Viewer Discretion Advised - Graphic Violence

Chapter 52 – The Fall Maiden

Jaune

It was a straight shot…

It was not even that far of a run either, but Winter knew how deadly these Cryostorms were. And considering the landscape and the nearby howling winds? It was more than likely that they were in the Eye of the Storm. She stared out at the frozen statues of Grimm that were beginning to thaw already. "You're certain that Ruby and the rest of them are in there?" Weiss asked her sister as she approached her with Jaune beside her.

"Where else could they have gone than that structure? The thing is… I've never seen anything matching this Architecture. It's older than the Great War… or maybe from a totally different faction. Either way, this does not match any known Kingdom's Architecture from their time." Winter explained as she stared at the strange structure that was built into the mountain of ice.

"It's especially weird that the front door is still open, you know – not covered in ice like the rest of it." Jaune explained as he stared at it.

"Yeah… I think there's more going on there. It has to be where Jackdaw is hiding." Winter agreed.

They all got ready, checking their Ice Claw boots. They were still operational but the constant running through this thick snow and the cold was making them ware a little thin. That was the big downside with these Mantle Ice Claw Boots, unlike Winter's they were not designed for extensive usage out here, and even then – Winter's were suffering. Nothing was designed to survive out here in the Atlesian Wildlands, not even Grimm.

"Okay, be ready to run as fast as you can. That Cryostorm is gonna be back any second, we haven't got a second to lose." Winter explained as she stared at the darkness. They all stood beside her, bouncing on their toes.

"Three…

… two…

… one…

… GO!" Winter called out.

They all sprinted out from the safety of the cave and back into the blistering cold air of the Atlesian Wildlands. The Grimm that were frozen in ice were already beginning to break out from their cold cocoons. Filled with a wild fury, they started to erupt from their prisons, roaring as the Tundra Beowulves rushed forward and jumped towards Weiss, claws and jaws open wide. Weiss drew Myrtenaster and she cut the beast clean in two with one swing. It crawled through the snow with anger in its burning eyes, the other legs were slowly being dragged back to the half that was still moving, constantly regenerating itself.

Jaune rushed forward with his Shield open and he smashed it into the chest of a Beowulf, causing the beast to stagger from the impact. The monster snarled and then he took its head off with one swing. The body collapsed beside the still growling head on the ground, starting to rebuild itself. "Keep going!" Jaune called out, they all trudged through the thick snow as quickly as they could. The Grimm were erupting up from the sand with monstrous roars, hiding in the warmth of the sand, at least as warm as it could get in comparison to the freezing cold air.

The Beowulf roared, shaking the snow from its thick black fur before it jumped at Blake who slashed Gambol Shroud by its long ribbon, cutting the arms off the monster, and kicking it towards Pyrrha who drove Milo's Spearhead through the back of the beast's skull and out of its open jaws. It collapsed, and black smoke billowed from its wounds, already healing. Winter looked back after she slashed a Creep in two with one hard strike with her sword, hearing the howling winds grow louder and the cold worsen. The whistling sound of the massive Icicles echoed behind them, and they saw them come crashing down as the winds got even worse.

They smashed into the ground so hard that Winter staggered, but they kept on moving as fast as they could. "Cryostorm's here! Keep running!" Winter yelled as they stumbled through thick snow, looking back as the cold started to freeze the recently thawed Grimm back into statues.

They were so close to the entrance, and the icicles bombed them over and over again, like Artillery Fire from the Shadow of Broken Promises. The icy walls of the mountain that the facility was built into shattered but instantly started to freeze over again. Shard after shard wrecked the ground around them as they fled towards the doors. Jaune and Winter got there first, and he smashed his shoulder into them, but nothing happened. "Get the doors open!" Weiss screamed, and Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors into his Shield, and it formed the Claymore, and he ignited the Fire Dust still loaded into it.

He drove the blade in between the doors, cutting through the lock, melting it down. He looked back as the Grimm froze and the Shards crashed into the ground over and over again. Their howls were haunting as they whistled through the air. The ice wall was getting closer and closer, freezing the water molecules in the air into icicles that fell before them. "JAUNE! WE'RE OUT OF TIME!" Blake yelled, Jaune punched the hilt of Crocea Mors down with all his strength and the lock sliced in two, and he barged inside with Winter, and they kept the doors that were nearly blown off their hinges from the wind where they were. They still needed to close the doors to stop the White Frost from reaching them.

Pyrrha and Blake rushed over to one of the large couches and they pushed it towards the doors as Jaune, Winter and Weiss held the doors where they were, pushing them close as hard as they could. Blake and Pyrrha slammed the couch against the doors, and even then, the winds were still pushing the couch across the floor. Pyrrha turned and saw a heavy Vending Machine inside, she held her hands to it and she launched it past all of them and used it to barricade the door, and the extra weight was exactly what they needed.

The doors were still being battered by the winds, and they saw the White Frost started to creep in around the vending machine and the sofa wedged against them… but it was enough to keep it from going any further.

Weiss stared at the windows, covered in ice.

