Zero stares at Lager with wide eyes, Aella now on her feet behind him with a hand positioned on her weapon, ready to wield it at any moment.

"Lager." I breathe out in surprise, and he turns his head slightly to look at me, expression softening ever so slightly.

"You alright?" He asks, and I nod once.

"So it was a trap." Zero says roughly, his silver eyes making contact with mine. "Was everything you said about being chased by a killer a lie?"

"What?!?" Lager exclaims, whirling to face me, and it's at that moment that Aella makes a move.

She whips out her double-sided spear faster that I can blink and hurls it at Lager before I can even open my mouth to warn him.

A flick of of darkness shoots out from the shadows, stopping the spear inches from the back of Lager's head and making me exhale a huge breath in relief, heart pounding in my ears.

Lager turns, slowly rotating on his heel until he's facing Zero and Aella again.

"That wasn't playing fair, attacking when your opponent's back is turned." He drawls.

Lager waves two fingers and the snake of darkness that is holding Aella's spear recoils, only to send it flying to the right, crashing against one of the cave walls with a loud 'clang' and making me wince.

If Lager was trying to anger Aella by doing that, he one hundred percent succeeded.

I clench my hands, eyes darting among the three people nervously.

The history between Zero and Lager is still unknown and a complete mystery to me. The only clue I have is Lager telling me a few months ago that Zero had stolen something of his that was very important whenever Lager sent him on the mission to Braun island, but he never specified what that thing was.

And while Lager may or may not have every reason to want to spill Zero's blood right now, Zero had only a couple hours ago, saved me from a Lyncher. He also seems to know some vital information, making my head fill with deja vu, since his "vital information" a few months ago was the fact that I was dying due to a fake bond he had created.

"Lager, wait a second." I speak up, and he tilts his head in my direction, but doesn't fully turn to face me. "Zero wasn't trying to hurt me, he actually saved me from a Lyncher."

I never thought the day would come so soon where I would be defending Zero so soon from lager, but I really don't want an unnecessary and possibly very bloody fight to take place, and if this is what I have to do to stop it I'll do it.

"Is that so?" He asks in a dull and completely uninterested tone, as if that information is irrelevant to him.

Welp.

"Zero also has important information. Killing him would only lead to a disaster if what he needs to say really is important." I try again.

"Who said anything about killing him? I'm here as a representative on the Lightling High Commander's behalf, following strict orders to apprehend the trespassers and protect Ashley. You can choose to resist, but be aware of the fact that I've been given permission to use any means necessary."

I can almost hear the cold smile in his voice and see the glint in his eyes as he snaps his fingers, the shadows instantly shooting towards Lager shoot like he's their magnet, dividing themselves at his will into little tendrils of darkness that swirl around like snakes ready to strike at any given moment.

No, no, no. This is only a few short seconds away from turning ugly, and Lager doesn't seem to be calm like he usually is. Can Zero's presence have enraged him this much? And how do I get him to listen to me?

"I dare you to try detaining us, Darkling." Zero suddenly growls, and my eyes flick to him, trying to send him silent signals to shut up and let me do the talking.

"I was hoping you would say that." Lager utters, and the darkness surrounding him tenses, a millisecond away fro attacking.

"No, Lager!" I call at the last moment, making everyone pause. "Bad! Very bad Lager!"

My mind is so jumbled and panicked at the moment, it takes a moment of silence to let it sink in that I had just spoken to Lager like I was reprimanding a pet dog.

Lager half-way turns to face me, his eyebrows raised with a look that says 'what in the name of Core....?'.

Zero seems to think of my distraction as a golden opportunity to not end the fight like I had wanted it to, but instead initiate the first move.

"Aella!" He shouts before suddenly lunging at Lager, bare-handed and defenseless. At the same time Aella leaps over a large rock and sprints towards her weapon on the ground, grabbing it and not even stopping for a second before turning around and moving for Lager.

Lager dodges Zero's lunge and with a quick snap of his fingers sends the tendrils of darkness at Aella, who slices through them with both sides of her spear, but they keep coming, making it difficult for her to move forward.

I hug the cave wall, watching with wide eyes and feeling completely useless since not even my words could have prevented this.

Zero rounds on his heel, getting ready to lunge again, but Lager's there in the blink of an eye, slamming a fist into Zero's jaw.

I flinch. Oooooh ouch, that looked painful.

Zero surprisingly only stumbles back a few feet, silver eyes flashing as he raises his hand to his jaw and softly prods it.

"You're lucky you didn't knock any teeth out, Darkling." Zero spits the word 'Darkling' out like a curse, meanwhile Lager ignores him and is instead stretching his arms, first the right and then the left.

"I'd ask again whether you wanted to surrender peacefully or not, but where would be the fun in that?" Lager smiles wickedly, golden eyes seeming to crave vengeance and blood.

