FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

When the group returned to the RV, they did so with a cloud of disappointment hanging over them all… They had successfully stopped the werewolf menace before it could get out of control, but the ringleader who had initially started it all had escaped from them… Somewhere, out there in the vast Canadian Wilderness, she remained at large.

It was hard not to be disappointed at their failure to stop Assiminik. Throughout the night, they had searched for her, learning quickly that she had jumped into the lake to mask her scent. But where she emerged, they couldn’t be sure – they could not even know if she had returned her lycanthropic form, or shifted to an anthropian form to hide more easily. The phoenixes flew along the shores for hours, hoping to see some trace of her, but she had completely vanished; even Buniq could not find a trail or scent to track her with.

So it was that they were forced to give up, each of them entering the motorhome one after the other and finding places to sit where they could stew in their dispiritedness. Pavan, ever trying to be an optimist, spoke up to lighten the mood.

“Come on, guys… So Assiminik slipped through our fingers,” he said. “We wiped out her whole pack! I combed those woods before and after the fight and didn’t see any other big bad wolves to worry about. So, that’s a win, right?”

“I mean…” Tsumé put in. “For the most part, yes. But, the mastermind is still out there; you know she’ll try again eventually.”

“And now she knows we’re gonna be on the lookout for her, which means she’ll take extra steps to ensure that she doesn’t get beat the same way,” Korban growled, kicking one of the chairs irritably. “Guess that means we ain’t gonna get our cut for this job so long as she’s still out there.”

Lighris threw out his arms. “Great. So this was all for nothing then?” he asked, angrily. “We came out here, to the very middle of fucking nowhere, put our lives in danger, for nothing?”

“Let it go Lighris,” Volcan spoke. “We’re all exhausted, and it wasn’t for nothing. Yellowknife is safe for now at least; Assiminik can’t threaten it by herself. All we can do is be ready for when she shows up next time.”

Lighris glared at his brother. “Next time?! You want to put us through this shit again?!” he demanded. “Wake up and smell the bullshit, bro; this shouldn’t have to be our problem!”

“It is everyone’s problem, including ours!” Volcan shot back as he rose to his feet, standing in front of his brother and glaring down at him. “If Assiminik had done what she was planning, it would’ve exposed us all! Worse yet, it would endanger millions - not just Canada, but the States as well; every nation in North America would’ve eventually been targeted by a horde of nearly unstoppable killing machines!”

Volcan dropped back into his seat. “You don’t want to be part of it from here, feel free to sit it out next time. But if there is to be a next time, you better believe I’m going to answer it, because until someone else is willing to take on the role, it may as well be me.”

The occupants of the motorhome fell silent at that, watching as the two brothers glared at each other. Pavan cleared his throat and looked up at the ceiling. “Anybody else find it got a lot colder in here? I don’t think it was because of Vinge either -ouch!” he recoiled as Tsumé stomped on his foot, silencing him.

“Sadly, Volcan is not wrong, either,” said Vinge with a sigh. “Nor is Tsumé. Assiminik will try this again someday… If we intend to continue opposing her, then our fight is far from done.”

“And you know I ain’t gonna stop goin’ after her until she’s dead.” Korban piped up suddenly. “I never leave a job unfinished, even if it takes me several years to get it done…”

As the others spoke, Volcan picked up his cell phone. He’d left it on the dashboard while they were out, concerned that it might get damaged in the fight, and unlocked it now to check the time. It was after midnight, making it understandable why he felt so tired - besides the exhausting battle…

But what else caught his attention was the number of unread messages he had. Expanding them, he was surprised to see that most of them were from the twins; there was one from his mother, even one from Kyle, but he had multiple text messages and missed calls from Avelyn.

“Oops. Hey guys?” he asked.

“What?” Tsumé asked.

“Looks like we’ve got a friend worried about us,” he said. “I’ve got half a dozen missed calls and texts from Avelyn here.”

Tsumé retrieved her phone and looked at it, her eyebrows briefly shooting toward the ceiling when she unlocked it. “Huh. Yeah, me too,” she said.

“Suppose that means she’s back from Europe?” Pavan asked.

“Given the timestamps on these messages, probably; it’d have been four o’clock in the morning where she was if she’d sent this last one from Italy,” replied Tsumé.

Buniq’s ears raised, and she turned her attention to the door. “Someone’s coming,” she said.

Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and Pavan - being the closest, moved to answer it, pushing aside the blinds on the window of the door first before he chuckled when he saw who was outside.

“Speak of the devil and he - or she, as it were, shall appear,” he joked before unlocking the door.

The armour-clad raven-hoopoe wasted not a second, throwing open the door and squawking into the RV. “Why on earth are you all up here in the middle of nowhere?!” the Blue Lightning explained through her suit, “and why did none of you answer your phones?!”

“S-Sorry, Ave- I mean, Blue,” Volcan said, nearly slipping as he glanced at Buniq. “We were… Kind of occupied.”

Avelyn started to step into the RV, folding her wings to avoid catching them on the door frame. She looked around the interior, spotting Vinge among the crowd inside and also noticing a new face – Buniq, before settling her gaze on Volcan. “Red, Kyle and your mother are worried sick about you lot.”

“Well, Kyle knew we were coming,” said Pavan, shrugging. “We even asked him to come along, but he was looking after your house.”

“Yes, I know. But you never returned his calls,” she replied before sighing, noticing the wounds. “Are you all ok? Are you all safe?”

“We are now,” Volcan assured her, “and so’s Yellowknife. Long story short, there was a bit of a…” he trailed off, wondering how to explain it.

But Korban just came out and said it, too tired to dance around the subject. “I got a call about werewolf sightings up here near Yellowknife and invited everyone here to help take them down. Long story short, we killed off the pack, but the alpha’s still out there licking her wounds.” He blurted out.

Volcan frowned, but nodded. “Yeah, that about sums it up,” he said, glib.

“...Wonderful,” Avelyn said unenthused, “Can’t say I was surprised when Kyle mentioned werewolves.” Looking off to her side in thought, “So what’s the plan? You’re heading back out tomorrow? Surely they’ll be hunting soon at night.”

“We wiped the pack out,” said Tsumé, “all except for one. Buniq there called her ‘Assiminik’; an Inuit name, meaning ‘zealous’. She’s the only one left, but we looked everywhere for her. She completely disappeared.”

“Yeah… Another reason we didn’t answer the phones is because we were all out trying to find her,” added Volcan. “But she’s vanished without a trace. Either way, we managed to annihilate her pack before she could grow to it enough to threaten the city.”

“And more,” Tsumé put in. “I suspect she intended to endanger more than just Yellowknife. See, she first appeared near Baker Lake, over in Nunavut, which does have a functioning airport, but it mostly deals with cargo planes - not very many passengers. Instead, she chose to come here. I think she was planning to infect enough people that by having them fly out she could spread the affliction across the country.”

“No doubt turning the lycan infection into her own little personal bio-weapon and spreading it to other parts of the world,” Korban added, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking away. “She was playing an end-game scenario with a tactic like that, or that’s what Kitty said anyway.”

“After what I’ve had to put up with these past few days, I don’t think I would mind running around after my tail brainless,” the Blue Lightning shook her head before taking it more seriously, “Do you still have reason to suspect people could still be infected on those flights right now?”

Volcan sighed. “We don’t know,” he replied. “Legends say therianthropic infections usually reveal themselves at night, with forced transitions during certain lunar cycles - full moons,” he glanced at Buniq. “But that might just be that; a legend. Every one of those lycans seems capable of changing at will, and Assiminik herself showed genuine, sentient intelligence when we fought her. The beastial instincts didn’t overwhelm her sense of reason or ability to use tactics.”

