S3:CH5

Kindred sighed. This wasn't the first time it happened. He swore to himself that it was just the past that reminded him of what he did, but peaceful men will always suffer in a field of battle, while murderers celebrate in that blaze of glory. In the end, he knew that he did what he could do to prevent any complications. But that was the point wasn't it? Doing what he could do did not mean that he actually did it perfectly. But then, maybe he just needed to move on. He was not a general anymore. He should be worrying more about what was the next lesson plan for his students in the University rather than worrying about the Red Blood Regiment and The Magrins. He trusted General Kai for that anyways.

Someone held his hand. It was Vivian, now partly awake. Her eyes were still closed, but the feeling of her husband's hand was enough to make her smile. "Hun, I don't think the sun has been up for now." She said.

Kindred scoffed, then the memories from earlier began to fade away. He smiled, and then looked at her. He brushed his hand on her hair, carefully caressing it. He then brushed off her hair stuck in front of her face and put it on her side. "You know me. Most of the women in the staff team come earlier than I expected."

Kindred sighed. "Yeah... It was - It was that."

Vivian went close to him putting her hands on his cheek. "It's alright, dear. I couldn't imagine what wars the Red Blood Regiment had for you to have this." Kindred smiled at her caring expression. "You know that your charm is too effective to get me off guard sometimes. You could fit The Clan of Aeryth for that behavior." He said, making them both chuckle. Kindred moved to Vivian and held her chin. Vivian could feel her heart race as he smirked at her. "But you said-"

"Well it's still early morning." Kindred said, smiling at her. Their faces slowly moved closer and closer together. Kindred slowly closed his eyes. Vivian did the same and smiled at him.

"Mom, Dad! I'm late for school!" sounded a child, before immediately opening the door, causing him to see his parents very close to each other on the bed with open eyes, before immediately looking at him. "What!?" Vivian said, suddenly jumping off the bed. She then opened her windows to see the blinding light of the sun entering their house. "IT WAS LATE MORNING THE ENTIRE TIME!?" She shouted.

The family immediately rushed to their morning routines and immediately went to their universities.

---

Rope binds were tied to William's upper body and arms as he is forced to move along with Thomas and Ni Mor. They have been walking for two days now with brief breaks during the night. The trek on the hills were quite peacefull, but they had to steer clear away from the growling sounds of the zombies from below. Thomas wanted to set William free. He wanted to give at least a small comfort for William. But, Ni Mor was not going to take up any chances. An assassin of The Black Valkyrie Regiment was still an assassin, even if it was a anyone's former friend.

"How's the Rope, assassin?" Ni Mor said, smirking at him. William remained silent, causing the former admiral of the Ravenian Royal Navy to scoff at his response. Thomas looked at William, his eyes fixated on the ropes. If only he could cut the ropes right now. It's not like he was going to fight anyways. But then again, Ni Mor had the bigger experience. He was the military man. Thomas's background was just a simple scout cadet of the Red Blood Regiment. Even if he was the best cadet scout that the RBR ever had, greatness does not translate to experience.

"You know..." Thomas spoke, trying to make William look at him. "This does put a perspective as to what us shifters have experienced for a long time. We have been restricted all our lives just like you are now."

William kept his silence. His hood kept his face from showing any sort of reaction. No one from the two could figure out what William was thinking in his head. "Let's rest here." Ni Mor then said.

"Uncle, there's something I should-" Thomas said, before immediately stopping. Ni Mor looked at the boy with a puzzled face. "Yes?" He asked. Thomas hesitated for a moment. He was unsure whether or not his words would do something wrong to the both of them and to their goal. No. it won't be risky. It was just a simple question.

"Why don't we take off his binds? Perhaps William's finding it hard to breathe. It's not like he's going to fight anyways." He said. Ni Mor looked at Thomas, then at William. He knew what William was capable of. As a former soldier of the Ravenian Royal Navy, he knew the capabilities of an operator in the Black Valkyrie Regiment. And that was just an operator. This was the damned general they were talking about. And if what this assassin said was true, him being a shifter would make it much more of a bigger problem that it already is. However, if the stories were also true, and if Thomas was not making a mistake on his words, then there wouldn't really be any harm regarding William. Not to mention, there were two of them. Ni Mor thought all of this while looking at the distant. There was a flickering light in the middle of the forest. They were near their destination. 

