The first impact of the ground on his paws went wrong in more ways then Charlie could count.

He had aimed for the closest thing to level ground he had been able to spot, only to find that there appeared to be what he could only call a birds nest hidden amongst the rocks which he stepped on.

Surprise had sent him skidding almost immediately, and as he lost his footing he fell a further five metres. Landing hard on his side, winding him. He struggled back to his feet, the rest of the group already beginning to make their way ahead, not looking back to make sure he'd survived the slip.

"Please try not to kill us both," Arthur grunted rearranging himself as best as he could on his brother's back. "I'd let to make it to the bottom in one piece if that's not too much to ask," in spite of his brave words. Charlie could taste his brother's terror.

Allowing his brother a quick minute to regain his balance and take back his grip. Charlie searched with narrowed eyes for the next place to find his footing, but he was quickly beginning to feel that would be impossible.

It was in that moment of hesitation, that all hell seemed to break lose.

First came a great rock, which went skidding down the mountain with such a sudden burst of speed that Charlie barely had the time to realise what was happening before it shot past his nose.

Drawing a yell of astonishment as it crashed to the ground and continued in its destructive path.

His yell fortunately meant that the others at the very least had the time to dodge out of the way of its path and it continued to tear down the side of the cliff. Coming to the bottom with a crash which was audible even to their ears.

A single look back at what remained of the palace was enough to tell Charlie that the rest of the palace wasn't going to wait long before following suit.

"Go," Arthur's yell echoed across the Cliffside, the sound was terrified as he clung on hard.

Not needing to be asked twice, Charlie lunged forward without looking where he was going.

Picking up the pace without intending to, gravity quickly took its hold and he found himself unable to stop as he began charging down the mountain. Pants quickly started coming from the young man as he struggled to keep up the pace on uneven ground.

The only thing which acted as a way for the young wolf to halt, was the occasional rock which jutted from the cliffside. He actively tried to aim for them so he could gain at least some form of control as he raced downwards.

Every time he landed pain rippled through him, and now as he tried to stop himself he slammed hard into the rocks. He was certain it wouldn't take much more for him to break a rib, or worse, Arthur.

Despite the growing agony and blood loss, he continued onwards and soon managed to catch up with the rest of the group. They managed by what Charlie could only describe as a true miracle to come to a halt on the same ledge and they exchanged a few words.

"Is it worth waiting for the rest of the palace to come down?" Asked one of them with ragged breaths, as though desperate for the opportunity to just catch his breath. As well as the fact that the danger was putting the fear of god in every one of them.

Briar was the one who answered, she seemed to be the most impacted by everything that had happened. Grazed on pretty much every inch of her body, and panting heavily as she struggled to catch her breath.

She was bleeding heavily, which panicked Charlie terribly as he knew she couldn't heal as well as the rest of them. But despite the pain and fear in her, she spoke with an incredibly calm and level tone of voice.

"No," that word dashed the hopes of the young man quickly, and he drooped but she continued. "Its too dangerous, if as much as one rock goes awry and hits us, that could very well be the end of us," she explained between sharp breaths.

Bent at the waist and heaving with the effort of every breath, Charlie wondered if she could even continue any further then this. Despite the witches desperate attempts, she was unable to calm her breathing and was slowly turning blue.

They'd have to act fast if they wanted the witch to make it to the bottom of the cliff as well.

Had he not had Arthur on his back, he would have offered her a ride, and he even contemplated it now. Wondering what the chances were that he would be able to carry two people on his back down the mountain.

When Robert made sure that he wasn't going to have to.

He stepped forward and leant down, growling firmly to make it apparent she had no choice in the matter. Not that she exactly had the time to decide that she's rather make the walk down the cliff side. "Get on," he told her.

Just as the words left his lips, as though to persuade the witch to agree. Another great slab of stone went flying past them, much larger and faster than anything they had been faced with beforehand.

Briar watched it zoom past with wide eyes, more emotion lighting her expression then ever before. This time a strange mixture of anger and fear. Though Charlie was beginning to get the feeling she was angry with herself for being so scared.

Right now they didn't have the time to think about their fears, they had to act, and quickly.

For a moment it appeared as though she was going to argue in spite of this, but quickly decided against it. She regarded him with a look, clearly cautious either way as she approached the large wolf, who was taller then her even lying down.

She swung a leg over his back, and dragged herself on less then elegantly, but she was on and safe and that was all that mattered for the time being.

Taking a careful but firm grip of his fur, she had the advantage of being able to hold on with her legs as well, and as a result looked a lot more stable then Arthur felt on his back. Charlie looked at her, stepping with caution to make sure not to distract her.

The group began plunging back down the cliffside once again.

