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And there it is again, mocking me. That big fat moon hanging low in the sky and casting long, eerie shadows through the forest, each one more menacing than the next. It was rare to sleep on nights like this, especially for one as haunted as myself. When sleep does come, it's restless and wicked, an evil presence sending me nightmarish visions of what, I couldn't quite tell you. All I ever remember is waking up cold, sweaty, and scared. Not that any of this is new. In fact, it's been just about two years.

Specifically, it's been two years since Midgard's destruction, the capitol city of this dark country of Midland, which caused the release of an innumerable mass of horrid demons. They're what make this country â€" and my life, as it happens â€" so perfectly miserable. On that note, only seven months have passed since visiting the northern Midland mountains and discovering the key to stopping this myriad of demons. The so-called Seventh Black Book contains knowledge, allegedly, on how to enter an evil realm called Hel, which until seven months ago I never believed existed. But as it turns out, Hel and the Crimson King and his Disciples, and presumably the Old Gods, too, are real after all, and it would seem my small team and I are the only ones who can stop them from totally destroying our world.

It was a mostly uneventful seven months, too, since leaving the Dragon Library, as well as my greatest friend. Rit was his name, and he had been transformed into one of those hideous Disciples by Loki, one of the Crimson King's god-damned minions. We managed to escape the Library, but not before ensuring that dark-stoned place would be his tomb. Not a day went by where I didn't swear vengeance on that arctic fox, and though it's hard to admit, time had eventually dulled the pain.

In that seven months, however, we â€" my group and I â€" left Asgard and the rest of northern Midland behind and continued on our journey southward to Midland's rolling foothills. We encountered many villages and towns along the way, myself more or less banned from entering. Not because I'm a troublemaker, mind you, at least not intentionally. No, it is because my own Inner Darkness has a nasty way of poking its head out when Disciples are nearby. Though since the Dragon Library I had learned to suppress the Presence, it still gives a quiet chuckle when demons are nearby, which is more than enough to get their attention. The problem is, of course, these massive beasts take on normal furs as hosts, and manage to hide amongst Midland's populace, searching for my boy, Kai.

Searching is perhaps too strong a word, however. Because their master, the Crimson King, is still stuck in Hel, they are stranded in our mortal realm awaiting his return to bring order to their otherwise chaotic and stupid lives. Without their evil King, they have no one to guide them, and so they wait. They know Kai is the key to releasing their Crimson King, as it takes the soul of the Sacrifice to free him. The Disciples also know that wherever I am, Kai will be. And, so, I am forced to live on the fringe of society. There's nothing more inconspicuous than a black-armoured tiger, after all.

Now Kai, the key to all of this, is my panther. Rather, he's now a fourteen year old feline whose life I'd saved two years ago when the King of Midland had tried to free the Crimson King in the first place. He had only succeeded in opening the pathway to Hel â€" with Kai's blood â€" but failed to take his soul. Death has a funny way of releasing such an object, but my less-than-divine intervention stopped that from happening. If one good thing came out of Midgard's total and absolute destruction, however, it's that no one knew that I had murdered the King. Anyway, Kai and I are basically attached, or mated rather, and have been since that fateful day.

There had been one long, lonely rough patch in our relationship, however. The King, who was a Disciple himself, could not have been crushed without the help of my Inner Darkness, known to many as Nosferatu â€" a name I had received on the battlefield during my brief time in Midland's army, during the Century War. When Nosferatu comes out to play, often times it pushes me down into the mud and takes over the show. Having said that, it took far less tiger and far more demon to destroy the King of Midland, which had left my boy extraordinarily scared. Many times during that long period of loneliness I had let Nosferatu take over in order to crush my enemy, which only pushed Kai further and further away. But it wasn't until we were forced to leave my lion-love Rit behind in the Library where my Inner Darkness had stopped effecting my panther. I don't know what it was, but Keefe, another part of my team, suggested it was simply far too much grief for one boy to handle, causing his mind to suppress particularly traumatic events. The Great Dane also pointed out that it isn't healthy, and so for seven months I've been talking to him and trying to get him to talk about it; about Rit, but especially about Nosferatu. Although he had also become an brilliant fighter in that time, because of my teachings and training, he was yet to open up to me. Keefe just says to give it time, so that's what I did.

Despite being more or less the leader of our small band, Keefe is admittedly the brains. He had learned a lot in his career as a Holy Knight, and used it well. The tall, handsome canine was mostly in charge of talking with people or with retrieving information; it didn't help that I was never allowed in the towns we crossed. Although in the seven months since Asgard we hadn't much learned anything new or helpful, he still insisted on talking to leaders and elders. Which was fine by me, anyway, since my often-times short fuse gets us nowhere, besides kicked out. Anyway, the dark-furred dog is also in charge of reading and translating the Black Book, since it had been written by a black Dragon many millennia ago in a script I couldn't even begin to understand. It hadn't ever occurred to me to ask Keefe how he knew Dragon, either, since at one point he had been so insistent that they didn't exist. Sometimes I think he still doesn't believe they once existed, despite the Book.

In our travels for the past seven months, my complaining notwithstanding, we actually came across very few populations, having mostly avoiding the highways. Although travel wasn't particularly smooth, it was faster and easier to avoid people. Not that I'm anti-social, or anything, but Keefe figures the less people we run into, the less likely we'll get discovered by a Disciple. What's harder to avoid is what we call Hel Sections â€" small to large segments of land that's been completely transformed and twisted by evil. Simply explained, it's Hel entering and intertwining directly with our world, undoubtedly in connection with the Disciples' release. Often times they can't be avoided, and though most of the wildlife is fairly timid, passing though can sometimes prove difficult, whether it be fearsome beasts or just dangerous traps.

Aside from the occasional Disciple and sometimes harrowing Hel Section, our seven-month journey from Asgard and Midland's frozen north has been more or less uninteresting. Even less so without Rit. Kai and I had gotten intimate only a pawful of times, and only once had we gotten a chance to yiff. It's not that we aren't into each other, though, but more that we don't get that sort of privacy often enough. And when we did, most times we'd simply cuddled or at most, made out for a while. Usually before falling asleep. It was nice, though, to have someone, despite the darkness all around, to be close to and keep warm with.

Which brings myself, Kai, Keefe and a young cougar named Rin to a large forest bordering Midland's south-western foothills. It was fairly cool that night, for the middle of summer, and I had set up a nice fire for our group. Sitting with Kai between my legs, resting back against my chest, and petting my Alpha â€" Alphas being black, hound-like monsters from Hel Sections â€" to my left, I let out a long, deep sigh.

"What's is it?" Kai asked me. I had gotten Keefe and Rin's attention, too, both of whom were sitting across the fire from me.

I paused for a moment. "Nothing," I finally said. Like always, though, it wasn't nothing. My mind had once again wandered to Rit. Very close friends of mine have died before, including my first, yet for some reason I couldn't let go of Rit.

"You sure?" the panther responded, craning his head upward to look at me. "That was a pretty big sigh."

I gave my panther a tight squeeze then released him moments later. "It's nothing you can't already guess at, sweetmeat."

Kai smiled. "Rit?" he asked.

I nodded. I think part of me still doubted he had died down in the Library, though how it was possible I couldn't imagine.

The panther then turned around and, kneeling in front of me, put both paws on my chest and leaned forward, planting a quick, cute kiss on my muzzle. I guess he didn't have much else to say to put me at ease. Although I did appreciate the gesture, it did little to calm me. A loud crackling snap from the fire suddenly drew my attention away from the boy, and I just stared into the flames.

"Do you think we'll find it?" Kai asked, plopping himself down again, snuggling backwards. I placed my paws on his belly, lifting his shirt so I could feel his fur. He had grown so much in these past two years, both emotionally and physically.

"I don't know," I replied. My last sword, Kraftig, had been left down in the Library, pinning the Demon Lion to the wall, which had given us the time to escape. I'd picked up Rit's sword on the way out, which was smaller than mine, but given its strenuous use, I wasn't sure how much longer it would last. "I certainly hope so."

"The scroll Tyr gave us said it's in the foothills," Keefe chimed in, as if I needed reminding. "Likely near Wayland's old place." Wayland was my blacksmith, living in Asgard now.

"I know," I said, rolling my eyes. Part of our journey included finding a so-called mystical blade crafted by the ancient dragons called the Lionheart, which I would apparently need if I stood any hope against the Crimson King. In the meantime, Keefe had been studying the Seventh Black Book to find a way into Hel, but whatever language the Dragons spoke in â€" or at least wrote in â€" he had trouble interpreting.

"It should take about half a day to reach Wayland's cabin from here," the canine guessed. At this point in our journey, though, I really didn't care how long it would take us.

"We'll get there when we get there," I said, leaning my head back on a tree. I felt quite warm with Kai in my arms, and his arms around me. It would seem the tired panther decided to start using my body as a pillow. I just kept rubbing his back idly.

After a long silence, save the sound of the fire, Rin spoke up. "Can you believe it's been two years already?" he noted.

I just opened my eyes, staring at the eighteen-year-old cougar. I didn't know how to reply to that.

"It doesn't seem like it's been that long," said Keefe, staring into the modest blaze as if reminiscing.

"Seems like it's been longer," I said in sort of a gruff voice. Unintentionally. "Especially that first year," I mumbled, though everyone heard me. Kai, surprisingly, hadn't reacted much. He simply sat up and looked at me with his big, fiery red eyes.

"I was only twelve," he said quietly, pulling a little from my body. "I hadn't ever seen anything as scary as you..."

"I dunno," Rin started with a bit of a smile. "I thought those Disciples were pretty scary."

It may have been because of the intense bond we'd shared those couple years ago, but Kai had been far more effected by Nosferatu than any of the others. No one else seemed as bothered by my "mental transformation," as Keefe would put it, than Kai was. Perhaps it was because he and I were so much closer than I was with the others â€" even Rit. At the time, our emotional connection was unlike any I had ever experienced, and so seeing me as this bloodthirsty monster, it wasn't much wonder why Kai had shied away from me as he had.

"Yeah," Kai said quietly. "They were."

Again we were surrounded by the deafening howl of silence. In that silence, though, I reached a paw forward and grabbed Kai's, rubbing it gently with my thumb pad, then pulled the young panther in close, keeping my eyes locked with his. A grin had crept onto my face as I pulled him forward, and though he was just staring up at me, I slowly planted my lips against his, kissing the boy softly. The chaste kiss didn't last long, but it left Kai with a smile. Moments later, I pulled him close and held him tight, paws once again under his shirt, this time stroking along his back. Kai was murring quietly.

Keefe must have thought our show of love was a good idea, because when I looked up, he and Rin were sharing a similar moment.

Under the pale moonlight, I suddenly didn't feel quite so tired as I had. I just leaned back into the tree again, letting out a somewhat different sigh than before. It was just as deep and long as the last, but had an air of happiness to it. Not a lot, but it was there. I then noticed, out of the corner of my half-shut eye, Keefe and Rin back away a little from the fire and lie together, then some rustling as they got comfortable. "Good night," I finally heard from the dog. "'Night," I replied quickly, then soon closed my eyes.

Moments later, though, my eyes were opened by a stirring panther. Not stirring in the way people who can't sleep stir. Stirring in more of a feeling my body up way. I just looked down at Kai, whose paws were up my shirt, watching carefully. His delicate digits then ran across my nipples, which perked my ears. My maw opened slightly to say something, but I managed to stop myself. I would let him finish.

The boy, humming quietly to himself, let his paws drift back down my body, over my abs, and stretch around my waist, hugging me tightly. His head was planted firmly against my belly as he hugged, then simply rested when he released. I pat Kai gently on the head, which made him look up at me. Though nearly impossible to tell, he may have been blushing. I just smiled at him, holding my paw between his ears. Seconds later, though, after he smiled at me, I felt Kai begin to urge me onto my back, and like a good kitty I obliged. Shifting around noisily for a moment, being cautious not to wake Keefe or Rin, I was finally on my back, and away further from the tree, with Kai lying beside me. Again I felt his warm paw peruse my body, which was cute. It was when his small fingers ventured past my belt where I began to suspect he was in for a little more than cuddling.

"K-Kai," I said stupidly. Did I really want to stop him? He just looked at me with a devilish grin, then ran his paw up my chest again, this time pinching my right nipple. "Ow!" I yelped quietly, mindful of the others. I heard the panther giggle. Before I could say anything more, he had already taken off his shirt and began to lift mine, though not very successfully. I squirmed a bit, adjusting myself to make it easier, then as my top slipped over my head, the boy straddled me. "Wh-what're you..?" I was silenced with a black-furred finger on my lips.

"Shh..." Kai said, still with that grin. Was this really happening? What had gotten into him? His paws then began to feel my body up again, touching and groping every muscle they passed over, until he leaned forward, back arched so his chest pressed against mine. From the corner of my eye, I saw his rear up high, and tail flicking above his back, that is until he kissed me. The boy cleverly slid his tongue into my maw very quickly, and moaned quietly as mine pressed against his. We continued to kiss in such a manner, keeping in mind the other two with us, until I realized Kai had at some point undone his pants. When our lips parted, he giggled again and stood up, removing his pants quickly and tossing them aside. And all I could do was stare up at his slim, extremely sexy young body. The boy stood in a very seductive pose for a moment before sliding his paws up his smooth, curvy body, giving out the slightest moan as if merely touching himself brought him such enormous pleasure. I had never, ever seen Kai act like this, so it was both surprising and incredibly arousing. I'd always loved the shape and size of the boy's body, and it would seem he had only recently become aware of it.

Kai then lowered himself on top of me, moving in a staggeringly sexual way. Both paws slid down his body from his neck, his back arching as they passed over his chest and down his belly. I then realized suddenly there wasn't even close to enough room in my pants to contain myself. However with him on top of me, I couldn't do a thing about it. Not without pushing him off, anyway. The boy continued with his extremely sexy show, and I just lay there on my back watching in awe of his seemingly new-found sexuality. He groaned throatily as his body leaned in and rubbed against mine, a slight zing rushing up my neck as I felt fur-on-fur. I lifted my paws and put them around his back, and with a murr we kissed again, a bit slower this time.

Our lips connected and initially, we kissed each other softly, but after a few more times our maws widened and tongues intertwined. It took almost no time at all for our muzzles to be locked together in a passionate kiss. I could feel his body moving slightly beneath my paws, mostly his hips, in what would be a very arousing display if watching from afar. That thought, of course, forced my eyes to spy Keefe and Rin, who were, it appeared, fast asleep. Satisfied, I closed my eyes again and pushed my tongue further into the young panther's maw, loving his taste. Soon enough, though, Kai pulled away, and with two paws on my chest, seemed to push me down, or rather, keep me down. He just kept smiling at me with that horny, lusty grin, fingers scratching slightly.

"Kai," I whispered, "what on earth..?" I was suddenly silenced with a paw on my muzzle, and a cheeky panther silently telling me to shush. I wonder if he actually knew how turned on I was.

"Quiet," he said into my ear. "Or you'll wake up the others."

My eyes instinctively flicked to Keefe again, through a very modest flame. The only one watching us was my Alpha, who I'd named Valo â€" after the legendary White Dragon. Sort of a contradictory name, but this now three-legged beast â€" his left hind leg having been eaten by Demon Rit â€" was extremely loyal, and wouldn't hesitate for a second to attack another Alpha. It didn't bother either of us to have him watch; he usually enjoyed the show.

Suddenly my eyes focused back on Kai when I felt his soft rump press backward into my crotch, then a slight moan. When his rear poked my massive bulge, Kai's back arched and he seemed to grip at my chest fur, moaning quietly again. "Ohh God..." he groaned, stroking his plump sheath noticeably. He just kept grinding his rear into me, tail flicking back and forth, stroking himself until he was thoroughly hard. And for some reason, all I did was watch him. "Luca..." Kai moaned.

Slowly I reached a paw upward, finally, and cupped his black-furred balls. This caused the panther to yelp loudly, but he slapped a paw into his maw immediately after, now trying not to giggle too loudly. Both our eyes again went to Keefe and Rin, but they didn't even stir. We looked at each other again, and as if still frozen in that position, we laughed. Quietly, of course. A moment later, I began to massage his incredibly warm balls, making a bit of noise myself. It was far beyond exciting to watch my panther writhe in ecstasy while his rock-hard cock throbbed uncontrollably; he wasn't even touching it anymore. His body language alone begged me to stroke him, but I refused. I instead continued to gently tug and stroke his full, dangling fuzz-balls, loving the horny look on his face. God, I could do this all night.

After a long moment, the fire barely noticeable now, Kai twisted his body around and dutifully removed my belt, pulling my pants down with it. Of course, I had to lift my rear a bit, but that was fine since my sheath only caused the boy to groan a bit more. Finally my pants were off â€" around my ankles, at least â€" and like a good kitten, still straddling me, Kai began to stroke my sheath, which was full and incredibly sensitive. I moaned quietly through my teeth, writhing subtly. Finally my panther gave one squeezing stroke, pulling my sheath down and exposing my precum-covered tigermeat to the cool, moonlit air. Within moments, the straddling panther, in much the same fashion as he had before, graced my groin with his two soft, perfect butt-cheeks, pushing backward with an arched back. Again his paws gripped onto my white chestfur, and he stopped as my cock-tip poked his tailhole.

Kai groaned sexually and rubbed his left paw up his chest, playing with his nipple a bit to turn me on, though I think I was as turned on as I was going to get.

"Are you sure," I moaned quietly, "you wanna do this?"

Kai just glanced down at me through eyes I wasn't sure I had seen before. He didn't speak, didn't nod, or anything. He just stared, and yet I knew his answer. I wasn't hesitant â€" I wanted this just as bad as he did â€" but it was very unusual to see him like this. Slowly I raised both paws to Kai's thighs with a firm grip, stroking the fur gently. Breathing steadily through my nose, I gave a slight nod to my boy and pushed down on his legs, signalling him to continue. I just watched as Kai's eyes narrowed until they were barely open, and as the end of my tigermeat slid into his tight, silken passageway, my eyes mimicked his. As expected, it was a very tight fit, and yet I knew it wasn't too much.

Kai, who was slowly starting to sit down, cried out silently in what looked either like pain or bliss. It was difficult to tell, as he made nary a noise. A few muted moans and groans and growls escaped both our maws, but for the sake of privacy we had to keep quiet.

A task, I might add, which was significantly more difficult than I'd expected. About half way up Kai's body, his warm, smooth insides driving me absolutely mad, I suddenly let out a sudden burst of a moan, my mouth slamming shut immediately after. Rushes of pleasure continuously shot up my shaft and my gut with every inch I ascended, the intense pleasure almost unbearable. I had never appreciated the noises we make until now. Eventually, with myself almost entirely inside my panther, my paws tore from Kai's legs and dug into the ground, tightly gripping dead leaves and grass. Through bared teeth I groaned and growled torturously, trying my damnedest to be silent. With all of my squirming and rustling, it was difficult to tell if Keefe was being stirred awake. Before long, I finally felt two young, soft, black-furred butt-cheeks press firmly into my pelvis, then a gentle caressing at my chest fur. I opened my eyes to see a lust-filled panther, whose legs were twitching, trying desperately not to start pumping.

Kai suddenly moaned, covering his maw instantly. "That feels so good," he murmured, back still arched and leaning downward. That, of course, made me squirm some more, as he changed positions and my cock moved slightly inside his body. Slowly and carefully, the boy lowered his face to mine, sighing heavily just as I was breathing in; such an intoxicating scent. "I love you, Luca," Kai whispered with a wide smile.

"Mm..." I moaned, barely coherent. "I love you, too, sweetie." Before I could say another word, Kai suddenly pressed his lips against mine, kissing me very sexually as he grinded his rear into me yet again, causing me to moan quietly as we kissed. It took almost no time at all for our lips to part and our tongues to collide, mashing together in a passionate, messy, no doubt disturbing kiss. My hips bucked unconsciously as our tongues curled around each others, and my paws found a comfortable home at Kai's hips. With my claws out, I coerced the boy downward as much as he'd go as I bucked up, and if it wasn't for our maws being safely locked, our noise would have surely woken the sleeping Dane.

Suddenly our lips parted and in a quick fit of writhing, sexual noises, we covered them again with yet another kiss, our tongues yet again connecting. I could taste the sweetness of his maw, a flavour I loved, and I plunged my tongue deeper inward. Kai, of course, returned the favour, though being so much younger, didn't make it nearly as far. I felt his rough, textured tongue glide to the back of my throat, or as far as it would go, then brush up and slide along the roof of my maw, then continue to curl around mine as it retreated a bit.

Kai then pulled away, quickly as if some force had pushed him off. With both of us just breathing heavily and staring into each other's eyes, we stayed in that position for a long moment before turning our heads to observe the other two; they appeared still fast asleep. Then back to each other. Neither of us spoke, but Kai's eyes practically screamed what he wanted. Although I was on my back, having mostly no say in how we should progress, I apparently still needed to give the boy permission to continue. That in mind, I gave him a slight nod and a bit of a thrust, and with a quiet moan Kai's legs â€" sitting atop with either knee on the ground â€" began to pump.

My eyes once again slivered, Kai's closed entirely, as his warm insides tightly enveloped my larger-than-average tigermeat and smoothly caressed it, being torturously slow. He knew how to turn me on and what I loved, and the boy played it up extraordinarily well. He knew full well the intensity of pleasure his tailhole would bring, and loved to tease me with it. It was especially easy to tease me this way when I wasn't allowed to make any noise; I wanted to just scream in ecstasy. Instead my paws gripped painfully at the ground, rhythmically tearing up the grass and the earth. Both of us still panting, Kai's rear finally raised so I just barely popped out of his tailhole, and like the little devil he was being, he clenched the muscles tightly.

Again I moaned silently, then glared at my young love. "Damn you," I whispered, and the boy just giggled in return. "Mmmff..." I growled throatily at Kai, but that only provoked him further.

Kai's paws were still on my chest, gripping and ungripping each time he clenched his tailhole. Nothing in the world could have wiped the grin off his face, more so when he finally stopped and began to grind his rear back down into me, causing me to breathe in sharply and, like before, try desperately to moan silently.

With ample precum slicking his fourteen-year-old bowels, it took barely any time at all for Kai to bump against my hips and continue in a gradually more consistent rhythm. As his pace quickened, it became harder for either of us to keep quiet, more so for Kai; he didn't have the pleasure of having my tigermeat up his rear very often. He grinded and writhed atop me, and I did about the same beneath him. The boy continuously pleasured my thick shaft, hips moving back and forth in his usual erotic way, putting on a more-than-arousing show for me. However, as we continued, the incredible pleasure my boy was giving me was slowly becoming not enough. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted more. Kai squealed quietly, through his closed maw, begging for more, but as strong as his legs were, he couldn't quite build up a fast enough rhythm.

Now it was my turn. For all the pent up sexuality which lead to this very moment, it seemed Kai could progress no further. After the boy pulled up, the desire clear and obvious on his flush face, I sat up a little and placed both paws on his slim, curvy sides, then sat up completely.

"Uh..?" he said in pleasured surprised, paws now clinging around my neck. He just held onto me tightly, letting me take over. As I pushed the boy forward, getting him onto his back now, his legs spread without delay and he pushed himself into me with yet another moan, this one far less restrained. "Fuck me," the boy said, staring me in the eyes.

I was at first taken aback by his remark, but given his previous actions, it wasn't particularly surprising. With a deep mrowl, and my cockhead still inside my panther, I wasted no time in plunging in, noise bursting through my teeth.

"Oh, God," Kai cried, silencing himself soon after. "Uhff...unghh..." It seemed he was starting to give up on silence.

Unhindered by his noise, I continued to pound my shaft into Kai's tight hole, huffing deep breaths with each thrust. I didn't blame him at all for making the noise he was making, as it was probably just as difficult for me. I persisted, however, in my silence, more or less, while Kai continued to pipe up. "Quiet," I moaned between heavy breaths, my balls slapping against his behind.

"Ughh...I c-can't..." Kai rasped, whining.

I probably should have stopped, or at least slowed down, to encourage him to pipe down, but I didn't. I just ignored his last comment and continued, becoming lost in the rapture. His tight, smooth passage squeezed and worked my tigermeat thoroughly, making it increasingly more difficult not to cum.

"Luc-Luca," Kai cried, still holding onto me. "I want...want your...seed." The boy was moaning pathetically now, and it was clear nothing I could do or say would make him quiet down, and it was way too late to stop what I was doing.

Rapt in pleasure, I was sure I could feel his prostate grinding into my rock-hard cock, which more than likely explained the big mess covering my belly and his, though his length was still solid. He hadn't climaxed yet, which was good. "Ooh...unnhh..." I heard him moan, now with no regard for the other two. We were beyond the point of keeping quiet now, so I, too, let out a loud cry, groaning with every huff of hot breath. I hammered my flesh deep into Kai's body ceaselessly, making damn sure he felt every inch of my pride. With my balls rhythmically beating the boy's rear, I clenched my teeth and growled deeply, feeling my orgasm approaching slowly.

"Ughh... Fill me up!" Kai suddenly shouted, slapping the back of my neck. I then felt his modest, yet surprisingly sharp, claws dig into me, urging me to hurry. "Fuck me," he growled again. "Faster!"

Obediently, I pounded his rear-end faster and harder, growling fiercely as I slowed for nothing. It had occurred to me for just a moment that I could possibly be hurting the boy, tearing up his insides. He was definitely small enough, and I was definitely large enough. But as he roared my name in total ecstasy, still clawing at my neck, it was clear another sensation would have clearly overruled the pain, if there was any at all. But I shoved those thoughts aside, feeling silly for even pondering them. Especially now. It was clearer than the starry night sky Kai was enjoying himself, his face seeming locked in a wide, open-maw smile, head grinding back unconsciously into the grass and leaves. He may have even been drooling a bit, clearly having no concern over his current physical appearance, nor his increasingly louder moans. Not that he should be concerned; frankly, the boy looked amazing, and coupled with his cute, lustful cries, turned me on in ways I had never been. Kai suddenly cried out again, telling me once more to fuck him faster and to pack him full.

With a growl, I slammed into him once, then again, and again, hard and fast. This was it. I could feel it welling up. Just a few...more...thrusts. One. Two. Three. Here we go. On my fourth and final thrust, I hammered into Kai's bowels and let out a loud, roar-like moan as my balls contracted and my body filled with extraordinary pleasure. Wave after wave of violent, convulsing pleasure shot through my thick tigermeat and up to my gut, my hot, sticky cum firing into the panther's body, filling the boy up quickly. Again and again I shot huge loads of thick, white tigerseed up Kai's rear, and slowly the intense rapture of orgasm began to fade. I could hear him moaning and crying out along with me, apparently rapt in the same amount of pleasure I was. I was now just growl-moaning with every deep breath, huffing into Kai's face, who was panting in a similar manner. He just continued to cling onto me, not daring to move. Every so often he let out a quiet moan or whimper, and bucked a little, until he turned his head and looked up at me, smiling happily. His face was quite flush, and it seemed he could barely open his eyes, but in those deep, fiery reds I saw absolute satisfaction. I couldn't help but buck him a few more times, grunting as I did, to make absolutely sure my seed was packed in there.

Then I smiled back, my thick, hot breath surrounding us. The sweet scent of my seed quickly filled the air, and under the moonlight we held our position, feeling far more radiant than we ever had.

"That was...incredible," Kai whispered, his eyes suddenly darting downward, then up again. When I looked down, I noticed his belly and chest was covered in long, thick ropes of creamy white cum. His lovely pink pride, too, was starting to recede, though it mostly just lay limp against his body. Apparently I had worked his body far more vigorously than I'd thought. Suddenly our lips met, and I closed my eyes. It was a relatively chaste kiss, though I felt two young paws gently caress my cheeks, as if holding me there. Together we kissed, tongues meeting for just a moment before my panther pulled away, that same satisfied smile on his face.

Giving one more thrust, I finally began to pull my tigermeat out of my panther's rear. "Mmm..." I said aloud, feeling Kai's slick insides tightly massage my shaft one last time before firmly closing for the night. A large drop, however had managed to escape, which I delighted in licking up, getting a moan and a giggle from Kai. When I got up again, my pride making its way back into the warmth and comfort of my sheath, the panther was rubbing his belly with one paw, and purring audibly. I just lay close beside him, on my side, pulling him into my arms.

"Murr..." Kai wiggled back into my body, neither of us bothering to retrieve our clothes again. Though the air was brisk that clear, moonlit night, we felt warmer than we had in a very long time.

"I love you, Kai," I said quietly into my boy's ear.

Kai just murred in reply, now relaxing his body. I gave him a quick, sweet kiss behind the ear and relaxed myself, finally closing my eyes. The campfire had gone out a while ago, so only the noise of crickets and nocturnal creatures filled the night air, almost deafening. It was a peaceful night, for a change, stars barely visible through the trees, though the fat, pale moon seemed to pierce through with ease. Slowly I managed to drift to sleep, a rapid change from what I had been doing mere minutes ago. My heart was still racing from ravaging my boy â€" however brief it had been â€" more so as I recalled the incredibly sexual state he had just been in. As I remembered clearly his sweet, smooth, slender young body twisting and curving on top of me, doing everything in his power to make me squirm...I almost could have gone for a second round. But instead I sighed in contentment, giving my boy another squeeze, which got another murr out of him. What a perfect end to my day.

When I finally opened my eyes again, it was still dark and the glowing white moon hadn't moved. Did I even sleep at all? Slowly everything came into focus, and as it did I noticed a dark figure bounce from one tree to another, just high enough so I couldn't grab it. Growling, I slowly got up, making sure not to disturb Kai, nor the other two. Oddly, Valo hadn't even stirred. He was usually my watchdog, so to speak. Ignoring them now, I moved away from our small camp, toward where the figure had gone. I was still naked, but grabbed Rit's sword anyway, slowly and silently weaving between the trees. I heard nothing more, and saw even less, but had to remain vigilant. Fortunately, the moon was bright enough so the dark didn't scare me, which it often did. Although that awful â€" and frankly embarrassing â€" phobia afflicted me far less now than it had in the past, sometimes I still get overwhelmed by the night. Despite the moonlight, though, my heart was still racing; fear was starting to set in. That mysterious presence could have been anything. A Disciple, maybe. Or just some other hideous monster scrounging for a fresh meal.

Suddenly, a rustling from behind me. When I spun, I could no longer see the camp. I must have gone farther than I thought. I could feel my heartbeats now. They were loud, fast, and persistent. They interrupted my thoughts, though only one thing was on my mind: find Kai. Although Keefe had taught me various techniques to calm myself down, I unintentionally ignored all of them. My breathing was erratic, and I think I was trembling. I could barely hold my sword and I stood frozen. Were my eyes even moving? Were they open? I consciously flicked my eyes from side to side then up and down, watching my dark surroundings whiz past me in an instant; at least I could control that much of me. Okay, tiger. Now, one footpaw after the other.

Finally my left trembling footpaw took a step forward, and as expected my right took its rightful place ahead of it. Like in a constant battle to stay ahead, my left footpaw once again took the lead, only to be bested once again by the right. With my breathing significantly more consistent, I continued along slowly, back the way I came, eyes closed tight. All I could hear now was the sound of my footpaws crunching the dry leaves beneath me and small branches brushing through my fur. After a long while, I finally opened my eyes, expecting to find my friends lying by warm embers, however was greeted by much the same scenery which had scared me away. Shit. Did I go the wrong way? There wasn't even a hint of a camp.

My heart was beating uncontrollably now as I began to look around rapidly, desperate to find any sign of my friends. I growled. Just more moonlit trees. Moments later, I heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream, crying dreadfully for help. Again I heard it, and again. It was continuous now, with almost no break between its various, though equally terrified, pitches. The voice was shaky, almost, and though it may sound callous, kind of pathetic, too. However the fear and anxiety was clear in its voice. Why won't it stop? Who was it screaming at? I dared not move toward the voice, though it seemed impossible to locate, since whatever had trapped it so thoroughly in fear would surely trap me, too. Still the terrified cries called out in its high-pitched, trembling way, keeping me immobilized. I suddenly realized that I, too, was trembling, then the screaming stopped. Oh God. I think it was me. "Fuck," I spat, closing my eyes tightly again. Although I wanted to find my friends, a small part of me hoped they hadn't heard me crying out like that, either.

My eyes were suddenly forced open again, this time by the all-too-familiar sound of rustling branches. Despite my fear, my adrenaline compelled me to turn around and face it, though not surprisingly nothing was there. I heard that noise again from behind me, but before I could react, something had struck me weakly from behind and bounced off. Growling fiercely, feeling as much anger and annoyance as I did irrational fear, I turned, this time managing to prepare Rit's sword a bit better for attack, despite the trees. "Come out and face me, coward!" I called out. Oddly, I heard no voice or chuckling from my Inner Darkness. I did, however, hear a chuckling from behind me, uncomfortably close to my left ear.

I snarled and turned quickly, reaching a paw up to grab the beast, but of course caught nothing. I did manage to catch a glimpse of the dark figure bound away, gravity clearly having little effect on it. With Adrenaline taking over, shoving Fear into the back of the wagon, I took off toward the little monster, weaving between trees and whip-like branches. No matter how fast I ran, though, I couldn't even get close. It leapt from tree to tree so expertly, as if it was just going straight through them. Whatever this thing was, it couldn't have been of this world. Could it be a Disciple? I had never seen one so small before â€" no bigger than two feet tall, if it was standing â€" though admittedly it was difficult to discern while moving.

Suddenly the beast stopped and hurled itself toward me, giving me but a moment to lift my weapon in front of me, blade-end forward. Unfortunately the nimble monster stopped on the edge of the blade and jumped upward, something smacking me in the face as it did.

I growled and stumbled back, surprised by its dexterity. Predictably, it was gone by the time I turned. So far it posed no real threat, and so I dropped Rit's sword to encourage faster movement. Then that familiar rustling. Quickly I turned and I cried out as both paws gripped onto the slippery beast. However after a moment of violent thrashing, the monster slipped easily from my fingers and like some kind of thick, dark mist, melted and swirled around my body, finally rematerializing behind me. Just before I could turn my whole body, however, something protruded from the mysterious being and stabbed my right calf, making some awful screaming noise as it tore its weapon out and dashed off again. I, of course, cried out, but I didn't let it stop me. I continued after the inky beast for a while until it vanished yet again. This was starting to get old.

I finally came to a stop and looked around me. It was still the same dark forest, with the same bright moon overhead, and the same missing friends. What was I supposed to do now? I had run God-knows-where without a single shred of clothing, and my only weapon was left behind someplace. And to top things off, I had an incredibly painful hole in my right leg, which I was certain hadn't stopped bleeding yet. Suddenly, I heard that damned chuckling again, this time coming from all around me. The monster was just playing with me now. If it wanted to kill me, it could have done so already. I have never known a Disciple to behave like this, so it was especially curious. So what did this thing want? It had dragged me all throughout this frighteningly dark forest, leaving Kai...alone.

Suddenly I started to panic. Although I knew full well he was with Rin, Keefe, and Valo, in my mind the boy was still alone. My heart began racing again, this time scared of something else. I continued to run where the monster had last darted off, until something abruptly appeared in front of me. My face blasted right through it, but it felt like something was choking me. Before I could make myself stop running, however, I found myself already falling, slamming hard into the ground. Evidently, something had tripped me. I growled and looked up, and seeming to float in front of my face was a vaguely familiar dark face, hiding behind a vaguely familiar dark hood. The thing was bigger than I'd originally thought, but still quite small â€" couldn't have been much bigger than Kai, who now stood almost to my chest, but not quite.

I growled and started to get up, but found the beast didn't want that. It held a foot on my head, holding me down with surprising ease. But I growled louder and used much more strength, and try as he might, I pushed the little monster away as I stood, then grabbed for it. Not surprisingly, it gracefully leapt back, and whatever I had managed to touch simply turning to mist anyway. Seconds later, though, I was chasing it again, snarling as branches whipped me in the face. I had to ignore it, though, if I was going to catch this beast.

Suddenly the dark being stopped, appeared to turn, and just as I approached, it shot upward. I just stood below it, watching the foul monster chuckle as it flew up, into the moon. "Coward!" I cried out, panting. My face was stinging from the branches, but still I stared up. "God damn it," I muttered, finally tending to the wound on my leg. Although I had nothing to wrap it in, I at least managed to clean some of the dirt off it; I never got used to the taste of dirt and blood. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the moon flicker. Curious, I looked up again. Nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn't until I licked my calf again â€" a task not as easy as it sounds â€" that I noticed the moon flicker yet again, like a candle in the wind. This time I stared at the moon for a long while, and just before I was going to go back to licking my wound, the moon seemed to blink at me.

"What the..?" And still I stared. The moon blinked again, and this time I stood up, spitting dirt from my maw. "What the hell?" I then gasped as the moon moved slowly, seemingly closer to me, and it now had a tail. The moon wiggled its way out of the sky and weaved between trees and swirled momentarily around me before perching on a nearby branch. I, of course, couldn't do anything but watch in awe. It seemed as if the moon was only a few metres away from me, but that was impossible. When I reached forward, a form started to take shape in the moon, until what looked like a white, glowing fox knelt on the branch, smiling at me. But unlike a traditional red fox, this one had a very fluffy tail, pure white â€" and apparently glowing â€" fur, and short, pointy ears. Much like...an arctic fox. I growled deeply, which seemed to please the fox.

"Loki," I spat, staring up at him. He chuckled. "What the fuck do you want now?"

"Same thing I've always wanted. The Crimson King still needs the soul of your child lover," he reminded me. "And we're going to get it one way or another."

"Bring it on," I said gruffly.

Again the fox chuckled. "I will, tiger. Trust me, I will."

Suddenly, Loki burst toward me, much to my surprise, knocking me onto my back. He had an even greater strength than I remembered, and he managed to pin me easily. It was then I discovered vines of some kind had started growing up and wrapping tightly around my wrists, as if drawn to Loki's glowing white paws. When I went to kick him off, however, I realized my legs, too, had been trapped, then more crawling around my waist and chest, holding me down. "Fuck you!" I spat.

And again with that chuckle. I wanted to tear him apart more than anything. "In one-on-one combat, even without your lion's sword, I would not stand a chance. I simply want to even the odds a little."

Despite being pinned down by the demon fox, helpless to do anything, Loki didn't have any weapons with which to attack me â€" or clothes, for that matter. What was he planning? Perhaps he only meant for me to simply starve to death, or to get eaten by the wildlife, be it insect or otherwise. Just then, I felt a surprisingly soft, gentle paw upon my sheath. It wasn't rubbing, or stroking, or even trying to get me up. It simply sat there.

"How many times, I wonder, did this big piece of meat violate our young Sacrifice?" Loki said, petting my sheath now as if it were a small animal. "You know, the Crimson King absolutely abhorred the late King of Midland's soul-extracting methods, but of course he couldn't do a thing about it. No one, could, really. Suppose I could have intervened for my dark Lord, but then who would he get to collect his souls? Anyway, he hasn't been terribly impressed with your treatment of such a special young boy."

I growled. "What's your fucking point?"

"Now, now. No need for such profanity. My point is, either end the boys misery or hand him over to me, where he can be protected from perverts like you."

"I will never hand Kai over to you."

"So we're in agreement," Loki giggled. "You'll kill the boy."

I snarled fiercely, more so at the fact I was becoming erect.

Loki murred. "'Atta boy, tiger. I figured you wouldn't do either of those, so I've been ordered to take a more unfortunate approach."

"What..? What do you mean?" I kept struggling, but nothing was going to stop my tigermeat from growing. My eyes suddenly widened as I felt that warm paw grasp my cock, stroking very slowly, and very delicately.

Loki murred even louder this time. "You are a big tiger, aren't you. Rit certainly would have enjoyed this, had he gave you a chance."

I growled loudly, trying to free myself. "How dare you mention his name!" I snarled.

"Mmm... Oh God, I'm sorry I won't get a chance to enjoy this, either. But perhaps...yes. The night is still young."

"Wha..? What the hell are you doing?" If it wasn't for the vines holding my head down, would have been able to see everything. I did, however, feel something wet and warm suddenly surround the end of my shaft, then a textured, slimy muscle sliding along its length; it was his maw. "Get the fuck off me!" I cried, again struggling to free myself. Then the maw was gone.

"Quiet down, tiger, and you may just enjoy this."

Again I felt the wet licking, to which I just growled to. Admittedly, it did feel quite nice, but I wanted more than anything to cleave the fox in two. Suddenly he stopped again, and turned back around, his face drawing closer to mine. He was smiling devilishly, and I could feel his legs moving against my sides. What was he..? Then, I felt the familiar warmth of a tight tailhole. "S-stop it!" I snarled, thrashing about now. The more I moved, though, the tighter the vines gripped, keeping me immobile. "I'm not gonna let you turn me into that monster you turned Rit into!"

"Although a fabulous idea, tiger, it was not my intention. Unfortunately from here, that's just not possible."

"What do you mean?"

Loki seemed to answer my question be sitting back on my fully erect cock, to which he expressed very loud and very satisfied moans. "Fuck me!" he cried, smacking my chest happily.

I growled and closed my eyes tightly, trying to ignore the fox.

When he got his rear right up against my hips, he rested for just a moment to moan and rub my belly. "Such a good boy," he told me. "You know, I can't say I blame Kai for wanting this. But the Crimson King really hates it. And he hates you, too."

