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[BookAuthor]

Chapter Nineteen
That night, we had meat from the elk I killed and then after messing around for a while we sat down in their living room.
“I’ll be right back,” Colton says standing up. “It’s a surprise for you.” Colton returns holding an oddly shaped bag that holds something inside. He opens it up and pulls out a beautiful object that is shaped similarly to the bag, but with more grace, beauty and curves.
“What is it?” I say. It is breathtaking and I have never seen anything like it.
“It’s an acoustic guitar,” he says strumming the six metal strings.
“How does it work?” I ask captivated and intrigued.
“Let me show you,” Colton tells me pulling his stool closer and sitting on it. He rests the guitar on one leg and then puts a strap around his neck. Then placing his fingers upon the metal strings on the neck of the guitar, he strums the metal strings methodically and out of this comes music. I put my hand to my mouth, so shocked and amazed. He moves his fingers and continues to strum. Strumming and moving his fingers, he creates a beautiful melody. When he is done, I can barely contain my emotions.
“That was amazing,” I say, once he had put the guitar away. “It was so beautiful and strong and just amazing.” Colton smiles at me.
We all get up and head back to our rooms. Colton kisses me gently and I kiss him back. “I love you,” I say before I go into my room. Now, I really do think I mean it.

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty
I sneak out early because there is no school this week. I make sure that no one hears me and then I head into the forest. The clouds covering the sky are an orangey-pink gray color as the sun rises behind them, slowly but surely, trying to find gaps where fingers of light can touch the earth. There aren’t many but there are some. I watch the clouds and realize that I am just like that sun. I rise and fall, always trying to find a place to fit in and to be me, to shine. Clouds often block my way like people who don’t like me, but there are gaps like my friends. They understand me and they allow me to shine and be me.
I quickly shift to my wolfani form and dart through the woods. I smell other wolves and I decide to find out who they are, since I am too tired to figure out who it belongs to. I dash silently to and from the shadows, silently following and gaining on several wolves. They reach the lake and I emerge, examining them from a distance. One looks like Cole, one like Matt, but one looks unfamiliar and new. I walk over towards them, trying to decipher who it is, if they are even wolfani at all. After a few minutes with no luck, I decide to announce my presence and ask them who the wolf is.
“Hello boys,” I say sarcastically. They all turn to look at me.
“Hey Bekah,” Matt says. I acknowledge him and the look at the other two.
“Hey,” I hear the strange wolf say to me.
“Who are you?” I ask him. Cole answers for him.
“His name is Dustin. He is not a wolfani, but he is my brother,” Cole explains, “Well, half-brother. My mom not only fell in love with a human but also with a wolf. He obviously didn’t get the wolfani gene but he is loyal to our cause and so is his pack. They travel around all of Elsmera and they rally up other wolfani and wolves.” He pauses and then continues on. “It is coming soon. They are coming for us again, and without you, we have no chance of winning whatsoever.”
“Wait who, all the humans?” I ask him. They never were clear on who we were fighting.
“No, the :Society, the government is who they are.”
“But Elsmera is ruled by the people…” I demand.
“That’s what they want you to think, but they covertly control it. They want to be rid of all human-animal hybrids like us. They also dislike wolves and other predators, because they survive on the same thing we do, the animals of the forest. The :Society wants to be completely in control of everything, including the forests. They want no predators except humans, the ones they control. They can’t control use, therefore we must be eliminated,” Cole’s half-brother explains. Blood rushes to my ears and I feel the anger pound in my chest.
“That is horrible. How do they plan to fight us? There is no way they could have enough man-power to overtake us…” I shake my head in defiance of this information.
“They have guns,” Cole says simply. “And other weapons no longer used.”
“But there is no more…”
“Ammunition, they have been secretly hoarding it since the Sorrowful Times, maybe even before then,” Matt says.
“How am I supposed to save you?” I ask, trembling. The few leaves left on the trees tremble with me, as a small gossamer wind whispers upon them. I look at them with pleading eyes.
