The Bounty Catching, Freedom Dreaming, Winged Wolf Phenomenon
Chapter 9
~{WWP}~
Red. That was all I could see at that time in the death room. The last thing I consciously remember doing was smashing my shoulder into one of the diamond dogs in front of me going just below Rainboom speeds. Then I just gave into my anger and let it do the rest, tinting the remaining of the dogs in a red haze.
By the time my anger had subsided to a reasonable level, I could still only see red. But unlike previously, it was because of all the blood splattered across the room. The only evidence that there were diamond dogs in this room with were the tattered remains of clothes, and a few limbs scattered about. I looked over the grizzly scene I caused with my claws and teeth, and was honestly scared. I had done all of that in a moment where I lost control, what would happen if I lost it around people I cared for?
I groan of pain snapped me out of the self-loathing I was in.
I quickly lunged myself towards the sound of pain. Once I landed, I saw the diamond dog I rammed coughing up blood. He doesn’t notice me until I am within striking distance. He looks up in my eyes, tears running from his, as he manages to cough out, “Pl…please spare me…” followed by another fit of coughing.
“Why should I spare you?” I growled walking back and forth in front of him. I knew he couldn’t do anything to me anymore, the diamond dog could barely keep from falling over.
“I do anything! I just wish to hold my pup and wife again,” the dog coughed out, more blood joining the words. He was visibly shaking at this point from the pain he was in, but he had a wife and child to return to. I was split as to what to do with dog in front of me. Then I glanced back at the pile of corpses and knew my course of action in a heartbeat.
Switching my attention back towards the crippled dog before me, I clacked my jaws to acquire his attention. Needless to say, the dog was quick on the uptake and sat staring at me with his undivided attention. Well minus the parts he was coughing up whatever blood was still pooling into his lungs.
“You’ll dig a grave for all the children’s bodies that you and your pack have killed and bury them. Once that’s complete you’re free to go.” The dog looked both shocked I was going to let him go and at the simple task involved for his freedom. The dog started right away into digging the mass grave.
While he did that, I turned back and laid down in front of the door to rest. This dog was going to take a while, if he didn’t die in the process of digging the grave. So I figured I may as well nap in the meantime; I still have a whole pack to slaughter.
“Wolf brother, I am done burying them.” That’s the sentence I woke up to. Of course that simple seven word sentence was wheezed out through a shattered rib cage. Those can be quite uncomfortable, I speak from experience. Point of advice; don’t get hit in the ribs by a bat.
I push myself off the ground and stagger over towards the freshly dug pile of dirt. Glancing about the room, there are no more traces that a single child’s body was here. I noticed a pile of old and broken tools in the corner beyond where the previously unburied deceased were stacked.
Heading over, I grab two handles that still seemed in rather decent shape, and bore a hole through one of them. Shoving the other stick through, I finished my makeshift cross and place it on top of the grave. Then I bowed my head to say a prayer for those that died.
Now, I know a lot of you must be thinking how ridiculous I am for doing this. Hell, nothing I’ve told you about has any indication that I actually have a conscience of any kind, so why would I be saying a prayer for the dead? I’ve always been a firm believer in my faith, but I never let it limit what my actions were. I wouldn’t let the fear of Hell or the prospect of Heaven change my mind. I did what I wanted to at the time I did it. An impulsive man driven by his passions would be the artsy way of saying it I guess. The blunt of it is I’ve always accepted whatever consequences my actions hold on me.
Anyway, during the course of my prayer, the door opened up and the scent of a familiar mare filled my nostrils. I simply put it out of my mind until I heard her call out to me.
“What are you doing in here?” Before I could formulate the answer, the diamond dog that was still alive answered excitedly.
“Wolf brother going let me go since I dig big hole for dead slaves!” I got up and turned towards the dog. He was wagging his tail looking expectantly at me for his freedom. It almost made me feel guilty about what I did next.
Almost being the key word.
With a quick flash of my claws, the dog’s throat was slashed open and he fell to the ground choking on his blood. He looked at me with a questioning gaze as the life was slowly draining from his body into the crimson puddle on the floor. “I lied,” was the answer to the wordless question before he left this plane of existence with a shudder.
The sound of someone up-chucking snapped my attention to the door. Standing in the metal frame was the mare that I owed a number of answers too, but first I should probably make sure she doesn’t puke again, because that’d make me sick, and I did not feel like puking up the bits of diamond dog I ate in my little fight.
