"How could they leave the campsite this empty?" muttered Leilani, looking around the deserted camp, before she turned into her eagle form and flew towards the sky in the direction of Kanat, only to witness the gruesome scene that stood outside of the unprotected city.
At least fifty of their Metamorphs were dead on the seemingly empty field.
Some of them had their legs ripped off, with their legs tens of feet away from the rest of their body.
Others were charred completely, a scene of complete agony in their faces.
And a few, who managed to turn and keep their beast forms, lay dead on the grass before the city, impaled by tens of arrows.
Eagles, Spirit Bears, Lions, Oxes, Cheetahs, Panthers, Vulpines, Direwolves, Hyenas, Sabertooths, Megaloceros, Rhinos.
All members of the twelve clans of Metamorphs stood dead in that field.
Leilani shrieked as she descended back towards the camp, her shriek a heartbroken cry, which all Metamorphs present understood.
"Fifty of our own are dead; where are the rest, Nataly?" Leilani questioned as she transformed into her human form mid-descent, falling to the ground.
"Into the Silver Gardens," Nataly replied without hesitation.
"Damn them all," Allegra sighed, hearing the death count. "Nataly, why did they attack Kanat? What did they go into the Gardens for, and why are you alone? And don't you dare tell me because they all left, we need explanations, right now."
"Y-yes, Chiefess," Nataly bowed, not sure how to address her cousin any longer, "It all happened like this."
"We are back!" Heru yelled as he, Melsa, and Iahmi stopped near the hearth of their campsite.
"Only the three of you?" Vifien asked as she stood on the legs of one of her husbands, "Where is the cold, angry bear?"
"Fuck her," Heru waved the question off, "She's gone mad."
"That's rich coming from one of her admirers," Vifien laughed, "I expected there was nothing she could say to you or that dumb cat over there that might get you two to leave her behind."
"Careful, cow," Iahmi muttered, enraged by the whole situation, "Or your husbands will become widows by nightfall."
"I like me a man who knows how to bark," Vifien bit her lip. "Since you two are now all for grabs, any of you interested in a wife?"
"All I am interested in now is to take that damn city," Heru muttered, a vein almost popping on his forehead, "I am retaking control of our army as its previous leader since Allegra is off to kill herself, and no new leader has been appointed. Any complaints?"
"None, from me," Melsa replied, raising her hands in the air.
"I need to kill something to cool down. I'm fine with you taking the lead, bird," Iahmi nodded.
"What are your orders then?" Vifien asked, turning towards Heru.
"We attack the city during the night," Heru replied, "Go tell everyone to pre-"
"Sorry," Nataly interrupted, "Our clan representative, Allegra, is off, as you say, to kill herself, but she is our appointed representative for the time being. We, the Spirit Bears, have received word not to act at any cost until she returns."
"Since when does a clan representative have a higher word than the leader of our army?" Heru asked, tightening his jaw.
"Well, she is the last officially appointed leader of our army," Nataly explained, "And since she is still alive, and no word from the chiefs or the High-Chief has arrived appointing anyone else, the situation does not cha-"
"Shut the fuck up, already," Iahmi muttered, slapping Nataly over her head, "Nobody has been appointed, but nobody is here to appoint either. If we take the city, it will not matter who broke the rule."
"Nataly," said Melsa, calmer than any of the two men she loved, "Allegra might have been fooled by the humans. Since she is nowhere to be seen or here to disagree with us, you are now the representative of the Spirit Bears until she either returns or word of her replacement comes from the chiefs."
"I don't understand," Nataly replied, unsure of how a member of the Cheetah Clan can just appoint another representative of another clan.
"And you don't need to," Heru sighed, "The Spirit Bears need a representative, and you have been made one just now. Congratulations, but now fuck off and fetch the rest."
Not able to understand what was happening, Nataly turned on her heels and gathered her clan members still alive near the hearth as the sun began to set, where Heru stood on the rock of the hearth to appear taller than all present.
"Welcome, everyone," he began, speaking loudly, "Allegra, our appointed leader, has chosen to initiate the Pagnum Sacra with the blessing of the Forest Mother against her own father for the position of Chiefess of the Spirit Bear Clan, meaning she will die."
Whispers began to swim throughout the Metamorphs present.
"As the former leader," he continued as the whispers died down, "I will be retaking control for the time being until the chiefs appoint another for us. However, before that happens, we will continue our attack on Kanat, with the first attempt taking place tonight after dusk."
"Wait," said the representative of the Megaloceros, a young woman in her early twenties, her one-foot-wide and sharp antlers made the ones behind her take a step back as she got to her feet, taller than almost everyone, "Me and the rest of my clan also disagreed with Allegra's choice, but you cannot just come in here after she left less than a day ago, and give orders as if you were not removed from that role after your failure."
"The noble clan of Megaloceros, and its beautiful daughter, Rina," Heru sighed, looking at the woman, "Between all that ego you wear as if it's armor, greed sometimes slips past. I did not know you were wishing for the position of leader as well, Rina."
"You dare talk about ego? Come down from that rock and talk like an equal with all of us before you mention my ego, bird, or I might just call a few humans to make you cry again," Rina giggled, her hazel eyes shining a light-blue in because of the sun.