“I don’t know… In the prophecy, it said this ‘The wolfani of pure silver white fur, shall deliver or destroy her race. On the final battle ground there shall occur, a battle, a fight of species. Wolfani verses :Society, one to win the other to die. Wolfani and :Society, the death of one shall the other set free. The wolfani of pure silver white fur shall not be alone. Astride a beautiful beast, she shall bring terror to her enemies’ hearts. She shall soar and will live in history.’” Dustin recites to me. His gray eyes seem to glow but before I can see if they do he turns away.
“Beautiful beast,” I mutter to myself.
“We aren’t sure about that part either,” Matt says hearing my words.
“We aren’t sure about anything except that you are the one they are talking about and that you are either going to destroy us or deliver us. Oh, and that there is going to be a fight” Cole says, stating the obvious. I glare at him and then sigh.
“What do you think it means, ‘Beautiful Beast’” I ask curiously, one of the slivers of sunlight hits my back and I feel warm all over.
“Who knows,” Dustin says flatly. “Let’s go.” I give Cole and Matt pleading looks but they turn to him and run away. The suns ray moves away as they do and the air chills slightly. I shiver and feel a tugging in my heart. It is telling my not to go towards the three wolves but towards Mount Parker (yes Cole and Colton’s friend Parker was named after a mountain). I follow the instinct of sorts and run towards the mountain.
“What the heck…” I mutter flatly to myself as I look up at the towering mountain. I feel the tugging again, this time it is telling me to go upward. Groaning, I look up again and begin to climb.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-One
After a lot of climbing, I see a lot of rocks. I am pulled towards the largest and smoothest one. It is silvery-white like my fur, and brighter than the rest. I reach out to it with my paw and despite all of the snow covering it, it is warm. I transform back to human and pick it up. Cradling it in my arms, I feel warm too, as if this rock was enveloping us with all of its warmth. I hug it to my chest and then set it back down as if it were delicate china. I look around and then shift back to my warm wolfani form. I quickly kill a fox and after cleaning the bones of their meat, I take the skin, which forms a sort of a sling, and bring it back to the rock. I roll the rock into the makeshift sling and pick up the ends into my mouth. Carefully and slowly, I make my way back down the mountain. When I reach the bottom, I set down the rock and look at it again. Why was I pulled to this strange rock? I ask myself. I touch the rock again and the snow that has begun to fall, it falls in a dome around me, as if there was a bubble incasing me and the rock.
“What are you?” I ask the rock. “Why was I drawn to you?” Shaking my head, I cease talking to the rock. Then I realize how crazy I was. I was talking to a rock. I pick it back up and head home to the Drebes’ house.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Two
That week, I mainly sat at home fawning over the rock and hunting with Colton. Strangely, we didn’t see Cole, Matt, or Dustin at all, human or wolf.
A few hours ago, Colton and I got home after hunting. We didn’t kill any game but we had a great time together. Now I am sitting in my bedroom, looking at the odd and beautiful rock. I haven’t showed it to Colton yet, though. I don’t know why but I just haven’t. Suddenly, the rock moves back and forth, as if the bed had shaken it or the wind had blown it, but everything else in my room was still. I get up and move closer to the rock. It shakes again and then it glows brightly, like really glows. It glows like a night star. I shield my eyes and as soon as I do, I hear a cracking noise and the light flashes then dies away. Hesitantly, I take my hands way from my eyes. The rock lays split and broken on my bed and in the middle of the rock shards is a silvery white scaled lizard thing. It uncurls from its fetal position and I realize that the rock was an egg and that the lizard thing is not what I thought it was.
Sitting before me was a dragon that matched my fur color that was also the size of a small fawn. It stretches its wings and turns to me. It squawks at me and stumbles forward because of the weight of its wings. I smile and reach out to touch its smooth scaly head. It squawks again but lets me stroke it. I smile again and then realize that there is a dragon in my room. Dragons are supposed to be myths. They were supposed to have existed only thousands upon thousands of years ago. I back away from the dragon, but I don’t feel scared exactly. The dragon shakes its head and then squawks again. It looks at the window looking outside, where snow has begun to fall. It squawks once more and then it growls. I jump and then feel a strange presence in my mind. It feels strange and then I hear a voice in my mind. It is feminine but it sounds very deep and loud. I look over at the dragon to find it staring at me.
“Her,” the voice in my mind corrects me. At the same time the dragon snorts.
“What?” I say out loud. I look at the dragon and I hear the voice again.
