Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: Hey folk! Here's another chapter to y'all, probably sooner than y'all (and me too) thought! As always, get some ice cream and enjoy!
That evening…
"What did Ike tell you?" Khimari asked Ranulf as he gnawed on a rib bone at the dinner table in the mess hall. They were surrounded by other Laguz and a couple of Beorc in the busy mess hall.
"We leave out at daybreak. We're not taking anymore than twenty people," he informed. "Are you...sure you want to go? There's no shame in sitting one out."
"Yes, I need to go," Khimari resolutely stated, giving no room for argument.
"Where are we going, exactly?" Rikari said. Although he was going, Tora had not been picked, as per Khimari telling him he needed to keep the Laguz side of things in check while he and Ranulf were both gone, especially considering Shinon wasn't going either.
"Hell," Khimari simply answered, a blank expression in his eyes as he stared at the bone in his hand.
"Gritnea Tower," Ranulf answered. "It's not exactly paradise, either."
"I don't care," Rikari replied. "Whoever it was that kept Khimari prisoner, I'm going to make them regret it!" Despite his current disposition, the prince couldn't help but smile at the little orange wolf's proclamation.
"Good one," Khimari said. "Do you know everyone else that's going?" he said, returning the focus back to Ranulf.
"Us three, Reyson, Ike and Soren, Nasir, Ena, the purple-haired girl that's always hungry, Janaff, Mist, Zihark, Oscar, Tibarn and Titania. That way, we can make ground much quicker and make it into a one day rescue operation." Nodding at the information, Khimari continued to process it while gnawing on the bone. "That bone has no meat left on it," Ranulf prodded.
"I'm thinking," the wolf retorted. "Leave me and my bone in peace." For a few minutes more, the blue wolf stayed on the same bone before he decided that he had massacred it enough. Getting up, he went to the spot he and Nephenee had designated earlier in the day to have to themselves. Sitting down under the tree in the edge of the camp, he didn't have to wait long before his girlfriend found him waiting. "Nice to see you," he greeted.
"Same to you," she returned, sitting right beside him and taking off her helmet. "How's...everything?"
"I'm still royally messed up in the head, but hopefully, this visit is what I need. I hope I haven't left you alone for too long. I'll make it up when the war's over, I promise."
"Don't worry about it," she waved off. "...So where we goin'?"
"Gallia for a while?" he suggested.
"Too hot," she rejected.
"Some oceanside place?" he said.
"...That could work," she agreed, snuggling little closer to him. "Just make sure you stay safe, mkay?"
"I promise, we'll both see this war through. We're so close…" Nodding, the two fell into a small conversation, talking about a little bit of everything. Occasional laughs, a few smacks on the head courtesy of the blue-haired halberdier and tickles with a furry tail were all shared between the two while they were there. Before they knew it, the sun had started to say goodbye to the world above. "Looks like night-night for us," Khimari mentioned.
"I wanna stay here a little longer," she mumbled, almost asleep. "I ain't gon' be with ya tomorrow."
"I know...we can stay here," Khimari gave in, unable to say no to such a pretty face. Moving her hair out of the way, he gave the farmer gal a quick peck on the cheek. The two sat there until the familiar sounds of Nephenee's snoring entered the wolf's ears. With a content smile on his face, he picked her up and took her over to the tent that she and Brom shared. Opening it up, he found Brom laying down with some rocks besides him.
"Hey there, lad!" Brom said, going to a small whisper upon seeing the sleeping teen in Khimari's arms. "How ya been?"
"Amazing," he answered sincerely, a small smile on his face. "You?" he continued while setting Nephenee down.
"Just saying good night, you know. After all this time, my family is just a few days away from me...My wife, kids...All of 'em. It's gonna be one heck of a time gettin' back used to the swing of things."
"Ain't that the truth…" Khimari muttered, putting a blanket over Khimari. "Anyways...I've got to go on the mission tomorrow. I'll see you later, Brom. Tell Nephenee to relax and take it easy, okay?"
"Of course! Anything for the cutest couple here." Getting a small blush, Khimari quickly sped out of the tent, followed by Brom's laughter. Letting out a great big sigh of embarrassment, the wolf decided to return to his tent. Going in, he saw Ranulf laying there patiently, as if waiting for him to arrive.
"Hey. How's it going?" the cat lazily waved.
