Jonathan:

The acrid smell of smoke filled his nose and stung his eyes. Screams filled his ears and he felt the heat of the many fires around him. The whole street was ablaze and there were rabbits everywhere, some dead, some injured and others running for their lives. Birds of prey screeched in the sky above and dove down wrecking ruin with their talons. Wolf howls filled the air mingling with the crackle of the fires and the screams of the rabbits. But he saw only one thing, Lea and the wolf that was pouncing. He ran forward, the smoke stinging his eyes, blurring his vision, and making his lungs burn.

He watched in horror and it felt as if the world had suddenly slowed down. Like time was standing still. He quickly knocked an arrow, aimed carefully, and fired. It was a shot that no one would ever believe. His arrow hit the wolf’s head knocking it to the side and killing it immediately. The other two wolves looked at him and one ran for him and the other turned toward Lea.

The wolf came at him at a run, but he ran towards it, his love for Lea and little Jo making him brave. Though fear welled inside him, it was nothing compared to the instinct to protect his family, so he charged on. The wolf leapt into a jump and he fell to his knees sliding under the soaring beast. It landed on the street behind him sliding to a turn. He turned and faced it taking his eyes from Lea. In an instant the wolf was prone on the street in front of him, it would never rise again. He then turned toward Lea, little Jo, and the last remaining wolf.

In horror he saw that the beast had Lea pinned to the ground under its slaving jaws. With a roar of outrage, he drew an arrow from his quiver and fired, wounding the wolf. It turned toward him, and he stared at it boldly. The wolf seemed to realize that this was no ordinary rabbit, but one enraged and ready to fight. For it ran off disappearing into the smoky confusion all around. Jonathan wanted to pursue it, to end it, to make the wolf pay, but instead he went to Lea. He ran to her and fell to his knees by her side. Her face was in the dirt and he could hear the muffled cries of little Jo. He turned her over and looked into her brown eyes, they were filled with pain.

He held her close looking over the many wounds on her back and side. She had taken the brunt of the wolf’s fury; little Jo only had a few scratches. She smiled weakly and pushed Jo toward him as she said, “Take him, Jon. Get out, let him live and grow up, go!”

He took Jo in one arm and still held her across his lap with the other. “No, I can’t leave you Lea.” He said tears starting in his eyes.

“You must,” She said simply, as she placed a hand against his cheek, “Raise him so that I would be proud of him, tell him I loved him. And I love you Jonathan Shanks.” Lea closed her eyes and her body became limp.

“No!” he said as he cradled her with one hand. He laid Jo on her chest and wrapped her arms around him rocking back and forth with both of them. Their burning house behind them and heartache all around them. For how long he sat there rocking back and forth he did not know, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, he stopped and laid his head against her’s sobbing.

He then felt someone kicking him gently and turned around. “Get up, and get out,” the rabbit said, shifting a burden under his cloak. “Its all a ruin, Garten has betrayed us, run before it’s too late!” A stifled cry came from under the buck’s cloak and the buck pulled back a corner and said, “Quiet, shh…”

Jonathan stood picking up Jo and turned to the rabbit, he then looked back at Lea and said, “I can’t leave her.”

“Is she alive?” The rabbit asked, looking around quickly.

Jonathan hung his head, “No,” he said softly.

The buck threw his hood back and looked at him, it was a white rabbit, with red eyes. Not harsh red eyes like some of the wolves had, but gentle ones. “My wife was killed as well, along with my oldest son, little Owen here is all I have.” The rabbit pulled his cloak back for a minute to reveal a small white buck. He then went on, “But it looks like your little one is all you have too and for them, we must leave. Put something over his nose to keep the smoke out and follow me.”

Jonathan obeyed and followed the white rabbit. He took one more look back at Lea and a few more tears slipped from his stinging eyes. The white rabbit lead him towards one of the gates but everywhere they went they passed destruction. They passed a few soldiers who lay dead and the white rabbit muttered, “Traitorous Longtreaders!”

“The Longtreaders betrayed us?” Jonathan asked, his hopes of finding Joseph waning.

“Yep,” the white rabbit said harshly, “Garten turned King Jupiter over to the lords of prey, and they killed him! The kingdom is in ruin and chaos.”

“What about the bucks who served under the Longtreaders?” Jonathan asked, dreading the answer.

“They were either in on it or dead,” The white rabbit said. Jonathan looked down, Joseph would never participate in treachery, which meant he was most likely dead. That meant Jo was all he had. He looked down at Jo and held him tighter. They made it out of the gate and then the white rabbit picked up the pace as he said, “The wolves are still around, but I think most everyone was headed toward the citadels.”

Jonathan nodded and followed blindly. This rabbit could be leading him into a trap, but he didn’t really care. Josiah was gone, Lea was gone, Joseph was gone, he was all that was left, him and Jo. He looked down at the little buck, he was sleeping. Why had he insisted on naming him Jo, now it would only serve to remind him everything he had lost. Everything he had once had.

“Oh, Jonathan, you made it out, where’s Lea?” a doe’s voice asked from behind him. He turned to see Tawny, blackened with soot, and looking tired.

“Oh, Tawny,” he said stopping and looking around. They had joined a group of rabbits heading away from First Warren, and he could no longer see the white rabbit. He looked at Tawny shaking his head, “Oh, Tawny!” The tears started in his eyes again and he leaned his back against a tree. “She’s dead, there were wolves and I tried to save her, but I couldn’t, I was too late.” The sobs shook his chest and he cried on. Jo started crying too.

Tawny took Jo gently from his arms and quieted him, then said, “Its not your fault Jonathan.”

“I should have been there,” he said looking at her, “I should have been there to save her. I promised to protect her.”

“I know, but right now you need to protect Jo,” Tawny said, her cheeks were damp and there were lines in the soot where tears had fallen.

Jonathan nodded and took his small son back. He would miss Lea and mourn for her and his brothers, but right now he needed to get Jo somewhere safe, because Jo truly was all he had left.

Hope you guys liked it...we'll be wrapping the story up soon, so hang in there!