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So far...

Eiolyte, an amazonian woman, searches for an Indagator. She finds herself at Valhalla bar talking to Odin, its barkeep. When the woman brings up her plight, Odin spins her a tale of an Indagator named Amanda.

Chapter 2 - Rebirth

The sun poured into tall windows lining the classroom walls. Desks populated by anthros and the occasional taur filled the room. Amanda sat in the front in a specialty desk. The class openly stared at her, murmuring behind her back. A coyote-anthro entered the room with a clipboard. He abruptly stopped and peered at the mare. He shot the mare a puzzled look and left. Voices echoed into the classroom. The teacher re-entered the room.

"Afternoon class." He awkwardly stated. "Today I'm going to go over the Indagator program." The anthro eyed the mare and placed the clipboard down. "The Indagator course is a course in which you will be trained to fight monsters and perform detective work. The core skills you will develop are combat, monsters, and magic. The week will be broken up like so," The anthro picked up a piece of chalk. "Combat will be Monday to Wednesday. From 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. While classes on monsters will take up Thursday and magic Friday." The instructor quickly noted it down on a chalkboard in the front of the class. "Any questions?" The teacher turned around and faced the class.

An anthro raised their hand.

"You, in the back, what is your question?"

"Sir, there's a lady." The class stared at Amanda.

"I am aware, I was informed it was not a mistake."

"But sir," Another student spoke. "Isn't this a bit dangerous for a lady?"

Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but somehow she made it on the roster. Any other questions?"

The class was silent.

"Let's begin then."

***

It was annoying at first. Amanda's classmates helped her in such a way she didn't have to lift a finger. When they sparred, her classmates hesitated. They held strikes against her or made the fight trivial. Quickly she changed that. Amanda held none her strikes back. The ferocity of her attacks threw her opponents off giving her more openings than she could count. It was only after a few months did her classmates learn and decide to fight her on equal footing. But, as the months drew to a year Amanda struggled.

Breathing heavily the mare eyed the wooden dummy. With a swift step followed by a pirouette the mare swung at the target. Unfortunately, as the mare struck, her large, pumpkin-sized endowments threw her off balance. Her footing, pulled off the side, tripped the mare.

"Damn it." The mare quietly swore.

Dusting herself off Amanda stood again and attempted another strike. Quickly she found the strike overzealous. Her quad testes, sloshed heavily, as the mare found a hoof suddenly pulled out beneath her. THUMP! The mare fell on her rear again.

"Fuck!" The mare shouted, as she slammed her fist on the ground.

"Women, aren't meant to fight." A hyena anthro leaned on a wall.

Amanda glared at him.

The hyena smiled. "Especially women with the leviathan gene." He eyed the mare tremendous assets. "Maybe you should apply to the breeder role? Or just settle with a man."

Amanda stood again and attempted another swing. This time, she found her cock sheathes, combined with her tits pulled her to the side, and tripped her.

The hyena turned up his face. "Seeing a woman fight is just not natural."

"Fuck off."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Quite the mouth on you young lady."

The mare ignored the hyena.

He reached for a blade. "I guess, I'll need to beat some manners into you."

Amanda readied her blade. The hyena quickly dashed forward. Amanda blocked her torso. The hyena ducked low and aimed for her hooves. Pulled off balance Amanda stumbled around and bumped into the hyena. She landed on top of him with a distinct crunch followed by piercing screech of pain. Quickly Amanda jumped to her hooves. The hyena rolled around the ground grasping his torso.

The teacher, followed by the rest of her class rushed over. The coyote shot Amanda an angry look as he picked up the hyena.

"What did you do?" He calmly asked.

"I fell on him. After he attacked me." Amanda responded.

The following day the coyote stormed inside the class.

"Amanda." He barely held his voice. "Your performance yesterday was unacceptable. Therefore, your punishment will follow: you will be expected to do double the combat classes, double the endurance training, double the monster classes, and double the magic classes. For a month. On top of this, you will be expected to run the castle twice as much as the others. Do I make myself clear?"

Amanda shot to her hooves enraged. "What about the fucker that attacked me?!"

"Young lady." The coyote's voice grew stern. "I don't know how you ended up on the roster, but swearing is prohibited. Anymore and I'll have you expelled."

Amanda clenched her fist. "Understood."

The punishment, Amanda found, made her hit harder and faster. Unfortunately, for the castle, she found herself exhausted. It was built in a mock-up castle, designed to push students to their very limits.

