(Chapter 34: Bagheera's Wrath!)
Night had fallen, and the storm was really starting to pick up now. The rain continued to intensify, and the snow continued to fall harder than ever before. A great fire had been lit by Mowgli, he and Baloo had arrived to the foot of the mountain right on time.
The large fire melted away the snow that would land on any of the members of the alliance that sat near the fire, which most of them did, save for Bagheera, who sat close to the cave, attempting to sleep.
"Storm grows harsh, brother. Are you certain that we'll be alright?" Gray Brother asked, his voice filled with worry.
"Stay close to flame, and we shall not suffer in the cold." Mowgli replied, petting the wolf on the head gently.
"Others fear of losing their lives, we practically rest under the feet of our sworn enemy." Toomai warned, Mowgli looked to those that the man pointed at, and sighed.
"I'll watch over you all for the night." Mowgli said as he headed towards the front of the mountain path, where no fire was lit.
"Wait, now you don't have to to that!" Toomai said, trying to tell his leader that it would be a bad decision to head out into the cold elements.
"I'm your leader, and the legend of the jungle. I will do whatever it takes to keep you all safe." Mowgli replied sternly as he looked up, knowing Bhediya Khan and his legions were still up there. He dreaded that they would try to charge down the pass during the cover of night, especially during a winter storm like this one.
"Mowgli, y-you're insane..." Toomai said as he seen Mowgli standing in the darkness, allowing the freezing rain and snow to pelt his fur coat that he himself had crafted from the hides of several slain animals.
Mowgli laughed as he looked over at Toomai with a smug grin.
"I know!"
The first thing that Mowgli noticed, as the cold rain and snow was starting to get through his primitive coat. He knew that he wouldn't last long in the cold elements, and he had to make himself a fire. The man removed his axe from a tree stump, and got right to work at chopping down some smaller trees to create a fire that would protect him from hypothermia.
"He's making a mistake by doing that." Baloo said to himself as Kaa lowered herself down next to him from a tree.
"The poor thing is going to get himself killed..." She said with worry, hoping that Mowgli would make it through the night...
(Location: Top of the mountain/Monastery)
"The storm is taking a beating on our legions, some of them are collapsing!" Maximus called out as he walked up to Bhediya Khan, the dire wolf looked disappointed at this.
"I've prepared them for a return, and they fall from this world!?" Bhediya barked.
"You don't understand our mortal limits, we're not built like you, we're not built to last long!" Maximus barked in response.
"Perhaps we should have traveled down to mountains, and headed into lands North of here before heading East to escape the storm, but no! You foolishly declined my request, and look at the mess we are in!" Bhediya argued more, seeing the storm as confirmation that they should have listened to him earlier.
"You would march us right into the storm, in the time it would take for all of us to head down the treacherous path you would have decided to take. All of us wouldn't make it in time!" Maximus barked back.
Bhediya had initially ordered the legions to rush down the mountain pass to attack Mowgli's Alliance while they slept, but the storm was worse than they had thought. The cold was already dropping some due to the exposure of the frigid elements...
Bhediya's first plan to escape the cold was to head North into NorthWest China, all the way until they reached the country of Mongolia, then hopefully head East until they felt comfortable. Of course they didn't know the names of these countries, for the dholes only knew India, but Bhediya knew other lands, but not of their names.
His plan to head down the mountain to continue North in order to begin his plan of escaping the storm was met with criticism from Maximus, and it would eventually lead into a heated argument. Tensions were starting to flare up within Bhediya's legions, and it looked like they would be having a falling out.
Bhediya reared his head back, letting out a thunderous howl into the frosty skies above. His breath seen emerging as a mist from his jaws!
"Come to me, come back to the warmth of the temples immediately!" Bhediya called out to his legions as loud as he possibly could.
"Maximus, Alcibie, try and catch the ones who have ventured too far down. Bring them back up to the warmth of the temples." Bhediya commanded the Himalayan wolves.
"Will do, Great Khan!" Alcibie replied, Maximus remained silent as he and Alcibie rushed down the pass.
Bhediya looked down at an orange glow that he could see through the frosty air, he knew it was of Mowgli's doing. He bared his teeth, growling at the sight of the orange glow of the fire from far below the ledge he stood on.
"It pains me to know that your strength with Maximus is fleeting." Neo said as he approached his foster father from the side.
