Here is Chapter 13, I have no 'My Lovelies' for you all this evening. Because I frankly have bad news. As I have stated previously I was injured in my line of work, it was a shoulder injury and I am currently living out another month in a Sling. It has made writing very difficult, and pain filled. This Chapter alone took almost three weeks because of the pain stopping me a great deal.

I have received countless messages, a great deal I have not returned because of how they were worded, and came across. I do thank all of you who were kind, and I am most sorry to you for my choice in this matter. But there were several who continued to message me, you know exactly who you are, causing me to feel pressured, and guilty I could not keep my promise of chapter releases. I did not need, nor deserve that because I did state I was injured, that it was my arm, multiple times in the last few Chapters before this. It should have been obvious, and for several it was, that it was the cause for me breaking my Promise which I have felt guilty enough about on my own without the added help. It has made DG, as a whole, entirely unfun for me to even contemplate writing for a while. I see this title, this chapter, and I want to delete it all, or drop it, because of these very selfish individuals who read for free. But I will not, and cannot do that because I do love my Fiction, and my characters. So I am stepping away until I can calmly look at it and not feel pressured again. I am not angry, but it did upset me that these individuals did this, and honestly ruined it for the rest of you, my Readers, for the foreseeable future. I just hope that these individuals, once more you know who you are, learn from this and take the time to think. Yes, I could have attempted to write a full on section of why I was taking so long. But I had hoped that seeing the 'I was injured at work' and the following one mentioning it was my arm, would have made it obvious. I am aware it did not, obviously, so I will take the blame on my part as well. But as the Author, this is my choice, and I will return when and if I feel like it. When that is, or when I update, will be when I can, or wish to.

Once more, I am truly sorry for those that did understand, that do love this Story, and I hope you can understand my feelings, and desires. If not, I can do nothing but say I am sorry and wish you well.

Fluffy POV -

I felt fire pouring down the throat of one of my heads as I strangled the wind pipe of one of the Dark Ones three heads. It burned like magma, still I continued to crush the windpipe and battle the other two heads fiercely with my own. The Dark One was trapped against the wall, and with my wrath born strength he remained there, fighting fiercely, but remain he did.

I didn’t care if I died with it, but this Dark One was coming with me. I continued to savage him, ignoring the practical lava that poured into my throat and along my skin. It was his blood, and it was far more dangerous than lava. My kind thrived around Magma pools, even my children and I which were more attuned to water.

I kept him pinned for several minutes, both of us attacking, and being attacked by our two spare heads. Blood was flying everywhere, and where the Dark Ones landed, the ground boiled and burned, where mine landed it froze. In my own wrath filled mind I neglected my Poison, my own boiling hot water, and whatever the new energy boiling inside of me was. I wanted to kill the beast with my own fangs and claws. No Demonic Energy, I would kill it, and I would devour it!

Incidentally, savagery met with savagery would become a stalemate at some point. The Dark One gained some kind of leverage or footing while we fought, and he scrabbled for purchase on the loose rocks that littered the Gorge floor. It caused him to heave up, and push me away with his body while using the wall and the ground for the leverage he needed. My own frenzied assault led to my footing being too bad to maintain our current positions. I flew back, letting go of his throat when I realized he was about to rip that head off with his now free two heads, my own reeling from being shoved back.

When I let go, the head I had been savaging was dripping molten blood and growling weakly while it wheezed its breath out. Its other two heads were growling and barking at me, I returned the action in kind and began to bunch my muscles up. I would charge again. That was the plan at least, the Dark One had other plans. A gout of his Magma came flying at me from one of its heads, followed by another just below and behind.

I dodged to the right, catching the very side fraction of the lower shot. The heat seared my fur away, and chunks of my flesh sloughed off like rotten meat. I yowled in pain, once the sensation hit me, but launched myself forward again. No poison, teeth and claws. I chanted this, but knew logically, even in my angered state, that it would not work that way. The Beast was to strong, and I needed to live somehow. I was resolved to take it with me, yes, but I was even more resolved to survive and wipe its kind off the face of the Earth!

