Find It Within You

*Eli*

The blanket of snow above me is heavy, I can barely breathe, but the world goes dark for a moment, and then I see a vision of Kamila and our baby in her arms, and I know I can't give up so easily.

Before my air runs out completely, I start kicking with my hind legs while pushing with my front legs. I manage to find a pocket of air and take a deep breath. From there, I can push my legs a little higher until I can see some light through the snow.

I decide to change so my arms are longer, and that's just what I need to get me out of the snow. As soon as my head is out, I take a deep breath, grateful to be alive.

Picking myself up from the ground, I shift and run away again, running as fast as I can, hoping they don't see me.

More shots ring out behind me, echoing in the stillness of the snowy forest, and I know that they have seen me again. My paws fly over the terrain for the most part, but occasionally I hit a patch of thick snow that slows me down as I sink up to my chest. I refuse to be buried again.

I can't look back.

I've lost enough ground to the snowbanks, so all I can do is keep going and pray to the Moon Goddess that I'm not destined to die alone in this forest, never seeing Kamila again... or The birth of my child.

I have so many plans for my son. I know in my heart that my child is a boy, and all I want is to have the opportunity to be with him as he grows up. I have no doubt that the other three ET1s would take care of her and help Kamila raise my son, but that is not the life I want for her or my son.

I know how much he needs me, even though he has others.
This can't be my destiny.

My pursuers have clearly regrouped and are close at my heels as I fly through the snow. The sound of the gun is further away now; surely the shapeshifter who stayed in human form to operate the machinery has no chance of keeping up with me or his shapeshifted friends.

I can hear my heart beating, my breathing slowing to a steady pace as the forest around me almost disappears with my intense focus on the path ahead... the path to freedom, to Kamila and my son.

I easily dodge trees and jump over rocks and fallen wood, becoming one with a strange forest I've never crossed before. The soft, bright light of the moon creates a shadowscape, but from its brightness, I can tell that it is a full moon.

Gathering more strength and confidence from my inner being, a part of me even deeper than my ET, the part of me where the love for Kamila and my unborn cub rises, I move forward quickly.

I hear the tapping paws and racing heartbeats of my pursuers, and I seem to be gaining a little distance. As an ET1, my ET is both stronger and faster than those of other ranks.

Up ahead I see a clearing, and my mind quickly debates whether I should go straight ahead or detour and continue blending into the forest. I can't hide from the ET´s chasing me anyway, since in this form we have strong tracking abilities, so on the fly I decide to move forward directly, hoping to gain momentum in the clearing.

Reaching the opening with nothing but fresh snow between me and the other side of the clearing, my pace quickens. I know I'm tired because I'm not in the best shape after being hit and dragged in a box, but I have no choice but to keep moving.

The snow seems smooth and flat, but just as I reach the center of the clearing, I feel a sharp sting in my right front paw. Suddenly, I'm yanked back and spun around, my hind legs flying in a circle as I'm stopped in my tracks and spun around, my face violently hitting the ground.

When I come to a complete stop, I find myself facing my own footprints and looking down at my mangled front paw, a strip of leather still attached and caught on a stick sticking out of the ground. Although I had cut my bonds earlier, a las...o is still attached to my paw but I hadn't noticed it before in the rush of adrenaline.

Two ET´s approach through the forest and stop as they approach. It can practically be a complete pack in my condition. I'm desperate. I look at my paw, which is already swollen, and then I look at them.

They growl, teeth bared, and begin to surround me, their prey.

I close my eyes, feeling the pain in my paw, the rapid beat of my heart and the rapidity of my breathing.

* * *

“Eli,” he says.

"Father?" I answer. But there is no answer. My father is a powerful ET1. As his eldest son, he is expected to follow in his footsteps.

So he trains me. Hard.

I feel like I can't breathe as I'm trapped in this makeshift cage, transformed into ET form, and surrounded by young recruits who have been ordered to make my escape impossible.

I'm about to give up. I'm hungry, and my mom is probably insisting that the chef wait for dinner for us until our training session is over. I just want to get out of here. Never in my life will I need to escape from a round cage like this surrounded by recruits. Sometimes my father invents the most ridiculous scenarios. I think he does it on purpose.

'Find it within yourself,' he finally says.

I must have been at this for an hour, and I can feel the recruits getting tired, but they are still determined to keep me locked up so as not to disappoint my father. They don't give up.

Hunger burns in my stomach and my leg begins to ache from sitting on it for so long in this cramped position. How am I supposed to escape with my injured front leg?

But my father doesn't stop. Clearly, I'm not getting out of here until he finds a way. So I close my eyes, focus and try to find that, whatever it is, that thing that I'm supposed to find inside.

I move my back paw and feel the sharp claws scratching the ground. I have an idea. I slow my breathing and concentrate, focusing on my inner core, my back legs, and my back claws.

I attack, at the same time sticking out my back claws as I spin in a circle, somehow using my front paws as leverage even though they are almost asleep from sitting for so long. My claws catch the cage and cut the ropes that bind it, and everything explodes outwards to the rhythm of the howls of the poor recruits around me.

My father approaches once everyone is safe and instructs the recruits to go home; They do it with pleasure.

I'm standing in the middle of the training field, looking at my father as he says, "Good job, son."

* * *

The enemy ET´s are close enough that I can feel their breath, walking around me in a circle in the thick snow, taunting me. I keep my eyes closed until the last minute, when I jump up, swing my back claws around, and dig them both in.

As they fall, I grab them one by one and cleanly sever their carotid arteries with my sharp fangs. They both fall rapidly, two pools of deep crimson blood spreading rapidly in the snow, and I look up to see the clouds pas...ing above the moon.

It's snowing.

The flakes fall slowly at first but increase until they begin to cover a thick fluffy layer over the fallen ET´s and their pools of blood... and cover my footprints.

I jump forward, crossing to the other side of the clearing with the sharp pain radiating from my paw, but I ignore it as best I can and continue forward.

I no longer hear anyone behind me, so I move forward, albeit slowly with my injury, and after a while I finally reach a point where the thick mountain forest gives way to the foothills, with more sparse trees and less snow. In fact, the snow stops completely, and I pause briefly in a clump of trees near a cold spring at the bottom of a hill.

There is no mistake in the pain in my leg, but it is softened by the unmistakable feeling of freedom. I drink long and hard, hoping to flush whatever drugs they gave me out of my system so I can be stronger for my long trip home. I evaluate the constellations in the sky to determine directions and plot my path back home, or at least to Gene's castle, where I can collapse happily into Kamila's arms once again.

Kamila. I need to get home soon in case something happens to her and her babies. Worrying about me can't be good for any of them. I get back on my feet and start heading in her direction.

I call her on the mental link, but I still can't get through to her. I must be still too far away, or maybe she's asleep again. Desperately wanting an update on Kamila's condition, I try to contact the other ET1s.

'Tristan, are you there?' asked.