Chapter 21: The Bonds We Sever

There was no turning back now, he threw the first punch at the hornets nest, and riled up the swarm. Asher now flew at his top speed, knowing his old crew was now on his tail. He could hear the growls and war cries, the noises that demanded blood for satisfaction. From below they looked like furry bugs carrying torches and a variety of weapons. But the important part was that Asher was leading them away and out of the swamp, far from the innocent dragonflies.

"Dammit, what the hell am I doing?! This is so stupid!"His old instincts made him scream the obvious.

He once served in this group of mercenaries, and there was never a care in the world for the innocent. But his travels and stories alongside his new comrades was starting to rub off, stirring conflict within his mind that fought against the mercenary instinct he developed for twenty years.

These inner struggles clouded his judgment and senses, blinding him to the approaching danger. Arrows suddenly splintered into the sky, cutting at Asher's back and arms, the sudden pain burning from the paper like cuts woke him from his internal affair. He side swung and leaned both ways to avoid the incoming volley of arrows from a smirking Leo. Asher growled and looked back down to see Leo working that lightning fast right arm that sent swarms of arrows within seconds.

"You cheeky, prick…!"Asher growled and looked forward to see the small mountain in the difference.

The smirk made it worse as the dragon continued swinging side by side, and even barrel rolling to avoid the arrows. But then came the surprise package at the end of the latest volley. He barely saw the flickering spark from a capsule attached to the last arrow, his eyes widened in the moment before the final arrow exploded, and scorched the right side of his face. While shrapnel made from the bamboo capsule dug into his shoulder and head, he roared and lost altitude.

The burns weren't too bad and left no real injuries, but the shrapnel felt like glass deep in his flesh. His right wing twinged and struggled to stay spread out, as he felt himself descending to the trees. He needed his body's strength to pull himself up, and at least make some distance between himself and the treetops.

But before he could gain any more altitude, more explosive arrows went off all around him. Their blasts rang in his ears like bells as he tried turning and swaying both ways. Even plunging through the clouds of smoke that smothered him and blinded him to what lay in front of his eyes.

Once he emerged from the smoke, that's when he saw them far too late. Large four prong grappling hooks with fish hook like ends had been thrown into the air the moment he got towards the treetops. He couldn't move in time, and the hooks locked onto his right arm and left wing.

He felt the hooks go deep into his arm while his wing crinkled and folded in. The rope locking his wing down before several Alpha grunts began to pull him down. Asher tried to fight against their strength, but with his wing tangled by the rope, there was no fighting at this point. He growled and roared in vain as he plummeted down and through the trees, crashing through branches and sharp limbs. His teeth grit as he felt briers tearing at his face at high speed, he could barely see a thing.

He felt a branch shatter against his left leg, and it almost went numb as he crash landed. His face meeting a foggy and murky pond first, as he bounced through the water and lily pads. The dragon then came to a stop after slamming against an old tree that stood tall out of the water.

Asher laid there for a moment under the trees high roots to assess his wounds with feeling. His leg didn't feel broken, but it was badly bruised and bloody from that last whipping tree branch. When he lifted his head, he immediately started picking bamboo pieces out of his cheek. Each one felt like slowly pulling out a jagged piece of glass, and each piece was painted in his blood. Finally, Asher was able to slowly sit up and soak in the foul water to continue picking bamboo pieces from his face and now his arm.

Each one was hurt, it left behind blood and holes in his scales that burned from the heat of the explosion. But Asher merely needed to clench his teeth and breath nice and deep between each pull. However, licking his wounds was cut short the moment his wing and arm were suddenly yanked at. They raised up and forward, straining from the grappling hooks that were still locked around them. He went into the panic, and had a brief tug of war between the hook users and his own strength.

His arm was easy enough, after some pulling against the hook that was digging deep into his arm. He manage to pull back enough so he could put his jaws to work and bite the rope clean off his arm. He quickly then unwrapped the hook and pulled it off, taking some scales with it. Before he then focused on his wing that was also getting pulled at, and it was losing the fight. Tears began to form before he then grabbed at the rope to pull at it, avoiding any further strain on his wing.

But he had no time to think about this situation, because the party was already here. He saw the reflection in the water before Thoranos roared with his axes out to start chopping. Asher gasped and pulled just hard enough to avoid a plunging double axe attack that thankfully cut the rope for him. He back flipped away and quickly yanked out the other hook just in time to block with it. The hook locked in the two axes that Thoranos lunged with for an overhead strike.

He slammed his feet down into the water, and it was a stand still between the two of them. They saw eye to eye, fighting for the upperhand in the fight, but the real battle came from within.

"Found you…! Deserting bastard…!"Thoranos growled and Asher only snickered.

"Right… This is desertion. A dragon looking for his lost twin…! Felious might have had a few too many that night."Asher growled and started letting his muscle rise to overpower his old friend.

