Beyris hadn't thought her morning would include crawling in the air ducts and ventilation tunnels of the Castle.

But then, life with the Paladins of Voltron really wasn't very predictable.

She'd been scurrying in the halls towards the Infirmary, where the Princess - she was so nice, and Beyris thought if her hair got to be long one day she'd like to try wearing it just like Allura wore her hair - had been going to help her take some tests, but not the scary kind, with needles and machines that made loud noises, Coran had told her it wouldn't be scary at all, it would be just the kind where Allura would try and see if they had similar magic by showing Beyris spells or motions and seeing if Beyris could copy them.

Beyris bit one corner of her lip thoughfully as she continued to army crawl along the narrow airway tunnel.

She'd been looking forward to the tests. Allura had been so happy to know that she could talk to the mice, and the Lions, and even though Black had really scolded Red for using some really interesting words, it had been pretty cool to realize she might have a natural talent for learning magic.

And not just any magic.

Special magic, like the kind Allura had.

Beyris really wasn't sure why that was - she'd been going to ask her uncle, or Aurelis, but she'd never had the chance before these stupid shadow things - shadow creatures, that was a good name - these stupid shadow creatures had attacked and Beyris hadn't even been close to the Infirmary, she'd been way too far away from it to get there before the -

She purposefully tried not to remember how the dark shapes had loomed in the hallway ahead of her, and behind, blocking her escape path, but then Chucule had squeaked and waved to her from an air vent, and she'd managed to crawl in and lift the hatch back in place just as the things had reached that part of the hallway.

She still felt cold and sick whenever she remembered how close that escape had been.

But for some reason, the things hadn't seen or chased her.

Maybe the shadow creatures could only see proper Altean magic.

Beyris knew she couldn't fight these bad things, so she had to hide instead.

These things were bad. It wasn't just the way they looked, or the way they moved, or hissed, or slunk along the corridors.

It was the feeling they brought with them, the cold, the fear, the...darkness.

She thought maybe her uncle, or Aurelis, or maybe Pidge could say it better.

Pidge was so smart. It was so cool to know someone so smart.

That's why she was going as fast as she could through the vents, to see if she could find anyone else, to figure out what was happening, to decide how to fight these things that had invaded their home.

Beyris bared her teeth in a minature version of the snarl she'd seen her uncle use when he spoke about Jenick, or Haggar, or Zarkon.

These bad things did not belong here, in her home, where her family lived.

They had no right to be here, in this Castle where Hunk baked cookies and Pidge fought over remote controls with Matt and Lance make jokes that made Coran snort numvill out through his nose and Keith practiced sword-fighting with two blades with her uncle and Aurelis and Sam compared healing remedies and Shiro and Allura held hands when they thought she wasn't looking.

These invaders, these evil, vile things did not belong here, and she was going to stop them, in any way she could.

On her shoulder, Chucule let out a warning squeak and held up a tiny paw.

Beyris stopped dead, holding her breath and looking into a hallway that was divided into light and dark. RIght at the edge of the light, she saw a girl not much older than her. The little girl had white hair, and had her back pressed up against the near wall of the corridor.

Two people were fighting in the hallway nearby, and there was already blood on the floor. There was snarling, and cursing, and then someone's weight slammed against the wall, and then a voice, a voice she didn't recognize, even though it almost sounded like someone she knew.

"You know, it's a shame-"

Another slam of someone being hurled against the wall or floor, followed by a distant cry of pain.

That voice again, so - not - the one she knew.

"I really thought this would be more of a fight."

Chucule let out a stifled squeak of what was obvious dismay and rushed to the grating, squeaking urgently.

The little girl in the hallway turned around, her eyes wide and confused.

Beyris felt her own jaw drop open in astonishment.

The girl was -

But the younger Allura didn't seem to understand the mouse.

