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Chapter 10

One-Eye pushed forward with his sword, holding it in front of him, using one paw to hold it by the hilt, the other one pushing against the blade from behind as he ran towards his charging attacker. The otter roared in his rage, as he jumped high into the air, pulling a fist back as he flew.

Skip's fist collided with the Foxen's magic sword, a small shock wave blasting from the point of contact. One-Eye grunted in effort, the power behind the Berserker's punch was incredible! The Aquari's feet clattered to the floor, the claws of his toes long and unkempt.

"I will..." The otter growled loudly, his fist making a loud cracking noise, and blood oozed from his paw down the blade to drip onto the ground between the two Beasts.

"I will not let you get away with what you've done! All the pain you've caused me, I shall return to you a thousand fold! Salvis!"

"I'm not Salvis!" One-Eye tried to say, but the otter swept across the floor with his leg, catching the fox's feet and making him fall. Reacting quickly, One-Eye moved his blade to catch the ground, the magic metal cutting into the ground and giving him an anchoring, which he used to then lift his swinging underside.

His foot swung through the air, aiming at the otters head, but the smooth furred Beast blocked with the wrist of his arm, grunting himself at the power behind One-Eye's own ability.

"I'm not Salvis you idiot!" One-Eye repeated, as he spun and lifted his body with one paw on the ground, twisting his sword from the ground and launching himself away from the berserk Aquari.

"Rrrrrwwwaaaaa!" Skip yelled as he continued his assault, his eyes wide with blood fury.

Damn it! One-Eye thought to himself as he dodged blow after blow from the crazed Beast. He's too far into his Berserker state to hear me anymore. One-Eye had very little experience on what to do here, he only knew one Berserker before, and that had been one of the Knights of the Seven. He'd only seen him stopped once and that was with near fatal damage, but there had to be a better way to stop a berserk Beast.

One-Eye continued to dodge blows, back paddling until he suddenly felt metal behind him and he gasped, barely ducking and rolling away before Skip's fist smashed into the wall, punching straight through the metal. The dent sparked and crackled from the broken fuses inside the wall, as the otter growled, eyes still fixated wildly on his Foxen target.

He removed his paw from the wall as One-Eye slowly stood up, panting softly as he held his sword in both hands in front of him. Skip stared at his paw a moment, blood red and the fur stained and torn now from the punch to the wall. He licked the blood and grinned.

"It's been a long time...since I've felt this rush, this insane pulsing of blood in my ears..."

"Listen to me!" One-Eye tried again, "I'm not Salvis, I'm not your enemy!"

"Lair!" The Aquari shouted, lifting a foot and smashing it onto the ground, making the floor dent as well. His power seemed to amplifying the longer he spent in his Berserker state.

"You're trying to trick me! Just like you deceived me and my sista!"

"I'm not lying! I'm his brother!" One-Eye shouted back, but the otter ignored him, grabbing and flinging a desk towards him.

One-Eye lifted his sword high over his head, and sliced down as the desk flew at him, cutting it cleanly in two. As the two halves clattered to the floor around him, Skip was already flying through the air at the fox. He collided with him, knocking One-Eye's sword from his grasp. It vanished in a poof of black smoke before it hit the ground, but not before the two Beasts fell. The fox grunted in pain as he smashed into the metal floor, but lifted up with his legs to kick the otter off him.

Skip flew and landed onto a desk, snapping it apart. He was quickly back onto his feet before the fox could even get up himself, charging again in his mad lust for blood.

"Fuck!" One-Eye cursed, he wasn't going to have enough time to summon his sword back at this rate, Skip was too fast. His paws met the Aquari's, each of them clenching tightly onto the other's hands, bones snapping and popping.

With a growl, the fox noticed his strength didn't equal the Aquari's as he felt his footpaws slowly being pushed along the ground, backwards.

"Damn it..." He growled as he stared into Skip's eyes in front of him, the pupils wide and shining brightly.

This guy... He thought as he tried to push back with all his strength, even calling upon the dark powers his brother had given him that he had tried to avoid, but it wasn't enough. His feet continued to slide back, until his heels met the wall again. Skip continued to push though, pressing more and more into One-Eye's arms, which crushed him against the wall.