"You left us high and dry. Without you, we were nothing, and you knew it!"Thoranos roared and applied his full strength.

Allowing him to break a hook piece to free his axes and swing for the chest. The first one missed, but the second cut Asher's chest on the left as he back stepped away. Only to hear war cries from behind, and barely duck his head in time to avoid the twin swords of Swifter coming in from a leaping lunge attack. Swifter realized he missed and cartwheeled to regain control of his momentum before he landed right next to Thoranos, just in time for arrows to splinter right by their heads.

Asher widened his eyes, and instinctively raised the large hook to deflect some of the arrows. While others cut his legs and arms, thankfully they weren't too deep to cripple. But he knew there was no winning this fight or even defending with his current weapon.

He spun the weapon around and heaved the hook right at the two dual wielders. But Thoranos was able to catch in both of his axes and twisted them until the hook shattered. This was all the time Asher needed to pour his strength into his speed and run for the small mountain. He was fast and light on his feet, looking back to see the rest of his old crew arriving and beginning to give chase. They were fast in their own right as well, but for now, Asher had the head start he needed to avoid more struggles.

"He's not flying anymore…! We'll catch him in no time!"Thoranos offered some good news to Felious.

"Well don't just sit around with your peckers in the wind! After him!"Felious did not want to waste time and pushed his crew forward.

A chase ensued, and all Alpha members, grunts and elites were on Asher's tail with a war cry. Their spears flying and their blades drawn for a great dragon hunt through the swamp. While just half a mile away from the chaos, slowly it was stirring up the natives.

Hunter was the first to awake to the sound of the very arrow that exploded and injured Asher. His eyes shot open, quickly scanning his surroundings and seeing that Asher was gone. Hunter gasped quietly, as he stood up quickly to see the dragonflies awakening to the explosions. Their glowing bodies made the darkness fade away, while they murmured and started to feel a bit of fear. The blast was at least a half a mile away, but an explosion around the swamp was potentially dangerous.

Hunter quickly ran up the first tree he could find, and jumped with speed and height. He was light as a feather on each mushroom top till he had reached the top of the tree where he had a bird's eye view. And that was where he just barely saw the smoke in the distance, slowly fading from mid air. And then he watched as Asher was just now being latched onto by the grappling hooks. Before being yanked down into the denser and wetter area of the swamp, this sent Hunter into a panic.

As he quickly jumped down from the mushroom tree and quickly picked up his supplies. Once he had shouldered his bow, he quickly looked around till he saw Sparx still snoozing on the lowest mushroom top.

"Sparx! Wake up! Asher's in a world of trouble!"Hunter yelled, making Sparx scream in response.

The dragonfly flailed and screamed after being awoken so dramatically and sudden. He rolled off the mushroom top, and swung his fists blindly at the air before opening his eyes.

"What?! W-what the heck is… What's going on?!"Sparx exclaimed and looked around to register his actual surroundings.

"We need to go! Asher's in trouble!"Hunter yelled and gave Sparx his tiny sword.

"Awe…what did he mess with now…?!"Sparx grumbled and Hunter paused at the complaint.

"The Alphas… They must have came early and he…"There were only two thoughts going through his mind when it came to why Asher was being chased.

"Hunter…?"Sparx asked for answers, but Hunter did not have the answer at the moment.

"Just hurry and pack up! We need to help him before it's too late!"Hunter yelled and quickly started to run off in Asher's direction.

Sparx sighed and looked back to his people, the little flame he was leaving behind. As well as his mother who looked concerned for her son and the situation they would be running right into. But as much as he hated the idea of leaving again, he had a mission to do, and this time he would see it through to the end.

"I'll come back…! I promise."Sparx vowed that he would return to his true home.

With the promise made, Sparx flew off as fast as he could to catch up with Hunter, leaving his people behind, scared, but reassured that no harm would come to them.

"We know you will…"His mother believed in her son, watching him leave for his adventure.

Meanwhile, Asher was racing through the swamp trees and finally starting to approach the mountain. While Arrows and spears were flying just over his head, hoping to skewer him. Thankfully as he ran, no other throwables would hit him as he neared an exit from the swamp.

But then two more explosive arrows whipped right between his legs and struck a log. Their fuses were burning down, and Asher knew he had maybe three seconds to get over the log. So with closed eyes, he took a dive forward and barely made it over the log before a massive explosion went off. The force knocked Asher out of his momentum, causing him to face plant into damp grass and mud. His back legs nearly touched his neck before he fully flipped and skipped.

Slamming himself against a boulder back first after two skips in the mud, he felt the breath almost completely leave his body as he slid off the boulder that was almost the same size as him. He then laid with his back in the mud while his tail partially curved up and over the boulder.

He was out of breath, and a struggle ensued just to try and catch his breath right back. He even grasped at his chest before he was finally able to breathe properly. His heart pounded and registered his breathing, allowing him a moment to get a steady breath going so he could calm his mind and body.

