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As we entered the castle courtyard, multiple tents were lined along the whole area. What once was a beautiful garden is now a place of grief and death. The tents were full with furs grieving over their departed family members and friends. The bodies of the dead were covered in white sheets as to respect the body. "As you may know, many brave and innocent souls alike have lost their lives in this time of darkness. It's sad to think that a very dear person is just... gone forever." Shane said glumly as we approached the doors.

I felt saddened by the situation here. It's much graver than I thought. Anders and Arty, too, looked disheartened about it.

Shane directed us to the main chamber where the earl resides but he wasn't there. He then led us up the castle and into the chapel. Inside the chapel, it was gorgeous. The multi-colored glass shone in brilliantly and the scenes it was depicting inspired greatness and morality as honor-bound knights were doing their duty and obeying the traditions of chivalry. At the second pew, there was a wolf that had brown fur. His garments said everything about his status; his small crown was adorned with flawless rubies and sapphires, his blue, intricately patterned upper vestment tailored only for royalty. His maroon, lower vestment was just as fashioned. He was kneeling and praying to whatever god he believed in. When he was finished Shane approached him and bowed, "My lord."

"Ah, Knight-commander Shane! I'm glad you're still alive!" the wolf patter Shane's shoulder then turned to us, "Ah, these must be the heroes I've heard about! Thank you for helping us in our time of need!"

"Oh, it was our pleasure my lord." Anders continued, "I won't let any other fortress fall to the hands of the demons."

"That is a noble cause but I'm afraid that this fortress will soon fall." The wolf said sadly, "Oh, my manners. My name is Gregory Lockeep V."

"My Earl, these people have a message to relay to you. It is of utmost importance that you must listen immediately." Shane said.

"This is no place to talk, son. Let us go to the Grand hall. We shall talk there." Earl Gregory said.

We exited the chapel and headed down the hall. At the end of the hall, we had to climb up the stairs to the next floor. In the middle of the hallway we entered a medium sized room. It was purely white marble. The tiles seemed to sparkle with silver light. There were colorful glass mosaics at the walls; all depicting great heroes and rulers of the city. In the middle of the room, there was a white rectangular table with multiple chairs surrounding it. The earl told us to take a seat.

"What is the message you wanted to tell me?" the he asked.

I explained to him the floating castle and the army of demons we saw the day before. I also explained to him what our mission was and why the demons were targeting this place.

The earl said in disbelief, "In all my years, I never thought it was true..."

"What do you mean by that, m'lord?" Shane asked.

"You see a thousand years ago, there was an evil mage king who ruled this country with an iron fist. It is said that he was a master of the dark arts. The people were oppressed intensely. Occasionally, there would be rebellions but his army would crush them whenever and wherever they arose. Then one day, an arcane warrior came to the country and freed the fortresses from the mage's possession. Eventually, he reached the capital and there he fought the mage. The mage was then defeated. That is what the legend says but there's more to it. The warrior was not able to defeat him so he cast a curse trapping him in to the netherworld temporarily. Thus that is how peace has been brought to this land at least at that time. The warrior stayed and became the ruler of the land. He was a kind and just ruler. Then everything was history. Now, that same mage has come back from the netherworld and claim back everything he used to own." The Earl explained.

"Sir! If that's true then we should evacuate the whole city and send them somewhere safe!" Shane exclaimed.

"No one will be safe." He said.

"Why don't we bring them to the capitol? It will be a safe haven for the moment." Anders interrupted.

Then we heard a big thump on the ground behind us. We turned around to see a lady wolf that fell to the ground. She had brown fur and long, deep black hair. She wore an expensive looking dress. "Lady Rina!" Shane shouted and ran toward Lady Rina. The earl stood from his chair and walked toward her. We did likewise.

Shane asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine Shane." She replied while blushing.

Anders whispered to me, "I'm sensing a love affair."

We both looked to Shane and Rina then flashed a grin. They noticed us and looked away from each other while blushing. The earl then said, "Rina, what have I told you about eavesdropping on top secret meetings?"

