"All is set, my lord…shall I begin the justice?" The small red wolf, Zox, growled. Atrocitus snarled and turned on him. Immediately the small wolf's tail was between his legs and he was on his side.
"Do not assume power I do not place on your back, Zox. Razer will be the one to serve the punishment." The enormous red wolf sneered, casting a glance at the wolf pups by his side. The pups could not be more than ten weeks old, their eyes were open and they, under normal circumstances, would be up and trying to wander and explore. But being surrounded by so many snarling and hate-filled wolves focused their energy into cowering. Razer, standing beside the pups, looked down at them. The group was an assembly of all the pups found in the human camp. While the oldest were ten weeks, the youngest were no more than three or four. When one older female caught Razer's gaze, the little girl showed her teeth. The response surprised the once gray wolf, as did the markings. The pup was light gray with blue eyes. She had two streaks running from her eyes down her cheeks.
Ilana… Razer's mind whispered.
"Razer?" Atrocitus asked again. The wolf looked up from the pup and shook his muzzle slightly.
"Yes, Alpha Atrocitus?" He asked, trying to catch up on the bit of conversation he missed.
"You will begin the Justice won't you? It is time to make these traitors pay." Atrocitus growled. His glance at the pups showed only hatred.
"But…Alpha. I know that our cause is righteous, but…surely we shouldn't murder innocents… Perhaps we could train-" Razer scrabbled for a reason. Pups? Kill pups? Humans, yes. Dogs, yes. Wolves, lynxes, bears, all of which he would do without question. But pups?
His thoughts were broken by a blunt force to his chest and legs. Before he knew what had happened, Atrocitus had him on his side and the alpha's jaws were inches from his now vulnerable throat.
"You will NOT question me, whelp. These pups are the products of a wolf who has surrendered his dignity to become a slave of a human. You think these pups were born to mated parents? Their humans probably arranged the match. Being born from such methods is to be born an abomination. Tell me; are you a coward, Razer? Why can't you do this?"
"Yeah, a coward." Whispered Zox. Razer's blue eyes narrowed and his teeth bared with rage.
"I am no coward." His voice rippled. The sound of it made Zox step back a pace. "I will begin when my Alpha pleases."
"Very good, Razer. Now is the time. We will carry the pups back to the village for their parents to watch. Follow!" Atrocitus roared and then roughly picked up the blue-eyes pup.
Not very far away the Green Fangs were performing a perimeter search.
"So, what will we do when Ganthet journeys to join his pack today? We will come home to an empty house." Shiel asked, her question intended for Kilowog.
"Well, we will continue to protect this region. He is leaving to help Scar and other Human Speakers train more Green Fangs. When he returns in the Spring, we will have new reinforcements." Hal answered for his large friend.
"Yeah, and you pups will no longer be the snowballs." Kilowog added. Hal chuckled, as the comment was meant to be a joke. But the three siblings didn't seem to get it. A few awkward moments passed.
"What is a…Snowball?" Aya asked after a while.
"More importantly, what is that?" Shiel asked as she peered into the forest in front of her. The whole group focused on the object and realized it was a wolf.
"HALT!" Hal barked. The form skidded to a stop a few dozen feet away. "Who are you?"
"My name is Shyir. My pack is under the attack of the Red Fangs. A-are you the Green Fangs? I've been searching for you for two days. We have but a few hours before they kill the pups." The black wolf panted quickly.
"Whoa, slow down. We are the Green Fangs. We will help you. Show us the way." Hal barked. With that, the small pack raced through the forest. As they ran, the broadleaf trees faded into evergreens. The sunlight allowed to the forest floor became more and more limited.
"You live in such darkness?" Lanos asked as they ran. While all of the others seemed breathless, Lanos was still easily making his way. Instead of answering they all shot him various looks of frustration. Oblivious to the looks, he waited for an answer. "Oh, that is why your coat is so dark." He finally surmised.
