(Chapter 26: Mowgli's Wrath)

"Mowgli!" Shanti cried out as she ran into the ravine, her eyes darting everywhere in search for her lover, no sign of him...

"Mowgli, come out!" Baloo bellowed, still no response.

"Say something, will you!?" Bagheera cried, even then, there was no reply.

"Everyone, start looking up and down, and all around, he has to be here!" Gray Brother was overheard saying in the back.

"Up there!" Shanti cried out, pointing up for the entire pack to see Mowgli holding on to a root in which was sticking out of the wall of the ravine, he was holding on as tight as he possibly could.

"Thank goodness he's alive!" Baloo exclaimed as he seen Mowgli gritting his teeth, straining to not let go of the root. If he hadn't grabbed hold of the root, he would have surely fell to his death, Phao and a few other wolves were seen mourning over the loss of Leela.

"He's going to fall, he cannot hold much longer!" Shanti said loudly, Kaa was quick to slither towards the location where Mowgli was seen holding on to the root, hollowing out all of her coils in a sort of net to catch him when he fell.

"Let go, I'll catch ya!" Kaa said, Mowgli let out a sigh of relief as he let loose of the root, falling several feet down right into the coils of the serpent, which quickly tightened around him so they could catch him.

"I give thanks to you, Kaa." Mowgli said as he gently scratched the underside of her head, she smiled sweetly before unwrapping him.

Mowgli noticed Phao mourning over Leela's death, the two loved each other with all of their hearts, and the two were planning on having pups soon, unfortunately, those plans will never come at this point.

"Who sent her out...?" Phao growled, his voice trembling with anger.

"I did, she came with me and the others to help save you." Mowgli replied, and Phao was enraged.

"First, you drag us into a war. Escalate tensions by killing the pups and mothers of the dholes, indirectly kill my father, and then you send Leela out, and she is dead. Another loved one that is personal to me is dead, all at your fault..." Phao growled, a few tears leaving his eyes.

Mowgli remained silent, he knew things like this would happen in the war against the dholes, and he wanted to mourn over Leela's death, approaching the wolves and Phao to mourn with them, but Phao wasn't done talking.

"Was it worth it?" Phao began, turning his attention to Mowgli...

"Was it worth indirectly ending her life, in attempt to save me, when I ALREADY ACCEPTED MY FATE!?" Phao barked, jumping on to Mowgli, clamping his teeth around his jaws!

Mowgli was on his back, holding back the snout of Phao as he was attempting to bite his throat, barking viciously. Mowgli fought back by kicking the underside of Phao, which launched him off.

"Both of you should have known the consequences of warfare!" Mowgli screamed angrily, Phao bared his teeth, hatefully growling at his leader.

"She has fallen from this world and will forever be separated from me because of you!" Phao shouted, his voice breaking.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have left this crevice to go into foolish battle with such lower numbers, you just got another group of our wolves killed!" Mowgli screamed, brandishing his knife.

"I will fight until the bitter end!" Phao began, tears streaming down his snout.

"You're the one that got us into this position by sending us to this ravine, we have no food or water, and if we left to go out and fight the dholes again, we would be slaughtered. Face it Mowgli, we're doomed, I've already accepted my fate, why can't you accept yours!?" He finished. Mowgli's eyes widened before he let out a sigh filled with pure regret.

"He's right..." Mowgli said to himself as he turned away from the pack, all eyes were on him.

"We shall all die!" He continued, filling the entire pack with hopelessness...

(Location: British Encampment)

Elias Valentine was overseeing the process of the camp at Boulder Field being created, suddenly, Lieutenant Lockwood gave him a message. A letter hadn't been sent to this camp in a while.

"It's from Viceroy Curzon, he speaks of creating more outposts." Lockwood explained as Elias opened the envelope to start reading the letter.

Elias thoroughly read the letter coming from the higher up, the people of India were starting to grow restless, a rebellion was started in the 1800s against the British. Even though the rebellion was stopped, tensions were still higher than ever. More troops were being sent in to quell another potential rebellion, and more outposts needed to be created in order to fit them.

"Is the viceroy afraid, the people of India have nothing compared to us. The people that are more civilized have weaponry, but lack proper training to finish us off. The people that live in the jungles live in villages, only one or two probably have guns, the rest have spears, mere primitive weaponry compared to what we have." Elias boasted.

"Remember what you said about witchcraft in this jungle, perhaps if the jungle is cleared out, the cult activities may be crushed." Lockwood told him.

"You're right, perhaps we can take the witches out, and put an end to whatever evils are within the jungles. I'll send some scouts out to find a village, when we find that village. We'll peacefully take it over, but if they choose violence, we'll have no choice but to use force..." Elias said with a growing smirk.

(The next morning)

Nirmam, and the rest of the dholes, as well as the two mercenaries, had taken refuge in the flattened house of Teddy, nothing remained intact except the basement which was within the ground. Long Fang seemed to be upset that Mowgli wasn't slain the night before, but they came very close. Having put loads of pressure on Mowgli and his allies, and even killing one of them...