"I'm sorry father." She said glumly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt m'lord but she does deserve to know what's happening in our keep." Shane said.

The earl sighed, "Alright. No one else must listen in to our conversation but us."

We returned to our seats and continued discussing. "As I was saying, we should try and bring everyone to the capitol. That way we can bring them out of harm's way." Anders said.

"What about escorts? We haven't heard from any of the other escorts that have gone before." The earl said.

There was a knock on the door. A guard in full armor came in and reported, "Sir, we have received a message from our escorts. They are currently safe and are heading to the capitol. They have had no problems on the way except for some minor demon attacks but they are all fine."

The Earl nodded and dismissed the guard. "See. The capitol is safe place to stay and the escorts have sent their messages." Anders concluded much to his advantage.

"Alright. We'll start evacuating tomorrow. It will take roughly two days to bring them all out of the city. Then we also have to prepare for the next attack tomorrow night." The earl said.

"It's settled. We'll help evacuate the citizens then we make one more stand tomorrow at dusk and continue to bring everyone to safety the day after that." I concluded.

"You're going to help us even though our situation is bleak?" Shane asked with surprise.

"Yes we will. We'll make sure of that." Anders said with assurance.

For once in the entire day, everyone around us seemed to brighten up. Their hopeful smiles brought back the light that they desperately needed. We couldn't afford to fail. No matter what the cost.

"Once again, we thank you from the depths of our hearts. We are forever indebted to you." The Earl continued, "You must be hungry from your journey, come join us for supper! It is the least we could do."

"Thank you, m'lord." We replied.

He ushered us to the dining hall and everyone, including Shane was seated, his wife also joined us for dinner. He told her all that had transpired in the great hall and she was delighted to hear some good news. She thanked us for the help. Then the food was served. We had a grand feast of fruits, vegetables and stew. I was completely stuffed. That was the most delicious feast I've ever had. Once we were done, we were escorted to our room. Anders, Arty and I were placed in one room. It was fairly big, there were three luxurious beds, a large bathroom, and multiple cabinets. We also had a veranda that over looked the village and forest.

"Fancy place." Arty said.

I just chuckled to that.

"Ro's place was better. You should have seen it! ... Before it was over run by demons..." Anders said sadly.

I nudged Anders slightly on the elbow. He smirked as a response. "I want to take a good long bath." Anders said exhaustedly.

"Yeah, me too." I agreed.

"I could use some fresh water right now as well." Arty agreed too.

We deposited our things in one of the cabinets and headed for the bath. Once inside, Arty pulled a giant lever. Warm water started pooling inside the giant bath and steam was filling the cold night air. Slowly the whole bath was filled with steaming water. Arty pushed the lever back and we stripped off our clothes. We climbed into the pool of water and all our stress and aches slowly went away as our fur was drenched. All tensions went away the longer we stayed in the pool. I moaned a sigh of pleasure and relief as I plunged deeper into the pool. Arty and Anders seemed just the same as me. Seconds later Anders waded towards me. "I'll rub your back. Ok?" He asked.

I nodded with a slight grin across my muzzle. He began massaging my back. My ears fell flat on my head as he caressed me. I groaned in pleasure as he pressed harder onto my back. My heart became lighter as he slowly wrapped his arms around me. The extra head coming from another's body soothed my entire being. I nearly fell asleep in his arms. His fur was so soft that it felt like a cloud. I turned around and hugged him back. I rubbed his back as I hugged him. He groaned as I put more pressure into every stroke. His otter-hood and my fox-hood hardened as the two touched. Blood rushed to my cheeks and I felt like my fur was showing the redness of my cheeks. I will cherish this moment forever yet this feeling feels vaguely familiar. My muzzle brushed against his and backed away to get a better look at him. He looks so cute and so adorable this close. His soaked fur made him look even cuter. He placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. He slowly made his way closer to me. My heart was pounding heavily as we were getting closer. Our lips were pressed against each other and slowly our tongues dueled for survival. The joy that I felt was unimaginable; it was like your whole world turned brighter and happier, the sound of music rung in my ears as it was aroused by the kiss. I pulled back to catch my breath; our noses touched each other and we looked a bit silly. I looked deep into his eyes and I saw something, a spark.

