subhumanhorde

[subhumanhorde]

The Incident (Howl)

The beasts caught their breath in the aftermath of the skirmish, the elite warriors needing a moment to recover after taking on a large number of enemy soldiers. Howl's unit was used to these kinds of battles, but they had been fighting for two whole days now. The wolves were exhausted, the orcs could barely hold their heavy axes, the few minotaurs were drained of their mana, and the only war demon in the platoon had been ripped in half by a powerful magic a human casted before their death. "Gather the wounded, now! We have no idea when the next attack could come and we must hold the line until Splitfang arrives!" As the little break ended, Howl barked his commands at the platoon he led, his powerful voice sparking his soldiers awake. The soldiers obeyed, although they talked amongst themselves as they searched the small area for their wounded and dead. "How many do you think he killed this time? I swear I saw him kill 9 grown human men with just one movement." "Bullshit. I saw him kill 13 men at once, the Major's just like a demon when he swings around those swords of him." Howl was used to the talks now, and even though he felt inclined to reprimand the men who talked, he knew it was good for morale. His legend went beyond his immediate subordinates, and he knew everything he did travelled all the way back to his capital. All the young hybrid maidens born into the Rebellion had idolized him as the perfect soldier and husband from all the stories that came in, and all the boys born into the faction had wanted to be a hero just like him, whether they were a horned child, werewolf pup, or orc youngling. All the more reason to stay on the battlefield for Howl though. He had no interest in being a hero to the people, and he had no intentions of settling down anytime soon like most of the beasts that were part of the Rebellion. It was troublesome to have something back home to worry about while you fight, and Howl was about to be pushed further towards this belief as he saw a good friend amongst the critically wounded. "Don't tell me..." Howl's iron composure nearly faded as he went over to his fellow wolfen brother, the medic about to stop him until he saw who was trying to get a better look. "Sir. He may not make it through the night. The enemy spellcaster shot some kind of spell that pierced his abdomen, even if we exhausted all our resources on him there's no way we could guarantee his survival, especially at this stage." The words were ignored by Howl as he took a knee and took his wolfen friend's hand, his eyes looking at the brutal gut wound he had before he looked into his friend's bright blue eyes. "Bawl, don't tell me you're leaving this world tonight. What happened to seeing your wife and pups when you get home? You've got a beautiful elven babe who loves the shit out of you!" Even though he needed to keep the strong tone of a leader, Howl relaxed and talked to his friend normally. "I'm....I'm not gonna make it, brother. I feel...weak." "Nonsense! We've done so much together! Remember the time I lost a lot of my left arm to a lightning bolt. The healers had to work hard but I got most of it back! This is no different, brother, trust me." It was a lie. "Dumbass...I've known you so long it's easy to tell when you're lying. You always...lick your right fang before you tell a lie." "Be quiet! I promise it'll be alright! I never let my men die! Especially not someone I grew up with!" "You also get...way too fucking loud..." "I'm sorry, brother." "It's...alright, brother. I've fought a long time, and I've done a...good job, I think." "You were the best of the best, my father wanted to promote you to my position when we made it back you know! That's why you gotta make it!" "I think I've reached...my limit. Please, take care of...my kids." "Don't talk like th-" "And make sure no scumbag gets close...to my wife. I gave her 7...pups, that's more than enough to keep her occupied...for a lifetime." "Bawl, don't die, you're my br-" "Brother. I...I know. And you're my...brother too, Howl.

Tell...Bellow...he's my brother...also." The life faded quickly from the other wolf's eyes, and the bloodied claw that Howl held onto slowly slipped out of his clean hand. A silence came, and the medic left Howl to attend to another wounded as he mourned briefly. All the other men in their tribe had died, and now the twins and Splitfang were all that was left. Were it not for the others that had fallen, Howl would certainly cry, but it was difficult now. The leader rose, and he did what he had to do; he focused on the situation at hand and changed the directive. "All men! Form up on me and prepare to head South! We need to regroup with the other platoon so they can provide better medical assistance to our wounded! Minotaurs! Carry the wounded! Orcs! Follow me! Wolves! Watch for the enemy!" Rebellion doctrine said that dead soldiers must be left behind because of the liability they bring, although their weapons must be taken so something meaningful can be returned back to families and friends. Before they moved out, the others gathered the weapons of their comrades, with Howl making sure to grab his friend's blade before they had left. It was a large sword, very different from the pair that Howl wielded. He wasn't very experienced with carrying a large blade like this, but it felt strangely comfortable to hold as he put the massive thing on his back and stood at the front of his gathered men. "Follow me! Keep your eyes open!" Howl dashed forward into the woods straight ahead of them, his focus on what was in front of him as he hoped that it wouldn't take long to regroup with the other platoon in the area. They were in an unknown territory, and the maps that were made before they invaded the land were very crude. They didn't account for everything, and Howl remained on edge because of this. As a result, the wolf noticed that they were heading towards a large group of humans quickly, his ears perking up as he could hear the sounds of small civilization before anyone else saw it. The fucking map, Howl cursed the goblin cartographers who made a map of the area and showed it to him a few days prior. There was a village in the woods, and they were right in front of it. There were too many soldiers in the platoon to sneak past without alerting someone, and judging from the number of lanterns that were illuminated, plenty of the villagers were still awake. They had to fight, and they had to act quickly before they were spotted in the clearing they had entered. "Prepare for battle! We must clear the village out to prevent the enemy's forces from knowing our location!" Howl followed his usual instincts with villages and grabbed the massive sword on his back, his dual swords being neglected this time around as he let emotions control a few of his actions. "Move forward! Kill the men and gather the women!" With that, they charged into the village, the entire place coming into view as they went through the clearing and through the front gates, their entrance being incredibly loud to build fear into the human enemy. It all seemed standard, at least, it was standard enough until Howl realized that there was a silence throughout the entire village. Usually, there were screams and the sounds of village guards gathering, but this time...this time there was nothing. Once the leader stopped for this curiosity, the others in the platoon followed suit, and the entire line had stopped in the village's main area in a bit of confusion. "Search the area carefully, this could be a trap." Howl warned as he sniffed the air carefully, looking for a sign of the human presence he had noticed well before they arrived. Soon, he picked up the scent of a woman, and after that, he picked up several more feminine scents. Quietly, the wolfen leader moved to a house nearby where the scent only got stronger and stronger. Finally, once he reached the wooden door, he suddenly kicked it down, expecting some kind of resistance on the other side. "Alright! Put down your weapons and..." Howl shouted out the usual commands in human

