll destroy the sample."

"I know."

"What is it?"

"A blood sample from someone who recently blocked several of your boss’ plans."

"Cotton Taylor, right?"

"Knowledge of him is more widespread than I had anticipated. This may prove dangerous to him."

"Where are you?"

"I am somewhere in this building, that is all I know right now."

"Are, are you a prisoner here? I might be able to help get you out."

"No. Do not jeopardize yourself. Leave as quietly as you can."

"Yes but if they’re holding you against your will, that’s illegal."

"Law does not matter, I will be free soon."

"Are you sure I can’t help you?"

"As certain as I am that the sun will continue to rise."

"All right, good luck to you then."

"I have to go now, I wish you luck."

He floated out of the building. Now that business was taken care of, he had a little time for pleasure. His thoughts drifted to the side of a young feline furry, and where his thoughts drifted, his spirit form flew.

She was still young, this year she would graduate from High School, but unless she got a scholarship, she would be unable to go to college. The math class she was in was so boring to her that she was almost falling asleep. He smiled as his thoughts reached out to touch hers. "Hello Meri."

She barely moved when she heard him, and made no attempt to speak out loud. "Hi. It’s been a while since you came to talk to me."

"I’ve been, busy at the office." It was impossible to actually lie in this state, but with incredible effort he was able to hide things. "How have you been?"

"Scared. Have you heard what’s been going on?"

He took control of her body just enough to have her sit up straight, keeping the teacher from getting suspicious. "A little."

"Things are getting worse. Recently a human was beaten up by a bear."

He started moving her hands, taking notes as automatically as a machine. "Was he caught?"

"Yes, but the human refused to press charges. Something bad is happening, I’m scared."

"I know. I wish I could make everything right, to take away your fear."

"That’s something a parent might say."

"I’ve never felt like a parent before." He said. He knew that what he felt for the young woman wasn’t parental and for a second, they both knew it. Terrified of scaring her away, he broke the connection. He recovered and touched her mind again. "I have to go. I’ll see you later."

"When?"

"I don’t know. I may be, busy for a couple of days."

He broke the connection and took a deep breath back in the lab. Cold, filtered air filled his lungs as he sensed the scientists approach. There was barely enough time for him to scramble back into the corner before they walked in.

* * * * *

"As Daniel was when he went into the lion’s den, so are we now. Our faith is the only armor we have. Every man is many men, for the voices within his heart are without number, and through the strength of his heart, one has the strength of many." Light said as he finished marking five large circles on the concrete floor, one at each point of a pentagram. Luck had been on his side when he found this unused warehouse, allowing him to create the allies he would need from within his own mind. He took five dolls out of a bag and started to set them in the circles. He set a dragon in the first circle. "Dhara, who is strength." He said, his voice shaking the walls. He put a cat in the next circle. "Jera, who is speed." A fox went in the third circle. "Kala, who is cunning." The fourth circle held a skunk. "Tera, who is desire." He hesitated for a moment before he put a mouse in the last circle. "Min, who is innocence."

He moved into the center of the pentagram. The knife he took out had a blade as shiny as a mirror. He touched the point to his left palm, letting black blood out of unliving synthetic flesh. He raised his hand over his head and the blood in his palm began smoking.

"By the power of my mind and the agent of the blood of my ancestor and my Master, let dreams walk, here given flesh and breath. One shall become Six, and the Hand shall be whole again. By the Covenant of the Blood, now must it happen!"

The blood in his hand billowed into a cloud of black smoke, filling the warehouse for only a moment, then vanishing without a trace. When it cleared, each of the circles was filled, not with a tiny doll, but with a life-sized being. What had been inert and lifeless cloth toys were now living beings with will and purpose. Light’s will and purpose.

The dragon was the first one to move, looking around with glowing amber eyes. "I sense a disturbance." She hissed softly.

"A Lost One is nearby." The cat said as she brushed back her tawny headfur. She also looked around with golden eyes. "He is in pain, we must find him."

"You are right, but there will be great difficulty." Light said. "You have the power, you know what I know. If any of you have any questions, now is the time."

Four pair of eyes looked at him, but no one said anything.

"Then let’s do this. Stay sharp, stay focused." He looked at the dragon. "Dhara, you and Jera come with me. I’ve already seen dragons and cats in this world, but until we can verify that your forms won’t attract attention, keep a low profile. Kala, you and Tera keep an eye on Min, stay here, but be ready to move."

The fox looked around with dark brown eyes. "Understood."

"What’s our first stop?"

"This time, we start with local help."

* * * * *

CatsWhisker sighed as she looked at the result cards again. Of all the results that she had seen in her time at the Bureau of Instinctual Information, these made the least sense. At first it had been just two records, but in the last few days she had found three more.

She wasn’t really surprised when a female cat walked in, or by the dragon who followed her. What was surprising was the human who followed them. Even if he weren’t human, the way he was dressed was enough to attract attention, with his cloak covered in strange writing and his face hidden by a heavy mantle. "Your name is CatsWhisker?"

"Yes, that’s me. Uhm, who are you?"

"My name is Light. I am here to help you."

"We deal in instinctual information here. I don’t think we have the kind of resources to help a human."

"I know, that is why I am here."

"Oh, do you know something about human instincts?"

He smiled. "You might say that I know great deal, about many things."

"Well if you can help…"

"I’ll need all the information you can give me on how you determine instinctive reactions, any forms or questionnaires, and I’d like to look at your database."

