Distant thunder echoed over the mountains, its deep rumble trailing over the lands and through the forest area surrounding the ministry compound. The skies were darkened by night and blanketed by the thick clouds foreboding the oncoming storm.

Strong winds mercilessly pushed against the trees along the forest's edge while the grass of the field before it danced in waves to the breeze's will. Scents from distant parts of the world traveled along with the wind, but the strongest was that of the ministry compound before the high ridge Voltrick had crouched upon; observing the area.

Three days had passed since Voltrick left the city and the others. The weather had been fine until tonight, which Voltrick was glad of since it would have slowed his pace to the area. Aidan and Gordan were continually on his mind as he traveled. He regretted leaving them as he did, his encounter with Murdoc not helping in the slightest. But Voltrick knew this was the only way and he couldn't allow himself to tell Murdoc where he was going. If he had, he risked someone else following him here to try and stop him.

And Voltrick refused to stop now. He's come this far... not only his ride but his life. His life was ruined by Fyren, he wouldn't allow Fyren to destroy anyone else's. Especially Aidan, after suffering so much already.

A bright flash of light lit the skies, suddenly lighting the entire compound with a deafening crack through the air. Lightening had struck the field before the forest, its thunder and power startling the soldiers around the walls.

Voltrick's gaze quickly glared as a vicious snarl grew upon his features; watching the numerous soldiers scamper about. There were a lot of soldiers down there, most of them were around the entrance to the compound and around the tallest building. It will be hard to get around them, some of them may even have to die if they got into Voltrick's way.

Voltrick growled lowly. If he had to kill all of them to get to Fyren, he will. They serve him, they'll die with him. Another flash of lightening cracked through the air before Voltrick raised himself and dropped from the ridge overlooking the compound.

"Bloody weather, eh? I don't see why we cant stand in the gate house and watch the gate. Instead, we're out here when the skies are full of hell." The canine soldier said, his breaths chilled enough to be seen.

The second soldier was a shorter bear, who leaned casually against the stone wall. After lighting a cigarette, the match lightly flickering between his hands before his face, the bear spoke. "Its only lightening."

The dog wrapped his arms around himself as a longer chilled breath escaped his maw. "And the thunder and the cold and the risk of being struck by that lightening. The storm is here, all we need is the rain and my horrible night will be complete." The dog snapped. "Who volunteered us for this shift, anyway?"

"You did." the bear stated, allowing the smoke to leave through his mouth. "You thought it was a higher paying shift since no one else wanted it."

"Well, I dont want it now."

"A bit late for that now." The bear said and replaced the cigarette to his mouth. "Just do your job until the shift is over."

Another loud crack of thunder roared through the skies as a blinding flash of light filled everything in view, causing the dog to jump in surprise before clinging to the wall. "I cant stand it! I'm done with this shift, the first chance I get I'm getting a ref..." The dog suddenly stopped as cold, wet droplets began pouring down from the sky. He groaned as the rain grew heavier until it became a heavy flow.

"Great." The dog muttered and turned to give a snarl to the bear, but to his surprise the bear was gone. "Theo?" The dog asked, walking over toward where the bear had stood before the lightening struck. "If you went inside to leave me out alone, I swear I'll beat the living daylights out of you."

After approaching the spot where the bear had stood, the dog knelt down to pick up the smothered cigarette that had fallen to the ground. "Theo?" He called out again, before an awkward rumbling was heard. With the rain pouring down, it was hard to determine what it was until the dog hesitantly looked back.

The dog's eyes widened suddenly with this ears folding back in horror as a large tiger was seen just behind him, growling loudly with a snarl to match any monster of his nightmares.

Another deafening roar of thunder cracked through the air as lightening struck the ground, giving Voltrick the opportunity to quickly silence the horrified screams of the dog. After twisting the dog's head, breaking the dog's neck with a loud crack, Voltrick quickly moved the body and hid it behind the guard house where he had placed the dead bear.

With the rain and lightening as an unlikely ally, Voltrick silently manuevered himself around the compound; hiding behind buildings and only running across a road or clearing when the lightening struck.

