Chapter 308: CHPT 308: Cruel and Intelligent, The Monstrous Alpha...
They sat in the forest for what felt like ever, waiting patiently in their hiding spots in a silence so intense that each quieted breath fell hard on their sensitive ears.
Claude occupied the space closest to them-- he was even beginning to feel the heavy vibrations of their footfalls. Not an ounce of them seemed to agree with the concept of stealth despite their predatory hailings.
The tree he perched on the branches of held his weight effortlessly. A thick and hardy Oak with branches as sharp as knives. He expected to see them tinged with blood and guts in no time. Hopefully they wouldn't be his own. Until then, he let the rise and fall of the winds tell him more and more about the approaching Monsters.
Opposite him, Gil occupied the branches of the same tree, stalking across the ligneous strands of Oak-wood like a Leopard on steroids. He didn't even know how Gil got up with him-- he could just feel the creatures presence-- it's observatory glances lining up with his own seconds after his own ascent.
Below them, Frosty and the Phantom Wolves filled the dark pockets of the forest, disappearing from sight-- but never from mind.
Through his link to Frosty, he could feel the rage within the young PitWolf. The tether of power shared between them changed in such times. Currently, it felt like he was holding a rope being sucked into a raging firestorm. He could feel the heat of anger warming the magical cord, sending its infectious waves of heat back to him to change his own mind. To put them in sync.
He wasn't ready yet. Now wasn't the time to unleash the anger and lust for battle.
The wait continued...
But not for long. The once steady rumble of distant heavyweights barreling their way through the forest had heightened and morphed into natural sound.
The heavy metallic clank of armor and crunch of vegetation. The throaty snarls and huffs of Monsters on the run. The new scents of ...fabrics, sweat..urine...human body odor....metals and the faint scent of rot.
Two of the scents in particular had his mind racing, "Human...?"
"[Easy, mate. Think about the scents it came with. ]"
The realization didn't take long to occur within his mind, "....The metal. The human smell is coming from the metal. They recently stole the armor..."
"[Indeed. As Lupines we often used this during Coven Raids to play on Vampire's senses. In a way, they're doing the same...on accident it seems.]"
Claude stored that fact in the back of his mind and prepared himself for what was to come as the sounds they made became inescapable. Impossible to miss.
His eyes sifted through the dark of the woodland ahead, Natural Vision wasn't necessary. They were easily spotted without an ounce of magic spent.
A fact given feasible evidence when the rustling of the forest started in the woodlands at the edge of the clearing across from him.
It started light. A simple echo of the furious rippling effect the beings caused to the forest deeper within. The shaky jolt and jump of the bushes and trees continued. Growing louder and louder, flanked by the sounds of snarls and deep cacophonous huffs until a flash of five glowing eyes zipped across the darkness like a collection of lightning bugs. The eyes moved in an uneven gait, a shimmering blur that spoke volumes of the grace they lacked as they bashed into trees and stumbled through the grass before inevitably stumbling out into the sunbaked clearing.
BWOOOSH!
The forest split, spitting out three hulking bodies onto the clearing in explosive fashion as the leaves and grass they ripped up in their pursuit fell over them like rainfall.
The first to rise was the smallest-- small being used relatively. Even from where he stood from above, he could tell the creature topped out at six feet. A runt for a Gnoll.
He couldn't tell what variation of Gnoll it was for one simple reason. Like the rest, the upper half of it's body was cloaked in a dingy bed sheet dyed by blood and reeking of urine. He could still smell the old scent of fear radiating off of it in small waves.
The creature beneath the sheet looked around the clearing through the one eye hole ripped through the sheet. It burned chaotically from beneath in a dull shade of yellow.
During his inspection of the cloaked Monster on the far right, the other two had risen. First, it was the one on the far left, even from beneath the dark blanket it had tied over it's head with a bloody rope, he could tell it was a Hound of sorts. Rare since they almost never came to term due to the slim and lanky build of the animalian carriers.
