Chapter 7

A little farther away than the village Mutt had gone to, the man-wolf warriors lined the hilltop outside the forest border opposite of the slave camp. There were forty eight of them in all. A few of them stayed in there human forms to do battle, but most others had transformed. They were the best warriors in all the tribe; But all of them were men. Matthew stood in the front ranks alongside his brother, Marius. Both of them were veteran warriors. Marius had a strong resemblance of his son, Marcell, only his hair was longer and braided. There was a presence about him that made Marius seem completely feral, like a house cat compared to a mountain lion. It was a special quality that some man-wolves had. Matthew was the same way. Marius put an arm around his brother's shoulder and the scene looked just like Marcell and Cornell.

"What do you suppose the outcome of this will be?" Marius asked.

Matthew's face was somber as he gazed at the rows of human warriors below and farther away from the hill. "I do not know of Maiko's or the village captain's combat ability, therefore the outcome is beyond me."

"There you go again, talking circles around my head. Translate that for me, would you please?"

Matthew smiled a little and shook his head at his brother's wit. "My dear brother...what goes on in that diminutive brain of yours?"

"Hey now! That's not fair, you're using complex words to confuse me. I happen to know a few myself you great anserine antique!"

Maiko silenced them both with a long stare and continued looking towards the humans in silence. Maiko's figure was like the structure of a slave master's: broad and muscular. His golden hair ran long and wild down to his back and a front section of it was braided in two. White tribe markings were painted over his smooth tan skin and face. His eyes were golden and feral, like Marius and Matthew's.

Down the hill and across the grassy plains were the human warriors. There were about two hundred of them. Like the majority of man-wolves transforming, most of the humans rode horses. The others were armed with only a sword, gun, or dagger; others with a combination of the three. The man-wolves had a variety of weapons: sword, pike, dagger, axe, and their claws (fangs were an extra for the ones transformed). There were a few hounds scattered in the front of the human ranks. The smell of man-wolves and the tense battle scene set them off into a barking fit. Every now and then, a hound would bound off up the hill towards the man-wolves until the owner called it back.

Maiko breathed deep and transformed. Amidst the loud confusion of barking, he let out a fierce cry of his own.

RRAAAAGH!! RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!!!

The man-wolf's roar was loud and deep, like a lion's. The hounds immediately hushed. The human warriors raised their guns. Maiko's fangs were bared as he surveyed the sight. His golden fur bristled and his large muscular figure was tense. In the blink of an eye, he charged down the hill, fast and furious as a wild boar.

The rest of the tribe followed suit.

The oncoming man-wolves were greeted by a rain of gunshots. That didn't stop them.

It would take more than a couple of bullets to bring down a good man-wolf warrior. Maiko rammed down four humans in the ranks at one time. He dispatched them with a few swift slashes from his murderous claws. At the rate the man-wolves were moving, two hundred human warriors was nothing. Gunshots were constantly fired, but did little more than wound the man-beasts. Very few were fatally wounded, even the ones in human form stood strong. The armor they wore was thin, but tough.

In minutes, over half of the human ranks were killed. It was time to put their plan and last hope into action.

"Prepare the mirror!" The village leader named Joseph shouted. "Hurry!"

A few human warriors from the back ranks parted and gathered a large rectangular mirror hidden behind the trees. They worked quickly, moving the mirror a few yards away from the battle scene. Everything had to be precise, and the time of day and direction of the sun was in the human's favor. The sun was high above the forest trees that the man-wolves emerged from. Joseph was about to put into effect the same battle strategy his great grandfather used on the man-wolves years ago to gain victory.

"Prepare yourselves everyone!! Angle the mirror!"

Matthew had realized what was about to happen. Before he could do a thing, an intense blast of light blinded him of what was ahead and he was slain in an instant.

Marius regained consciousness. He looked around and was faced with the blood-stained field of grass, littered with human and man-wolf bodies alike. But there were still a good number of humans standing. It was a miracle...the humans were indeed victorious. Joseph walked around the battlefield with a hand still at his gun side and surveyed the damage.

"Well done, everyone. We've lost a darn good number of our comrades though... And I bet that some of these beast rogues are still alive."

Marius looked to his left side and noticed that Joseph had spotted him at a distance. The village leader took up his gun and aimed at Marius.

"You there!! Get up on your feet, and stand still!"

Marius did as he was ordered without question. The man-wolf calmly tossed his afray braids back into place.

Joseph told another warrior to watch Marius, while he searched through the battle site for more survivors. Besides Marius, only two others were found. The human men kept a close eye on the three, ready to fire their guns if one of them moved suddenly.

"So here is the remnant of the man-beast warriors. There is no doubt that you have more of your kind hidden in your village, but we could easily outnumber you and even easier now that the best fighters are out of the way. For centuries you have stolen from our land and enslaved us, but not any more. We have two hundred more warriors from the south for summoning, but hopefully we won't need them. We will give you three days to leave away from our human civilization. Go somewhere far into the forsaken outskirts of this country and leave us in peace! If you are not gone in three days, my warriors and I will storm your village and spare none of you alive!"

"Understood, sir." Marius said. Of the three, he was the oldest and most experienced. "I will give the message to our tribe, if we are free to leave?"

Joseph nodded once to Marius. The human warriors still held their guns as the three man-wolves traveled alone back to the tribe, bearing the grim news.