They all took a moment to recuperate, sighing with relief at the fact that they survived all that, the fact that they are the first people to ever make it this far into the Atlesian Wildlands… ever… until they realised something that was especially odd. "Hang on a second… the hell is a Modern-Day Atlesian Vending Machine doing in here? And how come this all looks so… used?" Jaune asked as he stood back up, looking around.

That was the strangest thing of all about this place – from the outside the building looked ancient.

But inside?

It was like it was built merely a few years ago, Winter walked around, and she found some files left on a table. "Well they were definitely here, looks like Ruby and the others felt the same way as you do right now. They were investigating too." Winter explained.

"I don't get it… why the hell would Jackdaw Branwen work so hard to get here? He's a deranged maniac, and sure it seems like he is working with Watts on this – but – why? Why come all the way out here and move through what is easily the most volatile environment on the planet?" Jaune questioned with confusion.

None of them knew what Jackdaw knew, nobody knew about what Lil Miss Malachite told him… about the Command Codes stored here that he had already sent to Watts about the Inhumane Necessity, but also… the Ratway Tunnels into Atlas.

This was that location, and Weiss looked around the room, seeing the nice tables and chairs that were here, alongside a cafeteria. But there was nobody here… not even a body. But Weiss then looked up… and her eyes widened when she saw the terrifyingly familiar symbol.

It was like an Eclipse, but the Phenomenon had a Noose around it…

The symbol was awfully familiar. "That's… the Black Gallows Symbol."

"What?" Jaune gasped as he walked over to her, they all stared at the symbol.

"I don't like this, anything that has ever involved the Black Gallows has never ended well. And with Jackdaw in here somewhere? Ruby has no idea what she and the others are walking into." Pyrrha said with wide green eyes.

Jaune kept his grip on Crocea Mors tight as he looked around. "Well then… let's go find them. They're gonna need all the help they can get."

Ruby

Ruby carefully walked down the halls, they were deeper into this facility than Jaune and the others were, but they were not far behind. It seemed like they had found more places in this facility, alongside multiple old Elevator Shafts. "Damn… these are really old." Yang said as she looked at them, these did not even use Dust to be operated, these had incredibly old mechanisms to them.

"This place is weird; I mean the Reception Area looked like your sub-standard Atlesian Centre. But all this? This is much, much different. Ancient, almost." Qrow said as he kept Harbinger tight in his grasp. They felt their hearts pounding harder and harder as they walked through the dark hallways.

It was constantly in their mind.

Jackdaw Branwen is in here somewhere, Yang could see him communicating to her through that Branwen Mindscape of theirs, guiding us to this building.

He's definitely here and he knows that we are.

I hate this…

Ruby could feel her hands shake nervously, but she turned and saw Eryka, Nora and Ren were beside her. The fact that she could trust all of them more than her own Uncle was worrying, she knew that he was hiding something. Their stories were no longer adding up anymore, which meant that there was a factor in their story of what Jackdaw did to Summer that they were avoiding.

Ruby stepped around the corner with Crescent Rose in its rifle form, aimed down the corridor. "Stay alert… could be anything in here. Remember, Jackdaw might not be the only danger." Ren advised, Stormflower held up, ready to shoot anything that moves in these shadows.

But then, there was this creepy female voice, speaking to them with a musical chime at the beginning.

"Welcome to Frostwall Bastion." An automated voice emerged from the speaker systems, they all looked around, on edge when they heard another voice in here. "We – the Black Gallows – will protect you from the horrors of this world, at any means necessary. Feel safe in our embrace, feel safe with our voice, follow her will for a better tomorrow." The voice spoke to them.

"Well… that's creepy as hell." Nora chuckled as she slowly walked with Stormur Skeggox in her hand.

"Oh, do I sound that bad today?" The woman asked with concern in her voice, they all stopped with wide eyes.

"Yo, what?" Yang stammered as she stared at the cameras that were watching them.

"Please, do have a look around. But of course, please put any rubbish you bring with you in the disposal ports in this facility. We excel in cleanliness here in Frostwall Bastion." The voice continued, they felt a cold chill creep up their spines, looking at each other.

"Okay… is there someone else here? That can't be a recording. It responded to us." Ruby said as she turned the next corner, checking everything for any signs of a trap.

"Who are you? Chick on the speakers with that… weirdly sexy voice?" Eryka asked, Raven raised a brow at that one.

"I'm Iris, Miss Vasillias." She responded, and that creeped them out more than anything.

"Okay… that's even creepier. How the hell does this thing know who we are?" Ruby asked with concern.

"Number One: This thing is called Iris. Number Two: Why I have access to your files, of course. I know everything about you." Iris explained to them, they all looked at each other.

"If that's true then how come you are letting us in?" Ruby asked, since she knew they were criminals now.

"You have been granted access in here by the most recent ally." Iris answered, Qrow and Raven looked at each other.

"Jackdaw…" Qrow softly growled in anger as they walked through the hallways. They entered another large room, there were more tables in here and there were Atlesian Knights wandering around – the old 130 Variants as well. They were still glowing red and armoured in black steel chassis. But they were acting very strange, something they realised as they watched them wander. They were… cleaning… constantly.