“How about we leave the death room before we keep talking? Save both of our stomachs,” I suggest with as close to a grin on my face as I could muster. It probably came off looking like I was trying to take a massive crap while constipated, but beggars can’t be choosers and depressed killers can’t always smile at will.
Once the two of us left the room, I turned to the mare to start answering questions that I knew were going to be asked of me. Before I could open up my muzzle to even form a word though, a yellowish orange hoof smacked me right across the face.
“WHAT THE IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT?!?” the fiery tempered mare screamed. I quickly shoved a paw over her mouth to prevent her from yelling anymore. If I didn’t I’m pretty sure the entire mine’s worth of dogs would be alerted to our presence.
Glancing over her shoulder I saw Soarin and about two dozen heavily armored Royal Guard, consisting of all three races. The guards all had the same stoic expression on, while Soarin was back in his game face. Pretty much, these ponies all meant business.
Turning my attention back to the fuming mare that had my paw covering the mouth of, I formulated an answer that I felt worked, “Me killing someone.” Yeah, probably not the greatest of answers when the mare you are talking to is already pissed at you.
After swatting my paw out of her face, Spitfire was quick on the retort. “I could see that. Why did you kill him though? He was unarmed and injured. He even did all the work you told him to so he could go free!” To say she was furious would be an understatement.
“Why? I killed him because you said ‘dead or alive’ so I choose dead. I really don’t care if they are unarmed, crippled, or surrendering. After what I saw in that room, I’m going to kill as many as I can get a hold of,” I growled back at her. I was not in the mood to listen to her preach to me. I made my decision to kill them, and I’m going to stick with it.
To Spitfire’s credit, she took this in stride, though she was still pretty pissed at me. “As long as you are with us, then you follow my orders. And I’m ordering you not to kill anything that is unarmed, crippled, or surrendered,” the mare barked at me. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly. I won’t be with you then. I’m going to kill as many as I can, and get the bounties for the kills. Try and either a) stop me, or b) catch up to me.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I turned and sprinted deeper into the mine following the scent of more diamond dogs. I could hear Spitfire’s objections and obscenities shouting behind me, but I simply ignored her. Nothing was going to get in my way.
I passed by a large number of slaves as I was running through the cave system. Most of them seemed oblivious to me and all the commotion that I was causing. Even when I killed a few dogs that were whipping a group of slaves they didn’t even seem to notice. Poor things must have been in here long ass time to be like that. Well, that’s what I thought until Spitfire later told me that they had only been there for about 3 months.
I actively killed every single damn dog I saw on my run through the caves. More of them asked for mercy like the dog I killed in the grave room, I gave it to them by offering them a quick death. Those that attempted to fight me were ripped to shreds in the most literal sense of the phrase. Sprinting down another hallway I chanced upon another door, this one made of oak. I could smell at least three dogs in there and was prepping to kill them when I heard a pained cry on the other side that sounded really familiar.
“HOW DARE YOU RUFFIANS WHIP ME!!” followed quickly by a shriek of pain.
Fucking Octavia. I swear if there weren’t a couple of dogs on the other side of that door, I wouldn’t have bothered going in. Save myself some bloody ears, but I decided to kill all the dogs and damnit I was going to kill them all.
I spread my wings and with one powerful thrust propelled myself through the door and right into the dog that was holding the whip. His body soared across the room and crunched against the wall, never to rise again. One of the other two body slammed me once he realized what was going on. I was sent tumbling into a table and struggled to recover in time to counter a sword slash from the very same dog. I ducked underneath the blade just in time, feeling the wind from the strike, and quickly sent my claws into his unguarded throat ending the dog’s life.
I pushed myself up, ignoring my throbbing side and new bruise I know is forming. The third dog puts up his fists like he is going to fight me. I start to head toward him, fangs bared, when he realizes that’s a bad idea and switches from fists to hands up surrendering. I opt to give him a quick death by jumping over him, latching my jaws on the back of his neck, and breaking said bone with a quick shake of my jaws.
Octavia for her point was just in silent fear at the killing machine in front of her. She just kept staring at me with a look that was equal parts revulsion, fear, and anger. Her appearance was pretty sad. She was covered in dirt and grime, and her mane and tail were in complete disarray. I was starting to feel bad for
her until she opened her mouth.
