Galem's Revenge

      The thieves cheered. Their late leader, Galem Darkhand, had never given them any time off. But now that Kanrik was their leader, all of that had changed. The thieves left, talking excitedly among themselves, all agreeing Kanrik was a great leader. Kanrik smiled modestly as he prepared to leave himself. However, before he could leave, a blue Mynci stopped him. "Kanrik, wait!" he said.

       Kanrik stopped. "Yeah, Valin?"

      Valin held out something wrapped loosely in black material. "I wanted to thank you for getting rid of Galem. This is my way to say thank you."

      "Thanks Valin," Kanrik said, "But you don't have to.

      Valin shoved the bundle in Kanrik's arms. "But I want to," he said. "I got it from the Advent Calendar."

      "You cheapskate, you," Kanrik said with a smile. Valin laughed. "A Snicklebeast!" Kanrik exclaimed.

      "I thought you'd like a petpet in case you get lonely without us thieves here," Valin said.

      The Snicklebeast snuggled up in Kanrik's arms. "Daddy," it murmured.

      "Cute little guy," Kanrik chuckled. "Thanks Valin!" Kanrik said as he walked out.

      "See you next week!" Valin called after him.

      When Kanrik had gotten a fair distance away, he wondered about going home, but it was too early for that, it seemed. So he decided to visit his friends Hannah and Armin.

      A little while later, Kanrik arrived at Hannah's Neohome. He raised a hand to knock. Hannah answered. "Hey Kanrik. Come on in," she said.

      Kanrik walked in and sat on her couch. Armin came bounding in a moment later. "Kanrik!" he exclaimed. "What a surprise."

      Hannah came in a moment later. She sat down across from Kanrik. "Are you okay, Kanrik?" she asked concernedly. "You look sick."

      "Oh, I'm fine. Just stressed," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "When you're the leader of an evil gang of thieves, questions just constantly run through your mind-Are the thieves happy? Will they revolt and try to kill me? Did they get my good side on the WANTED posters?"

      "Well, you're still alive, and you're still free, so I guess you're okay," Hannah commented. "Who's your new friend?"

      "My Snicklebeast?" Kanrik held him up. "I'm going to call him Snowy. He's my reward…for killing Galem in cold blood."

      "You'll get that," Hannah shrugged. "Anyway, at least he's cute."

      Armin watched Snowy for a while. "He's really enthusiastic," he exclaimed. Snowy skipped away, and then ran into the wall. Hannah, Armin, and Kanrik cringed. "Maybe a little too enthusiastic."

      "Anyway," Hannah said as Snowy got right back up and skipped away. "He'd be a great companion for those lonely nights in jail."

      "Your faith is touching," Kanrik said dryly.

      "Look on the bright side," Armin said. "You could always be in Trouble at the National Neopian."

      "You're all heart," Kanrik muttered.

      "I don't know, Kanrik. I don't think you'd look good in black and white."

      "Hannah!" Kanrik exclaimed.

      "Sorry. Need anything? Want anything?" Hannah asked. "Or are you happy watching Snowy run headlong into the wall repeatedly?"

      "No, I need to get home. It's pretty late." Kanrik picked up Snowy and started to walk out.

      "You can stay here for the night," Armin offered. "It's a long way home."

      "No, but thanks anyway," Kanrik refused as he ventured out into the night.

      While Kanrik trudged home, a mysterious shadowy figure approached the Thieves Guild Headquarters. Upon finding it empty, the figure muttered, "Curse you, Kanrik," and stormed away.

      The figure was so intent to get away; it almost ran into another figure. The first figure was knocked to the ground. "I'm so sorry," the second figure said in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all. The figure reached down to help the fallen figure. Then the figure blinked. "Galem?!" the figure asked incredulously. "You're alive?"

      Galem got to his feet. "Masila. You sound surprised. You actually thought Kanrik could have gotten rid of me that easily?"

      "My love, many of your most loyal thieves believed so. Kanrik is their leader now."

      Galem's hands balled into fists. "This never would have happened if I could have gotten rid of Kanrik when I had the chance," he muttered, giving Masila a furious glare.

      "I thought it was better to banish Kanrik from the guild rather than kill him."

      "Well, obviously it wasn't, and now the water's boiling and we're in it!"

      "I'm a thief, not a lobster."

      "Better a lobster," Galem shot back.

      Masila grabbed Galem's hand and started to drag him away. "Come on. I've got a great way to kill Kanrik and I-ahem, I mean you-will lead the Thieves Guild again."

           Kanrik got home, unaware of his possible doom, and threw together a bed for Snowy, then collapsed on his own bed and blacked out.

      The very next day, Hannah and Armin left early in the morning for a full day of treasure hunting. Kanrik contemplated going with them, but declined. As a team, Hannah and Armin collected the long lost treasure of these Ice Caves. When they thought about calling it a day, a loud roar interrupted them. The two turned around too see a huge Snow Beast! "Armin gasped. "Okay, him I don't remember." He managed to squeak out.

      "You either?"

      A villainous burst of laughter came from behind the Snow Beast as two very familiar figures emerged from behind the creature. "Galem and Masila!" Hannah exclaimed. "I hate my life, and while I'm on that subject, I'm not too fond of them either."

      "Hannah and Armin. How nice to see you," Galem laughed evilly.