"Rrrrrrrr....RAAA!" The otter yowled out as he flung his head forward, bashing his forehead against One-Eye's. He did this three more times, each time slamming the Foxen's head against the wall, until the forth time, when he managed to slam him so hard, it dented the wall enough to encase his skull.

The fox howled in pain each time, wincing. His arms gave way at his lapse of focus, the otter pinning his arms against the wall by his wrists and then smashing down his feet onto One-Eye's, pinning them as well as breaking a few toes.

One-Eye continued to wince, eye closed, as he felt Skip lick his forehead slowly, feeling then also the wetness that had pooled on his face. "Hmmm the taste...of blood..."

One-Eye tried to move, wiggling, but his arms and feet were all pinned with greater force than he could create, he could feel his paws going numb even, the force gripping his wrists cutting off the flow of blood to them.

"You...have to listen to me..." One-Eye moaned, head throbbing from the beating, blood trickling down his muzzle. "I'm not...Salvis...I'm his brother..."

"Why would I believe you?" The otter hissed in his ear, "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you?"

"Because...I'm the only one...who could get you to him...look at my face...look at my eye, it's...the wrong eye...Salvis has the right eye...I have the left..."

The otter took a moment now, scanning One-Eye's head. The fox looked up weakly, opening his one eye to stare back at him. The Aquari's eyes blinked a few times, the pupils shrinking a bit and a look of astonishment coming over him.

"Gaia you're right...you are the wrong one."

With that, Skip completely released him, and One-Eye slumped to the floor, coughing. The otter turned away from him, paws clenched into fists and breathing heavily as he began trying to force himself to calm down.

After a moment, he turned back to the beaten fox, kneeling. "I'm sorry I did that to ya..." He apologized, voice at a much more lower tone now, "Here, let's get you some medical attention..."

Skip slung One-Eye's arm around his neck then, and started walking the Foxen back up the stairs to find medical supply kit.

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Liki followed Death silently, head level but eyes staring down at the ground where Death's robe flowed along behind him, leaving a trail in the dirt and dust of the pathway. He had no idea where they were, but it was a green, lush place, filled with sounds of birds and animals. The air smelled fresh and had that scent of just enough morning dew to it, like that perfect just right amount.

Liki heard the voices of several Beasts as he trudged along, but heard little of the words being said to him, until he heard his name called out.

"Liki." Death spoke to him suddenly, and the wolf had to look up with his eyes to the back of Death's head, ears craned back to hear him.

"Yeah..." Liki returned softly, still feeling numb to the whole situation.

"I believe there is something you want to do while you are here yes?"

He thought about it a moment, but shook his head. "I..." he sighed, looking off to the side once, to see now that they were walking close to the edge of a body of water, but he could see land in the distance. Liki instantly knew, they were in Midlands, but rather, the spiritual plane of Midlands.

"There'd be lots I'd want to do...but..."

"But?"

"It's too early for me to be here to do them..." Liki finished, and Death chuckled lightly.

"Fair enough...but remember what I said, you can't do anything to help Loran or the others here, all you can do is wait for the outcome of the battle."

Liki nodded again, keeping his gaze out across the sea, spotting the just visible spire that was the old Human relic Big Ben, located in the Beast kingdom Camelot. Like the Eiffel Tower in Heartwood, it too had survived their destruction. He wondered, in this realm of the dead, who was the King?

"Who is the King in this realm?" Liki questioned then, trying to take his mind off the living world by conversation.

"There is none." Death answered simply, "Beasts here need no leadership, they are free to do as they please. Anything you want is just a thought away, of course, that depends on how you think of it. If you believe getting what you desire will be more of a challenge, than it shall, but you'd get it eventually."

"So...I could...teleport even?" Liki asked.

"Indeed. Magic that would normally be forbidden or unheard of in the living world can be used without consequence. Nothing more can kill you in this world."

"That's boring." Liki grumbled, and Death laughed.

They were coming close to a small port town, and Liki could see many Beasts there, all of which, to his amazement, were nude.

"Your gaze tells your surprise." Death spoke and Liki looked to see that the Feline had peered behind him and saw Liki staring. As the wolf blushed and looked away in the other direction, Death laughed again, and explained.

"Ferals have some things right. Gaia never intended her people to wear clothing. You were meant to be free, your body exposed. But well, I guess some teachings aren't as important as others. Here in the realm of the dead though, its okay to embrace it."