"Not too bad. Just getting to bed," Khimari answered. Giving a toothy yawn, the wolf did three circles before lying down in the tent. "Good night."
"Good night…" the cat returned. Closing his eyes, Khimari quickly allowed the darkness of sleep to overtake him.
XXXXX
"It's time, my darling," a great voice boomed from outside the prison cell. Looking around, Khimari found himself bound in chains as a dark figure loomed over him with a needle in his hand. Hissing, he bared his fangs as the man neared him. "You'll be able to kill to your heart's desire soon," the crazy scientist tried to ease as the needle shoved itself into Khimari's body.
Jumping to his feet, Khimari bared his fangs, ready to pounce at whatever was in front of him.
...Which happened to be a sleepy Ranulf who received a rude awakening in the form of a wolf who looked ready to kill him. "Wha-uh, Khimari!" he yelled, not expecting this. Fortunately, his shout knocked the wolf out of his episode, Khimari shaking his head as he started to absorb reality once again. "I'm not getting this wake-up call every morning am I?" he snidely remarked.
"If everything goes well, this should be the last day you deal with this," the wolf replied. "Since we're up now, let's go see if anyone else is awake."
"I can almost guarantee you they're not," Ranulf retorted, yawning loudly. "But if you insist, let's go." Exiting the tent with his father right behind him, Khimari immediately saw that daybreak was coming rather soon. Weaving through the mass of tents, Khimari let himself in when he arrived into Ike's tent.
When he entered, he saw his surrogate brother giving a small yawn and putting Ragnell in its holster. "Morning," Khimari greeted, making Ike turn in surprise.
"What in-How did you get in here?" the Beorc asked.
"Easy, through the entrance," Khimari answered, as if talking about the weather. Seeing the wolf up to his old ways, Ike simply shook his head. "Are we set to leave soon?"
"Yeah, the preparations are just about complete," Ike confirmed. "All that's left is for everyone to meet outside before we depart...Say, you sound rather excited to go there."
"Look...What should I be? Quaking in my boots?" Khimari said, rolling his eyes. "I don't even wear boots. I barely wear shoes."
"Look, those sandals of yours work just fine. Keep them on, please," Ike pleaded. "I don't know why you even refuse to wear boots."
"They trap my feet in leather cages," Khimari answered. "No one likes cages. I've said this over and over for how long now? No one gets the memo, and it drives me crazy." Seeing Ike's confusion over the topic, the wolf prince just huffed and let it drop. "Anyways, Mist, Titania and Soren are all outside waiting on us. Not nice to keep your troop busy." Without giving Ike a chance to respond, the wolf exited the tent to see all three aforementioned faces waiting in front of it. "Morning!" he said chipperly.
"What has you so excited this morning?" Titania asked, pleasantly surprised and worried at the same time. Khimari being excited like this means danger.
"Nothing, I guess," the wolf shrugged. He then proceeded to let out a small wolf howl, putting everyone on edge. "Calm down guys, I just let Rikari know it's time to leave," he explained. A few moments later, the orange wolf arrived, closely followed by Janaff, Tibarn, Reyson and Ilyana. "I'll get Nasir and Ena," Khimari told everyone present, before bouncing off to the dragons' den, as he affectionately named their tent.
"Nasir? Ena?" the wolf quietly called, as not to disturb anyone else or draw attention to himself. The grandfather and granddaughter soon exited the tent after his call.
"Time to leave?" the white dragon simply said. Nodding, Khimari led the way back to the location of the small group picked to go to the tower, which now had everyone accounted for.
"Everyone is accounted for," Khimari relayed to Ike, with a nod of confirmation from Soren.
"Good, we're heading out to Gritnea Tower now. Ena, lead the way," Ike guided. Nodding, Ena led the small group outside camp and on their way to the twisted tower.
"Say, Khimari," Tibarn started well after they began the journey. "What's at Gritnea Tower? Should we expect anything?"
"You should expect to be horrified and disgusted beyond belief, and ready to kill every Beorc walking on the planet," Khimari answered with a straight face. Instantly, the entire group stopped in shock at the wolf's words.
"That's a little...harsh, isn't it?" Titania commented.
"...Nah, just kidding," Khimari smiled, making everyone sigh in both relief and disbelief. "Well...not really. But seriously, it's deranged, if you want a word. As for numbers, the detained Laguz far outnumber the Daein soldiers there. They train the Laguz not to attack Daeins, so they don't have Beorc security or sentry as a high priority. Well, that may also be because that mad scientist is a nutcase."
