“Now!” the voice of the elf carried past the battle howls of the wolves charging up towards the small group crowded around the cave.

Sharrag took to the sky as quickly as he could and watched as the two of his Shrrg slammed themselves against the top layer of logs. Slowly one of the logs slowly rolled over the edge of the wall and fell down the hill. Sharrag opened his maw and unleashed a small potion of his fire on the log setting it alight.

More logs followed. Sharrag set them alight as well. Before long four flaming logs were rolling down the hill towards the wolves. They scattered before the obstacles, hoping not to be the unlucky ones that were crushed. A desperate howl follows and a dozen or more Shrrg were squished by one falling log. Some of the smarter creatures tried to pull around the side to get away from the danger of falling logs. Sharrag spotted this manoeuvre and swooped down, breathing a line of fire across the ranks of the wolves cutting them off for trying to run to the side.

He rose to the air again, scanning the valley for the shade. If they killed him they would win this battle. Not seeing him the dragon banked back towards the small wooden fought the elves had built. A few more logs came tumbling down the mountain towards the wolves.

Now their front line was broken the Shrrg were in disarray, a formless mass. Sharrag could sense they were going to retreat soon and reform. They had no idea how many of these logs would keep coming and the dragon above them didn’t make it much better. Shrrg weren’t meant to fight in such masses against such powerful enemies. It wasn’t in their nature.

He swooped down and lit up the wolves again. They had minimal fire wards but not even a shade could protect such a large force for long. The green fire easily broke through the wards and he burned nearly a hundred Shrrg in a single pass. It was almost sickening. He went for one more pass and just as he thought the Shrrg began to retreat back down the mountain. Sharrag sent a roar after them to help them along.

With a snort he turned back to the cave and flew back down, landing with a thud. The Shrrg were giving each other smug looks. Sharrag could feel there excitement at beat back the first strike against their small encampment. But Sharrag knew that next time the Shrrg wouldn’t retreat so easily. If Sythrel was in control even natural instincts couldn’t hold them off for long.

Levial seemed to think the same thing and gave Sharrag a look. Sharrag reached into his mind.

‘That was too easy. What happened?’ he asked, not bothering to try and speak over the screams of crushed and burning wolves from down in the valley.

‘Shrrg were never meant to charge in a head on attack against powerful enemies such as us,’ explained the dragon, ‘The flaming logs and a dragon in the sky were enough to break them from the shades control and sent them retreating. One thing a Shrrg fears more the death is injury. When injured a Shrrg cannot fight or hunt. A wounded Shrrg is a dead Shrrg, and it was a high chance that they would be either injured or killed in this fight. Next time we won’t be so lucky.’

Levial nodded with understanding and looked past the wooden wall to the valley below. Sections of the wall had all but disappeared and Aradon was already ordering the wolves to bring a few logs in from the side. Sharrag didn’t think the wooden wall would last much longer against this hoard. The only one who had any hope of surviving would be him, and that was because he could fly.

Options continued to swirl through his head, tyring to come up with an idea to get his pack and two elves out of this situation. His mind continued to come back to natural instincts. There had to be something he could do to take advantage of that.

‘I have to take out Sythrel,’ he thought, ‘That is the primary target. But how?’

He looked over as Aradon walked over to him. The elf nodded to him but Sharrag could see that something else was on his mind.

‘What is wrong?’ he asked.

“We can’t win this the way we are going,” replied Aradon, “The next attack will destroy us. We used almost half of our logs and only killed maybe four hundred Shrrg. We need a different plan of attack.”

Sharrag smiled at him. The two-leg was thinking along the same lines as he was. They needed a different plan of attack. Sharrag’s mind turned back to killing the shade. He told Aradon of what he had thought. The elf agreed with him, but how could they find Sythrel. They needed time they didn’t have.

Levial sighed, “It’s always taking out the leader isn’t it. It’s what every war is about. Through every species, taking out the leader is the only way to win.”

Sharrag nodded, then a thought came to him. A smile came over him, ‘Levial, you are right.’

He turned over to his Shrrg who were still mending the wall, ‘Talismen, can you come here for a moment.’

The Shrrg turned to his Alpha and nodded, trotting over to their group, ‘What do you want Sharrag?’

‘I just want to ask you something,’ he said, ‘Not including me the others consider you their Alpha don’t they.’

The Shrrg looked a little surprised at what Sharrag had said, ‘Well yes, I think. I take control when you are gone if this is what you mean.’

Sharrag smiled, ‘Thank you, you may go back to work.’

Talismen frowned at the dragon before shrugging and turning back to his pack.

“Why does this matter?” asked Aradon, confused at where Sharrag was heading.

‘It means that a Shrrg pack will always have a dominant Shrrg. One that will take control if the other leader isn’t there or generally commands the respect of there other pack members,’ he said, ‘As in any pack, if say Talismen were challenged by another wolf for this position and lost the Shrrg would change there respect and loyalty to the winning wolf. This even works under a pack like I have, I’m hoping anyway. If I am correct then all I need to do is challenge their Alpha and when I win I will command their respect. They will obey me instead of the shade or at least will hesitate or fight his commands if I will them not to. Also it will give someone else time to find and kill Sythrel.’