"I don't give a fuck what the Crimson King hates," I spat. I then gasped as Loki began to pull out and pump his rear vigorously. I tried desperately to ignore his pounding paws and his moaning maw and, more importantly, his tight tailhole, but it was becoming difficult.

Loki groaned and looked down at me, still pumping away. "I think...you're bigger...than Rit was," he said with a joyful laugh.

I then started to cry out, claws protracted and trying desperately to free myself, if for no other reason than to slice the fox's body up with my bare paws. Never mind that he was raping me, but just the fact that he had the audacity to mention poor Rit's name... Suddenly my eyes shot open, and Loki made a noise, suggesting he knew what I'd felt. It was my orgasm. "Fuck you!" I snarled as he continued, giggling and moaning all the while.

Just then, I felt several vines grow up and begin to wrap around my balls, pulling them tight, then Loki reach behind and grab hold. "Ungh...oooh... Damn it, tiger, you cum way too fast. B-but...I suppose I should do what I was sent here to do."

"Wh-what're you...ugh...gonna do?" The fox then answered my question by sending a horrible pain shooting up my balls. I cried out.

"Scare you," he said, baring his teeth and giving another gut-wrenching yank.

"Aah..!" My orgasm was coming quickly, with no help from Loki's sadistic paw. "Fuck you!" I continued to shout until suddenly I stopped, and my body was filled with amazing pleasure, firing whatever was left in my balls straight up into Loki's insides.

Loki, of course, moaned loudly, writhing on top of my hips in absolute pleasure. And, of course, he pulled on my balls some more, too, drawing out even louder cries from me, which he responded to. He was murring very loudly and didn't let go of either my balls nor my cock. "Shit, that felt amazing, tiger. If only you could last longer..."

"Fuck you," I spat again. I don't know why I even bothered, by this point. I groaned as he gave my balls another squeeze, and a tighter pull. But as it persisted, seeming to become stronger, I started to cry out in pain. "Stop it!"

"Either give the boy to me, or kill him," Loki demanded. He sounded angry, contrary to before. "Or I'm not going to stop."

I didn't say a word. I only screamed as he continued to tear off my balls. The pain was indescribable, but I refused to give into him. Suddenly, something stopped him, and Loki got off, cum dripping down his legs and onto my belly. My crotch was also covered.

"Damn it," he said, and looked down at me. "Before I go, I have to tell you this."

I was shaking, but clearly had no choice but to listen. His muzzle tickled the fur around my ear.

"Sacrifice..." he whispered with a grin, and with wide eyes I looked over at him. He just growled, slowly back-stepping toward my crotch, and lifted his footpaw. Seconds later, before I could speak, I slammed his heel down on my vine-bound balls, causing a horrifying pain to shoot up my body, and I cried out terribly.

And as I cried out, I rose quickly from the ground, panting heavily. I was sweating unbelievably, and an intense tingling remained all throughout my body. Looking around, the moon was gone in the sky and light was starting to form through the canopy above. I was shaking and cold, but noticed I was back by the fire pit and with my friends, who were only now beginning to stir awake. I guess it was morning. "What...the fuck..." I muttered, holding my head, one paw travelling down to my calf, feeling no wound at all.

"What is it?" Keefe asked from across the dead fire.

"Fucking Loki," I said.

"You're still having those dreams?"

I nodded. Kai was just getting up, too, and he just looked up at me. I looked back at him. Stared, even, at my boy. Nothing in this world was going to make me sacrifice Kai, nor give him away to that deviant Loki.

"What was it this time?"

"He appeared," I shivered. "Loki did. He told me to sacrifice Kai...or to give him up. ‘Sarcrifice,' he said at the end, after...after fucking me. It felt so real..."

The group, including Rin now, all looked at me. How pathetic did I look now?

"Do you think..?" Keefe started, piecing things together.

"Yeah," I answered. "I do."

"What?" Kai asked.

"Loki's been the one giving me those dreams...probably before we'd ever even met. His voice, the way he said ‘sacrifice'...sounded exactly the same as every other. I guess he just wanted to make things more personal this time."

We all just sat in silence for a long while. I didn't want to tell them the rest, about how the Crimson King abhors what I do with Kai. Not that we did it very often.

"I wonder why," Keefe said aloud, to no one in particular.

I didn't have an answer for him, though. In the seven months since encountering Loki, though still receiving these horrible dreams, not one of them had Loki appear personally. Perhaps he was gettingâ€"

"Perhaps he's getting pressure from the Crimson King," Rin suddenly chimed in, as if reading my thoughts. I frowned a bit, but finally got up.

I just shrugged, while Keefe said it's possible. The four of us progressed to gathering the few things we had, myself with less than the rest â€" half my good armour was now entombed in the Library where we'd left poor Rit, broken and useless. I quickly slipped on my pants and my belt, then with a bit of help from a cheeky, crotch-feeling Kai, got my leg armour on, too. I slipped into my regular cloth shirt, finding no need to wear my heavy leather one. Having avoided a lot of fighting since losing my top armour, I hadn't found a terrible need to wear it lately. Finally I strapped on my metal gauntlets and swung my bag over my shoulder, ready to go. The rest, too, were ready to go, Keefe also opting not to wear the top half of his armour, though he had a choice. Although Midland mornings were usually quite cool, outside of the forest the afternoons were very hot.

When I turned to face Kai, he had already gotten his full armour on, despite what the afternoon would feel like. "You sure you wanna wear that much?" I asked him, rubbing his head.

"Yeah," he responded, rubbing his chest. "I like it."

I shrugged, and turned to the other two. And just as I did, my Alpha came up and nuzzled my leg, and I petted his head. He was amazingly mobile for missing a back leg. "You two ready?" I asked Keefe and Rin. They were, or almost were, and after dousing the coals and grabbing Rit's sword, we journeyed once again.

It started off as a mostly silent trip through the forest, save the sound of our footsteps, until Keefe approached me. The other two were further ahead, pretending the thickets and branches were demons, or some silly thing.

"I heard you two last night," the Great Dane told me. I started to blush. "At first I thought you two were just getting comfortable..."

"We did get comfortable," I interrupted, grinning widely.

"Yes...well, anyway, you guys made a hell of a noise toward what I assumed was the end."

I blushed even more. "So what? What's your point."

"Well, I'd just appreciate if you kept you busy paws to yourself until you two can get alone."

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to do it. Kai's the one who started it."

"Oh really," responded the dog, obviously not buying it.

"Yeah," I said with an embarrassed grin. "It was. I just wanted to cuddle, but clearly he had something else on his mind. You should've seen him, though... God, he was like a different panther. The way he moved, and the way he talked and touched me..." It truly was fantastic.

"Regardless, neither Rin nor I were particularly interested in hearing you two...fornicate."

I just sighed. "You gotta see things from my point of view, I guess. I hadn't ever experienced anything quite like that before. He was just so...sexual. He was practically dripping with sexuali..."

"That's enough," Keefe interrupted. "I get the idea. Even though I've accepted your relationship with Kai...he's still just a kid. It's hard for me to see him like that, and frankly, I don't want to."

"He's fourteen," I argued. "He's hardly a kid."

Keefe shook his head. "Still a kid to me."

Obviously this argument would never be settled, and I didn't plan on taking it any further. I only hoped this was the beginning of something new for me and Kai.

"So, anyway, tell me more about your dream."

I'd given up long ago trying to keep these sorts of things from Keefe. Whether I admitted it or not, him and I were friends, and I needed someone to share my thoughts with. Someone, especially, with a bit more wisdom than Kai or Rin.

"There's not really much else to it. I was in the forest, and chasing him around, until he turned into the moon and pounced on me."

"Turned into the moon?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. Then he trapped me in vines...fucked me...and said a bunch of shit about Kai."

"What'd he say?"

I sighed. "Nothing I hadn't heard before. Except this time he said I could choose to simply hand Kai over, instead of just sacrificing him."

"Why would he let you do that?"

"Beats me. He'd probably just end up killing Kai, anyway. He, um..." Should I bother mentioning it?

"What is it?"

"Well...he said the Crimson King hates people like me."

"What, mercenaries? Or pedâ€""

"Yeah, that one," I interrupted, frowning. "I think Loki's trying to threaten me into getting rid of Kai, or to stop...fucking him...to encourage me to get rid of him. I guess he figures threatening me to kill Kai wasn't going to work, so every time I pleasure him...he'll pay me a visit. It's not going to work."

"Just because you stop pleasuring Kai, doesn't mean you two have to separate. You two could still have a very strong relationship."

I sighed. "Loki's probably counting on Kai getting upset by that."

Keefe thought about that for a long moment. "Hm. That's sort of a convoluted way of doing it, but I guess he's got the time. If Kai was indeed as ‘needy' as you said he was, I can't imagine he'd take too kindly to you denying him every time he wanted some â€" which will probably be often. He is fourteen. The kid's going to have desires, and strong ones."

It surprised me a little how much the Dane understood kids in that way, being a Holy Knight and all. And of course, I agreed with him. I could hold off for a while, but unless I wanted to risk upsetting my panther, in only the way a fourteen-year-old could get upset, I would have to satisfy him once in a while. Part of me thought I could just put up with a bit of torture for a night, but Loki could make it as painful and last as long as he wanted. And, of course, it felt so completely real. But what choice did I have? I would under no circumstances give up my boy, and even though I'd gotten used to Kai hating me a long while ago, there was no telling what he would do if I put him in that position again.

"We'll take care of this," Keefe assured me, though I hardly felt assured.

I just grunted a response as I pushed a branch out of the way. The kids were doing a fairly good job at cutting a path, despite failing to factor in my and Keefe's height. I couldn't help but smile as I watched the pair so innocently slice away branches and bushes, crying out in the heat of battle. Although Rin was eighteen now, he still enjoyed playing around with Kai. You wouldn't think, just by watching them, anything was wrong in their lives, or even this world. I only wished I could set aside all these problems and enjoy a care-free game of cut-the-shrubs, or whatever other games they played. Despite being Kai's lover, when watching him like this, I couldn't help but feel some sort of paternal attachment to the boy, too. I loved Kai more than anything, and I would protect him with my life, no matter what.

Finally the four of us, plus Valo, saw the edge of the forest, which was now bathing in the early morning sun. We were close to Midland's southern foothills, which meant even closer to finding the legendary Lionheart. It had better be worth it.

Kai cried out happily as he fiercely sliced through the final bunch of bushes and ran out into the grassy field, standing there and staring at the vast, rolling hills. When Keefe and I finally approached, we, too, stopped and stared.

"It's beautiful, don't you think?" Keefe said, sliding in behind Rin and putting his paws around him.

Rin looked up and smiled. "Yeah," he replied. "It is. You'd almost think we weren't in Midland anymore."

The vast, greenish foothills, seemingly untouched by demonic hands, was surrounded by large, snow-capped mountains at the western-most end, travelling along the southern edge a bit as well â€" furthest away from us, of course. The giant forest behind us covered the northern and eastern ends, though thins out significantly closer into the foothills. After walking across a flat, grassy plane for a short while, the trees completely thinned out now, we came up a small hill, finally seeing the vast, rolling foothills before us, dipping and rising all around. Cutting the foothills in two was a long, windy, flowing river of cold, clear water, which in these cool summer mornings produce a fine mist which fill the grassy dips. With the sun still rising over the snowy mountaintops, and the morning mist just beginning to rise, a cool, crisp breeze blew through our fur, filling our lungs with the fresh scent of low-lying flowers and grassy dew. Out from the innumerable hills jutted countless chunks of mossy rock, both large and small, accenting many of the bumps and dips. And, of course, the fastest way into the foothills from our position happened to take us through that forest, rather than the main thoroughfare. At least this trip wouldn't be tediously smooth.

Despite that fact, I took in a deep breath and sighed happily.

"I don't see Wayland's house from here," Kai suddenly pointed out, taking a step forward and putting a paw on his brow, as if improving his eyesight. Keefe then did the same thing.

"Hm. I think it's going to take a lot longer to get there than I thought," the dog admitted.

I sighed again, less happily, and continued along, down the gentle hill. And, as expected, the rest followed, most notably my Alpha, who cheerfully rubbed his head against my thigh as we walked, then whined. I petted his head gently then scritched behind his ear, which of course he loved.

We continued along through the clearing foothills, passing mounds of mossy rock uneventfully, discovering less beauty as we went. That isn't to say the foothills were any less pretty, but the magic of discovering such an untouched place soon began to wear off, especially with the sun rising higher in the sky. Kai, predictably, was finding his armour to be much hotter in the heat than he'd anticipated, and so removed the top piece. He was just wearing a loose-fitting shirt now, but it was clear that was quickly becoming too much, too. A small part of me was glad, on clear summer days like today, that I had lost my top armour.

"Luca," Kai whined, practically dragging his armour, "my pads are sore."

Although the ground was covered in grass, it was far less lush than I remembered; perhaps I was remembering wrong. Rather, it was very short ,dry grass, which pricked painfully at your toes, growing off what was, upon closer inspection, very lumpy, rocky terrain. Although not the greatest for unprotected footpaws, it wasn't nearly as bad as Kai suggested.

"And?" I responded to the boy.

Kai sighed and looked over at me. I looked back. "Can you carry me?" he asked.

I growled a bit. When we'd first met, he delighted in being carried on my shoulders, and admittedly I liked carrying him. He was smaller then, though. "Kai..." I began, sighing again. God damn this heat. "You're too big for me to carry you now, and it's way too hot out."

The panther flattened his ears. "I haven't grown that much."

"You've grown at least a foot," I said, though I wasn't really sure.

"That's not very much," Kai argued.

"It's enough to make you too heavy. You haven't just grown upward, you know."

Kai frowned, though he had made it abundantly clear in the forest, while straddling me, that he very much enjoyed his physique. And so did I, for that matter.

"I'm sorry," I insisted, though I don't think that helped.

Kai didn't respond, but instead turned away, still walking, holding his armour. I think he was pouting.

I shook my head and turned away, looking at Keefe. Had he been watching us the whole time? "What?" I asked. He just shook his head, too, implying he meant nothing by watching us. He and Rin were holding paws, which I found kind of cute. I wonder if Kai would go for that? When I turned back to Kai, smiling a bit, he had walked forward quite a bit, at a quick, defiant pace. It was my turn to flatten my ears. He seemed to get upset so easily these days, and I'm certain the heat didn't help.

"He'll be fine," Keefe assured me, putting a paw on my shoulder. "He's fourteen, remember. His body's going through a lot of changes. Don't you remember being that old?"

I shrugged Keefe's paw off. "Not really. I killed a man before I was fourteen. Lots of them. Beyond that, I dunno."

"Well, I do," the dog informed me. I couldn't have been any less interested, though. "It was when I started to become interested in religion, and the Holy See."

"Is that right," I said, clearly uninterested. But Keefe seemed intent on telling me anyway. I think he was continuing now just to bug me.

"I used to read books and papers about them, and the tales of their valiant Knights, when my parents were either away or asleep; my father kept a huge collection of books in his personal library, including a small section on religion. He even had this really old version of the Holy Bible. They were never big on religion, my parents, but a lot of the words really...spoke to me, if you will. I left to join the Holy See when I was sixteen."

I suddenly groaned. "Keefe, for God's sake..."

"Yes," the blue Dane grinned. "That's the spirit."

I frowned, but Rin laughed, which set Keefe off. Kai was still walking ahead of us.

"There's got to be something from around that time you remember specifically. Something that really sticks out in your mind, as a ‘classic young teenager' thing. Didn't you ever rebel, or anything like that?"

I shook my head. "I was with the mercenaries for as long as I can remember. I was probably born there with them. I disobeyed once, and only once, and they taught me the price of disobedience."

"What happened?" Rin asked me, stepping forward a bit.

It had been so long; I was probably about ten at the time, if not younger. "Well, during the War our group was hired by Midland to protect one of its big armouries in the south, and it was up to me and the Wolf Brothers, as we called them, to protect the armour and weapons. I remember that because Pennar, our leader, drilled it in our heads on how important it was to not fail. Anyway, it was night, and the Wolf Brothers took off somewhere, saying they'd be back in a minute, which pissed me off, but what pissed me off even more was that they never came back at all. So I figured if they didn't have to guard the weapons, neither did I. And so I left my post. The enemy attacked that night, starting with the armour and weapons storage; they were lead there by the Wolf Brothers. Needless to say, they raided the storage and attacked the rest of us with the weapons we were supposed to be protecting. We ended up winning the battle, the Wolf Brothers killed during the conflict, but it was my fault we'd lost as many men as we had. That's what Pennar told me, anyway."

"So...what'd he do?" Rin asked kind of impulsively. Keefe told him it wasn't an appropriate question, but I didn't mind.

"Well, it didn't take long for word of what had happened to reach the King, and though we were given another chance to prove ourselves competent, I was punished severely. Naked, they tied my arms to two separate posts and gave me forty lashes all over, then left me there bleeding until the next morning. All day I was smacked, hit, and spat on by the others. I have to give Pennar credit, though; despite all of that, he didn't let even one of the other men touch me...you know, sexually, in my helpless state. Some hyena lost a paw for trying, in fact. Anyway, I never disobeyed another order since then, by anyone."

Keefe and Rin kept silent, seeming to reflect on that. I think they were trying to decide if Pennar was good or not, which frankly I couldn't answer. He had raised me like I was his son, protecting me from the other evils in the world and training me to fight. He never once told me he loved me, but seeing the hatred and anger in his face when that hyena touched me... He couldn't have been all bad. Not that it mattered at this point, anyway. Pennar and the rest of the gang were all dead.

Moments later, after passing a group of prickly bushes, Kai slowed down, until he was walking close to me. "Want me to carry that for you, sweetheart?" I asked him, holding out a paw. He seemed unusually sombre.

"Did they really hit you forty times?" he asked, looking up.

I nodded. "Yeah, they did. You can't really see the scars anymore, though, under my fur. But they're there." I smiled warmly at the boy. I guess he'd heard my story.

Kai handed me his armour, then held my paw. I don't ever remember changing emotions like this so rapidly when I was his age. Then again, I knew better.

"I'm sorry," I heard Kai say quietly, almost inaudibly. He squeezed my paw tighter.

"It's okay," I told him. "I think if someone could carry me, I wouldn't wanna walk, either."

That seemed to make the boy smile. I suppose the image of somebody carrying me, of all people, amused the panther. He then put an arm around my waist and walked close to me, still smiling. I rubbed his shoulder softly and without much sound, we continued along.

The sun was now high in the afternoon sky, and all four of us were sweating quite heavily. I had already removed my shirt, and it didn't take long for Kai to follow. Keefe, who had slung his top armour around his back with a length of rope, had quickly removed his chainmail top, as well as the shirt underneath. Rin was the only one still fully clothed, though he didn't have much armour. We all walked somewhat slumped over, very visibly exhausted, and we all kept to ourselves now.

"It's so hot," Kai whined. I felt kind of bad for him and Keefe, especially, both of whom had dark fur. "Can't we rest for a bit?"

"Rest where?" Rin said. "There's no shade anywhere. If we don't bake walking, then we'll bake sitting."

"I'll bet it'd look a lot nicer in spring," I suddenly said, surprising even myself. Was I delirious? Where had that come from?

"Hm?" Keefe said, looking over at me. He looked like he was about to collapse.

"It's just...the grass is so hard, and not very green. But I'll bet in the spring, it's a lot nicer. A lot softer, too."

Keefe shrugged. He clearly didn't have the energy to respond.

"I'm just saying..." I said, flattening my ears. I guess no one cared to hear my heat-induced rambling.

Suddenly, Rin started to groan, and when we all looked over, we were surprised to see him waver, holding his head, until finally he fell. Keefe was the first one to his aid.

"Rin!" the dog shouted, holding him. His sweat practically poured off his face. "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know," he responded, struggling just to keep his eyes open. He was breathing heavily. "My head...began to ache a while ago. And just now I felt dizzy. I still do. And suddenly I couldn't walk. I just...fell."

"What's wrong with him?" Kai asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Keefe growled. "Back off." The dog then felt Rin's neck. "His heart's beating rapidly..." then growled again.

I quickly wiped my brow. "He's not sweating," I pointed out.

Keefe seemed to ponder than for a moment, after putting a paw on Rin's forehead. "I...I think...it's heat stroke."

I felt shocked, yet I didn't really understand what that meant. I could tell, though, that it was urgent, and we had to do something. But I didn't know what. Then Keefe tried to pick the cougar up, but found it difficult. Without a moment's hesitation, I helped the dog. "I'll take him," I said, holding the kid against my chest. "What should we do?"

For the first time ever, Keefe looked uncertain. He was sweating more than just because of the heat, and he continuously stumbled over words. "W-we've got to, um..."

"Get it together, Keefe," I snarled. "You sure as hell know I'm not gonna know what to do, and if Kai knew he'd have said something. What are we supposed to do with him?"

"Water," the dog finally said. "He's dehydrated. We've got to get him some water. Do you have any?"

I quickly dug into my bag, pulling out a half-full canteen. I promptly handed it to Keefe who, right at my shoulder, fed it to Rin as well as he could manage. Rin just groaned, but he had drank it all.

"We'll need more," Keefe told us. "Let's try to get him to that river."

I nodded and we were off toward the river, which took us off our route. After an inestimable amount of time â€" probably not nearly as long as it felt â€" we came to the edge of the river. The water was crystal clear and, after touching it with my toes, surprisingly cool. I put Rin down carefully at the edge of the river while Keefe removed his clothes, and together we submerged him, keeping his head up, of course. Keefe was trembling.

"It's okay," I told Keefe softly. "He's gonna be all right."

"I know," he replied. "I'm just...scared."

Kai was standing idly with Valo for the time being, which was a good spot for him.

"Yeah, I know. But he's a strong kid. Frankly, I'm surprised we all didn't collapse." That seemed to bring a slight smile to Keefe's face, but it didn't last long. When I looked up, Kai had wandered over, and with Valo took a big drink of water, then splashed his face. He looked just as scared for the cougar as Keefe, and possibly even myself. Rin was still breathing, which was a good sign, but he hadn't opened his eyes yet. How long would it take for him to get cool enough again? Even though I was kneeling in the shallow river, the sun beating down on my head and back was insufferable. And it was having an effect on Keefe, too. "Take a rest," I told Keefe. "I'll look after Rin. Drink something, take off your armour. We'll move again when the sun sets."

Keefe looked at me long and hard, but finally nodded. I stood up and removed all my armour, leaving on only my pants. I then knelt above Rin, holding him carefully so his head stayed above water. I just watched with a smile as Keefe quickly removed his armour and clothes, which was a bit surprising to see him do so uninhibitedly, and lower himself into the deeper part of the river, close to the centre. Being so far from the source â€" a waterfall close to Wayland's cabin â€" the water flowed fairly smoothly. When Keefe resurfaced, he revealed a tall, very well-built and handsome canine, and I think he finally noticed me staring. And as if that wasn't obvious enough, I suddenly flicked my head away and blushed after making eye contact. He didn't do or say anything, though, which was relieving. I just sat and sighed heavily in the baking heat, holding onto the young cougar.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I managed somehow to keep myself awake for the entire time. I could already start to feel the heat dissipating, and Kai and Keefe were simply resting on the shore with Valo. As usual, the Alpha wasn't effected at all by the heat, not even at mid-day when the sun was highest. I then felt a stirring below me, and gently I stroked Rin's cheek. His eyes slowly flicked open and he groaned quietly.

"Wh-wha..?"

"Shh..." I said, rubbing his cheek with my thumb. "Keefe says you were dehydrated and had a heat stroke, so we had to keep you cool." Apparently the kid had no more words, because he just shut his eyes again and rested. After a long while, he opened his eyes again.

"Where's Keefe?" he asked me.

"He's resting over there with Kai. He's fine. It's you we're all worried about."

"I feel...better. My headache's gone. I still feel kinda weak, though."

I nodded, and pulled the cougar out of the water a bit, letting him rest on the riverbank. He seemed fine enough where he no longer needed to be submerged, though I figured I should probably let Keefe decide that. I patted Rin's shoulder and got up, slowly approaching the Great Dane.

Keefe sat up. "What is it?"

"Rin's awake, and he says he's feeling better. You might wanna take a look at him, though."

Keefe nodded and got up, tending to his mate.

I just let out a big sigh and fell to my knees, then to my paws, and bent down to quickly lap at the cool, crisp water. It was incredibly refreshing, and I stuck my whole face in, gulping the river hungrily. I left my face submerged for a moment, savouring the cold water caressing my face, digging deep into my fur and cooling my flesh. When I finally lifted my head, I let out a long sigh of relief, then promptly removed my pants. Within seconds, I walked out and sunk completely underwater, floating there momentarily as my whole body reenergized. When I came up again, I noticed Kai eating something, then quickly realized just how hungry I was, too. I came back to the riverside and plopped myself down beside Kai and Valo, sighing again.

"Is Rin okay?" Kai asked me, holding a piece of food out to me.

"Yeah," I answered, grabbing it and quickly scarfing it down. "I think so, anyway."

Kai then leaned into me, both of us naked. "That was pretty scary," the boy admitted, closing his eyes.

"Rest as much as you can," I said, putting an arm around the panther. "When the sun goes down, we're heading off again."

"Are you serious?"

"We clearly can't go in this heat, and we'll probably make it there by morning. Then we can rest and start looking for the Lionheart."

"Why do you suppose they called it the Lionheart?"

I shrugged. "Maybe the guy liked lions."

"I like lions," Kai said softly, slumping down further onto the ground. He was falling asleep.

"So do I," I sighed, immediately thinking about Rit. "I'm gonna go see if I can find some wood, or something, for a fire. Care to join me?"

Kai shook his head, trying to get more comfortable as I stood. He instead found comfort next to a resting Alpha. Valo seemed to enjoy that. I just sighed and wandered upriver a bit, finding it was still quite hot out, though not staggeringly so.

After a while, not finding much to use for a fire, I leaned back against a big warm rock and sighed. Moments later, I heard pawsteps quickly approaching. When I turned, a naked blue Great Dane approached me, panting a bit. He was either still wet from the river, or very sweaty. I couldn't quite tell. "Keefe," I said, acknowledging him. "You, uh, didn't put on any clothes."

"Neither did you," he countered. It was a good point, and if I felt like arguing I'd have said he's the Holy Knight, and I'm not. But I instead kept my maw shut.

"What's up? How's Rin?"

"Rin's fine. He's just lying down with Kai and Valo. But, um..."

Ordinarily I wouldn't have too interested, but ordinarily Keefe isn't at a loss for words. My ears perked. "What is it?"

"I just...I want to thank you for taking care of Rin. I never asked you to carry him, nor sit near him so I could cool off. You're a good friend, Luca, and..." There was that hesitation again. The dog looked away, then looked back at me, standing at almost my height. "And if there's any way I can make it up to you..." he said quietly, now pressing his naked body against mine. I started to sweat even more.

"K-Keefe," I said dumbly. This was very unusual behaviour, even more so than Kai's. "What're you doing?" Aside from the strangeness of it all, the canine did have a very attractive body. It took me a while longer than it should have to realize I had put my arms around him, resting them loosely just above his tail.

"I wanted to thank you in a way you'll truly understand..."

"This isn't necessary, Keefe." My heart was racing. We couldn't actually do something...could we?

Keefe then sighed, and rested his head against my shoulder, now putting his arms around me. "I was so scared," he told me quietly. "But you remained so strong. I hadn't ever appreciated your strength before now. If you weren't there...I don't know what I would have done."

Unable to stop myself, I began to rub Keefe's back. His fur was very soft, unexpectedly so. "Think nothing of it," I said. I really hadn't given any thought to what I did for Rin, which is probably why this was so surprising.

Keefe then slowly pulled himself away, looking me in the eyes. That made my heart jump. There was a particular flare in his eyes that I hadn't ever seen before, but in all likelihood, Rin at least has. I couldn't seem to move, but instead just watch as the canine bent his knees, lowering himself. His paws rolled off my shoulders and down my white-furred chest, then down my belly, until Keefe was on his knees, paws resting close to my hips. My heart was pounding madly now. Was he really..?

Before I could finish that thought, I felt a cool, wet nose press into my sheath, then a tongue glide up it. "K-Keefe," I suddenly said. "You don't hafta do this. I didn't think anything of helping Rin. It was no problem. It's...it's okay..."

"Then stop me," Keefe said in a very uncharacteristic voice. That definitely took me by surprise, and yet I hadn't made any move to stop him. I still wasn't.

"Are...you sure about this?" Part of me wanted him to stop, but another part was so incredibly aroused. Enough to make my tigermeat poke out anyway. He hadn't made a move on it yet.

"You have my undying thanks," Keefe said, cupping a paw firmly under my balls. He massaged them idly and looked up at me. "But I want you to feel how grateful I truly am..."

I moaned quietly, trying to hold it together. "I believe you, Keefe. You don't need to...need to..." Keefe had interrupted me by putting his lips around my cockhead, now just letting my shaft grow into his maw. His tongue was doing some pretty crazy things to my meat, and I couldn't help but wonder where he, of all people, had learned how to do that. When we'd first met, he told me he was a virgin. Did Rin teach him? I let out a moan. "Shit... That feels amazing." Could I really let him do this?

Just then, Keefe put both paws on my rear and pushed my hips toward him, using his lips to push back my sheath. I moaned again, of course, paws smacked against the rock. I just continued to groan and whisper quiet words of joy, my breathing increasing. The dog pulled his head back quickly, suckling my shaft and doing something with his tongue, which sent intense shivers up my spine. Then he was back down again, then up. The canine continued to bob his head, and though I couldn't see, he was possibly even using a paw to assist. I could feel spurt after spurt of precum leaking into his maw, which made my claws extend and dig into the rock. Despite the heat, which had died down considerably since mid-afternoon, I was very much enjoying this. I opened my eyes for a moment, watching the horny Holy Knight. It was then I realized he had tears in his eyes.

I hesitated for just a moment, until I finally put a paw on his shoulder. "Keefe... Keefe!" I said, trying to get his attention, between breaths. "Jesus Christ." I finally pushed the dog away and bent down, putting both paws on his shoulders. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

The Knight sighed, and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Luca. I..." He probably felt incredibly foolish. "I just..."

"Shh..." I said, pulling him in close and hugging him tightly. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I told you we don't have to do this. You don't need to thank me like this... We're all friends, Keefe, and we've all got to look out for each other. You're making too much of this." Maybe the heat was starting to get to him, too.

"I know," Keefe said, now holding me, too. "Even though you fight those Disciples without hesitation and protect Kai with your life, something about seeing you care for Rin with little regard for your own wellbeing...it was very noble of you. I don't think I've ever seen you in that kind of light before. And I just...I needed to thank you somehow."

I couldn't help but smile a little bit. "I think you've been out in the sun too long. A simple ‘thanks' would have sufficed."

Keefe held onto me tighter. "I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe...maybe you're right. I lost myself. I...think I need to rest."

"I think we all need to rest," I added needlessly. "C'mon, help me find something to burn." I finally released the canine and got up, and together we pulled up some thorny, dried shrubbery and brought it back to the others, where we progressed to lighting it and, as the sun fell behind the tree-lined horizon, rested until we were clean and warm. Soon we would be heading off again, when the moon started to rise. It wouldn't be long.

Both Rin and Kai slept, and Keefe lay close to them, though I wasn't sure how much sleep he got. I simply sat at the river's edge feeling the cool water trickling through my footpaws, pondering what had happened no more than an hour ago by the rock.

Keefe was clearly out of sorts, and I couldn't be certain why. In the two years since the release of the demons, I had become persistently more paranoid. Was this one of those times? It could have just been the heat, impairing his judgement. Can heat even do that? I doubted highly that he was a Disciple, but the fact it had crossed my mind if even to mention it made me worry. If he was a Disciple, then what was he waiting for? Was that part of his plan? To try to get me vulnerable, then attack? Did my pushing him away foil that plan? No...no, that didn't make any sense. Why would there be tears in his eyes? No, there was no way Keefe, of all people, was a Disciple. But then again, it seemed even less likely that he wanted to suck my cock. That, of course, was evidenced by the tears in his eyes; clearly he felt guilty about it, at least. But that fire in his eyes...I saw it for the briefest of moments, but it was unmistakeably there. And the way he spoke, daring me to stop him. He somehow knew I wouldn't, and counted on it. Plus there was his tongue... That remarkable, wet muscle inside his maw that did something to my tigermeat I couldn't even begin to describe. He knew what he was doing, there was no mistaking that. So...did he want to do that for me?

Like always, my thoughts were startlingly interrupted by a noise behind me, and when I turned, Keefe was getting up. The others still appeared undisturbed, however. Keefe sat beside me and sighed heavily. Not one of us had bothered, yet, to put on our clothes. It surprised me, particularly, from Keefe.

"I thought you were resting," I said quietly, now watching a spot of light begin to rise in the dark horizon.

"I was," he answered. Only the soft cascade of the flowing river filled our ears before Keefe started talking again. "I think we'll make it there by morning." I already knew that. This was just idle chit-chat. What did he want?

"I know," I said. Then another long silence. The moon was rising quickly, and I heard yet another big sigh from the Dane. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Before I met you," he started, "my mission in life was clear. I obeyed God and fulfilled the will of the Holy See without question. But when we met, when you beat that Rottweiler to a bloody pulp...you changed my life. I know it sounds silly, but when our eyes met that day, I couldn't help but question my faith somewhat. I think that's why I wanted to go with you. I saw something terrible in your eyes. Something inhuman, more than unholy. I don't know how I knew, but something told me it was not the sign of the devil, but that you were something far worse, and far more real. And I needed to find out for myself. I needed to see whether or not I was just imagining things, and that my faith in God was not misplaced. But after Midgard's destruction...I found it was. Both you and the King shattered my beliefs; shattered my faith. I had seen unimaginable things; unholy things. But I still clung to my faith, thinking God would get me through it. But...when I needed Him the most, He wasn't there for me. He had abandoned me time and time again, in my most desperate hours. The only thing that helped protect me throughout our trials was a six-and-a-half-foot tall tiger and a massive steel blade flying past me from the darkness."

I just sat and stared at the Holy Knight, at a complete loss for words. What was I supposed to say to something like that?

Keefe sighed heavily again and leaned his head on my shoulder, then reached a paw over to my left arm and grabbed it. "It figures my only real protector is a demon worse than anything quoted in the Bible."

I wasn't sure exactly how to take that, though it was probably meant in the nicest way possible. The Dane then looked up at the moon, it hanging fat and almost full over the horizon.

"Can we...just wait a minute?" Keefe asked me quietly, giving my arm a gentle squeeze.

I nodded slowly and relaxed myself. This was a very odd situation, and yet I was comfortable with it. I hadn't ever guessed that Keefe was so grateful toward me and what I did. This was clearly about more than just helping Rin out. After a long while, though, Keefe finally decided to give my arm back, and so got up. I guess we were going now, and I got up with him, looking about for my clothes and armour.

As I searched for my things, Keefe woke the boys and did the same, and as the moon finally disconnected completely from the horizon, we were all packed up and ready to head on. We were all still fairly tired, and so our trip along the river was done mostly in silence, save, of course, the flowing river and a few noises from a hungry Alpha. Unfortunately, we had no fresh meat for him. I petted his head gently and assured him we would find some food shortly, though I think he somehow knew I was lying.

There was once a beaten path leading straight to Wayland's cabin coming from the great forest, though I'd forgotten where it was by that point. It would have been impossible to find it the dark anyway, and more than likely it had been reclaimed by the foothills. Regardless, I knew this river ran past the cabin, and we would have to get there eventually.

"I hope we get there before the sun comes up," Kai said, walking next to me.

Though he continued to try to make small talk, kept up mostly with Rin, my mind continuously wandered back to Keefe, or rather, what he was talking about. It became very clear that in the last couple years, Keefe's beliefs in God and Heaven and the Bible and all that, had been shaken greatly. Obviously the existence of the Disciples and the Crimson King rattled his conception of higher powers. Perhaps now he would start worshipping the Old Gods, though we were yet to find evidence of their existence. That didn't seem too likely, anyway. More than likely, though, he would, like me, simply fail to believe in anything at all. Maybe he would just accept life and reality for what it is, here and now, and try to make the best of it. Perhaps this wasn't all bad for him, anyway. Though in retrospect, I couldn't imagine it would be an easy thing to learn that everything you had once believed in and devoted your whole life to so absolutely is essentially a complete lie. Granted, it's also sort of a way of life â€" guidelines on how to live â€" but if he no longer believed in God, then he no longer believed in a Heaven, or Hell, or any sort of afterlife. Would that, therefore, give his life no meaning? I couldn't imagine that would be particularly easy to deal with, either. We've been told, though, that souls end up in Hel, where the Crimson King now resides, and probably gets turned into Disciples. Despite their presence in our world, I still found that much hard to believe. Either way, our journey had clearly proven a big eye-opener for the canine, as well as for the others, myself included. I almost started to feel bad, having dragged Keefe through all this, in essence destroying everything he'd once believed. But he was the one who decided to come along.

"So what do you think the Crimson King looks like?" Kai suddenly asked everyone. He seemed far more energetic now than he had been.

I just shrugged. What did he look like? Was he a fur, like us? If so, what species? Although we had learned a lot of history regarding the Crimson King, no one had ever mentioned exactly what he looks like. Maybe he was even a dragon.

"No one knows," Keefe answered. "That's partly what makes him so fearful."

"I guess so."

Kai didn't have much to say after that. When I thought about it, we all had pretty good reasons to fear the Crimson King, especially me and Kai. And yet, having never met him in person, I didn't fear him at all. To me, he was just another monster which needed slaying, and so far, I was yet to fail at that task. The idea of the Crimson King, and the stories along with it, should have undoubtedly put my teeth on edge, but in fact, I was almost anxious to meet him. He was, no doubt, a being who had earned the fear, but the fighter in me still itched to see him in battle, to see what he was like. I had met many warriors in my life who personally, I had gotten along quite well with, and could have even been very good friends with. But of course, the call of duty forced me to slay them, or alternatively, be slain by them. Just thinking about those fights, and imagining the battle that would likely ensue with the Crimson King, made my Inner Darkness â€" Nosferatu â€" chuckle silently. It would be a battle to remember, and one I couldn't lose. One I wouldn't lose. With Nosferatu tittering away, I couldn't help but smile.

Soon enough, our group was walking again in silence, following the river upstream. The air was crisp and our way brightened by the near-full moon. It cast long, ghastly shadows behind us, and every so often I'd swear it blinked at me, which caused a moment's panic. No one else seemed to notice it, though, so it was probably all in my head. Though I still couldn't help but feel we were being watched. Suddenly Valo walked next to me, rubbing his head against my thigh as usual, causing my heart to suddenly race.

"Oh," I said in surprise. "Hey, buddy." I scratched the inky hound's head as he walked along side me, even now still surprised he walked as efficiently as he did. Valo whined at me and flattened his ears, and when I looked down, the usual red glow in his eyes was dimming. I frowned. "I'm sorry," I told him. "We don't have any meat for you."

"Not any freshly dead meat, anyway," Rin chimed in. Although Valo could eat pretty much anything we gave him, the only thing that would satisfy the beast was munching of the flesh of the newly dead. And we were in short supply of corpses.

"You can chew on Keefe for a while," I told Valo, but he just stared at me blankly. Keefe frowned, but made Kai giggle. It was a mystery why he could understand some things I said with absolute clarity, while other things went right over his head. Unlike the demons from Hel â€" Disciples â€" Alphas were a lesser demon, though higher up than most of the other small black creatures which roamed the Hel Sections, and so, I assumed, could only understand basic commands. Basic commands, presumably, from Disciples. Perhaps the reason why he only understood a bit of what I said was because that was the way Alphas had been bred by their demonic masters, and so when they started to appear in our world, it was already hardwired in. That theory, of course, came mostly from Keefe.

Valo just ground his head into my thigh again, and could only be satisfied now by lots of rubbing and scratching. I did so for a while, but tired of it quickly. He, of course, went to get attention from the others before finally giving up, and so continued along mostly in silence. Sometimes I think he understands far more than we give him credit for.

The moon was now high in the sky, or as high as it would get, our black shadows not quite so long and eerie anymore. The sound of the running river clashed with the noise of our armour and weapons rubbing together as we walked, with the noise of our footpaws brushing through the rough grass added to the mix. It was such a classic sound that I had gotten used to in my days as both a young mercenary and a Midland Soldier, and it was calming in its own way. It was the sound of our march into battle, done up fully in our metal and leather gear which mashed together in our tight formation, coupled with the sharp noise of grinding stone beneath our footpaws; it relaxed my body and my mind before the deafening roar of battle. Those days of fierce and bloody campaigns against our enemies were far behind me now, and with that thought in mind, I let out a long sigh.

With the moon about three-quarters across the starry sky now, we finally decided to take a short break, resting on a high hill, which was actually an enormous rock that had long since been pushed up out of the ground. I sat on the edge of the short cliff, cross-legged, staring into the mountains. I hadn't noticed how far we'd come until I saw just how close to the mountains we were. Even in the hottest days of summer, they always seemed to have snow on them. I then began to wonder how long it would take to scale the mountains, until it occurred to me I had never learned their names. I couldn't even recall anyone ever telling me, or the subject ever coming up. I wonder if Keefe knew. Suddenly, as if he was reading my thoughts, the Holy Knight took a seat beside me.

