The Rejected Warrior and the Huntress

Derek West stood on the front lines of the massive battlefield, as more Wolves than could be counted arrayed themselves around the last Lycan Castle, and its defenders. The catapults had been launching projectiles at the Keep for a full day and night as he could see the sun was about to begin rising at his back. He and his men knew it would be atleast one more day before the order came, and they would wait to charge until the sun was positioned perfectly to cover thier approach. It was clear in his mind what was going to happen, so long as his superiors in the hierarchy stuck to the plan and Nick it up like they had last time. He could already see an entire platoon out of position, and he knew General Hargad had abandoned the plan once again as he and his men charged at the wall nearly silent just before the sun was in position. Derek watched as they rounded the corner just 10 seconds early, and the alert went out immediately. The horror didn't set in until the saw the shadow descending on the charging wolves, and they realized it was arrows so thick it would literally shade the area under where it would land. 10,000 Wolves fell in a single volley of arrows, as the sun rose on the second day. Derek shook his head as he saw how pointless the attack the next day would be, especially as even if they timed it perfectly they could never move enough men to make a difference within the perimeter before the sun moved angles as it rose and revealed the charging men. They had just watched as 10,000 if their brethren were cut down in a single volley with the amount of men in that keep. Even with the continued bombardment they were no closer to ending anything than they had been 5 years ago. He remembered the first attacks, and how they had managed to overpower a dozen Packs within a week if the war beginning. He never realized how easy they had it until they found the next Pack was protected by a pair of Lycan Mates. This time he knew there were atleast 6 Mared Pairs inside, and more likely several dozen Mated Pairs. It was unknown how many of the King's Mistresses had been rescued from the Palace and made the treacherous journey to this last bastion if Hooe for them. They were unaware however time favored the Wolves, as the Kings Fleet had been utterly destroyed just the day before and neither side knew it yet. "Launch the flamers." Derek ordered his crews. It was a new weapon design that looked like a catapult at first, but was vastly different in how it fired. It had triple the range of catapults, and if they could get a volley of flames into the districts made of wood instead of stone, he knew it would cause far more damage. He watched as they loaded one, and at first the troops that could see watched as it easily cleared the outer wall, and had enough height to go over the inner wall into the crowded shop disctrict. This one was made of wood, and was far more vulnerable to fire as the bag revealed it was no boulder, showering the area below it in hot oil that was easily ignited by the rays of the rising sun even. Dozens of them exploded all over the city, and for a minute it looked like nothing had happened. The first bells however told a different story as he instructed them to load it with actual ammunition now, amd see how much further in they could hurl a boulder to destroy the armaments. They watched as they kept firing the rest of the day, the fire spreading through the city more rapidly they they could have ever predicted. More than half the city burned within a few hours, as the Alliance Army began advancing its catapults unchallenged. When the sun rose the next morning, the Warriors of the Alliance were at the base of the walls, climbing as quietly as they could as they began firing shells at the catapults behind them that were still firing with regularity. The Keep however had been hammered hard, as the fire had burned through the rest of the ring right up to the Palace Gates until the early hours of the morning. It was eerily quiet as the Wolves kept climbing the towers beside the gates, the surprise covering their being seen while climbing from the other tower. It was the one weakness they had detected, and two squadrons were climbing it with the gear they needed now. Derek watched as the men made it over the rampart, and suddenly 3 bodies from each one were being thrown over as the gates opened for them easily. Most of the Wolves were still asleep as the army quietly moved through, most of them having battled the fire all night just to deal with a Dawn attack. Truth was, had the fire not spread as rapidly as it did, they would have fired more volleys of the flamers into the city. One way or another it had been doomed to burn last night, the speed with which it had though ensured a fair number of innocent people burned along with it. The reason it had though cleared as they made thier way into the city, and the outer walls were linked to the inner via woodworks that over years had become impregnated with gun powder. The grains of powder crushed into the grain of the wood beneath them, just enough so that a strong enough flame would send every timber alight. It is what the flamers had done on the inner wall and the wood structures, the stench of death as the wind shifted evident as they saw the bodies that had become