(Chapter 25: Nirmam's Wrath)
(Location: Teddy's House)
Dawn arrived, and Mowgli was currently sitting at the front of the house, waiting until he seen the black clouds of the night finally part to give way to the morning sun. The day ahead of the pack would be rough, it would be the combat trials. After the attack yesterday morning, he feared that the red dog assault was imminent, especially after releasing Kota.
"Wolves! I awaken you all!" Mowgli called out with a howl into the morning sky, all of the pack slowly rose to their feet, gathering near their leader to see what he would have to say to them.
"As you all know, I released Nirmam Yoddha's wife yesterday evening, that morning was a complete disaster, the exchange was heated, some of my closest new allies were struck from this world by massive beasts unlike anything I've seen before. The attack of the dholes shall commence soon, I fear. Such is why the combat trials is to begin as soon as you all are well fed, rise to take morning feast, the day ahead will be rough but beneficial for all of us." He announced, finishing his speech with a howl to which the pack replied with their howls.
(Location: Mountain Cave)
"That devil got away yesterday..." Nirmam growled weakly, pawing at his injured frontal leg in which an arrow had pierced from the skirmish of yesterday morning.
"We took out his friends, and we struck fear into his heart." Long Fang replied with a grin.
"As long as Mowgli remains alive I'll not be satisfied." The Himalayan wolf said with a sigh.
"Why is that? We took out another human, a wolf, and a small mongoose that was close to him. We brought the fight to his others as well, nearly killing all who stood before us." Kaiser asked.
"I'll never forgive that bastard for what he done to the mothers and cubs, MOWGLI IS A MENACE TO THE JUNGLE AND NEEDS TO BE KILLED!" Nirmam barked as loud as his lungs could let him.
"Fear not, we'll have him soon enough." Long Fang attempted to reassure him, but little helped.
"He still has my wife, that demon has my wife still to this day. Mowgli is a monster, and needs to be punished for his cruelty. If I find out that he lied to me, and has slain my wife, I will slaughter the man-village with no merc-" Nirmam went to say, that was until he seen his wife stumbling into the cave, passed out!
The Himalayan wolf rushed towards Kota, kneeling down next to her while gently nudging his head into hers affectionately.
"You've only been parted from me for a day or two, but such is still too long, my dear..." Nirmam said happily as he licked his wife gently.
When Kota awoken, she found herself next to a hot spring. Nirmam was by her side, smiling down upon her.
"It lifts heart to see you alive." Nirmam said before licking Kota on the face.
"It does the same for me as well, has the devil (Mowgli) been destroyed yet?" Kota asked weakly, sluggish from waking up.
"Not yet, my dear, but he will soon, including all of the fools that go with him. My entire legion will fall upon his location, and decimate anything he holds dear." Nirmam reassured Kota, she sighed with relief.
"This whole situation feels like a bad dream, I want that man scum dead as soon as possible!" Kota whimpered aloud.
"You will see good dreams overpower the bad very soon, I'll begin to make some moves to try and find his whereabouts, and then he will no longer be a threat." Nirmam said, the two began to love each other affectionately at the thought of getting rid of the man.
(Boulder Field)
"I've never seen something like that before." A British troop said as he gazed down at the field, they had witnessed the brutal skirmish from the morning before today, everyone was in so much shock, that they didn't know what to do.
"More of those red dogs, I even saw a couple people down there as well." Another soldier said as he took a bite out of some hardtack.
"I don't think it is wise to stay here, there has been growing activity of animals in this location." The other troop said, taking a sip of water from a canteen.
"Why are we even in this jungle anyway?" Yet another troop asked, sitting on top of a chest in a relaxed position.
"Percy Isaacs went missing, and Elias threw a fit over it. It's been over an entire decade, the fool probably got himself killed. I've been sitting here for ten years, not a single sighting of a man or a woman has been logged with the exception of those people we seen yesterday, none of them wore our uniforms." A troop explained.
Suddenly, there was a drumline followed by horns blaring outside of the tent in which these soldiers were in. All of them filed out one by one to meet none other than Elias Valentine on horseback, with six other troops riding with him.
"Valentine, what brings you here!?" A troop exclaimed, excited to finally see their leader after for so long, but also confused as to why he shown up.
"Something disturbs me about this jungle-" Elias Valentine explained, hitching his horse at a post close to the tent as well as his other troops that came with him.
"I've been given report by Lieutenant Lockwood that there has been a mass of red dogs heading through this field. In the thousands, is this true?" He finished with a question.
"Yes, and just yesterday morning we seen even more of them with a couple people as well, fighting against a slew of other big creatures, panthers, bears, a snake, and things that I haven't seen before." A troop answered.
"People, you say?" Elias asked, raising an eyebrow as he lit a cigar.
"Yes, people. One of them had some formal clothing on, like he was in a high class family, another one was some girl that probably came from a village in this area, and another was a man who didn't have much clothing on him, a wild man." Another troop explained, Elias instantly put his cigar out once he heard the term "wild man."
"Another wild man?" Colonel Valentine gasped with surprise.
"You seemed surprise, what is the issue?" A troop asked.
"Another wild man has been spotted in the Congo, he's been giving the Belgians a hard time. Percy Isaacs has been sent out to deal with him." Elias said.
"Oh, so Percy is fine now? How long has he been with you?" A disgruntled troop groaned.
"He's been with me for a good time now, the only reason I've hadn't come back to return all of you to the outpost in Mandla, is because I wanted all of you to report anything that seems out of the ordinary." Elias replied, his eyes shifting down the hill at the large field that had some boulders spread out here and there.
"I would see aftermath of battle." The British colonel said as he marched down the hill to investigate what happened while he wasn't there, he noticed fairly fresh patches of blood on the ground, around a day old at this point, he also noticed the corpses of two dholes.
"Strange, only two out of several thousand reported are dead. Did you lie to me?" Elias asked to the few troops who accompanied him.
"No, it looked as if the wild man was trying to negotiate a deal with around four of them before the thousands of red dogs rushed the field during the battle." A soldier explained.
"That's prevalent thanks to the patches of bloo-"
Elias didn't finish his sentence when he noticed a headless corpse of a man twenty feet away, he rushed over to it, closely examining the body. The British colonel checked the pockets, but he couldn't find anything worth of value, his eyes then shifted over to the head...
Elias turned the head over, some of the troops had to vomit as they looked at the headless body, the colonel himself looked disgusted, but he couldn't recognize the headless Teddy.
"Something must be done, I'll stay here for a while to keep tabs on things." Elias said in response to his examination.
(A few hours later)
Nirmam had several dholes with him as they went looking throughout the area to try and rally anything else that could be used to deal significant damage, as the red dogs closely watched everything around them, they eventually came to a large wall. The red dogs had discovered another man-village!
"Shall we attack the village?" One of the dholes asked, Nirmam shook his head.
"No, we come for something else. We would get overpowered if we go into the village, it would be wise to go around to the back." The Himalayan wolf replied, leading his small batch of red dogs towards the other end of the village.
They were surprised to see a small number of elephants standing outside of the village hitched to large stakes in the ground, a few others were held within gigantic sized pens.
"This is a perfect opportunity to get an advantage over Mowgli, let's convince these elephants to join us. It would be easy to do so..." Nirmam said with a devious grin displayed on his face.
As the red dogs approached the elephants, they all remained silent until they were right up to one. The sudden appearance of animals the elephants didn't recognize caused one of them to almost trumpet, giving the signal to attack or to alert their mahout, but Nirmam reassured the elephant that they came in peace.