Some of them had broomsticks, constantly sweeping up the dust and snow off the ground, where the snow had flown in from cracks in the old building. Some were polishing the tables and others were cleaning windows – even the frames where windows had broken. They were stuck in their cycles constantly, one of them could be seen beside a pile of snow, constantly moving the snapped broom handle over and over again, yet it was making no progress.

Ruby looked at her sister with concerned eyes.

They continued through the dark halls of the facility, moving through this huge room where the Atlesian Knights were working away. "Ruby… this place is giving me the creeps." Nora whispered to her.

"Me too. Be ready for anything with this thing. If it's an A.I it could be crazy if it has been here for really long." Ruby advised, they walked towards the next doorway, and they found some old offices. Inside were documents just left behind, they checked them, but they could not make out anything on them. Most of the important information was covered in black ink.

"What is this place?" Yang wondered.

"Must be where the Black Gallows started." Qrow said, walking into one of the offices.

"It's like the Black Gallows Operators here just got up and left. Didn't bring anything with them." Raven added, looking at one of the files, but she sighed. Nothing was readable thanks to all the black ink covering the text.

"Hey, Iris? How old is this place? And what's it used for?" Yang asked the Artificial Intelligence keeping the place running.

"Frostwall Bastion is currently 1237 years, 11 months, 265 days and thirteen hours old. The Bastion was the original Headquarters for all Black Gallows activity, working under the eyes of the Atlesian Pagans before, during and after the Great War." She answered, they looked at Qrow with wide eyes.

"Yeah, this place has been around long before the Great War Started, almost a whole century before." Qrow said.

"Nobody really knows how old the Black Gallows are do they?" Ren asked.

"No… but I think we know now. They've been around for a long time. But they couldn't have been what they are now in the beginning, I mean look at the Atlesians. They were pagans once… the Black Gallows must have been something different as well. I just don't know what they were." Qrow said.

"Do we know if there were any other Kingdoms? Apart from the main four?" Eryka asked, crossing her arms.

"Archaeologists have found old ruins that date back further than the Great War Era, and even some other Kingdoms were destroyed in the early centuries of the Great War." Raven explained.

"So maybe they were part of those Kingdoms…" Ruby shrugged her shoulders, at the end of the day nobody had a definitive answer.

"Yo, Iris? What were the Black Gallows like originally?" Eryka asked curiously as she planted one hand on her hip.

Iris was quiet for a few moments before answering. "I'm sorry, Miss Vasillias – that information is Classified." Iris answered.

"Oooof course it is." Eryka sang, before they kept moving through the facility. They opened a set of double doors and they closed behind them, entering what looked like some sort of large Elevator. It went very deep underground, and Ruby leant over the edge, seeing the darkness beneath them whilst an Atlesian Knight waddled around, wiping dust off the Terminals.

"Hooey… that's a loooong way down." Ruby said with her Silver Eyes as big as footballs.

"I dunno if I wanna trust these elevators, dude. They look kinda… old." Nora said as she touched it, hearing it rattle and clank.

Suddenly they heard something pummel against the closed doors behind them. It seemed like they had locked behind them, but they could hear the pounding grow harder and harder. Somebody was kicking the door at them over and over again. They all drew their weapons, and Ruby kept her Rifle aimed at the door. "It's him… isn't it?" Ruby stammered nervously.

"We're about to find out." Yang said.

"You ready?" Ruby asked them.

"Yeah." Eryka answered, Constantine Damascus drawn all the way, ready to fire at him on the other side.

The door blew open, and their eyes widened to see that it was Winter. She stared at them and Eryka's eyes widened with both relief and dread. "Oh… shit…"

Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake were also standing at the ready, but they immediately lowered their weapons. Ruby's side of things were not so quick to judge, however. "You're kidding me right? You followed us through the Wildlands?" Ruby growled angrily, but Winter quickly put her weapon down and she held her hands above her head, Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake all did the same.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not here to fight you, we swear it. We're here to help." Winter assured as she walked over to them. Eryka was the first to lower her bow, trusting her girlfriend's word. Slowly everyone but Ruby, Qrow and Raven lowered theirs.

"Help? I thought you were Killian's puppets now? Something about looking out for yourselves?" Ruby scoffed.

"A lot has gone down after you left. Killian's been arrested." Winter assured.

"Yeah we heard Weiss' Dad mention it." Ruby said.

"That and the U.G.R took us off the mission because they're sending the Ace Ops after you. I doubt they're gonna get here thanks to the Cryostorms unless they're stupid. The U.G.R have no idea we're here and we'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise we'd have to arrest ourselves and… well… that'd be super embarrassing." Winter said, planting her hand on her hip.

Ruby scoffed. "Yeah I can't imagine that would look good on your performance review." Ruby joked, making Winter chuckle.

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose, and she looked at Blake and Weiss. "It's good to see you guys." Ruby said with a smile.

"You may as well get it over with." Weiss sighed; Ruby raised a brow.

"Uh… get what over with?" She inquired.

"The whole I told you so song and dance, I know you and I know you've probably rehearsed it. So… c'mon… lay it on me." Weiss gestured to Ruby, grimacing as she looked away as if she were about to get a snowball thrown at her.