Growling, I used one of my heads to send a gout of Boiling water, not unlike his own magma, at him. He took the hit on his flank, it seared away fur but his flesh remained. Growling in frustration, I met him just as he turned around and launched at me. Our bodies collided mid air, and we fell down in a tumble of paws, and gnashing teeth. The sounds of our growls, barks, and yips of pain were all that filled the Gorge below. I coated my fangs in poison, and began biting him more, his heat just dispersed it the second I bit into him though. I was lucky enough that the intense heat within his body did not melt my own teeth yet, though I felt several missing, and a few beginning to warp.

Still, the fight continued. We bashed our massive bodies into each other over and over again, yelping and barking in both pain and rage. His third head had even begun to gain full movement over the course of the battle, and no matter how I tried, I could not latch onto it to keep it crippled.

The Dark Ones regenerative powers were simply too strong, and he would not give me an opening, even in our mad clashes, to keep it crippled. Snarling as we separated and then circled each other a bit I lunged toward him once again, ignoring the searing pain of his blood as it struck my fur and flesh. It would end one of two ways, I would melt, or he would freeze. Already portions of his body were frozen, ignoring the heat he produced to a substantial degree.

The rational portion of my mind, the part that seemed to come with this change, this growth, screamed to use my ice. My wrath, the sight of my Daughters head flying free while her body was eaten whole yelled to rend him to pieces with my fangs, and claws.

Oddly, it seemed both would be what occurred in the end. I was tearing chunks of his flesh out with each engagement, as he did with mine, we were both healing slowly through this, though I knew my sudden vigor would wane in time, yet he was also slowly being frozen, even with the amount that melted, during our encounters.

We engaged once again, this time far more savagely. He managed to get a grasp on my front right leg, and with the loss of balance throw me into the wall. I yelped, and cried in pain while lashing out. Two of his heads kept me from grasping the one on my leg, I could feel the burning as the Magma tore into my body, even as the odd frost that I had gained combated it.

I felt that I would perish here. Suddenly, none of it mattered, not my anger, not this war against the Dark Ones. All I knew was my youngest was dead, the receptacle for Mother to be with me in the flesh for a time, and the light of my eyes was gone. She would not return, and my foolish anger would not bring her back. The only thing I could do, was try, try to survive, try to mend the wounds of my People, try to bring us together once we drove the Dark Ones from our lands, but more than that, I had to survive.

Clenching my eyes shut at the sudden pain of my leg snapping in two, I felt the swelling of the powers I had. I released my poison from my body in a wave, his heat greatly dissipated it, but it made his death grip on my leg relax enough to ensure that I might just be able to keep it if I lived, then I blasted my boiling water from one of my heads.

The aim was not to kill him with it, but to cover his entire body in water. It hurt him, all the same. Not the heat, but the pressure involved in launching so much. It even succeeded in pushing him back a foot or so because of our closeness, and the full release of my right foreleg.

Following that, my newest head, my center head, I could feel the power coursing through my very being, and from that feeling came clouds of what looked like steam as I breathed, but was in reality a coldness that acted the same as one's warm breath in the cold. Then came the ice, a wave of it in a cone that flew toward the Dark One...The ‘Pretender’ to whatever this power was, Cerberus, THE Cerberus had bequeathed it unto me, his heart had become mine.

The ice hit the Dark One dead center, and it howled, all three of its heads, launching itself at me, trying to fight the cone of cold I had sent toward it, but what came out, landing at my feet, was nothing but a massive chunk of ice. An Ice so cold and strong that not even the Dark Ones odd Magma blood, and heat could melt it. Permafrost, the name flew through my mind. I blinked, glaring at the Dark Ones tomb, surely it was dead now? I did not know. But nothing would melt the Beast cage, dead or alive, I would entomb it further within this Gorge, the Dark One would never leave this field of battle.

