AN: Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! In light of the holiday season I give you a chapter filled with an unnecessary amount of blood

TW: Blood, Gore, Death, Body Horror, Burns

     "Nico! Did you get the scrap metal?" Gold called from across the river.

     Nico heaved a large bag over his head in response. The contents of the bag clunked against each other. "Yeah. Right here."

     "Great! Thanks!"

     "You're welcome," he said, dropping the sack into a boat. He grabbed oars, pushed off the dock, and began to row across the river.

     The current proved strong and he had to fight his way through the water. Instead of a gentle glide, it felt as if he were wrestling the fiercest ocean waves. What fun.

     When he reached the other side, he grabbed the sack, carried it over to Gold, and let it fall at his feet.

     Nico watched him shove a disproportionate amount into a furnace. Charcoal covered his hands and was smeared across his face, proof of a long morning of smelting.

     "Hey Gold?"

     Gold turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

     "I think you've got a little something on your face." Nico couldn't resist a smile.

     Gold laughed and chucked a handful of sand at him. "Shut up. It's Karan's fault anyway. He came by and threw it at my face."

     Karan poked his head out from under a large, sturdy machine that would be used as the body of the time machine. "You can't prove that!"

     "Oh, yes I can!" Gold pointed over to where Kate and Zud were hammering out some iron. "They're my witnesses!"

     The duo exchanged a mischievous glance.

     "I didn't see anything," Kate replied, unable to hide her laughter.

     "Me neither." Zud smiled. He was obviously enjoying this.

     Gold threw his arms up in mock annoyance. "Why are you two even here if I can't use you as witnesses against that one?" He jerked his thumb at Karan.

     "Uh, free food, obviously," Zud replied.

     Kate nodded her agreement.

     Nico chuckled and left the four of them to bicker. He walked along the sandy beach of the river, enjoying the warmth of the sun against his back. The chill of the wind warred against the sunlight before retreating back into the shadows. For a moment, at least until winter snared the land with icy claws, the sun prevailed.

     A little ways off, the final member of the ragtag group was calibrating the newly-finished control panel. Alxton scribbled down a few notes on a sheet of paper before looking up at Nico. "Hello!"

     "Hey! How's everything going?"

     Alxton rolled his eyes. "Annoying. Everything's so technical. And it's annoying that the only reason half the people 'joined' was to attack each other."

     Nico glanced at the notes Alxton wrote. Several large numbers dotted the parchment. Coordinates.

     "Yeah, have fun with that."

     "Oh, gee, thanks," Alxton muttered, giving him a good-natured shove.

     "You're very welcome." He paused for a moment. "So uh, why aren't you with the others?"

     Alxton halted his movements and glanced to where the rest of the group was located. He twitched an ear at their laughter, a faraway look glazing his eyes. "I don't like the fire," he claimed at last.

     Nico nodded. "Right, sorry." He knew that wasn't the true reason. Sure, everyone knew the fox hybrid struggled to withstand the mere sight of a flame, but the emotions that creased his face practically screamed at another answer.

     Then it hit him. He's scared to get close to anyone else.

     Alxton went back to work in silence. Nico would point out something every once in a while, but for the most part a void stretched between them.

     Karan broke the silence. "Alxton, Nico! Do you guys want to go on an adventure?" He was in the river swimming towards them. At this point, he was mostly Fishsticks with a few patches of fleshy skin. His body language was calm, but his eyes betrayed his fear of his lack of control.

     "Depends. Are you going to drag us on a perilous journey?" Nico asked.

     "The most! I've got to go get..." he paused dramatically. "Copper."

     "I'm shaking," Alxton said in the most deadpan voice Nico had ever heard.

     "I know I know, it's truly dangerous. You two in or what?"

     Despite how tempting it was to go with the latter to annoy the murloc, Nico nodded. "I'm in."

     "Me too," Alxton added.

     "Great!" He pulled himself out of the water, droplets streaming from his orange scales. "Let's get going then."

     Nico and Alxton exchanged a glance. "You know you could've just walked here, right? You were like 30 feet away on the same side of the river. There was no need to swim," Nico said.

     Karan blinked. Confusion crossed his features and he turned to stare at where he came from. "Huh... I could've sworn...." He trailed off into silence.

     "Sworn what?" Alxton's ears twitched.

     Karan shook his head. "N-nothing. Let's go."

     He started forward towards a well-worn trail. After some hesitation, the other two followed.

     Silence settled over them like a heavy blanket. The only noise that prevented a truly soundless atmosphere was the crunching of leaves underfoot.

     Finally, Alxton spoke. His voice was a ghost of itself. "I can't believe he's gone."

     Nico nodded. "At this point I thought he was immortal. I never thought a bomb would be the thing to take him down."