"Will you lead then, Rina?" Vifien asked, "Or are you just complaining for the sake of it?"
Rina shook her head, "I do not plan to lead, but he is not fit to be a leader."
"I think otherwise," Vifien replied.
"A vote then," Melsa said out loud, "Rina or Heru."
"All twelve representatives are to vote on who their leader will be," Iahmi continued, "I choose Heru. I hate the feathered bastard, but he has the vision we all have, not like Allegra."
"I choose Heru as well," Melsa agreed.
"So do I," Vifien replied.
"The Spirit Bears refrain from voting," Nataly added flatly, unsure of what to make of the situation.
But all the other representatives voted for Heru.
"Ten for Heru, one for Rina, one refraining," Iahmi counted, "The twelve clans have made their choice quite obvious."
"We are to attack in two hours," Heru said, looking at the setting sun, "Prepare yourselves."
There was nothing Rina or Nataly, or the rest of the Spirit Bears could do as the charge into the darkness began. They had to be there.
Otherwise, they could have been executed for insubordination after the battle.
So they ran towards the field they barely saw, their hearts beating fast, as all around them people were slowly taking on their beast forms, just as the traps began to be set off.
The issue with attempting to attack Kanat in the dark was that they had to follow the sources of light from inside the city as guides instead of focusing on the ground in an attempt to notice the well-hidden traps, which, at night, were impossible to see.
Explosions sent people flying, even towers of flame devoured some unlucky few, before the whistle of a lone man inside the city came out while riding a horse towards them.
"Good evening, beast folk, or whatever you call that abomination of a body," said the man, who turned out to be a young boy, no older than twenty, "I wanted to have a chat for so long, but never got the opportunity. You speak our language, don't you?"
"Who are you?" Heru yelled from the field.
"The Lord of this Domain, who else? You do not even know that?" the man asked, disappointment in his voice.
"I ought to kill you where you stand," Heru hissed as he began turning into an eagle.
"Don't do that, you will die," the young man replied before clapping twice.
At that, from behind the first few lines of houses, heavily armored soldiers came out, pikes or bows in hand as they moved in front of the man.
"As you can see, no matter what freaky beast you become, you and all the rest will die if you choose not to answer my questions," the man replied, as two light artifacts activated behind the Metamorphs army, revealing everyone caught in the traps, "And also, I'm sorry to tell you, but you are surrounded.'
"What do you want?" Heru asked, frozen on the spot, like everyone else behind him.
"To tell me everything I want to know," the man shrugged at the stupid question, "However, you all stayed cooped in your spot like good little law-abiding citizens. It was hard to plan an attack, truly. But luckily, you have decided to finally make my day easier, haha. Now tell me, what gave you the reason to attack my Domain like I owed you money? Who sent you? Who are you people? And how many of you are still out there?"
But no answer came from the Metamorphs.
None of the seven hundred Metamorphs left uttered a single word.
"I see," the man nodded, "All of you are so young, I find it hard to believe you are the important lot, so I'll do myself a favor and capture you all right now and wait for the important ones to show up."
"You will die before you place a hand on us," Melsa yelled.
"Oh? A feisty one," the young man giggled, "Bowmen, kill some of them for fun."
And frozen in place as they were, the Metamorphs watched as some fled straight into traps that incinerated them on the spot or were killed by stray arrows.
"Now who kills who, hm?" the man asked, getting off his horse as some of the soldiers moved to the side to make way for his approach, "You lot have no say in this, so either you run away, try to escape the traps that surround you and get killed by me and my men, or come willingly to get captured and I promise you that when I receive all the information I need, you are free to fuck off from wherever you came from."
The man did not mind the whispers that were shared between the Metamorphs as he watched for ten whole minutes, unable to hear what was discussed.
But when all the Metamorphs turned towards the Silver Gardens in the distance and dashed towards them, trying to escape, he used his power, and a giant hand rose from the dirt the next moment, catching one of them in its grip.
It was a woman with white hair, frozen in horror as she looked between the giant hand swimming through the dirt toward the young man, or at the sight of her own people fleeing into the night, leaving her behind.
Many were caught in traps and died, while the rest vanished into the darkness.
"What is your name?" asked the man as the giant hand drew closer.
"Nataly," the woman replied, her gaze cold, but the sweat on her head telling another story.
"You are in luck, Nataly," the man smiled towards her, "While I go after your friends who left you behind to die, I have a job for you in exchange for your freedom. Go back to your camp, tell your leaders what has occurred and what will occur when I catch your friends, and tell them to come willingly for a chat, and I might return some of them alive. What do you think, hm?"
"I… I-uh, I like the sound of that," Nataly replied, happy to hear she was to be kept alive and freed.
"I like you, Nataly," the man smiled warmly as the hand began swimming away from him, "You know how to play the game. Hope you do not disappoint me."
"And then the hand brought me back near the camp, right there," Nataly pointed to the ground in front of them. "It returned into the dirt, leaving only that giant pile of dirt between the grass."
"By the fucking Vita…" muttered Leilani.
Allegra sighed as she looked towards the sky, happy for the coldness in her heart, which kept her sane during the story she had just heard over the span of two long hours.