"Keep on moving my friend!" Looking over his shoulder at the haggard voice calling him he nodded; gently lifting one of the children over a large fallen tree before joining them on the other side. Behind them the fire rained down from the skies destroying their home, the group's elders wailed as they walked bereaving the loss of the people's history and the lives of so many. Casting a quick glance upwards as they moved through the burning forest his crimson red eyes caught sight of the burning sky; fire painted the sky's previous blue turning it into a haunting orange, their moons visible as always seemed to be stained with the blood of their planet.

"Come on" A soft voice whispered from his side accompanied by a gentle hand on his elbow, turning his gaze to the owner his eyes met deep violet ones, the ears upon his companions head twitched and her tail wrapped itself around her waist. "We need to catch up" It was only then he realised how far behind he had fallen in his musings; nodding in acceptance he took her offered hand his own ears flattening against his head at the piercing wails of the dying. Together the two traversed the vine covered ground to catch up with the others, a small child peered back at them from over his mother's shoulder before ducking back into the safety of her arms.

As they emerged from the forest into a large glade his companion sighed; removing her hand from his own she swiftly moved towards the glistening pool of water. Kneeling down at it's edge and lowering her cupped hands in to catch the flowing liquid, deciding to keep watch he moved into a higher position on top of a large rock and looked around. Behind him his tail flicked anxiously watching for any signs of the ones they were fleeing from; scanning the surrounding area his gaze turned upon the refugees. The elders were gathered around a cluster of rocks their staffs laid at their feet whilst they rested; the mothers of the group were clutching their children close silently weeping for the loss of their mates. It was however the children that caused his heart to miss a beat; not one of them had dry eyes, some clutching onto one another clearly orphaned as they had no adults to comfort them.

"At least we saved some" Murmured the same soft voice, his companion was standing by his side a small dagger held firmly between her fingers.

"Some but not enough, how many had to die for their greed? We never wanted war" He argued running his eyes over her battered form, both deep and shallow cuts littered her skin. "There are but forty of us when we once numbered hundreds" Spinning around on his feet he gracefully leapt from the rocks. "I refuse to let anyone else die by their hands" He was about to walk away when she grabbed his hand and forced him to look down at her; placing a gentle hand on the side of his face she brushed away some dirt revealing his burgundy skin.

"Arian" The whisper of his name had him sighing "You are our alpha now, I know you can protect us. You cannot allow your feelings to consume you, it is your duty now to lead us to a new home. All we can do is rebuild what we lost." Reaching his own hand up he placed it over hers

"How can I lead us Rania? I am not my father nor my brother, I was never trained to be alpha"

Smiling softly she placed her other hand on his face "I believe in you, we all do" Taking a step back she held her hand out to him "Now prove us right" Reaching out to take her hand he recoiled as a tree fell down a few feet from them followed by loud shouts; baring his teeth in a snarl he removed his dagger from his hip and turned to Rania.

"Get everyone out of here! Follow the moons I will meet up with you as soon as I can" With a quick nod she ran to the others quickly helping the elders to their feet before ushering everyone back among the trees, putting one of the older children at the front with the instructions to keep going forward. Ensuring that everyone was moving he turned back to the problem at hand; his ears twitched as the footsteps neared him, taking a breath he moved forward diving amongst the bushes taking care not to make a sound and placed his dagger in his mouth.

Quickly and skillfully he climbed one of the trees until he was high enough to see their followers, below them bright green humanoid beings were using large weapons to cut down the foliage in their paths. Black war paint covered their bodies and they were followed by what appeared to be large metal creatures; he ducked back when one of the metal beings fired ahead and continued rolling forward. Shifting his feet so he was crouching he took the dagger from his mouth and looked down at the crudely made weapon; it was his only defense against these creatures yet it would have to do.

