Cayde and Vande emerged from the bushes. Surrounded in smoke, burning ashes, and pelted by rain, they slowly advanced towards the outlook. They were the only two that remained now, the rest of the Kimlascan Pack was already gone, already beginning to evacuate from the eastern border.

"Cayde..." Vande looked at him solemnly.

"This may very well be the end."

Cayde nodded in response.

The army of shadow-like, mindless wolves stood in the clearing, staring up at the outlook. The outlook that once stood for peace, the outlook that was home to the den of the Master Alpha. Now it was a burning, hopeless reminder of the peaceful pack that had been snuffed out by the merciless evil of Chaos itself.

Directly beneath the outlook, a few boulders had crashed into the ground, setting the ground ablaze in certain areas.

The massive army of wolves didn't even bat an eye at Cayde and Vande, their gaze still fixed on the outlook, awaiting the orders of their leader.

Who was it? The Wolf of Chaos, for sure, but who? Was it Mystearica himself, the original Wolf of Chaos from thousands of generations ago, or was it the current Wolf of Chaos?

Cayde and Vande cautiously made their way up the small, rocky path leading up to the outlook.

"What are you going to do, Cayde? Fight them? It's just the two of us, Cayde. Against the Wolf of Chaos and an entire army... the odds are against us." Vande said.

"We only fight if we truly have to, Vande. Maybe I can reason with them."

"There's no reasoning with the Wolf of Chaos, Cayde, they'll kill you the second they get the chance! They'll-"

"I have to try, I have to. For you, for the Kimlascan Pack... for all things good. I won't let them attack our home and drive everyone away, not without trying to stop them."

Vande shook his head, "You're staring death right in the face... but I won't let you face it alone. I'm not leaving your side, even if it kills me."

"Vande, you don't have to do this..."

"I know, but I want to. You already gave your life for this pack once, and I'll do anything in my power to protect you and this pack. I'm with you. Until the very end."

Cayde nodded solemnly, but didn't say a word. They both knew they were walking into something that could most certainly be their doom. But this was the only way.

The two wolves reached the top, and looked around from the top of the outlook. The Wolf of Chaos was nowhere to be found. What was once Vande's den was now blocked by a molten boulder. There were only three ways to go: the path that led up the mountain, which was the start of the Trial of the Mountain... they could go back down where they came from... or they could move forward along the outlook, to the very edge of the rock that jutted out, overlooking the pack.

From where they stood, they could see some of the shadow-like wolves below, and in the distance all they saw of their once beautiful home was flames, smoke, and endless rain.

"Oh my goodness..." Vande was speechless as he looked out at the ravaged land.

"What do we do...?" Cayde asked, almost hopelessly.

"NOTHING." A deep, dark voice responded in a tone fierce enough to give anybody chills.

The voice came from behind them, so Cayde turned to face the voice, and his eyes immediately widened.

What he saw was a wolf. Not a wolf that looked like they were made of shadow, like the army below, not a creature of pure black mist, no... this was a real wolf. With fur as dark as the midnight sky, with deep crimson eyes and a diamond-like symbol that glowed with a faint crimson glow, the wolf stood.

The very embodiment of Chaos.

The wolf leapt down from a nearby rock and forced both Vande and Cayde to move back onto the jutted rock. Now they were trapped, with the Wolf of Chaos blocking them from leaving, and the jutted rock leading to nothing but a large drop into flames and a nearby army of wolves.

This wolf was not Mystearica. If it were, it wouldn't be fully physical. The original Wolf of Harmony, Kimlasca, was able to show his physical form, but even then it was transparent and not truly there. The same could be said with Mystearica, as both the original Wolf of Harmony and Wolf of Chaos were no longer truly on the earth, but rather looking down upon the world from wherever they may be.

If this wolf was truly here, then that only meant one thing...

This was the current Wolf of Chaos.

"Who are you?" Cayde asked.

The Wolf of Chaos did not respond, simply advancing forward and forcing Cayde and Vande to take another step back.

"You are WEAK, Wolf of Harmony. You and your pack, cowering, avoiding conflict, confrontation, all in the name of peace." They spoke, their voice still deep and threatening.

"Even now, I see it in your eyes. You don't want to fight, you don't want confrontation, you want me to leave and you have NOTHING to make up for it." They spoke, then let out a mixture of a low growl and a laugh.

"Leave this place, we never wanted any trouble, we just wanted to be safe. Free!" Cayde insisted.

"You wanted to protect this land by sacrificing yourself. You're the very same Wolf of Harmony that tipped the scales in favor of Harmony! You do not convince me that you do not want trouble. Such disgusting, pure Harmony is sickening. You think this world can live in peace? Then you are mindless."