But that minute truly was a mere minute, before he saw the shadows of the Alphas. This time, Felious was the first one to slowly emerged from the swamp with a stomp in the grass. He narrowed his glowing green eyes, rage and hate flowed like a raging river within his body. Seeing his former top killer in such a state did nothing to quench such hatred that brewed over time. As he then began to slowly draw his great sword and two hand it, a form of challenge to what he deemed a formidable foe.

But Asher knew better, there was no true honor in such challenges, especially after the rage he saw in Swifter and Thoranos. As he slowly rolled and began to stand up, he could see the rest of the crew arriving. Some were growling, others remained silent, but the rage was certainly there. The testosterone was high, and the vengeful blood lust was even higher.

"It doesn't need to end like this… You know that, Felious…!"Asher made a warning, but it was empty and full of doubt.

Felious said nothing, he only pointed the sword tip at Asher, silently demanding his head. Asher backed away towards the mountain, only to put his back against the boulder once more. He looked behind, seeing the rock stopped him in his tracks as the mercenaries slowly drew their weapons. It was obviously pointless to talk anymore, they knew what had to happen here.

So Asher accepted this inevitable fight, and decided it was time to throw the first punch. That simply came in the form of half his pure strength pumping into his arms. Giving him the power to grab the boulder and uproot it before throwing it like a baseball at Felious.

Brutis was quick to protect their leader with his full strength and his cestus. He felt a crack in his right arm, but his incoming haymaker manage to smash the boulder into chunks. Dust clouded his vision, just in time for a ball of fire to come flying at him, but Curage is next to assist. As his blade edged shield, it managed to take the fire ball right in the center of the shield. The fire and dust discouraged them, giving Asher the five second head start he needed, as he ran for the mountain.

The grunts started running after him, roaring for Asher's blood as they pursued the dragon. The rest needed a moment before they would join the hunt once more.

Asher growled, seeing the enemy already on his tail before long, he should have expected as much though. These weren't your typical bounty hunter or wanna be assassin, but he had a plan and he was still focused on making it happen. He just needed to make it to the mountain.

But they weren't making it easy, the grunts also had bows and arrows at the ready. Thankfully they weren't nearly as good of a shot as Leo, so he felt them easily miss his head and legs. But some in the far back of the grunt group of ten started throwing small fire bombs.

With small two second fuses, Asher needed to work against the cuts on his legs to lunge and cross jump. Narrowly avoiding the bombs that blew dragon size chunks out of the ground. Asher gritted his teeth to endure the light pieces of dirt and stone that pelted his legs, adding more burn to his cuts. As he spotted what he was hoping for, a small cave that was made by the french mining moles. A cave he was once told not to go near as a hatchling, due to its unstable conditions.

Once Felious and the others caught up, he read Asher's plan like a book.

"Stop! Cease the fire bombs! Arrows and sharp weapons only!"Felious roared out to the grunts.

They stopped, allowing Asher to tuck and roll into the cave entrance. Where some grunts started blindly firing the arrows into the dark mining cave in hopes of ending the mission quickly. But Felious only growled and shoved them all aside to stop the cowardly volley of arrows.

"Don't shoot what you can't see! Has Leo told you nothing?!"Felious yelled out loud among the silent crowd.

With the silence taking over, he was able to think for a moment and came up with two options. There was the obvious, pursue Asher into the cave with just the sharp non concussive weaponry. Or perhaps just set some bombs in points around the mountain, and close him in.

Sealing him in the mountain seemed like the better option, no danger or risk of themselves being closed in. But then it struck him, it be even riskier to just seal him in and leave. Asher has the will to survive, so doing something so practical would be sloppy, and the chance Asher would survive and escape would be too great. To ensure one of Asher's experience and skill is truly dead, he must be personally seen dead, they all needed to see him die before they could accept that he was gone.

So against his better judgment, Felious sighed and looked around to his Alphas.

"We're going in…! No bombs, no maces, no cestus. Nothing that may bust up the structures around the mine,"Felious instructed his mercs on the risky situation,"He's a dragon, so aim for the base of the throat for his heart. And you better make certain that you see him die, there's to be without a shadow of a doubt that he's gone when you strike him down."

They all quietly agreed, there was to be no mistake when fighting within such a fragile place. When they nodded their heads in agreement, Felious took the lead and slowly entered the cave. His top mercs followed him, and the grunts were the last to enter after removing their bombs.

There was an immediate wave of darkness that all of them struggled with upon entry. But after a few minutes of adjusting, their cat like eyes shifted, their eyes piercing the darkness of the cave. Already they saw some basic mining carts at the sides of the rocky walls with pickaxes laying against them. And in the middle of the path was a partially broken track, missing pieces of wood and the left metal track. This was a result of the mining cave being at least three hundred years old.

