The Kings Pt.I
The East's army rampaged through the forest. Some of them had already been caught by the traps that the enemy had set up. The pit holes filled with night vipers certainly caused them only a few allies, but they pressed on without caring. The next problem was the strong invisible steel-like threads that cut through their armor and killed most of them. The soldiers had to buff themselves up and slice at the air to cut the threads. This drastically slowed down their progress and to top it off, rat men would just pop out from beneath the ground or emerge from tree tops to cut up the soldiers then disappear. Then there were the weird poison puddles and magic projectiles just shooting off at them from the cover of the forest. The very trees fought them and little devils stole their weapons and hurt their eyes, noses and mouths.
What the hell was happening? In an all-out fight, the West would normally stand no chance, this time however, the East was playing in the West and as such, the weaker creatures held the home-field advantage in this battle and they weren't going to waste it. They didn't plan on losing to the East.
Similarly, the East didn't plan on losing to the West. They had seen the kind of things that would happen to those who tried to retreat. They didn't want to have to go through that. So they would push through no matter what. They didn't care what happened to them here. Be it they lose a limb or an eye as long as they managed to live through this, they were satisfied. And after seeing the example from earlier, the most likely way to do that was to crush the West.
So, they pushed through the traps and ambushes. A rat man jumped down from the trees, but the ogre swiftly turned around and cut him in half. They began to slaughter the ambushers and push through the invisible threads. They couldn't do much about the poison puddles, but they would run over their fallen comrades' bodies and move. The magic projectiles, they simply defended against by broadening the mana sensing abilities and dodging or raising up shields and weapons. They were quickly adapting to the battlefield due to fear. A fear the ogres were all too accustomed to. They had fought in too many wars led by their tyrant for such simple party tricks to shock them.
"Let's hurry up! Krull-sama isn't a patient man!"
One of the ogres screamed. But then, the ground began to shake. Unfortunately, the soldier couldn't notice it because of the heat of the battle and those who did notice it, naturally thought it was because of how they thunderously marched over the lands. If they had realized what it was, there might have been less casualties.
BOOM!!
The ground exploded and water gushed forth like a geyser. The force alone from the eruption knocked some of the soldiers away, let aside the boiling hot water that caused some of the soldiers to scream in agony.
"AAAAAGGGHHH!!!"
BOOM!!
Another explosion, a pillar of water erupted into the sky.
More pillars of water erupted from the ground, throwing the enemy forces into disarray. This was the handiwork of the nymphs and guppies that had been preparing the ambush while inside the tunnels.
"AAAGGGHH! They have magic casters on their side!?"
"Damnit!"
The soldiers of the East began to retreat, but then one of them remembered what happened to the trolls that retreated earlier. Fearing such a fate, he yelled
"All of you wait! They can't keep this up forever! As soon as the pillars of water drop, move in! Or do you want to die by Krull's hands!?"
The soldiers also remembered the incident from before and straightened up.
"Sir, No Sir!"
"Very well then! Remain here!"
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
Timber Wolf Cave, Close to the Wolf Hills.
In the deepest of a cave that harbored about sixty timber wolves, a white wolf laid in sleep. Her ears kept perking up at the sound of loud yells and her sleep was being interrupted by the shaking of the ground. The white timber wolf was starting to get annoyed, but decided to ignore it. Soon it would all be over. The West would lose and the East could do whatever they wanted. She didn't care as long as her race didn't die. She was the lord of the Timber wolves and as such, she felt it was her responsibility to keep her members safe. If turning a blind eye to the fight could give her what she wanted, then that was all she would do. A kind, wise and powerful leader. A fit replacement for their old one. That was how the wolves saw their king.
However, she wasn't the only one suffering to sleep under those circumstances. The timber wolves were creatures of the night, so they used the day time to sleep. They had planned on sleeping past the invasion just like their king had ordered. Still, they didn't expect things to get so noisy. At most, they assumed the invasion would be swift with simple corpses littering the ground and providing meals for her people for a while.
BAM!
A slab of rock fell from the ceiling and landed on the ground, causing a ruckus. A timber wolf that laid there had to jump out of the way and this drew the attention of some the wolves.