"Those fools seem to be defiant, we used elephants and everything to take them out, yet our targets still live." Long Fang growled, Nirmam had been furious the night before, he was still angered deeply, that the love of his life was lost to him forever, but he had to calm down.

"We'll take them out soon, I wouldn't say we need hope. Their numbers are so small now it is laughable, they range in the hundreds from what I could tell, while ours still reigns supreme in the thousands." Nirmam replied, seeming strangely calm after all the events in which transpired the day before.

"We will be having a great feast today, won't we?" Long Fang asked.

"Of course we will, but I am wanting to make it fair now. Mowgli seems to want to end this war peacefully, the quickest way to end a war is to lose. I'm going to give him an ultimatum. Everything will fall on him then in decision making." Nirmam replied before shifting his gaze to another dhole, this dhole was fourth in command of the legions, and his name was Axel. There was five chains of command for each leader, Nirmam had five, and Bhediya had five.

"Axel, I must tell you something of importance in regard of Mowgli and his allies." Nirmam announced, Axel approached his leader.

"What is it that you seek? I thought you killed Mowgli last night."

"I have my doubts that he is dead, so I'm going to give him an ultimatum. We hold the high ground, we have the advantage, not to mention superior strength in number. It would be foolish for them to attack us at this point. Mowgli desires peace, and if it is what he seeks, he can end the war now by surrendering himself to us, and we will spare the rest of his pack, if he refuses, I swear cruel death upon him, and all of those that follow him." Nirmam replied.

"What am I to do?" Axel asked.

"You'll bring the message to Mowgli." Nirmam replied, Axel nodded his head, and set out towards the cave in which would enter the ravine.

(Location: The Ravine)

Phao looked upon Mowgli in disgust, as well as a few other wolves who lost the will to fight. Everything they had, friends, food, and water, all was gone from their lives.

"Mowgli, he brought us into this. Now he sits there on that rock, with no idea of what to do next..." The wolf growled, then shifting his eyes upon the muddy and rocky ground of the ravine in which they all were in.

"How long must we wait here?" A juvenile wolf asked, his voice filled with worry, and sorrow.

"We must wait until death takes us all, I've lost more than you can imagine this year because of Mowgli's dumb decisions. I've lost my father, and last night I lost the love of my life. Me and Leela swore that we would have pups, and bring strong new wolves into the pack, but I guess that's not an option anymore." Phao sighed.

"I'm starving, Phao..." Another wolf groaned, his body shaking.

"I am too, but this seems like it would be all of our fates. You can blame Mowgli for that." Phao replied.

Mowgli could hear all that Phao was saying, and as angry as he was with the wolf, in the back of his mind, he knew that Phao was right. They were in the darkness of the ravine, with just barely enough light to suffice them all, and there was nothing to feast on at all except mud, worms, and rocks. There was no way out of here, to leave is to face death at the hands of the dholes, and the other way is to starve to death or dehydrate.

Mowgli turned his attention towards a few wolves who were fighting each other to the death, going so hungry that they resort to becoming cannibals to their own kind. He hung his head after he seen another wolf lose it's life at the hands of her own brother, shaking his head in disbelief as he heard her dying whimpers.

"Mowgli, someone comes. There is movement within the cave." Kaa warned.

Within seconds, the entire pack gazed at the mouth of the cave as Axel came trotting out with a smug grin on his canid face.

"I see the looks of lost hope in all of your eyes, it's a pity!" Axel exclaimed.

The pack had no choice, they were too weak to fight the dholes except each other.

"What if I told you that I can give you all a chance at peace? You can have all the drink you want, the game. Anything to get out of this hellish darkness that you all find yourselves in now." Axel explained.

"At what cost?" Bagheera asked.

"Mowgli is the cost, your leader must sacrifice his life, but you all will live free without violence!" Axel offered, Mowgli drew his knife, ready for a fight.

"What will happen when we our free? We'll be drawn out of the Seeonee Hills, am I correct?" Baloo growled.

"Yes, the Seeonee Hills will belong to the dholes but it is a sacrifice of Mowgli's life you should be willing to make. If you refuse, Nirmam promises a violent death for all of you!" Axel warned.

"I'm not dying today, not tomorrow, not until old age strikes me from the world. By the bull that bought me, I will see us freed from this pit, and you back to the plateaus where you should have stayed." Mowgli said, pointing his knife towards Axel.

"Very well, I shall retrieve Nirmam, and he shall come into this ravine, and execute all of you in the most brutal ways possible. He will flay all of you alive, tearing your flesh from bone. He will dismember you, tear your guts out, anything that can make vomit being on the mind." Axel said with a laugh, trying to intimidate Mowgli's pack, but as he was about to enter the cave again, he bumped into something soft, and smooth, he looked up to see that he had bumped right into Kaa.

"You won't be going anywhere..." Kaa hissed coldly, Axel reared his head back in laughter.

"Very well then..." Axel growled before darting towards Mowgli, taking him by surprise as he was brought down to his back!

Axel went for the quick killing blow, and he was inches away from ending Mowgli's life, Gray Brother tackled him off of the man. A bruise was left where Axel's tooth hit, Mowgli was very lucky to be alive, had Gray Brother been milliseconds too late, he would be dead.