The main downside at the moment was that it was night, I realized this now. The moon held her sway upon the world, lighting it in her beauty. It made me realize just how long the Dark One and I had been fighting, how injured I was, I felt the aches and bruises all over my body, the burning of his fangs and blood, the missing flesh, my broken leg, and missing fangs. I was exhausted, dehydration at least was not an issue for me, I was water, I held it within me. But starvation could affect me, though all I felt now was a very profound, and powerful weakness, my strength all but nonexistent, all six of my eyes felt heavy. As though weighed by the great stones that littered the Gorge.

I could not even hear the other Packs that had fought with us, nor any Dark Ones beyond the Gorge. The sounds of battle at the front, which I should be able to hear in the Gorge with nothing else, was absent. All I heard was the rushing night breeze, and all I saw was the warming light of the Moon, of what I considered to be Mother in the end.

I remember staring up into it, just looking, and hoping Mother would forgive me for my anger, for shoving her out. More than anything though, i wish that my youngest had not been so foolish, regardless of what it may have gifted my...our People for the future with my new body, then there was blackness, the world was swallowed away as I fell into a deep slumber, nightmares chasing me within the deepest reaches of my mind.

Jessica POV - Several Hours before Cerberus Rising

I watched her go toward her house, leaving me behind again. Once more, speechless. I had finally gotten up the courage to confess, to try and fulfill my part of the bet. At least that is what I told myself, in reality it was far simpler. I had begun to grow very depressed, anxious, and a bit insane at the fact I had Sid right in front of me, and yet I could not really do anything.

Even if I was rejected, I needed to get this out. Years of having a crush, slowly having it grow into love...It was killing me, I knew this, but I still lied and said it was for the bet. Something did come up, I saw Leo send a prompt to her, but it was a little confusing all the same. I wondered what could be so important? Why did she look relieved when she ran off? Was she avoiding me? Was she afraid of something?

Countless questions ran through my mind, at some point I lost count and actually began to get angry with her. Why did she always avoid me? Why did she always confuse what I meant? I knew she was sheltered, but rational thought process didn't really have an affect on me at the moment.

How could she not see how I looked at her? Was that why she ran away? She was afraid of it? I growled under my breath at the notion of her being afraid of my feelings and running from both me, and them. That just made me more angry with her. Before I knew it I was actually walking after her, I had to have stood there staring after where she had run for five minutes before I started moving.

I think I made it two blocks toward her house before I stopped, I could see where her house was a block away. The lights were on, and I knew she would have just jumped right into whatever Demon was in trouble that was her favorite to help them. It was how she was. Aside from Franny and I, those Demons were the closest things to Friends she has had for the vast majority of her life. I understood it, but I still hated it. She used it as an excuse tonight to run off, that was the only reason.

“Fine...fine..” I muttered and turned around and just started walking home. The fact it was getting colder at night didn’t phase me much. I was to lost in my own whirl of anger at what had happened.

I was relatively sure I actually walked around one block three times without realizing it while I thought over everything, over and over again. I was just getting angrier at her, and myself the more I thought. I just wanted to not think anymore. But it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, in all honesty.

Even when angry at her, my mind was filled with images of her, and jealousy as well at seeing how close she was getting toward Suzuki. That one really pissed me off, the fact I got baited into this by Suzuki.

A very convenient receptacle to add more fuel to the fire, so to speak. It made it easier to spiral out of control, and I had no idea how long I had ended up walking for in the cold evening air, but when I finally snapped out of it, I was literally standing in front of Sids house, a foot from her door and it was night time. It was also a hell of a lot colder than it had been earlier. My fingers had gone numb, and I think I lost an ear! Felt that way at least.

I brought my freezing hand to my face and slowly moved it down the length of it, the coldness itself helped clear my head a little, but I was still irrationally mad at her. I was beginning to realize there was no such thing as rationality when it came to how I felt about Sidnie, and it kind of made me angry again.

The hell was wrong with me? Was it that damn close to my period? Or was I just this messed up to begin with? I guess it didn’t matter in the end, at any rate. All I could do was either continue in, deal with it, and have my heart broken so I could move on, or be a chicken and walk away.