"What cause brings you here?" One of the elephants asked.
"I am Nirmam Yoddha, and I'm in need of some help. There is a current threat that is an extreme menace to this jungle, he may wipe out this entire village, and he might even take out all of you..." The Himalayan wolf explained, getting a couple other elephants to look down at him.
"Speak of this menace, who is he?" Another elephant asked.
"His name is Mowgli, a wild man that comes from the very center of this entire jungle. He's attacked my red dogs for no reason whatsoever, he's attacked my homes for no reason whatsoever, he is trying to end my life just because I'm trying to protect this jungle..." Nirmam continued, the elephants began to feel sorry for the Himalayan wolf, and angered towards Mowgli.
"Such atrocities cannot be tolerated." One of the bull elephants grumbled.
"I know, Mowgli hasn't just destroyed my homes, and the jungle. He's also taken out the many mothers and cubs in my pack, weak and defenseless beings that didn't know how to fight, he killed several of them. He kidnapped my wife, he sliced the tail from my back. I will have revenge." Nirmam finished, the elephants gasped at this final part of the story.
"How cruel is that Mowgli, he must pay for his crimes..." The bull elephant grumbled again.
"Indeed, but he holds an army of wolves, a bear, a panther, a gigantic serpent, and a cheetah. My dhole army may hold superior number, but we are significantly smaller, and weaker, we need powerful and capable beasts such as you elephants to take them out. Which of you will join my campaign to wipe that man from the face of the Earth?" Nirmam asked.
"I will." A few elephants said, followed by the bull elephant, who nodded, other elephants didn't listen to him or they didn't care.
"Good, follow m-" Nirmam couldn't finish his sentence when an arrow brushed past his face, scarring him up!
"Leave this village! Filthy dogs!" A man shouted from a tower above, the red dogs scrambled away while Nirmam was hesitant to leave, baring his teeth, growling at the man, another arrow was fired, and Nirmam dodged.
"Wolves at the gate!" The man shouted, and then Nirmam heard more human commotion within the village, he wouldn't stand a chance when these villagers had weaponry.
"I'll come back." The Himalayan wolf mouthed to the elephants before taking his leave, retreating into the jungle quickly!
A village guard emerged, holding a spear, the hunter of the village also came with him as the mahout came with them.
"Toomai, have you been smoking from the hookah again?" The guard asked the mahout.
"No, I swear to you, I seen a red wolf with smaller red dogs outside, they appeared to be making their way towards the elephants with malicious intent!" Toomai exclaimed.
"We will not be caught unaware next time, Toomai..." The guard groaned in annoyance as he entered the village again.
(Location: Teddy's House)
Sparring contests were being made to properly prepare the new batch of wolves for combat against the dhole legion commanded by Nirmam Yoddha.
Mowgli sat on top of the house after using some vines to rappel up the walls, his mind was focused on taking out Nirmam. He was growing worried after that skirmish at Boulder Field, he wanted to be interested, and entertained as these new wolves trained against the Seeonee Pack to truly see how good they were, but his mind was clouded up with negative thoughts after losing so many close friends at one time, Teddy, Rikki, the Won-Tolla, things could have been worse, but what happened was too much.
A female wolf named Anika, and a male wolf named Onyx that came from the new batch, were squaring off against Leela, and another female wolf by the name of Petra.
Mowgli looked up to notice Chil the kite flying overhead, so he called out for him, he would have words with the bird of prey.
"I don't bring news Mowgli, what is it that you want?" Chil asked.
"Troubled thoughts have clouded over confident mind, I'm in need of help. I fear that Nirmam shall bring his legion towards us now that I've released his wife, they could be falling upon us any second now. Fly as high as you can, and give details of what you see on the ground in terms of our location, and give us a warning call that they are coming if you see the red dogs." Mowgli requested, Chil nodded his head.
"I'll do it now, I'll relay information about the surroundings first." Chil replied, taking to the skies yet again.
"Gratitude, Chil!" Mowgli called out as he then looked down to the field where the sparring was taking place.
Anika had been successfully submitted by Leela, and now the wolf moved on to fight Onyx to help out Petra, who found herself in trouble. Right when Petra was about to submit, Leela rammed herself into Onyx, knocking him off!
The two wolves wrestled on the ground some, with Petra getting up, and trotting over towards Onyx to pin his head down.
"Okay, stop!" Onyx cried out, being overpowered by the two female wolves who celebrated over him. These were the last few of another team from the Seeonee Pack and the new batch, it was another victory for the Seeonee Pack!
The new batch were proving themselves to be worthy battle, the score was close with the new batch always being one step ahead!
"I'll see Lycidas of the new group, and Gray Brother of my group, square off." Mowgli said from on top of the house, Gray Brother stepped on the field with a small group of the Seeonee Pack, Lycidas was next to introduce another group to the field as well.
"Begin!" Mowgli called out, and the two groups rushed towards each other as fast as their legs could carry them, wolf after wolf slammed into each other, wrestling each other into the ground!
The groups fought for several minutes, and eventually the last two that were left was Lycidas and Gray Brother. The two were pressed up against each other, fighting to gain control over the other. Gray Brother was able to slam his opponent beneath him, and he had to pin him for ten seconds!
Lycidas struggled, he was tired from the several minutes of non-stop action, the packs counted all the way to eight when Lycidas pressed both feet into the underside of Gray Brother, and flipped the two of them over so now he was on top! The packs gasped at the sight as it was now Gray Brother struggling, one of his paws was bitten into, and his other paw was pinned down, leaving only his hind legs to frantically kick at the underside of Lycidas, but it did little to help..
The packs reached the count of ten, and Lycidas had successfully pinned Gray Brother, giving the new batch a two point lead over the Seeonee Hills Pack!
"A wonderful performance from the new group!" Mowgli exclaimed with a clap of his hands, climbing back down from the top of the house, finally getting in to the competitive nature of these trials.
"I would give break of action from these two packs, they've fought their hearts out since the start of the trials, and have surely earned the respect out of most of each other. However, I would entertain them all with competitive battle between my brothers and sister of the jungle. I team with Bagheera!" Mowgli exclaimed, the packs roared in unison with glee.
The panther approached Mowgli, standing next to him.
"It feels good to finally fight alongside you again, just like when you were a cub." Bagheera said softly.
"Such memories heal troubled thoughts of yesterday morning, let us do friendly battle against our brother and sister-" Mowgli began, responding to the panther.
"We will do battle against Baloo, and Kaa!" Mowgli finished, the brown bear and gigantic python went on the other side of the field.
"We'll finish this quickly!" Baloo said with a hearty laugh.
"Let's find out." Mowgli replied.
"Begin!" Shanti cried out cheerfully.
Bagheera bounded towards Baloo, and so did Mowgli. The man attempted to jump towards the bear, but was easily swatted away by Kaa's tail, Mowgli grunted in pain as he crashed into the grassy ground. The panther landed on top of Baloo, but the bear quickly rolled, crushing him beneath his body!
Mowgli attempted to get up, but Kaa effortlessly swept him out from under his legs using her tail yet again. As the man fell down, he got into a roll, standing right back up. The python struck her head out, intending to use it as a battering ram that would collide into Mowgli's abdomen, but he timed it right, and managed to catch her flat head with both hands right when she hit him!
