" Who was it? Who dared to disturb my peace? " The Great Serpent's eyes snapped open, blazing orbs of molten rage. The ground quaked beneath his colossal coils as he let out a thunderous roar that reverberated through the walls of the cave, shattering stones and splashing water all around. 
The Wolf Queen's eyes were ablaze with determination.She thought she had accomplished what she was working towards. She thought she had achieved her heart's desire.She came forward and bowed before the Great Serpent's majestic form. 
She raised her outstretched hand towards the form of the Great Serpent. Shadows danced across the ancient mausoleum.She shoved the shaman aside and then began to whisper incantation, her fingertips began to glow with a brilliant azure, and tendrils of raw power snaked towards the serpent's colossal form.
It was a tribute. The way to let him know that it was indeed her doing and that she was vowing servitude. 
" It was me, oh! Great Serpent, your humble devotee. Welcome back my Lord. "
Suddenly, as if the very fabric of reality recoiled, his scales, once gleaming and majestic, now started shimmering with an ominous, sinister hue.
The Wolf Queen's defiant smile wavered for a moment, but she pressed on, her voice infused with a mixture of bravado and desperation. "I awakened you, O Mighty Serpent, seeking your favor and alliance!" she declared, her words echoing against the walls.
There could be traced a faint scoff on the serpent's face. 
" What twisted wordly desire did you think of fulfilling by daring to tamper with my nature, you wicked woman? "
The serpent's response was a deafening hiss, a storm of venom and fury. Its massive head lunged forward, fangs bared, venom dripping like liquid fire. The Wolf Queen danced nimbly to the side, her cloak billowing like raven wings, narrowly avoiding the venomous onslaught.From its massive serpentine body sprouted majestic wings, each feather a tapestry of vibrant colors that seemed to shift with every flicker of light. With a single powerful beat, the wings unfurled, sending a gust of wind that swept through the chamber, extinguishing torches and ruffling the Queen's cloak. 
The queen fell on her knees in fear. 
" Seal me back! "
The Great Serpent commanded. 
" I cannot. I need your help... " Undeterred, she tried pressing onto him.
" Send me back if you want to keep living, " It wasn't a warning, it was a threat. 
The Queen could tell that the troops from the land were very near. They must have felt the effect of the assaults that the Great Serpent unleashed. That must have delayed them a little.
The Wolf Queen tried to use the Spirit Conjurer to try and coax the Serpent, being the agitated state that he was in. 
Yet, the serpent's otherworldly resilience seemed to defy the very laws of magic itself, the Staff had no effect .He shrugged off the onslaught like a minor annoyance.
With a contemptuous sweep of its colossal tail, the Great Serpent sent a shockwave rippling through the cave, knocking the Wolf Queen off her feet and hurling her against a stone pillar. 
She rolled right beside Ruby.She triedholding on to her as she gasped for breath, her eyes narrowing as she glimpsed an ethereal scale at Ruby's tail end, that looked like a dagger concealed beneath her shimmer. 
Summoning every ounce of her strength, the Wolf Queen rose to her feet, her hand gripping the dagger like scale that she ripped off the unconsious Ruby. As the Great Serpent lunged once more, she leapt towards him and tried once more, reasoning with him. 
" I can help you go back my Lord. I just need a little help from you. I will put you back to sleep right after that. I promise.... "
"LIES...... YOU ARE A LIAR..... "
A seismic roar of agony and rage erupted from the serpent's gaping maw, the very foundations of the cave shaking under the onslaught. The Wolf Queen held on, her entire being infused with the swirling currents of emotions and determination.
The great serpent knew it was any moment before the one he feared the most, would be unleashed. 
" You have no power to put the seal back on. And that staff is stolen, just like the mermaid scale that you ripped off that helpless fish. You are a vicious con.You don't deserve to keep breathing..."
The gust of power that was aimed at the Wolf Queen, didn't reach her. She surely would have become dead meat, if that had happened. She looked around to check what had stopped the mishap, only to find her son, Xie, standing between herself and death himself. 
The Great Serpent's form disintegrated into a vortex of swirling darkness,ashe realised he had harmed someone innocent or perhaps because he sensed that the one he feared the original Serpent had just escaped between the confusion.It's furious roar echoed into oblivion. The chamber trembled and then fell silent, the only sound left,was the ragged breaths of the Wolf Queen as she stood dejected, her gaze fixed upon the void where the serpent once loomed.
********
Doom's Day
" Xie ... Xie my boy, are you alright? "
She rushed to his side as he began vomiting blood and foaming at his mouth. Her eyes were about to pop out of her eye sockets. 
Xie was in excruciating pain but he completely ignored his mother. He pushed her away and stumbled his way forward, towards his beloved. His eyes were flashing with concern even in that state. 