"Does this um...lead to more..." Liki tried to think of the words he wanted to say, but Death seemed to be able to follow his train of thought.

"Lead to sexual possibilities?" He chuckled again as Liki only blushed harder and stayed silent.

Death didn't answer his question completely, only poking fun at the wolf, who then eventually asked another question that he thought of as he took this all in.

"Why do you wear your robe then...?"

"I have more important responsibilities to perform that require the "uniform" so to speak. I can't let myself get all involved."

Liki nodded, leaving the subject at that, as he followed Death into the town. The residents would give him side glances and a few grins, others would wave, but it was Death who would wave back.

"Who's the lost one today Death?" A Beast suddenly spoke up loudly and Death came to a stop, Liki stopping at his side as he saw the Beast in front of him.

"Ohhhh he's a looker." The female Aquari stated, winking at the wolf, who stared in surprise, because he knew this otter.

Death only chuckled, "Oh Jaklya." Liki's heart skipped a beat as Death confirmed it for him. "Such a tomboy as usual. Yeah, this one needs a little help settling in. He's a special case though."

"Special case hmm?" Jaklya grinned as he she walked up to the wolf, and leaned up against him suggestively, a deep blush forming on Liki's muzzle as he tried to lean away, "What's his name huh?"

"Well..." Death started, looking at Liki, who looked back with eyes that pleaded with him not to say his name to her.

"I'll leave that to him to tell you if he wants, until then you should just refer to him as Fa'vor."

"Fa'vor eh? Sounds like a name from way back in the Human era." Jaklya hummed a moment as she moved away from him.

"Well come on then mister wolfy." She winked at him, turning around and waving her tail about behind her nude rear, making the wolf blush again, and he started to follow her, but when Death didn't move with him he looked back.

Death smiled at him, "Go on, she'll take care of you, ask her whatever you need."

Looking back at Jaklya, Liki had to ask, "Why...her?"

Death now came closer enough to whisper, "It is important that you are with her...when you let her know who you are is up to you. Ask her questions, the realm, your friends and loved ones, herself even. Ask her to take you to them, she'll know how to get there and where they are, she's the spiritual guide for cases like yours."

"Where are you going?" Liki asked him, feeling that he would now rather travel with Death then with an old enemy who died while being fixed on killing him.

"There are others who would require my aid as well...the battle between Loran and Salvis is fierce right now. I must help them on their way as well. Do not worry yourself about it!" he added as he saw Liki's frown and scowling face, then pushed the wolf after the otter, "Now get along!"

Liki stumbled a bit, walking at a faster pace to catch up to Jaklya, before peering over his shoulder back to the middle of the port town, but Death was already gone.

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Skip tended to One-Eye's wound carefully, dabbing at the area he had head bashed repeatedly earlier with small cotton balls from a first aid supply kit he had stashed away for any emergencies. The fox took in his surroundings as best he could with his single field of vision. It seemed the otter had taken up residence in this floor of the facility, which seemed to mostly appear as a residential floor, where the scientists had once spent their off time between their experiments. He was sitting in a rather uncomfortable metal chair, slumped a bit as he held still as the Aquari treated him.

There was a small, white sheeted bed in the corner of this large room, a few small boxes with screens stacked in front of them. Bags of something littered the floor around them, the contents smelling way out of date. In the other corners, were exercise equipments, long forgotten by Beast kind. Dumbbells, a still working treadmill, and various sizes of weights stacked in rows along the wall.

"How long have you lived here? And who exactly are you-ahhhhh..." One-Eye asked after a bit then he winched, the otter suddenly pushing a wet cotton ball against his wound, which stung horribly.

"Sorry." Skip responded as removed it, dipping the ball back into a small dish of clear solution he had poured from a small bottle in the kit. "Rubbing Alcohol, meant to cleanse the wound ya know, it stings a bit but that just means it's working, it'll go away after awhile." He dabbed at his forehead again as he answered the questions.

"I am Skip...and I've been here for about...five years now."

"Why?" One-Eye continued, gritting his teeth though the stinging, calming as it began to ease up.

"Well that should be obvious, after what I did to you..."

"You were trying to catch my brother." The fox concluded but then changed his question, "I meant, why are you after him?"