That made her stop. "The database?"

"Yes."

"The database we have is huge. You’d never be able to learn it all."

He smiled again and held out a laptop. "This should be able to correlate the information I need."

"I’ll need to take this out back."

"Of course."

She took the laptop carefully. It looked ordinary enough, but it felt strangely light. "I’ll, see what I can do."

"Thank you."

Before she left she took the cards she had been looking at.

Light waited until she was out of both sight and hearing before he spoke. "Those cards…"

Jera looked at him. "Should we grab them?"

He took a deep breath and weighed his options. "No, we don’t want to antagonize anyone. Not just yet, anyway."

"So then what do we do?" Dhara asked.

"Nothing, for now."

"But if we need those cards…"

Light motioned for her to wait for a second. "You forget, that information will also be in the database."

"And the laptop will copy the database so you can absorb the information."

"So we’ll get the information we need, even if she won’t let us look at the cards."

"It’s frightening how simple your most ruthless plans are." Jera said.

"Efficiency, my dear. We might not have time for something less Machiavellian."

"What if she doesn’t give us access to the database?"

Light closed his eyes. "She is suspicious. She is also scared. I sense, she wants to call someone… Yes, that might be a good idea."

CatsWhisker couldn’t bring herself to turn the laptop on. While her instincts told her that everything was all right, this kind of access to the database was against all the rules that the BII had. She was about to push the button when she heard Light calling her. She hurried out to the front office. "I’m sorry Sir, I haven’t had a chance to finish setting it up."

"Quite all right. I just realized that the network settings on that machine might not allow it to connect to your computers. Do you know of any technicians who might be able to help?"

"Well…"

"I have heard that Caged Electronic Data has an extremely adept technician working for them. I believe his name is Gene Catlow. Might you know how to contact him?"

"Yes, I’ll be seeing him this afternoon." She said. "He’s coming to pick me up after my shift ends."

"My, what a happy coincidence." Light said. "Well, since I don’t want him to be resentful of me for having him work on this, I must pay him." He waved aside CatsWhisker’s objections. "No, no, I insist." He took a small velvet pouch out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. "This should be enough." He started for the door. "I shall return after this office closes."

"But…"

"I’m sorry, but I have no more time. I will be back." He said as he walked out, followed by the same cat and dragon who had come in with him.

After he had left, CatsWhisker opened the pouch. Inside was a green stone the size of a small marble. She put the stone back in the pouch and put it away. It couldn’t really be what she thought it was. It had to be something else. No one would give away a real emerald that size…

* * * * *

Light walked calmly into the warehouse. "Tonight we should have the information we’ll need to find the Lost One."

"Have you seen some of these papers?" Kala asked

"You know I only read tea leaves." He said.

"Our young Mr. Taylor has been saying things that are going to make our job more difficult."

"No, it is not what he said that is the problem, but what the radio station allowed the public to hear. Mister Taylor has yet to learn that half the truth can be as bad as a whole lie." Light said sadly.

"Perhaps, we should arrange a little, counter-information." Dhara said.

Light smiled. "Nothing violent, just a little, psychological warfare."

"Indeed."

"Get started."

"I may need to call in some help."

"Do it." He said. "Now I think it’s time we deal with Mister Avariss more, directly. Kala, you’re with me. Dhara, do what you have to. Tera, I want you to scout the newspaper archives, see if anything unusual has happened in the last ten years."

"Got it."

"Oh, and Jera…"

The cat flicked her ears. "I know, watch Min."

"Right." He said as he started for the door.

Kala walked along side him through the industrial area. "How exactly are we going to handle this?"

"In order to open his cell and escape, the Lost One needs a special card key. Avariss has a copy of that key in his wallet."

"So we take his wallet?"

"You do."

"I’ll have to assume human form."

"Then do it." He said. "While you get the card, I’ll be working on their mainframes."

"Do I want to know what you’ll be doing?"

"Just making sure that all the tax forms are correct."

"And if they aren’t?"

"The government still gives ten percent to people who turn in tax dodges."

"So we’re going to make a bundle on this?"

"A huge bundle." Light grinned. "Especially after I get through with them."

"What makes you so sure that you’ll find anything?"

"Avariss doesn’t play by the rules in business any more than in any other field. I’ll find something."

"Then shall we get going?"

He gestured to an alley nearby. "Ladies first." They walked into an alley in Furriston and walked out of an alley in Bridgeway. "You’d better do something about that face of yours."

"What’s wrong with my face?"

"You need a shave." He said. "A vixen won’t get three steps into Avariss Industries."

"All right." She faded away for a second before reappearing as a redheaded human female. "We can’t just walk in the front door."

"I know." He lead her to a side door. "Alarmed, no surveillance cameras, and no handle on the outside." The door swung open with only a creak of the hinges. "Piece of cake. In and out, get the card and scram."

"You got it."

Ten minutes later she found him down in the Data Recovery section of the mainframe raised floor. "What are you doing here?" He asked as she walked into his cubicle.

"I think you’d better ask me what Avariss isn’t doing here…"

"Where is he?"

"No one seems to know." She said. "I tried to get into his office, but his security is almost as good as yours."

"That’s a frightening thought." He said dryly. "All right, get out of here, go back to base."

"What about you?"

"I have a little more work to take care of here. I’ve gotten into some pretty serious files here, and it isn’t just money."

"All right. Don’t forget, we have to get back to…" He gave her a sharp look. "We have an appointment later today."

"I’ll be there."

* * * * *