Artimas jolted awake, gasping for air as he sprung up from wherever he laid. He winced with agony and clutched his destroyed chest plate, finding it difficult to take the smallest of breaths. But then... he realized he was on a bed, seemingly in one of F.E.O's large helicopters surrounded by F.E.O troops, and the Supreme, who seemed disappointed.
"Here you lay, bested. Beaten. You should be dead Artimas. It seems I have put too much faith in you." The Supreme scolded, her armor was covered slightly with dust due to rubble collapsing on top of her.
"Perhaps I should finish what the furs could not, my Supreme. This one is of no use to us." Said the very deep voice of Vizla as he emerged from the crowd of soldiers, walking completely fine even after Shira shot him in the foot with an arrow, almost as if it simply didn't happen at all.
Artimas coughed slightly, scowling behind his helmet as he heard the clicking of guns around him, ready to fire at him on the Supreme's command.
"Yes... you could kill me. But then you would never find out where the Avian settlement is." Artimas challenged, showing that he certainly had a contingency for an event like this.
There was silence as the Supreme considered what he just said, but a short silence. "Hm, another settlement? Where?" She asked curiously.
Artimas's bones cracked as he sat up further on the small bed. "I will show you, provided we're not too far from Montreal... and I must receive your assurance that you will not execute me."
"I do not make deals with the likes of you, soldier. Either you show me where this settlement is, or I kill you here and now and confine your soul to the blood realm." The Supreme said with a cold, monotone voice as she summoned the Suleykaar, threatening Artimas with its dark, ominous red glow.
Artimas weighed his options, and looked directly into the Supreme's glowing yellow eyes, and called her bluff. "Good luck finding them on your own, they are very well hidden."
The Supreme seemed... surprised, none of her loyal troops have ever defied her, at all. And yet here one was, challenging her very authority with absolutely no fear. She loved that, it showed that Artimas was different than the rest of her loyal idiots.
The Suleykaar vanished just as quickly as it appeared, and she stood back up to her tall, proud posture. "Very well Artimas, you have my word that you will not be executed. Nothing is more true than a Supreme's word." She stated with a nod. "Now, show me this settlement, and you will be promoted."
Without a word, Artimas shakily stood to his feet with the audible cracking of his bones, the Supreme and Vizla following behind him. He walked to the cockpit of the helicopter so that he could look out the window, quickly recognizing the pilot as the female troop with the purple eyed helmet... the Supreme's sister.
"Go north towards that big forest over there." Artimas instructed, pointing to the large patch of forestry in the distance. She seemed confused for a moment, and glanced back at the Supreme for the order
"Do it, sister. The others will follow once they see us break off from the fleet." The Supreme commanded with a nod.
"Yes Supreme." the troop quickly responded, not even addressing her as a sister... only a leader.
She flew towards the forest without question, the rest of the fleet immediately following behind her since she was flying the command helicopter. It took only a few minutes to reach the forest, and the F.E.O fleet were now positioned and hovering all around it.
"They have disguised their fort as part of the forest, can you spot it?" Asked Artimas, grinning behind his helmet as he stared at the Aviary once again... the very place that he was defeated that night... and the place he would gladly watch be destroyed.
It took the Supreme a moment, but eventually... she spotted it. "Hm, these Avians have been under our noses this entire time. I must say, this is commendable." she said, nodding her head. "But they are infamous for resistance. I could go down there and give them the same offer as Perseverance, but it would be pointless, I already know their answer." she stepped forward towards the helicopter's control console and pushed the communications button. "Open fire, kill them all."
There was a few seconds of silence after the fleet received that order, before suddenly and simultaneously, a barrage of bullets and missiles were sent straight for the Aviary, two years of hard work being quickly reduced to complete destruction. Not even the well built, strong and sturdy fort could withstand such punishment, and it began its collapse.
"The Avians are smart, Supreme, some are bound to escape this. Permission to go down and eliminate the survivors?" The deep voice of Vizla requested, standing tall and loyally behind her despite his injuries.
"Permission denied, Vizla. I do not want a single Avian escaping their punishment." The Supreme responded ominously, not even turning to face the brute. "Therefore, I will send the blood legion to eliminate the stragglers." everyone was silenced when she spoke those words, as if nobody anticipated such a drastic decision from her.
"Sister... is that really necessary?" The Supreme's sister asked meekly, looking up to her as she kept her hand on the control stick.
The Supreme didn't respond for a moment, and glared at her sister. "I am Supreme to you, not 'sister'." she said threateningly. "And as Supreme, it is my duty to do whatever is necessary to carry out true F.E.O justice. So yes, I believe it is necessary." she added, and crouched down to her sister's level eerily. "I question your loyalty to me, Lilith... you will return to Montreal and bring me the heads of any fur you see. If you do not, I will finally find out who's side you're really on."