All that the Wolf Queen could do was watch in agony and jealous rage. 
Within the next few moments, the cave filled with the rest of the troops. The Wolf King came right at Xie and Ruby and hit them both with the Spirit Conjuring Staff that he snatched from the Queen's hand. 
It swirled around the two of them for some time and then slowly a greenish fume evaporated from around them. Xie too, fell unconscious over the body of his wife. 
" Take them back immediately. " 
The Wolf King commanded as a group of soldiers from the fox and wolf clans,hurried towards them. 
" Is she alive? " It was Jade who finally joined them. 
" She is breathing. But her breath is faint. " Ruby confirmed after looking at her own mother from the side of her eyes with loath, who was still standing shamelessly in front of them. 
Jade could not hold back anymore. 
She lunged straight at the Wolf Queen and grabbed her throat. 
" What had she ever done to you? Why? Why did you hate her this much? Could you not care about your grandchild in the least old hag? "
The Wolf Queen spat on Jade's face. 
Jade smacked her right at her face . The blow was so hard, it sent her crashing over the stones. 
Neither The Wolf King nor Roe, uttered a word. Lin stood as a mute spectator. 
Then finally he spoke. 
" Should we not ask her about Mia and Boshu's whereabouts? "
The Wolf King sighed heavily. 
" Our family and kin , should be the least of our worries Lin. The Great Serpent no longers rests between the border of the living and the dead. We will soon be facing a influx. We will have too many visitors from the grave. How under the heavens are we going to stop that mayhem? 
This is apocalypse. I wish I knew a God that I could pray to right now. ".Then he turned slowly towards the Wolf Queen. 
" What have you done, you stupid woman? I want to kill you right now with my hands. But that would be a mercy to you. You should live to witness the aftermath of the evil you evoked in your stupid jealous endeavor. What were you even thinking? What did you want? "
The eyes of the Wolf King reflected more horror and pain than it reflected anger. 
" I don't think this one has no knowledge about Mia and Boshu's disappearance... "
Lin , apparently didn't quite grasp what the Wolf Kign was talking about. He was about to have a go at the Wolf Queen when something happened. 
Something so horrendous that eyes that were living, had never witnessed. Something that made them drop everything and watch in horror. 
A putrid stench slowly filled the air as the barrier dissolved completely.A miasma began enveloping the surroundings, an assault that churned stomachs and clung onto senses. From beyond the shattered veil between realms, a procession of abhorrence began emerging, each step accompanied by the wet squelch of ruptured flesh and the sickening pop of gas escaping bloated remains.Grotesque figures emerging from the abyss. Their decomposing flesh hung in tatters, oozing with foul, viscous fluids. Hollow eye sockets glowed with an eerie light, casting a sickly hue upon their skeletal faces. Moans of agony escaped their cracked lips as they dragged their decaying limbs along, leaving trails of muck and decay in their wake.
Their eyes which were long consumed by maggots now burnt with fire, refueled with a zeal to take over what was long taken away from them, the realm of the living, the unfulfilled desires that still kept them in the netherworld. 
The living gazed upon this nightmare, frozen in a horrified trance, as the noxious swarm inched closer, their withering forms ,doing a grotesque dance of death and decay.
The Foxes,Wolves and Mer-witches were staring motionless,transfixed by this horrifying display, feeling their own breaths catch in their throats as they bear witness to a nightmare incarnate. 
" Is this the end father? "
Roe asked, tucking at the Wolf King's sleeve, choking on her own words, gulping slowly. 
" No, it isn't. Not while I am breathing... "
And with that Lin led the march forward.He plunged at them with his sword unsheathed, his Fox Light, circling around his structure.Apparating and disapparating on his way forward as he charged amongst their ranks. The rest of the foxes followed his cue and they too followed behind. The wolves charged head on because waiting and watching was impossible. 
Roe wiped her eyes and followed suit. 
The mer-witches had to be moved on higher grounds, a little away from the actual barrier. The poison was rapidly spreading in the water and in the air. If the assault did not kill the land of the living, the venom surely would. 
The merwitches were trying hard to gather their strength and contain the spread , as much as they could. A few Wolves stayed with them, because in a state of trance, while trying to harvest their magical resources, they were defenseless against any assault. 
The Wolf King watched for a few more minutes before plunging in for an imminent clash that could lead to all their doom. It was a suicidal mission, cutting through their heads as they grew back faster than their eyes could blink. Their limbs stomped and attacked at their own free will. It was like trying to cut through a rapidly growing weed, only to get drowned in its smelly rotten belly. They kept moving forward as more and more of those decaying entities kept pouring in. 
The portal had opened. The portal which used to be an one way route. 
This surely was dooms day.