The front doors to the large building were heavily guarded by ministry soldiers. Going in that way would definately be a bad idea. Voltrick knew there were other entry ways, but they were most likely just as guarded as the front. Voltrick's eyes narrowed, to keep the heavy rain from his eyes, as he looked up. ...The only way in was through windows or the roof.

Distant thunder echoed in the sky as Voltrick made his way toward the building and began his slow climb; making sure to avoid large windows on his way up. He couldn't afford to be seen If anyone did, it'd be at the worst time being on the side of the tall building.

As he climbed, Voltrick managed to see through a few of the lit windows. Most rooms were empty, being bedrooms or meeting rooms. One appeared to be some kind of dining room or cafeteria, various soldiers were sitting around drinking and chatting with one another.

Voltrick snarled as he imagined what they were talking about. Torture, the pleasure of cutting someone up and watching them heal again and again like it was some show. They were all the same, no different than the soldiers who tortured him and tortured Aidan in that dungeon. This place, even if he was outside looking in, was a painful reminder of what happened. It should be burned to the ground and exorcised of its demons.

With the memories of this place troubling him, Voltrick quickened his climb. The faster he got this done, the sooner he can end everything. He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be around these people, and most of all... he didn't want to be anywhere near that dungeon.

Not paying attention to his footing when he reached the fourth floor, a stone on a narrow ledge slipped loose. Voltrick nearly lost his grip, but quickly caught his hand onto the slippery window sill closest to him. He would have slipped again if his foot hadn't caught the sturdier part of the ledge.

The sound of stone clanging against the wall repeatedly caused his neck to stiffen in fear. The stone that had broken off the legdge had rolled down the wall, recklessly clanging at each floor. Voltrick froze, tightly holding onto the wet wall and frantically watched for anyone opening any windows.

Moments felt like an eternity as Voltrick held onto the wall and watched below him. After a few minutes with no one revealing themselves, the tiger finally continued his climb up the side of the building.

"HEY!!"

Voltrick's eyes widened and folded his ears back before quickly looking down the wall; his entire body stiffening.

One of the soldiers Voltrick saw through the window had heard the stone falling and looked out the window. And now he was looking straight up at Voltrick with anger on his features. "Sound the alarm! There's an intruder trying to break in!"

Voltrick's features snarled and quickly looked back up toward the roof. "Sh#$"

Voltrick's teeth grit and looked back up the wall he clung to. His chances of getting to Fyren were slim to none now. With the soldier spotting him and the alarm about to go off, every soldier within the compound will be hunting down.

Another flash of lightning sparked across the area, the water rolling down the stone wall and ground reflected the light as quickly as it came. The rain was also relentless as it pounded down upon everything it touched. Voltrick was soaking and dripping with rain, his coat did little to help to keep him dry.

A low, rumbling growl escaped with a snarl as Voltrick's frightened expression turned to anger. Voltrick couldn't stop now. Not after traveling so far to get here... Its not like he had a bigger chance of escaping. The rain and lightning would help, but it didn't increase his chances by much. Voltrick will just have to out manuever and out fight the soldiers.

"If you get down here now, I promise you no harm will come to you! Don't make us shoot you down!" The soldiers shouts were barely heard over the pounding and spattering rain, but Voltrick understood him completely. It filled him with a new rage that drove him to climb higher with a strained groan.

"Stop!" The soldier shouted again, just before Voltrick used the upper ledge of the window next to him to break through the window in a loud crash.

Voltrick landed into a crouch after crashing through the glass loudly. Shattered glass flew out and around him in a spasm of reflected light and shards. Narrowed eyes darted around the room, his snarl remaining upon his face and ready to attack anyone who was inside.

The room was completely empty with a person or even furnishings. With the way the dust settled around the floor of the large room, it appeared as if all of the furniture had just been moved. The reasons to why it was emptied, Voltrick didn't care to explore.

The tiger stood, the shards of glass falling off of his back and shoulders, and cautiously walked toward the door. The door was open a crack already, giving Voltrick the chance to peer through. Seeing another empty hallway, Voltrick left the room.

