The assassin of the Snow had Swillow over a log. Citrus held a newspaper in her mouth, before striking Swillow's back repeatedly. "Stop challenging my authority!" she said as the smacks resounded in the distance.

"It wasn't my best idea, I'm sorry!" Swillow shouted with a panicking frown. "But Snofall gave me the idea!"

Citrus' attention snapped to Snofall, who grinned meekly. "I didn't tell her to do anything."

"If you're afraid of fighting me, maybe we can do this some other way?" Swillow turned her head, giving Citrus a silly grin. Citrus narrowed her eyes, and tossed Swillow off the log.

Swillow tried running, but Citrus smacked her thighs and the backs of her ankles. "You are an insufferable, intolerable, ignominious, brainless, reckless, uncouth, vulgar, fat, felonious, moron!"

Swillow winced after each strike. "I'm not that fat!" She pinched at her own midsection, finding some chub. "Okay, fine, but no bodyshaming."

Khrystol and the coyotes watched overhead. With a bite of sarcasm, Khrystol asked, "You guys do know it's night, right?" She saw how bruised up Swillow was, with Spar giving a concerned look. "Also, surprising it's the fatty you're taking on."

"I'm not fat, guys," Swillow said again, looking away with a small yellow blush.

"Anyways-"

"Anyway. Anyways isn't an actual word at all," Snofall said.

Khrystol yanked the newspaper from Citrus and gave a sharp slap across Snofall's neck with it. Snofall grabbed at her throat with a choking sound.

"We're all heading to sleep."

Wasting asked, "Shouldn't there be a guard in case there's an intruder?"

"Like who?" Khrystol asked. "This narrow strip of land barely supports plants. You could find way better land to intrude upon easily. Worst case is someone trying to cross to get to South Torn. And there's much easier, cheaper ways." That got Khrystol thinking. "Say, why did you guys choose this route anyhow?"

"We're criminals," Citrus told her. A Snow had few choices to crossing the ocean. Taking the boats would risk someone noticing them.

"That makes sense, I wouldn't take any public routes either if I was a criminal. How many murderers amongst you?"

Wasting said, "Only Swillow."

Swillow growled at him, but admitted, "Actually, to be fair, I did kill somebody."

"Okay, well do you like murdering?" Khrystol asked. "Because if you're a career killer, we're going to have to have a different conversation."

"No," Swillow said. "I only murder fish, and sometimes a protestor."

"I thought you were a protestor or something," Snofall said, remembering that tidbit of information from an earlier talk.

"I guess someone else doth protested too much," Swillow said in a joking manner, but it felt awkward to everyone else as it didn't ease any tension. "But Citrus and I are planning to escape this dumb war."

The coyote queen walked off. "Who would want to invade this hunk of junk land? Those Canidans are absolutely crazy."

"How does she know we're from Canida?" Wasting asked. "Swillow hasn't even been in Canida for the past few years."

"Don't forget, I loot the place pretty often," Swillow said. "So does Citrus, so I mean, maybe when she sniffed us she noticed the scent?"

Citrus sniffed the pack. "Okay, while Canida doesn't have any official scent, there are some flowers native to Canida. So that means she probably went to Canida herself at some point."

"You can't simply go to Canida for a spell," Swillow said. "It's a place that you stay at, it's not a place you go for a bit of work. Unless you're a fighter or something."

Citrus' eyes widened as an epiphany filled her brain. Swillow couldn't be sure what to make of it. "Say that again, Swillow."

"That again," Swillow said. Citrus was about to clarify, only to realize Swillow was being smart with her. Swillow gave a cheeky grin, only for her cheek to get slapped by a newspaper.

"Stop challenging my authority! But any way, she might be the famous fighter, Khrystol Opyl, the famous gladiator," Citrus said. "She hasn't been seen in a few years."

Wasting said, "But if she was a gladiator, why is she in a dump like this? There's a few pieces of the puzzle missing."

"Let's sleep on it," Snofall said. "It's been a long day." She received three yeas.

