Warlord of the Beast Legion

The First Command

"Let them scream until their throats bleed, because my brother needs to hear exactly what he created." Jack Cole whispered the words into the freezing night air, his breath rising like white smoke against the dark canopy.

Beside him, the massive alpha shadow wolf shifted its weight, a low, vibrating purr of anticipation rattling through its massive chest. The mist of the outer perimeter was thick, but through the haze, the campfires of the royal scouting party burned bright, casting long, dancing shadows against the rocky ridge. The soldiers wore the crest of the vanguard, the very silver lions Jack had once worn over his own heart.

"Should we wait for the fog to thicken, Commander?"

Jack didn't turn around to look at the massive, towering silhouette of the forest giant standing behind him, its gnarled, stone-like fist resting on the trunk of an ancient oak. "No. They think they are safe because they have iron swords and walls. Teach them that iron snaps."

A sharp, piercing whistle cut through the silence of the woods.

Instantly, the darkness erupted into a chaotic, terrifying symphony of snapping jaws, heavy thuds, and the panicked, frantic shouting of men caught completely off guard. The royal scouts didn't even have time to draw their steel before the shadows tore through their tents.

"Hold the line!" a captain screamed, his voice instantly cut short by the crushing weight of a giant's fist coming down from the dark. "What are these things? Get the horses—"

Jack walked slowly down the slope, his boots treading softly over the wet grass, completely untouched by the violence exploding around him. A cold, detached numbness settled deep into his chest as he watched the silver uniforms tear like paper under the claws of his pack. There was no hesitation in his eyes, no flicker of the man who used to spend sleepless nights grieving over lost soldiers. Seeing the vanguard bleed didn't break his heart anymore. It felt like a debt finally being paid.

"Mercy!" a voice sobbed from the center of the ruined camp. "Please, by the gods, mercy!"

Jack stopped just outside the circle of dying firelight. The slaughter was already over, leaving only a single, young soldier trapped beneath the weight of a fallen supply wagon. The boy couldn't have been older than nineteen, his face covered in soot and tears, his leg pinned firmly under the heavy wooden frame. The alpha wolf stood directly over him, its jaws dripping with hot, dark saliva that pooled on the boy’s chest.

"Call them off," the boy begged, his chest heaving violently as he looked up at Jack's human silhouette. "Please. I have a family. I have a sister in the lower district. Please, sir."

Jack stepped into the light, his cold, unblinking eyes locking onto the trembling kid. He gestured slightly with his hand, and the alpha wolf backed off an inch, though its crimson eyes never left the soldier’s throat.

"What is your name, son?" Jack asked, his voice entirely too quiet, completely devoid of any anger or heat.

"T-Tobias," the boy stammered, his fingers clawing at the dirt as he tried to pull himself out from under the wagon. "Private Tobias. Please, sir, we didn't know anything was out here. Commander Grey said the forest was empty."

Jack knelt down in the mud right in front of the boy, the proximity forcing the soldier to see the jagged scars running up Jack’s neck, the ruined remains of a vanguard officer's tunic beneath his dark cloak. "Jesse told you it was empty because he wanted to believe it. He needed to believe it."

Tobias froze, his breath hitching as he stared at Jack's face, a sudden, horrifying realization dawning in his eyes. "You... you're Jack Cole. But you're dead. The Supreme Commander said you fell to the rebels."

"The Supreme Commander is a coward who plays with gold while better men die for his lies," Jack said, his hand reaching out to gently touch the silver lion crest on the boy's torn shoulder. He didn't rip it off. He just squeezed the metal until it bent. "Look at me, Tobias. Do I look dead to you?"

"No," the boy whispered, tears streaming down his face. "Please don't kill me. I won't say anything. I'll desert. I'll leave the province."

"Oh, you aren't going to die," Jack murmured, offering a terrifyingly soft smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I am sparing your life for a very specific reason. I need you to run. I need you to run back up that mountain, through the gates of the high castle, and straight into the war room."

Tobias nodded frantically, his jaw shaking. "Anything. I'll tell them whatever you want."

"You tell Jesse that his vacation is over," Jack hissed, his voice dropping into a dangerous, venomous register that made the boy flinch. He leaned closer, his eyes boring into the soldier's soul. "You look him in the eye, and you tell him that the rightful owner of that crown is coming back to take it. Tell him I am bringing the whole forest with me, and I want him to watch every single stone of his precious kingdom burn before I finally cut his throat."

"I'll tell him," Tobias gasped, his voice cracking. "I'll tell him word for word. I swear it."

Jack stood up, turning his back to the boy as he gestured to the forest giant behind him. With a single, effortless grunt, the giant lifted the heavy supply wagon, freeing the boy's pinned leg.

"Get up," Jack ordered, not looking back. "Run. And don't stop until you smell the incense of the court."

Tobias didn't wait. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the agony in his bruised leg, and bolted into the dark, his frantic footsteps fading quickly into the dense fog as he fled toward the capital.

The camp fell into an absolute, suffocating silence. Jack stood alone in the center of the ruins, the glowing embers of the fire reflecting in the pools of dark blood at his feet. Slowly, from the edges of the clearing, the shadows began to close in. Dozens of wolves emerged from the mist, their crimson eyes fixed entirely on him. Behind them, the massive silhouettes of three more forest giants stepped into the light, their heavy breathing shaking the low branches.

The alpha wolf stepped up beside Jack, pressing its massive, scarred shoulder against his leg. It let out a low huff, a silent question hanging in the air.

Jack looked up at the high ridge in the distance, where the torches of the castle walls glinted like distant stars against the dark sky. The survival struggle was finished. The war had officially begun.

"Gather the rest of the packs," Jack commanded, his fingers tightening into fists as a cold, absolute resolve settled over his heart. "We march at dawn."