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The husky tapped a claw on his flip-phone keyboard, ignoring the call from one of his classmates. He didn't have time to spare and he needed to mobilize his friends. And get a hold of Jay. Not even glancing at the text messages, he selected Jay from the saved numbers and hit dial, and then began to bounce in place impatiently as it rang.

"C'mon, c'mon! Pick up!"

"Matt? I ... your ... get ... attack!" Jay's voice was partially garbled by static, and quickly was overtaken by a constant stream of unintelligible noise. Putting the pads of his paw to his forehead, Matt realized that all of the magic in the area would make recordings, including voice, useless. Hanging up, he sent a quick text to Jay telling him to stay put if he could and that Matt would be there as soon as possible.

While he was waiting for Jay's response, he took a quick look at who was texting him. Axel saw something on the news and was warning him; the same classmate who was calling him texted him to ask him why he wasn't in lecture hall. Again. A couple more texts from earlier from his friends hoping to persuade him to come out of his room.

Shaking his head, Matt realized he needed to warn everyone and move. After sending a mass text to his friends warning them of the impending attack, he got Jay's response. The cougar was safe for now, and was hiding in the bushes near the basement student center exit with Matt's staff from Ameranth. The husky sighed with relief.

Now that he had that figured out, he had to get to campus. Matt ran up the stairs from the basement and onto the street. Normally he walked to class or took the light rail. The light rail could take as long as half an hour if he timed it poorly, having to wait for the next train. He figured he could jog to campus in fifteen minutes. And so Matt began to jog under the fall sun.

The husky wasn't a particularly fast runner, but he could go for a pretty long time. As his legs ate the distance over the concrete sidewalks, he realized that he could use magic to push himself faster.

'But I don't have a focus.'

Matt tried to coax the wind into pushing him harder, thinking of a stiff breeze to propel him forward. But even after trying that for nearly thirty seconds as he jogged, nothing happened. Matt growled in frustration. If he still had that whistle he might've been able to pull it off, but he never did get it back from his friends.

'I'll have to do this the old fashioned way. Just keep running. And hopefully I won't be there too late!'

* * * * *

Laura tapped her pen lightly against her nose pad. As much fun as macroeconomics were, her mind really wasn't on the coursework. Of course, she had Matt to blame. Seriously, as much as she liked the husky as a friend, his breakup with Jay was completely distracting. Well, it wasn't that she didn't feel for Matt. She wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to support him, but he'd locked himself in his room for an entire week. There's being upset, and there's sulking, and she was pretty sure the husky had moved solidly into sulking.

Her phone buzzed once in her pocket, and as she fished it out from her backpack her classmate - another white wolf, but without the dyed additions that Laura had - arched an eyebrow at her. She gave her friend a shrug and checked the message. It was from Matt! About time the husky got out of his shell.

Except the contents of the message were terrifying. Laura immediately glanced up and around the lecture hall. Two-hundred and fifty students were listening to a severe-looking ermine drone on about Keynesian economics. She knew she risked her prof's wrath if she left mid-lecture; Professor Arnhausan was notoriously strict about attendance and bathroom breaks. A talking to would pale in comparison to the fallout if the campus was attacked though. Not really a contest.

Her friend, however, whispered after her as she got up. "Where are you going? The break Nazi is gonna kill you!"

'I could tell the truth... but that would invite more questions.' Laura shook her head at her friend and mimed a troubled tummy before heading up the stairs of the tiered lecture hall.

Once she had gotten through the doors, Laura made a beeline to the big panes of glass at the end of the hallway. Instead of the rolling field of grass that normally made up the central area between the economics, science, and library buildings there were a number of large, squat black buildings almost shining in the sun. On the grounds, furs dressed in robes mingled with furs dressed in modern Earth clothing, like some sort of strange time travel film or a Renaissance faire that was loose on clothing regulations.

And then the canine found she was staring at the floor, her muzzle half an inch from the linoleum. The stench of singed clothing filled her nostrils. Something had slammed her square in the back, and she had a pretty good idea what that something may have been. Rolling onto her back and then springing to her feet, she spied three red-skinned imps. Two were headed into the lecture theatre she had just left, and one was about to throw another ball of fire at her.

