Happy New Year! Welcome to 2018, and to help bring joy to this new year here is a new chapter! Yay!

I won't waste a lot of time yammering, so please enjoy!

"If things begin to get ugly, don't panic. Trust us."

Those were her words and they rang in Tino's head. He watched Lovisa's body fall to the ground with a solid thump. His breath had been sucked out of him as if he was the one hit with the cane. He opened his mouth to speak but no words were forming or even coming out only a confused jumble of sounds.

Berwald's eyes shifted to slits within seconds and he glared at Oleo. "What have you done?" he said in a low growl as he stepped toward him and he could smell the blood that drew from his mother's temple.

"I merely put the woman in her place," Oleo said and wiped the loose strands of hair that had fallen out of place. He threw the cane aside and smiled, "Now we can talk like men. Women certainly are troublesome aren't they?"

"Oleo this was not part of the plan!" the mayor shouted from the crowd shaking off the initial shock. The crowd had become uneasy watching the exchange and became restless behind them.

Oleo glanced at him and waved his hand at him, "There was no real plan to begin with I'm afraid. Even if there was I was never very good at following directions." He kept a steady look on Berwald and then glanced towards Tino. "I"m surprised you've managed to stay calm this entire time," he chuckled."Surely I would have expected an outburst of your morals being shoved down my throat by now." Tino swallowed the lump in his throat feeling his entire body going numb slowly. He was panicking.

"Step away from her," Berwald said taking another step forward his voice has become deeper and his bones could be seen moving underneath his skin. An uneasy sight for the crowd as they began to whisper and the mayor himself stepping back.

Oleo shifted his attention back to Berwald and then looked down at Lovisa. "Hm, well you see I just a grand idea," he whispered and tapped his fingers on his chin with a crooked smile. He slapped his hands together, "Black earth, the blood of magic, comes a whip made for beasts. So be it." He pulled his hands apart just as he gripped the handle of a whip and the rest fell to the ground wrapping itself like a snake in the front of his feet and slightly draping over Lovisa's unconscious body. "I did intend to take Tino at first, but due to the sudden change I can see something better." He squatted right beside her body and moved some hair from her face with his knuckles and looked up at Berwald with a smile.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Berwald snapped and he could feel his body shifting with his large paws sinking into the earth beneath him. His jaw was opened nearly all the way revealing the rows of knife-like teeth and he snarled at Oleo.

Within seconds the crowd that had gathered began to disperse with screams of horror and terror filling the air. "Oleo! Oleo stop this!" the mayor called out hobbling toward the young man who stood in front of the menacing beast.

Oleo paid the mayor no mind and stared at the large creature and smiled, "So you've finally come out to play. Wonderful."

Tino inhaled sharply with the wave of dark energy hitting him as he stumbled back and crumpled to his knees. His head was pulsating and he dug his fingers into the dirt beneath him. "Ber-Berwald…" he whispered breathlessly his vision fading in and out. He gasped for air and did everything he could not fall over.

Berwald's ears raised and he glanced back at Tino and he closed his jaw slightly softly whining. Oleo laughed, "My, it seems the princess isn't feeling too well." He turned back to Oleo and Berwald cautiously walked closer to Tino to block the path between the two of them.

"Relax, I'm no longer interested in him," Oleo said.

"Oleo please," the mayor pleaded once more with nearly the entire crowd gone and all who was left was him and a few others. "Please stop this madness."

"Madness?" Oleo whispered and turned towards the mayor glaring at him. "You think this is madness? You think this beast," Oleo pointed at Berwald with a crooked smile, "You think that is madness?" The mayor raised his hand in defense and leaned back on his cane heavily glancing between him and Berwald but was unable to say anything. "No, sir. This is not madness," he chuckled. "This is magic. Something you fools have no concept of." He turned to the few left standing there. "You fools have no idea how this world really is. The kinds of things that you can have or do with magic. Which is why pathetic peasants such as yourselves are not needed in this world."

"We are forbidden to have magic-" the mayor had began but was broken off my screams. The sound of the whip cracking filled the air and the mayor crumpled to the ground, holding a hand to his face as blood seeped through his fingers. His eyeball rolling just a few feet away from him.

