Hey guys! I must admit I've waited an extra day hoping for more reviews to come in, so it's kinda disappointing that none came in. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to this chapter because it officially kick starts the last ten chapters of my story! I'm begging you guys to please review it, whether you are an active reviewer or a guest reviewer, because it would be the perfect end-of-year/Christmas present for me if you guys could review it. If you haven't reviewed chapter 34 yet, I urge you to please please please review it as well. If you would like to review any of my previous chapter as well, you are definitely welcome to do so.

Anyway, thank you to the following kind souls who really made my week: A happy reader, mcmlxxvii, HumanicHedgeHog, pyro159, a guest reader, Myname, FierceDeity24, Jack Cross and Clytuis. Hopefully I'll see more reviewers coming back just before the Christmas season begins.

This chapter marks the beginning of the titanic battle of Regalia. I hope you enjoy it and the remainder of my story. Thanks a lot!

This chapter is written from Calvin's perspective.

Chapter 35: Bloodbath

Calvin stood on the eastern wall with Ripred. The whole wall was lined with soldiers from different species. The breakdown of numbers from each species was complex, but in the end the only important detail was that they had sufficient men to man the wall. The spiders had spun a web between two towers, and that web would be lit up by a flame later for certain reasons. The spiders had also added web to the walls of the city, so that it would be more difficult for the foxes to scale the wall, since their claws would be stuck in the web if they tried to climb it.

Meanwhiles, the moles were situated underground, ready to launch a surprise attack on the foxes when the message was sent down to the tunnels in which they were lying in wait. The metal defences underneath the walls of Regalia had been temporarily removed to allow easier mobility for the moles.

Back in the city, civilians were setting up traps in the streets designed specifically for the foxes. Calvin had no idea what those traps were and frankly he didn't care. All he had to do now was focus on the battle that was arriving at Regalia's doorstep. Soldiers fidgeted about, clearly nervous for the upcoming fight. Ripred was leaning against the sole trebuchet that Regalia had. It was recently built, and had never been used in battle before. But seeing as this could be their final battle, the Regalians pulled out the trebuchet. There was just one of it and it took a while to reload, but it was definitely better than nothing.

Ripred yawned and remarked, "According to our scouts, they should be here any time now. Courage, lads, courage! There is nothing to fear, because we have nothing to lose! If you fight like wimps out there, I will haul your sorry arse back over here myself and make you wish you fought harder. We shall betray no sign of fear, nor feel trepidation of any sort! We will fight a heroic battle and die a heroic death. Aye?"

"Aye!" the soldiers barked back in response. Calvin wanted to shout back as well, but his mind was too preoccupied with distressing thoughts. He allowed his memories to swarm his mind as the incident of the previous night appeared once again before his eyes…

"So will you join us?" Calvin asked Gregor.

Gregor looked extremely troubled. He paced around the room for a while, before picking up his jewelled dagger. He gazed at his reflection on the blade's surface, before placing it down on his table. He then rummaged through his dusty backpack which sat isolated in one corner of the room, before pulling out a small item and tossing at Calvin. Calvin looked down at the object in his hands. It was a torch.

"There will be light when we fight," Calvin told Gregor.

"I know," Gregor responded as he took the jewelled dagger and twirled it around with his fingers, "That torch is not for seeing light. I believe you have your own torch for that. This torch is for good luck. It was the first torch I ever used in the Underland. When I was walking about the museum earlier today after paying a few visits at the hospital, I found it lying on one dusty shelf. It's supposed to symbolise the light and hope that you possess. It's yours now."

Calvin looked down at the grimy torch, before placing it in his pocket. He was going to have to clean that thing. "Wait," he said pausing for a second, "By passing this torch to me, are you saying… are you saying you won't be at the battle?"

Gregor sighed and replied, "I would love to be, Calvin. But we've had this conversation many times before. I'm going to prove to be more of a burden than any help at all. Being a rager does not necessarily make me Regalia's hero. I don't deserve to be the Warrior anymore, Calvin. That mantle must be passed on to you. I'm done with fighting. It's destroyed my life… and it's not for me."