Swillow sat atop the hill, sure she had some thinking to do. But as sleep did, it took those thoughts, and transformed them into different thoughts. Some that didn't make sense as her lucidity faded into the dream world.

*

Swillow raised her head, and found herself sniffing a flower. A dark brown coyote held it in his mouth.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she stood up.

"Trying to get somebody to date me before heat season ends, obviously." That wouldn't be over until first week of winter. Which was due any day.

"I don't know if I'm interested in pursuing any romance right now," Swillow said. "But maybe I am open to a quick..." She trailed off as her ears perked up.

Almost silent footsteps, but then clearly a sound almost like metal in bone, no exactly. She knew that sound. Swillow whispered, "Do you hear that?"

"I heard that you were about to say something before you trailed off..." Fayldspar muttered.

Spar ascended to the top of the hill and she followed. Both saw several sniped violats, downed by unknown assailants. The wolf and coyote noticed crimsons. They ducked, but Swillow got closer to listen in. She also saw a palanquin with some light inside of it.

Several crimsons carried a palanquin into the nearest clearing. King Talizarin rested his head on a fist. The unconscious violat bodies provided manuevering obstacles.

His main assistants, Lazar and Cardynal, played cards on the bottom of the palanquin. Dryph perched on top of the throne, like an ornamental decoration.

"You'll be getting paid handsomely if you're information is correct," the king said. "But if not, then you're fired. This is the middle of the night."

Dryph said, "You probably should have slept before we embarked, your majesty." The king growled at her, raised his scepter, and struck her on the beak. She squawked loudly, but shut her mouth.

Spar said, "This is bad." He ran down the hill, and tapped on Khrystol. "Talizarin!"

Khrystol's eyes broke open. "Talizarin, everybody on the alert!" Khrystol shouted. She stumbled up.

The pack and the coyotes lurched upwards.

"I thought we left that punk behind," Citrus said.

Wasting said, "Guess it's hard to keep a good dog down." He watched the violats hiss and run. "I also guess they're not fighters much, are they?"

Talizarin walked out the palanquin. Dryph flew out and perched on the palanquin's roof.

"How many of you expected that I was going to do this?" Dryph asked, only to get raised brows from everybody in the pack.

"Like, literally all of us," Citrus said, snarling at the bird.

"I thought you couldn't trust those guys, such as Mage, because they scammed you," Wasting said. "Why would you trust the hermit?"

"You think that they're all from the same faction?" Talizarin tapped the scepter on the ground. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, they were from the same faction. It's called Syenna's order. Those rogues may still use the name, but they are not from the order. Now, do any of you know who Syenna is?"

Swillow lurked behind the guards, growling while her tail swished around. She lit herself like a candle, and ran forward. In her dash, nobody could anticipate her as she went straight for the king.

"I think I know who does, and it's you." Talizarin whipped around, scepter striking Swillow across the face, knocking her back.

Swillow grunted, a yellow line across her side from where Talizarin hit. Talizarin crouched down to get face to face with Swillow.

"Screw you," Swillow said, her voice raspy.

"I've been waiting for this opportunity, Swillow. You and I, finally get to go face to face in a fight. But this is not at all as dignified as it should be..." He stood up, and clapped twice, making the guards scatter.

A circle of a hundred feet surrounded the two. "How about the fate of everybody here rests in whether or not you win this fight?"

Swillow said, "When I win, it will be your grave, do you understand that?" To finally get the crimsons to stop following them, any measure was necessary. She stood up.

"We all know you don't have a killer instinct," Talizarin said. "I know a killer instinct, and you stopped too soon."

Wasting glanced at Citrus and asked her, "What is he talking about?"

"Syenna is Talizarin's sister that Swillow attacked during one of our raids," Citrus said.

Wasting said, "Of course she is." Seemed like Swillow caused her own problems once again, but Wasting knew better than to let this situation settle itself.

"Standard Vytyl rules of combat," Talizarin said. "The first one who can't stand up to the count of ten loses. Do you agree to that?"

Swillow considered her options. She refused, and they attacked. She fought, and Talizarin wouldn't keep his word, and they attacked. Or perhaps he'd keep his word.