"Are you insane?!" one man shouted but stepped back as Oleo turned to him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Oleo whispered as he raised the whip over his head once more.

All Tino could hear were bloody screams and he reached out gripping Berwald's fur with the pain in his head subsiding slightly. "What's going on?" he asked quickly and tried to force himself up to look but Berwald blocked his view.

One after another the remaining men fell with the whip slashing across them like nothing; ripping out eyeballs or tearing off arms like they were made of paper. Berwald pressed his ears to his head and snarled before he inhaled deeply and howled.

"That's our cue," Gilbert whispered and stood up from the ally way they hid in. "I was wondering how long he was going to let that go on for."

"They live for blood," Ludwig reminded him as they both shared a look and without another word both shifted into large ravens. Berwald watched as they appeared and landed atop of two building where Ludwig nodded at him and Berwald nodded back. He raised his ears hearing howls that weren't too far off.

"Berwald," Tino said finally forcing himself up and clinging to the large wolf. Berwald was quick however in not letting him see the carnage that laid before them. He turned toward Tino and whimpered softly, but Tino didn't understand.

Oleo was panting once there wasn't a single scream left in the air and he the whip was bloodied. He turned toward Berwald and closed his eyes for a moment taking a deep breath. "Sorry for that small interruption I had something to deal with." Berwald turned towards him and bared his teeth once more glaring at him. "Now where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Ah, yes, well you see Berwald I'm glad you brought your mother along because I've had the best idea." Berwald growled and Oleo pressed his foot lightly across Lovisa's face. "She's a beautiful thing isn't she? A shame I'm going to need to do what I need to do. But, it's better than taking Tino. From what I hear, your death magic has been refined with each passing generation like a concentrated wine. It must be more powerful than I could possibly imagine," he chuckled. "So in this case I will be taking your mother and draining her of all her magic."

Tino couldn't see a single thing but he could hear every word. He furrowed his eyebrows, how could someone be drained of their magic? Wasn't magic just apart of a person? There was no way to take a persons magic away other than to lock it, right? Even as these questions ran through his head he stumbled forward as Berwald took a few steps towards Oleo with jaws wide open and an unearthly sound emitted from his throat sending shivers down his spine. Although the next second Berwald stepped back with the sound of the whip cracking filled his ears and he winced. He held his head for a moment struggling to keep his footing and he looked back towards Berwald.

His eyes refocused moments later and he squinted but he froze. He was silent and stared at the dismembered bodies. Pieces of men he barely recognized were scattered in the dirt. An arm here, a sliced piece of a face there. It made his stomach turn. What had Oleo done?

Berwald snarled and he could feel the blood drawn right above his nose as he ran his tongue over it. "Surprised?" Oleo asked. "I've dabbled in weapons magic for some time now. However, I paid a hefty price for a whip like this. Something that can go up against beasts like you."

Ludwig glared at the whip, one swipe from the whip towards their wings in the right place and they're as good as dead. He flapped his wings and cawed down toward Berwald, this was too dangerous for them and they needed another plan. Berwald glanced up at him having figured as much. Even by himself, he couldn't possibly handle Oleo with that type of whip. He huffed out but it didn't seem to matter as he easily picked up the scent of the two other wolves.

Tino glanced back seeing the other two wolves approach and he stepped back were blonde, although one had gray hairs around his muzzle and streaks of gray in his fur. The other had a tint of red, almost a rustic color mixed with the blonde. They slowed down to a pace reaching them but neither paid any attention to Tino as they stood beside Berwald.

Erik's ears raised as soon as he saw Lovisa on the ground and his whine turned into a growl as he turned to Berwald. Although Berwald didn't look at him and only snarled back with his teeth baring and the blood dripping from his muzzle was enough for Erik.

Oleo chuckled, "My, it seems you've got yourself quite a team here." He looked up at the two large ravens perched up on top of the buildings. "I didn't think you would get help from the Black Forest, you creatures are certainly resourceful." Erik and Rasmus began to walk closer to him circling him from either side. "Well, I guess I should have expected this," Oleo sighed out but held the whip tighter. He reached into the torn pocket of his pants and took out a small knife. Oleo stared at the two large dogs and he flipped the blade open running his fingers over the symbol carved into the wooden handle.