"What mad scientist?" Ike asked.
"The one that poked a needle in me and almost turned me into Feral One," he answered like it was the simplest thing in the world. Once again, everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "Hey, just telling it like it is," he defended.
"You wolves are something else…" Janaff commented.
"Maybe therapy could be in order?" Oscar suggested. In response, the wolf gave a laugh at the paladin's suggestion.
"Please, I'm a wolf. Our therapy is either hunting something down or ripping our problems to shreds...mostly in the literal sense," he explained. "Well, unless the council had something to do with it."
"Council?" Soren echoed, an eyebrow raising on his face.
"Oh, yeah...In Hatari. There was a council of people basically, and they were really just so that everyone had equal representation and a say in something if they needed to get it through," Khimari said. "Not that it mattered because we were basically one people in a desert or whatever, but Beorc are very big sticklers for societal structure, so we did it. Not that it helped, since people mostly asked me or Mom for whatever they needed face to face, and the council consisted of a bunch of old coots who did nothing but complain about their back pain."
"O...kaaay, then," Ranulf drawled out, not exactly sure where to go with that, although he was inwardly pleased that Khimari started to sound like his old self. Looking up, the cat noted that it was already past noon. "Nasir? Ena? When are we arriving?"
"We will be there soon," Ena answered. "We aren't that far away." The group fell back into silence for a while before a large tower started to come into sight behind a forest of many trees.
"...We're here…" Khimari said, his demeanor becoming much more serious, putting everyone on edge.
"So...that's Gritnea Tower…" Ike muttered.
"Say…" Ranulf started, scratching his nose. "Something smells odd about that tower...REALLY odd…"
"What is it?"
"I smell many of the beast tribe...but...something smells terrible!" Ranulf gagged, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"This tower holds all the Laguz that are given medicine," Ena reiterated. "The drugs...warp their true shape."
"Wait...Are you talking about the Laguz that can't revert forms?" Ike asked. "Like the ones we fought in Begnion?"
"The very same," Khimari answered.
"Do you know how many and what type are in there?" Ranulf asked.
"A conservative estimate would be...thirty," she said.
"Probably closer to forty-five," Khimari cut in, leading her to nod to his words.
"As for types, there are cats and tigers from the Beast tribes, hawks and ravens from the bird tribes, and...dragons…" she finished, putting everyone on pause.
"There are some of the dragon tribe as well?" Tibarn echoed, not sure how to take this news.
"Er, no more than ten...Well, probably no more than ten," Ena corrected unsurely.
"We have to fight ten dragons like you?" Ike asked, remembering the battle against her in the Daein capital.
"They are not like me, Master Ike," Ena answered. "They are much stronger."
"That's one way to have a pep rally," Khimari muttered.
"Regardless, we must hurry," Tibarn said. "It will be dark soon. As embarrassing as it may be, us bird tribes don't move well in the dark."
"Sad, but true," Reyson added. "Granted, that also goes for the bird Laguz on the enemy side as well."
"On the other hand, darkness means next to nothing for my kind," Ranulf piggybacked. "Depending on who we face, it could prove to be a significant-"
"There are more of the beast Laguz than any other," Ena cut off. "That's because we're closer to Gallia."
"Listen...you sure you want to be on our side?" the cat asked, an edge entering his voice not unlike Khimari when he starts to get extremely irritated.
"Hm?" she hummed, seemingly confused by the question. "Yes, of course. That's why I do my best to provide accurate info-"
"Nasir!" Ranulf said, getting more uneased by the second. The dragon didn't share his exact sentiment, however.
"What do you think, Ranulf? My granddaughter is impressive, is she not?"
"That's not what I was going to say, Grandpa-"
"So, when it gets dark, we're going to be at a disadvantage, right?" Ike interrupted, causing the blue cat to fume even more. "All right, as long as we know that, we can plan for it."
"You're way too calm talking about this for my taste!" Ranulf hissed. "This is going to be a-"
"Enough, Ranulf!" Ike cut off, wondering what could've gotten into his head. "We don't have time for complaints. We need to find an entrance to the tower."
"Follow me," Khimari said, speaking up. Transforming into his wolf form, he took point, leading them on a path where the sea of trees parted into a pathway. It seemed that they had been well informed of their visit, as a flood of feral Laguz burst out of the tower entrance, along with a small unit of Daein soldiers. "Charming, they gave us a welcoming committee," he snorted.