I hear a grunt and my eyes flash to Aella, whose sliced through the last tendril of darkness, making it dissipate. She quickly joins Zero by his side, not taking her eyes off of Lager, an intense glare gleaming in her green pupils.

"Darkling High Commander," Aella speaks, and I clench my hands into fists, wondering if she'll provoke him and make this situation worse, "Tell the Lightling High Commander that the Kinling High Commander is the trespasser she's after. She won't have us apprehended then."

I sigh in relief, glad that Aella has at least common sense and knows that this fight won't be pretty if she doesn't put an end to it quickly.

Lager pauses, and I stare at him hard, hoping he does as she says, but slowly he shakes his head, looking at Aella with a hint of sympathy.

"I know you Kinlings think you've formed an alliance with the Lightlings, but no such thing has happened, not since the time they aided you once only to backfire on them horribly."

He must be referring to the last clash the Kinlings had with the Darkling, when the Lightlings helped the Kinlings just a bit only for the Kinlings to start the war in such a horrible way and lose it horribly as well.

"Lager I think we should let Malia handle this." I speak up for the first time since the accidental dog-talking, and I almost regret it, except for the thanks in Aella's eyes which makes me feel slightly better. "We're on Lightling territory, after all."

Lager clenches his hands into fists, and I hold my breath, waiting for what he'll do.

"Fine." Lager finally grits out, before turning to fully face me, his eyes widening slightly as if registering my presence for the first time since the whole fight started. "You need to leave, Ashley."

"Don't you think it's a bit late for that?" I question with a nervous smile, relieved Lager seems to be back to his normal self as he strides towards me, confident enough to turn his back to the Kinlings.

"My apologies." He grimaces, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, with the other hand, he snaps in the direction of the Kinlings and suddenly spears of Darkness shoot out from the shadows of the cave, grabbing a hold of them Aella and Zero before they can move a muscle.

"What?" Aella questions in surprise, struggling against the grip of darkness, but it does nothing to help.

"I'm just doing as you asked." Lager says innocently, looking over his shoulder at them with a smirk. "I'll have you restrained and locked away in the Villa until Malia deems it time to deal with you."

"We don't have time to be locked away fro who knows how long." Aella states, her expression darkening, but even I an see the barest hint of worry. "We left a group of Kinlings at one of our camps, but they're running out of food. That's why we were sent to get more, but then we ran into Ashley. We have to get a new food supply for them." She explains through gritted teeth, as if not willing to give away this information, but knowing it's the only chance she'll have to convince Lager to let her go.

"We need to see Malia straight away, or at least let his High Commander go," She continues, referring to Zero, who stands stoically beside her, not moving an inch and face tilted down. What is he thinking?

"Take me to the Lightling High Commander as a hostage instead. Our HIgh Commader will return once he's restocked the food supply. He'll swear on his title." Aella says firmly, and my gaze goes between her and Lager.

"The Kinlings can hunt for food themselves." Lager responds.

"Unless they can't." I cut in, thinking back to when Zero and Aella had kidnapped me and given me a tour of their base, talking about how their camps were structured throughout their territory. They said there were special camps set up, specifically made for the elderly, pregnant, and infants to live there.

"Whose side are you on?" Lager questions in an exasperated tone, turning to me while I give a sheepish shrug.

While I have every reason to hold a grudge against Zero, I can't exactly let the Kinling babies and elderly starve if what Aella is saying is true.

"It could all be lies." Lager continues, golden eyes hard and cold. "It wouldn't be the first time they've used sympathy to their advantage."

Aella says nothing, just continues giving Lager the focused Stare, her back straight and still looking like a fierce predator even with her arms and legs being held captive by the tendrils of darkness.

"......." I hear a sudden mutter, coming from Zero's direction, not making out any of the words.

Aella seems to have heard the whole phrase though, because her eyes widen fractionally, her entire body stiffening.

"Repeat what you said." Lager orders, his tone darkening drastically, as if he already knows what Zero had said, while I remain entirely in the dark without a clue.

Zero, however, does not repeat it, and instead lifts his head.

I inhale sharply, staring at Zero's eyes which are not their normal silver color, but a very pale shade of blue, a ring of grey still surrounding the pupils though.

Images flash through my head of when I was back on Braun lab, during the time I had fallen sick due to a lab-made virus Mrs. Clark had given me. How my body temperature had gone up so high, I thought I was going to die. Then Zero's eyes.....how they had slowly turned that pale shade of blue and instant coolness had calmed my raging temperature. I had shaken it off as my imagination, I was very sick after all, but to think after all this time....seeing it again.

Lager's eyes focus on the fire, and Lager sees where he's looking before raising his hand, but it's too late.

The fire dissipates into smoke, ask if suddenly blown out by a cold wind and sending the cave into pitch black darkness.

There's a whoosh from beside me, and I reach out my hand to the place Lager had been standing, but he was no longer there.

