The Battle

       "*Khhk* This is Wingman to tower, request permission to launch. Over. *Khhk*"

       "*Khhk* Ahh, This is Tower. You are clear for launch. Over. *Khhk*"

       Lan Louis had stopped running and was leaning against the trunk of a large oak tree. Nutsy had been riding, perched Lan's head, so they wouldn't get separated. They hadn't run that far, but after finishing the food they wanted to get away from the adults who would probably just sit around and talk. This looked like a good place to stop, and the huge spreading branches of the oak would make a fine playground for the agile young Velan and the young-at-heart squirrel.

       Nutsy leapt from Lan's head and glided to a branch in the tree. Lan Louis dug his short claws into the bark and climbed up the trunk to the first branch. He climbed out a ways (being careful not to look down!), then settled himself in a crotch looking upwards. The rising branches gave him something to lean back on, and he had a good view of the open area protected by the oak's canopy of foliage.

       "*Khhk* Red Leader to Wingman. Come in Wingman. Over. *Khhk*"

       "*Khhk* Wingman to Red Leader. Wingman here. Ready and awaiting orders. Over. *Khhk*"

       "This is Red Leader. Wingman, switch to search formation gamma tango foxtrot. Over."

       "Copy that Red Leader. Switching to search formation. Over."

       Nutsy began gliding from branch to branch, searching for enemy fighters against the backdrop of a green and blue star field.

       "Red Leader to Wingman, Bogey at 10 o'clock!"

       Nutsy spotted a flash of gold light darting through the branches, above him and slightly to his left.

       "I see 'im, Red Leader!"

       Nutsy took aim at the golden tetrahedron with an index claw and fired. "Ptchw! Ptchw!" The enemy fighter exploded.

       "Good shooting Wingman. Stay sharp."

       Lan squinted his eyes a little in concentration. Soon another golden shape was flying through the branches. Moments later, Nutsy spied the hexahedron, and shot it. There was another flash, but, instead of being destroyed, the shape split into two smaller tetrahedrons which spun off in opposite directions. The squirrel fired at one, but missed. He flew after it and, with careful aim, blasted it into shards of golden light.

       Lan concentrated and two more tetrahedrons joined the one Nutsy did not get. They flew in formation at the squirrel, who had to flee. After dodging around a large branch, the flying squirrel turned and fired. He hit the leading ship, but its wingmen split and went separate ways. Nutsy fired at one but missed. He gave chase again.

       Two more tetrahedrons appeared. The four golden ships flew around in dizzying patterns under the spreading leaves of the old oak. They zipped and buzzed, as if challenging the squirrel to follow even one of them. Nutsy tried to follow, but he kept losing track of which one he was following when one of the other tetrahedra would cross his path. None of his shots were effective - these late model ships were much better at dodging.

       For Lan Louis, this was an exercise in concentration. His magic was in control of the ships, and he was learning to control his magic. It took constant vigilance to keep the mage lights in the shape of a tetrahedron. The sharp points and edges were difficult to maintain under the lights' inherant tendancy to form a sphere. Lan was at his limit trying to maintain four independent ships. If Nutsy had stopped to look, he would have noticed that corners of the golden spaceships were definitely getting rounder.

       "Ptchw! Ptchw!" Finally the flying squirrel scored a hit on one of the enemy ships. It exploded in a satisfying burst of flame. "Yes!"

       Lan just grinned. He brought his three remaining ships into a delta formation so that he could fly them as one. The enemy fighers made a wide arc under the canopy of the oak, then closed in on the squirrel to exact their revenge.

       "Zzzzap! zap zap zap zap!" Streaks of gold light shot from the nose of the leading fighter, and Nutsy barely ducked away in time.

       "Yaaaaa!" The squirrel dove downward radically as the golden ships pursued him with guns blazing.

       It was now a contest to see who was the better flyer. Lan Louis closed his eyes and watched the world from the view of the leading tetrahedron. It never occurred to him that he shouldn't have been able to do this, so Lan innocently did something which most mages would have declared impossible.

       The action was quick and furious as they wove through the branches. Every move Nutsy made, the golden tetrahedrons matched. Left, down, a quick right, then climb for the sky. "Zzzap!" The leading tetrahedron fired at the squirrel who lingered just a little too long an a straight flight path. Nutsy dove again, the golden bolt just missing the tip of his tail.

       "Ha ha! You missed!" laughed the squirrel, who was not nearly as sanguine as he sounded.

       The Velan growled good-naturedly and banked right to follow the squirrel. "That was just a warning shot. I meant to miss," fibbed the fox.

