Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (read aloud .txt) 📕

trailed.
"Come on, Toby. Let us get out of here!" Kit replied nastily, grabbing his arm.
Toby shrugged it off. "Wait a minute, okay Kit?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned back to Kat, smiling. "I do believe Wolf has had his eye on you lately; just wait and see."
For the first time in months, Kat's face lit up as she smiled happily, excited. "Oh, really?" She asked, interested. So she wasn’t the only one to notice! "Tell me more! Please?"
Kit, meanwhile, was fuming.
How dare she do this to me? Kit’s eyes narrowed and arms folded in anger. She’s flirting with my beau! She didn't want to say anything in front of him, of course. Instead, she faced him again. "Come on, Toby, let us go swim in the pond! I want to have fun while I am still young!" She tugged on his arm once again.
"I had better go, while I still have all nine of my lives. See you later, Kat!" Toby called over his shoulder as he was tugged away by a very angry Kitten's Claw Hawk.
Katherine sat under the large tree at the Garden, smiling. She imagined a small notebook and reached into the air to retrieve it. It was locked like a diary so she bent her human index finger to open it. She stared at her palm until a pen appeared.
Sure, these things were easy to find anywhere in the Mystic’s Province of the Dream Realm, but where she lived, in the Dominion, they were illegal. Kat had to be careful about having what little power and luxuries she had now. If her evil uncle caught her, who knew what he would do to her? She didn’t want to find out.
Kat started writing her ultimate dreams on paper, hoping they would someday come true. She continued to write until she sensed someone over her shoulder. She looked up after making the diary disappear.
It was one of her evil cousins, Sabrina.
"Hello, Sabrina," Kat replied softly, standing up. She turned to Sabrina, who sneered mischievously at her.
"You had better tend to your duties, Kat. Daddy will be ever so mad if you do not." Sabrina replied sarcastically.
Sabrina circled her cousin, tracing her finger along Katherine's shoulders and up her arms. Katherine pulled back before Sabrina could catch her in another chokehold.
Kat sighed, walking away. "I always finish my duties long before you."
Sabrina scowled. She raised her arm to her cousin, trying to use her powers against Kat, but nothing happened.
Kat smiled at her cousin. "I am leaving now, cousin. If you wish to come with me, you may. Otherwise, I will see you at Dark Tower."
Kat walked away, but Sabrina caught her in a chokehold.
"Just because I have lost my powers, dear, sweet Kat, does not mean you can get away with speaking to me in that tone."
Kat struggled, trying to break free. "Stop! You are -- choking me!" She managed to gasp. "Let go!"
Sabrina laughed.
Katherine said nothing, unable to. Sabrina spoke again, this time whispering in her ear. "Why, your new Dreamer friend Ariana Moon has told me some interesting things about you."
“Leave her be!” Kat gasped, struggling. "Why would she even dare to speak to you? She is always in the Garden when we meet. You know that."
Sabrina laughed. "I have seen her nosing around Witches Grove lately, testing what little power she thinks she has."
Katherine gasped, and Sabrina released her. Ariana Moon was going to be in trouble soon. She could sense it. Not only by what little power she had in her, but also by the way Sabrina spoke so ill of her.
"I bet you are the demon-girl in her nightmares." Katherine deduced, facing her with anger in her eyes. "Leave her alone!"
"Or what?"
"Or -- I will have her use her magic against you." Katherine tried to say.
"The weakling." Sabrina laughed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Another thing: You and your sister have made it perfectly clear you do not wish to be with us at Dark Tower."
"That’s not true!" Katherine screamed.
"Ha!" Sabrina cried, turning to meet her cousin's angry eyes. She always loved teasing Katherine and her nosy sister. Sabrina folded her arms. "Then show me differently. Show us all differently." Sabrina snarled. She lowered her voice as she faced Kat. Looking menacingly into Kat's eyes, she commanded softly. "Come with me now, and tell Father to his face!"
Kat rubbed her sore neck and let her breath catch up with her before she said anything. She puffed. "Very well, come on."
In moments, the two of them disappeared to Dark Tower. When they reappeared, Kat heard her uncle's strict voice yelling at Kit with Kit's mean and sarcastic voice yelling back.
It was just like her to talk to uncle Orthos like that. Kat thought as she followed Sabrina into the parlor.
"It is not my fault you hate me so, Uncle!" Kit screamed. When she saw her sister, she replied. "Why, I bet you hate Kat even more!"
Kat decided to speak up, scowling. "Dare you say such things, sister?"
Kit stared at Kat. "Well?"
"It may be true, but that still does not give you the right to speak to your elders that way."
Her words silenced Kit.
Orthos finally noticed his daughter's presence, and ignored Katherine. "Sabrina. So glad you make it."
Sabrina nodded, smiling at her father as if she were the cat that swallowed the canary. Kat, sensing her uncle's nastiness, gulped, frightened. Kit smiled mischievously. She didn't know what was coming next. She had a feeling Kat did, but wasn't telling.
