I look up, but I don't see anything.

"No! I'm sorry! Please!" He throws out a hand as he draws a shaky breath.

"He'll be occupied for a little while." Ky smiles, but it looks more like one of Phoenix's smiles than one of his own.

"What does he see?"

"KG14."

"But he's ter-. Oh, ok. King Garonda XIV's mad at him?"

"Not mad. Seething. KG14's threatening to kill him."

"Please! I swear it wasn't me! It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me. What do you want me to do? I'll do anything, just please don't kill me!" The Soldier is edging towards hysteria. He's sitting on his knees, one hand covering his face as his shoulders shudder with each breath and the other hand is trying to ward off the invisible illusion Ky has created.

"Do you want to kill him, or should I?" Ky turns to me, and his brown eyes are bright.

"Yo-." My hind leg comes alive with pain as a Guard's dagger slices through my flesh and I collapse to the ground with a grimace and a snarl. I can't move for a few moments, and the Guard who's attacking is only prevented from sinking their dagger into my throat since Ky leaps onto his back to claw at the Guard's armor.

"I got 'im. Go find someone else to kill," Ky growls around a mouthful of leather. He spits it to the side. I pause for a moment, letting my leg adjust to standing upon it, and watch as Ky's eyes go slightly foggy for a few moments. "I know what you're doing," hisses the Guard.

"Oh, do you?" Ky muses, jumping out of the way of an arrow.

"Wolf! Are you alright?" Dove's suddenly above me, and he shifts in midair, landing with a thud next to me. I shift back as well.

"Yeah. I just got cut." I press my hand against the wound. Blood trickles through my fingers.

"Go find a place to hi-." Dove tries to choke back his cry as an arrow sinks into his arm. He stumbles, sitting down, but quickly masking the pain.

"Dove!" I rush over to him, forgetting the pain in my leg, and I drop to the ground to kneel beside him.

"Go. I'll be fine." He pushes me to run away, but I can't leave him.

"What are you going to do about the arrow?" Rivulets of blood run down his arm in a network of lines, and red drips from his fingers. Dove breaks the arrow in two, leaving only the tip of it behind.

"I'll deal with it later. We've got some visitors." He jerks his head towards the advancing Guard and Soldiers.

"And would you look at that. The legendary Wolf and Dove." The Guard, flanked by a few other Guard and a Soldier, curls his lip, an expression that is closely mirrored on the others. Dove glowers.

"It looks like you've got an injury," the Soldier snickers. How is that funny, exactly?

"It would appear so," is all Dove says.

"Are you not going to attack them? They're the only ones left!" Phoenix snarls. He stalks towards us.

"I never said that," Dove replies. "I was giving them a chance to surrender and leave before I attacked them."

"Well, are you going to surrender? Surrender like cowards." Phoenix looks at the Guard and Soldier.

"You might've won this battle, but we'll be back. I can promise you that." The Soldier waves the Guard to follow him.

As the Guard and the Soldier retreat, Phoenix trails them by a few paces. He growls, forcing them to leave at a quicker and quicker pace. One of the Guard stumbles when Phoenix takes a swipe at his ankles. "Cowards," the black cat mutters when no one retaliates.

"Phoenix!" Dove shouts.

"What?" Phoenix turns around to glare at my brother.

"They've surrendered! Come back!"

"Phoenix! Get over here now! You'll have your chance to fight more later!" Ky starts towards his brother, but he stops when Phoenix reluctantly pads towards us.

We continue towards Ragdon Volcano. "So, Phoenix, quick question," Dove says after a few minutes.

"What?" Phoenix doesn't look at Dove.

"Why did you egg the Guard and Soldier on to fight?"

"It was taking too long." Phoenix shrugs.

"Phoenix, you were aware that that was a stupid plan?" Ky trots over to walk alongside his brother.

"I never said I had a plan. I just wanted to fight and it was taking too long with everyone pretty much just standing there and talking."

"So you didn't have a plan?" I frown.

"Sure. Or my plan was to not have a plan."

"Why not?"