The hit forced Mowgli to exhale sharply, it knocked the wind out of him, and brought him down to his back. He wrapped his legs around the neck of the snake, holding her head away with his arms as much as possible.
Baloo stood up on his haunches, and Bagheera lunged up to take a couple swings at him, but the brown bear towered over the panther, and the big cat could only plan his paws into the chest of the bear!
Thanks to the thick layers of fat under Baloo's fur, it didn't deal enough damage to push him back, and he swatted Bagheera down in one blow.
Mowgli managed to squirm out from beneath Kaa, but she came for him again, only to be kicked in the face, stunning her long enough for Mowgli to climb back up to his feet.
"Urgh, my sinussesss..." She hissed playfully, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs as she turned around to see Mowgli darting towards Baloo to help Bagheera out!
Baloo remained on his hind legs, letting out a ferocious roar to the panther that stood before him. Bagheera growled in a mixture of pain, and slight anger. The panther never completely recovered from the brutal bite that Shere Khan gave his skull all of those years back.
"Bagheera, look out!" Mowgli exclaimed as he jumped towards Baloo, only to have the tail of Kaa loop around his body, giving him a harsh tug away that knocked the air out of the man!
This distracted Baloo long enough for Bagheera to finally jump on him, taking the brown bear down, but he quickly reversed by throwing the panther off of him!
The big cat twisted around in the air to land on his feet as Baloo rolled over, growling competitively.
As Mowgli was pulled towards Kaa, she continued to loop coil after coil around his body, making sure to only get him trapped in the biggest ones possible. He tried to push them off, but she was too strong for him to handle, she began to squeeze down tightly, making Mowgli let out a yelp of pain. He was now right next to Kaa at point blank, where she wrapped another coil around his head to squish his skull in some, making sure not to truly damage him.
Mowgli surprisingly managed to free one of his arms, and desperately tried to pry the mighty coils of the serpent off of him, but it was no use, he was trapped.
"Gah!" He cried out as Kaa squeezed him even tighter now as she leaned her head in close with a devious snicker.
"This reminds me of old daysss, sweet thing." She taunted as she squeezed him tighter.
"Kaa, I quit. I quit!" Mowgli screamed out, feeling the insane pressure from the python constricting him, and she quickly unwrapped his body, allowing him to fall to the ground, where he began to gasp for air.
"Man, it only takes a few seconds for me to start feeling it!" He exclaimed, gathering the air back into his body after Kaa squeezed some out of him.
"Strong enough for ya!?" She taunted with a wink and a giggle, Mowgli chuckled and replied with a nod of his head.
Bagheera and Baloo were still going at it, Baloo took a swipe at the panther, but the inky black cat managed to dodge before responding with a blow of his own that staggered the bear. Baloo attempted to swat at Bagheera's head again, but the panther dodged once more, and connected with another strike to Baloo's head!
Now that Mowgli had been eliminated, Kaa began to quickly slither towards the panther as it seemed that Baloo was in trouble of losing. The bear let out a roar as he began to stand back up to his haunches, but Bagheera nailed him with an upper cut style strike that sent him standing up so fast that he stumbled some, but Baloo regained his balance.
Bagheera took a step back, looking to the side to discover that Kaa was gaining ground, he knew he wouldn't last long in her coils, so he darted for Baloo as fast as possible, Kaa slithered faster to gain more ground!
The panther roared defiantly as he leapt from the ground, Kaa struck her head out so she could grab hold of him, and pull him into her strong coils, but Bagheera had quick reflexes, and stomped her head as it was in the air, the hit was strong enough to knock her out!
Bagheera connected with Baloo's chest, forcing his paws into his chest as hard as possible. Baloo started to fall, but he clasped his paws around Bagheera's head, and slung him to the ground, crushing him beneath his heavier weight! The panther was knocked out...
The packs cheered for Baloo and Kaa as they were the victors of a short but sweet contest. Chil the kite swooped down to give news of the geography surrounding Teddy's house.
"I go with Chil to examine the area, so that we may strategize during the battle that is sure to come against the dhole legion." Mowgli explained to Baloo, it was the bear's job to overlook the sparring contests.
As Mowgli started to walk around the house, Shanti approached him with a hug, and a kiss to his cheek.
"You fought bravely, my love. I wish I could fight as well as you could." She said happily as the two then embraced each other affectionately.
"I will teach you when I return, we're going to need all the help we can get against the red dogs, and I intend on finding some during my examination of the land around this house." Mowgli replied as he kissed his girlfriend on the lips before parting from her temporarily.
(Location: Mountain Cave)
Nirmam sat with his wife, thinking of possible ways to find the location of Mowgli. His mercenaries just went out on a hunt, while Nirmam's legion sparred with each other for the battle that was planned out for them all.
"There must be a way to find him, my dear." Kota said, eager to see Mowgli's carcass displayed before the legion of her husband.
"I agree, we will see Mowgli's blood stained upon the Earth today or tonight. It will only be a matter of time before our hearts are lifted..." Nirmam said as he and his wife loved on each other some, with kisses and nudges into each other.
"What will we do when Mowgli is gone from this world?" Kota asked curiously.
"We'll invite Bhediya back to the Seeonee Hills, and our living spaces will expand beyond the Dekkan Plateaus, we will become an empire. My love." Nirmam said with a lick to his wife.
"How long have you been thinking of ways to find Mowgli?" Kota asked.
"Ever since you were returned to me." Nirmam replied as he stared over at his mercenaries as they gorged on several carcasses, he watched as blood dripped down from Danaba Baluka's jaws, splattering upon the grass.
Nirmam had a sudden flashback of the skirmish at Boulder Hill, he remembered seeing Bagheera dripping blood from his brief battle against Kaiser the Andrewsarchus, and how the panther left footprints and a path of blood leading into the jungle.
"The trail of blood." Nirmam said, Kota looked at her husband with a confused look.
"What?" She asked.
"Mowgli, and a few of his friends met up with me and my mercenaries in a field with boulders scattered about. A fight broke out, and that panther of his leaked blood as they fled from certain death. I've been thinking about heading back to that location, and the legion will follow the trail of blood into the jungle, all the way until we find the location of Mowgli..."
(Location: Toomai's Village)
Chil and Mowgli were now approaching another man-village, they had been walking for a few good hours. The afternoon had become the evening, and soon it shall be dusk.
Outside of the area of Teddy's House was a dirt road path that, if followed, would lead to civilization close to another British encampment. If they went North, going off the path, they would find themselves falling into a deep ravine. The ravine in particular stretched for miles upon miles, it would take days, if not, weeks for them to finally reach the end of it. Where Chil and Mowgli found the ravine, they appeared to be close to the Eastern end of the crevice.
"Another man-village, a pleasant surprise." Mowgli said, Chil smiled at this.
"This place contains a herd of elephants instead of bulls, not to anger you, Mowgli, but this place seems more advanced than the village you returned to when you left the jungle." Chil added on.
"Oh no, I agree now that I see they have elephants for cattle. Perhaps these could help us out against the dholes." Mowgli said as he began to approach one of the elephants, being caught by Toomai from above, whom was watching from a tower.
"Hey! Intruder!" The mahout called out, and the guards came rushing out. Mowgli removed the knife necklace from his throat, preparing to do battle against the guards.
"Wait! I come in peace!" Mowgli exclaimed, holding one hand out.
"What brings you here?" One of the guards asked, holding a spear towards his head.
"I've come in search of people to recruit, tell me, who is your elephant handler?" Mowgli said, wondering who the elephant keeper was.