"Wait," Calvin said, unable to believe his ears, "You really are serious about this?"

Gregor shot Calvin a look. "Do you honestly think that I'd joke about this?" Gregor asked sarcastically.

"The whole of the Underland has decided to unite together in battle," Calvin said slowly, "For the first time in its long and convoluted history. And you, the legendary hero, will reject a chance to fight alongside these brave Underlanders to the death? For God's sake, Gregor, I'm sick of all of your bullshit. There are civilians trying to help out in the fight. You are probably the only person who has chosen not to fight with us against the foxes and Operation Claw."

"I choose not to fight, but not because I don't care," Gregor replied angrily, "But because I have lost control and harmed enough people!"

"Blah blah blah," Calvin responded, rolling his eyes, "Don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over again? You're never going to get out there into the real world again, are you? You're just going to act like some miserable little loser because you aren't willing to take the necessary steps to change."

"You don't even know how it feels," Gregor spat back, "Have you ever felt what it is like to kill an innocent kid and have to apologise to his distraught mother later? Do you know how it feels like to see your world crumble around you because you are a freak? Do you know how it feels when you hate yourself so much that you would beg for your own death?"

"No," Calvin said softly, "But I do know how it feels like to see everything you loved being taken away from you. I know how it feels like to lose almost everything."

"No you don't," Gregor said coldly, "You think you do, but you actually don't. You lost your mum, you lost your dad, but that's far from everything. You still have your honour, your dignity, a chance to be with a girl you love, and you still have meaning in your life. I've lost all those things along with my family."

"Your family is still alive," Calvin pointed out.

"They're as good as dead to me. I killed my relationship with them," Grego replied with a dismissive wave.

"WHAT THE SHIT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Calvin exploded, unable to handle Gregor's attitude anymore, "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH? My father and mother are dead, Gregor. They're dead. They're never coming back to me again. At least you still have that option to reunite with them. Do you want to know how it feels like for one of your family members to die? What if Boots died, hmm? How about Lizzie? How would you have felt? I think I know the answer. You'd still be here, wallowing in your misery, unable to move on with life. I've lost just as much as you, Gregor, whether you want to believe it or not. And yet I'm picking up those guns and I'm ready to fight for Regalia. And you are still here sulking like a brat."

"You think you understand what it's like in battle?" Gregor asked, shaking his head, "You don't know what it's like in a full-scale battle. Sure, you engaged in some minor fights, but you don't know what happens in the thick of fighting with thousand on each side and everything to lose. If you insist on going in there and losing your mind and morality, then by all means do that. But don't drag me into the mud as well."

"It's all about you, isn't it?" Calvin replied angrily, "I thought you always chose Regalia above yourself. I told the people the same thing during your eulogy. I shamed them into believing that they had used you as a mercenary to their advantage. I told them to follow in your footsteps to put their lives on the line for Regalia. And all I told them was a lie. You're not willing to put Regalia above yourself. You just aren't willing to face the consequences of your actions."

"I shouldn't be forced to face the consequences of my actions," Gregor reasoned, "I shouldn't even be expected to fight for you guys, and neither should you. We owe no allegiance to them. I've given them my all and more. My body has been broken more than a dozen times just to satisfy the needs of this city. We all have a limit, Calvin. I'm not willing to take so much."

"You told me not to believe in principles and morality and virtue because you thought it didn't exist," Calvin responded, "But you are wrong. It is these values that separate us from the scum. It's what makes a cause worth fighting for. It's what makes us human, Gregor. The Underlanders may be selfish, but you and I are supposed to be the ones who make the sacrifice to inspire them to change."

"It's not even that I'm being selfish," Gregor replied in frustration, "I'm trying to protect you all from myself. And in the process, I'm being portrayed as some kind of lazy and selfish villain. You saw what losing control could mean for other people. You saw the number of people who died simply because for one minute, just one minute, I surrendered to my rager instinct. I don't want that to happen again, Calvin. I lost my mind for a while and was teetering on the edge of suicide because of that. Call me selfish, but I think any decent human being in my position would have done the same."

