FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 39

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Upon hearing the alarm every warrior was given clear instructions to assemble at in the main courtyard in full battle dress. I sprinted home with as much speed as I could muster and quickly changed into my armour. I grabbed my spear and headed for the courtyard. I was among the last to arrive. Over two hundred warriors had gathered, many of them looked as nervous as I felt.

Kaldor and Callidus stood atop the second gate with Warlord Stern, Warlord Loki and General Ortavia.

"WARRIORS!" My father called out. Silence washed over the large group. "Western and Northern outposts have reported the approach of a force making their way up the mountains! We do not know their intentions, but we are not going to take any chances! All of you will be given positions among the defensive force! If this force proves to be hostile we shall not yield to them! We will bloody their snouts and send them back from whence they came!"

The crowd roared in agreement.

"It makes me proud to see you all, ready and willing to defend our homes... it has been eighteen winters since an enemy last approached our gates. Last time... we failed."

A somberness fell over the crowd.

"But this time we will. Not. Fail!!! We are stronger than we were back then! We will drive them off!They will not take a single step inside our border! And for every step they try and take, we will push them ten steps back!!! If they came here expecting an easy fight then they are going to be sorely disappointed!"

We all cried out in agreement, pride swelling in our chests. Adrenaline pumping through our veins, eager to fight and defend our home. Our loved ones.

After that we were broken up into groups, each of the warlords present took charge of their respective groups. I was ordered to report to the Eastern gate, where Xavier would be in command. Although the force was seen approaching from the West a defensive force was stationed at the Eastern gate.

I had heard many times about how Zangar had fallen during the last attack. With the war against the wolves in full swing, the dragons were eager to end the war swiftly, and Zangar had sent most of it's military force to Rengilar to gather with the other villages to prepare for an attack.

What no one had known at the time was the wolves had already been preparing to attack Zangar, and were already on the move when bulk of Zangars warriors marched off to battle. By the time they realised it was already too late.

Without the bodies to fully man the walls, the Eastern gate fell to a surprise attack. And once the wolves got past the gates it was all over. Thankfully the village had already been prepared to escape through the Labyrinth*, most of the citizens escaped unharmed.

The remaining warriors though had been slain. Including Callidus's father and my grandfather. They fought to give the citizens of Zangar as much time as possible to escape. Their sacrifice had not been in vain, and with the villagers evacuated the Labyrinth was sealed, prevented the wolves from following by Grand-Master Killik.

Now with no rock benders strong enough to open the Labyrinth again, there was no escape plan. We needed to fend off this attack or everyone would be slaughtered. But this time, we had three times as many warriors as there had been before, and five times as many adept level benders. There were also volunteers, many of the warriors in training had been drafted to bulk up our numbers, and many citizens had volunteered to pick up arms as well.

Once we had reported to Xavier, who would be in command of the defence of the Eastern gate we were spilt up into numerous groups.

The Eastern gate actually was a combination of three gates, separated by nearly fifty yards of open courtyard. The outer gate, the inner gate and the main gate. There would be three gate squads and two archer squads, that would take positions on the parapets that surrounded the courtyards and provide ranged support to the gate teams.

I was put on the inner gate squad, not only that but I was put in charge of the gate. I would be leading fifteen other dragons. Nine of them were warriors, four of them adepts. The remaining six were actually warriors in training, one of whom was Laguna.

With all the benders, other than myself, up on top of the wall the remaining warriors in my squad were lined up in front of the single gateway along the thirty yard wall. We would hold the gate open, should the outer gate fall, to allow any retreating warriors a chance to get to safety before closing it.

The main gate, the last line of defence, would not offer any such niceties. Most of our forces were there, lined up on the the walls or along the front of it to drive off any attackers that may, or may not, attack the Eastern gate. In total we numbered around sixty. All the remaining warriors were stationed at the Western gate were the approaching force was reported to be coming from.