      Armin gasped. He grabbed Galem's front. "But-but-bu," he sputtered, shaking Galem. "The desktop background for Gelert Day! You were dead!"

      Galem lifted Armin off and threw him back towards Hannah. "Fooled you, didn't I?" Galem asked with an evil smile.

      "Well, we'd love to stay and chat, but we have other things to do. Long list: Kill Kanrik, take over the Thieves Guild, kill anyone loyal to Kanrik, kill the Keeper of Time, steal the Heart of the Mountain, do I need to go on?" Masila said.

      "Good point, Masila," Galem said. "Well, it's been real. Have fun with our new friend!" Galem called over his shoulder as the villainous pair disappeared.

      Hannah watched them leave, then her eyes turned to the Snow Beast moving in for the kill. "Armin," Hannah said sweetly. She grabbed him by the collar and started shaking him back and forth roughly "What are we going to do??!!!" She almost shouted, still shaking him.

      "I have no idea!" Armin squeaked, pulling free from Hannah's grip.

      Hannah and Armin backed up as the Snow Beast advanced towards them. Hannah took a step back and stepped into a secret area. "That works," Hannah said. "Armin, down here!"

      Armin jumped down after her. "I hope this will get us away from the Snow Beast."

      "Oh no!" Hannah exclaimed. "You're going to have to go on without me. Only you can dig through the snow."

      "But, what about you?" Armin asked.

      "I'll hold the Snow Beast off as long as I can. Get to Kanrik and then you two can try to help me. Now go!"

      Armin disappeared through the snow, leaving Hannah to think up a good plan. Hannah crawled through the tunnel, appearing near the Snow Beast. Upon seeing her, the Snow Beast roared loudly and started towards her. Hannah made some quick calculations. She looked at the oncoming Snow Beast. "One chance," she muttered to herself. "Horribly cliché, but true." The Snow Beast was almost right on top of her. She leaped as high as she could, barely clearing the Beast's horns.

           She breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe. Then the Snow Beast turned towards her. "Okay, should have thought about that, Hannah," she scolded herself as she ran flat-out. She came to a huge chasm that stood between her and safety. Without a second thought, Hannah flung herself towards solid ground. The Snow Beast stopped at the edge as Hannah flew through the air.

      Hannah's feet hit the ground as she managed her longest leap ever. She wiped her brow, and then looked over at the Snow Beast on the other side, roaring and shaking its fists at her. "That is the most gorgeous gorge I have ever seen," Hannah said happily, looking at the yawning chasm. "I hope I can get to Kanrik before Galem and Masila do!"

      Kanrik, meanwhile, was looking for Hannah and Armin. He was starting to get worried. He had figured they would have been done with the Caves. He looked off into the distance and saw an approaching figure. "Maybe that's them." He thought to himself. As the approaching figure grew closer, it became evident it was not Hannah and Armin.

     "A Snow Beast!" Kanrik exclaimed as the thing came into view.

     The Snow Beast got closer and closer to Kanrik. He had nowhere to go! He was trapped! Duh. The Snow Beast stopped, only feet away from Kanrik. A figure dismounted the Snow Beast. "Hello, Kanrik," the figure said.

      Kanrik stood in awe. "Galem? But-but-but," Kanrik sputtered. "I killed you!"

      "Not something to be too proud about, Kanrik, my love," Masila said, sliding down from the back of the Snow Beast.

      "Masila?" Kanrik exclaimed. "What are you both doing here? I'm guessing we're not going to hold hands and sing 'Kum Bay Yah'."

      "We just wanted to see you before your tragic death at the hands of a scary Snow Beast," Galem said evilly. "Then we'll take over the thieves guild again, and then move on to take over Neopia!"

      "Yippee for you," Kanrik said sarcastically.

      At that moment, Snowy, curious about what all the fuss was about, nosed his way to the front. It saw the Snow Beast ready to kill Kanrik and toddled over to the creature. Snowy threw its arms around the Snow Beast's leg. "Mommy?" it said questioningly.

      Hannah and Armin arrived upon the scene to hear Snowy's surprise question. "That's his mother?" Hannah asked.

      The Snow Beast looked at Snowy, and then smiled as the mother and child were reunited. The Snow Beast couldn't hurt anyone who was a friend of her child. So, she turned on Galem and Masila! Galem turned to Masila. "Masila, why do all of our evil plots backfire?" he asked.

      "I think it's because you're stupid," Masila shot back.

      "It's always something," Galem sighed. "Okay, I propose running before we die," Galem broke into a run, and Masila followed after.

      Hannah, Armin, and Kanrik watched Galem and Masila run off, the Snow Beast hot on their tails. "Well, that was fun," Armin said. He bent down next to Snowy. Good job. You're our hero."

      Hannah looked at Kanrik and smiled. "So, you're not an evil, cold-blooded, murderer like everyone thought," Hannah said.

      "Always nice to know," Kanrik said. "However, I don't think that's the last we'll see of those two." Hannah nodded.

      In a far off corner of Neopia, Galem and Masila nursed their injuries sustained by the Snow Beast. "Masila," Galem began. "Next time, we need to bring out the big arsenal." Masila nodded, bandaging her arm. "Next time, we go with…evil Meepits." Galem and Masila laughed evilly, knowing they would one day, be back on top.

The End

Author's note: This story came from the disbelief Kanrik could have killed Galem so easily. I hope Neopia is able to learn the truth!