"So you are implying that you'll never fight in battle again," Calvin inferred, allowing a hint of sarcasm to creep into his voice.

"If I can help it," Gregor answered, "I'll stay clean forever. I don't want to spill another drop of blood again. I don't have the right to claim the lives of others."

"And yet by standing at one side, you are allowing your friends as well as thousands of other good Underlanders to die," Calvin countered, "So essentially you are trading the blood of the good Underlanders for the blood of your possibly innocent enemies. Quite the trade-off, if you ask me."

"You have such a shallow understanding of the world," Gregor criticised Calvin, "I've told you this before, and I will tell it to you again. There is no good and bad in the world. There is just your side versus my side. And the superior side wins. There are good people and bad people on each side, there are wise people and foolish people on each side. One side winning doesn't make a difference. All you get in the end is a statement that one side is superior than the other. The Underland was moving in the right direction. Instead of choosing to fight against each other, we chose peace. A hard-earned peace that has now gone to waste. We're back to being an army of blood-thirsty animals ready to die for false ideals."

"Some would call you a cynic," Calvin lambasted Gregor, "But I suspect most would call you deluded."

"I speak the truth, Calvin, whether it is a truth you want to hear or not. There is no good versus evil in this war. And even if there was, good never wins. It always loses in reality," Gregor hissed back.

"Maybe not this time," Calvin replied, softening his aggressive tone slightly, "Maybe this time it really is a fight of good versus evil. The foxes and Operation Claw intend to destroy the whole of the Underland and torture an entire species just to save their own race. There is in no realm of possibility that they are somehow justified. We are fighting for the peace and existence that thousands have worked hard to protect. We fight for our lives."

"Are they not doing the same?" Gregor riposted, "They are trying to save lives too, although it's in a very extreme manner. The race of Overlanders is going to die, Calvin. In the end, either we perish or they perish. It's a survival of the fittest and that is what nature intended to happen. There really is no good and evil here."

"Don't tell me you've bought into their ideology," Calvin sighed.

"I haven't," Gregor clarified, "I just thought that providing an objective view of the matter would be better."

"So objectively, you're saying it's justified to launch an attack against a race just to stay alive?" Calvin asked incredulously, "The Underlanders never did anything against them."

"It is not," Gregor admitted, "I'm just saying there is a compelling reason why they would choose to come here and wage war against the Underlanders."

Calvin decided to change the angle of things. "Why are you not fighting for them, Gregor?" Calvin asked.

Gregor actually seemed stumped at that question. Eventually he answered slowly, "I believe it is because I have more friends here than I do in the Overland."

"Is that all?" Calvin questioned, "Because knowing someone like you, I am sure that if you friends weren't morally justified, you wouldn't back them all the way."

"What's your point, Calvin?" Gregor snapped.

"My point, dear Warrior, is that you choose to fight for the Regalians because they are the ones here who stand for good," Calvin explained, "They stand for virtue and morality."

"No," Gregor disagreed, "They stand for their own survival. That's the only reason why they united together, or at least you claim they did."

"Perhaps that is true," Calvin conceded, "But I beg to differ. I was there when I saw the people of the Underland unite. They knew that they were going to die. They knew that their fate was and still is inevitable. Yet even though the Council did not make it compulsory for them to join forces with Regalia, every single species there decided to help out Regalia although technically they could have surrendered or bailed. If anything, this shows that they were willing to stand to the bitter end with Regalia, despite the insane number of casualties that are going to be incurred. This is courage, Gregor. Courage that I don't see in you right now."

For a little while, they both just sat there, enveloped in a silence which both were using to understand each other. Calvin had no idea what Gregor was thinking, but he felt disappointment when he looked at Gregor. It just seemed as if Gregor was almost completely destroyed single-handedly by his guilt. Sure, his body had suffered heavy damage in his battle with Flavius, but it was his guilt which really broke his spirit. Gregor was no longer the hero that he still looked up to. The Warrior had fallen a long way down.

