Were-snow leopards leapt down onto the Fieldon army, spilling red blood onto their nascent white fur. The opposition now held the frontlines of the narrow pass while causing heavy casualties in the backlines. The snow leopards cut through armor and bone with their rapidly developing strength.

However, as members of the Fieldon army endured non-fatal wounds, more and more of the Fieldon troops began taking their were-beast vials and mutated and cracked into were-bears. These were-bears fiercely grabbed shields and swords and chunks of armor that burst off their body during the mutation and formed a collected heap of armored and roused beasts. These were-bears charged the frontlines of the opposition.

The were-snow leopards in the center of the Fieldon army caught sight of the plan. The were-bears were the first to charge but as they ran up the narrow pass the snow leopards bolted behind and tackled the bears, grabbing feet and ankles and toppling and slowing the bears. Thus, the bears didn’t even reach the opposition.

Many Fieldon troops took up the charge from the rear anyway, meeting the opposition with a clash as loud as clans screaming. Many of Fieldon’s troops took heavy damage from the initial charge alone; although, as long as a soldier was able to stay alive long enough to take his were-beast vial, he was able to regenerate and fight. Of course, this tactic worked for both sides.

Rabbit wanted the army to fall back. The screams of pain grated against his ears and he wished that nobody had to fight. As he winced, he noticed the eagerness of the Fieldon army. Even though they were bloodied they continued to push forward and fight, some would even take their were-beast vial and push forward of their own will. Rabbit wondered if this eagerness to take the vial was because the troops thought there would be a cure eventually.

Rabbit had no intention of charging like the army and looked to his red-caped guard to see if watching the fight was okay. The guard remained stoic, if anything he watched with too much indifference. Rabbit now decided that the helm which the guard wore inspired fear. It was a full-faced helm with teeth that drooped down to the neck and many small holes to see through. Rabbit immediately brought his attention back to the battle of the mountain pass.

A small victory on Fieldon’s side too place. As the next wave of were-bears, with their shields raised, charged into the opposition the soldiers holding the frontlines fell back a step under the great weight of the were-bears.

We can do this, Rabbit thought, but then Rabbit got incredibly disappointed. The entire journey he had dreamt of being the hero and fighting swiftly alongside an army soldiers who had his back. Now he sat back and watched, smelling the blood of soldiers in the air instead. I’m unneeded, Rabbit thought, I’m not the champion of the war, nor will I be the general or the grand strategist, nor am I any help at all.

The sun was beginning to set and Rabbit had to take a few steps forward as he risked falling too far behind in the combat. The fighting never stopped. When night took over the were-bears would have the strength to continue fighting like they had a boosted sense of wakefulness. Oddly, Rabbit hadn’t thought that the people of Fieldon were this violent. The people he had met at the church didn’t seem to want to fight wars. Rabbit inched closer to the combat to hear the battle cries of the armies. Neither of the armies spoke in the dialect that Rabbit knew.

Rabbit flung his head around at the sound of another troop charging from the rear, reinforcements for the Fieldon army. A quizzical look passed from Rabbit to the red-guard. Rabbit realized that these were the reinforcements meant to win the battle.

The troop rushed by screaming their battle cry, a word which Rabbit didn’t understand, “Zugzwang!” The word shouted by a thousand voices pierced the sky and the charging troop reinforced the Fieldon army under a full moon.

This push was enough to allow the Fieldon through the mountain pass. The exhausted opposition couldn’t stand to the weight of the were-bears that continued to surge.

Rabbit watched the slaughter of an army that day. He stepped over bodies and hacked off limbs to reach the opposite side of the pass where many more were chased down and killed in the open bedrock area. Rabbit took one last look back.

On the top of the mountain a snow-leopard stood, staring down directly at Rabbit and his steady moving companion who didn’t look back. That snow-leopard snuck ducked back into the mountain peak before anyone else could see him.