     A day or two prior, a loud explosion had rocked the earth. Henwy's cottage had been decimated, reduced to mere rubble. The bomb had been so successful that a body hadn't been found among the ash.

     Though no one had outright questioned them, everyone knew who had placed the bomb. Frost hadn't been pleased, threatening to exile those who had taken part in the act, but Florian and Rafessor calmed him down in the end.

     "Neither did I," a new voice said.

     Nico whirled around to stare at Loaf, who had apparently just appeared out of thin air like some sort of ninja. "Where did you come from?"

     "Well you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"

     "You know what I mean."

     Loaf chuckled. "I was hunting when I saw you three walking by. I thought I'd come say hi."

     Outwardly, Nico nodded. Inwardly, he wasn't buying what Loaf was selling. Everyone knew that this stretch of the forest was devoid of sustainable life.

     "Henwy dying really is a shame... I thought he could turn himself around." Loaf tipped his head. "I'm just glad I wasn't a part of it like the rest of you."

     Karan's scaled ear flicked. "What? We didn't do anything."

     Nico didn't like the malice that flashed through Loaf's eyes. It reminded him of a cat hunting mice, and he had a growing suspicion of who his mice were.

     "Well of course you haven't done anything now, but in the past you certainly caused some damage."

     Alxton's muzzle wrinkled into a barely-compressed snarl. "Excuse me?"

     "What's wrong, vampire? Hitting a few nerves?"

     The hybrid's ears flattened as a low growl was emitted from his throat.

     Nico took an abrupt step forward, putting himself between the fox-man and the weird guy interrogating them. "What do you think you're doing?" His voice was barbed with a silent warning.

     "Merely pointing out the facts. Our hybrid friend here partnered with him in a tree cult. You started it all by utilizing the black market rather frequently. And Karan? Oh, Karan, you and Gold did far more than anyone else. You two committed so many crimes I don't even know where to-"

     "Hate to break it to you," Nico interrupted, "but Henwy's choices were his own."

     "And so was yours to kill him the day that dragon attacked. Face it. Henwy's no more of a villain than anyone else."

     "We were only going to kill him because he left us no choice. And how do you know all of this?" Karan, clearly agitated based on the way he was flexing his claws, snapped.

     Loaf just smiled. "And he unleashed the dragon because you left him no choice." He didn't answer the second question. The wind suddenly shifted, bringing about the crisp scent of the coming winter, the sharp smell of tree sap, and the pungent odor of- of-

     Of smoke.

     Nico whirled into the wind, watching the foul substance billow into the sky. It tainted everything in its reach. He gasped.

     "This is your warning," Loaf said ever so calmly, "Do not interfere. This is not your problem."

     The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. He was stalling us. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Nico knew where they were and knew whose house was nearby.

     He unsheathed the sword strapped to his side and, in a fluid motion, sliced at where Loaf was standing. However, the peculiar man was nowhere to be seen and the blade whooshed through air.

     Snarling in frustration, he turned to Alxton. "Go get the others. I don't care what he said. We're not leaving Sigils to die."

     Alxton nodded and rushed off into the forest, kicking up dirt behind him as he ran.

     Nico glanced at Karan. "You with me?"

     Karan flashed him a grin and took off. "Wouldn't exactly be camp without Mr. Weak Knees, would it?"

     Nico took off after him. The trail curved to the right, then the left, before opening into a small clearing. In the clearing was a small, questionably built house.

     At least, that's how it usually looked. It was smudged black with soot as red-orange flames engulfed it completely. Only the framework was visible because the rest had slid off in a molten sludge. The wind howled and sent embers flying into the dead grass and trees, furthering the wildfire. The flames were at least twenty feet high and smoke spiraled into the blackening sky.

     Nico only spared the burning house a passing glance. His gaze was caught on the figure whose hands were outstretched towards the flames, energy bent into the breath of flames pouring from his fingertips.

     "Henwy?!"

     The man froze. The magic spasmed then fell short, ending the onslaught. The fire continued to rage, but no additional flames were being added. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned to face Nico. The madness that danced in his eyes reminded Nico of the day the dragon attacked.

     "Don't interfere," he snarled.

     "How are you ali- oh." After this, Nico was going to have a serious chat with Loaf. "Henwy, you can't do this."

     "Actually, I think I can. Y'know, considering the fire and all."

     Nico took a step forward, his hands in a placating gesture. Karan stayed still behind him. "Don't do this. Don't go down this path. You can still save him. There can still be peace."

     Henwy tipped his head. "So you think I'm after Sigils?" A fire burned in his eyes, akin to the one burning the house behind him. "Oh, no. He doesn't deserve death. He deserves pain. Sigils isn't here right now, but..." Henwy trailed off to let the sounds of the fire take over.