"We are almost there." Shyir finally panted. The group slowed their pace, their ears and noses reaching out into the dark forest ahead of them. They could sense two large groups of wolves, fear reverberating off of the group farthest from them. "They're here…" Shyir growled. Hal turned to him.
"Shyir, tell me what the land is like." Hal directed.
"Right ahead of us is a dam that hold's back a small lake. The river that flows under it leads down into a small valley where the lake used to be. The Red Fangs said that they would drown us if we did not kill our humans and join them. We didn't believe them until two days ago…they attacked and took our pups. We tried to join them then, but it was too late…" Shyir explained. "What is the plan, Alpha Hal?"
"Well…" He began and the dogs and wolf gathered close to listen.
In the camp, Razer watched as the pups were lined up on the edge of the tall beaver dam. The current would be too strong for even the oldest pup to survive. As Zox finished lining up the pups, he turned to Razer.
"You better do what you are supposed to. Alpha Atrocitus would honor me so for slaughtering a traitor." He growled. Razer snapped his jaws at the smaller wolf, causing him to scurry a little faster. Zox followed Atrocitus and the rest of the pack out of sight. They would journey to the next valley and the next in search for more recruits. Razer's task was simple. He was to break the dam and drown the pack and pups then catch up to the pack . It was his first real task as a Red Fang. All pack members had to do something of this kind. He had been trained, he could easily do this. He took a deep breath and raised his tail like a flag. His lips rose, exposing his vicious whites. He looked down over the small valley. When he broke the dam it would fill up like a bowl, drowning all of the pups and wolves. Those that lived he would kill with his teeth.
"Wolf-Dogs of Frontier Pack!" He roared. Below him the wolves looked up. "You have made a mistake and today you will receive the consequences."
"You monster!" One female shouted from below. Razer sneered down at her.
"You all are the monsters. You allowed Humans to dictate your lives…abominable." He answered. He turned to leave the dam and was stopped by a black wolf partnered with the darned brown and white mutt he had fought with the other day. "You!" He exclaimed.
"Who else would it be, Red Fang?" Hal mocked. Razer smirked and leapt off the dam, landing beside the one branch he knew would bring the end.
"You are too late, dog." He snarled and reared up, bringing his weight down heavily on the branch. It shifted and water began leaking through. All across the structure, Razer could hear the snaps and crackle of the now inevitable end. "Looks like I won't be catching up with them." He growled to himself.
"You beast!" A feminine voice snarled. Razer felt the teeth in his scruff above all. The force of the impact threw him on his side. It was the smaller female dog. She sank her teeth into his chest and ripped then leapt away. Razer regained his paws and shook the pain away.
"That the best you can do?" He laughed. More and more water was pouring through the defect dam. He looked to the tops and witnessed a small pup scrambling away from the edge. "I'm not afraid to die."
"Funny, me neither." The she-dog snapped and leapt in again. Razer reared up and met her with his own fangs. The two danced with their fangs and claws, ripping, slashing, pawing, biting. Razer finally threw her off balance and she tumbled to the ground. He fell to all fours and turned to finish her. A loud snap distracted him and he saw the black wolf trying to plug the hole the branch had made with his shoulder. He looked back and the female was up, running to help the black wolf. He followed, determined to finish his fight.
"Go!" The black wolf barked at Shiel. She ignored him and picked up a branch in her jaws and stabbed it into another hole in the wall. Razer paused to watch them. The black wolf moved from his position long enough to lightly bite Shiel on the hip. "I said go. You Green Fangs need to protect others." He growled. Shiel stayed for a moment, then nodded and fled. Razer lowered his head and snarled. The black wolf looked over at him.
"You here to finish me off?" He chuckled. Razer let his growl fade away. "I don't think you will. You aren't all bad, are you?" He grunted. Razer looked at his paws, his rage fading to guilt. "Go." The black wolf whispered. Razer gritted his teeth and turned. He was a dozen yards from the treeline when the dam gave way. He turned and saw the water and wood rushing toward him. He closed his eyes and only vaguely felt the impact of the branch that knocked him out.