Chapter 7 - Bloodfang the Savage

The heroes go on a quest to take down Unkulunk the Unicorn

The sun began rising above the horizon while Fenrir was still standing watch for signs of a dark unicorn wandering nearby while listening to the others talk amongst themselves using his enhanced hearing abilities. They all seemed convinced that someone must have captured him or even killed him despite no one actually seeing any evidence that would prove this theory correct. As much as Fenrir wished otherwise; his friends' belief didn't change anything either way because he knew that they were going to try and save him regardless of whether he wanted them to do so or not. After a couple more hours passed, the sun reached its highest point in the sky and Fenrir saw a humanoid figure moving towards the castle ruins from the other side of the river. The man was wearing black robes along with white gloves on both hands which meant that the hood was probably up over his head at least temporarily which made Fenrir wonder if it really was Orkrist at first before realizing that it was too big to be Unkulunk; however, it did appear to move in an identical manner as he did.

Fenrir immediately alerted everyone else to this fact by running through their minds what he had seen just like they'd taught him earlier when he had discovered how they were able to communicate telepathically. Elder Jackson nodded as he listened and said: "Let's wait until we can find out who it is without having to reveal ourselves."

They found out it was a group of bunnies (who spoke the common tongue) working together to look like a single humanoid figure wearing clothes for disguise purposes only. How they found out was that one of the bunnies fell out of an armhole and hit his head against the ground loudly causing the others to stop in surprise followed by laughter after they realized what had happened. Everyone could see more bunnies in the exposed armhole. However, The bunny who fell out of the suit was self-conscious and embarrassed about the fact he wore no clothes and tried to cover up his private parts the best he could with his stubby little arms in an attempt to hide them from everyone's view, but fell over when he tripped over himself due to nerves which caused all the rest of them to fall down laughing uncontrollably once again making him even more uncomfortable and ashamed than before which caused him run back into the robes. The rest of the other creatures began laughing again as well including Fenrir despite being unsure if it were appropriate humor or not at first.

When asked why they wore clothing instead of making themselves look like rabbits, the leader simply replied saying, "

We've been doing this ever since we heard that there were monsters around here. We wanted to make sure that we were ready for anything that might happen so that nothing bad would be able to do anything bad to us."

"Where are our manners," said Alex "I'm Alex and this is my group of heroes. What is your name?" The lead bunny answered while adjusting the robe he was wearing across his chest by pushing it up slightly and tugging on it at his neck: "My name is Tanek and these other bunnies are Waggen, Lurupine, Runey, Fersaun, Hahna, and Yalmo...." Tanek listed over twenty names by the time he was finished. Fenrir's eyes grew wide upon hearing this number considering how long it took him to list six friends as part of their party earlier. Valdis however merely shook his head in disbelief saying, "That's a very impressive vocabulary you have. I hope we get to meet some of those names soon because they sound really interesting as well as being good fighters!" Elder Jackson agreed with him saying that they should all take turns introducing themselves for now if they wished for them to learn more about each of them later.

Once everyone was done exchanging introductions and talking amongst themselves, the group began moving toward the castle ruins. The sun continued rising in the sky which caused the bunnies' furry bodies to become hot and sweaty due to their own lack of clothing underneath the robes. Tanek told the group "Could you not look in our direction for a bit? We need time to cool off and we're not comfortable with you seeing us without clothes." Everyone immediately apologized after realizing what had just happened while Tanek went back to adjusting his robe. Max the dog then asked why it mattered that much since it wasn't like anyone could see anything anyway but Tanek replied that he'd prefer it since he didn't want any embarrassing situations like this one happening again anytime soon. Fenrir was also confused by this but shrugged and followed the others once again ignoring this whole situation.

As they drew closer, the rest of Fenrir's friends stopped walking when they realized there was an extremely loud bunny standing right in front of them at the edge of the clearing where the river flowed across its path before entering the woods. The creature had orange fur everywhere except for the area around his ears where his skin turned grey instead as well as the tips of his paws. He wore a gold medallion with a blue stone on his neck. His eyes were red with yellow irises giving him a rather intimidating appearance as well as a scowl on his face that seemed to say that he wanted to be anywhere else than there at that moment especially if it meant dealing with stupid humans such as them who couldn't speak properly or knew how to behave in public. This was the first humanoid creature that Fenrir had seen in person besides Unkulunk; however, unlike him, this bunny was clearly upset about something and not happy to meet new people at all no matter what they might do for him.

"Is everything okay?" asked Elder Jackson respectfully speaking for the entire group since they didn't want to offend someone they hadn't met yet despite his demeanor causing Valdis to think otherwise since it appeared that everyone present here was just another victim of his terrible attitude: "You seem angry even though we've done nothing wrong." The missionary responded by simply saying that he must have had bad experiences with other people previously which made it easier to understand why he would act so unfriendly towards others unless he changed his ways eventually which gave Alex an idea as he looked down at Max with an expressionless stare and then spoke in a calm voice, "Max, you're a dog. Do you see anything odd about this bunny's appearance? Any scars or injuries in particular?"

"Hmm, I don't know..." replied the dog as he walked over to the bunny and sniffed around his legs but quickly shook his head afterward before returning to stand next to Fenrir looking confused for some reason.

Fenrir scratched the top of Max's head with his right forepaw but the canine tried to push his paw away from him by licking it instead because that was how they'd learned to communicate with each other after having trained together a while ago: 'What is it?' said Max instead without making any sounds himself due to being unable to vocalize at that time. The young German Shepherd thought that perhaps there was something important going on or else the bunny wouldn't have been acting this way. However, Tanek noticed what Max was doing at first and realized what Fenrir was trying to figure out too; therefore, he explained the situation using gestures and body language to get their point across. This helped both Max and Fenrir relax slightly as they nodded and started paying more attention to what they were saying. Once they were done explaining everything to everyone, Elder Jackson smiled and spoke up again asking if anyone wanted to try and explain themselves since it seemed like everyone here already knew who the lead bunny here was: "So tell me about yourself if you would please."

The bunny glared at all of them one by one before answering by saying, "My name is Orkrist. I'm the eldest of my family of seven brothers."

"I see," said Elder Jackson as he began nodding his head in understanding. The missionary looked at him with an expression that told him he had questions regarding the story he just heard so he decided to ask him directly anyway. "How old are your siblings?" asked the man politely and patiently waiting for the bunny to finish talking.

Orkrist turned around and motioned toward the other rabbits present behind him (who didn't appear to be able to speak) before continuing speaking while pointing towards each rabbit individually and saying something in a foreign tongue after which they each answered back saying their own names except Fersaun who only waved hello. It appeared that each bunny possessed a unique colored aura which meant they couldn't have been related in any way at least not on this planet unless they were twins: Runey's aura was blue, Waggen's was red, Yalmo's was yellow, Hahna's was orange, Lurupine's was green, Tanek's was purple, Fersaun's was pink, and finally, Orkrist's was grey but it was faintly visible because it wasn't nearly as bright or colorful as the rest of the others. When Elder Jackson tried to get the last one to say its name by gesturing and calling out the word "Fersaun" in the common language; however, he received no response from the bunny whatsoever instead he got nothing but silence followed by everyone else shaking their heads when he repeated himself asking if anyone understood what he had said.

Tanek then said in an annoyed tone "I'm sorry sir, we can't understand what you're saying."

The missionary smiled and replied: "No need to apologize. You may go ahead and return home now since you've fulfilled your mission here." Elder Jackson spoke to Orkrist saying, "If you'd like to learn about our faith later on then feel free to visit us whenever it suits your schedule but for now please leave as the sun will soon begin setting which is why we wish to continue moving forward with the task at hand." After that statement, all the other rabbits began leaving and headed toward the castle ruins as well where they could change into their normal clothing in private before returning to their homes. The missionaries walked over to the bunny that remained there before continuing their conversation after they noticed how awkward things were getting between them due to Fenrir's lack of understanding. The dog Max simply watched everything unfold while observing his master's interactions without really thinking much of anything at all: 'He must know something I don't.'

