The dholes had returned back home to their Dekkan Plateaus after Yupanqui The Bhediya Khan had wrongly declared the war to be won, they went home fully believing that they were the true victors when in reality it was all but wrong, they had unknowingly lost due to Mowgli's status as being alive.
Maximus, the last Himalayan wolf that had stood by Yupanqui's side before his death, had taken up the mantle as their new 'Bhediya Khan' now that the dire wolf was no longer alive. In the years that followed, several more campaigns were held as Maximus attempted to chase the glory that Yupanqui once gave them.
Unfortunately, it didn't come to be as so. Inner turmoil and betrayal gave the dhole legions a civil war that raged all throughout the continent now that their influence as a species ranged across the entire country of India, very few new lands were filled in by dholes as Maximus had planned. These wars were known as the 'dhole turmoil'...
As his power grew, Maximus started to shift from who was once a bold, wise leader, into an arrogant and powerful tyrant who abused his power like a dictator would. Maximus would end up breaking several of his own rules, and wouldn't relinquish his title to Neo, who was the foster son of Yupanqui.
Neo would make it his mission to strike down Maximus, the wolf that had robbed him of what his foster father had promised him. After a long lasting struggle, he now finally sees an end in sight as Maximus starts to slow down with age...
(Chapter 43: You too, Neo?)
(Location: Dekkan Plateaus)
The plot to kill Maximus, the Bhediya Khan II, began with three dholes. All three were matured, one of them was named Rufus, the other was Neo, the foster son of the late dire wolf who was known as Yupanqui or the first Bhediya Khan that had waged war with Mowgli and the jungle. The third dhole was named Caesar, all three of them had played major roles in the chain of events known as the 'dhole turmoil' that had spread like a virus throughout India, it was a huge talking point among the animals, and even the Seeonee Hills received word of it.
Rufus was an aging dhole, but was greatly valued for his years he had on him in the legions. He had started his fighting life in the legions when the war for the jungle was halfway through. He helped Yupanqui and Maximus in the most major battles towards the end of the war, the battles that Yupanqui and Maximus won at that. When the war for the jungle was over, a power struggle began, and Rufus took a small army of dholes with him into hiding. Trying to win some battles of their own, but were soundly defeated by the bandar-log. Maximus would make the save, and saw great potential in Rufus.
Unfortunately for Maximus, Rufus would stop trusting him as the ego of the Himalayan wolf continued to grow higher and higher. When the 'Dhole Turmoil' began, Rufus joined another dhole who was challenging Maximus. When the civil war ended, Rufus was able to keep spirits high during the several crises that took place. The aging dhole stopped fighting for Maximus, and no longer cared to fight for the legions after they were unified once again after the civil war ended.
Neo was the foster son of Yupanqui, the first Bhediya Khan, the great dire wolf who terrorized the jungle and clinically killed Mowgli twice in a row when they both fought each other. During the Himalayan battles, Yupanqui had told Neo that his duty when he died was to become the second ever Bhediya Khan, and to kill Maximus so that his power may be unrivaled.
Unfortunately for Neo, Maximus was very quick to jump to conclusions during the power struggle after Yupanqui was killed during the last battle in the war for the jungle by Mowgli's axe. Maximus seized power without question, and that had deeply angered Neo. One of the things that enraged the matured dhole was how Maximus consistently taunted his dead father, rubbing the defeat in Neo's face.
Once the civil war came to an end during the period of time known as the 'Dhole Turmoil,' Neo went on a shadow campaign to try and take out Maximus, which had brought him to this very day with the organized meeting with Rufus and Caesar.
Caesar had a history with Maximus, and was just about as old as the Himalayan wolf himself. Caesar was going to be the apprentice of the Himalayan wolf, but once Maximus' personality started to shift from good to evil in the eyes of the dholes, Caesar began to stray away from his old master, and it finally came to a head when the civil war first broke out. Caesar engaged in battle with Maximus, and had been thoroughly beaten.
All three dholes had a universal belief that Maximus had gone insane with his old age, and his decisions were destroying the way of life that the dholes held. All three initially believed that peace was the way to go following the war for the jungle, and there was one way to stop the chaos. That was to kill Maximus, as Yupanqui had instructed Neo to do.