"Alright then, if you really want to." Ni Mor said.

Ni Mor sat down alongside the others. Thomas got to untie William, and he finally got to breathe properly. "We're almost there." Thomas said to William as he looked at the flickering light from the forest. The assassin kept his silence. Then, he looked at William, with his eyes still being covered by his hood.

"Listen. It will be alright. We just want to show you what us shifters are living under." Thomas said.

"He's right." sounded Ni Mor, who took out his hammer to wipe some blood off of it with his cloth. "There's a reason why I left the Ravenians for this."

William looked at the light in the middle of the forest. Then he looked at his sword. Quietly, he then looked at the two of them. "I won't leave Ravena for this." he said.

Ni Mor was taken aback by William's statement. "A loyalist till the very end eh?" He said, before stopping in cleaning his hammer. "Why? You don't think that the shifters have suffered long enough by this bloody war? You never thought how many deaths were cause by this pointless conflict? Ichikari, Kyle, Emilia, your men? My men? The shifters themselves?"

"Don't lecture me about shifters, admiral." William said, raising his voice a bit. He stood up, causing Ni Mor to suddenly grip his hammer to immediately get ready for a strike. But no - William had no intention to fight. Instead, transformed into a wolf to jump towards a higher point on the hill. He then changed back to his human form with his back turned against the two. "You were given an injection. You made that choice. I didn't." He said, before walking up. Ni Mor glared at the assassin. Thomas tried to reach for him, but his shoulder was grabbed by Ni Mor. Thomas saw the look on his 'uncle's' eyes. It was enough for him to understand what was in them.

"Let's just go." Ni Mor said.

William walked away and back into the plains. However, he stopped. He looked back to see the two going down the hill and into the forest. He could return now to Ravena. And what? Go back to his brothers, and lead? That would be what the kingdom needed. And maybe he could change the way the brotherhood treated the shifters. However...

If he was going to do that, and if he was going to listen to Ni Mor, then that would mean that he should be doing something about that as well. Yes. Something effective. Something efficient. Something that was necessary.

William transformed into his wolf form and turned back. He sprinted into the forest and heard the growls and screeches of the zombies. He transformed back to his human form to climb up the trees and jump from branch to branch. Wait. Something was different. These zombies were intelligent enough to learn how to climb trees, but somehow, they were not attacking him - let alone detecting him. There was something different about them. The Black Valkyrie General crept down the tree he was in, and saw the zombies lumbering on the forest floor. He was correct. They weren't looking at him or even trying to kill him. But why?

William continued to walk through the forest with the zombies beside him - completely ignoring his presence. It was strange, but the more he approached the camp, the more the zombies started to fade away from his sight. He transformed back into his wolf form to enter the camp without alerting the guards. With the guards seeing him, they immediately trusted this wolf who was bigger than most ones. He saw the camp's quiet atmosphere. Everyone was sleeping. There were a couple of people who were taking a bit of fresh air, but in the end, he was here for one person only. And there she was.

"Come on. We'll need to see this new plan." said Lady Ebony, who was talking to another woman who had massive wings on her back. They were walking towards the leader's tent, which was guarded by two soldiers with spears. "While Keith is still trying to find Ni Mor and Thomas, I will need you to make sure that The Black Valkyrie Regiment isn't following them back." She said.

"That won't be necessary." William said after going back to his human form. For Ebony, she was surprised at the sight, but not afraid. But for this other woman, it was the biggest danger she has encountered today. The woman unsheathed her greatsword on her back, emanating a sound that spoke of her hostility towards this assassin. The guards immediately pointed their weapons at William. He was wearing black, and he had a hood. The insignia on his shoulder did not matter; nor were the shoulder pauldrons. That silhouette alone casted a memory to these people on what type of person was underneath that clothing. "Minthe, it's alright." Ebony said, looking at her with a calm face. She then looked at William, who was still standing in a calm poise. "What do you want?"

"Truce." William said.

----

Henrik laughed his heart off as he rode his deer into the forest looking for Keith. Those Ravenians were no match against his deer's speed and agility in the forests. He hacked and slashed his way into the forest zombies, as his squad followed along. They were 5 men. But 5 men were enough to kill this traitor.