Mowgli groaned in pain, gently rubbing his neck as he backed away into the arms of Shanti. The pack watched on as Gray Brother did battle with Axel.

Gray Brother had his jaws locked around the top of Axel's head, but the dhole fought back by striking his head upwards, forcing the wolf to stand up on his hind legs. The dhole stood up on his hind legs as well, and since Gray Brother was weakened due to not having a meal in almost an entire day, he was taken down to his back.

Axel went for the killing blow, but Gray Brother defended himself well, only to have one of his frontal legs get bit. Axel began to jerk his head downwards, starting to rip the flesh and fur off of Gray Brother's arm.

Gray Brother howled in pain, but fought back bravely by kicking his hind legs into the midsection of Axel, flipping him over his head. Unfortunately for the wolf, Axel was fast to latch on to his snout, clamping it shut, and biting down hard!

"I refuse to see this happen. NO!" Mowgli screamed, rushing forward, sending a huge kick into the side of Axel, freeing Gray Brother.

"Do not intervene, h-he's mine...b-brother..." Gray Brother growled in pain.

"I will not be seeing you die this day!" Mowgli cried out.

"I've accepted my fate, my brother..." Gray Brother groaned as he slowly got back into a standing position, taking his stand against Axel once more.

"Can you see it, Mowgli? Your pack has lost all hope, just give it up!" Axel laughed.

"No, no we haven't!" Mowgli exclaimed.

"Hope will only ever get you so far!" Axel barked as he lunged forward, latching his jaws around Gray Brother's snout again, and he began to drag him towards a rock in which was next to them. Gray Brother struggled, but his head was smashed against the rocks three times in a row before being thrown to the ground!

"Let his death remind you all of what is to soon come upon you..." Axel warned as he pinned down both of Gray Brother's frontal arms, and as he opened his jaws to go for the killing blow, the wolf suddenly bit Axel's throat, causing him to fall off of him and to the side!

"I-I w-won't be going any-wh-where..." Gray Brother groaned as he approached the downed Axel, who was fighting for air after having his windpipe crushed.

Axel went for a final defiant blow by swiping at Gray Brother's jugular, but it was parried and then his fate was sealed when the wolf slain him with a bite to the throat.

A shriek was heard from above, and Mowgli realized that it was Chil. This could be the only opportunity to escape...

"Chil, down here in the ravine!" Mowgli cried out before letting out a similar call to that of a kite like Chil.

Chil just barely heard him, but he flew into the ravine to discover that it was the pack.

"Mowgli, what happened!?" Chil cried out.

"We're trapped, but I've got a mission for you. Go to Toomai's village, have him round up food and his elephants. Have him bring a tool for me to escape with, this could be the only option that we've got left!" Mowgli cried out.

"Alright, I will do just that!" Chil replied as he took to the skies again.

"Be sure to tell him to bring us food!" Mowgli added on.

Chil noted that as he then flew in the direction towards Toomai's village, it was a race against time at this point...

(A couple hours later)

(Location: Toomai's Village)

Toomai was seen by Chil, tending to his elephants that remained after Nirmam had fixated a good few of their minds on taking out Mowgli and his pack. The man didn't have a clue who Chil was, but it became obvious when his voice was called by the kite.

"Who are you?" Toomai asked as he fed one of his elephants a nice batch of hay from a bale close by.

"I'm Chil the kite, and I'm close with your ally known as Mowgli. He's sent me here for you, he needs your help. Mowgli is trapped with his pack in a ravine, and they are in danger of losing their lives to the dholes or to starvation if not given food or help." Chil explained.

"They're in danger? Count me in, I'll get the pack as much meat as I can, and I will head their way." Toomai replied, ready to take on the dhole threat!

"Mowgli has discovered a small pathway that can only fit one creature at a time, if you have any tool that can pick at the soft rocky walls of the ravine, it would be helpful too." Chil said.

"I'll fetch a tool as well, we have some of those here to help out with our crops." Toomai explained.

"Great, I will wait here until you are ready, you will follow me to the ravine. Try to think of a plan to help Mowgli out." Chil said, advising Toomai to think of a strategy before heading into battle.

It took Toomai around an hour to get everything ready, meat provisions were stored in boxes carried by the elephants, dangling on their sides. Toomai rode the largest elephant after the bull was taken from him by Toomai, this elephant was a bull as well. Chil took to the skies yet again, ready to guide the man towards the ravine to help out Mowgli!

(That night)

The wolves were starving, their bodies were shaking, some even told Mowgli that they were dying. Things were not looking good at all for his pack now, as the numbers were already low enough, if they all began to start dying now at a rapid rate, the fight would be over...

Some wolves even wanted to surrender to the dholes, and die a quick death, instead of a slow and agonizing one. Kaa stopped them from leaving, using her hypnosis to convince them to stay.

Wolves continued to fight, and cannibalize each other, eating the carcasses of their own kind instead of deer or other prey that they would usually eat. Baloo was growing restless as he helplessly pawed against the soft muddy walls of the ravine while letting out anguished roars.

