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Alright, the next awaited chapter of my series, wrapping up quite a bit. I might write one more chapter pending on feed back from this one. Be sure to thank Foreverwolf, I wanted to leave this one half way through to put in another chapter, but went ahead and finished to a point of closure.

The Turning Tide

Aiden drifted, halfway between worlds as a soft ghost. He clung to it by sheer will, as he sunk into the earth, following the presence of Brandon. He promised he would not let harm come to wolf, no matter what happened to him. Lower and lower he sunk, through the dark earth till he came across an underground cave. It was dark enough, but now with no solid matter to block his vision, he could see, and followed the source of energies that built up.

He shifted his way around in the darkness till he could see the soft glow of light. He wandered closer, all the while, still whispering Brandon's name. He came upon the entrance to a grand opening into a dome shaped room, where there was a glowing pool that lit up everything. He could see shapes, but could not make out any faces. Hooded figure surrounded the pool, and it seems that they were yelling, the voices seemed so far off in the distance to the fox. He tried to make out the smoky figures, but could not as he wandered closer. This was the source of energy that led him down here, and he focused on the darkest one. It stood next to a large blotch and something that emitted its own light. However, no matter how hard he tried to get close to it, he was repelled by something. He frowned because he knew in his heart that there stood Brandon, but some power prevented him from getting closer. He stood back and concentrated, shifting himself over and over; desperate to find the one connection to bring him closer to the world he was no longer a part of.

In the world of the living, Brandon looked down at his necklace, hoping that what Andrew had given him would ward off the specter he saw coming forth. He felt it change somehow, shaking slightly, and assumed its magic was working. He watched as the figure hung there in the air, like something frozen in time. He looked back at the council as they stood in a line now, and calmly stared back at him. All their faces wore the same empty smiles as they watched with glee. Brandon knew that they were corrupt, as with most beings that held great power. He was disgusted with his kind, "Council, for years, your judgments have kept our society in secret, so that the world could progress in its own fashion, but now, you will throw away all your work, undo what you've lived so long to protect?"

"Times have changed, you may cling to some values of the old, but we realize now how foolish it was to stay behind, we watched the world progress, far behind what we could imagine, now we are tired of being left behind, it's for the good of our kind to move forward as well, and we will not let you hold us back," they said in chorus, their voices sweet with venom.

"I see, so you've sold yourselves to the devil, then so be it, I will honor you all with change you so seek, starting with your death,"

"Indeed Brandon, you finally take action with your position, what you've ignored so long, and to finally use it now, when it comes to the end, quite a sad waste," said Silver as he stepped to the side of death and held the skull up once more. "Get rid of them, the wolf last." And with the command, the image came to life once more, and floated forward. Brandon motioned for the other two to move, and they all split up. Death followed the slowest of the three, and drifted for the bear. Andrew smiled and brandished his ankh, the symbol flashed with radiant light, tossing death back as it was hit by some invisible force. He floated through the cave wall, and disappeared. It was them, the council had vanished, leaving eight robes that stood upright, suddenly sink to the ground.

Aiden watched as the images slowly became more defined. He could see death clearly, as its form was unmistakable. He ignored the incarnation as he continued to pull himself back. The shapes moved around everywhere as he opened his eyes, and could make out their bodies. He felt the warmth of Charlene as she flew by. Aiden's eyes opened wide as the world around him suddenly gained great contrast. He could see them all clearly now, but somehow, he was still stuck on the other side, a helpless whiteness to what was happening.

The ancients clung to the ceiling as they watched for an opening. Two of them snapped off a large stalactite trying to impale Charlene as she flew by, she dodged it and returned with a torrent of flame that expanded across the roof of the cave. Three of them dropped down into the pool as their flesh was consumed by the fire. The rest scattered to the shadows. "Come on, show me what ya got," she said as she hovered in the air. She cried out as a torrent of water hit her from the back, causing half of her to become steam. She fell to the ground, as some of her flames extinguished.

Andrew charged forward as he watched some of the council standing next to the water, channeling magic. He let out a great scream and cleaved two of them down, snapping bones where ever his arms connected, the other two leaped back to avoid being crushed by the large bruin. They jumped back; one landing on the bear's back clawing into his thick flesh as the other attacked the front. Andrew's thick fur protected against most threats, but their unnatural strength began to tear into, he cried out, and reached behind him, catching the claw of the vampire on his back, before tearing it off to use to club the one in front of him. Mad with rage, he swung the limp body around, attacking anything that dared to come near him. At some point the body detached from the rest of the arm, and he used what had to club as many as the bastards as he could.

