The General was shook. He was standing only a few feet behind Ziu and watched the action going on. He cursed himself for the twentieth time that day for getting into this war that wasn't even his. It was between two species he wouldn't have considered until Dr. Tanaka had approached him. Shifting his focus back to the man in front of him, he thought if this man had gone mad? "We need to rethink our strategy," he replied with his lips trembling slightly because making a suggestion was dangerous in front of this madman.

Ziu turned sharply to look at him, "What do mean?" he asked in a low voice. "Do you doubt my plans?" He sounded so cocky and arrogant.

​​

The General started shaking. "No! I don't doubt your plans," the General stated quickly with his hands forward. "The thing is that the enemy is not as foolish as Niiya and Dr. Tanaka had pointed out." He dare not mention the name of the madman standing in front of him. "They obviously had it planned even though they didn't know about our plans."

Ziu's eyes bored into his as if trying to burn him with his stare.

The General had a fleet of twenty fighter jets at his disposal for the moment. Being the General of the Army he had access to more if need be but the thing was that he didn't want to take chances and destroy his jets that carried a huge price tag. He knew that the area shown to him on the map a few days back where he had to do the bombings was very small—not even equal to the size of a small town. So what was the point in sending all the fighter jets at one time? That field could be taken care of by two fighter planes only. But he wanted to first test the grounds of the battlefield because they were the wizards.

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Ziu, folding his hands across his chest trying to calm down.

"I think we should send two fighter planes loaded with bombs for now," came a quick suggestion. "That way we would test the opponent's strength."

Ziu stepped closer to the General. He was standing half a foot taller than him. He lowered his chin, looked directly in his eyes and said, "Who made you a General? Sending only two jets? The enemy would fry them within seconds. In case those jets are taken down, they would come to know about our next move and be more prepared." Ziu cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "Do you realize that?"

The General gulped saliva down his dry throat. His breathing became ragged. "I- it doesn't matter if they would be more prepared. I will have twenty more jets to send in the next line."

"Don't use your stupid brain in this war," warned Ziu. "The reason why I am here rather than being with my father is that humans need more guidance. With all the artillery you have, we can win easily if we are well coordinated."

"O- okay," replied the General meekly. No one had dared to belittle a General of the Army so blatantly. His ego and pride was hurt but he could do nothing about it.

"Send ten the fighter planes now!" commanded Ziu. He considered the General's point but didn't admit it.

"Okay," responded the General and hastily strode out of the room. Once outside, he wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead and wished the war to end soon.

---

Ziu's father was fuming with anger. Dmitri and Adrianna were too clever. They had moved members of all the packs under his nose and none of his people could even detect it. What would his son think of him?

His commander was standing in the chamber watching him pacing the room and pounding his fist on the table every now and then.

"My King, may I speak?" he asked slowly.

"What is it?" barked the King as he stopped and stared at his commander.

"The werewolves are mainly the creatures of land. They must be hiding somewhere in the forest only. How about we comb the forest? We will find them somewhere and considering our numbers, we will be able to do that fast."

The King's lips twitched. This sounded like a plan. He could actually unleash his entire army on the land to hunt the werewolves. Suddenly he remembered that a few days back some of the serpents had brought a few dead werewolves to feast. His face beamed with satisfaction and hope. "Where did you find those werewolves that were served as dinner?"

"We found them deep inside, on the west of the forest. There is a secluded community of werewolves that lives on that side," replied the commander. He knew what to do.

"Take some serpents with you and kill all of them," came a cold order.

"Yes, my King," came a soft reply.

"Once they are killed, I am sure the news will travel to wherever Dmitri is hiding and the werewolves will come out in retaliation."

"Yes."

"By that time, we should be able to close in on their hideouts."

The commander nodded.

"Drag each one out and kill them, butcher them. Leave their Alpha for me," hissed the King gritting his teeth.

"I will," said the commander and left. This was going to become entertaining.

---

Ten fighter planes took off one after the other and within a few minutes they were circling around the land that looked like moor to them from the outside. In the dark of the night, there were dark rolling hills and plains for as far as the eyes could see. The leader informed the General about their visuals.

"Just fly over the expanse," directed Ziu, "And drop bombs even if you don't see anything."

"Okay!" came the answer.

---

Inside the Wizard Kingdom, Adrianna was informed about the fighter jets. She just didn't want the humans to be hurt. She clenched her fists and hated Ziu for manipulating the humans to this extent.

Enya was sitting along with the rest of the team in the main hall. Adrianna looked at her. "Can you handle this?"

Enya interlocked her finger, cracked them and gave a lop-sided smile. "Would be more than happy," she said and rose from her place. She walked out of the palace followed in heels by Haldir.