Everyone was silent, as we waited to hear sounds of battle erupt from the Western gate. All of us nervous that our gate would also be attacked. This was life or death. And everyone knew that. Even the usually cheerful Laguna was quiet and sullen. Already the sun had set, the days remarkably short during the winter. The moon was full tonight, the sky clear and the air chillingly cold. The cold reflected the feeling of worry and dread I'm sure everyone in Zangar felt with the approaching battle.

The sound of a war horn rumbled through the air.

Everyone turned to face the direction of the Western gate, where the horn had sounded from. Everyone here knew what that meant. The attacking force had finally reach Zangar. We could hear the faint sounds of battle, which did nothing for our moral.

I'm sure I felt the same as everyone here. We wanted to go and help. We didn't want to stand here idly while our friends and family risked their lives. But as much as we all wanted to go we had to stay here. If we were to be attacked from both sides then it was essential we hold the attack back. If one gate was to fall, then Zangar would fall!

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We all stood there, the silence broken only by the sound of battle from the Western gate. The fight must have been going on for at least an hour now and sounded like it was not going to end any time soon.

"This is total shit!" Laguna cursed. "We should be over there helping them!"

"Sorry kid, but this is what it means to be a warrior." Frax said bluntly. "You follow orders, even if you don't agree with them."

Frax was one of the older warriors in my squad. He was a fine warrior, he wielded a spear and shield and wore sword on his hip. He was a warrior in his prime. The only reason he wasn't in charge of this squad was because he wasn't an adept.

"But..." Laguna began to object, but fell silent.

I knew he was just worried about his brothers. They were both stationed over on the Eastern gate.

"Your brothers will be fine." I said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

He sniffled and nodded. I knew he wanted to cry, but he held it back.

A yell caught our attention. There was some commotion by the outer gate. It took me a few moments to realise what it was. At the crest of the slope that lead away from the gate, no longer hidden by the cliff face on either side, a group of wolves stood staring down at us.

"Shit! They're attacking here as well!" Some one cursed.

"Everyone! Prepare yourselves!" I ordered.

It would do no one any good if they started to panic. The best thing for me was to give simple orders, give everyone something to focus on. I quickly gave out the orders. All the benders on the wall above us readied themselves, they drew on their nen and stood ready, while the warriors on the ground lined up in a simple defensive formation.

At this distance we were at little risk from archers, the strong winds would make it near impossible for the average archer to even come close at this range. But that also meant that the archers on the outer gate, and those on the left parapet were the only ones that could take a shot at the wolves.

We would only become involved in the fight if they managed to get through the first gate. While the terrain did give the wolves a defensive position at the crest of the hill, they were sitting ducks the moment they made a move for the gate. Not only that but the narrow roads meant that only a few warriors could approach at once.

That entire route was a bottle neck, Only a small cart could hope to use it, which meant that they would not be able to bring much siege equipment or supplies with them. A drawn out battle favoured us. They would have to retreat soon enough for supplies.

"What happened to the squad at the outpost?" I heard one of the dragons in my squad ask.

I hadn't even thought about it. There was no word of any attack from them, which meant one thing. They hadn't been able to get word to us. All of them either killed or captured. I felt a moment of remorse for them, but I couldn't dwell on that now. I had to appear strong to lead my squad.

"Kunsel have mercy!" Frax muttered, offering a silent prayer to the deity of judgement for our fallen comrades souls.

A skirmish broke out at the outer gate. Both sides trading arrows, the pack of wolves that had charged initially had fallen quickly from what I could gather. The wolves didn't try to rush the gate again, instead they decided to trade arrows with our own archers.

The battle was long and drawn out. The walls were giving our archers terrific cover, and I swore I saw a few wolves drop from where I stood. If this kept up then our only concern would be whose supply of arrows was greater.

A paniced cry from one of the warriors on the outer gate. I looked to see the wolves moving a small cart to the crest of the hill. Immediately I realised what it was, having read about the details of the last attack during my lessons with Vizimaar. The wolves breached the Eastern gate using the dreaded Erythean black powder to breach our defences the last time, and it looks like they were going to try and use do it again!

