Sorry again about the delay, computer broke in many ways (bios, motherboard fail, etc.) mailed to dell, fixed, and lost most of my files. Luckily, I backed up most of these, except a few of the newer chapters of some of my stories. The original draft for this chapter was also lost, so I had to rewrite it. Nothing much changed from that draft, though.

So, in brief, I decided to try to write this one more concisely. (or at least tried to) It's been too long since I updated this story. I have been writing and posting other stories, but I cannot neglect this one. It's by far my most popular story.

Speaking of which, it just hit the 12000 view mark, as of a few days ago. Thank you all so much for reading it. I hope I can keep delivering a fun story to read. Thank you to everyone who leaves a review, I love it each time you guys do so.

Sorry, the story has gotten so long. I have so many thoughts and ideas for it I end up wanting to use, I just half to include them. And we are currently past the halfway point. Don't feel discouraged, I will do my best to maintain the quality and keep things from getting too crazy or exhausting to follow.

The good news is I fully ironed out my third act. Without giving spoilers, the third act basically starts at Dragon rock, to give you an idea.

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled fanfic.

As the morning sun rose over Sauria, the group of vulpines and young dinosaurs was already up and at them. Trudging their way through the jungle, Fox and Krystal whacked away at any foliage in their path. Randorn trailed behind a bit slower, while Tricky and Kyte were barely half-awake.

" Fox, do we have to get up so early?" Tricky whined.

"Yeah, the Sharpclaw attack was pushed back already, right?" Kyte chimed in, also half asleep.

She has perched on Krystal's shoulder again. Krystal laughed slightly, while Fox shot the pair a half-annoyed look, and raised a brow.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sleepyheads." He joked. "It's still important we get there. Besides, don't you kids have to get up early for royal lessons or whatever anyway?" He retorted.

The two children shrugged.

"Not really, my parents know the value of a good rest." Tricky stated, before yawning.

"Ditto," Kyte added. Fox sighed.

"What about all the times we had to get up on this adventure?" He asked.

Kyte shrugged. "Early is still early." She said, as her eyes drooped again. Slowly, she made herself more comfortable on the vixen's back.
"Lucky. At least you don't have to walk all the way there." Tricky whined, towards Kyte.

Kyte barely seemed to notice as she gave in to her grogginess and drifted off asleep again, letting her head fall onto Krystal's neck. Krystal sighed.

"Let her sleep, then. You can rest more soon, Tricky." Krystal stated.

Satisfied with that, Tricky went silent.

"Just leave the children be, you two. We should be at the other end of the falls within an hour or two if my memory serves me correctly." Randorn stated. Fox and Krystal nodded and refocused on navigating through the jungle.

(-)

Eventually, after another two hours, the group had made it to the other end of the falls. Having followed a path through the foliage Randorn and the Earthwalkers had told them about, so as to avoid any Sharpclaw who might be patrolling the main path, the group arrived at a large, walled compound. The wall itself stretched at least twenty feet high and was covered in vines.

Krystal shook Kyte a bit to wake her up. "Kyte, time to wake up." She said.

"Ok, ok…" the girl muttered, blinking her eyes open.

Atop the wall, a Cloudrunner soldier was perched. He instantly spotted the group as they came into view and flew down to greet them.

"Ah, Fox, Krystal. We've been expecting you." He stated. "To get straight to the point, we know you two are seeking the Krazoa spirit on this end of the falls." He stated.

Fox was surprised. "How did you know?"

"Earthwalkers told us. They are here already. Their captain is speaking to ours as we speak. A scout reported last night that the queen gave the official approval for the alliance between our tribes."

Kyte perked up, as did Tricky.

"My mother approved the alliance? Good!" She said cheerfully.

The soldier nodded. "Of course, your highness." He then looked at the two children and older fox.

"If you would be so kind as to come with me, I can take you all to our leaders." The soldier suggested.

Fox thought for a moment. "Actually, could you perhaps take Krystal and I to the Krazoa shrine? It's imperative that we retrieve the spirit. And it doesn't sound like it's too important that we speak to your captains right now." Fox reasoned.
"Yeah. Fox has a point." Krystal suggested

The soldier shrugged. "Fair enough but let me at least get another one of my buddies over here to escort the rest of you."

