Hero buttoned his jacket over the burns on his chest and went downstairs. The school was empty for Head Mistress had led the children down the mountain so they could spend their earned monies in the town. They would be back soon so it was time he got up from his much needed nap.

                The floors echoed beneath his feet as he went up the hall and out the front door. Kidron and the other agents were seldom seen without Head Mistress but they were always about.

                Carrying a pinwheel he had made he went out to the playground and sat on the swing. Gripping the chains with the pinwheel still in his hands he pumped his legs back and forth until he gained momentum.

                He inhaled the cold air as he soared back and forth through it, closing his eyes and letting himself believe he was flying. He opened his arms as he come skyward then back again then skyward and back again. His ears perked up when he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye and he slammed his feet down to stop the swing.

                "I'm glad to see you're awake," Awash said, then the fox took a seat on the neighboring swing, twisting the chains around each other. "Are you feeling alright?"

                He was looking in the direction of the school letting his tail drag in the mud and snow below the swing. "Last night I had a dream about my old room," he said and he could see it now before him.

                Awash let the chain unravel and spun in the swing before stopping it in Hero's direction.

                "I was lying down and my family came and stood around my bed. Their faces...it seemed so real."

                They both looked toward the front of the school when they hear singing. There came the children marching in a line singing the empire anthem. Little Florence Kasper led the march hoisting the school flag.

Superior we reign

Salute Cato every nation

Superior we rule

We march on bones of savage kings

Hail Mount Lions

Wear the triangle on your breast

The three nations of Mount Lions

Has the grandest army

The finest army

The purest blood

The best

                "Despicable," Awash said as they marched into the school showing off what they had bought. "Well it will be lunch time now, we better help Maringa serve."

                They slid off the swings and walked back to the school.

                The dining room was alive with the giggles of children. The rules were strict but they did not have to eat in silence.

                "I can't wait to visit home and show my father what I got him," a fawn said.

                "Me too," agreed a leopard.

                Hero filled any empty cups then stood back against the wall. It was hard to believe that just a little while ago he was sitting in the cafeteria oblivious to the cruel fate that was about to befall him. He averted his eyes to the curio and then to the chandelier.

                "Set your heart on nothing else, so no one can press you into labor," He whispered to himself. "Oh Nagoray, I'm watching you, are you watching me?"

/

                It was a cold evening and as usual Hero and Maringa went around lighting the fires. Since the school took on its original purpose more rooms had been opened up and the wealthier kids had fireplaces. This of course meant more rooms to clean and more coal to rake.

                Hero carried his bucket up the hall and knocked on the corner room door before entering. He didn't look around at the furnishings, just went straight over to the fireplace to light the fire.

                "What's your name?"

                Hero spun around spilling his bucket of wood. A little filly sat on the bed behind him with rags tied in her hair to promote a process Siloam called dry curling.

                "I said what's your name?" the pinto filly pressed.

                "Its...its Hero," Hero said putting the logs in the fire.

                "Hero?" The filly frowned crawling to the edge of her bed. "That's a funny name."

                Hero glanced over his shoulder then lit the fire.

                "My name is Lady Florence," the filly said with an air. "I live in a big house." She got out of bed and walked around to where Hero was by the fire letting her nightgown drag on the floor. "Have you ever been to Manor town?"

                "No," Hero said.

                "You're supposed to say, no my lady." Florence said. "But that's alright; daddy says it's hard to teach the ignorant. But anyways Manor town is where I live, my mommy and daddy own the town because our house is the biggest."

                "Is your dad a lord?"

                "He is," Florence said with pride. "What does your daddy do?"

                Hero looked into the fire that was now burning warm and bright. "My father..." He inhaled the scent of the charring wood. "My father was a Nagorin."

                "Ohhhh," Florence said. "Well he's probably dead now. My daddy says we have to kill all the savages. It's the only way to keep Mount Lions pure." She raised her arm at an angle. "Hail Emperor Cato!"

                Hero forced a smile then took up his bucket.

                "Wait!" The little filly called after him just as he reached the door. She ran over to her pillow and took out a pack of candy. "Do you want some liquorish?"

                "No thank you..." he said stepping out of the door. "My lady." He pulled it closed behind him then crossed the hall.

                When all the fires had been lit and the kitchen shut down Hero retired to his attic. He had learned to accept the solitude. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was asleep and sailing over Nagoray.