I suddenly remembered something. I was at the lake by myself at night, taking a bath. Meanwhile, Anders sneaked up to me underwater. He jumped out and surprised me with a loud splash. I thought he was someone else so I smacked him on the head. He yelped in pain then I recognized him and apologized. He said it was nothing bad. I apologized multiple times for that. I couldn't stop apologizing until he hugged me. That moment was utter bliss for me. My heart bounced up and down like a happy child waiting to get his present for his birthday. I remember hugging him back. We both shared and enjoyed each other's warmth. Then he confessed to me that he liked me. I was so utterly happy when he said that. I replied that I like him, too. He smiled. We leaned closer to each other. As our lips touched for the first time, I felt like I was soaring up in the sky, feeling very fresh and blissful. Once we pulled back, we both said 'I love you' at the same time and we kissed again. I felt even better than the first time we kissed. It was heaven.

"Anders, do you remember the time when you first kissed me?" I asked.

"Of course, Ro. How could I forget?" he said smiling.

The sound of ripples on the water knocked us out of the trance. We turned to Arty who looked awkward as he shifted in his place in the water. He was somewhat blushing, but Anders didn't seem to notice. I just managed a weak chuckle and I smiled toward Anders. He in turn smiled back and lay on the water. He was just floating now. It was incredibly cute, the way he looked at me. I pulled him closer and gave him a belly rub. He moaned delightfully. He stood back up again and rubbed my belly back. We both laughed.

We finished up with our bath and flushed the water out. We dried up and put our clothes back on, now smelling fresh. We exited the bathroom and headed out to the balcony while Arty stayed in the room. The fresh earthy air was intoxicating; the light from the town proper shone bright in the night and was bustling with activity. People rushed from street to street to run errands and to prepare for tomorrow's evacuation.

I spread out my arms wide as if to embrace the open air. A gust of wind blew through me, and my fur was brushed by the wind. As the gust ceased, I lowered my arms and leaned on the balcony. From behind, Anders wrapped his arms around me. My heart was, again, in utter bliss. Anders leaned on me as he embraced.

"I love you." Anders whispered.

I grinned at his statement. It was very romantic of him to say that to me. "I love you too, Anders." I said blissfully.

I turned to face Anders. The moonlight was just absolutely gorgeous on him, it made his eyes sparkle like gemstone. I brushed my paw through the fur on his cheeks and pulled him in. Our kiss now, was even better than the last; our tongues dueled valiantly inside our mouths until he gained dominance over mine. We slowly pulled away. I wrapped my arms around him. Our hearts beat in unison as we embraced. I nearly fell asleep on his warm and fluffy fur. Never letting go of each other, we gazed at the majestic scenery. The silhouette of the mountains miles away, the entire forest still but filled with the ensemble of crickets, the pale crescent moon, mysterious yet familiar and the sky filled with shining stars.

A familiar voice echoed above us, "Shane, I don't want to leave you! I'm not going tomorrow! I'll stay here with you!"

It was Lady Rina and apparently, she was talking to Shane on the balcony almost above us.

"No, Rina. You will leave tomorrow. I will never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you."Shane replied.

"And I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you! Please, Shane, let me stay by your side." She protested.

"Rina, your father already made the decision. You will leave with your mother at dawn. Please, Rina. Do it for me." He paused, "I love you."

"Aww..." I couldn't help but say it out loud. Anders tried to keep me quiet. Fortunately, they didn't hear me. Both of us giggled quietly as we eavesdropped further.

"Alright, you win. But promise me one thing." Her voice suddenly turned giddy.

Shane asked, "What?"

"Promise me, that you'll stay alive and when this is all over, you come back to me in the capitol." She pleaded.