language before suddenly stopping, his eyes widening as he saw the group that was hiding from the soldiers. It was just a group of girls and young children, the look on their faces looking absolutely horrified as a massive monster had just invaded their home. "Get away from them, you monster!" In his shock, Howl hadn't noticed a young boy running from the darkness in the room, the boy lunging forward with a small dagger that he tried to stab the beast with. The blade had connected, although the armor that Howl wore protected him completely from such a small thing, leading to a nullified effect that resulted in the boy trying to grab the beast's leg. "Sophia! Run! Take my brother and go! I'll distract him!" The sudden commotion was heard from outside, and soon the other beasts forced themselves into the house, the human children being grabbed by them before they could escape. "Sir! We haven't been able to find anyone else in the village! These children must be all that's left!" Howl could barely process that information as an orc pulled the boy off his leg, the children now panicking as they were held up by massive subhumans they were raised to hate. "We have to kill them, sir. They could inform adults about our location and we'd pay the ultimate price." In the wave of crying and screaming, one of the orcs didn't hesitate to suggest killing the children to Howl as their leader was still in a bit of a daze. "No! Don't kill them. Take me! Just don't kill my brother! Please!!!" Howl's mind raced as he heard the boy who tried to stab him speak, his arms reaching out desperately towards the smaller boy in the room who was currently being lifted up by his shirt. "Sir! We need your orders before any humans come around to this location! We still have wounded to ta-" "SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" The leader's voice came out with intense power, the volume being more than enough to shut up his soldiers and even the children in the room. "Put the children down. Now." "What?" "Are you deaf? I said put the children DOWN!" The others listened and let go of the kids, who immediately took advantage of the chance and escaped through the door behind Howl. Quickly, the beast got out of the house and yelled a new order. "Strike down any of those children and I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF!" The sudden shift in the command stunned the soldiers who had gathered in the village, the children looking back for a moment before they escaped the platoon's reach and ran into the woods surrounding their village, leaving behind a strange silence as one of the orcs stepped up to confront Howl. "Have you lost your mind? Those children could alert an enemy patrol nearby! The girls in the group could hav-" A sudden blow came to the orc's face, Howl's punch packing enough power to make him stumble. "They are children. I am in command, and you will do what I say." The outrage among the men was quick, and the entire event passed by in slow motion. "What's wrong with you?!" "You've got some nerve!" "We need to get the hell out of here!" "The Major is a traitor!" The last one stuck, and now the proper emotions were directed towards Howl as the squad leaders stepped forward and drew their weapons. "Sir. I believe you've lost your ability to lead us in battle. I request you to raise your hands and be restrained until we get you to a command post. We will try and kill you if you do anything else." Howl had done the right thing, but he certainly didn't feel like it once he had weapons pointed at him from all sides. The only man who could side with him was dead, so the only option was to listen. A few moments later, he was tied up and forced to follow his squad leaders as they led the platoon to a command post that was far off. Because of this, several of the wounded passed away as they could not get the healing they would have gotten urgently if the platoon was able to regroup with the other beyond the village. The line was lost, and all of it was blamed on Howl. The rest of it was a blur, there was plenty of harsh statements, attempts at

embarrassment, and a few physical altercations, but Howl didn't remember much of it. A week later, the black wolf that had spared a few humans turned into the black wolf that spared an entire village, and soon the story evolved further as it became known that Howl was responsible for the incident. The backlash came to Splitfang, and soon the capital of the Rebellion was in a bit of an uproar from the event. It was a dose of madness, but none of it affected Howl. The cold dark cell he was in reminded him of the one he grew up in, the one he was thrown into after his mother was raped and murdered in front of him. It was unpleasant, but Howl had no intentions of sticking around. His real legend was just about to begin...