The shade princes dash through the forest, forgoing Stomper and travelling by foot.

Stabby can only hope the fire's an accident made by the imps, but he's unsure how it could get this bad with O'gu there. The previous presence of the light officers decreases that likelihood further.

His breathing grows heavy, a mix between physical exertion and a heavy mental weight in his chest.

The walls of the butchery appear, containing the raging flames within. Corpses pile up outside the gate, the deep slash of an axe marked upon them. Centaurs, dwarfs, a few flame-kins and cyclops, but oddly no light soldiers rest with their comrades. The violent sight is horrifying, but its presence brings hope of O'gu's survival.

Grisha looks to Stabby, uncertainty in his eyes. "I don't think we should do this."

"We have to make sure they're alright. If there are soldiers still alive in there, we run."

"Fine..." Grisha grits his teeth.

They enter the broken gates, the dense smoke causing them to choke. Sight becomes difficult as the overpowering smell of ash burns their eyes. Embers burn their skin, creating rashes on their heat-sensitive skin. Nevertheless, they push through, finding themselves at the heart of the camp.

A body lies mangled on the butcher table, his face split in two. The huts are ablaze along with the soldiers inside. The ogre's pet Kerata gata growls at the corpse of a flame-kin, the fiery strands of hair dying out. It knocks the body away and sits, scanning the surroundings for any survivor looking to fight. It guards the entrance to the hut with the anvil mark, one Stabby still can't figure out the significance of.

Grisha motions to keep out of its sight. The flames will make it difficult, but unsure of how the creature will react to them, Stabby acknowledges it's worth a shot. They lower to a crawl, hiding behind bins yet to catch fire and dashing to the next whenever the gata turns its gaze.

Stabby mouths, "what if O'gu's in that hut the gata is guarding?"

"I find it unlikely."

"Why's that?"

"He doesn't seem like one who hides when danger appears."

A hut snaps behind them, crashing to the ground and gaining the gata's attention. The creature turns to the source, aiming its vertical dual horns. Silence. Its feline eyes narrow. Still nothing. It turns.

The shades dash to the butcher table, but as they do the gata's head snaps back, glimpsing the blurs. A deep growl rumbles from its throat, shaking the ground. Stabby slides underneath the table, grabbing Grisha's legs and pulling the sleep-starved prince along.

The gata approaches them with slow steps, not for caution but confidence, ensuring the intruders know the situation they're in. It bears its sharp teeth, the blood of its past prey flowing into its brilliant mane.

Grisha mouths, "what now? We're trapped."

Retreat isn't an option; the gata's terrifying legs confirm that. If Stabby clones himself, he can distract it, but if it gets stuck, they're screwed. He glances above him to the corpse on the table.

He smiles.

The gata closes in, the intense rumbling of its growl making the brothers' legs feel unsteady. It stops right in front of them, growing silent. It lowers without haste, taking pleasure in its assured victory. As its head lowers below the table, Stabby sticks his arm through the ground, appearing above it. Grabbing the mutilated corpse, he pushes it on top of the creature. The gata jumps back with a yelp. It growls louder, charging the corpse and slamming its horns deep in the already deceased body.

The beast distracted, Stabby grabs Grisha's arm and runs past it, behind a hut. They watch from the corner, Stabby doing his best to keep his heavy breathing under control.

The gata further destroys the empty vessel that once held a soul, tearing the body into pieces, then returns to its post once again, eyes ever watchful.

Stabby searches his surroundings for where the butcher and the imps could be. It should be a simple task from how open the area is, but somehow it ends up a rather difficult procedure. The smoke continues to burn his eyes, making his search all the harder, a gata, not in the best mood, could find them again at any point, and Grisha is on the brim of sleep, which Stabby kept the strange petal in case of, but it's still something he wants to avoid.

If only O'gu would hurry up and appear.

The scent of raw flesh surrounds him, heavy breath spreading across his skin. Stabby looks up. The gata, bloodied drool hanging from its jaws, glares down at him with pupils thinning to needles.

Stabby pushes Grisha forward, away from the predator, kicking dirt into its eyes, and running through the burning buildings. The further they run, Grisha falls deeper into his dazed state, swiftly turning to unconsciousness. He wobbles like a drunk fresh out of a bar, tripping over his own feet. Stabby jumps underneath him, barely keeping the comparably enormous body up. The gata is blinded but now driven by anger, charging forward and slamming into anything unlucky enough to be in its way. Stabby drags Grisha through the crumbling remains of the camp, the intoxicating burn of the smoke worsening. The predator finds its way, charging straight towards them, knocking bins and fallen parts to the side.

"Come on, Grisha, wake up." Stabby makes little distance with his elder brother, the weight crushing him to the ground. He lowers to a kneel, his knees can't hold out much longer. As the weight feels it will bring him down, it's lifted from his back, followed by his own.

Stabby flops around in the air, attempting to catch a glance of what brought him off the surface. A large green form adorned in butcher's clothes, with Grisha hanging from his shoulder, stops the gata's charge with a single hand.

"O'gu!"

O'gu merely grunts, turning to the gata and staring into its eyes. "Down."

The fearsome creature yields to the butcher, the top of the chain demeanor gone in an instant.

"Why are you here?" O'gu asks before interrupting his question with a shake of his head. "Never mind, we'll talk later. We must leave quickly. The camp is on its last legs."

O'gu heads towards the exit, and the gata attempts to follow, but still partially blind, rams into another collapsing hut. O'gu glances to Stabby with an irritated look and whistles. The gata responds in an instant, jumping onto the ogre's back.

O'gu dashes at an impressive speed made even more incredible by the three creatures he carries on his back.