So it was no surprise that it was unstable, and they even needed to walk cautiously. For some stone pieces and boulders might not be as stable and solid as they first could hear the creaks of ancient wood, beckoning that they were ready to give at any time. This was unnerving for the leather armored grunts, but pressed on with the trust in the elites guiding their way.

The tiniest cracks in the rock walls allowed glimmers and lines of light to entered as they made a curvy right turn. The tracks then disappeared while their fur prickled a bit to hear the crackling skitters of insects on the walls. Felious was undeterred with all of this, his tiger eyes remained focused.

Suddenly, they saw what looked to be an actual large series of moon rays ahead. But Felious kept them cautious and slow, focus must not be withered or distracted with small things. So they remained together, and they remained slow to navigate the main tunnel. But when they finally did arrive to the source of light, they barely realized at first that they had entered the main source of the mining operations. A massive space that showed many levels of mining sites and tunnels.

They looked around, and Leo was even willing to shoot a fire arrow into the air. Offering a bit more help on scaling the size of the area, and by the time the arrow struck some rock. The rest were starting to think this room alone could go all the way to the peak of the mountain itself.

"It goes all the way up possibly."Leo quietly informed, and Felious slowly nodded.

"A lot of places for him to hide. And the darkness is his ally here,"Felious added and decided on what came next,"Grunts…! Groups of three or more and search the tunnels on the first level. The rest of you go together in pairs on the next level…! I will pick a tunnel and go alone…!"

"Are you sure that's a good-"

Felious growled and stopped Brutis right on the spot by staring him down. His look was as serious and personal as it could be, after that, Brutis nodded and they agreed on the plan.

So the top mercs went into pairs and climbed up a one story layer of rock to reach the higher tunnels. While the newbies went in groups and ventured into the first tunnels they saw. Felious waited till his mercenaries began mobilizing into the tunnels with their weapons drawn.

Then he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, before his eyes then immediately snapped open. Before he jumped at full strength, lunging up the walls and cliffs of the mountain. This finally awoke the curiosity of his necklace, as even he felt the rush of the sudden rush up the mountains.

"What are you doing…? Why go so high to start?"Malefore questioned Felious's actions.

"You'll see…"Felious asked and found his stop on the leap up the mountain.

He got the first smell of fire and smoke, and found the cliff where a lone tunnel awaited him. And before that tunnel is where he found a black mark made from the flaming arrow Leo shot. But there was no arrow any more, just a black smudge of burnt stone and smoke.

"Ah...! He was waiting for a weapon!"Malefor was impressed by the clever cat's experience and prediction.

"Yes… He carries no weapons of his own. Though weapons would be his saving grace in this situation…"Felious explained what he knew of the always intense, one vs many battles.

"I see… But… How was he already so prepared to receive the arrow for a weapon?"Malefor asked a question that roused interest in Felious.

His eyes darted back, looking down towards the lower tunnels with grumble. Before his eyes then moved back forward, his need to focus coming back rather than worrying over an interesting detail. For now, he walked forward with a firm one handed grip on his great sword to steady his breath. As he entered the dark tunnel that even his eyes had a small struggle to pierce through.

Felious went dead silent, an intensity prickled through his spine as he kept a steel mind. The prickling sensation meant nothing and could easily be suppressed. Not an ounce of fear was to be shown or felt, as he tried to offer it to Asher by dragging the tip of his sword against the wall. The teeth rattling grind and grit of metal scratching against solid stone walls. It was like a dark and foreboding version of nails against a chalkboard, it was now a game of psychological attacks.

"Come on out, Asher…! You know what needs to happen here…!You know what your actions would lead to,"Felious quietly growled, hoping to unnerve Asher, wherever he may be hiding,"Leaving the family that raised you? Cared for you? Made you into the killer that even the guardians would fear…!"

Felious followed up his words with a slash against the stone wall to cause a bit of hot sparks to fly.

"Now you just decide to take what you could and left for a sister you don't even know, a sister with an even worse past than your own,"Felious let out a decent bit of the enraging thoughts that guided his desire for this hunt,"I should have never allowed you to learn about her…! I should have known it would lead to this…!"

He heard what sounded like a piece of rock tumbling off the top side of the tunnel. So he responded by striking the other wall to let more sparks fly, this time it lit up the tunnel for a split second.

"I am sorry… I didn't want it to come to this, but after what you did that day. It has to happen,"Felious stopped after a long and slow walk through the tunnel,"You're my boy… And I will be the one to put you down…!"

His response finally prompted glowing green eyes to slowly slide open from right above Felious's a sharp stare, Asher began to uncurl and unfold himself from a deep crag in the ceiling. He drew out the arrow he snatched up from the cliff and readied it like a dagger.

This sudden shift of danger pricked at Felious's ear and he turned around towards the tunnel entrance. His ears lowered from growing intensity of the feeling, and the growing hostility. He finally looked up and glared, swiping his sword along the ceiling, barely missing Asher. But the sparks lit up the tunnel just long enough for Asher to appear from the shadows. Their eyes widened as Asher roared and plunged down on Felious, driving the arrow into the Alpha's shoulder.

