Blood stained the ground and the smell of rotting flesh poisoned the air. The earth, once green and alive, was now torn into a barren waste land. The peace had been stolen away to be replaced with cries of agony, fear, and hopelessness. Not even the rain would remove the sin. The Gods simply wept as they watched their children fight. The hatred, anger, and pain were all that were left behind by the disaster. Days had gone by with no sign of escape. No sign of salvation. Only the knowledge that lives would roll into death's arms. Their cries would be silenced, but not noticed among the horde that kept moving forward. No longer did the individual matter, but rather the nation that stood behind them. There were no living beings, just machines and weapons for mass destruction. The sight was more than Justin could bare as he walked over the dead bodies of his pack members. The husky's once white fur was no stained with the blood of his enemies. His nose burned from the smell of death. His body ached from his murders. The humanity in him had been devoured by the beast as he led his warriors.
The Calthion forces had grown tired of waiting. They had advanced, which forced Justin's hand. They could not risk the clan taking more of their land. They could not risk they getting closer to their capital, thus he issued the command to attack. The clash had been brutal with each side ripping throats out and raping the earth of her resources. Water ways were now red from the aftermath. The trees and grass now withered from their poison. Before long, they had become pinched. They had no choice but to retreat. They had only lasted two days. Among the felines was the Hemi Horde, a clan of insects. While their animal forms were easy to deal with they were among the few tribes able to do micro transformations. It created a dangerous foe. When they joined the battle, the canine forces had no choice, but to run. Not even the Hopi were able to keep up. In the end, they had been pushed back to a small village of Key. The Calthion forces followed, thus once more battle broke out. Fortune for the Bellaroos forces, the Calthion's forces split, and the land had more hills. They were able to take a better stance.
Justin's ears curled back as he sat on the tallest hill. He had taken it up as camp. His blue eyes were now dull, broken as he looked down on the scorched land. He was eerily calm. His body cold... numb. He felt nothing, cared about nothing. The male could not feel the heat or the cold at night. The memories from so long ago haunted his dreams, his memories, and his reality. His regret ate at his soul. He should never have agreed to step foot on the battlefield again. The husky's tail curled around himself as he perked his ears around. His vice-generals were talking among themselves.
"The Greyhound unit might be best. They can cover more ground. Then have these two units come around. Just in case they have to fight from both sides." A mumble of a male sounded.
"Greyhounds wouldn't last two seconds against Tessa." A female laughed at the idea. Justin could hear the grin in her voice. "My unit would be better."
"She's right. A Hopi or the assassin unit may be best. They are stronger... " Another male voice, almost a whisper compared to the others.
They were debating on splitting the units to circle the army before taking on Tessa. Although, the idea of taking her on now occurred. Cut off the snake's head, more or less. The units would then follow. Justin's lip pulled up in a low snarl as he forced himself onto his paws. He ached. His armor was heavy on his body, but he did not dare remove it.
"Has Eagle-Eye returned?" The general interrupted the men.
They all glanced up, but it was Soren that responded. "No. My guess is his unit stopped when light rose." Soren was a lanky man. He was thin as a twig with unnatural long legs. His eyes were hazel, but were washed out by long wiry grey hair. Despite the length, it was thin with flickers of white throughout it. He had a thing for tying it back in perfection. Rabbit fur clothed his arms, chest and back. He left his stomach open. Draping down his legs was a collection of other furs from rabbit to boar, deer, etc. He kept his feet bare. Soren had served well before Justin did, however he remained only in charge of the Greyhound Unit. He had once been offered a seat of a general, but he turned it down. Soren was one of the few that had not approved of the war, yet he had been unable to ignore it either. If Justin had a choice, he would have much rather Soren been placed as a general.
"Damn it." Justin's snarl vibrated in his chest as he rubbed a hand over his face. The canine had melted away to leave behind a blood covered male. Gashes collected on his bronze chest. Sun kissed skin mixed with the black snake skin armor on his chest and legs. "We can't do anything under they report back." He said mostly to himself. The Hellion Colony had not wished to be apart of the war. Bellaroos had no agreement with them or treaty, but the colony had become divided. A small group of bats broke away with their leaders' blessings. They had no ill-will about the small group joining the fight, even if they did not believe the whole colony should. They made for perfect group to collect information and updates on the battle.