Meetings were held every month, several other dholes were brought in on the conspiracy against the Himalayan wolf. Today was the day that the conspirators would come to a conclusion on the matter.
The group of dholes had been split in half, arguing in a pretty heated discussion about how to kill Maximus.
Some argued that the best thing to do would be kill the wolf and restore the laws in the way the dholes once had them before the Himalayan wolves and the dire wolf came into their lives, others argued against the decision, saying that it would result in another massive power struggle that would result in anarchy. Neo was on the side of those against restoring the laws.
"We aren't revolutionaries, the ideas we have passed around will result in carnage. Maximus has been in discussion about a new campaign season once the rain season comes, the season is upon us. The frigid air will soon be moisty, filled with nothing but rain, and thunder. He will have the legions surrounding him with his underlings at his side, it will be chaotic if we kill him in the rain season unless last minute strategies are made, it would totally upend our tactics." Neo tried his best to explain.
"Sometimes reasonable dholes must do unreasonable things to restore things to the way they once were." Caesar argued from across the room, Neo rolled his eyes at this response.
"The majority of our kind have been brainwashed into mindless servants under Maximus, if we take their leader out, our own kind will turn on us, and we will see the way of life that we once had never returned to us from this foolish tyrant. For he runs a legion of monsters that he has picked to follow in his footsteps of absolute rule. We must do it when his guard is lowered." Neo retorted.
"Well, do you have any other plans that shall lead us to only taking out Maximus when he isn't surrounded by the strongest warriors of our kind?" Rufus asked with his brow being raised.
"Council meeting, word has been thrown around that a council will be held. Many of you here with us three today are elders of the council, when the day comes, we attack him, and kill him. The grand elder is among us today, and he stands against the reign of terror brought upon us dholes by the fool Maximus. He should grant emergency powers to Rufus, and he shall pick a new leader, the new leader, being me. Neo." Neo explained, the cave burst into a roar of approval. Everyone agreed with this plan of Neo's.
One by one, all of the dhole conspirators left the cave and headed back near the rest of the dhole lands in the Plateaus while Rufus, Caesar, and Neo only remained inside.
"This meeting is adjourned." Neo spoke, and that was all to be said for the monthly assembly.
(Later that day)
Maximus was lapping up some water in a gentle flowing river close to his cave in which was situated within a valley between two of the many plateaus, the day had shifted from a beautiful sunny day, to overcast, to now dark and cloudy.
He thought about making preparations for the upcoming campaign against the bandar-log horde of the Red Temple, the same ones which had routed Rufus and his small army. The Himalayan wolf had stated to his mate that he would move to prepare the legions when the first sign of the rain seasons was upon them, and as he lapped up some of the cool water, he felt a droplet land on his nose.
Maximus looked up to see if had started raining yet, or he was just hallucinating things. Raising his head from out of the river, water from his mouth fell back into the water, but the Himalayan wolf felt a cool touch hit his tail, it was indeed starting to rain.
Time to make arrangements, Maximus thought to himself as he started to turn around only to hear a cry coming from down the stream. Further West of this stream was a small patch of jungle, further East was a denser patch of jungle in which had a waterfall and a cave nearby.
According to dhole lore, if one heard a cry of pain coming from the West, it would mean bad luck upon the leader. This blood curdling howl was similar to the pheeal that the Seeonee Hills pack and various other tribes and packs of wolves and animals had explained in their lore.
A worried Maximus retreated back to his den, where his mate, Laika, was waiting.
"What's troubling you, love?" The female dhole asked as she watched her lover pace around the den with a concerned look in his eyes.
"The call has sounded in the West, such is never a good thing." The Himalayan wolf growled softly.
"Fear not, Maximus, it is only a legend. Words spoken of by dreamers and visionaries." Laika said, trying to reassure her mate that everything was okay, but it wasn't going to be so easy for him to agree.
Laika didn't believe in prophecies, such as pseudo-sleep or 'visions' as dholes and other animals would describe. She thought legends to be mere tall tales and nothing else, and lore was just as crazy as the others. However, Maximus believed it all.