Avelyn sighed before waving over Buniq to come to her, “Let’s just make sure then. Bunny, just step out with me for a sec.” the blue robot said before stepping out of the RV.

“It’s Buniq, not bunny,” Tsumé corrected, though the lioness herself made no comment as she followed Avelyn.

Buniq still moved with apparent caution, still unsure of this newcomer clad in metal and what to make of her. Avelyn, for her part, did not seem to take notice of the lioness’ wariness – not that anyone could see her face behind the mask of her helmet. When they were out of the RV, she turned to Buniq to speak to her.

“Buniq, was it? Sorry, I didn’t hear properly.” Avelyn apologized as she lifted her hand and waved it over the cougar female, scanning her body. “I am getting… Some minor unusual readings… But nothing particularly useful…” she remarked, “Are you able to… like… transform for me, I guess? It might be stronger if you do.”

Buniq looked down at herself. “I would be willing, but… I will need to undress first, lest I destroy these clothes that the other bought for me,” she replied.

“Take your time,” Avelyn replied, “I can give you some privacy if you want, but I’m sure it’s nothing I’ve not seen before,” the blue suit of armour shrugged.

Buniq smirked at that, but still moved out of sight of the windows to the RV. She undressed quickly, removing her shirt, jeans and undergarments before neatly folding them and setting them by the tires of the motorhome. With that, she faced Avelyn stunned at the naked lioness after stripping so confidently before her, revealing a beautiful toned but feminine body.

“...Fuck me… She’s lovely,” Avelyn whispered to herself inside the suit inaudible to those around, before noticing that Buniq’s eyes had already changed colour from brown, to bright yellow.

“Brace yourself,” warned Buniq as her body began to change.

The first thing that Avelyn saw was the growing, seeing Buniq’s body expanding rapidly. The sound of bones realigning themselves to match the new anatomy could be heard as Buniq grew taller, and her muscles thickened considerably. Her legs bent to become more digitigrade, bent at the knee and standing on her toes, and her arms grew disproportionately long, allowing her to drop onto all fours.

From each finger, a long curved claw grew, and her mouth was open as she bared her teeth, each tooth growing to a point with two sabre-like teeth to accompany them. Her hair receded into a spiked mohawk running down the back of her head and neck. Then, just like that, the transformation was complete and Buniq stopped growing.

Buniq stood at her full height again. Even with her legs bent at the knee, she was now as tall as the motorhome, towering over Avelyn as she stood before her, braced on her back leg ready to react as if to fight, but nothing ever came.

“Wow…” Avelyn finally responded, “You go girl! You look amazing!” She cheered looking up at the tall figure.

It seemed almost comical to see the blank expression crossing the werecat’s face, blinking in confusion as this was clearly not the reaction she had expected from the armoured raven, seeing a therianthropic body for the first time. “You are… Not afraid?” she asked.

“You were sharing an RV with a bunch of my closest friends; I wouldn’t be afraid of you if you were just hanging out with them like that,” Avelyn remarked, moving in closer to take more readings with her glove, “You are gorgeous, you know that?”

“Thank… You?” Buniq said, unsure of how to respond.

“These readings are more like it…” The Blue Lightning remarked as she ran her armoured palms through her fur, seemingly taking extra time over her torso, “although it peaked during transformation… I think I’ve almost got enough here to work with… but…”

Buniq suddenly felt a small sharp stab as Avelyn’s hand grazed over her arm. Buniq’s eyes widened and she recoiled in alarm, lifting her arms and flexing her claws as she growled at Avelyn who was flung off her, causing some commotion as she stumbled.

“What was that?!” she demanded.

“I’m sorry! I took a blood sample!” Avelyn tried to reassure her, holding her hands out in front of her, showing the small needle that had come from her wrist. “Just a small needle. I should have said… I wasn’t sure you would even feel it.”

“Yes, you should have said you were going to do that. If I were not in control of my instincts, I could have torn your head off,” Buniq retorted, flexing the hand of the arm Avelyn had taken the blood from.

“Avelyn are you crazy?!” came Pavan’s voice as the occupants of the RV, drawn by the noise and raised voices, rushed out.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Kieran shouted angrily at Avelyn. “If you wanted a blood sample, wouldn’t it have been better to just ask first?”

“Gotta side with Kitty on this one,” Korban remarked while shaking his head. “Can’t just go around taking stuff whenever you feel it’s convenient for your research and shit.”

“Yes. We’re fine” Avelyn remarked in a slight panic, looking back at the crew briefly before flying back to Buniq, worried and still holding out her hands precautionary, “We’re both fine, right?”

Buniq let out a huff through her nostrils, a small growl accompanying it before she answered. “Just be sure to warn me before you do that,” she said, trying to keep her tone as soft as her form would allow and lowering her arms again.

Avelyn bent down to the wheel of the RV and picked up the pile of folded clothes, brushing off the underside of dirt before stepping forth to hand them to the towering Buniq.

“I am very sorry. It’s been a long day but that’s no excuse” Avelyn replied, trying to offer her the clothes as some form of peace.

At that, Buniq began to transform back to her anthropian form, shrinking and taking on a more humanoid anatomy. The Blue Lightning lifted their wings to try and shield her from the onlookers from behind, as the change happened much quicker than when she had become a werecat, regaining the fit figure she naturally possessed, and the spiked mane grew out into the head of long hair once again, spilling over her shoulders. She met Avelyn’s eyes - or, visor rather, with two normal-looking brown eyes as the last of the yellow faded away.

“All is forgiven,” she said, accepting the clothes from Avelyn and going behind the RV to change.

Volcan let out a sigh. “Well, now comes the hard part,” he said. “Do we head back home now or, is there more here we should do first?” He directed this question to Korban.

Korban sighed. “Well… without knowing exactly where Assiminik is holed up right now, it’s gonna take too long to comb the area by ourselves. By the time we find out where she’s hiding, she might’ve moved on to somewhere more remote to regroup and come up with a new scheme.” He explained, rubbing his shoulder slightly. “I need to contact my client to let him know what happened… Aside from that, we don’t have any reason to stick around.”

“I am going to drop some sentinels around town, especially the airport, and just scan for anything unusual passing by. Hopefully this… Assiminki… registers as something similar to Buniq so we know when she, or similar shows up,” Avelyn explained.

“Well, at least we have some insurance then,” Korban remarked with a nod. “Better call the client now then.” He said as he turned and began dialling up the contact’s number on his terminal.

“I’ll be back shortly…” Avelyn informed, before blasting off into the sky towards Yellowknife.

Pavan watched as the armoured avian flew away, and looked at the others. “Er… Aren’t people going to be wondering what the Blue Lightning is doing all the way up here?” he asked.

“It’s almost one o’clock in the morning; not very many people are still going to be awake,” Volcan reasoned. “Even if someone saw her, there’s not really anything they could connect her to, right?”

“Well, maybe the werewolf sightings,” said Tsumé. “The timing of it would be pretty coincidental, right?”

Volcan grimaced. “Well, maybe,” he said. “Still, it’s the best we can do for now. With those sentinels watching for Assiminik, she won’t be able to make any moves without the Lightnings being alerted, and through them, us. Our advantage is that there’s no way Assminik could know we’re working with them, right?”

“Not unless she’s got friends in very low places,” offered Tsumé with a shrug. “But who would work with a werewolf - especially one with delusions of conquest?”