The cart was set ablaze and several wolves charged forward with the cart before allowing the momentum and the slope take the cart the rest of the way towards the gate. There was an audible thump as we heard it hit the metal gate. I stepped forward, my eyes wide in hoping that the attempt would fail.

"Get down... GET DOWN" I cried as I remembered the horrific tales recorded in the text that I had read about what the black powder was capable of.

There was an all mighty flash of light, followed by a crack and rumble. I was knocked off my foot-paws from the force. My head rang from the deafening noise, my vision swirled and my head ached from hitting my head against the hard ground.

Groggily I picked myself up. I shook my head as I tried to gather my wits. Eventually the ringing stopped and I was able to hear the cries of those around me. Taking in the scene I was horrified. Several members of my squad lay motionless, bloodied and wounded from the debris that had rained down upon us.

I looked towards the outer gate to see that not only had the gate been breached, but the entire section of wall around it had been reduced to flaming rubble. The bodies of the dragons stationed there littered the ground, many of them in pieces. A couple of survivors were crawling across the ground, a couple limped towards us.

It was when I saw the pack of wolves emerge from the smoking rubble of the gate that I was jolted to my senses by a surge of adrenaline. The wolves fell upon the survivors like flies. They gave them no mercy, while the rest of the pack chased down those who were trying to escape.

"SECURE THE GATE!!" I ordered.

I knew there was no point in holding the gate open. The survivors were moving too slowly to get here in time. We needed to keep the wolves out! I got up, dragged another warrior to his foot-paws and turned to the gate and felt my heart stop. Wedged between the open doors, blocking half of the archway, was a piece of flaming debris. A chuck of rock that had been blown all the way across the courtyard. It was far too large to be able to be moved in time!

We wouldn't be able to close the gate! The wolves would get through!

"EVERYONE!! FALL BACK TO THE MAIN GATE!!!"

Everyone that was able followed my orders, many of them looked dazed, many more bleeding from various wounds. As the last of my squad made it through the gate I turned back to face the wolves. They would be here in seconds.

"MALAKYE!"

"GET OUT OF HERE LAGUNA!" I roared.

"COME WITH US!"

"I'VE GOT TO BUY YOU SOME TIME!!!" I cried. The rest of them were helping the wounded, which meant that there was no way for everyone to get across the courtyard before the wolves would get to them. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"

Laguna was crying, tears streamed down his muzzle. Frax began to drag him away. Frax gave me a nod. A silent recognition for what I was doing. I wouldn't be able to hold them back long. But every second I managed might mean that one more member of my squad would make it to safety. I grabbed a spear and readied myself for the pack of wolves bearing down on me.

A rough count estimated the pack to be twenty something strong, not good odds. But I knew how the wolves worked. If I could take out the alpha I stood a chance to escape during the confusion. It was the one weakness of a wolven pack like this. But all of them were clad in furs and leather, and all of them wore hoods. The only way you could tell them apart was from the weapons they held. I knew this was only the first wave. The rest of the wolven force would follow soon, and with much greater numbers. I was all to used to how the wolves fought. I drew on my nen, the first wolf crashed through my nen bubble before it was even fully formed.

The first wolf to reach me attacked with a blood thirst cry, and lunged at me with his spear with no hesitation. It was easy to dodge. I weaved my body to the left to avoid the spear tip before I thrust my own into his chest. I could feel the metal tip slice into his flesh like a knife into a steak. The wolf grunted in shock and stumbled backwards.

I barely had time to ready myself for the next pair of wolves to reach me. I knelt and raised my spear, using it's length to knock their perfectly synchronised attacks up over my head. I pushed upwards and shoved them back wards, spun round and extended the end of my spear to swipe the wolf on the left across the muzzle. The wolf made a delightful pained yelp as he was knocked to the ground with a bloodied muzzle. I quickly followed up by driving the blunt end of my spear into the gut of the other wolf, which forced him to grunt and fall down to his knees as my attack drove the wind from his lungs.

