Hey there, and welcome back to Animal Farm: The Novelization. Here we are in the second-to-final chapter of this story, as well as the big battle scene. It'll be harder to do than the Battle of Pride Rock in my Lion King Novel fanfic.

This took longer for me to update because I've been thinking over what happened, and there was also some trouble at home. While this battle may be rushed, I'm just glad that that's done and over with.

Uploading Date: November 8, 2021

Enjoy!


Chapter 19: The Battle of Animal Farm

As soon as Benjamin had shouted his command, a surge of ducks and geese darted out from the darkness, honking and quacking and flapping their wings. They rushed towards Napoleon, pecking at his hind legs and even nipping furiously. Hearing the noise, the pigs rushed out to see what the fuss was about, eyes widened as they saw the second rebellion happening. One pig reached out to try and strangle a goose, only to have one of his eyes pecked out.

Shouts from behind the pigs alerted the other animals. The human farmers from in the farmhouse came charging out, guns blazing and firing. Several geese collapsed to the ground, dead from the gunshots. But they didn't have enough time to get out of the way of charging land animals. Some even brought forth their own attack dogs that they had brought over to Manor Farm, to breed some of them with Napoleon's females in the Animal Guard.

It was a much more savage battle than the Battle of the Windmill: the free animals living on farms and forests far away against the pigs and dogs of Animal Farm and the neighboring farmers. Even most of the sheep at Animal Farm were assisting Napoleon and the pigs. "Four legs good, two legs better!" they bleated as one. But there were some sheep outside of Animal Farm that had woken up and now fought alongside their fellow oppressed animals. Cows stampeded and gored humans or pigs with their horns. Horses stampeded and kicked and bit. The sheep and the goats butted with or without horns. The wild animals had various natural weapons like claws, teeth, hooves, wings, and antlers.

But the humans were well-armed too. Some had guns like revolvers, rifles, and shotguns, which gave them a slight edge over the animals. Others used rakes and pitchforks because they hadn't brought their guns with them.

"Split up!" Snowball called. "Don't get confused by being clustered!"

So that was what the animals did. They slowly started to drift apart as they did their own battles, spreading out Napoleon's forces as well.

With Squealer, he was trying to hide somewhere. Like Napoleon, he wasn't a brave pig and only used a whip to make himself look tougher than he looked. He was slinking back towards the farmhouse when Benjamin came and rushed at him from behind. "This is for Boxer!" he brayed and lashed out with his back hooves. Mollie and Clover joined him in trying to stampede over Squealer and started chasing him down the road. How it filled the old donkey's heart with satisfaction that he would get back at the porker for this.

Back with Napoleon, he was steaming angry at what had happened. His reign - his previously unchallenged reign where no one questioned him - was now under threat. It was all Snowball's fault! He couldn't have accepted his defeat and exile with grace. Snowball had always won at anything that he and Napoleon had competed for, and his hatred towards the Landrace pig grew with each defeat. It was when he stole Jessie and Bluebell's puppies and raised them as his bodyguards that he was able to declare victory and chase Snowball out of the farm.

But his obsession with beating Snowball didn't stop there. Once Snowball was out of the way, Napoleon solidified himself as the true leader of the farm, never to be questioned or challenged. He loved having his power. He never wanted it to end; in fact, he wanted to spread his power to every farm in England. And now some stupid little dog, a worn-out female dog, and a blathering old donkey who talked about how donkeys lived a long time had caused this to happen. When he won this battle, he would have them tortured and eventually executed.

He was still thinking when something tackled him hard from behind, sinking its teeth into his forearm. One of Napoleon's own dogs had rushed forward to attack him.

"Get off!" hissed Napoleon, shoving the gray-and-white dog away. "Have you forgotten who I am, Crabbe?"

"I know who you are," snapped Crabbe. "You've been our master. We risked everything for you, and for what? This?"

"Who put you up to this? Snowball?" Napoleon demanded with a crazed smile. "You're an idiot, Crabbe! We should kill him together!"

"You're the idiot!" screamed Crabbe as he bared his fangs. "We were your attack dogs! We could've been staring down the barrel of that shotgun you've been keeping!"

Napoleon sneered. "Keep telling yourself that. It won't make you feel any better," he spat. "Besides, your siblings are still loyal to me, not you!"

With a fearsome snarl, Crabbe pounced onto Napoleon. Due to years of heavy eating and now walking on two legs, Napoleon tumbled over until he was flat on his back. Crabbe landed on top of the pig and tried sinking his teeth into his throat, kept at a distance due to his opponent holding his neck by the trotter.