Amanda breathed heavily and wiped the sweat off her muzzle. She charged into the course, and was immediately greeted by a cloud of paintball fire. She took extra care to block her face, and dove behind some nearby crates.

"Indagators can take continuous fire, for an extended period as long as they block their head. As a bullet to the brain could quickly end their life." Amanda recalled what her teacher had said.

Amanda pulled out a pistol and fired paintballs downrange. While a decent amount hit their mark Amanda found numerous had missed. Quickly she dove behind another crate as a wooden figure popped up with a gun. She deftly cut the wooden figure arm off then stabbed it. More figures popped up increasing the volume of fire until the air brimmed with paintballs. More figures popped up darting back and forth. The mare received heavy fire until a giant wooden monster popped out of the floor.

The mare took a swipe from its claw, thrown against wall with a loud thud. Amanda grimaced, as pain shot through her back. Swiftly, she found there wasn't time to wait. The mare jumped out of the way of another strike. The wooden monster, struck again, and tossed the mare across the room.

Amanda winced, pomptly putting distance between her and the monster. Studying the creature for what felt like an eternity the mare decided it was a wyvern. A gout of paint erupted from the creature's mouth soaking the mare's body. She swore anddove behind cover. The wooden figures with paint guns kept firing upon her as she attempted to get in close to the wooden wyvern.

Underneath the creature Amanda found a mechanism, designed to be its weak spot.Hastilyshe thrust her sword up putting a stop to the creature.

The mare crashed through adoor into the nextsection, covered in a rainbowmess. The floor creaked as the room plunged into darkness. Amanda recalled another lesson her teacher had taught. "Listen."The horse closed her eyes. A faint creak, the mare struck. With a solid WHUMP! The mare had struck something. Yes! She silently cheered only to get hit by another paintball a distance away.

Carefully she moved, but found herself assaulted by more wooden figures. She blocked some but took most of their strikes. Amanda walked slower and slower as she reached the end. Out of breath, withpain firing off like an engine,the mare fell through the next door.

Adimly litroom opened up before her. At the end of the room Amanda found a wooden monster. Carefully she studied the creature, but found the wooden figure had disappeared. Her eyes frantically darted around the room until the figure popped up behind her with a solid THWACK! The mare fell, her wooden blade skiddedacross the floor.

The mare searched the room. The wooden cut-out popped up again bashing her across a giant boob.The mare grasped her breastas a surge of milk erupted from her tit. Again, the wooden figure appeared,struck,only to disappear in microseconds. It laid hit after hit into the mare. Her assets gorged their fluids overwhelming her absorption pads.

The mare scrabbled to her blade leaving a hoof-deeptrailof sexual fluids in her wake. Blade in hand she blocked an attack. Amanda stared hard at the creature locking eyes with it for a minute. She identified it as a wraith. The wooden figure retracted and appeared again as Amanda failed thecounter-attack. She inhaled sharply and grasped anexcessive hip.

The creature popped up again, smacking her quad testes.

"Hmph!" The mare grunted as pain webbed out from her nutsack. Her hand hardly covered her testes but still she grasped them. Again and again the wooden figure bashed her.It wasn't until apowerful strike to her quad nuts, caused thick globs of semen to splash across the ground.

"Fuck!" Amanda shouted grasping her nuts. Another strike to her nuts led to a dull pain.

"Predict your opponent." A lesson popped in her mind. The mare stopped considering how the wooden cut-out had attacked.Left, then right, then left again, only for another left, then back to right. _Wait! There's a pattern!_A light bulb went off in the mare. Amanda picked a side and blocked an attack. The figure disappeared again.Yet, as it appeared again, Amanda stepped to the side, blocked, and parried. Kerchunk! The mare had done it, the lights in the room lit up as Amanda saw her sword met its mark. She had hit the designated weak point on the wraith.

The mare smiled, limped, then collapsedand began crawling to the next door leaving behind a long trail.Amanda pulledherself up.Her body screamed. Her legs protested. I need- The mare slowly pieced herself together. To keep-_Amanda began to turn the door handle. _Going.

The horse stumbled into the next door and found three wooden wyverns.

"Oh fuck."

Room after room Amanda fought off monsters, people, hazards, and more.Occasionally,she found combinations other times she found singular elements. By the end of the course Amanda fell out of the last door sprawled across the ground. She was covered in a mess of paint, milk, semen, and fem-lube.

"That was your final run for today." The teacher spoke up. "Overall, it could be better. You got 60points for today's castle session."