"Sabrina, you are excused." Orthos replied, keeping an eye on the Hawk twins. He turned to them when she left, and replied. "Now, our perfect little kittens. I have a surprise for you."
"I love surprises." Kit cried happily.
Kat wasn't as enthused. She stood her ground and looked him in the eye. "I need nothing from you, Uncle."
Orthos looked upon the twins and grinned as nastily as he had for O'Dell. "Very well then, but you will be passing on the chance of a lifetime."
"What sort of chance, uncle?" Kit was interested now.
Orthos smiled at his only obeying niece.
"Do not dare hurt her!" Kat tried to cry out, fearful, but the Master sealed her shut with a hurtful iron bar nailed to her mouth.
"Katherine, Katrina. Kat, I would not dare do such a thing to your precious sister." Orthos replied softly. He turned back to Kit, who was awaiting his offer.
"Tell me, or I will scream!" Kit demanded in a huff.
"Patience, Kit." Orthos held his breath, letting it out slowly. "Have you ever wondered what was beyond this world, child?"
Kit nodded excitedly. "Certainly. We all do."
Orthos rubbed his hands together and chuckled to himself. "There is indeed another world beyond our Dream Realm. And I know exactly how to get to it."
Kat gasped, frightened. She shot them dirty looks, but they ignored her.
"Really, uncle?" Kit asked. "Tell me more."
"Ah, Kit, in time. Most of all, when we are alone." Orthos shot Kat a look that was sure to kill.
Kitten's Claw smiled. "You tease me so, uncle. You tease me so."
Orthos nodded, smiling. "Before I continue, I must take care of your sister." With that, he released the bar from Kat's mouth and sent her to her room, lonely and depressed. Most of all, she was afraid for her twin. Who knew what Orthos was up to this time?
Oh, well, Kat thought to herself on the way. Maybe it was not all that bad. He could not do that much to Kit. Though, he was the worst thing I have ever known. How Kit and I are blood-related to Orthos, Sabrina, and Damian remains a mystery.
Katherine sighed and shut the door behind her. She changed back into a cat from her Companion form and leaped onto the bed. She curled up into a ball and stared into space. Looking around, she saw many of the things that had often made her miserable as she grew up.
Kit never seemed to mind as much, Kat thought to herself. Then again, Kit was never much of a kind, loving kitten. As she cleaned herself off, her mind wandered. Was Uncle Orthos telling the truth? Was there really a world outside of our own? There had to be if Dreamers came and went as they pleased. Even Ariana Moon speaks of her world often. According to her, I would not want to go anywhere near it.
It was at that moment she heard the familiar scream of her twin in danger. Kat jumped off the bed and bounded to her sister's rescue, disguised as a cheetah.
Hold on, Kit! Kat thought to her.
It was usually up to her to bail Kit out of distress, since Kit was always in harm's way. Kat immediately knew they both were in deep trouble.
Visions of pain and evil went through Kat’s mind. She could feel her sister falling further and further away from her – she could see it. Katherine’s head began to ache as she drew closer to the Master’s dungeon. She had to bite her bottom lip so she wouldn’t make a sound as she ran.
Kat found her sister in the dungeon where the Master kept his Lab. She also found her uncle, chuckling away viciously. He didn't seem to sense her presence, and was probably deeper into his own work to pay any attention to anything around him.
That was a good thing, Katherine thought.
Kat changed back into a Balinese cat-human girl and quietly stood aside, silent. She watched the scene closely and listened to his every word.
His image was that of pure evil.
Kat looked at her sister's motionless body lying on the lab floor. Katherine held her mouth so her gasp wouldn’t distract her uncle.
"Finally, my plan has begun!" The Master of the Dream Realm's Dominion called into the air. Kat didn't know whom he was talking to, so she shrugged it off. His eyes were open, and Kat saw the color: Blood Red!
"Soon, I will show my brother who is boss around here! I will take over the Outer Realm just as I have taken a kitten's life. Easily!" Orthos waved his arms around a large, black cauldron. He grabbed the wooden spoon from a table. He cackled as he threw the ingredients into the cauldron, which included Kit's whiskers.
Kat shifted her position, knocking some glass bottles to the floor. She stood and moved to race out of there, but it was too late. Kat was caught, trapped by the Master's magical power.
He stopped what he was doing and replied nastily. "Well, well, Katherine Hawk; what a pleasant surprise? Come to join your sister?"
All Kat could think about was her dead sister. Frozen in place by Orthos' magic, Kat shouted as loudly as she could, "How dare you? How could you?"
He chuckled, "Very easily, my young kitten. I am the most deceitful of all the creatures in the entire Dream Realm. I am also the most influential. It was a piece of cake, as Dreamers put it."
"Why?" Kat asked, her tears began to flow. "Why do this to us? Why kill my sister for your own dreadful benefits?"
Orthos stared her down. He tweaked her nose and spitefully quipped. “Because I can.”
Kat closed her eyes when Orthos' red eyes began to glow. He began chanting in an ancient tongue, and she braced herself. She felt herself falling into oblivion without any control over her body. Kat did the only thing she could think of.
Katherine Hawk