Humphrey heaved himself up, gently setting Elaine's body down on the ground. He grabbed the knife she had been using, recognizing it as the knife Crow Man owned. The one that his mother gifted to him.

Tears stained in his eyes as he staggered towards Crow Man, sweat pouring down his face, and blood trickling down his back. "You!" Humphrey hissed at Crow Man, in anger and pain.

Crow Man stood in the sunlight, his hair lit like a flame. His brown eyes were set on Humphrey in an unnerving way. He held his amethyst gem in his hand, bow dropped onto the soft ground.

"You have caused pain to me, my friends, and family!" Humphrey yelled, gasping after to regain his energy.

Crow Man did not answer.

"Face me!" Humphrey shouted. "Face me like a man!"

Crow Man gripped the amethyst in his left hand as he unsheathed his sword. "As you wish," he replied, striding over to meet his son.

Crow Man swung his sword, and Humphrey blocked it. Red flashed in Humphrey's vision as he thrust his knife forward, stumbling down to his knees. Crow Man easily dodged the thrust, and quickly had his sword pointed at Humphrey's throat. "You are weak, my son," he said. "I would've thought I taught you better."

Humphrey coughed. "Kill me," he whispered. "Kill me as you did to Mother and Elaine! And kill Zoey and Mia in the process."

Crow Man hesitated, but it was quickly pushed back. He moved his sword back, ready to stab Humphrey.

Humphrey steadied his breathing, but the blow never came. A war cry was let out, and a man tackled Crow Man, sword in hand.

They tumbled to the ground, Crow Man dropping his sword in surprise. "Who are you?" he gasped as the black haired man stared down at him, silver sword pointing at his chest.

"The name's Aldren," the man replied, gritting his teeth. "Now," he hissed. "I understand you are the leader of this rabble."

"So what?" Crow Man growled, pulling back his lips in a snarl.

"So I'd like you to stop your men and tell me where my sister is."

"Your sister?"

"My sister," Aldren nodded. "Blonde hair blue eyes."

Overhearing the conversation, Humphrey stumbled over, dots dancing in his eyes. He recognized the description. "Around seven years?"

Aldren turned to Humphrey, Crow Man forgotten for a minute. "Yes. Do you know her?"

Humphrey gulped as he remembered what had happened.

Raphael marched towards the kids, and picked the youngest one- a 7 year old girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. She was dragged to the platform and tied onto the pole.

The girl widened her eyes and was frozen from fear. Gilan looked down as Crow Man smirked.

"Pain!" Crow Man announced as he lashed out a whip at the girl, who immediately screamed.

The lashes continued and the mass of purple cloaks cheered. Milo hid himself behind Elaine, who had squeezed her eyes shut.

Gilan looked up and watched every hit the girl received. His eyes never blinked; his gaze never wavered. It was like he was in a trance.

"Yearning!" Crow Man loudly laughed as tears started to run down the girl's face. She started to beg for him to stop. "Emotion," he continued as the girl moaned from the continuous hits.

This continued a moment longer before Crow Man suddenly unsheathed his sword and plunged it into the stomach of the girl. "Peace!"

An ear-splitting scream echoed through the air.

"She's," Humphrey pinched his nose. "She was the first. The first to be killed."

Aldren widened his eyes, releasing his grip on Crow Man. "The fir-"

Aldren never finished his sentence. Crow Man unsheathed a hidden knife and Aldren screamed at the sudden movement. Crow Man had moved his blade up, the edge of it slightly cutting into Aldren's left eye.

A loud whinny was heard, and the hooves of a horse knocked Crow Man unconscious.

"Courage, no!" Aldren yelled, one hand on his eye. "Don't kill him!" he wheezed out. "Halt may want him for questioning."

Shaking, Aldren stood up, and mounted his horse, deciding to leave Crow Man for now. "Come," he whispered, his sister Alyssa on his troubled mind. He reached his free hand down to Humphrey. "Genevieve will take care of that wound."

Humphrey took a glance at Elaine's limp body, wetting his dry lips. He would be back for her. Looking at Aldren, he nodded, groaning as he climbed onto the horse, almost falling. His back needed some serious attention.

>>>------------->

Bloise looked around the battlefield, his clothes stained with blood. The cult were now few in numbers as some had fled, and others dead. Those who remained were either stupid or really committed to death.

He wiped the sweat off of his brow after he glumly finished off the last member with a double knife defense. He didn't like battles. They ended lives that should have been lived. But he had no choice. Sighing at all of the blood and death, Bloise got on with ridding the clearing of the bodies. After all, he wouldn't expect the children to do it. And Genevieve was tending to the wounded which included Aldren.

"Riku!" Bloise whistled after a moment of turning bodies upright. His black steed trotted up to him, and it suddenly neighed, alarming Bloise. Spinning around, Bloise found Kyli standing behind him, knives drawn. "You are skilled in stealth," he quietly said, hands on the hilts of his own knives. "How did you escape my bonds?"

Kyli snorted. "The boy Aldren failed to search me."

Bloise frowned, and the tent flap of Crow Man's tent opened. Halt emerged from it. By the orders of Genevieve, the tent was housing the wounded.

Seeing Kyli, he walked over, eyebrow raised. "What happened?"

Kyli rolled her eyes. "Why don't I just scream it, so all of you would hear it at once." She paused and took a breath. "YOUR SO-CALLED TRUSTWORTHY BOY, ALDREN, HAS FAILED TO SEARCH ME."

"What?!" came the loud voice from the tent. Against the commands of Genevieve, Aldren stumbled out of the tent, left eye covered with a cloth.

"You heard me right," Kyli muttered.

"If you were going to be so obnoxious and angry about it, why didn't you tell me to search you before?" Aldren growled.

Kyli halfheartedly laughed. "If you were prisoner, and your guard didn't search you, would you tell them to?"

"No."

"Exactly my point," Kyli grinned. "Case closed."

"Aldren," Halt glared at the young man.

"What?!" He threw his hands up in the air. "Don't look at me. Kyli's the one who escaped!"

"Oh, so now the blame is on me!"

"It is!" Aldren hissed. "You're the one who escaped."

"You're the one who failed to do a simple task," Kyli retorted.

The two broke out into an argument, yelling at each other, faces red. Halt and Bloise stood to the side. Halt staring at them with a deadpan expression, and Bloise pinching his nose.

"What is all this racket about?" Genevieve shouted, marching out of the tent, Gilan following.

The clearing went silent, and the four looked towards her and Gilan.

"We're just sorting out a very important matter about a certain boy not searching me when he should've." Kyli replied, Aldren glaring at her.

Genevieve sighed, and Gilan raised his eyebrow. "Right."

A/N:

Yay! Next chapter will be the last in Gallica, and after that, I do believe I have two more OCs to introduce, that sadly wasn't in the main plot.

We're almost there! About five-six-ish chapters left. May be more depending on what I decide to add.

And it is a Saturday for me as it is 12:33 AM. If it's Friday still, congratulations. You got an early update.

Now I will sleep.