A second later a loud clang resounds through the air, and I flinch, taking a few steps back in my blindness until I bump into the cool stone of the cave wall. I hear thumps and loud scuffling, followed by more clangs and crashes.

It sounds like a fierce battle is raging on in the darkness, and I don't even know how it's going due to the pitch black.

Suddenly a small blue light helps me see a few feet ahead of me, and I look down at my necklace, the one given by Core, to see the crystal glowing. Is it reacting to the darkness?

Glow more, I urge it, not expecting anything to happen, but surprised when the light actually seems to glow a little brighter, turning the completely black cave into more a dim, dark room looking thing, enough for me to see the figures moving around lightning fast, attacking and defending like some kind of wild dance.

I squint, making out the fireplace, and the beings who battle only a few yards away. Easing off the wall, I start to quickly dart towards the fireplace, only to slip and fall, landing hard on my butt for the second time that day. I look down to see what I slipped on, and discover the flow is covered in patches of ice.

This must be Zero's doing. The Kinling who suddenly out of nowhere brings out ice powers.

I scramble quickly towards the fireplace, keeping one eye on their figures in case I need to move away, but also focusing on relighting it using the materials Zero and Aella left laying around.

It takes a few tries, but soon I make a spark and rekindle the fire, lighting the cave up more and I sigh in relief, turning to see what's going on, only for my mouth to fall open.

Just as I re-lit the fire Zero sends a hard punch flying into Lager's chest and making him slam against one of the boulders jutting out from the cave walls. Zero doesn't waste a second and jabs his arm up against Zero's throat, locking him against the wall.

"When were you going to tell Ashley?" Zero growls while slightly baring his teeth, more animal-like in that moment than I had ever seen him.

"Did you think she would run away? Were you scared that I would go back to being the good guy, while you were left as the hopeless villain you are and always will be?" He continues, and Lager grunts, slashing a finger through the air and causing a small wave of darkness to throw Zero off of Lager and onto the ground, but he jumps back up quickly, eyes focused on Lager who dusts his cape off, golden eyes molten in fury.

"Stop talking." Lager warns.

"So what happened? Did you accidentally forget what your background as a Darkling is? Who you're descended from? Did you just happen to forget to mention to Ashley what you're nature is, and how much danger she'll be in if she continues to stick around a bastard like you?" Zero continues, and I watch with wide eyes as Darkness suddenly gathers into the palms of Lager's hands, creating orbs similar to what I've seen Becky wield.

"Shut up." Lager grits out, throwing the orbs with all his might, Zero manages to dodge one, but the other seems to have a mind of it's own and follows Zero, crashing into his side and making him slam into the nearest cave wall.

Zero lets out a rough chuckle, supporting himself against the wall as his shoulders move in heavy breaths.

"Looks like I don't need to tell Ashley anything, you're true nature is already starting to show through."

True nature?

I look at Lager, and freeze, my breaths pausing. Zero's eyes aren't the only ones going through a transformation. Lager's eyes are changing slowly, and I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't looked at the moment, watching as a dark orange color spreads from the pitch black pupil, seeping into the gold and over-taking it.

I've also seen those eyes before, and not just from Iris's brother, but someone else.

End.

"I warned you." Lager says, his voice causing me to shake slightly at how different it is. That can't Lager. Not the Lager I've known for a few months, who's always laughed and teased and flirted like no one's watching.

Lager raises his hand and I open my mouth right as Zero's eyes flick upwards and Lager sees the movement, following where he looked to see Aella who had disappeared for a short time standing on the stone ledge above Lager at an angle, her wrist already moving as she releases the spear she had poised to throw.

I'm moving before I can even think about it, time seeming to slow down until the only thing moving is me as I sprint towards Lager who's only a couple yards away, lunging at him as the spear nears and sliding in front of him without a second to spare.

"No!" I hear the sound of Zero's yell. "Human blood can't be spilled!"

But it's too late.

The spear makes impact, slamming into my shoulder where Lager's heart would have been and forcing me backwards until I hear a 'thump' as my back hits Lager's chest.

I exhale, mind going numb as my body starts to slide down, knees losing strength.

Strong arms dart around me before I can hit the floor, and an explosion of pain rings out through my shoulder, black spots darkening my vision as the world descends into darkness.

"ASHLEY!" Is the last thing I hear, as I close my eyes.

The roar of the agonized Darkling High Commander follows me into oblivion.











Dear Readers, phew! Intense chapter! I don't think this went smoothly at all, and the details may not provide the best imagery, but I hope you enjoyed. This was such an intense chapter, I didn't know how to convey the hatred between Lager and Zero correctly and kind of gave up trying, cause nothing would do it justice but I hope the action was good. You must have so many questions and confusion from this chapter now, lol,and lookie here, it;s another cliff hanger. I wonder whats gonna happen now. Any theories? Vote, comment, and make a huge cut out of your face that you can wear around for funsies. Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken

P.S. QUESTION: Who saw the title of the chapter and thought "Ooooooooh!"?