"Toomai, he wishes to speak with you." The guard said, Toomai hopped down from the tower. He reluctantly approached Mowgli to speak with him.
"I only wish to speak with this, Toomai. I do not come with malicious intent." Mowgli said, reassuring the guards that he came in peace, the guards reluctantly headed back into the gates of the larger village.
"Who are you? What brings you here?" Toomai asked, still feeling unsure about this stranger to the village.
"I am Mowgli, legend of the jungle, the pride of the Seeonee. I come in need of help." Mowgli replied.
"It is good to meet you, but you came without warning, and I don't take too kindly to people who come without warning. I am the mahout of these elephants, Toomai of the elephants. What help do you require?" Toomai said, giving Mowgli a thorough introduction.
"My portion of the jungle has been under attack by a vast army, a legion of dholes, red dogs. They've brought death and devastation as they came to the Seeonee Hills, they have slain the mother of my lover, and have taken out other friends of mine." Mowgli explained, this shocked Toomai.
"Wait a minute, I had an encounter with those red dogs earlier today. They were approaching my elephants, and I had to defend them." Toomai said.
"Really? How did these dogs look?" Mowgli asked, an eyebrow raised.
"A few of them were small dogs, the ends of their tails were coated black, but everything else was colored a reddish orange. Another one was slightly bigger, bushier, and was missing a tail." Toomai said, Mowgli's eyes went wide.
"Unbelievable..." He gasped.
"You seem like you know them." Toomai said, confused.
"I do." Mowgli said.
"Inclined to tell me more?" Toomai asked, becoming interested on what knowledge Mowgli held.
"Sure, may I enter your village?"
"Come along, tell me more of these dogs..."
(Location: Mountain Cave)
"My legion, the sun begins to set. I have formulated a plan to find Mowgli's location, and we shall strike him from this mortal world!" Nirmam announced proudly, getting all of the four thousand plus dholes to howl in reaction.
"He's brought desolation to our mothers and wives, has ordered innocent slaughter of defenseless pups. Fret not, my brave troops. We will bring justice upon this menace, this demon, this threat to the jungle. We will restore everything that was taken from us in celebration, our numbers have power with them, three mercenaries of a bygone era, and massive elephants, Mowgli will not stand a chance, and we shall fall upon them all!" Nirmam continued, delivering a speech to the entire legion that he was given to command.
"When do we move?" Long Fang asked.
"We move when the moon's light is cast upon the land, for now though, I would have all of you hunt. Fill your bellies before we march, fuel yourselves with energy. The night ahead of us will be long, many of us will make glorious, brave sacrifice of our lives, but believe me my brothers and sisters that stand to fight, your deaths shall not be in vain. Mowgli WILL die this night, and so will all of the wolves, or any other creature that chooses to stand with him." Nirmam answered, the entire legion turned around to face the jungles, ready to go out and hunt.
"Go forth, strike down your prey, and come back after your feast. We march this night, now go out and conquer!" Nirmam barked, the legion howled as they began to rush into the jungle as well as the three mercenaries.
Kota smiled up at Nirmam, who sat at the top of the ridge in which would enter the cave in the mountain.
"My precious Nirmam, you stand as a god among all of us. Your might rivals that of Bhediya Khan himself." Kota said with a grin, Nirmam leapt from the top of the ridge, landing on his feet out in front of her.
"I stand mighty, but not as close as Bhediya Khan. He was kind enough to grant me one legion, I feel confident enough that we will take out Mowgli with this legion. The mercenaries and elephants shall prove fatal." Nirmam explained, leaning in to give his wife some licks.
"You mentioned rebuilding what we've lost in those amazing speeches of yours." Kota said as she gave her husband some licks as well.
"Yes, every pup that was lost to mothers, and every other wife that my dholes have lost. We will forge an empire together, emperor Nirmam, with empress Kota..." The Himalayan wolf said proudly.
Kota had a smug grin on her face as she turned her body around, using a now seductive voice to lure her husband in.
"How about we start to forge an empire tonight? Bore me some children, my love, and see new life brought forth into the world..." Kota said, Nirmam grinned, mounting his wife from behind, and proceeded to mate with her.
(An hour later)
(Location: Toomai's Village)
Mowgli and Toomai were out riding the elephants, taking them through a small open area within the jungle so they could graze.
"You speak of tales that seem unbelievable." Toomai said, Mowgli was telling him the stories of his past.
"If you choose to help me with this war, you will see storied fables come to life." Mowgli replied with a smile.
"After hearing what the tiger has taken from you, and what these red devils have done to you. I do feel inclined, why do you feel that they'll attack tonight though?"
"I released Nirmam's wife, Kota, into the wild. Now they are more than likely together again, and she may have very well, exposed location." Mowgli responded.
"Four thousand plus of those dogs, and you only have a few hundred. The fight will be rough, these seem like impossible odds to fight against. You should retreat from the jungle, in my opinion, I fear my elephants can do little against these brutes that you also seem to speak of." Toomai suggested, Mowgli chuckled.
"I am the leader of the Seeonee Pack, there is something known as the law of the jungle, it is something that all of us are expected to protect. I had to protect it against Shere Khan despite the odds, and now I must protect the jungle from the dhole legions, no matter the odds...and by the bull that bought me, I will drive the dholes away from the Seeonee Hills, and back to the Dekkan Plateaus." Mowgli said.
"You're a brave man, Mowgli. If we are to die, than we shall die with steel hearts, bolder than most." Toomai said in response.
"So that means you join me?" Mowgli asked with a smug grin on his face.
"Yes, I'll join yo-" Toomai's sentence was cut off when a loud roar was heard, followed by multiple high pitched howls!
Danaba Baluka and Kaiser had arrived with a large group of red dogs, attacking the elephants!
One of the elephants trumpeted in terror, as it moved erratically, it accidentally flung Mowgli off of it's back, knocking Toomai off of his elephant.
"What is going on!?" Toomai screamed with confusion as he struggled to maneuver himself around within the trampling herd of elephants that he commanded.
"It's the dogs!" Mowgli cried out as he brought his knife down upon the back of a dhole's head, then slashing the throat of another one that jumped at him.
"How could they be here already!?" Toomai screamed, looking around for a place to seek higher ground.
"I don't know!" Mowgli called out in reply, he noticed a massive bear taking a swipe at the side of an elephant with his massive claws, he was about two elephants away from him.
"We must seek clear ground, follow me!" Toomai cried out, rushing towards a fallen log he noticed in the distance.
"I'm coming!" Mowgli screamed as he went to rush between the legs of a panicking elephant, only to see Kaiser lunge for him. The man was able to fall to the side, narrowly avoiding the jaws of the Andrewsarchus!
"Your life has reached it's end, Mowgli!" Kaiser roared as a leg of an elephant slammed down at his front, accidentally serving as a barrier to protect Mowgli from the ancient beast.
Mowgli rushed towards the back end of another elephant, struggling to avoid the trampling herd, grabbing hold of the tail, and using it as a vine to swing to a safe distance away from Kaiser.
"Toomai, where are y-" Mowgli couldn't finish his sentence when he was brought down by a dhole from behind, he wrestled against it on the ground, eventually being able to turn to his back where he tried to throw the dhole off, but he just couldn't escape!
Mowgli noticed an elephant about to bring it's foot down, he screamed in terror, and built up the strength through an adrenaline rush to shove the red dog off, rolling to the side just in time to have the red fiend crushed under the foot of the elephant.