Dodging left and right to avoid the more obvious threats as he began to regain a little control the more used to this strange sport he became. Charlie's bones ached from the impact but he was fuelled on by the fact that no one had died yet.

It was beginning to appear that they may well make it there after all.

Charlie moved to jump again, and he had reached mid air when he heard a shriek of terror from a little way to his right.

Only then did he realise something he hadn't noticed before.

Apparently they weren't the only ones who had survived both the explosion and the fire.

He saw a witch armed with a gun at the top of the cliff, aimed directly at them.

Everything went into slow motion and the only thing Charlie heard was the sound of a gunshot.

It felt as though a hole had been torn straight through him, which was probable. It sent him tumbling to the ground hard and it sent him skidding down. A scream tearing from his lungs as he went down.

Feeling Arthur lose his grip, the young man skidded further down the cliff then him but as Charlie forced himself back to his paws he didn't have the opportunity to try and help him.

As the witch was reloading and taking aim once again.

Charlie turned to meet the bullet head on, if he was going to die at the hand of the witch, he wanted it to be as quick as possible. An ear twitched back at Arthur, who was desperately yelling for him to get out of the way.

But the simple matter of fact was that there was nowhere left for him to shelter himself.

Unless a body put itself in between him and the bullet this was the end.

Never in a million years had Charlie expected Robert to be that idiot.

Having shaken Briar from his back, Robert had lunged just before the sound of the gunshot and he had intersected the two before tumbling to the ground with a thud.

Briar shot forward, fire at her finger tips and anger burning in her eyes. She had the witch down before he could as much as lift his gun a third time, but by now it was too late. The damage had already been done.

Robert's body hit the ground with a thud, it skidded away a few metres before coming to a rest at the edge of a ledge. A hole impossible large torn through his chest and blood seeping from it seemingly relentless.

Charlie was beside him before the dust had as much as settled around him.

But the older wolf was already gone.

The scream which ripped from Charlie was nothing but pure unadulterated pain and it echoed across everything. He stumbled, knees buckling inwards he fell to the ground. Pressing his nose into the fur of his brother.

More than ever before he would have given anything to hear Robert's voice in that moment. A reassuring chuckle, or even his nose pressing into Charlie's shoulder. He'd have given both arms for this all to have been some demented illusion.

He would have given anything for it all to have been a trick, and for his brother to be alive.

But they were all out of miracles after the day they'd had, and Robert was staying dead.

Pressing her fingers to his side, even Briar could do little to calm his grief and pain. Not that he wanted to, in that moment he wanted to feel every drop of the pain which left his body. It was the only thing which could anchor him.

Sensing she wasn't welcome, Briar instead turned around and went to where Arthur too lay sobbing. Where he had been less then elegantly discarded on the cliff side. She picked him up, holding the light man easily. She returned to Charlie and the body.

Guessing that the other brother too would want the chance to grieve for his fallen brother.

"He never got to find out if Evie and Lyra made it," stammered Charlie with a broken voice.

"He knows now," Briar replied after a moment. Unable to find anything kinder or consoling, she came out with the truth instead, and neither brother responded for a moment.

Realising that something had happened, the rest of the group dragged themselves back up the cliffside until they were within earshot of the group but no closer. No one wanted to come any closer then was absolutely necessary after all they had been through.

But they still had a lot more to go through.

Briar's voice was pained, "We need to go."

Both brothers looked up with a simultaneous snarl at the idea of leaving their brother here on the cliffside. It seemed so entirely unfair considering his sacrifice, even if logic dictated that it was the only way.

"Robert wouldn't want you both to die up here after everything that's happened," she spoke calmly in spite of the two furious wolves before her. Even if there was a fear lighting up her dark gaze. "He sacrificed himself so you too could live."

As much as both brothers hated themselves for having to admit it, they knew they had to agree. And the least thing either of them wanted to do in that moment, was to muddy the last wish of their eldest brother and Prince.

Shaking from head to toe with pain and fear, Charlie lowered himself to the ground again and allowed his brother to pull himself back onto his back. Charlie could feel him still shaking from what had happened, and his grip was loose.

"Hold on," Charlie warned with a hoarse voice. Holding back the whimper which rose to the back of his throat. All he wanted to do was curl up and cry, fully intending to never wake up again, but he new he couldn't.

For Robert's sake, he couldn't. He had to finish this, and then do whatever he needed to do.

Lunging once again, he left the rest of the group in his wake and landed hard on the first part of the cliff. He didn't look back as he charged down the rest of the mountain, slamming and hitting without a care until at last his paws were on solid ground once again.