'Playing with fire? I can deal with that.' The wolf thought, a feral grin ghosting her face. The imp's attack flew at her and Laura was ready for it. Scooping the projectile from the air in a paw, Laura whirled around, keeping her arm out. The fire was hot, but she concentrated on keeping it from burning her pads as she finished her spin. Like a comet orbiting a star, Laura sling-shot the fireball back at the imp, nailing it in the chest. The imp screeched in pain as it dissolved, sent back to the hell it came from.

Once that imp was gone, she noticed the other two had gotten into the lecture theatre. She tapped the bridge of her muzzle with a claw for just a moment before leaping over to the wall and pulling the fire alarm. Bells echoed throughout the building, and furs started piling out of the halls. 'Maybe the imps will get trampled.'

She realized her mistake, however, when she saw that furs were streaming out of the economics lecture from the left set of doors only. The right set, where the imps had entered, remained conspicuously closed. A shriek pierced the clanging of the fire alarm. Laura moved to the wooden double doors and threw them open.

Furs were trying to squeeze out of the far side of the room, but the doors could only handle so many at a time. Students at the back had formed a defensive perimeter of sorts, all staring at the imps warily. Apparently some rhino jock had gotten it in his head to attack them, because Laura saw him rolling down the stairs, smoldering and smoking.

Digging in her backpack for a brief moment, Laura's paws wrapped around a small cylindrical metal tube. Pulling it out, she flicked the top open and a small flame burst to life. Putting her muzzle close enough to the lighter to feel the heat tickle her nose, she pursed her lips and blew. A fireball flew from the device and impacted one of the two imps from behind. As it disappeared, students nearby watching the exchange cheered.

"Laura! How did you?" The white wolf heard her friend yelling at her, but besides flicking an ear in her friend's direction, she didn't acknowledge her. She couldn't afford to lose her concentration. These furs were counting on her.

The imp and Laura eyed each other warily. With so many students around still, if Laura missed she could injure one of them. The imp had no such compunction. The white wolf ducked as the imp's attack flew past her, slamming into the wall above the lecture hall's doors. Black-limned flames spread rapidly across the sound-dampening additions.

"Oh for... get out of here already!" Laura shouted as she stood back up. Her classmates returned to screaming in panic and pushing to get out the other door. Thankfully some room had opened up and more were able to escape. The white wolf didn't watch her peers, though. Instead she gripped the lighter and set herself on fire. The flames spread across her fur like a fluid. As Laura became a moving inferno, she dashed towards the imp and tackled it. The small leathery creature was caught by surprise, shock registering on its ugly little face.

The imp tumbled down the stairs head over heels, but when it came to a stop halfway down the tiered steps, it was clearly injured but not out. Groaning, Laura swayed on her feet. She had hoped that her little trick would be enough, but instead she ended up ripping some of the white fur from her knees and still had to hit the imp again. And her fire was out.

Just as she was about to dodge the inevitable attack, she heard a snap over the din of the fire alarm and the students screaming. The large rhino from earlier had run up behind the creature and snapped its back with a swift kick. The final imp left Earth.

Laura grinned in between panting breaths. "Thanks!"

"No problem," Rhino-boy said. His voice was deep, and Laura felt it more than heard it.

Before they could exchange any other platitudes, Professor Arnhausan was yelling at the students to continue evacuating. The building was on fire, and though the sprinklers had come on, it was taking a long time to extinguish the demonfire.

Once outside the building, Laura saw that the economics building wasn't the only one burning. She shivered, though she couldn't tell if it was because her fur was soaked from the sprinklers, or if it was the flashes of magic from furs and reptilian demons alike dotting the campus.

"Where are you off to?" Laura turned to see Rhino-boy standing behind her, a smirk on his horned muzzle. His letterman's jacket was singed on the denim, right where the logo was supposed to be. Judging by his build, though, Laura figured he was probably a football player.

"I've got friends to help in this mess." She rubbed a paw over the dyed stripes on her arm.

Rhino-boy took a step closer to Laura, right into her personal space. "Want some help?"

"You've seen what I can do, I don't need some white knight protecting me." Laura backed up, beyond the rhino's reach.

He frowned. "Hey, I wasn't saying you needed protection. I was asking if you wanted help."

"You can't use magic at all, can you?"

"Is that what you were doing? Magic?"

Laura growled. "I don't have time for this. I could use the help, but the second it gets too crazy for you, get out. I won't have your blood on my paws; you're responsible for your own safety, Rhino-boy."

"Rhino-boy. I like it," he said with another smirk. "Well then, Fire-girl, lead on."