“Uhm… I mean, we’re working with a were_cat_ right now.” Kieran piped up, moving to stand next to Buniq. “The only difference is she’s fighting to rid the world of the Lycan curse, not spread it.”

Buniq looked at him, and then at Volcan. “He has a point, you know,” she said with a good-humoured smile.

Volcan threw out his arms. “Come on guys, we’re trying here,” he said.

Tsumé snickered under her breath before looking at Buniq. “So… What’re you going to do now?” she asked, voicing the question no one else had thought to ask. “You were chased all this way by Assiminik for… How long?”

“Weeks, maybe,” Buniq replied, sighing. “...Truthfully, I never thought past this point. I never thought I’d survive fighting her pack, or that I would find friends to help me do so.” Her gaze fell to the ground below, and a sad frown crossed her features. “I don’t know what to do now… I cannot go home; there’s nothing there for me now. I suppose I could stay in Yellowknife… Watch over it, in case Assiminik returns.”

“You could always come back with us,” Volcan offered. “We live pretty far from here, and in a city much bigger than Yellowknife. But, you’d be among friends.”

Buniq looked at him with consideration for a moment and then looked down at the ground again. “...I will have to think about it, if you’re willing to give me time to do so,” she said.

Volcan nodded. “Take as long as you need,” he assured her.

“We’ll stick around until you come to your decision,” Kieran assured her, smiling and gently patting her shoulder reassuringly. “Whatever you decide though… It was nice workin’ with you.” He added.

She smiled and nodded to him, and moved to lean against the wall of the RV while the others spoke amongst themselves, taking some personal time to think to herself while they waited for Avelyn to return.

By the time Avelyn returned to the RV, nearly everyone had retired for the night. Tsumé and Buniq shared the king-sized bed in the single bedroom, while Pavan slept on the bunk above the driver and passenger seats, leaving Volcan to stretch out the sofa-bed and lay down while Kieran and Korban sat together at the dining table, leaving only Lighris and Vinge awake, occupying the seats up front.

Lighris at least seemed to be trying to nap in the chair, but Vinge was still awake, reading a book held between his hands. He looked up as Avelyn walked in, seeing the group numbering half the usual until she noticed Volcan sleeping on the pull-out and Pavan’s arm hanging from the bunk above Vinge’s head. She saw that the ice phoenix, and likely the others, had dressed their wounds, fresh gauze wrappings secured to the cuts across his body and seeing the same with the sleeping Volcan and Kieran as well, particularly along one of his arms..

“All finished?” Vinge asked her, keeping his voice low.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t have to wait for me, I could have made my own way back,” The Blue Lightning apologized through the suit quietly.

Vinge shook his head. “There aren’t really enough beds to accommodate all of us,” he said. “Even though the sales papers say this motorhome can accommodate eight, sleeping in the same bed is something we haven’t all warmed to yet - metaphorically speaking.”

“What do you mean? I thought you were going to drive back tonight?” she questioned.

“In the morning, yes. We all need some rest first,” said Vinge, lowering his book and looking out the window. “It has been quite a night, and it’s a long road ahead of us to get home.”

“For you perhaps, only a few minutes for me,” Avelyn remarked, quickly scanning over the occupants of the RV seeing that Buniq was absent, so opened her helmet for some fresh air, or at least as fresh as the air inside the RV could be, “although I can crash so hard right now… Long flight back from Milan… worried sick about you guys… …and enough of a headache from self-obsessed American actors… well, one, mainly.”

“You came here right after flying over from Italy?” Vinge asked, surprised. “I can only imagine the jet lag.”

“That’s not the most disorientating day I’ve ever had. I’ve done a round trip to Hong Kong before, from London” she revealed, stepping fully inside and standing opposite the pantry where she climbed out of the Blue Lightning suit, revealing a skimpy red tank top and a denim mini skirt. Letting out a sigh as she sat on the back of the dinette seating, accidentally brushing her tail feathers against the eavesdropping cat.

Kieran glanced over at Vinge for a moment. “...So when you say home, you referring back to your mom’s place or… Are you gonna head on back to Unity Falls with everyone else?” He asked.

“I had been considering it, yes,” Vinge admitted. “I made friends there, in my time visiting… My mother is happy in Whitehorse, and for a long time, so was I. But perhaps it’s time for a fresh start, around people I know,” he said.

Then he turned his gaze on Kieran, looking between him and Korban. “But what will you two do? You worked together again on this most recent job; your cohesion has clearly not suffered in your time apart… Do you think it is finally time to reconcile and move forward?” he asked pointedly.

The two of them looked back at each other, then glanced off to the side as they reflected on the events that occurred these last couple days.

“...I guess it is time to put the past behind us.” Kieran admitted.

“Guess so…” Korban agreed. “Not gonna lie, I kinda forgot how it felt working in tandem with a wizard… and how well we worked together.”

Kieran smirked a little, then the two of them looked at one another and began to shake hands firmly with one another. “Feeling’s mutual.” He added. “Just don’t go getting even more trigger happy now that you don’t have to worry about the cost of ammunition.”

Korban smirked back at the cat. “I think it’s about time you got a raise anyway.” He added. “Twenty percent oughta be enough.”

“Twenty-five.” Kieran countered.

Korban rolled his eyes, still smirking. “Fine. Deal.”

Vinge smiled at the exchange. “Good to know we won’t have to separate you two on the drive home,” he said, humorously.

They both looked at Vinge, losing their smirks. “We don’t sleep together.” They said firmly and in tandem with each other.

“That is not what I meant,” Vinge returned, arching a brow at them. “I meant we won’t have to pull you two apart like bickering siblings on a long road trip.”

The two stiffened as they realized what they had just walked themselves into - made all the more apparent when Avelyn started trying not to laugh. The husky’s eyes widened as the true meaning behind Vinge’s words had set in, and cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.

“Uh yea…! Yea, sure. I knew that’s what you meant.” He responded.

“Right,” Vinge returned, doubting Korban’s words even as he picked up his newspaper to continue reading.

A sudden shiver quickly brushed over Avelyn as the cold Canadian climate finally touched her, having spent the past few days around the Med, “Brhhh… I’m certainly not dressed for this… I think I might put the suit back on.” she remarks, clutching at her bare black arms looking around the RV for some form of cover before spotting Volcan. “Might cuddle up to Hottie instead. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Only if you don’t wake him,” said Vinge. “But, there should be enough room there for both of you; it’s a fair-sized bed.”

With that, Vinge went back to his book, ignoring the glowering looks from Korban and Kieran for embarrassing them so. Avelyn tentatively moved to the pull-out bed, seeing Volcan lying on his front on one side, seemingly asleep. But when she put some weight onto the bed, he shifted and his eyes opened.

“Ave?” he asked, sleepily.

“Oh. I’m sorry, Volcan.” she apologized, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Nah, I wasn’t really asleep,” he said, and smiled as he gestured to the dining area with his eyebrows. “Was trying not to laugh at those two tasting their boots just now.”

“Oh fuck you, Flamie!” Korban shouted back at him.

“I wasn’t really prepared for this weather, so as there looked to be some room next to you, I hoped to perhaps get some sleep next to your body heat,” Avelyn continued to apologize, starting to move away again.

“I don’t mind,” he assured her. “As long as you don’t, I’m okay with it. Unless Avory’s going to come axe-murder me for it,” he added with a wink to show he was kidding.

She let out a soft giggle, returning to sit on the edge of the bed, “I’m sure he won’t be jealous of you” she teased back, moving to lay on the bed, still holding her arms.