Fenrir sat down next to Orkrist who responded by shooing him away while grumbling under his breath: "What are you doing? Don't sit there!" Alex took note of this interaction but decided not to speak up for fear of offending anyone so as not to ruin their friendship right off the bat and in hopes that the two might be able to work things out one day since the young man seemed quite stubborn and defensive already just based on what little information he knew about the creature in question. Valdis and Elder Jackson both tried speaking up in order to see if they could help make things more amicable between them but neither of them received any response from Orkrist nor did he look happy about it either: "Please stop. My ears hurt."

"Your ears?" asked Elder Jackson puzzled.

"Yes, my ears," said Orkrist as a few beads of sweat appeared on the fur around his forehead. "You keep talking about God but you never tell me how to get to Him! You only talk about Jesus the Savior and about His Son which isn't nearly enough to explain what you're trying to teach us here." After hearing that, the missionaries looked at each other wondering why the bunny would say such a thing. They also didn't understand why they had been left to fend for themselves in the first place considering how dangerous it was for them to be traveling alone. Fenrir felt rather bad for making everyone feel like they weren't welcome when he spoke up again asking, "Do you need something, sir?" Orkrist turned towards him with an expressionless gaze before saying: "Yes I do. I'm thirsty. Go find some water somewhere, please. We'll wait right over there."

Fenrir stood up immediately without complaint while walking back toward Valdis and the rest of his friends who were watching this exchange between the two with interest in case anything else happened. Elder Jackson smiled and asked the rabbit to come along while gesturing toward the group as well while Tanek went to get their pack of waterskins that they'd brought from their base camp in hopes that they might be able to offer some assistance as well even though they knew they couldn't really speak their language or help out too much. The dog Max followed after Fenrir carrying several waterskins while Orkrist simply waited on the grass until he returned holding them out in front of him with one eye closed since he wasn't used to having to bend down quite yet: "I've got them."

"Thank you," said Elder Jackson placing one of the containers into Orkrist's hands before turning his head slightly away and pointing towards a nearby bush where it appeared that there was a small stream running through it.

***

Eventually, they made it to the bunny city of Amorak but it took a while due to the sheer size it which appeared to be at least three times bigger than that of a normal human town in terms of both area and population because there were thousands of bunnies living there despite its isolated location within these mountains and forest areas. All bunnies wore clothing in a similar fashion with patches on various parts of their bodies indicating what part of their family they belonged to: "What do we do now?" asked Fenrir curiously looking around him with wide eyes. "We look for Unkulunk the dark Unicorn of course," said Alex confidently: "But I don't see him anywhere."

They proceeded further inside the walled city after Orkrist finally allowed himself to drink from the waterskin provided by Valdis once he'd heard his name called repeatedly enough so he decided he might as well go ahead and follow along. They eventually came upon an empty courtyard in the middle of everything surrounded by buildings all covered with paintings, statues, and carvings in an attempt to give each other visual aids to help everyone remember their culture properly. The missionaries began explaining more about their religion, God, and why they were here when they realized that several dozen rabbits had gathered together and begun watching them intently while others began approaching them slowly from behind while observing them quietly.

***

It turned out that Unkulunk was in prison and waiting for a trial that would decide whether or not he should be executed or else freed; however, his defense lawyer was nowhere to be found due to him having disappeared two days ago on the day of the scheduled hearing: "Why isn't anyone saying anything?!" exclaimed Fenrir nervously looking back at the crowd of curious bunnies following them who didn't appear to be going away any time soon: "We can't do anything unless someone tells us what's going on."

Fenrir had never felt so helpless before. Unkulunk's fate hung in the balance, and there was nothing he could do to change it. The crowd of bunnies only made matters worse; their curious stares were suffocating. Fenrir wished they would just go away, but he knew they wouldn't until they got some answers.

He turned back to the prison, hoping to catch a glimpse of Unkulunk through the bars. But all he saw was darkness. The thought of his friend being trapped in there, waiting for a trial that might never come, made Fenrir's stomach churn.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you here for Unkulunk?" Fenrir turned to see a scruffy-looking rabbit staring up at him. "I know where his lawyer went," the rabbit continued. "But I'll need something in return if I'm going to tell you."

"What is it we have to give you in exchange?" asked Alex curiously while Valdis and Elder Jackson exchanged confused looks as they wondered how this would play out: "Nothing too expensive. Just some water and a few nuts."

"Oh, those will do fine." Valdis opened his backpack and handed the bottle of water and handful of seeds over to the rabbit who smiled gratefully before heading back toward the other bunnies with their gifts which left the missionaries feeling very relieved since the task of getting into the prison had now become much easier for them. Orkrist took one look at the small container before looking around cautiously before opening its top in order to take a drink: "Thank you for that," he said before turning towards Fenrir and the rest of his friends once again saying, "I feel much better already. Now please help me get inside so we can find my friend and talk him through whatever's happening!"

They made it past the gates and followed the road deeper within Amorak until they came upon several houses made of wood along with wooden signs hanging outside each entrance indicating what type of business or organization they belonged to such as "Gardening club", "Bread baking association", "Bunny wrestling league", etc.: "I wonder what kind of group I'd belong to if there were any groups like these on Earth..." pondered Fenrir while trying to picture a garden full of green grass, flowers, bees, butterflies, rabbits wearing gardening clothes, all happily working together in harmony without having to worry about anything else.

"Hello! Anyone home?" Fenrir knocked loudly against the front door but received no response. He tried knocking louder but that also didn't work. The other members of his party watched in amazement as the doors simply remained closed even though they could hear people talking from the interior: "What should we do?" asked Alex worriedly: "Maybe we could go to another house nearby and try asking for directions there? But we're not supposed to leave your side when we don't know where we are."

"I'm sure Unkulunk will be fine," said Elder Jackson reassuringly with a smile before pointing at a sign near the street corner that read: 'Wanted' with a large picture of a dark-brown rabbit standing next to an axe with his right hand gripping a rope. It was followed by a message written in red ink saying: 'Rabbit. Arrested in the town square after he broke into a bank and stole all the money. Has been hiding out since.' "That's probably him. If we can find him, he'll tell us everything we need to know about this situation and then he can come back here and let everyone know what's going on."

"And how exactly is this guy going to convince this other bunny to just give up all his money to him?" wondered Fenrir curiously while shaking his head; he had no idea why anyone would do such a thing especially given how they looked around them as they walked deeper within Amorak toward the center of the city: "I don't understand..."

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps grew louder. The eleven plus about twenty companions turned their heads quickly in order to see who it was but saw only more houses lining the streets in every direction. The bunny stopped walking and began looking in both directions in search for something familiar but couldn't seem to remember which way led to the prison or any other place that might be helpful in his current situation. After trying and failing to make sense of anything else that surrounded them, he finally decided to follow his nose instead...and found himself inside a garden: "Aha!" cried the bunny as he spotted a white rabbit with light-brown fur dressed in a shirt made of patches of various flowers holding a basket full of seeds while tending to the garden: "You must be the one I'm looking for! My name is Lunni the Bunny. I've got a job for you."

"Oh really? And what kind of job might that be?" asked Fenrir suspiciously wondering if this was some sort of trap meant to capture him once and for all: "Well," replied the gardener before pausing and continuing: "There's an escaped criminal living on the outskirts of town and we want you to catch him before he gets away." Fenrir blinked in confusion before glancing back at Orkrist who simply nodded at him and said, "He's telling the truth." He then turned back toward the bunny asking, "How did he escape from prison though?"

Lunni explained, "It seems like he may have broken out through a secret underground tunnel. There are many holes running throughout our land. We can't always keep up with repairing them because there just isn't enough manpower. So when we hear about such a hole being used by criminals, it means we need to close it up so nobody can ever get out again."

"And why should I care about any of that?" asked Fenrir curiously: "This guy is going to run off and disappear for good this time for sure. I'll bet that's why he hasn't been seen around these parts lately since he knows he doesn't stand a chance against me."

"Yes...you're probably right..." replied Lunni before explaining how he had met Unkulunk the dark unicorn several years ago while traveling along the same road as the former as they were both headed to the same village in order to perform acts of kindness. Once the two of them reached their destination, however, Unkulunk changed his mind upon realizing that everyone in that particular community hated him for reasons unknown and instead decided to travel northward instead: "I knew I could never convince him otherwise but I was still disappointed to see him leave. That was when my brother came up with an idea for what we might do next: "What if we brought all those people together into one big family? What if we created an entire town full of only happy families? Wouldn't that be amazing?!"

