Blood Trials
The Last Stand

No! No, that's impossible, Ninsun roared. You cannot keep secrets from us! We have invaded every aspect of your mind! All you know, we know. We all would have seen right through this deception as if it were a stream of the purest water. Such power is not at possible to some pigheaded human girl. Not one who has housed such godly powers for meek few months. You have never been able to hide anything from us, how have you managed it this time? I demand answers, girl! Ridley inhaled sharply wiping away her tears. She sighed. Answer me!

Ridley looked around her bedroom a final time; regardless of the outcome, it would be her last time in it ever. Silent as death, she pried her window open. The Source dried the last of her tears. "I'm sorry, Dominique," she whispered. She stepped out of the reconditioned tower.

Ridley clutched her quiver - at her hip - tighter then tip-toed sideways across her windowsill. She slid down the rain spout. She exhaled lightly before looking to the manor behind her. Steeling herself off, the huntress took to a full sprint down the cobblestone, staying away from the streetlamps that lit the way. She passed the gardens on either side of the road that isolated the headmaster's residence from the rest of the school.

Dunon Academy, since it was summer, was empty. In the dark of the night, without the lanterns on, it was also creepy! The driveway from the main gate was especially unpleasant with the dead silence. Not a cricket was heard, not when six canine figures were clustered close by. Not when hunters were on patrol too. Ridley by passed them nonchalantly; by the time word got back to Clarke and Esmeralda; they would have been long gone anyway.

By the van - white with DUNON ACADEMY serving excellence since 1874 in black on the side - waited the colony's finest, along with Marie Chasseur and Dane Sorensen. Dunon, the fort, was much older than that. It was the school that was 148 years old. The fort was built well over 500 years ago, marking the unofficial start to the Gold Scourge. For last eight years, it played home to Ridley and Ryan and now that era had ended, like the Scourges.

"I have to say, Riddles, you had me convinced," Marie commented. "I actually believed you." The Source only swallowed. “Here, you’re going to need these,” she went on, handing Ridley a quiver with colour-coded arrows. "I took the liberty of bulletproofing the polycarbonate quiver for you."

Ridley side eyed the quiver at her hip. “I think I’m all set, Chasseur.”

“No, you’re not.”

You should take that, the åse sang. Ridley huffed at the white wolf but still obeyed. An impressive craftsman, this young woman. These tools will prove invaluable.

“Don’t stroke her ego,” Ridley jeered. “Chasseur’s head is big enough as it is. We wouldn’t want her to stretch out her T-shirts.” Marie only tilted her head smugly as Ridley unbuckled her belt quiver for Marie's back quiver. "What difference do your arrows make, anyway?"

"Can't say. It's part of the plan."

Ridley cast her own quiver into the van's rear. She looked around at her forces, soured but determined. Her eyes set on Dane. She only cleared her throat. "Look," he began, "about what I said yesterday..."

"I needed it look believable," Ridley cut in. "We can discuss it later," she replied coldly then brushed passed him.

That's one way to end a courtship, Earnest started. Ridley rolled her eyes. Ms Axel, do you not feel some way about giving him false hope that there will be a later for your relationship? Ridley felt the rue pumping throughout Dane and bit back her empathy. Ah, I see.

"Just what are you doing?" The unit whipped passed the van. Marie pointed a gun, like Dane did. Ridley notched an arrow. She did a double take from its head. The colony crouched ready for attack, aimed at the streetlamp too. Calista stood with her arms folded. "Go. I'll keep your parents distracted." Ridley didn't lower her bow but everyone else stood down. "Go take the fuckers who killed my son."

"And Ankh?"

Marie looked at the arrow Ridley had drawn. The huntress set her hand on Ridley's bow arm, pointing it down. Calista sighed. "She's still my daughter, Dane," the goldblood replied. "Bring her home if you can, but if you can't..." Calista hugged herself. "I can't hold that decision against you. Any of you," she added looking to Ridley. "Now, go."

Marie got into the driver's seat, with Ridley on the passenger side. Dane and the colony's best were in the back, tightly huddled from the canine forms. Ridley admired the arrow. It looked like a blunt point arrowhead; the tip was a flat surface but along the front of the shaft, that had a narrow canister around it. "What is this?"

"Trick arrow. Smoke bomb," was all Marie said. "My father used make them exclusively for the Hunter Olympics' capture-the-flag event. Before non-hunters decided to enforce their morals on us."

"Claude Chasseur was one of the best archers of the twentieth century. I'm sorry you lost him."

"Anyway," Marie sang sadly as they took a turn. Her dark green eyes didn't waver from the road. "Nice job with the tears. I actually believed you."

"They weren't fake," Ridley mumbled loud enough for Marie to hear. She looked over to the passenger seat, sizing up her counterpart.

Ridley inclined her chin then inhaled sharply. Marie saw - out of the corner of her eye - Ridley taking in the arrow all over again. She set it back into the quiver. She could feel Dane watching her but looked out the window at the passing nighttime scenery. The Source shut her eyes, searching for the N-Gen building. She hummed, feeling the silver block her out. It made her head throb but still searched around.