Volcan shifted under the covers to lift one of his wings, inviting Avelyn to move closer to him, where she could lie under his warm feathered limb.

“Are you sure?” she seemed surprised, hesitant at first.

“If you’re worried about offending Ordagova, he and I aren’t together anymore,” Volcan assured her with a hint of sadness. “A few things happened while you were gone.”

Avelyn seemed stunned, blinking and speechless for a free moment before reaching out with a hand to rest it on his shoulder, “I’m so sorry, Volcan…”

He shook his head and smiled at her. “It’s alright. We parted on good terms,” he assured her. “Put simply, we started to understand what was going on might have been more out of fascination with each other than real attraction; apparently he was onto it even before I was. But we’re still close, I can still play at the bar and he’s still an open door for anybody who needs a friend. So, all’s well that ends well.”

Avelyn wasn’t quite sure what to say, instead simply pulled herself across the bed to hug Volcan as best as she could in their sides, resting her head on his shoulder. At that, he lay his wing over her and shared his warmth with her, his soft feathers creating a comfortable dome of heat over her smaller form, and shut his eyes to try to go back to sleep, nestling his head into his pillow.

At first light that morning, the RV’s occupants began to stir, with Lighris waking up and stepping out for a cigar before he returned to the driver’s seat to take the first shift at the wheel. Everyone else ate breakfast, and Volcan brought his brother some toast to munch when they started driving, with everyone finding seats to make themselves comfortable for the long trip.

Technically, they were exceeding the number of occupants allowed, which was in that there were nine occupants and not enough seatbelts. But no one cared. Volcan, having put the pull-out back into couch form, sat with Avelyn with the TV playing the local news, and Tsumé sat adjacent to them, browsing the web on her phone.

Avelyn peered over to the dinette, seeing the husky napping quietly. She thinks about calling out to Lighris but thinks better of it when he’s driving and others are still trying to get some rest.

“I’m surprised Korban let Lighris drive his RV,” she remarked to Volcan, nuzzling up to his side, enjoying his warmth still against her body.

“Drive his- oh,” Volcan chuckled as he understood the confusion. “Actually… This is mine,” the phoenix said, absently pointing up at the ceiling. “You are now sitting in my new home, with Tsumé here kind enough to provide her license for the insurance and registration.”

The Earth phoenix lifted her hand in an absent wave, barely looking up from her phone, while Avelyn processed what Volcan had said. She blinked again, confused at what she heard.

“I’m sorry… I thought I had an amazing sleep last night, but I thought I heard you say this was yours?” she stated, seeking clarification.

“You did,” Volcan replied.

“...How could you suddenly afford this?” Avelyn asked, taking her attention away from the TV to look squarely at Volcan beside her. “A coach like this can cost over a hundred thousand dollars; where could you get the money for that?”

Volcan’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “Well… You remember back when we raided P.A.C.E’s fortress, and Korban said he raised their accounts and took every last nickel they had?” He waited for her to nod, showing she did remember. “Well, he decided to share the wealth a bit, starting with me. This,” he pointed at the ceiling again. “Was my first purchase. I picked it because of how everyone - including him as of recently, told me I needed to get proper accommodations as opposed to that rickety old firewatch tower I’ve been staying, plus we needed something that could carry all of us up here to Yellowknife. I decided to grab something that could do both.”

“He shared some with all of us,” Tsumé put in. “Including me. That’s also how we got all those new weapons you would have seen last night - though…” she trailed off, and started to speak. “We got them from the-” and suddenly, her words became garbled and slurred, as if she had come down with an ailment that caused her words to become discombobulated, and she threw a hand over her beak.

“Shit, it was true,” she muttered through her hand. “I guess I can’t.”

“I’m sorry… what did you say? From where?” Avelyn asked in confusion, reaching with her free hand to pinch herself on the thigh to ensure she was awake.

“Unfortunately, it seems I can’t say where,” replied Tsumé, shrugging. “When we visited-” Again, came the garbled words, and Tsumé cleared her throat. “When we went ‘there’, we were put under a spell by what Kieran called a-” Once more, her words became incoherent, and she started to look annoyed. “Security guy, which stops all of us from talking about ‘the place’ to anyone who doesn’t already know about it. Kieran couldn’t even say anything until we were outside the entrance.”

“Let’s just say, there’s money to be made with things people think don’t exist,” added Volcan. “Like, tools for hunting werewolves - silver bullets, silver-laced blades, a bottle of concentrated wolfsbane, etcetera.”

Avelyn stifled a laugh, “I think I get the idea. But it does sound like Tsumé is having a stroke.”

“Yeah,” agreed Volcan. “Either way, none of us can get ‘there’ without Kieran’s help. Only he can locate the entrances. Hard to say if we’ll ever go back, but I guess the-” Now, it was Volcan’s turn for his words to become slurred, and he clamped his beak before looking at Tsumé briefly, who could only shrug. “The spell, doesn’t care,” he finished. “It won’t allow anyone to mention ‘the place’ or those connected to it, even in passing.”

Avelyn cracked up laughing, rocking forward as she cackled at the phoenixes trying to name the Undermarket, distracting her from her original question.

Once Avelyn had calmed down, she returned to face Volcan, “so… Korban took the remaining money from P.A.C.E. and split it out between you all?” she asked.

“That’s the short of it, yeah,” replied Volcan.

Avelyn paused for a moment before continuing, “And you bought this… very very expensive I assume RV?”

“Well… Yes. I mean, I can’t drive it myself - not legally, but I have somewhere to live now that isn’t in danger of toppling over someday,” said Volcan, shrugging.

“...But… You were…” Avelyn paused for a moment to think about how to put it, “you didn’t really have anything to your name before and now you’ve suddenly brought yourself a big expensive RV?”

Volcan looked at her oddly. “...What’s the problem?” he asked.

“...Coming from one of two twins that have been hiding certain transactions and assets for well over a year now… that might have been a big mistake. I think you really ought to find an accountant,” Avelyn said through the corner of her beak, the concerned expression never leaving her face.

Tsumé seemed to catch on. “Oh shit…” she muttered. “Um… She might have a point. A very big point that miiiiight get you in a bit of trouble.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Volcan asked.

“If you thought Assiminik was a monster, tax collectors are real demons, especially if they think you’re holding out on them,” said Tsumé.

“You mean the CRA is going to come after me for this?”

“Not the RV. The money you got from Korban. Even if it was a gift, it’s income - a big income, enough to bring you from homeless or impoverished status right up to the middle class. They will not let that slide without their own slice of the pie.”

“Oh…” Volcan grimaced at that, and looked at Avelyn as if to seek confirmation.

“That pretty much sums it up,” Avelyn nodded, pushing her tongue into the corner of her beak to think, “...Let me see if I can speak to a friend… they might be able to help. But I sincerely hope Korban hasn’t sent all this money directly to all of your bank accounts? Surely he knows how to do his laundry.”

“We’ll have to ask him when he wakes up,” said Volcan, rubbing the back of his head. “I received it as a cheque since I don’t have a bank account… As far as I know, neither does Vinge. Does Pavan have one?” He looked at Tsumé.

“He gave it to all of us in cheque form… Vinge is the only one who hasn’t cashed his yet,” said Tsumé. “We may have to be careful going forward.”

“Hoo boy…” Volcan bemoaned, falling back against the backrest of the couch. “What’ve I got myself into now?”

“Just don’t go spending any more for now…” Avelyn suggested, leaning back in her seat, resting up against Volcan once more as they bounced across the road watching the local news.

