All but crushed against the wall of stone and rock, Charlie could barely find the room to breathe.

Panic was beginning to set in across the group. The atmosphere was poisonous to Charlie, and it only drove his anger to the point where he could barely think about anything else but the need to kill.

It should have proved helpful, considering the situation, but there was no place for him to take out his anger. At least not in a manner which would have been beneficial, he would have only ravaged his own ranks.

Wrapping their arms around his neck in an attempt to hold him back, Robert and Evie struggled against his strength and tried to avoid the gnashing of his fangs. He was under attack, and they were the ones trying to stop him from defending himself.

Blinded by his anger, his pain, his terror. The line between friend and foe was long blurred.

Something struck his head, taking him by surprise as he skidded and stumbled before regaining his balance. Ears flat to his head, he spun around with his teeth bared to find Briar with her sword raised.

The healer didn't look scared or concerned, only angry. "Calm down or I'll use the pointy end next time."

In spite of Charlie's annoyance about the pain now splitting his skull. For the time being at least it had the desired affect, and he came back to a more calm way of thinking. Even if he didn't know how long it would last.

A moment of logic after a lifetime of madness was nothing for the young wolf.

Logic wasn't going to last long now he could see well enough to realise what stood before him.

With every forwards movement, the enemy forced the army back against the wall. Until the people closest to the wall of stone were being crushed by the weight of the people in front of them.

A few, in a panicked state had begun to drag themselves up the side of the cliff face desperately. Only to fall back to their deaths or injure themselves even more then they had when they had begun.

For what must have been the hundredth time in recent days, they were trapped with no escape.

Only this time Charlie could honestly see no way of getting out of this alive.

But as they were finally forced as close to the wall as was humanly possible, a fight didn't begin.

Instead a man stepped forward from among the ranks of the enemy, not much older then Robert or Arthur, but he carried himself like a King. Yet even in the face of the enemy, there was a small smile on his face.

As though he believed that this battle was already won. Part of Charlie agreed.

Growls echoed from across the group, apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed.

No matter how bad the odds seemed, they were eager to prove him wrong.

Yet that didn't seem remotely possible.

Charlie didn't know what to think of this.

Part of him didn't want to trust this strange man for that reason alone. Charlie had always thought of his father as a sadist, but this was something entirely more dangerous in it's own way.

As much as he hated to make presumptions, it seemed that for once he wasn't the only monster on the field.

But he seemed intent to speak first, and had no intent of battling. For the time being at least.

"Where is Charlie?"

Under no circumstances had Charlie expected it to be a question, nor had he believed it would be directed towards him. He would have stepped forward, had there not been Robert and Evie still holding him back. The pair looked equally surprised by this.

For the time being, Charlie was more than happy to sit still. Until he found out more.

The only one who seemed not surprised by the question was the King at their head. Though Charlie could guess that the monarch was managing to hide it well. Even the King wasn't able to predict the future.

Please don't let him be able to tell the future, Charlie added to himself. Only with half joking.

Not even looking to where his son was, the King spoke lowly. "Like I'm going to tell you that."

The King spoke as though confident, whilst Charlie knew a blind man could probably have picked him out of a large crowd of people. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous, especially not in this setting.

The strange man gestured, not once did the smile flee from his face.

As one, the enemy stepped forward and the front line of men and woman were now inches from being impaled upon a wide variety of sharp weapons. In spite of the threat, they didn't move from where they stood. Baring their fangs and a low growl rippled across the line, they weren't going to be easily scared.

Another gesture from the stranger and the enemy jabbed out, a number of cries echoed but it was cut short with a horrendous thumping sound as the first few fell dead to the ground. Charlie tried not to flinch at the sound.

"There's no need for this, give us what we want and we can leave this battle for another day."

It was a promise of peace, but a temporary one. The strange leader knew he was the only one in any place to be making demands.

His father on the other hand didn't seem to care.

As far as the King was concerned he had all the time in the world.

"Finish it today," The King challenged, his eyes narrowed and arms folded. No one let out as much as a cry of disapproval at this. There was no one on that battlefield who wanted to give in at this early stage.

Especially not after seeing their comrades fall the way they had done today.

"You will let your family and men die because you are too proud to let one man fall for the rest?"

Proud may as well be his middle name. Charlie thought, the sarcasm dripping even from his thoughts. He knew better then to think that it was because the King loved him too much to see him fall.

It was all about pride, and it would inevitably be the King's downfall.

The enemy leader sighed, but Charlie knew better then to think that it was from sadness. "Very well, we will pick your son out from among the remainder of your corpses." He said, and lifted his hand to gesture a third and final time.

Spotting his opportunity when he felt the grip around his neck beginning to slip, Charlie didn't think. He stepped forward, pulling out of the tight hold with a final push and slipping between what remained of the front line.

"I'm here." He exclaimed as bravely as he could manage, keeping a hold of his temper as best as he was capable. Even though he could feel his heart beating in his mouth as he put himself into the limelight.

A faint sound of protest could be heard from behind him, but no one seemed heart broken by his 'sacrifice.' He didn't turn around and look back, he had eyes only for the stranger who now stood mere metres from him.

"Good," the man lowered his hand again and before Charlie could react, the enemy pounced.

Only in small numbers, Charlie barely had a moment to think before they had him by the neck and he was in chains once again. It wrapped around his neck until it almost choked the air from him, and he was forced to his side.