"What's the matter old man!? You running out of breath!? Show yourself and face my blade!" Henrik shouted loudly with a corruptive smile on his face. It had been months since he has been called by what he was formerly known as. Jim - the same Sir Jim who was in The Red Blood Regiment. The same man who wanted to fight for the people. He now transferred into The Committee of State Security. The former Karthusian, now a part of The Vonturian Military. The idea of Democracy radicalized him. It turned him into something else entirely. No. This was not the work of Democracy. he simply loved killing his enemies. For what? That would be the question of his former red comrades. Who knows.

Keith scrambled to wait at the treetops. Unlike William, the zombies were always trying to catch him, always trying to kill him. His rest was enough for him to start running again once Henrik tracked him. To Keith, it was very surprising for him to see this feat coming from his former comrade. The problem was, Henrik wasn't his former comrade. The skills and training in tracking down enemies proved deadly to Henrik because of this. The elf did not doubt whether or not Henrik will hesitate in killing him. He won't.

Keith saw a light in the middle of the forest while running. That's it. He was close.

-----

Minthe looked at William in a puzzled face. To her, it didn't make sense why another shifter wanted to make peace with The Clan of Aeryth. It was obvious that every shifter clan in Selyria wanted peace. He couldn't be from The Clan of Morheim, as he was not wearing gray. He was wearing black. However, when she shone a torch near his body, it was clear.

The guards saw this and immediately closed their position on William to try to threaten him more. An assassin, belonging to the murderous regiment. Was this an ambush? Should Minthe sound the alarm? 

"I'm alone." General WIlliam said, while looking at the guards, before gently putting down the spearheads pointed at his head. "No one wants this war to continue. I wish to finally end this animosity between us. There's a bigger problem to face here."

"Bigger problem?" Ebony asked, before raising her hand to calm the guards down. "That's for another discussion, but I need you on this. I need the trust of my brothers and sisters, and I need the trust of your clan members." William replied. Minthe raised her hand to get the guards to lower their weapons. William's breath decelerated, then his head slowly shifted to face Minthe and Ebony. "So what's the plan, assassin?" Ebony asked.

"My name is William, and we need your help in stopping Jericho Meril."

"Jericho? You mean the man whose goal is to help the shifters?" Ebony said before William could even finish his sentence completely. "You want us to be pawns in your game of chess, William?"

"You don't understand. Jericho is not your ally."

"And so are you. This clan has been standing on its own ever since your regiment committed the massacre on our people. Do you think I would trust an assassin rather than a shifter?"

Their talk was interrupted by an elf running towards the camp. Panting heavily, he struggled to keep his feet moving. "LADY EBONY!" he said, doing his hardest to breathe while the guards helped him up, following him was a squad of Vonturian soldiers mounting deer.

"We got a lot of fresh meat today boys!!!" Henrik said, before immediately taking out his Semi-Automatic VA-Crossbow. It was futile however, as a lot of guards already decided to attack the CSS.

"Signal the flare." Henrik said, before a man began to arm his crossbow with a bolt that had a red mana-nullifier crystal on its tip. The man shot upwards, and the glowing red light shot far up in the sky. Several wolf shifters then immediately came running towards Henrik, which made them retreat for a bit. "Fall back for a rendezvous with the GEG!" He then said.

The camp's bells clang loudly, and the soldiers became high alert. Bears and moose suddenly came out of tents, as well as other animals, ready for anything. Suddenly, a rumbling sound approached them. Followed by growls and men cheering.

"Magrin Guards!!!" A Clan Member shouted. Pretty soon enough, an entire army of Golden Eagle Guard knights came to approach the camp . The sound of foot soldiers riddled the forest, and it was at this point where Ebony and Minthe got their weapons ready. "You said you were alone." Ebony said.

"Those aren't my men." William replied, before taking out his weapon as well to prepare for the attack.

"No Ebony. It's Jericho." Keith said, before standing up and getting his sword ready. "He's using the shifter gas."

Ebony's eyes widened behind her mask. If he was using the shifter gas, then that means....

Growls and screams from afar...