That was when Napoleon set his eyes on Pilkington, who was getting ready to flee. He was rounding his men together, preparing to get into the truck and leave Manor Farm to its fate.

"Pilkington!" Napoleon gasped. "Help me! Get this traitor off of me!"

Instead, Pilkington dropped a revolver by the two wrestling animals. "This is all the help you're getting from me," he jeered at Napoleon. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, dear boy."

And with a chortle, Foxwood's farmer stormed off to the truck. He got into the driver's seat and pulled away from the struggling pig.

Hateful rage seethed in Napoleon's heart. He hadn't built up business relations with Foxwood just to be rejected like this, and during a battle at that! He struggled to get Pilkington's revolver while trying to keep an eye on Crabbe's snapping jaws. He briefly let go and let Crabbe sink his teeth into his skin, just in time to grab the gun and level it towards the dog.

BANG!

He had struck Crabbe in the head with a bullet. The gray-and-white dog yelped in pain as the bullet tore through his brain, and he topped off of Napoleon. It was there that his life began to bleed out of him, and he thrashed a final time before he lay still.

"There. One traitor down," sneered Napoleon, kicking Crabbe's body. "Plenty more to go."

He picked up the whip and the gun and charged back into battle.

But watching far away was Octavian. He had witnessed Napoleon beating his brother to death and was horrified at what he had seen. Once Napoleon had left Crabbe to bleed his life out, Octavian ran over and tried licking away the wounds, especially the bullet wound. But Crabbe was already dead.

"Brother." Octavian saw one of his sisters - a tan Rottweiler-looking female - approach him, her sides bloody. Her eyes were filled with sadness when she saw her dead brother on the ground. "We'll mourn for Crabbe later. We have to help Comrade Napoleon."

"NO!" Octavian roared, so severely that his siblings froze. "We're not helping him, not this time. He shot Crabbe in the head."

"But what about Sam?" protested the female, now looking frantic. "He killed our father."

"He probably led Pinscher out there by accident. He wasn't completely involved in our father's death," said Octavian. "But I actually saw Napoleon kill Crabbe."

The eight remaining dogs stayed by Crabbe's side to howl one time for sorrow. They knew that if they were to die, they wouldn't be buried in Old Major's orchard. If they were to be flung into the ditch, they believed, then that was where they were going to go.

"What do we do?" asked one of Octavian's half-brothers.

"I have a plan," Octavian said. "Everyone follow me. Let's let Napoleon deal with these rebels alone."

...

Back on Sam's part in the battle, the fighting carried over from the farmyard out to the fields. While Pilkington had fled, Frederick had stayed behind, trying to shoot down swooping ducks and geese with a rifle. The two farmers had decided to ally with Napoleon for business only, but Frederick and Pilkington had still hated each other and only kept up friendly airs to get on Napoleon's good side. So Frederick had stayed behind to help his men fight off any animals charging at them.

As if that wasn't enough, a crack and a boom from above made all the animals look upward. The storm clouds had moved in, bringing with them the promise of rain. Hens squawked in terror when a ragged bolt of lightning struck the finished windmill. Some stopped to watch in horror as flames fell from the burning windmill, landing on the grass nearby and igniting a flame that began spreading.

Sam had just warned off an attacking foxhound when he spotted Squealer racing up the hill as fast as his fat legs could carry him, now on all fours again. He was gazing up at the burning windmill with defeat, blood running down from his back due to equine teeth. Before he could flee, something came charging up the path and forced Squealer to jump out of the way. "Poop-poop!" cried the toad before he and his friends jumped out of the car, which crashed into the burning windmill.

"YOU!" Squealer shouted in fury when he spotted Sam, who had come to assess the damage. "You had to be selfish and betray our leader, Comrade Napoleon, didn't you?! Betray everything he taught you! I hope we win this battle because you'll get what's coming to you - "

But Squealer didn't get to finish before the water vole jumped off of Sam's back and landed on Squealer's snout. In time, the mole and the toad hopped up and started squirming through his clothing, making him wriggle and step away from Sam. The vole bit Squealer on one of his ears, and the badger rushed forward and sank his teeth into Squealer's nose. The porker let out a yell of horror as he tried shaking the four animals off of him, yet the badger held on, his jaws like a bear trap. Sam watched them at work, impressed with their teamwork.