Felious roared in pain as he was pushed back and slammed against a wall, dropping his weapon. He grabbed at the dragon's wrists and struggled against the massive difference in strength. He tried a few extended right hooks to the solid jaw of Asher, it irritated him, and the dragon threw him to the ground. He then threw a kick to the rib cage, but Felious hoped he do that.

He took the kick, letting the sharp jolting pain through his torso before grabbing the leg and punching it in the side. Asher growled and fell to one knee from a blow against the wounds on his leg. Felious growled through his own pain and grabbed for Asher's right arm. With a leap and a leg lock around Asher's neck, his legs smashed Asher's face into the stone floor. While the top cat had his boy in an unmerciful arm bar, the resistance was strong, but Felious now had the upper hand.

They were both growling and struggling against one another, and Felious realized this would not last. So he gritted his teeth and reached for his sword to take the arm with him. Asher widened his eyes once he saw Felious stretching out to take back his sword, he needed to think fast.

And before long his next idea was simple, just use more muscle and take a risk. Right when Felious retrieved his sword, Asher applied more muscle and manage to pick the merc up. He was able to slightly bend his arm and as Felious shouted and brought the blade down on Asher's back. The dragon roared and ran at full speed, slamming Felious as hard as he could into a wall. The wall exploded in a storm of rocks and dust, the cracks and thunderous blast shook the tunnel.

Felious let go, and felt the wind leave his body dead and cold, he fell to his side and went out cold. Asher fell back and quickly fell to his side with a scream, as he desperately grabbed for the sword. As it dangled from his back like an ax planted in the broad top of a tree stump.

He had no time to worry about such a wound, because the tunnel was starting to collapse. The smash was too strong for the fragile walls and support beams to handle. So he turned tail and ran for the exit, only to see Leo waiting for him with an arrow drawn and ready to fire.

But he never fired the arrow, and Asher had then ran him over before he exited the tunnel. Leo fell to his back, only to rollover and fire the arrow he hesitated to shoot before. Asher simply looked back to see the arrow coming and bent down to grab it as it barely missed his legs. He then flipped and dropped, leaving Leo to tie a rope to another arrow and shoot it at Felious. Letting it pierce clean through the leader's cape and hood for a tight lock on, he then proceeded to pull his leader out of the tunnel.

While Asher saw another surprise waiting for him down below, the mercs were waiting for him. The thought struck him, they never actually went deep into the tunnels to search for him. Felious merely played the role of live bait, and the Alphas waited for Asher to strike before returning to the main room. Now they had him cut off and trapped in the heart of the mountain. And all he had was an arrow for a weapon.

Asher tuck and rolled to the floor, and got to his feet, even against the lingering burning pain in his cut up legs. Just in time for the grunts to roar and charge him with their spears and swords ready. Asher accepted their challenge, and rushed for the crowd of newbies.

The first lucky kitty, took the full palm of Asher's claws grasping at his fist. He screamed the moment he felt the bony wrist spike drill into his right eye, forcing him to the ground. While Asher flipped over him and his group, landing behind them before grabbing another one's head from behind.

He bent the head back till it snapped and bent to the point that his ears could touch his rear. While Asher shot a small ball of fire over the broken merc, blasting a hot hole through three other grunts chests. He didn't stop to watch as he then back handed another, slashing out the throat of the unlucky rookie with the arrow. That arrow was put to further use as Asher ducked to avoid losing his head to a sword and an ax. Swifter and Thoranos were too eager to join the brawl.

Asher punished them by driving the arrow clean through Swifter's leg and headbutting him. Before turning and taking a deep chop to his right arm from Thoranos. He punished the big cat with several jabs to the nose that forced Thoranos against a large wood frame for a cargo elevator. Thoranos fought back by kicking the dragon in his cut up legs, giving him the lean way he needed. He had to go against Felious's orders, as he grabbed and snapped a thick wood piece off the frame.

Allowing the merc to smash it over Asher's head and force him down on one knee. Asher grunted and then yelled when a grunt drove a spear down into his leg to keep him down. Thoranos used this chance to collect himself and draw his second ax, Asher was on his knees in a perfect execution position.

Asher had a moment, as the rest of the former comrades exited the tunnels. Even Leo emerged with Felious propped up on his shoulders, they had all gathered to see it. The opportunity to watch and know that one of their greatest was about to die right before their eyes.

His arms were growing heavy, his body was bloody and tired from the fight for survival. He looked around slowly to them all, his breaths quiet and slow, contemplating the decisions he made that lead to this. His own family now about to kill him over a choice of his own desire. The remaining grunts aiming their arrows and spears to ensure he did not escape. Was this really the way it was gonna happen? Was this his death?

