Hey everyone! It's been a trying week for me, but I have found the time to squeeze out another chapter. But before I get to that, I want to thank the following people for reviewing my story: Reaper Whisper, inferno746, Im Blu, PincheeX, DeathDrayanD, Clytuis, Koipbuiop, Iron Carnotaur, Gyltig, Malorn Fairytail(glad to hear from you again!) and last but not least Randonfire(thanks for the multiple reviews!).

I think most of you know how much I treasure reviews because they provide me with insight into my readers' minds. They also mean that people out there care for my story enough to share their opinion about it, positive or negative. As such, I implore you to dedicate a couple of minutes to review this chapter if you can! I put a lot of effort into this one, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! I hope you enjoy it… It's another action-packed chapter with plenty of plot details!

This chapter is written from Gregor's perspective.


Chapter 30: One Eye

It was a voice which could only belong to one fox in the whole of the Underland.

Gregor spun around and found Flavius standing behind him. The fox gazed right back at Gregor with his solitary eye, which was filled with all the malice and cruelty any individual could possibly possess. The metal mask was spine-chillingly intimidating, being just as mechanical and cold as the fox who wore it.

"Flavius," Gregor growled, unable to keep the loathing and disgust out of his voice. Flavius belonged to a unique group of individuals which Gregor absolutely detested, with the fox's illustrious counterparts including the likes of Gorger and Snake. Even the Bane, Gregor's archnemesis and the author of his pain as a teenager, did not belong to such a group. These individuals were so warped and despicable that Gregor would spare them no mercy should the opportunity to kill them arise.

Flavius' eye locked onto Gregor and the fox prowled forward eagerly. "Where is Ripred?" he asked. "I wish to speak to him."

"What for?" Gregor asked in reply, steadying his nerves. He needed to remain calm in order to defend himself against the impending assault.

"To tell him how he failed so miserably," the fox sneered in response.

Gregor's spine tingled ever so slightly as the fox let out a soft chuckle. "We haven't failed," Gregor snarled at Flavius. "We've got Calvin."

"And I have you," Flavius replied triumphantly. Under the fading light, Flavius stood out against the backdrop of an aggressive darkness. His muscles seemed to glisten and even his metal mask complemented his whole appearance. An appearance befitting for a king or a god, even a king as twisted and savage as him.

Compared to all the other foxes Flavius looked like a Greek statue, sculpted by the gods themselves. His yellow eye personified the evil that had consumed him, turning him into the monster he was today. Gregor didn't know if evil could be born, but if it was then it probably came into existence the same time Flavius did.

The malice that Gregor saw in his eye matched Gorger's and perhaps even exceeded it. For Gorger knew his boundaries and limits- he knew when he had to submit to powers greater than him. Gregor doubted that Flavius had ever come across someone who could outfight or outwit him. Gregor wasn't smart enough to try and conjure up a better plan, so he was going to have to rely on his fighting abilities.

"You see, Warrior," Flavius continued, "your city has been operating under the false impression that you've been in charge. But ever since we lost the Battle of Regalia, we've been plotting our return. For the last two years you've allowed your complacency to fester like a plague in Regalia, and this is the price you must pay- your extinction."

"What… What are you talking about?" Gregor asked Flavius, vexed by the fox's enigmatic spiel.

"Everything you've experienced over the last two years has been a product of my scheming," Flavius said with relish. "Of course it wasn't perfectly executed and there were some hiccups along the way- I'd be hard-pressed to call the plan flawless- but most things played out exactly as I had intended them to."

"How? You can't have," Gregor replied, now completely perplexed. "You can't." But as the seconds began to tick by, a sinking feeling of realisation was invoked as it dawned on him that…

Flavius had done it before.

Calvin had told him about Flavius influencing all the events leading up to the quest to fight the foxes, and even then Flavius was still plotting away. They had been caught off-guard and honestly, on the balance of the universe, deserved to get destroyed by the foxes. A stroke of luck gave Calvin a chance to deny Flavius just before he obliterated any hopes of a Regalian comeback, but without that, Regalia probably wouldn't have been standing today.

"It was elementary, really," Flavius said smugly. "I found a merry band of Bane sympathisers, and managed to convince them to sow the seeds of doubt in the Fount. I then sought out that pathetic fool Conrad and drove him over the edge."