The sound of a cracking whip broke the temporary silence. Napoleon had arrived, lashing his whip out at the badger, which let go of Squealer's snout and rolled out of the way. The other animals - the mole, the water vole, and the toad - came to help the badger to his feet, along with the fox that Sam fought, who had finished rolling out of the way of stampeding sheep. Unlike the wild animals, Squealer didn't even stay to acknowledge his boss and scrambled away to save his own skin.

That was when Snowball launched himself at his former comrade, knocking him to the ground. "You'll pay for what you've done to our comrades, old 'friend'," he snapped, pinning him with his weight. "You ruined Old Major's dream of an animal society! All animals should be equal!"

"After tonight, you'll all be equal in death!" Napoleon snarled as he tried pummeling Snowball with his trotters.

The two pigs struggled on the ground, Snowball trying his best to sink his teeth into Napoleon's throat. Napoleon was trying to keep the other pig at bay while he was pummeling Snowball's belly with his hind trotters. Unlike last time, however, he had no problem reaching for Pilkington's revolver.

BANG!

Snowball let out a squeal of pain as Napoleon drew the revolver back. He reared back, showing a bloody bullet wound on his chest, trying to gasp for air. The bullet had worked its way through his heart.

"I've won at last, old 'friend'," Napoleon jeered, shoving the Landrace off of him. Once Snowball was off, Napoleon gave his body a savage kicking, sneering, "No more of your nonsense!"

That was when Jessie had arrived, Benjamin hurrying behind her. She lunged at the tyrant pig and sank her teeth into one of his hind legs to unbalance him. Napoleon squealed with rage and raised his whip to rain down blows onto the Border collie. Jessie started to weaken from the lashes and finally let go...just in time for Napoleon to grab Pilkington's revolver and point it at her.

Before Napoleon could fire at the weakened Jessie, Sam made his move. He clamped his teeth down hard onto Napoleon's foreleg, which made Napoleon squeal with rage and pain. He flinched so that the bullet fired and missed Jessie, though it resulted in a duck being shot down. The gun fell from the Berkshire boar's trotters, and Clover stomped on it.

"Napoleon, you've got to stop this," Sam rasped. He was panting from the energy spent during the battle, and he could feel blood trickling through his wiry fur. "You've done enough harm to these animals!"

But Napoleon was beyond reasoning. "You have done more harm by betraying Manor Farm! I will not let you throw all that I have built away with your delusions of freedom!" He raised his whip in the air, preparing to lash it out onto Sam. "This is MY farm! MY DESTINY!"

He cracked the whip against the small dog, and Sam let out a yelp. It struck the shoulder that Octavian had injured all those years ago, during Napoleon's first year of terror. He yelped again and fell to his uninjured side.

"Kill me if you want," said Sam. "But I won't lay a fang on you. I won't fight."

"Not fight, eh?" Napoleon snickered and gave Sam a kick and sent him reeling onto his side. "Thank you for making this easier for me. This insurrection against our democracy will end here and now."

But Sam stayed where he had rolled to, giving the tyrant pig a defiant stare. He was tired of fighting now, but he didn't want Napoleon to be confident in winning.

That was when Napoleon's Animal Guard appeared, stopping Napoleon in his tracks. All of these dogs looked beaten as if they hadn't slept for days. To Sam's utter amazement, they didn't start attacking the rebelling animals. Instead, they just marched past them, heading straight for Napoleon. They had hunger and anger in their eyes as if they had found their next target, their new prey. It was also here that Sam noticed that one was missing; perhaps that dog was dead or had fled from the battle.

Before they passed, Octavian stopped to look in Sam's direction. The bigger dog merely gave the smaller dog a nod before prowling towards Napoleon. "Get out of here," Octavian barked at the other animals. "You won the battle. You won your freedom, your independence. Now you don't need to stay for this."

Sam watched on with wide eyes as the dogs surrounded Napoleon, who looked confused. Their hackles were raised, and they were baring their teeth. They no longer wagged their tails like they had done for him in the past; these tails were as stiff as a board and bristling.

"My comrades," Napoleon greeted the dogs with a manic gleam in his eye. "I am glad you came. These animals...h-have you seen them? They prefer insurrection to obedience. But with your help, we can force them - "

But a fierce bark from Octavian cut him off. Several low growls echoed across the field, which started to attract a crowd.

"How dare you interrupt me!" snapped Napoleon, his anger back. "I, Comrade Napoleon, will not be interrupted! Don't make me drown the lot of you!"

