The bullets hit the golden wheel but could not knock it from the air. Candillice tried to reach for it but was forced to fall to the ground to avoid the gun fire that had turned on her. These were only warning shots from soldiers yelling angrily from the front row of the seats and in the aisles.

"Put your hands in the air and back away from the weapon!" One of the soldiers demanded. It looked as though she had no option but to surrender or be shot. Candillice had faith in what Tiya had asked her to do, so did the others that accompanied her on her mission. They were prepared to die for the Prophetigress and for the will of the Great Spirit.

Carlyle however had his doubts about this mission.

It all started after Candillice had spoken with the Great Spirit. She was given authority as Prophetigress and her first task was to select a team of Tigris to be her force of Protectors. 

She knew who her first choice would be and approached the most trusted and skilled of her guards which was Carlyle.

She found him standing at his post outside the entrance to the royal hall.

"What was all that racket in there might I ask?" Carlyle said.

"It was a Grotesque! But he's gone now and what's more important is. . . . . Warriors are coming from beyond the wall soon. Will you help me look for them Carlyle?" Candillice asked Carlyle. 

But he gave her a surprised look.

"A Grotesque?! BEYOND THE WALL?!" Carlyle replied in disbelief.

"I have to go beyond the wall to find them and bring them back here to help us!" Candillice explained but she paid no attention to the concern in his face. Carlyle was beginning to believe that Candillice was having a breakdown.

"The Sorcerer Andruin is returning," Candillice said and was walking back and forth trying to explain all this with her hands waving all over the place, She then stopped and looked up to stare at Carlyle with wide eyes.

"Tiya told me that the Blue Star was gonna . . . . disappear!"

"Blue star disappear? Who is this Tiya?" Carlyle asked in a raised voice and scratched his head. Candillice slowed down a bit as she figured that Carlyle must have thought she was talking a bit too fast and he was just having trouble keeping up.

"Tiya is the great spirit of this world. That is her name she told me," Candillice explained.

"You need to be more careful! what if others hear this? They might call it blasphemy!" Carlyle replied and then looked around cautiously as he was worried for who else may be listening.

Candillice lifted her paw in the air as his back was turned. 

As he turned to her again with intent to scold her his mouth dropped as he beheld the sight of what was shown to him. Candillice presented to him the ring of the Prophetigress upon her finger. The very ring that once adorned the finger of the Queen.

There was a sudden sense of fealty and pride that swelled through Carlyle as he realized that he was being called upon to service by the Prophetigress. Carlyle knelt before her as he placed his hand over his heart.

"My lady what is it that you ask of me?"

It was two days later that Candillice and Carlyle were leading an expedition beyond the wall. They had set up a campsite on a mountain where they could over see much of the mountain tops and terrain below. The tall trees provided enough cover to keep them hidden from detection. Carlyle observed strange movement on the ground below the trees. It looked like a group of people covered in rags moving in a line towards a cave entrance. He also noticed there were Grotesques pushing them along, it seemed that they were preparing them to enter the cave. 

Carlyle gave Candillice the telescope to have a look for herself.

"That must be Tigris that have been enslaved. Tiya told me they are forced to cover themselves in rags," Candillice explained.

"Nobody has seen any other Tigris this far beyond the wall," Carlyle commented.

"If I could get close enough to verify this fact that alone would make this mission a great success!" He continued.

"But Carlyle we need to return with help that's why I came out here!" Candillice replied. 

"I have an idea!" he exclaimed.

Carlyle cut off a piece of fabric from one of the tents. Candillice knew what Carlyle was up to and helped him to assume the appearance of one of the slaves.

Stealthily he arrived behind some bushes next to the line up of slaves and he managed to blend in without raising any alarms. None of the slaves appeared to acknowledge his presence, he tried waving his hands in front of one of them but only received a blank stare in response. There was some noise coming from the Grotesques, Carlyle thought they may have noticed him and turned to see what they were growling at. What began as growling turned to celebration and brutish laughter as they watched towards the sky. Carlyle gazed up towards the evening sky and he could see the Blue Star was flashing erratically, fading in and out of view.

As the Blue Star did this its blue light faded from everything around Carlyle revealing the blackness of the night. He was not afraid until this happened, he soon wished he were elsewhere napping or eating a tasty fish. He must have been staring at the sky for too long because one of the Grotesques hit him with a giant electrified stick which gave Carlyle a nasty shock. He looked up and saw Candillice was watching him and he remarked at how unafraid she was. She was angry at the sight of the Grotesques prodding the Tigris and looked determined to save them.

It was then that Carlyle realized that he would need to be extra cautious and twice as afraid in his new duties of protecting the Prophetigress.

"Eyes forward slave!" The Grotesque commanded Carlyle and shocked him again.

A large metal door opened revealing a long artificial corridor and the Grotesques began to herd Carlyle and the other Tigris inside.

This is why when Carlyle watched the men pointing their guns at Candillice he knew that she would never surrender. That she believed her success was predetermined by some great power and this worried him. 

He knew that he would have to act.

