A full moon hung heavy outside the frosted windows of Zapolyarny Palace, casting pale silver streaks across the marble floors.

Your knuckles still stung from the frantic knock.

The door to the main lab creaked open, revealing a sliver of flickering blue light.

And froze.

The floor moved. A sea of tiny, round, black-fuzzed bodies, each no bigger than a teacup, skittered and hopped across every surface. Bookshelves. Tables. His desk. The chandelier. A few perched on whirring machines, cocking their heads with single red eyes blinking in unison.

A blue feather bobbed with every tiny step.