"The Bhediya Khan started out as a legend among our kind back in the Barrier Mountains, and one sunny day, Yupanqui of the Western Countries came to us with the statement that he was the one that we were waiting for. The Bhediya Khan stood among us, I am the current leader of the lupine. The lore has never lied, I shall pay the oracle and the legions a visit at the temple, just so I can have confirmation." Maximus replied, raising his voice out of fear and not aggression.
"If you need to do what you must in order to achieve peace of mind, have at it." Laika said sweetly.
Maximus went on his way with a dhole escort of hunters, ready to defend their second Bhediya Khan if they needed to. From one of the rocks of the plateaus, Neo watched his leader leave with a look of vexation in his eyes for the tyrant he despised so deeply.
"He moves for the legions, it must be starting to rain." Neo growled, Rufus approached behind him.
"I thought you said that a council meeting will be in place before he heads there..." The older dhole groaned, thinking that their plans had already been foiled.
"No, he will come back for the council meeting, and then give a speech the day he and the legions march off for their new campaign. He's always done this." Neo replied, reassuring Rufus that the plan wasn't going South yet.
"Those dastardly campaigns will only smear our kind with wrong deeds, we will be an enemy of the whole continent if this fool continues to lead us, and go on these stupid campaigns..." Caesar growled, just thinking about all the nonsense and chaos that Bhediya Khan II had brought them all as a species.
"We will wipe a dirty slate clean when we erase Maximus from history." Neo replied...
(That night)
Maximus arrived to see all of the legions feasting on the game that they had stashed at the ancient temple, others were sparring under the orders of the underlings to keep their combat intellect up, and their senses sharp.
The Himalayan wolf marched inside of one of the temples to see the oracle resting in a thin ray of light that was coming in from the cracked dome roof of one of the many old structures that were built at the location that hadn't been used for centuries to thousands of years.
"Kiki! I've received the call of the West, don't tell me that the foolish monkeys have something planned up their hairy sleeves to take me out..." Maximus growled furiously, pacing around at the pile of rubble in which Kiki the oracle dhole was resting on top of.
"That is the call of the grave, Maximus." The old dhole warned the leader.
"So I've heard, oracle. That's precisely what bothers me." The Himalayan wolf grumbled.
"Beware the coming of the rain season, Maximus. For it shall spell your doom." The oracle dhole continued to warn Bhediya Khan the II...
"What, can you at least tell me what brings about my end. I'll see to it that I prevent it!" Maximus barked.
"I only see the aftermath, it will be a gruesome end of biting and clawing. The loss will be a burden on those that support your cause." Kiki added on, the Himalayan wolf growled furiously, baring his teeth.
"An end of biting, and clawing. Rufus spoke of the same fate when he was held hostage by the tree people or as the fools in the jungle call them, the Bandar-Log." Maximus started, jumping to the conclusion that his end would be brought about by the monkeys.
"Rufus came out with his life when I rescued him, what makes you think that those simple minded fools will take mine!?" Maximus snapped.
"You will be closed in from all sides, similar to how you commanded the end of Chupake the cheetah all of those years ago. There will be nothing you can do, you'll be picked apart!" The oracle barked.
"Your prophetic visions have filled your thoughts with garbage, I shall prove the impossible possible, and revert what you think will be done."
"Nothing has ever changed from my visions, you cannot change your destiny. One often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it...The day the first storms come to the plateaus, you shall meet your doom..." The oracle said, trying to tell Maximus that this was his fate.
"I will surround myself with all of the dholes that are able to fight. I've never lost a battle against the tree people, and they have never defeated me in battle." Maximus said, and he was right.
The Himalayan wolf had never been defeated by the Bandar-Log in any battle they ever had, there was a reason he had outlived Yupanqui the dire wolf. The Himalayan wolf remained alive because he was smarter, and better in warfare than anyone else in the dhole legions.
(A few days later)
A small gathering of chital deer had bunched up near a watering hole, sipping down the water. Occasionally lifting up their heads to try and detect any predators, their ears twitching at the slightest of noises.