"That's why I ended up helping my friend here build this place," continued Lunni as he motioned toward a nearby house before adding, "You'd be surprised at the number of rabbits who actually wanted this to happen! All kinds of different species joined forces in the name of creating a better future for everyone." He paused briefly before asking, "Are you familiar with the term 'Fantasy'? It refers to stories or works of art which attempt to convey a visionary truth beyond normal experience." He then added quickly before turning back towards Fenrir, "We just want to create something special where nobody gets hurt. You wouldn't have anything against that would you?"

"Of course not. In fact, it sounds like exactly what I'm looking for too. But how am I supposed to capture someone when I can barely catch myself?"

Lunni smiled and shrugged his shoulders: "I think I know how we can make sure you can get your hands on anyone and everybody else without even trying: we can offer them rewards in exchange for catching our escaped prisoner. This way everyone will want to help you out in the hopes of gaining something in return while making sure he doesn't get away again."

Fenrir stared at him suspiciously as he thought about the idea he was presenting: "Why should I trust any of that? You could simply give him some candy instead..."

"Candy? Who wants candy?!" interrupted Orkrist suddenly appearing from nowhere with a red ribbon tied around his arm with a message written in white ink that read: 'I love candy.' A smile appeared on his face before he continued by saying, "Let me tell you all what really matters here, especially if you plan on spending time here working for us: life is more than food, water, sleep, or any other basic necessity. It's also fun, laughter, friendship, adventure...and above all else, kindness! The reason why I'm doing everything I do today is because of the great friends who helped me along the way."

"And I'll be able to do the same thing here, so long as I have the courage to do what needs to be done," said Lunni proudly as a large patch of flowers began to bloom before everyone's eyes including Fenrir who had no idea what they were talking about but couldn't seem to deny their power over him anyway: "That's right," he muttered: "I'd never forgive myself if Unkulunk got away after helping me out like this. He did nothing wrong except break the law. So that means that I need to make things right in order for us both to move forward in peace." He turned towards Elder Jackson and Valdis then asked them with an almost pleading tone, "What would you say about that?"

Elder Jackson glanced at his companion then back at Fenrir asking, "How does that sound?"

Fenrir shook his head as he looked at his own companions each of whom was still unsure whether or not to trust anyone since none of them knew exactly what was going on yet: "I can only hope it will work out..."

"Don't worry!" replied Orkrist happily while clenching his fist: "If there are any problems, we'll just sort them out together!" And with that final statement, all eleven plus twentyish members of his party went into action. They surrounded Lunni's house and surrounded him before taking up positions in front of every door which they promptly knocked loudly before bursting through the doors without waiting for a response. Upon reaching the center of the town square, they quickly ran past a group of soldiers standing in the middle of the street who immediately stood down when they realized the danger they faced as they continued running further into Amorak until they reached what appeared to be some kind of prison made from large logs built against the side of one of the mountains near the city walls. The bunny smiled as he watched his friends go inside: "Looks like I'm safe now," he muttered to himself as he returned home where he began making plans for his escape by setting several traps along the way in case he ever needed to return: "Just in case..."

***

After many hours passed with no word coming out about the escaped prisoner's capture or even a single sign that Fenrir's attempts had failed, Alex and the other members of Fenrir's party started wondering if perhaps it wasn't wise to have taken their chances with trusting others so soon after losing everything else. But Elder Jackson reassured everyone that there were far worse things than being captured and thrown into prison especially if their actions were done purely out of concern for someone else's well-being as was the case here: "There is much more at stake here than what may happen next. If you try your best to make sure this doesn't come true, you will find yourselves able to help countless people in need once you're finished."

"That's right," added Valdis who spoke up while agreeing with her companion: "This whole thing could easily turn around and benefit us instead! We can do whatever we want in order to better ourselves and improve our lives while also doing what we can to support those in need."

Elder Jackson turned toward Valdis before asking him, "So...how are we supposed to keep an eye on these guys? What are they going to be doing?"

Valdis glanced at Orkrist before turning back towards the bunny with a smile saying, "I think it might be a good idea for Orkrist the Bunny to become Lunni the bunny's new partner. They'll always know where the rabbit is. And since the unicorn isn't as fast as the dragon, he should be fine walking through town with all of its narrow streets without getting lost: "How does that sound?"

"I'd say that sounds like a plan!" exclaimed Elder Jackson happily: "The rest of you head over and set some traps along his path just like I asked earlier but don't kill any rabbits. Then meet back up here later. I'm going to take care of something important now and then I'm gonna let you in on some secret info." With that said, the two friends headed in opposite directions as each of them walked away from the others and disappeared from sight.

Fenrir waited several hours until the time came when Alex, Valdis, and several other members of Fenrir's group were due to return so he decided to go ahead and move into position for another attempt at catching their escaped prisoner: "Looks like we've got quite the task ahead of us," remarked Fenrir: "Let's start by gathering everyone together again so we can work out how best to get this done." He looked around at everyone who had been scattered across Amorak during his first attempt only to find that they hadn't moved very far even though they'd spent quite a bit of time out on the open road chasing after a man who didn't want anything to do with them: "I guess there's nothing left for me to do but try my luck..."

the group of bunnies (who spoke the common tongue) working together to look like a single humanoid figure wearing clothes for disguise purposes only leader Tanek said, "You needn't worry about our safety. You will have our full cooperation." The rabbit continued speaking before continuing on to explain what he knew which was actually little more than rumors heard while traveling northward in hopes that it would help them locate Unkulunk faster: "Apparently Unkulunk has managed to make contact with someone named Orkrist whom he seems to be very close friends with as well as one of Lunni's fellow party members. It may not mean much since they're both rabbits but I'll tell you what I know anyway just in case it does come in handy later: 'Lunni the bunny is part of an underground organization called the Rabbit Brotherhood which is made up of several different groups from various races including humans, dwarves, and elves. These individuals are all fighting against the dark forces threatening the world from beyond the mountains and therefore wish to maintain their identities hidden for obvious reasons.'"

"Why hasn't anyone told me this sooner?" wondered Fenrir out loud before turning his attention back toward Tanek: "What else can you tell me?"

"Well, according to some of our informants, we also discovered that this particular dark unicorn known as Unkulunk used to live here with a few other men who were apparently part of some other group that wanted to see him leave. There were also a lot of people who hated him simply because they didn't understand who he really was or how special he was. As a result, everyone seemed to get along very well until they realized he had something important they needed...like the secret location where he keeps most of his valuables."

"Do any of them still live around here?!"

"Not many but it looks like there might be at least two in the town itself: "

Fenrir looked at the map on his phone again before turning towards Alex who was standing nearby: "Is there anything in particular that catches your eye while looking at this map?"

Alex replied, "Yeah! Look: here's the entrance to the city walls near Lunni's house and then these big buildings to either side. It appears as though they're located right next to each other. So I guess that's our starting point..."

"And after that," asked Fenrir: "How should we proceed?"

The bunny paused briefly as he thought about it for a moment before saying, "I think it would probably make sense for us all to start by going inside one of those large houses together so we don't draw too much attention from anybody outside: "We'd have an easier time keeping track of Orkrist if we went through one of these places instead of trying to follow him through town since they look more isolated than usual. And since Orkrist seems to be such an easygoing person who is friendly with most of his friends, I wouldn't be surprised if he spent some time visiting them even if he has nothing else planned for today."

"Alright, sounds good," responded Fenrir enthusiastically: "But why are you leading the way? We can just meet up afterward when everyone gets back together."

"That's okay!" said the rabbit happily: "I want to keep a watchful eye out for trouble along the way! Besides, I'm the only one among us with the ability to hide easily without anyone noticing!" He pointed out a section on the map which had been highlighted in red ink explaining that this particular area had recently received new street signs and therefore could help disguise their presence while also allowing them to better see what was coming ahead of time. With that said, Tanek and everyone else agreed to follow the path shown on Alex's phone until they reached Lunni's house where they were met by two soldiers stationed at the door who looked quite curious as to why so many bunnies were approaching them at once: "Hello there," remarked Alex cheerfully as he walked past the guards saying, "We've come to speak to our friend who lives here...Orkrist...?"