Brandon moved through the shadows, taking the blood of the fallen council with him as he closed in on Silver. The panther smiled as he watched the vamp charge at him with incredible speed. Brandon was about to attack before rolling to the side, just in time to dodge the shade of death as it came from underground in his projected path. Brandon snarled as he swiped his claws at the panther, lines of blood came out, going through the shade towards the panther. The wall behind him became imprinted with scars as it the wolf's attack seemed to have just passed though him. Brandon's eyes were quick, and he knew that the feline dodged it with lightening reflexes. If death wasn't a challenge enough, Silver would prove to be. His talisman provided enough push to dodge death's fatal touch, but was weakening to no longer repel it. He had to get the skull out of the panther's paws.

Charlene had rekindled enough flames to burn the rest of the council that Andrew held off. He huffed hard as blood dripped through his fur when he finally discarded the limb. They came up to join Brandon as he fought with Silver. Andrew used another charm to drive off death as Charlene scorched the earth, limiting Silver's movements. Brandon covered his paws in hardened blood and attacked Silver. Finally landing a blow, he stopped as he realized his claws were stopped by the panther's arm, leaving only torn fabric. He blocked just in time as several silver spikes shot out, in an attempt to impale the wolf. "You underestimate me," he said as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. His cloths seem to slip off after the last button, as he revealed a very well built body. His toned muscles were very visible as his skin was coated with liquid metal. He formed a long blade from one of his hands and twirled it. The skull was in his other hand, coated with silver as well, bonding it to his body. Death had returned, but Andrew was holding it off the best he could.

Charlene grinned with flames on the corner of her muzzle, which was an impressive, although scary feat. "Sweetie, you just put yourself into the over," she said as she lifted her palm to melt Silver alive in his armor. Her flames were suddenly stopped as a large block of ice appeared between her and the panther. "What the hell?" she said before two figures walk out behind the melting ice. Whittaker and Edward smiled as they made their entrance.

"You two are late, expect a pay deduction," Silver said as he strode forward.

"Yeah, whatever," the white wolf said as he lifted his lantern, its eerie light began to fill the cavern.

Aiden watched, as the one who took his life returned once more, and that was all the fox needed. His anger and vengeance stacked on top of his will and love, poked a hole small enough for him to slip though, back into the world of the living. An unstoppable force that rivaled death was now in the cavern with all of them. They all turned to watch as the black figure that could only be described as dripping night ripped itself out of a hole in the air, screaming in some terrible voice. It pointed a figure at Whittaker, and all the magics he held vanished, as his lantern was swallowed from the inside out by a tiny black hole. Edward tackled him just in time so that the hole didn't tear off his arm or the rest of him. Brandon looked at the figure, his eyes wide with tears, and behind those tears was a great fear. His mouth was dry, but still mustered the words that drifted out like dust, "Aiden?"

Andrew cried out, as the last of his protections broke, and death creped upon him. Charlene threw herself between them, pushing Andrew out of the way, before death could embrace him. He turned just in time to graze the ankle of her form. Andrew turned and caught her as the fire became motionless, and her flames evaporated. He hugged the flames that didn't burn for as long as he could before they vanished. Brandon cried out as he watched his friend fall into a pile of ashes. He was filled with anger, and in his rage, he cried out with his power, his own paws shifted as his blood squirted out to form a great axe. He charged Silver with it, and bashed it against his blade. He watched as the blade deformed and bent, causing the panther to jump back. Whittaker and Edward looked up from the ground as Aiden slowly pulled the rest of his body out of the hole. The look on his shifting face was that of agony past to rage. They held each other tighter.

Aiden let out a horrible scream as he finally came through the hole, and spilled out onto the floor. Like some pile of black slime, he slowly shifted till he resembled the outline of a fox once more; his large bushy tail dripped black water everywhere that turned into puffs of black smoke as the hit the ground. He looked at the white wolf, and then at the tiger, his glowing eyes followed them as they stood and spread out. "Don't just stand and stare, do something!" Silver yelled as he continued to back away from Brandon as he swung his axe wildly. Edward swung his fist, and the flesh turned metal as it flooded out and slammed into Brandon, crushing him against the wall before dropping him. "About damn time," the panther said as he looked down on the wolf. "Oh my, what do we have here?" he asked, now drawing his attention to Aiden.