"She doesn't."

Talizarin glanced as Wasting approached, keeping a slow but steady pace. Wasting took a breath. "She has a partner, and it's going to be me and her, versus you and somebody else."

Swillow's mouth fell open.

"In that case, Lazar." Talizarin clapped his hands and the smaller of his two assistants stood by his side. "Let the war begin."

One crimson would referee the fight. The dires couldn't say anything against it. All four competitors would fight at the same time. Magic was allowed, interventions from others weren't. First to have an ally who couldn't get up to ten lost, and anyone who fell into the water lost.

Fight began. Wasting bit down on Lazar's arm. Sharp teeth dug in. Feeling a flash of panic, Lazar dropped punches and elbows against Wasting's back. The small hits didn't affect Wasting as he circled. Lazar tripped into the mud, and Wasting pressed Lazar's arm against his back.

Swillow charged Talizarin, but Talizarin cartwheeled over her back. After executing a perfect landing, he bowed. Swillow growled.

Second charge, Swillow lit herself aflame. Talizarin slipped underneath her, put her arm over his shoulder, and suplexed her. She bumped into Wasting, forcing both to tumble away.

Crap, that wasn't intended. Wasting gave her an odd look, and she gave an indignant glare back. She didn't aim for him.

Talizarin brushed away some spare flames on his coat. Lazar flashed him a thumbs up.

Wasting whispered to Swillow, and she grinned. She ran for Lazar, turning into a black blur. Lazar kicked at her, but she stopped five feet beforehand. Wasting jumped onto her back, and used her as a platform.

Wasting landed on Lazar, impacting him with over two hundred pounds of wolf.

Swillow grinned. That should have crushed him. Lazar clutched at his stomach and struggled when standing up.

Talizarin went after Swillow, but Swillow did a horse buck, catching him in the jaw with both feet. The audible click of teeth filled the air.

During his staggered state, she swiveled to give a massive slap to his ribs. Massive thump, with a red bruise accompanying.

Progress swung back in their favor. Swillow held her head higher.

Talizarin turned and saw Wasting attempting another submission by placing Lazar's arm against his back again. Talizarin put Wasting in a full nelson.

Wasting growled as Talizarin kept a hold of him. Lazar reeled back, and did a roundhouse kick across Wasting's jaw. Talizarin dropped him.

The referee counted. Swillow's tail swished and waved as she growled, before she howled. She ran after Lazar, looking to bite him. She'd suck his soul straight out.

Lazar gave her a roundhouse kick, catching the back of her ear. She felt the air rush in, almost ear drum rupturing. She backed off, momentum ruined.

Talizarin jumped onto a rock and did a 360 flip onto Swillow. Her lower body pressed into the dead ground.

Reassessing the situation, she understood now these two were acrobatic. Crimsons had weak bodies. One could easily be downed in a few moves. But Crimsons had lanky, strong limbs, which they used to their advantages.

Wasting stood at the count of five, still in. He went after Lazar, who grappled with him. Lazar pushed Wasting away.

Talizarin leapfrogged over Lazar. He locked his arms with Wasting's midsection, hooked Wasting's arms with his legs, and using core strength and momentum, inverted their positions.

Wasting crashed onto his shoulders. Talizarin used his legs to figure four Wasting's body.

"I shall now play the songs of my peoples!" Talizarin slapped Wasting on the bottom like he was playing bongos.

"Stop that!" Wasting demanded, with a yellow blush across his face. Actually, he kinda liked it...

Talizarin released and stood back up. Him and Lazar bowed again, only to get the crap knocked out of them by a rampaging Swillow. The sheer force of her big body threw them almost ten feet in either direction.

Wasting ran after Talizarin. He stood up, and Talizarin retaliated by jumping onto Wasting's shoulder. The crimson swung, both legs forward, and used the momentum to flip Wasting over. Wasting's head slammed into a rock.

The pack gasped as blood leaked from Wasting's head.

The count got to ten easily.