All nodded, and Fox turned to the rest of the group to talk.

"Kyte, Tricky, we will meet you later on." He said.

"Ok," Tricky said simply.

"Alright, but be careful," Kyte added.

Krystal patted Kyte on the head and turned toward her father.

"Father, what about you?"

Randorn shrugged. "I think you and Fox will be alright. I will accompany the heirs and ensure the negotiations go well."

Krystal nodded.
With that, the group was led further into the territory. Passing by various stone structures and such, similar to those in the Krazoa Palace, they were met with another batch of Cloudrunners soon after. They explained the situation, Fox and Krystal were led towards another part of the falls, where the Krazoa shrine resided, while the rest of their group was taken elsewhere.

(-)

It was likely not even half an hour before Krystal and Fox were led to the Krazoa shrine. The shrine entrance is built into a cliffside, near a clearing in the jungle, some ways from the Cloudrunner's fortifications.

"Here already, huh?" Fox muttered.

"Normally it's a lot harder to reach these things." Krystal joked.

The Cloudrunner soldier looked at them, with an inquisitive look in his eyes. "Does it need to be harder than this?" He asked.

Both shrugged.
"Anyways, I am needed back at the camp. I trust you two can find your way back without incident?"

Both nodded.

"Good. Uh, good luck with the spirit and everything." The solider added before he spread his wings and took off.

Fox and Krystal both looked at one another.

"Well, let's just get this out of the way, shall we?" Fox said. Krystal nodded, with a smirk.

"As if this is a simple errand run, Fox." She added, joking at his casual manner of approaching the task of collecting a spirit.

Fox shrugged again and began leading the pair into the shrine. Entering the stone structure, the shrine was housed in, Fox noted the warp pad in the center of it. Knowing the drill, he walked onto it and let the blue light it emitted envelop him before he vanished in a puff of what Krystal would describe as 'magic particles.' Krystal followed suit soon after him.

After a minute or two of floating through whatever it was that teleportation looked like, the Krystal found herself in another small stone structure, similar to the previous shrines and the Krazoa Palace.

Fox was standing there, waiting for her.

"Fancy seeing you here." He joked.

Krystal playfully rolled her eyes. Both vulpines then glanced around the structure they were in. Ahead of them, was a large stone path, with little in the way. Carvings of Krazoa adorned the walls, but besides that, nothing was in the way.

"No traps?" Krystal mused. Fox shrugged.

"Let's not get our hopes up just yet." He said as he stepped carefully down the hall, scanning his surroundings. Sure enough, nothing sprang up to threaten them as they made it to the other end of the hall, where another test chamber awaited them.

"Guess they aren't big on traps." Fox muttered.

He looked at the chamber ahead of him. A large room, with a stone platform of sorts, and a mirror-like 'portal' in the center of the room., just live the previous shrines.

"So you came." A ghostly voice called. Krystal sense the familiar, yet the still otherworldly aura of a Krazoa spirit, moments before it floated into the room, out of the 'mirror'.

He floated in the center of the room, as the two vulpines climbed onto the platform to stand before it. Its unmoving, mask-like face gazed at the pair.

"Brave heroes, I welcome you here. I understand your purpose in being here. First, however, I must test your resolve.

Fox and Krystal glanced at one another and nodded.

"We accept the challenge," Fox stated.

The Krazoa turned to face him. 'Only one can undertake my test."

Fox stepped forth. 'I will do it." He said. Krystal opened her mouth to argue but Fox silenced her. "I don't want you to have to go through the pain of releasing this one." Fox said back to her, before turning his gaze back to the spirit. Krystal was touched by the gesture but still regretted Fox would have to endure the pain in her stead.

The spirit looked at Fox, as Krystal stepped off to the side of the platform.

"This is a test of your mental fortitude. It is not a test of your physical prowess, but your very resolve. Are you prepared to take on this task?"

Fox gave a confident nod.

"Very well then." It said as magic energy began to appear in an ever-increasing quantity in the chamber. Fox's vision slowly went blurry.

