A/N Well, another chapter up for you guys, so like always, I hope you enjoy the chapter. And on a side note, June will probably not experience any chapters for this story, as in the month of June, school is ending, I'm going to a slipknot concert, going to north Dakota for nitro circus, heading back to Utah, then going back to north Dakota to spend a month and a half their, all in the process of June. So I apologize for that in advance. Anyway, to the story

Cando walked nervously to the tall cobblestone walls that housed the city of Kolokaton, the sun high in the sky shining brightly upon it. A nice breeze flew through the grass as Cando walked upon it. When he got close enough to the city limits, two guard's heads perked up, and they quickly snapped out of their sloppy, undisciplined stance and went into a protective one, drawing their swords from their sheaths. When Cando got close enough to see the soldiers faces from within their helmets, he secretly hopped the tunic he was wearing was able to hide the little amounts of armor he had on, as well as his dagger.

"Stop" came one of the soldiers, taking a step forwards with his weapon still drawn. "What business do you have here?" Cando gulped inwardly, and spoke: "Family. I heard there was a battle here not too long ago, and I came to make sure they were safe." The soldier's sword lowered a little, but was still out in the open. "Well, I can understand a male looking out for his family. But we must search you over to make sure you're not with the rebellion. You understand." After that, the wolf whistled loudly, piercing the otherwise calm scenery with a high pitched noise. From atop the city's walls came two robbed figures, their features hidden by the shade provided from the hoods. One of them placed his left hand to his temple, and outstretched his right hand towards Cando.

Cando instantly felt something poking against his head, realizing that he was being scanned by a magician. He also realized in fear that there were not one, but two figures standing atop the wall, meaning both had to possess magical capabilities. He knew Kate wouldn't have been able to see this, as her, Humphrey and the rest of the group were hiding within the trees, waiting for Kate's all clear signal. Cando only stood for a second before the probing sensation in his mind vanished, and the magician responsible of the actions started to scream, placing both hands on his head in pain. A moment later, he dropped dead, falling backwards off the wall. Cando, the two soldiers, and the remaining magician stood in shock. Then the wolves guarding the gate jumped to action, rushing Cando with their swords, assuming he killed the magician. Cando pulled out his dagger and got ready to fight, but started to have second doubts as the cities gates opened up, and a whole squad of fully armed imperial foot soldiers stormed out. His doubts finally forced him to turn and flee as a multitude of archers appeared on either side of the mage on the wall, their bows all targeted on him. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, hearing the twang of arrows as they were shot through the sky, and the thud as they landed right at his feet, burying themselves in the dirt as he ran past. He could also hear the shuffle of metal as the soldiers gave pursuit.

As Cando reached the tree line Kade, Hutch and Claws burst out of the vegetation, swords and shields at the ready. Kade threw an extra sword he was carrying to Cando, and the four got ready to fight. "We should really retreat!" yelled Cando as the soldiers got closer to the band of rebellion fighters, his voice acquiring a high pitch to it as the upcoming battle made him nervous. "We can't" Hutch responded. "Kate killed the first mage, but she didn't sense the second one. He started to attack her, and though Kate was able to sense it in time and throw up a defensive, she is practically immobilized. It's taking all her strength and concentration to hold her own against the other magician, and if she were to lose focus trying to run to her horse, she would surely die. We have to keep these wolves at bay long enough till Kate or the enemy mage drop dead. Humphrey is staying by her side in case we fail."

Cando growled angrily. "This is all going to shit" he said through his teeth, the other wolves noticing his use of the curse word. A few seconds later, the two groups clashed. The imperials were obviously well rested and well trained, because they easily parried the four's attacks. And with them having the superior number, having six compared to four, they were able to overwhelm them quickly, forcing them to back up into the vegetation of the forest. This proved to work to their advantage however. The empire's armor was already bulky and hard to move in, but the stray branches and shrubs made it really hard for the imperial soldiers to operate. Quickly, two of the soldiers were dispatched of, now making the battle fairer. Kade thanked gods for the distance between the city walls and the vegetation, as the archers were useless at this range, leaving him and his men free range to move around the soldiers without fear of an arrow. They used this to their advantage as well, and started push the empire back.

