Kellenas landed a successful knee on Dire's forehead. Before dropping both feet on the platform once again, he made sure to kick. Striking Dire's stomach.
"RAH! You're nothing!" Dire insulted.
Ignoring the vile words, Kellenas closed the distance and delivered to well placed punches on his stomach. Further wearing down the body of his opponent.
Dire glanced up to see where the next punch was going, but was instead greeted with a powerful fist to the cheek.
He stumbled back, lowering his body in hopes to protect it from incoming punishment. But Kellenas was having non of it. Instead of attacking the back, Kellenas delivered another knee to his temple.
Knocking Dire on the floor. The late morning rays baked his already tan skin as he laid on the platform.
"You're worthless. A filthy animal, waiting for its slaughter!" Dire insulted again.
But Kellenas ignored it. He got on his knees over Dire's body. Then he lifted both arms up and prepared to bring them down with the fury of the entire pack.
"Never forget. You don't deserve being here, pathetic ruler," Dire spat his venom one more time before being punished.
The entire platform shattered. Sending the two Ferals hurling onto the forest floor. The broken platform crushed every Light and Eterra Feral beneath it.
From the debris, Dire was the first to get up. Despite being on the receiving end of a cruel attack and a ruthless fall, he brushed it off. Kellenas tried to get back on his feet, but his foe wouldn't allow it.
Dire stomped on his face, dazing him for a brief period of time. During that brief period of time, Dire jumped on Kellenas' chest and began beating his head.
Fist after fist, blow after blow, head and knuckles began drawing blood.
"WORTHLESS! WE OFFERED YOU SAFETY, SHELTER, AND FOOD!" Dire howled in anger. "...Yet you refused. Refused, refused, refused. Now I refuse to let a creature like you survive!"
Kellenas head turned to the right, losing his grip on reality with every landed blow. That's when he saw the shape of a young Feral approach them.
She jumped just before reaching Dire, then kicked the Alpha of Alphas hard enough to take him off her father.
"Teneki?" Kellenas wondered.
"I'm here, Neddy. Let's fight this one together," Teneki's encouraged voice replied.
"Teneki, Teneki, Teneki. You're still alive, girl. You're still alive..." Kellenas said frantically. "Go, assist your pack members. They are yours just as much as they are mine."
She tried her best to help her father up. But just as she was succeeding, Dire shoved her aside. Teneki fell not too far away from Kellenas.
Dire brought down a furious fist straight to the dome of her head. Before it landed, Kellenas caught the arm and spun Dire around. Slamming the Alpha against the tree.
The entire tree that was host to the platform shook. Threatening all three of them with the two other platforms that hung overhead.
As his attacker slid down the bark, Kellenas drove his knee into his teeth. Chipping some of them and even bending some others back.
Kellenas began beating the top of his head with several punches. Except these ones were designed to kill, not knock out. With each one, Dire could feel the pressure piling up. But this was his war to lose.
On the next hit, Dire moved his head. Making Kellenas strike the tree instead. Dire pushed Kellenas off. Getting back on his feet while the defender struggled to stay on his own.
Realizing his prey was preparing for a new volley of hard punches, Dire readied himself. When Kellenas released his fist, Dire ducked under it.
The punch flew over his head as he found his way behind Kellenas. That's when he struck. One powerful fist struck Kellenas' gut.
Despite being dazed, he forced himself to continue. He didn't want to give Dire more opportunities to attack. So Kellenas swung his arm around, hoping to catch Dire off guard.
But unfortunately, Dire was prepared. He ducked under that arm too, then struck the side of Kellenas' face.
The already beaten cheeks got even redder. Now his whole face matched his forehead. As blood dripped down his nose and into his lips, Kellenas lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"Oh, so pitiful. You were so strong. So very strong. Until I came here and claimed the king's throne. Now tell me, Reinforced by Etek Dur, are you a predator or prey?" Dire taunted.
Blood muffled his voice. Anger seethed onto his mind, poisoning his insults and intoxicating his thought process. By now, Dire didn't follow the unwritten rules every Feral follows. That was the last hint of normality he had before diving deeper.
"Neddy!" Teneki cried in despair.
Just before she could get closer to attack, Dire caught her incoming kick. He slammed the Feral cub beside her father, severely injuring her. Already breaking the first unwritten rule:
No harming cubs, even if they don't belong to his pack.
"Y - you animal. Stay away from my daughter," Kellenas feebly ordered.
Instead of stopping and returning his attention to his original victim, Dire continued to attack and harm Teneki. He started off by strangling her. His hands got tighter around her neck.
"You dirty fucking animal. Do you hear me?!?" Kellenas roared back to life.
He leapt onto Dire, pushing him off Teneki. Now being over him, Kellenas began to pound the back of his head. Hit after hit, he was drawing out blood on his knuckles and Dire's head just as he did to him.
"AH! HAHA!" Dire's maniacal voice taunted him.
Believing his hits barely damaged Dire, Kellenas tried to go in for a killing blow to the back of his neck. Two jaws loosened as they tried to encase the neck. Before he could clamp down, Dire grabbed the Kellenas' hair.
The Feral landed on his back, in front of Dire. Kellenas tried to struggle free, but Dire stopped him with a well placed strike to the forehead.
Dire wrapped one arm around Kellenas' neck, and began squeezing. But his prey had a lot of fight left inside. Elbows from both directions dug into his rib cage. Injuring Dire with each one.
On the next elbow, they both heard a sickening crack. It was the sound of a rib being broken. With that cue, Dire howled in rage and pain. Loosening his grip on Kellenas.
Now free once again, he got up. But instead of continuing the battle, Kellenas retreated to his daughter. His father arms picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
"Teneki - Teneki, girl, if you can hear me. We are going to a new home. This won't be the last time you will live inside Etek Dur. I promise. But it is our only hope of recovering," he desperately spoke to his daughter.
Dire got up to challenge him. "Can't you see? Your pack lives only to die because their leader can't make good choices."
Kellenas' eyes pierced into Dire's soul. "When you go to hell, I'll be there to hold the door open. Just don't forget I exist."
With that, Kellenas let out two mournful roars. They played right after each other, a secret language only a few Ferals understood.
In unison, the Eterra pack present inside the battlefield ceased their fighting and began flooding the forest. They jumped off trees, landing on branches and running into the vast forest.
Kellenas followed behind. He jumped ran away from his opponent, home, and pack. A harsh decision he had to make for the sake of his pack.
As much as running away from those he protected pained his heart, he knew they would be united behind friendly walls. Krugi, Volknair, and every other city, town, and village would be there to welcome them.
Teneki's injured body shivered. She was still alive, but just distant. Somewhere deep inside her mind was the young warrior of a Feral Kellenas selected to be his daughter.
With every step he took, he remembered Deterna and the caretakers. He secretly wept in their memory. Despite them possibly still alive, he questioned if he should have stayed back and continued to defend on his own.
Just in case they came back to him. So he could guide them to safety, where they all would be safe from harm.
But he couldn't. The order has already been made and his daughter was seriously injured. Going back would mean having to do something he wasn't brave enough to do:
Leaving his daughter hidden away from the hunting Ferals. If he made that decision, he wanted his life to be on the line, not anyone else's. Especially if they belonged to his pack.
"Light Legion... Dire... I promise when I make my arrival, this entire forest will shake and tremble. Just like my grandfather, Celoker, Etek Dur is mine to claim," Kellenas thought to himself.
With that memory, he ran out of Etek Dur. Leaving his home behind but keeping his hopes with him. The hopes of someday being reunited with the rest of his family.