With a couple of casualties in terms of scrapes and bruises, the rest of the group had soon joined him. All of them shaking, struggling with the weight of what they had seen, what they had been through, and the pain of the fact that they were lucky enough to survive it.

Few of them could fully understand why they were the ones deemed good enough to still be here.

It was the sound of a familiar voice which shook Charlie from the depths of his pain, he looked up to see the one and only Evie. The little girl settled on her hip.

Tears lighting both of their eyes.

Charlie could only guess that they had seen what had happened, and Charlie struggled to as much as find the words with which to beg for their forgiveness.

"Please," he was surprised to hear Evie be the first one to speak. "Don't say sorry, I don't think I can survive if you say sorry." Her voice was hoarse, it seemed that she had been crying as much as he had.

With that Charlie finally broke down, collapsing to the ground heaving, but no sound came from him. Until he threw his head to the sky and let out a long, low howl. The sound could have awoken the heavens with its pain.

It wasn't long before every other wolf there, in human form or otherwise, joined in his gentle song. Charlie watched her with sadness in his eyes when it was over, barely able to breath as the words tumbled from him. "I'm sorry."

As much as he had gone against her wishes, he didn't care. He needed to say it.

Pain lighting her eyes, she too struggled. Unable to look him in the eye, she looked down at the rocks under foot instead. "He would never have been able to live with himself it had been you or Arthur who had died instead."

Charlie new this to be the truth, even if it being said out loud did little to help his pain.

But the next voice he heard all but banished the pain from him, to replace it with fury.

"I've come to pay up my end of the debt."

The King.

Charlie turned on a penny, ears flat to his head he snarled. Holding it together for now.

"The war is done, the enemy is dead. I am here to kill you," The King said simply. As though it was the most boring thing in the world, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and it was already partially drawn.

"How," was the only word Charlie could force from his battered throat.

Regarding him with quiet seething. "I managed to escape."

For once, vagueness wasn't going to be enough to suffice. "How." He repeated.

"I killed the cell keeper, stole his keys and found my way out." The King answered firmly, perfectly calm.

In almost a perfect contrast, Charlie was shaking with fury. The next words which came from his throat all but tore from him backed by an anger which seemed huge even for him. "Why didn't you help us?" His voice was desperate, he needed answers. Nothing else.

King James continued with his calm tone, it was barely raised over his usual level tone. "I believed you were dead, they showed me infallible proof that they had killed you." He spoke lowly, "I didn't think there was anything left to save."

"You could've checked," you could've saved Arthur, or Violet. Or any of them.

But he hadn't.

All the King did was shrug, after everything he had been through. All the pain, he didn't care.

Next Charlie said something he had always wanted to say. "Their blood is on you're hands." He whispered hoarsely, knees beginning to buckle inwards and the King took his opportunity to lift the sword further from its sheathe.

"That's where you're wrong, Charlie." He said, for the first time anger lit his own voice. "It's always been all your fault."

It was that straw which broke the camel's back, and Charlie lunged forward.

It was over before Charlie had even realised he had moved, and by the time he did.

The King was dead.

He staggered to a stop, eyes wide with the realisation of what he had done.

And the understanding that now it could only end one way.

Briar was beside him before he had even heard her footsteps, a hand on his shoulder. It calmed him, and he rested against the touch. How can anything be wrong ever again when feeling like this, the thought lit him. Lifting his soul until he could barely remember why he had been hurting so much in the first place.

The witch settled in front of him, taking his chin in her hands and kissing him on the muzzle. "Hey Charlie," her voice sounded. Angelic and beautiful, in this dream like world Charlie didn't notice how it shook.

Charlie said nothing, only licking the bridge of her nose, tail wagging. He was a pup again under her touch, and nothing wrong had happened in his life.

She wrapped her arms around him and held his wolf close.

Whilst he didn't know why she was so upset, he knew he wanted to do whatever he could to make it happy again. "What's wrong? What can I do?" He asked through narrowed, concerned eyes.

"Don't make me do this," her voice suddenly broke through the dream and her pain became apparent and Charlie realised, even in his calmed state what she meant.

Tilting his head, his humanity fought through. "You know what you need to do." He whispered, his words broken by something more animalistic, brought on by the witch's attempts to hold him back from losing it.

"I know." Briar's whisper was pained. Her grip tightened around him.

And they stood like this for a moment, Charlie losing himself again and resting against her touch. Enjoying the warmth of her embrace like nowhere was a happier place on earth.

But still something broke through. "I'm scared."

"Me too."

And with that she broke his neck.

Author's Note

If you've gotten this far, thank you so much for sticking around. 

If you've enjoyed this story, please feel free to check out my profile and my other works, I think you'll find some things you really enjoy. Particularly if you enjoy unique, diverse, magical and strong werewolves!