Strulovitch's office was the only weak spot, per the norm. Whether he did to conduct fair research or to intentionally let Ridley in, was anyone's guess. Regardless, Ridley could see the heated argument between the shabby goldblood doctor and the goldblood Viking. Ridley looked around, not seeing Ankh anywhere. She bit her lip then looked back to the feud. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"They are people, Strulovitch, not your slaves! I told you not to do this."

"You have no vision! Think of the possibilities, Viggo. Think! They make capturing the Source so much easier. I could replace whole militaries, hunters themselves even! And they will all answer to you if you allow me to--"

"No!"

"But..."

"I said, 'no'! End it. Immediately."

Strulovitch's down-pointed face only nodded. "Have it your way, ikon," he stated.

Strulovitch lifted the dog whistle around his neck to his lips. Ridley's lips parted as she heard rapid footfalls coming their way. Bolting inside came Logan - in his human form - making Ridley gasp. With him, was Delphine and her twin Josephine, also human. There was a blankness in their eyes as they crossed the doctor's office.

"Lock him in his office. Unless you're willing to harm children, Viggo."

"Oh God," Ridley breathed. "Strulovitch perfected hive mind. He's controlling the children."

"How?"

"He's psionically linked to all of them."

"Again, how?"

"I don't know, Sorensen!"

"This changes nothing," Marie declared. "We stick to the plan. With the added goal of putting a bullet in that man's head."

"You don't know what that will do to them," Dane pressed. "We keep him alive until we figure it out. Then you can take him out."

Ridley sighed then looked out of Strulovitch's office, watching the unnaturally strong children drag Viggo off. "He's locking Viggo in his office, Sorensen."

"Where is it?"

"I don't know. He's never in it."

"Would Ankh know?"

"If she does, what makes you sure she'll share?"

"Does he have her under hive mind too?"

"I don't think so, Chasseur," the Source answered. "It was designed for the children therianthropes. It's as inorganic as they are. I doubt it would work on them. But let's assume Strulovitch has them under his control too."

Don't call those monstrosities therianthropes, Falk declared. Those are werebeasts.

"Is there a difference?"

Werebeast is an affliction much like your mangey friend, Ankh. Therianthrope is the natural ability to go between human, humanoid, and animal.

"That's like saying there's a difference between ampyra and vampire!"

"Hey," Dane jeered. "Rude."

"Eyes up," Marie declared and killed the van's headlights. Up ahead, under bright lights, was a sign reading: N-Gen Pharmaceuticals Preserve the Next Generation. Ridley felt her palms get clammy with her heart getting faster. Marie came to a halt just before the checkpoint. "Ears up," she ordered as she set the example by plugging in her earpiece. "I set us up on a frequency off-grid from Dunon's."

"Town or Academy?"

"Both, pretty boy." Marie got out first, looking around. "Alright, Riddles, go 'round the west side. Wait for my signal by the water's levee. And have the arrow with blue feathers at the ready. You'll know it when you see it."

The Source swallowed hard looking around. Swiftly she obeyed, disregarding the van and its occupants. Tears swelled in her eyes as she pushed on. She left the van and the sign behind her, pressing her earpiece in. She followed the lights around the bean-shaped pool through the darkness and thick cluster of trees. The damp ground, mostly mud, didn't waver her knee-length lace up boots. 16cm heels and it felt as if she could easily be wearing sneakers, thanks to Dominique's lessons.

The leather boots over the leather pants, that had all sort of knives strapped to it, a black quarter-sleeve bustier, and the deer pendant crest of the house of du Luq were all markers of the great Dominique du Luq. Until Ridley grazed her pendant. The pendant that was once Renee's until Dominique gave it to her. That, along with the du Luq family motto: Ante Deum Asto; I Stand Before God.

Ridley came to the water and its manmade levee. Just beyond the light surrounding the water, came deep humming. Ridley, quietly receded to the noise. An old-school power box. She further followed Marie’s directions and drew the arrow with blue feathers from her back quiver. She shone the tip towards the light, only to find an iron nail, in place of an arrowhead. Under the insulation tape, she could feel the battery, along with the wire coiled tightly around the nail and shaft.

What does she intend for you to do with this? Restore a faulty bolt, Onuris pressed.

Ridley looked to the building, sensing Marie's borderline sadistic delight. She had disabled the elevator's inner doors. The button that was lit was for the top floor. As the elevator ascended, Marie planted homemade grenades on the outer elevator doors. The Source watched until the button for the third floor dinged. Marie climbed out the roof panel. Ridley watched her grab hold of the beam near the ceiling.

Marie giggled giddily to herself as she rested on it. "Standby, Riddles," she sang softly. Ridley drew back her drawstring. Ridley felt Dane and the colony hiding in the shadows of the parking area's entrance. Marie unearthed a detonator. "I've longed to do this," she cheered. She blew out the elevator doors. The bow string strained from Ridley's full draw. The alarms sounded! Search lights started flashing. "All you, Riddles."

She fired. The blast blew her to the edge of the levee. Darkness followed. "A homemade EMP?" There was no reply. Ridley groaned as she rolled over. "Only this time, Chasseur: not bad."

"Now I'm glad my radio is recording everything! Move out," she declared. "Back up power is already starting up. Ridley, take the west. Use the green feathered-arrows on groups of therians and red feathered-arrows on individual therians."