Lilith was very clearly stunned for a moment, but she slowly nodded her head and accepted the Supreme's order. "Yes Supreme... I will not let you down." she promised, while the sounds of annihilation behind her grew louder.
-
John finally awakened at the bottom of the cliff, wincing with pain as soon as he attempted to move. "Agh, fuck." He said through gritted teeth, fighting through the pain so that he could rise to his knees.
He looked over himself, and was surprised by just how injured he was. Blood was still dripping from his face, mainly his busted lip and a deep laceration on his cheek. He had a few tears in his jacket and cuts underneath, due to the sharp rocks on the cliff he tumbled down, and lastly... every breath he took hurt. He already knew he either cracked or broke a rib.
But his injuries were the least of his concerns right now... all he could think about was his family. And so with that thought, he powered through the pain and rose to his feet, cracking his back in the process. He slowly, and very painfully began climbing back up the cliff, which wasn't that difficult since it wasn't vertical by any means, more like a downward slope littered with sharp rocks. The only part that made it difficult for John were his injuries. There were points in the climb were he almost lost his grip, but he did eventually reach the top again and winced as he fell flat on the ground to catch his breath.
Spitting out blood, he fought to get back up. He took the time to look over at Montreal again once he was back to his feet, seeing that even from this distance the destruction was immense... beyond repair. His home was gone, the place that he promised Bella he would protect was gone... and it all happened so fast.
But then, he also noticed the smoke billowing from the far away forest... the very same forest that the Avians inhabited. "No." He whispered with devastation, his mind immediately consumed with worry for Skye. Everything was gone... F.E.O took away everything they built... and he was beyond furious.
Instead of heading west, where the cabin that Ren, Mia and Aya were, he decided to go east first. He wanted to see if he could find any survivors over by the east tunnel, which was closest. He began the painful, excruciating walk towards the exit of the east tunnel, his blood dripped onto the ground beneath him as he powered through the pain.
It took almost an hour for the man to reach the east tunnel's exit, And even though his vision was slightly blurred... he could see the carnage from a mile away, the area littered with the bodies of furs he swore to protect. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he walked passed countless fur bodies, horrified by just how brutally some of them died. But then he noticed a body he recognized very well among them... Cooper, laying face down on the grass in a pool of his own blood, with his daggers still gripped in his hands.
John slowly and carefully fell to his knees beside Cooper's corpse with a wince, gently placing his hand onto the wolf's back. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he truly felt this loss. Cooper had become somewhat of a best friend to the man during the two years.
Amongst the man's grief... there was also anger, so much pent up rage which made his eyes show a dim, blue glow for a moment, before he managed to keep a hold on it. But then he noticed something underneath Cooper's body. Curious, John gently rolled the wolf's body over, which was when he locked eyes with none other than Luna... alive and uninjured. She was still shaking with shock and couldn't even speak a word to the man.
"Luna!" John was beyond relieved that at least the wolf girl survived this horror, and quickly pulled her up and hugged her close, spilling tears onto her shoulder. "I thought I lost you. Are you okay?"
Luna was deafly silent as John hugged her, not making a single movement until finally, she began sobbing and gave into the man's hug. "N-No." She stuttered as she cried. "I-I should be dead!" She cried.
John was saddened by Luna's cry and hugged her tighter, gently rubbing her back to calm her. "Don't say that Luna." He said softly, moving a hand up to gently stroke the wolf girl's hair. "What happened here?" He asked quietly.
"They... they caught up with us, and... Ivan, h-he..." Luna sobbed, clinging to John as she tried her best to explain. The man knew already what she was trying to say though. Ivan was gone too, which visibly made him more devastated. "Th-Then... after we got out, they... th-they sent some... scary fucking monsters to kill us all... I-I think Cooper said something like... B-Blood demons before... h-he died trying to save me."
John was very confused by the story of what happened here, he had no idea what blood demons were, but... he trusted Luna's word that F.E.O sent something to do all of this. Hey may have been sad for Cooper and Ivan, but he couldn't imagine how the wolf girl felt. she lost everything at the hands of F.E.O... once again.
"This is all my fault, J-John... I caused all of this." Luna cried, showing that she was still completely guilt ridden for this massacre.
John quickly shook his head, tightening his grip around her. "No... that Supreme bitch was bent on killing us... she wasn't willing to negotiate, it doesn't matter that you took the first shot." He assured.