“YOU MANGY, FLEA RIDDEN, MONGREL MUTT!! YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW YOUR FACE TO ME AGAIN!?!” Octavia shrieked at me.
Yup, there goes the bad feeling. I started wishing that they locked her up a bit more at that moment. I just sat down and listened to her rant about how vile I was, and yadda yadda yadda for about 15 minutes. I would have been a little impressed by the anger rant if it wasn’t directed at me. Luckily I was already about as pissed as I could be or I’d have killed her for it.
“I can see that your time here has done very little to calm you down,” my voice dripping with malice. I cut her off just as she was starting on my family’s past history. I think she may have mentioned a guinea pig, but whatever. She got on my nerves a little too much at that point.
“So what are you doing here?” she spat back at me. If my last comment was dripping with malice, then her retort was the Niagara Falls of malice. Bitch just doesn’t learn does she?
I simply motion to the dead body before me. She shudders at the assumption I want her to draw, but
she gives me a glare with a very clear message. She wants to hear me say why I was there. “The Royal Guard placed bounties on the heads of the diamond dogs. I’m here to cash in on that little arrangement.” Short, sweet, and to the point. Don’t need much more to an answer than that.
“So what about the slaves?” Octavia grilled into me. Thank the gods she wasn’t a unicorn, cause she’d be on fire like Twilight did that one episode. I didn’t think anything could get this pissed.
“Not my problem. I’m not getting paid to free slaves,” was my curt reply. I was fed up with her at this point. “So if you’ll excuse me, I got dogs to kill.” I stormed out of the room before she could even reply. It’s not like I wanted them to be slaves, but I wouldn’t get paid for it. First get vengeance, then money, and THEN help people out. No deviations from that train of thought.
The next hour of my time was spent tracking down more and more dogs. By the end of it, I figured I killed about twenty-nine dogs out of the thirty-eight that I knew lived in this mine, but based off the individual scents I was picking up, there had to be at least another dozen on top of that. So out of the fifty dogs, over half were dead.
The curious thing about the last couple kills was that the dogs were simply gathering slaves and trying to run deeper into the mines. They also were grabbing as many gems as they could before they scampered off. Or at least tried to scamper off before the becoming a smear on the wall with limbs scattered about. The other thing that sparked my curiosity was how all of the leftover dog scents seemed to be gathering in a single corridor. I figured they must be planning to try and ambush me. The smart thing to do would be to avoid it or wait for the Guard to back me up.
Too bad I wasn’t in the mood for waiting. Plus I didn’t want to disappoint my hosts by not letting them have their fun before they died.
I took my merry old time to walk towards that single corridor, allowing for the rest of the dogs that were left to end up there. I counted twenty-one individual scents gathered there, and with no more scattered around the mine, I figured now was the time to blow this Popsicle stand.
I jogged the rest of the way to the corridor my nose was telling me where they were at. Turns out it had a fucking massive iron door in front of it. I reached up my paw and knocked rather politely on the gates. Tis polite to knock you know.
Then I shot backwards, shot my wings open, and rammed the iron door at near sonic rainboom speeds. The metal crumpled and flew off the hinges from the impact of the force.
Zeta: 1 Iron Doors: 0.
The dogs on the other side seemed scared shitless that I had just appeared though. Glancing about, I finally figured why the other dogs just tried to grab and run. Behind the line of twenty-one diamond dogs sat close to about 50 slaves, including my least favorite cellist.
I just sat there for what felt like hours glaring at the diamond dogs across the hall from me. Most of them were quivering in fear at my look. The few that weren’t were the boss dog and a couple that stood on either side of him.
In that period of staring each other down, I realized how stupid I had been. I was tired and sore from all the running and combat. I had multiple cuts and bruises across most of my body, and I was hungry as hell. Taking on twenty-one diamond dogs was probably a little more than I could handle right now. That’s why I was so thankful for what happened next.
“Take the slaves and gems to the harbor. Cave in the system and set sail. Inform the Alpha that the ponies attacked us and retribution should be swift and severe,” the leader barked at those behind him. A flurry of activity soon followed while the leader turned his eyes back towards me. “My guards and I
will deal with the wolf.”