"What're those mountains called?" I asked the canine, pointing toward them as if their location was hidden.

Keefe sighed, then thought about it for a moment. "The whole range is called the Jötunheimr Mountains, stretching all along Midland's western border."

"Really?" I asked. I didn't know that.

Keefe nodded. "The bulk of them are north of Asgard, and they run all along the border, separating Midland and Maldad. Of course, there are many low-lying passages between the two countries, which is how we were both able to move troops through."

"Now that I think about it, Concord is sorta near a mountain, isn't it?"

The dog nodded again. "Yeah. That's a fairly big pass, which is where the bulk of our troops would come and go. I heard that about fifty years ago, two armies happened to be passing through at the same time, and the survivors started a town."

I grunted an interested reply. No one had ever told me these things, and so a lot of Midland's history I wasn't aware of. I learned the most when I was in the Army, since most of my commanders were well-educated. The only thing I can fairly say I ever learned from the mercenaries is how to fight and survive. And how to be an obedient soldier. Keefe, however, didn't look terribly interested in spreading his knowledge to me.

"You okay?" I asked him.

There was a long pause before Keefe finally answered. "I don't know," he said. There was obviously something on his mind. Interestingly, it was usually the other way around, Keefe asking me to tell him what's wrong. I was genuinely worried for the dog, though, and I hoped he would open up to me. But at the same time, I could also appreciate his wanting to keep it to himself.

Rather than prod at him for some more answers, I simply sat with the Knight in silence, offering my subtle comfort. Finally Keefe spoke up.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked me. A rhetorical question, I hoped. "I first started following you because I thought you needed help. Needed God's help. But clearly you don't need either. So...why am I still here?"

"I never asked you to stay," I said. I was never a good advice-giver. "But you did, anyway. We're friends, Keefe. Good friends, I think, and we gotta stick by one another, right?"

Keefe sighed. I think he was hoping for a more profound answer, but that was the best I could do. "Yeah...I know. We do. I just... I feel like I no longer have any guidance in life, like I'm just following along not knowing where I'm headed."

"We're going to face the Crimson King," I told him. Again, probably not the response he was looking for. "We're gonna defeat him so we can stop this horde of demons. That's where you're headed. Where we're headed."

"I know that. But when we're done, then what?"

I hadn't given much thought to that. "I dunno."

Keefe sighed again. "There won't be any lives to save, or souls to heal. God's word...it doesn't exist. That's all I've ever lived for; helping those more helpless than me, and spreading the love of God to those who need Him. But that's no longer an option."

I didn't know much about faith, much less Keefe's, so I felt I had very little advice to offer. "Maybe when this is all over, you can just relax. You can go somewhere with Rin and relax for a while. Do some soul-searching, or something. Or maybe I can buy you a drink, and we do that until our next mission."

"Next mission?"

"Yeah. We're mercenaries, right? We sit around and drink until someone needs us for something. Then we do that until they pay us, and start all over again."

"That may work for you, but I'm no mercenary."

I leaned back on both paws, sighing quietly. "Well you're certainly not a Holy Knight," I said bluntly. It took me a moment to realize what I'd just said, instantly feeling bad. "Uh..." was all I could offer for recovery.

Keefe lowered his head, stroking a paw along a cross on his armour, then sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right," he said. "Maybe...a mercenary's life isn't so bad."

"I'm sorry," I told the Knight.

"Don't be. It needed to be said."

"No, I mean...I'm sorry for dragging you along like this, and making you lose your faith. I never had any faith, besides in my sword, so I don't really know what you've gone through. But you've clearly lost a big chunk of yourself because of me, and...I'm sorry." Why was I feeling so much regret now?

We both sort of just stared at each other for along moment before Rin and Kai came wandering up to us, urging us to go. When we got up, we saw the moon was sagging fairly low in the sky now, inching closer to the horizon. We all continued along our path, following the river upstream.

The group of us were walking a lot slower than we had before, starting to feel the weight of the long, restless day before us. Keefe and I, particularly, dragged behind Rin, Kai, and Valo, feeling a little more than tired.

The more I thought about Keefe, the more guilty I felt. I don't know why I felt so guilty, since religion had basically no meaning to me. I couldn't truly understand or appreciate what it was like to lose that part of you, and yet knowing I had caused that to happen to Keefe, I felt terrible. Suppose it would be like if somehow someone came into my life and made me stop being a mercenary...which I wouldn't be too happy about. Of course, I had no idea if that was even close to a fair comparison, but I tried my hardest to understand.

After coming over a fairly large hill, the sun just starting to rise now, we were all delighted to see Wayland's cabin off in the distance, looking exactly like how I remembered it. With a smile, Keefe and I followed Kai and Rin down the slope, Valo sticking near us. I guess he wasn't as excited as the rest of us. Comparatively, it took almost no time at all to reach the cabin, though it probably did take an hour or so.

The walls of the wood and stone cabin, however weathered, were still structurally sound, although it appeared the watermill had long since been ruined by time and lack of upkeep. The small garden planted by Wayland's son all those years ago had since grown unruly, flowering vines climbing up the stonework and across the wood walls. Most of his flowers had died, though. Looking in through the window, which remained unbroken, I saw the familiar insides, however anything of value had been cleared out long ago. It didn't appear anyone had broken in, so it was likely the blacksmith had simply taken it all with him.

"Can we go in?" Kai asked, and I nodded.

Moments later, still looking through the window, I was startled by the young panther, who thought it would be funny to try to scare me from the inside. Everybody else thought it was funny, too. Nevertheless, I finally entered the cozy little cabin after Rin and Keefe, Valo waiting outside, and took a better look around. Kai was already at the farthest end, in the stone part of the building, checking out the blacksmithing equipment.

"I don't see a sword anywhere," Keefe pointed out. It then hit me that that's why we were there. I frowned and looked about, the cabin clearly holding not a single item.

"What's the scroll say?" I asked Keefe, and he pulled it out of his bag.

"Just...that Valo's shop was somewhere in the foothills, and that he crafted the Lionheart here. Then it describes the blade a little. There's nothing here you don't already know."

I growled deeply. "So this was just a huge waste of time?"

"I know as much as you do," the dog told me. Why wasn't he getting angry by this?

He just leaned back on a table, copying Rin, and set the scroll down. Kai had finally stopped looked about and stood close to me. We were all lost in our own thoughts. I honestly didn't expect the sword to have just been sitting here in the cabin, since Wayland wouldn't have been stupid enough to have left it behind. What I was expecting, though, was some sort of sign, or something, indicating where to find it. But there was nothing. Not even a knife, or a hammer, or even a pair of tongs, or gloves. The cabin was completely bare, with the exception of four furs and some dust. And the more that thought pounded at my skull, the angrier I got. We had come all this way from Asgard for nothing, when we could have been figuring out how to get into Hel.

"God damn it," I said quietly, and Keefe looked up at me. I growled loudly and lowered my head, gripping it, breathing heavily.

"Calm down," said Keefe, stepping forward. "What happened, happened. We can only go forward."

"Forward where?" I snarled. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"We still have the Black Book."

"Which you can't even read."

Keefe growled quietly. "I can read it," he said in a stern voice. "But it'll take me some time. This is an incredibly old language, one only a handful of people can interpret. You need to be patient."

I growled, but stopped arguing. I just slammed my fist into the wooden wall and left. "I'm getting some fresh air." When I stepped outside, I was admittedly quite pleased to feel the cool morning air brush through my fur. I then let out a long sigh and walked away from the cabin, taking deep breaths. I decided I needed a drink, and so got down on my paws and knees by the river, soaking my chin as my maw opened, taking in the fresh, clear water. When I lifted my head, I noticed something at the top of the nearest hill, but when I squinted, it vanished. I stood up and stared at that hill for a long while before finally turning back to the cabin. Was I losing my mind?

However just as I turned, I saw a bunch of the same objects poking out of the ground, moving just barely. Then the quiet, subtle laugh of Nosferatu. I quickly took off toward the cabin. I needed to tell the others. However something sprung from the ground and knocked me back, and as I rolled, several more of these things came down at me, as if trying to stab me. On a final roll, I thrust my arm outward, managing to barely spring back up onto my footpaws, only to be forced to leap to my left yet again. I rolled and got up easily, bounding backward. Whatever this monster was, it was fast.

Before I could finish another thought, something came at me from the right, and I ducked quickly to avoid it, only to find the ground rumbling below me. With no time to react, something claw-like burst up and swept under me, knocking me over. As I opened my eyes, having fallen quite hard, several scythe-like arms rose up, about to strike. But as one started to come down at me, I quickely rolled to the right, then the left, avoiding at least two. I was not, however, able to avoid the third, which punctured my left shoulder. I cried out in pain and growled madly, trying to pull the rocky blade out. As my blood soaked into the stone, I heard a terrible cry and a horrid monster began to rise from the earth, revealing itself. It was a massive scorpion-like beast, with multitudes of legs and scythe-arms, one of which was embedded in my shoulder, pinning me there. Atop of what I assumed was its head ran several stalk-eyes, at least six on each side â€" it was hard to notice with a large chunk of rock jutting out of you. The beast howled at me again, revealing a very deadly-looking maw, sharp jagged teeth coming toward me. Its other limbs seemed to tap with anticipation.

Moments before my left footpaw could be chomped on, however, it squealed horrifically and thrashed about, the arm tearing even more at my flesh. Finally the rock-scythe slipped free of my shoulder and the monster turned around, likely distracted by a Holy Knight. I groaned noisily until I felt someone touch me. It was Kai. I think he was shouting my name, though it was difficult to tell. The pain in my shoulder was immense, and I was pretty sure there was now copious amounts of dirt in it, too. However with the help of my boy, I was slowly lifted. Looking up, both Keefe and Rin were distracting it, while Valo fiercely attacked the monster's eyes. Good boy.

"My sword," I managed to say, my senses seeming to come back to me.

Kai seemed to ignore that, helping me toward the cabin. However within a few metres of it, another beast exploded from the ground and screeched at me, then swung an arm down into the cabin, destroying half of it. That, effectively, knocked my sword toward me, too, since it had been leaning against the wall.

"Get outta here," I told Kai, shaking my head. The pain seemed to be vanishing the more I focused on the monster, and a particular darkness started to well up. I bared my teeth and snarled as I ran toward the monster, which in turn was scuttling toward me. With Rit's sword dragging behind me, still running, I swung my right arm upward, knocking a scythe away. As the sword started flying over my left shoulder, my left paw reached up and grabbed the end of the hilt, then began a powerful, however painful, downward strike. I managed to strike the beast across the face, knocking it aside, however was far from killing it. A moment later, one of its left arms swung at me, and I managed to just barely block it with my sword, parrying to the left. As I turned, I built up as much momentum as I could, going in for another strike. My weapon came down on one of its stone arms yet again, this time taking a huge chunk off. These beasts were tougher than I'd originally assumed.

The monster then began to attack me with its two front, and most powerful, arms, which I could only block. There had to be a way to kill these stone beasts. As I was blocking, I was shocked to see Kai suddenly dash by, avoiding one of the arms, then leap up onto its head. He took his sword and slammed it downward, chipping the stone. He cried out fiercely as he struck again and again. I had never seen him like this before. Just then, its scorpion-like tail came up and struck my boy in the back, knocking him away. I snarled madly as his body flew past mine, and suddenly found myself striking back. Just as another arm came down at me, I swung my sword upward, knocking it away, then positioned myself to ram it. I dashed forward, receiving a significant cut on my cheek, but ran my blade straight into the monster's mouth, snarling violently as I began to lift my sword. One of the arms suddenly slashed at my belly, cutting easily through my shirt and my flesh, but I didn't let that stop me. It was crying out dreadfully as its mouth was forced open, and I noticed its lower mandibles starting to crack and chip apart. More, I told myself. More!

Again the monster attacked, this time cutting at my back, causing me to roar painfully, however I couldn't let up. Just then, Kai appeared, mostly unharmed, and stood in front of me, protecting me from the rock-beast's attacks. I was surprised for a moment, but then felt something helping me cleave the monster in two. It was an all-too-familiar help, coming of course from deep inside me. Blood was gushing from my shoulder wound, as well as from my back and my stomach, but I couldn't let up. Just as Kai was struck again, I suddenly felt something snap. Or rather, an overwhelming darkness rise up within me, negating my pain and giving me the strength to rip this beast apart. I could hear malevolent laughter inside, begging me to kill. And I was forced to obey. With a wicked smile, I growled deeply and pushed my blade forward even more, then up. The monster had stopped attacking me, as if petrified by fear. It let out a horrible scream as suddenly I felt the tip of my sword break through the underbelly of the rocky monster, as well as a good portion of its head. The beast thrashed about, swinging wildly at me. I let those attacks hit, then reached a paw up and blocked one, the tip piercing my paw. Unmoved by this, I forced my other paw upward, shattering the arm in two. I tore the stone scythe from my paw and roared as I forced it down into the monster's head, satisfied at hearing its awful, painful screams slowly gurgle then die. A thick black, tar-like substance began to run from where it had been pierced, as well as from its mouth and its broken arm.

When I turned back to Keefe, he and Rin were just staring at me, standing close to a dead monster. Valo was happily chewing on his collection of eyes. The pair slowly approached me, weapons still in paw, and Kai shortly joined them. I just stared at them, smiling my wicked, toothy smile, feeling very satisfied. They looked like they were about to attack me still, moving ever closer. I retrieved my sword, and when I turned, they looked ready for a fight. I chuckled quietly. Did they want a fight? With me? Nosferatu was begging for more, and I felt more than happy to oblige. However just as I growled, causing them to flinch, we were interrupted by an explosion of earth and stone, then several more. Apparently a few more monsters wanted to play.

When I stepped toward the newcomers, I glanced over at Kai, whose fiery red eyes looked more scared than battle-ready. Just as even more beasts exploded from the ground, they began to fall back. Then suddenly my eyes met with Kai's, and a flash of pain struck my stomach, my back, my face and shoulder. No, I heard a voice call. Stay here and fight. Tear these beasts apart. I groaned and stumbled back, then felt a couple warm arms holding me up. I was surprised to see it was Keefe.

"C'mon, Luca. You'll be killed if you try to fight them all."

"B-but..."

Suddenly one of them attacked, screeching as its claw dug into the ground, missing us barely. Keefe had pulled me away. There was no time to argue. We got up and with Valo distracting the rock monsters, the four of us took off past the broken cabin, toward the mountain. Where the hell were we even going?

"There's a cave," Keefe explained frantically. "I saw it from the hill. We can head there."

After hearing a loud yelp, then another explosion of dirt, we headed deep into the cave.

"We're not safe here," I said.

"What else are we supposed to do?"

He had a point. The further in we went, the darker our path became, however we were surprised to see a bit of light reflecting off some shiny rock. We continued along until we found ourselves in a dimly-lit chamber, a big crevice in the rock above us. The morning light was just barely pouring in, however revealed a lot of extremely old-looking equipment.

"What is this place?" Rin said, looking around.

It was all ancient looking, but had obviously been looked after for quite some time. It looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time, though. What was all this stuff?

Suddenly, we heard a noise at the chamber entrance, and a bloody, red-eyed Alpha came hobbling in. I ran to the beast, collapsing along with him. "Shit," I said, petting his inky fur. "You okay?"

He just whined, breathing heavily. There was several enormous gashes in his stomach and his face, and he wouldn't stop bleeding his black blood. I set Valo on one of the old, wood tables, letting him rest. Unlike furs, these demon beasts, unless killed outright, would eventually heal, and at remarkable speeds. I had to let him rest.

"Do you think he killed them?" Kai asked, petting him.

"I doubt it," I said, wincing. It only just started to occur to me how much damage I'd really taken. "He's good, but he's not that good.

Keefe then sighed, then glanced at me. "We've got to do something about your wounds."

My shoulder hurt more than anything.

"We at least have to clean you off."

"With what?" I asked, looking about. I felt tired suddenly.

"At least take off your shirt," the Knight suggested, and I did so without hesitation. They all just stared at my naked upper-half, and when I looked down, it was easy to see why. Most of my blood was inky-black, though if you looked closely enough, you could see it was still red. But barely.

"That's from the monsters," I told them. "And Valo."

"I certainly hope so," Keefe added, hesitating to come near me.

We all stood in silence for a while.

"So...what do you think this place is?" Kai said. "Do you think Wayland built it?"

"Hard to say," said Keefe, turning to look around some more. "The stonework looks far too old to have been built by Wayland, despite having clearly been repaired. It does look like blacksmithing equipment, though."

"Do you think this was the Valo's shop?" Rin suggested. When we looked around, there were many sword racks lining the walls and the floor. It was definitely a smith's shop, at least.

"I don't know enough about Dragon architecture or design to really be sure... But if they're as old as everyone claims they are, then it'd be hard to imagine how all this stuff would still be here, or at least, in as good condition as it is. Though clearly none of this stuff has been used, someone â€" Wayland most likely â€" had clearly kept it clean."

"It's in a cave, though. How much weathering could it go through?" I asked.

Keefe thought about that for a moment. "I suppose you're right. None of that even matters, anyway. There's clearly no sign of any magical blade, even if this is Valo's place. The only thing I can think of now isâ€""

The dog was suddenly cut off by a loud rumbling, and several stone objects began to poke out of the rock.

"Shit," I said, standing up straight. Just as I grabbed my sword, the others alerted to the rocky presence, the walls began to burst and the stone demons came piling in. We all quickly backed into the farthest end of the enormous chamber, with nowhere left to run.

I growled deeply, taking long, deep breaths. There was only one way out of this, a way I hated to take. But what choice did we have?

"Pick your targets," Keefe said futilely.

I then burst forward, crying out as my sword knocked a demon arm away, then spun only to have my sword blocked. Something then slammed into my gut, sending me flying backward. I skidded to a stop and lifted myself, bursting forward again. I dodged to the left and right as I ran, avoiding the multitudes of arms, then leapt up high, having kicked myself off a table, then came down hard on one of the monster's heads, slamming my sword down. I chipped its skull, then chipped it further before being knocked away. When I finally stopped, I had hit my head on something, and heard several loud cries, terrible cries coming from the monsters. I hadn't even noticed the others before I started to blank out, until I heard a voice. Get up, it told me. Get up and fight, coward. You will not die here, I will not allow it. God damn you...

Slowly I lifted myself, growling deeply with each breath. When I saw my friends, each one was in trouble. Even Valo looked done for. But I just shook my head. I could feel something flowing out of my body, like some kind of dark energy, which seemed to keep the monsters at bay. When I looked down at my paw, my flesh seemed almost invisible, but only saw a large network of jet-black veins, then bones and flesh, then my orangey fur again. I hadn't ever seen that before. I looked back up at my friends, and they, too, seemed partially invisible. Except I could see their hearts, beating quickly and glowing brightly. It was magnificently beautiful, then I noticed some of the bright, fiery brilliance splash backward, splattering on some stone thing until it vanished, blending in with equipment. Then I glanced at the monsters, who, like me, were filled with long strands of black veins, and like my friends, had very distinctive hearts, however theirs, predictably, were beating black. What the hell was this? I felt drawn to the bright, beating hearts, and some part of me wanted to get at it. To rip the casing open and feed on the warm, blazing flesh. But no. I couldn't. I instead focused on the group of cold, lifeless black hearts. I had no desire whatsoever to get to these, but for the sake of saving the warm, bright others, I needed to stop them. Within moments, their flesh and fur returned, as well as the monster's rocky shells.

I gripped my sword tightly and stepped forward, feeling this strange aura moving with me. The demons didn't seem to notice me anymore, and as one came close, I lifted my sword and heaved it downward with all my strength, snarling as it pierced its rocky carapace and tore into its heart. Although I couldn't see it, I somehow knew exactly where to strike. The thick, black, frozen blood burst out from the open wound and the beast screamed in pain, a sound which pleased me greatly.

The others stopped what they were doing for the moment, and turned to face me. They seemed confused, almost as confused as my friends. Behind you, I heard, and without thinking, I swung my sword around behind me, cutting through an arm and then a second, then thrust the blade into the beast's head. Its body thrashed about wildly, screaming until it went limp. Wasting no time at all, I turned and attacked the others, dodging or demolishing demon attacks until I tore each one apart, one at a time. I let out a wild snarl as my sword came down on another, sighing heavily in delight as its blood splashed into my fur. I then held up my sword in front of me, blocking an extremely powerful attack, then shoved the monster back. Your weapon is cracked, I heard inside. As I pushed outward, I released my weakened sword and bolted forward, mounting the demon's head. With my claws out, I roared and tore at its eyes, then plunged my paw downward into its head, gripping at the cold organ inside. Although it wasn't isn't heart, I knew tearing out its brain was just as effective, and moments later, I did just that. Finally the beast died, and I stayed hunched over the open wound, right forearm coated in its thick, icy blood. When I looked up at my friends, they gasped silently and stepped back. Was I really so frightening?

With no more beasts to kill, I closed my eyes. Now kill the others, I heard. Tear them apart and bathe in their blood. I shook my head vigorously then climbed off the beast, snarling as I stumbled across the rocky floor. When I stopped and stepped toward my friends, making them flinch, I let out a loud, huff-like growl and fell to my knees. I just stared at my own paws for a moment before letting them go limp, my eyes slowly closing once again. I didn't feel nearly as satisfied as I had mere moments ago, but instead felt tired again. Although Kai suddenly appeared before me, eyes open now, his warm paws on my shoulders meant nothing, nor did the concern in his face. I hadn't ever felt this much apathy and coldness before, after such an intense battle, yet at the same time, I hadn't ever felt such a powerful grip of darkness on me before, either. It had been so long since a battle like this, perhaps subconsciously, I longed for that feeling again. But the emptiness I felt inside at that moment...hardly made it worth it. Soon the noise of scuffling footpaws and moving limbs slowly faded, and I slipped into a different kind of darkness. Perhaps it was for the better.

When I finally opened my eyes again, groaning loudly, I found I was lying in a soft, plush bed with warm, comfortable covers. The pain in my face and my torso and my paw was gone now, and there seemed to be a sweet scent in the air. Fresh flowers? The light was dim â€" likely torchlight â€" and didn't burn my eyes when I looked around. My vision was blurry. Where was this place? Had I died? Was this Hel? Or, perhaps, Heaven? If only Keefe were here. I could tell him his religion was right after all. That would make him so happy again. Just then, a figure appeared at a brightened doorway. The figure was tall, dark, and quite possibly handsome. Was he going to take me away from here? Take me to someplace better? As my vision slowly came into focus, I saw it was a blue Great Dane coming toward me. Was it...Keefe? No. He was older. What is this place? I tried to get up, but the dog pushed me back down. If only I had the strength to growl.

"Calm yourself," the canine said. "You're safe now."

Another appeared behind him. Another Great Dane, this one female. "He's awake?" she said, then turned to yet another figure. The other was tall, but stood up straight and didn't move. "Go get Keefe," she commanded. The other promptly left.

"Wh-where..?"

A soft paw covered my muzzle, preventing me from speaking. "Shh..." the male spoke. "We'll explain everything shortly." He had such a calm, soothing voice. A lot like Keefe's. "For now you need to rest. You lost a lot of blood, and it took hours to patch you up."

I just let out a long, soft sigh, and rested myself. Finally I closed my eyes and relaxed. When I opened my eyes yet again, Keefe and the others were standing around me. The Knight's left arm was bandaged, but he seemed okay. He was just wearing a loose-fitting tank top now, and none of his armour. No one was wearing their armour. This place had to be safe. This strange, expensive-looking place.

"Where are we?" I finally asked, much easier than before.

"Somewhere safe. You blacked out after the fight from your wounds, but we bandaged you up. You need to rest. You lost a lot of blood."

I looked down at myself, realizing I was lying naked under the sheets, and most of my torso was completely bandaged, as well as my arms. There wasn't any trace of blood, and there had been a ton of it from the rock monsters, so I had no way of knowing what mine looked like in the end. "I don't want to rest," I said, trying to get up. Keefe pushed me down, though. Ordinarily I could easily overpower the dog, but not in this state. I could barely even lift myself as it was. Then I looked over at Kai, who looked either frightened of me, or frightened for me. Before I could give that another thought, though, the young panther hurled himself toward me, wrapping his arms around my damaged body. I think he was trying not to cry.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I said softly, patting his back. "You know I'll never hurt you. You know that."

Kai sniffled and squeezed me tighter. "I know," he said. "You were scary, but...I was scared for you, too. You looked so...angry. And hurt. And...then you collapsed."

It was my turn to give my boy a squeeze. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

He sniffled again. "It's okay..." He just sat on the bed with me, holding my paw. I was sitting up by this point, which Keefe allowed.

"There's some stuff we need to talk about," Keefe said. "But for now you should rest and get back your strength. I'll be waiting for you downstairs."

This place had a downstairs, too? Keefe then turned, whispered to the straight-standing brindle-coated Dane, who looked even older than the other one I'd met, and left with Rin. I wasn't sure where Valo had gotten to, but he wasn't with me. Kai, on the other hand, stayed a moment longer before giving me a hug and telling me he should let me rest. I just sighed deeply and did what I was told, until an innumerable amount of time passed, and I decided to get up.

Slowly and shakily, I rose from the comfortable bed, admittedly not wanting to leave. I stumbled for a moment, regaining my balance on a fancy-looking nightstand, then hobbled to the door. When I opened the door, I was greeted startlingly by the brindle Dane. For a moment, he just stared at me; we were almost at eye-level with each other, myself just a bit taller.

"The master is waiting for you downstairs," he said in a very proper, dull voice. "Shall I show you to him?"

"The master?" I asked, still feeling pretty confused.

"Yes. I was instructed to send you to him as soon as you woke. Perhaps you would like to change into some new clothes first?"

"Wait...what?"

The Dane sighed. I guess he didn't have the patience for me. Instead of repeating himself, or explaining himself, he simply continued down the long, stone corridor, lined with a bunch of paintings and portraits.

I shambled quickly back into the room, going to the first dresser I saw, and opened the top drawer. Just a bunch of shirts. In the drawer under it, however, were pants, and I pulled up the first pair I found, which fit amazingly well. I had no belt, but it had a quaint string attached, which eliminated the need. Quickly doing up the loose pair of pants, its material unknown to me, I went back to the door, poking my head out to find the Dane.

At the end of the hall, he signalled me to follow, and I did so obediently. This place appeared to be a castle of some kind, though not nearly as grand as Castle Midgard had once been. After walking past a few big doors, even more paintings and expensive items, we turned, went down an eerie stone stair case, a few lit torches along the way, until we exited into another short hallway. At the end, however, was a set of big wood doors, and as the Dane swung them open, it appeared we were on the top of a very high balcony, brightly lit and overlooking two big, curving staircases, going down. There was a long, red rug running down the stairs and at the base was a large foyer, with a couple strange-looking tapestries hanging above what I assumed was the main entrance. A few small and long tables lined the walls and edge of the stairs, with flowers on top. Although completely torch-lit, the high, impressive vaulted skylight let the pale moonlight pour in, illuminating the otherwise unilluminatable parts of the foyer.

"Come with me," the snooty Dane said, standing at the top of the stairs. I guess living here, you wouldn't find it so impressive.

I followed the brindle Dane down the stairs and through a double doorway under the stairs, following along another set of corridors until we stopped at a dark-coloured door. It was wood, too. He suggested toward the door, and slowly I opened it. Inside was Keefe, standing over a desk until he turned around.

"Come on," he waved me in. He then made some gesture to the brindle Dane, and he walked away. This room was a somewhat dark room, again lit with torches, save the single candle on the desk. On all sides of the room were huge, deep-red wood bookcases, each looking as expensive as the rest of the castle. They held multitudes of books of all shapes and sizes. In the corner of the room was a less impressive fireplace, with several trinkets on top, plus above those a lovely painting of the female Great Dane I'd seen earlier. Had Keefe been here before? Why did he seem so familiar with it all?

"What's up?" I finally said, taking a seat in an expensive-looking chair, which as it turns out wasn't very comfortable. I stood up again. "You gonna tell me where I am now?"

Keefe sighed. "We're, um...home. My home. Well, I mean, my parents home."

I just stared at the dog for a long, hard moment, maw somewhat agape. I think I was staring at him as if scanning for signs he was lying, but he showed none. How could this possibly be his home? I didn't even know what to say at that moment. He had never mentioned anything about his past before â€" and I would remember something like growing up in a castle â€" and I hadn't ever really cared enough to ask him. Though now I wish I had. This certainly raised a lot of questions. "You live here? And how the hell did we get here from the foothills?"

"Well, my parents own this castle. I, uh, grew up here. We're on the cliffs above Iskaldur Lake, which lies on the other side of the foothill mountains. Rin and Kai helped me carry you here after you collapsed, through the mountains."

"What do you mean, ‘through?'"

Keefe sighed again. It seemed like he was trying to hide something. "Yeah. There's a tunnel leading through the mountains, from the edge of Iskaldur Lake to the foothills. My, um...my father dug it, or paid a ton of workers to."

"Are you serious? Why the hell did he do that?"

Another sigh. "Because my father's...different. He's not like the other Lords in Midland. He likes to do his own thing, which makes him an outcast. And my mother by association, though she's usually as strange as he is."

"So, your dad's a Lord? Keefe...what the hell?" I didn't really know why it bothered me so much, but this information could have been useful at some point in our journey. It seemed like something he would have brought up from the very beginning.

"I'm sorry," the dog explained, sitting back on the desk now. "I guess it just never came up... God knows you never wanted to hear about it."

I growled quietly, though he had a point.

"It really didn't seem that important, anyway." The look on Keefe's face suggested he didn't want me to know. Was he ashamed of his parents? Or...his past? "Look," he said sternly, "despite having to come here, there's some good news."

Why was coming here so bad?

"My father's a collector. He collects rare and elusive items, even if it means spending half his money."

"So what?"

It looked almost as if Keefe was smiling. "Well, whether it was crafted by some ancient dragon or not, my father raided that cave shortly after Wayland left. He has the Lionheart, Luca."

I just stood surprised for a moment. "Wayland didn't take it with him?"

Keefe shook his head. "Apparently it was hidden somewhere inside the cave, and Wayland could never find it, despite the scroll. He, of course, couldn't read it at all, or not enough to decipher its location. But my father had read the scroll many times, years before Wayland moved out. He...simply didn't tell Wayland how to find it."

I frowned. "So is he going to give it to us?"

Keefe sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck. It was then I realized how clean his fur looked. He must have bathed here. When I rubbed my own fur, waiting for a response, I noticed mine was incredibly soft. I guess they washed my whole body before addressing my wounds.

"Not exactly," the dog finally answered.

I growled again. "Why the hell not?"

"Well, first of all, I didn't tell him why we want it. Why you want it. Second, I'm not sure he'd part with it even knowing that. He puts a lot of time and effort and money into finding these stupid objects, sometimes even digging enormous holes through mountains for years and years just so he can get to them faster."

We kept silent for a long moment, listening to the small, crackling fire in the fancy fireplace. It was becoming clear Keefe wasn't particularly fond of his father. But why? Finally I spoke up. "So what're we going to do, then?"

Keefe shook his head. "I don't know."

"We could steal it," I suggested thoughtlessly.

He shook his head again. "My father's actually hired mercenaries to guard his vault. They're probably the only ones in Midland with real jobs."

"Pretty shitty job," I scoffed. I always liked seeing action.

"Yeah, well regardless, you won't bust in there without having to go through them. And Rit's sword...was broken during your fight."

"It...it was?" After losing Rit, his sword was my only physical reminder of who that fearless lion was. Now I had nothing left of him besides my memories.

"I'm sorry," Keefe said, stepping toward me. He held a paw to my shoulder. "I know his blade meant a lot to you."

I sighed heavily. Admittedly, I thought losing Rit's sword would have affected me far worse than it seemed to, though I still felt like I just lost a very important part of me.

Suddenly, the door behind us swung open quickly, and an older blue Dane walked right in as if we weren't even there. He stopped just past the doorway and stared up at us, stunned. He was wearing very nice clothes, and had a small, round pair of spectacles on his snout. "Oh!" he suddenly said, now turning to the brindle Dane. "Look, Humfrey, apparently we are not alone in my study. My study, Humfrey. We are not alone in my study."

I growled.

"Ah," he continued, turning to me, "the injured tiger. How do you fare? Well enough to growl, I see."

"I'm okay," I said, frowning. He seemed so warm before.

"Excellent," the dog replied cheerfully. "Then may I officially welcome you into my home, as well as my study."

"Uh. Thanks." I held out my paw and met his, sharing a firm pawshake. He seemed like an odd canine.

"My name is Tiberius Iollan McCree...the third. You don't have to say ‘the third' if you don't want to. And if my information is correct, you are named Luca?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Ooh, ‘sir' he says. Keefe, you could learn something from this tiger."

I flattened my ears, just as Keefe glared at me.

"I must know, Luca, how on earth did you acquire those wounds?"

Keefe and I shared a quick glance before I answered. "I was in a fight with a group of bandits in the foothills. I overpowered them, but not by much. They managed to get in a few good attacks."

"Mhmm... Well they were deep, but Humfrey here managed to patch you up just fine. Just don't go do anything that's going to open them up again."

The brindle-coated Dane just bowed his head, and I thanked him.

"So, Luca, tell me a bit about yourself. Keefe never told me he had real friends."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed Keefe frown and suppress a growl. "Real friends?"

"His God," Tiberius scoffed, "has always been his only friend. God and the rest of the delusional, self-righteous, fear-mongering Holy See."

This time I frowned, though I didn't exactly disagree with his assessment of the Holy See. "Keefe's a great guy," I said defensively. "He's a good friend and he's always there when I need him. He deserves a lot more of your respect than that."

Keefe looked up at me, maw open a bit. "Luca..." I think he said. "You don't have toâ€""

Tiberius scoffed again, probably at my statement. "Oh, he's got quite a way to go before that happens. He proved to me years ago that God was the only thing worth living for, and frankly, that's complete bullshit. No, young tiger, it will take much more than being a ‘good friend' to gain my respect again. I'm sorry to say it, Keefe, but we both know it's true."

It took all my strength not to growl and knock the canine out. But I was a guest in his home, and truthfully, I needed the break. I just stood where I was, glaring at Tiberius. He either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it. Moments later, Keefe having said nothing to defend himself, the elder began again.

"So what were you doing in the foothills, anyway, Keefe? Last I heard, you were on some undoubtedly pointless, money-sucking mission for your God in that dreary town Bolt."

Keefe seemed to ignore those comments, and just answered the question. "I met Luca in Bolt, who was just passing through. My duties as a Holy Knight necessitated I follow him."

"So you needed to convert the non-believer."

This time a quiet growl slipped through, though no one reacted to it.

"Not exactly... Anyway, Luca's, um...a treasure hunter, which is what brought is to the foothills. He was searching for the Lionheart."

Tiberius was as surprised to hear that as I was. I'm not sure why the dog told him that, of all things, but it seemed to cheer the elder Dane up quite a bit.

"Is that so?" Tiberius asked, turning to me with a happy grin. "A fellow relic hunter, eh? Well if my son hasn't told you already, I, too, hunt treasures, and it just so happens I beat you to the punch, I'm sorry to say. Must have been, what...two years ago, Humfrey?"

Humfrey was gone, which apparently no one had noticed.

"Humfrey? Ah, never mind. Yes, that old Blacksmith moved out when his business dried up, and I quickly swooped in and found the weapon. I had just finished constructing my tunnel not two days before, too. What luck, wouldn't you say? And would you believe that old dog had actually used the Dragon equipment? A total waste, really. It's worthless now, of course, but it could have been the most perfect addition to my collection, and a brilliant place to hang the Lionheart."

This canine was clearly passionate about his expensive hobby. But I decided I should probably start acting my part.

"You must show me the Lionheart," I begged. I must have sounded so phony, yet Tiberius was excited to show me. This could be the perfect chance to check out his supposed vault, and check out his guards and their posts. Perhaps Keefe had even set this opportunity up intentionally, when he told his father I was a treasure hunter.

The three of us promptly left the cozy study and I followed Tiberius through his castle, with Keefe trailing behind. I felt bad, somewhat, for leaving him like that, but if I was to keep up this charade, I had to seem interested. Not that it was of the utmost importance, but I didn't want him to realize I wasn't as interested in his expensive trinkets as he now thought. The closer I could get to the Lionheart, the better. I had a feeling, though, that he knew Keefe had lied. Especially since I already told the dog I had killed a group of bandits. Although nothing tipped me off, I couldn't imagine anyone looking at a cut-up beast like me and believing I had an acute taste for antiquities. I would, perhaps, pass as the bodyguard of such an adventurer.

After going down a very long, confining, spiral stone staircase, likely into the basement or dungeon of the castle, we finally arrived a set of arched, very heavy wood doors, which had metal studs poking out of them. Must have been a dungeon at one point. As expected, a set of five guards stood lax against the wall, their weapons either lying on the floor, propped up against the wall, or completely sheathed. One of them was even sitting, and quite possibly napping.

"Evenin', Lord Tiberius," one of them said, standing up straight. The tall husky waltzed over to us with a bounce in his step, not looking particularly concerned I was there. At least he had his weapon on him. "Showin' off yer collection again, eh, sir?"

Tiberius smiled. "Oh, don't be silly Obi. Do you truly think me so vain?"

"Aye, not you, sir. Never."

The two shared a laugh, and I frowned. This husky made a mockery of what being a mercenary is, at least to me. He looked like he hadn't even seen much battle before, much less defended himself in a fight. That alone made me want to punch his face in, not to mention for the way he treated his job.

Finally Keefe emerged from the staircase, walking slowly until Obi â€" probably the leader of the bunch â€" took notice. The Great Dane stopped about ten feet behind me, just past the opening of this hallway.

"Well look who's back," the husky shouted. He didn't sound the least bit genuine in his surprise, nor his excitement. "Guess your God didn't pay you as much as you liked, huh? Finally came back to live again in the lap of luxury?"

This entire castle seemed to be completely prejudiced against the Holy See, which bothered me. Although I didn't believe in God, I still respected Keefe's beliefs. That implied they all had their own set of beliefs, which obviously conflicted with Keefe's. The Dane had never pushed his religion on me, and though these people didn't do it explicitly, they had no right to ridicule Keefe. This mercenary was inching closer to getting hurt. But Keefe just ignored it.

"I'm helping out my friend," he replied calmly, then said nothing more.

"Enough chit-chat," Tiberius said, waving Obi out of his way. "I've come to show our tiger friend, here, my collection."

"Aye, sir," Obi replied, then prompted his fellow sloths to open the door. They did so obediently, though left parts of their armour and their weapons on the floor. These men disgusted me.

Finally walking into the chamber, the dungeon-turned-museum was, I must admit, very impressive. Ancient relics and bizarre items adorned the walls and the tables in the middle. Some of the items were even behind large glass cases, showing off smaller pierces jewellery and ornaments. One section of the stone wall held many weapons â€" spears, swords, shields and the like â€" but none of them, while looking quite old, seemed as remarkable as I imagined the Lionheart did.

"Over there," Tiberius said, pointing to an arched, open doorway, "is my Objects From Around the World collection... I'm yet to come up with a better name for it." Then he stopped and turned to me. "And this main chamber holds all of the treasures and antiquities I've acquired from around Midland, from the frozen northern town of Asgard to Castle Midgard itself."

About half way into the enormous chamber was a particular set of items which caught my interest. I ran my paw along the edge of the glass case, viewing a collection of old, broken weapons, including what appeared to have once been a monstrous sword.

"That belonged to the infamous Black Knight in the early scuffles of the Century War," Tiberius explained to me from behind. When did he get there? "He was the first Champion of Midland, in fact. He used to use this huge blade which only he could lift, and used it to slice his enemies in two. They used to call him ‘Death on the Battlefield' on both sides of the border."

I suddenly froze up, and I could feel the fur on the back of my neck standing on end. I could almost feel Keefe's, too. "Why...did they call him that?" I asked. Were we somehow related? Was the Black Knight a tiger, perhaps? Was he my grandfather? Did he have the same inner demons I did? How...did he die? Was he consumed by the demons?

"Apparently entire armies couldn't even stop him," the canine continued. "The Knight was a beast in all aspects of the word. On the battlefield, they say he'd let that beast out, and that's when he became this unstoppable killing machine. Isn't that wild?"

I nodded. "How did he die?"

Tiberius shrugged. "I'm not sure, truthfully. The guy I acquired this from didn't know, either, otherwise he would have told me. Some stories claim, however, that while on the battlefield, the Black Knight turned into this massive beast, and both armies had to work together to stop him. I think that one's from a kids story. Other stories say he just retired and died of old age."

"Interesting," Keefe said aloud. His father ignored him.

"Oh, and over here," Tiberius continued on, "is the broken shield of Midland's Dozers, one of the country's most brutal band of fighters ever. Or so the stories go. They existed long before the Century War, mind you, usually sent out on special missions either to repel attacks or invade neighbouring countries. As you can see, I've constructed part of it, but there's still many pieces missing. Unfortunately, wood hasn't really been known for standing the test of time particularly well."

