No Better Than The Beasts

Chapter 37-The War

(My mom has been obsessed with this song since like three weeks ago and now she has it stuck in everyone's head. But I weirdly like it. Also, warning: huge time skip from the last chapter.)

The two sides merged together slowly, as if filmed in slow-motion.

One side: Calm, cool, collected, but determined. They seemingly walked without fear, angry faces surrounding angry faces. They marched with a purpose to protect and prevent; love and loyalty driving their every move forward. It was led by a king and a prince- father and son- side-by-side on horseback. 

The other side, however, was pure chaos. The evil hybrids were showing their true form: wings of pale, stretched skin; teeth as sharp as a shark's; and eyes alive with the thirst for malice. Some were hovering over the air. Others were walking on the ground. And even some wilder ones were on all fours like a gorilla bounding towards the other side. They were led by the queen of the Aswangs, tall and fearsome, with a cape of sewed-together werewolf fur dragging behind her like the train of a bridal gown. She was the only calm Aswang in the bunch, walking with such formality, it was hard to believe she was such a monster. Her wings were not out. 

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the humans' ally, the werewolves, with hatred.

Jake led his pack forward next to Derrick's legion of human soldiers. Nathan and David were not far behind him. 

Earlier this morning, the Aswangs attacked, but David cornered one before it could escape He told it to tell it's queen that they declare war. David swiftly went over the basics of how to kill an Aswang and what to do to prevent their death.

He reviewed that most Aswangs were hybrids: part Aswang, part something else. Usually, it was either werewolf, vampire, or witch. That meant that the Aswangs could have a hidden power they were unaware of- such as super speed, if they were half-vampire. Or maybe super strength from a werewolf. Or magical abilities from a witch.

His advice was to always be or your toes and realize that, in battle with a multitude of Aswangs, no opponent is the same. Yeah, maybe it was easy to cut one Aswang's head off, but the next one might have the ability to magically teleport and it won't be as easy. And yes, that's how you kill an Aswang according to legend: beheading. Plus, the things could fly and dive-bomb you at any second, which was a terrifying fact to everyone.

That's why Aswangs think they are the superior race of shifters: they have so many abilities and could easily win fights. Except, they can't rule because they are not shifters. They are hybrids, which gives them the ability to be half-something, but they can't shift.

You can be half-Aswang, half-werewolf but you can't shift into a wolf- you only gain werewolf abilities. You can only shift if you are a child of two werewolves.

Anyway, everyone suited up and the king announced to the kingdom that they were having a sudden war. He evacuated the town and made sure that all of his subjects were safely stowed away in Nathan's kingdom, the kingdom of Mare.

Now, hours later, they were charging into battle with no hesitation-no last-minute attempts to establish peace. The ambition of war grew in minds on both sides. Both sides were willing to kill each other, whether for power or serenity. Each and every soldier in the king's army was told who these monsters were and what they did and what they will do. And because the soldiers were loyal to the royal family, they would not stand for threats against Derrick's soulmate or against the kingdom and its people.

Even better, the women got involved.

Usually, the men fought the wars alone, but the women were outraged when the Aswangs threatened to kill their sons and daughters. A handful volunteered to fight, and Derrick didn't say no. They needed as many fighters as they could, and if the mothers wanted to put the Aswangs in their place, why stop them?