He broke the silence by saying, "Gregor, remember the conversation we had after you killed the boy? You told me that we were the bitches of fate. That we were just meant to be a ragged doll tossed and thrown about by fate and torn down to our lowest level if fate felt like it. You told me that fate was on the side of those physically superior, and not mentally superior."

"Yea, I remember that," Gregor grunted, "Fate took everything away from me. I was once like you, believing that fate didn't exist. Ripred was the one who spread that idea to me, while Ares and I discussed it. We concluded back then that I wasn't destined to die, even though fate had called for my life. And it did seem as if fate never existed, because I survived the battle with the Bane. But you know what? Fate was a bitch that twisted the slow knife into me, so much so that I didn't even realise I was dead until I was long dead. You see, what I didn't realise until it was too late was that fate killed my innocence and goodness in that cave nine years ago. I went on, thinking I had the strength to carry on with life. But that was just a lie I kept telling myself. Gregor the Overlander died in that cavern all those years ago, and never came back."

"You know what? I'm not actually disagreeing with you," Calvin told him, "I do believe that fate exists. Where we differ is that I believe that fate ironically gives us a choice. A choice of whether to believe that we are consigned to a designated fate, or a choice to change our destinies. We aren't being forced to become slaves of fate. We do have free will, Gregor. Using fate can never be an excuse for not doing anything because it always gives us a choice. But as long as we choose to believe it dictates who we are, then we will always remain its slave and we will always be beaten to a pulp by it."

"What do you know about fate?" Gregor asked softly and to a certain extent, snidely.

"Enough to know that its giving us a choice today," Calvin answered Gregor as he left the room, "And the choice is still open to you."

… Calvin snapped back to reality, staring at the empty plains ahead of him. He looked down at his armour, which had been repaired for his battle. The red and black colours were put together in perfect contrast, with just shades of black in certain areas. The knuckles on his gauntlet were sharpened to make them even more fine and cutting, while his utility belt was in full stock again, although he was missing his Thermite grenade. His Uzi crimson was attached to the left side of his belt, while his pistols Raven and Ebony were already in his hands.

He suddenly heard a loud booming noise and then the noise of marble crashing down. He turned around to see them detonating the pillars at the High Hall. Slabs of marble crashed to the ground as the High Hall collapsed, sealing off the entrance to the royal wing. "That should keep Vikus, Nerissa, Hazard and the rest of them quite safe for now," Ripred commented.

"How about Queen Luxa?" one soldier asked.

Just then, Aurora landed at the wall, and Luxa, clad in purple armour and carrying a gleaming sword, gingerly got off Aurora. Calvin vaguely remembered fighting alongside her during the final battle in the atrium of the foxes' base of operations. If his memory served him well, then he recalled that she was a fantastic fighter and her aerial prowess appeared unmatched. "Speak of the devil," Ripred said with a devilish grin himself.

"Only a rat would call his own bond a devil," Luxa said with a sly smile.

"And only a human would ignore her bond all the time until she desperately needs him," Ripred replied smoothly.

"That is untrue," Luxa replied with mock ferocity, "Aurora has never made one single complain about me ignoring her."

"That's because Aurora never talks unless she's greeting you," Ripred shot back.

In all honesty, Calvin was enjoying their banter. It was keeping his mind off depressing thoughts and was actually quite amusing to watch. "You're as stubborn as your grandmother," Ripred remarked to Luxa, "You know very well that you are supposed to stay in the royal wing. The Council has ordered for you to do so."

"Since when have I ever obeyed the Council?" Luxa asked him in return.

"Unfortunately for yourself and me, you never listen to them," Ripred sighed, "Now I have to put up with your noise and your overbearing behaviour. One day you're going to pay the price for being so stubborn."

"There may not come another day," Luxa said grimly.

"Don't be so pessimistic now, your Majesty," Ripred rebuked her, "Your people need you to be confident. Your bond needs you to be confident."

