The guard opened the door of the cage and ran back as fast as he could, expecting the ape to jump outside and kill Vreil instantly. Much to his surprise, it didn’t. Instead, the guard was now more scared of Vreil, even though he didn’t know why.

In the ape’s primitive mind, everything was blurry. Until now, it had wanted to get out of its cage and kill all those small creatures that had trapped it. But now that the cage door was open, another obstacle was in its way, a small prey like the others. Yet, the ape was cautious.

Because what it felt from this small being was the same as what it felt from the biggest apes of his pack. But unlike the other apes, this creature was weak. So weak it could easily tear him apart. So why did he seem so scary?

Following his instinct, the ape carefully stepped outside his cage and approached the human, who was now making some sounds the ape couldn’t understand. Then, as the ape was getting ready to finally attack the human, it heard screams, and suddenly the place was swarming with its darkest nightmares. Whimpering and terrified, the ape ran back to its cage and closed the door. Luckily, it locked as soon as it closed.

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Vreil stood in front of the cage while the guard unlocked the door. He was using the trick Ashter had taught him, forcing emotions on others, to intimidate the ape. When the door opened and there was nothing between Vreil and the ape, Vreil managed to not step back. It was a terrifying feeling, like when a big dog angrily stares at you, but apparently the ape was feeling the same. Vreil waited, perfectly still, staring the ape in the eyes until it slowly approached him.

“They trapped you, didn’t they?” he said calmly. He was planning to turn the ape against the elves. “I don’t want to fight you. Help me, and we can both escape.” Of course, he had no guarantee the ape could understand him, but he had to at least try something, even if it seemed stupid.

Otherwise, this monstrosity would tear him apart.

Suddenly, the elves started screaming, and the ape ran back into his cage. Vreil looked around and saw big cat-like things killing the elves. They resembled tigers, but smaller, and their fur was white and... fluffy?

They had big, sharp teeth and claws, and their eyes had vertical irises, like the eyes of a snake. They had almost surrounded the room, killing anyone in their way extremely violently, yet silently. So far, they hadn’t made a single sound. Forgetting the ape, Vreil rushed to his friends. The guards had long since run away, so Sting and Heartilia had already stood up. Fortunately, their legs hadn’t been tied.

They had no idea what was going on and they were panicking, but they knew what they had to do. Get out of here, and fast.

Surprisingly, the exit had no beasts around it, so they ran for it as fast as they could. Three of the beasts came after them as soon as they had exited the room. The glass, behind which was the audience, was now painted red.

Putting his sword away, Vreil picked Heartilia up in his arms and ran as fast as he could, using the body strengthening magic to its fullest. They were now running at a speed that would make them crash into the wall if there were any turns, but luckily there weren’t.

Sting looked back, expecting to see the beasts far behind them. Instead, he discovered that their strong legs had helped them close the distance. He looked in front of him again and saw that an old man was standing in the middle of the path they were running in. He wanted to yell at him to run, but he had no breath to spare.

Running at full speed, Vreil and Sting split down the middle of the path and tried to move close to the walls of stone to avoid hitting the old man. When they approached him, a lot of things happened at once.

Raising his hands at his sides, the old man looked at them. Images of terror, death, and blood paraded through their heads. Heartilia lost consciousness almost immediately, while Vreil and Sting stumbled and stopped as their worst memories surfaced in their minds.

Now the man, who no longer looked old and weak, opened his mouth, and they saw that he wasn’t a human either. His mouth was full with many rows of small, sharp teeth. He turned his hands towards them and beams of blue light came out of them, making Vreil and Sting unable to move as the beasts pounced on them from behind.

They would have died right there and then.

Suddenly, the wall on their right cracked open as Ashter came flying through and fell on the man, pushing him through the other wall. Roaring with a sound that made the walls that still remained near them vibrate, the beasts followed Ashter through the wall. “RUN” shouted the wizard, followed by the deafening sound of lightning and thunder. Vreil and Sting, utterly confused, began running again. They went through the hole that Ashter had made on the wall and found a long corridor.

They were absolutely lost; all they knew, was that they had to run.

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Turning right towards a faint light, they dashed again. From the hole behind them, out came the beasts again. Vreil thought that probably meant the old man didn’t need help dealing with Ashter, but he had no time to think more about it as he ran with all he had, still carrying the unconscious Heartilia in his hands.

Three more beasts appeared in front of them, and the two humans stopped. So did the beasts chasing them. Everyone was standing still, listening to screams coming from every direction - which, in a tunnel, means from all two directions. From behind them, they could hear the loud sounds of Ashter’s fight with the other man.

Sting was claustrophobic. He hadn’t told them because he didn’t have to, but now that they were in an enclosed, underground, narrow space and he was probably going to die here, his legs were shaking and his head felt dizzy. He had to get out of here. The beasts attacked them, all six at once from both sides. An elf appeared behind a corner, being chased by another of the beasts. Vreil was standing there, frozen in the face of death, holding Heartilia in his arms.