The hallway was furnished and widely decorated with Ministry banners and crests. Echoes of shouting soldiers could be heard down the long hall and around the corner. If Voltrick remembered the building right, the stairwell down to the fourth floor was just around that corner. Flickering candles dimly lit the long space at every other door, giving the red walls an orange glow.

Keeping to the wall as some kind of cover, checking the doors on the right side of the hall to make sure they weren't open, Voltrick trailed the opposite direction of the stairwell. All of the doors had been closed. Whether or not it had a slumbering guard or servant or an empty space inside, Voltrick wouldn't know. But he was willing to break one open if a soldier revealed himself.

After quickly making his way down the hall, passing a few more hallways leading to other parts of the fifth floor, Voltrick was met with the end of the hall and a pair of tall double doors with deep red curtains along the door frame.

The doors obviously led to an important room, or quarters to an important individual. The curtains were made of fine fabric, edged with gold lining and embroidery. Two, finely crafted candlesticks stood beside each door. Even the red banner of the Eye of Michael hung at above the doors, signifying the importance the room may have.

As Voltrick touched the handle of one of the doors, the shouts of the soldiers quickly grew and echoed loudly as if the soldiers were running down the hall. They reached the fifth floor and were obviously on his trail.

Voltrick snarled and quickly entered the room without hesitating. He couldn't allow the soldiers to find him and stop him. And if Voltrick was lucky, the room may belong to Fyren. But after finding a large, empty room, Voltrick quickly closed the door behind himself and locked the door. If the soldiers were to follow him in here, locking it would give him at least a few more seconds to find another way out of the room.

The room, itself, was very huge. Large enough to be some kind of ballroom, but with the way the tables and chairs were arranged it was more of a large meeting room. Stone columns held up the high ceiling, which was barely seen with the dark shadows filling the area. Large windows gave little light to the inside. There weren't any candles lit, only the flash of lightning to momentarily light the room with white. The pounding rain also echoed through the wide room, but it didn't cover up the noise from outside the door.

The sounds of soldiers approaching the double doors made Voltrick suddenly turn around with a sneer before quickly looking around the room. It was too dark to find any other exits fast. The windows may be an opportunity, but a broken window was an easy trail to follow in a large room like this.

Voltrick had to move fast, hearing the yells of the soldiers become more aggressive as they pounded against the door. While looking up and around the room in a hurry, Voltrick removed the weighted down jacket and dropped it to the floor. The water had soaked through it and made it heavy to wear. He'll need to move quickly if he was going to get out of there.

-----


"The water trail has led us to the meeting room, but it's locked from the inside, Sir!" A soldier shouted while ramming his shoulder, along with two other soldiers, into the double doors.

"Then that would only mean he's in there." A bull dressed in higher ranking uniform responded. "Break it down." He pointed to a soldier behind himself while the three soldiers worked on the door. "You! Alert Lord Valente of the intruder." After the soldier stood up straight and saluted, the bull continued his order. "Get Captain Ryker and his squad to escort Valente to his quarters. I want all of them armed with swords and crossbows! Now move!"

"Yes, Sir!" The soldier shouted and ran back down the hall.

"Break it down!" The bull shouted to the other three at the door, who were having trouble breaking it open by slamming their shoulders into the doors. "If he escapes because you were too weak to do your jobs, I'll have your heads!"

As if motivated by the bull's threat, a loud crack was heard when the three soldiers charged into it again.

Impatient, the bull sneered. "Come on!" his anger boiling. After the three soldiers pulled back to make another charge at the door, the bull roared out and charged at the door; breaking through. With the soldiers right behind him, the bull continued into the room, breaking more of the wooden door out of the way.

"Spread out!" the bull commanded; unsheathing his longsword. "The meeting room is a dead end, the only way out is through the door we came in. There's no way he can escape now.

Another soldier followed the water trail that led them to the room. A confused look was on his face as he came upon a large, soaked jacket on the floor. "Sir!" The feline shouted. After the bull approached, the leopard raised the jacket from the floor to show him.

