Manx struggled against Xolt as he tried to bind her hands. Just as he thought he had her under control, she kneed him in the gut and pulled away from the ropes which had slackened around her wrists. When he was on the ground doubled over in pain, she ran for it, running faster than she had ever run in her life.

"Scrapper, after her!" Xolt yelled, and the smaller kitsune obeyed.

"You'll never get away with this!" Manx called over her shoulder as she bolted through the crumbled archway of the old palace ruins.

"Actually, the Empress is far more likely to listen to my side of things. After all, I'm the one who captured Lyrica." Xolt said, climbing to his feet.

Manx ran on, his voice fading off in the distance. She could feel her heart pounding as Scrapper's light footsteps trailed in her wake. Just as she thought she had gotten away, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck as Scrapper leaped onto her back and punched her. Manx fell forward, gasping in pain as Scrapper squeezed the back of her neck. Manx rolled to the side in an attempt to throw off her assailant, but the small kitsune flipped around with ease and ended up with her hands around Manx's throat.

"That's enough! I'll take it from here!" Xolt yelled, catching up to the fight and prying Scrapper from Manx's throat. Manx gagged, sputtering for air and looking up at Xolt with pleading eyes. Manx watched in horror as Xolt held out two fingers, letting out two precise streams of electricity that met up with her shoulders and caused her to spasm from the pain.

"That should keep you under control for now." Xolt said, admiring his handiwork and setting Scrapper down, shooting her a warning glance. Manx was unable to move as Xolt bound her hands behind her back and tied her feet together.

"C'mon, I totally could've finished her for you!" Scrapper complained, as Xolt hoisted Manx's limp frame over his shoulder, carrying her like a sack of potatoes.

"I have other plans for her. I've told you that already a dozen times." Xolt growled, as he began walking towards the main road.

Scrapper dragged his bloodied sword behind her as she followed in his footsteps. "So what exactly are your plans for her?" she asked.

"I'm going to leave her somewhere along the mountain pass for the creatures there to take care of her. She'll die alone knowing that nobody will come to her aid, and that everyone who ever cared about her either hates her or is devastated by losing her." Xolt replied.

"But why don't you do it yourself?" Scrapper protested.

"I have to be the good guy in this for it to play out as it should. I can't have her blood on my hands if I am to speak with her family and the Empress. Plus, I'd rather not watch it happen." Xolt said.

"Well, can I watch it happen?" Scrapper asked.

"No!" Xolt barked. "If you watched her death you wouldn't keep your yap shut, and then someone would find out it was my fault, and I'd wind up in trouble."

"But I thought you said she betrayed the Empress. So wouldn't the Empress want to kill her?" Scrapper replied.

Xolt turned around and glared at her, saying, "That isn't how Leif works. Or at least the Leif I know doesn't work that way. And what would the others think if I brought Manx before them in this condition? And I know Manx wouldn't come willingly. It's best to settle the matters my way. If you really need to take it out on someone, there's an annoying paraglisp girl I know whom you could easily catch off guard when we get there."

"I don't want to wait!" Scrapper whined.

"Shut up." Xolt replied, continuing to walk on.

"But..."

"Honestly, your love of violence slightly disgusts me." he growled.

"You're the one who handed me the sword. If you're pointing fingers, it's all your own fault." she smugly replied.

Xolt rolled his eyes and continued walking. The southern foothills of the Mountains of Weeping stone loomed ahead in the distance.

"Hey, it looks like shadow princess is waking up." Scrapper commented as Manx blearily opened her eyes.

"It doesn't matter. We'll be dropping her off soon anyway." Xolt retorted, wishing that Scrapper would stay quiet.

"If we're not gonna' kill her, can we at least torture her?" Scrapper asked.

"What do you think Faern's death was all about? There are other forms of torture besides physical, and I think the kind that doesn't leave physical wounds is the best." Xolt replied

Manx looked around, realizing where she was. Her body felt numb and ached all over from the electrical current Xolt had used to knock her out, and she realized with horror that the neutralizer was still fastened tightly around her neck. Due to its magic, she was the only person unable to remove the collar. Manx tried to pull her hands free, but the ropes that bound them were painfully tight.

Manx glared at Scrapper from over Xolt's shoulder, wondering how someone so small and innocent looking could be so sadistic.

"Xolt, where are you taking me?" Manx asked nervously.

"If I told you, it would ruin the surprise." Xolt growled, trudging on at a steady pace.