"Of course, my love. When I get there, I will protect you with all my heart and we will get married. We will have the grandest wedding of all time. We will have our own wonderful home. And we will have two children. This I swear." Shane replied happily.

Rina giggled, much to her delight.

"I should get back to the barracks and get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us." He said.

Seconds later, we heard the door close above us, signaling they both left. "That was cute." Anders commented.

I laughed and agreed, "Indeed it was. It's time we should get some sleep as well. We, too have a big day ahead."

Both of us entered our room and found Arty already asleep on one bed, snoring. I chuckled silently, so did Anders. We both slipped onto a single bed and blew the candles out beside us. We slipped under the covers and kissed each other good night. We shared in each other's warmth as we fell asleep, never leaving the embrace. Tonight, we shall sleep together, sound and sweet, living a real dream.

The grey morning light shone through the curtains and it woke me from my serene slumber. I was still in Anders' arms; the softness of his fur still tempted me to lie still in his embrace. But today, we have an important task we must accomplish and there is no time to waste. I brushed my muzzle against his chest to wake him. He groaned, "It's too early."

That didn't work but I know something that will. My maw moved closer to his and I pressed my lips against his. Blood rushed to his cheeks and a smile broadened on his muzzle. He moaned, "Alright, alright. I'm up."

"That's better." I said as I smiled.

He opened his eyes to the sight of my smiling face. His ears fell at the back of his head as he asked, "Remind me again. Why do we have to wake up this early?"

"We have to help in the evacuation, remember? I'm the one with the right to forget things." I chuckled.

I sat up then off the bed and strapped my twin blades onto my belt. Anders stood up from the bed and strapped his bow and quiver on his back. He asked, "Hey, where's Arty?"

I looked around the room and noticed Arty's things weren't there. "Maybe he's already gone out or something."

We walked out of the room and traversed the hallways of the castle to the dining hall where the food was going to be served. As we opened the door to the dining hall, an aroma of fresh fruit and vegetables and cooked meat wafted through us. It was so fragrant, it seemed intoxicating. Arty was already there gulping down the food presented on the table. He noticed us and greeted, "Ah, you two are finally awake. Come on, let's eat."

We sat down beside him and started our feast. While we were enjoying our food, Ander's asked, "Where are the Earl and his wife and daughter?"

"Oh, they're in the meeting room discussing the evacuation plans with some of the guards."

"And Shane?"

"He's there too."

"And why are we the only one's here?"

"Because, they already finished when I arrived here."

I interrupted, "Let's finish this quick shall we?"

They both nodded in agreement. We quickly finished our food and went straight to the meeting hall. After the meeting was adjourned, we carefully evacuated the first batch of refugees outside the city. From there, the escorts will handle the rest of the journey. Princess Rina and her mother were transported away along with the other refugees. The Earl stayed to tend to his subjects.

Most of the day passed by very quickly and more than half of the refugees have already evacuated the area. It was nearing dusk. The sun hung low in the horizon, the orange blaze slowly turned hazy and dark blue as the time passed. The next attack is nearing.

As we were consulting the Earl in his throne room, a guard rushed inside ushering female guard in. "Commander Shane, Earl Gregory, you'll be surprised on who I caught sneaking tonight."

The guard unveiled the helm of his comrade. A familiar she-wolf was then standing in front of us. Shane and the Earl's jaws opened as Princess Rina was presented to us. "Rina, what are you doing here? You should be with your mother on the highway at this hour!" Shane exclaimed.

"My daughter it is dangerous here! Why did you return?" her father shouted as he rose from his seat to go to his daughter.

"I'm sorry, father, Shane. I just couldn't leave the both of you here. I--" she tried to explain.

"Excuses, Rina! The next wave of demons is going to arrive and you're here! I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you!" interrupted the Earl.

"Father..." she murmured.

"It's far too late now, sir." Arty continued, "Our priority now is to keep the both of you out of harm's way. We must lock the castle doors immediately and station guards all over the perimeter."

