AN: Happy Easter! Have an update!

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Armello. Rory is my OC though.

As a king, Thane loved the concept of peace. After all the battles, sacrifices, and trauma he had to go through to see Armello finally have an age without war, chaos, and corruption, Thane was happy to lay his sword down and let the pen do the talking. However, deep inside, Thane was a warrior. He had always been one since the day he was born. Wolves had battle in their blood, and the clashing of swords was a familiar tune that Thane could repeatedly hear as an echo whenever he thought of his past fights.

It was strange to be in such a time of blood and steel again, but it was like he had never left it in the first place. His sword sang its song of death across the air as blow after blow he struck the Feral who attempted to ravage him to his early death. Yet these were nothing but mindless brutes who stood no chance against him. He had faced hundreds of these abominations before and they fell like all the others before him. Only this was one of those rare times when the battle was desperate. A desperation to save a son and to keep a promise to an old friend he once loved more than anything. Not to mention his promise to return home to the family that waited for him.

Thane's blade crackled with ice and thunder combined as he sliced the air, and a cold, bitter mini-storm of lightning froze and shocked a herd of Feral attempting to go after him. All of them fell down as smoking corpses as Thane summoned more frost into his left hand and fired a giant spear of ice into the head of large bull Feral that nearly choked the life out of one of his soldiers. He wasn't too worried about his men. They were the best and were holding out on their own without fail.

Sir Horace's axe was like the reaper's scythe as he swung it in any direction to leave behind a trail of blood and bodies. He sang like a poet of death with his performance, and not once did he look out of breath despite his age. It was amazing how the older warrior was still so fast and strong after all this time, yet there was no equal to him in terms of dedication and stamina. Twiss was fighting beside him, aiming with her slingshot and throwing spells of all kinds in various directions. She would jump and skitter around, right between the legs of the Feral, who were too blind in their range to see her. The squirrel thief would slip daggers of poison that stunned them so others could finish them off or drop something smoking in their pants before they got set aflame.

Who says that all the pranking she did wasn't training?

But as good as everything was going, Thane knew things were far from over. The cult had yet to unleash itself upon the group and was most likely hidden in the nearby temple. Part of him worried for Sargon, but then he remembered this was the most stubborn rat in the world that had survived endless assassination attempts. He would be fine. He would have to be. Or Thane would hunt him down in the afterlife for his failure to save his son.

There was, of course, another card the cult had yet to play. Something far more dangerous than these mindless monsters that were only meat to grind against them. When Thane heard a blood-chilling raven's cry that sounded like the gates of hell opening up, he knew they were here.

The Bane.

Looking up, Thane cursed upon seeing two of them flapping their wings. The giant ravens of pure dark Worm energy whose presence sent despair to any soul that was nearby. The screams of horror and shouts of fear coming from his soldiers were already being echoed, and this proved to be their undoing as they were cut down from their distraction. When Thane saw his first Bane, he had nearly pissed himself in fear and almost ran away were it not for his fear of being called a coward. Their power was unimaginable and was soon demonstrated by the birds breathing black fire as if they were the dragons of legend. Those unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire, Feral or living, were instantly burned to ashes with nothing remaining.

Morale was crucial to any battle, and Thane knew he had to protect his if they were to win. He quickly rushed over to Twiss and Sir Horace, cutting any enemy in his way, where they stood ready to hear from him. "Twiss! You still got your hookshot?!"

"Right here!" Twiss said as she tossed it over to the wolf king. "Doing what you did during the assault on Fort Diamond?"

"Pretty much," Thane said, checking the hookshot out before gripping it firmly. "Tell the archers to give me cover fire and a distraction!"

He ran toward one of the Bane's while Sir Horace shouted his orders. Despite the fighting, Thane focused on the giant raven he chose as his target. The monster swooped down, grabbed whatever it could with its large talons, flew up, and let go as its victims screamed in terror before meeting a messy end on the ground. Thane swore to honor every soldier that died that night and ensure their families were well compensated for their sacrifice.

Despite this, the archers' arrows kept their attention focused on them and not on Thane. He prepared to move while thinking, Wyld, I'm getting too old for this.

When the Bane Thane was targeting was close enough as it flew low enough to try and scare more of his soldiers, he lifted the hookshot, aimed, and pulled the trigger. With a small blast, the hook was shot out and connected right to the right flank of the bird, who didn't notice it had been snatched. Thane grinned before pulling the trigger again as the mechanical gears went to work, dragging him towards the raven and lifting him up into the air.

There were more than a few shocked gasps from his subjects upon seeing their king fly into the air; Some even thought he was flying. But Thane kept his focus until he was close enough to reach the hindquarters of the giant raven, where he lifted his sword and stabbed it as deep as he could into it. Naturally, the Bane shrieked in pain and realized someone was attacking it despite the impossibility of it.