Momentarily shutting his eyes he pictured the other warriors running off into battle and his mother as she whispered a goodbye before following them; with a breath he bellowed a war cry and launched himself from the branch, successfully landing on one of the creatures dispatching it quickly. The rest turned to him with large weapons, he was able to dodge one and jab him with the dagger but was quickly overpowered by the others. One particularly large one pinned him down while the others subdued him, screeching in protest he wriggled in order to make their attempts that much harder. Something pinched his neck and he shuddered as cold began to seep down his spine, his movements were weakening as his limbs began to stiffen.

Slowly the edges of his vision began to darken and the weight from the creatures eased yet he could not get his limbs to cooperate; his eyes desperately searched the group around him. One remained beside him in addition to a new creature who approached confidently, the one beside him pushed him onto his back as his vision continued to darken. They began speaking to one another but he was unable to recognise the guttural language, finally his vision left him and his head slumped to the side.

It was his vision that returned to him first upon his awakening, he found however that he could only define shapes and blurred images. Testing his limbs it came to his realisation that he was tied to something, both arms secured behind him with his ankles secured to the ground. Rolling his head in an attempt to get a better view he saw a rather petite red blur being carried by several green ones; it was at that moment his hearing began to return.

Distorted shouts and threats reached his ears causing him to flinch at the pitch, his tail found its way to his leg to prevent being stepped on. Blinking in the hopes to clear his vision he narrowed his eyes to view the blur clearer; upon succeeding in his attempt he roared a protest and began fighting his bindings. The creatures were carrying Rania who was screeching her own protests and violently jerking about; she was placed before him and secured against a large post, which he assumed was what he was attached to.

Rania looked over at him, her ears low against her head and tail lying limply on the floor with tears rolling down her dust covered face. It was the first time he had seen her cry since the death of her mother when they were but children; she bowed her head in what appeared to be shame.

With a hoarse wail she shouted across to him "I failed! I'm sorry! They caught up to us! I tried to stop them!" Dissolving into sobs she curled into herself as much as the chains would allow her to. His heart sunk knowing that the few they had saved had been found.

"Rania" The sound of his voice shocked the two of them "Do not blame yourself, there was nothing more you could have done. These creatures are not from our world, they posses weapons superior to anything we have known, there was no way for you to fight them." Seemingly comforted by his words she nodded, with a soft moan of pain he leant backwards and looked up towards the sky for the second time that day; the sky was now a dark blood red seeming to reflect fires raves hing the dying planet and it's inhabitants.

"Arian" A voice began "Arian look at me my son" Instantly his head snapped to the side and his jaw dropped, before him in all his glory stood his father, the large alpha approached him.

"Father! I am relieved you are alive! Release me and we can free the others" He cried in joy but the elated look on his face vanished as his father shook his head "Father?"

"I cannot do that Arian" Frowning he shook his head and looked at his father

"What do you mean?" As the larger being knelt down before him he saw the sorrow and regret in his eyes, a gentle hand found its way onto his shoulder. "Why can't you free me father?" Secretly hoping that his father was joking and would free him in a moment. A glint of silver was all the warning he got before a sharp pain erupted in his chest; gasping in pain he looked down and his eyes widened in horror, protruding from his chest was the dagger he had given his father many years ago. Disbelieving he looked back up to the man who had raised him

"I will always love you my son but this is for the good of our world, the Darilis can save us. Give us the technology we need to better ourselves. They're only request was the acquisition of the planet and the death of my sons."

Gurgling as blood began to block his air ways he looked at his father in betrayal; the elder removed his bonds before gently pulling him against his chest, lying him flat in his arms watching on as his youngest son lay there dying before him. Looking behind his father Arian met the disbelieving eyes of Rania as she called out to him.

"Rest peacefully my son for when you awaken all shall be peaceful" The soothing voice of his father was accompanied by a gentle hand rubbing one of his ears in a comforting gesture; gasping he gripped his father's arm as he began to choke from a lack of oxygen. Finally after a few agonising minutes he sagged in his father's arms, his eyes shut as his chest rose for the final time. "Forgive me for what I have done"