"Drove him over the edge?"

"Tortured him until he nearly lost his sanity," Flavius explained. "I made him suffer so he'd do anything I told him to do. So I told him to act as a liaison between the rats and me."

"You're lying," Gregor growled. "The Fount would never have listened to him. They hate his guts."

"Who said he had anything to do with the Fount?" Flavius scoffed contemptuously. "You see, Overlander, this why I'm called a schemer and you're called a warrior. At the end of the day, you're merely a sword for hire. But me? I'm the brain of this whole operation. I'm the one scheming to tear all of you down. I might not fight as well as you, but I can certainly beat you in a game of chess."

"A game of chess?" Gregor snarled, realising this was his opportunity to try and turn the crowd of foxes against their king. "And I suppose all your schemers are pawns to you, are they?"

Flavius' genuine laugh completely unnerved Gregor and made his stomach turn. "Oh Overlander," Flavius said through heavy laughter. "Do you honestly think that my schemers are going to fall for your woeful attempt to vilify me?"

The foxes all began to smirk, and that was when Gregor truly understood what he was facing. Even if they were blind, obedient lapdogs who were at Flavius' disposal, they were also great thinkers, and they could definitely see through a ruse when it popped up. They were no ordinary soldiers- these were the real killers of the Underland. They exterminated the cutters and decimated countless colonies outside of Regalia.

They were working on a whole 'nother level.

"Well," Gregor said, forcing a smile onto his face with the precious little confidence that still remained, "it was worth a try."

That got Flavius into another fit of laughter, before the fox replied, "You are funny, Overlander, I'll give you that. But you are also incredibly naive, and Regalia's downfall is just as much your fault as it is the rebels'."

"What do you mean?" Gregor asked.

"I heard about your battle with Ripred," Flavius grinned. "There are whispers from the city that the battle was unlike anything that had ever been witnessed in Regalia's history. They say the ground shook and the skies roared, and even the city darkened as it became the stage for the battle of the century. And in the end, you stood over Lord Ripred, about to give him an overdue execution."

Gregor's body posture slumped slightly as the memories bit back, breaking his emotional core. He couldn't afford to look weak in front of the foxes, but Flavius' reminder of his moral decadence shattered whatever was left of his fragmented soul. Crippled by Flavius' words, he resisted the urge to weep.

"What made you stop?" Flavius asked him.

Gregor looked up at the king of the foxes in defiance. "You did."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Gregor said. "I realised that killing Ripred would make me just like you. And I'm not like you. Not in the past, not now, and not in the future."

Flavius had to stifle another maniacal laugh, biting his tongue as another chuckle bubbled on the edges of his lips. "You say that like it's a good thing," Flavius said.

"It is," Gregor snarled. "I'll never be as cruel as you."

"You'll never be as intelligent as me," Flavius replied haughtily. "Would you like to know what else I did, Overlander? Do you want to know how I tore your world apart?"

Gregor didn't know how to respond to that. He just applied some discipline to keep his mouth shut in a self-imposed silence.

"Gorger was my prisoner for the last ten years," Flavius revealed, his pupil dilating in excitement. "I released Gorger to go back to Regalia as a prisoner because I knew he would be the source of conflict between you, Ripred and Luxa. He is the one rat who can press down on all your soft spots and emotional weaknesses… He's the one who could help to turn you all against each other."

"You… You turned me against Ripred and Luxa?" Gregor said incredulously.

"I hypothesised you would," Flavius answered, his eye now dangerously gleaming with deviousness. "I didn't know my plan would be so successful. I used Conrad to encourage the rebel gnawers to fight against Regalia. I used the rebel gnawers to encourage the Fount to fight against Regalia. And I used Gorger to act as a catalyst for your conflict. Make no mistake, Overlander, Gorger is not the reason why you are fighting Ripred and Luxa. He merely gave you the chance to fight them."

"You lie," Gregor replied bluntly.

"Why would I?" Flavis responded. "You've harboured anger for a very long time. You should be grateful I gave you a chance to release it all."

"I nearly killed my friend, you son of a bitch," Gregor growled, feeling his hatred for Flavius coming to life in his voice.