"It looks like this is it for us, brother." Bagheera said softly, Mowgli could feel his body shaking against his. Mowgli was starving as well, and his body was shaking. His mouth was watering at the sight of blood in which his pack was leaving behind as they all began to cannibalize each other, Shanti was crying, fearing that this would be it.

"What should we do, at this point, when all hope is gone?" Mowgli asked, looking down at his knife, contemplating on taking his own life with it.

"We've all did the best we could, but now it looks like we will all perish. There's nothing much left to do now, wolves are killing each other, others are wanting to leave. If you wish to end your life, I'm not wanting you to, but whatever you feel calls you to do such things, you may. For we shall join you in death soon enough." Bagheera sighed, that was until a loud shriek was heard, and then the trumpeting of elephants!

"Who is that?" Bagheera weakly asked, Mowgli's eyes appeared to light up.

"It's Toomai of the elephants!" Mowgli cried out with glee, the pack seemed confused, but they were answered when several packages of meat found themselves crashing down into the crevice!

"We're saved!" A wolf cried out, they all scrambled to get the slabs of meat products into their mouths, having gone too long without food after the brutal battles they endured yesterday, all day long. Their energy was originally spent, but with meat, they regained some hope.

"Thank you, Toomai, whoever you are!" Baloo wailed with happiness, the entire pack began to feast on the meat.

Minutes past by, but the pack was completely energized, having just enough meat to satisfy the rest of them. Mowgli turned his attentions to the narrow pathway that Phao had used to escape with his small group the night before.

"Toomai, if you can hear me, I need the tool!" Mowgli called out as loud as he could, his voice echoing higher and higher until Toomai heard his call.

"Take this, my friend!" Toomai was heard, and a tool that looked similar to a shovel hit the ground hard with a loud metal ting!

Loud high pitched barks were heard rushing towards the ravine, Toomai looked over his shoulder to see the entirety of what was left of Nirmam's legion, rushing upon him. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fight back against them all at one time, he ordered his elephants to destroy them!

The elephants did as was told, the dholes couldn't do anything to stop them as several of them were trampled beneath them. Many other dholes were sent flying due to their trunks, and a few bull elephants impaled several dholes at a time, making a red dog kebab of sorts!

Nirmam woke up to see the elephants making a complete joke of what remained of his legion, his face shifting up in absolute rage. Wondering why the elephants have turned against him now, not knowing that these elephants were completely different to the ones he had used to destroy Teddy's House.

"All mothers and pups, and those unable to fight, get in the underground location now!" The Himalayan wolf barked, opening the latch to the basement for them as he watched several of his dholes get demolished within seconds.

"The rest that are able to fight, retreat to the jungle, quickly!" He screamed, Long Fang growled at this command.

"What happened to killing Mowgli!?" The smilodon growled.

"Can't you see what is happening, if we don't move, we will all be slaughtered!" Nirmam barked in response.

Thanks to the elephant attack alone, Nirmam's legion was already down into the hundreds, which began to even the playing field yet again. The remains of his legion took towards the jungle trees.

Meanwhile, down in the ravine, Mowgli continued to repeatedly strike the soft rocky wall of the ravine, until it collapsed! Finally giving enough room to fit several wolves in, and to get through!

"Let's go!" He exclaimed as he ran through the pathway along with the rest of the pack out until they reached the top of the hill in which would lead down into the ravine, he halted them to devise a plan before moving into the jungle.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Nirmam and the rest of his legion came across Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, and Kaa as well as Chupake.

"You..." The Himalayan wolf growled, thinking about all that Mowgli has taken from him while Mowgli thought about all that Nirmam has taken from him. Both leaders staring each other down from afar.

"How did you escape? Where did these elephants come from?" Nirmam demanded to know what was going on.

"We escaped because the law of the jungle demands it so. Anyone or anything that breaks it must die or be forcefully removed from the jungle, and by the bull that bought me, I will do as the law says. As for the elephants, they come from yet another ally that you couldn't kill..."

"I'm not dying tonight, I don't care about no laws, my fate is to remove you from this jungle..." Nirmam continued before looking back at his legion.

"Kill them!" The Himalayan wolf barked, and the one hundred and five dholes that remained rushed upon them all.

Right before the dholes could connect, the rest of Mowgli's pack blindsided them from out of nowhere, surprising them all. Nirmam was shocked as he began to back away, shaking his head in disbelief as Mowgli's pack began to make his pack fight for their lives.

For right now, it was making out to be an absolute massacre of the rest of Nirmam's legion, Mowgli's pack was the one that outnumbered them now thanks to the elephant assault via Toomai.

Nirmam watched as Mowgli, Gray Brother, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, and Chupake, including all of the other wolves, tear through his dholes like knives through butter, the Himalayan wolf hadn't seen any of Mowgli's remaining numbers fall or stagger.

"Fall back, to the ravine!" Nirmam cried out, and the fifty dholes that remained ran in terror.

"Do not let them get away!" Mowgli cried, and his pack gave chase!

