Dove takes several rapid steps backward, holding up his hands. His grey eyes light up with a smile.

"Sorry," I murmur, shrugging out of Wolf's grip.

"It's alright. I came to see how you and Wolf were doing."

"No one came. How'd the fight go?"

"Ky and Phoenix are picking off the last few. Brook got nicked in the eye by an arrow, though. I'm going to track down a doctor for her after this. Clap wants to see how you're doing?"

"Oh, no! Where is she? I want to check on her!" Wolf scrambles to her feet. My heart sinks. She got shot in the eye... She got shot in the eye, all because they brought me here. This is my fault.

"I'm so sorry!"

"What are you sorry for?"

"This is my fault," I echo my thoughts. "If I wasn't here, she wouldn't've been shot in the eye!"

"No. Don't you dare say that again, Ice." Dove kneels in front of me. I can't make myself meet his gaze; guilt pulls on my heart. "We all knew what we were getting into, Ice. Don't ever feel like it's your fault, because it's not. It was Brook's choice to go out there and fight."

"But if you guys hadn't freed me from the Amethy-."

"Don't finish that sentence. It was our choice to rescue you from King Garonda XIV and the Amethyst Throne. If Brook had known this would happen, she would've still done it. We're all so happy that we were able to bring you here, far away from King Garonda XIV. So don't feel like it was your fault; it wasn't. Did that ease your mind?"

"I guess." I shrug, still not meeting Dove's gaze.

"Alright. I-." Dove breaks off to curse.

"Dove! Dove! Dove!" Ky skids to a halt. His eyes are wide and his breaths come and go rapidly.

"What's going on?"

"Ky! Why the hell are you retreating? We've got Guard and Soldiers to kill!" Phoenix looks over his shoulder, and he scowls when he doesn't spot an enemy.

"The group sent after us was only a decoy."

"What? I swear I didn't see anyone else."

"Well, we've got a monster group coming our way. They've brought torches. Lucky for them; I can control fire. They don't know what's coming their way." Phoenix smiles, but there's no humor in it; the glint in his eyes is far too morbid.

"We've gotta go- they can't reach the White Tent Sea. They can't know Ice is here." Dove starts to shoo Ky and Phoenix into motion.

"Can't know who is here?" A woman walks up to Dove.

"No one. Go back to your tent."

"Did you say Ice? What's he doing here?" My face falls as the woman's expression turns dark.

"This isn't the time. I swear he's good. I'm the Dove, right? Believe me, please. Ice is no longer your enemy; he's good. Now, I need to go. There's a huge wave of Guard and Soldiers heading this way, and they've got torches. Please tell everyone to evacuate the White Tent Sea," Dove says, spitting out the words as fast as he can.

"Go! Tell everyone!" He shoves the woman, and she stumbles but quickly regains her footing, racing away. The woman soon disappears behind a tent.

Shouts erupt a ways off. Smoke rises in clouds, floating towards the sky. "Looks like we've got company."

"Go, go , go! Phoenix don't let the flames spread. Stop the fire. Wolf, keep Ice safe."

"On it," Wolf replies.

"Wasn't planning on it," Phoenix grumbles, breaking into a sprint and slithering into the crowd of people running towards us.

"Ice, in here." Wolf pulls back the flap of the tent closest to us. I duck into it, and Wolf follows.

Thankfully, the tent is empty. "Wh-what do we do?" I ask, my voice trembling as screams rip through the air, high and fearful.

"We wait here until the fighting has ceased."

"But people are dying."

"We can't let the Guard and Soldiers find you. Phoenix, Dove, and the others are fighting. Hopefully seeing them fight back will inspire other Ragdonians to do so as well." I don't miss the slight shake in Wolf's voice. She's nervous?

"Ok." I lay my head on my paws and try to block out some of the shouts and screams. Wolf sits stiffly on the chest at the foot of the bed, her eyes flickering back and forth as she tenses, ready for an attack.

I roll to my side. Every one of the shrieks tugs on my heart, a reminder of what I've forgotten. A low whine slips from my mouth, nearly silent. Wolf's head whips around. I raise my gaze to hers, and she puts a finger in front of her mouth before mouthing 'quiet' to me. I nod. As if on cue, footsteps patter outside the tent, followed by several pairs of heavier feet and accompanied by thumping straps and clinking armor.

