Prologue

The Great Escape

It was really great planning actually. J.J. went in first. Aloe went in second, and Shang third. The first time they got them out safely with no one’s knowledge after Wing, an angel, had gotten the escape supplies. (She had fretted a lot. And everyone was surprised that she didn’t mess up for once.) Out the barracks and concentration camp fortress, past the walkways and climbing path ropes, through the pathways, on to the broken bridge, a big leap, and freedom at a nearby city. Aloe’s partner was a captain in an army. He was Shang, a former army leader. The other one was J.J., a brilliant athlete that was risking his life.

The second time they got them out, it was risky. A student at the fortress saw them.

“Alpha!” Aloe yelled for that was the student’s name.

The student turned and smirked. Then, he laughed horribly.

“No!” Aloe cried, but he was gone.

“Come on,” Shang said. “We have to move it. We have to get them out before the army comes to get us."

“Right,” Aloe agreed. “Come on. You’ve gotta get out!” Aloe yelled to the prisoners that were now sort of like refugees.

Captain Shang led the way out while Aloe made sure they followed him. J.J. was the last of the line.

“We’ve got to slow the army down,” he said.

Aloe agreed reluctantly. She took a place behind J.J. The three boys in front of them were lagging behind.

“Come on, Tin. You three are too slow. Tin, get a move on it!” J.J. hollered.

One of the boys growled, “Why don’t you leave him alone?”

J.J. sighed and frowned.

“Look, you don’t want them to catch you again,” Aloe reasoned. “So, would you please move along?”

The three ran to catch up with the rest of the group. Aloe watched them and turned back to J.J.

“Rachel!” Aloe yelled.

It was rainy now. Aloe had promised Lorei, among the ones that had died in the concentration camp, to help her cats. They answered to the name, Rachel. Three cats ran toward Aloe. She shooed them away and told them to follow the rescue party and group.

“How are we going to slow them down?” J.J. asked.

“Well.” Aloe picked up a stone and tossed it with great strength. She and J.J. heard a clank as it hit metal.

“They’ve got shields,” J.J. mumbled.

“Run along, J.J.,” Aloe said. “I can take care of this.”

“Are you sure?” He had a worried look on his face.

“Yes, I can handle this.” Aloe watched J.J. run off unwillingly. Then, she turned back toward where she had thrown the stone. She hurled as many as she could. Then, she ran across the boardwalk and started to climb and walk the ropes across to the spiral pathways

Suddenly, there was nasty cackle and a shout. “Number thirteen Tona, where do you think you’re going? You honestly think that you can escape?”

Aloe turned her head. The leader of the army, which now had caught up, stood at the end of the boardwalk. He was laughing. Aloe stared at him.

“I know your plan,” the leader sneered.

Aloe made no comment.

“You’re going to cross the bridge and.....”

The leader went on and Aloe froze. This was the first route plan. The second route that was being used now differed in that from the bridges, the refugees would hide out in the forest climbing up to it from the middle of the bridge.

“....the bridges have split. You’ll die trying to cross it. Well, I might as well get the job done,” the leader finished. He made a gesture.

A soldier pulled out a knife and walked to the ropes. Aloe gasped and prepared herself to jump.

“Enjoy your last moments in the salty Dead Sea,” laughed the leader.

The soldier sliced through the ropes. Aloe leaped and grasped the top of a fence. Then she pulled herself over. Hearing cries behind her, she turned around and waved.

The leader gawked while the soldiers mumbled among themselves. Aloe smiled and headed down the spiral pathway. To her surprise, Tin was there. Aloe stared at him.

“Come on,” she urged. She pulled him slowly along.

“Can we go faster?” Tin asked.

“Faster? You want to go faster?” Aloe inquired.

Tin nodded.

“Alright. Hold on.” Aloe started to speed up. Tin miraculously was able to keep up, but then, after a few minutes.....

“I’m tired,” Tin groaned.

They slowed down.

“Don’t step in that,” Aloe warned. She pulled Tin back from a red mass of plants. “It’s fatal,” she explained.

They were at the bridge in a minute. Aloe saw Shang waving his hands frantically.

“Jump!”

The bridge was separating. Aloe gasped.

“Jump now!”

Tin pulled Aloe with him. They missed the other side.

“Oh, no!” Aloe groaned softly.

Wing appeared in the air. Her wings were spread out wide.

“I’ll save you, Aloe!”

“No, Wing, don’t!”

Too late. Wing grabbed hold of Aloe and Tin. Her wings flapped, and she rose high into the air. She headed for the bridge platform that Aloe and Tin had missed.

“Yike!” Wing crashed into a tree.

Aloe and Tin hollered and screamed as they fell out of the angel creature’s grip. And tumbled into thorny bushes. Shang chuckled. J.J was next to him irresistible to giggles.

“Well, at least, Wing didn’t drop the two of you in to the pit,” Shang laughed. He knew the angel only by the name of Wing.

“It gave you a soft landing,” J.J. reasoned.

“Soft?” Aloe raised an eyebrow as she plucked off the twigs, leaves, and thorns stuck in her hair and clothes. Tin did the same.

“Come on. Get some rest. We’ll be leaving with the refugees to their homeland in the night,” Shang informed Aloe.

“What about the angel?” Tin asked.

“She’ll be okay,” J.J. answered.

“Hopefully and luckily,” Aloe grumbled. “I’ll stay with her.”

Wing groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head. “What happened?”

“You crashed,” Aloe answered.

“Don’t call me that. Call me Angelique, Rose.”

“You know very well that I can’t call you that unless you’re in human form. And don’t call me Rose unless I’m in my disguise.”

“Oh.”

“It was part of the restrictions as missionaries.”

“Oh, I forgot.”

“Oh, Wing, when will you ever be careful?”

“Uh.”

“....when will you ever learn?”

“Ooooohhhhh!” Wing whimpered. “Rose?”

“Aloe!”

“Uh....Aloe?”

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“What about the others?”

“I’ll leave a note for Shang telling him that I’m helping you. I think he’ll understand. He and J.J. should be able to guide the refugees back to Mythopia.”

“Can we go now?”

“As soon as I finish this note.”

“Okay, Aloe.”

Aloe smiled. “Oh, and one other thing. Any news from Silent Spy and Site Sight?”

Wing stretched her wings and yawned. “They’re doing a great job. Well, that’s according to the guardian.”

“Okay, I trust you.”

“Done?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”