The dholes got into a tight formation, trying to make it as difficult for Mowgli's pack to defeat them as possible, but due to the overwhelming numbers they now faced, it was just as a massacre as it was before. Danaba Baluka rushed for Mowgli now, but Chupake hopped on the beasts back, biting into it's thick neck, thanks to the layers of fat under the fur of the cave bear, it was harder for the killing blow to be administered...

Baloo rammed into the monstrous bears side, shifting him around some before Bagheera headbutted the bear, finally taking him down, but Danaba got into a roll, crushing Chupake beneath him before rolling again to get back up to his feet.

As the big guns of Mowgli's pack began to surround the cave bear, Long Fang slammed into Baloo, knocking him to the ground before engaging Bagheera in combat.

Kaa and Chupake were then attacked by a swarm of dholes, distracting them from the cave bear that they were slowly approaching.

As Phao slain a dhole via a bite to the throat, he noticed Danaba Baluka effortlessly slaughtering more of Mowgli's wolves, and he remembered how this same bear killed his wife, Leela.

"My misery is aimed at your heart, you monster!" Phao barked as he rushed towards the cave bear, he was significantly outsized, this was suicide, but it would be a glorious death nonetheless.

Phao pounced on the face of the bear, only to have one of his legs end up in the beast's jaws, being viciously slammed down on the ground hard, forcing a yelp of pain to come from the wolf!

As Danaba went to forcefully rip the leg off, Phao sank his claws into the eye of the beast, which successfully saved him from getting dismembered. The cave bear roared in pain as he pawed at his eye, his grimace of agony formed into a face filled with fiery rage, and he looked at Phao out of the corner of his eye before speaking his first words after several thousand years...

"I hate you." Danaba spoke, his voice was extremely low, sounding as if his voice came from the back of his throat like a guttural growl.

"I don't care." Phao growled in response as he rushed for the cave bear, and jumped. Bad mistake...

In one brutal jab forward, Danaba's claws easily sliced into the underside of the wolf, and came out of his back, puncturing him!

"PHAO!" Mowgli cried out as he seen the wolf collapse, in a fit of rage, he rushed towards the cave bear, jumping on to his back, grabbing hold of his axe in which was still lodged into the beefy shoulder of the beast!

"You've claimed too many lives, you monster..." Mowgli growled as he raised the axe over his head as Danaba rushed at him, attempting to bring it down to the beast's head so he could split his skull in half, but the bear parried it by swatting the axe out of his hand!

The cave bear wasn't done, he rushed in with a brutish headbutt to Mowgli's abdomen, knocking him to his back before swatting his axe away from him. The sound of trumpeting was heard, Toomai and his elephants were coming to save the day.

Toomai picked up the axe, and rushed towards the bear as he climbed on top of Mowgli. Danaba went to kill Mowgli on the spot, by going for the bite to his throat that would also sever the head from his body, but Mowgli grabbed hold of his snout, using all of his upper body strength to try to keep the jaws of the beast at bay, but it wasn't working, with each bite, Danaba got closer and closer to the throat...

Mowgli screamed in fright, he could feel the hot breath of Danaba on him, the saliva dripping on his neck. He even felt the tip of the beast's nose touch it, which made him scream again. That was until he noticed his axe go flying right into the neck of the cave bear, making it roar in pain before staggering off!

Mowgli scooted back right in time before jumping out of the way when a bull elephant charged in, his tusks going right through Danaba, and he was rammed right into a rock, breaking several bones!

Danaba roared in agony as the elephant held him against the large rock, the cave bear struggled to escape, but his efforts were futile. Mowgli was handed the axe by Toomai, and he approached the bear that had singlehandedly taken out several friends of his.

"I owe you pain..." Mowgli growled, lifting the axe over his head as Danaba let out a monstrous roar as a last act of defiance before his head was sliced from his body by Mowgli's axe.

The pack had watched the brief but pulse pounding fight between Danaba Baluka, and several pack members. The cave bear that had destroyed so many lives was now put to death, and only one remnant species mercenary remained, Long Fang. Strangely enough, the smilodon was nowhere to be found.

Nirmam stood at the ravine, rallying up his final remaining dholes.

"We will see the death of Mowgli, one way or another!" The Himalayan wolf barked, only to see Mowgli's small pack emerge from the jungle, including the elephants of Toomai with them.

"Fight to the death, this is will be the final stand!" Nirmam barked as Mowgli's pack grew ever closer, the dholes charged into another massacre. Every ten seconds, a red dog would fall, killed off by one of Mowgli's wolves, the big guns didn't even need to do any damage at this point.

As Mowgli slit the throat of one of the last dholes remaining, he glared directly at Nirmam, a cold stare that was so intense, it sent shivers down the Himalayan wolf's spine, this was a look of vengeance...

"I'll kill you...if it is the last thing I do..." Nirmam growled before rushing towards Mowgli, the pack watched on as the two rivals did battle. Mowgli raised the axe over his head, preparing to slice the wolf's head off just as he did Danaba, but Nirmam torpedoed himself into his mid-section as hard as he could, knocking Mowgli back, and also knocking the axe out of his hands!

