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Fairear’s palace looked the same as it did twenty years ago, thought Erick. How he longed to serve the kingdom once more, to atone for his past mistakes that he had made when he was part of an elite mercenary group known as the Red Paw. The Paw had declared alliance to the kingdom of Greenbrier at the beginning of the Draymein Wars, and had stayed loyal ever since. In a sense the Paw was part of the kingdom, no longer a true mercenary unit. Erick hadn’t heard from his old companions since he had left the unit in shame after the accident.

Erick slowly ascended the large palace steps and approached the guards. He showed them his notice from the king and they stepped aside to let him pass. Inside, an escort was waiting for him.

"Right this way, sir," the well dressed servant said, beckoning for Erick to follow him. Erick nodded politely and followed. The palace halls were large and richly decorated, and waves of memories came flooding over Erick as he remembered. How he longed to serve the kingdom once more, to pledge himself to Greenbrier, and to protect the innocent lives that may be in danger.

"They are waiting for you in here, sir," said the servant, stopping before a large oaken door. "I was to ask you to enter immediately."

"Of course," said Erick as politely as he could. The servant bowed and left Erick standing alone. Taking a deep breath Erick walked forward and pushed the doors open. Inside the room was a round table surrounded by rabbits wearing black headbands. It was not often that Erick was left speechless, but this was one instance in which he was. Almost the entire Red Paw was present, only five chairs were empty. Seeing the king sitting in one of the chairs, Erick hurried over and descended to a knee.

"O king, please forgive me and I beg of you, let me serve you once more until death or victory!" exclaimed Erick in a husky voice.

"I forgive you, Erick, and I am sure you will serve me to your best ability," the king said graciously.

"Thank you, sire," replied Erick with joy.

Erick stood, bowed once more, then took his place by one of his old friends, Daniel.

"Now that Erick had joined us," began the king, "It's time to get down to business. You are the first rabbits to be told what I am about to tell you. It has come to my attention then the kingdom of Draymein has begun some, shall we say, supsicious activities. I sent out my best scouts and they brought back some disturbing information. It appears as though the practice of genetic experimentation has been brought back into practice by Lord Blackfang. I received several reports that at least a dozen rabbits have been succesfully engineered, but I have yet heard of one in Greenbrier."

Hearing this, Erick and another rabbit named Wilson stood up, the customary gesture that said you wished to speak.

"Yes, Wilson?" said the king.

"Sire, if I may be of any help, I encountered a gen-rabbit on the way here. It attacked me during midnight near the Fringe."

"The carrier who delivered my notice encountered one as well! He barely escaped with his life." Erick burst out before anyone could reply to Wilson's statement.

King Fairear frowned darkly and sat in silence for a moment. Looking at the mercenaries, he finally spoke with a grim air.

"The situation is worse than I thought... very well. Erick, you and Daniel will hunt down as many gen-rabbits as possible, please go directly to the armory and get prepared. I want ten of you to start patrolling the fringe immediately, Markus will commander that. Capture any spies and destroy any gen-rabbits you find. The rest of you will stay here and protect Greenbrier. Red Paw, I wish you luck with your assignments."

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meanwhile...
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The group of refugees hurried along the trail that snaked around the mountain. Stephen had been leading the group for five days, only a fifth of their journey. Fortunately the weather had been permitting, with it being only slightly cold at worst. Still, by the time they had reached Skybridge, snow might have begun to fall. The journey had been relatively peaceful, but that would soon change without notice.

"Mommy, how long until we get there?" asked a little bunny, looking trustingly at it's mother.

"It will be a little while, dear," said the bunny's mother, "But be a brave little boy for mommy!"

The little rabbit giggled at the thought of helping his grown-up mother. He was silent for a moment, then he looked up at his mom again.

"Are we there yet? I have to go to the baffroom."

"No, we're not there quite yet. Just be patient." she replied with a small little smile.

The little bunny was quiet while he looked at the sky.

"Look, mommy! Lookit all the black birds!" he said excitedly, pointing and the sky and jumping up and down.

"Birds? What are you... oh, no! Mr. Stephen, LOOK!" the mother screamed, picking up her child.

Stephen jerked up his head and felt cold fear shoot through his body. A huge flock of giant crows was flying rapidly towards them, and on the side of a mountain, they had no place to hide.

"Over here!" called one of the young rabbits. "There's a cave behind these bushes!"

The refugees began running into the cave, the warriors coming last of all. They got inside just in time, for seconds later there was a rushing of air as the birds flew past the mountain. After a minute had passed, the rabbits began breathing regularly again.

"We'll stay here for the night," Stephen said to the rabbits, "Who knows when those crows might return! It'll much safer in here until tommorow."

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TBC
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Hope you still like it!

-The March Hare