The density of the smoke gives it a physical form, appearing as a man fighting the fire with staff, always getting close but never landing a solid blow on the dancing flames. Fire and smoke, both synchronize and oppose. It's mesmerizing, appearing almost choreographed. The end seems close, the smoke about to reach the flames, but the butchery's gate collapses, blocking the end of the display.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Stabby monitors his unconscious brother as the butcher does his best to quench the flames. O'gu's hard work pays off in the end, saving the mainly intact structures that remain. He seems relieved he saved the few he could, no matter the majority he couldn't, but a mournful expression still adorns him, and a nagging thought lingers in Stabby's mind.

With the fire stopped, O'gu kneels at the center of the graveyard, staring at the enormous axe sticking out of a stone slab, a hand on his own, surrounded by the deceased forms of flame-kins. He sheds no tears, but pain etches his face and... He's alone.

Stabby approaches and, with a voice matching the pain of the ogre's expression, asks, "where are the imps?"

"They're gone."

Stabby falls to his knees beside the ogre. "I... I'm sorry. We shouldn't have let them return by themselves..."

He snaps back, "don't take blame for my responsibilities, boy. I am no child. I can handle my own mistakes."

The unrestrained emotion from the normally calm butcher causes Stabby to step back.

He calms his voice, "a man, one with a red mask, that of a demon, do you know him?"

Stabby nods. He won't forget the men who attacked him as a shade-ling.

"The demons of sunlight," Grisha mutters, stumbling towards them with a hand on his aching head. "Why do you ask?"

"He's the one who took the lil ones."

"That rat."

"Do you know where they'll be?" O'gu rises, laying his hands on the axe stuck in stone.

"No." Grisha pauses. "You don't plan to go after them, do you?"

The ogre ignores the questions, bowing his head to the axe. "Father, I know I have failed our people, but I must use your blade one last time. I only have one promise left unbroken, please let me fulfill it."

"You can't. They have the light behind them. You can't kill them all."

O'gu's biceps bulge, tearing the axe from the slab, shattering the stone to pieces.

"We'll help you find them, but please come back with us. We can protect you."

"Quiet yourself, your desperation for allies is showin'. You got problems of your own to worry about." O'gu grabs the helmet in front of the broken grave. "But I wouldn't worry, your foes brought a problem much worse on themselves..." He takes his axe with that of his father's, dual-wielding the humongous weapons as if they were daggers. "They've unleashed the Butcher."

Grisha becomes quiet, and from what Stabby assumes to be a mix of sleep deprivation and shock, the walls around his connected thoughts lower. O'gu's past identity... he's not just some average aging orc. Stabby glances back to the corpses that lay across the campgrounds, he's a butcher in more than one way. The most feared of the orcs with thousands of heads to his name, the one who single handily brought an end to the demon race, the Blood-soaked Butcher.

O'gu places the axes on his back and howls, calling the gata to his side. The creature, now equipped with specifically crafted armor, glares momentarily at the shades but brings its attention back to the ogre at his request.

Stabby reaches out. "Wait, we'll go with you."

"Stabby," Grisha lays a hand on his shoulder. "He's right. We have a mission to accomplish, and I'm in no shape to help him."

"Then I'll go."

"Don't be dim," O'gu says. "Helpin' me will hurt your mission and your family."

"Okay..." Stabby's head drop. He's right, Stabby needs to break Kyoki free, it's selfish of him to think of anything else.

O'gu climbs the gata, turning his head a last time. "You're a smart one, if I need help in the future, I'll search you out. You do the same."

Stabby's ears perk up, his soot-covered face brightening.

"Now... I must remind the world why they fear the Butcher." He pats the gata's side and disappears into the forest.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The shades continue their journey home, Grisha on his back in silent pain and Stabby staring at the surface of Stomper's head.

"Hey, Slicer, are you up for talking?"

"Not really," he picks his torso up with a groan, "but I can."

"It's just... do you think he'll be alright?"

Grisha smirks, "O'gu? Yeah. I wouldn't worry about him too much. He can handle himself."

"And the imps?"

"I don't think they'll hurt them for now, so we just have to hope O'gu can find them in time."

There's a pause, then Stabby asks, "if O'gu is the one who killed the demons, why is he watching the imps?"

"That... I don't know. It's something that bothers me too. I'm still not sure how they even survived the orc-demon war. It supposedly wiped them both out."

"He seems to care for them, and he mentioned something about it being his last promise."

"It could be th..." Grisha stops, scanning his surrounding. "This seems familiar. Do you feel like something's watching you?"

"Yeah..." Ever since they left Kyoki's domain, Stabby felt something weird... similar to when the demons of sunlight trailed them. "Do you think they sent more demons?"

"Already? It would surprise me, but not something we should risk, especially not in my current state." Grisha looks to the sky, Sora's orb taking its place. "We're going to book it."

A shadow dashes between the trees behind them.

Grisha tugs twice on Stomper's straps, and she transforms her stroll into a full dash, eyes opening at the touch of Sora's luminescence. The kohdok speeds through the forest, the shadow following as a blur.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The chase lasts what seems forever, neither losing momentum nor gaining distance. Sora's orb seems to be near the end of its shift above them, but thankfully the castle is in sight.

Stomper uses her last burst of speed, cracking the ground with her mighty legs. The shadow falls behind for a second, before gaining a boost of its own to match her speed. Sora falls under the horizon, the gate only a few more steps away. Stomper slows, returning to her snail's pace. The shadow seems to overtake them, but... slows.

The pounding footsteps of Stomper cease, the kohdok falling asleep as she steps onto familiar land.

They're home.