"Khimari, this isn't a time for-" Ranulf cut himself off when the wolf gave him a look Nailah always gave him that basically said 'hey, shut up.'
"Just hold on brothers," Tibarn said. "Soon enough...I'll give you relief."
"Oh…" Ranulf breathed when he came to his senses, realizing that everyone was just as angry as he was.
"Tibarn isn't the only one filled with rage," Reyson vocalized, as if reading his thoughts. "To warp the gifts that the goddess has granted us...This crime shall not go unpunished!" he declared, shaking in fury. The two bird Laguz jumped into battle along with the rest of the troop.
"Prince Reyson…" Ranulf muttered, before looking back at his son. Unlike the anger that everyone else showed, Khimari's expression was...sorrowful. He bounded off with the others, quickly engaging in combat with a tiger Laguz. A touch on his shoulder snapped him from his mind.
"Come on, Ranulf," Ike guided, trying to ease the distressed cat. "Let's join them. We must rescue Leanne as soon as possible...for Reyson's sake as much as anyone else." Nodding, the cat focused his attention to the battlefield.
'These poor Laguz...someone will die for this today,' Ranulf thought. Taking note of an incoming cat Laguz, he hissed as he pounced. A quick swipe to the throat ended the cat's pained life. Hearing a roar, Ranulf looked over to Nasir fighting a red dragon, while Khimari and Ena teamed up against a band of four cats and three tigers.
"Ranulf!" Ike called. Looking over, he saw the Beorc commander getting double-teamed by two berserkers. Taking one off his hands, Ranulf clawed the one to the left. The berserker in turn swiped downward to counter. Jumping back, he let the weapon hit nothing but air before jumping back in range for a killing swipe.
As soon as he hit the ground, his fur started to stand on end. "Dad, run over here!" Khimari yowled. "It's a fire spell!" Not needing to hear anymore, Ranulf bolted as fast as he could over to his son, arriving in time to see the Meteor spell explode. The scorched earth was all he needed to be thankful he didn't get caught in the blast.
"Oscar! Can you handle that fire mage?" Khimari asked. The oldest of the triplets nodded before taking off to do what was asked. "Where's Rikari?"
"Right here!" the orange wolf said, running over to the prince.
"We're going forward. Ena and Nasir will join us, but we have to clear a way and kill that thunder mage first," the blue wolf informed. "If you see a dragon, do not fight them. That'll be my job. Clear?" At the nods from the other two beast Laguz, Khimari gave the signal to charge.
Blazing forward, all three of them pounced at separate targets. While Rikari went against a swordmaster, Ranulf and Khimari took on a sage. Before they had time to say a spell, they fell to the ground courtesy of claws and fangs, respectively. Looking back, Khimari ran back to Rikari as the little wolf came face-to-face with a dragon Laguz who had started to approach him.
"Rikari! Get out the way!" he yelled. Looking back, Rikari gave the dragon the perfect opening to ready a breath attack. Speeding up, Khimari bashed the orange wolf out the way and took the full brunt of the attack, howling in pain. Rolling across the ground, the wolf stopped and shakily rose to his feet to see the dragon advancing on him.
Now thoroughly angry and seeing red, Khimari ran towards the dragon with reckless abandon. Avoiding its attack, Khimari clawed it in its side before jumping on its wing. He clamped on it with his jaws before jumping down, basically ripping the wing in two and making the dragon roar in pain. Refusing to back down, Khimari's jaws found its way to the dragon's leg. With a mighty heave, he actually tripped the dragon to the ground, a small quake accompanying its fall. To finish, he jumped up to the dragon's throat, clawing at it until it was obvious the dragon had been killed.
Still in a frenzy, the wolf prince jumped over the dead dragon and proceeded to attack whatever was closest to him, a cat Laguz. Killing that Feral One with a ruthless slice from head to tail, he pounced on a tiger, delivering a killing bite to the throat. Before he could move any further, a blast of light entered his vision, slightly pushing him back and causing pain.
In response, the wolf only snarled before jumping at the two bishops stationed by the tower's entrance that attacked him. Khimari clamped on the arm of the first one, twisting it and bringing the soldier to the ground. He then sliced his throat before killing the next one with a well-placed killing bite.
