Glenda made it to a a three story house. She was still in her griffin form and was hiding until nightfall. She preferred her true form over her human form. She felt so constricted and weak as a human. She rang the door bell when a male griffon with white feathers on top and a gray feline from the waist down opened the door. "Hello, uncle, I got bad news."
"Uh, oh, what happened?" Her uncle Augustus asked. "Are you hurt? Did you lose something?"
"No, I'm fit as a fiddle. The problem is I didn't get the portal key." she replied. "Trisha is a weretigress trained by the Pegasus Patrol and Nellie is on to me and undoubtedly the entire farm knows what I am looking for."
"Well, we can let Mr. Schnell know about what to do about this. I'll take you to him right now."
The two griffons entered the house where they found a female griffin with black feathers on top and a white lion from the waist down. She was dusting some picture frames. "Hello, Aunt Flora" Glenda said.
"Hello, are you alright?" she asked her niece.
"I failed to get the portal." Glenda said.
"That's alright, at least you tried." Flora replied.
Glenda and Augustus entered the dining room where a fifty-year-old man with auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin was eating steak. The man looked up and smiled. "Ah, Glenda Hailplume, you are looking frazzled today. What is bothering you?"
Glenda said, "I did not get the portal. Nellie Eva Karvoff is onto me and Trisha is a weretigress who is working for the Pegasus patrol.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Mr. Schnell replied. "At least you weren't arrested."
"Yeah, but now we are one step behind." Glenda said.
"Oh, no. We are not behind. If the Pegasus Patrol know they have a portal to Guardaria, the unit could come after them and they'll try to resist. We will use this to our advantage and use the portal to send us to Guardaria before any of us get nabbed." Schnell said. Glenda liked that about her employer. Schnell was not one to easily to loose his temper and he found ways to get around predicaments.
"How are you able to find your way around setbacks?" Glenda said.
Schnell said, "By analyzing the situations. If there is a solution or two, take them. If there isn't, you will have to accept it and move forward." Schnell leaned forward in his chair. "You look thin, have you eaten anything at all today?"
Glenda felt her stomach growl. "I only had breakfast but no lunch because I forgot to pack it."
"Then have some steak." He pulled a steak from a stack on a serving dish and put it on a large plate for her. Schnell stood up from the table to grab her some silverware. He place a knife and fork at the table and a cup of water for her to drink.
Glenda happily chowed down then wiped her beak on the napkin her provided to her. "Thanks, sir."
"Anytime. Next time make sure you get the nutrients you need because in Guardaria, you have to be ready and healthy enough for any challenges that are ahead of you." Schnell called out, "Phil!" a anthropomorphic avian with scarlet and orange plummage walked into the room.
"You called, Mr. Schnell?" he asked.
"Did you get our transportation unit ready for the trip to Guardaria?"
"Yup, it has everything our carnival will need." Phil replied cheerfully.
"Are you sure? Because I looked at our list and saw that I am missing something." he pulled out a can of lighter fuel and a cigarette lighter. "You are important to this mission just like everyone else is. A phoenix has to keep up his stamina by bathing in flames."
Phil said, "Thank you very much, Schnell."
"It was nothing, really." the man replied. "Helen, are you and your sister coming?" A dragoness bashfully walked into the dining room. She had dark green scales and was wearing a pink tank top and a pair of blue jeans.
"My older sister will be right over, she had a fight with the new bellethrite we are recruiting."
Schnell face-palmed himself. "I plainly told her not to wrestle any potential new recruit. She is really going to cost us new members."
A dragon with brown scales entered the room with a fairy-like being with bee eyes, antenna, and wings. The bellethrite had long black hair and pale skin. The dragoness had the bellethrite in a headlock. "Aye sir, here is the one you asked for."
"Abby, I told you not to roughhouse with any of our potential recruits." Schnell chastised. "You are one of the strongest dragons available to join. You are one of my muscles but don't use them on any guest I invite over. Please, release her."
"Whatever you say boss." She let go of the bellethrite who glared at her.
"Please, forgive the dragoness for her rudeness." Schnell said.
"Bellethrites don't always forgive, we prefer law and order and she clearly doesn't follow the rules." the bellethrite said.
"My I have your name?" Schnell asked.
"My name is Nymph 787. In case you humans don't know, we are similar in nature to that of a bee colony on your human planet." she answered.
"Yes, I know about your culture." Schnell replied. "I also know about the fact that it is your late queen who made Arvette and his brothers into what they are today. Very messy vengeance is." Schnell said.
"You do know about us." Nymph 787 said. "She was usurped by her daughter who is in charge today. She speaks differently than her mother does. She prefers us to turn the other cheek then on going to war with other species so we can focus more on improving the colony."
"Yes, do you know why I asked Abigail to send you here?" Schnell asked.
"She told me you wanted to get rid of the emperor."
"Your colony is in danger. Arvette has been planning on going to war with the bellethrite colony who made him what he is today." Schnell said. "Phil, the phoenix over there eating a sandwich, is a great spy. He came from the Guardarian wastelands and heard information on some of the emperor's plans which include wiping out your colony as an example of those who want to be his enemies."
"But the new queen wants to undo her mother's legacy to bring progress to the colony." Nymph 787 said.
"Arvette is NOT a forgiving person. Remember how you mentioned that your people don't always forgive? That could be your people's potential downfall. Arvette is worse than that. He will harm anyone who he feels wronged him or questions his judgments and because of your former queen's actions, he will make sure you all pay the price for his transformation into a vampire." Schnell said.
"But that is genocide." Nymph 787 disagreed.
"He calls it 'justice'." Schnell said. "We need to stop him to have him either arrested or assassinated so we can prevent more people from suffering under his reign of terror. If you join us, we can make sure your people does not suffer from his wrath. What say you?"
The bellethrite thought about it for half a minute. "If your first mission is successful, I will tell the queen about your plans to protect us from the emperor. Then you will have my colony behind you."
"Then, welcome to my crew!" Schnell said warmly. "We have a busy night."

End of Chapter