"He seems that he wants to make more decisions than me, I am his superior. Whether he likes it or not, I stand higher in command than him. He doesn't know what I stand for, he doesn't know my thoughts. He stands a complete coward." Bhediya replied as he looked down at his foster son.
"I would have walked down the mountains with you, father." Neo said softly.
"Good, when you become leader of my legions upon my passing, I would like for you to engage in battle with Maximus. Teach him a lesson, and do not gift him any legions. Destroy him when you can." Bhediya requested of his son.
"What if you pass during the war?" Neo asked, Bhediya scoffed at such a thought, but had a response.
"If I pass during the war, the war is over. Or you should consider it over, I am the supreme ruler over the dholes. If I am to pass, you are to immediately claim yourself as the leader, stain the sides of your fur coat in my blood, and call yourself Bhediya Khan II. After you do that, take every legion for yourself, and strike down Maximus. Your power will be unrivaled." The dire wolf answered.
"In my eyes, there's only one Bhediya Khan, you. You stand taller than the wolves who stand taller than my kind of the dholes." Neo said cheerfully, Bhediya looked down at him with a smile, but he also noticed that he was shivering due to the cold elements.
"I appreciate kind words, son. Now let's receive warmth within the temples, and wait for such weather to pass over." Bhediya Khan said as he would then go on to lead his son towards one of the temples, and away from the one of the many ledges on this cliffside complex of monasteries.
(Location: Bottom of the mountain)
"Did you hear that, Mowgli?" Toomai asked, the echoing of Bhediya's howl had bounced all the way down the mountain with a gust of air.
"Yes, I heard it."
"Could they be attacking?" Toomai asked, pulling a spear out of his quiver, preparing for a fight!
"No, Bhediya has proven himself many things, a dumb wolf isn't among them." Mowgli replied.
"Should we wield a weapon if they were to come for us?" Toomai asked, Mowgli nodded his head.
"I'll stand guard, when I howl, all of you ready yourselves for a fight." Mowgli responded, Toomai noticed that he was shivering even in his primitive coat of hide.
"You're shivering, you're freezing. You should be at the fire, getting warmth." Toomai said, Mowgli smirked.
"I don't have time to freeze." Mowgli responded as he looked over at the elephant handler.
"Both of you are freezing." Kaa said as she slithered up behind them, a comforting smile on her serpentine face.
"I'm fine, my friend." Mowgli replied, Kaa giggled at his bravery.
"I admire how bold you are, sweet thing, but you and Toomai must be cold. Your delicate human skin cannot handle the weather when it is so harsh like this." Kaa said softly.
The python gently pressed one of her large coils against their backs, what Mowgli and Toomai noticed is that it was very warm for how cold it was at the moment in the air.
"Feel how warm that is?" Kaa asked with a smirk as she looked at their faces to see their reactions.
"Yeah..." Mowgli said, gently stroking her smooth, soft skin with his rough hand.
"We serpents, and other scaled beings can have their bodies heat up or cool down depending on the temperatures that we find ourselves in, I've made my body warm to protect myself." Kaa explained.
"Wish we could do that." Toomai said, Kaa giggled sweetly.
"Would be fortunate, but that's why I'm here." Kaa continued softly as she gently wrapped a few coils around the two men standing before her.
"Allow me to keep both of you warm." The python added on, continuing to loop more coils around the two until she had them up to their necks, she placed one extra coil behind their heads so they could rest their heads back.
"How does it feel?" Kaa asked, Mowgli gave her a thumbs up. She made her grip loose enough for them to feely move their arms or climb out of them if they so inclined.
Toomai grunted, feeling somewhat pleasure as the warmth took over his cold body in a flash. A satisfied smile spread from ear to ear as he would go on to lay his head back.
Kaa and Mowgli both giggled.
"Like it?" Mowgli asked, Toomai nodded his head and said yes.
"You've never been held in my coils before, never in a gentle embrace..." Kaa said with a smile, before giggling and nudging her head into Toomai's.
"Only once, felt good, but never this good..." Toomai groaned, the sensation of having the smooth, soft coils of the python tightening and relaxing around their body felt like a massage to his body, the same body that took tumbles, and damage throughout the many battles throughout the war against Bhediya's legions.
"Your older brother is next, Mowgli." Kaa said with a smug grin before breaking into a playful snicker.
"Can't say that he can be swayed so easily, he probably has the strongest will out of all of us." Mowgli replied, chuckling.