Humphrey's 3rd person pov thing. Yeah, totally professional terms used in this transition lol (:

Humphrey was crouched down next to Kate, his hand placed on her shoulder as a sort of comfort, though he doubted she acknowledged it. Her eyes were closed tightly, her upper lip curled into a silent snarl as her top teeth bit down on her bottom lip violently, causing blood to run down her chin. Her hands were clenched tightly as well, her nails drawing blood from her palms. Humphrey could tell she was in serious amounts of pain and distress, and he wished desperately that he could help her. But he couldn't, as distracting her could prove to be fatal. Humphrey just had to sit and watch as someone he cared about deeply was in a searing amount of pain. He found himself having to look away, not being able to watch her deliberately cause this pain to herself trying to maintain enough power to battle the enemy magician. He stood from her side regretfully and quickly ran to the sound of nearby fighting, trying to get a glimpse on how Kade, Cando, Hutch and Claws were doing. He only saw Imperials on the forest floor, so that had to be a good thing. His eyes then drifted to the city, and standing with the archers stood a tall wolf in a robe, still as a statue.

Humphrey realized instantly from his solid pose and the concentration he was maintain on the empty space in front of him that held nothing of interest that this was the magician Kate was doing battle with. He's right in the open Humphrey thought to himself. If only we had an archer that survived in Kades army we co… Humphrey turned and ran towards the camp they had set up last night where the horses were set up, and went towards Blindside. The beast snorted as he came up beside it, and Humphrey ran his hand down its snout to calm it. "Easy" he said to it softly as he ripped open the pouch upon its back and grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows. He then untethered Blindside and sent him sprinting towards the tree line, making sure Kate was still ok along the way. He had to admit, he was extremely proud of her to have survived this long. Just a little longer Kate, just a little longer.

Back to the fight between Kade and his men and the imperials.

Another imperial had fallen, this time to Hutch's blade as they continued to engage in combat. Kade had tried to hurry his squad to dispatch of these soldiers before the reinforcements pouring out of the city made it to the forest so they could focus on the real test that was about to commence. They quickly surrounded the remaining three soldiers and practically executed them. Afterwards, they stayed within the vegetation, waiting for the entire garrison within the city to reach them so they could engage on Kade's terms. They quickly set up a few traps, laying branches upon the shrubs and tying soft twigs to shrubs on the ground to create a sort of trip wire. They were trying to get as prepared as possible for the upcoming fight. Claws finished tying up the last twig as the empire's soldiers burst through the forest, charging with weapons held high. The four soldiers of the rebellion rose to the challenge, swinging their blades with quick and precise strikes. General Kade parried two attacks at the same time, one with his shield and one with his sword. He countered instantly, slamming one soldier back with his shield while his sword flew through the air and buried itself in the neck of the other soldier. Kade then lunged backwards, dodging a slash at his legs. He noticed grimly that the imperials numbers almost instantly overpowered his small four man squad, and they were now being pushed back to where Kate and Humphrey were.

Kade continued to dodge and weave, countering with all his strength as he tried to halt the imperials advance. His sword was the bane of the empire, cutting down the enemy left and right. In fact, he did so well holding his ground that it put him at risk, as when Hutch, Claws, and Cando got to overwhelmed and fell back, he was getting surrounding trying to hold his ground. He inwardly cursed his allies, wishing that their swordsmanship was better so they could stand a chance against this superior force. Just then, a small horse crashed through the shrubs, and ran right through a good number of imperials as it went. Kade noticed Humphrey upon it, his bow gripped tightly in his hand. He didn't have enough time to contemplate what Humphrey was doing however, as he and his soldiers took advantage of the confusion and destruction Humphrey caused to the imperials line of soldiers by killing the ones still on the ground or who were getting themselves back on their feet. Kade smiled to himself, as this could be the boost his squad needed to push back the enemy.

Humphrey's pov again.

Humphrey crashed Blindside into the enemy wolves, giving Kade a little relief as he rushed towards the wall. When he finally reached the edge of the vegetation, he stopped in his tracks. The city was sending its entire military garrison out of the city to attack. There would be no way for Humphrey to get near the mage to get a clear shot. He growled angrily and decided to shoot from where he was, perched upon his horse. He pulled an arrow and lined it up with the mage. He fired, seeing where the arrow landed as a reference to see how he would have to angle his next shot. The arrow fell short by a long run. Humphrey again lined up the mage, but this time he curved the bow up more, trying to get more distance out of his bow. Again he let go of the arrow, and again he fell short. He realized that he couldn't get closer, and he couldn't get his bow to shot the length required to hit the mage.

