Munich walked up the old country road to his house alone. Summer had left the river completely thawed and by the looks of the weather lately it seemed they were in for a long fall. Munich hoped so for the last thing he wanted was freezing snow blocking the path.

                He was at the pebbled walkway that led up to his house when shadows passed over the grass sending an eerie feeling up his spine. He looked up into the clear sky and saw the formation of birds coming across the hills.

                A second later a loud explosion tore the air shaking the ground. "Ortensia!" He shouted as his neighbors began fleeing their houses screaming over the rapid explosions in the hills. "Ortensia!" He threw open the gate and ran up the gravel walkway.

                Ortensia was standing on the porch step already, looking up at the sky.

                 "Come on we have to get out of here!" Munich said grabbing her paw and running back down the walkway and out the gate. "Get to the shelter!" he shouted to his neighbors as they ran up the dirt road. "The shelter!" A bomb whistled and exploded blowing dirt off the hills which the winds swept down over the panicking citizens.

                "Wait!" Ortensia pulled back on Munich's arm making him stop. "Poppy." She tried pulling away from him and running back to the house. "I forgot Poppy!"

                "Ortensia, we don't have time." Munich said but she tried to break his grasp.

                "No, Poppy!" she cried out.

                Munich grabbed her shoulder firmly, jostling her. "Forget the stupid rat!" He shouted. "We need to get to shelter now do you understand me?"

                Ortensia only looked at him crushed but she didn't resist his direction and they continued up the road. When they reached the shelter an okapi and lynx neighbor were at the entrance getting a count of everyone. Munich led Ortensia down the steps into the crowded seller. Weaving around frightened citizens he found a place for her in the back corner and sat her down before returning to the front.

                "Come on, move it!" the lynx shouted to a few stragglers. Once they were in they closed the doors.

                "It seems we're all accounted for." The okapi said to Munich. "But we should probably take row just in case."

                The ground vibrated sending dirt from above falling to the floor. "Alright, everyone!" Munich addressed the crowd. "We ask that you remain calm and stay in place. Try not to dip into the canned goods until we know how long we will be here. We will also need to conserve on our air supply so no candles unless darkness falls and no smoking. No one is to go to the surface until we receive the all clear. Does everyone understand?"

                "Yes." Everyone murmured.

                Munich nodded then made his way to the back of the room where he had left Ortensia. He found he in the same spot picking at a lose thread on her dress. He took a seat on the ground nearby and rested his head against the wall.

                He looked around the room at the others. Children were asking questions and adults were looking just as worried. He tilted his head and looked again at Ortensia sitting alone. "Hey," He whispered to her and she looked up. "Come on." He held out his arms and she climbed into his lap.

                An explosion from above sent more dirt onto their heads.

                "I'm sorry I shouted at you," Munich said. "But this is what we call an air raid."

                Ortensia fiddled with a silver button on his uniform. He was surprised how comfortable the child was becoming around him, but then again who else would she trust. He fed and clothed her and gave her shelter so it was hard to know if she was just showing gratitude for her lot or showing compassion.

                "Have you ever been in an air raid?" The little leopard asked with wide green eyes.

                Munich again rested his head against the wall. "Yes. Yes I have." He felt her shift on his lap. "A long time ago, when I was about your age, the same thing happened." He looked up at the ceiling as it vibrated and people gasped in terror. "We had just sat down for breakfast, my mother and father and me. Suddenly we hear this loud explosion that breaks out the windows.

                "We ran outside to find our neighbors' house engulfed in flames. Before we understand what's going on we are blown off our feet by another explosion that rips the roof off our house. Then we start running for shelter which we didn't really have so we fled into the city." He yawned.

                "We were given accommodations over night and returned the next morning. I remember...seeing the rubble smoking and some houses still falling in...some of my neighbors dead on the ground. When we returned to school we were told that it had been a foreign power. I don't remember which one was blamed but it made even us little kids very patriotic. I saluted the emperor right along with the rest."

                Munich closed his eyes for a long time in shame. "Everyone in the class was given a Mount triangle badge and I didn't want to be the only kid without one so I begged my mother over and over again to sew it on my uniform. I wore it like badge of honor."

                "Soon however the truth about the bombing came out and our county which belonged to the Archduke demanded the emperor tell the truth. As it would turn out he had had a heart attack when he discovered what had transpired. They were only meant to test the bombs on an old ghost town nearby but misread the calculations. The old emperor died and when Cato came to power he abolished the counties and promised execution to any who rebelled."

                "They tried and failed. My father used to tell me I was too young to remember it right but I can't forget. Cato has ruled the same for over twenty years now but the memories are as clear as yesterday."

                "What happened to the archduke?" Ortensia asked.

                "Well," Munich said. "Rumor has it his mother, Empress Olympia, invited him to a feast in the elaborate basements of the palace. Now the palace backs up to the canal and according to the story once he and his closest friends were seated she flooded the room with the canal then flushed out the bodies."

                "She'd have done that to her own son?" Ortensia asked but Munich only shrugged and looked away. She was quiet for a while then she placed her paws on the sides of his face. "You didn't know." She said and he looked questionably into her eyes. "You didn't know he had killed your neighbors...you were only doing what you thought was right."

                Munich managed a smile.

                "Sergeant." The okapi's voice cut into his thoughts. "I think they've stopped."

/

                When the lynx and the okapi returned from the surface with the all clear the citizens could come out of the cellar. The sun was well into the sky and blinded them as they came out of the darkness. There was still was dust clouds in the air and the road leading into the heels had been torn up.

                After a complete row call the citizens were permitted to return to their homes. Upon reaching his home Munich looked at it from the road. It was still standing.

                "Looks like they only stayed in the hills." He said to the okapi next to him.

                "This just baffles me," The okapi said. "None of the properties seem to be destroyed so what was it all for?"

                "Do you think it was terrorist Sergeant?" the lynx asked.

                "Do something sergeant," another neighbor said.

                "Someone must go to the palace consul and tell them what has happened."

                It didn't take long for Munich to realize they were all looking at him. "Alright," he said with a sigh. "I'll bring the report to Imperial City. You all know what to do in case they come back, right?"

                His neighbors nodded.

                Munich nodded back and stopped by his house before leaving to get his crossbow in case they ran into trouble on the road. Deep down he wished they had been invaded by a foreign power. Anything to topple the empire.

                Taking Ortensia with him he started up the road to Imperial city; which from the countryside on a clear night could only be seen as a faint glow in the farthest distance. He doubted they would make it home by nightfall as it was already the afternoon but with the support of his neighbors he carried the case to the palace consul headed by his dreadful cousin.