"You put them in a back quiver!" Ridley sighed then removed the quiver to see the two coloured feathers separated. With standard razor arrows between them. She huffed then rolled her eyes.

The Source bolted towards the building, a notched arrow at the ready. Her mind went back to Esmeralda. Long before she and Clarke ever married; when she still wore her hair in its natural colour. She offered to watch them while he was at a university lecture. Esmeralda took Ridley and Ryan to the park for target practice. The string on her bow failed and Esmeralda showed her how to set it.

Tears burned in her eyes but the Source didn't slow down. She came to the front of the building. Security guards in armoured uniform were lining the front. She only smirked. She turned the spyscope on her bow to its most zoomed in setting. Taking a deep breath, she aimed. She aligned herself to them. A growl came behind her. Ridley released her breath. She fired. She spun around!

The bow's body pressed into the hyenian's chest. He growled then grabbed her at the waist. Ridley reached for the extreme side of the broad quiver, grabbing a red-feathered arrow. The hyenian arched her over his head. She fired into his shoulder. He dropped her. She notched a second, aiming expectantly. The hyenian huffed as he back away, ripping out the arrow.

He caved onto his knees, turning human again. The dark-skinned man looked up at her then fell over. "What's in the red ones?" As she spoke, Ridley pulled out an aforementioned arrow, seeing a tranquilizer syringe head.

"A concentrated dose of the Sorensen family neurotoxin, along with quintamine," Marie stated. She let out a battle cry. Ridley saw her tackle a guard to the ground, then pepper spray him. "I used the samples of Morgan's blood and all your insights to put together a chemical compound for the regression drug. One of my father's designs; the impact acts as the plunge. Groovy, right?"

Ridley bit her lower lip and turned to where she shot her first arrow when the back up light came on. A line of dead security guards. An arrow struck right in the side of their car. She hurried passed them and into the building. Ridley drew two standard arrows from her quiver whilst rushing up the stairs. Two guards were behind the front desk, looking at their monitors. On screen, they saw the Source on approach. When they looked up, she came in arrows notched.

"That's her!"

One guard reached for his radio, one held up a gun. She fired, shooting both arrows at the guard with the radio. The gunman fired. Ridley grabbed her karambit and flung it at the guard. She exhaled then looked down to her ribs. The bullet went through her tactical armour. She gasped, feeling a sensation resonate throughout her body. Gods above! We've been shot with silver. Retreat, immediately! Ridley gasped then pulled her karambit from the man's eye.

Performing an impromptu surgery, she fished it out. "They're using silver ammunition," she said into her earpiece.

"Are you hit," Dane pressed. Ridley saw him wrestling guards and medical staff alike.

Ridley notched another sharp arrow into her bow after she put away her curved blade. Ignoring him, she modelled deeper into the facility. She let herself into an elevator and made for the second floor. Ridley ran a hand over the tips of her arrows, roughly counting. She seethed, cupping her bullet wound over her lower abdomen. She leaned into the mirror, taking a deep breath.

Ms Axel, we should...

"No," she grunted. "I'm seeing this through."

"Ridley? Are you hit," Dane pressed. He screamed.

Ridley saw him impaled on exposed iron rod in a demolished concrete pillar. He's badly injured. He needs help, Falk stated. Ridley hit the elevator's stop button. Reconfiguring it to go down. Ridley looked around the parking area where they were, heavily surrounded by therians, adults and children alike.

"Chasseur, what's in the green arrows?"

"Use one and find out."

"Not the time for your games! Sorensen is..."

"You're the one who can't be in the know with this plan, Axel." Ridley sighed then exchanged her arrows. "Just don't breathe it in." The Source scoffed with a furrow in her eyebrows when she examined the arrow; it was the one she pointed at Calista. She gasped at that.

Dominique and Clarke were yelling abundantly at Calista. Ahmed too was enraged by his wife's thinking. Mariska was swaddling a sleepy Rowan in her arms, in the next room, and Esmeralda joined the argument. The Source looked around, feeling the sheer anxiety radiating off her family. She saw it especially on Dominique's reddened face that was drenched in tears.

The ding in the elevator made her concentration return to the task at hand. She notched the arrow, tuning her spyscope. The doors parted. She cantered - tilted - her bow, watching the carnage appear. She let out a blaring whistle. A horde of therianthropes turned to her. She fired. Faintly green smoke burst from it. "Smoke bombs? How the holy Hell is that helpful!"

"It's vaporised catnip mixed with the neurotoxin." Marie's fun went off repeatedly then she grunted, opening a cell. "I've the last of the wounded kids."

"How many?" Ridley fired rapidly at oncoming therianthropes.

"Two," Marie admitted. "The therian kids are MIA."

"Try Strulovitch's office. Take the next right, fourth door on your left."

Ridley spun over a foxen's shoulder. The body of her bow strangled him. A wolfen - thick brown and gold fur - grabbed her and flung her into a brand-new white Alpha Romero. Ridley drew a dart arrow and fired it at her. A whimper came from the front of the car, that faced the wall. The huntress, drawing another tranquiliser, flipped over the roof. She drew her string. A light brown wolfen in his primal form huddled between the car. The grey matches were identical to the light brown highlights on Morgan's grey coat.

"Logan," she breathed.