"They're here!!!" Henrik shouted, before shooting the zombies behind him. The Golden Eagle Guard then got to their formation and fought them as hard as they could. Ebony signaled the shifters to stay inside the camp and let the CSS and GEG fight the zombies. Slowly and surely, they warded them off. However, something was different. The zombies were not headed towards Henrik. They were more attracted to something else. They were headed to Vontur. Henrik realized this and he was left with a choice. He could either go to Vontur to distract the zombies before it's too late, or he could kill all the shifters in this camp. He thought carefully. No. he did not want to think this through. Especially now that the shifters are finally found.

He wanted blood.

"Everyone focus on the camp!!!" Henrik commanded, making the GEG fight the remaining zombies while the CSS moved into the gate. The resistance was very hard, and they needed more backup. They just needed to wait for the other CSS soldiers to arrive.

"Minthe. You remember what I taught you?" Ebony said.

"Aye." Minthe replied, before getting her greatsword ready.

Soon, zombies came inside the gate and targeted Keith. The COA soldiers easily bested these zombies with their abilities, but the more they killed them, the more they saw the horror of what they looked like. Green gooey substances seeped out of their mouths and wounds. Their skin was fully pale. They could sometimes say simple words like "Help!", but in the end, they were mindless. They had the glowing eyes of a shifter, and this realization hit soon after.

"That....." General William said, looking at the fresh corpses. "That's what Jericho is fighting for."

Ebony and Minthe stared at the corpses. They were mostly children and women. Some were elderly. Some had their faces still smiling, as if they were bitten while they were playing dolls with their peers. Some faces screamed in agony, and some, only had blank faces filled with green toxic liquid. Minthe felt her stomach turn as she saw this. This was not what she wanted the Clan of Aeryth to be. Never.

The fighting outside the camp stopped. There were no sounds of the GEG whatsoever. Something about this caused Minthe and Keith to have their hearts pounding even faster.

"Why is the CSS attacking you? I thought you were one of them before?" asked Ebony.

"I know." Keith said, looking at his leader. "Something's wrong with this new group. When I was there, we were fighting for freedom and liberty."

Ebony, Minthe, and William stopped to look at Keith staring at the ground. His eyes were shaking, and his breath was becoming more and more fast paced. "They're starting to become conquerors now."

A roar was heard outside the camp on the spot where the GEG was positioned. Henrik watched from afar as he looked at the now destroyed camp gate, then towards the GEG - well, if there were even remaining GEG soldiers in the first place. The GEG army that came in were shattered. All dead. They were not fit for forest warfare. Yes, they killed most of the shifter zombies, but this did not guarantee them safety from these creatures.

The guards stood up, but they were not soldiers anymore. They were something else....

"Senior Operator, what are we going to do?" said one of Henrik's squad mates.

"Then so be it." Ebony said, glaring at William. "I'd rather die that see him get killed in front of me."

"But what about the alliance? You need to be alive for that!?" William said.

Ebony stared at William's eyes. The sounds of battle from the outside continued, and Ebony realized that the guards were only by the tens now. The Clan leader then looked at Minthe and said, "That's not my decision to make anymore."

"Ebony...." Minthe said, taken aback by what Ebony stated.

"Now go. Keep them safe." the fox shifter said.

Minthe walked back, then shifted into a falcon to catch up with the people who were evacuating. Keith and William stayed. "Well what are you doing here? Go now with Minthe."

"When I said I wanted an alliance with you. I mean that." William said while looking at her. "We're going to get Thomas and Ni Mor safely. Alright?"

"But how?" Keith said.

"I have a plan." The assassin replied.

-----

"3, 2, 1, THROWING SMOKE!"

"GO GO GO!"

"I GOT YOUR SIX!"

The sounds of men from the CSS squad came to the gate as what remained from the destroyed door was finally opened by one of the men's sledgehammer. The squad walked with massive precision as they aimed their crossbows at any target they could find. One by one, the shifter guards died as most of the arrows hit cleanly on their heads. Henrik smiled as he used his axe to cut down as many shifters as he could. The shifters fought back by using their shifter abilities, transforming to animals and killing off the squads. One even transformed into a raptor and proceeded to bite the heads off of the soldiers. But, in the end, the guards were all dead. 

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"I got a tango here, 12 o'clock!"

The CSS squad immediately raised their crossbow again to see William standing, along with Ebony and Keith tied up, while kneeling.

"What in the name of Ekaj are you doing here, Ravenian?" Henrik asked, as the smoke cleared, making it more crystalline on what seemed to be William successfully capturing the two leaders.