Amanda groaned.

A month later Amanda found herself delighted. Not only could she win a battle against three of her classmates. But her success had made an impact inside the classroom.

"Fitzgerald." The teacher spoke up in the training room.Weapons linedthe walls with dummies scattered around. "You'll be sparring Amanda. Experiment with the ten point flourish and the half step I taught you."

"Uh." The hyena anthro, Amanda had crushed a month ago, spoke. "I have to-" The teacher frowned. "-water my cat."

The coyote raised a brow. "What?"

The hyena shotAmanda a fearfulglance. "It's important my-" The anthro hesitated. "-mom insisted it's done right now."

"No. Get to sparring."

Amanda smiled, as the hyena, wide-eyed, gulped.

"Good morning class. I'm here to congratulate you on completing your first two years of the Indagator course."

Amanda sat in the front of the class.

"Unfortunately, it's here that a difficult decision needs to be made." The teacher's voice was stony. "Before the next semester starts, you need to decide if you want mutations."

The class was silent.

"I'm sure you've heard therumors, of horrendous deaths and unfathomable pain. I'm afraid those are a likelihood if you undergo these mutations." The teacher paused. "But, I can assure you, they're worth it. I'm a testament to their success. As many of you pointed out my eyes. Aren'tnormal for a coyote."

The coyote-anthro motionedto brown cat-like eyes. "These eyes, along with the rest of me made it, such that, I'm here today.Teaching you. I've fought alongside non-mutated Indagators. Eight times, out of ten, I watch them die." The teacher lowered his voice. "I've seen them, torn apart by a wyvern. Turned into fleshy strips by a wraith. Burnt to a crisp by a dragon. Its-"The teacher hesitated. "-horrible." The coyote shook his head. "I found myself wondering how I survived. Why my non-mutated friends. Moretalented than myself, get torn apart so easily."

The coyote spoke, his voice somber."I realized it was because of the mutations. While they conditioned themselvesto take bullets like I did. My mutated skin makes it, so I can take many more. I heal faster than them, and Istrike harder and faster than them. The largest downside to all of this. I need to eat vastly more than they do. As my mutated body, whileaggressivelytuned, takes vastly more energy to run."

"In fact," The coyote continued. "I am almost certain I starve to death faster than them. But, when it comes to fighting monsters, I found myselfbarely surviving, and them dead." The teacher paused. The shook his head."Istrongly encourage the class to take them. I will give you a form, you need to fill it out and drop it off at the Canis Lupus headquarters near you. When you do, you will undergo mutations a few weeks before the start of the next semester. So your vacation will be cut short. There will be counselors and advisors to help you make your decision."

The coyote anthro peered at the class. "Enjoy your winter break. Class dismissed."

Amanda sat in her room as she held the latest volume of _Indagators and the World._She flipped through its pages until she came across a story about the Indgator mutations. Quickly she read it. Amanda set the book down.

"Mutations make Hell look like Heaven."The horse recalled a quote from the story. "Survival, grants the opportunity to see that."

Amanda pondered the phrase. She pulled out the paperwork given to her by the teacher.

Mutation fatality rate: 60%

The horse read the bolded text.

Successful mutation will __g_ rant the student physical abilities more than double the average person._ Failure could lead to death wrought with pain.

The bottom paragraph continued on. The horse sighed.

Amandaspenther break with her parents. She sat at the dinner table with her father flipping through the newspaper.

"Still thinking about those mutations?"Amanda's father asked as heset down his newspaper.

"Yeah."Amanda responded.

"They have a sixty percent fatality rate." Sophia, quickly took a seat next to Amanda's father. "It's stupid to take them."

Amanda frowned. "They increase survivability."

"At what cost?" Sophia retorted.

Amanda was silent.

"You know sweetie." Kieth spoke to Sophia. "There's a higher chance an Indagator to die from a monster than from the mutations."

"Marginally."Sophia responded.

"Well any increase in the survivability is worth its weight in gold. Especially when you're an Indagator." Kieth replied.

The following day Amanda took a walk in the local park.

"You're not going to do it are you?" Abigailwalked alongside.

"I want to." Amanda responded.

"You want to?" The wolftaur padded alongside.

"Yes."

"Then what's stopping you?" Samantha asked.

"Idon't know.My mother doesn't want me to do it. While my father does." Amanda pondered.

"I agree with your mother. You shouldn't do it." The tiger-anthro chimed in.

"Why not?" The mare asked the tiger.