"Stop!" One of them shouts. "Stop for My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV!" Whoah, who would want a name that long? I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest as I wait for the flap to the tent to be thrown open. My breaths are short and few.

xxxx

I don't know how long it is that Wolf and I stay in the tent. With every passing second, Wolf grows more and more tense. She plays with her fingers as the pendant around her neck glows with a soft orange. I want to go poke my head out to see what it looks like, but I know I won't be able to face the carnage. The flap serves as barrier around my mind, a protector from the true nature of battle, something I'd forgotten when I lost my memories.

Innocence, what a wonderful word. You know nothing, surrounded by a-

I'm snapped from my thoughts when Wolf slams into me, sending us both crashing to the ground. The tent collapses around us. One of the log supports slams into my head, but instead of knocking me out like it should've, Wolf's pendant shines brightly. It surrounds me in a barrier of orange. The log rolls harmlessly off of me, stopping a foot or two away from me.

The burlap cloth making up the walls of the tent settles down over us. Wolf's hand doesn't leave my back as she shoves the tarp off of us. "Come on, Ice! We gotta move! Ice! Are you alright?" Wolf lifts my head to look me in the eyes. I don't reply.

"Oh, no," she says. "What happened? Did the pewter pendant not work?"

"No, it did."

"Can you get up?" I don't know the answer to that. When I try, my legs feel like lead weights. The ghost of the snake sinks its fangs into the back of my neck, and I let out a muffled cry.

"Ice! What's going on?"

"The snake..." I whimper as I sink to the ground.

"The snake?"

"Yeah."

"How do you remember that?"

"How could I forget? I can feel the scars forming on the back of my neck. It took me a while, but I pieced that together with what you said."

A roar sounds off in the distance. I look up, jumping and tensing when I see a monstrous dragon flapping its wings webbed with a mix of deep purples. Grey scales glitter like a snake in the sunlight. I shudder when I see the dragon's tail. At the end of it, a hooded serpent watches the bloody sun shine through the smoke. Fallen tents riddle the ground, some of them burning with dying embers. Screams echo from a ways off, just out of view.

My legs remained bolted to the ground. I cannot move as my heart begins to race faster and faster in my chest, my blood roaring in my ears. Wolf turns my head, tearing my gaze from the hooded serpent. I flinch at her touch. "You ok there, Ice?"

"Yeah." My voice is nearly silent.

"Come on. Let's go find Dove and the others." Wolf gently tugs at my fur, and I numbly follow her, unable to really pay attention to much of anything.

The dragon inhales a huge breath, and smoke curls from the corners of its mouth. Flames pour from its maw as its eyes glow with a bloody red. A shape sprints towards the dragon, silhouetted black against the blazing inferno. The dragon ignores the figure, instead continuing to burn everything in sight. Off in the distance, chaos ensues as people push and shove to get away from the fire. But before the flames can reach the crowd, they're pulled back and thrown towards the dragon.

"Phoenix," breathes Wolf. The black cat leaps onto the dragon. The inferno spirals upwards in a fiery tornado.

"That's Phoenix?" I ask, though I can barely hear my own voice as I'm pulled partway from reality.

"Yep. Indeed it is. Come on; we need to get out of here. It's not safe."

"Ok," I hear myself say.

If he could turn that fire back onto the dragon, who knows what else he can do? All that fury... He could most definitely hold his own against the dragon.

Phoenix clambers up the dragon's neck, flames rippling off of his body as he skillfully turns every wave of fire sent against him back to the dragon. I can just catch a glimpse of his eyes, and sick glee burns in their depths. The dragon catches Phoenix on his shoulder, but the black cat sinks his fangs into the dragon's palm. He hangs on tight until he can tear into the membrane of the dragon's wing and clamber onto the dragon's back. Grey scales fall to the ground as Phoenix wreaks havoc upon the dragon.

People stream towards us in a stampede. Wolf shoves me to snap me back to reality, and we break into motion. My legs feel sluggish, but I force them to work. Do I want to look over my shoulder to see what's happening with Phoenix and the dragon? Surprisingly, the dragon seems to be holding their own.

"Ice, run and don't look back," says Wolf before I can decide to turn around.

"O-ok," I say between pants. I try to match the pace with everyone as they swarm around me, but there are too many, overwhelming me in a matter of seconds. They crowd around me from all sides, making me jump to the side to avoid one but bump into another in the process, and I slow down to try to get some breathing room, but I can't.

"W-Wolf," I manage to stutter. My heart flutters a panicked beat in my chest. Please. Please get me out of here. The crowd swallows Wolf, pulling her away from me in a stampede of bodies. I freeze as I watch her orange eyes disappear. I don't move as I desperately search for a way out.