“Hahaha, oh Bekah you are so funny. You know who I am.” The voice says in my mind. I look at the dragon and finally make the connection.
“So why are you here?” I ask.
“Because, you are supposed to save something and you will need my help.” The dragon says to me.
“But how can you help me if you are so young and small” I challenge, growing frustrated.
“We’ll find out, wont we,” the dragon chuckles, I calm a little and decide find out her name so I can stop calling her the ‘dragon’. Before I even say a word, I just think it, she replies to me, “My name is yours to choose, Bekah.” I shudder and realize that I can talk back to her without speaking aloud.
“What should I call you then…” I say to myself, crossing my arms and looking carefully at the beautiful dragon. Then I got it. “I will call you Bellatrix, female hunter.” Bellatrix smiles at this and she seems like it. “Now, you can’t live in here,” I say “But you can live in the forest near this house.” Bellatrix nods and I open the window. She jumps out and spreads her wings. After wobbling a little bit, she gets the hang of it and flies into the forest, like an oversized bat.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Three
The next morning, before the sun has even risen, I wake up to hear a tapping at my window and I wake up to see a large shape covering my entire window. I almost scream and then I see the silver-white scales. I jump out of bed quickly and put on my favorite hunting dress.
I slip out of the window. “Whoa, look who grew big all of a sudden,” I say to Bellatrix. “What did you eat?” Bellatrix rolls her eyes at me and then speaks to me.
“I only ate three deer,” she says sheepishly. Then she looks at me. “What did you expect me to do?” I laugh and smile at her.
“Well, I have to go to school,” I tell her as I stroke her head. I feel her grow unhappy at this, but I can do nothing to soothe her. “Sorry,” I say slipping back into my room. I grab my things and open my door. Colton walks out of his room at the same time. I smile at him and after we grab a few strips of dried meat, we walk to school together.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Four
When Colton and I get to school, I see Hannah, Kelsey, and Elisha sitting in the back corner whispering to each other. I glare at them and I head back to Colton who is sitting with Justin and Parker. Cole isn’t anywhere to be seen. I sit with them and we talk and joke around until class is about to start. I watch Kelsey, Hannah, and Elisha strut back to their seats with an I-am-so-perfect swagger. I almost laugh. Then class starts so I turn my attention to Ms. McBauerman.
At lunch break, I talk with Colton and our friends for a while. We laugh a lot, but when I see Elisha alone, I leave my group to go talk to her. I walk quickly over to her and put a hand on her shoulder so that she can’t run away. She whirls around to face me and after a look of fear and surprise cross her face, she plasters on a fake smile.
“Hey Bekah!” she says in a voice dripping with forced cheerfulness. “I haven’t seen you around as much. What’s up?” I am so angry with her that I literally have to whisper to myself to keep myself from hurting her.
“What’s up with you? I heard you’ve been hanging with Hannah and Kelsey,” I say keeping my calm. Elisha laughs nervously and I roll my eyes.
“What are you talking about? You’re my best friend!” Elisha says nervously, making flustered gestures with her hands. I laugh.
“Yeah, I was your best friend. Until you tried to ruin my life,” I snarl back growing confident and powerful. Elisha’s eyes grow wide and her skin growls pale, the color only left in her blushing cheeks.
“Wha… what are you talk…. talking about?” She stammers as she asks again.
“Everything, you and Kelsey have always been waiting for moments to trip me from behind when I am weak or vulnerable. You have always wanted to ruin me, haven’t you?” I rant angrily, almost yelling. Elisha cringes at almost every word, growing smaller.
“Bekah,” Elisha begins softly, tears rimming her eyes. Then her eyes grow harsh and cold. “You know what, you are right. You always have thought that you were better than everyone. Hannah and Kelsey accept me for who I am. They like me. They respect me!” She shouts in my face. I am startled and step back and she takes advantage of this. She steps forward and gets in my face again. “You always talked about yourself; everything we did was always about you, you, and you.”
“Oh, really… So when you couldn’t stop talking about Parker or Cole or Justin, and how amazing they were and how much you liked them and how much you wanted them to like them back. Oh, and let’s not forget how much you talked about you and Justin’s relationship, about every single thing that happened. And I always listened to you drone on and on and I was ready to give you advice…” I say angrily yelling at her. “And you always were ready to tell me your secrets and I never told a single one of them, but when I told you how much you liked Colton you couldn’t keep quiet, but no you had to tell him, and not just him, but everyone in our class!!!”
