Satisfied, Perdilius pulled his foot back and waved his hand. His men nodded and approached the defeated cat girl, each one grabbing her wrist. KuliKuli froze in pce, her ears hung down with her once lively tails fallen over devoid of energy. A heavy groan caught her attention as she lifted her head.

  Felix coughed loudly, the right side of his face was bruised, and the skin seemed partly infmed. With trembling arms, he heaved himself up on his hands and knees, reaching out to her with a hand in desperation. With a sudden gasp, KuliKuli's heart raced as she crawled to his arms and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. The soldiers stepped back out of caution, but Perdilius didn't seem worried. He rolled his eyes and pointed at the man holding a metal cage.

  "Make haste, we haven't all day." He muttered, drumming his fingers along the cover of his book impatiently. "We've a few weeks' length before we reach home, every second waste is a second of rest lost."

  "Erm, father." Raz walked up to his side with concern. "Some of our men are wounded and we don't have means to treat them."

  "Bring them along, we'll find somepce to have them treated. Make space, those who can walk may tread alongside us."

  "Wouldn't that slow us down?" He warned him.

  "Indeed, but we can return to the city and have them treated there. Leave some men with them, they can return once they are in good health."

  Raz nodded, the two of them observing as Emyri was forcibly pulled to her feet with her arms restrained behind her back. She thrashed her arms only to have a spearhead tapped against her neck, warning her to comply. She snarled and cmped her jaws, biting at the spearman's direction as he flinched. Turning to see her daughter, Emyri's anger dropped as her motherly natured returned.

  "Sweety, we'll find a way out of this. I-I promise you-" She groaned as one of the men shoved her forward, causing her to stumble before catching her bance. "We'll find a way!"

  "Sure you will." One of the men muttered, pcing a cage in front of her. "Get in the box, cat."

  Emyri hissed when she felt a pair of arms force her on her knees from behind.

  "We're askin' nice." The same man remarked with an irritated look, balling his gloved hand into a fist.

  Emyri turned to get one more glimpse of KuliKuli, feeling her heart sink as she accepted their loss. Closing her eyes, Emyri succumbed to the surrounding light that encompassed her figure, until she turned down into her cat form. A rge hand scooped her into the box in a hurry before she could react, sealing the cage with a lock.

  Felix watched this happen with his one good eye, brushing his hand over KuliKuli's hair. "I failed you." His raspy voice muttered. "I... I wanted to protect you. I feared for this day, ever since your mother warned us. I should have let you go."

  KuliKuli squeezed him tight. "I wouldn't go even if you wanted me to. I love you, you're mine and I am yours. We are mates, and we protect each other."

  "I couldn't protect you this time." He admitted with a shameful look, hanging his head. "I'm no knight nor fighter."

  KuliKuli pulled back and pressed her paw under his chin, lifting him so that she could see him. Without words, she leaned in close with her eyes half-closed, waiting until he reciprocated and their lips met with one st kiss.

  "That's enough now, get in the cage." They heard someone say nearby. But they didn't care, KuliKuli wrapped her arms behind his neck and leaned in, their chests pressed together as a way to keep his heart close to hers. Reluctantly, she pulled back as someone pulled her by the arm.

  "You're Felix." She whispered to him, leaning in close one st time. "I never needed a knight or fighter, I needed you. And I will always love you for who you are."

  He watched as she was taken away, escorted to the same carriage where her family was trapped in cages. When it was her turn, she offered him one st smile.

  "Be the hero I know you are, Felix. Be my light in the dark." She spoke softly, watching his shocked expression and giggling back. Accepting her fate, she closed her eyes and felt herself shrink down until her paws were met with metal. She curled up, burying her head and keeping her eyes closed as her cage was lifted into the carriage.