       The flying squirrel was going to have to do something quickly. Lan Louis was good at this! He thought about the graceful arcs of the enemy's flying style and came up with an idea.

       Nutsy banked hard left, narrowly avoiding a large upward branch of the oak. The enemy fighters were not as agile. They banked to follow the squirrel, but swung too wide. The leading tetrahedron skimmed the branch, just missing it. The right wingman did not fare so well - it slammed into the branch and exploded in a gout of golden flame.

       Grudgingly, Lan complimented the squirrel. "Nice flying. But I still have two left, and they have your name written all over them."

       The squirrel just laughed and banked right. "Now for my next trick," he thought to himself. "Old age and treachery will conquer youth and skill!" He dove downwards, aiming for a horizontal branch low in the tree. Flying as close as possible, he caught it with his hind claws and with a hard jolt was hanging by all fours from the underside of the branch. The pair of enemy fighters whipped past him as they made a smooth roll around the branch. "Ptchw! Ptchw!" Nutsy fired with an index claw, taking out one of the golden tetrahedra as they scrambled for cover.

       "Down to one!" called the squirrel as he dropped from the branch and resumed flying. His legs and arms hurt after the jolt they had taken. He was out of ideas.

       Lan Louis just smiled. Velans are, after all, the masters of practical jokes, and Lan was not about to let this squirrel make a monkey out of him. His remaining tetrahedron chased gamely after the squirrel. Lan let the golden ship fuzz to a sphere and then out of existence completely as he gathered up all his concentration.

       Nutsy noticed that he was no longer being followed, and landed on a branch. "Lan, are you... AAAAH!!!" Nutsy screamed in panic. From behind every branch, above, below, behind, in front, to the left, to the right, EVERYWHERE! Spherical fighters were racing at him on a collision course with lazers blazing. There was nowhere to run. The squirrel cowered with his paws over his head as they all crashed upon him in a painless explosion of golden light.

       Lan laughed. It had taken every ounce of concentration the little Velan had, but there had really only been about thirty mage lights, arranged in one sphere so he could control them as one. And it definitely had the desired effect. "You should have seen the expression on your face! Ha ha ha!"

       The squirrel shook himself. He'd been had. The Velan hadn't exactly played fair, but the squirrel had panicked and that gave Lan Louis the win. Nutsy shook his head and smiled. "I gotta learn not to do that," the thought. The flying squirrel looked down and blew a raspberry at the guffawing Velan down on the lowest branch. This only made Lan laugh harder, if such was possible.

       "HEY! What are you two doing up there?"

       Between living with his Da and his friendship with the flying squirrel, Lan Louis had unusually good control over his instinctive fear of heights. He wasn't really afraid at this height in the tree - he was only about six feet off the ground. The loud voice startled Lan Louis, however, and when he spun around to see who had yelled at him, he looked down and his left hand slipped!

       * PANIC *

       The world spun as the Velan's hard-wired instincts scattered his wits. The ground receded to a fantastic distance and his extreme vertigo caused Lan to lose his balance and his grip. Lan Louis pitched forward and fell out of the tree....

--- Bonus Section Included for Your Amusement:

       Since Foxeris said he had trouble remembering all the characters, here is a (slightly edited) irreverant impromptu list that Nutsy reeled off during an IRC conversation:

       My characters are Louis, the human riding herd; Nutsy, the silly squirrel; Serin, the blue philosopher fox from a world about like Siberia; Josh, raccoon; and Faehlyn, a kinkajou derivative with a prehensile tail, major chameleon abilities, poor English, and a crush on Josh.

       You have Foxeris, scrubby human foldwalker; Oriana, lioness, proto-assasin, and madam; Thyrsten, grypheness with a magic amulet; Sora, bat with leathery wings who is just learning to fly; and Zen, a collective nanite intelligence. Sora only gets to fly in special circumstances, which is why she leapt at the chance to do some more flying.

       Then there's Brian, human, Ex-archmage, klizan or klizatch (I can never remember) of the nas Kan, a grumpy old codger who is enjoying this chance to get out of the house; Kyrn, *large* ebon unicorn, ex-assasin, nuff said; Kyri, ivory unicorn, goddess of beauty, but in every other way sister to Kyrn; Kalindra, Velan, ex-archmage, the real head of the nas Kan, grumpy old codger and soulmate to Brian; Lythandi, Velan, "lecherous and impulsive", one of the nas Kan, loves astronomy; Naldantis, the Velan doctor, another member of our favorite Velan family, and tends to lose bets with Lan; and last but not least Lan Louis, precocious little nas Kan, hopes to grow up to be a mage and help people like his Da, but still a rambunctious kid.