"Jeez! Why are you guys asking so many questions? Get off my back about it! I just wanted to fight the Guard and Soldiers! Ky overthinks things, so I just don't think and act instead! I let my fire rage and burn everything in my path! Are you happy now?" Phoenix turns around to face us.

"Sorry, Phoenix. I never meant to annoy you; I just wanted to know what your plan was," Dove apologizes. Phoenix snorts.

"Like I said before, I don't have a plan. I attack with everything I've got and see what happens." Phoenix turns back around, padding a several paces ahead of us.

The trees begin to thin out, and the trees shrink both height-wise and width-wise. Soon, the only living things in sight are sad looking patches of dying grass and scraggly trees with only a few little clusters of leaves. "What happened here?" Ky asks, examining one of the trees.

"Like any of us would know," Phoenix replies.

"King Garonda XIV. Sorry, that's all I've got." Dove shrugs.

"That would make sense, based off KG14's track record with environmentally-friendly tactics towards building extensions to his ever-growing castle." Ky laughs humorlessly.

"Hey!" Phoenix growls, jumping sideways as his tail bushes up.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Someone happened to leave a trail of ice conveniently hidden under these dead plants." The black cat swipes at the grass.

"Ice?" Ky trots over.

"Yes. Just like I said, there's ice under here!"

"No, no. I heard you the first time. Was it Ice?"

"That grouchy cat we saw yesterday or whenever that was?" Phoenix curls his lip.

"You're one to talk," Ky retorts.

"Hey! You take that back. Ice was awfully grouchy- he kept demanding that we leave!"

"Well, Phoenix, Ice was in an awful lot of pain. Don't you think that would change how he acted. He probably had some reason why he wanted to be left alone." Ky frowns, glaring at his brother.

"Still, who would refuse help?"

"I don't know why he didn't want us to help. But you didn't even try to help! You left!"

"If I stayed, my paws were going to freeze! You know fire doesn't do well around water!" Phoenix paces back and forth.

"Assuming Ice really was here, what would he be doing here?" Dove leans against a tree, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Wait. Wolf, come here. Can you see the ice? If you can, it isn't magic. So it couldn't've been Ice, and it was just some frozen water." Ky beckons me over.

"Where?"

"Over here. You're looking too far to the right." Ky points with a paw, but I can't see it.

"That's just some grass. I don't see any ice." I crouch down and feel the grass, but there isn't even a trace of water.

"Wait, what? You're lying. There's no way Ice could've been here. What would he be doing here? It's just a dead field of grasses and trees." Phoenix whirls around. I shrug; I'm just as confused. Why on Ragdon would Ice be here?

"Perhaps he's searching for something?" Dove offers, shrugging just like me. Ky's nose twitches when a breeze blows through.

"What do you smell?" Phoenix demands. He perks his ears as he awaits an answer.

"I smelled something, but it was too faint to tell quite what I was smelling."

"Lemme see if I can find it." Phoenix trots over to the tree Dove is leaning against and jerks his head to the side. With an amused snort, Dove uncrosses his arms and makes his way over to me. The black cat jumps up most of the way up the trunk and claws his way over to the lowest branch.

"Do you smell anything?" Ky asks.

"Would you give me a moment? Jeez." Phoenix flicks his tail. He quickly makes his way up to the top few branches and spends a few minutes climbing in circles in an effort to find what Ky thought he had found, but his huff of annoyance says that he hadn't discovered it. "Nothing?" Dove looks up at Phoenix hopefully.

"Don't you think I'd've said something if I had?" Phoenix looks down with a cross look on his face.

"Dove was just asking. No need to get angry, Phoenix!" Ky glares at his brother. Phoenix shifts his position on the branch he's standing upon, examining his routes down.

"Are you alright, Phoenix? Do you need me to come up there?" Ky takes a few steps forwards as he calls up to Phoenix.

"No! Of course not. I'm just looking at the possible ways to get down and deciding which one is the best. Chill out for a moment, will you?" Phoenix lowers himself down so he's laying on the branch, and he reaches out a paw, claws fully extended, to reach for the branch below him, though he can't quite touch it. When that doesn't work, he rises to a crouch, mutters something I can't quite make out, and jumps for a branch a few feet below him.