"As tempting as it is, I'll have to hold onto that for later. Jackdaw's in here somewhere… there's this creepy A.I Lady talking to us and we just found this really unreliable looking Elevator." Ruby gestured at the large elevator behind them.

"Oh… that… wow. I wasn't expecting that." Weiss said.

"Don't think you're out of the woods yet, Weiss – I have been rehearsing it. You just gotta wait with anticipation for it." Ruby said with a grin, opening the Elevator.

"Oh gods…" Weiss groaned.

They all walked into the Elevator together, reunited at long last as it started to descend down into the Dark Labyrinths of Frostwall Bastion.

Where Jackdaw Branwen was waiting for them.

Cinder

Her head was hurting bad, she slowly came to, finding herself bound to a tree. Lots of rope was tightly wound up around her, and she could hear a dull thud repeating over and over again, her one good eye came to and she saw Oscar getting pummelled into the mud over and over again. He spluttered blood onto the ground from how many times he had been punched. The man who was beating him was Shay, his fist was covered in blood as he paced back and forth, staring down at the young man who held his stomach, spitting out blood from his mouth.

Shay turned and stared at the Fall Maiden with a smirk on his face, he walked over to one of the barrels and he picked up a cloth, wiping the blood from his knuckles whilst his men sat the dizzy Oscar Pine back on his knees. "Well, well… look who's awake?" Shay laughed, grabbing Cinder by the hair before he punched her in the face as well. Cinder grunted; the punch surprisingly helped her focus her senses.

She looked around and laughed at them. They were back at the camp, dragged back here judging by how muddy they were. Vernal and Amber were also knelt down beside Oscar, and Vernal immediately checked the young man to make sure he was okay until one of the Bandits loyal to Shay slammed the stock of his shotgun into her cheek so hard that she fell down into the mud. "Argh…" She groaned.

"Leave… them be." Cinder warned, and Shay chuckled sinisterly whilst he paced around.

"Let's be clear, honey – you are in no position to be threatening me. You see you need to be made an example of before this tribe. To those who are filled with doubts of what we must become – I'm not gonna kill all of them, not yet. Not unless they can accept how things need to be from now on." Shay explained, picking up a Sawn-Off Shotgun and pointing it at Cinder's face. "Such a shame to ruin your gorgeous face honey." He said.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" Amber screamed, and she saw Shay's Right Hang Man, Flynt, the one who stole the treasure of the Branwen Tribe, point his gun at the back of her head.

Cinder's eye suddenly ignited with fury. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" She erupted, but Flynt pulled the hammer of his gun back, staring her down.

"If I were you, Cinderella, I'd calm the hell down unless you want Flynt over here to blow a hole through the kid's head. Because he'll do it, not the first kid he's killed you know?" Shay chuckled, and Cinder immediately extinguished the fire in her eye, but the hate never faded, she just stayed calm to keep Amber, Vernal and Oscar alive.

He wants to talk… he likes the sound of his own voice, always has…

"I should have known you talked; we should have killed you as soon as you showed back up at the Vasillias Cartel." Cinder snarled with rage in her eyes. The rest of the Gang were sat down, watching the event unfold. Shay's Grunts were all on his side, which meant he had roughly twenty guns loyal to him, but everyone else were still loyal to Raven since she saved them. He had already killed a few of them to try and make an example – but kill the Fall Maiden?

Well that would definitely get them to fall in line, Shay wasn't stupid. They needed these people.

Shay stared at her when she pointed out the fact that he lied and ratted them out to Killian. "What is she talking about, Shay?" One of the Bandits questioned.

"He talked, he's a rat and he had a nice long chat with Killian and some point to let him know about our plan to work with Lavinia Vasillias at Lake Matsu." Cinder answered.

"That's a goddamn lie." Shay chuckled with a grin on his face as he slowly walked towards Cinder, hand on the holster of his Revolver.

"Guys… you all know me… that I wouldn't lie to you about this." Cinder said to the people as they listened.

"Yes, listen to the chick you lied her way through Beacon Academy to destroy it, totally trustworthy behaviour." Shay chuckled.

"He disappeared and was the only person to make it back, I don't believe in coincidences." Cinder said.

"You don't believe in anyone but yourself, not even this kid!" Shay laughed.

"It all makes sense now…" Cinder said, scowling up at him. "You've always had it out for Raven, and that was your opportunity to get her out of the picture. So you could do this."

Shay stared down at her – Cinder knew she was right, and he knew that she knew. He pointed his Revolver at her head with his finger on the trigger.

"Stop!" One of the Bandits yelled, standing up, and Shay sighed, rolling his eyes with a growl as he turned around, staring at the man.

"Yes, Jeremiah?" He asked with curiosity.

"Convince us that she's lying? We're not dumb, you killed Traynor and two others because they stood against you. But Cinder has never lied to the Tribe, never." Jeremiah demanded, which made Shay chuckled, pushing his hands through his hair.

"Why trust her? We caught her trying to steal all our riches for herself so she, Vernal, Oscar and this little… PARASITE!" He bellowed at the seven-year-old girl, making her whimper with fear. "She wanted to take everything we had for herself because that's what she is. A backstabbing two-timing traitor. She was always gonna betray us, with or without your precious Raven Branwen." Shay laughed.