Sure, they were near the large plateaus but make no mistake, they were within a jungle area with dense forest close to the large rocks that were prominent for this region of the Dekkan. They were being hunted...
Hiding within the brush was Neo, and a few other red dogs. The chital deer was thinner in comparison to a sambar, a sambar had a bulkier body, which meant it carried more power and more meat, but the dholes needed something that they could bring down with such a small group.
"They're all gonna scatter, but we need to get the buck. It's the best one we can afford..." Neo whispered softly to the hunters that had come along with him, there were ten chital deer and only five dholes with Neo being one of them.
"So you're saying that you want all of us to focus our efforts on taking it down?" A dhole asked, Neo nodded his head.
"What we will do is we will trap the buck by making it confused in the skirmish, and once we get all of the deer running around in the panic, we attack the buck with everything we got. Is that clear?" Neo gave instructions to the hunters, and they all nodded their heads in approval, they were ready.
After a few more seconds, the high pitched howl of Neo sent the chitals into a frenzy as they ran around in the bunched up clearing, trying to find a place to run without darting into the jaws of their predators. The five dholes rushed from the brush, and the plan was going just as thought.
The buck, the leader of this small group of herbivores scrambled around within the panicking bunch of chital, even bumping into some in their frenzy while trying to escape the gnashing teeth of their hunters. The buck was struggling to find a way out, and this is exactly what Neo wanted to happen.
Neo howled again, letting the hunters know that it was time to act upon the plan. The leader of the hunters rushed towards the chital buck and lunged on it's back, sinking the paws from his claws around the neck of the deer as it struggled around, flipping Neo at the front of it, but Neo quickly clamped his jaws down tight across it's neck.
A dhole rushed up behind the buck only to receive a kick in the face, but another dhole took her place and clamped his jaws around the same back leg of the chital, causing the buck to shout in pain, another dhole took advantage and clamped her teeth down on the other back leg, stalling their prey. The other chital deer were too frightened to stay and fight due to their leader being taken down so swiftly, and they wisely darted into the brush!
The buck was holding it's own by standing up, but it received two headbutts at the same time by two dholes that jumped into the side of the horned herbivore, knocking it on the side for Neo to finish it off with the fatal bite to the neck, and the neck twist!
"Now we may feast!" Neo exclaimed, before the dholes let out a triumphant howl into the cloudy sky above them.
Right before Neo, and the other hunters could get a chance to rip into the carcass to get the juicy meat beneath the hide, an alert howl was sounded off. Neo turned his head to face the direction in which the howling was coming from, one of the alpha hunters of the legions emerged with a message.
"Neo, son of Yupanqui, you are summoned by the Bhediya Khan!" Titus barked, he was one of the few alphas of the large legion, and an underling of Maximus.
This bastard should refer to my father as the one true Bhediya Khan, not that fool of Maximus...Neo thought to himself, all his life from pup to adult, he had called his foster father the Bhediya Khan. Now he had to abide by the rules of the leader of lupines, and call Maximus the Bhediya Khan, something to which he hated.
Unfortunately for Neo, Titus wasn't done speaking yet...
"You can bring the carcass as well." The alpha hunter said with a grin.
This son of a serpent... Neo groaned, all of that waiting and hunting for prey just to have that greedy son of a jackal, Maximus, take it from him!
After around fifteen minutes of dragging the buck to the den of Maximus, he sat between him and his leader. Flies buzzing around the carcass as Maximus frequently torn into it to devour some of the meat while Neo had to sit and watch.
"As you know, I'm going to campaign against the tree people after Rufus failed to capture their lands. You were a great asset to the legions when you killed Bagheera, and also Chupake." Maximus said as he licked his chops clean of blood, Neo's eyes twitched in annoyance as he watched his stolen kill get devoured.
"What about it?" Neo grumbled as he stood up, his ears twitching as he began to pace around within the den.
"I was wondering if you would like to join me on my quest, so we can hold talks about the good times when we were at war against Mowgli and his fools." Maximus offered Neo a spot in the campaign.