"You wanted to," Flavius replied. "Don't even bother denying it. Ripred's actions were his own. Whether Gorger accelerated the conflict or not, you were always destined to kill your friend."

Gregor's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. "And my family? Was that your plan too?"

"Of course," Flavius grinned. "It was my idea to hold them hostage. If I had known that Snake was such a blundering fool I wouldn't have chosen him to execute the plan, but I can't always get it right, can I?"

"You're sick," Gregor spat at him.

"You're only getting this now?" Flavius asked with a short cackle. "I knew you'd go straight for them. You were supposed to die together with them, but Snake's a bit too incompetent to ensure that things go according to plan. Nonetheless, I knew you'd come straight down here for Calvin. And here we are, together at last."

"We won't be together soon," Gregor retorted. "I'm not leaving this place without your head."

"Then you'll never leave it," Flavius replied. "I'm so disappointed it's come to this. This is a special era, Warrior. It really is. How many times have four ragers breathed the same air in the history of the Underland? And you want this era to just… fall apart? This is an occasion to be celebrated, not… ruined."

"All of us will fall one day," Gregor replied calmly. "It comes sooner for some of us."

"Indeed it does," Flavius said softly.

That was the only hint Gregor needed.

Flavius was ready for battle.

Without another word, both of them charged straight at each other. Gregor steeled his nerves and kept on running, despite how frightening it was to run headfirst at a beast like Flavius. Deep down, he hoped that Flavius would slow down and give him a chance to sort himself out mentally and tactically. He couldn't dream of beating Flavius in a straight fight- the fox was bigger than him and had a longer range.

But Flavius didn't slow down at all.

At the very last second, Gregor slid on the ground, which was diametrically opposite to Flavius' actions, who sprang through the air. For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes- Flavius looking down as he soared through the air, Gregor looking up as he slid across the ground, sparks flying all over the place from the friction between the ground and his armour.

Then time sped back up.

Gregor rolled to his feet and spun around just to find Flavius mounting an attack towards him. He instantly brought his blade and dagger up, deflecting multiple attacks by the fox. Their hands were moving so furiously that Gregor wasn't even aware of what was going on. All he could see was the occasional claw or sword coming into contact, with the rest just a blur of ferocity and anger.

His vision began to splinter wildly as Flavius edged as close as possible, revealing a whole set of potential weaknesses. Gregor could see an armpit, a bulging vein, a tendon running down his left forelimb, the yellow eye… But every single time he tried to strike that spot, Flavius reacted with blinding speed to parry the attack aside.

Gregor backed away quickly and took a deep breath. He was going to need a more methodical approach to take Flavius on. The fox was much fitter than Ripred and a more skilful fighter, so this wasn't going to be simple at all. With Ripred he could afford to use his rager abilities and prime strength to devastating effect, but with Flavius? Brute force would barely give him five minutes against the rager king.

Flavius swung to Gregor's left, with Gregor mirroring his action and lifting his dagger to meet Flavius' claws. Sparks flew through the air once more as the blade came into contact with the claw. Gregor followed up by a fierce thrust at Flavius' neck, which the fox parried aside casually. Gregor then lunged at Flavius with a fierce flick towards the left side of the fox's face, but Flavius was equal to it once again.

Gregor quickly danced out of the way as Flavius launched a series of aggressive attacks, swinging at Gregor's head and then leaping forward to try and sink his teeth into Gregor's shoulder. But Gregor was far too swift to be taken out by such simple attacks. He coolly hopped aside, and then lashed out with a fierce counter-attack, trying to catch Flavius off-guard. But Flavius was able to bat the thrust aside with his claws and continue his onslaught.

Gregor tried to surprise him again, this time pulling off a feint by thrusting towards the fox's right shoulder, before changing the direction his blade was heading by stabbing towards Flavius' left jaw. Flavius, however, pulled off an unreal reaction by bringing his left claw up to deflect the attack in the very last second.

Gregor stumbled backwards and took a breather, while Flavius looked on and smirked. "Tired already?" he mocked Gregor.

Gregor smiled. He didn't know why, but he smiled. "That was just a warm-up."

Flavius suddenly launched himself forward, crashing head-first into Gregor's chest and sending the both of them sprawling across the uneven stone floor. Gregor gasped desperately as he felt the air rush out of his lungs. Winded and slightly disoriented, he tried to get to his feet, but dropped back onto one knee as his world spiralled about.