"You'll be a giant freak."

Amanda frowned.

"You should do it Amanda."

"And if I die?"

There was silence.

Amanda sat in her room turning over the paperwork. Should I?_The horse pondered. _I might die._She continued. _Or I might succeed. The horse continued to stare. No._Amanda interrupted herself._N __o "I might succeed." O_ nly, " I will succeed."_ The horse quickly found a pen and began filling the form. I can still die though. The horse stopped at the last box on the form. No, not while I can decide. The horse finished the form. Her heart raced as a voice in the back of her headscreamed at her, YOU IDIOT!WHY DID YOU DO IT?!

"Because I care!" The horse shouted on her own. "Because I give a damn. I care when people are abused or used. I cry when I can't defend them against the monsters of this world."The horse breathed heavily. "I tear myself up." The horse paused. "When I can't do a god-damned thing." The horse finished. I will succeed. I will survive the mutations. Better than anybody else.

Amanda's vacation blitzed by. After she had told her parents, her mother cried while her father smiled. When she told her friends. Abigail grew upset and left her. Samantha, smiled at her. Yet standing in the halls of the Canis Lupus headquarters Amanda trembled. She second guessed herself every step as the nurse led her to a large auditorium. Inside several anthros and taurs had gathered.

A face, recognizable to the mare entered the room.

"Good morning. Today, you will begin a transformation unlike anything else." The teacher from Amanda's class spoke. "But, before we begin. I'm going to break down the mutations for you." The anthro grabbed a piece of chalk. "When you are first injected, you will begin stage zero. You will most likely feel nothing but the prick of the needle. And maybe some warmth." The anthro quickly wrote.

"A few days later, and you will enter stage one. Here, your body will begin breaking down. You will begin to experience pain, and your training, is expected to drop." The anthro wrote. "Stage one can last a week to a few days."

"Stage two might be the worst. The pain will be excruciating. You will kick, and you will roll around in your bed. You will feel liquid magma broiling through your veins and your desire for death will be the highest. Your body will begin to disintegrate from the inside out." The anthro faced the class. "This stage will likely last a week at most, and a few days at the least."

"Stage three." The anthro returned to the chalkboard. "Comatose. It is expected you will enter a coma. And it's here, that I must stress matters the most. At stage three, your will to live must be the highest. Otherwise, you might not make it out. Now, this is understandably difficult, but I really must insist, you find your will." The anthro continued to write on the board.

"Stage four. Awakening. If you survived the previous stages, you will wake up. With sight unlike anybody else. Senses, sharper than a blade. Strength of a demigod. And reflexes, which crack the sound barrier. The nurses will perform some checkups on you, shortly after you wake and will determine if you're clear to go." The anthro set down the chalk.

"Any questions?"

Amanda's heart raced. Sweat gathered on her fur as she stared at the chalkboard.

A fox anthro raised his hand.

"The fox in the back!" The coyote shouted.

"Where will we be when this all happens?"

"Ah, an excellent question. Each will have an assigned room as the mutations take effect on you. You will not be allowed to leave it as they take ahold and should have everything you might need inside for a few weeks."

"If we start kicking and screaming during the mutations, how are you going to keep us from hurting ourselves?" A cardinal anthro asked.

"You will be strapped to the bed." The coyote quickly answered.

A horrific look clouded the cardinal's beak.

"Anything else?"

"How will we know when we're mutated? Or finished?" A dragon anthro asked.

"You will hear things you wouldn't hear normally and see things with a much greater clarity. Trust me, there's no faking it."

"Any more questions?" The coyote searched the room. "No? Then it's here where I give you one last option to leave. You will not be punished. Nor will you be fined. And you will have the option to drop out of the program all together."

The class watched in suspense. A rhino-anthro stood up and left. Soon he was followed by taurs and other anthros.

"Anybody else?"

The rest of the students remained seated.

"Very well, I will take a minute to get all your forms in order and assign a nurse."

A few moments Amanda found herself walking down a hallway with a female badger-anthro.

"Morning Amanda, I'll be your nurse for the mutations. My name's Amelia."

"Thank you, Amelia. I'm a bit nervous about this but still want to go forward about it." Amanda was honest.

The nurse smiled. "Just think of what you care about the most, and hold it close to your heart." The badger opened a door. "Here's the room you'll be in when you undergo the mutations."

The room was simple and small. A hospital bed sat in a corner with belts attached to various metal plates. Off to the side of the room was a long cabinet. On the counter was water and some food.