  Felix held her words in his mind, feeling them touch his heart in a way that gave him an ounce of hope. Janette was roughly tossed aside, colpsing into the mud and clutching her stomach with a pained howl. Leone stopped by Felix, looking down on him before dropping something wrapped in leather to his feet. He retreated back into the wagons with the others, helping some of Perdilius' men escort the unconscious colred cat girls inside. By now, they had wheeled the carts into a line with Perdilius making his way into the front carriage while the girls were locked into the middle carriage.

  Raz gave Felix a gnce, watching him hunched over staring at the ground, then turned his head to Janette as she y on the ground unwilling to look at them. He pressed his hand to his chest, looking uncertain of himself before reaching out to Perdilius. "Should we... take them too?"

  Perdilius scoffed at the idea. "They actively tried to kill me, Raz. You wish to lend them a helping hand?"

  Raz pressed his lips together and nodded, making his way to the rear. He whistled loudly before stepping inside, with Perdilius banging his hand against the interior wall two times. The man at the reins understood the signal, and soon they began to move forward. As they passed by a group of four soldiers, Perdilius gnced out the open window of his door and gave them a nod. They sneered and nodded back, watching the rest of them wheel by. They circled back around the fallen ruins of Janette's home, before disappearing down the road leaving the four men alone with Felix and Janette.

  Each of them had horses to follow, pulling them in close. Felix watched as one man reached around his horse's saddle and retrieved a handful of bolts. His eyes widened as he armed his crossbow, his companions crossing their arms and observing in confident silence.

  "Should be easy, like fish in a barrel." One of them remarked. "Unless yer too chickenshit to do it."

  "Please, I had no trouble with the fox girl before. This will be no different." The bearded man wielding the crossbow stood before Felix, squinting his eye down the sights as he aimed it between his eyes. "Just hold still d, I'll make the pain go away soon."

  Felix gred back, looking like a half-beaten corpse. His right arm was coated with dry blood steeping from the knife wound on his shoulder, his legs were drenched in mud and grass stains, and his tunic was torn and left a dangling mess of brown cloth clinging to his waist, exposing his chest. His body remained a canvas of cerations and puncture wounds, with parts of his skin appearing pale in contrast to his fleshy color. His right cheek had formed a purple hue, and the swelling began to affect the vision on his eye, leaving him with one eye left to see. With each pant of breath, his sharpened teeth could be seen as a line of blood dripped from the corner of his lip down his chin like red drool. Even his messy brown hair stuck to his forehead and draped down the sides like curtains, looking withered with bits of sweat stuck like sap gluing strains of his hair together.

  "Mangled young pup lookin' like he's already at death's door." The man spoke out under his breath. He pulled back with a look of shock as Felix shuffled his leg forward, pnting his knee down. He groaned and shifted weighted, forcing himself to stand up and lock eyes with his soon-to-be killer. "Bloody hells, he's still got some left in 'em!"

  One of three men whistled back. "Man survives a crush from Father Perdilius?"

  "Fancy that, now get on wit' it." The first man removed his cap to fan himself with it. "Don't want to lose the trail."

  "Alright, alright, I hear ya." The fourth man muttered in agreement, giving Felix a raised brow.

  One of the three noticed Janette crawling away, setting her sights on a torn up old book several feet away. "What of the bookworm?"

  "Her too, she can wait her turn."

  Felix flexed his hand, straining to move his arm. He hunched forward, grabbing his arm as his vision began to blur. Thoughts of KuliKuli came fleeting to his head, his strength waned and the toll of his wounds kept his feet pnted like a stick in the mud. His legs wobbled like a baby taking its first steps, only he felt any movement would result in colpse.

  "Safe travels, boy."

  Felix smiled, closing his eyes and feeling KuliKuli's warmth embrace him. 'A light in the dark,' He thought to himself, chuckling lightly.

  "HAAA!!!!" The man was jumped from above, pounced on by a blue blur. His friends jumped in their boots, each one grabbing their weapons to attack. One man held his sword with both hands and clumsily swung forward, fear clouding his fighting instincts. It was easy for the assaint to step aside, csping his face with her paw and flinging him down. She swerved around with a raised arm, locking her elbow into the next man's jaw.