He was shaken awake by Sting's desperate scream. With no time to be cautious, he dropped Heartilia to the ground and drew his sword.

The beasts were strong. Too strong, and too fast. Sting and Vreil barely had any time to react to their attacks, and they were facing three of them each. In but a few exchanges, both of them had lost their swords and had been pushed back-to-back, bleeding from several light wounds. They had considered themselves strong, but they could barely be a match for one of the beasts, and there were so many.

If only I was stronger... they both thought as death loomed over them.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by them as the beasts growled and fell back. Vreil and Sting saw a group of elven riders rush their way from further down the tunnels. They immediately stuck to the walls, Vreil barely having time to grab Heartilia too, and managed to avoid getting trampled. The beasts roared but the horses had pieces of wool in their ears, so most managed to keep moving. The wall of riders stormed the six beasts and a chaotic battle ensued.

Prime Minister Snaker appeared, following the riders. Vreil and Sting never expected they would be so happy to see the man. They wanted to join the battle, but the riders and the horses formed a wall in front of them, blocking even their sight. All they could hear was the screams and roars of the battle.

Eventually, things calmed down enough that they could see behind the riders. A carpet of elven and horse corpses now decorated the tunnel, with the corpse of a beast interspersed every now and then. Even though they had participated in a battle before, Vreil and Sting immediately vomited on the floor.

In the enclosed space of the tunnel, the stench of blood, gore, and shit from those who had lost control of their bodily functions, coupled with the screams of the wounded, was nearly impossible to endure, but they managed to focus and notice that the tens of riders had been almost halved by the seven beasts.

A massive boom rang out from where they assumed Ashter was located and parts of the wall began to collapse.

They turned towards where the elves had come from and prepared to run for it, only to see Snaker's face pale and his eyes going wide with fear. They turned around again, only to see a group of at least ten of the beasts sprinting in their direction. Their entire bodies were dripping with blood, once belonging to the elves in the arena.

Once again, they ran as fast as they could, Vreil carrying Heartilia. Snaker with his horse, Vreil, and Sting were in front, with the riders close behind them. The horses were panicking and running at full speed, but Sting's and Vreil's speed with body strengthening magic wasn't inferior to theirs. If it was, they would be trampled. The horses wouldn't stop for them.

The beasts, though, were faster. They quickly caught up to the slowest riders and started picking them off one by one, throwing them and their horses on the floor and then continuing ahead. One of the beasts was lagging behind the others to finish off the riders and horses the other beasts had thrown on the floor. Despite their seemingly animalistic nature, they operated with frightening efficiency.

After less than a minute, only a handful of riders remained, with the beasts constantly gaining ground on them. Vreil and Sting were panting, exhaustion creeping up on them, but magic and survival instinct helped them keep going.

At some point, Prince Alexander and some more riders came out of a side passage and joined up with their group. They would have considered turning around on the beasts, but Alexander's group also had a group of beasts after them. Alexander himself was missing an arm.

The riders were being picked off even faster now and, soon, only two of them remained, with Vreil, Sting, Snaker, and Alexander a bit ahead of them. Snaker and Alexander had the best horses, of course. Sting and Vreil, who were running on foot, were seeing white and almost falling to the ground. They could hear the blood banging in their heads, while nothing but sheer willpower kept them going.

They made a turn. A cold fear crept from their feet to the top of their heads, and despair gripped their hearts as they ran into a dead end. The horses panicked, Vreil and Sting turned around to see the beasts hot on their heels. In desperation, they drew their swords to make a last stand but were immediately overwhelmed. Vreil suffered a deep gash on his thigh and fell to the ground. At least I died fighting, he thought. He saw Prince Alexander's head being sent flying.

Sting had the air blown out of his lungs as his back hit the wall with enough force to break bones. His vision was blurry and his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He could feel a broken bone puncturing his internal organs, close to his heart. His sword fell to the ground, and he could no longer move his body.

As he closed his eyes to wait for death, he was full of resentment and regret. Up to his final moments, he still had no idea what was going on. What the hell were these damn monsters? All of his dreams, ambitions, hopes, desires, fears, secrets, emotions... All of his past and his future was taken away and stolen forever.

An image of Sayfire holding a dagger flashed in his mind, and he remembered how he wanted her. As his life flashed in front of his eyes, he could see many things he had not noticed before. He had slaughtered innocents for his revenge. Now he regretted it. Sayfire had blushed. He regretted never telling her she was the only woman he had ever been attracted to. So many things he had done wrong... But now it was too late to fix them. What a shitty way to go, he thought as death slowly yet surely reached him.

And then a bright, blinding light engulfed his body and mind. An aged roar flooded the corridor, brimming with untold power. “NO!”