Understanding lit Aradon’s eyes as he realised what the dragon was saying, but then he frowned, “You’re placing this on a whim you realise.”

Sharrag shrugged, ‘If it works then we’ll be better off. If it doesn’t then all I have to do is fly away and we won’t loose or gain any progress. Simple.’

Aradon nodded his head at the dragon’s logic, “It’s worth a shot I guess. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

‘I doubt there is a Shrrg that could kill me,’ he said to Aradon, but he kept his last thought quite, ‘Except for him.’

Sharrag was thinking of the old Alpha. He had almost no doubt that he was the Alpha of this Shrrg army. He was far stronger, fast, larger and smarter then any other wolf in the valley, including Talismen. It would be strange if he weren’t the Alpha. This would give Sharrag a chance to kill the beast without having to worry about distractions or him running away. If he ran he would loose the battle and his position.

“So when do you want to start?” asked Aradon.

‘As soon as possible, the longer we leave it the more likely the Shrrg are to attack again.’

“Okay, I guess Levial and I will go and take care of this shade,” he said, “Hopefully two elves will be more then a match for him.”

‘I’m coming to,’ said Talismen, overhearing the conversation, ‘And don’t say no. I can track it down from its scent from miles away, especially if all the other Shrrg are occupied by Sharrag’s fight.’

Sharrag agreed with him, though he worried. Talismen was his best friend and he would rather die then have him die. As far as he was concerned the wolf got in more trouble then he should have. He couldn’t blame him thought. Sharrag got in a lot more trouble then he did.

‘Fine, but try not to take on the shade yourself,’ he said, ‘Leave that to the elves.’

Talismen nodded his head and ran into the cave to grab his weapon. Sharrag nodded to the elves before taking off into the air. When he looked down into the valley he noticed most of the wolves had gathered in the centre, making a large grey brown patch in the middle of a burnt and blackened forest. It was a strange sight.

A few of the wolves howled a warning as Sharrag swooped down towards them. The dragon made sure to keep a close eye out from any movement that looked like it came from a two-legged creature. He didn’t want to be shot by one of the arrows he had been hit by previously. He stopped just before he reached the army. The Shrrg looked up a him, snarling and snapping as if daring him to come down and fight them.

Sharrag glared right back, almost tempted to light them up with fire, yet he knew that would jeopardise the whole mission. He shook his head and took a deep breath, before raising his snout to the sky and roaring. It sounded like a half roar half howl. Sharrag hoped it would have the desirable effect.

The roar echoed through the valley and off the mountain walls. Everything in the valley heard him. The roar was unmistakably a challenge. A challenge to whatever creature was leading this pack. From the look on the Shrrg’s faces they were a little surprised at this sudden change of events. They weren’t expecting the Alpha to be challenged like this.

Sharrag looked down at them, daring them to move. His heart began to fall as the not one single wolf came to respond to the challenge the dragon had given. He was almost about to fly away and send out his mind to the others to stop them when a movement caught his attention.

The large army of Shrrg seemed to part as one single Shrrg limped through the pack. All eyes were on this wolf, including the Sharrag’s. It was a large wolf, definitely the largest of the lot. A tell-tale scar twisted its way up the Shrrg’s leg and the gaze of hate and the desire to kill was so strong in the Shrrg’s eyes that Sharrag felt as if the wolf was tearing him apart mentally. The old Alpha, or now the enemy Alpha.

Sharrag snorted at him and descended to the ground, folding his wings to his side. He wanted this fight to be as fair as possible. He wanted to show this creature that even without his greatest advantage he would be able to slaughter him. The Shrrg growled menacingly at him, stopping a few metres away.

‘We meet again,’ said the Alpha, ‘I must say I wasn’t expecting you to open out and challenge me directly. But I guess it was your only choice now. I guess that your little friends are making a run for it now. It scarcely matters, all Sythrel wants is you, and after I’m finished with you, I’ll give your broken body to him to do as he wishes.’

Sharrag snorted, ‘It’ll be no less broken then yours will be. I think you’re underestimating you’re opponent.’

The Shrrg shrugged, ‘It’ll make no difference. You will be destroyed.’

Sharrag and the old Alpha glared at each other before the green dragon rose to his feet, ready to start this fight old fight. The Alpha saw his movement and grinned a ghastly wolf grin. A rustle of wind rushed through the pack and if wolves could murmur they would. The fight for control of the Beor Mountains was about to begin.

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Hey guys! New Chapter! I hope you enjoyed! You must be beginning to love me and my cliffhangers ;) Don't worry, there are more to come. Anyway, vote if you enjoyed and comment on what you think will happen next. The next chapter may not be out for a week or so, but I'll try my best. See Ya!

Pennator^^