"You'll need to take a seat on the bed."

The mare sat on the bed. It audibly creaked underneath her weight. "Can these beds hold people with the leviathan gene?" Amanda inquired.

"Yours can. The others can't. We have specialty beds for those with the gene as they get quite large." Amanda settled on the bed as the nurse spoke.

"I'm going to get the mutagens. I'll be right back." The badger left the room and quickly returned with a tray containing three vials. Each had a different colored fluid inside.

"Are you ready?"

Amanda peered at the vials. Sweat, gathered on her palms again. As the teacher's lecture played itself on replay.

"Yes."

"Hold still, this will only take a few moments." Expertly the nurse grabbed the first vial and removed a cap. The badger gave the plunger on the vial a quick squeeze. Green fluid spurted out one end. "I'll need your arm."

Amanda carefully placed an arm in the nurse's hand.

"You're shaking. Are you sure you're ready?" The nurse asked.

Amanda hadn't noticed, but the nurse was right. She shook in her chair. The mare stopped, took a deep breath. Then breathed out again. Slowly the mare stopped shaking. "Please continue."

"All right." Carefully the nurse inserted the long, pointy needle into the mare's fur. Slowly she squeezed the plunger. "First vial done. I'll grab the next."

The second vial, Amanda noticed was blue. The nurse performed the same tests she did on the first vial. "I'll put this in the other arm if you're fine with it."

Amanda nodded.

The nurse moved to the mare's left arm and slowly plunged the needle into the mare's dark fur. After the plunger was fully depressed she set it down and began on the next one.

Amanda found the third and final vial a clear white fluid.

"You can choose which arm gets it."

Amanda motioned to her right arm. The nurse depressed the needle again and waited until the contents of the vial had emptied. Afterward the nurse wrapped a bandage around each wound.

"You're all set. Now all you need to do is wait." The nurse hesitated before she left. "Find what you care about the most. And hold it close to your heart." She smiled, then left.

Amanda considered what the nurse had said. What do I care about the most? The horse wondered. My mom and dad. My friends. And people. The horse continued.

With nothing else to do Amanda found herself in the training room brushing up on moves. The mutations, had left Amanda's body buzzing with warmth. The next day, Amanda awoke with a sharp pain permeating her body. The mare described it as several tiny needles poking from the inside out. She winced as she got out of the hospital bed and struggled with her hooves.

She stopped by her home to pick up a few books to keep herself entertained. The mare's instructor insisted it be done as early as possible. The horse, soon understood why. As the mare drilled her moves, she found herself out of wind quicker and in much greater pain. The tiny needles the mare had described, grown to fists, tipped with a blood-burning venom.

"What's happening to me?" The mare's breathing was ragged. She tripped, stumbled, and fell. A sharp point shot through her cushy rear like a spire of rock, embedded in her flesh. Amanda let out a desperate cry.

The next day Amanda awoke. Her head thrummed, her body rung in fire. Her body cracked and burned as her blood became magma. The mare attempted to lift her torso but quickly howled in agony as a violent explosion rocked her core.

"Why?" The horse's voice was weak.

Another small movement sent spasms all across her body as she desperately cried. She writhed and rolled. Her voice grew in volume.

Nurses rushed inside and quickly strapped her limbs. The simple movement sent a quake of fire. It burnt her body to pieces. She howled atop her lungs praying to anybody that hear her calls.

"Mommy, please." Her voice was weaker.

"AHH!" The mare kicked. "SOMEBODY! PLEASE!" Tears broke out in waves as the mare sobbed uncontrollably. Red rings, gathered around the mare's periphery. And soon she saw her own veins, clouding her vision as they pulsed irregularly.

The horse screamed again and wept. By the time the sun rose the next day the mare could only think of death.

The mare's nurse entered the room, Amanda could hardly see as her vision faded.

"Please, kill me." The horse bleated, despaired. The mare compared herself to a goat ripped apart by vicious predators.

The nurse cried. "I'm sorry Amanda, please hang in there. You're almost to stage three." Quickly she left the room. The horse peered at the ceiling. Another explosion smashed her like a hundred-ton tank as she hoarsely cried, pulling on her restraints. She wailed miserably as her body, faded away like fiery shreds of paper. It burned hotter and hotter until her vision finally faded.

Amanda found herself adrift in a void, fiery throws of pain continued to plague her body as she spasmed, rolled, and roiled. Visions of people flashed before her. She found her mom and dad. Abigail and Samantha. Next, people, she'd met or vaguely met, sped through the mare's inky black void.