This did nothing to stop her cries, but she did feel a sense of comfort in John since he didn't despise her for what she did. "I'm sorry John." she sobbed.
"Luna... it's okay, just calm down for me. I need you to be strong now." He replied with a caring voice, before placing a gentle kiss on her head, never once separating from the hug with her.
That one kiss from John was everything to Luna, it was as if she was comforted and absolutely assured that everything was okay... as long as she was with him. She slowly looked up to the man's eyes, her tears still spilling. "Okay." she said with a voice which was barely above a whisper.
He slowly nodded his head and smiled gratefully at her, and gently caressed her cheek as he looked into her beautiful eyes, her gorgeous red irises never failed to stun him. But he eventually began looking all around him, sighing as he was reminded of the massacre they were in the center of.
"Alright, let's burn these bodies and head to the cabin... these people deserve better than being left to rot." John said softly, carefully letting go of the hug with Luna so that he could painfully rise to his feet, only now allowing the wolf girl to see how injured he was.
"Lady have mercy... John, l-look at you." Luna stuttered, quickly standing to her feet with John so that she could take a closer look at his injuries.
"Don't worry about me... I'm fine." He stated, wincing as he took the smallest of breaths. "Go find some firewood for a big ass pyre... I'll gather up the bodies. I wish we could do this in the scared lands for them, but... we can't." He explained regretfully, wincing as he leant down and gripped the limp arms of one dead fur, dragging them towards the center.
Luna watched the man for a moment, it was no secret that she was worried about him, but she did as he said and ventured deeper into the patch of woods they were in, to search for the required firewood. By the time mid day rolled around, both John and Luna were hard at work building a very big pyre with the firewood she collected, and then by sundown... they began the slow, respectful process of placing the dead furs on top of the pyre, coming to a body count of about one hundred and twenty two. They finished off with Cooper's body, and laid him down gently on top of the pyre, alongside the others.
"He was the first one I met when Ren and I arrived at Perseverance. Son of a bitch tackled me like a damn football player, then Ivan knocked my ass out cold." The man snickered quietly, earning a small, sad smile from Luna. "I didn't get the chance to know much of these people, but... they were still family... and we will protect what's left of our family, in their memory."
Luna wholeheartedly nodded her head, sniffling as she kept her eyes glued to Cooper's lifeless body. "That's exactly what he would want us to do... what Ivan would want us to do. My squad was all I had, but, I guess I'm not completely alone." she sighed quietly, and glanced over to the man.
John smiled softly, and nodded. "No, you're not." He assured, and slowly looked back to the pyre. He noticed the daggers that Cooper still had gripped in his hands and slowly took the very well forged, engraved daggers from him, and offered them to Luna.
But the wolf girl shook her head, sighing quietly. "I... don't like knives. You should take them." she said with a small smile. "He'd want you to have them."
He looked down at the daggers, gripping the handles tightly in his hands. Clearly he liked the feel of them, and he knew he would be in need of good weapons with his sword being left behind, and with no ammunition left for his gun. "Thank you Luna, I'll wield them with honor." He promised, putting the daggers into his jacket pockets.
"I know you will." Luna said confidently, before she picked up Ivan's pack to look for something capable of starting a fire. She was surprised to see the pack absolutely filled to the brim with food, bottled waters, and medical supplies, along with other useful items. "Heh... The big guy's dead and he's still saving our asses." she said with a small giggle before pulling out a box of matches.
John smiled in response to Luna, clearly a little amused. The two of them backed up as the wolf girl lit one of the matches, earning a nod from the man. "Go ahead." he motivated.
With a slow, deep breath, she nodded her head... and tossed the match over to the highly combustible pyre. It burst into flames within seconds, and the two slowly held hands as they watched the smoke obscure all of the bodies while they burned. They watched until night fell upon them, the fire still burning strong to ensure that the bodies would be reduced to ash. But both Luna and John decided that it was time to go, it was dangerous to be outside in the dark.
"There's a few houses nearby, we'll spend the night then head to the cabin." Said John as he began to head off roughly southwest, where he remembered a small group of houses were located.
Luna quickly picked up Ivan's pack again and moved to John's side, helping him walk and put less stress on his injuries, which was greatly appreciated by him. "I'm gonna patch you up when we get there, John... don't try to argue." she said stubbornly, wrapping one of his arms around her neck to support him further.
"Heh, I appreciate it." John replied, amused by how serious Luna was about that statement. The smoke of the raging fire behind them continued to billow up to the sky, which would undoubtedly attract the attention of nearby rabids, which was also why they had to leave the area quickly.
