At least Liam assumed they were the Lizard Men. They looked more like giant kittens, but they wandered about on two legs. Liam watched for a few minutes as he tried to make sense of what he saw. If they were cats, they would certainly look formidable. When they hissed and then let out their claws, they would be very dangerous. But these were kittens—human-sized kittens—but kittens just the same. Each one was absolutely adorable. There were long-haired kittens and short haired kittens. They were playing with giant balls of yarn and chasing each other. A lot of them were purring, and they had a giant statue in the center of the village of an elderly lady sitting in a rocker, knitting. About 8 of these human-sized kittens were sleeping on her lap, and Liam could hear their purring from where he was crouched.

With a lot of the things he saw in Arestna, he just decided to ignore how wrong or absurd they were, but that was too much. He turned to Ezra and DOHNK and said, "So... one of you want to explain to me why the Lizard Men don't look like lizards, they look like cute kittens?"

DOHNK waived them back behind the hill and began to explain, but with a look of disdain on her face. "Liam, I would think it was obvious."

"No," Liam said, "I don't think it's as obvious as you think it is."

"When you heard that the Lizard Men had captured Jrasta, were you scared or were you excited?" DOHNK rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"I was scared, obviously. But back to the fact that these Lizard Men are actually Kitten Men..."

"That's the point! No one would be scared of a race of people called, 'The Kitten Men.' They would want to come and visit and maybe pet them and hug them! Imagine if we heard, 'Jrasta has been captured by the Kitten Men!' We would look forward to rescuing him. The Lizard Men, after trying out various names like, 'The Kitties,' 'The Pussycats,' 'The Cute Little Pets' and the 'Cutie-Pies,' realized that in order to strike fear in everyone's hearts by the very mention of their names, they had to choose a name which was actually scary. They changed the name of their people to 'The Lizard Men.' That way, when you hear about them, you are afraid! Come on, Liam! Think this through!" DOHNK waived them all back up to the crest of the hill to take another look.

As they looked over the village, they saw that there were a ring of large boxes around the outside of the village, presumably the homes of the Kitten Men... or Lizard Men. In the center of the ring of houses were a number of large structures. There was, of course, the knitting cat lady, but there was also a large pole covered in what looked like carpet. The pole was shredded, and chunks of carpet were strewn all around. There were also a number of large balls of yarn tied to a tree, and there was a large box, open at the top and filled with sand and the occasional large log or some such item.

In the very center of it all was a cage. In the cage was a thin older man. They had found Jrasta.

Liam wanted to run out right then and there and rescue him. He looked like he was in horrible shape. His clothes were torn, and he had tiny scratches all over his body. He looked very upset, like he wasn't too keen on being a prisoner of kitten-like Lizard Men.

Retreating back behind the hill again, they met to devise a plan.

"Okay Liam, this is your quest. It's time for you to lead us into battle." The way Ezra said it, it was clear there was no getting out of that one.

Liam collected his thoughts and started forming a plan in his mind. Leaning forward, he began to lay out for everyone how they would rescue Jrasta. As he spoke, he noticed Jep paying very close attention.

"Alright, we're going to wait for the cover of darkness and..." Jep gave him a look that was so intense he lost track of what he was saying. He pulled himself back together and considered what Jep was trying to say. He remembered that cats were nocturnal; they hunted at night. The rescue attempt would fail if they waited until darkness! He thought maybe suggesting dusk, but Jep seemed to suspect that and gave another look. "I mean we're going to go in mid-afternoon. Perhaps we'll catch most of them napping."

So far the plan seemed to be acceptable to Ezra and DOHNK. Jep appeared to be pleased and motioned for Liam to continue. "We're going to split up so we can attack from multiple sides." Jep turned his head just slightly, and Liam instantly knew that this was a poor plan. "Actually, we'll all go in together so we can watch each other's back."

"We're going to go in screaming and yelling and making as much noise as possible so that we can try to scare some of them." Again, Jep gave a look that seemed to say, "Liam, if you don't start thinking this through, I'm going to have to come over there and teach you a lesson. Now tell the troops that you are going to try to sneak in and avoid getting the Lizard Men's attention!"

"We're going to try to sneak in quietly," Liam explained. "If they're having a nap, maybe we can get in and out without being noticed." Liam seemed to think that Jep approved of his plan so far. Go mid-afternoon, stick together and sneak in. He only had one other idea and had no idea if it was a good one. "When we get to the center of the town, if any of the Lizard Men wake up, we'll all start barking like dogs."

There was a long pause after he explained that part of his plan. Ezra and DOHNK began to nod their heads, and it was clear they thought it was a good plan. Liam looked at Jep. The chicken looked back and lowered his beak just slightly as if to say, "Well done, Liam. I am impressed. I especially liked the part about the dog barking and why yes, I would like to bite your nose."

Liam appreciated Jep's encouragement but shook his head to let Jep know it wasn't a nose biting time. "Let's get back to the horses and make sure they're ready to ride in case we come out with a large group of angry Kittens hot on our tail."

"Kittens?" DOHNK asked. All three of them looked quite confused.

"Oh fine, I mean the Lizard Men!" Liam replied. "Never mind! It's time we attack."

I hope you are enjoying Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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