A long while later, a ringing could be heard, coming from Avelyn’s phone in her pocket. She pulls it out keenly and delights at the name appearing on it, but looked around the room, bringing her finger to her beak, gesjuring to everyone to keep quiet before hitting accept and loudspeaker.

“Hi Avory! How are you?” she answered. Her tone turned back to calm and composed.

“I’m good.” Avory responded, “yourself?”

“I’m pretty good too.” Avelyn replied, suddenly excitedly, breaking composure, “Oh my god! Avory! What the hell has happened?! What was all that? You had me so worried!” she exclaimed.

Her sudden outburst did not go unnoticed. Beside her, Volcan leaned slightly away, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Past him, Tsumé had looked up from whatever she was checking on her phone to regard the raven, leaning forward in her seat to look past the larger male with similar curiosity.

“Long story, but it’s all over. I’m safe” Avory insisted. “I’ll tell you when I get back. But what about everyone else? I see you got back to most of them? Has that attacker been dealt with?”

“Attacker?” Volcan asked, concerned.

“He probably means that sergal that showed up before we left,” said Tsumé, briefly looking past them to the dinette to see if Korban piped up, but the husky still seemed fast asleep, not roused by the mention of his half-brother.

“Is that Tsumé?” Avory then asks over the speaker, “Are you ok? I’ve been so worried about you!”

Tsumé chuckled. “I’m fine, Avory. I went with the guys up to Yellowknife; I’m in about the safest place any person can be right now.”

“That’s good to hear. I kept watching the footage back and I truly don’t know how you and Kyle survived that. That was some brilliant quick thinking back there; I’m really proud of you!”

“It seemed like the best move I could make. I didn’t think he could follow us underground - and he’d have been stupid to try,” she said.

“So has he been dealt with or is he still out there? No one answered before,” Avory asked.

“We never saw him before we left,” replied Tsumé, “So it’s possible he’s still in the city somewhere… Sadly, Korban’s fast asleep so, we can’t ask him.”

“Keep on the look out then, and do what Korban says. He seems to know what he’s doing; if he really is his brother, he’s probably your best defense against him,” Avory remarked. “I’m still stuck here in Israel until tomorrow morning it seems. I need to check out something down south before heading back; but call me as soon as you see him and I will get over there as soon as possible. 4 hours tops… try to hold out until then.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. But thanks for checking in, Avory,” said Volcan.

“Volcan? Ok. Don’t do anything reckless.” Avory insisted, “Why were you all in… was it Yellowknife? Isn’t that in the middle of nowhere?”

“That’s a long story… I’ll fill you in when you get back,” the phoenix promised.

“Sounds like that’s going to be a long night exchanging notes,” Avory remarked. “Ok. I’m going to get going now. I’ve got some things to check on whilst to get out of here. I’ll speak to you all later. Shalom!”

As the raven hung up, Volcan looked oddly at Avelyn. “...What does ‘shalom’ mean?” he asked.

“I think it means ‘god be with you’ or something in Hebrew. It’s the same as ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ for us.” Avelyn remarked. “He’s just showing off that he’s in another country.”