"Yeah?" asked a soldier confusedly after seeing how none of the bunnies were wearing any armor or carrying any weapons besides simple sticks used to knock down doors but did seem to be making it obvious that they wanted to get inside: "He should be home right now if we're not too late..."

"Ah! It looks like Orkrist is finally returning from his errands!" exclaimed Valdis excitedly upon spying his bunny friend heading towards them from around a corner within the town walls. As expected, Orkrist wore a rather perplexed expression as his mind raced through all sorts of questions as he wondered just how long these guys would have stood there watching him go by before eventually deciding that since no harm had yet been done, he didn't really care about anything beyond just being happy that he wasn't in any danger at the moment: "Hey guys!"

The members of Fenrir's group responded with similar smiles in response to their friend's arrival though Fenrir couldn't help thinking that things might take an ugly turn very soon unless they found a way to gain access into Lunni's house without getting caught doing so and ruining everything for everyone involved including themselves: "So what was today's adventure supposed to be? I know I promised I'd keep you updated on my progress and I am still going strong I'll tell you that much even though it hasn't gone exactly according to plan so far: 'After following your advice to wait until dark outside of Amorak City, we spent several hours tracking this escaped prisoner known as Ethan "The Slip" Anderson until we got word back from Elder Jackson telling us that we could simply find him along the main road which led straight through town. So we decided to head off in search of this dark unicorn named Unkulunk who apparently has some connection to our friend Lunni the bunny.'"

"Alright," replied Valdis: "That sounds pretty normal." He glanced over toward Orkrist who looked as if he had already begun putting together the pieces in his own mind and started asking himself how best to proceed now that he knew they were interested in capturing this man whom he hadn't seen in years. With that said, Orkrist continued explaining why they were all there saying, "Anyway, after moving away from Amorak City for a while, we found ourselves surrounded by a large number of soldiers wearing different uniforms each carrying various weapons and armor but none of them tried to stop me or question me about anything. Eventually, we arrived here where a group of soldiers guarding one of these big houses let me inside once I told them about having important business with their comrade living inside."

"So are you finally done with your errands?" asked Fenrir with suspicion written across his face. He stared hard at Tanek as though waiting for him to confirm something before continuing on to ask Orkrist again, "So what is it you want us to do? Why did you come looking for us? Is it because you need us to capture someone? Because it sure seems like it..."

The rabbit grinned back at the others and began explaining what it was exactly that he needed help doing saying, "No! It's not that at all...I just wanted to give you guys an update so that you can decide whether or not to get involved yourselves if that makes sense: 'I came to tell everyone here in town that we've been hired by some people who live outside of town to perform some work for them. And since it sounds like things are going pretty well so far without any major problems arising, they're willing to pay quite a bit more money than they initially agreed upon to compensate us for our services which will be provided very soon.'"

"Okay then!" replied Valdis enthusiastically: "That's great news!" He glanced over toward Elder Jackson briefly who nodded reassuringly back before turning towards the two soldiers standing guard beside the entrance and asking them simply, "Hey! What happened next after he gave us this info...?" The guards looked confused but answered anyway saying, "Well...we contacted Lunni right away but she wasn't home yet and we were forced to wait around out here until her family arrived to take care of her but don't worry! She said she'd try calling you as soon as possible when she gets back from wherever it is that she went today so you should be able to talk with her once you go inside the house where they keep their phones." With that said, one of the guards walked inside with another one following closely behind him. They didn't seem too concerned about letting strangers into their homes seeing how there appeared to be no harm intended toward their families at least: "So yeah," continued Orkrist while watching both soldiers walk inside together, "I guess now would be a good time to start getting ready if we're planning on moving on in a little while since I'm guessing it won't look very suspicious if everyone in town sees me leaving the same way that I came in: 'But I still have a few questions for all of you in case you guys know something else that could help us out or maybe even put some more pieces of this puzzle together.' So who knows? Maybe my errands aren't completely done just yet!"

Orkrist let out an exaggerated sigh which was immediately followed by several others among the group who also seemed to share his sentiments regarding these circumstances because each member responded by shaking their heads and saying things like, "This isn't over..." and "There's always something..." Even Tanek himself looked somewhat concerned after hearing what had happened only seconds before explaining why he needed them along with adding, "I do hope everything turns out alright...but we've got nothing to lose except for our lives if anything goes wrong." He glanced around quickly before returning his gaze toward Alex and asking, "Is there any place nearby where we can meet up without drawing any attention from anybody?"

Alex nodded enthusiastically as he replied, "Oh sure! There are tons of abandoned buildings outside of town that nobody has been able to make any use of so far. But most importantly," said the rabbit as he pointed out one specific spot on the map near the entrance to the city walls showing it off to everybody including Elder Jackson: "This building right here used to be a bakery until a large number of rats infested the area one day and attacked a bunch of people coming through looking to buy bread. It appears as though they were scared away pretty easily since they didn't try attacking anyone again but unfortunately, they made a mess inside the kitchens when they ran away and were eventually chased away entirely."

Fenrir grinned at Alex before replying with enthusiasm, "Great! Then let's head back toward Amorak City while avoiding all those soldiers in between. After all, we'll have no problem losing ourselves among all of the other bunnies running about town

***

one thing lead to another and eventually Alex's group managed to catch the dark-brown rabbit named Ethan "The Slip" Anderson who had robbed a bank. This helped them with freeing Unkulunk because now they could follow this man to wherever Lunni had gone today hoping that she would show up soon enough once her family members left their house which would allow them to track down Orkrist and question him further which is exactly what happened after several hours went by without any word from either Lunni or Orkrist which meant that Fenrir's team began to grow restless wondering what was taking everyone so long and why they hadn't heard from Lunni yet or even seen Orkrist come home yet: "Where are they?" questioned Valdis aloud only for Elder Jackson to shrug his shoulders before explaining, "I don't know for sure...but I'm sure they're fine. Don't worry too much over these matters..." The bunny frowned deeply at this response not understanding how Elder Jackson knew more than he did considering that he himself didn't know where everybody else had disappeared off to but he didn't say anything because he realized just how serious the situation must be if the missionary felt it necessary to offer such an answer: "Alright then," replied Tanek simply as he turned towards Alex, "It looks like it's time to head back toward Amorak City. We still need to find our friend and see about capturing this prisoner of ours since we can't very well leave him wandering around town all alone otherwise."

Alex nodded back saying, "Yeah! warn the others about it since he didn't want anybody panicking right then and there especially since Tanek and Fenrir were currently looking as though they might try forcing themselves inside the bakery building regardless of whatever anyone thought about doing otherwise: "Don't you think it would be better for us to wait here until our friend comes back from wherever it is that he's gone? We should stay here in case she decides to return on her own while also making sure that nobody tries attacking us when we go into town."

Elder Jackson looked rather displeased with this suggestion saying, "You're probably right! It makes sense in a way! But unfortunately, I can't make my companions do such things without risking being put out of commission permanently which means that I'll have to help them get ready instead!" With that said, the two guards who had been watching outside stepped inside together to announce their presence before asking them each one at a time what they wanted: "Hello sirs. What business brings you, people, here today?" Both men stood at attention upon hearing this question because they realized how important their mission was: "We are soldiers serving under the command of Commander Darian. He has requested that we come to speak with you regarding some information pertaining to his daughter Lunni." They both glanced over briefly towards Elder Jackson who gave an encouraging nod confirming their suspicions that these guys were indeed acting under orders before turning back towards Alex and the others once again asking, "Do you know where Lunni lives?"

Valdis smiled reassuringly at Alex and asked him something along the lines of, "Are you alright with waiting for a little longer or would you rather head off toward Amorak City now so that we don't run out of time like last night...?" The bunny shook his head as he replied saying, "It looks like I won't have much choice in the matter but since Tanek's group hasn't heard anything from either Orkrist or Lunni yet...I guess we should keep looking for her around town while trying not to draw any unnecessary suspicion..."