"Who are you?" She asked, and she seemed just as disconcerted as Beyris was. Her eyes went even wider, and she took a step closer to the grate. "What's going on - how did you get inside the Ca-"

Beyris opened her mouth to answer, but she saw something - scary - turn around in the shadows behind Allura, and she knew she didn't have time to waste answering questions, so instead of doing that, she kicked open the grate, held out her hand to Allura, and said, really quickly, because they didn't have any time to waste,

"Come with me if you want to get out of here!"

Allura hesitated for only a second before following Beyris into the ventilation tunnel. As Allura crawled past, Beyris reached out, grabbed the grate, and began lifting it back into place, just like she had before.

She knew she had to close this door, close it so that the bad things couldn't follow them in here. Behind her, Allura was asking the mouse what it was saying, and Chuchule seemed to be trying an elaborate dance or pantomime to make the meaning of her squeaks clear, but then -

Human fingers closed around the top of the grate, tried to pull it open again, and Beyris shrieked, drew back one of her hands, and slammed her closed fist on the fingers.

There was a yelp, a curse, and the fingers fell away. Beyris heaved the door back into place, shouting 'Initiate lock!', and saw the locks on the grate engage just as two hands - one cybernetic, one human - close around the top of the grate again and heave.

It looked like Shiro's hands, but they weren't. Beyris knew that, on a level so deep, she felt it in her bones.

Shiro would never scare them like this.

Sure, he played games sometimes, with her and the other Paladins, like hide and go seek, or tag, or things like that, but he never, ever acted so scary.

She knew he could be, if he was angry at the bad guys or fighting them, but he wasn't ever scary because he liked being scary.

Shiro wouldn't do this.

Not to Allura.

Not to Beyris.

Not to anyone he cared for.

The two people that had been fighting - Beyris was almost positive there was some kind of weird magic going on, and the real Shiro had been fighting this thing, to protect Allura.

But it sounded like he'd lost.

Beyris knew this wasn't Shiro, so when whatever this - shadow creature - used its' version of Shiro's voice, she wasn't scared.

She was mad.

"Dammit. You just had to lock it, didn't you?"

Beyris balled her hands into fists, feeling her anger pulse through her like a fire.

"What were you expecting?!" Beyris yelled through the grate. "I know you're not Shiro, because I'm not stupid!"

She wasn't sure if they could get away through the tunnels, because the thing knew they were in the vents now, but at least the grate was between them and - it.

This thing was definitely an it.

Beyris scowled at the shadowy thing in a mixture of fear and annoyance.

Stupid it, stupid shadow creatures, stupid invasion.

What in the stars was going on?!

The thing tried pulling on the grate again, but the locks still held firm. Beside Beyris, Allura clutched her arm and said, in a shaky but clear voice, "Initiate force field. Protocol Haven."

A shimmering blue forcefield sprang into place, a half-dome that enfolded the two small girls and the mouse in a protective shield.

And not a moment too soon.

Even as the last word left Allura's mouth, the cybernetic arm lit up with an ugly, black-purple glow, and sliced the grate into pieces.

Beyris clutched Allura's arm in turn, but when the glowing cybernetic arm reached for them, it glanced off the force field with a sparking hiss, and there was a snarl of pain from the thing in the corridor.

The two girls clutched each other in a mutual hug, and Chucule arched her back and snarled from her perch on Allura's knee, as if to defy the darkness and its intent to harm and destroy.

There was the sound of someone muttering under their breath, as if annoyed, and then something moved in the shadows nearby.

Beyris looked over at Allura, decided she should try and let the Princess know what was going on.

"Um. So. I'm Beyris."

Allura nodded. Neither girl took their arms away from the other.

"I am Princess Allura. I seem to...be underinformed of what is happening."

Beyris nodded. "Oh. Well. Um. How much do you remember?"

There were yellow eyes at the end of the tunnel, but Allura and Beyris just looked at each other instead. Allura wrinkled her nose thoughtfully.

"Well, I know I'm in the Castle. And - that's about it. I was looking for Coran...but..."