"Br..Brandon..." he said, slowly adjusting back to our dimension. His form swelled up as he took an in breath. It looked like he was going to burst, till he opened his mouth wide and let out all the agony he withheld in his time of death. His scream shook the cave, and the water jumped and danced at the vibrations. Everyone fell to their knees and covered their ears as he continued to scream. Pain and suffering began to flood everyone's minds as they held their skulls together with their paws.

Silver used what control he had to summon forth death, and send it after Aiden. The shade came with great speed, and raised his scythe for the fox. Aiden looked and stopped screaming as the scythe split his form diagonally. He stepped forward; the slow split began to mend itself back together. Death itself could not stop him as he strode forward, he snapped his fingers and death dissipated behind him. Whittaker stepped back, and swung his enchanted sword at Aiden, but what power he could conjure was no match for the force of the void seeker. He moved towards the white wolf, wanting to rend him to pieces, till Edward stood in his way. "Run!" he said to the wolf as he swatted the shadow fox to the side with a large, flat hand. The fox merely moved to the side, while Whittaker scrambled to get up and run over to Silver.

"Well what are you staring at, finish the job," he said pointing to the fallen vampire. The wolf looked down and then back up at the panther. He raised his sword, but did not strike.

"I'm sorry, but this is probably a bad time to submit my resignation, this just isn't worth it," he said dropping the glowing blade to the ground in front of the panther. His eyes narrowed, and he snarled.

"Worthless wolf, fine, if you will not do the job I hired you to, then move aside, you insolent fool," he said as he back handed him hard. He fell onto the ground and wiped the blood from his maw. Brandon had picked himself up, and steadied his axe as Silver came down on him with blades shifting all over his body. Edward jumped back and helped the white wolf up as they watched the battle between the two powers continued. They shifted over and sat next to the large bear, which still held on to the ashes of the fallen elemental in his arms. He growled at them, but turned his attention back to Brandon and Aiden. He wanted to maul them, but he needed to watch the events that will unfold, for it is still his duty to record all of it.

Aiden had finally pulled his form to have solid arms and legs as they worked to move him towards Brandon. Silver was desperate to fight off the wolf and needed to stop the fox drew closer every moment, like a walking bomb, he was pressed for time. In his hour of desperation, he took the skull and fused it into his body, calling upon the powers that be. He became something more than mortal as his flesh attached itself to the skull. The shade of death came forth once more and overlapped the panther. His body changed as the metal darkened and seemed to melt into a loose cloak and his blade warped into a scythe. Everyone's natural instincts flared as the overwhelming presence of doom filled the cave.

Aiden stopped and looked at the new being as Brandon stepped back from it. It let out a horrible scream as half of his soul rotted right there, but was still attached to the living counterpart. Brandon could feel it sucking the energies in the room towards it's center to sustain its being. He let out another howl as he tossed his head to the ceiling. Force radiated out as the walls finally shattered, and the cave crashed down, leaving the open night's sky. Slowly, figures emerged from the rubble, Brandon and Aiden shifted out from the small debris, while Edward's arm returned from its dome shape that protected the wolf and the bear. In that moment, the air was so tense, the atmosphere radiated with power as they all prepared for what was to come. Then, in the blink of an eye, the wolf, the fox, and the panther seemed to vanish. To the well trained eyes of their spectators, they could see the unnatural speeds which all three moved. Brandon was the prime target of the shade as each strike held great force, just for an opening to rip out his soul. Aiden moved to help guard and attack from behind, but the reaper would vanish before his claws could land a strike, and like that it went on for a moment, but in their time, over a thousand moves were made.

They stopped to catch their breaths as the reaper stilled himself in the air. His own soul began to deteriorate so to slow down the process, he howled into the night, and called forth to everything near that lived, and then the lights came. Souls answering his call from those not strong enough to hold on to theirs, ripped out of their body, flowing forth to strengthen the panther. He shifted as the eyes beneath the metallic hood narrowed. He grinned as he flash a smile, and attacked Aiden first. He ran right through him, splitting him into two before he could react. The shadows floated apart as the panther reached out, his hand passed right through one half and came out empty. "Where is it?! Where is your soul?!" he cried out as he slashed the clouds to bits. Brandon threw his axe at him, and Silver ducked right in time for the vampire to appear above him, catching his own axe to bring it down upon his neck. The blade stuck in, but it wasn't his neck he hit, but the blade. Silver shifted his whole body from the impact site and swapped it with his blade, leaving his free hand to grab for Brandon's face.