Before I could finish him off yet another wolf appeared from my right, this one wielded a sword. He swung at my neck, but I quickly stepped back out of reach of his attack. But he didn't relent. He attacked again, this time I raised my spear to block the attack. My nen bubble allowed me to see the two wolves approaching from behind the sword wielding wolf, each one split off left and right, attempting to flank me.

Anticipating the attack, I spun round to the left side of the wolf with the sword, kicking the side of his knee as I did, to engage the new attackers. The wolf was caught by surprise and wasn't able to block my spear as I buried into his chest.

The other wolf however was upon me before I could do anymore. He swung his sword in a downwards arc at me, I leapt back to avoid the blow, but his sword struck my spear, breaking it. I quickly discarded my broken weapon and leapt back to avoid the horizontal slash from the wolf. He snarled as he charged and caused his sword above his head.

Before he could bring his weapon down I stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, stopping his attack in its tracks, and struck him with my other paw in the throat. As he reeled from my attack I ripped his sword free from his grip and quickly sliced him across the gut. He fell to the ground, howling in pain, clutching his wound. The wolf I had kicked in the knee had recovered now, and attacked from my left while another wolf charged me from my right. The rest of the pack were now gathered round me, each one waiting for an opportunity to strike.

This was where the wolves excelled in combat. They seemed to have a natural instinct in fighting together in groups, even large ones like this. Once they had the you outnumbered and cornered, you had little chance of escaping.

I was currently fuelled on instinct and adrenaline, unafraid of my opponents superior numbers I continued to fight. My body reacting from the countless hours of training Aceh had literally beaten into me. I was faster than the wolves. I was stronger. And my nen bubble gave a me a couple of seconds warning when any wolf tried to flank me.

The next few moments were just a blur of movement, fur, steel and blood. I cut down three more wolves that attacked, but I was being forced into the archway of the broken gate. It was getting more difficult to fight as I wasn't able to move about to avoid the attacks of multiple assailants.

Two wolves charge at me from the group. I narrowly dodged the spear thrust from one and raised my sword to block the sword of the other. I pushed his blade away and swiped the blade at the spear wielding wolf to make him back up a few steps before crossing swords with the other again. Another wolf charged forward from behind the wolf and with surprising swiftness, spun round past the wolf and struck me across the side with his spear.

I grunted and was forced back a couple of steps. The spear wielding wolf was quick to follow up, I parried his first thrust, then parried the sword of the other wolf before the spear holder struck my forearm with a well timed swipe; and knocked the sword free of my grasp. I leapt back to avoid the sword swung at my neck, but as I did that my back struck the hard stone wall behind me, and at that same moment the wolf with the spear thrust his spear into my shoulder. The metal tip pierced through my armour and I cried out as the cold steel pierced my scales and cut through my flesh. I grabbed the spear and tried to yank it free when the sword wielding wolf thrust the tip of his blade into my side.

I cried out in pain. Suddenly all my strength left my body. I knew this was it. I was going to die here. I was surprised with how calm I was to be honest. I was ready to die. Truth be told I had been ready to die a long long time ago. I was just glad I would be able to leave this world with some happy memories.

I crushed my eyes closed and said a silent farewell to my friends and family. They had shown me what it was like to live life, not to simply exist but to actually experience life. I didn't regret anything about my time since I met them. The only thing I regretted was to be dying at the paw of a fucking wolf!

"Long time no see Malakye!"

I opened my eyes to look at wolf. I recognised that voice...

I felt my breath hitch in my throat, my heart hammer harder in my chest as I realised who it was. Despite being clad in a thick fur and leather armour, most of the wolves wore a hood and mask that hid their muzzles, which made them nearly impossible to distinguish from one another, it only took me a few moments to place the voice. The wolf who had tormented me for years, who had made it his purpose in life to make my existence a living hell! The same wolf who raped, stabbed and tried to burn me alive. The wolf with the spear buried in my shoulder......