A paw stabbed her through her ribs. She flung the Source into Falk, primal form. The ikon had a car door over his head. The impact dropped it onto Ridley. She wheezed under the door. Falk leaped over her at the hyenian and slashed at his neck. His jaws then clutched around his throat. Falk's strong paws ripped the arms clean off. Ridley groaned when a dismembered arm splattered blood on her face from Falk tossing it.

The Source tried to push the door off her. A hyenian pranced on the door, examining her. The black nose sniffed her face. The tips of her fingers were fishing for her karambit. "Where is Morgan," Tsakani bellowed.

Ridley breathed her relief. "He's fine. He's with my parents." Tsakani snarled lowly, lowering his ears. He weighed his options. "Strulovitch is controlling the children. He's got them under a hive mind psionic." Tsakani licked his snout then tossed the car door aside. Grey blood had splattered on the sleek ground, pouring out of her. "How did Logan wake up from it?"

"I don't know," the distorted voice answered.

Ridley looked around. "Get him to the first floor. Marie's evacuating the children. Tell her I sent you." Ridley fired an arrow passed him. The coppery fox didn't slow down. "Stay with him. We'll reunite them." Ridley fired another tranquiliser at the fox. Then a third, and a fourth.

Tsakani nodded then pulled the Alpha Romero away to reveal the huddled primal form. The little wolfen - that stood taller than Ridley - followed the hyenian through the parking area. Ridley watched the foxen cave to the ground. He wheezed then went human. His form crumbled before he went into a seizure.

"Shit," Ridley sang. Dane roared his pain from paws lodged into his spine. The Source gasped, feeling the jackalen's paws tearing into his back. "Double shit." She spun and fired lethal arrows into the jackal that stood on its hind legs. She fired a tranquilser too. "Oh, come on," she jeered.

Ridley set her bow over her shoulder as she ran towards them. She drew matching daggers. She stabbed the jackal in the shoulders. She started stabbing repeatedly. A meaty paw drabbed her throat. He held her up, next to Dane. She threw a dagger at its throat. She stabbed at his hand. The grip on her throat tightened. She grabbed a tranquiliser and jabbed it into the paw. The jackalen tossed Dane to the floor. He set a thick foot on his chest.

Ridley grabbed another tranquilser and jabbed it into his arm. "Pathetic little girl."

She wrapped her legs around the wrist and twisted herself in two different directions. She flipped over the hand and kicked him in the face. She grabbed her sword from her belt and slashed up his chest. The jackal grabbed the blade, Ridley pressed it through his hand and into his chest. She twisted it. She shoved him off Dane. The huntress lodged a traquiliser arrow in his eye. She shoved him furth away.

Ridley caved to her knees, taking the black blood pooling under the Danish hunter. "Are you okay?"

"I may not be a hyper-ancient source of vampirism with instant healing, but I'm pretty sure I'll survive."

The Source - with her trusty karambit - slashed her hand. She pressed her hand to his mouth. Dane groaned as he sucked her palm. "Everything's going to be heightened for a few hours," she warned. "Now stop trying to die." Her head whipped aside, looking at corridor where Marie and Viggo were squaring off. Ridley could feel Marie reaching for her gun. "Marie, wait," the Source ordered. "Hear him out," she stated. Ridley pulled Dane to his feet. A gun sounded. Ridley screamed.

"This isn't what I wanted," Viggo began. "I wanted to rebuild a population not forge an army. Dr Strulovitch and Dr Jakobson have gone made with power. Please, let me help fix this."

"Ridley's been shot," Dane declared. He fired back at the guard. He dragged the Source out of the fray. "It's bad, it went right through her chest." She was breathing deeply, clutching his hand. "What do I do?"

"I need blood. And not yours; it's been tainted," she stated.

Go, the åse stated. We have a handle on our brethren.

Ridley cupped her breast, where the bullet exited, as Dane picked her up bridal style. She took out her gun, loading it. "The canteen is on the first floor. The blood bank is in the kitchen." She pointed the gun passed him. "Hurry."

He made for the remaining functioning elevator with her covering his back. The 9mm Beretta fired consistent rounds as guards behind Dane. He hit the button with Ridley firing in front of them. She felt him groan from her lightheadedness settling in. Ridley leaned her head into his shoulder. The elevator took its sweet time ascending in dead silence. Dane exhaled heavily then tapped his foot impatiently. Ridley checked the rounds in her gun then loaded a round into the chamber.

Ridley closed her eyes to see Viggo carrying a pale little girl in his arms. They passed the waterfall in the lobby, coming face to face with Tsakani and Logan. Logan shied behind Tsakani. They followed Marie outside to the school van Dane drove inside. She ordered them to stay there until she returned. Marie then ran back inside. Viggo looked to the two girls that were in the van, sickly still. He went after her.

The doors parted and Dane looked around before stepping out to see Marie and Viggo. "Marie, behind you!"

Marie spun around and slumped her shoulders. "He's on our side, provisionally," Marie stated drowsily. "I told you to stay with the van!"

"I want to help. I can help."

"Ridley needs bloods. Where's the canteen?"

"Take mine," Viggo offered. "It hasn't been tainted," he said in slurs.

"I feel..." Dane sang weakly.