"Oh please, sweetie. You have a strong will, but you can't resssissst thisss." Kaa taunted as she then activated her hypnotic swirls as she stared deeply into Mowgli's eyes. Mowgli's mouth went agape, and his pupils and iris' shrunk.
"Can he power through thisss, dear?" Kaa asked, Mowgli had a stupid smile on his face as he slowly shook his head no, letting out a groan of pleasure, as he was somewhat hypnotized, an overwhelming sensation of relaxation washed over him.
"What I thought!" Kaa giggled as she stopped her hypnotic colors in her eyes.
"Now all of us can watch over the pass, thanks to the mighty and beautiful Kaa at our side." Mowgli said gently as he softly scratched the underside of the python's jaw, making her smile sweetly.
However, that would prove to be false!
Kaa, enjoying the feeling of her coils massaging and cuddling the toned muscles of the two men contained within them, she peacefully entered a slumber. Mowgli, feeling relaxed by the slight hypnosis from moments ago, and the relaxing feeling of her smooth, soft skin tightening and relaxing around him, fell asleep. Toomai was the only one that was slightly awake.
Kaa's coils kept the men warm as their bodies rested for the night, Toomai looking up at the night sky, allowing the flakes to fall on his face, and he licked at the rain as it continued to fall. It wasn't long before many others in their alliance drifted off to sleep as well.
However, one wasn't so easy to fall asleep. It was Bagheera, he had frequently tossed and turned, never shaking off the feeling of attacking the dholes while they were at a disadvantage, he argued with himself in his head. Wondering if this was really a good idea...
The panther's eyes shifted around the alliance, several, if not, all of them were asleep except for him. If he was to do it alone, and kill Bhediya Khan while he slept, then so be it.
It was time to take matter's into his own hands, the panther stood up. His yellow eyes narrowed as he let out a deep growl, ready for combat. He approached some wolves that he spoke with earlier in the cave, they would join him if he was to dart up the mountain.
"Tonight, we kill them all. Come on, let's go." Bagheera told one of the wolves, the wolf woke up, and began to tell the others that agreed with Bagheera if he was to make the bold decision.
Bagheera and the wolves he assembled marched to the start of the path in which would lead up the mountain, the panther slowly fixated his gaze on looking upwards towards the top of the mountain. His eyes narrowed again, letting out a furious growl.
Bagheera had only assembled twenty nine wolves, making him the thirtieth member of the bunch that would be attacking. He had stated they would move quick and hard, to quickly take out the weakened dholes.
The panther yowled furiously and began to charge up the mountain, his wolves let out howls into the stormy night sky, and they too began to rush up the mountain with their temporary leader for the night. Bagheera's shout had woke up Toomai, whose eyes were drooping shut, the man witnessed the panther rushing up the hill, following the path.
"Mowgli, Mowgli!" He shouted, shaking Mowgli around to try and wake him up as quick as possible.
"Ugh, I'm trying to sleep..." He groaned.
"It's Bagheera he-" Toomai's sentence was cut off.
"What about him...?" Mowgli groaned as he stretched out his arms with a yawn.
"He's going up the mountain to fight the legions with only a few wolves at his side!"
Mowgli was instantly jolted awake by that warning, his eyes were wide as can be.
"He's going where!?" Mowgli shouted in confusion.
"Up the mountain, he only has a small amount of wolves compared to all of the dholes that stand with him." Toomai warned, Mowgli scrambled out of Kaa's coils, and ran towards the path, ripping his axe from a tree stump, scooping up his shield as well.
"Bagheera!" Mowgli called out, no answer was given as he started to make a mad dash up the hill as fast as he could. He did not want Bagheera to engage with the dholes, at least not without him letting them know at first.
"Bagheera you shouldn't be doing this!" Mowgli called out again, only to receive no answer.
Toomai wanted to do something about this, he wanted to join them, but what could he do to stop them? At the time that Mowgli had climbed out of the coils of Kaa, Bagheera and the wolves were already far ahead due to sprinting. It was going to be a fight, whether he liked it or not. He also knew that Bagheera would need all the help he could get more than likely!
"Kaa, Kaa wake up." Toomai said, shaking her head, the serpent slowly woke up and began to lick his face.
"It isn't morning yet, pal. What is going on?" She asked.