"He's right. We better get ready. They may attack at anytime." Shane agreed.

"So be it." The Earl reluctantly agreed.

As we walked out of the castle, Shane said something to Rina, although, I couldn't hear them. Half-way through the courtyard, Shane caught up with us. "C'mon, let's get to the front lines."

As we jogged to the city gates, I saw furs scurrying inside the abandoned houses; closing shut the windows and doors. The guards were already getting ready outside the walls; there were roughly forty of them left. There were also some commoners, around twenty, in thin plate armor. I guess that would suffice, for now. Archers were atop the walls, ever vigilant in their watch. Knights armed with sword and shield, ready to fight. The forest was silent and the moon was peeking over the clouds. As we reached the gates, Shane commanded, "Arty, Anders, go to the top of the walls and wait for the signal. Rowan, come with me."

All three of us nodded.

Before Anders climbed up, he gave me a kiss and said, "I'll be watching. Take care."

"You too."

I followed Shane to the front lines, where we waited. We waited for the first sign of demons, but there was only silence. The soldiers and commoners were breathing heavily as the seconds passed; one of them even said a prayer to god, while others were chattering their teeth in fear. A gust of wind rushed through the trees making the leaves wave in the branches. For a slight moment, the moon's light shone on the path revealing numerous demons of grotesque features. Some I recognized; shades, snake demons and some ogres. I unsheathed my blades and stood in stance. Shane drew his sword and shield. The others prepared as well. Shane shouted, "Archers, on the ready!"

The archers obeyed his command; they each loaded an arrow and pulled their bowstrings back. It was at that moment the demons came charging toward us with heightened ferocity. Arty then set the arrow tips on fire for added damage. The distance between us and the demons shrank the closer they came. And when the time was right, "Fire!" Shane commanded. The hum of bowstrings sounded and a volley of arrows came down, raining fire from the sky. One by one, demons disintegrated to ashes as the arrows struck their mark. Shane shouted another command and the archers reloaded their bows. The demons were closing in, fast. "Fire!" Shane shouted again. Another volley came raining down from the heavens and each arrow struck a deadly blow to the demon ranks. The demon's numbers shrank before us as they disintegrated to piles of dust.

Shane raised his sword high and yelled, "Charge!"

We all sounded our battle cry and dashed toward the demons. Blades collided with flesh, claws on shields, and swords on claws. We took them down a notch from the start, and looks like the battle was in favor of us. From the darkness, a loud shriek echoed through the entire battle field. For a moment, I was distracted. I vanquished the demon in front of me and gazed at the horror flying above us. It had large, transparent bat wings, it only had half its body and it had woman like features mixed in with disgusting, demon-like ones. It flew above us and swooped down unwary victims, then dropped them from high up in the sky. The archers were trying their hardest to take down these aerial attackers. Anders and Arty seemed to be the only ones actually hitting them. As if it didn't get any better, an ogre charged straight toward the gates. Slowly but surely, the gate was giving in. I dashed toward the monster in hopes of taking it down before it does any more damage.

I jumped on a demon's head to get better leverage and I landed on the ogre's back. An ogre's back something you do not want to smell especially when it's sweaty, what more at... Nevermind. I did the same trick I did before. I stabbed and twisted my blades inside it. It was writhing in pain as it tried to reach me. After I stabbed it one more time, it fell to its knees and disintegrated.

I hopped of the pile of dark sand and noticed a wave of demons heading towards the gate to finish what the ogre started. I dove to the side to avoid the incoming stampede. The gate cracked because of the tremendous force. The demons then rushed through the open gate and the winged banshees flew past the walls while taking some archers with them to their deaths. It was utter chaos now; they destroyed everything they laid eyes upon, some broke into houses and slaughtered all its occupants, furs everywhere were running for their lives in hopes to escape the onslaught and some knights fought the demons to keep them at bay.

Arty, Anders and Shane then came to my side amongst the chaos. "No. This can't be happening!" Shane said in disbelief.