Another red dog was rushing towards Mowgli, and he began to realize how vulnerable he was within the panicking herd of elephants. Any second from now, he could be crushed! Mowgli took his knife, and hurled his knife into the dhole, killing it once the blade went into the chest.
An idea formed into Mowgli's mind, he rushed to the back end of another elephant, grabbing hold of the tail, using it as a vine to climb up to the top of the elephant! The large creatures were so close together, that he could squirm around on the backs of the elephants, eventually getting to safety, which is what he chose to do!
"Mowgli, look out!" Toomai called out, Mowgli turned around to see that Kaiser had taken down an elephant after it began to trip over, using it as leverage to spring on the back of an elephant, now the Andrewsarchus was rushing towards Mowgli.
"You've got no choice, JUMP!" Toomai called out again, and Mowgli decided to throw himself off of an elephant, falling to the ground with a thud, and a grunt of pain came out from his mouth.
Kaiser tried to catch himself as he slipped off of another elephant, but he fell, and was trampled to death by the herds!
Mowgli could still hear the roars of Danaba Baluka, arguably the most deadly member of the three mercenaries recruited by Nirmam. Toomai rushed in, dragging Mowgli behind the log to complete safety.
The two men watched in horror as half of Toomai's elephants were lured away by the red dogs and the cave bear, the other remained panicking.
"That smirk on your face you had before they came...was this a set up?" Toomai asked, furious with what happened.
"No, something isn't right though. They must be on their way to Teddy's House now, or they're preparing themselves." Mowgli answered, catching his breath after he fell.
"I move with you to Teddy's House." Toomai said, but Mowgli was quick to shoot it down.
"No, I'll summon you when your elephants are needed. Get those that remain close calmed down, things are only about to get worse from here..." Mowgli warned.
"Mowgli, you'll die!" Toomai exclaimed.
"I'll survive, I will not die this night." Mowgli argued.
"Without my elephants, you're a sitting duck!" Toomai continued.
"Watch me..." Mowgli said.
(Two hours later)
(Location: Teddy's House)
Mowgli was sitting at the top of the house, overseeing the last of the combat trials. While Mowgli was gone, the Seeonee Pack caught up with two wins, and was only one point away from tying things up. When Mowgli got back, he had seen the pack tie the points up, but the new batch had gone ahead, breaking the tie with two points. Then the Seeonee Pack had tied it up again!
That was it, the trials had to be over, it would become a draw...
"Wolves, all of you fought well this day. Nightfall rapidly approaches as the sun sets upon the mountains, with all of our groups, it would seem that we have fought to a stalemate. The trials are now a dra-" Mowgli went to announce the draw, but Shanti emerged from the house with something to say!
"Don't we need something to break the tie!?" She cried out, both packs howled in agreement, surprising Mowgli.
"Shanti, my dear, you never fail to surprise! You wish to see tie broken?" Mowgli asked, she nodded her head.
"There's no more groups of wolves to continue, and Bagheera, Baloo, and Kaa have all fought today with me included. There must be a dra-" Mowgli was again interrupted.
"I shall fight!" Shanti announced, acting very bold. Mowgli's eyes grew wide, shocked at how his girlfriend was ready to do battle.
"Are you serious!?" Mowgli shouted, sounding confused but impressed.
"Yes, I watched the fighting all day long. The bouts were very entertaining, and seeing you fight has filled me with courage!" Shanti exclaimed, Mowgli's heart grew warm with that statement.
"Very well then, who do you wish to fi-" Once more, Shanti interrupted him.
"I wish to spar with you, Mowgli. I want to fight with you, one way or another, I would see us freed from this house tonight, and have all of us return home with thoughts of peace and victory!" Shanti cried out, the pack howled again in agreement.
"Well then, if it is what the packs want. It is what they'll get!" Mowgli chuckled, using a vine to climb down from the top of the house to the ground.
"I speak for the new batch!" Mowgli announced as he stepped on the field.
"I speak for the Seeonee Pack!" Shanti announced with a grin.
"Are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to hurt you..." He continued as he approached Shanti, she replied with a grin.
"Yes, I don't love you just as a boyfriend." Shanti said before going for a kick that had absolutely no technique to it, Mowgli snagged her foot into his hands, simply jerking her leg in the air to trip her down.
"I'm not going to hurt you Shanti, just call it a draw." Mowgli said softly, Shanti hopped back up to her feet, approaching her lover again, only to get put into a gentle headlock, no pressure at all. However, Mowgli was strong, and Shanti struggled to get out.
Mowgli decided to have some fun, and he performed a hip toss, taking his lover down beneath him into a side headlock! The move was flashy and it wowed the packs as they watched on.
Shanti strained as she squirmed around, trying to get free, repeatedly pushing, and shoving the underside of Mowgli's jaw to try and break free. Pulling at his arms, anything for a chance to escape, she even tried to scratch his arms with her nails, making Mowgli wince in pain some.
"Ah, you claw like a true predator of the jungle..." Mowgli began before putting more pressure on his headlock.
"Perhaps you would be better off with a weapon, we could start your training tonight by throwing spea-" His sentence was cut off when Shanti pushed Mowgli's head down, from his position, his arms began to slip away, and so did his head, away from her.
As his head was slowly forced away from her body, she began to use her legs, throwing wild kicks that indeed connected, but it still seemed that Shanti had no idea how to fight. Neither both of them were experienced in any kind of fighting style, they fought like wild animals, crazy, but somewhat disciplined. They had better knowledge of how to use weapons than to fight hand to hand.
While Mowgli was getting hit, it did fill Shanti up with some confidence, and she began to clap her legs together like scissors in an attempt to gain momentum in order to fling herself back up to her knees, they accidentally snapped shut around Mowgli's throat, causing him to let out a loud gag, this took both of them by surprise. Shanti seen that it did damage, and she quickly clamped them around his neck again.
Mowgli began to pull at her legs, wondering what she was doing as she began to force the leg in which was on top of his neck further down, as if her legs were the blade of a guillotine device, or the jaws of an crocodile. This hold had a choking effect to Mowgli as he gagged around, clawing at her legs and pulling at them to try and escape too.
"You fight like wild animal as well, perhaps we both could use some training!" Shanti exclaimed.
"Yes, but it is I with better handling of weapons than yo-" Shanti forced her legs shut tighter around his neck, causing him to let out a loud groan and a cough.
"Okay, I quit. The Seeonee Pack is the victor!" He cried out, Shanti released, in shock that she accidentally found a way to defeat him.
The wolves of the Seeonee Pack howled, and danced about in victory. Mowgli got up to his feet, gently rubbing his neck as Shanti jumped up and down while squealing happily, surprised that she won.
"Shanti breaks the tie, and seals victory for the Seeonee Pack!" Mowgli cried out, giving his lover a gentle hug.
"Do not feel discouraged though, the new wolves fought well and bested the Seeonee Pack several times. It took us two to break the tie, as both of the packs ultimately brought themselves to a tie. Wonderful trials, we officially have grander number!" He continued, the whole entire pack cheered on triumphantly.
"This calls for a celebration." Bagheera said proudly.
"Indeed it does, let us rejoice!" Mowgli announced, and then the pack went on to find their own special ways of rejoicing, and celebrating the victory of gaining more wolves to the pack!
(Two hours later)
Mowgli and Shanti were sitting on the back porch of Teddy's House.
"I'm really impressed that you were able to beat me today." Mowgli said with a voice filled with pride.