"Get used to it. It'll be the last thing you'll ever say," snapped one of the dogs, a tan-and-white Collie-like female. "Don't forget that you wanted to drown us."

"Yeah. You said Jones would do that to us," added her black-and-tan sister. "And now you threatened us with it."

"And you killed our brother," snapped Octavian. "I saw you kill Crabbe. Why did you do that?"

"Because your brother was disobedient to me. You all act as insubordinate as the animals you are supposed to control," snapped Napoleon. "If your father were still alive, he wouldn't question me. I would tell him to jump, and he would ask how high he'd jump."

"Our father was killed when you and Squealer forced us to chase Sam," retorted a black female. "We only did your dirty work because you've put it in our heads since we were puppies."

Octavian shoved his way to the front, staring Napoleon in the eye. "Boxer once said that you were always right, Napoleon...little that we know," he said with a voice as cold as winter ice. "Yet there is one thing you're right about: Tyrants will pay for what they've done."

With that, Napoleon was starting to lose his grip on the dogs. He was slowly starting to back away, moving his trotter down to where his whip was to defend himself. While he backed away, the dogs kept creeping forward, like cats ready to pounce on mice.

"No...no! Heel!" he gasped. "I am your leader, Comrade Napoleon! I am superior to the lot of you! You will obey your master!"

But the dogs were unmoved. "No more," said Octavian. "We are free dogs now. You have no power over us anymore, 'Comrade' Napoleon."

Napoleon was backing away from the dogs in sheer horror, no longer able to escape. His lies and threats had all been used up. He had no more tricks up his sleeve, and the dogs had seen his true colors at last.

With a squeal, Napoleon raised his whip and lashed it out at the dogs, catching some on the face and others on their ribs. But the dogs kept surging forward despite the injuries and starvation, and they surged as one at him with feral snarls on their faces and growls in their throats. Napoleon squealed, dropped his whip, and sprang up just in time to avoid more snapping teeth as he fled from the burning field. He shoved past the other animals as he ran across the pasture that led from the fields to the farm buildings.

The other animals could only watch as the dogs were chasing Napoleon with the same ferocity that they had chased Snowball. Sam knew that Napoleon's dogs were a fierce and loyal pack, but they certainly weren't blind or stupid. No matter their crimes under him, he hoped that they would learn something from all this: a lesson that no animal would ever forget on this bloody night.

...

Back with the chase, Napoleon was running as fast as a pig his size could run, but the dogs were close on his heels and barking fiercely. Suddenly, Napoleon slipped over the mud, and then he was up again and running faster than ever, and the dogs were gaining on him again. One of them nearly closed his teeth on Napoleon's tail, but he whisked it free just in time.

The chase continued, but Napoleon's heart began giving out, and he collapsed in the barn. The dogs had finally caught up to him, biting and ripping at Napoleon with sheer brutality. Napoleon tried biting one of the dogs on the throat, killing one, but he ended up getting pushed back down to the ground. Then, as if they were one creature, the dogs rushed in, knocking the evil pig down and tearing at his flesh with their fangs. In a few moments, Napoleon was dead - done in by his secret police - and the dogs were now filling their bellies.

The dogs had finally gotten their revenge. They had been denied meat, and Napoleon had murdered their brother in front of them. It was only fitting that Napoleon would find his ending here. Octavian looked around at his surviving siblings. They were busy feasting on the dead Berkshire boar's body and didn't hear the storm raging over the barn roof.

Crack!

He looked up and noticed that lightning had struck the roof barn. Slowly but surely, it began to catch fire, the flames burning away the wood. From the creaking of the barn walls and the wood, it was wasting away faster due to years of neglect.

"This barn's going to collapse any moment," remarked Octavian. He looked to where the body of one of his half-sisters lay. "We have to get out of here, take our sister's body with us."

His remaining blood brother - a tan dog - licked his bloody lips. "But we're not finished with Napoleon," he protested.

Octavian gave him a sharp glare. "Yes, we are, Joab," he replied. "He's dead, Animal Farm's done for, and we need to face justice for our crimes. Let's move out."

"But - "

"MOVE," repeated Octavian with a snarl.

Joab nodded. "Yes, Octavian."

With that said, the dogs filed out of the burning barn without looking back, one by one. They left behind the dictator of Animal Farm of many years, lying dead and half-eaten and burning in the barn, on the bed of straw that Old Major had given his speech on so many years ago. And with that, the rest of the legacy of Animal Farm slowly burned to ashes.

To be continued...