"Ah! What the hell is this!? Simple sleep too they won't permit us that!"
The wolf that complained had mid-night black fur and a scar across his eye. He was the second-in-command amongst the wolves.
"Calm down, brother. Let us ignore them."
The white wolf passively said and the black wolf felt enraged.
"Sister! I have listened to you ever since you became our leader. In fact, when it was your turn to become our leader, I said nothing and simply let you do so. However, even I know that sitting out of this fight is a fool's move! If you do not do something-"
"If I do something, some of us will die."
"Kuhahaha! You think we are so weak? Don't get a big head just because you were called a king in this forest! I used to beat you before your enthronement lest you forget."
"Tch… Brother, calm down! I never said you were weak, however accidents do happen. They could also out number us and kill us. I'm not willing to take that risk."
"Ah? What kind of cowardice is this? Let us head out into battle! Let us show them the might of the timber wolves. Let us dominate this battlefield."
He roared for all those in the cave to hear.
"Kufufufu… Funny you say that when you lost to a chicken."
She mocked him and the wolf's rage seemed to disappear. His voice was calmer now.
"Tch… All the reason why we must do this. You chose me as your champion in that fight and I lost. You have to at least grant the chicken the favor she asked for."
"We shall remain here, period."
The wolf king gave a her final say on the matter, but then,
"RAAAARRR!!!"
The black wolf charged at the white wolf who easily moved out of the way. She looked at her brother with an agitated expression.
"What are you doing?"
"Haha! I challenge you to a Xyerina Danke! You have to listen to me when I beat you, remember?"
He cockily declared.
"You know you have no chance against me now."
"I guess we will see! Do not assume after a little borrowed power, all your fights are easily determined."
He pounced on her once again, and she jumped out of the way coolly, showing how little a threat he posed to her.
"Come on! Fight back! If you do not this fight will go nowhere!"
"I will not fight you."
The black wolf began to circle her while throwing around comments.
"What? Are you too scared or something?"
"Say whatever you wish to."
"Tch… you are a coward. You even made us flee territory we have owned for decades now. The complete opposite of our father."
"I would appreciate it if you did not compare me to him."
"Why? You are scared to realize how much you are not like him? You are lacking in a lot of areas, o pathetic king of wolves."
"That is not what this is about."
"Haha! You do not wish to acknowledge how much of a better leader our father, Achack, was!"
"Keep quiet!"
"Oh? Is it because our father actually got a name and you did not? Proof that Solarine does not truly accept you as her champion?"
"Silence! Do you wish to die here?"
She used her [King's Aura] and her body glowed with a red light. The other wolves recognized this as danger and could only whimper before her. The black wolf however, was unfazed by this. In fact, he was starting to tower above her. The white wolf was starting to feel it. The overwhelming sense of authority her brother sometimes possessed out of nowhere. Moments where one would suddenly feel dread in his presence. This was not a skill. It was just something about him that would make one just turn quiet in his presence.
"Weakling! Resorting to intimidating your subordinates when things are not going your way? Ha! Father would not even need to do that. Do you know why? Because no one would have questioned him! You are too weak a leader!"
The black wolf continuously taunted her.
"Ah! Our father died a pathetic death at the hands of the Tyrant of the West. What chance do we have in a battle against a beast on the same level as her? You are right! I am not even as strong as father was. What would you have me do!?"
The black wolf internally smirked. He had achieved his purpose by breaking his usually reserved sister's psyche. Now he could manipulate her to get what he wanted.
"If you can beat me, I will tell you."
He charged at her again, this time however, she jumped back at him and toppled over him. It was not really a fight. More like a playful tussle between siblings, even though it was a very serious matter. The wolf king won.
"Hahaha! You wanted advice on what to do? Fight in this war. I overheard some goblins say he was going to reward them with names for participating. If you participate, he will have no choice but to give you a name in gratitude. Simple, no?"
"Fu… I forgot how much of a fox you could be at times."
"What do you mean? I am a proud timber wolf."
"Tsu… never mind."
"Wolves! Get ready! We are going to protect our territory and our pride!"
The wolves howled in joy when they received the orders to prepare for battle from their king.