The two brothers cried out in pain as they fell to the ground but the pain quickly faded after a few seconds but since the stress of the whole situation had finally caught up with them, they remained unconscious.
"Now then…first things first", Samuel said as he turned to the Dire beasts. "Raegan…I need you and your crew to take to the sky. Scour every inch of the territory and report back to us when you see any individuals approaching", he instructed as Raegan cawed loudly and in the next second, close to a hundred ravens rose high into the sky and spread out all over.
"Good! Now Drogo and Raine…I want you both to prepare your pack for battle. I want to see how you defend this territory from invaders", Samuel commanded. Drogo's eyes turned red as his usual happy and friendly demeanor changed suddenly into the true monstrous predator he was; Raine experiencing a similar change.
They both howled wildly and loudly into the sky causing the rest of his pack to experience similar wild transformations. After the pack howled back in reply, they run into the trees leaving all the young pups and chicks behind.
"Kyaaa!! They are so cute!" Sylvia shouted as she run up to the few dozen pups left behind by their parents and hugged as many as could fit into her arms. "We'll keep them safe until after the battle is done. It was a good call by their parents", Dr. Michaelson observed
"Now that that's done…Lisia, please reactivate the mountain lab and restore all operations", Dr. Michaelson said into his device. "ACKNOWLEDGED! MOUNTAIN LAB REACTIVATED!" Lisia responded.
"Alright then, let's get going", Silendiana said as she picked up the two brothers and placed them into the truck. "You guys go ahead…I'll meet you there. I need to pass by the cabin and bring the girls", Samuel said as he shot off the ground, flying off before anyone could reply.
....
Moving through the city of Sienna Metropolis were a fleet of five trucks similar to those used by factories for deliver and transportation services. Within each truck were a platoon of close to thirty fully armed men.
Each armed man held a rifle that fired concussive rounds mean't for subduing and capturing targets, as well as rifles that fired live rounds mean't to kill targets.
They currently had a single task to complete: capturing the escaped lab rats dead or alive.
This was a highly covert operation that had been going on for months and they had come close to capturing them every encounter.
"It seems they found the trackers and were able to disable them. The last recorded ping has been sent to you. Follow it and find them. Get them back whether dead or alive. Do not fail me this time", a female voice sounded over the leader of the team's receiver.
"Yes ma'am! We'll get it done this time, don't worry", the leader promised as he switched the channel on his receiver and shouted, "Alright boys, we will soon be coming up on the mountainous zone. HQ has reported that the last recorded tracking ping was from there. Prepare yourselves". After giving the command, he turned the receiver off.
"Damn that woman…she really is a piece of work. I would like to strangle the life out of her if I ever have the chance", he sighed and cursed as he sat next to the driver.
The driver was a large bodied man with a nasty scar on his right eye but unlike his face that looked like it had gone through an industrial shredder, he had a sanguine temperament.
The leader on the other hand a rather choleric temperament but witnessing his relatively good-looking face could give the wrong idea of his true character.
He had a similar well-built body and a few scars on his arms and neck.
"Well boss, as long as she signs our pay cheques, we have to take all her bullshit", the driver observed.
"Heh! I guess you are right. Let's just get this job done with…I miss my girls", the leader added after snickering and licking his lips lasciviously.
The trucks soon exited the city, plowing down the road at speeds surpassing those that trucks like them normally travel at; and heading quickly towards the mountainous zone.
...…
"Aunt Silendiana…Dr. Michaelson…I missed both of you", Catherina shouted with a wave as she, Helen and Elizabeth rode atop Samuel's slightly smaller dragon transformation and approached the mountain lab.
Samuel dropped down next to the couple and without any hesitation, Catherina jumped directly into Silendiana's arms; hugging her.
"We missed you too darling. I'm glad you are doing great" Silendiana said as she returned the hug.
Sylvia! Sylvester! Delgato! I missed you guys as well!" Catherina said after ending the hug with Silendiana.
"We missed you too. We need to go out soon and hang out. We can chat and have fun then", Sylvia said to her and received an excited nod in response.
Sylvia then greeted Elizabeth and Helen and introduced them to Silendiana and Dr. Michaelson. After Samuel transformed back, they proceeded to enter the lab heading straight for the guest quarters.
The two brothers laid on individual beds in one of the guest rooms, fast asleep. "It seems their fatigue brought up by their time on the run had finally caught up to them. I suspect they would not be waking up anytime soon", Dr. Michaelson said after checking their vitals.
"We should let them rest. We still need to prepare for the attack. It's been a while since I last tossed someone around", Sylvester said with a stretch of his limbs.
"I'm with you. Things have been quite boring recently. I want some action", Sylvester added with a flex of his knuckles. "This will be the perfect test for my new and improved combat suits. I'm guessing we'll be fighting without the use of an abilities so these should come in handy", Delgato declared excitedly.
"Unfortunately, we may not have a hand in this battle", Samuel announced pulling the rug from under their feet. "What do you mean?" Delgato asked sadly.
"Well, we have an army of dire wolves, dire foxes and dire ravens. It would be a waste not to take the opportunity to study the extent of their strengths and any abilities hidden within them", Samuel explained to them.
"He's right you know. And also, this battle will be able to feed the database with more knowledge of the effects of mana. We could probably learn a lot from this battle alone", Dr. Michaelson added.
"Aww! I was really looking forward to this", Sylvia piped up from behind. "Sorry about that. We could still watch from the sky so that we can intervene if things go too out of control", Samuel said trying to placate his comrades.
"I guess you are right. We still get to wear the combat suits, right?" Delgato asked hopefully. "Of course, we will…after all, I have a plan for after we are done here and manage to track them down", Samuel said with a sinister smile.
Understanding his intentions, his friends flashed sinister smiles of their own; Catherina giggling while petting Duke and Crystal.
"ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDERS DETECTED ENTERING THE MOUNTAINOUS ZONE!" Lisia reported suddenly and Samuel grinned.
"Drogo, it's time for you to show me what you and your pack can do. Try to keep them alive. Other than that, feel free to go wild", Samuel commanded Drogo through a small but powerful earpiece tagged to his ear.
Acknowledging the command, Drogo took a deep breath and gave a powerful howl that travelled throughout the entire forest; reaching all the members of his pack and causing them to take action.
The Dire ravens took to the sky and waited for the command to commence their upcoming and first ever battle.