"I wanted to put that war behind us, I lost my blood father and foster father in the war. Killing Bagheera and that Chupake were minor victories, but when I think of the war I think of what I lost-" Neo started before he turned his head to stare into the eyes of Maximus hatefully.
"I will not be reminded...again..." The dhole continued, Maximus scoffed at this.
"Such a shame, you would be very helpful." The Himalayan wolf growled in annoyance.
"Look, I've got things to take care of. If I didn't have any plans on my mind, then perhaps I would have went with you." Neo said as he continued to pace around, his facial expression shifting into that of an uncomfortable one that to which Maximus noted personally.
"Fine then I shall rally up the old hunters, Rufus, and Caesar." Maximus replied with a sigh, and this made Neo claw the stone ground of the den to deal with his uncomfortable situation, Rufus and Caesar were the two dholes that he specifically chose to spearhead the conspiracy against the Himalayan wolf.
"You don't want to do that, Great Khan. As you know, those two really don't like you. Heck, Caesar even tried to kill you. Why are you still putting faith in that f-fool?" Neo stuttered, trying his best to sound as loyal as possible to Maximus to hide the fact that he was working in the shadows to try and kill him.
The eyes of the Himalayan wolf narrowed with suspicion, but then opened back up again as he did understood where Neo was coming from. He thought for a moment before making another conclusion.
"I'll just double the training days of the legions before we head out to the Red Temple, the oracle has predicted that I'll die, I'm seeing to it that I don't fall to those simple minded bipeds." Maximus growled, Neo slightly smirked but his lips quivered back into an uncomfortable grimace.
Oh you will die, but not by the tree peoples...Neo thought.
"I wish you the best of luck, Great Khan." The dhole said as he took a few steps away.
"I bid you greatest luck as well in whatever you're working on." Maximus replied with a nod of his head with respect, and as a way to dismiss Neo from his den.
"Did you see that?" Maximus asked his wife, Laika nodded her head.
The Himalayan wolf had noticed Neo's movements, he looked uncomfortable, as if he was hiding something from him. As if Neo was keeping something secret from Maximus that the Himalayan wolf shouldn't know...
"He appeared sick, something must have been wrong with him." Maximus continued, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"I hope his life isn't troubling him." Laika cooed sweetly.
"After a series of fighting in wars, and dealing with crisis after crisis. I would expect it to be so, so I don't blame him in sitting out the upcoming campaign." Maximus responded.
"When shall you start the campaign?" Laika asked, sounding concerned now.
"Tomorrow I shall make the announcement at a council meeting. Kiki the oracle has told me that I would meet an end soon, so I'm going to ask of the elders to lend me the yearling males, and all of the hunters of the species in this area to join the fight against the tree peoples of the Red Temple." Maximus replied, Laika giggled at this.
"That old dog knows nothing, the tree people taking you out? That's ludicrous, you and I both know that you can effortlessly take those hairy bipeds without breaking off a sweat!" His wife said aloud, trying to reassure him that he wouldn't need to ramp up the forces just to take on the monkeys.
"My love, all of her predictions come true. However, I'll try my hardest to stop this one, whatever it takes." Maximus replied, Laika sighed with a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Here's hoping." Maximus replied...
(Early the next morning)
It was before dawn's first light, the moon was starting to fade away as the dark early morning skies began to slowly brighten up over the course of several minutes. Maximus was jolted awake by a scream!
The Himalayan wolf thought that the call of the grave had returned, and that his finest hour had come upon him. However, when he was expecting death to snatch him away from the mortal world, nothing happened.
Maximus noticed that Laika, his wife, was pacing around frantically in the den. She was scared of something, but what?
"My Laika, what is this nonsense!?" The Himalayan wolf barked in confusion but also fear of what she was going through.
"I saw it, a vision!" Laika barked with dread filling her voice, Maximus was taken aback.
Laika was a skeptic of the prophetic visions of the oracles and seers of the jungle, she doubted the visions of pseudo-sleep. She was known as a 'monomort-theist' which would be the equivalent to an atheist in the animals of the jungle when it came to prophecies, oracles, and pseudo-sleep visions and moments.