I prefered the second option to the first. I did not relish the idea of my best friend, and the girl I loved breaking my heart. But it was a fact of life, not everyone was of my...persuasion after all, and she obviously liked that dick head Drake. The fact she went ‘goo-goo’ eyed every time he was around her Irked me a bit, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

She never heard any of the warnings about how he was, or saw it. The downside to her sheltered life, creeps, she couldn’t see them. The most I could do there was try to be there for her. Sadly, if I went inside and confronted Sid about how I felt, I had a feeling that part would be a great deal more difficult in the future.

As I was turning to leave, my Cell starting to ring though. I froze, mostly out of shock. Not a lot of people knew my cell number, my Parents, Franny, and Sid along with their Parents. I had a little bit of a panic attack when I saw the caller I.D was from Sid’s home phone, I blinked a bit and answered it.

“Jessica! *hic* something happened to Leo….”

I got the entire portion of the story from her, and she was freaking out. Leo was what amounted to sibling at this point, or another Father figure based on how you looked at it, and she was worried about him.

“Sid, I’m outside your house, let me in.” I stated after a bit, her crying always did this to me. I was upset all the same, but she needed a friend, and I had been the one she called. That part made me feel happy, the ‘friend’ part was an odd mix of both that I didn’t think too deeply upon.

When she opened the Door, she was still dressed like how we were for the Tournament, the main difference being she had lost the layers she needed to stay warm. She was also crying, she saw me and launched herself at me and clung to me.

I wrapped my arms around her, trying to keep steady, little girl was strong for her size. Hugging her I tried, a bit awkwardly, to get her back inside. It was awkward because she kept hugging me tighter, breathing became a bit difficult, and she kept hampering my legs. It felt like I had two kids on either one with how tricky it became to navigate. I did it all the same though, worried about her having a relapse on her symptoms because of the crying she was doing.

The Crying itself shouldn’t cause a relapse, but I remember her Mom telling me about her panic attacks, and the fact she was breathing hard and rapidly while hiccuping and crying was freaking me out a lot. I didn’t want her to get sick again.

So we made it to her couch, and I sat her down on it and held her, trying to calm her down. No doubt her parents were both out at her Dads Job for one reason or another and that left her home alone. I’d likely be more nervous if not for Sid crying like this right now. As it was, I spent the rest of the night just comforting her.

Obsidian POV -

*Clang* *Bash* *Cries of pain*

Below my station on the parapet of my newly repaired Bastion was a field of Pit Fiends, each training with their weapon of choice against another of their kind. Here and there you could even see a few that had been dragged from the field of mock combat with some form of injury, or even death.

Combat was not pretty, it was not merciful, therefore training should be the same. The survivors would be stronger for it, and the dead were just weaklings I did not need within my forces. A few of those Others were still within my lands, a small holdout here or there, but they were Feral beasts now, no sign of intelligence or semblance of a guiding hand.

They would still be wiped out all the same. I would never allow another event like what had nearly driven my people to extinction, what had taken my Brother, occur again within my Lands.

So I trained the new generation to be more fearless, skilled, and ruthless than the last. Dedicated to myself, or their respective House, few as that may be, and they all answered to me. No more division, no more civil war within my own Lands. I had already killed two House Leaders that had been newly risen to such stations for their attempted rebellion, and I would kill countless more to keep them under heel.

I stared down at the mass of fighting males, and females a moment longer before turning, my Guard, my Brothers Children and descendants turning with me. I had nothing left to observe from their piss poor training, and a lot to think upon.

Chief among them was the sudden flare of Demonic strength I had felt coming from the Hounds area, that big blue one. It felt like him, or a description of how his power felt, only larger. It was concerning, something that powerful was like a beacon of his power to myself, and the other two. It spoke volumes on how difficult it might be to face him in combat now.

I absently raised a hand to the Ax strapped to my back, and rubbed a hand along the flat of the blade, near the edge. Behemoths Fang, I knew the name, even the implications of its hidden Power. It screamed that I had not even touched the surface of what the weapon held within, what it could do for me personally, and my power base.

Yet the issue confounded me, and confused me. I knew I was somewhat different from the others of my Species, something was unique, I also appeared to comprehend things better, I no longer dove head first into action as was my want to do before, I thought upon it, looked at different angles, encouraged my Brothers descendants to consult on what they saw.

