(Dire beasts Language)
Standing before the Dire Pack Leader, Drogo, was an army of direwolves, dire foxes and dire ravens.
Their total number was well into the hundreds and each and every creature had a powerful and menacing demeanor.
The beasts were standing in formation before their leader; the dire wolves with their strong and robust forms serving as the tanks and power attackers and the dire foxes with their flexible and agile forms, serving as speed-based attackers akin to assassins.
"The time has come for us to demonstrate to the master that we are more than capable of serving as his fangs and claws. The master asks that we take them alive but we have permission to rip them apart if we have to. By the end of this battle, all the master's enemies should be laid before him", Drogo roared to his pack; standing on a raised platform before them and they howled in response.
The pack spread out to take their positions all over the designated area of the large forest.
"Brother Raegan, I'll leave the skies to you. Please ensure none of them is able to escape our grasp", Drogo said to the leader of the dire ravens.
"You've got it Chief. Nothing will get past us", Raegan confirmed as he took to the sky to join the other dire ravens.
"Darling!" Raine's soft voice called Drogo from behind. "My love", he replied as he walked up to her and nuzzled his head to hers.
"Is everything done on your end?" he asked her after ending their embrace.
"Yes…all the children and aged have been evacuated to one the hidden caves in the mountains and a few pack warriors have been placed with them to guard them. Out children are safe with the master's family so we don't have to worry", Raine informed him.
"Thank you dear, let's get this battle over with", Drogo said as he and his wife jumped off the platform and sped off into the forest.
...…
After driving past a couple of the mountains, the leader of the secret mercenary group realised they had a relatively short distance to their goal after checking his device. Seeing this, he gave the command for the drivers to pull over and the five trucks soon came to a complete stop.
"We've arrived. You all have five minutes to prepare. This is a stealth mission so we will be proceeding on foot. When we reach the last pinged location, we will surround it and box it in. hopefully the test subjects are still there so that we can quickly rap up this mission".
"If it happens that they have changed locations as I suspect, we will then spread out into the vast forest and search until we find and capture them; dead or alive", the leader shouted to his men as they jumped off the trucks with their gear and started getting ready; their number reaching close to two hundred well-trained mercenaries.
'With our total number, we should be able to get this job done quickly', the leader thought to himself as he observed his gathered troops. He quickly gathered the squad leaders to brief them.
"Now we are ready! You squad leaders will lead your groups on a different path through the forest towards the marked location; designated...'point Alpha'. We will gather at 'point beta' one hundred meters away and surround the mountain. From there, we will advance on 'point Alpha'. Any questions?" he asked them after giving them the briefing.
"No Sir!!" the squad leaders resounded. "Very well, get your squads ready to move", the leader said as he dismissed them. After a few minutes, each squad was geared up and ready to move.
"Move out!" he commanded and each squad entered the forest through their assigned packs; he leading a squad of his own as multiple flying figures kept track of them from the sky.
After a few hours, the mercenaries finally reached the designated location. After receiving the signal that all his men were in place, the leader gave the command to advance on point Alpha.
They stormed into the cave, guns raised and alert but just as the leader expected, the place was empty, although there were signs that the two escapees were indeed here.
"Let's move on to plan B. We'll need to scour the entire forest and smoke them out. Let's…", his voice trailed off as a loud howl shook the entire mountain.
"Boss…we have a problem!" one of the squad leaders shouted. "What's happening?! What was that?!" the leader asked loudly. "We have been boxed in on all sides by…I don't know what they are", the squad leader said in a perplexed manner.
"Prepare for combat, we're being ambushed!" the leader commanded as they rushed out of the cave. They emerged to see a legion of monster wolves, taller than the average man, standing before them; ready to attack with a slightly larger one standing behind them.
"The hell are these things?!" Are they wolves?" one of the men shouted questioningly. "Wolves…? No way. The f*ck kind of wolves are those?" another asked debunking the first person's question.
The leader gazed at the creatures standing several hundred "It doesn't matter what they are. Fan out and prepare to fight back!" the leader shouted and the mercenaries quickly spread out over the place, standing in formation and raising their guns in preparation to attack.
The larger monster wolf reacted instantly and growled loudly, causing the smaller monster wolves to charge at the mercenaries.
"Fire at will!!" the squad leaders shouted and the mercenaries at the front of the formation opened fire on the charging beasts.
"Use steel skin!" Drogo commanded as the dire wolves leading the charge howled in acknowledgement. The bristles of their fur hardened; turning almost steel-like.
The thirty calibre bullets fired by the mercenaries bounced off the furs of the charging monsters without causing any injury or even stunning them in the slightest.
"Boss, the guns are not stopping them!" a squad leader shouted in shock as the first line of defense made up of fifty mercenaries clashed with the monsters.
The claws of the beasts came at them, slashing through the mercenaries; guns and all. The beasts tore through their limbs and torsos, making sure to keep them as alive as they could be.
Of course, they were not required to go out of their way to keep them all alive, as some who were too injured in the scuffle succumbed to their injuries and died instantly.