Laika never believed pseudo-sleep to be true, she never believed any oracles words, she doubted miracles. However, she had been awakened by a sudden image. A nightmare, a vision, she had been through a pseudo-sleep episode without even knowing. This deeply concerned Maximus...
"Wh-what!?" The Himalayan wolf barked.
"I saw it, I walked among the dholes after a grueling skirmish. I held your mangled corpse in my paws, the thunder roaring overhead before a downpour." Laika described, trying to remember every single detail of her pseudo-sleep episode.
"Lies!" The Himalayan wolf roared, initially believing his wife's words to be ridiculous, but he could see the fear in her eyes. She was legitimately afraid of something, it was safe to say that she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon. So Maximus stayed up for the remainder of the fading night to comfort his dreading wife.
(Later that morning)
When the light was finally rising, Maximus let out a howl as he left his den to awaken the dholes around his capital region. It was no sunny day, and there was thunderheads in the distance.
The Himalayan wolf remembered Kiki the oracle's warning, and his wife's prophetic dream of the storm ravaging the plateaus when he himself was to fall from the world. His eyes narrowed, suspicious and concerned at the same time.
His wife had told him that he would die within this same area, making him think that the legions may potentially turn on him or another civil war would suddenly break out.
I need to call council with the elders and others immediately... Maximus thought to himself, he let out another howl to alert the elders, he only contacted the elders when a council meeting was to be held.
Neo wasn't part of the council, but he knew that it was time to unfurl the plot. He went from den to den, waking up the conspirators, and the elders that were part of his conspiracy as the elders and others that stood with Maximus began to howl in response.
"Rufus, council is being held. We need to move, awaken Caesar, and help me awaken the others. It is time." Neo said, telling the old dhole that it was time to move or see an opportunity squandered.
"They're hosting council as soon as we all wake up?" Rufus asked sluggishly.
"Yes, we need to leave or we'll never make it." Neo warned, Rufus slowly got to his feet, and began to help the sixty other conspirators wake up.
Eventually, everyone found themselves seated around a small rocky hill. Maximus sat on top of the tallest rock, showing off his status as leader of the dholes, and their second Bhediya Khan.
Eighty council members were attending, and only twenty of them were in favor of Maximus. Others were in on the plot to strike him down, all of the eyes were on Rufus, Caesar, and Neo.
"We're here today to discuss matters on the oncoming campaign. The tree peoples of the Northern lands routed good Rufus and his small army as they tried to get away from all the chaos around one season ago, I intend on taking the legions up there to reclaim the Red Temple." Maximus began, making his voice loud for all to hear. Nothing happened just yet.
"Recently I spoke with the oracle when I went to speak with my legions, Titus is leading them here as we speak. It will take them a few days. The oracle has told me that I would meet a violent end by clawing and biting." The Himalayan wolf continued, a roar of thunder boomed in the distance. It began to drizzle, raining lightly.
"She stated that I would meet my destiny when the storms rolled in to officially commence with the rain season, those tree peoples shall not take my life. Which is why I am going to have a vote be cast. I wish for the yearlings, and the males and females that can fight, to join the campaign. For the people that have joined council, rise, and start to cast your decision one by one." Maximus finished, the last sentence he spoke was the que for the conspirators to start their assassination attempt...
The sixty conspirators among the council rose to their feet, and slowly began to approach Maximus one by one, fanning out, forming a perimeter around him to make sure that he wouldn't get away.
Caesar stood in the front of Maximus at a safe distance, but the others were slowly closing the distance in around him. The old dhole asked of Maximus a question instead of casting a vote like his leader had commanded him to do.
"My brother, Timber. Have you pardoned him after the war? He has come to me, wondering if he could return now that his exile punishment should be over with. I bring this up to you because such is an important matter to me. He's my brother." Caesar requested. His brother went by the name of Timber, and during the 'Dhole Turmoil' he was part of the side going against Maximus. When the side going against Maximus lost, all of them were exiled for a year.
"I asked you to count your vote, do not stray from topic of council." Maximus growled sternly, baring his teeth aggressively. However, Caesar wanted an answer, and wanted one now...