"Royal Orders. My assignment was to capture Keith and Ebony, along with other important shifters."

"Royal Orders? I never heard such a thing."

"You live in a Republic now, Henrik. Royal Orders are obviously not your thing."

The CSS squad giggled a bit at William's response. "Enough." Henrik said. "You gonna kill her or what?"

"Obviously not. I also need the two that you captured."

The CSS soldiers put their hands a bit tightened on their crossbows. "They're mine, Ravenian."

William tightened his hands for a bit. However, he needed to keep his cool for this. There was an entire squad of CSS soldiers, and only 3 of them. One wrong move and it was death for all of them.

"Then you're disobeying royal orders. And let's see how your general would react to someone starting a war because of you."

Henrik laughed, for a bit. He then cackled the more the scene went on. Each violent burst of air out of his mouth made William sweat for a little bit. "Oh please. There's an entire squad of my men, and only one of you. We can just silence you and say you were part of the collateral damage." With this, William walked back a bit. He looked towards the men slowly aiming towards him. They were ready to take him down. He then looked at the trees surrounding the camp. With this, he developed an idea.

"Who said anything about being alone?" William said, making the CSS soldiers bring their crossbows down. Henrik's eyebrow raised, while he looked at William. "Take a look at the trees, Henrik. Tell me what do you see."

"Nothing..."

"Exactly. They wouldn't be inside the Black Valkyrie Regiment if you immediately spotted them right?"

Gasps and whispers came from the squad. "Check the perimeter!" one of the soldiers said. "Copy that." a reply said. Henrik then squinted his eyes on William, as if to see if he was telling the truth. William felt his heart pound on his chest. It was almost as if it could be heard if they were in a silent library. Suddenly...

"Very well then." Henrik said, which made the CSS put their weapons down. William felt his entire body exhale, as he then looked at Ebony and Keith.

"HOWEVER!" Henrik shouted, while smiling at the three. "I need you to do something."

A group of CSS soldiers arrived along with Thomas and Ni Mor. They were tied together, and they were visibly scared. "I want you to stab Ebony in the stomach. Just so I can see her pain."

"What?" William said, with his eyes visibly looking puzzled at his request.

"Why? Do you have sympathy for shifters now? They're scum! I lost May because of this war with them. I wanna make her feel all the pain I had from losing her. And I want it now." Henrik said, while his words became more erratic and fast.

William grabbed his sword, but he could not unsheathe it. He did not want to hurt Ebony. He wanted to be allies with her. But the squad was there. Henrik knew about the shifters' biology. He knew how shifters had better cell regeneration than any other race. But he just wanted Ebony to suffer. William looked at Ebony, trying to ask without speaking, what he was going to do. Ebony then whispered.

"Do it."

William's eyes expanded at what he heard. Slowly, he took out his blade, which made Henrik smile. Preparing for the strike, Keith repetitiously looked at Henrik and William. He slowly became slightly pale, and his breathe quickened. Suddenly, a slashing sound erupted from Ebony's stomach. "EBONYY!!!!" Thomas shouted, but she was held back by Henrik. Keith tried to stand up to fight William, but Ebony, with the last strength that she had, pulled Keith downwards. "It's ok...." Ebony whispered to Keith, as the elf looked at her only in dread.

"Now let them go." William said, but Henrik still held on to Thomas. "Hold on, brother. I was just getting started."

Henrik used his crossbow to shoot Ebony in the shoulder. A grunt escaped from the fox lady. "NO!!!" shouted Thomas. However, he could not do anything. The Mana Nullifiers prevented him and Ni Mor from shifting.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, HUH!? THAT'S WHAT MY PAIN WAS WHEN MAY DIED!" Henrik shouted at her, slowly moving towards her, while letting go of Thomas and Ni Mor. The two shifters immediately went to try to stop Ebony from bleeding, and Henrik only laughed as he saw Ebony slowly dying. However, William's eyes turned from horror, to a more reserved one. 

Ebony pulled out the arrow stuck on her shoulder. Then, she scoffed. She then put one leg up, making her kneel. She then looked at Henrik smiling underneath her mask. She scoffed, which made Henrik slowly stop his laugh. She then said...

