-Chase-

Their magical barriers were surprisingly strong. It was clear they weren't strong enough to hold us back, but they sure were taking a lot of damage without giving up. Since the barriers could only be broken by magic, we demons were in charge of bringing it down. The pixies had a few good tricks to help us, too, but their main task was to keep the humans away.

The ground under our feet was constantly shaking as the drills were getting deeper and deeper. They'd have to stop once they reached the barrier, so if we couldn't get it down, we were stuck here. And time wasn't on our side. They could be transferring everyone and everything through their portals as we spoke. They most likely were.

Blast after blast, we attacked against the invisible wall. It was good exercise for me, and little by little, I started getting the hang of it. I really wanted to test my full power, but the fear of killing everyone in sight held me back, no matter how badly I needed to get to Dante. He wouldn't forgive me if I risked everyone's lives like that. I wouldn't either, to be honest.

But time was running out! If they hadn't taken Dante away yet, they would be now. They were having way too much time to get away from our reach! I hated this. I hated how weak I still was. If only the barrier would break... They really had been prepared for us. Every time we thought we'd made a huge crack in it, the damages vanished as the barrier renewed itself.

It was getting frustrating.

"It's growing weaker!" Izha yelled somewhere down the hill.

"Are you sure?" I yelled back – I hadn't noticed any change in the barrier.

"It is," Roe said reassuringly. "See? It's getting slower to recover from our attacks!"

If I stared at the barrier, waiting for the ripples and the lines to appear after each blast, I could finally tell they were right. The cracks stayed longer every time a blast hit it!

"Keep going!" I yelled.

This knowledge gave us all new energy. The barrier was exhausting us, but our most important job was to get through, no matter what. It was fine if we used our powers until we burned ourselves. We just needed to bring down the walls, and the rest would pick up the fight for us while we went to find Dante.

"They're launching an attack!" someone yelled in the distance, and the pixies turned their attention up to the sky, and so did I.

There were several helicopters flying behind the base. I didn't see them clearly in the darkness, but I knew they were heavily armed and pointing their missiles at us.

"Take care of them!"

The pixies turned their catapults at them, but it wasn't enough. The choppers weren't coming any closer – and they didn't need to. I was sure they were able to bomb us even if they were miles away, while our cannons and catapults couldn't reach anywhere near them.

Which was why we had Zane.

"Eat dirt, scumbags!" he yelled, as he and several others aimed their missiles at the helicopters.

The humans learned quickly not to try that again. Their entire fleet got destroyed quickly. But it wasn't the end of it. Only a short moment later, I heard yells coming from our left. A whole bunch of humans had managed to get above us on the hills and started firing at us.

The tree guardians ended their attack, but not before we'd lost a lot of our own men. I yelled my orders again, making sure we had our sides covered as well and we wouldn't focus only on the base. I also put some of the pixies to go find out how the humans had climbed that hill without us noticing it. Maybe there was another way in? But no, it was just another portal. One they had already destroyed.

"It's fine – the shield is coming down soon," Roe told me sternly. "Just keep firing."

We did. I used as much strength as I dared, but balancing it was extremely difficult. I understood why newborns weren't allowed to use their power outside of Njizrski.

"Little more," Roe told us. "Just a little more...!"

I could almost feel their barrier crackling under the pressure now. The humans and the choppers had clearly been their desperate attempt to stop us! They knew we were getting in any minute now!

"We are coming, my love," I whispered, sending my last ball of fire at the barrier, making it bigger and stronger than before. The blast nearly knocked me over, but I managed to stay on my feet.

I watched the havoc my magic had caused. The shield broke, and this time, it couldn't renew itself anymore. I smiled when my companions finished it off.

"Go let our army in!" I told Roe, feeling just as triumphant as my master looked when he rushed back to the big portal.

I sprung around and watched as the magical barrier burned in the air, pieces of it falling off and disappearing behind the brick walls – the ones that couldn't hold back our might.

The pixies were already launching their attack, flying closer to the base. The first ones to arrive at the wall started tossing their flammable liquids at the human soldiers, who started yelling as they took cover, trying to shoot the small flying targets in their panic.