"And I need my bond to shut up," Luxa replied cheekily.

"Where's the Warrior?" one of the soldiers blurted out.

There was an awkward pause, before Calvin quickly replied, "He may join us later."

Ripred and Luxa engaged glances revealing their disappointment, with Ripred shrugging before resuming his staring into the distance. Luxa, in particular, looked extremely upset. She joined Ripred in staring into the distance. Calvin originally had told only Ripred about Gregor's decision, but the rat had probably spread the news to those high-ranking generals, commanders and royals about Gregor's choice. Not that Calvin had any problem with that, it was just that… negative news spread around really quickly.

Suddenly, one of the guards at the wall blew the horn, signalling the fact that an enemy was approaching. "Finally," Ripred breathed, "Just as things were getting boring."

The fox army marched forward with perfect coordination. Not a single fox was out of place. "Their discipline here is just a show," Ripred whispered to Luxa and Calvin, "The most likely scenario is that they will attack chaotically because it would be the perfect foil for our own disciplined organisation. In order to thwart them, we must be able to have a fluid line of soldiers that can absorb blow after blow from them. This scene here is just for intimidation."

The Overlanders lingered behind in their own formation. But the most frightening sight for Calvin to see was Flavius leading the line. The right side of his face was covered in a metal mask, just like how Calvin had seen him in his dreams. His face looked even more menacing than ever as not even the slightest hint of a grin appeared on it. They stopped about two hundred metres away from Regalia and stood there for a while. Flavius watched the walls closely, before breaking out into an icy smile, which made Calvin's blood run cold. He couldn't help but notice that many of the other soldiers on the wall just looked downright frightened. Flavius was hands down the most imposing fox in the whole of the Underland, and that metal mask on the right side of his face made his appearance that much scarier.

"Greetings, Regalians," he called out in that velvety voice of his, "Today you stand on the precipice of utter destruction. From where we are standing, all of us here can smell your fear. It is a stench that we wish to get rid of. And we shall help you do that! If you surrender to us, we will grant you clemency. You will be allowed to walk as free men towards the Uncharted lands. Just as Sandwich did so to our forefathers centuries ago, so we shall restore the balance here. Yes, you will live, but in the same conditions that we lived in for centuries. So, Underlanders, what is it going to be? Will you surrender to us?"

"He is so predictable sometimes," Ripred sighed. The old rat then nodded at a soldier who was carrying a torch, and he said, "Go on. Light it up."

The soldier placed the lighted torch at the web which was spun across two towers. The flames caught onto the webs and spread quickly, illuminating a large message in Regalia that read, "WE WOULD RATHER DIE." It was truly an awesome sight to see the words on fire, shining brightly over the city and the plains in front of it. Then, a bone-chilling roar erupted from the soldiers on the walls and at the doors of Regalia, in the city as well as amongst the fliers perched on roofs. "FOR REGALIA!" they yelled. Calvin felt a sense of pride swell within him, and he joined in the titanic battle cry, which must have echoed on for miles and miles. Even a flash of fear appeared in the eyes of some of the foxes that were assembled below.

Finally, the battle cry died down and the soldiers of the Underland stared at the foxes, waiting for their reaction. Flavius just raised an eyebrow, before breaking into the most venomous chuckle Calvin had ever heard. He then hollered out, "All shall perish in this Regalian bloodbath!"

The foxes then burst into an unusual half-bark, half-growl that matched the sheer volume of noise that the Regalians had made. They were now even. The showing off was over. The stage was set. The battle was about to begin.

Finally, Flavius yelled, "SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"

For a split second, everybody on the battlefield froze.

And then…

The foxes began to charge.

Yay we have finally started on the final battle of this story aka the climax! Woohoo! Loved every moment of building up towards it. We're really getting down to the last few chapters of the story, so please please please review it now! Whether you have reviewed my story before or not, reviews would be really, really nice.

Question: Do you think Gregor will join the battle? And if he does, do you think he will be too late? Let me know your thoughts in the reviews section!

Fly you high!