Volcan shrugged and leaned back in his seat as he settled in for the remainder of the trip, considering how to retell the story of the events in Yellowknife once Avory got home… He had plenty of time to think of it yet.

~~~~~

The journey back to Unity Falls was as long as the original journey to Yellowknife, with Lighris and Tsumé rotating shifts for driving the RV - with Avelyn to also chip in and take the wheel for a few hours while the others rested. But all in all, it was a long, arduous journey and just about everyone was sick of the road by then.

When they were still hours away from the city, Pavan announced that he had finally had enough, and asked Lighris to pull over. “Sorry guys; I can’t stand it anymore. I’m gonna go on ahead and see you all at home,” he announced before taking his leave. He exited the RV and flew on ahead as the others carried on; the wind phoenix was out of sight in a matter of moments.

Calgary was the last major city they passed as they continued their journey south, and by then they were finally in the last leg of the journey. Lighris took the wheel again for the remaining two hours, and everyone grew increasingly restless the closer they came to home.

“So, what’s first for you, Vinge?” Volcan asked. “Looking for a place to live?”

“I’ve been looking up a few apartments on our way back,” replied Vinge. “Sadly I am unsure what I could rent without giving away too much. And, I think I will need to follow Avelyn’s advice and work through an accountant - which of course, means I will need to open a bank account.”

“Yeah… Starting to look like I will too,” agreed Volcan. “Hopefully this friend Avelyn mentioned can help us out.” Then he turned his attention to Buniq. “What about you, Buniq? Decided what you are going to do first?”

“Not yet,” she replied, “besides the obvious. I am unfamiliar with societal living of this kind, so I may need to stay somewhere else until I know more about what to expect.”

“I’d offer to let you stay with me, but I don’t live in my own place anymore, so that’s up to the man and lady of the house,” Tsumé put in, and looked over to Avelyn. “What do you think; would you and your brother be okay taking in one more stray?”

“I am not against it. I doubt he would be either,” she replied, studying something on her phone.

“And what about a job - anything catch your eye?” Volcan asked Buniq.

“Again, I will need to do more research on the subject,” said Buniq. “I don’t suppose my experience in fishing, hunting and foraging will be of much help there, however.”

Volcan shrugged. “If you lived on the coast, maybe fishing, but the others… A survival school, perhaps?”

Before anyone else could answer, Lighris called up from the front. “Hey gang? Something’s wrong up ahead,” he said.

“What is it, Lighris?” Volcan asked.

“Looks like an accident; there’s an overturned bus by the roadside,” said Lighris. “Cops are all over it, and I see an ambulance and fire truck too. Can’t see the extent of the damage from here, but it looks like traffic is backed up pretty far.”

“How long do you suppose the jam will last?” Kieran asked, moving up to see the blockage ahead.

“Better question… How’d it happen in the first place?” Korban asked in a suspicious tone. “Busses don’t just overturn unless the driver’s either drunk or stupid…”

“No idea,” replied Lighris.

“Can we go around it?” Volcan asked. “We’ve been on the road long enough now; I’d really like to just get home.”

“Yeah, I know another way,” said Lighris as he slowed the motorhome and made a left turn. “There’s a range road this way that should take us right by it; it’s a bit out of our way and will probably add another half hour to the trip but, by the looks of this traffic it’ll still be faster to go this way.”

“Well, then no time like the present.” Kieran said with a nod. “If it gets us home faster than waiting for the accident to clear up, then I say go for it.”

The RV remained on paved road only for another two kilometers before Lighris made another turn, leaving the asphalt to drive on gravel as he entered the range road. The vehicle was filled with the rumbling sound of driving on dirt and rocks, and the occasional pinging sound of stones thrown into the chassis to bounce off the frame.

To try to drown out the noise, Lighris put on some music, but after another half hour of driving, he noticed something else on the road ahead. “Now what…?” he muttered, squinting his eyes. “It looks like someone’s standing right in the road up ahead.”

“Hope it’s not a hitch-hiker - we’re all squeezed in here as is,” said Volcan, coming to stand up beside his brother and looking ahead.

“What’s all the commotion?” Korban called as he came up to the front as well, moving up to the front to see what they were looking at. He squinted his eyes and strained to see more clearly, but then a glint caught his eye that made him widen his eyes and grip the back of Lighris’ seat tightly.

“Put the RV into reverse, right fucking now!” He commanded firmly.

“Reverse? What’re you on-”

Suddenly Tsumé, coming up and looking between them, saw what was ahead. Her eyes went wide, and she pointed in alarm. “It’s him!” she practically screamed. “Lighris, stop!”

Lighris slammed on the brakes, the tires groaning as the massive vehicle skidded to a stop, kicking up clouds of dust in the process. When it finally stopped, Lighris rounded in his seat to look at Korban and Tsumé. “What the fuck has you two so spooked?!” he demanded.

Before either of them could answer, the figure ahead suddenly vanished from view. Almost immediately after, the group heard the sounds of loud popping from within the RV, followed by the vehicle jerking after each pop until the vehicle had settled evenly again, albeit lower to the ground now.

“Fuck! He slashed the tires!” Korban growled angrily, looking out toward the back of the RV. “He’s makin’ sure we don’t get away from him this time…!”

“Dammit, I just bought this thing!” Volcan cursed, heading to grab his blade from under the pullout. “Avelyn, get into your armour!” He said, unnecessarily as the raven was already in the process of doing so even as Volcan said it.

The phoenix moved from one side of the RV to the other, looking out every window he could. “Shit, I don’t see him; where is he?!”

“If I know him… He’s behind us, admiring his handiwork before goin’ in for the kill,” Korban remarked, wearing a grim look on his face before sucking in a deep breath, then letting it out slowly. “Let me deal with him. He’s my problem after all…”

“Not anymore he isn’t,” said Lighris as he stood up, arms crackling with electricity as he headed for the door. “Fucker’s getting a beatdown, and I’m going to bring it to him.”

“Korban!” Avelyn, once again suited up as the Blue Lightning called over, before flinging him something small. “Put this on, it will help.”

The demon-husky caught the small ring embedded With a large spherum bead which with open contact with his finger. Korban knew this would help enhance his powers, but even with this enhancement, he still wasn’t confident with his chances. Regardless, he slipped the ring on and gave Avelyn a nod before kicking the door open, stepping outside and turning to face the adversary.

Korban grimaced when he saw the sergal, his brother, looking back at the damaged RV intently, watching the husky slowly approach him and narrowing his eyes the closer he got. The two of them eventually were within earshot of one another, a long uncomfortable silence falling around them before Korban eventually broke the ice.

“You sure took yer time,” He remarked, a smirk crossing his face. “It’s been, what… seven or eight years since we split? What, got tired of the loneliness, or did you just miss me that much?”

“...You could say that,” Sash responded. “I just had to ensure the conditions were just right before deciding to reunite with my dearest little brother,” he added in a snide tone.

“Wow… you waited all this time just to surprise me? Damn, bro. I’m touched… truly.” Korban said while pacing back and forth for a moment and chuckling softly. “Well… So much happened lately that I’d love to go over with you, but first… how ‘bout a kiss from yer baby brother?” he then pulled one of his guns out and took aim at Sash. “Better yet, how bout a kiss from ol’ Deimos here?”

Again, another silence fell over them, the wind rushing past them and causing leaves to rustle and brush past them. “...Talk about a heartwarming family reunion, eh bro?”

Sash closed his eyes and let out a breath, then glared back at Korban while clicking his katana free from its scabbard. “...You got that right…”

In a split second Sash was gone again. Korban smirked and raised his hand to grab his blade and tilted it just enough that it protected his head as Sash came at him from behind, their blades clanging as they made contact for the first time, signifying the start of their duel. Korban then turned and swung his larger sword to push the sergal back, then began firing several rounds at Sash as he skidded back.

The sergal skidded to a halt, then proceeded to weave around every bullet that came at him before he rushed in again. Their swords met once more, and they then engaged in a deadly dance of blades. Sash pressed the assault by swinging his blade quickly to force Korban to back up, and while he was successful in driving him further from the RV, Korban’s larger blade coupled with his wilder swordplay helped prevent Sash from scoring any hits on him.

Over by the others, Lighris started to take a step forward when Volcan put his arm out to stop his brother. “No, don’t,” he said.

“Why not?” Lighris asked, crossly. “We’ve got eight to one on him - nine if we call Pavan back here. There’s no way that scrawny skink can take all of us.”

“Maybe not… But Korban was desperate to let him be the one to handle this guy, that day he came to see me, and he made me promise I’d let him,” stated the phoenix. “We stay out of the way for now… But the moment it looks like he needs us, well… Not all promises can be kept.”

Everyone stayed alert at that… But they listened to Volcan and stayed aside, giving Korban the room to fight his brother - though none of them could understand why the husky had to do that…

Eventually the two of them started to incorporate their respective magics into their duel. Korban coated his blade in a layer of ice as he was forced back, then swung his blade and began discharging large ice waves, larger than he was normally capable of. Sash dodged to the side and countered by sheathing his blade back into its scabbard, channeling arcane energy around the scabbard before he quickly clicked his sword out of his scabbard a few times, sheathing it just as quickly.