The dwarves that weren't needed to handle the drills grabbed guns and rushed closer, staying behind the piles of rock and dirt they had already dug up and started shooting at the people on top of the walls. The drilling sounds got louder again when the vehicles that had been stopped by the barrier were able to move again.

And the vampires arrived. They ran past us so fast I could only hear the wind their speed caused. I could see them as colorful blurs as they passed me by. And when I turned to see the base, they were already climbing the walls or tearing down the gates. A short moment later, the werewolves joined them.

And Roe stepped next to me.

"Shall we go find your hubby?" he asked.

"Let's go," I smiled at him.

But we couldn't even take a step when something loud sounded from behind the walls. Massive roars.

"Dante...?" I whispered.

The gates came down at that moment, but our army was forced to retreat when two massive beasts stepped forward, the humans behind them regrouping and forming a deadly line of assault rifles and other weapons. The tanks were there too, all dozen of them.

But the beasts had my full attention.

"Not Dante," Roe said. "These are bigger. Wrong color."

Indeed, neither of them was my love. They were both gray, one lighter than the other. They were wearing armor, and even from the distance, I could tell they were made in Njizrski. I didn't really care about it.

No, what I cared about was the fact that neither of them gave a damn about the humans around them.

"They're tamed," I guessed. "They're being controlled."

Out of all the things we'd been prepared for... It hadn't even crossed my mind that they could have tamed rassawolves. Two of them!

"We need to find a way to..." I was about to say kill, but that wasn't an option. "We need to rescue them."

"How?!" Roe gasped at me. "We were barely able to control Dante, and these two are even bigger!"

"Look at what they're wearing," Izha said. "Our magic is completely useless against that armor."

"Can we teleport them out of here?" I asked, but they shook their heads.

"We were barely able to do that to Dante," Roe said. "Their fur is resistant to magic, remember?"

"You have to try," I told him.

"Yeah, sure, let me just walk up to it and put my hand on it," Roe snorted sarcastically.

We didn't have more time to argue. The rassawolves started running to the gates exactly at the same time, forcing our people to back off.

"We need to find the people who are controlling them."

I turned to my left and saw Donovan standing next to me.

"You could've told us about them!" I hissed at him.

"I had no idea there were still two left," he said, looking just as angry as I felt. "I thought I got rid of them all. These two are old – fully matured – so it can't be Lena who created them."

"How do we get them out of the way?" Roe asked him in a hostile voice.

"You could try killing them."

"That's not an option! They are enslaved!" I spat at him, but he only gave me a bored glance.

"Those collars they're wearing – get rid of them. As long as they have them, they are completely protected against magic. Magic does work on them, but not as long as they're protected," he spoke to Roe. "Of course, if you're strong enough."

"I am the strongest," Roe growled at him.

"We don't have time for this!" I told them both. "We need to get in, now!"

"Find the person who is controlling them. If you kill him and take the items he's controlling them with – a necklace or a ring with big black stones – you'll be able to gain control over them," Donovan spoke and started walking down the hill.

"Do you have any idea who that could be?" I yelled after him.

"My father."

"Great," I spat. "We don't even know who it is."

"I do," Arthyzn said. "He's so self-centered he must've bound the beasts to himself. That means he is somewhere close by, in a place where he can watch us."

The vampires and the werewolves were pushing past the walls again. As I watched, several of our people got sent flying through the air by the rassawolves, but most of them were fast enough to get past them and attack the humans.

"We need a plan," Arthyzn said.

"We'll handle these rassawolves," Mom suddenly said, turning to look at Arthyzn. "Will you help us?"

"Yes," the old merchant said.

"I'll help, too," Frank nodded. "Let us deal with these two. You go find Dante."

"Can you handle them?" I asked.

"Please – we've had picnics in the Death Zone of Njizrski," Dad said. "We'll find their owner and free them."

"Thank you," I said. "If we find Dante, he can help us."

"Yes – now go," Mom said. "Don't get yourself killed. Again."

"I won't," I said, turning to Roe. "Ready?"