"A Feral One!" he heard someone yelling towards him. Instantly swinging his head to the source of the sound, he pounced on the Beorc. Ignoring the thunder spell that grazed his side, he threw all his weight on the enemy, savagely ripping his throat open with his teeth. Not done, he went away from the entrance and attacked the very next thing he saw, a retreating Daein soldier who didn't make it very far before his life was cut short.
"Khimari!" Turning at the voice, the wolf growled as red continued to cloud his vision. "What are you doing?" Not registering the voice, he pounced as if it were an enemy. Before he could reach his target, however, two strong forces pinned him down. Snarling and snapping at whatever he could, Khimari continued to struggle until he could no longer move.
"KHIMARI!" someone screamed, finally breaking the wolf from his trance. Shaking his head, he looked over to see Ena and Nasir pinning him down, and Ike crouched down in front of him. Looking past the mercenary commander, he could see everyone else with various expressions of worry and shock. Realizing what happened, Khimari gulped as he took in the situation.
"...Who was it?" he quietly asked Ike. "Who did I almost…"
"It doesn't matter now, it's over," his surrogate brother said, motioning for the two dragons to release him. Transforming into his Beorc form, the wolf prince closed his eyes before walking to the tower.
"Let's find Leanne," he said, with the rest already starting the search. Entering Gritnea Tower, the troop searched, finding rows of empty cages and the strong stench that came with Laguz being experimented on.
"Ike, any sign of her?" Ranulf asked from down another hall.
"No, I don't see her anywhere," he answered, now looking at a research table for any telling documents.
"Leanne...where could you have gone?" Reyson wondered aloud. Fortunately or unfortunately, that answer came in the form of the entrance of a familiar face.
"Hello, everyone. Are you having some sort of problem?" Looking up, everyone except Tibarn immediately tensed at seeing King Kilvas at the tower's entrance.
"Naesala!" Reyson shouted in surprise.
"I believe I have what you are looking for...right here," he paused, before stepping to the side to reveal none other than Leanne, completely unharmed.
"Brother! You're safe!" she screamed in delight, running into Reyson's arms.
"Leanne...you're safe!" he said in glee, the two refusing to let go of each other.
"Oh...brother…" Turning away from the reunited herons, Ike focused on the more confusing part of the equation: Naesala.
"You rescued her?" he asked, not expecting that in the slightest.
"Listen, and listen good. I don't want any misunderstandings here," he started, getting everyone's attention. "It was Tibarn! He forced me to do it!" he revealed, making everyone turn to look at the smirking hawk king. "It wasn't any sort of charity or anything. It was a sort of...payment, for the debts I had incurred," he said, composing himself after his slight outburst.
"I knew choosing you would pay off," Tibarn said. "Well done."
"Flatter me all you like, hawk king," the raven said. "You'll get nothing in return. As promised, the Duke Tanas account has been completely settled."
"Yes, as agreed."
"Then, I take my leave of you," Naesala cut short, turning to leave the building before Tibarn stopped him.
"There's no need to rush off, is it? After coming all this way, why not stay and help us fight King Daein?" the hawk suggested.
"What a splendid idea," Ike said, approving. Despite King Kilvas...interesting nature, he would prove to be a powerful ally in battle.
"What? Enough of that nonsense," Naesala shut down. "I prefer to keep my life intact, thank you."
"Naesala, are you leaving?" Leanne asked the raven, who simply sighed in remiss.
"Listen, Leanne...I have no good reason to fight the king of Daein," he said, much more gently than when he was talking to anyone else, interestingly enough.
"No good reason?" Reyson interjected. "What about your fellow countrymen? King Daein has taken their natural identity and warped it beyond repair!" In response to that, Naesala scoffed.
"They left Kilvas of their own accord. How far should my responsibility of them extend?" he asked coldly.
"You…" Reyson whispered, in pure disbelief at what he was hearing. It was crazy-no, downright shameful that any ruler would say that about their own. Before he could continue, however, Nasir grabbed their attention by clearing his throat.
"I hate to interrupt, but…" The dragon seemed hesitant to continue speaking.
"Nasir? What is it?" Ike prodded.
"I have something to show you all. Would you all please come below?"
"This tower has a basement?" Tibarn said curiously, unaware of any sign of one from the outside.
"We just discovered a hidden staircase." Nodding, Ike turned to see everyone else behind him.