He barely had time to react when he saw a looming shadow swing into view. Fuelling his rager abilities, he brought his sword and dagger up just in time to shield his head as Flavius brought both sets of claws down onto him. He kept his sword and dagger in position, holding Flavius' claws in place and preparing himself for Flavius' next series of attacks.

But Flavius just kept his claws in position, and then pressed down.

Gregor gritted his teeth and bit down on his tongue to stop himself from screaming. His shoulder muscles, on the other hand, screamed like never before as Flavius exerted all the force he had and pushed downwards with his claws, even using his body weight to try and crush Gregor. Gregor's vision became intensely blurry and his forehead must have been glistening with sweat. A single drop of sweat calmly rolled down his nose and lip, finally arriving at the chin and tickling the hell out of him.

Flavius continued to press down with intent, causing Gregor's knees to come under heavy strain. He felt his spine slowly arching backward, bending slowly like a bow. And like a bow being bent back in such an extreme manner, he felt it threatening to snap any second soon. He had to think of something, and think of something fast.

He mustered all the strength he had left and slowly forced himself onto his feet, much to the protestation of his shoulder muscles, which were burning so much they might as well have been literally on fire. As they groaned from the strain, Gregor realised that they were writing his epitaph for him. He was going to have to use his lower body to help himself out.

Although terribly off-balance, he managed to find the strength to lift his leg and in a most ungainly fashion, fire a kick at Flavius' throat. It was easily one of the weaker kicks Gregor had ever delivered, but it was enough to cause Flavius to gag and stumble backward. Gregor, still off-balance, staggered backward himself, before righting himself to take Flavius on again.

Flavius recovered quickly and leapt forward, swinging high with his left claw and then lashing out with a sweeping strike towards Gregor's feet, trying to take advantage of Gregor's lack of balance. But Gregor displayed fantastic poise by parrying the swing from Flavius' left claw while simultaneously adjusting his feet to avoid the strike towards his knees.

He then countered with quick jabs at Flavius, trying to cause the fox to panic and flail about. But Flavius was far too experienced to fall prey to such a strategy. He easily parried all the attacks and even tried to rip Gregor's head off with his jaws. But Gregor leaned back just in time and the jaws closed down on air.

Gregor suddenly surprised himself and Flavius by flipping through the air as Luxa taught him, gracefully landing on Flavius back. But unlike other foxes, Flavius reacted faster than Gregor. He threw himself to the ground and rolled around, throwing Gregor off-balance once again and forcing him to leap off Flavius' back.

Flavius leapt back onto his feet and tried to cleave Gregor's head off with yet another slash, but Gregor artfully parried the attack with his sword, before stabbing at Flavius with lightning speed. Flavius was able to parry the attack with his right claw, but had crucially left his right side unguarded. Sensing a window to hurt Flavius, Gregor fired a fierce jab at Flavius' right forelimb with his dagger.

And to his delight, the blade found its way through the fox's supposedly impervious defence and sank into the tendon.

Flavius unleashed a howl of pain and humiliation as he pulled back quickly, limping away from Gregor. Gregor glanced down at his dagger. It was coloured a shiny crimson red.

"First blood goes to me," Gregor said simply and solemnly, resisting the urge to taunt Flavius.

Flavius afforded himself a pained smile. "Not bad," he admitted. "But we're far from being done here."

Gregor sprinted forward and swung wildly with his sword and dagger, forcing Flavius to desperately parry all the attacks aside with left forelimb. Gregor refused to give Flavius a breather, repeatedly stabbing at the fox and forcing him backward. Each thrust was delivered with passionate anger, as Gregor fueled every stroke with memories of Flavius' cruelty.

Flavius suddenly surprised Gregor with a backhand swing. The fox's left forelimb connected with Gregor's left side, sending Gregor hurtling through the air. For a couple of seconds, Gregor's heart rate accelerated as he felt as if he was falling down the throat of eternity. He could see the smallest details all around him- the foxes cheering, Flavius' smouldering look of anger dead set in his single eye, and the fading light…

And then he crashed with full force against the ground, bouncing off slightly and landing near the exit of the cavern. Foxes quickly converged on the exit, blocking off any possible escape route for Gregor. But Gregor had no intention of escaping any time soon- he was gasping for air and his head felt way too light. He tried to get up, but his muscles were too fatigued from the intense fighting to help him.