  He howled loudly in pain. stumbling back as teeth fell to his feet. The third man swung a hatchet, causing Reta to jump back as it narrowly missed her waist. He stepped forward and swung for her head, this time seeing her duck below before swinging her paw up and striking his chin. The blow lifted him off his feet, his body falling back as the fourth and final man jabbed his spear for her chest. He struck her hard, locking eyes with her as his momentary smile of victory dropped when she sneered in return. She had csped her paws around the spear, keeping it from digging into her naval. She stepped to the side and swung her paw down, snapping the spear in two. Before he could protest, she met him with a backhand from her cws, her eyes widening when she heard footsteps racing behind her.

  "Uuhhh-hhunn!" The fourth man folded over as a sword pierced his gut, a lethal blow that came from his ally attempting to stab their attacker. She spun around him, locked his neck with a hold of her arms and twisted until something popped and his arms dangled lifelessly to the side.

  She yanked back as a sword whooshed past her face, confronted by the st soldier remaining. He held a wooden circur shield in hand, charging forward and tossing her back. She smmed against a tree, keeping her eyes on him as he reached for his fallen friend's crossbow and took aim.

  Ka-Ching!

  She repelled the bolt back with a backhand from her cws, growling loudly with a feral look in her eyes. The man dropped the crossbow in fear and reached for his sword just as she charged after him, barely matching her first strike with a defensive block from his weapon.

  Cng!

  He stumbled back, raising his sword as she swung one arm after the other, each strike releasing a flurry of sparks chipping away at his sword.

  Cng! Cng! Cng-cng-cng-cng!

  She swung with both paws above her head, swiping down and breaking the sword in two while grazing the man's face. He fell back, pressed against the tree as she moved in for the kill, impaling his belly with her cws and baring her carnivorous fangs to him. He whimpered back and sunk down, his chin pressed against his colr as his eyes closed forever.

  Shink!

  Reta pulled her cws back, panting loudly. Turning around, she ran over to Felix just as he fell in her arms, falling to his knees.

  "Bakayaro!" She traced her paw over his chest, feeling his heart slow down. Her teeth rattled as her eyes stared at his neck, feeling a pool of saliva gathering in her mouth. The urge was building inside, he was right there in her arms waiting to be taken. Her eyes fixated on his face, her mouth parting open as she breathed loudly, hunching over before shaking her head and pulling back. She whimpered like a troubled wolf, fighting back against the force that clouded, no, demanded that she take another kill.

  "Reta!" Janette cried out, reaching out and grabbing hold of her book. She shuffled around, resting on her back and gncing to their friend. Her voice broke Reta free from her trance, bringing her back in control as she looked at her friend. "He's badly hurt."

  "So are you." She mentioned, holding Felix close.

  "I know," Janette admitted, gncing down at her re-opened wound. "We need help."

  Reta gnced around, spotting the four horses standing not too far away. She helped pce Felic against the tree, then rummaged around the fallen soldiers, digging into their pockets. Janette had enough strength to walk, pausing briefly as she noticed the leather bag Leone dropped for Felix. She peaked inside, noticing the contents inside were nothing but green chalky powder that resembled leafy green salt. But the smell was somehow familiar.

  To their surprise, Tootsie flew down from the highest tree branch where she remained safe in hiding. She nded atop Felix's leg, cupping her tiny hands to her face. "His heart is slowing."

  "We need to take him back to Kershin Market." Janette said, sealing up the leather bag. "Hurry!"

  "What of the others?" Reta asked.

  "Reta, we're too hurt to follow. We need help, we need shelter, and we need friends." Janette expined, kneeling beside Felix and pcing her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe then we can figure out what we do next, but... we lost."

  Reta hesitated, ready to retaliate until she took another look at Felix. Her ears listened into the beating of his heart as it began to slow down. "Understood. Let's go."