It's looks reflected such a fact perfectly. The Gnoll looked almost like a deep-red furred beastial executioner. The way the blanket performed like a hooded mask with holes only large enough for it's beady yellowish orange eyes to peer out into the world had an almost horrific slant to it. The rope that tied around it's neck and kept the blanket-mask in place hung across it's fatless body as if the creature recently escaped a hanging and had been surviving on rabbits for months. Even it's wiry red fur added to it's meager and sadistic appearance. As if that wasn't enough, the clicking of it's oily black claws made his skin crawl. They were too thin-- similar to a Vampire in that regard.
Sure it wasn't as large as the other two-- but he could already tell the speed the Gnoll commanded would probably match his own. Even now, the jolty twitch in it's hybrid wolven legs made him uncomfortable.
As if demanding Claude's gaze, the two Gnolls were yanked out of his sight and back to the ground as the beast in the center used them as a means to help itself up.
The action spoke a number of soundless words.
The actions of one who wasn't afraid of it's packmates. The actions of one willing to show aggression and dominance over the others.
By the time it rose to it's full height of eight feet he was sure of what he was looking at.
A Monstrous Alpha.
Like the others, it's appearance was shrouded. It wore a cloak-- the large hood swallowed up it's canid head and cast it's snout in deep shadows. The same could be said for the rest of it's body standing rigidly beneath the ruffling spread of the cloak.
Of them all, it reeked the least of human blood and fear.
Bad news. If they'd recently just ransacked a village or city slum, then the biggest had reason. Hell, it could've been the one to give them the cloaks to hide themselves. It was strong-- but most importantly, it was smart.
Smart enough to see humans-- see how they blended in, and then try it's best to mimic such actions and prevail in a place it was never meant to be welcomed in.
He let his eyes trail over the creature slowly to take in everything he could as they remained as still as stone in the clearing.
The main Gnoll hid itself well. But it was massive. It couldn't hide the massive mounds of back muscle that rounded it's shoulders and probably mad it appear neckless. Or the stiff packing of armor around it's shoulders and chest. The cloak hid the rest all the way down to it's ankles, giving way to a pair of massive paws.....almost disproportionately massive as they sunk into the earth like two fur covered lead weights with claws.
He would've kept staring-- kept studying, if not for the beast grabbing the wiry furred lanky Hound wearing the executioners mask and throwing it further into the clearing. Closer to them.
As he tumbled and rolled across the grass, yipping and snarling, he felt Frosty and Gil stiffen with the urge to tear out it's life with their teeth.
Claude willed them not to move. Pleaded with every inch of his being that they stayed in their position to watch.
Watch as the recently thrown Gnoll rose to it's feet and began sniffing around the clearing in search of something....in search of them.
Claude's blood froze as the realization dawned on him.
"Holy shit....."
"[What?]"
He stood still from atop the branches as the Gnoll drew near.
"It was on purpose....."
"[...]"
"The Alpha...it threw this one on purpose. The Hound. It's senses are better...it understands that the Hound-Gnoll has a better chance of detecting while also being a meatshield.."
"[That's a level of cold and calculating sadism that i'd say is rather fitting for a Silver Ranked Monster at least....Be careful, Claude. This could go sideways at the drop of a hat.]"
He couldn't agree more.
Their conversation was split by the monstrous throaty bark of the Hound halfway across the field from them. It was barking in the direction of Rollan's home and where Frosty was.
They really were a functioning unit on the hunt. An irrefutable fact after watching them work. It was notifying the others....
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_Avatar0FFury_
_Avatar0FFury_ YO! New chap, sorry for the lateness. This chapter segment is important! Good stuff otw, realizations unfolding....hehe. Anyway sorry for the filler and thanks for the powerstones frenandoi, alex99, warriorwolf, krissch_, TheLucidParagon, Sonius, Bop_, train_master, XX_Osiris_XX, Bonb_Crusher, AnnabelleXP, drachenkInd, kynigos, Lucas_Gommes_1300, Arameus, Amith_Sydney, Ominous_Readers, omeroford, and Zombireno!
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