“And look where you two are now!” Elisha points out.
“That’s only because Colton is understanding and kind and he isn’t a jerk like a lot of the other guys around here, like Alex and Seth.” I say softly, defending my point. She smiles nastily and shakes her head at me.
“You stupid little girl,” she says, mimicking Gina almost perfectly. “Do you really know him?” I am about to comeback with a smart remark but Ms. McBauerman rings the bell signaling that we need to get back to class and Elisha runs back to her ‘pack’.

 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Five
As soon as school is out, Colton and I walk back to his house. While he goes to practice some things we learned in class, I slip out my window to see Bellatrix. I go into the forest a little bit before I hear her voice in my mind, telling me where to go to find her.
“The forest where you are is too dense for me to land in Bekah; a little ways to your left is a place where the trees are sparse enough for me to land.” Bellatrix tells me. I start walking in that direction and reply to her in my mind.
“What? Have you grown again?” I joke with her as I constantly get closer to my where she wants me to go. I feel her grow insecure and I try to make amends with her. “Listen I didn’t mean it that way Bella.”
“Whatever Bekah,” she snaps at me. I pull away from her mind and trudge into the sparser forest area where she is landing. She cups her wings to slow her descent and then lands, hitting me with a strong gush of wind. I look her over and realize that she is now the size of a draft horse, maybe even larger. I walk over to her and stroke her wings and her scaled neck.
“Wow. You are so big and beautiful.” I tell her as I walk back to her head. She flutters her wings in her pride. I smile at her.
“Thanks. You want a ride?” she asks me, pride still filling her voice. Not knowing how to ride a dragon I shrug my shoulders. She laughs and then tells me “It’s similar to riding a horse. Just hold on tight.” She lies down so I can sit right where her neck meets her body, in a hollow that acts sort of like a saddle. I hang on with my legs and arms. . I say a quick prayer and hope that I won’t fall off and Bellatrix laughs again and then jumps into the air and spreads her wings. When we are well above the forest, I look around and I can see for miles, I can even see beyond Chinook, into other parts of Elsmera.
“Woo-Hoo!” I shout into the sky, pumping one fist and then quickly returning to holding on for my life. “This is awesome.” I tell Bellatrix in my mind. I can feel her grow happy. Her happiness felt like the sun that never came out was shining on me.
After flying around like that for a half hour or so, Bella and I are tired so she lands where we took off.
“Thanks Bellatrix. That was amazing.” I say, still pumped from adrenaline, but my muscles hurt and are sore from holding on so tightly.
“Thank you too, for coming along. It was so funny listening to you up there,” she jokes with me. I roll my eyes at her and then hug her neck. Then after saying goodbye and goodnight, I begin my walk back to the Drebes’ house and my bedroom.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Six
Colton played his guitar again and he showed me a few things he called chords. It was really cool. After Colton finished showing me how to play, we kissed.
Now, I am sitting in my room, writing. I think about the chords Colton showed me and I hum them. Then I mix them around into a pretty pattern. Maybe I will play them for him sometime when he brings his guitar out again. I get into my sleep clothing and then I put away my writing supplies. I lie down on my cot and pull the covers up to my chin. I fall asleep, thinking of Bellatrix, Colton, the Prophecy, and Elisha, Hannah and Kelsey.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Seven
At school, Elisha, Kelsey, Hannah, and I got into a big. It started out with words and slams but almost ended up with punches being thrown or worse. Thankfully, Colton, Parker, Justin, and Cole managed to see us, and they pulled us apart before we could hurt anyone or get hurt. Boy, did I want to sock them hard. It is probably better that I didn’t but I still want to.
After school, I go to Bellatrix after dropping my stuff off at Colton’s house. She is now larger than one of the biggest cottages in all of Chinook. She takes me for another flight, a ride in the sky as she would like to call it, and it was even more amazing than the last time.
