"What do you want?" Tober cried out.

He lay prone on the cold, damp ground inside a rocky cavern, somewhere deep within the citadel forest. Trembling, he pointed his face downward, his nose wavering just above the gravel floor. He held out his arms and at the same time kept his elbows tucked in to protect his battered ribs. He dared not move from his position of vulnerability. Although he had survived the canine attack on his traveling party, he knew it was temporary. He had been allowed to live, still under the watchful eye of a pack of threatening mongrels. The real question was why.

"There has to be something you guys want, or, or need?" Tober negotiated.

Limiting his outward gaze, Tober found himself in a geologic shelter, enclosed by layers of brown and orange sediment rock. Firelight in the space flickered as the young man watched the shadows of his captors flash upon the walls. There were no doors, only entryways; paths that were not necessarily exits as Tober did not know where he was or how to get out. Any ideas he had of escaping were fleeting. He feared being ravaged by his canine captors at any moment.

"You were in such a hurry, young human," General Mawgrin said in a smooth, deep voice. "You were trespassing."

Mawgrin's voice was sharp and cold, expressionless, as was his face. The brown markings around his eyes and head combined with his white muzzle to give him a sinister look: yellow citrine eyes peering from beyond a dark, fur mask, disguising an unknown -- if not dangerous -- intent. The General circled the young man, as if to tighten the ropes around his preordained fate. He openly carried a firearm strapped over his shoulder and made sure the human noticed.

Tober stared at the pair of boots standing in front of himself. A brown tail moved like a whip in the background.

"We didn't know we were trespassing."

"How could you not know? Humans know better than to cut through Canine territory."

Tober breathed heavily. He had been in charge of a special envoy sent to HP headquarters. Their mission: to coordinate evacuation plans from the Science Center. Unfortunately for the humans, Tober's small group had gotten turned around in their direction, and captured. The other humans in his party had already been killed.

"Where were you going?" the senior mongrel questioned.

Tober could not excuse his travels. "Nowhere, really."

Mawgrin snickered. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing, we were just going for a visit to, uh, see some other people."

"Going nowhere, doing nothing, heh-heh," Mawgrin smiled. "Sounds like a load of cat crap." The General pulled out an outdated wristcom and activated it. A green hologram popped up and played a video of Tober's traveling party moving discreetly through the forest earlier in the day. An audio portion was heard:

" 'This ain't right. We're lost.' "

" 'Sons of Shermin, I think we're gonna have to backtrack and reorient.' "

" 'Hurry, we've gotta get this mission completed!' "

Abruptly, the General snapped the imaging off.

"Now that sounds like someone doing something more than just passing through by mistake."

Tober's jaw loosened. Humans had long suspected the canines' surveillance capability. Even encrypted messages were now at risk. Previously captured humans and their seized equipment had compromised their means of communication.

"Tell us about this mission," Mawgrin growled, "and maybe we'll let you live."

Tober had not really believed in the animals' intelligence capacity. Until now.

"We weren't doing anything!"

Behind Mawgrin, a Canine underling paced. The younger soldier stopped and closed his eyes. He stretched his neck and clenched his teeth. He peeked back at the ongoing interrogation and slapped himself upside his own head. He could not stand the useless dialogue any longer.

"We already know you were heading toward HP Headquarters!" the soldier yelled.

Tober's eyes dilated.

The hair at Mawgrin's neck stood up on end.

The lower ranking dog continued: "We don't have time for this! Just kill him already! We need to start the invasion!"

The invasion? Tober thought.

Mawgrin scowled at the junior mongrel. "Stupid dog! Stop talking! What are you trying to do?"

Whhummmp!!!

The senior official struck the younger soldier in the head, knocking him to the ground.

The other members of the pack yipped and yapped, barking their approval.

Tober's face changed. "Hey, maybe I can help you! What do you need from the Center? Medical supplies? Antibiotics? Weapons?"

The mongrel leader furrowed his brow. He held up a paw-hand to quiet the other soldiers. He eased his way over to the prostrate prisoner.

"The Master seeks a human monster," Mawgrin said.

A monster?

Tober paused, squinting.

His eyes brightened.

"I think I know who you're talking about. I know who you want! Set me free, and I can deliver him to you!"

The leader eyed the captive carefully. One could never trust a crafty human begging for its life. "How would you propose to do this, human?"

"The monster is a stranger in our community. No one wants him there! I can convince my kind to hand him over to you!"

The mongrel leader flared his nostrils and turned his snout away. The human was a groveling piece of trash, a smelly piece of crap. The more a human talked, the more dangerous it became.

"Why are you interested in the monster?" Tober asked, too soon.

The leader of the Canine unit whirled about, gristling. "Kill him!"

"No! No! No! Wait!" Tober rebuffed. "Okay, wait! I can give you the monster! I can deliver him to you! Please!"

Mawgrin walked further away. He was cut off in stride.

"We cannot trust him, General," another junior soldier spoke up, leaning-in close to his superior. Too close.

Mawgrin smashed his shoulder into the face of the lower ranking officer. He rolled his eyes and stepped away again. For the moment, he jutted his chin and gave it a stroke. He looked back at the younger, less-experienced Canine through slit-like eyes.

"Bring the prisoner over here!" the General commanded.

The Canine officers punched Tober in the ribs, then dragged him to their leader.

Mawgrin snickered. He revealed a small metal rectangle, the size of a playing card, with a sharpened razor edge. Light reflected off the metal object, blinding the prisoner and catching his attention.

"Do you know what this is?" the General taunted. He crouched down to the human's level.

Tober recognized the object: an all-purpose, electronic data card. Human-made. Probably stolen.

"This," the leader explained, "is a tracking and recording device. I cannot trust you, so this should keep you in line."

"Wait! Wait!"

The Canine guards held Tober down and ripped his shirt open. He tried to escape, but a few punches to his face subdued him. Meanwhile, Mawgrin made a skin incision at Tober's left chest, using the card. In one quick motion, the General shoved the device beneath Tober's skin, through the flesh wound.

"Aarrhhhhggghh!"

Tober yelled out, then shuddered with pain and aftershock.

A guard dog arrived on the scene to stitch up the prisoner's laceration. The recorder could be seen underneath the skin at Tober's chest.

As the guard dog worked, Mawgrin gave Tober his final demands: "Bring the human monster to me, and I will spare your miserable little life! You have until sundown! Remember, I will be listening to everything through the recorder!"

The General grabbed Tober's chin. He forced the human prisoner to look him in the eye. The mongrel's eyes burned a fiery yellow.

"Also, the recorder has a self-destruct mechanism on a timer. If you do not deliver the monster back in time, the explosive will go off. If you go offline or out of range, the explosive will go off. Do you understand me, human?"

The teen nodded, trembling.

"If you fail me," Mawgrin continued, "not only will you die, but you'll bring destruction down upon your entire species! We will invade your building and destroy the monster ourselves! Then we will hunt down every human in sight! We will bring a reign of fire and terror the world has never seen! And we will consume your species until it is finally extinct!"