“Wrangle them up!” A hiss of a voice boomed through the burning ashen fields as monstrous creatures chained up and lead by armoured humans pushed through the battle, using Lycans to tire and capture others.

Hovering with shadowy red tendrils trailing out of his long white coat, a pale man barked out orders to the army as beyond the rebels made their retreat, left no choice but to abandon their comrades.

The blood lord chuckled at the sight, watching with great amusement as the rebels reformed their ranks at the forest’s edge. The first clash having gone entirely in their favour, seeing the blood lust in their eyes he knew this next one would choose a victor.

“Take formation you imbeciles!” He shouted, flicking his perfectly silver long hair aside, “Beastmen to the front, stack those bodies for me well! I want a nice and gapless wall of meatshields! Or you’ll join them at the front!” He bellowed with a chilling hiss.

Pausing to sigh, he glanced up at the moon above, just one night off being full. “And they thought we’d wait for the morrow.” Chuckling to himself once again, he lowered his gaze to the forest before glancing back behind him. Where a large armada marched out from many paths taking through the hill lands, forming and preparing.

“Master Celis, this is not their full force.” Said one of three brown cloaked beings following closely beneath him.

“Hah, of course not. This is why those bastards sent my precious ass forward, to clean them up before the rest arrive!” Celis glowed with annoyance, “I get the first taste…Bah! I’m not putting their filthy blood anywhere near my fangs!”

“We wouldn’t expect such, sir.” Another mused.

“Ah look master, the dogs are making a counter attack.” Then pointed out the first.

“My my, that they are Vincent.” Celis added with a chuckle, “It is positively adorable, is it not James, Oberon?”

“Yes sir, very much so.” James obliged and Oberon quietly nodded.

Beyond the Vampire’s line formation, Lycans charged forth ferociously followed by a rain of arrows.

The projectiles though fell uselessly as wide shields were raised, a completely ineffective barrage followed by the clashing of free Lycans with chained ones. Giving way then to a massacre as the halberdiers and spearmen butchered their way forward, rebel or not, any Lycan caught in their path were cut down.

“Hold, hold.” Celis ordered with a wave of his long-nailed hand. “The muddy land ahead is terribly going to put as at a disadvantage with my men’s heavy armour Vincent.”

“Shall I release the cousins, master?” Vincent asked.

“No, no, they have too many bowmen-Eh-bow women and offsprings…” Celis grumbled, seeing the less physically able hiding at the forest’s edge and beyond a river of mud.

“Very wise sir,” James mused, “Perhaps we hold entirely and await the march?”

Celis hummed, deep in thought as he scanned his three hundred soldiers facing off the fifty or so archers remaining. “Bow and arrow are too dangerously an effective weapon to be left alone when defenceless-” He began to lecture but paused as the numbers suddenly changed.

Out of the forest ahead came hundreds of vicious looking men and women, armed and many armoured, the rebel’s main force had arrived.

Celis clicked his tongue in annoyance, “Full hold!” He bellowed to his men, spearmen setting up defensive lines with the beastmen who’s chained Lycans relaxed like trained dogs told to sit. Behind them archers pushed forth replacing the halberdiers who moved back.

“Await the march we shall…” Celis growled, turning back once more to watch the armada approach, thousands of soldiers horse mounted surrounding large furry elephants with two sets of tusks. Both the horses and the elephants were armoured, the elephants then heaving large constructs on their sides like sacks where within lay a dozen ballistae at the ready alongside many more archers.

Behind all of those came dozens more carts and wagons, pushing large cages filled with silent and anxious Lycans.

“Ah, they’ve had days to prepare and all they could muster is a silly bit of mud.” Celis mused, returning his gaze to the forest where the free Lycan forces bellowed and cried out hungrily.

Amongst them, an imposing figure stood out as he pushed through.

Massive even by comparison to his kin, the pale white furred Lycan loomed two heads over them all. Bright blood red eyes meeting Celis’s gaze. “Rabeye.” The Bloodlord mused, “Draar Rabeye.”

Draar growled his men aside, making his way to the front and beyond, stepping several steps into the muddy river.

Arrows flew from the vampire’s side, the furthest just barely reaching his feet.