"Let's go." With that, the troop followed Nasir down the staircase, which was well-lit, oddly enough. As they got lower, the light began to dim, but still was there. At the bottom, a rank stench permeated the air and it was pitch-black. Even Ranulf had a problem seeing what was there.
"We need some light," Ike said, with the others in agreement. Looking around, Nasir eventually found a lantern to put a small flame in. As the light illuminated the room, they would quickly wish that they had left it in darkness.
Rotting corpses. Laguz of all types were scattered across the floor, lying dead and deformed in unspeakable ways. Flies and other insects crawled all over the carcasses, feeding off the experimented Laguz. "By the goddess…" Reyson gasped in horror, before moving to cover Leanne's eyes from the horror.
"W-what is this?" Ranulf asked, before his shock turned to outrage. "Nasir, ANSWER ME!"
"Ranulf?" Ike called, not recognizing the normally level-headed Laguz that usually kept a cool head. Looking over at the mercenary commander, the blue cat began to take deep breaths, though he couldn't stop shaking.
"Laguz...At one time, they...were Laguz," Ena answered, her eyes closed in respect for her mutilated Laguz brethren.
"This is...horrible," Ike said. Honestly, that was putting it lightly. There was no word to truly describe the pure barbarity of whatever this atrocity was. "Let's...go," he suggested. Nobody argued, and the group made their way up the hidden staircase to see a worried Rikari standing there by himself. "Rikari? What are you doing?"
"Wha-Oh, hey Ike," he said downtrodden. "What did you find down there?"
"It's better if you don't know," he quickly shut down. "Where's…"
"Khimari's that way," pointing down a corridor. "Ever since he went over there, he wouldn't say a single word to me. I don't...know what to do."
"Show me where he is," Ranulf said, coming to the front of the group. "Everyone should come, too. Rikari, come on." Nodding, the orange wolf led everyone down to where the wolf prince was. When they arrived, Khimari was exactly how Rikari found him; sitting on the ground, holding chains, and staring at the wall. "...Khimari?" he quietly called, coming next to his son. For the longest, the wolf didn't say a single thing. "...Hello? Are you...there?" Ranulf continued to press, his worry increasing by the second.
"...This…" Khimari started, grabbing everyone's attention. "Is mine…"
"What...do you mean?" Reyson cut in, unable to stay silent any longer. He, along with everyone else, could feel the sheer pain emanating from the wolf.
"This prison...I...these chains are mine," he answered, his voice a hollow ring that sent shivers down even Naesala's spine. "That blood...is mine," he continued, leading everyone to look at the splattered and dry blood that stained the ground and the wall.
"You're free now," Ranulf eased, barely able to resist emptying his guts after seeing his son this way. "You're not trapped anymore."
"...I'm sorry," the wolf whispered in the ancient tongue. Although some didn't know what he said, everyone knew exactly what he meant. Out of all the tortured Laguz in this tower, he made it out alive...
"Brother…" Leanne called to Reyson.
"Hm? Leanne?" he muttered.
"His heart...the pain is unbearable…" she said to him. "We must...do something."
"...I agree," the white-winged prince nodded. "Are you ready?" At Leanne's nod, the both of them came forward, standing around Khimari. Looking at each other, they took a deep breath before they began singing. Instantly, Ike recognized it as the song that brought Serenes Forest back to life after the devastating fire that razed it to the ground.
As they were singing, a small, barely visible blue aura surrounded the wolf. Everyone watched every second as the herons sang to Khimari. As their song ended, the light started to slowly disappear from the wolf, just as the heavy weight of oppression and anguish started to clear from the atmosphere.
"...Thank you," the wolf said before passing out on the floor. Ike and Ranulf gasped in worry before hearing a light snore and a content smile on his face.
"His soul was...deeply tormented and in anguish. The pain and his proper state was never fully healed," Reyson explained solemnly. "Now...him and all the other souls that were trapped here can rest in peace."
"I'll take him," Tibarn offered, putting the sleeping wolf on his back. Ranulf felt eternally grateful, his anger melted away by the content and serene smile on Khimari's face as he slept in peace. The cat would be eternally grateful to the herons after what they did for his son.
"Thank you."
XXXXX
A/N: Well….that's the end of that chapter. It's more somber than the rest, but something just told to finish it right now (I started at around 4 in the morning ish), and now I feel peace to finish my Friday off strongly. Anywho, the final battle is soon to begin. As always, remember to fave, follow and review! I'll be seeing y'all pretty soon.
Blizzard, out!