"Henrik. You killed so many people here. You killed so many enemies?" Ebony coughed with her blood seeping beneath her mask. "With so many people you killed...." She said, trying to catch her breath. Thomas suddenly felt his arms become free, as well as Ni Mor. It was Keith, with his hands fully free, and telling them to be quiet.

"You killed more than one hundred people, but all of that could not make the one you love to live." She said.

Henrik felt his veins pop off. His skin turned red, William, then, with a swift move from his knife, cut off Ebony's hands free. Henrik saw this and was shocked. He immediately charged at William but Keith said "NOW!"

William threw a smoke bomb at his position, causing a large black cloud to fill their perimeter. Suddenly, two daggers flew towards Henrik, hitting both of his shoulders. It stopped him for a bit, but his mind was filled with rage to stop now. Arrows rained on the cloud of smoke, and it stopped when Henrik jumped inside it with his axe. However, no one was there. Just a pile of blood, and a trail leading to the back entrance. Henrik tried his best to clear the smoke, to see if William was still there. But there was no one. The Senior Operator inhaled, then exhaled, then again and again. His shoulders puffed as much air as possible, until he stopped. Then, he let out a loud frustrated yell, which was heard throughout the camp. William escaped, along with the rest of the shifters.

"To get the kill." Thomas said, finishing her sentence. "I love you, my son." Ebony said, slowly letting out tears in her eyes. While they were sobbing, the green flashlights coming from the attached mana nullifiers of the CSS's VA-Crossbows started to search through the forests. "Now go." Ebony said, gently pushing them both away. Ebony then took out her mask and unclasped it from her head. She then gave them to Thomas. Her head revealed to be a dark skinned woman who had red glowing eyes. For the first time, William saw Ebony...

...and maybe for the last time as well.

The group stood up and ran towards the people who were evacuating. Thomas, Ni Mor, and William shifted to their animal forms and ran as fast as they could to catch up with the others. Keith diverged from the path and went back to the forest. 

And then there was Ebony....

The fox girl pulled out the sword lodged in her stomach. It was very light - a bit easy to break. It wasn't like her trusty claws, but this could do for now. She stood up until she reached a cliff, fully lit by the full moon. The CSS soldiers slowly moved to her position, and saw that she was weak - bleeding from her stomach as she held her sword. The soldiers laughed and started to approach her with their spears. There were 7 soldiers walking towards her, with Henrik on the far back.

"Let's get this girl to bleed more." said one CSS soldier.

The soldier charged and thrusted his spear towards Ebony's head, but the fox just dodged it to the left and used her sword to stab the man on the back. The soldiers stopped moving, seeing Ebony kill the man in front of them "Meric!" shouted one soldier. 

"7 remaining." Ebony whispered to herself.

The soldier pulled out his sword and slashed downward towards Ebony's skull. Ebony immediately used this opportunity to stab the man's neck while he was still in his position to strike. Another person was aiming his crossbow at Ebony, so she immediately carried the man's body using her sword to use as a body shield. The arrow stuck to the man's back, causing him to gargle in blood. She immediately threw the man towards the one who fired the crossbow. The man in the crossbow fell backwards, then lost his balance until he fell down from the cliffside.

"5 remaining."

2 men immediately fired their crossbow at her, and she immediately shifted into her owl form and flew towards one of them. But before she could even reach them, she transformed back to her human form due to their mana nullifiers. However, due to the speed of her flight, she shifted back into a kicking position, causing the man to fracture his jaw with her heel. She then threw her sword at another guy from the far end of the group, which lodged into his heart, while she then used her claw to stab the next person in the chest. She then grabbed the man's VA-Crossbow and pulled him to her back to use as another shield against the ones who were shooting her. The man received multiple arrow shots, which then made Ebony fire back, hitting 2 more.

"2 remaining."

Henrik was left with a girl who had her legs shaking while trying to aim for Ebony. She had white hair and light skin. Ebony threw away the crossbow she was holding, and looked the girl in the eye. She said...

"Honey, you look like someone I remember." She said, while trying to complete her sentence with blood on her mouth. "Her name was Morticia." Henrik and the girl felt their hair stand up when Ebony said that. Ebony smiled as she looked at the girl. "Would you like me to demonstrate what happened to her?"

The girl screamed and proceeded to run away. "Wait!" Henrik said, before stopping. He then walked forward to Ebony. "This ends. now." Henrik said.