It was so dark that I couldn't see my hand when I held it three inches from my face. I felt the cold, rough dirt ground beneath my feet. The cool air was thick with fear. My fear. There is no sound exept for my heavy breathing. Wait, I can hear someone call my name way off in the distance.
    "Kierra! Where are you? I need you!,"
    I recognized Zero's voice instantly, and, remembering the terrible thing that happened the last time we were in a place so dark, starting running in the direction the voice was coming from.
    I was concentrateding so hard on my speed that I stumbled and fell, pain shooting up my body. Looking back I saw that I had tripped on a rock that jutted up from the ground. Wait, I can see? Yes, I can see, for now it is only as dark as a moonless night.
    I looked up to see Zero running toward me.
    "Kierra! Thank goodness you're okay! I was getting worried," he ব্যক্ত as I got up.
    "Yes, Zero, I'm alright," I said, but as Iooked up, I saw a shadow swirl up behind him. All I could do was stare, ফ্রোজেন in shock, as the dark shadow engulfed him, his screams echoing against who-know-what. After about a minute, the shadow left him, his body left lying on the ground.
    My হৃদয় fell into my stomach as I ran to him. When I reached him, he was nearly dead, his breaths slow and uneven.
    "Kierra..." he gasped, then winced in pain, "The war...it... has begun."
    As I held him while he died, I felt the shadow creep up behind me. When I pulled his body close, I sensed the shadow start to attack me....


    I woke up drenched in cold sweat. My হৃদয় was racing as if I had just ran a marthon. Just a dream....it was only a dream...
    I got up to shower, still telling myself that it was just a dream. But, even as I walked into the bathroom, I could almost feel that shadow creep around my ankles, warning me of what was to come....



    Lard Nar looked at the bounty hunter he had hired to kill the girl Kierra. He was tall and slim, especially for an Irken. He might have been the Tallest if he hadn't become a fugitive in an attempt to kill an Invader. He spoke with a slight French accent.
    "Ok, before I officially hire you, you'll need to prove your skills. What do আপনি got?" Lard Nar asked.
    "What do I got? Hmm....what do I got..." The bounty hunter observed the ছুরি he was holding, wiping it clean, testing its sharpness.
    Lard Nar heard a thud two inches from his head, and turned to see the ছুরি that was in the hunter's hand a সেকেন্ড পূর্বে was now lodged in the wood, the blade glinting evilly. It took Lard Nar a few moments to realize that the bounty hunter had thrown his ছুরি right there to scare him. But he wasn't scared. He's been in much scarier experiences.
    The hunter came up, dislodged the knife, and then pressed it to Lard Nar's throught.
    "Any আরো প্রশ্ন of 'what I got'?" The bounty hunter threatened
    Now Lard Nar was afraid. "Uh...um....n-no..." was his stuttered response.
    "Show me the girl I must kill," The hunter ব্যক্ত as he put the ছুরি back in its sheath.
    "Y-yes, sir," Lard Nar ব্যক্ত as he put a picture of Kierra on the screen.
    The bounty hunter observed the picture carefully, memorizing every strand of her hair, every weave of her jacket, every speck of thought in her eyes...
    "She will be dead within twenty-four hours," The hunter promised, and chuckled at the thought of pain on her face...of her screams echoing in the night......