Krystal looked at him, the todd slowly started quivering.

"Fox-" was all he heard before it all went black.

(-)

Darkness was all Fox saw for a split second, before he woke again, inside a jungle, like that of much of the rest of Sauria. He looked around, expecting some kind of monster or something to fight, but he saw nothing but foliage.

"So you are here, on Sauria…" A ghostly voice chimed. Fox looked around but found nothing it emitted from. He was not too surprised, though.

"Tell me something, Fox Mccloud… do you understand the weight of your mission here?" The voice called.

Fox was about to firmly state yes, but the voice spoke more before he could respond.

"I sense that you would say yes. But are you truly?"

Suddenly, a transparent apparition of General Scales appeared before Fox. Fox reached for his sword but found nothing on his back. The translucent General paid Fox no heed. In fact, his back was turned at the moment.

"Do you know what your adversary's plans are? What he is truly doing?" He asked again.

Fox stopped for a second. "Sure I do. He wants to conquer Sauria, simple as that. I've dealt with with his kind before.

"His ambition goes beyond that." The ghostly voice called. "His ambition is far grander than just Sauria. He would subjugate the galaxy if given the chance." The voice stated.
Fox was unfazed. He had seen this before, too.

Andross came to mind. A tyrant, who wished to rule the gaxaly, cliché though it was.

"I've dealt with worse than him. I will stop him." He said confidently.

The transparent Scales turned around and brandished a sword. Suddenly, Fox found himself with his own weapon.

The fake Scales lunged at Fox, but the vulpine dodged it. To his ruse, the apparition jumped back, giving the vulpine breathing room. Confused, Fox took the chance to catch his breath.

It attacked him again, his attack being blocked by Fox's own sword. They stood there, locked in place. Fox found himself unable to move like he was cemented to the ground by some unseen force.

"Your defeat at the Fortress. You will not admit it, but it wounded you."

"Nothing that won't heal," Fox muttered.

"Wounds, yes, over time. But your ego. Why else would you be so nonchalant?"

Fox thought for a moment. Was it right? He had been proclaiming that Scales' was as good as beaten, just the day before. And he treated this visit to the shrine and the prospective test like it was nothing. Yet, here he felt himself questioning his own decisions.

He shook it aside, he had to stand firm. He pushed back against the illusionary tyrant.

"You hold firm, yet doubts linger. Can you keep on this path? I see your memories, your quest has been taxing on you. Nothing unfamiliar, in your life, but still…" The voice trailed off.

"Do you know the situation is not so set in stone as you think? Your victory is not guaranteed." The voice stated. "Placing the Spellstones stabilized the world to a degree, but it can still blow up at any time. If I am not brought back soon…"

Fox got the hint. He thought to all the individuals, on Sauria and the planets around it. If he failed…

"The destruction of Sauria could potentially affect even more worlds than you think." The ghostly voice stated. "Billions could die. And yet, Scales is escalating his campaign. His threat grows as we speak."

Fox heard enough. Hit with the weight of his mission, worse than he thought, he knew he could not falter. He had faced worse odds before, and yet still survived in the end. Too much was relying on him. He had to do something. He would not falter. All this did was strengthen his resolve.

Finding newfound strength, he overpowered the apparition. Staggering it. He pulled his sword forward and stabbed it in the chest.

It faded, like nothing.

The voice went silent for a few more moments. Finally, after a bit, it spoke again.

"So, you would not falter…" Was all he heard, as the scene faded.

(-)

Fox shot awake, finding himself on the floor. Krystal stood over him.

"Are you ok? You passed out." She stated. "Also, the spirit entered your body while you were out of it. Just a moment ago.

Fox regained his bearings and got up.

"Take me to Krazoa Palace. Release me there, so that I might mend the flow of the planet's life stream." A ghostly voice stated in his head.

Fox looked at Krystal. "The ghost in my head tells me to return it to the Palace." He joked again.

Krystal raised a brow before it clicked in her mind. "Oh. So how was the test?" She asked, in a more serious tone.