Well, good news is I won’t have to fight twenty-one diamond dogs. Bad news is I just have to fight who I can only assume are the best fighters in the entire pack. “Fucking Hell” I managed to get out as the leader and his guards drew their swords and axes preparing for the fight. For my part I stretched my wings out and loosened up my claws.
I could see in the background the rest of the dogs shoving the slaves away, along with the carts full of gems. Those in the back started causing a cave-in behind them. I guess they were going to seal the entire tunnel behind them until they reached the docks. I didn’t get too much time to ponder this though before the remaining dogs attacked.
One of the guards charged me slashing towards my head. I managed to duck just in time to keep my head attached to my body. I roll to my left as another one of the dogs smashes his blade into the ground I was just standing in. The last two guards jump towards me as well, swinging their blades with deadly precision.
“Shit! You guys are a lot better at this then those buffoons from the bar!” I yelped as I jump backward from the two approaching dogs. Thankfully their boss is just watching in the background. ‘Probably just going to wait until I’m too tired to fight before he finishes me off’ I thought to myself while getting a small scrape on my shoulder where a blade nicked me.
These four dogs were moving with synchronized attack movements almost faster than I could react. The only reason I wasn’t a skewer was that my wings were helping me distract them and move in faster bursts to avoid any severe damage. I was still getting cut up quite a bit though.
The one thing I had going for me over these dogs was endurance. After about fifteen minutes of constant dodging from the synchronized attacks that can only be described as a type of deadly ballet, the dogs started to grow tired. They started making sloppy mistakes. They wouldn’t follow through with a strike all the way, or their footing was off balance. Also the guard dogs (lol) only had like 6 different attack patterns. I had already figured them out, so now that they were messing up I just had to trust my instinct and strike out at the right time.
The group of them started up with what I had deemed the “Flipping Bitch” move. Pretty much the dogs would use each other as base points to jump and do a front flip with a downward strike. Now that they were sloppy, the base points used for the flip weren’t as steady, and the dogs weren’t as quick with their strike.
The first dog did a downward slash towards me that I backed away from. His blade bounced off the stone floor instead of into it like they previously would. This caused him to stumble slightly while the other dog was beginning his jump. That’s when I struck. Getting by the lower guards defenses and knocking his sword aside, I tackled him to the ground causing the dog on top to mess up his flip. Unfortunately for that dog, he landed on top of the sword I had knocked away, impaling him through the heart. The guard I had knocked off balance quickly had my canines in his throat, promptly ripping it out.
Too bad for me while I did this, the other two dogs decided to press their advantage. One slashed at my right side horizontally, giving me a nice gash on my left side of my body. The other aimed for my head, but luckily I managed to pull my head back so only the tip left a vertical cut over my left eye. The blood quickly started dripping into my visual orb.
“You little fuckers,” I grumble out as the two remaining dogs continue their assault. With my left side all beat up that’s the direction they pressed from. Thankfully I was expecting them to do just that.
With a quick flick of my wrist, I threw a pile of dirt into the first guard’s eyes, blinding him and halting his movements. Without the help of his pack mate, the final guard flailed in my direction to buy his brother time. I sidestepped his blow and slashed out with my claws into his nether regions. I can’t even grace the dog by saying he let out a howl of anguish, since it was more of a womanly shriek. Suiting, since he just became a she…
Before the now female guard could relax, I struck out and shattered her knee caps, forcing her to collapse in a pile of writhing pain. Turning my attention to the dog I blinded with the dirt, I saw he was just going to use his other senses to fight now since he didn’t want to waste time getting the dirt from his eyes. I jumped on top of the downed dog and barked to get the blinded ones attention. He ran straight towards me and brought down a heavy slash towards where my skull would be if I didn’t fly off the dog. Instead he sliced his companion in half, getting his blade stuck into the ground. I take advantage of this and drop on his back gripping the back of his neck and snapping it with a quick shake.
“That wasn’t so har...” an explosion cut me off and sent my body flying across the cavern. The world was spinning for a bit after that, but by the time I got to my feet, I realized the boss dog must have thrown an explosive vial and was ready to play. Glancing over towards where the dog was standing, I was shocked to see him right in front of me.
He reached down and picked me up by my throat. At this point, I couldn’t see past the blood in my left eye, my body was covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises. I was tired and now with this diamond dog constricting my throat, having some trouble breathing. I could tell that the dog was trying to tell me something, but the ringing in my ears hadn’t died down enough yet to understand him. So I just shrugged at him.
