Hi there guys and girls. This is the second retyping of this chapter. I find this one a little hard to write because of the way it will shape the story next… Basically, this chapter determines if the story has 20 chapters tops or 40-80 chapters… so it took quite a long time to put together. Thanks for the patience and for your awesome reviews on the previous chapter. And now, I hope you will enjoy :D
Chapter 14 – The Call of War
A chilly breeze traveled over Jasper. The trees rustled with life. The sun shined his cold rays on the earth, over the grass and among the trees. No birds or insects were singing. It was an unusual calmness for this part of the year, as well and the unusual breeze that made the forest look eerie. Black grass moved along with the wind, dancing in its embrace.
A certain patch of black grass seemed to move over the rest of it. It got closer and closer to a den and disappeared inside.
"Sir, I have returned with news. The daughter of the leader has returned to the pack" the black patch of moving grass said. While talking, it barred its teeth and his red eyes shined in the dark. It was a black wolf.
"Very well. It looks like the time has come" the darkness from the end of the den said as it began moving. It seemed to uncoil itself like a snake, before a gigantic black wolf emerged. It walked past the smaller wolf and the cold breeze hit his face.
"Such a good day for hunting" he grunted with a touch of madness to his voice. He howled as strong as he could. The black grass began moving, teeth appearing. Small red dots, assembled in pairs emerged from behind the grass. Only it was no grass. It was the fur of the Wretched army. An army as mad as their leader, an army that just woke up. The gigantic black wolf looked around at the wolves waking up and said in a strong, commanding voice:
"Wake up, my children. The time has come. We will go hunting today and we shall rejoice in the blood of our enemies. Run like the wind, my children and destroy the enemy. Kill every one of them because today… Today. We. Hunt!"
The wolves around him began growling with impatience and the gigantic black wolf began laughing maniacally. He howled another feral howl and the wolves began moving like a sea of black among the trees. The hunt has begun.
-on the western border-
Humphrey suddenly opened his eyes. He felt uneasy. He felt like heavy eyes were watching him. And this could only mean one thing. Danger. He got to his feet swiftly, careful not to wake Kate yet, in case it was only a fake alarm. However, a second later he heard a feral howl coming from east, where the Southern territory was, compared with his position. That feral howl sent chills on his back and made his fur stand on end. A memory flashed before his eyes. It was a memory from the darkest day of his life. The day his pack died. He remembered hearing the same feral howl just before the attack.
Without a second to spare, he howled an alarm as clearly and as powerfully as he could. Then he waited a couple of seconds and repeated it. A more lower howl responded. It was Winstons. He got the message and the pack was awake and dividing in groups right now.
"Humphrey? What is wrong?" Kate asked awoken by his howl.
"The Wretches. They are coming" Humphrey said, worry in his eyes.
"We must sound the alarm" Kate said with urgency.
"Already did. Winston answered and the pack is awake and dividing right now" Humphrey said.
"Okay. We should be going too" Kate said nodding for herself.
"Right…just…" Humphrey said, something clearly bothering him.
"Humphrey? What's wrong?" Kate asked, now worried for him.
"Please be careful out there, okay? I will try to reason with the Wretches and avoid a war. But if the battle starts…Kate, I will never be able to go forward without you…I love you too much" Humphrey said, sadness in his eyes.
"Oh, Humphrey… You be careful out there too. I don't know what I would be doing without you either…But whatever will happen, at the end of this battle, we will win and we will survive" Kate said with a caring smile. Humphrey nodded, trying to be brave, but his feelings failing him.
"Now, let's go. They need us there…" Kate said giving him a deep kiss.
"Right" Humphrey said, ending the kiss with a smile as they began running at full speed, barely touching the earth. Minutes later, they saw Winston running through the trees with a quite big group of wolves behind him. Kate and Humphrey stopped in front of him and Winston said:
"Kate, Humphrey. Good morning."