Tino watched and the tension was suffocating as he stepped back away from the scene. He saw the knife in his hands and wondered what could a knife like that possibly do to three large monsters. Oleo licked his teeth and looked at Tino meeting his eyes before suddenly driving the knife down and into Lovisa's arm.

Lovisa's eyes flew open moments later and a blood-curdling scream filled the air.

All Tino saw was black in the next few seconds.

Erik had pounced toward Oleo in the next second, his body consumed in a dark purple aura. Oleo was quick however as he swung the whip and it clashed with the side of Erik's body sending him flying into a few building. Ludwig quickly moved away from the building flapping his wings quickly but his vision was blurred. The sudden burst of magic had confused him and he struggled to find a landing place.

Rasmus snarled at Oleo but Berwald barked out lowly, he knew with the whip in his hand there was no way he was going to get anywhere close to his mother. Her cries still rung in the air and he could see her grip her arm with her body curling at Oleo's feet. "What? You scared of a small whip?" Oleo laughed. The rubble from the building fell away as Erik appeared and shook out his fur, the building behind him were already catching fire. Oleo nodded, impressed. "Didn't expect you to take a hit like that and shake if off so easily." Erik pressed his ears to his head and a shrill noise escaped his throat. The other two wolves barked in response as their bodies were consumed in the dark purple aura.

Both Ludwig and Gilbert shook out their heads, the magic was becoming too much for them and Ludwig barely manages to land right beside Gilbert. They wasted no time in taking off from the scene, although both birds struggled to keep straight.

Oleo stood there watching the three of them close in on him and he raised the whip over his head as he snapped it towards them. With each crack of the whip, blood was drawn, but none of them faltered from advancing towards him. Erik snapped his jaws attempting to grip the whip in his mouth but it only left a deep cut in his mouth taking out a few of his teeth. Oleo smiled and just as Rasmus leaped at him Oleo wrapped the whip around his paw, with his other hand he tugged on it able to use his momentum against him.

Rasmus was thrown straight toward Berwald who didn't have time to move. The two large creatures rolled into more building. Erik took the opportunity to charge right at him once more, but Oleo stepped aside with the whip nipping off the top part of his ear. "You're out of luck here, Oxsternia," he chuckled. "So much for your all-powerful pack."

Lovisa could feel the dark suffocating magic, but her vision kept fading in and out. She had no idea what was going on and she glanced up seeing a faint outline of Oleo stand beside her, the sharp pain in her arm was pulsating and she was struggling to keep consciousness. "E-Erik...Erik…"

The grey muzzled wolf glanced at her and he pressed his ears to his head. He whined lowly seeing her crystal blue eyes looking at him, her lips trembling as she attempted to reach out towards him.

Oleo glanced down at her, "Poor Dutchess," he smiled for a moment before it disappeared and stomped down on her hand. She cried out and tucked her head back in for a moment before inhaling sharply. Erik snapped his jaws at him but whined soon after. "Relax, this will hurt a lot less if you just let it happen," he smiled.

Lovisa clenched her jaw as she gripped his foot with every ounce of strength she had. She looked up at the blurry figure in front of her. "Not my family," she whispered weakly. "From my rage comes ice to burn those who do me wrong. So it be." His foot had ice crystals form and they began to smoke and he tried to pull it away. He let out a frustrated growl and pulled his foot back again dragging Lovisa slightly and she grunted feeling the knife move inside her arm. Erik didn't waste a second as he quickly leapt forward to grab the end of the whip in his mouth and pull it right out of Oleo's hand.

"Get off!" Oleo snapped feeling the whip slip from his hand and with his other leg he kicked Lovisa in the face. She let go with a groan, but it was too late. The ice was crawling up his leg and burning through his clothes and skin. Erik walked closer to him with his teeth showing and Oleo tried to scoot away from the large creature. "Y-You can't do this! This isn't how it's supposed to be!" he shouted but felt a large furry paw beneath him. He looked back to see Berwald and Rasmus covered in dust but growling beneath him as well. "You won't get away with this," he whispered with a small nervous laugh. "There are more people who know about you. You're going to be taken down…"

Oleo was shaking but Erik huffed out, he raised his head and turned around walking back towards Lovisa. Erik had shifted and hobbled over to his wife who laid there wincing in pain. He looked at the knife lodged into her arm noticed the small symbol on it. "It's a ceremonial knife," he murmured and ripped the blood-soaked fabric on her arm. The same symbol was etching itself into her skin and Lovisa winced. Erik looked at her and ran his fingers gingerly across her cheek, "This is going to hurt," he whispered.