The wolf closed his eyes as death's hand reached for him, and everything stopped. Aiden dissipated once more, and devoured everything. Andrew watched as they all vanished inside the expanding sphere of darkness, he opened his eyes, to see everyone floating in what seemed like oblivion. He could see, but he couldn't hear, speak, or feel anything. He's job of lore keeper ensured he could never be robbed of his sight, and he bared witness to what happened next. Everyone hung motionless; Silver's paw was millimeters from Brandon's face as he floated there with his eyes closed. Edward shifted and held on to Whittaker, unable to sense anything, and Aiden was nowhere to be found. Brandon slowly floated away, like being carried off by a gentle wind, as Silver suddenly became reanimated. Death's ability worked by sensing the living souls with in every creature, but even in void, he was robbed of that sense, and could no longer track anyone. Then it happened, a tiny, black ball floated in the air, emerged Aiden in his flesh. Just a naked, black fox floated in the air, and stared at the blind panther. With all his magics and even the power of death, the fox, so small in comparison to the metallic brute, reached out with his paw, passing through the metal, till it caught hold of something, and like a child's toy, he ripped out the skull from inside Silver, causing him to cry out horribly. He watched as the shade of death floated out and looked at his new owner. "Fear not, for you will now find peace," said Aiden before tossing the skull into the void, where it will never be found again.

Silver, flesh once more fell to his knees as he clung to the hole in his chest. Even in the void that deprived everyone of their sense, Andrew could just make out the subtle echo of a tormented soul. Silver was doomed to face his fate in agony, as the void dropped him back in the real world. Brandon blinked as he realized he was a few feet away from everyone else and watched as the naked Aiden stepped back as the panther clawed out desperately for help, or for mercy. It was Brandon who took pity first as walked up to the panther, and in one swift swing, severed his head from his dying body. Aiden looked over at Whittaker and Edward, but something was different. The white wolf looked up to see the tiger lean over him, breathing heavily. With Silver dead, the magics that held together his missing arm were undone, and he sat there, bleeding to death. Whittaker, without his lantern could do nothing to stop it, and looked over at everyone else, before finally hanging his head in defeat. He thought back to when he talked with Edward, was what they've done in their lives worth anything, and he figured by now, that it didn't.

Aiden walked over and dragged Brandon with him. He sat down next to Whittaker, and looked into his eyes, he could see something indeed was different about the wolf, as tears formed in his deep eyes. He whispered something to Brandon as he clapped his hands together. As he opened them, a hole appeared between his paws, and emerged Edward's orginal, severed arm. Brandon placed his paws on to the tiger's shoulder and stopped the blood from flowing out. Aiden fixed his arm back in place as Brandon forced the blood to stitch it back and reconnect every blood vessel. Edward fell on top his back as he was about to enter shock. Whittaker held his head and gently stroked his hair, weeping above him. Brandon looked away, and Aiden stood up to be next to him.

"Brandon," Aiden said, as he leaned against the taller wolf.

"Aiden," he said back to the fox, holding back his tears.

"I love you," said the black fox as he turned and hugged the wolf tightly. He could say nothing as he held the fox and let his tears roll down the black fur of Aiden's back.

"Aww, you two make such an adorable couple," said a female voice.

Both their ears perked up as they looked over. There, standing next to Andrew was a very attractive, naked, young coyote. "Charlene?!" they both said in unison.

"Please gentlemen, close your mouths," she said as she struck a pose. "I know, it's a little too much isn't it?"

"But how...?" they said together.

"I am fire incarnate, ever hear of the legend of the phoenix?"

"And from the ashes, they are reborn," Andrew chimed in.

"Yes dear, that was the point, oh what a joy it is to have my youth again, as well as my wisdom," she said with a wicked grin. "Well boys, I'll let y'all clean up, I'm gonna go hit up the night on the town," she said as she spun around, showing off her firm buttocks and perky breast. "Andrew, will you be a dear and accompany me to get a change of cloths?" she asked, slipping a paw around his open arm. The bear just stared, then nodded as he conjured his book once more.

"Well, I guess I'm going to catalog these events, I bid you farewell," he said as he put his glasses back on, and opened another gate to which the two left though.

"Such a workaholic," Brandon said as they turned back to the wolf and tiger.

