Prexsis and Feymor charged at some elites, both ready to hack away for their freedom. Elites prepared to counter. Shields rose, same with weapons.
Feymor drove her foot against one's shield, only to feel the recoil deep in her bones. The defender lowered their barricade in order to go in for a solid swipe at the attacker.
Before the pike could clash against her body, Prexsis tackled the defender back. Both Variants landed on the ground, neither dazed. It was a struggle to climb back onto his feet, giving other elites opportunities.
Detrass' large glacial body loomed over Prexsis. He reached down for the Feral, then effortlessly plucked him out of his ally's grasp.
"You threatened MY city! Now I'm going to threaten your life, you nasty animal..." Detrass spoke slowly and clearly.
He slammed Prexsis on the ground, crushing his lungs and knocking the oxygen out. As Prexsis struggled to regain his focus, he watched Feymor laying on the ground.
Tears flowing out of her eyes as she desperately tried to resist another elite from killing her. Yet that same elite didn't care about her protest.
Detrass let Prexsis watch as the other elite stomped right on Feymor's crotch, pressing down hard. She yelped in pure agony, she seemed like a wounded animal. As reflected by the watery eyes and bloody jaws.
Another elite came over, and promptly shut Feymor up. They dropped a large hammer right onto her head, killing her instantly.
Gore and blood decorated the area as she laid lifelessly on the softly baked grass. Seeing her dead crushed Prexsis' moral, but not his will power. He wanted to fight back on the spot, but couldn't.
"There is no hope here, Feral. You dedicated yourselves to waging war against us. Killing innocent workers, pillaging our shops, and threatening our residents," Detrass listed.
He picked Prexsis up with one hand. "Now -" he dropped him onto his feet. "You want mercy?!" Detrass drove a glacial axe across Prexsis' jaws. "You'll face death, as you always do."
A trail of blood guided eyes towards Prexsis, who struggled to crawl onto his knees. He gripped his stomach tight and kept his eyes on the piling up blood beneath his mouth.
Detrass scanned his fellow elites as they held off more Ferals from escaping. They tossed the fleeting predators aside, and slammed them. Before brutally slaughtering them.
Many yelped and retreated to the flames, choosing to die in their home than outside of it. Which painted them as desperate in Detrass' eyes.
"Your members will never understand the meaning of peace," Detrass loomed over Prexsis. He kicked him on the ribs, tossing the Feral onto his back. "So I will give you the gift of an equally restless death."
Elites glanced over at Detrass, who hacked away at Prexsis' limbs one by one with his axe. The Feral screamed and let out several wet howls, throwing more blood on the terrain.
It didn't end until Prexsis stopped thrashing around, finally accepting his death for what it was. He died desperate to survive, just like his older brothers and mother did while trying desperately to escape the floating islands.
Zenam stood shoulder to shoulder with a much younger Feral, who slowly retreated closer to the dancing flames. Until the Weaver let out a loud rumbling roar, frightening the cub.
"Don't lose sight of yourself, little cub. I am here," Zenam turned to face the cub. "Just come into my arms, sweet one. I'll comfort you," she cooed. "Come here... I've got you."
Out of desperation, the cub followed orders. Fixing herself into Zenam's arms. She planted her chin on her new caretaker's forearm.
But Zenam knew there was no way of living through this hell. So out of mercy, she closed her eyes. And began cooing intently.
"Shh..." she squeezed the life out of the cub. "Be free, little one... run like the wild Feral that you are... Don't let anybody hold you back," she squeezed harder. The cub tried to struggle out of her deathtrap. "It will be okay - everything will be okay. Just... hold on a little longer..."
In time, the cub stopped moving. After crushing her windpipe even more, Zenam let go. Carrying the cub in her arms as she slowly turned around to the fire.
"Be free, little one. Have the freedom I don't have," Zenam stopped before a burning log. She then tossed the body at the inferno. "Goodbye, little one..."
Zenam turned around to face the elites, tears rolling down her cheeks. She struggled to continue cooing like she normally did. The sadness clogged her vocal cords, but not her mind.
Her options were to either die out there or back home. So she stepped closer to the elites, watching them slaughter other Scalers and barricade them from freedom.
She noticed a lance took flight towards her, prompting her to brace. Her eyes closed, cooing continued. And not long after, she dropped onto one knee.
The weapon pierced her lower jaw and neck. As her life drained from her eyes, she remembered what she did to the cub.
"I did a good deed today..." she thought. "At least I made sure somebody died a comfortable enough death."
Off in the distance, Valiant spectated the battlefield. Watching how his elites handled the rebels from afar. Until he caught sight of Cyclone and Hurricane.
Both Ferals caused trouble for the siege. Elites retreated to recover after receiving armor-damaging kicks or roars. Allowing other elites to go in to attempt to take these Ferals down.
"Yazzo," Valiant called his partner over. "We will handle those two. I will fight the male, you'll take down the female."
Blades erupted out of Yazzo's forearms, which Valiant mimicked. They treaded closer to the duo, ready to handle the last few remaining Scalers.
Elites retreated, bringing the duo's attention over to the incoming aggressors. Hurricane broke apart from her father, lining herself in front of Yazzo.
Cyclone growled as Valiant approached, ready to unleash another damaging roar. "Look at how your destructive methods of war yields results... so many dead without warning. Many of which weren't even your original victims."
Valiant narrowed his eyes. "But alas, I found you."