"Kaleb!" I snarled

My anger at the knowledge of his identity gave me a new source of energy as my nen burned hot in my viens.

Kaleb pulled down the mask and hood he wore to reveal himself. That cocky smirk that had been burned into my memory. That smile which made me want to beat him to a bloody pulp. I attempted to move but was quickly stopped as Kaleb twisted his spear, the pain made me stop and cry out.

"Still squeal like a bitch!" Kaleb chuckled. "I don't know how you survived... but I'm going to enjoy killing you! And this time... I'm going to make sure I finish the job!"

"What the hell is going on here!" Another wolf snarled.

I spied the pendant round his neck. It was the symbol of an alpha, the leader of this pack. I quick glance at Kaleb allowed me to spot the beta pendant round his neck. The wolves had a very simple system when it came to who was in charge. It was simple but effective.

"Kill that dragon already! We need to secure the gateway for the next wave!" The alpha growled.

"Give me a minute." Kaleb grinned. "I've got history with this one!"

The alpha levelled its gaze at me.

"Huh... fucking half breed!" The alpha spat. "Damn the bitch who birthed you!"

I snarled and tried to grab him but he was too far out of reach. Kaleb quickly reminded me who was in charge by twisting his spear again.

"Hurry it up! The rest of you follow me!"

I watched as the wolves began to follow the alpha through the gate. I watched and hoped that I had given everyone enough time to get away. A sharp jolt of pain as the wolf with the sword pulled it from my side. I snarled at him, and even though I couldn't see his muzzle under his mask I could tell he was smirking at me. He turned and began to follow the rest of the pack.

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Kaleb grinned menacingly. "And once I'm done with you I'm going to find someone who you care about, and then I'm going to kill them nice and slow!"

"You leave them alone!" I grunted.

"Oh no... I'm going to make sure each everyone, dragon and fur alike, suffer a nice long slow death!"

As he said those words I saw a flicker of red flash in his eyes. This was just like my dream... my doppelganger threatening those that I cared about. No! I couldn't let Kaleb become the demon from my dreams!

I cried out as Kaleb pulled his spear from my shoulder and the whack me across the muzzle with it. I fell to my knees, my head and vision spun, my muscles burned with both fatigue and rage.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!" I spat defiantly.

"You can't stop me!" Kaleb cackled as he raised his spear to land a fatal wound.

Back in the village Kaleb was always the one to beat me. I had never actually beaten him in a fight, he never attack me alone, the rest of his pack always stacked the odds in his favour.

"Things are different now!" I growled.

I released a large burst of nen, retracting my bubble as I gathered my nen before I forced it all out at once. My bubble rapidly expanded and knocked Kaleb and every other wolf still on this side of the gate to the ground with a powerful gust of wind.

I stood up, roared ferociously at Kaleb who looked up at me dumbfounded, my wings unfurled as I allowed my rage to fuel me. The other wolves were quick to recover, already up on their foot-paws and readying their weapons. Knowing I had no chance against all of them I gathered my nen and fired it into my extended wings. I soared upwards and landed atop the wall.

I looked down at the wolves below, all of them looked up at me in surprise before heading for the gateway below. I had to stop them! A few feet away a brazier burned proudly, I reached out with as much nen as I could muster, dragged all of the flames towards me and leapt from the wall.

I spun round mid jump, spying a couple of wolves with were just coming through the archway and launched the burning mass at the archway I poured as much nen as I could into the center of the flames.

I landed hard on the stony ground, the massive fire ball struck the chunk of stone from the outer wall and engulfed the entire archway in flames. The two wolves who had just stepped through we ablaze. Their blood curdling screams rang out through the air as they ran in blind panic, their bodies ablaze.