The bull grabbed the jacket from the feline and tried to look at it more closely. "Keep searching, we know he hasn't gone far."

Another flash of lightning brightly illuminated the large room in white, its roaring crack rattling the large windows.

Illuminated breifly by the flash of while filling the room, with the fur at his back and the large mane at his neck standing on end, Voltrick clung to one of the stone columns toward the ceiling. A vicious snarl was seen, Voltrick's black gaze glaring down upon the unsuspecting soldiers below him.

Waiting until the next lightening struck, the beast suddenly released his grip from the column and crashed loudly to the ground. He landed just behind the leopard, who nearly fell over from the ground shaking. Before the leopard could react further, the beast wrapped is taloned hand around his neck; slamming the soldier's head against the ground and killing him instantly.

The yells and shouts of the other soldiers forced Voltrick's head up before running to a shadowed area of the room. Two bowmen fired their arrows after him, but hit only shadow and wall. The rest of the swordsmen clumsily ran through the tables and chairs to get to Voltrick, but were met with a deafening roar and stopped them before the shadows.

Voltrick used their frightened pause to pounce forward toward the nearest soldier and forced the dog to the ground and tore open his chest. Moving quickly, Voltrick wrapped his taloned hand around the dead dog's neck and threw the corpse harshly against another soldier. After slashing across another throat, the beast quickly ducked from a swinging sword. The arm holding the sword was suddenly grabbed after the swing and thrust into the chest of its owner. Voltrick roared aggressively into the screaming soldier's face.

As the soldier fell, something fast and hard suddenly hit the side of Voltrick's face; nearly knocking him over as his head suddenly shifted to his right. Before Voltrick could even stand back up straight, another hit was made toward his face again. This time, Voltrick saw a fist flying toward him.

Few people could hit Voltrick hard enough to almost knock him over when he's his beast. And only one was able to keep up a fight with him, and that was Riddick Creed. A minotaur serving Zael. But this wasn't Riddick, nor was this individual as strong as him. But this was a bull.

"Come on!!" The bull captian shouted as Voltrick regained himself to see his attacker. Responding to a loud growl, the bull shouted again. "You think I'm as weak as everyone else?!" He shouted while swinging his long sword.

Voltrick jumped back to avoid the swing and roared threateningly. The bull shouted back and quickly swung the sword, this time slicing at Voltrick's side.

The beast only gave a short yelp before swinging his right hand across the bull's face. Since the bull was quickly distracted by the three long scratches along his face, Voltrick clamped his left hand around the bull's arm. Without hesitating, the beast pulled the bull. First swinging him against the nearest column, then back around himself and threw him toward the window.

With a loud crash, the bull's back hit against the glass; shattering it. The windows were too narrow to break through, but the bull was thrown hard enough to break the glass and fall to the floor.

Fearful for their lives, the two bowmen ran for the door. Voltrick charged after them. He successfully caught one of them right outside the door, but as he slammed the soldier's face into the wall the other soldier escaped down the hall.

A tall, uniformed hawk walked with a hurried pace down a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Five lower ranking officers decended with him. "Is Lord Valente barricaded within his quarters?" The eagle demanded, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes, Sir." The soldier to his right responded. "Your entire squad is with him. Twenty of the men within the room."

"What about Mistress O'luca?" The hawk asked, continuing his hastened pace down the hall.

"She has been escorted to the northern tower by her elite guardsmen. The entire tower was emptied and now guarded with twenty soldiers outside the tower and ten of her elite guardsmen within it." The same soldier stated, briefly looking toward his commanding officer before slowing his pace when the hawk did.

"I want every soldier awake and made alert. Every door guarded and streets patrolled. Ten guards at each gate of the compound..."

"Outside, Sir? We know the intruder is within this building..."

"No one gets out and no one gets in. We don't know the intentions of this intruder, nor do we know how strong he is." The Hawk snapped.

"He could merely be a spiteful soldier from the rebellion." A feminine voice came around the corner before a particular feline revealed herself. "Or a farmer gone mad." She continued sarcastically.

"Lady Jynx.." The hawk stopped his pace and bowed his head respectfully. "Captain Loquk and a section of his squad are already on the fifth floor where the intruder was seen entering." He reported.