The dog took a breath and then spoke again. This time I managed to hear what he was telling me. “Wolf brother, you have betrayed us. I am impressed you beat my guards though. We Betas, while not comparable to Alphas, are still rather impressive fighters.” He glared at me to ensure I understood what he meant. They may have been badasses, but there were even more badass dogs than him. “You beating my four packmates is quite the achievement, but now you will learn why I, Azragni, was placed as head of this pack.”
At the end of his little tirade, Azragni tossed me clear across the cavern again. I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to match this dog’s strength, and I was way too tired to attempt my dodging tactic again. I didn’t get much time to think though, because Azragni charged me yet again.
The dog seemed to take over a berserker’s rage as he charged me. I barely managed to roll out of the way in time as his axe plowed deep into the ground. I went to ram him while thinking his axe was trapped. What I didn’t realize was that he lifted not only his axe, but a boulder the size of my torso out of the ground and shattered it on my side as a counter.
“I guess my new job is ‘ragdoll’ huh?” I cough out, luckily with no blood. Although I can tell I have some massive bruising going on. Probably a couple of cracked ribs too. If I didn’t have any after that strike, the kick Azragni launched into my gut definitely made some. He quickly followed through with a backhand into the side of my face, sending me flying back through the destroyed doors and into another wall. Spitfire told me the imprint I left there was pretty damn impressive later.
As I was struggling to get my feet back under me, Azragni did probably the most clichéd thing ever. He started ranting before he actually won. “It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to see Tailton Springs burn for this. Within the next two weeks, our Alpha will come down from Gem Fido with our dragon protector and wreck retribution,” He started slowing walking towards me downed body. He was probably a good 50 yards out.
Azragni was taking one slow agonizing step at a time. “He will slaughter every single man” another step closer, “women,” another, “and child.”
Something in my brain snapped when he said that. Pictures of the death room flashed through my mind, as well with an image of a one year old baby, lifelessly lying down in my human arms, which were soaked in the child’s blood. The memories were flashing through my mind faster than I could even hope to fly, but their message was clear.
“I will kill you if you even think of hurting another child,” I growled as forced myself to my unsteady legs. Azragni was taken aback for just a moment when he saw me get up. That was all I needed as a distraction. I grabbed a rock and chucked it at one of the two remaining red vials strapped to his chest, shattering it. Azragni gave me a quick ‘oh shit’ look before the explosion.
I would like to say that I turned around and walked slowly away during the explosion, since cool guys don’t look at them and everything. But I watched with a giddy enjoyment as the fireball consumed the asshole of a dog. What I was not expecting though was for Azragni to still be standing afterwards. Course he was as fucked up as I was now, which meant we were on a level playing field. Except I was angry and he wasn’t.
Azragni tried to say something but it only came out as a wheeze. His entire body was scorched, embers still smoldering on his fur. Azragni attempted to say something again, but I lunged forward and tackled him to the ground before his breath even left his lungs. Of course once I landed on him all of it came out at once.
The two of us struggled for position for what felt like days, rolling back and forth. In actuality it was only like, 2 minutes but it felt a lot fucking longer. Anyway, eventually I managed to pin him down and clamp my jaws around his neck. I grumbled out between my jaws “Any last words?”
Azragni responded by inhaling deeply and smashing a green vial on my face. That last conscious thought I had was tightening my grip and tasting blood as it flowed over my tongue.
~{WWP}~
A/N:
I'm really sorry about how long it took me to get this chapter out. Not only has it been difficult to find time to write, I got hit by a massive thing of writer's block. I was only able to get like, maybe 800 words in at a time before I just couldn't write anymore. Anyway hope you all enjoy this one.
As is always the deal, point out any errors I or Thardoc missed in the editing process. We aren't perfect.
In other news, there'll only be two more chapters in the Tailton Springs arc now. Also before anyone starts ranting about how I didn't have Zeta save Octavia from the mine to redeem himself, another author asked to use her for a plot point in his story. So go read Fudge: A Minotaru's Lament to see the continuation and eventual conclusion to Tavi's enslavement.
Now I leave you with a song that has been stuck in my head here. Enjoy and see you all next chapter!