Suddenly, among the yells and sneers of rage and hate, a cry was heard. An old cry that never left his mind, weeps and anguished sniffles of Cynder from that fateful night. Before he never heard or saw her again, the grief that would mark the end of her sanity and good heart before it would be surrendered to Malefor.

'I will always…love you…'

His eyes widened, remembering the last bit of love he was given by his true family. This awoke a rush of will power and adrenaline, against the growing weight of his body. Asher roared and instead of running away, he charged, uppercutting Thoranos below the belt in the kitten makers.

The wind was gone from Thoranos, and he dropped his weapon before dropping to his knees. He couldn't breathe, and his stomach felt ready to puke up everything he ate today. Asher stood and turned to let a wave of flames spray out, blinding the grunts before he readied a right hook.

Thoranos panicked, and against the ache in his grundle and revolting gut, he manage to roll to the side. Just in time to see Asher's hook smash out both the front and the back of the elevator support frame. This caused the heart of the mountain to rumble as the elevator crackled and began to lose stability. The wood splintered and cracked like bones under great pressure, and before long, the weight balance ropes snapped. Causing the elevator to shatter upon impact, and bring down the weight.

The weight was made from a wood platform carrying several slabs of stone that were at least two tons each. And that balancing weight was coming down towards Asher and Thoranos. They both could not move, but one of them had allies for help, and that help was Swifter. Who had finally awoke and saw the incoming collapse of stone and wood, even the elevator began to topple over. Swifter rushed and made a last minute leap to grab Thoranos and pull him out of the way.

Asher and two other grunts were not so lucky, they got the full force of the stone platform. Both contraptions came down on Asher, causing the floor itself to suddenly give away. The loud crack and thunder of solid stone crushing and cracking in two drowned out the screams of the unlucky grunts. Dust erupted from the collapsing floor as others barely managed to escape.

The collapse rumbled the mountain and caused more dust to fall from the walls and ceiling. This was enough to awaken Felious, right on time to see the sudden damage. The floor gave a tremor and nearly made Leo lose his balance with his leader in tow.

"What the hell just happened…?!"Felious growled and shook his head before slowly standing on his own.

"Look for yourself…!"Leo pointed to the mess down below.

Felious was slow to move to the ledge, but was able to look down towards cavern below. There was nothing but dust and mercenaries screaming and yelling for each other to assess injuries. Then within minutes, the dust began to slowly settle and reveal the Alphas down below. Some were injured, others were just a bit rattled from the disaster, it seemed no one was dead.

At least that's what it appeared to be in the main cavern, but Felious was even more interested in what was down below. The large hole in the ground was the result of the sudden collapse. And that was where Asher was last seen, Felious sharpened his stare.

"Is that where he was last sighted?"Felious quickly asked.

"Yes…"Leo replied.

"Get the uninjured men into that hole and by my side. We need to make sure he's dead."Felious insisted upon the need for reassurance of death.

Against his own injuries, Felious jumped down from cliff to cliff with Leo right behind him. Until they met with Thoranos and Swifter who were recovering from their struggle with the dragon. They looked up to see their leader clutching his stomach a bit, but undeterred from the fight.

"Collect yourselves and let's finish this…! The rest of you, stay here and recover!"Felious gave his next orders to the crew.

Before he then looked to the hole Asher made and clearly escaped into. Leo silently took out an hour and got a fire started for some light, Felious barely waited for everyone else as he jumped in. Sliding down a large slate of rock and into complete darkness, only was it illuminated when Leo came down with him. With the fire lighting their path, only one grunt came down with them. Before the top mercs followed in kind, discovering the bodies of the two other grunts that were caught in the collapse.

One newbie was crushed by a boulder from the chest down with blood oozing from his mouth and nose. The other was face down in a puddle of blood with a sharp piece of rock through his back. The only one unnerved was the bold rookie that started to have regrets coming with. While Felious and his recruits were focused on the great sword of their leader laying before a trail of blood.

"He's definitely hurt, but it's obvious what he's trying to do…"Brutis growled as they stared into the darkness.

"He wants to make a trap for us? Then we spring his trap and we see who wins…!"Felious decided on a shockingly direct approach.

"You sure you wanna do that-"

"Of course I'm sure…!"Felious growled and silenced Swifter's doubt, and retrieved his sword.

There were no further questions as Leo took the lead and guided them into the darkness. The trail of blood was their lead as it shimmered against the fire, offering an eerie feeling that was lost to their iron will. All they heard was their own footsteps against the cold stone floor. As well as the light crackles of old stalagmites and the bugs that roamed upon them.

Then they were met with a musky smell and a sudden ten foot drop that Leo barely saw in time. They all froze, Felious even got a mild scare from almost walking off a ledge. They went quiet as Leo took his burning arrow and used his bow to shoot it out into the abyss. Letting the fire light their way to reveal a cave full of old bones, stalagmites from top to bottom, and an island rock surrounded by a small pond of water. The room was large, and was full of spots where one could hide.