I didn't really care about the shield. I had so many questions about the so-called Black Knight, but I was starting to get the impression I had learned as much as I ever would. At least, from Tiberius. He continued along the old dungeon, pointing out other weapons and even some ancient looking armour from different time periods, either belonging to some old knight or to a famous warrior. He had a lot of junk down here. There were several side chambers he dragged us through, displaying a greater amount of jewels and gold, most of it having belonged to some royalty at some point. He even had a Maldad section. After finishing up in his Objects From Around the World collection, we were finally introduced to the last chamber, which was held behind a set of wooden doors.

"This, my fellow hunter, is my most prized collection. Even Keefe hasn't seen it."

Somehow, I doubted Keefe had ever really cared.

"May I introduce you to the World of the Dragons," he said dramatically, swinging the door open. What surprised me the most was how unremarkable everything was. The canine showed us around the room, pointing out bits and pieces of dragon armour, and pieces of metallic jewellery, most notably, the steel jewellery. Apparently dragons were quite fond of steel necklaces and bangles and bracelets, all of which looked quite large. Some of them looked like it wouldn't even fit me properly. In his collection he also had several remarkable pieces of old dragon armour, which admittedly didn't look terribly different from some armour I've seen. While it looked nothing like mine, despite missing significant chunks, it still looked like an enormous suit of modern day armour. Unfortunately, there was no helmet to go with it. I wonder what dragons looked like? After passing a small variety of clay pots, or urns, or whatever he said they were, with bizarre writing around it, we came up to an enormous wood case, which looked quite new. This had to be the Lionheart.

"I had this case built specifically to hold this legendary weapon. It was said to have been crafted with magic light by the white dragon blacksmith, Valo. He was supposed to give the weapon to the dragon Hero Lys to defeat the black dragons, but he never got it. And so it stayed hidden in that old cave for centuries until I found it. So without further ado..." Tiberius finally unlatched the case and opened it up, revealing the Lionheart.

It looked, shockingly, like my old sword, Kraftig, except amazingly shiny, and possibly a bit bigger. Down the centre of it was an etched pattern, which looked oddly lion-like, and the whole blade seemed to have an extraordinary sheen, like it was glowing. I had to touch it. Just as I moved by paw forward to stroke its beautifully smooth surface, my paw was batted away.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but I can't allow you to touch it."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"It is far too valuable to just let anyone touch it, I'm afraid. Only those with as much wisdom in the field of ancient dragon antiquities, such as myself, would I feel comfortable with handling such a fine, delicate blade. I know it looks strong, but believe me, it is far more fragile than you realize."

I growled silently. If that was true, then this trip really was a huge waste of time. I just lowered my paw and smiled. "Fair enough, sir. I would never, in my entire lifetime, be able to repay the damage I could have caused this weapon." I hated having to pretend to be respectful.

Tiberius just stared at me for a moment, then nodded, closing the case. Keefe looked annoyed at me. "Well that was the tour of my collection," Tiberius said, now leading us out. "I must say, young Luca, I'm quite surprised someone so battle-wise would be such an avid treasure hunter." The proud Dane finally shut the big doors behind us, telling one of the guards to lock it up. And, predictably, the head of the pack, Obi, had a few more words to say to Keefe.

"Hope you learned something in there, Keefe. Clearly you didn't learn much from the Holy See."

"I learned plenty on my journey," he simply replied. What annoyed me the most was how nonchalant Tiberius was about this. I think it was only because he was Keefe's father than he didn't join in on the teasing and insults. He did nothing to defend his son.

"Like what? That yer God doesn't exist? C'mon, Keefe. We all know it, and yet you still cling to those greedy, deceptive bastards at the Holy See. You haven't figured it out by now?"

Keefe glared at the husky, and if you didn't know him, you wouldn't see he was showing extreme restraint. Why didn't he just punch him already?

"You wanna hit me right now, don'cha?" Obi taunted, smiling widely. "Well, c'mon. Do it. Hit me."

Keefe clenched and unclenched his fist, then breathed out heavily. Just hit him!

Obi giggled, while Tiberius just stood there smirking. "I knew you wouldn't have it in you. Some Knight, huh?" the husky addressed the others, which of course made them laugh. "I'll bet he's never even been in a real fight before."

"Yeah," another laughed. "'Cause he's a wuss!"

I growled. The fact of the matter was, Keefe had been in many fights against many monsters these men had no doubt never seen before, nor even dreamed about. Keefe was as skilled as any mercenary I'd ever met, and twice as noble. If nothing else, the Holy See made Keefe into a kind, compassionate canine with the skill and confidence to defeat any enemy.

"The Holy See has turned you into a wimp, Keefe, with false beliefs. You were pathetic when you ran away, and you're even worse now."

That did it. If Keefe wasn't going to do anything, I was. Before the Dane could even respond, I growled and stepped forward, past Keefe and Tiberius, punching Obi square in the jaw. As he fell back, I snarled and kneed him in the gut, which forced him into the wall. As he hit, my paw flew up to his neck, and I squeezed tightly. With my teeth bared, I growled in his face, getting up close. "Keefe," I said, deepening my voice, "is one of the best friends I've ever had, and he's a stronger warrior than you could ever hope to be. He has fought with and against things of nightmares, never once losing his cool." I squeezed Obi's neck tighter, digging my claws in, and snarled wickedly. "If one more word comes from your maw that's neither nice nor friendly, I swear to all you claim Holy, I will snap your neck in two."

Finally I tore my paw from his neck, letting him fall. He coughed and hacked for breath, holding his throat, and the others approached.

"You son of a bitch!" one cried, coming at me. He made me smile.

I stepped to his left and grabbed his arm, holding a paw on the back of his shoulder, and quickly swung him around into the wall, battering his face against the stone. I growled deeply as he cried out, then suddenly pulled, a loud pop echoing through the old corridor. Masking the sound of the pop, of course, was the mercenary's horrified scream at the instant I dislocated his shoulder. I then pulled him back into the opposite wall, then spun and using my strength and momentum, smashed my fist straight into a third guard's maw, felling him instantly. I roared loudly at the remaining two, who had finally picked up their weapons. They were trembling already, and when I took a step forward and roared again, they dropped their pathetic blades and stepped away.

Tiberius and Keefe just watched me, the latter with his mouth agape. He was blushing heavily, too. Tiberius was still smirking, then moments later began to clap.

"Very good show," he said, stepping toward me. I was still breathing heavily.

I batted his arm away as he went to place it on my shoulder. "Don't you touch me," I spat. "I don't know what Keefe did to upset you people, but your ignorance makes me sick. Keefe is a wonderful dog, and an even greater friend. He has been nothing short of caring and compassionate toward everyone he's met, and he deserves far more respect than you could possibly give."

Again, both canines just stared at me, Keefe blushing even more and holding his paw to his chest. I think neither one saw that coming. Even I didn't. Just then, Obi got up to his footpaws, growling.

I turned to face him. "And you. You call yourself a mercenary? You're the most pathetic excuse for a soldier I've seen in my entire life. How many battles have you seen?"

"Huh?"

"How many men have you killed? How much blood have you shed? Do you even know the taste of your own blood?"

"Uh..."

I growled quietly. "You think because you can carry a weapon that you're a soldier, but you're nothing. Just a fat, lazy parasite who needs a place to stay."

I suddenly started to feel a familiar pain in my shoulder, stomach and back, realizing I had reopened my wounds. I just growled.

"You're not just a treasure hunter, are you," Tiberius said needlessly.

I growled again then walked away, shoving past Obi. I quickly walked up the spiral stairs and through the halls, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm myself down. It wasn't working all that well. I quickly came around a corner and from the end of a corridor, spotted Humfrey walking past.

"You!" I shouted, marching toward him. The canine obediently stopped until I caught up. "Where're my things, and the children? Tell me now."

"Your possessions have been cleaned, sir," he answered calmly, "and await you at the front vestibule. The children are no doubt asleep now, as I'd taken the liberty of putting them to bed. They each have their own room on the top floor, next door to each other. I can take you to them if you wish."

I sighed heavily, half catching my breath, and half thinking for a moment. The boys needed their rest, and I couldn't leave without the Lionheart. I refused to. It was clear breaking into Tiberius' vault would be easy, but when would I find time to do that? With no one else around the area, it would be doubtful I could easily sneak back into the castle once I leave; Tiberius would know it was me. Though he hardly had the power to do anything about it, even if he contacted any kind of authorities, or hired his own. Then suddenly I heard a voice calling from behind me.

"Luca!" Keefe shouted from afar, running down the hall. His father was following behind. "Don't go," he said breathlessly. He must have run up the stairs. "Let Kai and Rin sleep, and we'll go in the morning, okay? Father said he won't bother us."

"Aye," Tiberius admitted. "I feel compelled to apologize for those men. Obi has a long history with our family, and with Keefe just the same. They never got along."

"You coulda said something," I snapped.

"He didn't want to interfere," Keefe said. Why was he defending his father like this? "Just...don't go. Stay the night."

I growled quietly, but I knew that would be the right choice. "Fine," I finally said.

"Humfrey," Tiberius said, "I want you to address Luca's wounds; he reopened them. And fix him something to eat."

The brindle Dane bowed his head. "Yes, sir. Will that be all?"

"Yeah, that'll be it for now. I think I'm going to join Moira shortly."

Humfrey finally departed.

"Well, Luca, I apologize again for what happened down there, and I promise you I won't let it happen again. We so rarely get guests, I sometime forget myself."

I just grunted, then turned to follow Humfrey. He led me briskly through the castle and through the impressive foyer, up the stairs and finally to my room, where he ordered me onto the bed. Sitting on the edge, the old Great Dane slowly removed my bandages, unrolling them around my torso and my arms. When he finally finished, he turned and retrieved, from a bureau, a set of needles and thread.

"This may hurt a little," he informed me.

I just responded with lifting my arm, giving him clearer access to my ribs. This sharp, quick pain was nothing compared to what I'd endured before. After a short while, he finally finished up and wrapped me up tightly, once again, in clean bandages.

" I will return with your meal, sir," he told me.

"All right," I responded, lying back now. I could feel the tightness in my wounds as the flesh stretched, trying to reopen again. "Just roll it in," I said, "even if I'm sleeping."

The Dane nodded, then left. Finally I could relax. I let out a long, deep sigh, stretching my paws above my head, staring up at the ceiling. The Lionheart was so close. I could almost feel its energy when my paw neared it. It was, indeed, a magical weapon. Suddenly my goals seemed so much closer. I would find a way into Hel and with the ancient dragon weapon, tear the Crimson King apart and return order to Midland. With that thought in mind, I carefully pulled myself all the way onto the bed and lay on my side, finally closing my eyes.

I tried not to think about that worm, Obi, but it was difficult. He was even worse than Tiberius. It did intrigue me, though, what their beliefs were. The only two I had ever encountered were that of the Holy See and of the people of Asgard, who still worshipped the Old Gods. It was clear which of those two they didn't obey, but perhaps it was a third one I had never heard of. A cult, maybe, worshipping yet another fake god and performing all sorts of sick rituals. Perhaps they needed the blood of innocent children... Lucky for me, Kai was far from innocent. I made sure of that. Who could resist such a body, anyway? His smooth, finely-toned young body...

Slowly I opened my eyes, my paw having found its way to my crotch. I moaned quietly, still thinking about my naked boy; his strong, muscular legs squeezing tightly against my sides as his cute little rear presses into my rock-hard cock and down softly against my hips. That feeling alone would be enough to drive me wild, but with his small claws poking at my chest as his body twisted on top of mine...it was almost too much. His toned, soft abs wiggling along with his chest, moving in such a sexual way. I could almost hear his quiet little moans as precum leaks from his poking-out shaft. Remembering his small, pointy-tipped cock contrasting with his black fur made me want to stroke it so bad, make him moan even louder, and make him quiver with sexual delight.

Suddenly, I heard a creaking at the door, then a cart roll in. Panting a bit, I managed to tear my paw from within my pants and cover my pride, though I was relieved to see Keefe walk in. He shut the door tightly behind him.

"I thought I'd bring this up for you," he said quietly, now approaching the bed.

"Thanks," I responded, now sitting up against the headboard and pillow. My footpaws weren't quite covered yet, and so my pride tented very easily in these loose pants. I blushed a bit, seeing Keefe look at it. "Sorry," I said. "I was, um...thinking about Kai. Did you see them?"

Keefe nodded, standing at the foot of the large, comfortable bed. "They were both sleeping soundly."

I squirmed a bit, finding it impossible to hide. It hadn't really occurred to me that the day previous, this cock had been in his maw. I pushed those thoughts aside. "So, you going to bed, then?"

"Shortly."

I sighed. "Hey, I'm sorry about before. I guess I don't have as much restraint as you do."

Keefe smiled and laughed through his nose. "I suppose I could have. My faith isn't anywhere close to as strong as it had been before I left this place, which had always prevented such violence. I guess I still felt like I had to prove a point to Obi, and my father."

"What, that your religion ultimately makes you a better person?"

"Yeah, or something like that."

"You know, I meant those things I said. About how kind and caring you are. What's their problem with you, anyway?"

Keefe sighed heavily and sat at the edge of the bed, back mostly to me. He turned a bit so he wouldn't have to crane his neck too far. "When I was a kid, my father helped teach me everything I know about Midland's history, including the Old Gods and even about Dragons. None of that really left me. When I was twelve, when my father, mother and I were visiting Midgard, I saw a company of Holy Knights in the castle's courtyard, and I was enthralled. They stood so high, and shone brightly in their magnificence. Not watching where I was going, I had accidentally bumped into some Lord, and he obviously didn't know who I was, because the next thing I knew he was trying to cut off my paws."

"What'd you do?"

"I just cried out for help, and of course the only one who came to my aid was the leader of the Holy Knights. He stopped the Lord and shoved him away from me, then smiled warmly at me. He told me I would be fine, and that he wouldn't let any harm come to me... I know it sounds pretty silly, but seeing how brave and selfless that Knight was...well, I went home after our trip to Midgard and began reading about them. My parents didn't mind me studying the Knights and the Holy See, but when they found a Bible and a cross in my room, they felt they had to step in. Especially my father, they explained what was wrong with organized religion, and wanted me to stop. And for four years I fought with them until finally I ran away from home. No one knew where I went, though they probably could've guessed. I went in search of the Holy See, and eventually I came to study to be a Knight."

"So then what's Obi's problem?"

Keefe scoffed. "He's about twelve years older than me, and started working for my father when I was five, or possibly younger. He doesn't like religion, either, but he's just a jerk about it. He doesn't mean most of what he says, but enjoys getting a rise out of me, mainly because I wouldn't ever defend myself in the way he wanted. Obviously he had no idea I'm...no longer with them."

"Yeah, well I don't think he'll be bothering you much more, especially with me around."

I could tell Keefe was smiling. He then turned around, one leg up on the bed, showing me that grin. There was something peculiar about his grin, though. "Anyway, I came up here to thank you for defending me like that. I know we fight a lot sometimes, but that was really sweet what you did."

I nodded. "Think nothing of it. He had it coming, anyway."

"So...do you really think I'm a wonderful dog?"

Oh, great. With a slight blush, I nodded. Was he really going make me say it to his face? He just kept staring at me. "Y-yeah, Keefe...I do."

The canine got up completely on the bed and slowly approached me. I just watched him in silence.

"No one's ever defended me before like that...not for a long time, anyway." Keefe made his way closer until his knee was almost in my crotch. He was blushing again.

Before I could say anything, though, he put a paw on my chest and leaned in, placing his lips firmly against mine. And yet for some reason, I felt no desire to push him away. I raised a paw up to his side, caressing him gently as his tongue pushed into mine. I opened my maw, eagerly accepting the Dane, and we kissed passionately. My heart was beating quickly, and I felt a strong rush of emotions I hadn't gotten from the dog before. Not like this, anyway. Soon enough our tongues went in deeper, our maws opening wider and heads tilting. I suddenly smelled a strong musk waft up from either of us, which of course aroused me more, enough to make me moan, anyway. My paws slid up Keefe's slim sides and pulled him closer, doing nothing to hide my pride. Finally he pulled away, slowly, and I found myself wanting more.

"Keefe..." I muttered, looking up at him.

"You're my protector, and my defender," he said softly.

"I told you, it was nothing."

"No, it wasn't nothing. You are far more kind to me than I have ever given you credit for, Luca. You have proven that to me twice in the past couple days, and many more before that."

"Butâ€"" I was suddenly cut off when Keefe gently pressed his paw to my maw, then moments later, replaced it with his lips. Once again he kissed me, this time with a paw on my cheek. My warm cheek. I think I was blushing again. He pulled away slowly, the sound of our lips parting ringing in my ears, then softly nuzzled my cheek.

I sighed deeply through my nose and let my body relax, caressing his back once again. Our cheeks continued to rub together, slowly and tenderly. I felt excited in a way only Kai had ever made me feel, and I think part of me wanted more from the dog. My heart was still beating quickly. It was then I noticed his tail wagging, which made me smile. "You're a good guy, Keefe, no matter what Tiberius thinks."

Keefe stopped nuzzling me and slowly pulled away, keeping both paws on my shoulders, and for a moment just sat back on his hocks, over my left leg. He was smiling at me, more so when his paws fell slowly from my shoulders and gently glided along my chest, which was still bandaged. I smiled back at the Dane, putting my paws on his thighs and managing to get him closer, up on my belly. From there, my paws rose up from his thighs and toward his hips, then finally away from his hips and up along his thin waist, pulling his shirt up as they went. Keefe leaned in again and with a quiet murr, began nuzzling my neck and kissing, his paws back up on the headboard again. My paws then continued un-tucking the dog's shirt, finally getting the last of it out from under his belt. Quickly, my strong paws got under his loose tanktop, feeling up his soft, toned body. This made the canine groan and arch his back. His head now just hung in front of mine, maw open and breathing heavier. I wasn't sure what exactly was compelling me to unclothe the dog, but I didn't want to stop.

I continued to feel Keefe's belly, up along his muscular ribs and across to his chest and nipples, where I stopped to play a bit. They were both hard, and fun to rub and tug. After a moment, Keefe made a fairly cute noise and placed his paw on mine, moving it to the middle of his chest and pressing inward. He was breathing heavily, but I could feel his heart beating. He held my paw there for a while longer, then looked down at me and smiled, blushing intensely. I think he was trying to tell me how I made him feel. I was feeling the same way. His heart was beating fairly quick, but they were very hard pulses, like it was about to burst from his chest. With my paw still on his chest, the canine leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips, a gesture I had no problem returning.

When we finally pulled away, I was free to move my paws again. With a cheeky smile, I raised my paws once again up his slender sides, however lifting the shirt with it. It took Keefe no time at all to finally remove the shirt, then he stretched out atop me. Was he...flexing? Regardless of his intentions, I just stared up at Keefe's steel-blue coat, which shimmered magnificently against the vague candlelight, accentuating his excellent musculature. When he relaxed, my paws melted from his ribs down to his hips, where they began to busy themselves with Keefe's belt. The canine just murred and watched, gently placing both paws on mine. I stopped, but he urged me to continue. His paws with mine, we finally unlatched the leather belt, pulling it out quickly. Keefe's pants sagged considerably, revealing just the smallest amount of sheath. He had such a smooth, lean, yet muscular body... I think it was only because of the Holy See that Keefe didn't use this body as much as I know he could have.

Slowly, and still together, Keefe guided my paws down from his hips, using me to pull his pants down. The red tip of his cock was poking out of his dark-furred sheath, and it was clearly full. Finally we had them down as far as they could, his balls just barely poking over the waistband. I raised my left paw and reached in, gently squeezing his warm, sagging balls and massaging them carefully with my pawpads. The canine arched his back and moaned quietly, his other paw scratching his own belly. I smiled at the Knight, purring warmly as my paw found its way to Keefe's tailhole, stroking my fingers along his underside and back to his balls, where I tickled the back lightly with my claws. Keefe was especially responsive to this, and so I continued for a while before I started massaging again, which he also seemed to enjoy. This, of course, was completely evidenced by his lengthening dogmeat and quiet moans. Finally I felt Keefe's paw grip into my wrist, then pull up, almost forcing me to stroke his sheath.

"Ooh, God," Keefe moaned as my paw ran up his sheath. I could feel his knot already forming. I continued to pet his sheath, each time pulling it back a little. His paws once again latched onto mine, as if helping me along. I could feel the canine shaking, but it wasn't nervousness or guilt. He simply shivered every time my paw ran up his half-sheathed length, and moaned quietly. After quivering one final time, the dog finally lifted himself above me, standing on the bed, and, panting a bit, promptly removed his pants, tossing them aside. It was almost surreal to see this incredibly fit, handsome canine standing above me, panting with half an erection jutting from his sheath. When he tossed the last of his garments aside, though, my paws found a comfortable place by his ankles, gently stroking up his strong calves. I was smiling happily at the dog, until he finally bent back down.

My paws gracefully ran up from his calves and along his thighs, then up around his waist and back in a very quick, fluid motion. I held the dark-furred canine close and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, kissing me again. We both murred this time as very quickly the kiss turned passionate, tongues connecting almost instantly and twisting around each other's maws. The noises of our loud, almost sloppy kiss practically echoed through the large room, as well as our quiet murrs and moans and the sound of fur constantly rubbing together. It was an incredible feeling, kissing this dog, who had to have picked it up somewhere along the line; I had never been kissed like this before, not even by Rit. Keefe no doubt felt my cock rubbing against his rear-end now, which felt great, despite still having my pants on. The two of us kissed deeper, our moans more pronounced â€" if not muffled â€" and I started rubbing my paws up his soft, dark-furred back, to which he responded with scritching up the back of my neck.

Finally the kiss broke, and the Dane was teasing my wet cock-tip with his hard, whip-like tail, knocking it back and forth like it was some sort of toy. This only aroused me more, of course, until I looked down and realized just how close Keefe's crimson, pulsating cock was from my maw. It was hard to tell, though, what, if anything, he wanted me to do with it. I didn't have too much experience in cock-sucking, so admittedly, I was hoping that wasn't it. But for the moment, he just sat on my belly, paws on my shoulders, and smiling happily at me. My paws just hung off his hips, petting his thighs a little. Unfortunately, despite just how turned on I was, I wasn't really in the position to get things rolling. Keefe looked as if he was uncertain about something.

"Something wrong?" I asked, breathing heavily. If only my pants were gone, then I'd have a bit more say in the matter.

Keefe giggled, and would have blushed more if he wasn't already so red. "I'm not...I'm not really sure what to do."

"Huh? How...can you not be sure?"

"I just mean...who does what?"

I smiled. "That's entirely up to you."

Keefe somehow managed to blush even more. "Well...have you...ever been knotted?"

Despite the current situation, he managed to surprise me. "Uh. N-no."

"Good," the dog said, grinning widely. I think he made his decision. Just then, his grip on my shoulders tightened, and the Knight successfully pushed me downward, sliding along with the bed sheets until I was lying straight on my back, and his balls dangled in front of my face. I couldn't resist.

Within moments of being pushed down, barely giving Keefe time to reposition himself, I lifted a paw up between his legs and lightly gripped his dark, steel-blue balls, then promptly licked them. I heard Keefe make a sort of pleasured noise, and I continued. He then made a short growl and shuffled back, this time pushing his dogmeat toward my maw. His paw was pushing it down. This move took me aback, but as I still wasn't in the position to make my own decisions, I took the crimson shaft and wrapped my lips around. Keefe moaned. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I did my best.

My tongue sort of wrapped around the bottom half on his length while I tried my best to form a seal around his cockhead with my lips, while at the same time trying not to scrape him with my teeth. I moved back and forth a few times, paw not leaving the hot, moist piece of meat, enjoying the noise of Keefe's pleasure.

"L-Luca," Keefe spoke, "that feels...so good..."

I was glad he approved. But didn't he say something about knotting? Pushing that thought aside, I continued with what I was doing, diligently sucking away at the Holy Knight's cock, quite enjoying the taste. I didn't know what to expect in that regard, but with my limited experience in such things, I was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet, somewhat, but also fairly salty and musky. I surprised myself, moments later, when I realized my lips were brushing against Keefe's sheath, a knot hidden behind it. Although I could feel the shaft inside my maw, and my throat, it slid in and out fairly easily. Not even all that much gagging. I wasn't particularly overjoyed by that prospect â€" a natural born cock-sucker â€" but Keefe certainly seemed happy.

After a short while, Keefe reclaimed his dogmeat, panting, and rubbed my cheek gently. He was smiling widely, and of course blushing like crazy. I think both our hearts were pounding equally as fast. Moments later, Keefe swung his leg around my chest so he was now kneeling to one side of me, and without so much as a word, turned me onto my belly. I wasn't a huge fan of being so compliant, but I guess this is what Keefe was like when he was horny and beyond shyness. "On your paws and knees," he told me softly, though there was a bit of shakiness to it. I don't think he was entirely comfortable telling me what to do like this, but he clearly had his mind set on it. When I got onto my knees and paws, I felt two strong canine paws slide over my lower back, now one on each side of my hips. I think he was really going to go through with it, more so as he slowly removed my pants.

Keefe's paws reached around to my front and undid the strings holding the pants up, murring as he did, and caressed past my lower regions as he pulled them down. Sliding down my thighs, he needlessly, yet enjoyably, felt down my inner thighs, just barely grazing the bottom of my balls, until my pants were down to my knees. I lifted both so he could remove them, and I heard them land somewhere on the floor. Those paws once again slid around my hips and to my pelvic area, fingertips nearly touching my hot, full, rock-hard sheath, half my length poking out. Keefe giggled and pulled his paws away. The dog, apparently, liked to tease.

Suddenly, my heart jumped when I felt that carmine, pulsating meat press into my tailhole, though there was some hesitation. C'mon, Keefe, what're you waiting for? Seconds later, I heard the dog growl quietly, then murr quite loudly as he finally pushed forward.

My maw opened as he quickly spread my tailhole, eyes closing almost completely. I let out a long moan when the thicker part of his shaft shoved into me. Keefe was moaning, too, though somewhat muted compared to mine. Finally I felt him stop, and something very thick and very hard pressed into my hole, not coming close to going in. I think it was his knot.

"C'mere," I suddenly heard from a whining, panting Keefe, his paws sliding up my sides. Was he pulling? I arched my back and, however awkwardly, managed to get up, still with the dog inside me. He moaned and whimpered the entire time, my tailhole clenching tightly at his shaft, and it took no more than two seconds for Keefe to suddenly wrap his paws around my chest. I was surprised. He gave me a very tight squeeze, murring loudly, and I think he was nuzzling my right shoulder. His paws travelled down my chest slowly, then back up again, which felt amazing with his shaft still deep inside me.

"Do you know," he started, "how long I've wanted to do this with you?"

Admittedly, I didn't even know it was an issue.

"N-no," I huffed. Keefe then started playing with my nipples, his head coming to rest beside mine. Cheeky dog. I felt his nose in my ear.

"Since...we almost kissed in that cart...two years ago..."

That was a long time. But what was I supposed to say to that? Though I think he could tell what I was thinking simply from the hard beating of my heart. I could feel his heart, too, thumping rapidly against my back. His fur was so warm, and so soft, and I especially enjoyed the soft kisses on my shoulder, neck and cheek. Keefe was such a sweetheart. Just then, the dog pulled out a bit, though he still clung to my chest, making me gasp. After what felt like just a few inches, he pushed back into me, grunting into my ear as he did. I grunted, too. His chest still pressed against my back, the dog suddenly moaned very loudly into my ear, nipping at it, too. I think he was really starting to get into this. With a smile, I did the Knight a favour and pushed my rear back, making him yip loudly.

Keefe murred and slid his paws down to my hips, then pulled out. We both moaned at this, then again as he shoved forward. Though he was still going quite slow, and it was far from totally dominating and rough, I still enjoyed this immensely. Soon enough, Keefe's pace began to increase, though barely noticeable, his shaft pumping diligently into my rear. I was panting now, and despite being a big scary tiger, whimpered and moaned like a cub. Keefe was much, much bigger than I'd expected, and even bigger, it felt, than when his cock was in my mouth. Each time he pushed inward, Keefe would moan for the length it took him to buck fully in, then a different pitched moan when he pulled out again. It was so cute to hear him moaning like this, a noise I thought I'd never hear from the dog, let alone the rest of what we were doing. His paws on my hips started to pull back with every long thrust, adding a grunt to the end of his adorable moans.

I suddenly let out a very sharp, very loud cry as I felt Keefe pinch my left nipple, which he seemed to have found behind the bandages. Why was he doing that? Not that I was complaining. Rin was the only guy Keefe had ever been with, and yet he seemed so expert at this. Perhaps his had read one of his father's books on the subject long ago. One way or the other, the canine knew what he was doing, and did it very well. His chest was still somewhat pressed against my back, though not as tightly as before, which brought so much warmth. I couldn't get over how soft his fur was, despite being a shorthair, and how incredibly warming his touch was.

Keefe was pumping into my rear much faster now, his left paw still busy at my nipple, though did venture a few times down to my belly. I wonder if he wanted to feel my scars? My paws had found a fairly comfortable home at Keefe's hips, but one left and reached up to my chest, a claw out and slicing down the bandages, cutting them quite easily. One by one, the wraps loosened until they all finally fell around us. I took Keefe's paw in mine and then pressed it against the long, sewn incision across my chest, which caused the Knight to pause for a moment. Much like what he had done with my paw, I gripped his firmly, our fingers intertwining as I pushed his pads into the repaired wound. He had stopped pumping, but it was okay. His cock was still very much alive in my rear, pulsating and twitching, more so when I gave it a squeeze with my tailhole. I enjoyed the quite yelp this forced out of the dog.

He just silently held his paw to my chest, mine finally letting go. I murred quietly as his fingertips grazed across the sutured flesh and fur, and seconds later, he murred, too. Though it was only a guess, I think Keefe sort of enjoyed feeling my scars simply because they were permanent reminders of all the times I'd saved him, or protected him. His paw slowly travelled down my chest and to my belly, where he felt another. When his pawpads dragged across the closed wound, I felt his hips starting to pump into me again, very quick and shallow thrusts. My theory about my scars seemed to make more sense now, since it was my defence of him which brought us into this situation to begin with. I once again held onto Keefe's paw, murring audibly. My quiet murring, however, was cut short as his gentle thrusts became longer, faster, and harder.

Keefe moans were slowly becoming long grunts and growls, paw still on my belly. "Ooh, Luca," Keefe moaned, pounding into me harder. I could only reply with grunts and moans of my own, impressed at how incredible it felt. I had no reason to doubt Keefe's ability in bed, besides the fact until recently, I'd only known him as a devout Holy Knight. The harder and faster the Knight pumped into me, the more inclined I felt to lean forward. When I did, feeling Keefe's paws slip, however reluctantly, away from my belly, I held my paws outward, gripping the headboard. This could work nicely. After hearing a particularly loud growl, I gripped the ornate, expensive wood tightly and shoved my rear back, snarling as his knot pressed very hard into me; I wasn't expecting that. I think I even surprised Keefe a bit, though it was hard to tell from this position. After a brief moment, we worked ourselves into a smooth, flowing rhythm, and I gradually got used to the sharp pain of his knot prodding harder and harder at me.

"Unngh...fuck!" I cried, again getting stretched. It felt like there was a long way to go until the Knight completely knotted me, and I wasn't sure how much my poor tailhole could handle. But like in most cases, it was way too late to go back. My own precum was getting the sheets progressively more wet, but I didn't care. With another long bout of loud moaning from me, a paw finally released from the headboard and stroked my rock-hard cock. It was incredibly sensitive to the touch, seeming to squirt every time my pawpad touched it.

"W-wait," Keefe said, but not knowing what the hell he wanted, I didn't stop. He moaned again, through his panting, and didn't stop either. He just continued to fuck me, then seconds later, batted my paw away. What the hell was he doing? "St-stop," he said, then suddenly yelped. He was probably getting close to the end. I stopped, not really knowing why, and replaced my paw on the headboard, continuing like before. "Good boy," the dog added, which made me smile.

Suddenly, the slight pain in my rear I had felt before was humbled by an ever greater pain. I heard Keefe shouting something, as if his words were going to just will his knot inside me, then back to his grunting. But still, it hurt, and I couldn't help but cry out, in both pain and, admittedly, pleasure. I felt his paws grip very tightly at my hips, and him growling of course. Finally, after a moment, Keefe stopped and let my tailhole rest for a moment, but a second later, pounded into my rear again, giving it a good snarl. And, in tune with the canine, I, too, shouted loudly; profanity of some kind, unlike the dog. A couple more surprisingly powerful thrusts later, I felt what I assumed was the apex of his knot, until finally, through the pain and the screaming, it popped in quickly. It was an audible pop, too, and if I wasn't panting so heavily, I probably would have smiled at that. It was then I realized he'd have to take it out again. Shit...

I then felt a couple soft paws stroking my thighs, then a panting canine body rest against my back. The dog had stopped thrusting, but seemed to keep his entire shaft inside me. What was he going to do now? Seconds later, he made that very clear; I felt Keefe's paw reach around my belly and down to my throbbing tigermeat, which he gripped and squeezed tightly. The bastard made me moan. Loudly, too.

"You like that?" Keefe taunted, fondling me lovingly.

"Wh-which?"

Keefe giggled, then nuzzled my shoulder, seeming to just idle himself with my cock. "I'm so close to the edge," he informed me. I knew it. "Can you feel me inside you?"

A rhetorical question, I assumed. After a moment's pondering, I concluded I did, in fact, feel him inside me. And the more I pondered it, the more obvious it became. It was pounding heavily inside me, more prominently where his knot was, but I definitely felt the whole, thick, hot shaft. His knot was grinding heavily against my prostate, more so when he gave me his shallow thrusts, delighting in the ability to make me whine at will. Naughty canine. But to answer the dog's question, I simply nodded.

And just as I nodded, his paw squeezed tightly at my shaft, stroking downward. "Unghh..." With his shaft embedded deep within my bowels, it was likely I wouldn't last as long as I normally do, which isn't saying a lot. After a few more moan-causing strokes, I began to feel a particular flare inside me, that of a moving Great Dane. I could feel his hips grinding into my rear as he pulled back and pushed in, moving all about in a very successful attempt at pleasuring me, and as evidenced by his noise, himself, too. Beyond that, just feeling his intensely warm body smeared against my back only bolstered the feelings I had toward him.

"Oooh, oh God," I cried. Like in most cases, I tried to hold off my orgasm for as long as possible, but the Knight wouldn't have it, or so it seemed. He just kept twisting his body behind me, huffing and moaning, one paw stroking my tigermeat quickly while the other controlled my hips. Both my paws were still up on the headboard, preventing myself from falling forward. And, of course, to enhance the sensations only a Dane's knot could provide. With an ample amount of growling and moaning coming from me, plus what felt like streams of precum, it was a wonder how I'd lasted this long in the first place. With my length being attended to constantly and my prostate being ground to dust, I produced a loud snarl as my muscles suddenly tensed. I growl-moaned a few more times, trying to signal to Keefe what was going on, not that it really mattered. He was making about as much noise as I was, anyway.

Finally, I felt it. Within moments, my tailhole clenched tightly around Keefe's dogmeat, including his knot, which pushed me over the edge. I snarled then roared loudly, bucking a few times as my lower body suddenly flooded with intense pleasure, tightening my grip around the Knight's throbbing shaft as tight as was possible. At the same time, as long, hot, musky ropes of tigerseed fired into the bed sheets, I heard Keefe moaning and even howling in a similar manner, his hips smashing firmly against my bum. Just as my first load poured onto the bed, I felt my insides suddenly fill with a powerful warmth, and Keefe's loud cries becoming quiet whimpering and murring. We were both panting heavily as the last of my seed dripped off Keefe's paw, and he stopped jamming into me. After a very long moment , the Knight's paw peeled away from my length and, with his other, gently petted my back. I was purring quietly, and smiling in the soft afterglow of passionate yiff. I could smell our male scents surrounding us, hanging thick in the air. After a short time, we shuffled awkwardly and fell to our sides, away from my mess.

Together Keefe lay with me on the large, expensive bed, chest against my back and his dogmeat still thoroughly planted inside me. He put an arm around me and snuggled close, murring in my ear. I snuggled back and held the canine's paw, smiling and closing my eyes. Although I hadn't eaten anything the dog had brought, I certainly felt full. Neither of use spoke, but let our bodies talk for us. I was purring nonstop, while Keefe was murring quietly in my ear and gently rubbed my belly. I shifted back into him, wishing there was a way we could lie even closer, though I think knotted was as close as we could get. His body was plastered against mine, our warmth blending together. I felt so happy with this dog. After a short while, feeling incredibly warm and very satisfied, I finally let myself relax and drift off to sleep.

When my eyes opened again, it was to a cold chill up my spine. Keefe was still lying close to me, having reclaimed his cock sometime while we slept. I turned around to face him, and he looked so peaceful and so happy. And it made me smile. I then felt a slight breeze from the open window, and so got up to close it. Although I couldn't remember ever having opened it, I chalked it up to old, worn-out locks. When I shut the large window, I noticed it was still dark. Eerily so. I quickly turned to Keefe, but he was gone. My heart started to race.

"Keefe?" I said, but heard no answer. Then a second later, a particular glowing from under the ruffled sheets.

"We're happy to see you heeded my warning," a voice spoke.

"Who's there?" I looked about for my sword, but it was nowhere to be seen. Then I remembered it had been broken.

The figure in the sheets suddenly began to stir, and an inky-black, serpent-like creature began to rise, the sheets melting off its scaly back. It hissed at me, then slowly slithered toward me. I couldn't move, but instead stood as it began to coil around my body, squeezing me tightly. I struggled, but I had waited too long. I was stuck. "What do you want?" I asked it.

"The same thing I've always wanted, foolish tiger." It squeezed me tighter, causing me to snarl. It wasn't going to stop, until it began to squeeze me in a particularly sensitive spot. I cried out painfully as the serpent's long, forked tongue flicked into my ear, then caressed the outside. "Sacrifice..." it hissed.

I roared loudly, still unable to free myself. Then the pain got worse. My head thrashed about madly as I snarled and roared in both anger and pain, until it became almost blinding. I could hear the serpent laughing as it seemed to tear at my sheath and balls. "Leave me alone!" I cried desperately, but it just continued to chuckle, saying over and over what it wanted me to do.

And just as the monster squeezed tightly at my neck, stopping me from roaring and breathing, I shot out of bed, panting and sweating. Sitting up beside Keefe, I looked around desperately for any signs of intrusion, and of course found none. The window wasn't even open. "Fuck," I said, resting my head on my paw. It was another one of Loki's visits, though I was glad it was a short one. Suppose he went easy on me for not sleeping with Kai.

Keefe finally stirred awake, sitting up beside me. "What's wrong?" he asked, though I think he knew. He just rubbed my back softly, and I sighed heavily. "You'll be okay," he said kindly, hugging me lightly. His head rested on my left shoulder, nuzzling gently.

"I know," I said, sighing again.

"Do...you think we should tell Rin and Kai?" Keefe suddenly asked me.

"Hm?"

"You know...about what we just did."

I stayed silent for a moment. "No," I finally said. "They don't need to know."

"Are you sure?"

"What would be the point in telling them?"

Keefe shrugged. He was still holding onto me, arms around my waist, and head on my shoulder. He then kissed my cheek softly. "To be honest with them."

I just growled quietly. "I don't know," I said.

"Well I'm not going to say anything if you don't want it to be said. But for the record, I think we should." Keefe finally got out of bed and, standing near the door and the food cart he'd wheeled in, took a big stretch. I couldn't help but check out his toned, slim body, and his incredibly sexy rear. The blue Dane was a very attractive male. Finally I rose out of bed, and paced toward the food. I was feeling quite hungry now.

Keefe then turned and smiled at me, putting his arms around my shoulders and hugging me close. I held him back. What was this all about? When he pulled away, he blushed slightly and slowly tilted his head, pressing his lips against mine. Although still a tiny bit groggy from having just got up, I kissed the Dane back, murring into his maw. Predictably, I was getting hard again. After our tongues messed around for a long moment, Keefe finally pulled away with a devilish grin, and put a paw on my sheath. I gasped lightly, surprised at his spontaneity, but soon smiled down at him as he got to his knees. It took almost no time at all for him lick up my sheath, urging my tigermeat out. And out it came, slowly but surely. Within moments, Keefe had his lips around my cockhead, murring loudly as his tongue slid out.

But before any real fun could begin, there was a loud rapping at the door. "Master Tiberius would like to inform you that breakfast will be served in twenty minutes. You may join him if you wish."

I didn't respond, but the interruption made Keefe suddenly get up. I was kind of disappointed, but at the same time kind of relieved. Though it would have been fun, I wasn't sure how ready I was to go at it again.

"Sorry," the Knight said, walking past me. He was probably looking for his clothes. "I never could get back into things after Humfrey interrupted me... Sometimes I think my father would purposely send him to my room, just to torture me."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it," I said, turning my head to check him out again. Before I could get a real good look, though, I was blinded by a flying pair of pants, striking me in the face.

"C'mon," Keefe smiled. "Let's eat."

I smiled back and quickly put on my pants, following the Knight out the door. After a short hike through the twisted castle, we arrived at an impressive dining hall. A large chandelier hung in the centre of the room, while a nice fireplace stood at one end. Tiberius was already sitting in his large, throne-like chair at the head of the table, some food already laid out. He stood as we entered, holding his arms out.