A growing pain suddenly welled up in his back, and he winced as he slowly got to his feet. Still feeling the effects of the hard crash, he grunted as he steadied himself to stop himself from falling. During moments like this, he was glad he had a mask to prevent the foxes from seeing him grimace in pain. Any sign of weakness would give them the encouragement to bay Flavius on to victory.

Gregor picked his sword up and reached for his dagger, only to realise it wasn't anywhere near him. He glanced about the cavern, and found it lying right in the middle. But any hopes of reaching it were extinguished when Flavius stepped towards it and calmly flicked a claw out at it, sending it skidding across the cavern floor and further away from Gregor.

Flavius advanced forward with real menace now, baring his teeth into a snarl. The king's ego had been bruised for Gregor, and the time for jokes and quips had come to a spectacular end. Now it was time for the bitter fighting to begin.

Gregor slowly broke into a jog and made the first move against Flavius, swinging towards Flavius' head. The fox ducked underneath the swing and countered with a slash, which Gregor similarly ducked under. Claw and blade then met together for the umpteenth time when Gregor's swing and Flavius' swing clashed together.

With two hands on the hilt of his sword, Gregor was able to wield it much better, adjusting it to parry Flavius' relentless attacks. The fox had pretty much lost his right forelimb to injury, but his left paw was doing all the heavy work magnificently, defending and attacking with equal finesse. Gregor, despite holding an advantage since he was able to use both hands, was starting to tire from the exhaustion of taking on so many adversaries.

This battle was going to end soon, and Gregor wasn't sure who would be breathing at the end of it.

He quickly inspected his opponent's physical condition. Flavius was starting to bleed quite heavily from the wound on his right forelimb, and was noticeably limping whenever he tried to move forward. He still occasionally used it to defend himself, but was starting to rely on his left forelimb more and more. That meant that his left forelimb would be exhausted of all strength soon, even if Flavius' stamina still held up well.

He launched a series of repeated stabs at Flavius' left side in order to wear Flavius out, but Flavius backed out of range of Gregor's sword, dancing to the side and avoiding confrontation as much as possible.

He knows I want to wear his left side out, Gregor thought to himself.

Gregor then aimed for the right side, forcing Flavius to bring his left paw across to fend off the attacks. But after using his claws to whack some of Gregor's attacks aside, he began to dance out of range again, seemingly intent on holding back from any kind of physical engagement against Gregor.

Flavius was starting to show why he was tactically superior to Gregor.

Growling in frustration, Gregor pursued him across the cavern, lunging forward the moment an opportunity to hurt the fox king arose. But Flavius was far too swift and had his rager abilities working in full force, sometimes pulling off a brilliant reaction to thwart Gregor's stab or slash. Gregor, however, was not content to let Flavius run. He chased after Flavius, narrowly missing his tail by inches with one particular swing of his blade.

Suddenly, Flavius slammed his left paw into Gregor's chest. The sheer force of the hit sent Gregor flying back again. He rocketed through the air and crashed so hard against the cavern floor he could see little specks fly up through the air as he came into impact with the ground. At first, he didn't feel anything. The impact of the fall didn't hit him until seconds later.

A ripple of pain surged up his back and could even be felt at the back of his head. He writhed around on the ground for a few seconds, unable to hold himself back from expressing the agony he was rolling in at the moment. He didn't bother trying to conceal the pain- he was long past that. Flavius hadn't even drawn a single drop of blood out of Gregor and yet had inflicted so much more pain.

Gregor's disjointed thoughts were preventing him from formulating any kind of tactic or strategy to be employed against Flavius, who was now moving towards Gregor with a grin plastered back on his face. His eyes blurred and splintered at the same time, showcasing Flavius' weaknesses but being far too hazy to give Gregor a chance of hurting the king of the foxes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his dagger lying a few feet away from him. Flavius grinned smugly, clearly a sign that he believed he was on the cusp of victory. But his complacency had blinded his other eye to the dagger lying so close to Gregor. Gregor's eyes darted between Flavius and the dagger on the ground. He needed to wait for Flavius to come in closer, and then the fox would have no time to react to Gregor's attack.