Nirmam growled as he bit up at Mowgli's throat, but he shoved him off right as he fell to his back. The Himalayan wolf was quick to jump right back on top of the man as he was staring to scoot back, Mowgli went to throw a punch, but Nirmam used one of his paws to pin his right arm down. The wolf reared his head back, opening his jaws as he went for the killing bite to the throat, but Mowgli was quick to guard his neck with his left forearm, feeling the teeth of the wolf sink into his toned forearm, he let out a growl of pain before kicking up while bucking his hips, trying to turn the tables on Nirmam!

Nirmam was quick to fight back with a hard slap across Mowgli's face, claws out, slashing his cheek open as blood began to stream down his left cheek. Mowgli growled in pain, being forced off of his enemy.

Mowgli took a few steps back towards the tree, rubbing his bloody forearm, and left cheek, smearing his own blood all over his face in which started to stain his teeth, and long black hair.

"You...have taken so much more from me, than what I've taken from you." Nirmam growled before letting out a ferocious bark, rushing towards Mowgli again at full speed, lunging towards him to go for the fatal bite to the throat again, but Mowgli blocked with his other forearm, allowing the Himalayan wolf to sink his fang like teeth into the other toned arm.

The impact that Nirmam had on Mowgli when their bodies collided, sent the man crashing into the tree hard, letting out a grunt of pain as the bark scraped his back!

"Mowgli isn't doing too good, we must save him!" Shanti screamed as she moved forward, but she was blocked by Baloo.

"No, this is his fight..." Baloo continued.

Mowgli used his legs to slowly inch his body off the ground into a standing position, he used his free arm to grab the bottom jaw of Nirmam, and he began to slowly pry it down while forcing the top jaw up with his caught arm. The Himalayan wolf was quick to realize that the man was trying to break his jaw, so he thrashed his body downwards at full force, sending Mowgli stumbling to the ground!

Nirmam went to clamp his jaws around Mowgli's head, but the man could see the blurry figure of the wolf rushing in thanks to his peripheral vision, and he slammed his bloody left forearm in the throat of the Himalayan wolf as it bit at his head, Mowgli let out a furious scream as he jerked his arm up, knocking his enemy off of him.

Mowgli got back into a standing position next to the tree, and Nirmam rushed at him once more only to have Mowgli snag him out of the air, and slam him hard into the tree! Nirmam was stunned now as Mowgli slipped behind the tree, holding on to a limb with both hands as the heels of his feet were sticking over the edge of the ravine, one wrong move and he would fall to his death.

Mowgli removed the knife necklace from his neck, holding on to the limb with one arm as he held it within the other hand. With gritted teeth, straining his muscles, he started to scale the tree as Nirmam began to bark at the tree.

"Come out you coward, you will face the punishment for your crimes against my innocent pups and mothers, and MY WIFE!" Nirmam barked as loud as his lungs would let him.

Watching the battle from the ruins of Teddy's house, Long Fang decided to slowly make his way towards the ravine with the single tree that stood just on the edge of it. Making sure his approach was slow, he didn't want to be making a mistake, and he began to formulate a plan out as he seen Toomai climb on top of his bull elephant...

"Mowgli, hold on!" Toomai warned, his eyes glaring down at Nirmam.

"He will pay for turning my elephants against each other..." He continued.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Bagheera shouted.

"Ending this fight!" Toomai screamed as he forced the bull elephant to rush forward, tusk pointing right towards Nirmam as it charged, the wolf heard it's trumpet, and turned to see it ten feet away, his eyes widened, and he quickly jumped out of the way!

A loud bang, and a snap was heard as the tree toppled over!

"Mowgli!" Baloo cried, thankfully, the man was safe as he was holding on tight to the thick limb with his arms and legs wrapped around it, having a sloth like hold to the limb. He inched his way around the tree, getting back on top as it had seemingly formed a bridge over the ravine!

Nirmam made his way back on the bridge, slowly approaching Mowgli, who was trying to balance himself out. This was dangerous, one wrong move could send one of them falling into the ravine to their doom.

Mowgli couldn't turn around, and go to the other side without exposing his back to Nirmam, who had better grip of the tree bridge now than he did.

"I hope you're starting to realize the severity of your current scenario..." Nirmam growled as he slowly approached his nemesis.

It is then that Long Fang decided to rush down towards the battlefield, silently bounding through the brush towards them all!

"What would you do, if you could hold your lover's mother again? Could have your entire pack again, to have that mongoose, that other man friend of yours. Those two wolves that fought so bravely, but were slain by Danaba Baluka? What would you do to hold them in your arms again?" Nirmam asked, slowly getting closer to Mowgli while licking his lips.

"I'll do anything, anything to get them back..." Mowgli said.

"That's how I feel, when you killed several of our mothers, and pups in our pack..." Nirmam growled angrily.

"You're still on about that!?" Mowgli screamed, his foot nearly slipping.

"OF COURSE I'M STILL ON ABOUT THAT!" Nirmam began at the top of his lungs, showing his teeth.

"Not only did you kill those that were defenseless, and unable to fight back, but you also killed my wife..." He continued, hastening his approach now...

"You sent your wife to her death!" Mowgli screamed, and this was the final straw for the Himalayan wolf as he lunged towards Mowgli, taking him down into the tree!