"I didn't know what I was doing to tell the truth." Shanti replied.
"Well you beat me, that's the way I see things. However, I would see you have knowledge of how to fight with weapons. I was impressed with how Teddy taught you to shoot a gun, you seemed very excited to learn it, and I think that if I teach you the skills that my brother Ranbir taught me, you will be happy with that too." Mowgli said while wrapping an arm over her shoulder.
"I'm sure I will, perhaps you can train me now." Shanti said happily, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.
"Let's go then, your first lesson will be how to throw a spear." Mowgli said, helping her up, walking into the back yard as both of them hoisted up spears.
"What did you mean when you said you loved me more than just a boyfriend, or something among those lines earlier?" He asked.
"It means I look up to you as a lover, and a mentor of what I could learn." Shanti said with a smile.
"It warms heart to hear you say that." Mowgli said, a gentle warm feeling within his chest.
"I know, but such is the truth." Shanti said.
"Alright, brandish spear, and prepare to throw." Mowgli said, getting ready to throw his spear at a bale of hay that he had set up an hour earlier.
"Copy my movements, if I see anything wrong, I shall correct them." Mowgli said, he then went to throw his spear, his eyes directed themselves to look up. He seen Chil flying overhead, suddenly giving out a shriek!
"The signal." Mowgli simply said, dropping the spear, rushing towards the front of the house with an urgent message.
"Mowgli, why is Chil shrieking like that? He never does it unless he's trying to warn us..." Baloo asked.
"The red dogs are coming." Mowgli replied, this caused Baloo's eyes to go wide with surprise.
"Wolves! Stop the celebrations, trouble is coming our way right now!" Mowgli cried out, and all of the wolves stopped what they were doing, gathering at the front of the house near Mowgli and the other big friends he had, even Shanti.
"Chil the kite gives warning as I've asked him to do earlier today, the red dogs are on their way as we speak, and due to him giving us the signal, that means that they are not far away. The entire legion shall soon fall upon us, but we will be ready. We've practiced all day long, learning from mistakes, learning from others. Nirmam Yoddha has been a thorn in our side for far too long, may this be the night his legion is wiped from the Earth!" Mowgli cried out, the entire pack rallied with a howl!
"Let's march towards the jungle, and prepare for battle against a legion..." Mowgli finished...
The forty two hundred strong legion had been split in two, half of them waited at the Eastern side of the clearing, the other half was coming in from the South.
Mowgli was unaware of this, but he had split up as well due to a plan he had in mind...
The other half of the legion was being headed by a dhole by the name of Amarok, who was third in command of the dhole legions. He had decided to stay behind with Nirmam Yoddha.
"Halt!" He shouted, bringing still to the twenty one hundred red dogs. Their eyes shifted from tree to tree, and from bush to bush. Amarok felt that something was amiss, and his suspicions were proven true when a loud bang was heard, several wolves were brought down all around him almost as soon as the shotwas heard.
Shanti emerged from cover from behind a tree, holding Teddy's shotgun as she began to reload it. Baloo and Kaa then appeared from the brush, barreling into the massive bunch of dholes!
The two massive creatures were able to take out multiple dholes in one go, Baloo using his body to smash through the lines of red dogs. Kaa used her head as a battering ram to knock several of them away, and also used her tail to sweep some of them out from under their legs!
The combination of Kaa and Baloo managed to isolate a few of the dholes, which allowed Leela and Phao to rush in and take out those few. A small batch of dholes managed to circle around Baloo, and they were now coming towards the two wolves, Shanti were able to down those dholes as they charged towards them!
More dholes kept coming, eventually being enough to successfully take down Baloo! Kaa was also quickly smothered, but the two fought out of being piled on. More kept coming, which forced them to move back from them some before they could start to attack again.
"Fall back to the house!" Baloo warned, Leela, and Shanti fled towards the house as Kaa followed them. A few wolves joined Baloo and Phao as they desperately fought against the horde of dholes that just kept coming, when one fell, another would take it's place.
A few dholes managed to pile on top of a wolf, killing it with multiple bites to the throat! Another wolf also died when multiple dholes tackled it onto it's side just like the other wolf they had killed!
"There are too many of them!" Phao cried out as the dholes continued to advance towards him and Baloo, the two of them rushing back towards Teddy's House, which was considered a safety location if things were getting rough. The house was also where all of the other wolves were located, squadrons of wolves were sent out by Gray Brother, who was overseeing the wolves at the house, listening in on the commotion within the jungle.
Meanwhile within the jungle, Amarok had managed to slip away with a small batch of dholes, they were heading to find Nirmam, and Kota along with the two mercenaries that remained. The dhole happened to hear footsteps, believing it to be the commander of the lone legion that was attacking Mowgli's army now.
"Nirmam, we may need to send th-" Amarok wasn't allowed to complete his sentence when Bagheera rushed into him, tackling him to his side!
Mowgli rushed out of the brush too, getting into what appeared to be a baseball slide, he slashed open a dhole's throat, killing it as he then scrambled back up to his feet.
Another dhole lunged towards Mowgli only to be stabbed in the back of the neck. A red dog managed to bring Mowgli down from behind, and as they wrestled to gain position, Mowgli jammed the blade down the throat of the red fiend, killing it!
Bagheera quickly took the life of Amarok by a swift bite to the throat, Mowgli backed up towards the panther, feeling unsure about something for some reason.
"We haven't encountered any dholes other than small groups, something isn't right..." Mowgli said.
"What do you suggest we do, brother?" Bagheera asked.
"Fall back to the house, we must move swiftly, come on!" Mowgli answered, darting through the jungle to try and get to the house.
Back at the jungle, the dholes in which were attacking Baloo and the others earlier, were now charging towards the house at full speed!
"Wolves, charge!" Gray Brother howled, and then the wolf army rushed around the house, some of them ran through the house thanks to both the front and back door being opened up. Kaa slithered up, and over the house before coming to the other side where the massive amount of red dogs were rushing upon the house. Baloo rushed through the house, Bagheera darted around the house.
Within seconds dholes and wolves slammed into each other, and a brutal battle begun that lasted several minutes. Both sides were taking casualties, the dholes receiving more than the wolves. Although the wolves were severely outmatched due to the superior number, it was made up for with the big guns like Baloo, Bagheera, and Kaa, as well as Chupake.
Mowgli appeared with his knife, cutting his way through a few dholes that attempted to attack him, Shanti stood in the top floor of the house, firing the shotgun down at groups of red dogs who were seemingly starting to get the upper hand over the wolves, evening the playing field out once more.
As the fighting went on, the dholes would eventually decide to retreat. There were two hundred and fifty six wolves remaining, and there was one thousand one hundred seventy dholes remaining from this half of Nirmam's legion, the other half was patiently waiting somewhere within the jungles.
Mowgli and the gang had managed to capture some dholes as prisoners, but they wouldn't have time to dish out punishment...
"Where is Nirmam? Don't tell me this is all who shown up..." Mowgli growled, threatening a dhole with his knife.
"Mowgli!" Shanti cried out from above, she had a hint of fear in her voice, he looked up towards her to see her pointing to something coming in the distance!
"Oh no..." Baloo said, Mowgli looked into the distance, and there was now several elephants rushing towards them.
"The stolen elephants..." He said to himself, he could also see Nirmam's other half of the legion slowly marching out of the jungle in the distance.
"Halt!" Nirmam was heard barking to the elephants, and they all suddenly stopped in their tracks.