Gregor didn't have to do anything in particular to convince Flavius that he was incapacitated and vulnerable. Already lying prone on the ground, he feigned even more pain, again not a particularly challenging task. He crawled across the ground towards the dagger, but making his movements small and trying to look like he was genuinely trying to get away from Flavius.

Flavius' single eye glinted with triumphant glee. "So, Warrior," Flavius smirked. "Has your fall come too soon for your liking?"

Flavius was unwittingly inching closer to death whilst on his way to kill Gregor. Even his rager abilities would not be able to save him from an attack from such a close range. Gregor's eyes now settled firmly on the dagger.

It was going to be now or never.

Summoning up strength from his fleeting resolve, he surged forward across the ground and got hold of the hilt of the dagger. He could start to hear the cries of confusion punctuating the air as the foxes barked in dismay. Channelling his focus into what he needed to do, he spun around as fast as humanly possible and took a quick look at Flavius.

Surprise had registered in the fox's eye as they stared right at each other for less than a second. Gregor could see everything in that second- the hatred, the cruelty, the cunning… and in a split second of betrayal, his facade dropped and revealed raw pain.

Pain.

Gregor almost froze in sympathy, but his impulses took control on this occasion. His arm began to arc back, and before he knew it the dagger was no longer in his hands. It was already spinning through the air, powering forward like it had a will of its own. As expected, Flavius' attempts to defend himself ended up being futile at most. The dagger was already inches away from his face by the time he tried to duck or raise his paw. It was now a mere second away from winning the war…

And, to Gregor's horror, it struck the metal mask and bounced onto the ground harmlessly.

The blow of the dagger was enough to shock Flavius and send him staggering backward, but the only mark it left was a visible scratch on his metal mask. Gregor felt his heart sinking as Flavius brought a paw up to his face to check if he was alright, before turning to Gregor with a wide smile. "Fate has an interesting way of playing us for fools," Flavius said. "Calvin indirectly saved my life."

Gregor gazed around him, almost hoping for a miracle to happen before his very eyes. His sword was closer to Flavius than him, and his dagger was literally right in front of the fox. His armour was badly dented and scratched, while his mask failed to shield Flavius from seeing the fear and despair that lay underneath.

They both knew that Gregor was pretty much beaten.

With nothing to lose, Gregor threw caution to the wind and acted purely on impulse.

He charged straight at Flavius with no weapons at all.

Flavius was caught off-guard by Gregor's decision, stumbling backward slightly in surprise. That was the one reaction that opened up a weakness for Gregor. With a bloodcurdling scream of rage, he slammed into Flavius and sent the two of them bowling over.

Gregor sprang to his feet quickly and leapt through the air, landing heavily on a sprawling Flavius. One of his feet connected with Flavius' snout, while the other one pressed down on Flavius' trachea. But instead of trying to break Flavius' neck, Gregor let the rage and rager merge within him.

So instead of taking advantage of Flavius' vulnerability, he stepped off Flavius and rained punch after punch down on the left side of the fox's face, the gauntlets drawing blood from the perfectly groomed fur which resulted in a look of organised chaos. Cuts began to open up on Flavius' face as Gregor just pummeled him, even firing an occasional punch at Flavius' throat and chest area. With mercy banished into the Tartarus of his head, he just punched and punched and…

Then, with a roar of fury, Flavius lashed out with his left paw, the claws digging into Gregor's mask and tearing some of the metal off it. All Gregor saw was a brief flash of his paw and then…

Complete frightening darkness for what felt like ages.

When Gregor opened his eyes, his face felt… naked. He reached up and brushed it with his gauntlet, making a face when he realised he was touching…

He was touching…

Skin.

He brought his left arm up and felt the left side of his face- Metal. So his mask was still on… in that case, why could he feel skin?

His questions were quickly answered by a quick look at the scattered metal across the ground. He brought his fingers up to touch the exposed side of his face once more, and this time he looked down at the gauntlet.

Blood.

It took a while for Gregor to register that half his mask had been torn off by Flavius' claws. His fingers began to wander his face in panic, and he began to pray desperately that he hadn't lost any part of his face. But the quick check-up only yielded results of a deep gash around his temple, with nothing else being lost in the process.