"As ready as I can be," he smirked.

Together, we started running down the hill with Eru right by our side. We reached the crumbling walls in mere moments and blasted our way in. The rassawolves were further away from us, trying to get rid of the swarm of vampires and werewolves who had learned to keep their distance while they tore the humans apart.

Some of our people had already busted through the doors to the base. We had to fight our way in, but the humans were squishy creatures. They didn't have a chance. I did spot the necromancers Donovan had mentioned, reviving the dead troops. I yelled at our men to focus on them or we'd never get rid of their army.

The deeper we got, the harder it became to get past the enemy swarm. The hallways became narrow, and the humans had their blockades, but little by little, we advanced deeper. Things would get so much easier once the dwarves were done with their tunnels.

Most of it became a blur to me. I couldn't use my magic in such a narrow space without injuring my allies, so I stayed in front, brute-forcing my way past the humans. Then we reached a staircase, and it just kept continuing forever – it felt like the journey to hell.

But finally, we reached the actual base. It was massive. It was bigger than I ever could've imagined. The hallways continued into the distance, and the rooms and halls were large enough for both of our armies.

"Where do we even start looking?" Roe asked in shock when we found ourselves in what looked like a massive hangar.

"Can you teleport?" I asked him.

"As a matter of fact, I can," he said. "Short distances only, though."

"That's enough. Go find Dante. I'll stay here and help our people," I told him, and he vanished.

I continued following the masses that kept pushing through the enemy. I peered into every room and every office to find any clues about Dante's whereabouts. It felt like an endless task, and I feared they had already moved my love to somewhere else.

Then we reached the laboratory. I stopped to stare at the cubicles, the desks, the metallic tables, and examination chairs. There was enough lab equipment to find a cure for cancer, and there were several cages lining up the back wall.

I felt sick when I looked at it, walking slowly past the abandoned working stations. Then I saw a room behind it all. It was similar to the one I saw in Dante's memories when we were visiting the dwarven elders. There was that same glass cage in the middle and a spectating area on the right side. This was where they conducted their dangerous experiments.

My rage nearly suffocated me on the spot. I couldn't wait to burn it all.

"We found them! We found the victims!" I heard someone yelling at the other end of the lab.

"Good," I muttered, even though no one could hear me.

I returned to the others, and stopped to watch them pull the thin, tortured creatures out of their cages. Most of them were barely conscious. I had hoped Dante would be there too, but he wasn't there, which wasn't a surprise. They wouldn't hold him here. They were keeping him somewhere safe – maybe even in another country.

"Wait until the dwarves are done with the tunnels," I ordered them. "Don't take them back the way we came. They'll only get hurt or killed."

"Of course, sir," one of the vampires said, and started leading the rescue group.

"Roe?"

"I can't get around," he muttered. "Some places are impossible to get in, but..."

"But what?"

He suddenly appeared next to me and grabbed my hand. When I blinked, we were in a silent hallway. I looked around, but couldn't see anyone around.

"I believe they kept the two other wolves down there," Roe said, pointing to a dark room. "I found two big enclosures with fur and half-eaten body parts."

"No sign of Dante?" I asked.

"No – but there's an elevator. I tried teleporting up there, but I couldn't."

"Does the elevator work?" I asked.

"Let's find out," Roe said, and we hurried to it.

The elevator did work after Roe gave it a magical nudge. It was annoying to wait for it to arrive, and again when we were going up.

"Not very good security around here," Roe muttered.

"Don't jinx it," I said when the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

We stepped out into another abandoned hallway. There was absolutely no one around.

"Come," Roe said, and we hurried to check the rooms, but we found nothing. Just empty offices.

The one at the end of the hallway was more interesting than the others. There were big monitors on the walls, and we could see almost everything that was happening in the base.

"Look!" I gasped when one of the images drew my attention.

I could see a massive room and a big, black cage at the end of it. And Killian was there, holding a book in his hands. There were short pillars around him in a circle.

"Looks like some kind of ritual place," Roe said.

"That cage is made of Njizrski iron," I told him. "If Dante is here, he's in that cage!"