Fox reflected on it. He had taken a slight hit in confidence; his resolve was strengthened. Even knowing victory was not as certain as he thought, he refused to give up. He had to save Sauria. To many lives were at stake. Even if they had less time than they previously thought. It only meant he would strengthen his resolve.

He did not want to panic his team and tell them Sauria could blow up sooner than expected. If he got this spirit to the palace in a timely manner, he was sure things could be circumvented. He would, however, address this when he felt the time right.

Yeah. It was… certainly something. Just a test of resolve." He said.

"Fox…" Krystal muttered, unsure what to say. Fox held up his hand and silenced her.

"I know. I was being too nonchalant about this. I was slowly losing sight of what was at stake on this mission. I can't afford to get cocky." He affirmed

Krystal looked bemused but nodded. "Well then, I guess you learned a lesson." She said, having read his mind to ensure that.

She looked to the exit.
"Let's just get a move on." She said. Fox was more than happy to agree..

(-)

Outside, a certain lizard was sitting in wait, amongst the foliage around the clearing.

New orders from Drakor came in. The previous night, Drakor ordered him to avoid confronting the vulpines. Drakor had some kind of scheme going. He had informed his employer that the pair were after a Krazoa spirit, going off overheard conversations.

Drakor wanted the spirit brought out of the Shrine, for some reason or the other, as if a vessel was killed, the spirit was left out in the open, trapped in the body, for a time, before it could find the ability to leave a body. They had little power while trapped in a vessel, waiting to be released. Maybe it took them time to channel their energy or something? Drakor gave him a device to 'harness' the spirit, or something. Kamreian tech was a bit strange. Why did even this helmet he had on him block out the vixen's telepathic technology? A very specific use, sure, but what did he care? Made his mission more convenient.

Wanting to take the spirit from the pair, he passed over the chance to kill the vulpines when they slept, as they, to his knowledge, met the 'pure of heart' requirement to be vessels for the spirits. The whole 'pure of heart thing was a contrivance, as far as the lizard was concerned. It seemed some kind of character trait or something was what truly made one worthy of being a vessel. Even one as vile as Scales, from what Drakor had mentioned, had the virtue of will that made him 'pure'. Apparently, even people like Scales had enough virtues to make themselves worthy. Maybe his tenacity, and unwillingness to give up on his goals? Being basically pure evil making it so a moral compass did not cloud his mind? Pure of heart might not be fully applicable, but what did he know? All he did know was that he would have preferred to have killed them where they slept, but his employer demanded that not be the case. This lizard was being well paid, in rare technology and Venomian weapon cache locations. A few black market contacts pointed to these locations, and he would be swimming in Lylat credits.

So here he was, camping out, twiddling his thumbs waiting on the foxes to walk out. Maybe he should have brought his other PDA, maybe mess around on it for a bit. The Lylat internet was boosted across the galaxy, via a long array of Satellites and various other 'signal boosters' in orbit. It's part of how they got long-range communication to function. That, and the already high single range of most ships and devices.

As for the vulpines, he was sure he could take them. Star Fox were pilots, not foot soldiers. Sure, their leader at least was known to be a pretty decent hand-to-hand fighter, and the team undoubtedly had weapon training. And Fox was renowned for his aim. And that Cerinain vixen seemed pretty damn deadly in a fight, from what he gathered from Sharpclaw intel.

Ok, maybe he was underestimating his opponents a bit. Luckily for him, though, he was pretty well versed in combat. He had been doing this whole 'killer for hire' thing for a while now. He had plenty of experience under his belt by now. That being said, he was no fool. He would take the pragmatic option when the time came. With any luck, a few well-timed pistol shots would put them down. Of course, the mercenary doubted it would be that easy, but hey, why not try?

Movement from the cave's teleporter caught his attention. He watched as the two vulpines materialized in a burst of magic, or whatever it was, one by one.

"Freaking finally! I was getting bored."

He drew his pistol and waited. He would have to time his shots well. Unfortunately, he did not exactly have a silencer or anything on him, but maybe he could catch the pair off guard. Though, their reflexes were sharp to no end.

If push came to shove, he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Slowly, the lizard got into position and waited.