"Good morning," the canine said, stepping around the table to greet us. He seemed oddly pleasant. It was then I noticed the Black Book sitting beside a plate of meat. Where did he get that from?

"Good morning, father," Keefe bowed his head.

"Sir," I replied, confirming his greeting.

"Have a seat," the elder Dane said, waving his paw across the table. "Humfrey is getting Kai and Rin up as we speak, so they should be along shortly."

After we sat, and were served promptly by some of his other servants â€" likely kitchen staff â€" and progressed to eat in silence. That is, until Rin and Kai came in, followed by Humfrey and a female Dane, another blue. It was probably Tiberius' wife, and Keefe's mother Moira.

"Ah, darling," Tiberius said standing up again. I continued to eat as I watched the two. I wasn't sure what it was I was eating, but it was sweet and very delicious. I don't think I had ever eaten so good in my life, especially when I was a kid.

"Good morning, sweetness," Moira responded happily, embracing her husband. "And Keefe, it is so lovely to see you fill that chair once again. It has been too long."

"Mother," Keefe simply said. He hadn't mentioned her much at all, so I had no idea what their relationship was like. At first glance, it seemed fine.

Kai finally ran up to me, giving me a big hug, while Rin simply sat beside the Knight. Kai was purring loudly. "It's so fantastic here," he said excitedly, nuzzling my chest. I smiled, patting his shoulder and gently kissed his head.

"Well don't get used to it," I told him, then offered a seat. He sat on my lap instead.

"It has been so long since we had so many in this hall," Moira said gleefully, taking a seat on the corner, next her Tiberius, who had also sat back down. "So tell me," she continued, "how did you all meet?"

There were obviously some aspects of the story we couldn't reveal, or figured would be better left unsaid. I let Keefe fill her in. "I was working in Bolt at the time, and Luca was passing through with Kai. I felt I had particular...obligations to the tiger, and so followed him on his journey."

"He felt he had to flush the demons out," Tiberius interrupted, "or some nonsense like that."

"Oh," Moira responded. "Well, as long as you're doing what you like, sweetie..."

"Aye, and I'll continue to do so."

Tiberius just rolled his eyes and chomped down on whatever it was he was eating. "So, Keefe," he said with a bit of a smile, food still stuffed in his mouth, "tell me where you got this Book."

It was then Keefe realized it had been sitting there all this time. He frowned. "And where did you get it?"

Tiberius chuckled. "Why from your room, Keefe. Where else?"

Keefe growled, then sighed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because until now, the Seventh Book was just myth. I already own the other Six."

I think we were all a bit surprised, though at the same time, not really.

"And?"

"Have you not read any of it, son?"

Keefe lowered his head. "I have. As much as I can."

"Hm. Seems your Dragon studies have gotten dull. It is the final instalment of Níðhöggr's personal journals. This one supposedly details his attempts to open up a pathway into Hel."

"I already know that," Keefe pointed out.

"Where did you find the Book? And why were you searching for it?"

Keefe sighed, while the rest of us kept silent. "It was inside an ancient Dragon Library, hidden in the mountains north of Asgard. We went to Asgard to find out more about the Old Gods, and the Crimson King, and the wolf in charge there told us about the Book."

"The Crimson King? Why on Earth would you be wanting to learn about him?"

"Because...we want to open the gate. To Hel."

Now a terrible silence filled the dining hall, and I feared dropping my glass. It was good wine, though, not that I'm a big wine drinker. I wouldn't suspect Tiberius would have anything as common as mead or ale. Didn't seem the type. Finally he spoke.

"Why," Tiberius laughed, "on Earth would you want to do that? Moreover, Keefe, why on Earth would you ever believe this place exists? The Holy See explicitly forbids any sort of outside study, though it's my understanding you did so anyway. Studying Dragon culture and magic is one thing, but believing the Old Gods exist..."

"I'm..." Keefe hesitated.

I rubbed his leg with my footpaw, then smiled when he looked up. "It's okay," told him.

Keefe sighed. "I'm no longer...with the Holy See."

Another silence, though not quite so profound as before. Rin seemed surprised, and Kai didn't look too concerned. Tiberius leaned back in his chair, an air of "I told you so" looming over him.

"Is that a fact," he said. Then after a moment, he leaned back on the table and picked up some kind of meat with his paw. I don't think he touched his utensils once, which was fine by me, because I never liked using them anyway. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised, son. I knew you'd figure out their lies one day. What was it that opened your eyes, or made you see more clearly?"

Keefe shook his head, and Rin was holding his paw. "Countless times in my journey, I turned to God for wisdom and healing and protection. For a while I tried to fool myself, but...no. I was left with nothing. After all these years, father, you can finally tell me you were right."

Tiberius smirked. "I knew I was right all along."

"Honey," Moira said, putting a paw on his arm. The two shared a glance.

Tiberius sighed. "I...I am happy you're home, son. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you with the See, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad for it. You're a smart boy. I'm glad your mind will no longer be confined to the small quarters the Holy See had made for you."

"Well," Keefe said with a slight smile, "even then, I always managed to escape those small quarters and do some of my own studying. Got punished half the time for it, too. How...did you know, anyway?"

Tiberius smiled warmly. It was the same smile that greeted me when I woke up here. "I have eyes in many places, and since you left all those years ago...I had to put some in the Holy See, as well. Not a day went by where I didn't learn at least a little something about your life."

As touching as this moment was, it was almost too much. I tried my best not to make a face and reached for another leg of meat, gently rubbing Kai's belly as I did. He giggled and leaned back, eating a pear with both paws. Since food was generally scarce on my journey, I figured I should probably fill up. This food was so good. When I bit into the meat, it seemed to melt in my maw, the perfect blend of plump, juiciness and brilliant spices and flavours. Maybe Tiberius would have a way into Hel, then we wouldn't have to leave.

"So," Keefe began again, "what can you tell me about opening a pathway to Hel?"

Tiberius looked up. I think he'd almost forgotten his first question. "You gotta tell me what business you have in Hel, first."

A third long silence, until I decided to break it. "I want to go," I said, food flying out of my maw. "Exploration and all that, right?"

"Feh! I don't believe that for a moment."

I thought it was a pretty good lie.

"Have you noticed," Keefe said, "how dark Midland has become? If you've stared into the night long enough, surely you've felt something staring back."

"Uh..."

"Horrible monsters now roam Midland, and even greater ones disguise themselves as regular furs. Those are the monsters we've been fighting since the fall of Midgard, and save killing every single one of them, the only way to stop them is to enter Hel and kill the Crimson King."

"So...it's really true, then? Hel...is merging with Midland?" Moira clung to Tiberius tighter.

Keefe nodded. "Our journey began...no, Luca's journey began, simply hunting these Disciples. Until we came to Asgard and learned to how put an end to this eternal darkness. That's why we need the Lionheart."

Tiberius seemed to ponder that. "The Crimson King commands a massive army of demonic warriors," he said. "What makes you think you could get close enough."

"Because," I began, "Midgard was destroyed by Midland's King when he performed the ritual to free his master. But he wasn't able to extract the soul of the Sacrifice, and so the souls he'd collected were only potent enough to unleash the Crimson King's demonic horde; his Disciples. They're here to pave the way for the return of their King, but they need Kai's soul for that. And I'm not going to let them get it."

"You are the Sacrifice?" Tiberius exclaimed, looking awe-struck at my panther. "Frankly, m'boy, you shouldn't be alive right now. You," he said to me, "must be some monster to have protected him this long."

I gritted my teeth. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"So how do we get in?" Keefe asked again. I think he was starting to get impatient.

"Sweetheart," Moira cut in. She was visibly upset by this. "You don't have to go. This tiger should be ample protection to Kai..."

How would she know that?

"I know you're worried for me, but I started this journey, and I have no intention of stopping until it's over. Now, please, father...how do we open the gate?"

Tiberius sighed. I don't think he wanted his son to go either, but at the same time I think he was pleased Keefe had such an open mind about it all. "First you need to either build, or find, a so-called Transcarrier."

"Is that what those devices were drawn in the back?"

Tiberius nodded. "But you need a very particular type of stone to run the mechanisms. These devices are genius amalgamations of both ancient Dragon technology and an even greater magic. In this book, Níðhöggr says the stone was shattered when he first activated the Transcarrier, as some sort of test."

"Why was he trying to get into Hel, anyway?" I asked.

Tiberius smiled. It must have been refreshing to him to be able to share his knowledge and wisdom like this. I couldn't imagine Obi being particularly interested. "Apparently he and his clan of Black Dragons wanted to enter Hel in order to enslave the demon masse and use them to take control of all other clans, as well as the less advanced furs. He proved his Transcarrier was a success, or rather, he successfully managed to transport an enslaved fur â€" an arctic fox â€" somewhere. He assumed it was Hel. Unfortunately..."

"Wait," I interrupted. "An arctic fox?"

"That's what it says, yeah. Does that surprised you?"

I growled deeply. "We've had run-ins with a particular arctic fox."

"Well," Tiberius laughed, "I highly doubt it was that one. No mortal being can survive in Hel, let alone get out again. Now, as I was saying, after sending the fox to what he assumed was Hel, the stone needed to help run the Transcarrier had shattered, and needed to be replaced. Apparently it was replaced with a slightly different stone, and that's where his entries stopped. Obviously Níðhöggr managed to transport himself somewhere, but was never able to finish his entries. Well this Book certainly answers a lot of questions as to Níðhöggr's powerful legend, but raises many more. Where did he go? Did he make it to Hel? If so, why couldn't he get back? If he meant to enslave the demon horde, then he must have had an escape plan. Perhaps...it wasn't even Hel he went to?"

I sighed. "It's all speculation by this point, and irrelevant to my journey. I don't care what happened to some dragon thousands of years ago. I need to find a Transcarrier."

"Hmph. Well, fine then. I thought you'd actually had an interest in Midland's history, but clearly I was wrong. The Black Book tells where Níðhöggr had built one, but as far as finding another stone, you're on your own."

I felt kinda bad for saying that, and I was interested. But I just wanted to get a few straight answers before digressing again.

"What kind of stone?" Keefe asked.

"He called it the Sanguine Opal. Unfortunately, it's a very rare form of the opal, one not even I have managed to get my paws on. Although I did have one crafted into a fine necklace for your mother on our twenty-fifth anniversary, you can understand neither of us wanting to part with it."

Keefe nodded. "Yeah, I know. And what about...the Lionheart?"

Tiberius had to pause before answering. "I... I have waited too long to add it to my collection."

Just as I stuffed my face with more delicious food, I looked over and frowned. After all this, was he really going to deny us? He must have understood why we â€" why I â€" needed the weapon. But I wasn't about to argue with my host. If he wasn't going to hand it over peacefully, then there was only one way to obtain it. I didn't want to have to do it this way, but it seemed like I would be given no choice. Keefe and I shared a quick glance. He knew what I was thinking, and I knew what he was thinking. Keefe wasn't going to argue either.

"Well, I'm not going to beg you to give us the sword, but know how important it is to us."

"I know, son. And I apologize. You four have made it this far fighting the Crimson King's Disciples...surely you can survive in Hel if no one else can."

I couldn't help but growl, but managed to mask it by swallowing.

Then Rin suddenly chimed in. "The King of Midland used to have a big rock collection, I think. Of precious gems and stones and stuff. I don't know if he's got a Sanguine Opal...but he does have a collection of opals. Maybe we could check there?"

"How the hell are we supposed to get into the castle?" I argued. "It was completely destroyed."

"His opals he kept in one of the lower chambers. You know...with all the grass and trees. I don't know how much of that would have been buried, but we could check it out. There are many hidden passages into the King's lower chambers, though they may still be protected."

Keefe scratched his chin. "Doesn't sound like we have any other option."

We all just sat in silence for a while longer, all of us pretty much done eating. Every so often I'd take an extra piece of something, of course loving it. Glancing over at Keefe's parents, particularly his mother, they seemed like they wanted to add more, but appeared reluctant. Moira then sighed.

"Humfrey," she said, "will you show Kai and Rin where we put their stuff? Just so there's no confusion."

"As you wish, madam." He then turned to the two. "Follow me."

Kai then looked up at me, wondering why he had to go. I just kissed his head gently and smiled. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm sure we won't be much longer."

My boy sighed and frowned, then followed behind Humfrey with Rin. Keefe and I then turned to Tiberius and Moira.

"Honey," Moira started, clasping paws with her husband, "we, um...we heard you, last night. With Luca."

Keefe's face suddenly turned bright red, and he was hard-pressed for words. He must have left his home either before figuring out he was gay, or hadn't ever told them. How did they hear us, anyway?

"Anything you want to explain to us, son?" Tiberius asked. "Perhaps another reason why you left the Holy See."

"That wasn't why," Keefe frowned. "And I think it's pretty clear what happened. How much more explaining do you need..?"

His parents sighed.

"So how long?" said Tiberius, leaning forward on the table. He was still holding onto his wife's paw.

"How long...what?"

"Well," Moira began, "how long have you and Luca been together?"

If I had been eating at the time, I'm certain I would have choked. Keefe, of course, turned an even brighter shade of red.

"W-We're not together," he explained. "Last night... It was just..."

"Passion," I said, finishing his sentence for him. Although I have to admit, I did feel a bit of something, from both of us. "He, um..." Why did I just hesitate? "He needed somebody to be close with, and I was more than happy to oblige." I think I started to blush, too, more so when I caught Keefe's eyes. "Keefe deserves all the happiness in the world, which he clearly can't get here."

"Luca..." Keefe said quietly. I think he wanted me to stop.

Moira smiled, then a moment later, so did Tiberius. "That's very sweet of you to say," the female said, patting her husband's paw.

"So when did you sort of figure things out, I must know." Tiberius asked.

"Um," answered his son. "I...I guess it was during my training, after leaving here. It was another acolyte, a white rabbit, who was a year behind me. Mathieu was his name. We were friends, I guess you'd say. Anyway, the closer the two of us became, the more I began to realize that my feelings for him weren't entirely out of friendship. He, of course, could never return the feelings. He was far more devout than I was..." Keefe then sighed and lowered his head, and while his parents just kept silent, I got up and took a seat beside the younger Dane, holding his paw. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, putting his other paw on top of mine.

"Aww," Moira said, snuggling close to Tiberius. "You two do look very cute together."

While Moira didn't seem so unpleased by all this, it was difficult to say what Tiberius was thinking. It seemed clear he didn't disapprove, though he remained mostly quiet. Until now, anyway.

"What's your relationship with the boys then, hm?" I think Tiberius was asking both of us. We both just paused.

"Well," Keefe began, "Rin we rescued from Castle Midgard before it was ruined. He was one of the King's servants."

"What were you doing in the castle, Keefe?"

"I, um... Well, we..."

I growled quietly. "Not that it's any of your business, sir, but I was tasked to rescue Kai from the King by a man in Concord. I managed to take Kai from the wagon, but I needed to save the other kids, too. It was along the way to the castle where I met Keefe, and he helped with my task."

Tiberius appeared as if he was contemplating those words. "Fair enough," he said, leaning back. He more than likely noticed how cozy Kai and I were being, and possibly even assumed a relationship between Keefe and Rin. I, of course, didn't care what they thought of me. It was Keefe I was more concerned about. Though it seemed Tiberius was going to drop it.

"So when will you be off again?" Moira asked, easing the tension.

Keefe shrugged. "I don't know yet. It'll take a while to get to Midgard, especially by foot."

"Don't be silly, Keefe," Moira said. "You can take one of our buggies, and take the passage through the mountain. You'll get there so much faster."

"But...there's a good chance you won't see your buggy again, nor the horses."

"Bah," Tiberius cut in. "Those horses are cheap and expendable. They'll get you to where you want to go, then what happens next, no one really cares."

I frowned. Although wagon horses have been bred specifically for such menial services, I still felt kinda bad the way some people would treat them. They weren't so dim-witted that they couldn't talk, but they would never in their entire lives be able to do anything but wagon-pulling. It would never even occur to them. Their intelligent, normal-bred brethren, who are as able-minded as myself or Keefe, generally hate the brainless wagon-pullers, and more so the people who breed them. I, honestly, don't have an opinion in the matter. There are many non-equine furs out there who support these horses, and many who oppose them â€" generally the ones who breed and depend on the wagon-pullers. Myself, I've walked most places on my own, and wouldn't be particularly sad to see them gone, or discontinued.

"If you say so," Keefe said, in reply to his father.

"It's settled, then. I'll have someone get one ready for you immediately." Tiberius then stood up, along with his wife. "Will you be staying for lunch, as well?"

"It's tempting," I said. "But I want to get going as soon as possible. Although...I've gotta admit, the rest was nice." Of course, there were still a few things I needed to collect before leaving.

"And it'll give your wounds more time to heal," the Dane pointed out. The scars looked â€" and felt â€" very tender, and probably should have been bandaged still. Though I hadn't gotten entirely accustomed to being bandaged, especially after the War. I was far more used to just letting the wounds heal on their own, cleaning it when necessary. As much as I wanted to get out of this place, the rest wouldn't hurt and I did still needed time to formulate a plan for taking the Lionheart. The five guards would be easy enough to get through, but getting out with the sword wouldn't be so simple.

"Perhaps we'll stay a while longer," I said, looking at Keefe for approval. His face didn't suggest much, so I figured he was fine with it. "I'm gonna go see what Kai's up to. You comin', Keefe?"

The dog shook his head. "I'll come find you later. I'm just going to help clean up."

Such a good boy. "Suit yourself," I said, walking away. It didn't take long to find Kai â€" I just had to follow the sounds of an excited fourteen-year-old. He was in the main foyer with Rin, apparently practicing with their sword techniques. Humfrey just stood idly by the stairs, close to a neat pile of our stuff.

The two were sparring quite well. Despite being so close, they fought each other with incredible ferocity. Their techniques were shaping up nicely, too. They both handled their weapons with deadly skill, though they were far from experts. However what they lacked in skill they easily made up for with style. Or rather â€" perhaps taking after me â€" they were very intimidating fighters. Even though it was just a sparring match, their claws and teeth were out, ears plastered against their skulls and snarling wickedly. It was kind of exciting watching the two fight, Rin having a size-advantage over Kai. Kai had always said he wanted to be a warrior just like me, but it was clear that he would benefit greatly with a smaller, sleeker, sharper blade than with a dull behemoth like mine. Or like how mine used to be. If I didn't get the Lionheart, I'd need to find another weapon somewhere. But where else but from Wayland could I get such an enormous blade?

Suddenly Rin stumbled into me, turning quickly with a snarl. His ears perked moments before slashing my stomach, his gaze finally reaching mine. "Oh," he said, panting. "Sorry, Luca."

"It's okay," I smiled. "Though if I was your enemy, you just left yourself wide-open for attack."

Rin blushed. "I know. But I was just..."

"No worries, Rin. Now go kill a panther for me."

Kai frowned, which made me laugh, then blocked Rin's attack. The pair continued to fight.

"You know still I love you, sweetheart," I said over the growling and clashing metal. My eyes suddenly met with Humfrey's, and even though he didn't move, twitch, or even blink, I could tell he thought something was up. Something between Kai and I, that is. I haven't met anybody since meeting Keefe who was accepting of our relationship. Besides the late King of Midland, of course. Not that it ever came up. I didn't care so much that anybody knew, but especially here, it would lead to questions, then more questions, and inevitably drag Keefe into it, and it seemed like his relationship with his parents was fragile enough. They didn't need to know about his relationship with a much, much younger boy, though Rin was eighteen years old now. Frankly, he was as much of a man as I was when we'd met two years ago, and his innocence had already been taken far before that. That aside, it was always impossible to tell who'd care and who wouldn't. The only place I could think of where just about everybody was tolerant of people even worse than me was the Dregs in Midgard, which of course was now buried in rubble and ash.

Until meeting Kai, I hadn't ever had an attraction to younger boys, and I suppose when you get down to it, I still don't. I wouldn't ever do the things I've done with Kai to any other boy his age, not even in my dreams. But there was, and still is, something about Kai that just...makes me crazy. In a good way, of course. I hadn't ever been particularly attracted to the slender, smooth bodies young furs typically had, and like I said, I'm still not, really. Besides Kai's. It sounds like I was trying to deny my "sickness," as most call it, but in actual fact, Kai was the only cub I'd ever been completely attracted to. What fascinated me the most, initially, was his fiery red eyes, which seemed to blaze in any lighting. Now watching small beads of sweat trickle through his fur, I smiled and sighed quietly, watching his fight.

Moments later, though, as Kai lunged forward, Rin surprised even me by dodging to the left and elbowing Kai in the back, then turning to trip him onto his belly. Kai fell with a loud thump, and a loud groan, as Rin pinned him, sword held up and ready to sever the panther's spine. Of course, Rin had sense enough not to. Both were panting heavily, and Kai growling, until he finally admitted defeat. Rin got up and sheathed his sword, then as Kai turned with a groan, held out a paw to help the defeated feline up. Kai accepted the paw graciously, then looked up at me. His ears were drawn back a bit.

"Don't look at me like that," I said with a grin. "You lost, fair and square. "

Kai frowned. "You always take Rin's side," he argued.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You know I don't, and you can't deny the fact he just pinned you. So, what'd Rin win?" If Rit and I had taught these two anything, it's that sparring is far more interesting when there's a wager.

"Um..." Kai flattened his ears again, and blushed. Rin was blushing, too. Humfrey had turned, then slowly walked away. What was this? "If Rin won...I'd have to..."

I waited for him to finish, until it was clear neither of them would. "Have to..?"

"Have to give him a paw-job."

That surprised me a bit, and the pair were blushing even more. I wonder if they'd done this sort of thing before? "Is that so?"

The pair nodded.

"Nothing's going on," Kai assured me, stepping forward. "We just...you know...mess around sometimes."

Rin refused to look me in the face.

"Mess around how?" Though I think I knew.

Kai sighed heavily, obviously embarrassed to admit it. "You know..."

I waited for more.

"Sometimes we'd...kiss. And make out. And, um...touch each other. Usually both."

"How long's this been going on for?" I was more annoyed at the fact he hadn't ever told me.

"A while... Since maybe a few months after Midgard was destroyed."

I just stood there in silence, quite possibly with my brows permanently raised. I had no idea any of this had been going on, and was just as surprised it was these two.

"Keefe, um," Rin started. "He knew. Knows. I told him."

This time I frowned. Given what Keefe and I had done the very night before, I couldn't rightfully be angry at them. And I wasn't. Frankly, I was a bit turned on by the thought. But what did bother me was that everyone, possibly even Rit at the time, knew they had been messing around together without telling me. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that when it had all started, they likely kept it from me simply because of how I would react. At the time, Kai and I were barely speaking, and he was terribly frightened and angry at me. Which, of course, upset me, too. If I had known, or had found out...there was no telling how I would have reacted. Whichever way it would have been, though, it was likely to be a horrible outcome. Perhaps since the two had started, they had simply grown accustomed to each other, and didn't think much of it now. But why did they start to begin with?

"Well..." I finally managed to say. "I'm not angry, or disappointed. And I'm not gonna tell you two to stop."

They didn't say anything, then curiosity got the better of me.

"So...what've you two done together? Have you ever..? You know. Yiff?"

"Wha? N-no! Never," Rin said aloud. He seemed flustered. "Well...m-maybe...a few times."

Apparently these two were as close as a couple could get, despite not being a couple. But I wonder which...

"Rin was on top," Kai suddenly blurted out. "Though I usually start it..."

Given my experience with the boy, especially lately, that wasn't a surprise at all. It was hard to imagine the two engaging in full-out yiff, though, despite it more than likely being true. I wonder if they'd mind me watching? Probably. Rin likely would, anyway. Kai would probably want me to join in, though it's possible he'd just want Rin to himself, kids being what they are. "I see," is how I managed to respond to Kai. He didn't say anything after. The pair did seem fidgety, though. Perhaps Rin was itching for that paw-job.

"Do you mind if we go?" Kai said sweetly. I think he thought I wasn't taking this information so well, or would do something about it later. I didn't mind, because despite them, I knew I still had Kai's heart. He, of course, would always have mine.

I just smiled at the pair. "Yeah, go right ahead. Just don't make a mess." That made them blush, more so Rin. After a moment the two ran up the stairs, and I just sighed quietly. Alone in the grand foyer, I felt I needed some air, and so promptly left through the front entrance. The doors were big, wooden giants, and took more strength that I thought they would need to open. When I walked out, I was suddenly greeted with a cool, refreshing breeze flowing through my fur and into my lungs, which made me sigh again.

Stepping out onto the stony pathway, down off the stone steps, I looked up past a few geometrically-cut bushes to see the vast mountain range further off past the vast, clear lake, which were covered in the morning mist. The air was sweet, and a particular flowery scent came from somewhere, following the wind, though with all the colourful plant life around it was difficult to know. I strayed off the path and onto the soft, lush grass, between a couple bushes and continued along the face of the castle, just meandering slowly through the florid garden.

After a short distance, the main façade of the building ended and the garden expanded into long rows of what appeared to be vegetable bushes of some kind. All along the edge of the cliff, still, which I was close to, were those same square-cut shrubs, acting like a barrier of some kind. Perhaps they'd lost some servants over the edge at some point, though I can't see Tiberius caring too much about them. Perhaps Moira demanded the bushes. All along the stone walls of the castle, amongst what looked like roses, were long, twisted strands of ivy, which were flowering now. The ivy was climbing the walls high, and I began to imagine if they'd ever get so big that they cover the entire building. I wondered if someone trims them, and if so, how? Maybe they poke their head out the window. When I turned away from the ivy, I almost stumbled over another bush, and was quite pleased to see some fresh fruit.

I looked around, then picked a strawberry, popping it into my mouth quickly. The fruit was so sweet, and so fresh and juicy and delicious...I had to have another. And so I snuck another strawberry. Then another. These were so tasty; so much so, I think I made an audible noise, though no one was around to hear it. I then took a few big steps away from the strawberries, only to discover a few bushes of raspberries and blackberries, and despite having just had a huge breakfast, I felt I needed more. And so, predictably, I shoved a few more in my maw. I then felt like I had to stop, but really didn't want to. Until, that is, I heard a voice from behind me. I flattened my ears and turned, and was met by Moira.

"Oh," I said, spitting bits of fruit out. "Uhh..."

Moira just smiled warmly. "Don't worry, Luca. It's not like Tiberius will eat them."

Finally I swallowed the berries. "This is a really impressive place, I gotta say... Castle Midgard never had flowers or fruits or anything around. They had some regular trees, but they didn't smell like anything."

"I'm glad you appreciate it. Tiberius insists we hire people to do the gardening, but I won't allow it. I've put too much effort into this garden to suddenly let someone else touch it."

"You did all of this?"

The Dane nodded. "Took me years, and I always manage to find more to do." She suddenly took in a deep breath, then sighed happily. "I love the smell of the air this time of year," she said, walking slowly toward the edge of the cliff. I walked up beside her. "It's so beautiful, isn't it."

I didn't say anything, but she knew I agreed.

Moira fiddled with something in her paws for a moment then sighed loudly, walking back toward the berry bushes, then eventually to the roses. I was following behind, slowly, wondering what was on her mind. It was clearly something. After she brushed her paw along some roses, she eventually came to a bush with fair-sized pink flowers, then picked one, smelling it. It was a very full-looking flower, or rather, it looked fat. It was a lovely colour, though. "Do you know what flower this is?" she asked me, as if I'd actually know.

I shook my head. "I don't know anything about flowers," I said truthfully.

She smiled. "I suspected as much." Moira then slowly approached me and tucked the flower behind my ear, doing something with the stem to make it stay. She just smiled at me again. "You look adorable."

I tried to look at the flower in my ear, but I couldn't quite catch a glimpse. I had to take her word for it. Finally I looked at Moira and said, "Why did you come out here?" I was never big on small talk, and I knew she had something on her mind. She sighed before talking.

"Tiberius and I had always rejected organized religion, and tried to pass that onto Keefe, and while neither of us worship any particular god, Tiberius had always had a particular fascination with the Old Gods. And of course, in recent times, more so now, it's become clear that they, ironically enough, are the true gods of this world. More especially the Crimson King and his Disciples. If you truly intend to go to Hel...then you will need all the help you can get."

I was suddenly surprised to feel Moira's shaking paws against mine, clutching firmly. She looked me in the eyes, looking very serious. "Please protect my son, Luca. I don't want to lose him, especially not in such a twisted, horrible place."

I nodded. "Yes, of course I will. I'll do everything I can to ensure Keefe's safety."

The Dane nodded back. "Thank you, Luca," she said, kissing my cheek. She then let go of my paws and took off, back toward the entrance.

I just kept staring, wondering what that was all about. Moments later, I realized she had given me something. A key? To what? I hope this wasn't some symbolic thing, though given she'd heard what me and Keefe had done that night, it was unlikely. So what was this all about? Did she want me to protect Keefe with the key? How could I do that? I'd need a weapon. A weapon like the Lionheart. Perhaps...this was a key to the vault? Did she want me to take it? To protect Keefe? Given certain events and revealed information, it was fairly clear that the dragons had once existed, and once commanded powerful magics. Moira maybe believed this blade truly did hold magical properties, and in my paws I could have a far greater chance of protecting her son. It sort of made sense, and it'd be way easier than trying to bash down the door myself. After a moment, I started back into the castle. I had to tell Keefe.

After climbing the stairs and passing through the same hallway several times, I finally came to Keefe's door. I knocked several times and entered, seeing the Knight sitting in the bay of the window, one leg up to his chest and the other dangling down toward the floor, reading a book. Somehow I knew that's what he'd be doing. I walked in a bit, looking about at the few crosses on his walls, plus various trinkets likely from the Holy See. He probably acquired them without his father knowing, probably from Midgard, when he was still living here. I was kinda surprised to see Tiberius hadn't just tossed them after Keefe left. Finally the dog looked up at me.

"Hey," I said awkwardly.

Keefe smiled. "Cute."

"Huh?"

"The begonia. It's a nice touch."

I growled quietly, having forgotten the flower was in there. Though I didn't feel at all compelled to remove it. "Um..." I started, shutting the door behind me. "Your mother...she gave me a key. I'm not sure, exactly, what it's for, but I have an idea."

Keefe just stared at me, looking both intrigued and perplexed. "A key?" He closed the book with a paw and set it down in the bay window when he got up, walking around his bed and toward me.

I held the key out, holding it by the leather rope, and Keefe inspected it carefully.

"It's my father's vault key," he said, looking up at me. "Why on earth would she give that to you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe she wants me to steal the Lionheart."

"But...why would she want you to do that?"

"Well, when she gave it to me, she told me she wants me to protect you, especially in Hel. Then left the key in my paws."

The Knight just stared at the key for a long moment, then sighed. When I lowered my paw, he placed his paws on my chest and pressed his warm body against mine, our cheeks gently rubbing together. And as he moved forward, his paws slipped around my chest and to my back, where they slid down to just above my tail, linked loosely. I just petted his back softly. "I wish I could say I don't need your protection..." he said, then trailed off. Keefe's tail was wagging slightly behind him.

Now would probably not be a good time to bring up him knowing about Kai and Rin. Instead I just held the dog until he finally pulled away, slowly taking a seat on the edge of his bed. It looked so neat and tidy. "So when are you going to take it?"

I shrugged. "Guess it doesn't matter. No offence, but I'm not exactly afraid of your father. Or Humfrey, for that matter. I could walk out of here with the Lionheart right now, and I don't think they could stop me. All depends on when you wanna leave, I guess."

Keefe smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't really want to get too used to being here."

"It's a really lovely place," I said, "despite some of the residents. You know, I'll bet you'd really surprise Obi if you just punched him right in the maw. Without him even saying anything. Just punch him."

Keefe laughed softly then held out a paw. When I took his paw, he slowly pulled me in close, eyes locked with mine, until he kissed me gently. I kissed back with no hesitation. It didn't last long, nor was it particularly intense, but it was sweet. Keefe was still smiling, and I think even murring. With our paws still together, the canine let himself fall back on the bed, his footpaws still dangling off the edge, pulling me with him. I followed his lead, now finding myself on my paws and knees above the Dane. He rubbed his paws up my arms, blushing subtly. I couldn't help but smile back, then rub my nose against his. Though we didn't kiss, it was a very tender moment.

"Do you think," Keefe started, blushing even more intensely, "a relationship could ever form between us?" Why was he asking me this?

"I don't know," I answered. It was probably possible, but what would we do about Kai and Rin? I hadn't suspected Keefe would have wanted to take things a step further, especially in such a short amount of time. Last night we'd shared an incredibly intense bond, one that would last forever. We were connected on the deepest of levels, and yet somehow, it hadn't occurred to me Keefe may have wanted to take the next step. Could we have a relationship together?

"It's okay," he said. "I'd understand if your answer is no. It's not all that possible right now, anyway. It's just...I never thought you and I, in a million years, would ever do what we did, and that it would feel so amazing. Not just on a physical level, but an emotional one, too. These feelings...they caught me off guard, I guess. It didn't really occur to me that you didn't feel the same way."

God damn it. In the back of my mind, I knew mating with Keefe would lead to something like this, and yet I went ahead with it anyway. I can't deny I felt something, but I was getting the feeling it wasn't nearly as intense as what Keefe was feeling. "You're an amazing guy, Keefe, and you know I mean that. And while I can't deny I did feel something â€" do feel something â€" with Kai and Rin, we can't have as close a relationship as you'd want. You love Rin with all your heart, and I love Kai. What happened between us...it was fantastic. I loved every moment of it, and yeah, I feel a deep emotional connection with you. But to answer your question honestly, no, I don't think we can have a relationship together. Not the kind you mean, anyway. Believe me when I say, though, that I would love to be yours truly. But right now...we can't. And I think you know that."

Keefe paused for a moment, then sighed heavily, head turning away. "I know...I do know. I really didn't expect to feel as strongly toward you as I do. Especially now..." Keefe then smiled and squeezed my biceps, looking up at me.

I then, of course, realized what position I was still in, and still didn't move. I smiled back. "I didn't expect you to come on to me as intensely as you had," I admitted. "You really caught me off guard."

The dog smiled wider and slid his paws quickly up my arms and around my neck, pulling me down into an unchaste kiss. With much delight, I kissed the canine back, murring uninhibitedly as our tongues slid and curled together. I then found I had moved my right paw down to Keefe's rear and was pulling his hips upward. In a matter of moments, his legs had spread and expertly wrapped around my waist, linking above my tail. With his hips secure against my body, my paw slid up his back and soon both were under his shoulders. Seconds later, lips still locked with Keefe's, I lifted the canine up, and using that momentum let my knees slide off the bed until I was standing. One paw then shot down to his rear, holding him up better, and I seemed to stumble back into the wall, which broke our kiss. We both let out a quick moan at the sudden jostling, and were both panting.

After staring into each other's eyes for a moment, Keefe grinned devilishly and began moving his hips, pushing up against my body. He moaned again, back arched and really grinding his crotch into me, moving back and forth again and again, every so often looking back at me. I, of course, couldn't resist doing something similar. With both paws on his rear, I helped him grind into me, while at the same time pushing my hard sheath up toward his tailhole, which was unfortunately clothed. It did feel somewhat dirty, though, and I moaned quietly along with the dog. Finally he pulled himself in, wrapping his arms tightly around my neck and holding himself very close, moaning into my ear. Neither of us had our pants down, and couldn't get them that way easily, but this dry-humping seemed to satisfy. It did for me, at least, as evidenced by the copious amounts of precum staining my pants.

Then suddenly, as if on cue, we heard a gentle knocking at the door. We both froze for a moment, trying to pant as quietly as possible.

"Keefe?" we heard. It was Rin at the door, knocking again. Kai was likely with him.

The horny canine, after a long pause, finally sighed, unlinking his footpaws. I just groaned, letting him go. I leaned back against the wall, rubbing the hell out of my hot and very bothered sheath, stopping when Keefe opened the door. I hadn't noticed a wet spot on his pants, but he certainly was hard. The two kids slowly came in.

"What's going on?" Kai asked.

"Nothing," I said, though it was clear that was a lie. The massive bulge in my pants was proof of that.

"What were you two doing in here?" Rin asked suspiciously.

I had no idea how I was supposed to answer that. Neither of us did, apparently. Just looking at Keefe, though, it looked like he was moments away from truth-telling.

"Well I know what Luca was doing," Kai said humouredly. "Were you two making out, or something?"

We both froze. Did he know, or was he joking? Keefe and I still kept our maws shut. Or silent, anyway, as both our maws were clearly agape.

"I'll bet they were," Rin said with a smile, then looked up at Keefe. Keefe's eyes were oozing truth. "I knew it," the cougar said with a sly grin.

"You were?" Kai asked me.

"Uh..." was all I managed.

"It's only fair," Rin added, hugging the canine. "Though I'm surprised you two stopped arguing long enough to eve kiss."

Keefe looked over at me, and I looked at him. Something in his eyes told me he knew now that I knew that Rin and Kai had been physically together many times before now, and that he'd kept it from me. He looked a little apologetic, but at the same time, curious to see how I'd take it. "Y-yeah, I suppose it is," the dog said.

Rin undoubtedly had no clue what sort of emotional impact my time with Keefe had had on us. Rin probably liked Kai, and enjoyed messing around with him, but probably didn't share as close a bond as Keefe and I now did. It was fine, it seemed, that they knew we'd had sex, but bringing up how we both felt about each other was probably unwise.

"Okay, Kai, you're right. Keefe and I were making out..."

I waited for a reaction, but didn't get much of one. The boy just smiled and slid his paw down my pants, grabbing a firm hold of my sheath. He groaned and pressed his body against mine, rubbing slightly. "What's he taste like?"

"Okay," Keefe said aloud, frowning. "That's enough. I'm glad we can all be open about this, but will you please put your overactive sex drive away for just a moment? At least until I leave the room."

Kai sighed and turned his head. "I'm sorry, Keefe." he said. "I was just kidding around..." Finally he retrieved his paw from my pants, which admittedly made me flatten my ears. "So what's going on now? Are we leaving, or..?"

Keefe shut the door. "My father has the Lionheart in his possession, and we're going to take it. Probably later tonight, if all goes well."

"Why do you have to take it?"

"Because, sweetie," I said, "he collects these kinds of things, and doesn't want to give it up. We don't have any choice but to steal it."

"Oh. But...we're not criminals," Kai frowned. It always amazed me how incredibly mature he could be sometimes, then in an instant very childish and whiney. This was one of those times.

I sighed. "I know, hun, but we need the weapon and Tiberius hasn't given us any choice. With any luck, he won't even realize it's gone."

Kai grumbled, but realized it was going to happen. "So are you going to wait until he goes to sleep?"

I nodded. "Yeah, probably the best choice." The rest of the afternoon and evening went by slowly, as there wasn't a whole lot to do at Castle Keefe. Tiberius entertained us with more stories of his archaeological exploits over lunch, which I suppose was an all right time, all things considered. They did all eventually start to sound the same, though, usually involving Tiberius tricking someone out of their relics. The more interesting stories usually ended up involving other people doing the work for him, and only a pawful of stories actually had him doing the unearthing. Most of his information, of course, came from old texts that only a few people could read, himself being one of them.

We were then treated to a few stories of Keefe's rebelliousness in the Holy See, how he would study Dragon culture and magic. Apparently he'd tried casting a Spell of Silence on one of the Paladins, which of course didn't work. He had ended up getting severely punished for it, and almost kicked out, but for some reason was allowed to say. Though Tiberius didn't say it explicitly, I think behind the scenes, he'd had something to do with Keefe's staying. These two shared a very interesting relationship. On one hand, Tiberius resented his son for following the Holy See, and yet with appropriate funding, made sure he was able to stick with it. Perhaps it was for the reasons Keefe was going to be kicked out that Tiberius had supported his son as much as he had.

The time between lunch and dinner went exceptionally slow, though Moira did give me a more extensive tour of her garden, along with Kai and Rin. Surprisingly, the key didn't come up in conversation, and it wasn't particularly awkward. She did, however, explain some things about her flowers and bushes, which were interesting enough. Eventually the evening came down to a relatively silent dinner and a lot of sitting around a grand fireplace. It was nice, admittedly, and we were served tea and some sweet snacks. I think Tiberius and Moira liked entertaining, though it seemed clear they didn't do it very often. Finally, the pair got up and slowly bid us good night.

When I sat back in my comfortable chair, it was clear the day had also taken a toll on Kai, who was fast asleep by the fire. Rin was sitting in a chair with Keefe, holding the canine close and starting to doze. I looked up at Keefe. "How long do you think I should wait?"

Keefe sighed. "Just a little while. Until we know they're asleep."

I nodded, then slouched down, taking another sip of my tea. It was green tea, apparently, and quite good. We sat around the fire in silence, listening to the crackling and popping of the burning wood. When the fire had finally died to a few scattered, very short flames, I knew I had waited long enough. I looked over at Keefe, and he looked back, giving a sort of affirmative nod.

"Good luck," the dog said. "I'll get the buggy ready."

I patted Keefe on the shoulder then left, marching through the hallways purposefully. It didn't take long to find the way to the vault, since it was easy to remember. When I opened the door at the bottom of the spiralling staircase, I noticed two of the five guards were missing. This would be even easier. I quietly closed the door behind me and walked toward them, casually. Obi noticed me first and growled.