Alex nodded in agreement while Valdis explained further, stating, "But first let's try finding out exactly why it took everyone so long to show up after Ethan Anderson left town yesterday! It sounds as though things went really well today otherwise we might have already captured our target and gone home to rest by now!" A few seconds later, Fenrir simply shrugged his shoulders replying, "I'm not sure myself," though Elder Jackson frowned deeply as he spoke: "You shouldn't say such things. What happened was bound to happen. But all is forgiven if you can just find our friend on your way back to Amorak City." After hearing this response from the missionary, the rabbit sighed heavily before explaining, "Yeah...I know. But what about when you've finished talking with everyone else? Will you be able to finish this job then?"

The two guards looked confused at this question until Elder Jackson added, "I apologize but there are other matters which must be dealt with here regardless of whether or not everything goes according to plan here. If that happens, I'll see to it personally that everybody gets their share of pay plus some extra cash for their troubles once they're done with their duties." The guards seemed satisfied enough by these words considering how generous they sounded; however, neither one wanted to miss out on this opportunity because it meant an additional increase in wages which made them feel more inclined towards helping Alex's group out especially since Alex had said something along the lines of, "There's nothing to worry about" after mentioning this matter only seconds ago. So both men stepped outside to summon a number of people including Lunni's family members who lived nearby and also several bunnies who were looking for work. They were told that each person needed to report to wherever they were sent right away without any questions asked and that payment would be given afterward. Nobody argued too much because everyone agreed with what they'd been instructed to do so that no time would need to be wasted searching for the families or trying to explain where exactly everyone should go: "That's fine!" replied Fenrir as he looked around at the gathered crowd.

Valdis turned his head slightly toward Elder Jackson replying, "Yeah...I know...but it sounds as though we have a few things to discuss regarding your side of things before we move onto ours..." Both Elder Jackson and Tanek shared a concerned look upon hearing this comment from Valdis but simply nodded in response anyway while continuing to listen carefully while wondering what the rabbit could possibly mean by bringing up their 'side' like this since it didn't seem like there was anything left for him to ask or talk about. Valdis then continued by saying, "Alright then! What kind of problems might we be dealing with?" He waited patiently for someone else to speak up first because nobody seemed eager to respond either way despite how long everyone had been standing outside not doing anything until now. Eventually, Alex cleared his throat causing everyone to turn towards him somewhat awkwardly when he said, "Well if I'm allowed to say so myself, I've got absolutely nothing going on here." The other three looked at Alex as though surprised by his words even though they probably already knew what he was thinking all along; however, they felt compelled to express some concern nevertheless. But when nobody said anything after a minute passed without anybody offering any suggestions, Elder Jackson began explaining:

"Our goal is to take down the evil bunny king named Bloodfang the Savage who ate one of Unkulunk the Unicorn's cursed cookies and was once known as Goldfang the Just because he used to care more about helping people than eating food instead of wasting time arguing about which desserts were better just to show off his own cooking skills whenever somebody came over to visit...but these days, he seems to have become quite lazy...but that doesn't matter right now because our mission today isn't really that much different from yesterday except for the fact that we have to deal with the dark-brown rabbit Ethan Anderson whom you guys helped capture last night in addition to being able to look into a few things regarding Lunni's whereabouts in Amorak City too..." The missionary explained further adding, "That means it looks like there are four major things to consider in this case in order for us to finish things up while keeping things relatively simple..." Once Elder Jackson finished speaking, everyone but Valdis seemed relieved seeing how this would help them avoid having to do anything complicated: "Alright!" responded Fenrir while Tanek nodded his head only to add quickly afterward, "I think I get it!"

Fenrir nodded back replying, "So what do you want me to do next?"

The bunny then turned toward Valdis and asked him something along the lines of, "What's your problem?"

Elder Elder sighed heavily replying, "You don't understand!? We can't move around freely at the moment! Not until we've solved at least one or two problems!

Jeorgar the Dragon said "Hrmph," before turning away saying, "Fine! Leave us be! Go on and solve those problems if you've got such a strong desire to do so." He glanced over briefly at Valdis who shrugged his shoulders slightly in response saying, "But where exactly should I go...?" Everyone stared at Jeorgar for several seconds wondering just how they were supposed to know without asking first...but eventually, Alex simply pointed out into the forest behind them as he replied, "Go that way. the bunny amalgamation's leader Tanek said "There's a little village nearby called 'The Gathering' where people tend to gather whenever there is an issue that requires their attention. They might even have some ideas about what could have happened since there have been rumors floating about recently claiming that someone has been attacking villagers using magic from the old times from time to time; however, nobody ever catches anybody because whoever tries chasing after them ends up getting stuck inside a pit trap..."

Valdis looked uncertainly towards Elder Jackson who frowned deeply upon hearing this reply causing both men to look at each other silently exchanging concerned glances with one another:

Elder Jackson: "I think we should all leave this place for now though since I'm not sure whether or not our group will be allowed entrance anywhere near The Gathering without raising suspicion among everyone present within its walls no matter how many excuses we come up with in order to explain why we're here." Valdis nodded his head while saying, "Yeah, I agree!" but when it came down to actually leaving, Max suddenly raised his voice in protest saying, "Wait! Don't you guys forget about me!" He then looked away acting as though he wasn't listening to anything anyone was saying only to then raise his voice again and add, "And don't worry! If I get hungry and you aren't around to feed me, then I'll just go on my own and find something else to eat! But if any of your friends try giving me food instead of feeding themselves...then I won't share my meal with them anymore either...do you understand?!" Fenrir simply smiled back replying, "Yes. We wouldn't want that happening anyway. Argo began to cry.

"I thought you weren't going to bring that baby along?" Said Tanek.

Fenrir shook his head before adding, "But you still have a job to do! And what would you prefer? Having him starve or risk being killed by some enemy out there? You better make up your mind before the situation becomes even worse!" Everyone except Jeorgar immediately fell silent at these words which made Jeorgar turn around and stare at the bunny who said nothing further:

Jeorgar: "If you were so concerned about keeping things simple for us..." Alex: "No! That's not what I meant! I was talking more about not wanting to force Valdis into making a decision like this after everything has already happened!" Jeorgar shrugged his shoulders indifferently replying, "Fine. Do whatever it is that makes you feel good in this case. However, don't blame me if we run into trouble later."

***

Several hours later, Lunni sat inside her hut staring intently towards the front door of her dwelling while holding a piece of bread in one hand as she muttered under her breath with each bite taken from her food; however, nobody heard her say anything despite how quiet she'd been until Elder Jackson came knocking on her door only to find himself stepping over two dead guards on the floor once he entered. The missionary looked around at all the blood on the ground then turned toward where he assumed the other man had been standing before finally turning his attention toward Lunni sitting behind the counter wearing an expressionless mask when he asked her something along the lines of, "What are you doing?"

Lunni swallowed her mouthful of bread without answering the question directly simply saying, "Oh? So you did come here today after all."

Elder Jackson frowned slightly in response but didn't say anything else because there was no reason to get angry or yell at anyone right now seeing how they could easily go and fetch everyone else since none of them knew whether or not Lunni was acting normally at the moment: "It seems like you're trying to figure out what happened..." He glanced outside through a small hole in the wall covered by thin pieces of cloth only to see a large number of bunnies dressed entirely in black leather armor marching past carrying spears which caused him to turn back around quickly. Lunni began speaking again saying, "But I can't really tell...I've got no idea who's still alive or who's already gone home to their families for good. There's just so many people out there dying one after another and that's making me very worried about what's going to happen next..."

"Don't worry about it!" Replied Elder Jackson as he tried putting his arm over the rabbit's shoulders as he walked her towards one of the nearby tables located within the hut. "We'll ensure everybody gets their fair share of pay as promised plus some extra cash too! And we won't be able to do this if you don't eat something first!" The missionary then took out several cups filled with water from somewhere inside of his vestments then handed them to Lunni before placing a loaf of bread on top of each cup then sitting down across the table from where she sat holding up a piece of bread herself while glancing nervously away; however, she didn't look hungry at all because she'd already eaten quite a lot earlier in order to help calm her nerves whenever things were getting crazy busy due to all the dead guards lying outside her door: "Thank you..." She mumbled softly as she bit into her food replying, "So why did you come here today?"