(-)

The pair of vulpines were walking ideally away from the shrine, Fox's eyes glowing purple now, thanks to the spirit he had in him. He and Krystal were currently chatting about the two tribes.

"So, you think the Cloudrunners and Earthwalkers will see eye to eye long enough to see this through?" Fox questioned.

Krystal nodded. "They seem to realize what's at stake here. I can tell not all of their respective tribes agree with the resentment of each other. And their leaders seem reasonable enough." She reasoned

Fox shrugged. "Fair enough. I mean, they already made the alliance official, anyways. What else would the tribes do? Defy their leaders?"

Suddenly, he grew rigid. The fur on the back of his neck started standing, as they entered the clearing.

Something seemed off to him. Looking briefly at Krystal, she seemed to sense the same thing.

Before either could say anything, the faint sound of a pistol's safety being flipped off confirmed their suspicions.

With the reflection of a viper, Fox grabbed Krystal with one hand, while his other hand was used to reach for the personal reflector he kept in his flight jacket pocket. Just as quickly as he grabbed it, on reflex, it was switched on, and a blue shield formed around the pair.

And not a second too soon, a few laser bolts aimed directly out their heads and torsos were fired off from behind a tree and bounced off the reflector, some hitting the ground, another hitting the tree, singing it slightly.

"Well, damn it." A raspy voice said, almost nonchalantly. "Figures it wouldn't be that easy." The voice called, as he almost casually walked out from behind the tree, floating the pistol.

On instance, Fox drew his own pistol and pointed it at the assailant, but he did the same. Keeping their weapons drawn, the pair glared at one another.

Krystal, meanwhile, had stepped aside, a bit behind Fox, and had drawn her staff.

She and Fox got a better look at their assailant. He was some kind of reptile, with grey scales, a black jacket on over a suit of red, military-looking armor; a metallic chest peace, to be exact. He had a blade on his back, that looked almost like a machete, but it had some kind of lighting on the grip and running through the blade. On his head, he had a black helmet, covering everything except his mouth. A pistol holster was on his hip.

"Who are you?!" Fox shouted, glaring at the lizard.

The assailant sighed. "No one of note really. But, if you really want to know, my name is Vulga." He said simply.

The name did not ring any kind of bell in Fox's mind, nor in Krystal's. The vixen glared at him.

"What do you want?" She reiterated.

Vulga gave a slight laugh. "Well, in case you haven't guessed from the blaster bolts and the gun I have trained on you, allow me to spell it out: your deaths. I am being paid handsomely for this."

He said, as he drew his machete. "Now, enough of the formalities. Let's make this quick, shall we?" He said.

Firing off a single shot, which Fox dodged, Vulga took the chance to lunge for him. Thinking fast, Fox blocked his machete with his sword.

Vulga reeled back again. Krysatl, seeing her chance, shot a few blasts of fire from her staff at him.

To their surprise, however, Vulga dodged one and quickly pulled out a reflector shield of his own, redirecting a few of the blasts, though they veered off in different directions.

"Clever," Krystal muttered.

The vulpines began to keep their weapons pointed at him, as they began circling the lizard. Vulga scoffed, glancing back and forth at the pair.

"So who wants the first hit?" He asked, keeping his weapons at the ready.

Sure enough, Fox dashed forward, faster than Vulga could shoot at him. Fox's sword was met with a block from the machete. Krystal, seeing her chance, dashed forward aiming to swipe at the lizard with her staff.

Vulga, who had been locked with Fox in a sword clash, kicked the vulpine rather quickly in the chest, as Fox fell to the ground. Vulga made to turn to counter the vixen but failed to do so as he was whacked across the helmet, hard enough to send him reeling a bit. In doing so, Krystal had caused him to lose the grip on his pistol, which dropped to the ground.

Vulga reeled and stepped back, as best as he could, as Fox jumped back up to his feet.

"So you live up to the hype…" He muttered. He drew starting circling around the pair, as Fox kept his sword pointed out at him. Krystal and Fox were weary of his reflector and declined to use any more ranged attacks.