Korban’s ears pricked as he recognized the attack, turning and quickly running to the left as fast as he could. The second he moved, orbs of dark energy appeared where Korban once was, followed by slashes within the orbs before they vanished. As he ran, Korban put his blade on his back again and drew his guns, channelling his ice magic into them and skidding to a stop as he aimed.

“Have a taste of this…!” he growled, pulling the triggers and discharging two large ice shots that spiralled around each other. Sash easily tilted his head out of the way of the shots, looking unimpressed back at Korban, who only smirked back at him in response.

The ice bullets hit a tree behind Sash, and the two shots rebounded off of the tree in different directions, hitting another pair of trees and returning back to Sash. The sergal flinched, then quickly drew his blade and used both his sword and scabbard to deflect the shots coming at him, only for them to rebound off of his weapons, hit another pair of trees, and come right back at him, forcing him to deflect them again and again.

While this was happening, Korban jumped up into the canopy above, hopping from branch to branch before leaping out into the open again and falling into a dive, spinning and firing off more ice shots from his guns as he fell. Sash looked up and saw the attacks coming, growling in annoyance before quickly weaving a sign with his hands and slamming one of them into the ground.

“...Ayyan-E Tammash…”

With that incantation, large pillars of purple fire exploded from around Sash, circling around him and melting the shots before they could reach him. Korban cursed out loud and weaved around one of the pillars of fire as it came for him, but another managed to singe him along the side as he tried to evade it, making him growl as he hit the ground in a tumble before he rolled back to his feet, holding his side with his left hand.

“That’s new…!” he growled, but didn’t have time to speculate what that attack was before he suddenly saw a group of ethereal katanas appear around Sash. “Oh fuck…!”

With a gesture, the swords all launched at Korban, who shot at a few of them to destroy them before being forced to jump out of the way and holster his guns and draw his sword, destroying the last two blades as they came in. Growling, Korban charged back in and began swinging his sword in a wild manner, oftentimes swinging too hard and following through with the momentum for another, to which his brother blocked with his scabbard and countered with a precise swing of his own and nicking Korban along the shoulder.

Kieran, watching the duel with the others, was wide-eyed with concern after Sash conjured those purple flames from seemingly out of nowhere. “Shit, that’s not good..!” He remarked. “That was an arcane spell! He’s proficient in the dark arts of sorcery!” He exclaimed.

“So that’s how he found us out here,” said Volcan, “he must’ve been scrying us and set a trap to catch us where we were isolated.”

At that, Kieran rounded on Volcan. “Fuck the promise you made! He keeps fighting out there, he’s gonna get himself killed!” he stated, already reaching for his spellbook and sword.

“But what can we do?” Tsumé asked. “Kyle and I couldn’t even scratch this guy before; he heals just as fast as Korban and has a whole new arsenal to contend with!”

“We got numbers on our side this time! Besides, are you guys really comfortable with the idea of letting him fight and die like this?” Kieran asked. “Korban ain’t the best guy in the world to work with, I know that. He’s brash, arrogant and headstrong, but he at least cares about you guys! He wouldn’t have given you guys some of the pot from the last job if he didn’t think you were worth his trust!”

Volcan considered Kieran’s words, feeling them cutting deep and making him second-guess the promise he’d made to Korban… Yes, the husky had asked to be allowed to handle things on his own, but the disadvantage he had in this fight was clear to all of them. He looked at his friends, one after the other, and all of them gave him the same look…

The decision was unanimous.

“Avelyn, go high; the rest of you, spread out!” Volcan called, brandishing his blade. “Let’s show this fucker what we’re made of!”

Kieran smirked. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.” He said, then moved with the others to fan out and begin their assault.

But they would seem to arrive too late, as they watched Sash land a decisive blow against Korban…

The duel came to a stalemate, with Korban looking worse for wear while Sash had yet to be even touched. They engaged in another short dance before Sash kicked Korban away, sending him into a nearby tree. The bounty hunter slumped, fatigue finally catching up to him. He then quickly drew his left gun and aimed, firing seven shots at his brother.

Sash swung his blade in a circle, catching the bullets in a vortex - a seemingly impossible feat, before sending them back at him. Korban ducked behind his sword when he realized the attack was coming, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the indestructible blade.

“...Why, brother?” Sash asked as Korban lowered his sword, grunting as he slowly rose back to his feet. “...Why do you deny your heritage? Why do you refuse to gain power…?” He asked again. “The power of our father, Kleetra… The Demon King of the Underworld. Demon blood courses through your veins. Why live your life as if you would die at any given moment? Why live like these wretched mortals that pollute this world?”

Korban slowly lifted his head to glare back at Sash, then grinned slightly before chuckling softly. “Damn, that’s what’s pissing you off…?” Korban asked, spitting some blood out of his mouth before hefting his blade to rest along his shoulders. “I live the way I do because that’s the only kinda life worth living. So what if I’m a Prince to some dated Demon King? What’s he done for me that made me wanna look up to him like the father you claim he is?”

Korban’s scowl deepened, though his cocky grin returned even as he spoke. “If he truly cared… you really think he woulda left both our moms to die the way they did?” He felt satisfaction when he noticed Sash’s ear twitch, seeing his words had touched a nerve. “Point is, he may have brought us into this world, but I don’t owe him shit. I chose the life of a mercenary because it’s exciting. There’s never a dull moment in my line of work… and you get to meet some pretty interesting people while on the job. People that, if you look in the right spots, will have your back no matter what…” he picked up his sword again, gripping it with both hands. “That’s all the power I need…”

Korban then rushed in and locked blades with Sash once more, entering another stalemate. Their blades grinding so hard against each other that they were starting to turn red hot from the friction. Sash then pulled a fast one on Korban by using his tail to wrap around his leg, jerking it to the side to force him off balance, then maneuvered Korban’s sword so that he lost his grip on it and sent it into the air.

Sash then kicked Korban to the ground and grabbed Korban’s sword as he fell back to the earth. Thanks to their shared blood, the blade didn’t reject him as it would the hand of anyone else; he spun the blade once before he drove it right into Korban’s chest, making the husky freeze where he lay, coughing up blood before he looked down at the massive sword perforating his torso.

“...Utterly foolish, little brother,” He growled, forcing the blade deeper into Korban’s chest, making him groan in agony and shudder in pain. “...The only thing that matters in this world is absolute power… Power controls everything. Without it, you cannot protect that which matters most to you…” He leaned down and snatched the cross from Korban’s neck. “...Let alone yourself…”

He then shoved the blade all the way down to the massive guard, then backed away from his brother and watched him bleed out from his fatal wound. Not even Korban’s regenerative healing factor could stop him from so much blood loss; Sash knew that.

The husky was losing all feeling in his body with each pint of blood that pooled under him, until eventually he let out a final death throe as he lay there, limp and lifeless, killed by his own sword…

From Sash’s left came a furious shout, and he turned to see the red and gold avian lunging at him, swinging a large, curved blade with both hands. Instinctively, Sash raised his weapon to block… Only to be struck by his own weapon and sent hurtling through the air as though he were nothing more than a toy, revealing the ridiculous strength of the avian.

Worse yet, something even bigger and just as strong was waiting for him where he flew; a roar, followed by a massive paw slapping him out of midair, and he was spiked into the ground like a volleyball. Sash grunted from the impact, rolling away from the threat that had spiked him to the ground and jumped back to his feet, glaring back at the werecat.

“Hey, asshole!!” Kieran shouted, earning him a glare from the sergal as he cast a multiple fireball spell from his book. Sash scoffed and weaved a sign from his free hand, then lifted his arm upward and caused a wall of earth to rise up and stop the fireballs from hitting him.

He then used his speed to zip around and appear beside Kieran, drawing his blade for a draw cut, but Kieran had expected such an attack, as Sash’s blade was suddenly repelled from a barrier that the cat had cast prior to casting his fireball spell.

“...A practitioner of the mystical arts,” the sergal muttered softly. “Cute… but a poor grasp on the true power of the arcane.”

“Oh, I got more than just mystical arts on my side, shithead,” Kieran remarked.

Sash suddenly felt white hot pain shooting up his leg, and looked down to see the ground had seemingly come alive and seized his leg in a vice grip between stones around his shin and compacted dirt over his foot, holding him in place. Looking up at him with their head barely piercing the soil was a familiar, avian face.

“Like backup,” said Tsumé. “Remember me, asshole?”

Then came another bellow from the opposite direction, and Sash barely got a glimpse of his attacker this time before he was struck across the face by a metal-clad fist in a potent left hook to the face. He recoiled from the attack, spinning along the ground a few times and holding his cheek with his other hand, glaring back at both his attackers.