Elder Jackson chuckled slightly before answering, "Well since nobody else is around right now except us bunnies, I thought it might be a good idea for both our groups to work together so that we can have more manpower available in case anything happens later. We could probably use your group's magic if need be considering that most humans seem to have little or no experience fighting against dark-brown rabbits or even bunnies period.

***

After the conversation was over, the group went back to Amorak to confront King Bloodfang the Savage. Alex took out the book from the bag of infinite storage and turned to page sixteen. He asked Justyn how to defeat the king and on the page of the open book appeared the words "Use this holy hand grenade to remove the curse placed on Goldfang the Just. Also, ditch your friend Valdis because he gave you cursed cookies that make heroes work with villains, and is actually a villain himself." Once he read these lines, everyone burst out laughing although they weren't exactly sure what had been said in this situation because everything just sounded like nonsense until Fenrir started asking questions regarding the subject matter saying something along the lines of, "So what exactly are we supposed to do...?" After several moments passed, Tanek then spoke up saying, "I don't get it!" In response to which Jeorgar simply replied saying, "Hrmph..."

on the page of the open book appeared the words " It's simple, just pull the pin on the grenade then you have three seconds to throw it at Goldfang the Just also known as Bloodfang the Savage. All it can do is remove curses but it does cause immense pain and a bright flash of light strong enough to blind those who don't close their eyes."

Alex nodded his head once after reading all of this information then closed the book before turning toward Elder Jackson replying, "You heard him! Let's go kill King Bloodfang!" Alex said "First things first, Valdis you are no longer welcome to stay as a member of this group since Justyn says you gave us cursed cookies," causing Valdis to frown deeply upon hearing these words. But Alex didn't bother explaining any further because there was no point in wasting time arguing over something that wasn't going to change since he was already parting ways with them anyway. Valdis said, "Well, well, well, I'm surprised it took you this long to realize that I'm a villain who enjoys tricking heroes into working together with villains like myself..." Before anyone else could say anything else, Valdis turned away from everyone else leaving only Max and Fenrir standing around by themselves:

Valdis (speaking to Fenrir): "Hehe... I'll miss having fun doing stupid stuff like playing pranks on everyone whenever we had nothing better to do."

Fenrir replied saying, "Well good luck on your future endeavors then." The villain walked off towards Amorak while continuing to speak under his breath saying, "I hope my new owner has more interesting ideas than I did though..."

Max shrugged his shoulders indifferently before looking down at Jeorgar the Dragon sitting near the campfire drinking mulled grape juice through one of his horns which caused the large blue dragon to raise his head and turn toward Max giving him a curious look before asking, "Is everything alright?" When the dragon responded by nodding his head several times and then sighing deeply before adding, "Alright. Well if you're ready let's go see how far the rabbit amalgamation managed to get so far."

"Sure thing," Alex said in response as he began walking in that direction although they were soon stopped by Elder Jackson as he raised both hands up and spoke loudly enough for all present to hear including Tanek saying, "Everyone needs to stop right now! If not, someone will get killed!" All heads instantly turned towards him in order to find out what exactly this missionary was trying to tell them when Tanek simply asked, "Why? Who are we going to kill?"

Elder Jackson shook his head upon hearing this reply replying, "It doesn't matter who or why; it's just that killing people isn't going to solve anything here. And don't worry about the fact that you can't figure it out because there's nothing to understand. You'll know it once you see it with your own eyes."

***

When the heroes entered Amorak through its front gates, they found themselves standing at an intersection surrounded on either side by hallways leading deeper inside of Amorak where groups of bunnies dressed entirely in black leather armor were patrolling these halls while other bunnies were carrying bodies wrapped in white cloth down the main street past shops full of dead guards lying sprawled across tables located within their establishments along with merchants crying over their merchandise being ruined due to blood dripping down from their garments as well as stains marking the floor:

Alex (whispering): "There must be hundreds if not thousands of people still alive and fighting back..."

Tanek: "That explains all the smoke I've been smelling since we came into town..."

Max: "What do we do now?"

Fenrir: "Follow me!" The werewolf started walking down the hallway until he arrived outside of a large room that appeared to have been converted into a makeshift medical ward filled with rows of beds for those who'd received fatal injuries. A female brown rabbit wearing a nurse uniform was walking up and down one end of the row speaking to some rabbits resting upon the bed telling them things such as, "Don't try moving yet! Your bones need time to heal! Just rest easy! It will only take several hours before you're completely healed," which caused the injured individuals she spoke to to begin breathing heavier seeing how painful it felt whenever someone touched their wounds. As Fenrir walked past her, the nurse didn't seem too bothered about him entering her domain since everyone else present did exactly what they wanted without getting in trouble even though they had no idea what would happen once they left this place or whether or not they'd be allowed to come back once they returned home. Upon arriving at the center of this area, the heroes found King Bloodfang seated on his throne like usual glaring towards the entrance; however, when he saw Max approaching, he got off his chair causing everyone else nearby to flinch at the sight of their king standing up after so long while murmuring under his breath saying something along the lines of, "What could possibly bring a human into Amorak right now...?" But just then, the door behind him burst open making all present jump while two other guards entered carrying a man whose head looked almost unrecognizable due to being covered by a blanket but it seemed as if he wasn't dead since he began yelling out in pain while kicking his feet and hitting anyone nearby including King Bloodfang: "Waaaaaaaah!" The soldiers placed him down on the ground near where Bloodfang stood and quickly backed away from him looking very nervous as they watched this individual continue screaming for help until finally, one guard raised his voice replying, "You shut your mouth before I stick my knife inside you again! You better not scream again because that's against our rules!"

***

While everyone was distracted by the man covered in a blanket Alex pulled out the holy hand grenade pulled the pin and threw it at King Bloodfang telling everyone to close their eyes.

***

"Hey stop it!" A brown rabbit yelled as he pushed the guard away. A few moments later an explosion occurred followed by a bright flash of light. When all three people opened their eyes, they were all amazed at what happened next: The bunny king lying on the floor appeared to be fine with no injuries whatsoever although there were several cracks visible across the walls of the medical ward along with smoke filling the air along with a smell resembling burnt rubber mixed with burning hair coming from the room; some of the injured rabbits were guards who didn't heed what Alex had said and had become blind as a result; while others had suffered severe burns all over their bodies. The nurse running around tending to those who'd been hurt was now seen rubbing her own eyes as she attempted to blink tears which made the heroes realize that these events must've caused quite an impact upon them even though nothing really happened compared to the magnitude of everything else going on. Everyone seemed speechless except Fenrir who asked the nurse saying, "Is anyone here able to speak?" She replied saying something sounding like, "No." Then Fenrir walked toward Bloodfang asking, "What should we do? Should we just leave him alive or..." The king slowly got back up into his throne position and then began laughing aloud before replying, "Well if I let you go right now will you promise not to kill me when you find your way home? I swear or my name isn't Goldfang the Just" He then sat down waiting for the heroes' response.

Alex spoke first after glancing at Tanek's confused expression replying, "I guess that means yes," causing everyone nearby including himself to start chuckling in unison because they knew how this would turn out since he wouldn't allow such a simple statement to be taken literally. Even so, the rabbit king simply shrugged his shoulders responding by saying, "Alright then but don't expect any more gifts this time around," which caused the heroes to laugh once again with Tanek joining them since it appeared as though no one expected anything from Amorak anymore:

Fenrir: "Ha! Now there are only about Thirty of us left : Jeorgar, Max, Alex, Tanek the bunny amalgamation, Argo, Elder Elder, Elder Jackson, Lunni, Orkrist, and myself. We have a plan but first, what should our next move be?" Everyone looked around trying to figure out what the best course of action could possibly be since every idea led to the same outcome regardless of whether or not they decided to follow through on said ideas without having an exact answer about what they wanted to achieve within their current situation along with the fact that Fenrir didn't seem very eager to explain why exactly their mission was going so badly for them. After several minutes passed during which none of them were able to come up with an alternative solution, Fenrir started speaking in order to gain some sort of inspiration even though he hadn't really thought this whole thing through yet except for the part where he intended to find Unkulunk the Unicorn in order to tell him what had happened inside Amorak although he couldn't help but think that maybe he shouldn't reveal everything to him just yet since telling him would give him too much power over him causing him to become unpredictable whereas doing so right now might save many lives from dying needlessly at a later date:

"Alright everyone listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once,"

Everyone nodded before saying "okay" before asking "Okay" as well.