Viggo ripped his buttoned up blue shirt open, revealing his tone physique underneath. Ridley clasped onto him, biting into his bicep. She hummed then dropped the Beretta. Viggo breathed out heavily then cast his bearded face to Dane's identical face. Dane blinked off his fleeting fatigue then cupped her tighter in his arms. Marie too stood straighter.

Ridley hummed her satisfaction then straightened up. Dane finally set her down. "Some of the silver wards were disrupted in the hysteria," she stated. "But where's the staff?"

"The scientists are not the problem," Viggo begun. "They fled when the explosions came. 'Tis Ankh and doctors Strulovitch and Jakobson you must be weary off. The four werebeasts we have, Strulovitch is controlling them."

"Three children? Easy."

"We can't fight them head on, Marie. They're stronger than the therianthropes. Ridley and I could barely handle Morgan with the neurotoxin. It only slowed him down."

"And I can't fight Ankh," Ridley added. "She's in my head, she knows my moves."

"Right you are," the all too familiar voice declared. Ridley looked up the corridor to see Ankh, in her human form, with her arms folded. Behind her, stood the werebeast children in the primal forms. "To me, you're as predictable as predictable gets." Ridley's lips parted as she regarded the green-eyed wolfen. "Bring me their heads," Ankh ordered. The children came charging down the corridor.

"Don't kill them. They're not in control," the Source ordered.

The golden brown wolfen leaped for them. Marie slung her rifle around. She fired a dart at her. The wolfen didn't waver. Ridley too fired a tranquiliser. Then a smoke bomb. Taking a breath, she stormed into the thick smoke. "Ridley, no," Dane bellowed.

The Source fired a tranquiliser at the arctic foxen. He snarled then dove for her. She threw a knife into his shoulder. He tumbled aside. Ridley side-stepped the gold, black and white wolfen then fired her last tranquiliser at her. She crossed the burst of catnip vapors then gasped for air. Ankh tilted her head at her. Her brown bob cut had grown longer since the last time the met.

Ridley sized up Ankh in sheer disbelief as they started circling each other. The Source and the wolfen didn't break eye contact while staring each other down. Enough of this! End the bloody beast. Ridley slumped her shoulders then threw her bow aside and pouted in response. Are you trying to kill us all? Fight! Ridley took off her garter and set it on the ground too. What is the meaning of this? Fight!

"You should listen to Ninsun," Ankh stated.

"A few weeks ago, you told me not to listen to anyone who wasn't alive. Especially Ninsun." Ridley then tossed her karambit to the floor too. "What happened, Ankh?"

"Amazing how quickly tides can change, isn't it?" Ridley didn't respond. "For thirty years, I lived with the very people who killed my mother and father. Everything I believed in, everything I loved, everything I am, is based on a lie."

"Then come with me. I'm leaving after tonight. I promised the Sources I wouldn't look back."

"Yeah, right."

"Am I lying?"

Ankh regarded Ridley with scrutiny. "No," she answered. "I want more out of life than to be someone's sidekick. Someone's pet sister. I want to be the main character now." Ankh inhaled sharply.

"Ankh..." She stripped off the single-shoulder dress and allowed her bones to start crunching. Ridley tucked her lips tightly. Behind her, the children were still keeping Marie and Dane and Viggo occupied. "Please don't make me fight you," Ridley begged, looking into the green eyes that tinted grey. "You know I won't do this." Ridley only watched the wolfen rip the skin off her form to give way to the bristled fur. "Damnit, Ankh, don't do this!"

The grey primal wolfen let out a thundering howl before narrowing her eyes on the ampyra Source. Ridley swallowed hard then draw twin daggers. Ankh snorted. Ankh cracked out her huge taloned fingers. Ridley swallowed hard as she took a defensive stance. The familiarity of the situation made tears swell in her eyes and she bit her lower lip. Ankh huffed then bared her teeth.

"Why does this seem familiar," she taunted. Ankh whipped her tail under Ridley. "Oh yes. It reminds us of the day Ryan died."

Ridley sighed defeatedly from the floor. “I really hoped you wouldn’t say that,” she voiced. Ridley kicked a blow to her abdomen. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

"Too bad. I really, really plan on ending you. Source or not."

"What did I do! Your beef's with Calista and Ahmed."

"Guilty by association," Ankh stated. They started circling each other again. "Did you learn nothing from high school?"

Ankh jabbed at Ridley. Ridley defended with her long daggers. The clash between talon and blade made a harsh clanging noise. Ankh huffed she mote both paws. Ridley matched it. Ankh swerved her tail. On claw deflected and rammed into her leg. Ridley grunted her surprise. Ankh grabbed her by the chest and slammed her into the sterile floor.

The wolfen backed away coolly whilst watching. Slowly Ridley wobbled to her feet, limping from the wound. Ankh snarled then charged for her. Ridley pulled out her belt katana to block her attack. Ankh tightened her hold on the bow. She dug her claws into the blade. Ridley gasped her surprise. She hooked her leg under the fury one and flipped the ninety-kilogram wolfen over her fifty-five-kilogram frame.

