This drawing is of Halone and Alexis' old markings but I thought the drawing was sweet enough to include on this chapter

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Halone sat by the fire on the riverbank, picking at the crimson chips of blood encrusted under her nails. She couldn't remember how it got there.

Flashbacks dashed across her mind. Blood. Blood splattering, blood dripping, blood spilling, blood spraying. Thick coagulating pools. Thin running rivulets. The sickly sweet and metallic, crimson coloured liquid.

The blood under her nails. A dark mystery she attempted to undercover as she chipped away at the crimson encrusted in her nail bed. Dead and buried. How did it get there? She had to know. But she was scared to know.

A small green lizard skittered across her path, a sadistic glimmer clouded her eyes as she picked up the lizard by its arm, studying it with morbid curiosity as it struggled and flailed.

Her lips peeled back in a crooked, wryly smirk as she dragged the nails of her other hand down its scales; feeling their cold hardness and a sense of dark anticipation at what she felt compelled to do. Something deep down inside of her, like a parasite that had latched onto her psyche, screaming for a bloodlust to be quenched.

Images flashed across her mind. Tearing the scales back to reveal flesh that wept drops of blood. Pinching down on its limbs till the bones popped and snapped. Of watching it struggle, helpless to the torture.

She didn't want to do it. It was almost as if something else was possessing her. A whole other entity that lived within her.

Suddenly the lizard's head twisted impossibly to face Halone, locking its reptilian eyes onto her own as the scales of its forehead parted and an eye emerged in the gap. Black gunk spewed from its open mouth, chunks that dribbled out like vomit, it began to speak in hushed, sharp whispers of gibberish.

Halone's breath remained hitched in the back of her throat as she watched, in shock, as the lizard continued to speak to her. She couldn't understand it. Around her she watched through darting eyes as dots of red liquid began to ooze from the ground in little spots.

In her shock she dropped the lizard, which quickly disappeared into the red liquid. Struggling to breathe, sucking down panicked lungfuls when she did remember to breathe, she found herself sat by the riverbank.

The sound of approaching footsteps rang in her ears.

Her vision glitched for a moment, black dots danced across her vision that flashed white. She felt something wet on her forehead, glancing down into the lake she found herself sat at the edge of, she had carved the shape of an eye into her forehead, blood dripping down her face.

She was detached, the only thing keeping her in reality was the numb sting of the open wound.

She felt a hand land gently on her shoulder, softly stroking the muscle. Halone looked up to the heavily scarred side of Alexis' face, who sat down on the grass besides her.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked, her voice softer than a feather wafting through a gentle breeze.

A single tear was shed from Halone, "no," she choked.

"It's okay to not be okay," Alexis soothed, she slowly pulled Halone into a warm, comforting embrace, "you'll be okay in the end," she cooed, bitter tears fell from Halone's eyes as Alexis hugged her like she had hugged so many rebels traumatised by Leiden's war effort. She'd seen what he'd done-manipulating and abusing vulnerable people for his own gain. But he was her brother, she had to stand by him, even if she bitterly disagreed with him. Despite everything she loved him, and love would conquer all.

Leiden's shaggy grey animal form approached the lake as Halone continued to weep into Alexis's shoulder, Leiden's face softened in surprise as he saw her crying form, he gruffly greyed her, "Halone."

She looked to him through the blur of tears, "L-Leiden," she stammered.

Without warning he sunk to his knees and suddenly pulled her into an all consuming hug that was surprisingly nurturing, "I promise you'll never have to go through that experience again. Well never let them take you again, because you're family and we all love and care for you. You proved yourself on that raid a few moons ago, you're a true soldier that I want by my side."

She nodded weakly and offered a watery smile of courage, "I'd like that, thank you Leiden."

Leiden simply reflected her smile, before he let go, "you have a vistor," he announced, stepping aside to reveal her pup he had hidden behind him.

Immediately Halone's face lit up and all her worries left her as she stared into those big, innocent eyes of her son, "oh I love you yes I do!" she exclaimed as she snuggled him close to her heart and she snivelled and sniffled, her tears drying, Alexis's gaze followed Leiden as he walked back to his cave, before returning to Halone with a renewed look of concern and a deep empathy, "are you feeling any better?" she asked.