"Right," Roe said hastily, and grabbed my hand again. "I'll get us as close as I can!"

I blinked, and we were somewhere completely else again. I couldn't see or hear or even smell Killian, nor my love.

"This way!" Roe said, and we started running.

"Hold on, Dante... We're coming," I whispered.

-Killian-

I watched my Grandpa as he stood in front of the monitors, watching his beasts fight our enemy. The base was getting swarmed, and even the beasts couldn't hold them off. I was getting increasingly frustrated and worried.

"Wow!" He cheered when a big blast tore down parts of the walls, letting more vampires and werewolves in. "Go girls! Rip them apart!"

I turned to look at Grandpa. He was laughing like a kid on his birthday.

"They are getting in!" I finally spat at him. "They're already making their way down to our base!"

"Relax. Oh, what a swing! Good girl, Lara!"

"Relax?" I repeated. "They are in our base!"

Grandpa glanced at me like I was ruining his fun. "The necromancers–"

"Fuck the necromancers! They are destroying our base! Everything Lena worked hard for! They are taking our lab rats! They are taking our research! They will get the fucking mutt as well!"

"Don't worry about it – we'll just take it and go when things get too rough," he said and turned to look at the monitors again. "Whoa! Did you see that!"

I just stared at him.

"You don't care..." I breathed out, stepping away from him. "You just want to play with your pets."

I wasn't sure if he heard me. Probably not. He was too busy cheering at his beasts.

Finally, I realized it. He never had a plan to protect the base. He never meant to help us. He didn't care if our enemy tore down the place. We had already lost one lab, and I'd had to bend over backwards to convince our investors to help us rebuild our base here. And now that was gone, too.

Because I listened to a madman.

Lena... I never should've let my grandpa lure me back in. He only cared about his breeding program, and I could see that now.

But he wasn't going to have it. I sprung around and hurried out of the room. I yelled at the guards to start packing everything they could and move everything the fuck out of here. I knew it was too late, but I had to save at least something. I couldn't let them take Lena's hard work.

I'd failed my love...

And I still didn't have her soul back. At least her body wasn't here.

I rushed all the way down to that fucking mutt and already reached the door, when I heard someone step out from the shadows right behind me. I turned around, expecting to see our enemy or Grandpa standing there, but my heart stopped at the sight of a tall man who gave me such a nasty look I wanted to hide.

"Dad...?" I muttered, stepping closer to him.

He shook his head. "You're helping him?" he spoke in disappointment. "After everything he put us through. After he let your mom die. After everything I did to stop him?"

"I... I made a mistake. I never should've trusted him," I said, already knowing my words meant nothing to him at this point. "But I'm taking the male. He can't have it."

"The one you helped to create?"

His words made me shiver. "I... She said she wouldn't do it..."

He snorted. "She was a scientist. Of course she wanted to try it."

"I'll tame it, and Grandpa can't get his hands on it. I have your book. I have the binding rock! I have everything I need to–"

"You can't tame it," Dad said, turning his back on me. "He already has a strong bond with someone else."

"Then I'll kill it!"

He laughed and stopped. "You should've stayed as a hunter. Maybe then you could kill it."

"I know how to kill it!" I yelled at him. "I just need..."

"You'd need my sword," he said, patting the heirloom that was hanging off his belt. "But you can't have it. You don't deserve it," he spoke, glancing at me over his shoulder. "You should run. This all is happening because of you, but I'm here to end it."

He continued walking. For some reason, I still needed to prove myself. I was disgusted with myself, even more than he was. I needed to fix things. I needed him to be proud of me.

It was my father. My father, who I thought was dead.

"I swear, I won't let this continue! I want to help you! I know how to end his breeding program and make sure no one else can continue it!"

Dad stopped and turned around to face me. "Help me? After everything you've done?"

I hurried to him. "Yes! We can turn his pets back to normal werewolves. Lena found a way to reverse the transformation. We can use that!"

He looked at me like he saw me in a different light. That felt so good. I didn't want to be a disappointment.

"You mean she found a cure?"