Laura snorted as she texted Matt. "Fire-girl?"

"Hey, you can make that work," Rhino-boy said. "You could even have a tag line, like how you're too hot to handle."

"Seriously? Hitting on me and terrible puns?"

"Hey, isn't that how it works in the movies? The guy comes in to save the day in the heat of battle and wins the girl with his charm?"

Matt wasn't responding to his texts. She tried texting Kael.

"Wow, you doubled down!" Laura said as she looked up from her phone. The rhino was grinning madly as she shook her head. "That's gutsy. And I'm pretty sure I was the one to save the day back there."

"So, where to next, Fire-girl?"

"My name's Laura, and my friends aren't answering. We'll just have to search campus to find them and help furs as needed. Kael's usually in the library at this time, so let's head there."

"Well, Laura, I'm Eric." Laura was pretty sure the rhino flexed unconsciously as he introduced himself. She wasn't sure if it was endearing or arrogant. Endearingly arrogant had been how the conversation had been going so far.

Laura turned with a swish of her tail. "Good to know. Let's roll, Rhino-boy."

* * * * *

Kael had been in the library when Matt's text rolled in. The kangaroo immediately went to a window and saw exactly what he had feared across the campus. On one paw, he was really excited to perhaps get to talk to one of Ameranth's denizens so he could find out more about their world. On the other paw, this was clearly a prime case for a full demonic invasion if their theories were correct. Which, so far, they had been. That was cold comfort for Kael, though. Sometimes being right wasn't a good thing.

The 'roo texted his childhood friend back, trying to figure out where Matt wanted to meet. But the husky wasn't answering Kael's texts. 'If he was at home, he's probably trying to get here. Answering texts would slow him down.'

More furs pressed their noses against the glass walls, staring out at the chaos below, jostling each other for a spot. Kael backed off and strolled down the stairs, his huge feet taking large strides. He knew that Chris would be eating lunch at this hour, and it was a quick hop through the parking lot behind the library over to the student center. Gathering his friends was his first priority. They were much stronger as a group.

As he exited the library, however, he immediately saw a white-robed fur struggling with a large, russet demonic orangutan. The mage was trying to keep the beast at bay with bursts of wind, swinging his arm as if he were conducting a very erratic symphony.

'A barl'gura!' Kael bounded down the last few stairs and jumped between the mage and the demon just as it threw itself at the pair. The screeching of claws and teeth against glass grated as the creature scraped against the wall of light that Kael had asked Dias to put up.

"Oh, thank Valin!" the mage exclaimed. "I thought I was done for."

"Jay?" Kael asked, his green eyes wide.

"You must be one of Matt's friends on Earth," the cougar said with a smile. He flicked a thin wrist and buffeted the creature away from the barrier to give it a quick break. "I'm Jason. Not Jay. Thanks for saving me."

"Uh, no problem, man. What now?"

"We go on the attack." Jason closed his eyes in concentration, whispering words in a language that Kael didn't recognize. The 'roo was fascinated. Matt had never really used incantations as part of his magic. The barl'gura was trying to circle around the barrier, but Kael kept a close eye on it and moved the wall of light to intercept the creature each time it lunged at them. His speech finished, Jason's eyes snapped open as he thrust his paw above him. Dust and paper flew into a rising spiral, outlining a small tornado that lifted the barl'gura straight up, suspending it in the air.

"Dias!" Kael yelled, dropping the barrier and pointing at the demon. Three bolts of searing light shot from his paw, crashing into the creature and causing it the scream and writhe in pain. The stench of sulfur was quickly overtaken by the stink of cooking flesh.

Jason began to sway, the cougar rapidly losing strength. Kael realized that the spell must have been incredibly draining. But Jason continued. He balled his paw into a fist and pulled down his arm as if he was throwing something on the ground. The whirlwind disappeared, and the barl'gura was forcibly slammed into the asphalt. The cougar fell shortly after.

"Uh oh," Kael said quietly. "Dias, I need you to banish the demon, please." A wave of guilt washed over Kael, the kind where your parents look at you and just tell you they're very disappointed in you. "Stop that! I know you'd prefer to destroy it." The barl'gura stirred and began to get to its paws. "But, dude, I don't have the energy for that! I need to save that Jason dude too. And find Matt."

A golden light bathed the demonic creature, and it growled in response before both the creature and the light faded to nothing. "A little anti-climactic, but thank you."