Scowling at first, Draar then laughed, gesturing back at a young Lycan who rushed to his side. A young lanky boy with a scraggly fox tail and ears. Draar kneeled next to the boy as he trudged to come by Draar’s side. Anxious, the boy came to a stop as Draar laid his massive palm upon his shoulder.

“Look boy, what do you see?” Draar asked.

“T-The enemy, sir.” The boy answered.

“Enemy?” Draar mused, “No, no I see chained puppy-dogs and pansy ass bitches holding it for them.” Draar growled, “Barely men, they hide behind their dogs who long gave up on pride. Little snivelling shits who cower under their suits of metal and shiny ornaments. Mere slaves for fornication for the true enemy.” Draar raised his other hand, pointing his large finger directly at Celis. “There, do you see it boy?”

“The f-floating man?” The boy asked.

“Yes, yes. The floating bitch. You see it? The overgrown rat who lost his wings and tail, instead devolving into a lust for blood and an insatiable greed.” Draar explained calmly, much to his men’s amusement. “Go on pup, what do we do when we see a rat?”

“S-Scare it off?” The boy guessed.

“Yes, cause all life is worth it. Even shitty rats.” Draar nodded, tapping the boy’s back and pushing him a step forward.

Silence filled the fields before suddenly…the boy began to howl and yip. Growling all the while, the little Lycan stood between two armies mocking the other.

Each on their side laughed, Draar bellowing with laughter himself, “Go on boy, you almost got that flying bastard cowerin! Just one more roar!” He encouraged.

Doubting his words, the boy returned to face the armada as it formed beyond.

“Give it to them good, one big ole roar straight from the belly!” Draar added, standing up then.

The boy took a deep breath inwards, nodding to himself as if ready to put his all into this one roar.

Taking another step forth, the boy once more yipped like a pup as arrows flew once again as he had moved closer.

Suddenly a chilling unified bellow came from behind him, making the boy hop in place from surprise, as Draar stepped forth crushing two arrows mid-flight with his bare hands that had been soaring towards the boy. It was a cry which sent many a man beyond the mud river stumbling back, literally shaking in their boots.

Pushing the boy back, Draar growled forth. “Look at them, brothers and sisters! They fear us and always have! Humans and Bats alike they tremble at the thought of us united!” To his words each Lycan behind him bashed their weapons into their shields or armour, creating a rough drumming.

“They see us as mere animals, yet we are more! We are beasts! And beasts yearn to be free! They believe we will lay down take their treats and obey, but will we?” Draar growled, not at his own men now but ahead, at the chained up Lycans. “You too, are my brother, my sister. Why do you not resist? Are you afraid? Are you tired?... Are you alone!?” Draar bellowed and his men roared with him.

“You are not alone!” He called out, “We are afraid! We are tired! And we, are ready to lay down are damned lives to finally get a good night’s fucking rest with bat limbs scattered about our beds! Rise, my brethren. Rattle your chains, shake your cages and break your bonds! Create them anew once free!”

Growling now, Draar turned back, giving them his. “You now say to yourselves…How can we win? We are little…they are oh so many…How can we fight? We will surely…die.” Kneeling down, he picked up a large rock before standing back up and throwing it with all his strength.

The boulder trailed mud as it soared, crashing down into more before tumbling for a few feet, almost reaching the enemy as they had rushed to step aside even as it rolled.

All but the beastmen, as they the unmoving chained Lycans held them from retreating.

“Look behind you,” Draar said, “See how they cower.” He told them, and many did, fierce eyes turning to stare at the anxious humans who held their chains. “Look into their eyes and tell me they’ll put up a damn fight if you turn. Tell me they won’t let go of your chains. Tell me they’ll hold on tight as you gnaw their bones right out of their fucking flesh!” Draar roared and even the caged up Lycans at the back of the vampiric armada now roused.

A hiss and a sigh beckoned from amongst the new enemy numbers, as a different Blood Lord appeared out of a cloud of red.

The sound of choking filled the fields as crimson dust engulfed each and every chained Lycan the beastmen held. Each fell, limp and dead into the mud. “Oh, well done, you’ve made our dogs unusable. No matter, we still outnumber you ten to one.” The pale pink-haired woman said with a cold giggle.