     Through the crackle of flames he could hear a faint noise that chilled him despite the heat. Screaming.

     "They wanted to lay low until Frost wasn't mad," Henwy hummed. "They were sitting ducks."

     He couldn't let them die. "I'll hold off Henwy," Nico said in a low voice. "You get Lookumz and Jerome."

     He didn't wait for Karan to respond as he lunged at Henwy. His sword flashed through the air.

     Henwy unsheathed his own sword, a light shimmer covering the blade. The two weapons collided and for a moment both were in a deadlock.

     He shoved his opponent back and kicked out, catching him in the abdomen.

     Henwy fell back and rolled when Nico's sword plunged where he'd been laying. He extended his arm, fire flying from his fingertips.

     Nico bit back a scream as flames clung to his arm. Luckily, they were easy to smother because so much energy had been put into burning Sigils' house, leaving Henwy's latest assault sputtering and weak, but seething red marks were left nonetheless.

     The sword fell from his grasp as his arm shrieked. Nico glanced up to see Henwy advancing, anger bubbling deep inside.

     When Henwy lashed out, Nico caught him by the wrist and jerked his leg up before his opponent could defend himself. His knee hit Henwy's elbow squarely. The bone snapped with a sickening crunch.

     Henwy recoiled, a blood-curdling cry on his lips as he cradled his arm. Agony and fury mingled within his eyes.

     Nico curled his hands into fists. "Put out the fire and this can be over."

     "No," Henwy hissed in return. He looked like he was going to say something else, but paused, his eyes drifting past Nico.

     Nico's heart sank as he heard a familiar voice.

     "I thought I told you not to interfere," Loaf snarled.

     "Enough!" Another voice cried. Through the haze of smoke Nico saw Rafessor glaring down at the three of them.

     Loaf's expression shifted to one of loathing. "Well hey there, Raf. Nice of you to show up."

     Rafessor ignored the snarl in Loaf's voice. "It's over. Everyone else is almost here. You're outnumbered."

     "Is it now? I thought you knew not to underestimate me."

     Sparks of energy started to gather around Rafessor's fingers. "Stop the fire."

     "Oh, come on, you know I can't do that." Loaf rolled his eyes.

     "You can, you're just too heartless to actually do it."

     "Now you're learning," Loaf said calmly, as if everyone hadn't been fighting two seconds ago.

     Nico slowly picked up his sword and took a step towards Loaf. Dark magic tore from the earth, sending chunks of dirt flying in all directions. The energy swirled around Nico and solidified, effectively blocking him off from everyone else.

     "Don't be a fool," Loaf hissed.

     Rafessor let loose a stream of energy that howled as it shot towards Loaf. The manipulator matched it with his own foul magic and the two became locked in a duel.

     As always, Nico was forgotten. And as always, someone was going to pay the price for it. He hacked at the barrier until it became chipped enough to be used as a foothold. He climbed out, narrowing his eyes as Henwy squared off against him. The man looked horrible with blood staining practically all of him, but the fury in his eyes lent him strength.

     It was then that Karan returned. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The look on his face spoke volumes. He stared at Henwy.

     "They're dead. Jerome and Lookumz are dead and I don't know where Sigils is." Karan shook his head. "You're a monster."

     "Look who's talking," Henwy shot back before lunging at him. Honestly, that might've been the stupidest thing Nico had ever seen considering his arm was more broken than his love life, but he didn't stand around to question his enemy's tactics. He joined the battle.

     It didn't take long for Nico and Karan to overpower Henwy. After a series of hits, kicks, and punches, along with the slice of swords and claws, he was forced to raise his arm in surrender.

     And then he promptly whipped around, grabbed Karan by the throat, and seared his scales with all of the pyrokinetic energy he had.

     Karan let out a strangled scream and, after a brief struggle, tore himself away with a strong kick.

     Nico shoved Henwy back, placing himself between Karan and the arsonist. When he glanced back, dread snatched him with vile claws as he saw the white sheen of bone.

     Something snapped inside of him and he lunged at Henwy.

     A bolt of dark magic sliced through his abdomen all the way through his back. He was dimly aware of his sword falling from his grasp as he looked down. A gaping hole greeted him, from which he could see his organs.

     There was so much red.

     The world tilted sideways.

     Somehow, he was on the ground. He could hear Karan wheezing.

     He forced himself to look over at his killer. Loaf had an arrow nocked in a nasty looking bow aimed at Rafessor. The sorcerer looked exhausted.

     "You see," he was saying, "I'm making examples of both of you. Karan is whoever tries to close the rift, and you? You're whoever tries to get in my way." He narrowed his eyes, a coldness freezing out any emotions he once had.

     "You two were only ever messengers. Nothing more."

     The whistle of an arrow.

     A dull thud.

     Silence.