BEADMAIL NO. 2

He was tempted to stay in the cozy warm bed, hugged sweetly by the human child who loved him with all her heart. But there was a world to save. There is a mission that only he could accomplish. Reluctantly, he slid carefully and quietly from beneath the tender arm of the sleeping child. He dropped to the floor without a sound as his shadow reached the hidden compartment in the bedroom toybox. He withdrew his black mask and uniform from the secret alcove. Quickly he dressed and vanished into the night. Legend said he was an assassin, a spy, a saboteur, an invisible ghost of silent and lethal attack. Folklore claimed that he could shapeshift into birds or any number of animals; he could divide himself into multiple bodies, control the elements of earth, wind, or fire; he could walk across water. He fought alone, unseen, uncredited, unknown, slipping in and out of impossible places like a trick of the light with unrepentant consequences. Tonight he is to complete another mission, pursuin