"Salvis...did something to me, a long time ago...he brainwashed both me and my sista...rather, my wife. She was never my sista, she was always my life mate..." The otter sighed softly as dabbed more alcohol onto a new cotton ball, moving to start treating the other wounds One-Eye had taken in their brawl. "We believed we were siblings, it was what he had brainwashed us to think."

"What else did he cause you to do?"

"He turned me into what I am now...a Berserker. Years ago, we were kidnapped by the Anubians, and they paid Salvis to use his magic to brainwash us both into thinking we had been born into the Anubian culture, that fighting and war was our life. The Anubians then trained us, honed us into their personal killing machines, and sent us off to wars that needed fighting for them."

"Both you and your sist-, I mean, mate, are both Berserkers weren't you?"

Skip nodded, "Yes, we were. We fought in the Battle of Earthend."

"You were THOSE otters?" One-Eye gasped, and Skip only nodded again slowly, as the fox instantly went silent again. He knew what had happened that day, from knowledge his brother had given to him when he too brainwashed him.

"I'm sorry what happened to your mate..." The fox said softly, and the otter only huffed.

"Revenge...is all that matters now...apologies are for the weak and those who take what life throws at them laying down." The Aquari began to wrap One-Eye's wounds with bandages, twisting the roll around and around his head repeatedly a few times until he cut it and taped it down.

"That's what you were waiting for here then, was thinking that he would someday come to this facility." One-Eye continued, rubbing his wrists softly as they still ached slightly from when they had locked paws.

"The facility where he had been born, aye." The otter confirmed as he closed the med kit and stood up, taking the canister to a counter, where he than proceeded to start washing his hands with the still operating facilities of the human building. He scrubbed dried blood from his paws as he stared down at them.

"I searched and searched, learning his name from one of the Knights of the Seven," The fox's ears perked at that, "And then finding that village of Lizardians who directed me here. I had promised myself that the only and last blood on my paws would be his...guess I lied to myself, ended up with his brothers."

"Your bloodlust...that wasn't normal."

"No, it's not. Berserkers are usually taken down easily because they run headlong into arrows or dive onto someone's sword...but he made me stronger than that. If you stabbed me in the gut, I'd merely grab hold of the blade, even if it cut into my paws, and throw you into the air, before ripping it free from my body, and then letting you fall onto it. Done it several times, it was good at scaring the rest of the enemy away."

One-Eye shivered, imagining such a gruesome feat, as the Aquari finished washing his paws and turned off the water.

"Pain doesn't exist to me, the most I feel is light tingling sensations...His dark magic keeps me alive, heals the most massive of wounds and sometimes I think it would even reassemble my body if it had been cut in half. It would keep me in a state of bloodlust until I felt sated enough...until I met the one who freed me from his brainwashing."

Skip made his way to the bed, and he flopped down onto it lazily now, staring up to the ceiling.

"Who freed you?"

"The Shadow of EarthEnd." Skip answered simply, not expecting One-Eye would know that it was Liki's nickname for his deeds in the battle. But he did know, from the tales they he had listened to when he had been at the campfire with them back in the Rotted Woods.

"His magic freed me, reminded me who I was really was, and gave me limited control over the powers Salvis gave me. I can bite back my bloodlust, with lots of effort anyway."

"He's left his mark on you..." One-Eye said, "Just like he did me..."

The otter looked up from where he laid, "You know him too? Liki?"

One-Eye nodded, "Yeah, I know him, I was traveling with him up too not that long ago...He freed me the same why he freed you, The Shadows counteract my brothers and give us both control."

Skip was quickly back to his feet, "What? Where? What happened?!" He was suddenly very eager and interested.

"We...went to the Rotted Woods, to kill the Rotted King thinking it would stop the Rot from taking over the land. Heart Wood has been infected, the Borians are evacuating. Just as we were about to kill him though, Salvis appeared...He killed the Rotted King himself, and took with his life the spell that keeps the Rot going. The only way to stop the Rot now is to kill Salvis." One-Eye shuffled now, "But, Salvis is too strong...he overpowered me and Liki, and vanished with him, took him somewhere..."

"Is that why are here? You're looking for him too?"

One-Eye nodded, "Yeah, but I fear what my brother might be doing to Liki right now..." He said lightly as he then tried to stand, shakily getting to his feet. "I should get going, I need to find him before what happens to him-" He cut off as he slipped and fell, the Aquari quickly catching him under his arm.