I landed awkwardly, and rolled to a stop. I quickly picked myself back up. The archway was aflame, stopping anymore wolves from getting through until the nen I had fuelled the flames with burned out. But five wolves, including the alpha, had made it through the archway before I had managed to block it. The closest two were already sprinting towards me with their weapons ready.

I leapt to the right as the first brought its spear to bear, the tip rushed past me, and I grabbed the shaft with my left paw and brought my right fist to bear across the wolves muzzle. There was a satisfactory sound of either bone or fangs breaking under the force of my nen enhanced punch. The wolf let out a pitiful wounded cry as it fell to the ground.

With his weapon now in paw I quickly brought the spear up to block the sword of another wolf. I parried his neck attack and brought the end of my spear up across his muzzle, stunning him, before spinning the shaft of the weapon in my paw and brought the pointed end round and drove it into his stomach. The wolf clutched at the spear, a gurgling noise escaping it's muzzle as I shoved the spear a little deeper into it's belly.

I abandoned the spear as the next wolf approached, and pulled my knife free from its sheath on my right thigh. I knew instantly that this was the wolf who had stabbed me, his blade still coated by my blood. I snarled and charged forward, getting in close as he held his sword above his head. Now that I was this close I could easily block his attack by grabbing his arms.

As I grabbed his arm he snarled and thrust his knee up at me. As his knee came up I thrust my knife downwards, the blade sunk through his furred armour and his flesh of his thigh with ease. As I pulled the blade free he cried out in pain and stumbled backwards.

I followed him and thrust my knife into his chest again and again and again, before I thrust the tip up into the base of his muzzle. I watched as the wolfs eyes rolled into the back of his head before I pulled my blade free and shoved his corpse to the ground.

I turned to face the final two wolves, the alpha armed with two short swords, and one armed with a spear. These two didn't charge me. The alpha was too smart for that and the other wolf looked terrified.

I couldn't help but smile as I realised that the wolf was terrified of me. I stood coated in the blood of his pack mates, their lifeless bodies littered the ground around me, while two more were slowly fell silent as they slowly burned to death.

I charged the terrified wolf. It was time I stopped defending and went on the attack! I would start with the weakest and then fight the alpha one-on-one. The alpha was smart though. He saw my intentions and blocked my path.

I only narrowly avoided his attack, the tip of his blade scraped across the leather armour covering my chest. I leapt back a couple of steps and raised my knife. But by that point the other wolf had recovered from the fear gripping him and moved to his alphas aid.

I snorted in annoyance.

The alpha muttered something and a moment later they were both on the attack. I back stepped and leaned back as a spear tip thrust towards me, the bladed tip coming to a stop mere inches to the right of my muzzle, I grabbed the shaft and spun under it, yanking it upwards to block the sword of the alpha that came at my in a downward slice.

I released the shaft of the spear and lashed out with a spin kick, catching the spear wielding wolf in the chest and sent him tumbling to the ground. I leapt to the right to avoid another downward slash from the alphas sword and then leapt back as he spun round, his sword cut the air where I had stood a mere second before.

The alpha did not let up on the attack. I weaved, ducked and rolled away from him. This wolf knew how to use a sword! He left little chance for me to attack. The other wolf had now recovered and was running towards us. I ducked under another one of the alphas attacks and dashed towards the other wolf.

The wolf skidded to a stop as he saw me charge him and thrust his spear at me. I weaved to the right, the spear tip sliced across my exposed bicep, the pain was sharp but didn't stop me as I charged head long into the wolf, focusing my nen into my fist and stuck him in the chest.

I felt his ribs break, and the wolf was lifted off his foot-paws, flew through the air a couple of feet off the ground he came crashing back down; his spear clattered against the ground noisily. The wolf groaned in pain. He was alive but was curled in the fetal position on the ground, showing no signs that he would be getting back up in a hurry.

I looked over my left shoulder to see the alpha charging me. I made no attempt to move until the last second and spun to my right at the last possible moment, his sword hit nothing but air. As I spun I thrust the blade of my knife into the side of the alphas neck.