Carlyle who was disguised as the Sorcerer of the play let go of Varnaulk and jumped in front of Candillice. While in mid air he reached into his long dark cloak and landed with a shield in his hands. This shield extended to the size needed to protect both of them from the gun fire. Bullets bounced off the shield and hit the stage floor, walls and tore holes in the curtains.

"My theatre! My THEATRE! stop this at once you brutes!" Varnaulk  shouted as he ran at them waving his arms. The soldiers stopped shooting and Candillice saw this as her opportunity to retrieve her wheel. She gave it a spin to start the song again and lifted it back into the sky.

The men were about to apprehend Candillice when the wheels energy caused them to stand still. They were mesmerized by its pulsating energy and hypnotic spin.

Carlyle used this moment to whip away their guns from them in one clean motion.

"Please great spirit reveal to me the warriors I am here to find!" Candillice yelled at the top of her lungs. 

Nobody moved and nothing seemed to be happening. With the halt of the gun fire Reegan sat up from his chair.

"Can it be?" Reegan said to himself watching the standoff on the stage.

He reached into his pocket to find a photograph of ancient wall paintings depicting feline beings.

Carlyle watched and looked around the room, he then looked at his fellow Tigris guardsmen who were still holding on to the actors. Carlyle could tell they had looks of doubt in their eyes.

 Andrew pulled out his red sceptre again, he pointed it towards the spinning wheel. 

Sam was still sitting next to his uncle, his heightened sense of hearing and vision had him so focused on the stage that the sudden movement of Andrew pointing his red sceptre at the stage caused Sam to jump into the seat behind him. He noticed that his uncle appeared to be very nervous with sweat on his forehead.

Andrew felt something squeeze him tightly causing him to feel great pain, a cold wind entered the theatre and began to swirl around him.

Andrew used a stronger spell than before and the red sceptre sparked in a menacing glow that shot out towards the spinning golden wheel. The wheel was hit and turned grey before it fell to the ground. Candillice screamed at the sight of the wheels color fading before her.

The soldiers snapped out of their trance and realized they no longer had their guns. They proceeded to arm themselves with shock sticks that were strapped to their backs. 

The soldiers began to march towards Candillice and Carlyle with the intent to capture them with the shock sticks.

"Okay boys plan B let's get the princess out of here!" Carlyle turned around and said to the other Tigris guardsmen in disguise. They jumped out of their disguises and ran in front of the soldiers to protect Candillice and Carlyle.

"No we aren't finished yet!" Candillice yelled at Carlyle.

"It didn't work we have to run!" Carlyle insisted.

Candillice was not happy to hear this, she was not prepared to accept that she had come all this way to fail in what the great spirit had asked of her.

She looked up towards Andrew, the man who was pointing the red sceptre.

"Andruin!" Candillice exclaimed. 

"This way its time to go princess!" Carlyle yelled at her and pointed to the backstage. 

But Candillice drew out her sword and charged off stage towards the seating area. She jumped over her guardsmen and the soldiers, she proceeded to step up on the backs of the seats gracefully running toward her enemy.

Sam had his head down in the seat behind his uncle, He popped his head up to see the cat like young woman rushing towards them. Kenneth had his arms crossed expecting the soldiers to protect them but he became anxious as Candillice drew near with her raised sword.

"Uh dad that beasty things coming this way!" Kenneth yelled at his father.

"I feel so cold. .the. . . pain?!" Andrew replied speaking to himself. Kenneth grabbed his father Andrew by the coat to shake him but then he saw the Genetic Harp in his pocket and reached in to take it.

"Leave it to me Dad!" Kenneth yelled thinking it was finally his turn to be the hero.

"No we are leaving now!" Andrew said hurriedly in a sick voice as he walked away.

"No way Dad!" Kenneth replied as he turned the Genetic Harp on. Carlyle had caught up with Candillice and managed to hold her down briefly.

"Lemme go!" Candillice exclaimed. She pulled away from Carlyle and was surprised to see the short boy standing in front of her.

"You're not getting past me lady!" Kenneth exclaimed and laughed with great confidence. With the Genetic Harp Kenneth believed he was invincible.

"That man there is Andruin he is the dark sorceror that is responsible for all of the devastation that was done to my people!" Candillice said with anger.

"You're a moron we just got here and his name is Andrew!" Kenneth laughingly said.

"How dare you speak to her like that. . . You scum!" Carlyle shouted, he launched his whip at Ken and they began to fight. Sam thought it would be wise to run like his uncle was about to do. But he noticed Reegan had left his seat and was walking towards the fighting.

"Mister Reegan I don't think that's a good idea!" Sam yelled. 

 Andrew heard this and he quickly ran over to Reegan and grabbed him.

"You have seen more than you should have. You're coming with me it's time for your mind wiping!" Andrew yelled and proceeded to drag him towards the exit.

"Mind wiping? MIND WIPING?! NO LET GO OF ME!" Reegan yelled.

"Shut up!" Andrew ordered.

 He lifted his sceptre into the air causing a very loud thunderous sound to fill the theater.