"Ice!" Clap slows down from slithering between bodies faster than I can follow.

"Clap."

"A-a-are you alright?" She spits out. It takes me a minute for my mind to register what she said.

"Yeah. Are you? Are you ok?"

"Yeah. D-Dove wanted me t-t-to find you. Wh-where's Wolf?"

"She got... She got taken away by the crowd." I move so my back is facing the oncoming swarm of people. Clap sits in front of me. No one pays us a glance.

Clouds form overhead, darkening to an angry grey. Thunder rolls across the sky as the wind picks up, howling across the burning landscape.

"What happened to the rest of the group?" I try to distract Clap from the storm, but I'm also curious- I should be. They were the ones who rescued me from the Amethyst Throne and I owe them a life debt for that.

"I-I-I don't know. Dove told me t-to leave a-a-and f-find you and Wolf, so I-I did. Phoenix is fighting the dragon. Brook a-and Dove are working o-on the Guard and the S-S-Soldiers. I-I d-don't know where Ky is."

"Ok. Let's get out of here." Clap runs a few paces in front of me, her short fur ruffling in the wind. I duck under a tarp that's blowing across the ground.

A screech sounds from above me. The dragon comes plummeting out of the sky. Phoenix holds a massive chunk of the dragon's wing membrane in his mouth. The black cat is thrown to the ground as the dragon slams into a smoking tent, sending splintered pieces of wood flying. My legs become rooted to the ground. I can't move as the snake on the dragon's tail shakes its head and looks up, its gaze meeting mine. Eyes the color of amethyst glow in the snake's skull. They become all I can see; I'm blind to the rest of the battle. But Phoenix harshly batting me across the face snaps me from my stupor.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snarls. "If you're going to fight, then fight. But if you're not, then you're too cowardly and you'd better get out of here. So, Ice, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm go-. What happened to you?" A smoldering chunk of wood is lodged deep in the flesh of Phoenix's shoulder. Blood drips down his flesh, hissing as it meets flames and boils.

"Don't know, don't care. I've got a monster to kill."

"Monster?"

"Yeah. That dragon is King Garonda XIV."

"How do you know?"

"I'd recognize those amethyst eyes anywhere." Phoenix turns around, each hair on his body bristling with rage.

The dragon, or rather, King Garonda XIV, rises to his feet. The snake swishes as it lunges at someone who strayed just a bit too close and gobbles them up. King Garonda XIV pauses for a moment to gaze across the landscape, as if admiring the work of his flames, though I know he never loses sight of Phoenix.

"There you are! I was trying to find you!"

"Move, Ky. I've got a monster to kill." Phoenix bares his teeth has he stalks towards King Garonda XIV, shouldering his brother to the side.

"I could get the Blood Demon to do this. I control it, so I could stop it just before it kills KG14."

"No. I'm going to do this myself, put in all of the work so we can finally get revenge for everything he's done to us."

"The Blood Demon is made up of my blood; we'd still be doing the work. I don't want you getting hurt any more."

"You're not dying again." Phoenix's voice leaves no room for argument, but Ky still says no.

"I've already summoned it, so I wouldn't die. I wouldn't be in the place between life and death either; it would fight alongside us."

"Uh, huh."

"If it's already summoned, th-then wouldn't you just call it to you from wherever it is now?" I ask.

"Yeah, see, Ice got it."

"If you're not going to die, then fine. But I land the killing blow. KG14 doesn't leave here alive, alright? We've waited far too long for this moment. It's not gonna slip away- KG14 dies here and now."

"Couldn't've said it better myself, Phoenix. Let's do this. Ice, please get Clap out of here. Dove said to keep you safe, and we're gonna do just that. Brook should be at the west side of the White Tent Sea, at least, that's where I saw her last. With KG14 here, it's not safe. Go, we've got this all under control. Run and don't look back. We'll see you on the other side."

"A-are you sure? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Yes. We'll make it out alive. We've waited for this moment for who knows how many years; KG14 took everything from us, and-."

"We've got one hell of a bone to pick with him," Phoenix finishes for Ky.

"Yeah. And now for the major backup. Ready, Phoenix?" A smile tugs at the edge of Ky's mouth as his eyes light up with excitement.

"Just summon it already. KG14's not going to be staring out across the Sea for long."

"Here goes. I SUMMON THE BLOOD DEMON!" Ky's voice raises to a scream, and something else weaves its way into his words. It sounds dark and low, like the roar of a monster.