It didn't take long for the pair to find one of the small houses, and they quickly rushed inside and barricaded the door, while also covering all of the windows to lower their likelihood of being spotted by rabids in the night.
The inside of the house was old, unmaintained and littered with dust all around, ageing with the apocalypse. All of the cabinets were left open, a telltale sign that this house had long since been ransacked, and left void of life ever since.
"Alright, lay down." Luna demanded, leading John to the living room while she gestured to one of the sofas, and set Ivan's pack down on the floor so that she could rummage through it for the medical supplies.
John didn't disobey and took of his jacket as he slowly laid down on the comfortable couch, relaxing as he was finally able to rest. With his jacket off it gave her a more clear look at where he was injured. There were a few specific blood patches on his white t-shirt and three or four deep lacerations on his arms which would need stitches.
"Hmmm, shouldn't be too bad. Could you take off your clothes?" Luna asked, immediately blushing however. "Just so that I can um... see where else is hurt." she said nervously.
John chuckled due to the wolf girl's sudden nervousness, before he did as she asked, struggling slightly to take off his pants which left him in his underwear, then took off his shirt and laid back down... revealing a nasty, huge purple bruise on his side, the area that Artimas kicked him.
Luna was shocked to say the least, surprised that the man did so well to cope with this injury. "Well... that'll be why you're finding it hard to breathe. You've injured a rib." she diagnosed, gently tracing her fingers along the bruise. "Fuck, I wish Vulpes were here, he'd know what to do." she whispered with concern while using this moment to her advantage, admiring every bit of the man's muscular body. She was disheartened, however, by seeing the large, thick scar on his chest... where Tristan stabbed him.
"It'll heal on its own... I think. Just uh, patch up what you can." John replied, looking down at the bruise since he was only now noticing it.
"R-Right... yeah, on it." Luna responded quickly, looking at his body for another second or two before standing back up. "So how the hell did this happen anyway?" She asked curiously, pulling out a needle and thread from Ivan's pack, along with antiseptic and bandages.
"Oh y'know... fighting Artimas." John grumbled with a sudden wince as Luna splashed some antiseptic on his wounds, giving him an immediate sharp, stinging pain.
"Huh, so even with all that strength and power... you couldn't kill him?" The wolf girl was only curious, she didn't intend for that to sound mean. She started on sowing up his lacerations when she asked that question.
There was a short pause, and John kept his eyes to the ground as she got to work. "The guy's faster than you might expect, but I fucked him up just as badly." he mumbled, and judging by Luna's silence, it was clear she wanted to know how. "I blew him up with a grenade."
The wolf girl snickered slightly and finished up with the stitches of one laceration, then moved onto another. "Didn't kill him I guess?"
"No, I guess not. He wasn't there when I woke up... that F.E.O armor must be some serious shit." John replied quietly, wincing slightly as he felt the needle continuously pierce into his flesh.
"I've heard they make their armor with traces of dragon hide, that's why it's so strong and resilient." Luna weighed in, making good progress on patching him up.
John slowly nodded his head to Luna's theory. "Makes sense, after the dragon massacre they would've had no shortage of their hide." he said quite morbidly.
The two continued chatting while Luna focused on John's wounds, until eventually, she had him completely patched up with all of his lacerations sealed closed.
"There, that's better." Luna said with a small smile, looking over his body to ensure there was nothing she missed... which was when her heart started racing again and she felt butterflies in her stomach. The sight of him wearing nothing but underwear with his body on display... did things to her, things she thought she'd never feel again after the massacre of her pack.
"Heh, thanks Luna, I appreciate this." He replied with a small smile, which morphed into a smirk upon noticing her staring. "Y'know, you probably think I haven't noticed, but you seem to stare a lot."
"H-Huh? No I don't." Luna stuttered, her cheeks reddening as she desperately tried to come up with a counter. "I uh... got a bit of a lazy eye dude, not s-staring." She lied.
That just made John's smirk widen, the obvious, blatant but adorable lie making him adore the wolf girl more. He suddenly extended his arm and gently grabbed her hand, making her flinch. "Do you think I'd care if you stared?" he teased, pulling her closer until she was forced to place a hand on his chest to prevent herself from falling onto him.
Luna's blush intensified, and she could barely look him in the eye as she pressed her hand against his muscular chest. "Hm... n-no I guess not." she stuttered, giggling nervously.
"I wouldn't. Now c'mere." said the man with a soft, loving voice as he pulled Luna closer, and reached up to begin gently rubbing her big canine ears.
The action made the wolf girl flinch slightly, her ears twitching in John's hand as her head leant into him. Her eyes closed and she absentmindedly laid down next to the man on the couch, cuddling into him as she became completely relaxed from his ear rub.