Vulga circled them for a few more seconds before he drew something from his jacket. He made a motion as if to throw something, but Krystal and Fox barely flinched. Diverting their attention for even a spilt second, however, he quickly drew a pair of throwing knives from his coat, and with surprising speed and accuracy, threw them at Fox. Fox quickly sidestepped, dodging the knives.

"Figures that wasn't going to work," Vulga muttered.

Quickly thinking fast, he dashed toward Fox in a zig-zag, trying to throw the pair off.

With fast strikes, he slashed and stabbed at Fox, but his attacks were either blocked or dodged. Krystal, seeing her chance again, ran for the preoccupied lizard.

Having learned his lesson from last time, he broke away from Fox, dashing back, and, in snake-like movements, zigzagged towards the vixen, before she could lunge at him.

Undaunted, Krystal parried sword thrust, staggering the assailant. Taking her opportunity, she kicked him in the chest, eliciting a grunt from the lizard.

Growling, he started to become desperate as he increased the ferocity of his slashes, yet Krystal, calm and collected, blocked several more of them with her staff.

As Krystal kept him occupied, Fox seized his chance to run over and slash the lizard across the arm, which his armor did not cover, as it seemed.
As Vulga groaned in pain, Krystal kicked him again and whacked the machete out of his hand. She kicked him to the ground and put her foot on his chest, as Fox quickly rummaged into Vulga's coat pocket, and grabbed his reflector, threw it to the ground, and shot it, destroying it.

The vulpines stood over the lizard, who had his arms up in defeat. Lacking any means of confining him, the pair merely stood their ground over him, glaring daggers at the lizard.

"Well, guess I'm beat then." He said, in a resigned tone.

(-)
Krystal glared at Vulga.

"Know, tell me, who are you working for?" She inquired. She knew she should probably take off his helmet, but it was locked on him with a strap. She worried since they had no real way to hold him down beyond standing on him or pinning him down, that Vulga would try something if she or Fox got way too close and tried to force the helmet off him. Such as headbutting one of the pair and stealing their weapons. He was still wearing armor on his chest and head. Surface to say, a headbutt or something along those lines would likely hurt. And they knew he had fast reflex, as well. He likely could get a dirty hit in or throw one of them off balance long enough to retaliate.

A sly smile formed on his face. "Oh, no one really." He said, keeping his hands up. "Well, actually, there is something. Vulga said, as a plan formed in the back of his mind.

Krystal's eye's narrowed. "What do you mean?" She spat.

"Well, see, the thing is… my employer might be of interest to you." He said. Krystal raised a brow.

"Why might that be?" She asked, glaring even more daggers at him.

"Does a Kamerian dragon mean anything to you?" Vulga said, nonchalantly.

Both Fox and Krystal stood shocked, trying to comprehend the words that just left the lizard's mouth. Both vulpines suddenly thought back to what they learned in the temple, the previous day. Various questions and realizations surged through each of the vulpine's heads.

Fox growled, and came closer to the lizard, drawing his pistol, and aiming it at him, likely trying to intimidate the mercenary.

"What do you mean? Is it Drakor you're working for!?" He spat. The lizard laughed.

"Don't know how you figured that out so fast, but well done." He said, with a laugh. This shocked Fox further, confirming what he had feared since the temple visit last night: that Drakor was indeed still out there. And, as it seemed, had some kind of hand in the events here on Sauria.

Vulga, however, was not done. "By the way, Cerinian, there is another tidbit of information you might want to hear." He said, getting Krystal's attention.

"What?" She spat.

"Don't you want to know more about the fate of your planet?" He said, nonchalantly.

Krystal felt herself growing to agitated.

"What do you know of Cerinia's fate?" She growled. Little did she notice, she was slowly losing her focus on keeping Vulga pinned down, as she glared at him.

"Oh, nothing too much… just that, well…" He trailed off. "Your idiot people were completely blind to Drakor's scheme!" He shouted.

Krystal was beyond shocked and agiteate at that statement. So many questions surged through her mind all at once, as she slowly processed the gravity of what he just implied. Did Drakor have a hand in Cerinia's destruction?