Now I am hunting, as a human. The winter air bites at my skin, the bare trees stopping no wind, showing no mercy as they do in the summer. I hold my bow in my left hand and an unused arrow in my right. Standing as still as stone, I wait and listen and look for any sign of the animals and animal life that seen to have disappeared from this tense, cold, and wintery village. I haven’t seen a single animal, not even a bug or a fish or a squirrel. I sigh and I am about to give up and head home when I see a flash of movement in the empty and colorless forest out of the corner of my eye. I listen and wait, unmoving once again. I hear a noise to me left, and I slowly begin to turn that way. I see a flash of movement and I catch a glimpse of, of the tip of a tail perhaps? I notch my arrow and I take aim at where the animal moved to. The shadow of a tree hides it mostly, but I can see its face, its green eyes and golden fur. I was about to shoot but when I saw his face I almost dropped my bow. I put it and the arrow away and I run to the wolf, or in this case, wolfani.
“Bekah!” he greets me with both urgency and warmth.
“What’s wrong Cole?” I ask him, nervous and scared by what his tone implies.
“They are coming. The :Society, they are coming closer. We have a few days, maybe more if the weather and God favor us, but they are coming for us nonetheless,” he tells me, shaking where he stands, in fear. “We have some things for you to wear during your battle and a few other things too. Come with me,” Cole says, trying to regain his composure.
“Wait, I have a few more people and such who will be willing to fight with us,” I announce to him.
“What???” Cole questions me, confused. I laugh and ignore what he says, turning to run towards Colton’s house.
“This way, come on!” I say loudly, continuing to run. I yell to Bellatrix in my mind and she replies quickly.
“What do you need Bekah?” she asks me, sensing my urgency and sincerity.
“Just meet me where you hatched, in a few minutes,” I instruct her, leaving the details for later. “I will explain when we get there.”
“Fine, I am on my way,” she says and then leaves my mind. I smile and then look back to make sure Cole is following me. He is but he is still a few meters away. I slow so he can catch up to me and he looks graciously at me.
“So what exactly are you doing?” he puffs as he runs on his four golden paws.
“Getting some recruits for your army.” I tell him, beginning to get short on breath. His eyes widen and I laugh hoarsely.
“Okay,” he says just going with my plan as he stumbles along.
When we reach Colton’s house, I see Bellatrix behind the house. She towers over it by many metes, having grown even bigger and looks menacing. Cole stops and trips over his own paws when he sees her. She growls and I speak to both of them.
“Cole this is my dragon Bellatrix, Bellatrix this is my friend Cole he is a wolfani,” I say introducing them to each other. Cole’s mouth hangs open in awe and Bellatrix swells with pride. That same moment, Colton runs out the front door of his house and runs into me.
“Bekah, what…” he begins but I stop him and introduce him to Bellatrix.
“Colton, this is my dragon Bellatrix. Bella, this is my amazing boyfriend, Colton,” Colton looks in shock and amazement from me to Bellatrix and back. “Isn’t she beautiful?” I ask them all. Colton nods and smiles at me while Cole is still too shocked to speak. I address Cole happily, “I believe that this is my ‘beautiful beast,’” I say quoting The Prophecy, Cole just nods and stares at Bellatrix, taking in her beauty, strength, and power. “Why don’t we round up a few more warriors and then Cole can take us where he was planning to a minute ago,” I suggest.
“Sure,” Cole finally says. “How do you suggest getting there though? We can’t walk there with a few humans, a dragon, and two wolfani.” I smile, because I know exactly how we can.
“Bella, can you handle a few humans while Cole and I run as wolfani?” I ask her politely even though I know the answer will be yes.
“Of course I can, and I would be honored to carry your friends,” she tells us all in our minds. I can tell it shocks them but I know it amazes them too.
“Thanks,” I tell her out loud. Then we all head towards the other village cottages while Bellatrix flies above us. We get Parker, Justin, and a few more of my friends and then after they timidly sit upon Bellatrix’s back, she takes off and Cole and I run as wolfani towards the hidden safe house.
 

[BookAuthor]

Chapter Twenty-Eight
When reach the safe house, the wolfani, wolves, and humans all scatter as Bellatrix lands with my friends. They cower in fear as my friends dismount but I assure them that she means them no harm and that my friends are her to help us fight. Matt steps forward and asks Bellatrix if he can sit upon her back and feel her power. She obliges and soon many others ask the same thing or just to feel her scales. She lets them, enjoying the attention.