Ridley spun around to face her. Ankh punched her. Ridley flew into the wall! She fell to the ground, looking at Viggo wrestling the Arctic foxen with Dane. Marie, miraculously, got the golden brown wolfen in a chokehold. Ankh exploited her caught off guard. She shoved the huge ceramic pot of a corridor pot plant into the Source's face repeatedly until Ridley was bleeding a waterfall. Ridley stammered backwards while Ankh flung the shattered ceramic aside. Angrily she formed fists. Again, she rammed into Ridley.

Her blows splattered both grey blood and fur onto the floor. Each blow forced Ridley towards the blown-out elevator Marie demolished. Ankh snarled then flung Ridley into the shaft. Ridley hit the back wall before falling to the parking floor, underneath. She splattered onto the concrete ground at once. She sloppily crawled to the wall. Each muscle set ablaze from impact and the fractures bones crunching and reassembling.

She wheezed, using the wall as a crutch, as she got up. "Ankh, this's crazy! You're the only real friend I have. The only girl friend I ever had."

"Well, there is an -end in 'friend' so." Ridley strained to look up. Above her, Ankh was looking at the elevator on the top floor. "All's well, it ends well. Goodbye, Ridley." A talon slashed the elevator cables. Ridley gasped then climbed through the demolished doors to the parking. She rolled out the way as the remnant lift smashed into the floor. "You really suck to kill, you know that?"

Ankh made the shaft boom from her jump's impact. Ridley groaned before rolling weakly to her side to spit out a mouthful of murky blood. She sighed defeatedly while tears streamed down her bruised and bloodied cheeks. A soft sob escaped her, but Ankh didn’t care while towering - though she knelt - over her with a claw aimed to the Source's head. The wolfen's eyes were on her cranium.

Ridley shut her eyes then jabbed a blade into Ankh's ribs. The thundering roar made the nearby cars rattle. Ridley stabbed Ankh in the other side too. She fumbled away, still winded with her ribs pushing out of her lungs. Ridley gagged out the blood that built up in her lungs. She fell aside, looking to Falk's colony barely holding down the other therianthropes.

"Ridley," Dane called into his earpiece.

"We need back up down here," she grunted.

"Go," Marie replied. "Tsakani and I will restrain the children."

Ridly could feel Viggo hot on Dane's heels as they took to the stairwell nearby. She looked over at Ankh healing then forced herself to her feet. "Margrethe and Strulovitch helped kill Sayeed. You can't tell me that doesn't make you feel some sort of way."

"An eye for an eye." Ridley reached into her quiver. "How useful are any of those without your bow?"

"Anything can be a weapon, if you're determined enough," Ridley said. "Or if you have a Marie Chasseur."

She hurled it at Ankh with unnatural velocity. The wolfen caught it in a grey claw with a curt huff. "I hope you didn't think that would work."

"I didn't. I knew it would."

Ankh looked at the arrow as the gas started seeping out. Ridley spun on her heel and ran. The arrow blew up in Ankh's face. The Source grabbed a shard of sharp metal off the ground. She grabbed her extra bow string and fixed herself a weapon. She slashed a hyenian in the back. She flipped over him and pulled the beefy claws in to tie together. Each movement the hyenian made only antagonised the metal in his chest.

Ridley looked around to see Dane and Viggo well into the fight too. Viggo handed Ridley one of his axes - the ones he frequently wore under his suit jackets - before joining the ranks. Ridley, panting profusely, squared off with a jackalen.

"Ridley," Marie bellowed.

Ankh took a bite into Ridley's neck. Ridley punched into the hard core to no avail. Marie fired a shot at Ankh. The wolfen desisted. Ridley fell to the ground, howling in agony. She stomped at the grey fury shin at her feet. Falk’s chocolatey brown form ran for them. He froze. Ankh to let her victory dive. The air had shifted dramatically in a span of mere seconds.

She stood up, half leaning on Ankh for support. "What's going on," Dane ordered. "They're all frozen." The åse in her full wolf form was the only one immune to it. "Ridley too."

"No," the Source said breathlessly, staring in the direction the therianthropes stared. "You just can't feel it."

"Feel what," Marie countered.

"If it's just them and not us, it must be primal," Viggo stated.

"It is," Falk jeered. "An unnatural amount for one person."

"Great," Marie scoffed. The thundering roar came from where they all stared. "What's down there?"

"The morgue," Viggo answered.

Ridley tightened her hold on the axe, but was otherwise just as captivated as the therians. Heavy footfalls came down the narrow corridor. Falk - the picture of dauntlessness - snarled at his colony. They shied behind him. The N-Gen therianthropes gave low snarls while bracing for the attack. Ankh shifted her position with the squishy sound of Ridley's flesh stitching up in her ears too.

Dane and Marie looked at each other uneasily, but steadily, each of them took a defensive stance. The foot steps - too heavy for a primal form therianthrope stopped. Nobody moved a muscle. The roar of her adrenaline blocked the past Source's from Ridley's hearing. She stared down the concrete corridor that led to the N-Gen Pharmaceuticals' morgue. Every finely-tune sense from the Bloodline, mixed with the instinct of her hunter training were collectively bracing for the worst to come from that doorway.

The black blur struck! It was almost too fast to see; speeding straight passed the rival forces. Margrethe's lifeless, blood-drench corpse was tossed to the group. It flung the tied up hyenian into a part of the parking area's wall too far away for a natural therianthrope's distance. They all looked around for it. Whatever it was. Falk snarled lowly, ushering Ridley behind a massive paw. It struck again, taking Lance the fox with black blotches.