Fenrir: "We're all going to the prison and taking down Unkulunk once in for all!"

Everyone: "Wait wait! What's happening?!?"

Fenrir: "Once we break into his cell, you'll hear screaming followed by loud crashing noises coming from his cell along with various other sounds of chaos then finally silence... Then when the dust settles, Unkulunk will be nowhere to be found..." Everyone stared blankly in confusion replying things like, "But what does that have to do with anything...?" Max: "I guess it makes sense if you want to end up being killed..." Tanek: "Well I don't see any reason why killing him won't solve our problem but why did we have to go there anyway? We could've simply teleported home." Orkrist: "We still could since I already know how to get back home and who knows if those two idiots can even teleport..." Jeorgar (in response): "Then again they might be able to so they better keep their mouths shut while they're on their way home." Elder Jackson: "That's right they are a threat to everyone especially the ones remaining here who don't deserve to live considering how they treat innocent people as slaves" Lunni (in response): "I agree with Elder Jackson; not everyone deserves to live. However, if everyone lived then everyone would die eventually which means that living is a privilege. Therefore, death isn't always evil. Besides, even though life may seem sweet, it's nothing compared to getting to experience it over and over again throughout many lives instead of just one." Argo: "If you ask me, I'd rather just take my chances trying to live in Penship City because this place doesn't feel like a proper land for us to call home. I mean, look at all of these dead bunnies lying around everywhere along with bloodstains all across the floor plus there are people whose heads got blown off! Plus we all smell like crap! This entire world smells like some sort of dank dungeon!" Fenrir started laughing before replying, "Okay okay! But do you have any other suggestions or ideas about what we should do next?" Everyone remained silent staring blankly at each other although no one seemed willing to come up with another plan due to them being unable to think clearly after seeing what had happened within Amorak's medical ward:

Argo (to himself): Why didn't I say anything sooner? What if something worse happens than losing Unkulunk?

Fenrir (to Alex): You're probably wondering why he told everyone to follow him without revealing anything else. Well, let me tell you why: The less you know the better. There are only two ways to deal with knowledge and both ways involve risking your life. One way involves putting the pieces together and realizing that everything happening is related. This requires having enough courage and perseverance to see through the illusion. Another way is to remain ignorant by not thinking about certain things which means that those things won't bother you so much while still making sure that others don't discover how little information you actually have on those things... And so in order to save face when they realize how useless their own plans were, they'll attempt to hide the fact that they came up empty-handed and will make themselves appear more powerful than they really are by doing such a thing."

Suddenly a bunny named Karkinos walked up to the group as though he wanted to speak his mind even though Max was trying his hardest to ignore him replying, "I'm sorry but would you please shut up for a second! We need to figure out what our next move should be..."

Alex thought about the book and took it out of the bag of infinite storage he turned to page sixteen. He asked Justyn how to defeat Unkulunk the Unicorn and on the page of the open book appeared the words "Use this holy sword Celestial Dawn to kill him, it will remove everyone's cookie curse as well." Fenrir asked Justyn why didn't you just give us the sword from the start? On the page of the open book appeared the words "Because I want you all to fight villains based on the seven deadly sins, and I wanted to make a reference to a movie that has a holy hand grenade in it." Alex said thanks before closing the book back inside his bag of infinite storage and then picked up the holy sword Celestial Dawn

Alex: "Alright let's go!" Everyone started walking towards the door until Tanek stopped them saying something sounding like: "Wait! What about me? I haven't been given any sort of gift yet!" Everyone looked around at each other wondering what could've happened during the events at Amorak although they already knew what had happened beforehand since no one had heard anything regarding this particular rabbit. It seemed that Tanek must have decided to stay behind because they were told not to look back after they'd entered the dungeon due to its being an area where they were not allowed to go while also having traps set up everywhere with death-traps scattered throughout in order to kill intruders who got lost while trying to escape or find their way out along with other monsters such as Minotaurs waiting for unwary trespassing adventurers who might wander into their domain looking for treasure so if anyone did get caught by such a trap, then there would be little chance of surviving considering how these monsters tended to act whenever people passed through their land. Fenrir continued talking without giving Tanek another thought replying, "Well if you're really serious about wanting something else then we can probably just ask the King later on," causing everyone except Orkrist to laugh; even though everyone wanted nothing more than to save Unkulunk from his cell but didn't dare say it out loud for fear that it may put them in danger when he realized that Unkulunk was gone from his prison:

Orkrist (in response): "If you ask me, I think that we should stop following him."

Fenrir: "But what about all those innocent prisoners still stuck inside?"

Max: "Then why don't we rescue them first and leave them alone afterward? The king doesn't seem very nice at all which means that he'll never allow us to go back home once we leave this place anyway... If we were able to help some of those poor bunnies trapped within this dungeon then maybe our journey wouldn't have turned out this bad..."

Tanek (in response): "But what's the point of rescuing these bunnies if they won't survive the experience either?"

Everyone remained silent since none of them knew exactly what they could possibly do to change things around although they hoped that there would come a day when they would live happily ever after together as well as not being forced into fighting each other anymore. They also believed that there would eventually be an end to wars between humanoids as well as animals. Finally, they wished that everything would always be as good as possible whether it involved living or dying. At long last, everyone decided to follow Fenrir who was leading them toward the door only to see that it had already been unlocked from the outside:

Alex: "So how are we going to break into Unkulunk's cell now...?" Fenrir: "Don't worry, I've got something up my sleeve" He proceeded to enter a hidden room by pushing open one of the doors located nearby while closing off all of the others in order to prevent anyone else from coming inside along with sealing any other secret passageways before taking something out of his bag and handing it to Alex who looked at it saying, "What is this thing anyway?" Before replying with "I don't know but it feels important enough for you to wear." Alex asked him what it was for and he replied "It will make your hands glow which will help you pick the lock on Unkulunk's cell."

Alex said, "Why can't I just use the holy sword Celestial Dawn to break the lock?"

Fenrir replied, "Because this way works better!" Alex handed over the glowing item that seemed like some sort of magic ring. Fenrir told Alex to put it on his pinky finger and then hold it against the door handle until it glows red hot; allowing everyone to hear clicking noises sounding similar to someone unlocking a padlock. The group continued walking forward and as they were passing through a hallway filled with bloodstains upon seeing those stains made Tanek say something sounding as though he'd lost interest: "Look at these bloodstains! Do you think they're fresh? Who could have left them here if no one has passed by this area yet..." Everyone ignored him while Orkrist wondered aloud why nobody else had walked past this spot even after noticing how dead bunnies littered everywhere across the floor since there should be more people roaming about although Max mentioned that many might not realize that there are still people trapped inside:

Max: "If I remember right, all we saw when we first entered this dungeon were lots of cages containing small creatures such as rabbits along with birds inside various cells... It didn't occur to us to look for anyone who may've been caught within those traps because we were too worried about finding out where our next meal would come from instead of worrying about whether or not any of us were going to survive..."