Fiery magma shot through her veins again as she twitched unnaturally, throwing her arms like a rag-doll as venom boiled her blood into steam. A black door appeared. The mare saw it and rapidly approached it.

"Whatever you do, find what you care about the most and hold it close to your heart."

The nurse's voice echoed in the mare's void. Amanda stopped. White-hot magma brimmed through her veins as she burnt to pieces. But still, Amanda hesitated. Something's off. The mare's mind rang. Her tortured body screamed at her, desperate for an end. While an itch, near the back of her head told her something else.

"I want to protect." The mare's voice, suddenly came forward.

Liquid anguish ripped through her body. "I WANT TO PROTECT! I LOVE MY FRIENDS! MY FAMILY! AND PEOPLE! I REFUSE TO LET THEM DIE!" Amanda shouted atop her lungs. An endeavor worth tens of suns of fire as her body, shot full of magma screeched in protest. The door quickly sped away, and the mare saw their void become the bottom of an ocean. As light streamed through its surface. Quickly the mare swam through the water toward the surface. The mare's despair fell off her, like dirt washed off a tool.

"Rebirth is strange." Amanda heard a voice akin to her own. "Most people expect it as something that happens once in a lifetime." The mare continued to swim. "But, it's something that happens multiple times."

The horse swam faster as she found the rippling surface. "How many times have we change as people? How many times have we look in the mirror and realized. We weren't the same before?" The mare slowed. "I'm sure it's frequent. After all, it's something done without our knowing. How the hell does that work?"

The mare neared the surface. "Maybe it's always worked like that?" The voice paused. "You know that feeling? The one you get when you look at something, terrified? Maybe it's not anything scary? Maybe, we're just afraid to step out of our comfort zone?"

Amanda touched the surface with her finger. "Perhaps, that's rebirth. Stepping outside, and finding something new."

Amanda breached the surface. Her eyes shot wide open, the boring hospital ceiling filled her vision. The mare searched the room, and found herself strapped to the seat. The mare tugged at a restraint. With a loud SNAP! The restraint broke. The mare stared at torn binding. What? She couldn't believe her eyes. With her free arm, Amanda undid the rest of her restraints.

The mare searched the room again. Something's off. The horse's mind echoed. Why is everything... She searched for the words. Clear __er? The mare found objects in greater detail as they whisked by in slow motion. Is everything, slower? The mare leapt to her hooves and stumbled. She quickly found her balance. Wait, why do I feel...warm? The horse felt a slight warmth spread throughout her body. I need a mirror. The mare quickly found one. Whoa! She rapidly found herself before the mirror in microseconds.

My eyes! They're, cat-like. Amanda closely examined her eyes. No longer was her green iris adorned by a round pupil. Instead, it had become a slit. She stumbled backwards toward the door. THUD! The mare heard the door. Quickly she spun around. Whoa._The mare was nauseous. _That was, fast.

"AHH! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME I'M-" The voice stopped. Amanda deftly spun around. I don't know if I'll get used to that. The mare covered her muzzle, her nausea returned. What was that?

The mare quickly heard more voices.

"I'm sorry, I think, he's dead."

It was a voice Amanda didn't recognize.

"Damn it." Amanda heard her teacher's voice. More voices jumbled the mare's mind. Where are these voices coming from?!_The horse panicked, covering her ears. _It's too __much! The horse panicked. Wait. The walls. I can hear through the walls! The realization hit her like a truck. Holy shit. The mare paused. W_ hat's that awful smell?_ The mare's mind quickly changed. It smells like rotten meat.Blech. The horse stuck out her tongue.

Is there anything here? Quickly the mare searched room. Her hand grazed a metal tray. Whoa! The mare pulled back her hand.Why does metal feel, rough? The mare grabbed the metal tray again. Are there grooves? The mare set down the tray and continued her search.

Accidentally, the mare tore a door off a cabinet. The mare swore. Carefully she set it down. Nothing here smells like that. The rotten smell had grown. Why is there more? The horse paced around. Can I smell through walls? The mare entertained the idea. Pawsteps approached her door.

"How was the lady?" Amanda heard outside the door.

"She wanted me to kill her." The mare recognized the voice of her nurse.

"Was that all?"

The mare heard the badger shrug. Their bones popped.

"For the most part. There was nothing unusual."

"Hmph. Let's see if she's alive then."

The door swung open.

Amanda stared at her teacher, annoyed.