"Then where's the money, Shay?" Another Bandit questioned; the young woman stood up too. "I was cleaning Raven's tent like I always did for her; I always knew where that chest was kept. I can't help but notice that it's gone, Shay. Where is it? If you caught her then that means you had it."

Shay chuckled again. His laugh was always deeply disturbing. "We buried it nearby."

"WHAT?" Distress started to grow inside the camp, and Cinder smirked – they were gonna need their help.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That's all our money!" Another Bandit yelled.

"We had to move it so then this little snake wouldn't take it again!" Shay argued.

"You calling me a snake? That's rich." Cinder scoffed.

"Shut it, Cinder!" He yelled with anger, pressing the barrel of his revolver against the side of her head again. He turned back to the rest of the tribe. "Whether you all like it or not, we have to change if we are to survive. Tribes and Gangs like these never survive, Raven never had the stomach to do whatever it takes to keep us going. We kept on robbing over Bandits, other criminals or only the rich! But that paints targets on our backs, and that is why we always go for the poorer settlements. The Governments couldn't give two shits about them! But sooner or later the Black Gallows was gonna find us! Raven had to go, the Branwens had to go! It was time for a change… we are Raiders. And as Raiders we will do what we do best!" He roared as he paced back and forth, lightning started to brew up in the sky as Cinder subtly channelled her power through her body without him even realising.

Shay turned and stared at Cinder. "But first… we have this very… pleasant matter… to deal with first." Shay said as he walked towards Cinder. She stared at him, then she pushed her head into the barrel of his gun. He stared down at her and he chuckled. "You think I'm gonna do you in first? Aw… that's cute, but no… no… I got something else planned." Shay assured, whistling to his men.

Four of them grabbed Vernal by her shoulders and threw her into the mud in the middle of the camp, and they all started to punch and kick her over and over again. Cinder gasped and she pushed forward until Shay punched her in the face, knocking her against the tree. "Go on, Cinder… take a good long look." He whispered to her. "You see we're reasonable men… so we want you to enjoy the show we're gonna put on. First we're gonna beat Vernal to death… then we'll beat Oscar to death… and then little Amber… and then I'll shoot you. Only then will you be dealt with, sweetie. You know, the little girl is gonna be a fun one to deal with – did you know that when it comes to kids… their heads are softer. Kinda like squashing a rotten pumpkin." He said, staring at Amber with a smirk, but he did not notice Cinder's fury building and building in her body and into her eyes.

Vernal cried out as she was punched and beaten into the mud, to the point that the men pushed her down into the mud, to drown her in it.

And then…

CRACK!

A giant bolt of lightning suddenly shot down through the huge ancient tree that Cinder was bound to, the wood fragmented and exploded into splinters around her. The rope burned away, and her eye was burning furiously. She opened her hands and formed her two Obsidian Axes, staring directly at Shay who turned around with wide eyes, and Flynt turned to run. The other who had his gun pointed to Amber's head turned and he gasped. Cinder launched her Axe towards him, and it punctured into his chest so hard that it carried him towards a rock, pinning him to it.

"Oh… shit…" Shay gasped, turning and fleeing from the scene as Cinder stared at the Thugs who were beating on Vernal. They stared at Cinder with fearful eyes. Cinder walked towards the thugs and she swung her axe towards one of them who drew his own axe and swung it towards her, only for Cinder to drive the axe down his arm, cutting it from his elbow. He shrieked with agony until Cinder swung around and slammed the head of her axe into the side of his head so hard that she squashed his head into the barrel. She kicked his corpse from the cracked axe, and she ducked under the machete of the next, swinging the axe up his groin.

He shrieked with agony as Cinder held him there, and then she stomped down onto his knee so hard that it snapped the bone, bringing him down to one knee. She let him suffer as he felt the agony in his crotch with the axe lodged up there, she then caught one of them by the throat as he fumbled his gun to shoot her, and she formed a sword and drove it straight through his skull. The final bandit tried to crawl away with fear of Cinder until she punched him with a burning fist, reaching into his stomach as he wailed. She grabbed his heart from his ribs and ripped it out in front of him, before she burned it into ashes and grabbed him by the skull and channelled fire into his head, burning him inside out.

His shrieks echoed for miles, and the pain? The suffering? The Negative Emotions?

The Grimm could smell it.

Cinder turned to the man with the axe in his crotch, and she ripped it out, making him squeal with agony until she buried it into his head so hard that the axe shattered upon contact. She formed her Bow and drew it on the rest of the Tribe, glaring at them. "All of you – you best pick your side now, because this is over." Cinder told them. "All those years with Raven… all torn down because of that snake. If I were you I'd go, run as far away from here before the Grimm show up." Cinder warned, Shay's thugs were not moving.

Some of the people fled, whilst some stood with the thugs.

None stood with Cinder.

No loyalty… none at all.