"You will tell me what happened to my brother, and what is his fate. Or he will strike you down!" Caesar barked, and it was then that Maximus stood up as thunder boomed in the distance again, the rain started to get harder.
Timber emerged from behind Caesar, baring his teeth, approaching Maximus...
The day the first storms come to the plateaus, you shall meet your doom...
Maximus recalled the oracle's warning, his eyes widened. The storms were coming, and Caesar just told him that his brother would strike him down. Maximus was desperate to change his fate at this point.
"As much as I regret saying this, your brother is pardoned from exile, and may return to our home." Maximus quickly stated, his heart rate starting to build up as he noticed that the sixty other dholes were still closing in on him...
He didn't notice that Tiberius, one of the younger dholes and was one of the conspirators, was closing in on him from behind...
Timber barked aggressively, lunging towards Maximus but then jumping back. This was the pre-determined signal for the dhole conspirators to launch their attack, Tiberius barked, and flung himself towards Maximus from behind, going for the fatal bite to his neck, but the Himalayan wolf dodged at the last second!
"What the!?" Maximus barked as Tiberius the dhole rushed towards him, ready to claw into his face, but the bigger Himalayan wolf stood up and the two slammed their frontal paws into each other, clawing into their chest.
"Tiberius what are you doing!?" Maximus barked loudly, at this point, the conspirators had formed a gigantic circle around their tyrant of a leader. Maximus received a hard blow across the face that nearly knocked him down, but he remained standing as he slashed Tiberius across the snout with his claws.
"This is nonsensical violence!" The Himalayan wolf continued as the dhole conspirators continued to get closer to him.
"Rufus, now!" Tiberius barked, and the old dhole rammed his head into the side of Maximus, toppling him over!
"You will not get us involved in another war ever again!" Rufus barked furiously, the Himalayan wolf growled in a mixture of rage and fear as he rolled back to his feet only to receive a brutal blow from Caesar to his side, drawing blood!
Maximus yelped in pain, stumbling over to Rufus, who clamped down on his snout, and tore from side to side, ripping his flesh open!
Two of the council members on the side of Maximus rushed to help their leader, but were swiftly knocked out by four other conspirators!
"Now!" Neo barked, and all of the other conspirators rushed upon Maximus, biting, and clawing into them as Laika emerged from the den after a gigantic thunderclap jolted her from her half asleep stupor.
Lightning flashed after every two hits were landed on Maximus as he was bumped from dhole to dhole, each of them taking their own shots at their tyrant leader that they sought to eliminate this stormy morning. Rufus landed a grave wound once he bit down hard on the neck of Maximus, finally stopping him in his tracks as he struggled to stand.
Multiple wounds, and cuts had been made on his body, patches of flesh were revealed, and blood was pooling at his feet as he was on spaghetti legs. Caesar rushed up behind Maximus only to receive a kick to the face, Timber launched forward, clamping his jaws around the same leg, and with a twist, broke it!
Maximus yelped in pain, and he began to wobble around, gnashing his teeth at every one of his attackers. He had managed to kill five conspirators, but they would be the only ones out of all sixty that were taking their own shots at him.
"How dare you bare your teeth at YOUR BHEDIYA KHAN!?" Maximus barked before Neo struck him on the ribs with a huge headbutt that knocked him to the ground.
"A lifetime ago, my father, Yupanqui told me that I was next in line to become the Bhediya Khan of the dholes, and the dogs of India. Legend among the lupines, and you took it away from me by your own greed and pride..." Neo growled as he marched towards Maximus, remembering the conversation he and the dire wolf had at the top of one of the Himalayan mountains one night at a monastery.
"You fool, only a wolf can be the Bhediya Khan!" Maximus barked, defiant even as his body was starting to shut down on him.
"Those rules aren't made by you, they were made by the first Bhediya Khan...my father." Neo growled as he slapped Maximus across the face.
"Your blood father was killed by Mowgli, he stood just as a dhole as you are. You aren't a wolf, I am a wolf. You will obey my orders, you hear me!?" Maximus barked in response just to get slapped again!