"After all the beating I did to you? You'll need a little more time to fully heal even with the dark magic healing you." Skip said, a distinct tone of apology again in his voice. "I'll come with you, I do have a score to settle with Salvis after all too."

One-Eye couldn't find any reason to say no, given his condition, so he nodded. "All right, but there is something I need to find out here first. I have to see if there's any information on where the other facilities he could be hiding in are and I need...to know who I really am...could you take me back to the database downstairs?"

"Here we go, easy does it..." Skip said a few moments later as he gently helped the fox slip onto another chair, this time in front of the computer he had been examining before he had attacked him.

"Thanks." One-Eye said, bringing his paws to the screen and he looked at the keypad. Thankfully, Beast and Human language was the same, as he started to get into the hang of typing on the keyboard.

He searched in the data logs for the classified data on Beast Clone 4, and after a minutes search of the entire database, only one result showed and he called it up on screen with his voice.

The file enlarged to encase the screen in front of him, words of data pouring across the screen for a moment till it reached to top of the file, and One-Eye started to tap down with the down arrow on the keypad.

The file showed much the same information he had seen when he had first looked on the computers on the floors above him, until the bottom where there was finally something new.

"Birth name randomly generated by permission of Dr Salvis Henrich. Name generated and chosen as Loran..." One-Eye read the screen, stopping there as he slumped in his chair, his eye staring at the name on the screen. It might have been given to him by his evil brother, but it was his actual name, the name he had been given at birth, not this fake title he had; One-Eye.

"So...it's true...my name is...Loran..."

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One-Eye, now going by Loran as he decided he would go by, skimmed the database for the locations of other facilities hidden throughout Dust Shores. He found three including the one he was in at the moment, which left only two others to search.

"One-Eye-I mean um...Loran." Skip started, as they left the metal dome and returned to the outside world. The sun had long set, and cold air had taken hold of the desert, clear stars sparkling the calm skies above. Loran realized that he was probably way overdue to return to Blackpaw. The Fangren was probably furious with him, he had told him he would return right away.

"What do you plan to do? When we kill Salvis, save Liki, all that shit?"

Loran smiled, chuckling to himself about how the otter was already making plans as if winning was a sure thing. "I'm not sure..."

"If we're going to be finding Liki at the same time...I'm thinking I might stay with him...he freed me after all, and I kind of ran away from Earthend after everything that happened there."

The fox shook his head, "I don't know what I'll do...follow Liki, or making my own life, but either way I know now." He smiled, "I really am my own person."

_____________________________

"So, Fa'vor." Jaklya hummed at Liki as they approached a doorway, behind which a dark tunnel led underground. Liki knew the tunnel as the Connecting Passage, an underground tunnel that connected Anglorum to Europe, tunneling far under the sea. The passage was lit by sage stones and breathable air provided by enchanted plants that lined the walls.

"You know where we are?" She asked him, a playful grin on her muzzle, as she once again tried to curve her body in a suggestive manner. She was obviously trying to spark any kind of reaction from the wolf.

Liki had to wonder how many souls Jaklya attempted to flirt with, or even worse, how many she managed to get to mate with her, since she had died and came to this plane of existence. He blushed lightly as he coughed and answered, "It's the Connecting Passage..."

"True, that is what it is in the living world. However, here in the spirit world, any doorway can be a portal to anywhere you want to go."

Liki blinked, "How does that work?"

"It's very simple, you just need to believe that when you open the door, where you want to be will be behind it. It can be anywhere, or you can think of anyone, and the magic of this place will take them to you."

"Anywhere...or anyone huh...?"

"Yup." Jaklya smiled, moving out of the way and offering the door to him. "Just think of someone, or somewhere, and just believe with all your heart that when you open the door, they or it will be on the other side. I'll be able to follow you just by the same method, believing you're on the other side."

"Just believe..." Liki repeated, finding himself staring at the doorknob to the door. It took him a few moments, there were so many Beasts he did want to see, and he didn't know how much time he might have to see them. There was though, one person he knew he had to visit first.

With his determination in place, he took hold of the doorknob. A sudden light appeared behind the doorframe, and as he pulled it opened in front of him, he was taken to the person he wanted to see.