"Good morning Winston. I see you got my alarm. Where are the others?" Humphrey asked with worry in his eyes.
"On the way to their places. You should go Humphrey, they are waiting" Winston said pointing somewhere east of where they were.
"Right…take care out there" Humphrey said nodding.
"You too, Humphrey" Winston said, giving him a hug. Humphrey hugged Kate one more time and whispered in her ear:
"Remember, I can feel if you are injured. If something happens and I can, I will come as fast as the wind. Be safe and don't be reckless…I love you…"
"I love you too and I will…" Kate said. Humphrey nodded and looked her in the eyes, before kissing her forehead. Kate blushed and he gave her his usual smile. Then he broke the hug, waved at the wolves behind Winston, took to the trees and in a couple of seconds was already on his way to the main group of their army.
"Okay. Let's move out. We must get to the lake" Winston said with determination as he and Kate started running, the wolves following them. Ten minutes later, they reached the lake and Winston said:
"Hide and wait for the three short howls. When we get them, Kate will confirm them and then we will begin our advance. Until then, keep low, hidden and quiet." He turned to Kate and said:
"How are you feeling?"
"To be completely blunt, scared. This is my first war, Humphrey, my Omega is on the front lines, we are doing a sneak attack and we are supposed to focus on our task. However, my thoughts seem to slip every moment to Humphrey…I am worried for him. He might be a Sentinel now, but that doesn't make him immortal or invincible…" Kate said with sadness.
"Don't worry, Kate. Humphrey can defend himself. After all, he took on Eve and he came out with no permanent damage. I don't think the enemy will be stronger than Eve is, at least in a one on one fight" Winston said with a confident smile.
"That's the problem…We think and we believe that the enemy is not stronger, but we forget a thing. We don't know anything about the enemy…not the tactics, not the numbers, not the abilities and I am positive that we know nothing about their way to fight. We are going blindly in a battle we don't know if we can win. They obliterated the Sentinels…and that was years ago…they are even stronger now, if we think about it" Kate said worried. Winston sighed. She made strong and correct points. Yet she was wrong about something.
"Kate…did you pay attention to what Humphrey said yesterday? He said that if we don't win, Jasper and all the other wolves out there are ruined. Yes, they killed the Sentinels, but the Sentinels were only a hundred, at most two hundreds of wolves, which were taken by surprise. And many were elders and pups. We are more and we are all fit to fight. Plus, we know the terrain, we are prepared and we have a plan. If ferocity isn't the way, the cunning, ambushes and constant attack will tire them down in the end and we will be able to win…things are not as grim as you think, honey" Winston explained while they were hidden behind a big stone, on the back of the lake. Kate looked at him, thinking about Humphreys speech and about what her father said. She came to the conclusion the he was right and that they could do this.
"You're right. Thanks dad" Kate said, hugging him. Winston hugged her too and added then:
"Let's focus now. We need to be ready when the signal is given."
-meanwhile, with Humphrey-
Humphrey was flying through the branches at great speed, looking around to spot Garth and his group. He spotted him in the end, close to the border, in a big clearing that led to the feeding grounds. He quietly landed beside Garth, startling him.
"Don't ever do that again" Garth said with a serious tone, with a paw on his chest.
"Sorry. What's the situation?" Humphrey asked.
"We are waiting for them to appear from the trees. This is the most direct route to the Southern territory. Eve is with the third group on out right, waiting for a long howl as their signal to attack. Winstons signal is three short howls. I have also sent a couple of scouts ahead which will give a short howl to signal the approach of the enemy. You are supposed to imitate the howl so Danny can relay it to the other two groups so that they can get ready. I think that is all…" Garth said giving him a hug. Humphrey was a little surprised, but returned it. Garth broke the hug soon and said:
"That was for luck, brother…and…just in case something happens…take care of Lilly for me, will you?"
"I will. You take care of Kate for me. And don't worry brother, we will come out of here alive" Humphrey said nodding with care in his eyes. Garth nodded too and Humphrey raised a paw to bump with Garth. Garth sighed and bumped his paw with Humphrey.