"While I love him just as much, Yupanqui of the Western Lands was the first Bhediya Khan, and was my father after I lost my father of my blood. As far as I'm concerned, Yupanqui was the first Bhediya Khan." Neo continued coldly before brutishly stomping on the neck wound of Maximus, causing him to let out a long gasp, it was one of his final breaths...
"Y-you too, Neo?" Maximus groaned, Neo simply bared his fang like teeth as he said: "yes" before killing Maximus by clamping his jaws around his wounded throat, and twisting to snap his neck!
All fell silent after the death of Maximus, the last Himalayan wolf who had stood with Yupanqui...
(An hour later)
Thunder boomed, and lightning struck as the rains were torrential in the intensity of it all.
It was a rite of passage for Neo as he started to scale the tallest plateau in the Dekkan, reaching the top of it after a solid hour of climbing up. All of the thousands of dholes that lived in that area had joined up at the bottom.
With every step Neo took, he thought of his blood father, the wars, and all of the chaos that had brought Neo to this point. He thought of his foster father, the dire wolf, Yupanqui, the first Bhediya Khan...
Neo also thought of the war with Mowgli, and how much was taken, lost forever on both sides. Visions of these memories would flash in his head as he got closer to the top, rain drenching his blood stained fur coat after he had killed Maximus an hour earlier. He didn't bother to wash his coat off, he would honor Yupanqui with a blood stained fur coating like the dire wolf had...
Once he finally reached the top, he looked down upon the hundreds of thousands of dholes, from mothers and pups, to fathers, and the hunters. To the elders, and the small armies that stayed behind to protect the ones that chose not to fight if a fight was brought to their home.
Neo looked down, and lifted up his paw to see that his paw was standing in the print of his foster father, the Bhediya Khan. The paw print being made several years ago, and was permanently marked on this very plateau. He was literally walking in the footsteps of his foster father, the great Yupanqui, the Great Bhediya Khan.
You're power would be unrivaled... Neo recalled his foster father's words from that fateful night at the monastery on the top of the mountain, where he had received instructions from the dire wolf to strike down Maximus, it was as if Yupanqui himself had seen the writing on the wall that Maximus would become a tyrant, it was as if he knew his fate.
The quote from his foster father sent a chill down his spine as he looked at Yupanqui's paw print compared to his own, Neo looked to the sky, letting out a triumphant howl as he was crowned: Bhediya Khan III...
Neo had done it, after decades of non-stop conflict, glory, and violence. The foster son of a dire wolf would lead the dhole species and kind into a new kind of glory, one without violence. He had finally brought peace to the Dekkan Plateaus, and to the dholes, something that all of them had longed for...
A/N: Hi everyone! Hear me out...I know y'all heavily dislike Neo and the rest of the red dog villains, but I figured that I would complete Neo's arc, as well as Maximus. As well as give you some lore of these characters, if you hadn't noticed already, the assassination of Maximus is heavily inspired by the assassination of Julius Caesar! I had planned this to be the case ever since I started hinting at it several chapters ago. I hope this chapter satisfied you all for a chapter that only had my OC's in it!
I'm also going to get the other voices of the other characters down, if you hadn't noticed already, I have given the characters in this story my hypothetical voice actors a couple chapters ago. I figured I would deliver the rest of the heroic characters VA's!
Voice of Ranbir: Manu Bennett (Crixus, 'Spartacus' 2010-2013, Deathstroke 'Arrow' 2017)
Voice of Ranjan: Tom Holland (Spiderman, MCU)
Voice of Shanti: Katrina Law (Mira, Spartacus, and Nyssa Al Ghul, 'Arrow')
Voice of Chupake: Tom Hiddleston (Loki, MCU)
Voice of Hathi: Peter Dinklage (Eitri, MCU, and Captain Gutt, Ice Age: Continental Drift)
Voice of Toomai: Matthew Broderick (Simba, Lion King 1994)
Voice of Kala Nag: Ben Kingsley (Bagheera, Jungle Book 2016, and General Woundwort, Watership Down 2018)
Voice of Sundar EK: Angelina Jolie (Tigress, Kung Fu Panda movie series)
In the coming chapters, I will provide the hypothetical voices of choice for the villains ;)- KaijuCrazy02