Draar scowled, raw ferocity filling his gaze as he watched them all fall. “Let us free them, my kin…Cut down the foe and free our brethren so that they may join us in this revolution!”

“I do wonder, how might you believe that to be even possible?” Asked a third Blood lord, a very young looking female with long blonde hair.

“Perhaps they believe they’ll pierce through…all of this? Like an arrow through tree bark!” Celis added with great amusement, hovering over to join his brethren at the front of their army.

Silence followed, confusing Celis as Draar glanced back at his men. A long pause only broken by Draar as he grunted his rebels forth. “Yes, exactly right bat.” Suddenly his fur stood on end as a bloody aura engulfed his body, appearing like a vicious monster so much more horrendous than before. “We’ll cut right through you like a dead tree’s bark.”

Draar howled and the rebels charged, those who weren’t already morphed changed through lycanthropy and rushed into the river. Draar lead the assault, unsheathing two broad blades from his sides all too large for a single human to even wield one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhodP5OKugI

“Forward!” Celis bellowed as the unexpected speedy charge brought the Lycans all too close to their front line, archers rushing back having only had time to release half a barrage as halberdiers scurried to replace them.

“Throw!” Draar roared out, the charge sliding to a stop as the line of Lycans behind his continued on a few steps, releasing a barrage of javelins into the beastless beastmen who unsheathed their swords, and unprepared halberdiers racing to take formation.

Monstrous in size, the javelins were more like ballista bolts as they impaled a man through before diving into the ground or yet another man behind him.

Confusion and horror filled the soldiers amongst the impaled as they watched their comrades run through like soon-to-be barbeque, unpreparing them for the continued charge, the river of mud barely foot high for the goliaths that were Lycans of the larger class.

Mostly unarmed, they rushed in on all fours, relentless and with nothing holding them back they crashed into soldiers giving them big air and soaring aside. Metal rattled as man was thrown at man or bashed about like an oversized limp club. The halberdiers retaliated, having lost several lines of formation before it had even formed, their longer range held the Lycans at bay…

Until the next volley of javelins came, the powerful throws piercing metal plate with ease, giving way for the smaller armoured Lycans to clash with the enemy.

Lines of soldiers were rushed from the sides of the army to form up behind the main clash, whilst some were sent to surround and encircle the rebels, the vampires having more than enough troops to do so yet…

The slow-moving horsemen were too easy to pick off as they trudged through the muddy river, Lycan archers taking out any that tried to cross within their range. And those that forced their horse to rush…slipped and collapsed into the mud, now sitting ducks awaiting the wolf’s maw.

Steadily the rebel forces pushed through the vampires’ soldiers, albeit many many more awaited ahead.

Then, the Blood Lords joined the brawl.

Clouds of crimson befell the rebels, cutting air from reaching their mouths much less lungs.

Spiralling blades of blood flew down from the sky, where Celis formed and sent them raining upon them.

The third stood back, watching with cold eyes, she moved the troops about with her loud attendants who barked out her orders down the lines.

“Dog, kneel and I might take only a few limbs away!” The other Blood Lord hissed as she appeared before Draar, throwing aside two other Lycans as hundreds of thousands of tiny drops of blood formed clouds about her which she controlled at will.

Growling, Draar turned to the vampire. “Your head.” He said, throwing his swords aside and suddenly growing all too long blood red claws. “Give it here bitch.” His imposing lycan form looming way above her.

But both paused, as the sound of a scuffle came from…behind the vampiric lines.

The young vampire turned to it, her eyes suddenly widened as she smiled unnaturally. "Ah, finally. He's here."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcsGY8tDVPY

“We’re late to the party it seems boss.” Rain mused as he skulked low, glancing out from in-between the vines which riddled the trees surrounding the mountain’s foot.

Kailu stepped forth, pushing the vines aside he glanced over the dozens of stopped cage-wagons. “A man I knew once said, a warrior is never late, there’s always fighting to be done.” He mused, before glancing back at the many grinning faces staring at him from behind Rain. “I’ll say, a killer is never late, there’s too many alive and undead bastards to do in.”