Thane returned the hookshot into his belt and used his paw to grab the back feathers of the giant bird to lift himself up. Putting the sword in his jaws, he used his paws and sank them deep into the raven's back as he used all his strength to climb up and keep his balance. Thane could already tell he was high in the air. So high that if he fell, it was certain death for him. But Thane didn't focus on that or his height or distance in the air. His focus was on the head.

Halfway towards his targeted destination, the Bane tried to get him off by twirling in the air and doing a barrel roll. He held on as tight as he could, using all his upper body strength to keep himself from falling off to his doom. No matter how many times the giant dark raven tried, Thane wouldn't let go. Not when Rory called out for him, or Scarlett was dying wondering where her son was.

Not when his wife and children were up at night, praying to the Wyld for him to come home.

He wasn't going to die here.

Nor was he until he was old and ready.

Thane, despite his struggles, made it to the head of the Bane, who quickly sensed he was on top of him. However, Thane grabbed his sword from his mouth and promptly stabbed it right into the brain. An unearthly, dying shriek emitted from the abomination as black blood and pus began to spew out of the wound and flood the head with its ooze.

Thane stabbed it again for double the damage and noticed they were heading straight for the ground. However, to his fortune or blessing of the Wyld, the other Bane was nearby and low enough. Getting an idea, the wolf king sank his sword deeper into the monster's brain and moved it to the right with a powerful jerk. Just as he hoped, the Bane reacted by flying to the right in his downward movement. Grinning, Thane used his sword, now a rutter, to control the Bane's dying fight.

The other Bane didn't notice that its comrade was heading straight for him until it was too late, and the two clashed in the air, falling down on the collision course with the Feral side of the battle. A massive explosion of dust and rock erupted when the two landed on the undead corpses, Thane dragging his sword out and jumping off at the last second before rolling on the grass to lessen his fall. The Banes's bodies lurched everywhere, taking many Feral with them who screamed in dying, confused agony. The two Banes soon slowed down and came to a complete stop, the first one dead from the two stab wounds in the head and the other one deceased from what appeared to be a broken neck from the crash.

Thane's army screamed in triumph and celebration upon witnessing such a sight. Knowing that he needed to give them a show, the wolf king raised his bloody sword high in the air and howled to further the image of him being an invincible warrior. This only increased the cheers and cries of his name. Whatever fears of morale going low were now instantly gone as his forces, reunited with double the vigor, proceeded to attack without fear. Rushing towards his side, grinning with amusement, Sir Horace shouted, "You never stop to make a show of yourself, don't you?"

"What can I say?" Thane replied with a grin while shaking his head to eliminate some of the noise in his head. "I have a thing for theatrics."

Twiss, rushing towards them, shouted, "Hey, look!"

The two turned and saw that she was glowing blue with an aura spreading throughout her body. Seeing what this was, Thane looked at himself and saw that he was also glowing the same color. Twiss grinned and said, "I guess Sargon is ready to summon us!"

"Then I leave the rest of the fight to you, Sir Horace," Thane said to the saluted badger. "We'll see you after I have my son."

"Good luck, Your Majesty," Sir Horace said as the aura on both his friends glowed even brighter. "And end that lizard bastard once and for all."

A flash of light emitted from the two before they disappeared into thin air.

Teleportation was always wonky. It felt like you were being stretched, squished, and stretched again like a piece of dough. The first time Thane had gone through it, he puked his lunch out, much to the amusement of the others, who could quickly get through it. Not his proudest moment, but not his worst either. The best advice he got was from Sana, who told him to close his eyes and tuck his legs in before he landed. Doing so, Thane managed to keep himself together as his feet touched the stone ground below him, and he balanced himself out before opening his eyes.

The room he was in was a small chamber room with a strange design on the bottom, with multiple different pots and vases scattered around with a deep red fire burning in the background of a large fireplace. Also, at least a dozen dead corpses of various cultists wrapped in black and purple robes while either bleeding in pools of their own blood or burned to a crisp with embers still dancing on their bodies. The only ones living in the room were the ten summoned and Sargon, looking no worse for wear as he lowered his head in greetings.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. These fellows here were adamant about not having me complete my objective, but I showed them the error of their ways," Sargon explained.

"Damn, Sargon," Twiss whistled as she kicked one of the dead bodies. "You still are one scary blind son of a bitch."

"Thank you, Little Lightpaw," Sargon replied before sighing and sitting on one of the more rigid and rounder pots. "I'm afraid I am tired from using so much of my magic and energy. You will have to proceed without me. Just head down the main hall straight ahead, and it will lead you to the main chamber. The Worm's Will will be there and possibly The Red Prince."