She was not surprised but it hurt for Vernal to see. She turned to Oscar, Vernal and Amber. "Get out of here. Get somewhere safe – I'll finish this, and I'll finish Shay and Flynt myself." She assured with furious eyes. Oscar helped Vernal up, putting her arm around his shoulder whilst Amber ran with them, helping Oscar as best she could with his injured leg. Cinder stared at the Bandits in front of her, she closed her eyes.

"All them years… snuffed out in a night." She sighed, before she stared them in the eyes. One of the Bandits sprinted towards her and she fired an arrow which went straight into his head. The clouds darkened above their heads and lightning came crashing down upon them, decimating the tents, leaving burning craters in the ground where the molten light had fallen. She sprinted forward and crushed her Bow down into embers, using those embers to forge two Obsidian Swords. She threw one of the swords into the sternum of a soldier which pinned him to one of the trees. With that hand free she cooled the air down and launched a sharp icicle like a bullet through the skull of the next.

There were roughly twenty-five bandits overall, and she already managed to kill three of them. One of them, rolled out of the path of her fireball, and he slashed his sword across her aura protected body. He then fired his shotgun at her, but she just took the shot. He rushed forward again to try and cut her down, only for her to stop his sword with her hand. She then pushed the blade of her sword through his face and pushed it upwards, splitting his head in two. Another soldier fired his machine gun at her, but she blasted a small tornado of wind at him that carried sharp sticks and one of the swords, which ripped him to shreds in its vortex as he wailed.

The next threw a knife at Cinder, the bandit rushed forward and picked up one of the hatchets and swung it down towards Cinder. Cinder slashed the axe in two, and then she cut the woman's hands off in one swing. The Bandit howled in agony, Cinder grabbed her by her long her and pulled her neck back, driving the sword down her throat so far that the blade hit the soil, leaving her body in that position.

Six down, nineteen to go.

One of the Bandits stood atop one of the crates and fired her Bow and Arrow at Cinder, but she rolled out of the way and blasted a column of fire up at the bandit, burning her alive as she shrieked in pain. Cinder sprinted towards the rest of the Bandits, blasting forward and forming her axes. She drove one of them down into the chest of the first bandit she saw, dragging his corpse across the ground, before she spun and kicked another in the throat. He choked with pain as he staggered back, and Cinder took both her Axes and slammed them down into the shoulders of the next Bandit who tried to swing his machetes at her. He choked with blood and Cinder kicked him away, before spiralling around and beheading two of them in a single strike.

Their heads bounced across the floor, and then she took both of those axes and threw them into two more, killing both instantly.

Six more down, leaving only thirteen.

Suddenly a powerful explosion erupted into Cinder's back, dealing a lot of damage to her aura, and she crashed through the crates. She lifted her head, staring through her strands of black hair. There was a large woman with a Grenade Launcher aimed at her, and she fired again, hitting Cinder in the chest. She was thrown through the bushes but immediately blasted towards the Bandit, and she grabbed her by the throat. She lifted her off the ground with great ease and lightning built up above her head, and she brought the storm down upon the Bandit. The fork of light burned her body alive; she was killed instantly from that hit. Cinder smashed her body down into the ground with a feral rage in her eyes.

Another soldier fired his machine gun at Cinder, which she returned with another Maiden Attack. She lifted her hand up and the Fall Leaves broke away from the trees, and then she froze them, launching them towards him, shredding his body to bloody ribbons. Cinder jumped and jumped again off one of the crates, spinning through the air as she drew her newly formed Obsidian Bow, firing three explosive arrows down at the Bandits. They erupted, blowing two more of them to pieces.

Only ten remained.

Cinder landed and she crushed her Bow down again and formed her swords, sprinting towards the ten remaining Bandits. She slid underneath the Bandit's axe, cutting his leg off from the knee. He screamed with agony as Cinder rose back upright with elegance, slamming the blade of her sword down into the soldier's ribs, finishing him off. She slashed another Bandit across the throat, and he choked on his own blood as Cinder walked past him. One of them fired his Crossbow at her but she deflected the arrow with one impressive swing, and she then grabbed the choking Bandit and used him like a meat shield when she saw one of them pull out a Heavy Machine Gun. Cinder pushed forward towards the Machine Gunner, throwing the bloody mass that was that previous Bandit, knocking him on his back. She immediately caught the arrow of the Crossbow User and she grabbed him by the throat, punching the arrow into his skull.

Three more down, only seven left.

Cinder's eye was constantly burning with anger, she turned and saw one of the Bandits aiming his machine gun at her, until a Beowulf erupted from the bushes behind him. It bit down onto his shoulder and he screamed with both terror and agony. A pack of them gorged on his body, ripping him open as they feasted on his body. Ursae were arriving as well, trampling branches under their weight. Another Bandit was unfortunate enough to be dragged away from the group by the beast. He wailed in agony as the Ursa savagely ripped him apart, slashing its claws and ripping chunks off him.

With the Grimm killing those two bandits, that only left five more for Cinder to finish off. She sprinted towards them and she cut one of their heads off with her dual sword, she shot forward and stabbed one of her swords into the throat of the other, rolling across his back in the process, cutting it through his jugular to make him bleed out. As she rolled over she launched the other sword through the chest of the third, pinning him to the wall. The sword wobbled in his chest, she final rushed towards the fourth and she slashed across his hand and then across his legs, taking them all off before she pinned him to the ground with the sword.