Then yet another idea came to him. This one was even riskier, but if it worked, they would be able to succeed with their mission. Humphrey flipped Blindside around and rode quickly back the way he came, making sure he hit a few more soldiers along the way to help his four friends. He regrettably noticed that they had lost even more ground, and were now getting alarmingly close to Kate. When he entered the clearing, she was still crouched down, all color that showed through her fur now gone, but whether it was from the blood loss of her lips and hands or the intensity of the battle he did not know. He lifted his leg up and over his beast and ran to Kate. What he was about to do could kill her, so he was as careful as possible. He didn't want to put her life in any more danger, but this was the only way he could think of to kill the enemy mage. "Kate" he said softly, gently rocking her with his hands.

Slowly, one eyelid opened up, and a golden orb was looking directly at him, surrounded by pure red. In just that split second, Humphrey could see all the pain and misery she was going through. He noticed that the color on her face hadn't disappeared, but rather her cheeks being literally covered in tears, shining back the weak sun that penetrated through the trees that gave her such a pale look, and the red eyes. He continued to speak, trying to block out Kate's pain so he could focus on helping her survive. "Kate, I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work." Humphrey noticed Kate shudder violently. Her mixing her attention span between the battle and Humphrey was killing her. Instead of explaining his reasoning for his plan, he skipped straight to the question he needed to ask. "If I shot an arrow could you use magic to propel it forward with enough strength to hit the magician?" Kate blinked twice slowly. "Is that a yes?" Again, two blinks from her one eye that was open. Humphrey didn't know for sure, but assumed it was a yes, and stood with his bow. He aimed through the trees right at the mage, making sure he wouldn't hit any leaves or branches along the way. He aimed up, and asked Kate if she was ready. One blink. Two blink. Humphrey fired the arrow, watching it exit the forest. Once it was clear of the trees, he told Kate to use her magic. Humphrey jumped from the scream Kate released at the moment, and then Humphrey saw her fall seemingly lifeless to the floor.

Kade pov

Kade heard Kate scream, a sick, blood curdling scream. He went to look behind him to maybe see what was happening, but an object moving through the sky caught his eye. He followed it, and realized it was an arrow. It flew straight ahead, an unnatural flight pattern for an arrow. And a second later, it buried itself in the chest of the mage standing one the city wall. His hood flew back and Kade could see the pain written across his face as his hands gripped the arrow stuck in his chest, before he slowly fell to his knees, and then his death. Kade was snapped back to the fight at hand by another startling scream, again coming from a female. Looking to his right, Kade saw an imperial soldier with his sword lodged through Claws's left leg. Kade lunged over and sliced at the soldier's neck and he fell dead. Before Kade could help her with the sword, Imperialist soldiers swarmed them, noticing that Claws was weak and they were trying to finish her off. Kade saw Hutch and Cando fending for themselves, so he was on his own to defend claws.

He fought bravely, deflecting blades and cutting limbs, fighting with all his might. But there was just too many, and one got around Kade, stabbing the downed Claws through her chest, ending her life. Kade killed the wolf, then yelled for Hutch and Cando to retreat. As they turned and started to run, Kade yelled out again through the forest: "Humphrey! Get you and Kate on a horse now!" The imperialists chased after their prey, crashing through the vegetation as they chased them down. When Kade got to the clearing, Humphrey had already had Kate strapped onto her horse. Kade saw her and instantly knew she had passed out. He jumped on his horse, not even bothering to strap his feet in has he made his horse sprint away, Humphrey sitting on Kate's horse with her. As the five rode away, Humphrey looked back and felt a stabbing sensation in his gut as the imperialists, knowing they would not be able to catch the soldiers, slit the neck of Claws horse, and he realized that Claws didn't make it. Blindside sprinted besides Humphrey and Kate, no rider on his back, but being smart enough to follow Humphrey. The five rode for over an hour, pushing their horses to the limit just in case the empire did follow them. They eventually had to stop, their horses being unable to maintain the current pace. They unsaddled and led the horses up onto a hill within the forest, so they could have the overlook of the surrounding area. Humphrey lifted Kate's limp body and placed it down on the ground, and instantly started checking over her, while Hutch and Cando went on guard duty. Kade went to the nearby trees to collect wood for a small fire.

Humphrey checked Kate for a pulse, and was relieved to feel the faintest beat of her heart. He sighed happily, and removed his tunic, folding it to use as a pillow for Kate to lay on, as he was too tired to go grab her sleeping roll. He then went to help Kade. Kate was still asleep by the time they started the fire, and no conversation was brought to life between the four males. They all knew that the mission they just attempted was a failure, and they had lost a good friend. They saved a peace of food for Kate for when she awoke, and assigned a very strict and secure guarding assignment. Then they turned in for the night.