*

Tanzanto wasn't on her proudest day right now, as she was back in the Decay. The escape hadn't been a bust, all six hyenas had been successfully transported out. Nobody knew that she and Hemato were mages who had quite a few powers of her own. But that wasn't stopping her boss from yelling at her like any boss did. Too bad not every boss happened to be an Ascended Hyena queen.

Hemato stood by her side during the scolding, adopting a submissive posture. Rubay walked circles around them, her claws clacking on the marble floor of the palace. A silent wind gently ruffled and tugged at the canary tapestries. She searched for new words to call them for their failures.

"How could you spill your plans to some random wolves and to the Slaughterhound!?"

"In all fairness," Tanzanato said, "we didn't think she'd be inclined to help out Canida..."

"Spur of the moment, you decide it's best to ask her," Rubay said, sounding like she accepted it. "She is an incredible ally, but you have to wait. You have to get her convinced first. Instead, you rushed it, and now we've lost somebody."

"Technically, we never had her," Hemato said. "You can't lose something you didn't have, that's a sunk cost."

"A sunk cost is having a son," Rubay shot at him. "Shouldn't you be, I don't know, making us more babies or something?"

Hemato blinked, and his ears pressed to his head.

Tanzanato growled at her. "You can't say that to him, Rubay! I'm not going to allow you to bully my friend or my peoples."

"I'll treat you all however I need to treat you until I get results." Rubay advanced towards Tanzanato, and the littler hyena backed up from the impressive frame of the queen.

The desert would be freezing that night. Winter's appearance would include rainfall. Still, Decay was always a desert. No cacti or anything. Decaydian hyenas stayed fed only from fish at salty lakes, and the salt in their diets gradually decreased their health.

"Do the canine kingdoms know?" Rubay asked.

"That's questionable," Tanzanato said. "If they're still in crimson custody, then I doubt it. The crimsons might relay a message, but at the same time, never can be too cautious."

"If I may," Hemato said, voice inching over a whisper, "We're also gotten notice that the queen of the wolf kingdom is coming to talk to you, Rubay."

Rubay's ears perked up. "Is that right? That means we'll have to set our trap up soon. In this case especially, as we don't know if she's knows we know she knows... How does that work?"

Hemato said, "We don't know if she knows about our plan."

"Got it."

"We haven't had enough death for the crystals to charge," Tanzanato said. "We need a massacre to happen."

"Kill off some of those useless crimsons," Rubay said. "Case closed."

"How do you think that will happen?" Tanzanato asked.

Rubay thought and sat on her big bottom. "Way I see it, I can either trust you to make your own plan, or I can make one for you as I'm a superior leader."

Tanzanato growled at her. Five years prior, Rubay beat Tanzanato, but the news never spread. The Decay and Hyenkayd were far enough East that the West heard almost nothing about it. Canidans never ventured out their own territory, and those who did were exiles. They had no reason to tell the homeland, evne if they did find out.

Rubay said, "Thank goodness I've set out to fix this land like I always do."

Hemato watched Tanzanato recoil. Even if he suffered abuse at the hands of Rubay, he couldn't standby as Tanzanato did. He stood up, proud for once and said, "You are the worst queen that we've had. You only got this job by removing Tanzanato, and while she's bowing to you, I won't. You have to do way more than you have to gain my respect."

"How about I give her a part of her dead kingdom back?" Rubay asked. "It's only been dead for, what, about five years now? How about this, she can have what's around the dead parts, long as you do something for your girlfriend for once instead of her doing everything for you? How's that sounds right now?"

Hemato told her, "I can do anything you need me to, because I'll do anything that Tanzanto needs for her kingdom back. I had many opportunities before a bitch like you took over."

Rubay laughed. "Then stage a revolution. Break select crimson prisoners out. Assuming a male like you can even be competent." She gave an exaggerated scoff to piss him off.

"In Tandyar, you will be breaking out Syenna's Order, Faction Zero. They'll join a revolutionary program against their king."

Hemato glanced over at Tanzanato. She shook her head, not wanting to encourage him. This was a dangerous task. Too many officers walked around.

But Hemato knew Tanzanato deserved some of her kingdom back.

"I choose to accept your mission, Queen Rubay."

---