"We have to save everyone!" Anders shouted.

"I don't think we can save everyone, but we can save at least some." Arty said.

Shane's eyes widened with sudden realization, "Lady Rina and the Earl are still in the castle! We have to save them!"

He ran in the direction of the castle and we had no choice but to follow. We dashed through the town, taking down demons and saving people as we go. It was all awful; it was like seeing our dead friends back in our village. By the time we reached the castle, Shane was fighting a group of demons. He was outnumbered but he had no injuries from the looks of it. Anders fired an arrow at the demon that was about to attack and it dissolved into a pile of ashes. Some demons turned and dashed toward us. Arty then waved his staff in front of us and spikes of ice sprouted from the ground, impaling the demons and turning them to dust. The ice then retracted back into the ground and I dashed to help Shane.

A shade tried to cut him into pieces but he blocked the attack with his shield and counterattacked by slashing the demon in two. As the next demon was about to attack, I threw myself at the demon and stabbed right through it. It then turned to dust and was no more. Another demon lunged at me but Shane intercepted and bashed it with his shield. It gave me enough time to recover and hack my blade at the demon. Arty then came by and shot the last demon with a lightning bolt. "Hurry, we have to get inside the castle!" Shane exclaimed.

We pushed away the door of the castle to reveal the throne room full of black ashes, blood and bodies of dead guards. At the steps of the throne room, was a fur, still barely alive. As we neared him, we realized it was the Earl; he was badly wounded and I don't think he's going to make it and Shane knew it too. He asked, "My lord! What happened to you?!"

"I got attacked, what do you think?" the Earl coughed, "Hurry you must save my daughter! I... I'm dying, Shane. Promise me one last thing."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Promise me that you'll take care of my dear Rina and please tell my wife and my daughter, that I'll miss them and that I love them."

"Yes, my dear friend. I promise." He accepted it without any question. His loyalty to his Earl was still evident until the moment of his master's last moments.

"Thank you... Now go. Save my daughter."

With those final words, he departed from this world. The wolf who showed us great generosity when we first came into this bastion, is now gone, hopefully to a better place. Shane closed the brave soul's eyes and said a small prayer. He rose up with renewed determination. He said, "Let's go."

We followed Shane as we ascended to the next floor of the castle. Then a horrible scream pierced through walls. It was Rina! Shane rushed to where the sound came from, Rina's room. She was surrounded by a group of shades and was close the balcony. "Shane!" she shouted.

Shane threw himself to the group of shades and slashed the nearby demons. I sent a barrage of cuts to the shades while Arty and Anders shot them with arrows and ice spikes. Amongst the flurry, Rina opened the door to the balcony to escape the fighting. The moment she stepped out, a banshee swooped down and took her. "Shane!" she shouted as she struggled to get free.

Shane took notice and dashed to the balcony. We quickly finished off the last one and Shane jumped out to grab her. He followed likewise. He managed to grab hold of her foot and we grabbed hold of his. The banshee noticed it took on some extra weight and tried to shake us off. We flew up and over the streets of Knightlock city. It did aerial maneuvers to get us off, and it was working. Our grip slowly loosened as we soared across the city. As the demon did one more aerial somersault, our fingers slipped from Rina's ankles and fell on the rooftop of a house in a middle of town. Shane shouted, "Rina!!!"

"Shane!!" Rina shouted as she was swept out of the city.

"Hurry we have to catch up to them!" Shane commanded us.

"Shane..." I murmured.

"What are you waiting for? C'mon, we have to save her!" Shane said frantically.

"Shane... Look."I pointed at the surrounding areas to see that all the demons are suddenly disappearing. A portal of darkness erupted in front of every demon and then vanished when they passed through. All that was in their wake was dead bodies, scattered all throughout the city. Shane fell on his knees and stayed there, motionless. Moments passed and he admitted mournfully, "The Knightlock city has fallen. I have failed. I have failed you, my Earl. I have failed you, my love... Rina."