"Just do it," she said looking away from him and she squeezed her eyes shut. Erik held her hand and brought it to his lips kissing it gently before ripping the knife out of her arm. She whimpered loudly and he threw it aside quickly scooping up Lovisa into his arm. Lovisa felt the tears rush out and she curled into Erik's chest.

Rasmus had his paw atop of Oleo as both wolves watched their parents, then turned away looking down at Oleo.

Berwald stared at Oleo who squirmed underneath Rasmus' paw. The man who caused Tino pain and anxiety, he had the chance to kill him. To completely rid the world of him.

"You're...not getting away with this," Oleo said gasping for air and looking straight at Berwald. "Go ahead. Murder me…Murder me like the rest," he laughed.

Berwald stared at him and growled. He did not deserve a quick death. He huffed out and Rasmus raised his ears at him but Berwald shook his head.

No, he was going to make Oleo know pain. He was going to know exactly what fear was. He was going to make Oleo pray, beg, and wish for death.

Rasmus wagged his tail seeing Berwald turn his back towards him and head towards Tino. He looked back down at Oleo and with his other paw, he smacked Oleo effectively knocking him out.

Berwald wasted no time walking over to Tino who had laid unconscious since the large burst of magic. Perhaps it was better that he was during the whole ordeal, Berwald thought and he shifted back into his human form. He gently scooped him into his arms, "Tino," he said quietly. "Tino wake up."

"He could be out for some time," Rasmus said walking over to Berwald and handing him some clothes he pulled out from the carriage. Something his mother had made sure they'd done before they left for this whole mess. "That was a large amount of energy we put out."

Berwald took the clothes and looked down at Tino, "I should get him back home. I'm sure Elizabeta has gotten the others to safety." He sat back for a moment then looked over at his mother and father.

"We could have lost her," Rasmus whispered as he put his shirt on.

"But we didn't," Berwald said and looked down at Tino once more. "Thankfully." He was silent for a moment and sighed out closing his eyes. Losing his mother, the mere thought made his eyes water and his nose burn. There was so much that hadn't been said, so much that needed to be explained.

"Indeed," Ramsus looked down at Berwald before clearing his throat. "You tend to your wife. I'll go look for the others." Berwald nodded and Rasmus walked back toward the carriage to retrieve the extra clothing that his mother had bought for his father as well as getting the horse that pulled the carriage.

"If he knew about us who knows who else knows," Lovisa said with short breaths and winced at the pain in her arms.

"That is a worry for another day," Erik said already trying to heal the small wound on her face.

"We won't always be here to protect them, Erik." Lovisa looked up at her husband, his grey eyes were distant and all he could do was whisper the small healing spell while gently gliding his fingers over her wound. "Erik, for the sake of our children. Even if I died-"

"Don't." Erik said abruptly his eyes focusing on her and his finger pausing right over cut that was bruising. "Don't," he repeated in a softer tone. "Please don't speak like that." Lovisa parted her lips, but then quickly shut them as she let her shoulders relax. She laid her head on his shoulder and he went back to whispering the small healing spell.

Moments later Rasmus walked over with his father's clothing in hand and the horse beside him. "I'll look for the Ravens and get everybody back here. I'm sure they left to stay with the others." Erik took the clothes thanking him and Lovisa smiled weakly at her son. Rasmus reached out holding her hand, "We'll get back to the mansion and we can have some tea, yes?"

"That sounds lovely," she said and he squeezed her hand before he climbed atop of the horse and quickly rode off.

"We need to figure out what's going on," Lukas said pacing back and forth in the small cottage. "We can't just stay here and expect everything to be alright."

"They have stopped fighting," Mathias repeated for the second time. If that was good or bad he couldn't tell, although he could tell that Berwald was still alive. His aura was strong up until a few minutes ago. "I'm sure everything is alright."