All that was left was one, she turned to see he had something aimed at her.

A Rocket Launcher.

She gasped as the missile exploded into her chest, breaking her aura in the process. She crashed into the ground and groaned in pain. The Bandit walked towards her and pointed his gun at her head. "You're done for, Fall Maiden." He snarled, until Cinder turned and saw the Beowulves surround him. He looked at them with fear and she looked at them. She kicked him in the leg, and he fired, the bullet sliced across her cheek and she snarled with anger. She pushed him towards the Grimm. "No! No! NOOOOAAARGH!" The Bandit wailed with torment as the Grimm swarmed around him, ripping him apart, disembowelling and chewing him from the inside out. "HELP ME!" He squealed, until an Ursa slowly collapsed his skull in its jaws.

Cinder felt nothing for the Bandits, she just got back up, winded from losing her aura like that. She stared ahead and her eyes widened from what she saw staring directly at her.

A Nuckelavee…

She did not know it, but it was the very same one that destroyed Kuroyuri, with the arrows and spears in the Imp's back. And it was not alone, because she saw the massive Ancient Geist approach, formed in floating pieces of armour.

A Praetorian Knight.

It stared at her, and she then looked past it, seeing the armies of Grimm. "The hell… is this?" She questioned it, knowing it could speak.

"Our Queen requested we keep you alive." The Praetorian Knight answered, Cinder's eyes widened as she looked at the Grimm, they were staring but none of them attacked.

"What? Why? I abandoned her." Cinder winced.

"Indeed – However our Queen has a forgiving nature… a one-time offer… to return to her ranks." The Praetorian Knight said to her.

"And… if I just want to live in peace? Away from her and all the problems in the world?" Cinder questioned, and the Praetorian Knight stared at her.

"Then it will be granted – should you not interfere with Her Grace's Plans. But remember, Cinder Fall, Our Queen is always watching." The Praetorian Knight warned. It turned and walked away, taking its powerful army of Grimm towards their target… Haven Academy.

Cinder panted as she watched it leave. "Things… are about to change." She softly said to herself. "I need to find that Treasure…"

"I need to find Shay."

Oscar

He kept moving through the woods, and Vernal groaned as she aimed her gun forward and blasted a beam of fire through the body of a Beowulf that was about to attack them killing it. "We can't leave her!" Amber told them.

"She told us to go, that's what we're gonna do." Oscar said, but then Amber pushed herself away from Oscar.

"No! I'm going back for her! She's the closest thing to a mom I have ever had!" Amber argued. "I won't leave her behind!"

Oscar and Vernal looked at each other and they both sighed.

Cinder

Cinder limped through the bushes, that explosion had thrown some of the shrapnel into her body when her aura broke. She kept moving though and she saw that Shay and Flynt had found the Tribe's Stolen Airship was landed nearby, and they were getting the money loaded onto it. Cinder held a gun she had stolen from the dead Bandits and she aimed it at Flynt and shot him in the head, killing him instantly. He collapsed to the ground, lifeless, and she looked around for him.

"SHAY?" Cinder yelled with rage in her voice. "Come on out, you coward!"

Suddenly Shay tackled Cinder into the ground, and he grabbed her by the throat with a mad look in his eyes. "I've gotcha now, Maiden!" He yelled.

"You rat! You rat!" She yelled back.

"I'm a survivor, Cinder! A survivor! That's all there is! Living and Dying!" He yelled, pummelling Cinder's face into the ground over and over again. With her aura down, she could not use her Maiden Powers, which meant that they were gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Hand to Hand.

Cinder clawed his face with her nails to get him off her chest and they both stumbled to their feet, raising their fists up. Cinder immediately rushed him and punched him in the face, staggering him back. They fought beside a sheer cliff face that overlooked Anima, and she punched him repeatedly across the face. Shay grabbed her and pushed her away and he moved forward. "You should've walked away when you could, girl!" Shay yelled at her.

"Shut it, if it weren't for you, this Tribe would still be standing! It's stood for centuries!" Cinder yelled with anger as she held her fists up. Shay rushed forward with a feral laugh as he punched at her. Cinder blocked his punch but then he grabbed her by the hair and smashed her against the wall. He threw his fists into her back and her sides, bruising and causing her to bark in pain. She swung around and punched him hard across the face, so hard that it threw him across the ground. He tumbled and suddenly drew his knife and stabbed Cinder in the leg when she rushed forward. Cinder howled in pain as she felt the knife stab through her thigh.

Shay, fighting dirty to the end, brought his knee up into Cinder's face which knocked her backwards. Limping, Cinder still stared him down with rage in her amber eye. Cinder suddenly grabbed the knife and ripped it from her leg and brought it down towards Shay's throat. The monster grabbed her forearms, holding the knife back from his throat as he pushed against her, still grinning away as he held her back. She pushed with all her might, and managed it drive it through his shoulder. Shay roared with pain and Cinder punched his face hard, making him stagger backwards.