overwhelmed by the fast moving fire. The biggest surprise however was when they encountered the Lycans and Wolves who had called this area of the city home, as they attacked the invading army with anything they had. ImThe forced the Army to cut down even the women and children or face being overrun because of the sheer amount of death and destruction thier onvention had caused. The explosions had been centered around the safe rooms, as they had planned on securing those the most, which had in turn made a lot of them Rogue as they felt the deaths of thier Mates and Families. By the time they had even made it to the inner wall, they knew what they had done had gutted the entire Lycan Alliance. Not one of the had remained sane through the inferno the evening before, and not one of them was standing when the Army finally made it to the Keep to confront the Lycan King. He was not going to make it easy for them however, as the last battalion of the Lycan Army stood in thier way, and the battle between them left the place stained red as the bodies piled high near the entrance of the Keep. Thousands of men paid the price for this mistake, as they learned all actions had co sequences. Killing so many by burning the city, had many more consequences than they would ever suspect. Every hallway was lined with warriors waiting for thier chance st the enemy they knew was coming, and knew they had no true hope of defeating. The most the Lycans could do would be to kill another one or two of them men who had come to liberate thier own people from a King who had proven time and again he would do the same things to them. In fact it would be several days before they learned of the last act of the King, and the dozen Packs that had been decimated by them as they became Rogue Lycans headed for the interior of the country and the Rogue Forest. One of those Packs being the Strong Claw Pack that Derek West belonged too, and would soon be the lone survivor of. Derek West was closing in on thier final target, his sword and armor dripping with blood from the hundreds he had been forced to kill this day, as he fought his way through the Warriors who never stood a chance against him. He was one of the 5 Generals that lead the Army of the Alliance, and thousands of men answered his call when he made it. His entrance into the Throne Room left him stunned at the change that happened over the last few days. It was usually pristine in here, but it was clear that something had happened as the growl erupted from the Throne. The King was holding the body of a woman, and it was clear to them she was killed in the fire. The attack however was the most brutal thing he had ever witnessed, as he realized the Lycan King had lost his Mate in the fires the night before. Derek never knew how long he spent in the Throne Room engaging the beast who had been left as King, but by the time the other 4 who were supposed to be converge on the Throne did, Derek Dropped against the wall and slid down exhausted as he helm fell away as it had split in two. He watched as the other 4 began trading blows with him, thier fight just as ruthless as his while they danced around the Room using anything they could for even the smallest advantage. It was probably 20 minutes while he sat there before he could take off his badly damaged armor, leaving the heavy plates wherever they fell as he prepared to do something the Wolves knew was risky any way they looked at it. He shifted into his powerful Black Wolf, shaking out the influence of the Lycan King before timing his jump perfectly to land on his back, and close his powerful jaws around the nape of it as he began thrashing as well. The power of the Lycan had him bouncing around as his mouth filled with blood, making it even more difficult to hold on as he began using his claws to dig in and find purchase any way he could before he was grabbed and flung as two more of the Alpha m Wolves shifted in there as well. The other two had been killed in the recent fray, thier injuries so severe that even the one still breathing had no hope as they circled the beast again. It stumbled as it came at them this time, and they knew it had been injured in the last encounter as one of the daggers of Alpha Black was pulled from it stomach and dropped tonthe floor. Another from his side fell out as if pushed by his body as it tried to heal itself of the biggest wounds. The three wolves worked together, lunging in and taking chunks out of whatever they could reach before dancing back out of its range as they exhausted not only ir, but themselves as well. Derek saw his opening again, this time locking his claws into the healed back and shoulders of the great Lycan King as his jaw closed across the back of its neck, and the powerful jerk sent a resounding crack through the Throne room as the other two kept up the attack as well. Alpha Daimien had grabbed bold of it's right arm as he went running past, the momentum carrying the King around before a ripping sound was heard and he danced away holding the Arm of the King before Alpha Jackson did something very similar with the other while Derek held on for deer life as the King really thrashed around before he was able to initiate the final twist that would send this monster tumbling into oblivion as his head was severed from the rest of his body.