"Yes! It takes some time, but she wrote a journal about it – I hid it with her body so Grandpa couldn't get his hands on it. I don't think he knows it exists!"

"And where is that?"

"I can show you – I just need to get my own journal first. I did the same thing as you did! I wrote one and you need the same decipher to read it," I told him, hoping I had redeemed myself now. "It's in my office. Come, it's this way!"

But he didn't follow me. He stared at me for a moment. Then an explosion made him look away.

"You should run. The enemy is after the wolf, and they will kill you if they find you," he finally said.

"No! Please! Let me help! Let me help!"

"No. Just go," he said and started walking. No matter how many times I yelled after him, he didn't give me a second glance.

I stood there. I wasn't going to run. I had everything I needed to tame that fucking mutt. I needed to use it to save Lena's legacy. I didn't care if it had a bond already! The taming ritual would work!

So I turned around and hurried back to the door. Once I was in, I stopped to glare at the cage at the back. The beast smelled me and started growling and attacking the door.

"You will help me save this place," I muttered in anger, and rushed to a set of drawers where I had stored everything I needed to tame the beast. I grabbed my father's journal. I took the decipher and the necklace I needed to bind the mutt to myself. I already had its blood in a vial.

Everything was ready. I walked in the middle of the room, stepping between the short pillars with the book in my hands. The pillars already had the necessary symbols drawn on them. I poured a small drop of the mutt's blood on each of them, trying to work fast.

I put the book on the middle pillar that was taller than the others. I opened the first page and put the decipher that looked more like a magnifying glass over the first picture to reveal the right symbol and the first part of the spell. I lifted the necklace with a black stone high in the air.

There were five words in a language I didn't recognize. I read them out loud, and the pillar with that specific symbol on it was lit up in green fire. I turned the next page, but that one didn't have a symbol on it. I flipped through the journal until the decipher found the second symbol hidden in the picture of a wolf. I read the six words and the second pillar caught up in flames.

Five more to go.

I found the next symbol, and after I read it, I suddenly felt the beast's angry presence in my mind. Four more. Three more.

And just when I found the second to last symbol, the door behind me got blown open. I cursed loudly, and the fires got blown out since I ruined the spell. The beast started growling louder.

"Killian," a demon with a blue skin hissed at me. He seemed... familiar.

His companion, the red demon we nearly captured this morning, stood behind him, glaring at me with a mad gleam in his eyes.

"That better be Dante," the first one spoke, looking at the cage. "Yes, there's my love... I'll let you out in a minute, baby. Don't worry."

"Not so fast!" I hissed at them, aiming my gun at him.

I knew I didn't stand a chance. The demons knew that, too. It was over for me, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

The blue one smiled at me. "I must thank you," he said, but his voice was full of hate. "Because you killed me, I was able to be born like this."

It took me a few seconds to understand this was the same warlock I'd killed this morning! The one who murdered my love!

"You have Lena's soul! Give it back!"

He laughed. "It's too late now. Her soul was used as a fuel to resurrect me. It's gone now."

"No..." I muttered. "You're lying!"

"I don't need to lie," he said, stepping closer to me. "And that gun won't work on me anymore. You have already lost."

So... If she was already gone, there was no point for me to even try anymore. Her legacy was already burning, too. I had nothing left. Even my own father hated me.

"Then kill me," I said, dropping my weapon.

"No..." the blue one said, walking past me. "That honor is reserved for my love."

I turned to watch him as he stopped in front of the cage. He didn't hesitate even for a second before opening it. My heart nearly stopped in fear.

"Better run," the blue one smiled at me and stepped out of the way.

The beast growled loudly when it forced the door open. It stopped immediately when it spotted the demon only a foot away. It sniffed the air around him, and for a moment, I thought it would attack the demon first, and that I still had enough time to get out of there.

But the beast ignored the demon and turned to see me.

I ran. I ran out of pure instinct. I heard the massive roar. I heard its heavy footsteps coming after me. I ran out of the room and down the hallway as fast as I could. I ran until my feet were no longer touching the ground.

I screamed, but I never had the time to feel the pain.