"What the hell're you doing down here?" I heard a hint of fear in his voice.

I ignored him, but kept my eyes focused on the vault door, still approaching them. The other two got up, grabbing their swords as they did. While still sheathed, all three looked ready for a fight.

"Well?" Obi barked. "Did Tiberius send you? Fucking Keefe send you?"

I still ignored him.

"H-Hey!" he said, the fear more evident. "Answer me! Or I'll have to attack."

I stopped and, without moving my head, glared at him. I was wearing a slight, confident grin. That seemed to unnerve him.

"You seriously injured two of my men, so just gimme a reason to fight you," Obi snarled.

And still I stared at him. He was, I must admit, quite handsome, with striking blue eyes. It was a pity I had to fight him. The dog just stared back, waiting for a response. I wasn't going to give him one.

"God damn you!" the husky growled. It was clear he wanted to attack me, but feared what I'd do to him. Deciding to put him out of his misery, I held up the key, dangling it in front of his face. "Where'd you get that?"

"I need in the vault," I finally said.

"Why isn't Tiberius with you? He would never let you in by yourself."

"And it seems you won't, either."

Obi growled and stepped back. I then noticed his eyes dart toward a hanging velvet rope of some kind, close to the vault door. Was it a sort of bell, or alarm? The dog looked back, a bead of sweat rolling down his nose. Was he going to go for it? Before I could give that another thought, Obi darted between his two men and dashed toward the alarm. I bolted after him.

Just as I ran forward, the other two growled and held me back, but I easily pushed them aside. I ran as quick as I could, and just as Obi got his paws on the rope, I held it above his paws and punched him in the side of the face, knocking him back. I held onto his arm tightly and swung him back behind me, toward his friends, who had already recovered. Their swords were unsheathed now. When I let go of the rope, I noticed it was moving a bit, but took my eye off it when one of them attacked.

I moved out of the way of the slow-swinging sword, then shoved him forward into the heavy wooden door, using his momentum to smash his head. That knocked him out cold. Just as he hit the door, I spun around, kicking behind me. Luckily I had hit something, and when I got a moment to look, I saw the other guard lying on the ground, blood pouring from his maw. Obi was the only one left, whose face was bleeding. He was growling fiercely at me. I kinda felt bad for wrecking a face like that, be he'd left me no choice.

"What kind of warrior are you?" he barked.

I was breathing heavily, ready for another attack. It seemed the husky didn't want to.

"I've served in the War," he told me. "I've never seen anyone fight like you. Who are you?"

I chose not to answer.

"Tell me who you are!" he cried. "Are you...Death?"

That caught me off guard. What did he know of death?

"N-Nosferatu...Death on the Battlefield. It must be you."

I growled.

"A warrior of such indefinable power...reduced to petty thievery?"

Shit. What was I supposed to say to that? Either way, I looked pathetic. Attacking him would make me look worse, and there was no defending that claim. Then again...what did I care what this dog thought? I took a step forward, and he flinched. He was hardly worth the effort.

"I...I'm not going to fight you," Obi trembled. Coward.

I just turned my back on him, approaching the door. With the key, I unlocked the vault and swung open the doors, stepping over a knocked-out mutt as I did. I strode through the collection of dusty old collectables until I reached the Dragon Exhibit, then the Lionheart's case. I stroked my paw down the smooth, wooden surface, then found the latches. Just as I unhooked them and swung the case open, in awe of the ancient blade, I heard a voice behind me. It wasn't Obi this time.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to try this. To be honest, I was surprised it took you this long."

I turned to face Tiberius, and behind him an injured husky. This suddenly got a lot more complicated, but I had come too far. Tiberius drew his sword. "I have heard stories of one of Midland's darkest Champion, and had hoped to one day collect his mighty blade for myself. Apparently you lost it somewhere. Kraftig, is it?"

I growled again, ready for a fight.

"At the time I figured the stories about Death on the Battlefield were simply embellished tales of Midland's victories," Tiberius said, walking forward. "But I'm starting to wonder now. I know I'm old and a little strange, but I was a Champion, too, once before. Not quite as infamous as you, of course, but a Champion nonetheless. You're a good tiger, Luca. Polite, caring... But I'm not going to simply allow you to walk out of here with one of my most prized possessions. Either fight me for it, or leave now."

I didn't want to have to fight Tiberius, but now I really had no choice. At least this would he ample payback for the things he said to Keefe. I growled and took a fighting stance.

Tiberius smirked. "Obi, give him your sword."

"Sir?"

"I won't fight an unarmed fur. That's just undignified."

Before Obi could draw his sword, I dashed forward, crying out as I went to attack. However, I was very surprised to see Tiberius had dodged the attack, now holding the end of his blade to my neck from behind me.

"You may be a mighty, near-indestructible force on the battlefield, but without full armour, I'm far more agile than you. Brute force won't work against me, Luca. Give up now."

I turned quickly and batted his sword away, then lunged forward, ramming the Dane. He fell back, but was quick to his feet. Just as he rose, though, I was already taking another swing, but found my fist flying past the dog's face. Moments later, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and for a moment everything went blurry. Then I hit the floor, shakily rising up. But I was shoved back down, likely Tiberius's footpaw. I growled loudly.

"You see?" he laughed. "You're too slow."

I didn't have to put up with this. I grinned, then rose. I felt the dog pushing down on me, but it was nothing. I turned quickly, forcing Tiberius's footpaw off my back. I then grabbed his ankle and pulled hard, sending him down to his rear. It sounded painful. With Tiberius on the floor, I slowly stood up, and just as he did the same, I roared loudly and picked up the canine by his shirt, throwing him across the room. He crashed into a bunch of armour, then fell to the floor again, this time with a satisfying thud. Obi just watched in fear and awe.

Tiberius shakily got up, sword still in his paw. He looked up at me, growling. He looked pissed. My wounds had once again reopened, but it was easy to ignore. Seconds later, Tiberius swung his sword down at me, slicing me across the chest. It was a shallow wound, but it still stung. As his sword fell, I swung my left arm up, striking the dog across the face, snarling as I did. Just as he stumbled back, I dashed forward punched him hard in the gut, then grabbed him by his expensive shirt and swung him around toward the middle of the room, smashing him into the back of a stone display, and as he cried out, I silenced him with a fist to his jaw. Tiberius fell, but he was still conscious. I bent down with him, breathing hard, and put my paw around his neck, growling.

"D-Don't...do this, demon..." Tiberius rasped.

I squeezed tighter.

"Stop it!" Obi cried, running behind me. In a braver act than I'd ever thought possible from the husky, he put his sword against my throat and his arm around my head. "I won't let you kill him."

I smiled. I wasn't really going to kill him. Just make him piss his pants a little. I finally retrieved my paw from Tiberius's neck and slowly stood. Obi backed off a bit, trembling, but holding his ground. He was still pointing his sword toward me. Perhaps he had potential after all.

Tiberius very slowly rose, the pain clear in his face. "You're going to take the Lionheart...no matter what..." he said. "So let me come with you."

"What?" both Obi and I said in unison.

"I will let you take my sword, and all will be forgiven...if you let me come along."

"Why the hell would you want to come with me?"

"You are going into a place that has been untouched by modern furs for thousands of years. If not for the treasures I'm sure to find, than at least let me come to see this world for myself."

I growled. "Or I can take the sword and leave you here. I don't have to kill you to do that."

"Then...you are just a petty thief, hm?"

Damn it. Why did he have to say that? I growled, then sighed. "Fine," I said reluctantly, holding out a paw. Tiberius promptly shook it, then winced from pain. Should I apologize? He said all would be forgiven. When he finally released my paw, I went around to the front of the wooden display case, looking at my own reflection in the gigantic blade. After a long moment, I finally reached a paw forward and held the handle. The leather wrappings around the grip looked fairly new, and if they weren't then they were remarkably preserved. Finally I pulled on the blade, finding it very heavy and very sturdy. Tiberius had evidently lied about its fragility. He just watched as I finally lifted the weapon out from its case, swinging it around slowly and holding it against my back. If I had my gear, it would even have attached. Holding the Lionheart in my paw...made me feel strong, and powerful. Like I could destroy demons and Disciples in an instant. There was something about this ancient, mystical blade that made me feel like I actually stood a chance against the Crimson King.

"How does it feel?" Tiberius asked.

"Incredible," I answered. "Physically, it feels exactly like Kraftig...but there's something more ethereal about it. Something I can't quite describe."

"I know it sounds mundane, but magical?"

Maybe that was it. I grunted a response then started out from the vault, Tiberius staggering behind me. Obi followed along, too.

"You're really going with him?" the husky asked. He sounded annoyed.

"Aye," answered the Dane. "This is an opportunity I don't want to miss."

When we finally left the vault, Tiberius had to go to his wife and explain what had happened, while I rendezvoused with Keefe, and explained it to him, too. He was annoyed, to say the least. Of course if he'd been there, perhaps he'd have seen it differently. When the elder Dane finally arrived, having received a less than receptive farewell from Moira, we were off. Keefe and Tiberius sat at the front of the buggy, guiding the horses, while I stayed in the back with Rin and Kai. It hadn't dawned on me until going through the tunnel in the mountain that with Tiberius onboard, we probably could have waited until morning. I was just pleased to see the Dane had brought an ample supply of food with him, and changed into less conspicuous attire. He more than likely brought some money with him, too. None of that, of course, even mattered to me, since I'd be spending all my time outside of towns and villages, waiting for the others to return. Tiberius had no idea, though, that I had to stay away from populations, nor did he know the reason.

When we finally exited the long, dark tunnel, we were greeted by the rolling foothills of south-western Midland, which was shrouded in darkness. The moon told us, or Keefe, rather, it was around midnight, and he said it would probably take us a day or two to cross the foothills. Faster if there was a flat, smooth road to travel on, but unfortunately the hilly, rocky terrain made it both dangerous for the horses as well as the buggy. It would probably be even a bit faster on foot, though only marginally.

It was a fairly uneventful trip, stopping several times to drink and let the horses rest. The afternoons were still intensely hot, which forced us to rest more often. At night we slept and left again before the sun rose. We were heading to the ruins of Midgard in hopes of finding a so-called Sanguine Opal, though it seemed unlikely to me that we'd find anything at all. But if we were ever to get to Hel, it was necessary.

After an exhausting couple days, we finally reached a road and were running much more smoothly. I didn't know this part of Midland very well, but apparently along the road, long after the foothills, were several small hamlets, most of which we would just pass right through. Of course we stopped at each one to eat, and Tiberius had to check things out to make sure there wasn't anything of ancient value he could obtain. According to him, it's in these smallest of towns where you're most likely to find something valuable; in places you'd least expect. That, and the places you'd most expect had armed guards. Fortunately I got a bed and a table a few times, as we were lucky enough to not encounter any Disciples, which was a break for me. I hadn't gotten many chances, besides at Tiberius's castle, to get a real good meal that wasn't left over from everybody else's. The food was mediocre, but I certainly wasn't complaining.

Once again the sun fell before reaching another settlement, and for the fifth night in a row, by this point, we were camping around the wagon. Somehow I always seemed to get stuck with the horses, both of whom were smelly and horny. Neither of them touched me in any way, but they could scarcely keep their paws to themselves. Neither of them did anything particularly sexual â€" not like what Kai and I had done before, with present company â€" but you could tell they were pent up. Suppose these two had been trained to keep it clean while on the job, and frankly I had to admire their willpower in that regard.

Anyway, the following couple days were once again long and boring, as half of this journey was. I shared with Tiberius the reason why I was hesitant to enter populated areas, keeping the story mainly to "I tend to get a bit overzealous." He knew a little of my past, particularly my time served in Midland's army, and so wasn't all that surprised. In fact, given the thrashing he'd received, he was completely understanding. Tiberius, of course, had plenty more stories to tell, many regarding his own service in Midland's Army.

As a Champion, he was apparently called Ninebark. It would seem even in battle he liked to talk a lot, and he would use that to his advantage by catching his enemy off guard. It also helped that he was fast, though it was clear in his old age, he wasn't quite as tough as he once was. No one wanted the dog to come along â€" not even Keefe â€" if for no other reason than because he would be deadweight. It sounded harsh, but it was true. He may have been a brilliant fighter at one point, but he wasn't anymore.

After yet another night of sleeping roadside and half a day's worth travelling, it finally felt like we were making some progress. Rather, we had cleared a small forest and could barely see what was left of Midgard on the distant horizon. Enormous, thundering black clouds loomed above the rubble, stretching out even past us. We hadn't even noticed the dark clouds until we stopped and stared at the ruined castle.

"It's impossible to imagine..." Tiberius said to no one in particular.

The rest of us didn't say anything.

After a long wait, we were finally off again toward Midgard, myself switching spots with Tiberius. I sat with Keefe at the reins, sitting close. "How're you doing?" I asked him; he had been driving the buggy almost the entire time, switching occasionally with his father.

"Okay," he answered.

"You nervous at all?"

Keefe sighed. "Yeah, I am a little, I must admit. After finding the stone, we'll only be a few days away from the Cathedral, then to Hel."

As the Black Books had pointed out, Níðhöggr's lair, and likely his home, was in what was apparently a colossal, dark-stoned cathedral in the extraordinarily dense forests of north-eastern Midland, though more north than east. The forest lies on the eastern end of the northern tip of the Jötunheimr mountain range, ending just above Asgard. It seemed, perhaps, the Black Dragons lived, primarily, in Midland's frozen north, though it was possible these borders didn't exist then. Who knows just how far they once spread.

"Who would have thought we'd actually have come this far," I said. Then after a short while, "Keefe...how come you never told me about Rin and Kai?"

There was a long silence from the canine. Did he even have an answer? Before I could ask again, he said, "When it first started, I felt Kai needed a companion, even if it was with Rin. And I think we all feared what would happen if you found out. Even Rit."

So, Rit did know. I sighed heavily. Why wouldn't even Rit tell me? He was my best friend, and he's told me far worse stuff before. Although it had already been said and done, I still felt almost betrayed by him. By all of them. "You could have told me," I said. "Maybe not then, but after. After Asgard."

Now Keefe sighed. "I know, but by that point...I stopped feeling guilty about it, and so did the boys. We wanted to tell you, but have you any idea how difficult that is to bring up?"

I scoffed. "Rin and Kai had no problem with it."

Keefe shrugged, still keeping his eyes on the road. "Well you know now. What's done is done."

The dog had a point. I had already proven I was fine with it, and nothing could undo the past. Though it was nice to hear Keefe tell me the truth, finally, even if I had no pry it out of him. I shifted closer to Keefe so our shoulders touched, glad he had decided not to wear his armour just now. Keefe glanced over at me, and I smiled at him. He smiled back, though it seemed forced. Just then, I found my paw on the canine's right thigh, rubbing gently and moving progressively closer to his groin. The dog shifted and blushed, but didn't say anything. He didn't even try to stop me.

This particular buggy was covered, and had a curtain-like thing covering both ends, so save the horses, Keefe and I were more or less alone. I doubted, however, that the fabric, whatever it was, did much to block any sound. If only we had opted for one of the even fancier carriages, with real doors.

"L-Luca," Keefe blushed, my paw less than an inch from rubbing his crotch.

"What?" I said devilishly. For reasons unknown to me, I felt compelled to fool around. This must be how Kai felt all the time.

"W-We can't," he giggled, my paw finally rubbing his sheath. Through his pants, of course.

I then kissed Keefe's cheek, which seemed to make the dog freeze. "The other night...was a little more than just passion," I said. And it was true, too. Although Keefe was undoubtedly horny that night, it was clear we both shared something far more intense than just "passion."

"I...I know," the dog said. "I wasn't the one who called it passion, anyway."

He had a point.

"We already discussed this, Luca. Despite how we both feel...a relationship isn't possible. So, please..."

"Rin and Kai aren't in a relationship." I think I had him.

Keefe didn't say anything, but after a long moment of pondering, he spread his legs a bit more. I mrowled silently and rubbed his sheath and balls a bit more. Obviously this was neither the time nor place to do anything too drastic, but a bit of harmless touching and groping would be okay. A little more inconspicuous, anyway, especially in the early afternoon. There was no one else around, though, from what I could see, and the next village wouldn't be for a while.

While keeping one paw on the reins, Keefe used his other to first undo the top of his pants, then press my paw harder into his groin. With a bit of a grip, he pulled my paw up then down his pants, moaning quietly as my paw ran along his hard, wanting sheath. I looked up at the dog, who still kept his eyes on the road but was blushing heavily. What a cutie.

More than happy to please, I stroked the dog's meat from his sheath and began to caress his hot, slimy shaft, knot still hidden inside.

"Oooh, Luca..." Keefe moaned, squirming quite a bit. I was glad the horses knew how to follow a path.

"Shh," I giggled, fingers delicately fondling his dogmeat. Moments later, my heart beating quickly once again, I did something a little more bold. I nuzzled my head under Keefe's arm and bent down, somewhat awkwardly at the front of this buggy, putting my lips around his canine cock-head, suckling on the tip. He was trying not to moan too loudly, which was actually kind of exciting.

"Luca..!" Keefe exclaimed, my maw going down further. I think he was surprised to have me doing this, especially here.

I loved the taste of his hot, savoury cock, though, and I wanted to make him cum. Slowly I began to bob my head, lips tight around his shaft and tongue wrapped around. But then suddenly, after just a few head-bobs, I felt a presence, and judging by Keefe's sudden stiffness, he did, too. A voice then sounded from behind. It was Tiberius, and apparently he was watching us.

"When you two are finished up there," he said, "I need to ask a favour."

I quickly pulled my face away from Keefe's hips and sat up straight, wiping the corner of my maw. As if he hadn't already seen enough. Keefe then sighed heavily and awkwardly did his pants back up, though he could barely contain his girth. "What is it?" he asked his father. It was cute to see Keefe still blushing.

"This next town...well, first of all, they're a very conservative town. I'm warning you two now. Second, I want to look around. Apparently they have a lot of antiquities, and aren't smart enough to know when they've got something good."

"You say that about every place we go to," Keefe argued. "And you haven't found anything yet."

"Aye, but that just increases my chances of finding something here."

"That doesn't even make sense," the younger Dane continued to argue.

"It's process of elimination, son."

Keefe sighed. "Fine," he finally said.

The buggy continued along noisily with very little action and even less excitement, though I did eventually get into the wagon with Kai, exchanging spots with Rin. My boy sat between my legs, while my faithful Alpha lay over my footpaws, sleeping. Such a lazy demon-hound. By the gentle rocking and consistent grinding noise of the moving buggy, Kai and I fell into a sort of trance, my paws around his belly and him just leaning into me, both of us smiling and quite possibly purring. After a long while, I realized Tiberius was staring at us. He was giving us a sort of inquisitive look, like he had a theory, but wasn't certain about it. It was likely he thought I was more than just Kai's protector. My gaze finally met with his.

"You two..." he started.

I just stared back, not moving. Although no words were spoken, my eyes confirmed everything the canine thought. He simply leaned back, giving us a different glare. Perhaps trying to figure out what sort of person that made me.

"Well," he finally said, "it's hardly the worst thing you could do." I think that was Tiberius's way of saying he approved, or rather, didn't disapprove. Accepted, perhaps, our relationship. Not that I cared either way.

Finally the buggy stopped, and when I poked my head out the back, saw we had reached the small town. It was larger than a village, but very small for a town. "What's this place called, again?" I asked Tiberius.

"Concession. ‘Midland's Finest Village,' or so they say."

"Uh huh. Well, how long're we staying?"

Tiberius hopped out of the wagon, holding a paw out to help down Kai. I helped myself out. "I thought we'd stay the night," he answered. "Any objections?"

I shrugged. I wanted to keep going, of course, though if the Opal was at the ruined Castle, then it wasn't going anywhere. Keefe suddenly materialized from behind the wagon, and asked what we were doing.

"They have a lovely Inn here, and a wonderful tavern across the thoroughfare."

"So...we're staying," Keefe confirmed. "Great. Well, I'll go get us checked in, and you can go do your treasure hunting."

Tiberius smiled, a sort of mocking smile, then took off.

"I'll park the buggy somewhere," Rin said, "then meet you guys there."

Now with a plan, Keefe, Kai, and I took off toward the Inn, wherever it was. Walking through the neat, tidy small town, it was clear why they called themselves Midland's finest. It seemed very idyllic. The kind of place old furs would retire to, which seemed all the more likely when I realized there was practically no one on the streets; the sun was already setting. Finding the Inn was easy enough, and when we walked in, I took one look at the fur at the desk and froze.

Deep inside, I felt something stir. "Oh shit..." I said, trying not to look conspicuous. Just as Keefe turned to me, asking what was wrong, my gaze caught that of the Inn's Black Bear, and I heard a light chuckle. The bear eyed me, then Kai, then back to me. He no doubt felt something, too, but didn't know what to make of it. That wasn't uncommon. As we neared the desk, the bear continued staring, and of course a familiar darkness began creeping up. Come out to play, the Voice inside me teased. And still this stupid bear didn't get it.

"'Ello," he suddenly said politely, cutting off the deafening howl of my Inner Darkness.

"We need a couple rooms," Keefe said, and after a short while, he paid and the sharply-dressed bear handed us a couple keys, then we headed to our rooms. I felt the bear's eyes on me the entire time, until we were out of sight. I growled quietly as I opened my room door, Kai and Keefe following. "What's going on?" the canine asked.

I shook my head and sat down. "We can't stay here," I said. "Not at this Inn, and not at this town. We have to get away now." I gave Keefe a hard look, and he understood.

"Okay, should we..?"

"Leave the keys, leave the room, leave the gold. I don't give a shit about your father's money, nor his god-damned antiques." Finally I got up, then looked down at a frightened panther. "I'm sorry, sweetie," said with sympathetic eyes. I hated when this happened, if for no other reason than because it always hurt my boy.

Kai sighed and gave me a hug. "It's okay," he said futilely. "Guess it was bound to happen again eventually."

I then gave Kai a big hug. "You two leave first, and I'll follow shortly. Luckily, we had brought nothing in with us, and so could sneak out without raising suspicion. I wasn't sure, yet, how I was going to leave, but I did not want to have to cross the bear again. I stood by the window just as Kai and Keefe left, then moments later, watched them walk into the street, then split apart. Keefe was likely going to search for his father, and Kai meet up with Rin. I sighed heavily, leaning my head against the window. Some days I thought it would just be easier to continue this journey alone, not having to worry about anyone. But then again, it's in times like this where Kai, especially, compels me to continue. To live on. So many times I'd lost hope, or just given up. But it was always his sweet voice that got me up again. Plus the incessant snarling of Nosferatu.

Which, of course, was still nagging away at me, even now. I had no idea how long this bear could continue to feel its bloodlust before finally giving in. He no doubt sensed something was wrong, or something was off, and knew he had to do something, but probably didn't understand what exactly. But I had to leave before he figured out what it was, despite what my Darkness was trying to tell me. I growled and suddenly peeled myself away from the window, stepping into the hall. I looked around hopefully for another exit. At the end there was another set of stairs, but it more than likely lead to the main lobby. Perhaps I could get out before he realized it was me giving him those churning, noisy feelings. I went down the stairs, and as predicted, it lead to the lobby. As casually as I could muster, I walked toward the door, eyes meeting with the bear's for just a moment. But it was the most intense moment of my life. It was like he saw me, or what I was hiding deep inside, and understood. He just continued to stare, though it wasn't a malevolent stare, nor a confused stare. Just...a stare.

Nosferatu was scraping wildly at my gut, crying out maliciously for sweet release, and I had to admit, knowing what the bear was, I was tempted. That admission only served to push the Darkness out further, but I had to resist. Resist the almost overwhelming desire for blood and death. I could sense the bear's Inner Demon, too. It had come out freely to play, poking at me curiously. As I stood with my paw on the door's handle, staring at the bear, Nosferatu had made its appearance. Both of these Dark Presences poked and prodded each other, snarling and snapping back and forth. And yet I felt no hostility from the bear. Not yet. And he certainly wasn't feeling any from me. Perhaps he was a fur more like myself, with a particular hidden darkness. But...no. He didn't look the type. He looked far too unassuming and plain to have that sort of life. Finally my eyes were yanked away from his, and I left the Inn, despite Nosferatu screaming at me to stay. This was a very unusual situation, but I wanted to leave quickly.

Finally I saw Kai, and him and I made our way back to the buggy, now only dealing with an annoyed Tiberius. Kai still seemed somewhat scared, but less so than before. He clung to me tight as we finally left, and slowly Nosferatu nestled back inside, sleeping for the time being. Although it was still anxious and irritated, the Dark Presence did eventually fade.

The following two days were, as usual, long, hot, and exhausting. Exhausting, mainly, because the buggy was too cramped and too hot, and so I opted to walk some of the way. Though it was dark and cloudy the whole way, with a surprisingly lovely breeze, the weather was still incredibly stifling. This, of course, slowed us down a bit, but while the others â€" buggy included â€" went ahead, I eventually caught up when they'd stop to rest, or stopped for the night. As usual, having learned my lesson at Concession, I stayed out of the passing towns, content to rest with Valo.

About half a day later, mid-afternoon, our buggy rose over a long, gentle hill, and before us lay the ruins of Midgard, frighteningly dark, stormy clouds swirling constantly above it. It would be a few hours, yet, until we reach the shattered walls, and probably longer until we find a hidden entrance. I took a seat yet again beside Keefe.

"Here we are again, huh?" I said idly.

Keefe didn't say anything, but made a noise to say he'd heard me.

"Remember that bear in Concession?"

The dog thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. What about him?"

"I think he was the Disciple."

Again Keefe didn't say anything, but looked over at me, making an inquisitive face.

"When I left the Inn, we sorta had this staring contest, ‘cept he wasn't growling or being hostile, or anything. Just staring at me curiously, as if waiting for me to say something, or do something. And I wasn't about to make a hostile move if he wasn't."

"How do you know it was him?"

"I could feel it. I told you how I can just sort of sense something tearing at me from the inside when one of them's around, right? Well, I didn't just hear that laughter, this time. The Darkness...it came out and sniffed around, barking and snarling at the other; with the other."

Keefe thought about that, but didn't say anything for a long while.

"Any ideas?" I finally said.

"Well, what if..." he started. It sounded like he didn't want to say it. "Well, it may be pretty far-fetched...but what if your Presence has sort of...changed?"

"Changed?"

"Perhaps its grown in a way the Disciples no longer recognize?"

"It sounds like you're implying I'm turning into one of them..."

"No, I'm not implying that at all. Before, all they would need to recognize you is the faintest scent of you, or Nosferatu, or whatever. Now, it seems, they're not sure what to think."

"It could have just been that one. We already know Disciples each have their own different personalities, to a certain degree. Maybe he was just stunned."

Keefe pondered that notion. "It's a possibility," he said. "I know it sounds callous, but it's almost for the better that you're changing in such away. If that's even the case."

I just grunted a reply. I wasn't too fond of his Nosferatu-is-changing theory, though it made a bit of sense. However, we just continued on the rest of the way mostly in silence, slowly getting closer to Midgard. Less than an hour away from the castle, Rin finally poked his head out from the back and chimed in.

"I think there may be an entrance somewhere near here," he said.

"Really?" I asked him. "How do you know? It's just grass and rocks."

Rin shrugged. "I dunno." Then I frowned.

"Then why do you think there's an entrance around here?"

"'Cause I'm pretty sure there's a hidden passage through Midgard's cemetery. Which is near here. I just don't know where in the cemetery it is."

"Let's head for the cemetery, then," Keefe said, and I switched spots once again with Rin. When I climbed into the back, I was met with a happy smile and a tight hug from Kai. I smiled back.

"What was that for, sweetheart?"

"It was for you, because I love you."

I nuzzled my boy tenderly and held him close, sitting against the wall of the buggy now. He then turned to face me, on his knees between my legs, and wrapped his arms around my neck, our cheeks rubbing together. We were both purring, but Kai more noticeably. Ignoring Tiberius, we continued to cuddle warmly until the buggy finally stopped. I think this was it. That is to say, I had a very unusual chill run up my spine, though no whisperings from Nosferatu. We all quickly piled out of the buggy, and after ordering the horses to stay put, we grabbed our gear and continued in. Despite easily holding the Lionheart on my back, I hadn't realized until now just how much pressure my top armour took off my shoulder. Though I did have some armour â€" normal armour from Tiberius's surprisingly large armoury â€" it was nothing like my old stuff. I would just have to put up with a bit of soreness.

We wandered around the cemetery for a while, looking about for any sort of clue. We of course didn't see anything, though it was an enormous area. It was strange being in this graveyard and see only an endless pile of rubble where the castle once stood. I had visited my old commander from the Army many times here, a skunk named Blade, and Castle Midgard had always been such an imposing backdrop in the otherwise dreary surroundings. But now there was nothing.

"Any idea where the entrance is?" I asked Rin.

Rin shook his head. "One of the tombs or tombstones, I'd guess. Maybe even one of the mausoleums."

"That's usually how it goes in the stories I've read," Keefe pointed out. "Usually the most menacing one of the bunch."

"Those are just stories," I told Keefe. "You can't go by those."

"Yeah, well there's always some truth to the stories."

Although I thought it was foolishness, I think subconsciously I was looking for the scariest mausoleum I could find. They were all pretty scary, though, especially with the swirling black clouds overhead. Every so often a bit of thunder would sound, lightning leaping from one cloud to the other. What made it so ominous, though, was how for one, the lightning arcs were flashing almost constantly above, and for another, the thunder was very quiet, deep, and at most times, nonexistent. It was an incredibly eerie cemetery, with an equally eerie sky and background. I just wanted to find this passage and go. Fortunately Tiberius was smart enough to bring lanterns, and so long as I was near either him or Keefe, I was okay.

So far, most of the mausoleums looked basically the same. Just then, breaking my concentration, Kai came up to me, holding my paw. I smiled down at him, and he smiled back. Together we walked away from the others, slowly meandering through the graveyard, briefly glancing at the stones. None of them were particularly remarkable.

My boy and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the foreboding cemetery until we heard an excited cry from afar. It was Rin, and we were certain he'd found the entrance. When Kai and I rushed over, I was disappointed to see it was, in fact, in a mausoleum, and ignored Keefe's "I told you so" smile. With Keefe the Torchbearer in front, we progressed down a long, dusty stone staircase and an equally narrow corridor. Finally we reached a wood door at the end, and after quickly bashing it down with the Lionheart, much to Tiberius's chagrin, we filed into an impressively large chamber. The chamber was cylindrical with a set of normal-sized, wide stairs spiralling downward along the edge. Much of the walls had been cracked and broken, and in some cases, completely shattered, as well as many parts of the stairs. However we managed to make our way down, slowly and carefully. Finally we reached the end, and after once again smashing the already half-smashed door, we progressed through the tunnels.

The walls of the tunnels were covered in vines, but the vegetation had long-since died. Now it was just covered in brown, dry vines that snapped easily when we brushed against it. The floor, too, was once alive, but was now dead, dry moss. After getting through yet another wood door, it practically falling off on its own, we stepped into a fair-sized chamber, the grassy floor now just dry, prickly and brown, much like the vines. The glowing wisps of natural magic which had once flourished down here seemed to have been replaced by dull, dry, dusty clumps of floating debris. Even the stone walls looked dead; cracked and falling apart, and many of the pillars had been toppled, likely from the tremors when the city collapsed. Rin then took the lead, taking us through several collapsed doorways, and in many cases, straight through broken walls, until we came to a remarkably preserved, arched hall, which was only a few metres long, until we came to a double-doorway.

"I think the stone collection is in here. The King was so proud of them."

Ordinarily I would find that fascinating, but I just wanted to get the Opal and get out. But predictably, the door wouldn't open. Either something was jamming it from the other side, or it was simply locked. I heard Tiberius whine when I stepped back, putting a paw on the Lionheart.

"Perhaps there's another way to open it," the dog whimpered. I looked down at Rin.

"Not unless any of you have a key."

Tiberius then pulled something from his coat with a sly grin. It was a small pouch, which he unfolded quickly, revealing a multitude of long, thin, oddly-crafted tools. I think they were lock picks. The crafty canine then stepped forward and bent down, now working on the lock. All was silent save the sound of crumbling rock and deep rumblings of the cavernous castle, as well as the gentle clicking of the lock's tumblers falling into place. After a long moment, Tiberius stood up successful.

I pushed the door open slowly, immediately greeted by some form of shiny, crystalline rock, which had more than likely fallen over. After exhaustingly pushing it aside, with some help of course, we spread out in this large, round, maze-like room, scanning the shelves and displays for any sort of blood-red stone. I had no idea what it looked like, nor how big it would be. I saw many different types, though, some brilliant blues and greens, while some were orangey, white, and some even translucent. Some were crystalline in shape, while some were very jagged and rough. But nothing that looked vaguely like an opal, assuming my image of it was even accurate.

Suddenly, the closer to the centre of the room I got, I heard a horrible snarling within me. It was Nosferatu, and it wasn't pleased. I paused and held my stomach, almost feeling it physically. It was screaming, clawing frantically at my gut, trying to escape. It wasn't the usual quiet, confident chuckling this time. Something had my Inner Darkness worked up, and I couldn't begin to imagine what it was. Perhaps...the King hadn't died, after all? But...no, that would be impossible. I then felt a paw rub my back, and I turned to see Keefe.

"What is it?" he asked. He looked deeply concerned, either for my or his own safety.

"It's...y'know. Something's got it horribly pissed..."

"Should we go?"

"No. Not without finding the Opal. Just...gimme a moment." Finally I stood up, continuing through the displays. But as I turned the corner, I froze instantly. In the centre of the room was a single round display, likely containing the incredibly rare Sanguine Opal. And sitting atop it, throwing a smooth, fist-sized, deep-red rock from paw to paw was a small arctic fox, staring me in the eyes.

"That bear," Loki said, seeming to read my thoughts, "told me you'd be coming here. Or rather, he told me you were in Concession. Didn't take long to figure out where you were headed, and just as much time to figure out why. It is a lovely rock, isn't it."

Before I could react, Nosferatu howling madly for release, the others arrived, staring at the fox in the centre. I showed extreme restraint, more so when Keefe held my paw and arm. Kai, unfortunately, was across the room with Rin and Tiberius. I didn't even have anything to say to the fox. All I wanted was to tear him apart.

"Who are you?" Tiberius suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Loki stood up on the glass-covered pedestal and turned, jumping down. He then opened his maw to answer.

"He's a servant to the Crimson King," I interrupted. "He wants to kill us."

"No," Loki laughed. "Just the boy. And you, of course."

I growled deeply. Killing me wasn't part of his mission, he just wanted to have a bit of fun. More so would he get from killing the others, too, before getting to me. Finally I tore my paw away from Keefe's and burst forward. As I ran, my paw gripped the end of the Lionheart and swung it hard toward Loki, coming down on the stone pedestal, shattering it to pieces. I snarled and looked up, seeing Loki coming down at me. I jumped back quick then swung my sword again, Loki just narrowly avoiding it. As he leapt back, I dashed forward, roaring as the Lionheart swung yet again, flying downward. However the agile arctic fox jumped up, and as my sword crashed into the stone floor, he came down on the blade and shot forward, bashing me in the face with his footpaw. And as I stumbled back, I noticed a purple blur to my left, giving me no time to react, then I was struck across the face with something sharp and very hard. I fell instantly, but was quick to lift myself up. However that was quickly taken away when I felt that similar object strike my back, pushing me down. I heard growling in my ear, but not an angry growling. It was a confident, almost playful growling. I growled back.

"You may be able to destroy my Giants and kill Disciples, but I am on a whole other level than they are. Just gimme the boy, and I'll spare the rest."

"You think I'm gonna trust you? After what you did to Rit?"

Loki started to laugh, which only angered me further. He was enjoying this too much. I began to push myself up, with the fox atop, then turned to throw off his balance. When I felt him falter, I snarled and shoved him away and got up. Just as I did, he attacked me again, except this time I avoided the purple stone, now wrapping my arm around his soft, white neck, squeezing tightly. Growling deeply, noticing everyone had left, I squeezed even tighter, lifting the fox off the floor. He snarled and clawed at my arm, but it was no use. I had him. I felt Nosferatu encompassing us both, suppressing whatever dark force surrounded Loki. But just then, as his life began to fade, Nosferatu howling in sweet delight, his Presence began to fight back. This had never happened before. I then felt Loki's footpaw slam down on my thigh, which caused me to cry out and drop him. He bound away quickly and I growled.

"Get back here!" I snarled, retrieving the Lionheart. I then heard a cry and turned quickly. Destroy them, I heard inside. Rip them apart. All of them. Bathe in their blood. I shook my head, and just as I did, Loki appeared. He was holding Kai, arm around his neck, and what looked like Keefe's sword. I growled very deeply, but waited. He must have dispatched the others.

"There's several ways this can work, tiger," Loki said. If he was smart, he'd just kill Kai right now. But no. I'd pissed him off. He wanted to play with me first. With his sword, he suddenly incised my boy deeply on the leg. Hearing Kai cry out like that hurt me just as much. I just kept staring at him, my hatred undoubtedly clear in my eyes. "I can kill the Sacrifice quickly, or chop him into pieces. Which would you prefer?"

Just as Loki cut my boy again, I snarled and ran forward, crying out as the arctic fox simply jumped up, carrying Kai with him, and landed gracefully on the other side. "I'm going to rip you apart," I roared.

"Not while I hold the Sacrifice, you won't."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. There wasn't much I could do without risking Kai's life. But I still held my ground firm, Lionheart in paw. For now I had to wait, staring into Loki's eyes. An opportunity would present itself, and when it did, I would attack. And I would be merciless. Suddenly, Loki lifted his sword to Kai's gut, pressing in. The fox just smiled at me, then finally spoke.

"Take off your armour," he said.

"What?" Why the hell did he want me to do that?

Loki then sliced Kai's belly, and it pained me equally to watch my boy cry out, maw smothered by the fox's paw. I snarled violently and stepped forward, gripping my weapon tightly. I was moments away from losing it, but for Kai's sake, I had to keep my head on straight. Nosferatu was hammering at my gut, begging me horribly to attack. But I couldn't. Not yet.

"Do as I say," Loki said, now holding the sword by Kai's crotch, then pressing into it.

I growled, and with one paw still on my sword, unlatched my left gauntlet, throwing it to the stone floor. Just as my right one dropped, I noticed the others behind me. They were just watching, no doubt trying to find a way out of this as well. I would hope so, anyway.

"Continue," the white-furred fox said, smiling wider. He was baring his teeth, clearly getting some sort of sick pleasure out of this. I used my left paw to unhook my chest armour, letting the two halves clang noisily to the floor. I then unlatched the top section of my leg armour, keeping my eyes locked with Loki's, then continued down until all my armour was removed. All that remained were my clothes, plus the chainmail top.

"Mmm...very good, tiger. Now do the rest. Put down your weapon, if you need to."

I growled again. "Fuck you," I said, my grip firm.

Loki shook his head. "No, no. You see, it's that sort of language that'll get the panther hurt. Take off the rest of your clothes, tiger."

Breathing heavily, trying to contain myself, I slowly lowered my weapon, eyes not leaving Loki's for a second. Slowly l lifted the chainmail over my head, then my shirt right after. Then my paws moved shakily down to my belt, finally unlatching it. My pants then fell directly after, and I stood naked in front of my friends and Loki. For whatever reason, the arctic fox wanted to humiliate me, though if this was any other crowd, it probably would have worked. But he had my complete, absolute and undivided attention. Loki began to laugh.

"You would do anything for this boy, wouldn't you."

I didn't say anything, but everyone knew what my answer was. My eyes darted down to Kai's for just a moment, and instantly let him know the answer to that rhetorical question. There wasn't any length I wouldn't go to for my boy, and he knew it. Especially now. I looked back up at Loki. My lips were pressed tightly together and I was breathing heavily through my nose. I wasn't going to lose it. Not this time. I just continued to stare ferociously at the fox, occasionally letting out a tooth-baring growl. Standing naked before him, what else was there to do?

Loki suddenly moaned. "Now let me see that tigermeat of yours in person."

I felt the tension in the room tighten up, and though no one gasped audibly, I could tell they were surprised. I had to end this now. I quickly bent down and grabbed my sword, now holding it ready in my paws. Although Loki held Kai tighter, threatening him further, I refused to release my sword. I would certainly do anything for Kai, and exposing myself in front of this group was not beyond that, but I was not going to pleasure this fox any further. However, as the sword lifted to Kai's neck and cut a very shallow incision, causing the boy to yelp, I did hesitate.

"Show me!" Loki barked, cutting deeper. I could feel the tension rising. The others just watched.

With a long, deep growl, still not putting down my sword, I used one paw to slowly coerce my length from my sheath, deriving no pleasure from it, contrary to Loki. When I was finally at full length, I stood up straight and let the fox stare, as he requested. But then very quickly, in a very swift, fluid motion, he shoved Kai toward me, making sure he got turned around, and sliced him across the face. I roared fiercely as I burst forward, watching as Loki bound away, and I held my boy. He was growling and crying, though didn't hold the deep wound across his face. He simply held onto me tight, burrowing his face in my chest.

"I'm sorry," he cried.

"It's okay, sweetie," I told him desperately. "It isn't your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."