He landed in a garden of pinwheels spinning in the breeze. "Come on Hero!" Uhua called to him as she leapt over the field of pinwheels. "If you don't come now you'll never make it."

                Hero leapt after her towards the rest of his family. When he reached them they all linked paws and danced around him. Hero was laughing and trying to catch them but they would evaporate before he could reach them and materialize out of grasp.

                Kiva suddenly put his arm around him and pointed down the hill across the field. Hero could see smoke rising and drafting across the pinwheels. Kiva looked at him amusingly. "Look what you did."

                Hero opened his eyes suddenly. He had rolled off his straw mattress and the side of his face was flat on the floor. He sat up with a yawn and looked around the room. There was something strange about the air.

                He took a smell and it took a moment for his mind to process the scent. Smoke! Hero kicked off his blanket and ran to the door. The moment he opened it, flames came rushing in. He looked up as they rolled across the ceiling like crashing waves. Smoke wafted in with it, almost instantly turning the room into a death trap.

                Hero held his bandanna up to his nose and grabbing a two by four he made his way over to the window. Gasping for air he hooked the beam under his arm and rammed it into the glass sending it raining onto the shoveled walkway below.

                The heat of the flames was unbearable and he could feel himself getting light headed as he climbed out the window and filled his lungs with the chilly night air. He perched on the roof. Below he could see the boarders gathered in their nightclothes starring hopelessly at the flames. It was a long way down.

                "Head Mistress." He heard one of the teachers say below. "We're missing a child! Lady Florence."

                Hero looked back at his window. Flames were waving out of it like possessed curtains. If the filly really was inside then she was trapped. Knowing he couldn't remain on top of the roof Hero searched for a safe way down. He could shimmy down the drainpipe to the next floor and use the eaves to get to the last.

                He was about to execute his plan when he stopped and looked back. That child was still in there. Hero hated Mounts for all they had done to him but he knew his mother and father wouldn't have given saving a life another thought.

                He turned back and scaled the roof to the other side dodging chimneys and holes in the shingles. When he reached the corner room he used the drain pipe to get even with the window. The window opened with ease and Hero leapt into the engulfed room.

                "Lady Florence!" He shouted then choked on the smoke. Pulling his banana over his nose he went up to the bed. "Lady Florence?" Just then he heard a cracking above his head and looked up to see a roof beam coming at him. Hero dropped down flat and the beam crashed down partly on the bead nearly pinning him to the floor.

                Hero had to catch his breath but knew that if he didn't hurry he soon woildn't be breathing at all. "Lady—" He paused when he saw the closet. The flames hadn't reached that side of the room. Jumping over a small flame on the rug he ran over to the closet and pulled the door open.

                A pair of big brown eyes starred up at him. "Hero?" Florence said still holding a cluster of liquorish

                Hero grabbed a sheet from the shelf in the closet and put it over her. "Come on," he said getting her to stand.

                "But the door is blocked, we'll burn." Florence said pulling back.

                Hero looked to the window. There was no way he could get the girl and himself down by climbing.

                Hero went out first then helped Florence get her balance in the narrow edge. "We're going to die!" She cried but Hero stayed focused. He took her wrist and they inched around the small area of roofing until they reached the front of the school.

                "There!" Someone was soon shouting. "I see them!"

                Hero looked down at the drop and closed his eyes. He then took the sheet from around Florence. "Take this!" He shouted and tossed it down to them. "We have to jump!" Hero and Florence watched as the boarders scrambled to ready the sheet.

                "Alright, we're ready." They called up.

                "Here she comes!" Hero shouted then nodded to Florence who shook her head. They didn't have time for games. Without further prompting, Hero pushed her off the roof and into the sheet. The filly was safe on the ground before she even had time to scream.

                Hero took a deep breath and leapt forward. He spread his paws and let the wind carry him away from the building and into the air. It was the closest to flying he had even been. Too soon he felt the sheet catch him and the boarders lowered him to the ground.

                The flight was over and now Hero turned to look at the flames. The entire school was one ball of fire and only the silhouette of it could be seen through the blazes. He located Head Mistress in the crowd and their eyes met. Hero didn't blink as she starred back at him though before he would have. The burn she was feeling now was greater than the hot iron she had put on him.

                The wind blew hard, taking down a wall of the scorching structure.

                "He saved me."

                Hero was snapped back to reality by Florence's voice.

                "Hero saved me!"