For the next three days, we are all outfitted with bulletproof clothing that the wolfani has been hoarding since the last war against the :Society. They even manage to make armor for Bellatrix from the leftover bulletproof clothing, even though her scales covering her body were as tough and hard as the hardest of stone and metals. She accepts them graciously and practiced flying in.
That third night, we all sit a huge bonfire that Bellatrix provided us with. We sit there and tell stories and Colton plays his guitar. Bellatrix flew him home so he could get it. Everyone is enchanted and we all hum along. After he finishes I take him aside and play the tune I made up for him. He smiles at me when I am finished.
“Not bad, I liked it,” Colton tells me, putting his guitar in its case after I hand it back to him. After he finishes, we rejoin the circle of merry people. We all hang out there for a little while when we hear a loud yell. At first it is unintelligible, but it grows louder and closer and eventually I can make out what it is.
“They are almost here!” A sentry warns us. We all scramble up and Bellatrix extinguishes the fire. We grab our armor and our weapons and after we are all ready, we exit the fortress they I have stayed in for four days and set up our formation in the forest. I, astride Bellatrix, sit at the very back of the formation, hidden from :Society, but Bellatrix can see them advancing. When they are in position, we follow the plan and she jumps into the sky, roaring so loudly I have to cover my ears and even then it is really loud. She sends several jets of flames into the sky and then lands at the front of our mixed army. I get off of Bellatrix and I see four hooded people step forward from :Society’s side. The three shorter ones stop and the tallest one steps forward. The tallest one removes her hood and I gasp, in anger and in shock.
“Well, well, well, what a surprise,” Gina says flatly and sarcastically. “I knew you would be here you disgusting little wolfani brat.” I am shocked. Not because she called me a brat but because she was one of them and she knew I was and am a wolfani. Then it hits me like a slap in the face, Gina knew I was the one. That is why she was ruining my life and stealing my dad. She didn’t really like him; she was using him to spy on me and to get inside my head. It worked to. The other three hooded figures that stepped forward earlier with Gina step forward again and remove their hoods from their heads. I cover my mouth with my hand as my knees and legs go weak. The brunette and redhead laugh while the black haired girl stays silent, her head bowed.
“Hannah? Kelsey?” I struggle to say their names. “Elisha? You’ve joined them? Why?” I say shocked and unable to understand. Hannah steps forward again, the boldest and worst of the three, as she has always been.
“We joined,” she says in her snobby little voice. “Because of you,” she throws out. “WE joined because we hate you. You always think you are so amazing and better than everyone, better than ME!” she says, the last part slipping out as she ranted and I knew she was thinking it but never meant to say it, especially in front of her minions.
“Totally,” Kelsey says in agreement while Elisha just kind of nods. “You do always think you are the best and that you deserve everything.” I know just what to say to that.
“Really, because I am pretty sure if you ask anyone else in our class they would say that you two, I mean, you three,” I begin harshly, lumping Elisha in with them. “Are exactly what you guys just said I was or am. You walk around like you are all that, like you are saying I-am-better-than-you-and-you-should-know-that without even saying anything, but you say plenty to. But you don’t like telling people things to their faces, no you are too cowardly to do that, you just talk behind their backs and then stab their backs when they seem the easiest to hurt,” I yell angrily, adrenaline beginning to rush through my veins. Elisha flinches and gets a pained look on her face. Hannah and Kelsey just seem to grow angry.
“Now, now,” Gina begins in her sickly disgusting voice. “Let’s not act like children unless you are one,” she looks directly at me, “Bekah.” That’s it. It is the last straw.
“Fine, then let’s stop using petty words to fight and let’s fight with our weapons,” I shout angrily, striding over to Bellatrix and then sitting upon her back. She raises herself back to her full height and majesty and I pray to God that we will have victory and no injuries, and that the people of the :Society and their mercenary soldiers might realize their mistakes and repent of them. Most of the :Society people smile when I say this. They reveal several guns, each manned by three or four :Society mercenaries. I realize that is all they have when some pull out daggers and others just curl their hands into fists.
“We will be evenly matched on the ground once we take out the guns,” Bellatrix says what I am thinking to me and all of our army. I see many smiles and I know that they are even more confident and motivated to win this.