The alpha looked stupified. He opened his muzzle to say something but could only gurgle as blood poured from his maw. I looked him in the eye and grinned, tightened my grip on my knife before I sliced through the flesh of his neck with great satisfaction.

Blood erupted from the wound, the warmth of it coating my paws and splattered on the stone ground as he collapsed. The metallic tang of blood filled the air and made my heart pound harder in my chest. Adrenaline flowing through my veins. I could never remember feeling so alive!!!

A spear flew past me and I turned my attention back to the still flaming gateway. What remained of the pack of wolves stared at me in a mixture of hatred and fear. I grinned as I remembered who was on the other side of the wall of flames.

Kaleb.

This was my chance... If I killed him then he could never hurt anyone I cared about! If I killed him I would have my revenge for a lifetime of abuse! If I killed him... It. Would. Feel. So. Fucking. Good!

I couldn't let him get away!

I turned and stomped towards the gateway, gathering up my nen into my paws and as I approached and thrust them towards the fire and let out a jet of nen. The nen ignited as it passed over the flames, creating a jet of flames which washed over the wolves on the other side. I heard their pained howls I felt myself smile.

I moved towards the flames, wrapped myself in a cocoon of nen and walked into the blazing inferno. A mild wave of heat was all I felt as I passed through, my nen shielded me from the blaze. I reached out and grabbed several fire spirits as I passed through the flames. Several bodies writhed on the ground in flames on the ground before me, the scent of their burning fur and flesh was as rank as it was delightful.

One wolf was just beginning to stand as I emerged. I thrust a fire spirit into his muzzle and watched as his fur hood and mask set ablaze. His panicked cries music to my ears. I threw two more fire spirits at nearby wolves, the attacks knocked them to the ground. It didn't take long for me to find my target. He stood behind two other wolves. Kaleb, his hood and mask no longer blocking my view of him, looked at me with an expression of fear that I had only ever dreamed of. His cocky smile gone. His arrogance burned away and replaced with delicious fear!

I pulled my final fire spirit between my paws, ripped it into two, taking a moment to level my gaze at the final three members of the pack and grinned. A moment later the turned and ran towards all three of them.

I hurled one fireball, which struck a wolf in the back, the force caused them to stumble and fall, their fur armour not setting ablaze like I hoped. I didn't dwell on that though and hurled my final fire spirit at Kaleb and the other wolf. The fire ball struck the other wolf square in the back and he flew muzzle first into the ground.

As I watched Kaleb run. I snarled and began to give chase, grabbing a discarded spear from the ground as I ran. As I gave chase I noticed that the next wave of wolves were already pouring into the courtyard. This wave was easily three times as large... but I didn't care about them! I was going to kill Kaleb if it was the last thing I did!

I hurled the spear, watched it fly through the air at speed, watched it near it's target. It was a perfect throw! It was going to hit... I snarled angrily a wolf from the new wave stepped into the path of the spear as Kaleb ran past him, the wolfs body crumpled and flew back into another couple of wolves.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!!!" I roared so savagely my throat hurt.

I spread my wing and sent myself air born with my wind nen. I soared into the sky and over the large pack of wolves. It wasn't difficult to spot Kaleb, the only wolf running towards the outer gate through the throng of bodies.

A couple of spears were thrown my way, but I easily dodged them and continued my pursuit. As Kaleb reached what remained of the outer gate the crowd had thinned to nothing and Kaleb looked up at me for a moment before taking off up the slope towards caverns that the road followed. I glided down to the ground and followed on foot, the caverns too narrow to fly through, but I was hot on his tail! I was at most ten yards behind him as I entered the caverns.

As I rounded the first corner I came muzzle to muzzle with three wolves. They were so shocked I was able to sink my knife into the first ones neck before the other two could react. As they drew their weapons I fired a burst of wind at the one on he left. The attack propelled him into the cavern wall. He crumpled to the ground after a sickening thud, the rocks coated in a splatter of blood where his head had struck them.