"I am now," Halone nodded firmly as she cradled her boy's head, "I'm a soldier now, soldiers don't cry-they stay strong."

Alexis tried to mask a grimace with false happiness, "good for you, I have to go now," she said before abruptly running after Leiden as he entered his cave, his cropped tail wagging contentedly as he laid down to rest.

Meanwhile on the banks of the lake Halone eyes fluttered to a gentle close, a sigh of relief escaping her lips as her chest deflated-the weight lifted and a perfect stillness settling in its cavity. She felt the warmth of Alexis' embrace and Leiden's words, as sleep called out to her in a soothing whisper. And for the first time in years she felt a pure and unadulterated bliss overcome her, the comforting warmth pressing into her body and the calming serenity inside of her, and she let it take her away to a better place as the sounds of the lake flowed uninterrupted around them.

Alexis approached her brother with a stony, soured expression. "Brother," she greeted, her shadow falling over him as she neared him.

An eye peeled open, "yes?" he asked.

"Halone is a disturbed individual. She's been through a lot, and I mean a lot. She doesn't need more violence, she needs to find peace. And she won't find it on your battlefield. This war your waging is toxic, its going to end the peace treaty-".

"The cowards treaty," Leiden quipped.

"This futile war is breaking the spirits and crushing the souls of so much of your family you claim to love," she said.

Leiden's eyes widened in disgust as he sneered, "are you questioning my commitment to the cause?".

"They're traumatised, they need help," she continued, "they won't heal by inflicting their pain on others, we need peace," she said before sighing in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose, "please, I'm begging you, end all of this. Let us heal, not hurt."

"You know I can't do that," Leiden answered abruptly, "we've come too far to just give up and surrender like cowards," he said.

"It's not surrender, it's saving lives," she urged, "Halone is one of many. Our soldiers are dying by their own hand, they are utterly broken and defeated. Don't you want to live free of pain?" she questioned.

A fury rose within Leiden as he furiously exclaimed with bitter emphasis, "they invaded our land. Slaughtered our people," before he continued, his gaze scarily dominating with a boiling, white hot anger, "we owe it to them to take the power back. I fight, we fight, for freedom. One day we will taste victory, and it tastes of demon blood."

Meanwhile a committee of demons sat around a long table draped in black silk. Their eyes glowed blood red, their hair was raven black and skin was vampire pale.

One of the demons cleared their throat with a gravelly cough, "they took our trusted brothers Sin and Beelze, both of whom are suspected to of been murdered. Beelze was an expectant father, his spouse now left without a mate. We cannot keep on allowing these monsters to terrorise us, and we can no longer uphold our end of the peace treaty when they fail to uphold theirs."

"They continue to murder, abduct and torture our kind with no provocation, make no mistake they are a dangerous plague that must be eradicated if we are to have peace."

"We displayed just a fraction of our power when we sent a tactical team into one of their encampments and burned it to the ground in our first act of violence since the signing of the peace treaty, taking war trophies with us, in their retaliation and rescuing of our prisoner of war they have shown they will stop at nothing to bring us suffering."

Another demon intervened, "we may have to revoke the leave try and declare full blown war against the rebels sooner than we thought. Their actions cannot go unpunished. Little has come of putting bounties on the rebel's head-the risk of turning in rebels and becoming a known enemy of theirs isn't worth the risk to most natives."

"It's only a matter of time before the rebels start threatening violence to force the natives to join their alliance. They've created major upheavals, the tension is only building and it's straining the peace treaty."

"We can't risk any of the natives converting to the rebel allegiance-we'll have to kill them all, even those only suspected, and set an example and strike fear deep into their hearts. We will wage a war to end all wars, a war that will finally bring us all peace."

"So," another interjected, "when do we declare war?".

The question hung in the room for a moment, unanswered as the demons mulled it over.

One began, "the bounties on the rebels head has slowed down the rebels activity-trying to fight a war on all sides will hopefully make them implode," they said, a few head nodded in agreement, "the paranoia will eat them alive, loyalty will mean nothing The the snake will begin to eat itself, we'll decide to declare war when they're at their weakest and fell them in one quick swoop."

"Soon," the head demon said in a slow, low voice, "soon we will declare all our war against the rebels."