"Phoenix! You idiot!" Ky shouts, running for the tree. Phoenix's forepaws make it onto the branch, but the rest of him goes swinging beneath it as his claws dig into the bark. He roars as he hangs on tight, straining to climb up onto the branch. I rush forwards, closely followed by Dove. 

"I'm fine. I've got it," Phoenix growls. But then the black cat's claws slide an inch or two down, and then he's free falling upside down, though he manages to right himself a moment later.

And then Phoenix is gone, having vanished into thin air.

"Phoenix!" Ky screams. He races up onto the lowest branch. He's quivering with fear.

"Where'd Phoenix go?" Dove stops at the base of the tree. His face holds an expression of horror and confusion.

"I don't know." I circle the tree. I for any signs of the black cat.

"PHOENIX!" Ky shrieks again. He shifts on his branch as his sides tremble with each shaky breath.

We fall silent. There isn't even a trace of Phoenix. He's just... He's just gone. Gone into thin air. Vanished without a trace. Where did he go?

"Phoenix. Phoenix, come back! This isn't funny. Where'd you go, Phoenix?" Ky begs his brother to come back over and over. He paces around the base of the tree.

"Wow. Ok! Guys, that was bizarre." Phoenix reappears ten or fifteen minutes later. He falls from a spot in between two branches and falls the few feet to the ground.

"Phoenix! Where were you?" Ky rushes over and presses his face into his brother's neck.

"Some idiot put up a portal in the worst spot possible."

"Where'd the portal go?" Dove inquires.

"I didn't hang out, but it went to what nearly identical looked like this field, though it was all green and lively. Not dead like this one. I appeared at the edge of it."

"What did it look like?" Ky asks.

"Like I just said- it was far more green than this field. You know, not dead and dying."

"No, no. What did the edge look like?"

"I don't know. Like, a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors?"

"Huh." Ky narrows his eyes in thought.

"Do you know about portals?" I ask.

"Not much, but they're kinda similar to illusions. Well, only parts of them. The portal itself, the thing that transports you to another location isn't the same as illusions, but you can hide them. That's what's similar to illusions."

"So what does the rainbow kaleidoscope have to do with illusions?" Phoenix sits down by Ky's side.

"It's a one-way portal. You can go in, but you can't escape."

"Well that's an awfully dumb idea." Phoenix snorts.

"Did you see what was inside?" Dove picks a bit of dirt from beneath a fingernail. I can tell he's thinking about this, trying to figure it out.

"Hell no! I was more concerned with how to get out."

"Wait. How'd you get out if you can't escape from that portal?" I frown.

"I don't know. Perhaps since he hadn't gone past it? I don't know much about portals. I'll have to look into that at some point. Maybe find someone who can create them?" Ky shrugs.

Dove looks to me. There's a humorous glint in his grey eyes. "Ya wanna check it out, Wolf?"

"Do I?" Well, that wasn't exactly what I was thinking about doing, but I'm sure Dove's got a plan.

"Let's go!" Ky springs to his feet, and he leaps up into the tree.

"Really, Ky? You seriously want to go through the portal." Phoenix's shoulders fall.

"Yeah. Maybe KG14's hiding something. You'd want to find out about that, wouldn't you?" Ky raises an eyebrow.

"Fine. We're going there for five minutes. Not a second longer."

"Ok, ok. Deal."

"Now which branch was the portal next to? Was it this one?" Ky looks at the empty air beside him.

"No. The one above and to the left of you," Phoenix sighs.

"This one?"

"Yeah."

"Let's do this! I'll see you on the other side!" Ky smiles as he hops off the branch and vanishes, just like Phoenix had done a while earlier.

I crouch on the branch, letting my legs swing for a few moments. "Are you ready, Wolf?" Dove stands a few feet below me.

"Yeah. Just taking a moment to get ready." Ky and Phoenix have both gone through, and now it's my turn.

"Whenever you feel ready."

"Alright. Let's do this. I'll see you in a minute, right?" I turn to look down at him.

"Of course. I promise, Wolf."