Both nearly rolled off, but Nirmam stopped that by placing his foot against the thick limb in which Mowgli was initially holding on to, the two of them were close to the other side of the ravine now going across from it.

"I will avenge their deaths, even if it means me dying to do so!" Nirmam barked as he went for the killing bite, but Mowgli caught his snout with both hands!

"I won't let you win this war..." Mowgli growled between his teeth due to holding the knife in his mouth as he tried to pivot to the side, hoping to shove Nirmam off of him, and into the abyss that was the ravine.

Realizing that they could both fall, Mowgli started to inch his body backwards closer to the end of the bridge, hoping to get closest to being across the ravine as possible if everything was to go wrong.

"Push him off!" Baloo roared, Mowgli growled as he continued to try and shove his enemy off of him, but Nirmam wasn't going to die without taking Mowgli with him...

"Kick hi-" Toomai went to scream until a loud roar was heard, Long Fang sprung from the brush, taking a swipe at Toomai, he just narrowly missed him, but he had leaned back to avoid the claws of the smilodon so far that he slipped off of his elephant! Bagheera jumped up to snag him out of the air, safely bringing him back down.

Long Fang sank his claws into the side of the elephant, causing it to trumpet out of surprise, then falling over as it's pillar like foot accidentally slipped over the side of the ravine. The massive body smashed into the tree, breaking it in half!

"No!" Toomai screamed as another bull elephant went falling in the crevice as well as the tree, the others were focused on Mowgli and Nirmam as they both went falling. Mowgli was fast to take his knife, and quickly slam it into the soft, rocky wall to hold on with both hands, Nirmam clamped his jaws around Mowgli's foot, causing him to let out a scream of agony!

"You will die, I will not stop until you fall from this world..." Nirmam growled through his teeth as he bit into Mowgli's foot harder, making him scream louder than before as the wolf began to thrash his body around, kicking his legs, trying to give Mowgli enough pain for him to let go of his knife.

Mowgli looked at the point to where the blade was sticking out of the grip of the knife, the blade was starting to bend now thanks to the added weight of Nirmam...

No, this isn't happening Mowgli thought to himself as he watched as the blade of his knife bent more and more as Nirmam kicked his legs, he knew in the back of his mind that the Himalayan wolf was keeping close eye on the blade as well, just waiting for it to snap, and for them to go plummeting down. They had already fell for a bit after the tree broke, so the fall shouldn't kill them, but it would surely injure them, and also knock the wind out of their sails.

Shanti looked into the crevice aiming the shotgun at Nirmam, but slightly off to the side, Teddy had warned her of the buckshot, and if she aimed it directly at Nirmam's head, there would be potential of some of it striking Mowgli as well.

"I won't let you kill my Mowgli!" Shanti cried as she pulled the trigger, an explosive round went off. The buckshot slammed into the back of the Himalayan wolf all at one time, it didn't kill him due to the height and reach disadvantage that the shotgun had, but the pain was surely enough to knock him out!

Unfortunately, his dead weight dragged Mowgli down even more. The blade of the knife snapped...

"Did we just lose him?" Bagheera asked, his face filled with shock, the pack scrambled to get into the ravine via the cave as quick as they possibly could. Long Fang had ran away into the jungle, he would be going into hiding...for now that is...

It was revealed that Mowgli and Nirmam were still fighting! What had happened is that Mowgli was able to soften his fall by landing on top of the soft, furry body of Nirmam, and the impact was enough to jolt the wolf awake. Nirmam had sustained some injuries though, and it was that reason why it slowed him down. However, Nirmam was on top of Mowgli, with him trying to go for the killing bite, but Mowgli was know using a bone he had torn from the ground, blocking his neck.

"I will not die without taking you out...do you understand!?" Nirmam growled, biting into the bone hard, trying to shatter it so his teeth would reach down around Mowgli's neck.

"Too bad..." Mowgli growled back, kicking his legs into the underside of Nirmam, flipping him over his head so it was the wolf that was on his back. The man took what remained of his knife, and plunged it right into the gut of the wolf...

Nirmam howled in agony, and this is all it took to finally stop his resistance. The only thing he could do was watch as his death was prolonged, slowly crawling over towards his dead wife, Kota.

"Y-You think th-that y-y-you've won th-this...in the long run?" Nirmam growled in agony, he could feel that his death was upon him as his vision was going from clear to blurry. Mowgli remained silent, taking the broken knife, and marching over to Nirmam as he crawled to his wife, allowing him to touch her one last time.

Nirmam gently placed his paw over Kota's neck, gently feeling her cold body as a tear of rage left his eye, rage that he failed to do what he promised he would do. He lost pups, mothers, his wife, and an entire legion to Mowgli and his gang, and he failed his mission to prove Bhediya Khan wrong...

He felt the sense of touch deaden, noticing that he could no longer feel any thing with his paws or with his tail. As he took a breath, a rattling sound was heard coming out of his throat. His breath seemed to be shaky, his vision continued to go from clear to blurry.

He weakly looked up at Mowgli, baring his teeth.

"Y-you've w-won...n-n-noth-thing..." Nirmam began, Mowgli's eyes narrowed.