Shay pulled the knife from his shoulder and he threw it aside, and Cinder kicked him in the leg with her good leg. He staggered back and then she tackled him down to the ground. Cinder grabbed Shay by the throat, and she punched him over and over again in the face. He grabbed her thigh and pushed his thumb into the stab wound, she screamed with pain and that helped Shay punched her in the cheek. She tumbled off him and he grabbed her by the hair, punching the side of his hand down into her face over and over, blackening her one good eye in the process. Her nose started to bleed as Shay pushed her face into the ground to try and suffocate her in the dirt.

Cinder grabbed his hand and bit down onto his fingers so hard that blood leaked from his fingers, Shay screamed with immense pain as she bit harder and harder, and eventually bit his fingers clean off. She spat them onto the ground, nearly gagging at the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She kicked him off her and slowly got back up as he grabbed his hand. He laughed maniacally. "Oh… is that all you got, Princess?" He asked her, grabbed Cinder by the throat again and slamming her against the wall.

He choked her out against the stone wall, staring into her eyes with that smirk. "I don't care if you killed all of them, I'll find more! I'm gonna make sure that no town is safe from us!" He laughed as he choked her out. Cinder smashed her head hard into his, breaking his nose. He staggered back and she grabbed him by his mullet as she swept him off his feet. She smashed his face into the ground over and over again, bloodying his face.

She smashed his elbow into her breast which got her off him and he grabbed her and pushed her towards the edge. She felt his hands around her throat as he pushed her closer and closer towards the edge. "It's a shame… how I would have loved to have a beauty like you in my bed… but I'm gonna just have to settle for watching your body splatter on the ground!" Shay laughed, until suddenly the circular blades of Vernal's Wind and Fire guns erupted through his chest.

He gasped with agony as the blood splattered across Cinder's face. Vernal pushed his body up and fired them both up into the sky. The fire burned through him and he howled to the sky in agony. "Cinder!" Oscar called out, throwing the Axe she had pinned one of the Bandits to the crate with towards her. Vernal ripped the weapons from Shay's back, and Cinder finished him off by swinging the axe into his chest so hard that it sent him hurtling off the edge of the cliff.

He plummeted down and his spine snapped as he crashed down onto a rock with Cinder's Axe lodged into his ribs.

Shay was dead, at long last.

Cinder coughed, wheezing in pain from how badly he had beaten her in that fight, he was a better and dirtier fighter than she was expecting. Oscar and Amber helped her back up to her feet. "What are… what are you doing here?" She weakly questioned.

"You try getting this convincing this one when her mind is set on something." Oscar chuckled, and Amber smiled, hugging Cinder lovingly.

"I'm so happy you're okay." She softly cooed to Cinder, and the Fall Maiden held her close, kissing the top of her head affectionately.

"You're my little hero." She chuckled, then she turned to see Vernal collapse to the ground with a tearful sigh.

"It's all gone…" Vernal weakly said.

"It was Shay… it was always gonna happen… I hope some of them made it… but after I saw that Battalion of Grimm? I doubt it." Cinder said as she spat blood onto the stones.

"So… we're all that's left?" Oscar asked with horror in his eyes.

"Yeah… we need to get out of here… get to Vale. Like Lavinia said… buy some land with what we have." Cinder said, gesturing to the chest and pointing to the Airship Shay was attempting to escape with. "Things in the world are about to change… if we stay peaceful… we'll be fine."

Vernal, Oscar and Amber smiled – they were with her to the end. "Come on… let's get this thing on there." She said to Amber, since Vernal and Cinder were in no state to help. Oscar and Amber both managed to get the Heavy Chest onto the Airship, which made Amber incredibly happy to know she could help.

Vernal sat in the cockpit, she was feeling strong enough to fly at the very least and she started the propellers of the Airship, and they abandoned Anima and what remained of the Branwen Tribe as the Grimm flooded in, devouring the corpses of the Bandits one by one.

Centuries of survival…

… ended in a single night.

The Branwen Tribe was no more.

Killian

He sat on his bed; eyes closed as he heard them approach.

"Get up… it's time for your Trial, asswipe." The Atlesian Soldier commanded, and Killian lifted his head and he smirked sinisterly.

"Finally."

Author Note - The End of the Branwen Tribe, all because of that bastard Shay

God his death was so satisfying to finally write, all the crap that guy did, he deserved every single bit of what he wanted, but I also really enjoyed writing such a piece of shit so I wanted him to at least go out with a fight. I always enjoy characters like Shay, ones who are written with the sole purpose to hate them, because I end up loving to hate them most of the time. But he has gotten what he deserved, and if you ask me those other Bandits had it coming too if they were gonna follow him. Was epic writing Cinder just snap with her Maiden Powers, the part where she destroyed the tree with that bolt of lightning was a personal favourite. I imagined that in slow motion XD

And the gang is back together! And Frostwall Bastion is one mysterious place... the facility where the Black Gallows began. And with Killian at the end there? Hoo boy... things aren't looking good.

Not good at all, especially with that Praetorian Knight and the Army of Grimm headed to Haven. Things are about to go very, very wrong.

God I love writing this story XD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Foundations of Sovereignty

- Matt