"The only ones who are mindless is that army of wolves you have below us, created with no other purpose than to listen to you." Vande intervened, standing protectively in front of Cayde.

"Because in reality, you can't get things done alone. And if you want something to get done, you get it done right." The Wolf of Chaos responded.

"What are you trying to achieve by doing this? All this destruction... all this-" Cayde was interrupted by another low growl from the Wolf of Chaos.

"The world can't be perfect through peace. You must kill the weak, destroy the beauty, destroy anything that makes creatures focus on anything but survival, kill anyone who opposes that viewpoint. For the world to truly be perfect, only the strongest can survive. Cutting out the weak from this universe will be what makes it thrive." They grinned wickedly.

"I'm the ambassador of that very viewpoint. And you're the ambassador of everything I fight against, isn't that right, Wolf of Harmony?"

Vande and Cayde growled in response.

"The world CAN be perfect through peace, that's what you don't understand! War only brings death and destruction, it only creates fear and breaks trust. The world wasn't meant for just the strongest, it was meant for everybody. Through peace and happiness, the world can be a beautiful place where everyone can thrive! Peace is possible! I stand for peace, for hope, and the determination to make dreams come true. I am Harmony made physical, and you can't sway me from my belief." Cayde countered.

"Then you understand nothing. And for that, you must die. With your death, this world will be tipped in favor of Chaos. Your view on this world will falter, and mine will thrive. Destruction is the only way to create perfection. If you do not accept that, then you must die."

He smirked.

"And you... are more use to me DEAD."

Before the Wolf of Chaos could strike, Vande charged forward, letting out a furious howl.

Slamming his body into the Wolf of Chaos, his body pumped full of adrenaline as he attempted to attack the Wolf of Chaos. He was no match, however, as one powerful swipe at Vande's head knocked him over.

Disoriented, Vande did his best to stand back up and fight, but was knocked to the side and slammed against the rocky wall. Grunting, he pushed the Wolf of Chaos away, and before Cayde could intervene and help, he was too late.

With nails like daggers, black as obsidian, the Wolf of Chaos attacked Vande relentlessly, slashing him and slamming him all around, before he finally knocked Vande towards the edge of the outlook. Battered and wounded, Vande could barely remain consciousness. With what little energy he had left, he lifted his head to look at Cayde.

"I'm sorry, Cayde... I tried... I promised you I was with you until the--"

The Wolf of Chaos slammed a paw down on Vande's side, with extraordinarily powerful strength, enough to knock the wind out of him and knock him out.

"Hmph. A pathetic excuse for a leader, no?" The Wolf of Chaos asked, before slamming his front paws against Vande to push him off of the outlook into the molten boulders and flames below.

"NO!" Cayde yelled, his eyes watering. He knew Vande couldn't survive such a thing. After enduring such heavy attacks and plummeting into flames and molten rock below... Nobody could survive that.

The Wolf of Chaos simply smirked at Cayde, "He didn't feel a thing. Be thankful for that. The question is, were his final thoughts of you, or me?" He cackled.

Without thinking, Cayde charged forward, but with the overwhelming power that the Wolf of Chaos had thanks to all of the negative energy, destruction, and sorrow that he was feeding off of, Cayde was no match for him. But he didn't care.

Feeling so upset, and devoid of any happy feelings, Cayde didn't have much Harmony on his side, especially in such a dark and chaotic place, surrounded by Chaos. On the other hand, the Wolf of Chaos was full of power and Chaos to feed off of to become stronger.

With a simple smack of his paw, the Wolf of Chaos sent Cayde flying backwards, nearly off the edge of the jutted rock.

"You are weak. Hopeless. Cowering behind the name of peace, and for that, you will not last long in my vision of the world."

Cayde coughed, lifting his head to look at the Wolf of Chaos advancing towards him.

"You're not brave. You're so fixated on peace that you forget the fear of death." He grinned wickedly.

"I will reacquaint you."

The Wolf of Chaos slammed a paw against Cayde, sending him flying again, now at the very edge of the jutted rock. Mere inches away from the edge, mere inches away from falling.

Cayde coughed again, and weakly looked up at the wolf. The Wolf of Chaos stood before him, his eyes glowing with a furious red aura, just like the crimson marking on his head. He looked down upon Cayde with pity, and power.

"My name is Uldrich. And everything you love..."

"Is mine."

With that, Uldrich, the Wolf of Chaos, pushed Cayde off of the jutted rock.

And so, Cayde plummeted down from the outlook...

Towards the flames and molten rock below.