"And has there been any word or sighting?" Jynx questioned before shouting at the stairs quickly turned her attention from the bird.

"Captain Ryker!" A rodent soldier ran down the stairs in a panic, pushing anyone out of his way. "Captain Ryker! Loquk..." He barely said as he gasped for breath. "He and his men..." He continued with burdened breaths. "They've all been killed!

"What?!" The hawk shouted. "He had more than six men with him..."

The rodent took a few gasping breaths and quickly spoke. "Its Mundegard, Sir." He paused briefly seeing the hawk's reaction and turned to Jynx. "The beast who served Murdoc and was imprisioned here within the dungeon. He's here and on the fifth floor! And he's already killed Captain Loquk and the rest the soldiers who went with him."

Captain Ryker quickly sneered and glared toward the rodent before turning toward the soldier to his right; expecting the soldier to report to him.

"There should be fifteen available men on this floor, sir. Everyone on the fourth and third floor was evacuated when the alarm was sounded. All other soldiers are on the first floor or around the compound as you ordered." The soldier quickly stated, briefly looking to Jynx.

"What about the assassins or the rest of the Mistress’ elites?” The hawk quickly asked.

“The only assassin on this floor is Lady Jynx. And the elites are all with Mistress O’luca.”

The hawk groaned before looking toward the rodent again, who was still trying to catch his breath. “I want all fifteen soldiers grouped and sent to the fifth floor. Since Captain Loquk has been killed, I will need to take command and report to the Mistress.” He gave his order and turned to Jynx. “Would you be able to lead the group to find Mundegard?”

Jynx lifted a slender brow coolly at Captain Ryker before lifting her pinky finger, scratching at her ear as her eyes moved away in disinterest.

"Really? The Bull and his men were killed by that thing and you insist on sending more pawns while you 'report'?"

Before Ryker could object, Jynx turned her back promptly, holding her hips as she looked around herself. "Fine. But why don't we use a little more strategy than that? You!" she called to the rodent, who stiffened when called, "Get some of those thick chains and bring them to the fifth floor."

As she watched the soldier dart past, purple hues glanced up towards the towers. "Convel told me a little secret of how to subdue this Mundegard..." she said softly, as though to herself before beginning a walk towards the fifth floor.

A loud crash was heard on the fourth floor as Jynx and the soldiers ascended the stairs. They were on their way to the fifth, where Voltrick was last seen, but the crash and the condition of the fourth level was evidence enough to Voltrick's movements.

Large windows were the only source for what little light there was. All candles had been blown out or knocked out of place, luckily no fires had caught blaze from the condition of the furnishings. Tables had been knocked or broken and chairs torn. Wood scraps from broken doors scattered across the hallway from doors being broken into in a hurry.

Notably to most of the soldiers, the only sounds heard after they made their way through the hall, was the tapping against the windows from the pouring rain and their own footsteps.

"Do you think he's still on this floor?" A soldier asked cautiously, widened eyes darting to the broken doors they passed by.

"Of course, he is." Another soldier quickly responded. "We would have seen him if he was on any lower level."

"Be quiet." Jynx snapped harshly. "Swords at the front, crossbows right behind them. And a line of swords at the rear behind me."

With everyone in place, Jynx and her soldiers slowly walked forward down the hall. Broken, open doorways were checked along the way. Each room they passed was empty of persons, only furniture and thrashed wall panels.

A light clanging was heard behind them. The noise grew closer, causing most of the group turn around in surprise. The crossbows were nearly shot out of fear, but after seeing the rodent with the long, heavy chain the soldiers groaned and growled in agitation.

Jynx broke the formation as she crept towards the rodent, grabbing the long chain from him. The soldier was about to step back before he was handed one end of the steel by the assassin.

"Take this," Jynx instructed in a quiet voice, "He's weak neck up, so guess what we're going to do?"

The rodent stared for a moment before the idea struck his mind. "...you don't mean...choki--"

"Shh-- I hear him..." Jynx turned her head, glaring to the dark corners of the room.

