Hardlanding: Kingdom of Secrets

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New cover, yay! I hope you guys enjoyed the New year! We are 'officially'(technically the new decade is 2021 since the years didn't start as 0) in the new decade! Enjoy the chapter and make sure to comment, vote, and share!

Ashlie ran as fast as she could, her hand gripped around Don's as she led him like a child. She could feel the fire building up through the soles of her feet. The creaks and groans of the structure quickly weakening and collapsing filled her sensitive ears. Don could run so much faster than her, yet he let her lead him. It was like he wasn't there anymore. 

Ashlie tripped and fell with a hiss. Standing up, she looked for a window or even another exit. Most were covered with rubble, and without Don complying to even hold onto her fur when she shifted, she couldn't climb to the top and jump down. She was too hurt and sore to even attempt it. All she could do was look for an exit. 

Tears flooded her eyes once again, and it wasn't from the smoke. Blurry eyed, she almost missed the window that beamed at them like a beacon, the glass shattered but enough space for the both of them to squeeze through.

"Don, let's go." She choked out as she dropped his hand and crawled up into the hole.

He didn't follow her, and she backed out with an angry yowl.

"Goddamnit Don! What are you doing?! You froze up back there, and Nightinggale..." Ashlie choked back a sob before kicking the pile of rubble. 

The extra pain on her toes did nothing to stop the fresh wave of sorrow, and she fell into Don with a wail. She cried into his chest, crying half-formed words as she gripped his shirt. She felt his arm wrap around her back, and she looked up at him. He was still staring blankly at nothing, but now tears were filling up his eyes as his grip tightened. 

The hallway collapsed ahead of them and Ashlie pulled away from Don, using her arm to wipe away tears. "Come on Don. She made me promise to get us out of here, and I will."

Ashlie dragged Don to the hole and shoved him into it. When he made it into the hole, she climbed in after him, shoving him out the window. She fell out after him, gulping the fresh air greedily. They were on the other side of the garden, away from the side where the others were. 

With a groan she stood, pulling Don to his feet. The building fell, fire rising into the air as a cloud of smoke rose. 

"Ashlie! Don! Nightinggale!"

Ashlie turned towards the calls to see UNi with a boy in a red hoodie, and she called out to them. They turned and UNi smiled in relief as he disappeared before reappearing with Solistic in front of them.

"What? Where's Night?" UNi asked as he looked around. 

Solistic tensed up as he looked back at the collapsed castle before turning to Ashlie and Don. "Where is she?"

Ashlie shrank back with a whimper. She thought she couldn't cry anymore, but tears made tracks down her dirty cheeks. 

Solistic looked like he had been slapped. "She's not with you?"

Ashlie nodded, and Solistic took a step back before turning towards Don with a snarl. Ashlie stepped in front of Don protectively, but it did nothing when he shoved her away like a fly and she fell to the ground. 

"You promised me! You told me you would keep her safe! Where is she then? Where is my sister?!" 

Ashlie pushed herself up as Solistic yelled at Don. UNi looked between them before leaning down to pull Ashlie to her feet, an uncertain look on his face. 

"Answer me you asshole!" Solistic cried as he shoved Don back before roughly wiping tears away. 

Don didn't answer, and Solistic growled. "Why won't you speak?! Any other time you were itching to answer, so sure of yourself to protect others, but you couldn't save anyone, Jon. You proved that when you left Winter behind to die!"

Ashlie stopped, turning to look at UNi, who was just as confused. Don finally looked at Solistic, his eyes narrowed in anger. 

"Shut up." Don hissed, venom coating his words. "I told you, that may not happen, that was the future most likely to come."

Tears raced down Don's face as he continued. "I had seen one before that. One like what happened. I made Winter promise me, but she broke that promise. And I was too weak, too scared to stop her!" 

"Why am I still here Nathan?! Why, when I swore that I'd die before I let her get hurt! This wasn't supposed to happen, it was too weak of a fucking future. So why is it the one that happened?! What did I do wrong?"

Don had crumbled to his knees, his hand buried in his hair as he sobbed. Solistic looked away, his ears pulled back in shame before he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Don. Ashlie heard running and turned to see Sky on the back of Aphmau as the rest of the wolves approached. 

A boy dropped from the sky with two others, the one in the red hoodie turning and rushing off towards the burning building, seeming to yell at himself. Another person appeared, a blue hoodie pulled over their head as the ran with the boy. The boy in the shades looked around before looking at Solistic. Dawn slid off of a wolf's back, she wasn't sure who they were, before approaching. 

"It's over, isn't it?" Dawn muttered as he watched the two hooded figures put out the burning building.

The one in blue was dousing everything in water while the other seemed to bend the flames and force them to put each other out. Sky climbed off of Aphmau and limped closer to lean on Dawn. 

"But where. . ." Sky trailed off, assessing the scene in front of her before looking down. 

The wolves howled in sadness, all of them knowing the answer on what had happened to their leader. It was over, but was the cost worth it?