The last wolf hesitated to attack, but I wasn't interested in him. I barged past him, shoved him aside roughly and continued my pursuit. As I ran I met two more wolves, but didn't waste time with them, knocked them aside with a burst of wind and ran past them.

I ran round another corner and met with a pack of wolves eight strong. I halted in my tracks and cursed silently to myself, but smiled as I saw Kaleb standing behind them.

"KILL HIM!!" Kaleb cried out, his voice laced with fear and panic.

The pack of wolves immediately readied their spears and assumed a defensive formation. Standing so I had no way of getting to Kaleb without going through them first. A sound from above alerted me, I looked up just in time to see a wolf with a bow and arrow aimed at me. I leapt to the side as the arrow was loosed, the arrow buried itself in the ground where I had stood, I crashed into the cavern wall and growled in pain, my injuries from earlier now starting to act up.

As the wolf readied another arrow, I thrust both paws outwards at him and fired a burst of wind at him. He was knocked onto his back, giving me a moments reprieve. I looked around, there was no cover. A pack of wolves stood between me and Kaleb and all I had was my knife. What had I been thinking chasing after him like this!? I needed to get out of here!

As I turned to run the wolves I had run past were gathering. I was trapped. Another two wolves appeared on ledges above me, both wielding bows and arrows. There was no cover here! I was completely trapped!

"He-he... ha-ha-ha... MUHAHAHAHHA!!!"

I turned to see Kaleb in a fit of laughter, the sight made my muzzle curl in anger and a growl rumble in my throat.

"You thought you could kill me!?" He laughed manically again. "You'll never kill me!"

"So what now?" I asked.

I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, but as much as I didn't want to hear it I was sick of his laughing.

"Oh you're gonna die... nice and slow!"

"You gonna rape me again!?" I snarled.

That shut him up. I knew all too well that male on male sex was frowned upon. Nearly all the wolves cast unsure glances at Kaleb while he himself had suddenly become extremely angry.

"Shut you dirty muzzle before I cut out your tongue!" He snapped.

"Come shut it them you faggot!!" I spat.

"SON OF A BITCH!!" He snarled. "SHOOT THIS FUCKER!!!"

I looked at the wolves above me and tensed as they readied their arrows. I noticed that one of them was actually using a flaming arrow. The arrows loosed and I tried to dodge, avoiding one arrow, but the flaming one struck me in the right thigh.

I fell to the ground and cried out in agony as the hot steel burned my flesh. I immediately noticed that there was still a small flame on the shaft of the arrow in my leg. I pulled myself towards the stone wall into a sitting position before I grasped hold of the tiny flame that remained on the shaft of the arrow.

I was going to die here... but I was going to make sure I took that son-of-a-bitch with me! I gathered every ounce of nen I could, gathered it in the air around me. In moments a dense cloud of nen filled the area, which engulfed both me and the wolves, the cloud of nen went by completely unnoticed by the wolves, none of them able to sense it, all of them slowly inching closer towards me to land the final killing blow.

The tiny flame floated in my paws as I lay slumped against the rock wall, the only thing separating it from the the vast cloud of nen which engulfed the narrow ravine was the tiny bubble of nen I had will round it. I looked up at Kaleb and smiled. I could see the memory of what I had done with fire just minutes ago washed over him. I began to laugh.

"KILL HIM!! KILL HIM!!! KILL HIM QUICKLY YOU DUMB FUCKS!!!"

The wolves were confused by Kaleb's sudden outburst, but reacted almost immediately upon the order. I watched as Kaleb begin to run away as the rest of the wolves dashed towards me with their spears readied. It didn't matter now. He was trapped in my nen cloud, he wouldn't be able to escape in time.

Fuck you Kaleb!

I opened my paws and allowed the tiny flame in my paws to meet the cloud of nen, setting it alight.