I then heard a familiar laughing behind me, and as I stood, the others having arrived to look at Kai, I turned to face Loki. When I was certain Kai was safe, I snarled and ran forward, roaring loudly as I swung my sword upward. Just as Loki jumped from above, I shoved the Lionheart into the display and released it immediately, quickly reaching upward and grabbing the fox's ankle, swinging him down into the floor. Roaring again, and still with a tight grip on his ankle, I swung Loki around and into the display the Lionheart was embedded in. I then quickly lifted the blade, and just as Loki moved, I slammed it down ward, cutting straight through his right arm. I was delighted to hear the fox cry out in pain.

However it was short-lived as Loki tore himself away from the sword and suddenly whipped a jagged rock up at me, striking me in the face. Just as I stumbled back, the fox, still with Keefe's sword, stabbed me in the side of the leg. It was now my turn to cry out in pain, but I didn't let that stop me. With both paws on the Lionheart, I swung the sword to my right, merely batting the fox away. He came back at me quickly, but instead of swinging sideways, I swung upward, slicing Loki's gut. The white fox snarled and fell to the floor with a loud thud. But just as I lifted the Lionheart, I heard a voice inside. Excellent, it chuckled, and I hesitated. A moment too long, it would seem, as Loki had already gotten up and bludgeoned my left knee with yet another crystalline stone. I howled in extraordinary pain, dropping my sword immediately, paws cradling the open wound. Just as I looked up, though, a snarling, bloody white fox smashed a stone into my face, knocking me back. With my injured knee, I found it incredibly difficult to stay balanced, but before I could lose it on my own, Loki helped by striking me again, this time heaving a long, whitish crystal deep into my shoulder, growling as he shoved it down further, no doubt taking immense pleasure in hearing my dreadful cries. Then to finish it off, he kicked me hard in the face, knocking me onto my back.

I just groaned and moaned on the cool stone floor, paw tightly gripping the stone jutting from my shoulder, right next to my neck. I couldn't even begin to remove it, the pain almost blinding. Loki then tore my paw from the shard and bashed me across the face, no longer smiling.

"The thing that makes me far different than the monsters and Disciples you've fought," Loki growled, "is my lack of any demonic form." The arctic fox then stood up straight, keeping a footpaw on my chest, and retrieved a large chunk of that purple rock he'd attacked me with earlier. He held it near his half-cut arm. "My form is, instead, whatever I want it to be." Just as the rock neared his open wound, what looked like thick black webs shot out from his arm and attached to the rock, pulling it in close. Soon, the two appeared to be one. The purple stone began to shift and change, grinding into a shape vaguely resembling an arm. I just stared up at the fox, snarling and in pain. He silenced me quickly, though, with a hard, rocky punch across the face. Moments later, I felt something cool and very solid grip around my neck tightly, lifting me off the ground. When I opened my eyes, Loki was holding me up with his purple paw, but I couldn't let this end here.

Both paws gripped his arm and began to smash it, which didn't even phase him. I could feel Loki's powerful, overbearing Presence filling the entire room, Nosferatu backed into a corner. It was fighting back, though, barking and snarling. I had to free myself, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult, my breaths becoming raspy and harder. But I closed my eyes tightly, the pain paramount, breathing heavily. I smashed my paw into his arm again, then again, unceasing until their sides felt like mush. I struck again, and I heard a crack â€" either my bones shattering or his arm breaking. Using all my strength, I hit his arm again, and I could see the fox waver. I was close to blacking out, but I wasn't going to stop now. Putting every last bit of strength I had into it, I attacked his arm again, this time causing Loki to growl, then finally I noticed the crack. Once more and finally I had broken the arm, and after another strike, I shattered the purple stone, falling instantly and gasping for air. When Loki was about to go in for another attack, I looked up at him and threw my bloody fist upward, striking the fox in the maw. I took in several deep breaths, finally getting up. Each breath drew a terrible snarl from me as I stepped toward the fox. The longer I stared at him, watching him back away, I began to see his fur and skin peel away, and like in the cave, I could see his heart beating, glowing brightly.

Unexpectedly, his heart burned brightly and brilliantly, a fiery show of warmth and heat. I didn't know what this was, or why I was seeing it, but I knew Nosferatu had once again taken the reins. This warm, beating heart, I wanted nothing more than to extinguish it. It would feel so good. By this point, I didn't even care whose it was. I just wanted it. I grinned a wicked grin as Loki got up. He was just staring at me, then attacked. Just as his stone arm came within reach, I grabbed it tightly and swung the fox around, smashing him into a stone display case, now putting a footpaw on his chest. I pushed him down and while still gripping his arm, began to rip it off. He cried out madly as the stone slowly tore from his flesh, and I could see his hot, warm blood splash onto my naked legs, then slowly fade. When my normal vision began to return, I could see the pain and anger in Loki's face, and it pleased me. Pleased me, no doubt, as much as it had pleased him. When Loki tried to escape, I grabbed him tight.

The arctic fox struggled, but I stopped that by throwing him into a wall, then as he fell, I picked up a long, spear-like rock and threw it at him, piercing his right shoulder. It was possible it had even been embedded into the wall, too. As I walked toward Loki, I felt the others behind me. They'll be next. I just grinned and picked up a large, bulky piece of some green rock, smashing it into the fox's face, then again and again, roaring as his blood smeared into my fur. Finally I tossed the stone away and gripped Loki's ankle, pulling him away from the wall and, of course, forcing the spear-like rock to slide through his wound. Loki's pathetic groans and growls of pain amused me, until he fell to the floor. I picked the fox up and turned him around, my Darkness encompassing us both once again. He was trembling terribly as my arm wrapped around his neck, squeezing tightly, then more so as I pushed him into the wall. He could no doubt feel a very hot, very hard, throbbing heat smeared into his rear now.

"Y-you...woul-wouldn't..."

I just growled in delight as my over-sensitive sheath, likely covered in the fox's blood, quickly got pushed down, revealing my wet, beating tigermeat once again. I wasted no time at all in plunging deep inside the fox, loving the squeeze of his bowels just as much as his pained cries. I pumped into him several times, growling in deep satisfaction, then finally tore my barbed cock out of him, gripping his arm tightly and swinging the fox around, throwing him into the middle of the room. Loki fell and rolled to a stop, breathing heavily but barely moving. I retrieved the long bloody rock from the wall and as the fox turned, smashed him across the face, knocking him back onto his stomach. My shaft squirted large amounts of precum as I struck Loki, and I couldn't help but moan. The others were watching in horror, but I didn't care. I should have, but Nosferatu wouldn't allow it. I then pressed the rock back into Loki's shoulder wound, grinding and twisting it down, then hammering it into the floor. I got down and gripped a paw around Loki's neck, until he suddenly turned and elbowed me hard in the face, tearing himself from the floor. The fox then used that same rock to smack me across the face, then again, then thrust it into my gut. He didn't get it far, but enough to make me bleed. I snarled wickedly and batted the rock away. My head then began to pound, and as Loki went in for another attack, I roared fiercely and grabbed his arm, punching him in the maw right after.

The fox fell hard, but I kept my grip. I felt such an overwhelming desire to beat him senseless, and though I knew I should probably stop myself, I found I had already shoved him into a glass display. I continued to fuck the fox mercilessly, roaring and snarling madly, blood and drool whipping about as I did. Loki shrieked horrifically in pain, begging me violently to stop. Tears and blood were streaming down his matted face, the fox yelping and crying horribly every time I pounded my demon-flesh inside his mangled body. I could see myself doing this, and felt disgusted. The others just stared in something far worse than horror, more so as I threw Loki across the room and into yet another unbroken display case, glass, stone and pretty rocks falling all around. I continued to just growl and snarl and roar incomprehensibly as I beat the fox further, not even sure anymore if he was still alive. When I pinned him against the wall again, I roared and shoved my spiny cock up his rear once more, hardly feeling any pleasure from it. I just continued to fuck what may have been his corpse, feeling no physical pleasure, but some kind of sick, feral pleasure. The fox was hurt beyond words, and I felt more pleased about it than I had about anything. Was that what was fuelling me? Was I even Luca anymore? I swung Loki around and into a stone display, tigermeat still jammed inside him. I heard Loki cry out as his body struck the display; I guess he was still alive. When I looked up, hips still smashing into the fox's rear, I saw my friends, and still they stared at me with those same eyes. They were horrified, but I couldn't tell who the sympathy was for. Was it for...Loki? What did I look like right now? I heard myself still snarling crazily, drool seeming to pour from my maw. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all.

Whenever Nosferatu had taken control, a shred of myself had always remained in the back seat, keeping tabs on things. I was somewhere in this room, watching this, and somewhere in this room, I was emptying my stomach all over the place. Nosferatu hadn't just taken the reins, it had taken the whole buggy. I didn't even feel any pain anymore. Just this overwhelming bloodlust, and it was being satisfied. But was it enough? No...I wanted more. Four more, in fact, and I'd even take that demon hound, too. But...wait. I knew them. They were friends. Close friends, mostly. And the demon hound... No. This wasn't right. I could hear Loki crying in pain still, groaning and moaning as my fierce tigermeat pounded him without restraint. After a long while, noticing plenty of glass embedded into his body, and as some blood seemed to lubricate my cock, I felt an intense pleasure. I held onto Loki tight, pulling him up against my body, and as my paw smeared his blood all down his chest, I finally blew my load, roaring deafeningly loud, giving him several more hard thrusts until I filled him up, then promptly threw his limp body toward the others. Cum was still pouring from my shaft and sliding down, still snarling and roaring wickedly. I approached the others, growling with every breath, until I realized I wasn't even walking like a normal fur. I was crawling over the displays and stones on all fours, eyeing the others. They, of course, all backed away, frightened of me. The demon hound was growling at me, but made no move.

Loki then turned around, face bloody and beaten, almost beyond recognition. He seemed pleased at something. "I knew...y-you'd do it..." he said, tears still in what remained of his eyes. What was that supposed to mean? When I looked up again, Kai appeared the most frightened. But why him more than the others? Was it because..? Suddenly, a sort of light flickered. Kai was branded as the Sacrifice. He had every reason to be afraid, but afraid of me? I had made an oath to myself to forever protect Kai for as long as I lived, but Nosferatu could never protect Kai, nor the others. I couldn't allow this to continue, or the Crimson King would have his sacrifice and be released. Perhaps this was even Loki's plan all along, to make me do it. But I wouldn't. I felt Nosferatu fighting back, resisting, and save killing everyone in this room, there wasn't an easy way to regain control. I thrashed about madly, trying to find myself once again, but it wasn't until my eyes locked onto Kai's fiery reds that something flared up inside me. It was overwhelming. I could hear Nosferatu roaring and biting back, but it was slowly backing off. I closed my eyes tightly and cried out, holding my head. Nosferatu wasn't going without a fight.

Suddenly I fell to my knees, breathing heavily and still snarling. It always seemed to end like this, except this time as I crawled toward Kai, he bent down and embraced me, however shakily. "K-Kai," I managed to say, paw gripped by his. Finally I fell to my side, my energy drained. I just lay on the cool stone floor, still breathing heavily. I just stared forward, into Kai's eyes and yet through them. Even though he rubbed my face gently and licked the wounds on my face, I continued to stare. I didn't feel a thing, not even the physical sensations. "I'm going to," I heard myself say, pausing for a moment, "fall asleep now..." then closed my eyes. I could hear Kai crying, begging me to open my eyes. I felt more paws around me, likely Keefe once again checking to see if I was still alive. I was. And like back in the cave, I embraced this different kind of darkness.

But, of course, I managed to open my eyes once again. It wasn't a comfortable bed this time, though. I think I was in the wagon, in the back, and someone was holding onto me. Probably Kai. It was dark out still. How long had it been? I looked down, seeing Kai resting with his head on my belly. Someone had put my pants on for me, apparently, and my armour was piled next to me, as well as the Lionheart. I lifted my bandaged paw, gently stroking Kai's side. That seemed to wake him, and as his eyes flicked open, he stared up at me. I didn't know what to say to him.

"You're awake," someone pointed out. I looked up at Tiberius. "It's been a couple days, but lemme tell you, you weren't resting peacefully."

I just kept looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You must have been dreaming something fierce. You were tossing, turning, and growling and groaning. Seemed like you were in some kind of pain."

I couldn't recall any dream, but I did still feel tired. Lifeless, even now.

"I thought we were going to have to restrain you somehow, but Keefe said to leave you alone. Seems like you finally snapped out of it." After a long pause, the canine continued. "I think I can speak for everyone when I say you scared the shit out of us."

No surprise. The little I do remember frightened even myself. I had no idea the extent of Nosferatu's influence. Was it possible it could get even worse than that? What...was I becoming?

"Keefe said he'd never seen you like that before, and in all the stories I've heard about you, no one's ever mentioned this. I've heard you were a fierce fighter, and even some kind of monster when things got tough. But to think...an actual monster? I'm still scared shitless, to be honest. Keefe told me that every time this happened, he could always still see a part of you in your eyes, but not this time. There wasn't a trace of you. He said you were someone, or something else. Something horrible."

Keefe always knew how to flatter me. And even still, I didn't have a word to say.

"It was hard to believe, honestly, that anyone could come back from that. You were..."

"I get it," I barked, my voice painfully raspy. I then let out a long, deep sigh. "I'm...I'm sorry," I finally said. "This isn't a good feeling," I told him. "Whenever the Darkness takes over...Nosferatu...I don't feel the same after. I fear...I may be becoming something worse than the demons I slay. Something no one will be able to stop."

We all sat in silence for a long, long time, until the wagon finally stopped. Keefe then poked his head into the back, then looked at me. We shared a glance, and though he was giving me a hard look, I could tell he was glad I was awake, and more importantly, glad I was sane.

We sombrely piled out of the wagon, and I once again donned my armour. My wounds were still fairly fresh, and though bandaged, still very much in pain. Especially the one on top of my shoulder. However with a bit of help, I got it all on. When I saw Valo, he whimpered and backed away, and part of my heart sunk. Had I scared a demon that much?

No one explained where we were, but I think I knew. Surrounded by enormous, likely ancient piny trees, we ventured into this forest in search of the dark-stoned Dragon Cathedral. We walked for several hours until light started to break, then we stopped for a short while to eat, but continued again shortly after. Hardly anyone spoke, but despite that, Kai was still holding my paw. Several more hours passed, and still no sign of any sort of ancient civilization. Tiberius was constantly rereading the Black Book for more clues, but didn't find any beyond what he already knew. This was becoming tiresome, but I just kept my maw shut and followed the rest. At about noon, we took another break, and I sat against a tree with Kai. He was hugging me tightly.

"I love you," he whispered, which took me aback a little. I opened my maw to respond but was silent. He just sighed and snuggled closer.

"I'm sorry," I finally said, which made him look up. We was looking at me curiously, as if wanting me to explain. "The things you saw me do, and what you experienced yourself...it shouldn't have happened. Not to you, not to anyone. I think...I'm turning something I don't want to be, and I'm not sure if there's any stopping it." I paused for a moment, then continued. "I...wanted to kill you, Kai. I wanted to kill everyone, for no other reason than to feel good. But now, I don't feel anything."

Kai held onto me tighter, burying his face into my armoured chest. I think he was hiding his tears. "Don't say that," he whimpered. "Of course you still feel. You love me, don't you?"

I looked down at my boy, and he looked up at me. Despite the tears, his eyes were just as fiery as the first time I saw them; when I fell in love with him. With a paw, I urged the boy onto my lap, and he straddled me promptly, both paws on my chest. Although I wasn't smiling, I put my paws on Kai's back and again suggested him toward me, and as his face neared mine, I closed my eyes and kissed my boy softly. He moaned quietly and ground his hips a little into me, pressing his tongue in deeper. I returned the gesture until we slowly pulled away. I continued to stare at Kai, and though I felt like I should be smiling, I wasn't. But as Kai sighed and started to get off, I held onto him tightly. "Don't...go. Please."

Kai looked surprised, and after a moment, relaxed against me, licking my chin. I just held my boy tightly, not wanting to let him go.

After a while, we all got going once again, trekking through the forest. Instead of just holding Kai's paw this time, though, I held him against my chest, carrying him. He was smiling and giggling, but mostly just purring. It soon got awkward, though, and we reverted back to paw-holding, which was just as nice. I didn't know if I felt, in that moment, what one would call love for the boy, but I knew I didn't want to let him go.

A few more hours passed yet again, and with the sun starting to hang low in the sky, it was doubtful we'd find anything. However, with the exception of Tiberius, we were all used to travelling long distances like this. All hope was not lost, however, when we noticed something unusually dark in the distance. And it would have gone unnoticed, too, if it wasn't for the contrasting sky. Whatever this peculiar darkness was, it was certainly big. And since we already knew the Cathedral was dark-stoned, presumably like the Dragon Library was, it was a good assumption we'd found what we were looking for. Finally, after an exhausting, longer-than-we-thought-it'd-be hour, we reached the walls of this dark architecture.

"Bet we're on the complete opposite end of it," Rin said to no one in particular. We followed along its edge until we finally found the entrance, somewhere around thirty minutes later, everybody in awe of its grandeur. With Keefe's help, him and I opened the massive wood door, immediately looking upward. The massive stone-vaulted ceiling was absolutely stunning, and frankly, sort of intimidating. Tiberius, in particular, was impressed with the enormous stained-glass windows, depicting what was likely some ancient, holy Dragon scenes. We looked all around for the so-called Transcarrier, but of course didn't see a thing. After looking around the altar, finally we heard a high-pitched cry from somewhere in the building, only to discover Kai had inadvertently discovered a hidden passageway. What was most striking about this place was how much larger everything was in comparison to other churches or cathedrals I'd seen, which admittedly was very few. After travelling the dark, dank passageway, we came into yet another large chamber which contained many bookshelves, a desk, and various other study-like furniture. We continued through the chambers seeing various objects and, predictably, multitudes of books and scriptures, none of which we had time to study. It was all remarkably preserved, as Tiberius pointed out. He had practically creamed himself walking through the study.

Finally we came to a different door, and unlike in the usual situations, it wasn't locked. In fact, one of the doors was still open, so we poked our heads in. This chamber was very high, rising to what appeared to be a pointed-dome ceiling. All along the edges of this round room were possibly hundreds of bookshelves, crammed with books and papers. A set of stairs led upward, creating a catwalk of sorts, continuing up for at least five floors, all lined with books. And in the centre of the room was a round dais, and what appeared to be the Transcarrier on the furthest end. Above the dais was a round arch, pointing left-to-right, and a slightly smaller one under it, pointing toward us. After a bit of looking around, Kai and I explored this Transcarrier more, intrigued by its extremely complex machinery. And when Keefe finally arrived, Book in paw, he found the small chamber where the Sanguine Opal goes, and shoved it in. A perfect fit.

"Are we going now?" Tiberius asked, marching toward us. Rin was floating around somewhere, probably with Valo.

"When should we go?" Keefe argued.

"Oh, I don't know," his father answered facetiously. "Maybe after we've looked around a bit?"

"Well how about you stay behind and read all these books while the rest of us go?"

Tiberius frowned. "But who knows what sort of wisdom is contained within these books?"

Finally I stepped forward, growling. "We're doing this now," I said grimly.

Tiberius growled back, but wasn't about to argue. "When we get back from this trip, don't be surprised if I move in here..."

Suddenly, we heard a booming crash somewhere inside the Cathedral, the sound echoing through the chamber.

"What...the fuck was that?" I said.

Moments later, an almost deafening screech, that of an angry, blood-thirsty Disciple. We all turned completely pale for a moment until Keefe and Rin bolted to the enormous, thick doors, slamming them shut. With the rest of our help, we found stuff to load in front of the door to keep them out, though it was doubtful it'd do anything. Then, suddenly, a thunderous bang at the door, then another directly after. Rin and Keefe had plastered themselves against the door, trying desperately to keep it shut.

"Get to the platform!" Keefe shouted over the screeching and the banging. Quickly, Tiberius, Kai and I got onto the dais, then looked back at Keefe. Valo was with him, growling at the door.

"C'mon," I cried desperately. "We have to go!"

Keefe shook his head. "You guys go... We'll hold them off."

"That's crazy," I shouted. "You'll be crushed!"

Keefe growled as another forceful crash almost knocked him and Rin over. Tiberius then stepped off the dais, reading the Black Book feverously. He looked up at me and calmly said, "Keefe's right. We'll all be crushed if he lets go of the door, and if not us, then surely the Transcarrier. You have to go... I'll stay here with my son."

"Wh-wha?" I said stupidly. The loud banging and now crashing at the ceiling and walls was deafening.

Tiberius started to mumble some incomprehensible words, likely Dragon, then began to command them louder. As he did, the two arches above the dais began to spin, quickly gaining speed. As well, the Opal seemed to be glowing as a few small rods pierced it, as if holding the stone in place. The arches began spinning faster, and I felt somewhat strange.

"Keefe!" I cried, watching him desperately try to keep the door closed. Kai was clinging to me tightly. Chunks of the door had broken off, and I could see claws and tentacles poking through, nearly whipping the canine in the face. Tiberius continued to say the Dragon words. "Don't do this," I shouted. "You have to come with us!" I couldn't be sure, but I think tears were streaming down my face. I certainly felt something now.

Keefe looked over at me, and in an almost eerie calm, he said, "No, Luca. I can't. For the last two years you've been protecting me... Now it's my turn to protect you."

"No!" I cried out, wanting desperately to hold Keefe one last time.

Tiberius then held his paw up dramatically, continuing speaking the words. The arches were spinning way too fast to jump out by this point. Suddenly, the doors banged harder, acting to emphasize the last of Tiberius's words. A strange glowing then appeared, and balls of glowing magic, or something, rose and swirled about. Through the glowing haze, I heard a loud crashing, then the doors smash apart, demons pouring in. Keefe and Rin were knocked back, skidding closer toward us. I roared madly, useless to do anything. Then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed way up high on the fifth-floor catwalk, a bloody and beaten arctic fox, staring at me wickedly. He looked pissed, and had no doubt brought as many Disciples to this place as possible.

Demons continued to clamour into the large chamber, hissing and screaming, and I continued to roar and snarl like mad. And just as everything started to go blindingly white, I heard a massive crash from the ceiling, an enormous monster then dropping down and crushing a mantis-like Disciple. It looked enraged, and it looked hungry for demon flesh. It looked... like Rit.

Suddenly my vision faded, and all I could hear was this newcomer's familiar roar, mixed with my own. When my vision finally returned, I found I was lying on the ground, next to Kai. It was raining a little, and felt misty, and when I started to lift myself, the greenish grass was wet and cold. Kai was getting up, too, and just as we stood, a deep thunder rolled across the reddish sky. No one else but Kai and I had made it through, and were undoubtedly overrun by Disciples. "God damn it," I told myself with a deep sigh. I was breathing heavily, and even trembling a bit, trying not to cry, though I think a few tears escaped. Kai looked about the same, and he suddenly clung onto me. I patted his back softly, then bent over to lift him up. With the boy smeared against my chest, both of us fully armoured, I carried him along, walking through the terribly thick fog.

After a while I stopped, putting Kai down on a rock. "You all right?" I asked him. Kai lifted his head and nodded, tears still in his eyes. Mine had dried up by that point. "Don't you worry about Keefe and Rin... Valo was with them." I knew it wouldn't reassure my boy, but I had to say something.

Kai shook his head. "He can't fight all those Disciples..."

I sighed and took a seat beside him, holding his paw. I then remembered something before being transported. "Did you notice anything before everything went white?" I asked my boy.

"Besides all our friends being crushed?" A rhetorical question, no doubt.

I squeezed his paw tighter. "Before we were teleported, I heard something crash down from the ceiling, and a big monster flatten a Disciple. It looked very deliberate, and it...it sorta looked like Rit. Like Demon Rit."

Kai looked up at me curiously. "No, I didn't," he finally said. "I think you were seeing things." I sighed once again.

We sat in silence for a long while until we decided to get going. We passed by a few trees, which slowly emerged from the thick fog, that had no leaves, but seemed to grow huge. "I didn't think Hel would look quite like this," I said.

"If this even is Hel..."

I shrugged. It certainly wasn't Midland. We continued walking in as straight a path as we could, hoping to get out of the damned fog, but it was persistent. Eventually we came to rest on a rock yet again, and after the third time resting, we began to realize it was the same rock. But we knew we weren't going mad, though by the fourth time, we were starting to wonder. We tried other directions, then eventually, our pawpads sore, we stopped entirely at the rock, and would hopefully wait for the fog to lift on its own. The thunder, like the fog, was rumbling consistently, and I found it difficult to rest in the light rain.

Neither Kai nor I said much to each other, especially now, until we fell as asleep as best as we could manage, waking again to a suddenly loud clap of thunder.

"Shit," I said, sighing heavily. "Maybe we are losing our minds."

Kai snuggled closer. After a while, feeling as rested as we figured we'd get, we were at it again, except this time, nearing that damned rock again, there was something else with it. A monster of some kind, much larger than me. It was hard to make out in the fog, but we drew closer slowly, until it spotted us. It let out an thunderous roar and stood on its haunches, flapping it's large, powerful wings. It continued to howl, and though it hadn't attacked, it seemed to be blowing some fog away. I growled and ran forward, and just as it started to come into focus, it screeched at me and took off into the air, flying away quickly. I just watched it become a blur until it faded. However moments later, the fog finally lifted, revealing a vast landscape with many shrivelled black trees, and a long, long line of identical-looking rocks. Mountains rested in the far off background, barely visible against the distant, blackish sky. The clouds were a dark, deep and red, lightning constantly flickering between massive globs of bloody billows. The thunder was, of course, still rumbling away, though with the fog the rain had also drifted. It was a foreboding landscape.

"I think...this is probably Hel," Kai commented, and once again we were off. Before long, the crimson clouds seemed to get darker and thicker, the now crackling thunder sounding more and more violent. An ominous wind eventually swept up, chilling us to the bone without being cold. Despite Kai telling me I was being paranoid, I couldn't help but look behind us every twenty feet we walked. Something was out there. I stuck close to my boy, and admittedly, something about this place frightened me. Though I would never admit it out loud. Especially not to Kai.

"I'll bet Keefe would be fascinated by this place," Kai said, squeezing my paw tighter. He sighed heavily.

I, of course, sighed, too, instantly remembering the warmth of his canid body against mine; his soft, glossy fur; his smooth, textured tongue gliding across my... Suddenly I looked up. I thought I'd heard something. A faint something, but originating from something loud. "Did you hear that?" I asked Kai. He shook his head.

"I heard you're losing your mind, though," the boy jested. He then hugged me, as if apologizing for the comment. "Do you have any idea where we're going?" Kai then asked me.

I shook my head. "I have no idea," I admitted. "Wherever the Crimson King is."

"Do you know where that is?"

"No clue... I'm sorta hoping we'll just run into it." Soon after answering that question, I heard that crying noise again, then when I turned around, I saw an enormous beast flying through the air, accented eerily by the thunder and lightning. It roared again, then swooped down a bit closer. I grabbed the Lionheart tightly and put my paw tightly on Kai's shoulder, suggesting he run. "Kai, hide over there," I said hastily, aiming him toward a big, black, leafless tree. "I'll take care of the monster. The Crimson King must know you're here..."

As Kai ran toward the tree, I ran away from him, trying to draw the monster's attention. It swooped down further, howling at me, finally taking notice. It didn't even seem to notice Kai. Good. I stood ready for a fight, holding the Lionheart firmly in both paws. Finally it landed, then roared once again. I charged the red-skinned beast, which seemed to surprise it. Odd. It jumped back nimbly, then tail-whipped my sword away, quickly reaching a clawed paw forward and knocking me back. I rolled and snarled as I got up, and just as I did, the beast took in a big breath. Seconds later, I figured out what it was going to do. I held up the Lionheart in such a way that I could hide partly behind it, then seconds later, a long stream of fire blew out, striking the sword and heating up parts of my exposed armour. I let out a terrible cry as I pushed the sword forward, trying to deflect some of the flames.

And just as the flames stopped, something long, hard, and whip-like â€" probably its tail again â€" struck me in the side, knocking me away. It let out a roar and came galloping toward me, before I could even rise. Just as I tried, it slammed its claws down on me, pinning me easily. He roared and hissed in my face, and I struggled to break free. It was then I realized Nosferatu hadn't said a word to me, nor gave me the slightest chuckle. Had Hel suppressed it? As my arm popped out from under the beast, I suddenly found myself missing that evil laughter and malevolent voice.

"Who are you?" the monster suddenly snarled, it's scaly claws gripping tighter at my chest and stomach.

I just stared up at the beast, shocked it could speak so clearly. "Uh...I'm..." I still couldn't quite wrap my head around this.

"How did you get here?" it asked. "We sensed some powerful magic..."

After a long moment of hard staring, the beast picked me up, putting me on my footpaws. Kai ran over to me, hugging me tightly and looking up at the monster.

"You two are not of this world," it said. "Where did you come from?"

"M-Midland," I finally managed to say. "Is this...Hel?"

The beast looked just as surprised. "I am aware of where your ‘Midland' is. That is a part of the mortal realm, isn't it."

I nodded. Perhaps in Hel, there were some good and some bad demons.

"By what divine curse did you find yourselves here? The magic we sensed...your kind has never come close to harnessing."

I frowned. "We used something called a Transcarrier."

That really surprised the beast. "You employed Black Dragon magic to carry yourself to this place?"

"Wait...what? How do you know about that? Are...you a dragon?"

The red-scaled monster scoffed. "So your people have forgotten us already."

"I thought you had all died."

The dragon laughed. "Oh, you have much to learn, my furry friend. But...this is hardly the place to teach you. You must come with me."

It sounded like I didn't have much of a choice. I grabbed the dragon's paw and he promptly threw me and Kai onto his back, then spread his mighty wings, galloping at first, but soon took off at amazing speeds, quickly gaining altitude. I had never been this high off the ground before without solid ground below me. We soared gracefully up toward the blood-red clouds, then suddenly dove downward a bit, and after a few gut-wrenching dives, I realized it was to pick up speed. Soon the dragon began to rise up into the thunderous clouds, myself scared shitless we'd get struck by lightning. However when we broke through the thick, red plumes, the sky above us was stunningly beautiful.

It was dark, possibly night, with millions and millions of starts littering the sky, all in different sizes and scattered about randomly, some even forming large clumps. But more notably was the spectacular red nebulous form swirling across the sky in brilliant reds, purples, yellows and oranges, as well as many other less-defined colours. Many of the stars shone in front and all around this swirling mass, which seemed to stretch across the entire sky. Close to the horizon was a round, grey rock, likely a moon of some kind, either just rising or now just sinking. I never would have guessed such a stunning sky existed in a place like this. After a long while, finally relaxing as best I could on this dragon's back, we saw the tip of a rocky mountain up ahead, and it was clear that's where he was headed. With Kai hanging on tight, the dragon suddenly dove, and a heart-pounding moment later, we landed. I climbed off his jagged back quickly, having a far greater appreciation for hard ground.

"Come," the dragon said, going into a wide cave. Kai and I followed until we entered an enormous chamber, of which we were at the top. Looking over the edge of the platform, in awe of the sheer size of the cave, both in width and in height, I saw multitudes of platforms, each one with at least two or three dragons, of various shapes, sizes, and colours, congregating around a group of eggs. It was impossible, from this angle, to tell just how many platforms and overhangs there were, much less how many dragons resided here.

"This," the red dragon said, "is our Rookery. Many of my brothers and sisters come here to congregate, though it is merely a portion of our numbers. We are spread all across the blasted planes of Hel, united by our common enemy."

"The Crimson King?" I asked, looked up at him.

"Yes. Although we have made many attempts before, particularly in the beginning, even our combined powers were, and are, not enough to defeat his might. And so for many centuries we have bided our time, waiting until our numbers become greater, and our forces strong enough."

"So he still has some Disciples left behind?"

"Disciples?"

"Yeah. Those ugly demons that do whatever he says. Y'know..?"

The dragon nodded. "Aye, his unholy minions. They were once furs like you, you know, millennia ago. Transformed by this place, and by his malevolence. We have noticed in recent times, I must admit, a great decline in their numbers. What has been happening in the mortal realm since our departure?" The dragon then held out his paw, suggesting I fill him in elsewhere, presumably somewhere more comfortable. I then found myself by a modest pile of enormous eggs that looked more like charred black rocks. We all sat down, and several other red dragons joined us, looking younger than the one who'd flown us here. Not one of them had revealed a name yet. Perhaps for Dragons, they didn't have names. Then again, there was the weapon smith Valo and evil black Dragon Níðhöggr. I quickly filled the red dragons in on what had happened two years ago, with the gate to Hel opening and our journey to kill the Crimson King.

"You hope to slay the King?" one of the dragons scoffed. "A thousand Dragons couldn't do it. What makes you think you can?"

Before I could respond, the older dragon cut in. "You must forgive my son, tiger. Although he has been alive for over a century, he is still young."

"Luca," I said with a frown.

"Eh?"

"My name. It's not tiger. It's Luca. And this is Kai. Do you guys have names?"

The elder dragon bowed his head. "Apologies, Luca. When we left our world, we had very little contact with your kind, especially my Clan. My name is Eld, of the Fire Clan, and this is my son, Char."

"How did you come to leave Midland?" I asked them.

Eld smiled. "To Dragons, there are no borders or boundaries. We roam wherever we like. The land belongs to us as it belongs to even the simplest of creatures."

"Is that why you're hiding in mountains?"

Eld gave me a hard stare, then sighed. The other Fire Dragons seemed to be either lazing about or tending to the eggs. Only Char stayed. "A harsh reality, but reality nonetheless. To answer your question, Luca, we came by the same method you had."

"The Transcarrier?" That didn't make any sense. The Black Book had mentioned nothing about other dragons.

"Aye. If you found your way here by that device, then you have no doubt found Níðhöggr's diaries." I nodded, then Eld continued. "After his test, Níðhöggr went mad after discovering he hadn't another Sanguine Opal, and so used a different one in haste. Although there are still debates on whether or not he had said the proper invocation, with the Garnet-coloured Opal â€" very close in shade to the Sanguine â€" he had inadvertently carried all dragons, not just himself, to Hel. All of my brothers here were born in this land, myself included. Very few of us remain who had lived before that time, and those who do are so close to death... None reside here. In our previous life, before our transport to Hel, they would have passed many, many years ago, but with no war between Clans now, they are forced to live until they are decrepit and old."

"I'm...sorry to hear that. I had no idea Dragons live for so long."

Char then nodded. "It is our goal, however, to die gloriously in battle. I hope one day for the chance to fight in the battle against the Crimson King."

"With any luck," I said, "he'll be dead in my lifetime."

"If you still intend," Eld started, "to face the Crimson King, it will be a death sentence. For both you and the child."

Kai looked up at me, and I down at him. "I'm not going to let that happen," I said confidently.

There was a long silence, broken only by some food being plunked down in front of us, by what may have been a female. I was invited to eat with what I quickly discovered was a very small portion of the Fire Clan, and that most other Clans lived in this one mountain together, as well as several others. I also found out, directly after discovering I was eating the meat of some inky, demonic animal native to Hel, that they had been interbreeding for several centuries now, and Char was one of the last in his brood to have been hatched. He was a Fire and Air hybrid, apparently, and an adept avian.

"So how do you propose to kill the Crimson King?" Char asked, shuffling closer.

"I, um...I have one of your weapons. The Lionheart."

The red dragon stared at me, as if contemplating those words. Seemed almost as if he didn't believe me. "The legendary blade of Heroes?" he asked, as if quizzing me. He then scoffed, like I was making things up, or that it was just too unbelievable.

I nodded. "Forged and crafted by Valo himself."

"Hm," he grunted, looking over at the brilliantly shiny weapon. He gazed at it for a long while, no doubt noticing the lion-like etching. "And you think it will destroy the Crimson King?"

Why did he have reason to doubt it? The weapon was made to combat evil. "Yeah, I do. And it will."

"Then I want to come with you," Char said, which surprised me. Not sure why, though. The dragon was clearly a strong warrior, and longed to fight in a real battle.

"I don't think so," I said. "Too many people have lost their lives because of me..."

Char growled. "You can't stop me," he said. "Besides, do you even know where the Crimson King is?"

I hesitated. "No," I finally admitted. "I don't. But I'll find it eventually."

"I could take you there," he said, sitting up. "I know exactly where it is. And I could help you, too."

I sighed, then looked down at Kai. He didn't seem against the idea. I looked back up at the dragon. At length, I finally said, "All right, fine. You can take us, but I'm fighting the Crimson King alone."

Kai then squeezed my paw, and Char frowned. "You won't be enough," he insisted. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

I growled. "Suppose I'd have to kill you to stop you, huh?"

Eld was clearly upset by his son's decision, but showed no sign of stopping him. They were very proud warriors, and would not likely impede on another's decision to fight, especially if it was as noble as this one. All Eld could do was wish his son luck. "Fight with a noble spirit, son, and never back down, and never give in."

"I won't, father. You've trained me well."

Eld smiled, then bumped heads with Char, both seeming to breathe a bit of smoke out. "May the fires of Hyrrokkin light your way, Char."

"Aye, they will guide me well." Char then turned to me, standing up on all fours, spreading his wings wide. "Come, Luca. We must prepare, then leave by sunrise."

"Already?" I said, Kai and I hopping on Char's back. He then dove over the ledge and swooped quickly into a long, wide tunnel, until we came into another high chamber, which he climbed nimbly until we went through another tunnel â€" after passing over a few others â€" and entered into yet another large chamber. This one wasn't nearly as grand as the Rookery. It appeared to be an armoury of some kind, where Char quickly picked out some armour. He chose some thick, likely leather gauntlets, then a harness which he explained would wrap around his chest, part of his stomach, and around his crotch and tail. After taking some armour for his legs â€" his shins â€" and picking out an intricate helm, he took me over to another chamber, this one with a tunnel heading straight up and out of the mountain. There was a large pit of coals in the centre of this chamber, with tiny flames scattered about. He placed his chosen armour on a fair-sized dais in the middle of the coals, then climbed up into the bed of coals, slowly and carefully. The heat clearly didn't bother him. When he finally lay down, flames climbing along his sides, he breathed out a huff of fiery smoke and smiled. "Before battle, we cleanse ourselves in fire. You would be wise to refrain from performing this ritual." As if he had to tell me that.

"Okay," I simply said.

"You may perform whichever ritual you please," Char said, closing his eyes. "But when dawn breaks, we will leave for the King's fortress."

I sighed and looked down at Kai, holding his paw. "Sleep well," I said as we meandered back through the armoury, both of us curious to see their stuff. It was all very ornate, and much of it leather. There was some metal armour, but it was very thin, and not bound tightly together. It was likely their scaly skin could repel most physical attacks. Although their armour was impressive, none of it would fit me. However despite that obvious fact, Kai had somehow managed to convince me to try on one of their harnesses. Quickly removing my armour, standing naked in front of my boy and a fire-bathing dragon, I found the smallest one, which appeared to be for a dragon's chest only, and it fit surprisingly snug. Perhaps it was some sort of hatchling's training harness, or something. Kai just mrowled and approached me, removing his belt, then his top armour quickly. Before I could look for my pants, he had already kicked them away and removed his own, now standing naked in front of me. He was already erect. "Kai!" I said, surprised. How did he always manage to surprise me? Without saying a word, the boy put his paws on my chest and backed me into the wall, then promptly kissed me. As I kissed back, murring, I felt his hard member press into my leg, and he made no attempt at hiding just how horny he was. This always seemed to sneak up on me somehow.

Kai then broke the kiss, pushing down on my shoulders. I slid onto my rear, eyes now directly in front of his throbbing panthermeat. It was obvious what he wanted, and so I obediently obliged. I opened my maw, but instead of taking his shaft in slowly, he instead forced it down quickly, which took me a moment to adjust. I gagged for a second, but soon got a good rhythm going with his forceful behaviour. If only I could remember being fourteen, I'd have a better idea of what he wanted. Predictably, Kai's long, loud, lustful moans turned me on, not to mention his apparent forcefulness and, of course, the taste of his hot, sticky and young precum. Did I just say young? At this point, there was no denying just how attracted I was to both his figure and his age, both of which often went together. It was mostly because he was fourteen that he had a figure like this, though I think even if he didn't, I would still find him extremely attractive. And arousing. Suddenly the boy jerked, holding my head tight.

"Y-Y'know," he said between a grunt and a moan, "when Rin...and I â€" aah! â€" messed around...I didn't get a chance to, um...to cum..." That explained his horniness, mostly. I guess he'd been waiting for a chance to get me alone, and with the dragon in his deep, fiery slumber, it would seem now was the best time. Obviously I couldn't respond with his cock jammed back into my maw, but I did make him squeal as my tongue wrapped around his cockhead. Which may have been a bad choice, because classically, the boy's paws had latched onto my ears, which he squeezed and pulled when my tongue pulled that move. But it apparently wasn't enough to stop me from doing it again, then again, enjoying the sound of his pleasured voice, not to mention his shaft swelling as it fired quick shots of pleasure up his body. I was getting good at this.