"We used to be friends! How has it come to this?" Manx said, as they entered the foothills.

"You brought this upon yourself. If you hadn't raised that infernal monster, Sheena never would have died." Xolt replied.

"Remnant wouldn't have done it if you hadn't murdered her babies! And to think that you blame me in all of this? I released her to live away from civilization so she wouldn't have to feed on fear as was her natural calling, and she never would have left if you hadn't killed her offspring." Manx shot back. "And you would be happy to know that she died of her wounds after the battle. No wait, you were the one who killed her. You've already gotten your revenge, so why are you doing this?"

"I didn't kill that thing's babies! I could have cared less about where they were, and honestly do you really think I would have sought out a monster that feeds on fear? That giant hairy winged snake was just another nuisance." Xolt snapped, picking up his pace.

"You killed off the last known female of an entire species!" Manx yelled back, trying her best to squirm under his arm.

"Sheena was the last of her kind too!" Xolt roared, his voice echoing across the face of the mountains.

"If you didn't kill Remnant's babies, then who did?" Manx said.

"That's enough! I've had enough of you!" Xolt yelled, tossing Manx to the ground.

Manx groaned from the pain and looked up pleadingly into Xolt's violet eyes. "Please, why can't we work this out instead of ending it in violence?" she begged.

"You chose your fate the day you rescued that horrid THING from the woods when it was barely the size of a kitten!" Xolt shot back, tears welling in his eyes.

"Revenge isn't going to get you anywhere! Think of how you'll feel, knowing you brought on my death. And what of Faern? You and your little friend slaughtered an innocent dragon who had a full life ahead of her! How will you live on with that knowledge? Once you have blood on your hands you can never go back!" Manx pleaded.

"Your blood and Faern's blood isn't on my hands." Xolt coldly replied, turning his back to her.

"Xolt!" Manx called out, watching as he continued to ignore her pleas. Scrapper passed her and gave her one last kick to the stomach before chasing after Xolt as if he was the hero in this.

Manx lay there on the ground, her hands bound behind her back and her legs tied at the ankles. Her former best friend faded in the distance as he walked farther and farther away. The neutralizer bit into her neck, she felt its presence pulsing through her veins as it sucked out every last bit of her powers within her.

She looked at the mountains looming over her head, the mountains that had once seen her presence when she had searched through them with Vaskin. But now, she was alone and helpless, clinging onto her last sliver of hope that maybe someone would show up before the monsters came. But that was impossible, she thought. Her parents knew not of where she was, and the shadows that connected her to her father had been mercilessly severed. Her mother was probably crying somewhere, alone and unheard, or maybe she was searching for her at this very minute.

Manx felt a tear trickle down her face as she realized that she would never see Vaskin again, and that he would never know whether she had lived or died. She knew that Lyrica would lose that tiny spark of goodness Manx had seen deep within her, and would either die from her wound or from the Empress.

She remembered another time long ago, when she had lain on the ground, bound and alone with a neutralizer clipped to her neck. That was before she had met Vaskin, before the Empress even knew her name, before she had come to find that her mother was alive. That time, she had lain alone in the snow, and nobody knew her name or cared about her. That was before she knew how to love.

She had given up on everything that time, she was ready to just die in the snow. That was when she had seen the first act of compassion she had seen in her life, when Miraj had taken her in despite who she was, and attempted to heal her. If Miraj hadn't have taken her in, The Empress never would have seen the worst of what her people were capable of, and she would have died despite Miraj's efforts to save her. It was the magical dragon tear that had imbedded itself into her heart which had revived her that time, despite her lack of a will to live.

And if Leif hadn't cried at the sight of her those two years ago, Vaskin never would have become smitten, and they never would have become so close. All the events in her life leading up to this moment in time made her realize that she couldn't give up. She hated herself for how selfish she had been on that last quest, after everything the Empress had done for her and her family.

She realized, in that moment, that she had to get back to them. She had to be there to let her mother know that she was okay. She had to reassure her father that she was coming home. She had to get back to Vaskin, to tell him the truth of how she really felt. Manx had always been too afraid to tell him the truth of how much she loved him, because she had never known a love like his in her entire life.

It had been a mistake, to push him through the portal without explanation and to run off with Lyrica in tow, but there hadn't been any other way to stand up for what she knew what right. She realized that she must have hurt him, by leaving so suddenly, and she had to get back to make it right.