"Bagheera and Mowgli has gone rushing up the mountain, Mowgli is trying to stop Bagheera because he took a handful of wolves into the mountains to fight the legions." Toomai explained, trying to hurry his sentence!
"What!?" Kaa shouted, surprised to hear what she thought she heard come from Toomai's mouth!
"They'll all get killed if we don't hurry up and help them!" Toomai exclaimed, Kaa shook her head in horror.
Toomai and Kaa rushed over to Baloo, quickly waking him up as fast as they possibly could. Once Baloo was exposed to what was happening, he announced what was going on to the entire alliance!
The wolves, the pack, all of them were awoken from their slumber to the news that Bagheera, and Mowgli were charging up the pathway.
"For those that can handle the elements, stand up and fight!" Baloo roared, the wolves that had thicker coats of fur stood up. The elephants bellowed, trunk in the air. All were ready to go except for the yearlings.
"How long should we wait?" One of the yearlings asked.
"When the storm passes over, you can follow us up the mountain." Baloo replied as he let out a roar, and began to run with the best of his ability with the large mass of wolves, two elephants, Toomai, and Kaa!
(later that night...)
Maximus had woken up to the sound of what he thought was howling. Alcibie approached him from behind, wondering what he was doing up so late.
"Give words on why you stay awake at this hour." Alcibie requested, Maximus had a stern look on his face, he felt that something was coming.
"I heard howling, I'm staying awake to see who it was." Maximus replied.
"Has morning come?" Alcibie questioned.
"No, storm still brings harsh conditions. Looks like we're going through the worst of it..." Maximus answered.
Then the howling came again...
"Those aren't dholes howling." Alcibie said, her voice filled with concern.
"That doesn't belong to the Great Khan either..." Maximus replied, but then the howling came along with barking.
"Attack!" Bagheera was heard shouting.
"Mowgli's army is attacking!" Maximus shouted, alerting Bhediya Khan and Neo.
"See all troops awakened, and fall upon them all!" The dire wolf barked.
The restless, hungry dholes were fast to rush from the monasteries, charging towards Bagheera and his group of wolves.
Although the dholes were driven by a bloodlust, their bodies were weakened from starvation, and it gave Bagheera and his wolves a huge advantage!
Bagheera could see the dholes charging down the hill now, defending their shelter with their lives as the snow and freezing rain fell down from the skies! The snow was blinding, and the rain was ice cold to the touch...
"Spread out, do not let them surround us!" Bagheera barked, and the wolves began to spread out, several wolves heading in one direction at an angle while the others did the same, except they went in opposite directions.
"On it!" Gray Brother howled, he was one of the wolves that had joined with Bagheera in his mission to end the war now!
Then the dholes and wolves clashed! Should the dholes be stronger after a meal, this battle would be difficult. However, thanks to their weakened bodies and attacks, the wolves were effortlessly able to bite and claw their way through them with ease. Bagheera was like a tank, easily knocking out, and even killing the struggling dholes with each and every hit he was able to land!
Bhediya Khan, Maximus, Neo, and Alcibie all watched from the top of the last monastery that stood at the cliff's edge. Seeing how easily Bagheera and the wolves were making their way towards them from far away.
"The first temple has fallen, Great Khan!" Maximus exclaimed in horror
"See the dholes trap them!" Bhediya growled loudly before howling into the night.
Bagheera, Gray Brother, and the twenty eight other wolves hadn't received a single casualty yet. It was like the three hundred Spartans vs the three hundred thousand Persians at Thermopylae. Despite all of the odds, the panther and the wolves were dominating the weakened legions with relative ease with strategy!
Then the panther and the wolves entered one of the few monasteries, and that is when some of their troubles began for them...
Once they entered, several dholes came their way, and as usual, the thirty troops from Mowgli's Alliance began to destroy them as several more poured into the temple from one of the entrances. When one dhole fell, another was there to replace the fallen one!
Things started looking grim when some of the dholes came in from behind, and now they were surrounded. One wolf managed to kill a dhole by swiftly biting down on it's neck before taking a swipe at another dhole to knock it out, but it was shoved from behind and repeatedly clawed into, killing the wolf!
Bagheera roared as he downed four dholes, but began to get piled up on, he got into a roll, and managed to crush them under him. The roll tactic was used by Baloo, his heavy body weight would crush them to death or at least stun them for a killing blow, Bagheera used it as a means of getting them off of his body!