"Oooh, Luca," Kai moaned sexually, now opting to rub and stroke my ears, which was a lot easier on me. "More," he cried, giving a tug, and obediently my tongue did that simple trick once again. "Aaah!" he squealed, pulling again. I think he still wanted more. And, like a good kitten, I gave him more. I could feel his body shivering with delight, the boy barely even able to stand. He must have been pretty close to orgasm. The boy tugged my ears again as he cried out, bucking his hips forward just after I finished with my tongue. It would seem for now, he wanted me to simply bob my head forward, though I hardly had any control over it. In fact, he was forcing my face into his cute little hips, which wouldn't have been so cute if it was anyone but Kai. And Rit. After feeling him shiver again, I raised a paw and with my lips just around the base of his cockhead, I stroked his shaft. Slowly at first, but I quickly picked up the pace, more so when my tongue made the boy howl yet again. It seemed almost as if he was trying to beg me to stop, but loved it too much. He couldn't speak very clearly while panting and squealing, anyway.

"Ahh, shit, Luca!" Kai cried, gripping my ears tightly. A bit too tight, and I snarled. "Ah...Aah!" he shrieked, bucking forward into my paw and maw. Finally, with a bit of growl, I got his thrusting under control with a paw on his rear and around the base of his cock, and sucked diligently on the tip, which sent the cutest little moans from him. "L-Luca..." my boy groaned, "I-I'm...gonna â€" fuck! â€" c-cu..." Finally Kai let out a very loud moan â€" thankfully one not loud enough to wake a dragon â€" and bucked quickly and shallowly. Within seconds of his booming moan, I felt his hot seed splash into the back of my throat, and as I suckled away, it smeared against his shaft and my tongue. It tasted sweet, and surprisingly delicious. I continued to bob my head on my own, greedily sucking the last of his warm panther seed while Kai just continued panting and moaning, just one paw rubbing my ear. My left ear. I presumed his other paw was on the wall, keeping himself from falling forward. Finally I stopped, satisfied I had taken it all, and with both paws on Kai's hips, I mrowled as I forced him down, his naked rear sliding down my belly and resting against my rock-hard tigermeat.

Kai gasped slightly as he felt it, but grinned devilishly as he grabbed hold. But I grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, shaking my head. "No, no," I said, a grin far more devilish than his. "I may be in the harness, but I'm taking control now." Before Kai could respond, I put a paw on his chest and, partially using my own body, pushed him back onto his rear, then with my paw got him onto his back. He tried to push up, but I made sure he was down. I ignored his cute, fourteen-year-old growls and lifted one of his legs, sliding him closer toward the end of my pre-dripping, pulsating shaft. As it pressed into his tailhole, not yet penetrating, I leaned forward, propping myself up with my left paw, which rested beside his chest. I growled back menacingly, which silenced the boy. I smiled even wider.

"You've had your fun," I said darkly, " and now it's my turn." That apparently made Kai whimper, and for a moment I felt guilty. He knew I was just playing, didn't he? With a long, audible growl, I slowly pushed my hips forward, quickly penetrating his tight rear and sliding forward. Kai, of course, closed his eyes and let out a raspy moan, venturing a bit into growl territory. However once my hips were firmly planted against his cute little black-furred bum, it was clear by his satisfied sigh that he enjoyed it. I just growled and shoved forward quickly, making him yelp. When I began to pull out, his paw grasped my forearm tightly while growl-moaning, but I was quick to bat it away and pin it down, snarling at him. I could feel him quivering, more so when I bared my teeth and leaned in close to his face and neck, stuffing his rear-end once again. His tight, silken insides drove me crazy, forcing copious amounts of precum to lube it up perfectly. This was going to be fun.

Kai snarled as my soft barbs scraped at his insides on my way out, but it was the cutest little snarl. One only a kid could produce. But I refused to give into his cuteness and pounded my body against his once again, pulling his leg up a bit, making him cry out. I was worried, for a moment, that I could have been hurting him, but by his body language alone, I could tell he wanted more. And so I gave him more. I thrust forward again, faster and harder this time, letting out a soft grunt as I did. The boy made it impossible for me to last long, but I was doing my best. I then growled loudly and changed positions, leaning up just on my knees now and hooking both of Kai's legs around my waist. My paws gripped his hips tightly and I began to work even faster, grunting and moaning much louder now. His soft, warm body constricted every inch of my throbbing tigermeat, pushing me quickly toward the edge. Kai's claws were digging into the stone while he cried out uninhibitedly, snarling as my barbs scraped, but moaning with intense pleasure.

Soon, however, despite where I had stuck myself, I felt unbelievably cold. I was still ravaging my boy's tailhole, both of us enjoying it immensely, but something felt off. I could hear my groans and growls, as well as Kai's, but they sounded distant somehow. When I looked up, a figure was standing before me. A dark figure, one my Inner Darkness didn't even notice. Too small to be a dragon. It was about my size. Whoever it was, he was fully clad in armour, but covered entirely by shadows. And just when I thought I could see his face, the more I concentrated on it, the more vague it became. I then looked down at Kai, who was still rapt in ecstasy, and myself still pounding away. I could even see myself, the look on my face, the fierceness of my snarls. And yet I was somehow still able to look at this shadowed figure.

"Stop this at once," it said in a calm, yet frightening voice. "I warned you many times..." Then the figure pulled out a blade, and before I could react, had it to my throat. And still I continued to brutally fuck my boy. He totally wanted it, anyway. But this newcomer didn't. The shadow then growled and held up both paws, revealing twin blades. And yet beyond what I was doing with Kai, I couldn't move. I couldn't react. I could only watch. Suddenly, both blades came down into my chest, and I cried out madly in pain. Just as the figure pulled the inky blades out, he snarled and stabbed downward into my shoulders, then tore them out. I, of course, roared loudly in pain. Just then, he raised an armoured foot to my chin, lifting it so I was forced to stare into his nondescript, glowing red eyes. They were frightening eyes; the type you could get lost in, and never return the same. Just then, he raised both blades and snarled as they came down onto my face.

I cried out in agony, sudden ripping myself away from Kai, and Kai screamed just as loud. His was a different sort of cry, though; that of unimaginable pleasure. He was panting on the floor, naked and on his back, while I was plastered against the wall, panting and cold. I just stared at my boy, seeing a long trail of cum leading from Kai's rear to my shaft, more still pumping out of both of us. I was trembling, and Kai was still writhing and moaning. Finally he noticed me, blushing intensely, and crawled over slowly. He was murring loudly.

"You were amazing," he told me. "And I think you held out a bit longer than usual..." He had finally stopped the flow of tiger-cum from his rear. He then lowered his head and lapped the mess of my cock, but I didn't react. When he looked up, he finally realized something was off. "What is it?" he asked, flattening his ears.

"I...I don't know." Could it have been Loki? Did he make his way through? Or was it influence directly from the Crimson King himself? "One of those visions again... We shouldn't have done this."

Kai frowned. "You wouldn't believe how incredible that felt, though. I don't think I've never felt this full afterwards with you... I couldn't even hold it all in." The boy then giggled, but held onto me anyway. I held him back, sighing heavily.

"I can't wait ‘til all this is over," I said, giving my boy a squeeze. I felt cold and exhausted, and with Kai more or less lying on my belly, we slowly drifted to sleep.

My sleep didn't last long, however, as I felt something very warm encompass my chest. When I opened my groggy eyes, Char was trying to wake me. He looked more red than usual, and his paw was incredibly warm. He had all his armour on, while I was still naked. Even Kai had dressed himself. "Come, Luca," Char said, forcing me onto my footpaws. "Dawn in breaking." Dazedly, I found my armour and put it on, finding the hatchling harness fit very well beneath my armour, and even made it a bit easier on my shoulder for carrying the Lionheart. Which was good, because it took me until climbing onto Char's back and climbing up the hole above the coal pit to realize I'd forgotten to take it off.

As the chill, misty air rapidly filled my lungs, Char now just taking flight, I managed to wake up a little. Kai was clinging onto me tightly, while I held onto the dragon tightly. He flew below the clouds, though still significantly high. I didn't know how long this journey would be, but no doubt flying there was infinitely faster than walking. Especially since I had no idea where I was going. Char then rose up, and I could feel the strain in his muscles under my legs, but when we reached what was likely an appropriate altitude, the dragon relaxed, more or less gliding through the clouds. As he explained to me later, he was using the air currents to keep himself up, which were stronger at about this height. I had to take his word for it, though the wind was whipping wildly no matter how high we were.

Above the clouds, the sky was still very dark, though strikingly beautiful, but beyond the clouds the sun was rising. Although the enormous moon was still up, that didn't stop the sun, and after a short while, the inky black sky turned gradually more blue, though all the stars and nebulae were still very much present. Even the blue was more vibrant and far more sinister than I'd ever seen. Soon I noticed the clouds below us getting thicker, and despite being above them, darker. Much to my surprise, Char dove into them, and now flew through the thick, wet, thunderous clouds, weaving expertly between something I could barely see. Perhaps his Air Dragon side gave him instincts others didn't.

"We're getting closer," Char informed us over the whipping winds. I wasn't sure how he could tell, but again, I had to take his word for it. When the dragon finally flew below the clouds, the land below us was far different than where we had started. In what was a relatively short amount of time by flight â€" no more than an hour â€" the land had turned dark, fiery and charred. Multitudes of black forests littered the landscape, while the grass was an unnatural shade of bloody red, if not burnt to a crisp. All around there were long, flowing streams of smoke rising up at apparently random spots, though they did tend to look the most scorched. And the further along we got, the more I noticed the grassy areas begin to fade, and even the black trees. Instead they were replaced by a black, jagged, rocky landscape seemingly covered in steaming pools and streams of deep, thick, glowing magma. Even the air started to smell burnt, and it stung my eyes.

"This is his territory now," Char said in disgust. When I swept my eyes over the land again, after the dragon swooping lower, I noticed far off in the distance, gradually getting closer, an enormous black tower within the centre of what looked like a jagged and twisted castle. Char didn't need to explain that's where the Crimson King was.

"Where are we going to land?" I called to the dragon.

"As an invitation to all Dragons, he leaves his front gate open, and even the doors to his castle." Cocky bastard. He wasn't going to feel that way when I finished with him, though.

Finally we swooped down again, no more than ten metres from the blackened ground, being careful to avoid the large jagged rocks poking out from the lava and the land. Everything in this place seemed jagged. In a very short time, Char landed, me and Kai slipping off his back. We looked up at the menacing tower, and the dragon was surprised to see no Disciples around. "Perhaps the King is alone in this place," he said peering through the open gates. "The others...they need to be told. This could be our chance to strike."

"Well then you can go get them," I said. It was clear he wanted to stay, though. "If you and I both fall...then you'll lose any chance of ever fighting the Crimson King. All Dragons will."

Char thought about that. "I...I suppose you're right," he said lowering his head. "Will you wait here? For the others?"

I hesitated, then looked down at Kai. He was rubbing his eyes though. "Yeah," I finally said. "I can wait. But don't take too long. We've come too far."

"I will fly with great haste," Char said somewhat excitedly, then took off. I picked Kai up and brought him over to an enormous rock and sat on the side facing away from the castle, sighing heavily. My heart was pounding.

"How long do you think he'll be?" Kai asked.

I shrugged. "Couple hours, maybe. Maybe a few. It didn't take all that long to get here, but he's gotta go tell the others, spread the word, and they all gotta get their stuff ready."

"My eyes hurt," Kai whined.

"I know, sweetie. So do mine. Do you want some water? I filled up at Tiberius's."

Kai nodded and I gave him my canteen, which he carefully splashed into his face and eyes, then took a drink.

A short while later, we were alerted to a slight rumbling in the ground, and the stream of lava was bubbling quickly. "Shit," I said, standing up, gripping the Lionheart. Then something slowly rose; a figure of some kind, covered in molten rock. After it moved close enough to land, evidently having no good intentions, it became abundantly clear that this monster wasn't covered in lava, but was made of it. I cut through its neck with ease, its blob-like head splashing to the ground. After taking another oozing step, it fell apart. Still the rumbling persisted, and more of these molten beasts rose, and as we ran, some jagged rock figures climbed out of the ground, each one seemingly moaning in pain. After hacking a few apart with incredible ease, I realized they seemed to be saying something. I stopped for a moment, backed against the castle wall, as they surrounded myself and Kai.

"Come," one of them said. "Inside," said another. "The. Crimson. King. Awaits." Each one seemed to be assigned their own word to speak, as they crumbled after saying it. Finally they all finished speaking, and it was just me and Kai once again. They more or less said more of the same, that the Crimson King wanted to see me. Before I could move, though, that dark figure which had interrupted me earlier in the Dragon armoury appeared, the darkness swirling around it. Before giving it time to speak, I roared loudly and attacked, simply slicing through it like air. When I turned, it was standing next to Kai, holding a sword to his neck. I just froze.

"I request an audience with you, Luca. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

"God damn you!" I shouted.

The shadow seemed to laugh. "There is no God. Only me," then vanished.

I ran up to Kai, who was shaking. "What the hell was that?" he asked me. "I...I felt so cold. Colder than Asgard."

I growled, then stood up, holding the Lionheart tightly. "C'mon," I said. "We're not waiting for the others."

"B-But...Char said we should wait. What if we can't do it? What if...if the Crimson King gets his hands on me?"

Now I was torn. The Crimson King seemed intent on harassing me and Kai until we went in, and yet that would only increase his chances of getting Kai. I wouldn't allow myself to be blinded by my rage. I sighed, resting my shoulders. "You're right..." I admitted, holding onto Kai. "I'm sorry."

But before I could rest anymore, some much more angry rock soldiers appeared, and when they were clearly not going to give me any message, I was forced to attack. I snarled and roared as the Lionheart sliced through the black, stone enemies, one after another. It was just like being on the battlefield again, fighting for Midland. None of them stood a chance, nor even came close enough to hurting me. Though it would seem that unlike on the battlefield, their numbers now were unlimited. After an undeterminable amount of time, my muscles started to ache. And if that wasn't enough, I heard Kai cry out. One of them had him.

I turned and snarled at my enemy, watching as it backed itself into the wall. It was using Kai as a shield, and so I was useless to attack. And just as I felt something strike me in the back, I spun and sliced another in half, then another as it approached. But when I turned back to Kai, the rock soldier had evidently started to back itself into the wall, merging with it and pulling Kai through. I cried out and ran toward him, but as I got close enough, he had vanished hopefully to the other side. I furiously burst through a bunch of soldiers and bolted toward the open gate, but on the other side found no sign of my boy. My heart was pounding even heavier than before, both rage and terror flowing in. I had no choice. I had to find the Crimson King.

I ran toward the front entrance feverishly, kicking through the door. The dark halls were empty, lit only by torchlight and thin streams and falls of magma. It actually looked quite lovely against the black stone, but I hadn't the time to admire it. I stomped through the castle in a rage, snarling and growling at every movement not stopping but also not knowing where to go. Most striking, though, was the continual lack of any sort of Inner Darkness. Not even a chuckle, nor even a whisper. This anger and this rage was all me. Eventually I came to another set of doors and promptly bashed through, snarling as the wood shattered around me. I came into an enormous chamber with an impossibly high ceiling â€" I was likely in the tower part. Just as I entered in further, I noticed the rock soldier with Kai, and I charged him immediately. Fortunately I hadn't hit Kai, and I just burst through the monster. Kai fell, gasping for breath, and I caught him, pulling him in close.

"I'm so sorry," I begged, trembling a bit. I had almost lost my boy.

Kai just held onto me tightly, and when I looked around, there were at least ten thin, equally-spaced flows of lava, piercing the walls like lightning in the darkened sky. What was most odd about them was how they were flowing upward, and split at various lengths into two, which of course also split. Up above was what appeared to be a huge ball of floating magma, the purpose of which I could only imagine. After getting up, Kai plastered against me, I paced around a bit, my heart finally beating a bit slower now and looking about. When we reached about the centre of the chamber, stepping up on a low-rising platform, I took a good look at the ornate throne that was sitting in the middle. It appeared to be made of the same black stone everything else was made from, though carved beautifully. It wasn't jagged at all. I then growled, knowing full well who occupied this chair. Suddenly, and somewhat frighteningly, I heard slow clapping at the broken doorway, and turned quickly.

Before us walked a fur, presumably, who stood probably six inches taller than me, and appeared more built. He wore a helmet which covered his face, with two enormous horns on either side. The rest of his armour was like something I'd never seen before â€" it looked dangerous just wearing it â€" which encompassed his entire body. Even his tail was armoured. The metal was jet black, and appeared to have cracks all the way through it which was filled with a deep, carmine red, like it was freshly scarred. He just kept clapping, his clawed paws clashing together until he stopped entirely.

"I told Loki you'd make it here," he said. Although I couldn't see his face, I knew he was grinning. It was a cocky grin. I just growled. I didn't need to see his face to know who this was.

Holding the Lionheart tight, I suddenly ran forward, roaring. With all my strength, I swung the sword upward, but was shocked to see the Crimson King had stopped it easily with one paw. This wasn't possible. Before I could say anything, he simply shoved the sword away, then stepped forward and struck me hard in the chest, sending me flying back to where I'd started, sword sliding with me. Finally I got up, groaning, realizing there was a huge crack in my armour. "Fuck," I spat. This wasn't going to be easy.

"A fine attempt, but it'll take more than that to kill me. A lot more. In fact, it'll take a lot more than that to even come close to me. I hate sounding so arrogant, but you have no idea what power you're dealing with."

"I know exactly what I'm dealing with," I barked. I wasn't about to admit he was right.

The Crimson King sighed, then looked down at Kai, who had clung to me. "I must thank you," he said, "for bringing the boy right to me. A logical fur would have left Kai with the Dragons, but I suppose neither of you wanted to do that, hm?"

When I growled, I realized I still felt nothing from Nosferatu. Had it run somewhere, hiding in a darkness greater than its own? At one time, I'd never want my Dark Presence to rise, but this would have been an excellent time. Where did you go?

"Loki was so confident he'd be able to force you two apart, especially after your ordeal with Midland's King. I tried to tell him your bond with Kai is far stronger than anything he'd ever felt, but still he persisted. He even tried to use your poor lion friend. What was his name? Riâ€"."

"Don't you even mention his name," I snarled.

The Crimson King just grinned again. If he were a lesser fur, he would have no doubt said it anyway, just to piss me off. "It truly was dreadful what Loki did to him, but he was sure it would work. Unfortunately for Loki, it only served to bring you two closer together. Your bond with the boy...it's truly remarkable, however twisted it may be, and I suppose I must commend you for persevering."

"How do you know what happened to Rit?" I asked, inserting a bit of growl. Despite his kind words, I still wanted him dead.

"Because I've been watching you, Luca, through Loki. Midland's King before that. But Loki's kept a very watchful eye on you since you left Concord two years ago. If only I could control that tenacious little firebrand, things may have gone a bit smoother. But nevertheless, I have you and the boy with me now, which is really what's important. You know, when Loki stumbled into Hel I saw so much potential in him, like I saw in you."

As much as I wanted to just tear the King apart, I was admittedly curious. He continued with his story, anyway. "Ordinarily, one couldn't survive long in Hel, especially in this territory. And yet somehow that little arctic fox made his way through the fire pits, the jagged rocks and the raging rivers of lava, and into my castle, tired, starving and naked. He'd told me some Black Dragon â€" Níðhöggr, I think his name was â€" had sent him here, as some sort of test. He was a slave to them, he'd told me. The dragon was likely trying to find his own way into Hel, which of course was confirmed a few days later. Níðhöggr didn't stand a chance against me and my army... Anyway, I fed the young arctic fox and gave him a name, and even taught him how to use my magic. My power. He was so happy, and so incredibly grateful. That's why I sent him after you, to make sure you stayed on the right path."

"Right path?"

"Yes. So you would bring the boy to me. Originally he was going to simply stop you from meeting Kai, but it became clear that with my limited power here in Hel, that would be impossible. It had also become clear that since your meeting with Kai, nothing was going to get in your way of saving him. Not even an angry mob, hm? And so Loki followed you and watched, shaping events to arc in my favour. And he's done a wonderful job at that, hasn't he."

I still had scars from that day in Bolt. I continued to hold my ground, moving only to face the King, growling still. I gave him a hard, wicked stare, even though it was pointless. How do you intimidate someone who was intimidating you? "How did you get Loki out of this place? Why not just transport yourself?"

The Crimson King found that very amusing. As I listened to him laugh, my anger only grew. Steady, tiger... "Do you think I would not have done that if it were possible? No, only the soul of the Sacrifice can release me from this wretched place. That is, the soul of your young panther." The Crimson King then sighed. "I must admit, I was hesitant to sacrifice so many of my own army to remove Loki from Hel, but he wanted it so badly..."

"I don't give a fuck about Loki," I spat.

The Crimson King then stopped, and though his eyes just appeared as two glowing red orbs, he stared right at me. Stared right through me, enough to make me lose my grip a little on the Lionheart. Shit. And still Nosferatu was nowhere to be found, cowering someplace inside me. But...was it inside me? Perhaps...it was no longer. Perhaps Nosferatu had fled altogether, never to show its terrifying face again. Did the Crimson King have that sort of power? Or was it because I was simply in the presence of an even greater darkness? A darkness I could scarcely comprehend.

"I've come to know you quite well over the years, Luca, and frankly, you've been such a disappointment. You had shown such incredible promise, until they got to you."

"They?" Had he been watching me my entire life? If so, how was that possible? Had Loki been around since I was a cub? But what about when I was in the Army? Perhaps that's when the King was watching me.

The Crimson King was pacing slowly around the room again, around Kai and I. "'They,' dear Luca, are my opposition."

"Opposition? You mean...the Old Gods?" What did they have to do with any of this?

"Indeed, the ‘Old Gods.' They, of course, have names, but that's irrelevant. You can call it divine intervention, if you will. Either way, they must have somehow known who you were, or what Loki was up to, or perhaps even what I was up to, or even Midland's King... Either way, they took notice and decided to step in."

"How? I don't remember any of this."

The Crimson King laughed again, as if to say I was stupid for not understanding. I couldn't wait to smear his smug, armoured face all over the walls. "Unlike myself, the ‘Old Gods,' as you call them, are unable to directly influence your mortal world. Of course, I can't from here either, but that's beside the point. Ironically enough, they â€" I don't know which one â€" took possession of some nameless priest in Concord two years ago, and set you on your journey to rescue the Sacrifice, likely knowing full well who you were and how determined you would be to keep the boy alive. That was when I knew I'd lost you for good."

I growled. I hated the thought of being controlled, or manipulated like I apparently had been. I was never a big believer in fate. "What do you mean?" I asked spitefully. "How did you ‘lose' me?"

The Crimson King stopped once more. He just stared at me, though unlike last time, it was a different sort of stare. A stare that suggested regret, or even longing of some kind. "You have no idea who you are," he told me. His voice had taken a much graver tone.

I just stared back, looking not quite as angry. "What...do you mean?"

The Crimson King then lifted his paws to the gigantic horns on his helmet, then slowly lifted it off. My heart was pounding as I watched, seemingly frozen in time. As his helmet finally lifted off, the face of an old, battle-worn tiger stared back at me, still with those same eyes. They showed much more emotion than I would have thought. If he had actually been smiling at some point in our conversation, he wasn't anymore. We, Kai included, continued just staring, as if letting this all sink in. The Crimson King looked so...normal.

"You," he finally said, "are my son."

I heard Kai gasp silently, and I think my maw fell open, unable to find any words. How the hell was that even possible?

The King then smiled. "Not in the biblical sense, of course. That's just absurd. However, thousands of years ago, when magic, sorcery and Dragons ruled Midland â€" the latter of which far more rampant than I'd have liked â€" I'd met a beautiful young tigress named Luna. It was during my campaign to take what is now the northern part of Midland, in a frosty Asgard, which was far more grand than it is now. But before the Old Gods stepped in to remove myself and my army from the land, I learned she was going to bear my child. I, of course, never got to see my child, nor my child's child, and so forth. Not physically, anyway. My point, young Luca, is that you are a descendent of an extraordinarily long line of dreadfully dark minds this land has ever known, mine included."

Suddenly I felt my stomach turn. "Fuck," I said as Kai held on tighter. I never knew my parents, and Pennar had never mentioned where or how he'd found me.

"All those stories you've read, or heard about, about unspeakably evil furs...they were real, Luca. All those murderers and warlords, and even Midland's first Champion...they all come from the same blood. From my blood. And yours is becoming thicker. I know you've felt it," the Crimson King continued. Kai was still holding onto me tightly, scared. "That incredible darkness hidden inside you, poking its head out from time to time... It's what makes you strong, Luca, and what keeps you on your footpaws. It's what keeps you healthy and ready to fight another day. It's what keeps you alive."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "That darkness is nothing like that. It's just a...a voice, inside me, telling me what to do, forcing me against my friends. It tells me to get up and kill. It hasn't kept me alive all these years. It's just...a horrible voice. It's in my head, not my soul."

The Crimson King growled at me. "Then you're a bigger disappointment than I thought. That darkness you keep hearing...it's not just an evil conscience telling you what to do, and I think you know that. Surely your fight with Loki is evidence enough. You aren't becoming something different, Luca, but simply realizing your true nature. That darkness is a force far greater than anything you could possibly imagine, and you apparently haven't even begun to comprehend it. Your blood is as thick and as crimson and as cold as mine. We are the same, Luca, and the sooner you realize this and come to accept it, the sooner we can put this whole mess behind us."

"He's nothing like you," Kai snarled. I think it surprised both me and the Crimson King equally to hear him like that. "He's a sweet, caring tiger with more compassion than you could ever have."

"Oh, my dear boy... Although Luca may have your beating heart, I, alone, own your soul." The Crimson King then stepped forward, holding out a paw.

I snarled and stepped between the two. "Don't you move any closer," I said.

The King lowered his paw and stared at me. "Your Darkness is nowhere to be seen nor heard," he said calmly. "And I have thousands of years more experience than you. You pose no more opposition to me than this thick, vile air between us. Step aside, Luca, so I may extract the boy's soul and we can leave this horrid place together. Apparently I have a lot to teach you."

I just growled as threateningly as I could, though it was probably worthless. "I am not letting you near my boy." I gripped the Lionheart tightly, ready for a fight.

"Please," the Crimson King said, looking at me with those same expressive eyes he had before. "I don't want to have to fight you for him. But...I will if it comes to that."

I stood my ground. After a moment, the Crimson King sighed then slowly put his helmet back on. "Run, Kai," I said. "I need you to hide."

With just a moment's hesitation, my boy finally ran, and I turned back to the King. He had already unsheathed his duel swords. Both were fair-sized blades, about the length of a standard broadsword, but fairly curved and with deadly, hook-like bits on the ends. They were rather intimidating blades. Nevertheless, I stared the Crimson King down, waiting for the first move.

"I offer you once more chance, Luca," the Crimson King said, "to lay down your sword and accompany me back to Midland."

I answered with a growl.

"Very well..." he responded regretfully. But before I could say anything more, he had dashed forward.

I swung the Lionheart upward, deflecting the King's attack, then snarled as I forced my sword back downward, taking a few steps forward. My attack missed and smashed into the floor, shattering it. Suddenly to my left, another attack. As quick as I could, I lifted the Lionheart and swung it around to my left, finding I had only struck the Crimson King's blocking swords. I did, however, successfully knock him back, then I dashed forward and began to swing my blade to the right, aiming straight for my enemy.

However the Crimson King nimbly jumped back, but keeping up with the immense momentum, I simply spun myself around, going in for another, less precise right-swinging attack. Unfortunately the King had dodged again, this time catching my blade with his, unpredictably stopping my sword. This, of course, put incredible strain on my elbows and shoulders, causing me to snarl. Before I could react, the Crimson King suddenly dashed toward me, striking me in the muzzle with his armoured elbow, nearly causing me to drop my weapon and stagger backward.

Suddenly, after just a second, the King went in for yet another attack, this one with his swords. Although Nosferatu was gone, my warrior instincts told me to swing my sword around, and so I did, clashing with the King's. Both paws now holding the Lionheart, I roared loudly and swung my sword again, slicing downward which was easily blocked, but I didn't let that stop me. Just as my blade flew away from his, I cried out and swung upward, missing, then across my chest, the Crimson King parrying to my right. Just as he went in to attack, I held up my footpaw and kicked forward, striking his hip. Though it wasn't a significant blow, it was enough to stop him. I expertly stepped back and swung my sword to the right, finding it was blocked yet again. However, with the adrenaline really pumping now, I attacked yet again, putting incredible strain on my body. But on the battlefield, you couldn't think of such things. My muscles burning, particularly my arms and shoulders, I swung the massive Lionheart quickly and powerfully, and though I hadn't landed a direct hit, I could tell I was wearing the Crimson King down a bit. Unfortunately he seemed far more vigorous than I. Suddenly, when I went in for strong, roar-producing forward thrust, the Crimson King leaped back, then jumped forward, smashing a hard footpaw in my face. I snarled and stumbled back, and after slicing across both my forearms, I dropped my weapon.

I was then suddenly struck again, again across the face, and felt one of his blades hook around my waist and swiftly pull, slashing straight through my flesh. I cried out, holding the wound, but quickly found my sword. The Crimson King was just standing about four metres away from me, holding both swords and giving me a wicked stare. He didn't say anything, but stood as if waiting to see what I'd do. Although blood was gushing down my hip and left leg, I lifted the giant Lionheart anyway, growling at the strain. If he'd thought I was through, he was dead wrong. With a tight grip, I ran forward once again, snarling, and took a mighty swing, not surprised to see it dodged. I then quickly stopped myself and swung it hard to my left, this time blocked. I instead grunted and shoved the Lionheart forward, trying to push the Crimson King back. Although he was pushing back, I roared and shoved forward even harder, then again. Just as he stumbled back a bit, I moved my sword out of the way and kicked him hard in the gut.

The Crimson King fell back, though still on his footpaws, which gave me plenty of time to run forward and bash him in the face with my gauntleted forearm, then again. Then with a tight grip on the Lionheart, I swung it around, striking the Crimson King in the side and knocking him back, a long trail of blood smeared across the dark-stoned floor. I roared loudly and ran forward, going in for the kill. However something struck me in the shoulder, cutting deep, which caused me to falter then drop my sword. I held the deep wound, finding it had cut straight through my shitty armour. I could barely even lift that arm. I then heard a quiet chuckling from the felled Crimson King.

"Very good, Luca," he said, turning and slowly getting up. "I must admit, your skills are very impressive. Far greater than I expected, considering you're fighting alone."

I growled once again, picking the Lionheart up with my other â€" my left â€" paw.

"Unfortunately," he continued, holding his arms out. Both swords must have fallen somewhere, though I suspected one of them had just sliced through my shoulder. "You are fighting alone." I then heard some awful cracking noises, and I think the Crimson King's arms were extending. "I humoured you with trivial information in hopes you would see things my way, but it's clear whose side you've chosen." The Crimson King's body continued to grow, and I could only step back, watching in awe. Not only had his limbs started to grow and deform, so, too, did his body and head. Most bizarrely, his armour was growing with him, as if part of him now. "I have waited far too long for the Sacrifice," his voice boomed, "and I'm tired of wasting time."

Suddenly something struck me in the chest â€" likely his massive paw â€" slamming me into the wall, then I fell, gasping for breath. Whatever hit me, it had knocked the wind right out of me. I could hear Kai crying out to me from somewhere, but it was impossible to concentrate on. When I looked up, the Crimson King seemed to have transformed himself into some wicked dragon-like monster, roaring violently at me. I had a feeling, though, he wasn't going to be like an ordinary Disciple. Just as I started to get to my footpaws, he roared fiercely and threw a paw forward, which I luckily dodged. As I hit the floor, I felt it rumbling below me, and I was much quicker to get up. But as I turned, I was struck again, this time flying back into the large, stone throne in the centre of the room, crashing through it and landing behind it. I gasped desperately for breath until I felt an enormous, sharp paw grab onto my entire torso, then toss me back into the furthest wall. My armour clashed together, and I think my top armour had broken entirely. Groaning loudly, certain at least a few ribs had been shattered, I squirmed about, trying to get up. I still felt and heard nothing from Nosferatu, though I did hear the Crimson King chuckling to himself. Again with the rumbling in the floor as step by terrifying step, he drew closer.

Using as much strength and willpower I could muster, I slowly and painfully started to lift myself, no idea just how close the massive Crimson Dragon was. My ears were ringing and my back in more pain than I realized, but I managed to get up onto my footpaws. I had no idea where the Lionheart was, though. Just as the King went in for another attack, I snarled and dashed to the left, then with surprising agility darted forward, past the Crimson King and suddenly dove away from another attack, landing somewhat painfully beside my sword. With the adrenaline starting to pump once again, I quickly got up and lifted my blade, and just as the Crimson King went for a hard smack with his tail, I swung it across my chest, deflecting the attack. When the blade came down into the floor, I swung it hard upward, deflecting his paw, then the other. I didn't even know what I was doing by this point, but going on adrenaline and instinct. Just as I somehow managed to deflect another attack, I found the smallest opening for a counterattack. I charged forward and suddenly heaved my sword upward, piercing the Crimson King's thick, armour-like skin.

He howled in pain as thick, almost black blood oozed down the Lionheart, my blade seemingly stuck. It took no time at all, however, for the King to grab hold of the sword, myself still attached, and fling me away while ripping the blade out. He snarled fiercely as the blood poured from the open wound, then soon whipped my sword back at me. Luckily, it missed, but it was startling to see it stabbed into the stone floor just inches away from my leg. Must have been stuck at least half way, which as I discovered seconds later, was impossible to remove. Just enough time, in fact, to get a sharp tail-whip in the face, which forced me to snarl loudly and stumble back, however I didn't fall. Moments later, after hearing the Crimson King cry out, he slammed me back into the wall again, his armoured palm plastered against my chest. As he let go, I fell straight down, once again gasping for breath. But before I was able to do anything, I felt him grasp onto my right arm, squeezing it tightly like a ball of clay. I cried out, then roared as I felt the bones crack and shatter between his fingers, then was tossed once again toward the centre of the room.

My arm was throbbing with indescribable pain, blood pouring from everywhere bones were sticking out, and there was no way in hell I was going to lift myself with it. Using my other arm, I slowly lifted myself, though I think a few bones had broken in it, too. Just as my body raised a bit, something hard smashed me in the face, then I was picked up again by my mutilated arm. I just groaned and growled, the pain in my body far greater than anything I'd ever felt before, and likely more than anyone could possibly bear. I was barely conscious, and I was certain my face was bleeding profusely. I must have been at least ten feet off the ground, if not more, dangling by my broken and bleeding arm in front of the Crimson Dragon's face. His demonic, monstrous face was grinning horribly, and he just growled happily. I could hardly keep my one good eye open anymore, but when I felt something grip at my back armour, as well as part of my skin around it, my eye opened wide. The Crimson King suddenly pulled on my armour, which forced the front, jagged crack to press into my chest as well as against the many broken ribs, until the straps finally gave way and the armour was torn from my body â€" chainmail with it â€" the chest piece falling free. With a quick swipe of his sharp claws, I felt two deep incisions be made all down the backs of my legs, then something tear off my armour. When I finished crying out, I heard what sounded like cracking and breaking armour, then a loud clang from the floor. Seconds later I felt body go completely weightless, then fell downward. But just as I struck the floor, feeling and hearing something in my legs or footpaws shatter, an excruciating pain shooting up my whole body, something hard and fast slammed into my chest and stomach, smashing me once more into the wall. Just as I felt my tired, incredibly injured body begin to fall, a long, sharp object suddenly pierced my left pectoral, sliding easily through me and into the solid object behind me, pinning me there. However with what felt like broken ankles and shins, I couldn't even stand if I wanted to. I instead hung off the sword by my chest, which the Crimson King had wielded before, feeling my half-dead body slide off it until it hit the hilt, where I promptly stopped and groaned. The Crimson King was just laughing away, and with one eye barely open, I watched his body slowly shift and change back to its former self. Such a grotesque sight.

Suddenly I felt two small paws run across my shoulders and chest, and a voice calling out to me. I think it was Kai. The pain was messing with my senses, but I knew it was him. He tugged at the sword, but it wouldn't even budge. Blood was dripping down my reddish, beaten chest, as well as my legs, my hip, my face and my arm. I'm sure there were a bunch more I wasn't even fully aware of. Just then, a huge, enveloping shadow appeared behind Kai, and as I watched my crying boy gasp, it grabbed onto him tightly. He struggled for a moment, and I, too, tried to free myself. "No," I heard myself rasp, pulling on the sword. Pain was shooting up my legs and my body from the shattered bones pressing into the floor, but it was no use. The Crimson King backed away, tossing his helmet aside. I guess he wanted me to see his face as he killed my boy.

"P-please..." I begged, head dangling off my shoulders, putting my full weight on the sword's hilt. I felt it move just a tiny bit. "Don't...ki-kill him..." Blood was pouring from my maw.

"Oh," the Crimson King started, still backing away. He was holding Kai now with one arm, the boy's paws clasped on the other side of the King's neck. Tears were still in my poor panther's eyes, though he seemed frighteningly compliant. Perhaps the Crimson King was weaving some spell as he pet the boy's head. "What you don't seem to understand, Luca, is that you don't need to kill someone to extract their soul."

I growled silently, still letting my body fall against the sword hilt. I felt it move a bit more, and with the pain and possibility of escape, it was difficult to concentrated on what he was saying.

"I had no intention of killing this sweet young boy; he still has his whole life ahead of him. However, Fate had decided it was time for me to leave this place and brought the Sacrifice to me; that one particular soul required for my escape." The Crimson King then stopped petting Kai, who was staring blankly at me while tears poured down his face, and placed his palm between the panther's eyes. He then bent his fingers so his index and middle fingers were pointing up and together, while his thumb was sticking out to the side. A dark aura then surrounded his paw, and blackish wisps slowly appeared and began to swirl around the paw and Kai's head.

"No..." I growled, quite loudly now, as I put more pressure on the sword. Suddenly, after hearing a few cracks and splashes of blood, my body fell to the stone floor, landing on my right, shattered arm. I cried out in horrific pain, my broken voice echoing through the massive chamber. Slowly I dragged my half-dead carcass toward my boy, sword still stuck in my chest. I had to ignore the pain. I had to save my boy. Inch by inch, I made my way up toward the broken throne, where the Crimson King was standing, and as I reached the first part of the stone dais, I slowly pulled my body up. As I did, my good paw â€" possibly suffering from just a broken wrist â€" gripped the sword's handle and pulled. I growled as I felt the hook end press into my shoulder, but persisted anyway. I was at least ten metres from the Crimson King, and he did nothing to slow me. After a long, exceptionally painful moment, I tore the blade from my chest, snarling and breathing heavily. Despite Nosferatu's absence, I gave the Crimson King a wicked stare, using his sword as a crutch as I continued forward. However, at about eight metres, a brilliant flash pulsated from Kai's head, which was thrown back as it shone.

The boy gasped slightly, his eyes open wide, as the Crimson King slowly pulled his paw away. Just as the light dimmed, the King seemed to extract a brilliant, purplish orb from the boy's head, which shone dimly. A slight haze was swirling around the translucent orb, as well as a more reddish, fiery one flickering upward like a torch. After staring into what was possibly Kai's physical soul, I was then far more stricken when I saw his deep, fiery red eyes had become something of a dull, greyish amber. The Crimson King just stared in awe of the object hovering above his paw, then looked down at me.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said calmly. He then chuckled to himself as his eyes gazed upon it once more, taking a few steps back away from me. "The quintessence of this child's soul... It's breathtaking, no? Surely you must appreciate this after holding his heart for so long. This... This is one part of the boy you will never have." The Crimson King then chuckled and looked back at me, his grin much more malevolent now. Moments later, as I hobbled painfully forward, he clasped his paw into a fist, extinguishing Kai's soul like a flame. And just as he did, fire seemed to blow out from under him.

"No!" I cried loudly, suddenly thrusting myself forward. But when I reached the Crimson King, I fell through the empty flames and onto my stomach, onto the bare floor. I snarled and roared like a madman, slamming my good paw, my good fist, into the stone floor, cracking both it and my bones. The King was nowhere to be seen. And I continued to cry out, no longer feeling my physical pain. I then heard a horrible rumbling all around me, which caused me to stop roaring. I was breathing heavily, and quivering with indescribable rage. Something then burst from the floor around me, apparently the one last Disciple in Hel. As it rose from the black stone, the rest of it breaking through the floor â€" it was a worm-like monster â€" I felt a very familiar darkness quickly well up inside me, enough to make me disgorge my bloody belly. It was clawing and slashing violently at my gut, snarling and howling for total release. It had been scared away by an even greater Darkness, but it was back now. It was back, and it was extremely hungry.

Slowly I stood up, seething with complete and absolute rage, the Disciple slithering around me. I could see its black heart pounding, and every single vessel of blood coursing through its body, as well as my own, and it wasn't going away. The pain all throughout my half-dead carcass was now gone, despite standing on my shattered limbs, but was replaced with malice and hate. Just as part of one wall broke down, revealing another hideous Disciple, then a third moments later, I gave them hard, terrifying stares, stopping them instantly. It was then I realized the tiger named Luca was no longer in this chamber, nor even this dark and twisted castle. The tiger wasn't even in this land. With Kai stolen from me, there would be nothing holding me back, and certainly no stopping me. I was going to show these monsters who was standing before them, and I would be ruthless and unforgiving. I was going to show them exactly who Nosferatu is...