"Do you need anyone to stay with you?" Thane asked the blind rat.

"No, I am in no need of assistance, Winter Wolf. I shall be fine, Sargon said, waving his paw in dismissal. "Worry not about me. I will be fine. Save your child to fulfill your first love's dying wish. Go."

Thane nodded and quickly ordered the knights and Twiss to follow him out of the chamber. Hold on, Rory. I'm coming.

Rory's mother told him that if he was ever captured, he was to show no fear to those who were holding him hostage. He wished he could do such a thing, but Rory couldn't help but sniff and shiver as he was dragged forth by a bunch of armed robed goons who were not gentle with him. Other cult members were chanting to themselves as he was being pushed forward. The room he was in was utterly terrifying. It was huge, with statues of some lizard beings holding up swords or scrolls on the sides while the green and purple liquid was oozing out of holes in the walls into a small channel made for the outer ring of the room that went into the middle right under a set of stairs that led to the central platform of the building.

Above on high was Nazar, smirking as he held his staff with glee. His tongue slipped out every so often with each step Rory took up the stairs to his captor. Once on top of the stairs, Nazar gripped him by the neck and forced him to look down upon the cultists, who went silent. The lizard lifted his staff and shouted, "Behold! My brothers and sisters! Behold the sacrifice we need to complete our objective and see the so-called peace of this nation fall into chaos. This peace is nothing but a lie. A lie manipulated by the Champion of the Wyld, who denies the true salvation of the mighty Worm. They see our God and think of him as evil when in reality, he is the way to improve! Death, decay, and destruction give birth to a new and stronger order! Such is the way of history and reality! Those who seek to deny or stop it are the truly evil ones! I am the Champion of the Worm! And I will bring reality to those who deny its destiny!"

The crowd cheered in agreement, making Rory wince before Nazar got closer to his face to the point where he could smell his stinky breath. "This child carried the blood of our enemy. The blood of a king. There is power in the blood. Power in the ancient bloodline of the wolves. His blood shall be the final ingredient to master our potion of fear. A potion that will send all those who drink it into a state of madness should they be too weak to survive it. We have tested it already on the fools who lived near us. Now, we shall give it to all of Armello by pouring it into the main river nearby! It will spread to all corners of the nation, and none shall resist it but the worthy. The chaos will engulf the realm. The royal family shall burn. And the Wyld will finally crumble into dust as the Worm rises over the ashes of this corrupt civilization to give us rebirth into a glorious future! Our time is now!"

The cultists started to scream in a mix of pure ecstasy and joy. It was like seeing monsters in living flesh gather around like imps in a macabre, all screaming the same thing:

"Kill the pup! Slit his throat! Spill his blood! Kill the pup! Slit his throat! Spill his blood! Kill the pup! Slit his throat! Spill his blood!"

Rory had never known true evil before until now. All of these animals, demanding his death, and the eyes of insanity in Nazar had finally made Rory realize how much his mother had downplayed the Cult of the Worm in her stories to him. Only now did he realize just how much horrible evil did she and her friends face from these mad zealots who worshiped an evil god of decay and death. Lost in their insanity and lies, they had reached the peak of madness.

Yet as afraid as he was, Rory couldn't find it in him to move. He couldn't resist as they dragged him to a nearby stone table and strapped him in locks for all four limbs. He gasped in horror as they ripped off his shirt and started coloring it with black paint in a strange pentagram-like design. Nazar was already drawing a thick, curved knife that Rory knew would be his end. Survival instincts finally kicked in as he struggled against his bonds, trying to deny them their prize in vain.

Wyld above, help me! Rory thought in terror as his heart beat rapidly in his chest. It was getting harder to breathe, and he kept trying to draw more oxygen into his lungs, which seemed to be on fire. Every part of his body was sweating as a cold chill washed over him despite feeling ready to burst into flames.

Nazar slowly came forward, teeth glittering in the darkness as his knife was raised high above his head. Rory closed his eyes and started pleading as hard as he could in his head. Mom! Aunt Twiss! Uncle Sargon! Help me!

Nazar was soon close to the table and began to chat.

DAD! HELP ME!

BOOM!

An explosion of fire and ice burst the chamber's doors and blew them apart, scattering debris that fell onto the panicking crowd. Nazar paused to look back in shock as an arrow sailed through the air and knocked the knife out of his hands. It flipped in the air before landing right between Rory's legs, much to his relief.

One of the knights drew a new arrow as he followed a raging Thane, who entered the main room with his entourage. With lighting crackling around his blade, Thane, fury all over his face, shouted as loud as he could to the crowd of soon-to-be dead cultists.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SON!