"Yet we still don't know if Tino is alive or not," Lukas said rubbing his forehead.

"Lukas that's enough," Elo said sitting at the table. His shoulders were hunched over and he seemed exhausted with Emil sleeping in his arms. "If something truly bad has happened I'm sure somehow they would find a way to tell us."

Lukas stared at him but just as he was about to say something Elizabeta moaned softly from the rocking chair she was in. Mathias walked over to her, "Elizabeta, are you okay?" he asked softly as she opened her eyes and squinted at him for a moment.

"Mathias? What are you doing here?" she asked looking around the cottage and recognized Lukas. "Wh-Where am I?"

"You're safe, you helped get the others just as the Duke had asked," Mathias said and she nodded slowly before the two of them suddenly turned toward the door. There was a large bird like noise right outside and Elizabeta got up quickly going to the door.

"What's going on?" Taisto asked as both he and Elo stood up. Mathias didn't respond as he walked out after Elizabeta and the three glanced at one another before Taisto walked out as well. Lukas was going to walk out when Elo took a hold of his arm and pulled him back. They saw a large spotted raven right out the gate of his yard and Elizabeta seemed to be talking about it as it made several more noises and flapped its wings.

"Is...Is she actually talking to that thing?" Taisto whispered to Mathias.

"Eh? Oh yes, that's Gilbert. He's a shifter like the Duke," Mathias chuckled and patted his shoulder. "He also said that Tino is safe, he is unconscious due to the dark magic, but he's fine."

Taisto stood there for a few seconds staring at Mathias then looked at the bird and then back at Mathias. "He did? Tino is okay?" he asked and Mathias nodded. Taisto was still but he felt his knees give out from beneath him. Tears were falling down his face, "Thank God. Thank God," he whispered over and over covering his face his body rocking back and forth. Mathias leaned down with a small smile rubbing his back gently.

Elizabeta glanced back at Taisto and smiled softly. "Rasmus is on his way then?" she asked turning toward Gilbert who nodded. "Well, I'm glad they dealt with that fool," she said and pushed her hair behind her ears, "Now all that's left is our forest," Gilbert said nothing as they watched Lukas and Elo walk out rejoicing in the news as well. Elizabeta's smile slowly disappeared, "They didn't deserve this," she muttered quietly and Gilbert glanced down at her. "None of them. The Duke, Tino, no one deserved this much pain."

Gilbert shook out his feathers in agreement just as Rasmus was coming down the road atop of the horse. "Hello everyone!" he shouted waving at the lot.

Mathias swallowed the lump in his throat seeing Rasmus. Did he know? Had Berwald told him? He wasn't sure, but he closed his eyes for a moment trying to not give himself away so easily.

"Duke," Elizabeta said as he jumped off from the horse.

"I presume this is everyone?" Ramsus asked and looked amongst the small group but his eyes landed on Mathias. His lips parted and his furrowed his eyebrows, "Mathias?"

"Rasmus," Mathias said and forced a smile and stood up from consoling Taisto.

"You're supposed to be dead," Ramsus said without missing a beat.

"It's a long story," Mathias replied but stepped back from the approaching Rasmus.

"Long story? You mean the lies you've forced my brother to tell?" Rasmus stood just a few feet away from him. "Has my brother been hiding you away all this time?"

"May we please do this some other time?" Lukas asked stepping right in front of Mathias and glaring at Rasmus. "I'm sure the Duke didn't send you all the way over here in order to start another fight."

Rasmus raised an eyebrow at him, but then glanced back at Mathias who seemed much more concerned now. "I see," he whispered and turned his back from them. "I'll let my father decide what to do with you. For now we can head back with the others." He climbed atop of the horse keeping a steady glare towards Mathias, "There is much to discuss." He turned the horse around and quickly headed back down the road. The rest of them glanced at one another before deciding to follow Rasmus back through the burning town.

Thank you so much for reading and following this story. I do hope you all have enjoyed this as much as I have. Please leave a comment about what you thought. I would also love to know what do you think about my writing, are the characters solid? Does the plot make sense? Small things I just want to know from my readers. Thanks so much!