Blood obscured his vision as it ran down his head He looked around at the apprehensive foxes, who actually looked nervous. He turned back to face Flavius, who was in the process of slowly rising to his feet, the left side of his face bloodied but still relatively intact. The sadistic twinkle in his eye had disappeared though, replaced by dark anger.

Suddenly, he launched himself at Gregor, who was practically defenseless. All Gregor could do was watch on helplessly as the figure of Flavius drew nearer and nearer, his claws now mere feet away from finishing the job and ending Gregor's miserable life…

… when a black figure suddenly crashed into Flavius, knocking him off-course and sending him sliding across the cavern floor. Gregor's eyes widened in surprise, as the incoherent series of events left him dazed and confused. What on earth was going on?

His dull senses picked up on the black figure, which settled down in front of him. Gregor stumbled about for a bit, the fast-paced action too searing for his brain to handle. But when his eyes finally focused on the black figure, he allowed himself a weak half-smile.

"I told you to get Calvin… and Ripred out," Gregor panted, the blood trickling down his face proving to be a little distracting.

"They've got out," Apollo assured him. "They're clear of this area. But we're not going back to Regalia without you."

Gregor stared ahead at Flavius, who was taking his time to get back onto his feet. "We don't have much of a chance to kill him," Gregor said bleakly.

"We don't have to," Apollo reminded him. "Our mission is a success. Let's get out."

"No one's leaving," Snake boomed as he strode into the cavern with a whole troop of mercenaries.

Flavius spat blood out of his mouth. "I ordered you to leave us alone," he snarled at Snake.

"Nobody orders me around," Snake replied coldly. "Not even you."

"Snake," Gregor snarled in greeting.

Snake nodded in Gregor's direction in response, before turning his attention back to Flavius. "You couldn't even stop the old rat from getting out of here."

"Ah yes," Flavius said bitterly. "I believe we're one rager short."

"He got away with Calvin!" Snake said angrily.

Gregor glanced up at Apollo quickly. The dispute between Flavius and Snake was the perfect chance to escape out of their current predicament. But they were going to need to pull off something they had practised back in the arena in order to stand any chance of getting out. "Manoeuvre five," Gregor mouthed to Apollo.

Apollo nodded back.

Within seconds, they had gotten into action. Gregor dove for his dagger while Apollo launched himself forward to pick up his sword. The moment Gregor grabbed hold of the hilt of his dagger, he pushed off and sprinted forward. He had to wait for approximately two more seconds.

One.

And then he jumped into the air and extended his legs to the side. As expected, the move was executed flawlessly and Gregor found himself settled on Apollo's back. The bat then flipped Gregor's sword up into the air, allowing Gregor to catch it.

Gregor barely had time to react the moment he heard gunshots. Still on Apollo's back, he torqued his body and swivelled around as much as possible, deflecting the bullets with his sword and dagger. A few bullets flew just centimetres wide of the exposed part of his face and a couple more bullets nearly hit Apollo's head, but within seconds the bat was hurtling down a complicated series of tunnels.

Gregor heard a couple more gunshots, and his heart even leaped in fright when he felt a bullet whizz by his ear, but apart from that, they left the tunnels relatively unscathed. Barks and growls echoed around the whole stone structure, invoking a sense of urgency that seemed to spur Apollo on to fly faster.

And then he rocketed out of the tunnels and into the open air. Gregor released a cathartic sigh of relief, but deep down he knew it was far from over.

The fall of ragers had just begun.


Hope you liked this chapter! Things are really beginning to heat up, because we're approaching the beginning of the end. Of course, we still have at least one more major event before the actual fall of ragers, so there's definitely still time for some major characters to die in the lead up to that. But will they die? Guess you'll have to find that out for yourself.

Just a short warning before I continue- Given that this is supposed to be the conclusion to the trilogy, some fan favourites might not make it out alive. To be honest, some characters' fates are still hanging in the balance (in that they might or might not die) but for some others… Their fate has already been sealed.

Favourites/follows recommended, and of course please review! Please!

Question: Who did you feel was the better fighter in the fight between Flavius and Gregor?

Also there was a lot of symbolism/subtext in this chapter. Can you find it and interpret it? You can begin by taking a look at the name of the chapter.

Let me know your thoughts in the reviews section!