She swallowed, and her voice wavered slightly. "I was attacked. A man - S-Shiro - fought the attacker, protected me. I - I don't know what happened to hi-"

There was a chuckle from beyond the circle of light, where movement still flickered from time to time. Something paced just beyond the light, just beyond where they could see.

"I could tell you, if you like."

Beyris felt her spine prickle in fear, both for themselves and for Shiro, but she steadfastedly ignored the thing of nightmares and looked only at Allura as she answered.

"Okay. Well, I'm your friend Beyris. Coran is somewhere in the Castle. And I think there's some really weird magic going on around here that's been...doing weird things."

Allura glanced down at Chucule, then back at Beyris.

"It...made the mice talk?"

Beyris shook her head.

"More like you got closer to my age. You're kinda...older, usually. Sortof. Like, by a lot."

Allura's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"What?!"

Beyris shrugged a shoulder, but not enough where the hug would end.

"I don't understand it. But you can usually talk to the mice. They're nice."

Allura glanced down again at the mouse perched on her knee, and Chucule looked up at her and cheeped encouragingly.

Just then, something was thrown into the faint circle of light just outside the now-open ventilation tunnel.

When Beyris saw what it was, she gripped Allura's arm tighter.

It was Shiro.

The real Shiro.

He was lying on his side, and he was hurt, and it - it looked really bad. His left arm was broken, his nose was bleeding, and Beyris really didn't like how his eyes were closed, and how breathing seemed to hurt him.

The voice from beyond the shadows sounded amused.

"I don't know how familiar you are with our magic, little ones, but I'll give you a guess as to what happens next."

At her side, Allura tensed, but didn't really show any other emotion.

Beyris chanced a quick look at her friend, and saw that the Princess' face had gone very, very pale.

"What is it?" Beyris whispered. "How does their magic work - I mean -"

But Allura only shook her head from side to side, very quickly.

"It's ugly."

She took a breath, closed her eyes.

"These things take life force. They feed on it, use it to grow stronger. It's - it's fatal, given enough time."

Beyris swallowed. "Is it - is it something they need to survive?"

Allura shook her head again, and when she opened her eyes again, they were hard and cold with anger.

"No. It's just...something they like to do."

Beyris inhaled sharply, horror and disgust obvious in her voice as she looked between the thing in the shadows and Shiro, lying half-in, half-out of the light.

"They do it for - fun?!"

The thing shrugged. It looked less like Shiro now. It was more angular, more twisted and hunched. When it spoke, it sounded less like Shiro too.

"There wasn't much to take from this one."

When it smiled mockingly at them, its teeth were still as sharp, as serrated as ever. As it glided back into the dark, its words became a low growl, hardly different than the snarl of a wild beast.

"But I enjoyed it, all the same."

Beyris thought its eyes glowed brighter as it vanished.

She narrowed her own eyes and glared back into the darkness, even though it was highly probable the thing had gone.

It had tried to scare them, and yes, it had.

Of course it had.

It was a creepy shadow creature with glowing eyes and magic that sucked the life force out of people, strong people like Shiro, who fought it and got hurt.

Of course that was scary.

But Beyris could be scary too.

Not like the thing in the shadows, the kind that liked to hurt people for fun, never, ever that kind.

She knew her uncle and Allura and Coran and Shiro could be scary, but it was the good kind of scary. The kind of scary that made bad people like Jenick go all pale and run for the nearest hole to hide in, the kind that her friend Keith could be when he was fighting the bad guys, the kind that Lance was when bad people tried to hurt his friends, and he woke up from a coma to protect them.

Actually, come to think of it, every single one of her friend could be scary, each in their own way.

Beyris knew everyone thought she was cute, and sweet, and nice, and all of that was true.

But she was going to the be the Captain of the Guard one day, and she no intention of letting the people she cared for get hurt.

So she was going to be scary too.

But in the good kind of way.

She turned to Allura, and felt a very odd smile come over her face.

Allura might not be able to speak to the mice at the moment, but Beyris could.

And maybe, she could do even more than that.

"'llura," she said. "Can we...make the forcefield...bigger?"