A long roar suddenly echoed throughout the hall where the soldiers stood. No one could really tell where the roar came from , only that it echoed loudly around them. Everyone had jumped or tensed to the sudden outbreak in sound except for Jynx, who had a hard scowl on her face and watched down the hall.

No movement was made for quite some time. The soldiers were frozen in place, especially the rodent, Who was white knuckling the chain at this point out of fear. He saw what the beast did, he saw what it was and he didn't want to have any part in getting closer to it.

In front of them, the hallway curved right, making it impossible to see past the wall. There was no light to reveal anything beyond it either, only the distant lightening brightening the hall momentarilly through the windows.

"He's only trying to scare us off." Jynx stated irrately. "Keep moving."

Hesitantly motivated, the formation of soldiers slowly and cautiously moved forward down the hall. The floors creaked beneath their feet as they pressed forward. Creaking floors and distant thunder were the only sounds echoing the hall until loud grumbling was heard just beyond the corner the hallway led to, which froze the formation again in case the beast were to pounce around the wall. They were still quite a ways from the corner, but there was no telling if he would charge them or not.

The grumbling became louder before something large and hunched over came around the corner and into the soldier's view. The hallway was still completely dark, which made it hard to see just how large the monster was. But all of them could tell it was large and continued to grumble as it faced them.

A bright flash of lightening crashed near the windows, briefly revealing the beast. Most of its body was still shadowed by the wall, but its snarling features were clearly seen and all of the soldiers knew it was looking directly at them. Its fur was pitch black and its eyes were either shadowed completely or black. And, what was the most noticed, its teeth were long and white.

Jynx's eyes narrowed as she tried to focus through the shadows hiding the rest of the beast. Something was oddly... unfamiliar about him. She had only seen the beast once from a distance, but something about it...

"That's it!" The rodent yelled in panic. "That's the beast! Kill him before he kills us all! Archers, shoot it!"

Taking the order, all of the archers moved forward, even the archers at the rear, and aimed their crossbows. “Wait!” Jynx shouted, but was too late before the arrows were all fired toward the monster.

The six arrows struck the monster’s chest and abdomen, forcing it to shout out in pain. More grumbling was heard as the monster fell to a knee, appearing as if it was struggling to move.

Feeling the monster would still attack, the archers moved forward and armed their crossbows again. The swordsmen at the front, anxious with fear, quickly moved forward.

“I didn’t order you to move!” Jynx shouted, infuriated these so called soldiers were acting on their own account. Her frustration only grew when her shouts were ignored.

Behind the feline, the rodent soldier shakily held the chain, tightly gripping it as he waited for his opportunity to choke the monster with it. Even though the soldiers ahead of him and Jynx seemed to have everything under control, He was still too frightened to move forward with them.

As the rodent soldier began to feel the courage to move forward, a strange feeling arose within him. He didn’t hear anything aside from the monster’s constant grumbling and pained yells, but something made him feel as if something… When the rodent finally turned around, shocked features suddenly widened in horrific fear.

Standing just behind him, Voltrick snarled ferociously down toward the mouse. Before the soldier could squeak in panic, the tiger suddenly wrapped both hands around the soldier’s head and harshly twisted it.

Alerted by the sound of something cracking, Jynx quickly turned around toward the mouse. She turned just in time to see the rodent limply fall to the ground and a large tiger standing right in front of him.

When Jynx saw him, Voltrick suddenly charged forward toward the cat. The feline attempted to alert the other soldiers, but Voltrick harshly wrapped his clawed hand around her mouth and quickly forced her into the nearest room. Keeping his pace, the tiger kept a strong hold on the struggling cat and shut the door.

“Where’s Fyren Valente?!” Voltrick growled as he pinned the cat to the wall, keeping his arm at her throat. Impatient, he growled loudly and shouted closer. “Where is he?!”

Held up a few inches, Jynx emitted a few choked noises as her hands dropped the chain, fumbling now around Voltrick's large arm. Not long until she squinted her eyes up to him with a hinted sneer.