Gray Brother watched a wolf as he downed a few dholes, but was then slain! Gray Brother barked viciously as he darted towards the dholes responsible for the second wolf's death!
"There are too many of them!" Gray Brother barked, starting to panic some!
"They're trapped in the temple!" Maximus exclaimed, a smile now creeping back on his face.
"With Bagheera dead, consider war coming closer to it's end!" Bhediya Khan shouted, suddenly, a spear landed right next to him!
"What the!?" Alcibie shouted in confusion, the three of them stared into the distance to see Mowgli charging towards the temples with several more wolves behind him.
"The fool, Mowgli, has come to spoil deserved victory..." Maximus growled as he watched as Mowgli took his iron axe from his quiver, starting to slash and hack his way through the dholes as the wolves that went with him did battle against the dholes that were coming up behind Bagheera and his other wolf allies.
"Bagheera! This is a dangerous game!" Mowgli called out as he bashed his wooden shield into several dholes, knocking them away to have them finished off by several wolves.
"What are we going to do, Great Khan?" Maximus asked as he looked over to Bhediya Khan with worry in his eyes. The dire wolf had his hateful glare glued on Mowgli as he then witnessed Mowgli slash his way into the first temple to save Bagheera. Within a matter of moments, the dire wolf could see the man emerging through the exit of the temple, holding out his shield to push back the dholes!
"I'll take him out, myself..." The dire wolf growled as he hopped from the top of the temple, slowly marching through his legions as they continued to rush towards the first two temples to give Mowgli some trouble.
The battle for the monastery was brutal, several were falling over due to the cold exposure. Others were falling over due to being killed or mortally wounded. After some time, Mowgli and Bagheera's joined wolves were starting to get overwhelmed and pushed back, that was until Sundar, Chupake, Kaa, and all of the others that were capable of fighting eventually shown up to the turn the tide!
Mowgli slashed through another line of dholes, bashing those away that got too close. It was then that he locked eyes with the legendary dire wolf, Mowgli screamed furiously as he charged towards Bhediya Khan. The two leaders of their respective armies were finally clashing against each other for the first time!
It was the seemingly indestructible Bhediya Khan, going up against the legend of the jungle, Mowgli.
The man blocked himself with his wicker shield, normally it was able to bash away dholes, but the dire wolf was able to just burst through the shield itself! The legendary wolf smashed his head into the sternum of Mowgli, knocking him back some, against a wall!
Bhediya rushed him, and instantly went for the bite to the throat. His larger, heavier body than that of a normal wolf presented a very tough challenge for Mowgli. The dire wolf's fatal bite was blocked by the wooden handle of the axe, Mowgli held on to the axe as tight as he could in an effort to block his throat. He dug his heels into the wall, and used it as leverage to finally push off of it!
Bhediya was picked up, and carried into the temple in which was closest to the cliff, and was slammed down on his back hard!
The dire wolf began to fight as he started to claw into his enemy's abdomen, his nails sinking into his flesh. Mowgli growled in pain, and didn't want to be disemboweled. Bhediya then kicked his legs up, knocking Mowgli up, the man twisted his body and ended up to land behind the dire wolf.
Mowgli stood up, using his leg strength to power himself up. He ended up tearing his axe from the mouth of Bhediya Khan, the dire wolf had released him all so suddenly, Mowgli began to flail his arms around and stumble, he hurled it into one of the temple's walls...
Bhediya rolled over, standing up with a grin on his face.
Mowgli, ever defiant, pulled a wooden club out from his quiver. The dire wolf barked, and began to charge right at him!
Mowgli smashed his club into the face of his sworn enemy, the club smashing into tiny wooden pieces. Mowgli at that point was only holding the handle of the club, so he abandoned it.
Bhediya Khan noticed that the strike from the club had actually knocked one of his teeth out, making him growl at his rival. Mowgli growled back, looking over at his axe in which was still lodged in the wall.
Bhediya used this moment for opportunity, he watched as Mowgli reached for the axe, and upon ripping it from the wall, he received a flying headbutt to the sternum yet again!
Mowgli held tightly on to the handle of the axe, making sure he didn't let go as he was sent flying through the doorway. The doorway that would lead out to a steep drop down the cliff, Bhediya Khan heard Mowgli screaming as he went flying hundreds upon thousands of feet down towards the ground...
A/N: How about another cliffhanger for y'all ;)