"Viggo, what is that thing," Marie pressed.

"I-I don't know."

"Ridley?"

"It's not ampyra."

"It's an ikon," Falk spat. "I smell the intimidation pheromones."

The black blur came for the åse! Her scream was so brief, nobody realised until she was gone. She reappeared, thrown into a car. It's a Doberman, the white wolf yelled but it came as more of a question than a confirmation.

She grunted. It came again. It flung her into a wall. "Rhythmic movement," Dane stated. "It moves in a certain way."

"Zigzags," Falk confirmed looking to his åse. "Left!" Ridley threw another arrow in that direction. The catnip smoke bomb blew up behind a pillar, showcasing the height that made the therianthropes pale, washed-out versions. "What abomination did you cook up, Wolfensøn?"

"This one I cannot take credit for," Viggo argued.

"Fuck this," Ankh bellowed. Ankh rammed her claws through her back with her tips poking out through the front. Marie fired at Ankh. She stopped when a bullet nicked Ridley’s ear. The wolfen held up the Source victoriously. Ridley pushed herself off the blackened claws, gasping. The therians had resumed their brawl with the unit too.

The gargantuan black blur took a chance at Ankh. He was so tall, he had to hunch to fit into the parking area! His jaw took her jaw while his claws went for her throat and chest. Ridley, in spite of her pain, collected her dagger. She slashed the creature across the lower back. She pressed the dagger into his spine. His flesh pushed it out as if it were nothing. He threw Ankh into a pile of demolished cars.

A tough claw encased the Source at her throat, though he didn't squeeze. He snarled looking her in the eye. The narrow in his black eyes lightened when he looked at her. Behind him, Dane had the dropped axe at the ready. "It's me," the black creature stated.

Ridley's eyes went wide. His tail smote Dane off balance. "Ohmygod. S-Sayeed?"

Ankh snarled charging again. They both turned to her. "Leave her to me."

"You can't kill her."

Sayeed slashed her throat open. "I know. I can slow her down. Find Strulovitch."

Ridley nodded at the black creature she saw more clearly as a jett-black jackalen. He put her back on the ground. Ridley stammered backwards, not looking away from the enormous black beast. Ridley looked to Dane and peeled him off the ground. "You watched him die," Dane stated.

Ridley only looked down at her tattered bustier but underneath her wounds had healed. She shut her eyes and searched the compound, starting with his empty office. Her mind scanned the entire place, searching. "I can't find Strulovitch. He's in a silver-warded room."

"He's watching you," Ankh chortled. Sayeed wrestled her to the ground. Her jaws gashed up his throat before she rolled him off her. "I have more experience with this," she sang to her brother. Smugly she looked to Ridley and Dane. "He figured it out, Riddley. How to break it off between us. He's been watching the entire time and he--"

Marie shot up her face. The French huntress huffed but didn't lower her gun. "Thanks," Dane replied. "The talking humanoid thing creeps me out."

Ankh retaliated! She grabbed Ridley then stormed down the way Sayeed came. Marie and Dane chased after her. Ridley punched at the wolfen. Ankh threw her into a glass space. The doors shut behind them. The wolfen and the Source stared each other down. Ridley crouched, reaching for the sheath at her upper arm. Ankh hummed a growl-like chuckle, pointing passed the glass, where the knife laid.

"Break it, Strulovitch."

"Of course," the man replied.

He came into the room. Ridley looked between the two. She removed her quiver. She started stomping on it. "No," Ankh bellowed. She dove for Ridley. They crashed into another glass wall and the smoke bombs gave in and uniformly burst.

Ankh took most of the impact from the blast, with Strulovitch hitting the wall and coughing up the catnip fumes. Ridley - albeit disoriented - rolled the motionless grey wolf off her. She blinked her dazed then remained still feeling the dizziness make the room roll around. Beyond the glass, under the light cloud, she could make out Dane and Marie.

It is done, the åse stated. Over there, Ridley saw Viggo recover from severing a foxen head. the head rolled until it returned human. Your plan was a success, young Source.

You know what that means, Ninsun stated. Ridley nodded weakly against her throbbing head. She sloppily whipped her hair out of her face. Unless you've been keeping ulterior motives on this as well?

"No," Ridley grumbled. "I learned I could secrets the same way Ankh blocked me out. My shutting off my psionic link to you."

"Secrets," Dane echoed. "Ridley, are you all right?"

Ridley looked to Ankh and Strulovitch, giving a tired hum. "Target neutralised," she sang groggily. "I think I'm high on catnip."

"It's physically impossible for humans to get high on catnip," Sayeed lectured. "But we should get her out of there; the fumes aren't good for her."

"I say we let her marinate, a while," Marie voiced.

"No need. Strulovitch left a door open," Ridley stated. She jaggedly stood up, facing the back door. She could the expectation from the Source's silence. However, she turned back to the glass. "Could we have a minute?"

Oh, trust you to prolong this, Ninsun jeered.

Ridley bit her lower lip as she made for the glass with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she started shakily, looking solely at Dane. "I wish I could have seen this coming, maybe then I could of spared us both. Why didn’t I see it coming when I don’t believe in happy endings?"