"Locked away safe, I suppose," she struggled to say, feeling Voltrick's hand loosen slightly enough to have her speak, "But you might think the soldiers are easy pickings. Go any deeper into the castle and you'll have another thing coming."

Jynx gagged as Voltrick's hand pressed against her neck as a warning. This time, she couldn't speak with such a hold.

Voltrick growled loudly, pressing his grip quickly. "I already know what this 'castle' has." His voice rumbled, loosening his grip just enough for her breathe. "I only want Fyren. And if you were smart enough, you'll give me a better answer than 'locked away, safe.'

Jynx managed a sadistic cackle, smirking as she looked up to the beast her love interest was obsessed over. Him and that boy...

"--That was the answer." she smiled weakly this time, lifting a brow awaiting the next move. He would most likely kill her. That was the simplest way to do it. All she had left to do now was to prepare herself for the inevitable.

Another crack of thunder echoed against the stone walls; rattling the windows and decor upon the walls.

Voltrick continued to snarl fiercely with Jynx's response. She was hiding the answer from him, obviously. It could very well be that she didn't know where Fyren was, but knowing the feline's character, Voltrick had to assume otherwise. His snarl slowly lowered to a spiteful sneer before finally speaking again. "Why do you protect him?" His voice growled. "Do you believe he has anything to give you in return for your misplaced loyalty?" Voltrick's grip relaxed slightly, but was still held firm.

Jynx's silence riled his anger again. She was protecting him, Voltrick was sure of it. She was a fool, just like anyone here who served under Fyren. Because they all failed to see what a true monster was. "If you were smart, ...Jynx" He said her name with a growl. "...You'll either help me find him or leave while you still have a chance."

-----

After finally gaining the courage to approach the monster, the bowmen edged closer while the swordsmen cautiously surrounded it.

One of the swordsmen crouched next to it, his sword's tip aimed at the monster's head. The canine narrowed his gaze as he tried to inspect the beast, and what he saw disturbed him. The monster was still grumbling weekly, sounding as if something was in its mouth, but its snarling head wasn't moving. Upon further inspection, along the blood soaked fur along the neck, the dog noticed an edge line under the chin.

While the bowmen aimed their crossbows and the swordsmen stood defensively, the canine soldier carefully and cautiously moved his hand under the edge line at the monster's neck. Feeling the flexible material, he quickly lifted the skin. What resided under it, made the dog fall back on to his rump with the soldiers behind him tensing up.

Under the head, of what appeared to be the skin of a feral bear that had once carpeted the floor, was the large bull captain who was sent after the beast. His horns were punctured through the skin bear and a rope was tightly around his mouth.

"Its Captain Loquk!" One of the soldiers shouted. "We killed Captain Loquk!

"A distraction." The canine stated quietly before looking behind himself and past the soldiers who stood behind him. "Lady Jynx?" The dog's eyes widened upon only seeing the dead mouse behind the soldiers. "It was a distraction!" he shouted and stood himself up quickly. "He came right behind us without us noticing."

"On your guard!" Another swordsman shouted. "He's already killed one of us and may have taken Lady Jynx!"

-----

“Murdoc was smart enough to leave, especially after Fyren betrayed him for his own advantage!” Voltrick’s tone became louder as he became further riled. “Fyren doesn’t care about anyone or anything, only his own selfish gain. And I’m here to finally stop him from hurting anyone else.” He ended with a low growl before a noise just outside the door turned his gaze.

The noise sounded as if someone was trying to open the locked door and quickly grew into harsh pounding with muffled yells. “The door is locked!” The voice shouted, forcing Voltrick to snarl. After more pounding, another voice shouted. “Break it down!”

Hearing the beast speak was, at first, a bit of a surprise to Jynx. Her eyes were shut as she awaited the presumed end of her life as Voltrick held onto her, but as he continued on Fyren, her purple eyes squinted open warily before widening further. It was strange, the assumed monster speaking to her like this, as though trying to change her mind about her duties.

Then he had to mention Murdoc. Her expression squint hurtfully as she looked away from Voltrick, biting her lip and kept herself from speaking until banging on the door drew away the monster's attention.