Moving over to the cat, Kael saw that he was in much worse shape that he originally figured. The cougar's white robes were shredded along the back, long lines of red causing the cloth to stick to Jason's back. "Oh man, how'd you manage to keep fighting like this? Dias, please help him. Heal him enough to get him on his feet. Yes, I know I owe you big time for this, just do it!"

Kael could feel Jason's fur and skin get warmer under the roo's paws as his energy flowed into Jason, accelerating the cat's healing. The wounds closed, but Kael nearly passed out from the effort. 'I'm already done, this is not good. I can't risk letting Dias taking over my body again.'

Kael heard someone clapping slowly behind him. He whipped his head around to see five furs -- dressed in black suits -- walk out from behind a large green dumpster. The one clapping was a dark jaguar. "Very impressive, Kael Walker."

"Knowles." 'Shit. Matt, where are you?'

Three imps turned the corner around the edge of the library. Kael sighed, there was no way he could fight CSIS and demons. Hell, there was no way he could fight off CSIS or demons. He didn't have to, however.

The dark jaguar pointed at the creatures, "Kill them." Three of the four other agents lifted their paws. Bolts of ice, earth, and fire destroyed the imps where they stood, blasting them from Earth in a single volley.

'Oh fuck, CSIS has figured out magic.' Kael stood slowly, keeping himself between the agents and Jason. "What do you want, dude?"

"We need to corroborate your notes. As useful as the binder has been, getting information from the source would be even more valuable."

Kael shuddered. Jay really had sold them out. "We can't afford to be working at cross purposes. CSIS should be helping protect the campus!"

Knowles shook his head. "That's the police's job. Officer Stephenson and his troops are already here and doing precisely that."

"Axel?" Kael realized that while he and Knowles had been talking, the other four agents had moved to surround him.

"Restrain him." Knowles ordered.

The four agents stalked closer, and Kael was desperate. He began to throw up a shield to keep them off of him, but he was on the verge of passing out. A shot of adrenaline coursed through him, forcing him to drop the shield. 'I can't! Or Dias will...'

A doberman grabbed him by the paws and pulled them behind his back. His cheek and muzzle rubbed roughly against the asphalt, making them sore. Another agent cuffed Jason and slung the cat over his shoulder.

Kael watched helplessly as Knowles turned away to follow the rest of the agents. Only the one remained, keeping him still. "Knock out the kangaroo, and put him somewhere he's likely to survive. Like the dumpster."

Cringing, Kael couldn't see the doberman from his vantage point. He thought he heard the dog say sorry, but before he could figure out anything else, a sharp blow to the back of his head sent him into darkness.

* * * * *

Chris was munching on a peanut-butter and banana sandwich when Matt's text came in. The muscular moose took a huge gooey bite while he carefully read the first text the husky had sent any of his friends in a week.

'If it takes an emergency to get him out of his funk, I suppose that's one good thing. He's probably at the engineering department at this time of day.'

Chris stuffed the last of the sandwich into his maw, and swigged his milk to get the delicious yet sticky food down his throat. He grabbed his backpack rom the ground and headed out. Other furs in the student center were starting to look up, and a couple had even headed to the windows. The normal buzz of the food court was replaced by shouts as students gawked at the university grounds.

The fastest route to the engineering building was through the tunnels that ran under the campus. One could get from the dorms to every last building via those tunnels, and in fact, many furs did. It was convenient if you wanted to roll into class in your PJs if you lived on site. Considering how cold it got in the winter, the tunnels were a god-send.

But Chris' route was blocked by a strange black wall that intersected the tunnel from the student center at an angle. With no way through, the moose back tracked and decided to go outdoors instead. After a few more minutes of travel, through crowds of increasingly anxious furs, he made it out to the windy path that normally led to the engineering building.

The engineering building wasn't whole anymore though. Chris cringed as he took in the sight of a large black building that had materialized partially inside the engineering building. About two-thirds of this mystery structure stuck outside, one of its walls cutting through the bottom of the campus building at an angle.

'Like some sort of freaky sci-fi teleporter accident. That explains the crazy wall in the tunnels.'

The moose ran towards the literal mish-mash of structures, but quickly stopped when he saw the most awe-inspiring magic that he had seen in his relatively short magical life. An incredibly tall lion - taller than Chris himself - dressed in white robes was fending off a small horde of imps. Chris guessed there was about twelve of them.