Thanks to the arrow striking the center rock, it gave them all the light they needed. Against the dimly lit cave, the Alphas began their search the moment they jumped down from the ledge. They walked into a see up stalagmites, spreading out a bit but keeping formation tight. Their weapons were drawn and dead silence was needed for full focus to navigate the caves strong darkness.

While Asher was using what darkness he could find and hiding within it. Along with the help of a dead mole body he was now laying under, hoping to make his old family give up the search. He held tight to the floor, trying to squeeze his body against it, as if to try and blend into the floor. He resisted the urge to groan from the wound in his back and the hole in his leg, and he even tried to wash the blood off his body before hand. But it made little difference, and he was now feeling the great shiver of fear.

Hearing one pair of footsteps go right over his head and crack a few finger bones. Asher's teeth were gritting tightly, fear growing in his stomach as he heard the splashes of Alphas entering the water. He took a long big breath, struggling to keep it quiet as Thoranos suddenly heard the breath. He growled and turned away from the water while silently waving to Brutis and Swifter. He pointed back to the stalagmites and the three of them went back to investigate.

Asher had his eyes closed, and before long he felt and heard the footsteps returning. He clenched up a bit and braced as he felt them walking all around his body. He opened one eye and saw the back of Swifter's head and an open sword that was unbuttoned from the sheath.

What he didn't see was Brutis suddenly stepping in a small trail of blood. Brutis was alarmed by this and checked the blood with a sniff and taste, learning it was warm blood. His look grew sharp and persistent as he followed the trail of blood that grew larger as he followed it. Then he slowly stepped over a line of large stalagmites, and almost slipped on not a trail, but a puddle of blood.

And right after that puddle was the skeletal remains of the mole. He saw what he thought was a shadow under the skeleton, but it was awfully big for a mole shadow. Then he saw the moment green eyes slowly opened through the eye holes of the skull, and it was official.

Brutis stayed quiet at first, and clicked his teeth together to signal Thoranos and Swifter. When they turned around, they saw Brutis's eyes darting down at the skeleton, and they nodded. They read his gesture like a book, and they quietly walked over to the skeletal body with their weapons drawn.

Asher widened his eyes and realized they found him, so he made his next move. His tail flickered out of it's hidden position, whipping as it curved around the one sword Swifter should have drawn. He would regret it as Asher lifted the sword up and rammed it through Swifter's leg. He followed up with a kick to the screaming merc to send him through several rows of stalagmites. He then ducked out from under another sword and two axes that crushed the skull of the mole.

Asher grabbed a leg bone to crack it against the skull of Brutis to knock him away. But finally, Thoranos tackled the dragon through more stalagmites just as the Alphas saw the chaos. They were quick to go on the attack, running back from the island rock to help their comrades.

Asher roared and leaned back before grabbing Thoranos and putting him in a guillotine. He lifted the Alpha over his head to suplex him into the ground before quickly rolling. Avoiding an incoming spear from the rookie, right as Curage jumped from his shoulder with a crazy laugh. Swinging his bladed shield at Asher as he used Swifter's stolen sword to block side to side. He then back flipped to avoid a shield bash only to get two arrows cutting the sides of his arm to cripple them further.

He then rushed to Curage who readied to shield bash him again, but only offered a step up. Allowing for Asher to jump off from the shield and into the air, allowing him to spot a way out. It was in the form of a small tunnel where water flowed from the tiny pond and possibly out of the mountain. So he did his best to flap his wings and make a slow fly for the tunnel. Only for Felious to meet him into the air thanks to a boost from Night and Leo.

Asher met the challenge now that he knew there was a way out, as they clashed their blades together. They slammed their blades together as they plummeted, each strike jolting their hands. Their swings precise and their guards even more so as they clashed. Until the grunt got his spear back and took another mighty throw to hit Asher in the back. But this time he was able to fly back just enough to avoid while Felious had to slash the spear away.

Asher landed in the middle of the lonely rock and quickly looked around. Weapons were drawn from everywhere, he desperately tried to block and deflect every blow from every direction. Before taking a greatsword slash to the hip, painting the rock with a streak of blood. Then next swing knocked Swifter's sword from the dragon's claws, just as Thoranos jumped to go for the head.

Asher grasp the fresh wound on his hip and rolled off the rock, plummeting into the ice cold water. His blood quickly started to turn it red before he scrambled for the tunnel. His comrades poking out their heads to see him stumbling and starting to limp as Thoranos growled and took on the lead pursuit. Following the dragon into the tunnel as his comrades raced to catch up.

Asher was desperate to escape, navigating the tunnels was impossible. The dragon was running blind in the dark tunnels, he didn't even stop to think with a fork in the road. He immediately went left without thinking, and going left seemed to lead to a series of different tunnels. Thankfully it seemed that he lucked out once again, for this sudden labyrinth of tunnels appeared to be causing chaos for the Alphas. They were getting lost and mixed up in the sudden spread of tunnels.