"Heh, you wolves all have one thing in common. You all love ear rubs." John chuckled, gladly welcoming Luna next to him by keeping her close, and rubbing her ears with love and care.
Luna blushed deeply, her eyes cracking open to look at him nervously. "Thank you John, I... I've never felt so good in my life." She admitted with a small giggle, getting comfy on top of him as the ear rub relaxed her entire body, and took her mind off of the massacre that took place a few minutes prior. "I-I love you." she confessed with a whisper.
"I love you too, Luna." John said with a hushed voice into her ear, smiling softly. "I have for a long time."
Luna blushed even deeper from John's words, but she gained a large smile, the thought that this man loved her for a long time made her feel all fuzzy inside.
"Y'know... you haven't told me much about yourself. Or about your pack." John pointed out after a moment of relaxing silence.
The wolf girl slowly nodded her head. "I haven't told anyone except Bella." she replied, barely above a whisper. "But I'll tell you in the morning... I'm gonna pass out." she knew since her and John were together now, that she would have to explain some things to him.
"Sounds good to me. Get some rest Luna, we'll be up bright and early." The man said softly, continuing his relaxing ear rub as he closed his eyes.
It wouldn't take long for the pair to lose consciousness in each other's embrace, but both had small smiles on their faces, showing that even after the tragedy that happened... things would be okay, as long as they weren't alone.
-
The next morning, Ren and Mia woke up peacefully in the bedroom of the cabin, snuggled into each other with little Aya asleep in the crib close by. Aura was also asleep protectively beside Aya's crib.
"Morning snow white~" Ren said with a loving tone of voice as she looked deeply into Mia's eyes. Both wolf girls were wearing nothing but bras and panties while they snuggled.
"Mmm, morning~" Mia replied with a giggle, showing that she was still half asleep. "John here yet?" she asked curiously.
Ren sighed, and shook her head as she sat up on the bed. It seemed that she was in such a state of relaxation with Mia that she forgot about all of the depressing, upsetting stuff that happened yesterday. And now, it hit her like a ton of bricks again. "No, not yet." her ears lowered as she spoke, showing sadness as she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and set her paws on the ground. "I'll get Aya's breakfast." she said, standing up to gather her clothes.
Mia was silent for a moment, and sighed sadly as she rolled over onto her back. "We should head out and try to find him... to find everyone." she suggested.
Ren quickly shook her head after she had her clothes on. "No, you know what he always told us. If anything happens, we're supposed to wait here and stay inside until he gets here. So that's what we're doing." she was stern, and adamant.
Mia didn't answer, but she watched as Ren very carefully picked up the sleeping Aya, cradling her closely and motherly while trying her best not to wake the little avian up. Ren brought Aya out to the kitchen and carried her with one arm, humming Aya's favorite lullaby as she began making her breakfast, which was honey flavored porridge.
While Ren got to work, Aya's eyes slowly blinked open, a cute smile quickly forming on her beak when she heard that familiar tune. "Mommy sings that." she beamed with a small yawn, her words slightly hard to understand due to her only being two years old.
"Mhm, your mommy's song that she made all for you. Do you remember what she named it?" Ren asked with a soft, loving voice as she brought the bowl of porridge over to the kitchen table, and sat down on one of the chairs with Aya on her lap.
"My wittle fwame." Aya giggled cutely, wasting no time to grab the bowl and dig into her porridge, eating it without a spoon.
"That's right. My little flame." Ren replied, seemingly not minding that Aya was eating without a spoon. She rather found the sight adorable.
But suddenly, the peaceful moment was interrupted by a beeping sound throughout the cabin, immediately putting Ren on edge. "Um... Mia?" she called, while Aya didn't seem the least bit concerned. She was too focused on her breakfast.
Mia quickly emerged from the bedroom, still uncaringly wearing nothing but a bra and panties. "That's the motion sensors, right?" she asked with the same amount of worry as Ren.
Ren slowly nodded her head. "Here, watch Aya." she quickly demanded, the white wolf immediately obeying and taking her place at the kitchen table. "Maybe it's just some rabids passing by." she said calmly.
Ren rushed off to a room at the very back of the cabin resembling a closet and swung the door open, revealing a few monitors connected to a small generator in the room. She hastily turned on the monitors, and once they flickered on it showed the views from multiple cameras hidden atop trees of the surrounding woods that the cabin was located.
But one camera showed something that immediately sent fear through Ren's body. A group of fifteen F.E.O soldiers approaching the cabin, armed to the teeth. "Where are you John." she whispered with horror, noticing that the soldiers... were headed straight for the cabin.