City of IF

[Phang]

Many tribes. They have gathered, to try and stop me?

To stop me? Hah! I cannot be stopped!

The Mind will always live, regardless…

>*~@~*<

Winger and Fourteen had been marching in front of the army for hours now, and began to grow weary. Their wolf side meant they been going longer than any human, but now the army behind them slowed as they did.

Fourteen ordered them to continue on while he and Winger stepped aside with the chief scout. “We have marched many long hours. Why is the beast not here?”

“I have no idea, my elders. Please forgive us, but is as if the beast has – has retreated!”

“Damn it! It must be trying to tire us out before we reach it!” Fourteen kicked a stone into a tiny crack in the earth. “What do we do now?”

“We wait for it to come to us.” Winger suggested. “The only tribes not here are the Blood-Eyes, and they would fight it to the death and then rather jump the cliff than be enslaved by it. It needs to fight us.” Fourteen pondered this, looking up into the night sky with glittering eyes.

“The honour of such an act is to be disputed – yet it’s logic shows through.”

The chief scout nodded. “There is no strict way in that such tactics would be dishonourable – but you must act carefully.”

The march stopped, and the war became a wait.

*~*~*

“There is still no sign of the beast.”

“You have checked all sides?”

“Of course – it is no where to be seen.”

Winger sighed and glanced around at the wolf warriors around them. They seemed content enough, but how long before they returned to their abandoned villages, to be picked off on the journey by the creature? They had been ordered to keep awake for as long as possible in case it attacked – but sooner or later they would all have to sleep fully. And then…

“The Hand has us completely trapped. If we stay, it will keep us here until we either leave or continue the march. If we leave, it kills us all. If we continue, it will retreat until we are too tired to fight, then attack.”

“It is more intelligent than it seems – or perhaps it seems the Master does have his full brains behind this beast.” Both Fourteen and Winger looked at each other, then through the sharp spears of leaves to the sky above.

“We can’t stay here. We can’t leave. What do we do?” there was a rustle in the bushes and the glint of round blue eyes. Both half-humans grinned and Fourteen bellowed the order to attack, roaring to the misty clouds.

“The Master was always impatient.” They spoke together, before joining the flurry of wolves to pounce upon their one chance to kill this thing.

It being highly doubtful they would get a second.

*~*~*

The Hand stormed relentlessly through the bushes and trees, slashing at the gathered wolves with its curved talons. Many were split literally in two by such swipes, but there were always more wolves to jumps on to the beast and tear at its limbs, spitting in the ripped flesh and gnawing at the regrowing stumps. With every new group of wolves lunging themselves onto it, it slowed and staggered, and desperately began to lash at itself to get them off.

Stumbling over huge gashes in the ground, the beast made its way towards the worn metal gates of the Factory. Beyond were the dead lands of home. If it could just lead them there…

…It couldn’t. Faltering and stumbling, it collapsed onto the floor. Simply flattened out and withered away. The wolves backed away from it as it faded and shrunk until all that was left was a hand.

Damn. Misjudged its endurance.

The army cheered in celebration after the shock of victory, even the Dark-Eyes barking and howling. But Winger and Fourteen remained silent, staring towards the rusty gates, hanging open as if to beckon them in. They could almost hear the Master’s welcoming voice.


The two looked at each other, then back to the gates.

“It’s almost as if it was going to lead us all here…”

“If it had lasted long enough, it would have doomed us all.” The noise of the celebrations behind them faded into silence. The gates loomed high over them.

Winger looked over at Fourteen, who still stared at the worn old metal and the grey stone crags beyond. “Well?”

“What?”

“Do we go in or not?”

“We can’t let these animals face him. It’s not their problem – it’s ours.”

“What’s our problem? We’ve escaped. We’ve stopped him invading the forest. He’s powerless.”

Fourteen sighed, but said nothing. He continued to stare at the gates. Winger stared too, still pondering what to do.

[LordoftheNight]

Don't let the helpless animals fight alone - he may be able to overcome them, or subdue them and corrupt them into joining him. If so he'll just come back with even more power than before.

[Shady Stoat]

You've got to go in and finish this. Sure, he was trying to lure you in here, but lure you in disorganized and still fighting. Now you can regroup - with any wolves who still think of it as their problem (coz let's face it, the Master will try something similar again if he's left to it) and march into the lair together.

Let's hope he's underestimated the strength of his opponents :D

[Phang]

Ok, a last, late chance for any other replies!

[Ravagerrr]

F5 Stoat, regroup, then march into the lair to finish this. If the animals fought this far, they should be willing to complete the job lest they need to fight again, and lose more lives in the long run.

[Phang]

Hm'ok.

So I am right in thinking that everyone pretty much agrees on taking the war to the Master?

[Ravagerrr]

What else could we rationally do?

[Phang]

Ravagerrr wrote: What else could we rationally do?

Whatever you lot might have been implying in your posts, unbeknownst to me.