"Clap, go." I nudge her shoulder, pushing her into motion. We weave through smoldering tents and the occasional person.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a burning corpse, and I shudder, swallowing thickly to avoid hurling. How could I have missed someone's body burning before? How many have I walked past?

Their hollow eyes gaze sightlessly to the sky, staring at something beyond this world. A gaping hole in their chest and abdomen reveals charred organs. Red blood seems to glow against the black backdrop of their heart. I tear my eyes from their corpse.

I glance back as Clap and I run faster and faster. Clap pulls farther and farther ahead- I'd told her to keep running no matter what, and there's now a faint whistle as she speeds up more. King Garonda XIV is hard on my heels. Ice hisses as it spreads across the ground, and I force it to become wider and thicker. But King Garonda XIV's long claws just sink right through it. Come on, Ice. We've gotta make it out of here alive. We need to remember what we forgot.

Trusting that Clap can outrun King Garonda XIV, I make a hard left to duck behind the remains of a tent. My sides heave with each breath. King Garonda XIV races straight past me. After taking a deep breath, I prepare myself to launch an attack on the King of Ragdon, but someone else beats me to it. More of a something, though. A red creature comes streaking towards King Garonda XIV out of the sky, dripping scarlet droplets. It slams into the King, sending both of them crashing to the ground in a cloud of ash. King Garonda XIV's monstrous jaws snap shut on what should be the creature's throat, but its body simply pulls apart at the place where King Garonda XIV tries to attack, returning to its previous form once the teeth are gone.

"The Blood Demon!" Ky yips in glee.

"Uh, huh. Now are you going to help me kill KG14 now or not?" Phoenix accelerates from a trot to sprint at top speed towards the brawling dragon and Demon.

"Get on out of here, Ice. We've got this. Go find Brook and stay safe with Clap."

"O-ok," I stutter, feeling more than a little guilty as I lope in the opposite direction.

I force myself to keep my gaze straight ahead, even as I run past smoldering corpses or people racing in scattered directions, nursing various wounds, each gruesome in their own way. Clap, Clap, Clap, where'd you go? The landscape is flat, save for the smoking remains of the tents, but Clap is nowhere to be seen.

Off in the distance, another wave of Guard and Soldiers approach rapidly, pouring into the White Tent Sea.

No, no, no! Just when it was beginning to become only King Garonda XIV! There's going to be too many of them, far too many. What are we going to do? Everyone's beginning to tire, and who knows how many we have lost? The people living in the White Tent Sea are dying, and pretty soon it's just going to be our little group of seven... What are we going to do then? We won't be able to hold them off. We'll be like an insect beneath King Garonda XIV's foot; we're no match for them!

My heart pounds in my chest as I resume my search for Clap. I shove all thoughts except for those about finding Clap from my mind.

xxxx

Hands wrap around my body, slowing my progress to a screeching halt. NO! I can't lose Clap! I squirm and writhe, straining to escape, but I can't.

"Quit struggling. It's useless."

"Yeah, we're just going to get you back to the Amethyst Throne and My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV. And then you'll be chained back with the snake's fangs keeping you in a stupor; you're gonna be at the Amethyst Throne's and My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV's disposal. Don't you worry. It's gonna hurt just as much as last time."

I can hear the smile in his voice.

No. I can't go back! I can't! The ghost of the snake's fangs brush against the back of my neck, directly over where the bandage covers the still-healing puncture wounds. I shudder. We gotta get out, we gotta get out, we gotta get out. Come on! No more snake. I-I-I can't! The snake! I'd rather die! I can't go back. This can't be happening! Gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out! I try to twist in my attackers grip, but he holds on tight, never giving me an inch, even as I claw at the armor protecting his arms and send ice hissing across the metal.

xxxx

Far off in the distance, a figure wanders closer. Their silhouette is partly distorted from the setting sun and the flames from burning tents, but it gradually grows larger until colors begin to be able to be seen. They're just short glimpses of color, but they're there. A bushy, red tail. A golden tooth. A flash of light against an earring. A red and green eye. A sparkle of a tear. 

Thanks a million for reading! Please vote if you enjoyed and vote on what you think of the story! We're just about at the end of Ice's section, and things are really going to pick up for the next few chapters- some big things are about to happen!

So King Garonda XIV can turn into a dragon? How did that happen?

Ky's resummoned the Blood Demon. Will that allow him and Phoenix to defeat King Garonda XIV? Or will they have to wait for another chance to kill their foe?

Will Ice be able to escape from his captors? 

Who's coming to join the battle?

-Werewolf14-