The lion was swinging his staff around, and following the head of the staff was a ribbon of flame, slicing through the imps whenever it touched one. The lion twirled and danced as if he was performing in the Olympics, the staff moving in loops and curves making the ribbon of fire arc gracefully through the air. All that was missing was a stadium and some music. The imps were too busy trying to avoid the impressive attack to get on the offensive.

Except for two imps that had ducked out of the lion's sight behind a rock. Chris, however, had a good vantage point to see the devious creatures prepare to launch an attack of their own from behind the cover. The moose ran at them, imagining that his legs were moving like the wind.

By the time the imps had noticed the moose, Chris was a blur of brown and green. He punted the first imp over the rock, and followed through with a second kick. The lion swung his staff down in a zigzag, making the ribbon of flame billow out in an S motion. The remaining imps were shredded before they could even land.

The lion had put the staff down, which caused the ribbon of fire to evaporate. Chris approached the mage carefully, unsure about this new fur. On closer inspection, the moose realized that the lion was quite old, sporting a grey mane. He almost looked emaciated.

"Thank you. I am Rhisanth. I assume you are from Earth?"

"Rhisanth? Oh! You must be one of Matt's teachers!" Chris crossed the distance between the two and put his paw up, as if to shake Rhisanth's paw.

Rhisanth, however, just leaned in and looked Chris over. "Hmm, physically strong, capable. Prefers physical augmentation, but slow to grasp the mechanics of magic. Something holding him back. You must be Chris."

The moose took a step back. "Did Matt say that about me?"

"Indeed. He never meant any malice, however." The elderly lion gave Chris a serene smile.

"Well, I guess it's all true."

"Perhaps we should take a moment and figure out what's holding you back, then." Rhisanth moved to sit on the nearby rock where the imps had been hiding.

Chris frowned. "Whoa there, I just met you! And is this really the time for that? We need to help Matt! He should be nearby."

"Young Matthew is not inside."

"How do you know?"

Rhisanth smiled again, though Chris felt patronized this time. "Matt's presence was tethered to Ameranth just a few minutes ago, and that requires our friend to be asleep. Since he was in Ameranth for a considerable length of time -- longer than a lecture would last - it stands to reason that he was asleep somewhere else. His home, or a medical facility if he was in the lecture hall but unable to be awoken."

"That... makes sense," Chris said, sitting on the grass beside Rhisanth. He crossed his legs and looked up. "I guess we have a few minutes then."

"We must take a few minutes. We cannot afford your past getting in the way. If we cannot figure this out, you are a risk to Matthew and your other friends."

"How do you know -"

"That it is something from your past? I doubted that a confidence problem would come from just a lack of ability. He mentioned that you never had confidence issues with mathematics, despite struggling with it. Again, reason dictates that some event caused this issue."

Chris scowled as he dug a furrow in the dirt with his hooves. "You and Matt are way too good at this."

"Matthew is still learning, just as you are. I do not believe he has come to the same conclusion yet." Rhisanth stood again and paced away. "But your past, you seem to be doing everything you can to ignore it. If you do not manage it, then it will get in the way."

Chris' laugh boomed, echoing off the buildings. "That sounds almost exactly like what I told Matt, when he was dealing with his narcolepsy."

"Good. Then you should recognize it as sound advice."

"What can I do? I nearly killed one of my, well, we're not friends anymore. The power got away from me, and I don't want it to ever happen again with Matt, or any of my friends." The moose hated this feeling of weakness. He was so used to being physically powerful and in control of situations that having too much power was chilling.

Rhisanth sighed. "You have good reason to be wary, Chris. But with practice comes control. If you continue to hold yourself back, you will never develop the control required to prevent such an occurrence in the future. Strange as it may sound, to reign yourself in, you must let go."

"Huh. When you say it, it sounds so much simpler than it does in my head." Chris stood up and shook the dirt off his feet.

"I have trained many apprentices. Most feel their lives are so much more complicated than they really are. When in combat, worry only about yourself, and trust that your other combatants can take care of themselves. Focus is paramount."

Chris' phone buzzed in the pocket of his kilt. After grabbing it and flipping it open with a single paw, Chris read the contents out loud. "I'm at campus, not far from the engineering and science complexes."

"Ah, I was correct, then," Rhisanth said. The lion was clearly smug after his accurate prediction.

"We're pretty close by. I'm texting Matt where we are. He can meet us here and we'll start finding the rest of our friends. We need to finish this."