Vulga, however, left her no time to process the information. Seeing the vixen's become unfocused, as had Fox, however briefly, the reptile quickly grabbed Krystal's leg and shoved her aside, causing her to fall to the ground. Within the nanosecond he did so, he shoved Fox's sword away from his body, disorienting Fox enough for Vulga to jump back up, and punch the todd in the head, disorienting him, however briefly.

Seizing his chance, Vulga dashed for the vixen, who was on the ground. Kicking away the staff, which she had lost her grip on, he stomped her on her chest, enough to daze her. Pain overtaking her usual instinct to relailiate, she found herself momentarily incapacitated. Vulga, noting his limited window, quickly drew a small hold-out pistol from a hidden pocket in the back of his coat.

A wicked smile formed on his face, as he aimed the small pistol at Krystal's head.

The vixen, closed her eyes, not wanting to witness her own end. As her vision went dark, she heard a gunshot ring out.

Not feeling any kind of new wound, her eyes shot back open, as Vugla suddenly went stiff, the pistol falling out of his hand and onto the ground. A smoking scorch mark was evident on the side of his unarmored neck, followed by a bit of blood dripping from it. He stood like that for only half a second more, before he fell over to his side, dead.

Krystal glanced over from the ground, seeing Fox with his own blaster pistol out, still pointed at the lizard. After half a second more of making sure he did not get back up, he holstered his weapon, and dashed over to the vixen, his eyes wide with concern.

"Krystal!" She shouted. Quickly, he knelt down and inspected her for wounds. He offered her a hand up, which she took.

"Are you ok?" He asked, in a very concerned tone.

"Y-yeah. I think so. He didn't stomp me too hard." She said, taking his hand and getting back up.

Fox tilted his head. "About, what he said…" He began.

Krystal, having caught her breath, was unable to stop the endless questions flooding through her mind.

"Was he telling the truth? Was Drakor involved in my home world's destruction? What is Drakor doing here? Is it revenge? How is-?" Such thoughts surged through her head like mad. Not even noticing that she was becoming increasingly agitated and squirrelly, she was caught off guard when Fox suddenly embraced her.

Surprised, but comforted by the gesture, she returned the embrace. Fox hugged her for what felt like forever.

After a solid minute, when she managed to regain her bearings, Fox spoke again.

"Krystal… I-I get what he might have been implying. That this Kamerian may have…" Fox stuttered. He was certainly not the best with words at times.

Krystal sputtered out her response. "Fox, I can't tell if he was lying or not. His helmet blocked out my telepathy. If he knew about Drakor, I doubt he was lying. How else could he have had such information about my home and what a Kamerain is?" She pressed. "What is this scheme he was talking about? Did Drakor destroy Cerinia?! Did he-?" She stammered on. She would have been mad that Fox killed him before they could press him for more details, but the vixen already knew that she would be dead now if Fox had not done what he had done.

Fox put his hands on her shoulders.

"Look, Krystal, I am sorry, but I don't know. We don't have any way of knowing anything right now, besides the word of this bastard." He stated. "Look, let's just take a moment, chill out, and report this back to the others. Maybe, maybe we can make sense of it, ok?" He reasoned

Krystal took a few more moments to calm herself, and then breathed deeply.

"Ok, ok…" She said. She took a few more breathes, and then collected her staff from the ground. Fox, meanwhile, took the spare pistol off the mercenary, so no one else found it lying around and messed with it, as well as the holdout a pistol. He would send them back to the Great Fox later.

Leaving the body where it was and making a note to tell the Cloudrunners about it later, they and Krystal proceeded to leave the area and head back towards the rest of their group. As they began to leave the clearing, the questions still raised in Krystal's head.

Just how could Drakor be here on Sauria again, and what was this 'scheme' of his?

Sorry if the fight was a bit short or easy for Fox and Krystal, but realistically, it would not be way too believable that some random mercenary guy would give them way too much trouble, given how many foes they took down in this story each. And it's 2 vs 1 in this fight, so yeah. Felt this was the only plausible way it would go down.

As I noted, Vulga only ever had a small purpose in this story, and he served it. So now, we have a plot twist and more angst. Yay!
Also, this chapter was going to be longer, mostly including another fight scene, but that was kind of redundant, so I saved that for the next chapter.