 "Ok." I take a deep breath, and then I slide off the branch. I begin to question my decision- the ground is about fifteen feet below me and it would hurt landing on it- but then everything slips away. I'm surrounded by pitch-black darkness for a split second before the black switches to blinding white.

I land on the ground, which is white, just like everything else around me. "What took you so long? We were waiting for a bazillion years," Phoenix grumbles.

"Sorry," is all I say in reply.

"So that's what the rainbow kaleidoscope looks like." Dove takes a few steps towards the barrier.

"Don't touch it!" Ky exclaims, jumping up straight.

"I know, I know. I won't touch it."

"It's so pretty!" I stare at the shifting shapes in awe. It has every color imaginable, and they're all in different shapes that fit together like a puzzle. They continually shift in swirling, spiraling patterns. Dove nods at my words with a smile.

Phoenix starts to nod, but then his eyebrows furrow. "Wait. You can see the barrier?"

"Yeah." I don't quite follow.

"Ky, is this magic or is it something else?"

"If Wolf can see it, I doubt it. Perhaps it's some non-magical spell, if that's a thing. Dunno."

"Does anyone know what's on the other side?" Dove is looking closely at the barrier.

"No. Of course not, Dove," Phoenix snarls.

"What if we were t-," Dove starts, but I quickly cut him off.

"No. We're not going through. Do you want to get stuck?"

"You didn't let me finish. You didn't know what I was about to say."

"You didn't need to finish for me to know what you were about to say. We're not going through. I trust you with my life, but that's not happening." I usually just go with what Dove says, but I'm not going through the barrier.

"Wolf, listen to me. Do you know anyone who can create portals? Think back to our time in the White Tent Sea. Did you ever meet anyone who did anything like that?"

"No." Where's he going with this?

"So, hear me out on this, I've never, in my entire life, met someone who could do anything even remotely similar to this. Except for you, Ky. So what if it was someone working for King Garonda XIV, or someone working for him, who did this? I want to know what's on the other side of this barrier. What if he's hiding something? Something big?" A slow smile spreads across Dove's face.

"You're going to get trapped, Dove. You'll never be able to escape."

"For some reason, I don't think that's true. It wouldn't make sense."

"Why not?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Unless it was someone incredibly evil, what would be the point of making it so those inside of the barrier can't escape? I don't know how to describe it, Wolf, but I highly doubt we'll be trapped. Call it a gut instinct."

"And you're really willing to risk being trapped forever?"

"Yeah."

"Fine. Let's go. If we get stuck, it's on you. Ok, Dove?" I hold out my hand.

"Yep. I understand." Dove takes my hand and we shake on it.

"We're going to come with you!" Ky leaps forwards with a smile.

"What? We are?" Phoenix cries.

"Yeah. Don't you wanna see what's on the other side?"

"I guess, but I don't want to get stuck. We won't be able to escape."

"Come on, Phoenix! Live a little." Ky nudges his brother's side.

"Ky, I am living. I just don't feel the need to be stuck in some portal for the rest of eternity."

"Too late!" Ky shoves Phoenix, and the black cat shrieks as he trips. As soon as the first few hairs on his back brush the barrier, he's sucked inside. Once again, Phoenix has disappeared. "Let's go!" Ky races forwards, closely followed by me and Dove.

For a few moments, the air is freezing cold. Goosebumps spread across my arms. The colors of the rainbow kaleidoscope surround me from all sides, and I can't see Dove or Ky. But then everything opens up into the lush field Phoenix was talking about. It's the perfect temperature outside. It's sunny, but not too sunny. The grass is a bright green, and the branches of all the trees are covered in leaves. This is, like, a perfect world. It's gorgeous.

As I continue to take in this place, I notice two other creatures, silhouetted against the sun. One is a lean, cat-like creature and the other is a unicorn.

Well, that and that the unicorn is currently charging at us.

Thank you for reading! Please vote and comment!

Aaaaah! This is the last chapter of Undead, Wolf's chapter! Please let me know what you think!

Is Ky right about the portal being a one-way portal?

Who's the cat and who's the unicorn? You haven't met them, but any guesses as to who they are?

Had Ice passed by the tree the portal is in? And if so, what was he doing there?

-Werewolf14-