The dragon tripped, only thinking about escaping the mountain and hoping to bring it all down. And then he saw it, the glitter of wavering moonlight pouring into the next right turn he made. The moon was settling in for the next dawn to soon arrive, it was like the heavens were answering his prayers. So with all the remaining strength he could muster he ran for the tiny exit. He could almost touch that sweet light of freedom, if it wasn't for a surprise tackle against a wall.

Thoranos finally caught up to Asher and side tackled him from a sudden right path. He punched at Asher's bloody hip to try and force him down, against weak breaths and a body ready to collapse. Asher Elbowed Thoranos in the back till his hold on the dragon loosened. Allowing Asher to growl and crack the cat in the nose with a knee, before tackling Thoranos against the right wall. He grabbed at Thoranos's neck, hoping to choke him out with both claws.

The fight needed to end right here and now, their next moves would decide this fight. So Thoranos acted with the little breath he could muster as his vision grew blurry. He strained to pull his axes back out from his sides, and thankfully, Asher failed to restrain his arms. So giant cat roared and brought both axes down on Asher's back.

"RAAAAAAGH!"Asher screamed, and it echoed through the tunnel.

The scream made the Alphas freeze and even felt a shiver of fear from the haunting scream of pain. As the dragon himself drop to one knee once more, and started to lose his grip. Thoranos took a moment to catch his breath and rub his neck, as Asher felt his body shutting down. His head lowering to look at the ground as blood streamed from the corner of his mouth. Staining his tusks as his mind began to go black, the cries of his sister even began to fade.

"Cynder…"Asher's whisper was weak and full of sorrow.

"Cynder is gone… She wants nothing to do with you or this world. You should have let it go,"Thoranos grunted while catching his breath,"No, you messed up… And now we have no choice but to do this…"

He grabbed the handles of his axes, and slowly began to pull them out. That pain jolted through the dragon's back, his eyes widened as he remembered the tortured screams of his sister. The pain she must have felt, it had to be no different than the pain he was currently feeling. If she could take such pain, why is he shutting down? The answer was simple, he shouldn't be, he should be fighting no matter what, just like her.

So the moment the axes were finally pulled out of his back, Asher roared one last time.

"RAAAAARRRGH!"Asher roared and stood tall to make his move.

The surprise was enough to shock Thoranos, allowing Asher to rush in and blindly drive in his wrist spikes. He meant to strangle, but the spikes did the job just as well. Allowing the dragon to pierce both sides of the Alpha's necks and crack his head against the wall.

All went quiet, and Thoranos began twitching as his arms trembled from the shock. He then slowly dropped his axes, letting them loudly clang against the stone floor. Splashing against the small stream of water as blood suddenly poured forth from the mercenary's mouth. Asher could barely see, but even his eyes widened and suddenly realized what he did. They stared each other down, rage slowly melting away to regret and solemness for both parties, and in that next moment, a tear left Thoranos's left eye.

"I...never...urg! Wanted this…"He spoke and choked on his own blood that poured over his neck like a waterfall.

Asher finally lost all feeling in his arms, and they dropped like anchors in an open ocean. Letting the wrist spikes slowly slide out of Thoranos's neck, allowing him to fall forward. Toppling over and right on top of Asher, causing them both to fall to the ground. But Thoranos was dead the moment he hit the ground, while Asher laid there and stared at the ceiling. Letting blood flow right over his body, holding his dead former friend and family.

"Neither did I…"Asher quietly responded, spending a full moment with his fallen friend.

Before he finally heard the voices of the Alphas approaching, along with panicked foot steps. This alarmed the dragon, looking down the path he came to hear them growing near. Now was the time for no more sorrow and regret, it was time to get back to surviving.

So he slowly pushed Thoranos off him, and rolled to his belly to start crawling to the exit. His body finally giving up and becoming dead weight that he had to carry with his right arm. As he grabbed at rocks and divets in the stream to drag his body towards the exit. The approaching footsteps put pressure on the dragon, forcing him to simply wait till he reached the exit.

Before turning his head and slowly building up one last fireball and aiming it at the ceiling. With a growl, he unleashed the soul sucking fireball at the tunnel ceiling. Causing it to completely explode and cause a sudden rock slide that smashed away the tunnel formation and fill it with rocks. The force was able to finally blast Asher out of the tunnel and send him falling with the stream. Knowing that he just sealed his comrades away in the mountain for some time.

It gave him a sense of peace as he slowly closed his eyes, allowing a sudden pond to take him in with a cold splash. Where it then began to carry his body away, letting fate decide if he would live or die this day. With his eyes closed, he fell unconscious, hearing nothing but the panicked voices above him and approaching the pond.

Finally, that was quite the chapter, was not expecting it to be so long, but I wanted this kind of scene and action to happen. Hope you all enjoyed it, hope the action sets a bar and definitely looks better than what I heard about it before. Hope you all enjoy and stay awesome.