"Just for luck" Humphrey said with a grin. Garth grinned and said:
"Yeah, for luck."
Their little talk was interrupted by a short but strong howl. Humphrey instantly answered and, Dannys howl followed a second later.
"Get ready everyone!" Humphrey called, turning to look at the wolves behind him. They all barred their teeth and nodded.
Just then, the first black patches of fur moved out of the forest and into the clearing. There were many. And they were big. And they were ugly. Their leader, the gigantic black wolf was leading them. He spoke with insolence:
"Surrender now and we will kill you with mercy. Fight and we will bathe in your blood!"
Humphrey shouted with confidence:
"There will be no surrender on this side while I am alive. However, we could make peace. You could return to where you came from and keep out of this park, and we will avoid a war."
"You hear this, my children? They want peace. The prey wants peace" the gigantic black wolf called in a mocking tone, the wolves behind him laughing maniacally.
"Is it just me, or is he nuts?" Garth whispered to Humphrey. Humphrey didn't answer and called:
"Who do you think you are? We are not your prey."
"Who am I? Well, I suppose I could tell you since I will kill you anyway…I am Dominicus, and these are my children…now, prepare to die wolves. Hell has arrived!"
"I wouldn't be so sure" Humphrey called, his voice suddenly catching an eerie sound. Garth's fur began standing on end. He knew what was happening. Humphrey tried to scare the army away to avoid a war.
Dominicus, who had turned his back to Humphrey, turned around, confusion and hate in his eyes. He spoke:
"Who are you wolf? Have I met you before? Because you seem familiar…"
"You will remember soon enough. Now, leave Jasper" Humphrey said, his tone becoming more commanding and compelling with every word. Garth was now a little afraid of Humphrey. He heard many stories about Sentinels, but they were all myths to him. He didn't believe that someone could scare him just by speaking some words. But he calmed quickly, knowing that Humphrey was on their side.
"You filthy dog! You don't command me anything! My children, attack!" Dominicus called, hatred and madness clearly visible on his face.
"I guess it was worth a shot" Humphrey said with his voice returning to normal.
"Yeah…Please don't do that again either. It was kind of scary…and strangely compelling. But it was indeed worth a shot…" Garth said with an unsure smile.
"Sorry for scaring you…" Humphrey grinned. Garth just shook his head and saw that the enemy was approaching.
"You ready to get some action?" Garth asked, pointing with his nose to the enemy.
"Like never before. Just make sure to not stand in my way…I might do some crazy things and don't want to injure someone I shouldn't" Humphrey said, getting in a fighting position. Garth nodded and took a fighting position too.
-on the Sentinel grounds-
Sally's eyes shot open. She has had a vision. She walked outside in the cold sun and the chilly wind brushed her face.
"This is unusual…" she muttered as she felt the cold in the sun and in the air. She looked at the sun, trying to make sense of her vision. And she did so quickly. Only the information hit her like a log. She burst into tears and said:
"This can't be. So much blood…so much darkness…so much sorrow…"
However, she dried her tears and quickly went inside her den. There, she prepared a mixture that had a fluorescent green color. She put it on her claws and then prepared another one that was deep blue. This one she applied to her teeth. She destroyed the containers of the mixtures and then extinguished the magical fired she always kept on in her den. She then began running as fast as she could towards the Western pack.
"This can't be happening so soon. I must stop it…" she said just before she disappeared among the trees.
All around Jasper, the silence was existent. All nerves were on end. Two wolf armies were just about to trade the first blows and by this to decide the faith of Jasper and all the other wolves. The war has begun.
Aaaaaand…scene. That's it guys and girls. The last chapter before the fighting starts. I hope you enjoyed. I know it was a little short, but it is the plot that requires it. Tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't. Detail your reviews if possible. I am looking forward to reading them :D
Until next time, LionPranskter, over and out.