Everyone nodded except for Jeorgar who was busy eating another apple saying, "Well maybe they ran away once their time is up but the question remains, why wouldn't any other animals bother trying to save themselves?" He ate the last piece of fruit and then added "I'm sorry but did you seriously expect me to stay in this dungeon without taking care of my health? That's simply unacceptable so stop giving me that smug smile of yours!" Everyone tried hard not to laugh at his comment although Fenrir remained calm replying with a hint of sarcasm in his voice:

Fenrir: "Hey now just try and enjoy yourself." After everyone finally stopped laughing, Fenrir turned his attention toward Orkrist and asked him something sounding like: "You wanted a good reason to leave the group and join someone else don't you?" Orkrist replied by looking away shyly before answering, "Not really. All I said was that I was getting tired of walking around underground. If you want to know more than that, you can ask Karkinos later on if he doesn't mind." Everyone laughed even harder while Tanek asked what exactly happened between these two rabbits while holding back tears until Max started telling them about how Orkrist used to live inside one of those rabbit hutch-like places but wasn't very fond of being called an 'it' anymore due to having been told how much better it felt living inside a cage which caused him to escape from there after managing to slip out into the outside world only to end up wandering throughout different villages until he came across a group of adventurers who helped him find shelter beneath a barn roof near Amorak where they met some other bunnies who ended up becoming friends along with other animals who were all involved in helping each other grow stronger; along with finding a way home since most people were too scared or unwilling to help others without expecting anything in return. Eventually, everyone realized that they should have expected this particular rabbit to do something such as escape at some point since they had heard nothing regarding his death. Fenrir asked him whether he'd done everything within his power to make sure that no harm would come to any innocent civilians, causing Orkrist to reply by saying, "Well I did my best not to kill any villagers when I was trying to steal food and supplies for myself although I never really considered leaving anyone behind because I thought that I could probably keep going forever..."

Fenrir (to Alex): "Don't worry... You won't get your hands on Unkulunk unless you prove yourself worthy enough."

Max: "We've got time before we reach our next goal so why don't we take a quick rest here? I mean we still have plenty of apples left over anyway."

Everyone nodded before turning around to sit down on the cold ground which was filled with dirt mixed with bloodstains while using their weapons as pillows. Max ate one more apple while Jeorgar stared at the wall in front of him while thinking about his mother, father, and siblings, and how he wanted things to go back to normal Tanek spoke up again asking whether or not there might be any other rabbits like them inside these cages, wondering aloud whether or not they'd ever found out what happened to them although Orkrist seemed rather hesitant when answering saying: "I think so... Although many of us didn't realize it until later on." After hearing this comment from Orkrist, Tanek suddenly became interested despite himself by saying something sounding similar to: "Hey wait a second! Did someone try to escape once?!" Everyone looked away since no one knew exactly what Tanek meant even though Fenrir asked him to explain further explaining that he just remembered seeing an animal run past a few days ago who must have escaped because nobody else has seen another rabbit besides themselves since then. The group began walking forward again but after being warned by Fenrir against getting distracted by anything that may occur along the way, everyone started paying closer attention to everything that surrounded them due to feeling uneasy since it was unlike most dungeons in which all traps were made specifically to kill adventurers without hurting innocent animals who couldn't defend themselves.

***

After going through the dungeon the group of heroes found Unkulunk the Unicorn's cell; which proved to be very easy considering that they had been given a ring that would help unlock any locked door with ease as well as help them pick any lock they encountered during their journey into the underground world. As soon as they arrived at their destination, Alex stepped forward only for Orkrist to stop him as he said: "Wait... Before we open the door you should probably take off that ring first..." Everyone turned toward the pinky finger of Alex's left hand where he wore the glowing item before telling him not to bother doing so unless it was absolutely necessary especially if this wasn't something worth risking life and limb over although Max agreed adding that perhaps wearing it wouldn't hurt while also stating that maybe there'd come a day when things change and the need to wear rings like these will become obsolete. They continued listening as Fenrir opened the unlocked door while stepping inside; causing the entire room to fill up with an intense bright light forcing everyone except Alex to squint while covering their eyes even though nothing seemed to happen once they did so. After taking out some form of the torch from his bag, Max entered the cell followed by everyone else but ended up stopping once he saw Unkulunk tied down to a large metal pole lying on top of what appeared to be straw-covered ground.

Alex asked what had happened to the unicorn before looking away in embarrassment by replying saying, "I don't know."

Fenrir asked "Do you mean that your memory is completely gone? I've never heard of anything like that ever happening in my lifetime nor have I read about such an occurrence within any books written throughout history..." He replied sounding annoyed as Jeorgar pointed out how Max didn't seem all too concerned with anything regarding himself or other people:

Jeorgar: "It's quite obvious isn't it? Maybe this thing here doesn't remember because it simply lost its mind long ago due to being locked up inside this dungeon for way longer than it should have been which could possibly explain why it seems so strange?"

Max shrugged while Orkrist spoke up asking if they were going to free him since Fenrir reminded him that nobody would want him coming back after seeing just how horrible his body looked. Orkrist told them that since they were able to enter his cell and look around without dying, he doubted whether or not they would really get killed now considering everything he'd done up until now despite hearing nothing from anyone aside from someone claiming to be worried about Tanek who was most likely worrying over his mother's safety although no one else had mentioned anything about her even when Orkrist had tried asking everyone directly. He then added that there was also something else that bothered him greatly since something seemed wrong but couldn't put his finger on what it might be; however, it wasn't important right at the moment something definitely felt off but he couldn't figure out what it actually meant. After walking further into the room, Alex said something sounding as though he wanted to apologize yet never actually did saying, "I'm sorry... But we can do something about this..." The others stared at him in disbelief as soon as a sudden gust of wind blew past them causing Unkulunk the dark unicorn's head to slowly turn toward where Alex stood before making a sound similar to a sigh followed by moving closer towards him in a way that made everyone think of some sort of affection although nobody dared to ask him whether or not it really was true because they were afraid of breaking whatever illusion he may have been using for their benefit. Everyone watched carefully except for Fenrir who noticed something glowing beneath Unkulunk's neck along with hearing sounds resembling bones snapping apart upon close examination although Max pointed out how Fenrir already knew this much beforehand explaining how Fenrir saw exactly how many pieces of bone each part of Unkulunk's body consisted of which caused Fenrir to shrug his shoulders replying:

Fenrir: "That's just the way my magic works."

Max shook his head and said, "If I remember right, you told us earlier on during your explanation that most creatures only had three parts?" He paused after speaking before adding, "Do you mean four now? Just wondering since none of us ever asked you what those other two parts would've looked like!" He laughed while Orkrist looked away in embarrassment as well as being too nervous to look anywhere else besides where he'd seen Jeorgar looking at all times whenever possible despite no longer feeling comfortable doing so; having always been unable to take his eyes off of him due to finding himself strangely attracted towards someone he wasn't sure whether or not he should trust.

Fenrir: "Well... Now that I'm thinking about it, you're right..." He stopped talking after noticing how everyone suddenly stared at him instead of Unkulunk but continued after clearing up everyone's misunderstanding by saying, "No, there aren't four anymore! My apologies for getting your hopes up but don't worry about it any further! Your guesses are good enough for me." After hearing this response from Fenrir, Alex placed the ring back onto its proper spot on his finger although nobody paid much attention to this act because they were busy staring at something unexpected they were currently seeing unfold within the dungeon although they didn't understand why something felt off once they saw the unicorn begin moving its body slowly. Unkulunk let out a sigh before standing up straight revealing an elegant figure along with shiny black feathers sprouting out of his back as soon as he did so. He then walked forward in silence without making any sound while the group watched with amazement until Max shouted in surprise asking what was going on Tanek raised his fist while declaring victory even though Fenrir immediately shut him down explaining that such actions could be extremely dangerous since one false move may prove deadly if it actually happened considering how their luck had been running dry lately and no one really wanted them losing another member especially when everyone was already quite exhausted. With one quick motion, Alex saw an opening and chopped off Unkulunk's head with the holy sword Celestial Dawn. They all gasped and began yelling simultaneously yet nothing seemed to happen aside from blood spurting out of Unkulunk's neck followed by the head rolling over next to where Max stood only for Orkrist to kneel beside it examining its face only for everyone to look away quickly afterward realizing just how hideous its appearance was which made Orkrist start laughing manically stating how everything inside these cells looked disgusting except for those who managed to escape including himself since they'd all grown used to living underground surrounded by darkness which helped improve their skin conditions unlike others; therefore, they didn't feel bad about themselves anymore due to being able to see light outside each day which helped remind them about life while also improving their self-esteem although many people simply couldn't live like this forever despite having seen more than enough horrible sights during this journey into the dungeon.

***

Before going back to speak with Goldfang the Just, Alex placed Unkulunk's head into the bag of infinite storage, then butchered the body and put the cut-up pieces into the bag as well.