I did not like this change, yet at the same time I did. It meant I had the ability to grasp Power, even if said power eluded me still. Perhaps The Power that originally awoke this Ax, or at least aided in its awakening would be able to push me over the precipice I felt before me, like an insurmountable wall.

Something I must debate upon as time goes on, it could wait for a short time. When I arrived within my Throne room, I saw the Lesser Fiend, the one they called Scar standing to the side...That was right, I had an audience with the up and coming little warrior of the skies.

He had earned his name, his body littered with his name sake, missing one of his eyes, and the very tip of his right wing looked a bit more deformed than the rest. I frowned at it, before realizing that a literal chunk of the bone was missing. I had no idea how he continued to fly, but it had to be painful. That showed some of the power he held, and no doubt would hold if he survived.

He had only been able to recently take part in the cleansing of the abominations that had nearly destroyed us, he and his particular tribe of Lesser Fiends were my primary defence against the great Birds that had begun to plague us in greater numbers than ever before.

No doubt the reason for his audience request, I knew the little whelp disliked the duty of cleansing our Lands, scouting for nest for those Feral creatures and would rather be fighting the Birds. It was enough to make me wish to kill him, but he had his uses yet.

I took a seat upon my Throne, and motioned for one of my Guard, my Eldest Nephew, to proceed with the pomp of a ‘court’ it was enough to almost make me laugh, almost.

“Scar, Flight Leader of the Fiend Defence Force, your request for an audience has been heard and accepted. Step forth, and speak to our Queen.”

That was the reason it made me laugh, no real ceremony. It was a new concept for my people, a single ruler over all, and the term ‘Queen’ while not foreign to us per say, it was odd for a people ruled by warring Houses and clans to be under the Houses, yet answer ultimately to me. The oddness showed on Scar’s face, but he came forth all the same. If I remembered correctly he was part of a Minor House that had been destroyed in the fighting, save for himself and a few others I placed in random Houses.

He stepped forward, his voice sibilant, and retaining the screech of his lesser brethren, the Imps. Though it lacked the cadence and piercing annoyance of their chatter. “Yar...My Queen.” He bowed, stopping from saying my name, the name I had once gone by when my Brother yet lived. The fact I had almost leapt down to kill him must have been a reason as well, he had sensed the impending danger.

That made him a greater warrior than I thought. I nodded for him to continue, keeping my hand on the Ax I had drawn and rested upon my lap as he started speaking, the warning very clear.

“My Queen, I came to request that you take my Flight of warriors off this cleansing detail, the Birds have begun to increase in numbers. The frequency of their attacks, as well as the savageness, has begun to plague the few areas resettled after the Cleansing War.”

I snorted, ‘Cleansing War’ they called it, I called it a systematic slaughter of our people, one we had barely survived. I let it go however, and pretending to contemplate. Giving him the illusion his words, his concerns mattered. Once the, by my standard, appropriate time had gone by I responded.

“No...The Birds will keep, and the more you whine about this ‘Menial’ task, yes I am aware of what you think of it, the longer it will take. Finish located the Nests of those creatures, slaughter them, and I will allow you all the Flights of Fiends you could want to take the Birds from the skies of our lands.”

I saw his lips peeling back in the beginnings of a fiendish snarl, but he resisted by what appeared to be will power alone, bowed, and left. I stared at the closing doors, his retreating form and then raised a hand, ordering my Nieces, and Nephews to leave the Throne room to me alone. They would prevent anyone from entering, violently at that.

Once they left, I looked up at the overhang above the entrance to the room, staring at the Broken shield that had been my Brothers, and was now his offspring symbol. I would never state this allowed, or allow another to know it, but I missed him...greatly.

When I looked down to the Ax, I almost lovingly caressed it, trying to eek out the Power deep within the Weapon to show itself, to become wholly mine. I also thought upon ‘Her’ the Powerful one that had ultimately been the cause for the Weapons awakening as well...I knew now I could not ‘Take’ her, something told me she was beyond me...But I would make her favor me somehow, and soon.