Now ropes were around his ankles and he was pulled from his paws and to the ground with a thud. In an instant he was snarling and biting in an attempt to protect himself but only received a smack to the back of his head.

Desperately trying to drag himself back to is paws, it was impossible.

Pulling together what little remained of his sanity in that moment, he sat as straight as he could.

If this was going to be his last moments, he wished to do it with some dignity in tact. For once.

But no sword was drawn, or any weapon of any kind. Only a length of chain which was linked to that which wrapped around his neck and passed among four men. If they think that'll keep me, they're dumber then they look.

Looking back for the first time, he saw Evie desperately trying to get to him. Robert holding her back as firmly as he could, but even from this distance Charlie could see the pain lighting his eyes.

In spite of the promises of hatred, it appeared that they were still brothers in his eyes.

Charlie almost smiled.

A yank from around the neck quickly tore the expression from his face as he was pulled left and right by the four men attached to him. The chains so tight that they choked him, and the silver burned through his fur and to his skin.

"Thank you for your help," the words of the stranger were terrifyingly calm. Charlie wondered exactly how the man believed he was going to be of any help, but now he had little other choice then to follow and do as he was told.

With the red creeping into his vision, it was becoming harder and harder to think straight, but he held it together. If he could keep his temper for long enough to get out of the way of the people he cared for, he would at least rip these enemies a new one before he was brought down.

His enemies seemed to make a cruel game of tormenting him as he went, throwing things at him and laughing when he winced. Charlie guessed that they must have known he was a threat to be reckoned with, even against these much larger numbers.

Yet they continued as though he was little more than a sitting duck waiting to be slaughtered.

Once he would have revelled in the chance to be treated as a normal creature, something he had long thought impossible.

Under these circumstances, however, he would have much rather been dead.

And if he wanted his father to keep up his end of the bargain so he could be, he needed to find a way to escape.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could find no way he could have possibly gotten out of this.

No matter how brave these strangers were, the further they took him. It didn't appear that their intention was to kill him, at least not yet.

Soon he was limping as he went, struggling with his injuries and the heavy chains which seemed to drag him down with every step further he took.

If they didn't reach their destination soon, Charlie was beginning to doubt his ability to get their without falling unconscious. Yet he would persevere as best as he could, if he did manage to find a way out, he would need to know where the hell he was going.

Seeming to have no intention of slowing the pace even slightly, they trudged on through the forests. The opposite direction to both the one Charlie had come from and the one they had been heading, making him wonder where on earth they were going.

Losing his energy with every step, Charlie was beginning to stumble over his own paws when they finally came to a stop. The yank on his collar making him jump as he hadn't expected it quite so suddenly.

Yet he could see nothing, no sign of a den or any more members of this supposedly huge army. He twitched his tail from side to side and searched the air for any possible scents. He couldn't find any no matter how hard he tried to.

Before him was what he could have only described as a wasteland, a sparse area of moorland which didn't even seem to carry the scent of a rabbit or deer. He wondered if anything had lived here in a long time.

Pulled out of his thoughts by a pull on the chains, driving them deeper into his neck until the searing pain almost made it impossible to see. He stepped forward, anything to rid himself of the pain at that moment in time.

Looking back up at the man closest to him, who hadn't bothered to look at him properly once and waited. More curious then concentrating on his pain or his anger. He had rarely seen the magic of a witch up close and he wondered what was about to happen.

He wasn't disappointed.

Charlie first spotted movement from a hole he hadn't noticed at first. No larger then the entrance to the warren of a rabbit, or maybe even a fox. He would never have thought to look at it with any interest until now.

The earth seemed to shift and swell beneath their feet, to the point where Charlie would have leapt back had he not been all but tied to the spot. He watched in silence, his tail between his legs as he wondered what would reveal itself.

Rumbling echoed as the hole began to split open, until it was tall enough for a small man to walk through and a crouching tall one.

It revealed a large corridor like tunnel, carved carefully into the earth and lanterns lit the way.

From it came the distinct smell of earth and rock, but he could also smell the tell-tale signs of life bellow the earth.

So this was why they had struggled to pinpoint the exact position of the enemy.

They could have been under his father's nose the entire time, and they would have never known about it.

Without a word, the enemy slipped under ground and soon it appeared to be Charlie's turn to follow with his 'guards.' But they didn't move, watching in silence as the rest of the army disappeared into the dimly lit tunnels.

Until only he, the three guards he was tied to and the stranger who lead them remained above ground. The older man gestured for them to follow, and the guards didn't need to be asked twice as they pursued.

Limping as he followed, trying to spot where he was being lead to but unable to see anything except for the backsides of the men who were leading him.

It wasn't long until they had stopped once again, and Charlie was pulled to the front of the little group to find another gap in the earth. Which was now widening once again, but this one was different.

It was a drop almost entirely vertically downwards.

Before he realised what was happening, he heard the sound of chains being tied to something poking out of the earth wall and he felt a hard shove from behind.

Falling hide, the landing knocked the wind from him and he cried out with pain.

Stumbling back to his feet, only just able to see the strangers as the light was all but blocked in his new cell. He snarled, baring his fangs but there was little that he could have done in that moment. He was trapped once again.

"We will come for you in the morning, don't do anything stupid." said the smiling man, his tone sounding almost bored.

And the earth above him swelled until only the smallest gap remained overhead.