Fluffy POV -

A loud whine echoed through the Den, and I flinched inwardly while looking at my Eldest Son. He was badly wounded, and those of my kind that were versed in healing were attempting to staunch the Blood Loss and pack the wound with the required herbs to stimulate healing. I knew little of these matters, but seeing my Son in such pain, blood covering his beautiful blue fur...I knew what being helpless truly was in that moment.

My second oldest, a female, was lying down with her head beside his and gently she used her own snout to stroke his to try and soothe his fear and pain. I knew she was communing what only siblings who grew up together could, and I as their Father was out of the loop.

My youngest, and the last of my variant to be born was sitting beside me, her anger at seeing her big brother harmed so badly was so palpable that you could bite into it. Youth, it led to rashness. She also loved her big Brother greatly. I would have to ensure she did not rush out to try for vengeance when she was not ready.

She was half the size of her siblings, and still but a juvenile in terms of our kind. She was not ready for hunting, let alone the massacres that were happening within my territory between the Dark Ones, and the other Packs.

We had managed to staunch the tide of these beasts, and their ferocious and savage assault. It had cost my people greatly in that first week though. Hundreds fell to the Savagery that had been only known to us. Now we faced it, in a far more deadly form, in the glowing red eyes of the Dark Ones.

The main reason we have proved able to staunch the flow was strategy, methods above and beyond the base instincts of our Species. Methods they did not possess, or at least have not shown the capacity to possess.

I nudged my youngest gently with my right snout and gently bit the tip of her ear, it had a small blue spot, whereas the other was all black. I always found it adorable that one of my offspring had that unique coloration.

She turned to look at me, I could still see the fire burning in her eyes. I consoled her as best as I could. “Shura, you are not ready for war. I will not permit it.” (A.N speaking in their animal language. I.E sounds and body language.)

I heard the beginning of a growl in her tiny, thin, chest and sighed. She was like my last mate, her Mother, so strong willed and filled with fire. An aspect that drew me to her, and was now the utter bane of my existence as well as the bane of her elder Siblings. Always sneaking off to join hunts as a child. No doubt Mother’s influence had something to do with that aspect as well.

I sighed, thinking of Mother. I had not felt her presence in a while now. Personally, while I felt she would be able to help us, I did not wish her to see the state of my people. I did not wish to feel the sadness I knew would well up from within when she bore witness to the destruction that had befallen my Lands.

I looked to my fire filled Daughter, and touched one of my noses gently to hers. She growled quietly, angry at me for denying her the right to fight with the rest of the Packs. She did not understand my worry, she only saw others her age going to war and she being denied the same right. She did not see those youths had been tested already in the Hunts, or through a horrible accident where a smaller Pack had been attacked and forced them to fight for their lives.

“Father, I wish to fight!” She finally said. It was the same thing, every time. She never changed her request. It was either this one request, or silence. I loved my Daughter, I loved each of my children, those that remained alive. But it was slowly trying my patience.

“No! That is final Shura! You will not go to War!” I snapped, growling at her in my anger. She did not balk like others, instead she glared at me and then went to be with her sister, taking the spot on the other side to lay her snout beside her Brothers.

I sighed, dejected, I had snapped without meaning to do so. I could not allow it to bother me, though it did. My Pups, no matter the age. The Oldest, well into his Prime, and his sister the same. They would always be the scampering, mischievous pups they had been in my eyes, as would their youngest Sister.

I watched them all, wishing I could hide them from the Carnage, knowing I could not. The fighting grew worse by the day, and it would only get worse before it ever got better. I sighed, turning from the sight of my Children, my Eldest sleeping peacefully now that the herbs were working.

I nearly ran into one of my Pack Leaders, a scarred old Orthos. I did not particularly enjoy this Orthos, because he felt the Orthos were the strongest, and my Children each being Darkhounds made them Lesser than the rest of us. I gnashed my fangs at him, a warning.

“I am sorry for your Offspring, Mighty One, but we have matters that require the Pack Leaders to assemble.” was his only response. He remembered the reason he had one of those old scars, just above his eye. I had given it to him when he suggested I cull any Offspring that were not Orthos from the Packs, starting with my Children. He never brought it up again.

