A.N: the photo is a commissioned sketch I asked Saidywolf from DA to draw, it's of Leiden. Hope you guys are as impressed by it as me!

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Leiden, Nikolai, Halone and Xero stood in a dark hallway of the grand demon chateau that seemed to stretch for infinity; marble statues with meticulous attention to detail lined the walls, blood droplets slipped down their curves.

"Are they all dead?" Leiden asked, his claws clicking against the coagulated pool of crimson, there was so much demon blood you could taste the metal.

"Yes," Nikolai confirmed.

"Good, let's go," Leiden said, his paws thundered against the floor as he took of sprinting down the hallway, Nikolai, Halone and Xero following closely behind him.

Leaving the chateau they rushed towards the dividing wall of the demon colony, as they began to scale it shoots rang out, deafeningly loud as they smashed inches away from the rebels-with every shot they grew steadily closer and closer.

Adrenaline was pumping and hearts were hammering as they scrambled and clawed and fought their way up the wall, Halone felt a sharp and burning sting on her thigh and realised she'd been clipped by a bullet as they reached the top and dropped down into rebel territory and tried to lose them in the thick, lush undergrowth.

More shots from snipers positioned on the wall were fired at them, and none of them dared look back as they relentlessly pushed forward, ignoring the stinging nettles and thorns puncturing their skin and drawing rivulets of blood.

Blood, just like at the demon dinner table she fixated on the blood. She didn't realise she had stopped running as she watched her blood drop into the dirt. It began to swirl and pulsate, as if it was alive and breathing. Where the blood caught the light, shining in the moonlight she began to see tiny crimson creatures shifting and slivering, slowly climbing out of the blood and crawling up her bloodied legs to hiss and spit at her.

"Halone, where's Halone?!" Xero called out.

"Go back! Leave no one behind!" Leiden replied, sharply twisting on his heel as he sped back towards the sound of firing bullets and the smell of blood.

Halone was watching the creatures snaking all over her skin and she was filled with a crushing terror as alien gibberish flooded her ears, raining down from the sky. Then she began to hear a distinct voice different to her own calling out inside the confines of her brain that felt like it was vibrating.

"Look at what you've become. Pathetic. You're digging your own grave. No wonder your mum and dad done what they did to you."

Halone stood frozen in a stunned daze, utterly detached and hopelessly disconnected from reality.

She didn't flinch as Nikolai slammed his body hard into hers, tackling her out of the line of fire, but immediately as she smashed into the dirt and choked on the dust cloud she felt the sensation of her paws slamming against the hard ground and the burn of her cramping muscles and suddenly it was as if she was plugged back into reality, snapping out of her surreal psychosis.

"Run!" Leiden called out, Nikolai shoved Halone to her feet and she kicked into action, the four of them running together.

As they disappeared under the cover of darkness they slowed down, looking around they noticed one of them was missing.

"Where's Xero?" Nikolai asked, panting heavily as Halone stood numb and mute-confused and adrift.

Suddenly a pained yelp cried out followed by a wet choke.

Leiden grunted, annoyed, "damnit. Those bastards, those fucking bastards."

Halone's eyes shot wide open as she saw the glorious, glowing spirit of Xero dancing amongst the stars that twinkled like gemstones. She began to cower, her ears pinning back and tail tucking under as she tasted the sharp metallic taste of the gun smoke hot in her scorched throat and fresh on her tongue.

It was the taste of the bullet that killed Xero.

She felt her surroundings shrink away as grow flat, plastic and unreal as she slipped away seamlessly.

She was knocked out of her daze by Leiden's razor sharp claws slashing across her face.

"You cost us a life! And you could've got us all killed with your bullshit antics!" he screamed ferociously at her, "I bet you've been working with the enemy all along, no sane person would cry over the death of a demon."

He moved so his eyes bore deeply into hers, pointed as a dagger, and stood inches away from her, his voice dropped into a low hiss that was even more blood chilling than his booming scream, "tell me about the demon's next move before I kill you right here and right now."

"I-I have no idea what's happening!" she blurted, her voice trembling as she felt the heat of his breath hot in her face. It stank of blood and rotting flesh, of carnage and chaos.

She began to sob and shake, falling to her feet she collapsed as she desperately pleaded for her life, unable to speak as she forgot her entire vocabulary she simply whimpered and wined.

Leiden towered over her, his black shadow casting a chill that shot down her nerve endings, before he bared his fangs and began to maul her.

Halone was numb from adrenaline and psychosis as offered zero resistance as he tore flesh from flesh, Nikolai stood by-surprised by the sheer brutality he was inflicting upon her but knowing better than to intervene.

As he watched Halone wordless as he inflicted deeper and deeper wounds that left gaping lacerations that looked like fissures left in the wake of an earthquake he bang to question innocence. She was just sick in the head, and ultimately a defenceless victim of sadism. But how innocent was he? Was he innocent in fighting to protect the innocence of future generations from the barbaric ways of the demons? Was Leiden an innocence victim of the demons turned defender of the innocent?

But how could any of them be innocent with so much blood on their hands?

And things only seemed to be getting worse, more depraved, more sadistic, more bloodthirsty.

They were losing their innocence with each and every death. He'd been told all was fair in love and war but he was growing battle weary-all this fighting and they were no better off, he was beginning to see what Alexis had been telling him for the better part of a year.

None of them were innocent. Blood wouldn't wash away their sins, only serve to further corrupt them. War only breeds war, even though both sides were fighting to achieve peace through destruction. 

But he was in too deep, it was too late for him.

As he smelt the unmistakable blood smell once it felt like a nail in the coffin for both him and Halone.

"Pathetic," Leiden spat, blood dripping off his fur as he stood over her body that had been reduced to a bloody pulp.

He just hoped she was bleed out quickly and be free like he could never hope to be.

Leiden turned and walked away, and reluctantly he followed behind his bloodied paw prints.