"K-killing me, i-it isn't g-going t-t-to bring back th-those that I have s-s-struck from th-this world..." He continued, he began to lose the ability to swallow now.

With those words, Mowgli thought about Divya, Teddy, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Leela, Phao, and so many other wolves, including this now dead elephant that belonged to Toomai. They were all killed under the commands of the now dying Himalayan wolf.

"You're right, but it is certainly a start." Mowgli replied, getting to a kneeling position in front of him.

"I-if you th-thought that I was b-bad...wait until y-you f-face...Bh-Bhediya K-Khan...He holds e-everything e-else." Nirmam groaned, he suddenly started to feel an icy cold sensation, first it took over his feet, slowly progressing upwards.

"One day...you will fall from this world, to a m-much needed d-d-doom...and, as a matter of f-f-fact..." Nirmam continued, now feeling the frigid sensation creeping up his stomach, he began to feel lightheaded, and a black veil slowly started to take over his eyes, they began to slowly shut, and he knew that this was his end. As a last act of defiance, he summoned all of the fleeting power within him to lunge at Mowgli's throat, wanting to try and get in a bite, but the man dodged and quickly slammed his knife on the head of the wolf...

Nirmam was dead, his movements stopped, his eyes closed as his body was laying over the top of Kota's. The bodies of his legion was scattered all around the Seeonee Hills, waiting to be scavenged by vultures, or maggots.

Mowgli turned to his pack, and decided to give them a speech as they headed back up to the surface instead of being in this dark ravine.

"Wolves that stand amongst us all this night. The first of our troubles has been destroyed, Nirmam Yoddha, a wolf that has brought us devastation, has been wiped from the world as we know it. At the cost of the lives of so many of our brothers, and sisters, and beloved friends, and lovers. Such is the price of warfare, blood must be shed, and acts of cruelty must be committed, there is no peace although I desire it. Stand proud tonight, for we have accomplished something I once believed a mere dream, we conquered an entire legion!" Mowgli cried out, the remaining numbers of his pack howled in victory.

"What of these fools!?" Chupake roared, dragging out a mother dhole from the basement, several other mothers and defenseless pups followed. Mowgli's eyes widened, and he remembered how much he was hounded for killing pups and mothers at the Cold Lair battle.

"Let them live. I will not make mistake twice." Mowgli said with a stern look on his face, approaching the many mothers and pups that had emerged.

"I offer you choices to make." He began as he kneeled down before one of the lead mothers of the pack, the wife of Axel.

"Speak..." She whimpered.

"You and your pups may join us, you will raise them with the help of my wolves back at our home. You shall forge new friendships as well. If you refuse this offer, all of you are on your own to fend for yourselves, you'll go to back to the Dekkan Plateaus where you came from, and you will never enter these hills again unless you come in peace." Mowgli said, giving them an offer.

The remaining dholes that didn't fight with Nirmam decided to join Mowgli, wanting to make friends instead of still being their enemies, their choice brought a smile to the face of Mowgli.

"Look at the state of the pack, brother. What shall we do against insurmountable odds with multiple legions instead of one?" Gray Brother asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"This will prove risky, but we will become an army instead of a pack. That process won't begin tomorrow, we will wait for months to cherish this victory. We will wait for pups to become bold juveniles ready to fight, and other juveniles to mature into adults, and then we go out to recruit other wolves. The months ahead of us shall not be easy, but it will make us stronger in our hearts than we've ever been. That I can promise you, look at us now. We've been put through barbaric conditions, we have been put through the worst, yet we have prevailed. However, despite this, the greatest testament to our strength, to our hearts, our courage, and wits about us, and willpower, that is still to come. For now though, let's celebrate our victory, but mourn those of who we have lost with a celebration of life!" Mowgli cried out, delivering a speech that got even the dholes to cheer.

"Let's go home..." Mowgli finished with a smile.

(End of Nirmam Yoddha Saga)

(Part 1 of "Red Dogs" Arc concluded)


A/N: Hey everyone, apologies for a brief wait for this latest chapter. I took some time to think of how the final battle would go between the vicious Nirmam Yoddha, and the ever determined Mowgli. The last time a saga ended in this story, this story sat at 500 views, to this day, it is sitting at 3,000 plus views. I honestly cannot thank all of you enough, this has been my most successful story other than my Custom Monsterverse stories. I give thanks to the people that give me help in my PMs, the people who review them, the people who have liked it so far. Another saga begins soon, the Bhediya Khan saga. Another thing I wanted to mention is that I plan on turning these Jungle Book stories into a full fledged UNIVERSE!
Like I said, I plan on writing a re-write of Tarzan. Using the Alexander SkarsGard film, Disney films, and the books as well. Tarzan will be part of this Jungle Book universe..

The sequel to this story will be a crossover story with Tarzan, and Mowgli and the gang too. I also plan on having a sequel to that story as well, if you have any questions about it, feel free to PM me and I will explain. I hope you enjoyed an action packed ending to the Nirmam Yoddha saga of the Jungle Book re-write, stay tuned for the start of a new one ;) - KaijuCrazy02