I followed him to the central chamber of this Den, my Home Den. It housed the Crystal that allowed us the defences we had, and was the single reason we remained alive today. I had channeled the Magics within to help strengthen the Den Defences for each Pack. Though it matters little against the seemingly unending Horde of Dark Ones that assaulted each pack.

Some had been cut off, and surrounded. No way to hunt, not way to survive or hope for reinforcements. I feared for those Packs, but could do nothing. I felt, within my heart, I would need to kill their leader. The massive three headed one somehow. But his strength was truly great, and none have been able to survive.

None aside from my Son, and even he was still not assured to live. Something in the beasts saliva that acted as a powerful poison. Not unlike my own poisonous fog, though it seemed far more persistent than my own.

Each of the Pack Leaders that were able to leave their Dens and bring their Packs to my Home Den were present. A total of Five Pack Leaders, my two Eldest Children aside. At most a thousand more warriors to fight to the death. A death I feared we were steadily running toward.

The battle Scarred Orthos from earlier struck his large paw onto a stone, the sound resounding within the Chamber, calling the other Pack Leaders to attention. I may not like the Curr, but he was a strong Pack Leader. The other respected him greatly, even with his bigotry.

“The War Council comes to Order, The Mighty One has the floor.” he intoned, and the rest turned their eyes toward me. A few Orthos, one Hellhound, and a Dark Hound were the known surviving Pack Leaders.

I went into the center, beside the Orb that seemed to pulse and swirl with the Magics contained within. “We are cornered, we have been driven back yet held our ground. We have given blood and taken blood. Our Lands are littered with the corpses of the fallen, our own and the Dark Ones. They appear endless, and we dwindle by the day. Our only hope is to take out the Three Headed One. What do the Packs say?”

Each Pack Leader had their turn to speak, and it began with the Scarred one, Furra. Like his old scars suggested, he was for a frontal all out assault.

“We must charge forth, show the Dark Ones that we are the stronger! We must make them pay for the lives of our Cubs, our fallen Packs, the countless that fell in the first weeks as we struggled to gain a foothold and stem the tide!”

The Packs themselves were assembled around us while we discussed, and his present Pack howled in support of their Pack leader. I understood it, his Pack had been the first struck, and they had lost much. Their Cubs, and Mates to heavy with child to flee. They had saved only a few, and paid a heavy price for those few. Each of the Cubs that survived were now closely guarded treasures within their pack, and they had savagely protected them from all threats.

The second to speak was another Orthos, though his Pack was situated far enough behind the lines of battle they had been hit the least and that allowed them to contribute more Warriors to the fight now as a result. I believe his name was Deshra, although I could not truly remember. I knew his Mother, that is all I could say.

“Furra, I know that you wish to kill them in a frontal assault with no added plans, but that would be foolhardy. They out number us far too much for that. I advise we lure the majority of their forces in with a small force led by either the Mighty One (A.N No one will ever know his real name but me mwuahahaha.), or another Pack Leader that they would key on. Then we swoop in from the side and use a shock method to cut them down.”

Then came the Dark Hounds, they co-ruled two Packs of decent size and said much the same as Deshra. Furra was beginning to grow angry. He was growling, as was his Pack. The last thing we needed was a bloodbath within this chamber between my people.

It was the Hellhound, oddly enough, that defused the tension. She was a small member of the breed, though extremely cunning. Fang, I believe was her name.

“Why not use both?” her question cut through the growing snarls, only to have every eye within the chamber, my own included, resting squarely upon her. I saw her fidget under the weight, disliking it. But she continued.

“Have a small force of our Strongest from each surviving Pack led by the Mighty One charge out, hit them in a frontal assault only to retreat carefully into a well laid trap at the gorge that separates the main battle lines. My Pack, while small, can easily ensure boulders be placed up top to be rained down upon the masses. We would have done it sooner, but the beast that leads them never enters the gourge itself. We never had the bait. But I believe he will enter for you, Mighty One. He always appears in the field when you show yourself. It is a risk with your life, but it may work.”

The plan had merits, of course, but there were flaws all over with it. What if they did not chase us? They never entered it, and fought us at the edges atop the gorge more often than not. But she was also right, the Three Headed Beast seemed to actively hunt either myself, or my Children.

