Fenrir: Dawn Rising (Part 2)

Miles felt nothing but a tinge of relief that Fenrir was gone. Meant he wouldn't have to deal with him after Nexus. That relief only lasted for a second or two as his focus returned on getting the swords, however.

He looked ahead at jackal, noticing he was also headed for them. Miles was closer however due to the fact he'd been trying to grab the damn things since a little after he showed up in the first place. When he got close enough he did a sliding kick past them, grabbing them both, then used his extended leg as a pole vault when it collided with some debris. He preformed a front flip midair then chucked the swords at Jackal.

"...No..." the tigress said weakly, staring in complete horror.

"NOOO!" Terra screamed, tears already falling to the floor, matting down the fur on her cheeks as they dropped out of her eyes.

The distraught queen fell down to her knees, sobbing her soul out with her paws clenched tightly into her thigh fur. When she screamed again, her claws dug deep into her skin, tearing through her fur as an unwholely death wail emanated from her throat.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU BASTARD! YOU BASTARD!!" Terra repeated in a roar, now raking her claws down her face.

Everything was lost for her. Last time, she didn't have to see him die. Now, all the memories of the pain of loneliness and despair, the mishope of losing the passion and drive in her purpose of existence, came rushing back, but most importantly, she lost her love.

Terra felt awful. As simple as that is to say, it was because she was washed with guilt, if this is how Fenrir felt when she killed herself selfishly.

The tears didn't stop, nor did the tigress care about the outside world anymore.

---

Luna shared some of her mother's regret, but on a smaller scale. When Fenrir announced Ris as the best one to take care of her, that very moment is when she realized Fenrir was truly her father, and the love that he had for her, which made it harder to witness his death. Unexplained sadness came over her, clinging to the side of Ris softly as she cried quietly into his shoulder.

While he felt greatly for Terra's loss, Ris himself felt a different sense of regret.

That was the first time he remembered Fenrir ever talking to him like that. It was strange enough having him apologize as he had earlier, but this time was different--Fenrir had actually given him his blessing. Fenrir said that he was the right one for Luna.

But then came Ris' second thought.

They were all doomed to death. First Nexus took Bane's soul, which was a stretch enough. With the power of the vampire lord at his command as well, the blue-furred vulpine lost almost all hope. Holding his breath as Luna took hold of him for comfort, he reached around with his free arm and gently held the lynx close, looking over to Solus.

Did the Destroyer even think they had a chance?

Solus, himself, was beginning to feel outclassed. Nexus was incredibly powerful, by now. Perhaps rivaling the gods, themselves. Solus flicked his wrist and in a flash of light, a red orb had generated in his paw. "Even if you're more powerful than myself, I'm not dying without a fight."


Alice hated how she was currently feeling. She helped release Nexus. She was manipulated by her own family. She could only look up at Nexus, unable to do anything. After all, everything she could try would just bounce off of the demonic creation.


Jackal looked to see the swords coming his way. Widening a grin, the jackal snatched them out of the air with his paws. Now holding both the Soul Harvestor and Spirit Releaser in his paws, he looked up at Nexus. "Hey Phassy! Look at what I've got!"


This immediately caught the attention of Phasmatis who made Nexus turn to see. The Pantheon's eyes widened at the sight of the swords. "Wait... that's the-" Before Phasmatis could finish, Jackal had already stabbed the swords into Nexus' foot. Red, blue and yellow orbs of light seemed to be released into the air, where they faded from existence. "I'm gonna take all those souls out of ya, one by one!"


Nexus seemed to roar and he kicked Jackal, sending him into the air. Jackal flipped backwards, in the air, recovering. The canine hurriedly looked around and decided to throw the blue sword, the Spirit Releaser to Aetsia, while throwing the Soul Harvestor to none other than, the Destroyer, himself.


Solus effortlessly caught the sword and looked into it, seeing his own reflection in the crimson blade. "...I don't much like using weapons. But if this is what it takes to bring down something like Nexus, then fine."