"I want all of you to ransack this house one by one, you to the far left, you go first!" Nirmam barked, and then the elephant raised the trunk into the air, roaring loudly before charging towards the house.
"They send one?" Baloo asked, Mowgli remained cautious.
The wolves threw themselves on the elephant as it got even closer, but they merely bounced off, some were crushed beneath it!
Shanti fired at the elephant with the shotgun, but even the shells didn't seem to phase the behemoth as it continued to rush upon the house! Now it was well within range, and it easily batted away a slew of wolves with it's trunk! The impact was strong enough to kill some, and injure any others that were slightly touched by it.
"Gray Brother, see the dead wolves inside the basement for a temporary tomb, Leela, see the injured inside the house for safety!" Mowgli cried out as the elephant continued to rush past the house, and then circle back into the jungles!
"Again!" Nirmam shouted, and another elephant came charging towards the house!
Long Fang, Danaba Baluka, and the rest of the massive legion watched on as Mowgli's now dwindling pack, began to get into a scrambling panic!
This elephant did the same as before, only this time, the trunk managed to slam into Mowgli, sending him flying through a window, and into a wall within the house!
The leader of the pack groaned in pain, and now it was up to Bagheera to make the decisions.
"All of us need to get inside that house, quickly!" The panther roared, and the wolves hurried to get inside as quick as possible!
The elephant slammed right into the house, making the entire structure shake violently as Mowgli started to inch away from the broken window with glass shards stuck in his back, having sliced him open in some locations.
"We're losing this fight, Mowgli!" Baloo roared, trying to help his leader back up to his feet.
Within seconds, another elephant slammed into the front of the house, and again the entire two story structure shook from the impact! It was enough to knock Shanti off of her feet, making her miss the attempted fire towards the rest of the entire legion in which was now rapidly approaching the house with each elephant that connected.
Like two times before, yet another elephant slammed into the front of the house, and a loud groan was heard as a crack was starting to form on the walls at the front of the house!
"The walls are caving in!" Bagheera cried out as Mowgli was finally in a standing position again.
"Everyone needs to get back from the front of the house, and start to get towards the backyard!" Mowgli ordered as he seen another elephant charging for the house again. If it connected, it would break through the wall.
"Brace for impact!" Gray Brother warned as the elephant smashed through the wall, trumpeting at the pack as it ran right through the house, breaking through the back wall in which would lead out to the backyard! Trampling over several wolves, nearly killing Mowgli in the process!
"Charge! We shall see an end to Mowgli once and for all!" Nirmam barked, feeling highly confident that he shall bring about the end of the man this very night, and with this hit and run strategy seeming to work out great, it was becoming more likely...
After the hit and run attacks, only two hundred and twenty six wolves remained in Mowgli's pack. Now they were less than half of what they used to be, and it wasn't looking good at all as the large mass of red dogs rapidly approached along with a cave bear, and a sabre toothed cat!
Some parts of the house remained standing, but at this point, it was in total ruins.
Finally, the red dogs began to converge upon the house, one of them jumping on top of the downed Mowgli, but the man fought for his life as he slit the throat of said dhole before using the wall to get up. Shanti ran down the stairs, and once she reached the bottom step, she fired the shotgun into a large group of dholes that had entered the ruins!
The latch to the basement swung open as Leela emerged, the latch crushing another small group of dholes as Mowgli's pack was fighting for life!
Kaa had coiled up, and was using her tail to sweep away several dholes in the hall, it was very effective, but the numbers game was eventually too much for her to handle, and the large python was quickly piled on, Baloo barreled his way through the pile, saving the snake's life.
Bagheera had engaged combat with Long Fang, the sabre toothed cat took a swing at Bagheera, but the panther was able to parry the strike before attempting his own, but this time it was the smilodon who was able to bat his paw away and come at him with a bite! Bagheera was able to dodge, and slam the sabre toothed cat into a wall to stun it for a split second, and as he went to bite into the back of it's throat, the smilodon turned around with a huge swipe that knocked Bagheera back some!
Shanti fired upon some more dholes, knocking them away as the wolves continued to fall slowly one by one as the numbers game started to overpower them, although some red dogs were being killed in the process.
Chupake swiped a dhole across the throat with his claws before biting into another's neck, Gray Brother tackled another red dog to the ground and took the life with a savage bite to the throat. Kaa knocked away another mass of dholes with her head like a battering ram, Baloo continued to charge through the dholes as well!
Mowgli was bit on the calf by a red dog, causing him to scream out in pain, desperately bringing down the blade of his knife into the back of the dhole's head, eventually killing it!
Bagheera went for a swipe at Long Fang, but the sabre toothed cat ducked under it, and struck his head upwards to nail the panther on the jaw, stunning him long enough for him to get on top, but Bagheera was quick to roll him off!
Mowgli was seeing that things were not looking good even though they were fighting as hard as they possibly could, so he would have no other choice but to retreat for safety.
"Fall back, towards the Northward trail!" Mowgli cried out before he got up and slashed his way through four dholes!
"We must move, run my love!" Phao barked at Leela, who was starting to make her way out of the house.
"We'll follow, just move!" Baloo roared towards the other wolves that wanted to stay and fight, the brown bear didn't want to lose anymore wolves than they already had.
Bagheera lunged towards Long Fang, but the smilodon managed to dodge out of the way. He pinned down Bagheera's head with both paws so he couldn't get up, but the panther struck at his feet, causing one of the paws to slip free and pin one of the panther's claws down, however, this gave Bagheera enough leverage to try and ram his head up into the bottom jaw of Long Fang, this proved to be a mistake...
Long Fang had opened up his jaws to roar, and when he felt Bagheera's head brush past his jaw, they snapped shut, one of the sabre teeth going right through one of the eyes of the panther, causing him to roar in agony!
"Bagheera!" Mowgli cried out, and he opened a chest that was sitting against a wall, revealing two spears, and an axe that he had crafted in the past!
Mowgli hurled the spear into Long Fang, stunning him, and then another, forcing the smilodon to release the panther, and he got into a roll on the ground that knocked the spears off of his body!
"We need to hurry!" Mowgli cried as he motioned Bagheera to run with him, the panther tried his best as he went with Mowgli out of the house, and through the dust right when Nirmam had entered the hallway.
What remained of Mowgli's pack went towards the dirt road path towards the North of the house, a cry of pain was heard, Mowgli turned around to see a young female wolf getting dragged back into the smoke as dholes began to march out of the smoke. Shanti went to open fire upon the dholes again with her shotgun, but as the rest of Nirmam's legion continued to advance forwards, Mowgli realized that it was pointless to fight back now.
"There are too many, my Shanti. We need to get out of here, and quickly." Mowgli said, lowering the shotgun before motioning her to come with him and the pack.
Mowgli remembered the ravine he discovered from earlier, this would potentially be the only safe space to live at for right now.
"The crevice in the ground, we must go there!" Mowgli cried out, Baloo was quick to attempt to shoot this down.
"Mowgli, we'll be trapped!" The brown bear boomed.
"We have no other choice, there is a pathway that will lead down into it through a cave!" Mowgli shouted.
"They will hold the higher ground, and they hold superior numbers over us!" Baloo continued.
"What did I say about not having a choice, if we stay up here, we will all slowly be taken out!" Mowgli screamed.