"What," Dane cut in. He looked between Marie, wiping the dregs of blood from her forehead and Sayeed's primal jackalen form just standing and watching them.

He looked back to see murky grey tears streaming from Ridley. "I’m sorry, Sorensen, but I won’t lie and say ‘we’re a love story for the ages’. We’ll never see each other again but I’ll treasure every moment we ever shared. I don’t know where I’m going but I have a good idea of what I’ll be doing." She sniffled as she took in the confusion on the lovely, blood-drenched face. “But it’s amazing, isn’t it? You fall in love, and you realise you’re afraid. Afraid because I hold you very close in what’s left of my heart, knowing that you could be touched by death at any minute.”

"Ridley...?"

"I’ll be watching over you. Laughing with you, cheering for you, loving you. Always loving you. So go live a life worth watching."

"'A life worth watching'? What are you...?" The realisation on his face made her heart clench. "No. No, Ridley, don't do this!"

"Thank you for loving me, even when I hated every aspect of myself."

"Marie, open the doors," Dane ordered. "Open them!" Marie ripped off the keypad's face and started rewiring everything she saw.

Ridley shut her eyes, feeling the very extent of what he felt. So distracted, nobody saw Strulovitch and Ankh glance at each other. Ridley backed away from the glass Dane started banging and protesting on. Ridley turned to leave. Ankh smote a claw across her shin. Strulovitch pranced! He dug his teeth into her neck.

"Ridley!"

"Get back," Sayeed ordered. He rammed into the glass head-first. Beyond the glass, Ankh's primal form faded, leaving her naked before her brother. She only watched as Sayeed gashed his forehead on the glass, slapping blotches of his black blood on the glass.

Dane reloaded his Glock and fired into the glass, only to find it bulletproof. "Marie!"

"I'm trying!"

Ridley's sore arms scratched at Strulovitch's face, but his hold was as firm as his bite. Ridley stretched her hand to her boot. Her freshly done fingernails tugged at the sheath that was hidden deeper down. Strulovitch laid her getting-paler-by-the-minute form on the cold floor. He mounted himself on top of her, with Ankh just watching in stark nudity. Ridley strained to arch her leg by even a centimetre! Her fingernails skimmed the top of the sheath's Velcro wrap-around.

Ninsun, Onuris, Earnest and the First Source could only watch helplessly while Ridley's efforts grew flimsy. She didn't give. When she sensed Viggo joining them, she felt more determined under the Viking's eye. The pointed fingernail barely latched onto the sheath. She coiled her fingers around the hilt as black grew into the corners of her vision. She arched the blade over Strulovitch's back.

Ankh tilted her head, watching Ridley gasp. The huntress' panting was frazzled as her hand fell limp. Her anguish, awash on her face. Her head rolled towards the glass doors, where Dane didn't stop trying to demolish the glass. "Dane..." she breathed before her eyes went dark. Strulovitch hummed then sat back. He wiped his mouth then looked at the lifeless young woman before him.

"Finally," Ankh cheered. "I'm free." She looked to Strulovitch as he stood up. "You broke our link and you're the new Source." Strulovitch inhaled deeply. "What's she saying? I bet she's made pissed off."

She is saying nothing, you treasonous whore, Earnest roared.

"Damnit! I still hear them!"

"I feel everything," Strulovitch commented looking at his hands.

"Unfortunately, so do I! You said you could..." Ankh paused then turned to Dane, falling to his knees. Viggo clasped his shoulder. Marie was still fidgeting with the keypad, tears in her eyes. "No. No, no, no! I'm dying too!" Sayeed relaxed his shoulders, peeling back to human. "You said I'd live!"

"It was a theory, and you knew that," Strulovitch voiced.

Ankh looked at her hands then put her hands over her chest. "I trusted you," she roared. "Just like I trusted Ahmed and Calista." Ankh sniffled then hugged her nude form. "I'm nothing," she murmured. She fell over, motionless.

Strulovitch looked at them beyond the glass. He swiftly retreated through his open door and vanished through the building. Dane looked at the pair of brown, watery eyes while Viggo was stunned silence. Marie sniffled then pursed her lips. She crossed a wire, and the mechanism gave way. Sayeed - on uneasy feet - crossed the cold floor. Dane crawled to Ridley's side. He gathered her in his embrace. There was no life in those eyes. He swallowed hard, stroking her cheek with a rapid tremble in his hand.

He combed through the dark hair, admiring how straight and glossy it was. How it had always been. Sayeed only gathered Ankh in his arms, letting her head fall back. "We should take them back. We have to take them back." Dane looked over Ridley's scarred skin, seeing the N Sayeed carved on her wrist, above her Marksmanship Gradus for archery; the bullet wound from their game of capture the flag with Ryan and Oliver.

Dane clutched her against his chest. She bobbed limply with every move he made to get to his feet. "My son," Viggo began.

"What're you still doing here," Dane roared at him. "You got what you wanted! You've got therians out in the world. Go be with them."

"I only wanted to carry on my father's legacy, Dane. Now, I-I just want to know my son."

"The woman I love is..." Dane pushed passed him. "You did this. Marie? Take him." He cradled Ridley through the parking area, crying.

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