Terra sat motionlessly on the ground, writhing softly from her self-inflicted gashes. Four claw marks down each of her cheeks and her thighs, steadily dripping out dark red blood. She stared idly at the ground, trying to grasp her mind around the thought of him being gone again....

---

Luna sunk deeper into Ris's embrace, sniffling softly while holding onto him. "Is he... Really gone, Ris?..."

Stifling a sigh--for Luna's sake--he quietly replied, "That's what Fenrir said...and he knows best about his own life cycle..." Softly pressing his muzzle against the lynx's cheek, Ris closed his eyes, his mind racing.

The fox, himself, had rather given up hope, but Solus still hadn't. If the Arch-Pantheon was willing to keep fighting, then he should be, too. After all, Fenrir died fighting Nexus. The least Ris could do was try to make his sacrifice worth it.

Pulling his muzzle away, he gave Luna one more light squeeze. "I've gotta go help the others, Luna. Stay safe." With that, the blue-furred vulpine pulled away entirely, and, with a quick flick of his tail, bolted towards the Destroyer.

Did Ris tell Luna to leave? To stay out of the action? No. He was giving her the choice of fighting if she wanted it--He just wanted her to stay safe.

Luna missed the comfort already. Stifling for a moment, she stared over to the tigress of her mother. She seemed far enough away from Nexus to not be caught off guard.

Sparks shredded through her fur as she stood still, before branching off in arcs from her elbows.

Not anymore...

Luna's gaze narrowed at the monstrosity that just killed her father.

No more waiting for him.

Her paws clenched with an unhealthy tightness.

That's not the way this works.

The sparks seemed to react to her temper on their own, intensifying to a brilliant blue, swirling off her body with a sparkling radiance.

Luna met up with Ris and Solus...

Solus held the sword ready, looking up at Nexus. He suddenly heard the footsteps and shifted his eyes to look at his side. Although he grimaced at the sight of Ris and Luna, he secretly welcomed their presence. After all, it wouldn't be easy to destroy Nexus and Phasmatis, in their current state.


Nexus looked at Solus and stared down the Arch-Pantheon. With a roar, the creature reared back and threw a punch straight for Solus. The Destroyer jumped into the air and landed on Nexus' fist. He stared at his target for a moment, Phasmatis, and began running up the creature's arm.

As soon as Solus crossed the elbow, he leaped over to Phasmatis and sliced the fake Pantheon as he passed by. Due to how deep the sword cut, the loss of souls were great. Discolored air particles could be seen and one could only believe they were captive souls, now released of their everlasting torment.

Phasmatis screamed in pain and Nexus fell to the ground, weakened, but certainly not defeated.

Solus saw one of Nexus' arm moving and knew it was going to attack. On reaction, he threw the sword towards Ris, before he found a large heavy fist clamped itself around Solus, threatening to crush the Arch-Pantheon in its grip.

Aetsia allowed Solus to strike first, then started to run at Nexus. There wasn't much style with her attack, but it was effective. She jumped up and slashed downward to cleave deep into the monster.

When Luna ran up after him, Ris turned his head towards the lynx and gave her an affirming nod, though his eyes betrayed a bit of worry.

Though he had to keep his sights set on Nexus. If any of them slipped up, it could be bad.

The blue-furred fox watched carefully as Solus attacked, quickly raising his hand when the sword was thrown his way. Swiping it out of the air, Ris gripped the handle with both hands--He was only used to using his fists or a giant hammer, after all.

Not waiting for Aetsia to be finished, the vulpine charged forward, resisting the urge to let out a battle cry. When he was close enough to Nexus, he swung the weapon in a low arc, the blade almost touching the ground before ending in an upward sweep.

While Ris and Aeitsa charged with the sword, Luna couldn't stand back helplessly anymore. Holding her paws above her head, sparks generated in her arms, before thrusting her hands in front of her to let a fury of arcing bolts of lightning towards Phasmastis.

It probably wouldn't do much, but Luna couldn't do nothing.