The pack reluctantly decided to head down into a cave, eventually following a circular path in which would lead out to the bottom of the deep ravine. At the bottom of this ravine, there was no food, and the only thing similar was nothing but worms and maggots. There was no possible drinking water either, the only thing close was the abundant amount of mud that smothered the rocks at the bottom of the crevice as well. The stench was horrid as well, as several animals had fallen into the ravine, those that fell either died or were so injured that they would get feasted on by bottom feeders.
Nirmam, and the rest of his legions stood at the top of the crevice, taunting, and laughing at the pack as they found themselves trapped!
(Two hours later)
After some searching, Phao discovered a narrow path at the end of the ravine. They were all very lucky to be at this end of the ravine, for the other end was miles upon miles away.
"We must move, I for one do not wish to rot in this darkness..." Phao growled to a few wolves that sat with him.
"They have superior numbers!" Leela protested against her lover's decision.
"I don't care, at this point, we will all die in whatever the outcome." Phao sighed, not seeing a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
"Think about what Mowgli will think of this..." Baloo warned, Phao chuckled at this.
"To the fiery pits of the dark realm with Mowgli, he's led us to our doom in this ravine. If I die, at least I will claim it as a brave warrior, and not a coward such as Mowgli. Any other wolves with me?" Phao growled.
After the brief skirmish at the now ruined house that once belonged to Teddy, only one hundred and eighty six pack members remained. Phao was taking twenty a handful of about ten wolves with him, these wolves were surely not going to make it back to the ravine.
Baloo watched on as wolf after wolf passed through the slit in the wall that would only be able to fit one creature at a time.
Mowgli was looking for places to escape, roots of old trees were sticking out of the walls of the ravine. He attempted to climb up the roots, but only got so far before the muddy rocks sent him falling right back down, slowly doing more damage over time.
"Sweetie, this ravine holds no food for us except maggots and worms, stuff we aren't supposed to eat. We will all starve unless drastic measures are taken, although I unfortunately do not see a way out anymore." Kaa said with a sigh.
"Have hope, I've got a plan that shall see us all freed." Mowgli replied, suddenly Baloo rushed up to him to deliver some urgent news along with Chupake!
"Mowgli, Phao and other fools have left the ravine!" Baloo warned, the man groaned in annoyance once he heard Phao's name, the wolf was once again trying to go out guns blazing against significantly greater numbers.
"Why so?" He asked.
"They attempt to take out a squadron of dholes close the top of the ravine that are standing guard." Chupake explained.
Phao barked furiously as he led ten wolves towards several dholes that were patiently waiting for them to come back up, to finish them off.
Phao's group fought like mad as they desperately scratched, bit, and clawed through dhole after dhole. With every four dholes that were brought down, one wolf would fall. It would eventually lead to three wolves being left, Phao being one of them.
Nirmam had sent out Danaba Baluka, and Kota, including a slew of several other wolves to deal with Phao and his group.
Phao was standing before Kota, weakened, bloody, and battered after a hard fight.
"You gave your all..." Kota said before gazing at the neck of her enemy.
"But your all wasn't enough for us, unfortunately..." She finished before going to kill Phao with a bite, suddenly, a shot burst out, and Kota collapsed to the side, whimpering in agony.
"Leave my husband alone!" Leela cried as she rushed towards Kota, Shanti was seen standing with her shotgun. Mowgli was climbing up a tree with his axe in his quiver.
Danaba Baluka went to kill Leela with a downward strike with his long claws extended, but Baloo rammed himself into the larger bear, knocking him to his back!
Baloo had the cave bear underneath him surprisingly, as he went to bite down into the monstrous carnivore's throat, he was slapped hard across the face, sending him rolling off!
Danaba roared furiously right when Chupake leapt for him, slashing him across the snout with extended claws. Although the cave bear was cut open, he didn't seem to be phased at all...
Bagheera then leapt in, slapping the beastly bear across the face four times in a row, again, the attacks only made Danaba more enraged than he already was. Kaa struck her head out, Danaba stepped back, clamping his jaws around her thick body!
The serpent let out a hiss of agony, and she began to squirm, from her position, she couldn't get any coils around the monstrous bear. Even worse, Danaba began to bite deeper and deeper...
Chupake rammed himself into the cave bear's side, making him slightly budge, and then it was Bagheera's turn, making him move slightly more than last, and finally, Baloo rushed into Danaba's side with all of his weight, and all of his speed, finally knocking the bear away from Kaa.
Mowgli then leapt from ten feet in the air from the tree he was standing on, axe hoisted over his head as he let out a battle cry! Preparing to slam the blade of the axe upon the back of the beast!
Everything seemed to move in slow motion, but Mowgli finally planted the axe into back of Danaba, causing him to finally let out a roar of pain! The axe was lodged in his back, the blade had created a deep laceration, if the wound was any deeper, the blade would have dealt critical damage!
The pain only pissed Danaba off more, but he was surely feeling extreme damage from it as he took a swing at Mowgli, the man jumped back to avoid it, he stood on his haunches, taking another swipe, but Mowgli dodged again.
It was then that Danaba went for a frontal strike with his long claws about to gut Mowgli, but he sidestepped, and the claws went right through Leela's skull...
"LEELA!" Phao cried out, finishing off a dhole before rushing to her side to give aid.
"Phao, no!" Mowgli cried as Danaba went to kill him as well, so he jumped up, wrapping his arms around the neck of the cave bear tightly, squeezing with all of his might!
The cave bear groaned as Mowgli started to choke him out, Mowgli's allies were bringing the fight to the dholes, but the reinforcements started to arrive!
"Fall back to the ravine!" Mowgli cried out as he was then thrown off of the cave bear, his body slamming into Kota's, sending her flying into the ravine to her death, which Nirmam had noticed...
"MY WIFE!" The Himalayan wolf barked as he made a B-line straight for Mowgli, gnashing his teeth as he wanted him dead at this point since he was so close to the edge of the crevice, about to fall in!
Mowgli could see that Nirmam was rapidly approaching him, so he brandished his knife, and when Nirmam lunged for him, he went to slash him across the throat, but the Himalayan wolf ducked his head down, headbutting the man in the chest, sending him into the crevice...
"Mowgli!" Shanti cried out in horror, Baloo was starting to realize the severity of the situation as Nirmam rushed back towards the houses.
"We all need to get back to the ravine, right now!" Baloo roared, and everyone listened to him as they rushed back into the cave, entering the ravine for safety. Mowgli was nowhere to be seen...
A/N: How about I end another chapter with a big cliffhanger ;)... Sorry again for the delayed chapter, I spent loads of time planning this one out, all the action sequences especially, as well as the introduction of Toomai! Character development of Shanti, and others as well. When I started the Red Dogs arc, and the Nirmam saga, I had a basic idea of how it would go, but I still didn't know how things would fall into place, I only had the synopsis planned out XD...
Nevertheless, I hope all of you have been enjoying the chapters now even though they are coming out sometimes a few days late unlike the chapters I would publish every day almost. You see, for the Shere Khan saga, and the first arc of this story, I had multiple sources, the main one I used was the actual jungle book, but for the Red Dogs, it only has one chapter in the actual Jungle Book written by Rudyard Kipling...whereas my Red Dogs has an entire arc to them, and we still have the Bhediya Khan saga to go through, and I plan on that saga having a total of TEN CHAPTERS!
Again, apologies for the wait. I hope you enjoyed what is officially the longest chapter in this entire story so far, reviews, criticism, favorites, and follows are greatly appreciated. Please PM me some ideas if you have any as well ^^- KaijuCrazy02