Agni Kai

A sense of vindication flooded Artorias' heart and soul when he watched Oxx's throat rend open beneath his blade, the lifeblood of his nemesis and the stain on his family's history seeping away in a crimson waterfall. Some of the splatter kicked back into his face, marking his sapphire blue fur with speckles of dark red. The stench of copper and iron filled the air while Oxx died. His sinister brother's words had only helped to steel his resolve in his actions and he knew Oxx would be sorely disappointed. He would not be remembered the way he wished to believe he would be. He would be named a monster, a plague that was brought to swift justice. He would not be known as one of their own. He would vanish into the records as a dark cloud over a short span of Carpathian history. As long as he lived, Artorias would work to make sure the monster was forgotten, becoming little more than a cautionary tale for his children's children to pass on.

Clutching Embershard tight in his jaws, Artorias decided to put an end to this once and for all. He had watched Oxx slowly exsanguinate for long enough, and though he was sure a minute longer would have been the end to the brute regardless, Artorias wanted his brother to see his end. He did not want Oxx to slip away into peaceful oblivion. He wanted him to go careening straight into the hell that awaited him. The slate brute's fur was coated in a fine sticky sheen of his own blood, and while it was enjoyable for the Aegis to see, he wanted the head of his greatest foe more than anything. Fire-kissed eyes narrowed to deadly points, Artorias hefted Embershard up and brought it down one last time with lethal accuracy onto the back of Oxx's neck. There was a flash of steel, the sound of flesh rending under a blade, and then the thud as Oxx's decapitated head hit the ground followed by his limp body crumpling on itself. Then it was done. The nightmare was over.

Artorias took a few deep breaths, staring down at the corpse laid out at his paws and watching while dark blood pooled beneath the severed stump of his sadistic brother's neck from exposed arteries. A cathartic peace washed over the Carpathian wolf, a relief that the evil had been smote upon the mountainside tonight and justice had been dealt. A pleased little shudder ran through Artorias, a sensation strange and foreign to the brute. He had killed before, both prey and predator alike, but this time felt different. He couldn't explain it; it was just different. It took Artorias a moment for his brain to come back to reality, and when he regained his senses he picked up his sword's sheath and slid it home. He looked up from the corpse to his brother and friends. Each of them had been crucial in making this moment real. He would forever be grateful to all three of them and his eyes showed that gratitude as he checked each wolf for wounds.

"Thank you," Artorias spoke to the group as a whole. A simple gesture, but with profound meaning to the alpha wolf. "Chimera, we will be taking the pelt and head back to the Hallows. You are welcome to collect any other trophies from the body you wish." Art didn't know if his monochromatic friend would want to bring anything back with him—perhaps some more personal bits from Oxx to further emasculate the deceased monster as revenge for his woman—but the offer was there. Letting Ezra collect Oxx's severed head, Artorias produced the dagger he carried in his bracer and began to skin the wolf carcass right there with Rudy's help. He was no master hunter like his brother was, and together the two wolves were able to keep the rest of the pelt intact. Once preserved, this would hang in the Great Hall for all time to serve as the pack's prize and a warning to their enemies. None should dare to harm the Hallows or the Carpathians.

"Artorias Carpathius"