I bared my fangs knowing my Son lay not twenty feet from me in the healing Chambers. I growled low, remembering his blood stained fur, and body before nodding my head. When I looked at the little Hellhound I saw her tail between her legs, and she was on her back. I realized I’d bared my fangs, in both heads, at her and had been growling.

I sighed, shaking the hatred. Mother would not approve, I must remain calm. The War was getting to me, the helplessness as my Packs died in the dozens every day the Dark Ones lived. But I should not have expressed it, no good Pack Leader did this to one weaker than themselves.

I nuzzled the little female's stomach, calming her down and having her continue. We spoke for another hour or so. Fine tuning the plan, and trying to account for anything unforeseen, including the enemy using plans of their own, rather than the sheer weight of numbers.

A possibility I hoped did not occur, personally. They were difficult enough without them having the capacity to make plans. It came down to us deciding that I would be in the Pack, though Furra threw a small fit when he learned I had no intention of including him in the plan.

I had finally had to give in, and he and the rest of his Pack were to be my force. A full one hundred and fifty Orthos, and myself with Furra would charge into the massed Packs of the Dark Ones, and retreat slowly to the Gorge, trying to make them feel we were fleeing, rather than tactically retreating. We knew countless would die in our force. Each was willing to pay the price, for our Cubs, and Pregnant females.

When the planning finally came to a close, I dismissed the War Council, and had them begin doing what they would need to do with each of their Packs. I would spend the rest of the night with my Injured Son, and Daughters. When I arrived, I saw my Eldest had his eyes open, they were dim, but I could hear his heartbeat. So much stronger than earlier, it gave me hope.

But seeing my Child lying there, so injured and in pain...I could not stop the few tears that began to leak from my eyes. I went to him, not noticing anything else and ruffled the fur between his ears with on of my snouts, ever so gently. I did not want to add pressure. I should also mention ear, he had lost the other in his fight.

“My strong Warrior, you should have fled as I instructed. Why? Why did you fight the Beast alone?” I asked softly, my eyes shut. I did not expect an answer, he was still weak. Nor did I truly want one.

“I...Wanted to show that *wheezing soft cough* we were not...afraid.” came his soft, oh so soft and weak sounding voice. I ran my head gently along his snout, to just below his single ear and called him a moron. He was my Child, I would avenge this, but at least for now he lived.

I looked to see his Sister sleeping not far off, her back to the Entrance of the chamber, guarding her big Brother. It made me smile, and then I noticed the missing Sibling. I frowned, and looked through the Chamber trying to find the blue tuft ear. She wasn’t here, I felt a Panic start to bubble within me. I told my Son to rest, and rushed out of the Chamber, and the Den itself toward the walls I had erected and enforced to a ridiculous degree.

“Where is Shura!?” I shouted at the first guard. He jumped, snarling in surprise before noticing me. He looked worried, but responded as best he could.

“She...said you allowed her to join the hunting Party..” I bared my fangs and lashed both my heads out at the Guard, stopping just short of his throat, letting my fangs clash together on air.

My world had just fallen apart, my Youngest had left the walls against my Orders, and I could not go after her. None of us could, I was so angry, at the guard, at the Dark Ones, but more than that, at myself for failing to know my Daughter enough to have someone sit on her!

I stared at the wall, imagining I could see through it, and the images I saw were ones of dark disparity. My Daughter mauled by the Dark Ones, her blood soaked corpse nothing but carrion for the crows, or worse still, her being devoured by them, or forced to Mate as they had done to a few.

I stared at that wall, and saw only evil. Yet I could do nothing to go out and stop it, my paws were tied, no one was ready for the plan to begin yet. It was the worse case scenario, I had to weigh the life of my Youngest child against the lives of all the Packs and Hounds under my Rule, and Protection.

Worst of all, I knew the one that won, and still I did nothing for Duty bound me tighter than my love for my Child, and for the first time in so very long..I raised my heads toward the sky and the Moon above, the image I began to associate with Mother, and howled my Despair and sadness toward her, like a child, I begged for Mother to come and aid me, to give me strength, to save me and my Children, my people. I howled the song of the dead, and the dying toward her. Hoping beyond hope Mother would answer.