He glanced briefly between Tsumé and Lighris, his healing factor repairing the damage to his leg as he held his right arm forward. Several ethereal katanas appeared around him, spinning like a sort of barrier for a few moments before they vanished and appeared above the two of them, then with a snap of his fingers, they all rained down on both of the avians before him.

Tsumé dashed underground to evade the katanas, and Lighris put up his gauntlets to block them, putting himself under his raised arms as much as possible. Sash then got into an iaijutsu stance, then dashed at lightning speeds and drew his blade as he got closer to Lighris. He disappeared once he was close to him, appearing behind him and skidding to a stop before quickly sliding his blade back into its scabbard, and Lighris was suddenly cut in multiple places along his body immediately after Sash sheathed his sword.

Lighris cried out as he dropped, bloodied, to the ground, catching himself on his hands and knees and gasping in shock at what had just happened.

The sergal felt sweltering heat coming up behind him and almost had to shield his eyes as the furious red and gold avian ran at him, his body ablaze with red-hot fire as he swung the impressively sized blade at him repeatedly. Sash stepped back and dodged around the attacks, daring not to attack with his limbs as he knew he would get burned from them. He needed to get some distance from him, which had just the means to do.

When Volcan swung his blade once more, Sash raised his scabbard at an angle, catching Volcan’s sword in a hanging guard that made the blade slide harmlessly past him. Sash then drew his sword and cut Volcan along his arm before using his speed to dart backward from his counterattack, sheathing his sword once more in his scabbard.

The second his blade was back in its scabbard, Volcan started to feel colder, almost as if a deathly chill was creeping inside of his body despite being intensely hot from his rage. Volcan went stiff, and dropped to one knee, but stayed upright - whether by adrenaline or an unwillingness to quit. The wound on his arm bled visibly, but more alarmingly was the sign of his feathers going dark around it, as if something else had caused the fires of his feathers to die in that area.

Sash narrowed his eyes as he watched Volcan struggle to fight the affliction he had cursed Volcan with, mildly impressed with his resilience. “You’re strong of mind as well as of body, it seems… Fighting off a severe case of hypothermia,” he remarked, his words betraying the faintest hint of intrigue at the constitution of his opponent.

Volcan looked over his shoulder at the sergal even as he stood up. “I guarantee you… I’ve had worse,” he said as he turned to face Sash again, his voice shaky, but resounding. He was not going to give up.

Sash took a closer look at Volcan as he fought through his affliction, sizing him up from head to toe. “...So, you are the one I sensed before,” he muttered, furrowing his eyes slightly. “There are still traces of demonic essence lingering around you, but there can be no mistake…”

Volcan narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes… I did suffer from possession recently,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never forget… But I’m not going to let it stop me - not now, and not ever.”

Sash’s eyes narrowed. “The damage has been done regardless. You are nothing but a shell of what you once were; in all likelihood, you aren’t back to your full power yet. I have no interest in people like you…” he went on, slowly stepping closer to Volcan.

“Too bad… You hurt my friend, and my brother… You’re dealing with me whether you want to…” his body glowed brightly as he spoke, “or not!” He exhaled a massive cone of fire at Sash, spreading wider as it approached the sergal.

“Pathetic…” he muttered, weaving a sign and swung his arm forward, creating a large wall of water that shot forward, snuffing out Volcan’s flames as it barrelled toward him. It was only by Buniq’s quick action that Volcan was spared the waves, throwing herself in front of him to shield him from the water when his flames were extinguished.

Finally, Vinge jumped in; until now he’d been staying back as his fighting style depended on one-to-one engagement, and he would’ve been in everyone else’s way or vice versa. He lunged at Sash, and their blades met in a deadlock as Vinge glared into his eyes, yet the cold hard gaze he gave betrayed no intent even as Sash felt pain shooting up his side as Vinge stabbed him with the dagger in his off-hand.

In that same motion, Vinge pulled back, turned and kicked Sash hard in the forehead. He recoiled from the attack and growled, retaliating by spreading his arms out and conjuring a large ring made of fire around his body before pointing his blade at Vinge. The ring of fire shot up into the air, then zipped quickly over to Vinge before it dropped into the ground, causing the ground to heat up as an eruption of flames became imminent.

Vinge froze the ground in front of him, casting ice over his feet, and controlled the ice on his legs to shoot forward, narrowly avoiding the ring of fire as it came down. The sweltering heat still found him, and would’ve caused him greater harm had Volcan not intervened, taking hold of the flames and sending them back at their original caster; the fire responded to the command of an elemental readily, and Sash lost control of them.

Sash sidestepped out of the path of the flames, using his right hand to adjust the collar of his coat while scoffing at the phoenixes. “...Is that really all you can muster…?” He asked condescendingly. “Don’t waste my time with parlour tricks… Either fight like men or die like children…”

It was sudden and immediate.

If it was any slower he might have noticed it unfold. A ringing in his ear, a blinding light began to fade, a tightness all around him and a weight on his back.

To anyone who might have been lucky enough to bear witness, although to do so might have deafened them too; a blue curled-up ball fell from the sky at hypersonic speeds and hit the sergal from above, collapsing him to become the new foundations at the center of a newly formed crater in the ground.

The Blue Lightning slowly unfolded from her ball, glowing red hot from the fiction in the air and on impact, standing heavy on top of what she hoped was a corpse; diverting auxiliary power to her suit’s disruptor. The effect was noticeable immediately, as all of the phoenixes looked suddenly ill. Tsumé, thankfully, was out of the ground and not trapped by the disruptor’s effects, while Buniq was likewise unaffected as her affliction was not in the disruptor’s range.

Buniq looked over her shoulder toward Avelyn. “What is happening to them? They look weakened,” she asked, having not seen this effect before.

“A disruptor… nullified the effects of M.A.N.A…. if that’s how he regenerates… he’s not coming back from this,” Avelyn replied darkly, her breath coming in ragged gasps while resting her red hot foot on the back of the sergal’s broken neck and keeping it pinned.

“Uhhhh, guys…?” Kieran called out. The gray cat had moved to Korban’s side, desperately pressing his fingers to his neck to see if the husky was still alive “I can’t feel a pulse!”

The Blue Lightning let out a digitized grunt looking down at Sash, before taking no care in crouching down on him to jump up and into the air of off him, flying over to the two bounty hunters and landing beside them, quickly kneeling down and placing her hand to his chest, just above the oversized sword, and then to his neck.

“...Get this thing out of him!” she insisted, standing back up and grasping the handle of the sword, trying to pull it out with no give. Even behind her gloved hands, the sword still recognized her as an intruder and would not respond to her touch.

A heavy footstep caught their attention, causing both Avelyn and Kieran to look over in horror to see Sash stepping out of the crater, his clothes singed and tattered, and his body riddled with burns, bruises and bloodstains that were quickly disappearing due to his healing factor. He glared dangerously at Avelyn, his hands clenched tightly as his eyes started to glow a deep blue the more his anger built up.

“...That… was a mistake…” He growled, a translucent blue orb of dark energy starting to encompass him as he drew upon more of his demonic power.

Everyone stared in disbelief that Sash had not only survived Avelyn’s attack, but at the fact that his power was growing despite the Disruptor being active. Kieran moved in front of Avelyn and held his sword in both hands, ready to face the sergal down feeling his spellcrafting powers return to him as the disruptor was turned off proving little effectiveness, and Buniq likewise came to stand beside him, but even her large and imposing form did not intimidate the sergal.

Sash scoffed at the gesture and began to slowly pace toward him, but then flinched as he felt something coming from behind Kieran.

A pulse… no… a heartbeat… one that eventually grew loud enough for everyone to hear… and it was coming from the deceased husky…!

Then, his sword flashed before suddenly shooting upward into the air, spinning rapidly even as it fell and embedded itself point first into the ground a fair ways away. The ground around Korban started to heat up immensely, forcing Avelyn, Buniq and Kieran to jump away before a large pillar of fire shot up from the ground and engulfed the husky.

Everyone watches as the fires engulfed Korban, yet were doing no damage to him. Avelyn’s display showed her that levels of negative pyrrum were increasing higher and higher with the husky, to the point where it was becoming incalculable. Korban then started to twitch and wretch as his back seemed to be distorting little by little, until blood shot out of his shoulder blades as large black and red wings suddenly appeared behind him, fanning out as he suddenly straightened up and let out a distorted, blood-curdling roar that echoed throughout the countryside.

The fires then disappeared and Korban landed on the ground, staggering as smoke trailed off of his body. His right hand twitched and his sword was summoned to his hand, and in a blaze of fire, the sword suddenly changed form, becoming more curved and grew large spiked protrusions along the false edge of the blade. The guard also changed to appear more demonic as well, developing a winged design similar to the wings on his back, with a horned skull on the center of the guard…

Despite this change, and everyone’s shock at what had just unfolded, Sash was starting to smirk slightly as he witnessed Korban become far more than what he was before. “...It’s about time…” He muttered softly. “The devil inside you has finally awakened…”