Soren flashed a smile at Justin as he looked down at the map in front of them. The other two vice-generals said nothing to this, but Justin knew they wanted to. "I say we go for it." The only female of the group tapped her fingers against her leg. Mary Fenrir. Many did not refer to her as a Fenrir any longer, but she was a descendant of an alpha. Which meant, she was the meanest baddest bitch Justin had ever meet. She could tear any male's throat out with no effort. She was a pitbull after all. Red hair fell around her shoulders and her neck. It collected just below her shoulder blades. It was unruly with lazy curls and thick strands. Unlike Soren, she wore black fur only around her beasts and hips. It did not stop her lush large breasts from attempting to break free, which was why she had two ties. One around her neck, the other that wrapped around her back and then tied in the front. Freckles decorated her cheeks. They made her look younger against her brown eyes. She was about 5'2. It only terrified him more. At the ripe age of 16, she had joined the fight. At 18, she became a vice-general that looked over assassin and long-range force. She had a good eye for positioning their people.
"We need to wait. We can't afford to lose more." Justin clenched his jaws. His eyes hardened as he glanced away again. He stared off over the hill.
"No offense Justin, but sitting here is going to do nothing." Mary waved her hand. "I think you're just scared."
Justin snapped his head around, but it was the third Vice-General that snarled. His eyes narrowed. Long white hair flowed down his shoulders and his back. His skin was pale with brilliant blue eyes. "You would do well to show respect." The voice was a whisper. It did not match the male's sinister icy glare. His leg had pulled up to press against his chest with an arm lazily laid on top of it. Grey rabbit fur covered his legs in a skirt. The male pulled his lips up in a small smirk, however slowly he looked away again. The male was watching the healer's camp. The worse of the injury were placed under a shelter, but many of them had to remain in the elements. There was simply no room. They were lined side by side with each other. Make shift beds had been created for them. Healers did their best to come out to check on them, check bandages, feed and give them water. Soon, they hoped to move into a better location to host them.
"Gabriel, don't bare your fangs at me." Mary snarled back.
The white haired male said nothing. He glanced back calmly instead. Not at Mary though, but rather at Justin. He waited for his delta's command.
"Don't ignore me!" Mary shoved herself up as her nails started to grow and her fur begun to appear.
"Enough!" Justin snapped at the two. Mary narrowed her eyes, but threw herself back down. Her arms crossed over her chest as she grumbled under her breath. She was an expert in silence, but she had a loud personality.
"We are not moving until Eagle-Eye returns, understood?" The general snarled. His lips parting to flash an impressive set of teeth. Without waiting for an answer, he turned away. The male did not even get two steps before he heard a pounding of paws.
"Sir!" The vice-generals and Justin turned to a greyhound. The hound's maw parted as his tongue fell from his lips. He panted harshly as he hung his head. The male's legs shook with effort. It was evident just how hard this male ran, as if his life depended on it. "Just as you ordered, we checked their other camp. A small force remained there to tend to their wounded and to move the camp. Sir, Tessa is there with very little guard."
"Good job solider, go rest." Soren grinned proudly at the canine. The greyhound held its head up proudly before turning away.
Justin did not look towards the ground. His hands clenched at the news. Alec had wanted them just to defend... to wait until they returned, but Tessa was already tearing into their forces. Now, she was with a small force with only the wounded? Could he let this chance go?
"What are your orders?" Gabriel whispered again. Justin could feel the eyes on his back as they expected him to make a choice. Would he go forward now with the plan or would he standby? Would he take the chance to take their leader? Justin's orders could be life or death for them, yet something sat wrong in the pit of his stomach. This seemed to easy. It just seemed... too good to be true.
"Mary, get a small force ready. Soren and Gabriel, I will be leaving you in charge. If nothing else, we will slow their second force down. Drive this one back." Justin then turned to Soren. "Send your hounds to our other forces. They are to spare anyone they can. If we take Tessa and her forces out, we may be able to hold off Calthion until our beta returns. We are the hope of Bellaroos."
Soren chuckled at that. "Yes, sir. I will get on it."
"Yes, sir!" Gabriel and Mary said next in union. Mary's canine form slipped over her human before she kicked off. They had much to prepare, thus it left Gabriel and Justin behind.
"Justin, is this wise?" Gabriel asked as he looked down at the healers. His eyes unreadable as he watched yet another body be carried away. The body was laid in a pile of rotting bodies to be buried. The young healer's cries could be heard, even upon the hill as she clung the male's hand. She was begging him for forgiveness for not being able to save him. No one could have saved any of them. They could only make them comfortable being closing their eyes to visit Hel in her kingdom.
Justin's eyes softened as he sighed. He reached up to rub along his eyes. An ache was beginning behind his temple. "I don't know what is right or wrong anymore Gabriel. I stopped knowing when I stole the breath of my first victim." He closed his eyes. A slow cool breath slipped from his lungs. He had become immune to the smell of death. "I want peace."
Gabriel seemed satisfied with the answer. He nodded as he folded his legs under himself. He grabbed the map as he stood. He said nothing to his general as he handed the map over. Then without so much as a goodbye, he turned away to start down the hill again.