"What's wrong with him, he's barely breathing," Whittaker said as he leaned close to Edward. Indeed, it seems he required more attention than previously expected.

"He's hanging by a thread, he needs to start healing, but his body can't for some reason," Brandon said as he studied the tiger. True his bleeding had stopped, but it hadn't fixed the problem of all the loss blood. "He needs to drink blood, a lot of blood in fact," after his analysis, Whittaker leapt up, and picked up his sword. He ran back over to the tiger, and slashed his wrist, dripping his own blood into his maw. "No! You idiot, he needs more blood than your body can give, you're just going to kill yourself!" Brandon shouted as he moved to force his wound close. He jumped back as Whittaker waved his blade at him, a soft light began to glow once more.

"Stay back, I don't care what happens to me, he needs to live," he said as he continued to let his blood into the tiger. Slowly, he swallowed the life the wolf leaked into him, and his strength returned slowly. Whittaker looked and smiled as he saw Edward reach out with his own paw and pulled his wrist to the tigers lips as he began to drink for his life. "Yes, come back," he said as his hand that held up the blade began to droop.

"Whittaker, do you think he'll be happy to wake up with you dead on top of him?" Aiden asked as he watched the wolf struggle to keep his eyes opened.

"What...what other choice do I..I have," he said as his blood pressure plummeted.

"Let me help, Aiden said as he sat on the other side of the tiger, and grabbed the blade from the wolf. He gently grazed the back of his forepaw and pulled the wolf's wrist from the tiger's maw. Brandon stopped Whittaker's bleeding and helped him lay down before he passed out. Edward now latched on to Aiden, and bit into his arm, drawing more blood. The fox winced as the tiger chewed a bit, but sighed as he watched the two lay next to each other. "Miss me much?" he said to Brandon as he sat behind Aiden and leaned against him.

"I should be asking you that, you came back from the edge of oblivion," he said as he leaned his head against the fox's.

"That I did, I guess that shows you how much I care, I'd like to see you try to top that on valentine's day," he said with a chuckle.

"I can't even think about tomorrow right now," he said in an exhausted voice.

"We need to get home," Aiden said as Edward started to come to.

"What...what happened?" said the tiger as he sat up, rubbing his eyes, before he realized he had two arms again.

"Whittaker thought it'd be a good idea to kill himself for you, but we slapped some sense into him," Brandon said from behind Aiden.

"What? Wait," he said smacking his lips a bit, "Who's blood is this?" he said looking over at the two.

"Mine," Aiden said as he raised a paw.

"But...why did you help me, I mean I tried to kill you...more than once," the tiger said as he walked over to the wolf.

"Oh, that's in the past, and what's done is done, only that I ask that you don't do it again," Aiden said as he watched Edward pick up the wolf, and nuzzle his cheek.

"Get a room," Brandon cried out with a grin as he watched the two turn back to face them.

"We would, but we're out of the job," he said as he sat down, and laid the wolf in his lap.

"Well, it's getting a bit cold," Aiden said as he shivered a bit.

"Really? I feel fine," Brandon said before he remembered Aiden was naked. "Ah, on second thought, maybe we should go home," then he stopped to think to himself, where was it he could call home?

"Alright, let's go, I guess you two can crash at our place too," Aiden said as he stood up.

"Wait, where are we goin?" Brandon asked in wonder.

"Just shut up and come," Aiden said as he lifted a paw, and suddenly the ground beneath them disappeared, and they were gently deposited in to Aiden's apartment, right in front of his bedroom. He looked around and saw a light behind one of the doors, "Shit my roommate's here, be quite and get in.

"But, your room can't hold all of us," Brandon said as he turned the knob.

"Don't worry, I did some remodeling while I was gone."

They all stepped into the dark room, and closed the door behind them. It was warm and nice, but they all soon came to realize they weren't inside a single bedroom. Instead, they looked up to see the stars above them, and a low hanging moon. The weather was warm, and the grass beneath them was soft. Like stepping into a dream, they all found themselves in Aiden's home inside the void. They all laid next to each other on the hillside, and looked at the stars till they fell asleep. Aiden smiled as he found his true home in Brandon's loving embrace as they turned in for the night. The next morning, however was quite awkward. At some point in the night, everyone had rearranged themselves in such a fashion that Edward was spooning with Whittaker who was spooning with Brandon who was spooning with Aiden.

And there you have it. More? Less? Let me know, and I might answer.