When Good Men go to War.

The leaves were quietly rustling in circles. A slight breeze was blowing through the forest, and the birds were unusually quiet for a spring day. The squirrels were calm, and still. The forest was dead, and for good reason. Kadence, General of the Werewolf Army, was on the move.



Kadence moved with stealth through the forest, avoiding every leaf, branch, and noise making thing that would impede his ability to move in utter silence. His breathing was fast, and heavy, but not labored, as he moved with urgency. He had important information for the A.A.F, or Ariel Attack Force, news that would be devastating to Renasur if proved to be correct. Kadence sighed with relief as he approached Renasur, the city of fire. He hoped any of the two Captains of the Ariel Guard were around.



Kadence howled as he approached the gates of Renasur, letting the guards know to open the gates. As Kadence entered the city, he shifted into his human form, and called for his Beta, or second in command, Captain Larkin. 
 “Larkin, where are Jack and Gabriel, I have disturbing news, and I must speak with them.” Kadence asked, his voice gruff, but gentle.




“I’m sorry sir, but they are in a council meeting as we speak, they have been in there most of the morning.” Larkin relayed his information to his General, as they walked briskly toward the Council Chamber room. Larkin stood a few inches lower than Kadence, but could easily hold his own in a fight between the two, his minor height setback was made up for in his speed.



Kadence and Larkin turned the corner that led them to the Council Chamber room, and were met by a familiar face. Lady Tango, Kadence’s mate, and love of his life, came strolling towards them, a smile breaking across her worried face. 




“Oh Kadence, you’re safe, thank the Lord.” Lady Tango wrapped her arms around Kadence, and they embraced for a moment. 


“Darling, as much as I would like to stay and talk, I must go and see Jack and Gabriel, I have disturbing news for them.” Kadence looked pained as he told Lady Tango that they must part for a while longer. 


“Of course, I understand, Honor your duty love, I will be awaiting your return in our chambers.” Lady Tango, gave him a farewell kiss on the cheek, and turned towards the direction of the resting chambers. Kadence watched her turn and leave, love in his eyes.



“Sir, the news?” Larkin reminded Kadence, and Kadence nodded to him, and they both entered the Council Chambers. All talking ceased, and heads turned towards the two Werewolf soldiers, waiting for an explanation for the interruption.

Kadence entered the Chamber first, knowing he was out of line, for interrupting a meeting in the first place. Secondly, anyone not human, was forbidden to enter, even those who are half human were forbidden to enter. Larkin followed Kadence into the Chamber, head hung, and eyes burning into the floor.




“Why have you interrupted our meeting, wolf?” A large voice boomed among the chatter. Kadence looked around for the source of the outburst, and realized it was the High Judge.


“My Apologies Your Honor, but I have urgent news for The Captains of the AAF.” Kadence kneeled as he addressed the Judge. 


“It couldn’t wait until after the meeting General?” The Judge sounded irritated, and for good reason, they were about to start discussing the Werewolf Ranks.


“It’s about the Citroen, Your Honor,” Kadence glanced toward Gabriel and Jack, asking their permission to tell everyone the news. Gabriel nodded, and Kadence continued to speak, “The Citroen are on the move Your Honor, and they’ve combined forces with the Minotaurs, and the Kaimen.”




The room grew quiet, the Judge fell back into his seat, and Kadence looked from the Judge to Gabriel and Jack, who were making their way towards him. Their armor was clinking as they almost ran towards him. Gabriel reached him first, “Let’s go somewhere more private, shall we?” Gabriel asked, as he held the doors open as the others fell out of the room.



The four of them reached the AAF quarters, where The Ariel Guard slept, ate, and trained. Jack led the wolves and Gabriel to the briefing room. As soon as Larkin entered, Jack told a guard to be sure they weren’t to be disturbed and shut the door. 




“The Citroen are planning with the Minotaurs, and the Kaimen, that’s not like them.” Gabriel stated, sitting in a chair, his chainmail clanking as he plopped into the seat. Gabriel gazed toward Jack, who was staring out the window. 


“Jack, what do you think?” Gabriel asked, swinging his feet up onto the chair in front of him.
Jack said nothing for a while; he just stood staring out the window, looking at the new recruits, trying to figure things out in his head, before putting them into words. Jack finally turned around; his face looked pained as he addressed Kadence.
 “How many soldiers do they have, do you think?”




“Three times as many as our own Jack, over 10,000. We’re going to need reinforcements or something to even compete with them.” Kadence said, almost pleadingly. Jack said nothing; he stood there in thought, stroking his chin. Gabriel, watched as Jack stood there, not saying a word, he grew frustrated with Jack’s cool composure of the situation.


“Jack, there’s nothing to think about here, if Kadence says we need more recruits, who are we to impede his judgment.” Gabriel all but yelled at Jack. Then the door to the room opened, all heads turned towards the open door.


“I thought I told you no Interruptions.” Jack growled at the guard who had opened the door.


“Yes sir, I apologize, but Castiel wants to know if he could join the briefing sir.” The guard was nervous, Jack could tell, and he instantly regretted snapping at him before hand.

“Of course, let him in. Please forgive me.” Jack said, and the guard nodded his acceptance of the apology, and shut the door. A few seconds after the guard left, the door opened again to reveal a muscular, athletically fit man with eagles wings entering the room.

“Forgive me for interupting, but I thought perhaps I should know what was going on with our Army.” Cassiel said without emotion. Gabriel always thought Cassiel’s emotionless personality was disturbing, he never laughed, or smiled, he just stood there his brow always furrowed.

“It’s not a problem Castiel, I should have invited you in the first place.” Jack said, still looking out the window, he was in a very disturbed state, and in a bit of a bind as well.



Jack’s arms were crossed and his gaze fixed on the busy streets of Renasur. Children were running about playing games of tag and war. War, it used to be a mere game they played as children, and yet now it seemed would be falling upon them, as real as the sun layed it's rays upon the earth. Jack turned and faced the group, "Castiel, the country of Citroen has waged war against us, will we be ready for the defense of our country and people?" His face filled with worry and anxiety.



"If we are to be at war, it seems we need to recruit and train more troops. That is what you were talking about before, was it not?" Jack nodded solemnly, and gazed quickly at Gabriel, who was already taking out his scribe to look at the best possible canidates for potential recruits.

"Gabriel, you may go search out canidates for our new troop force, be quick, I fear the Citroen will be upon us quicker than we expect." Gabriel nodded, and stood from his seat, he stopped beside Larkin and whispered something in his ear, causing Larkin to look at Kadence. Kadence nodded, and Gabriel and Larkin left the room quickly. Jack sat down in the chair that had been previously occupied by Gabriel, and sighed deep and heavily. Kadence looked at him with great worry in his eyes.

"You need to rest Jack, you are exhausted. When the time comes we need a leader who will be strong both mentally and physically." Kadence patted Jack on his back and headed for the open door, "You are not making a bad desicion Jack, these are just bad times we live in." Kadence said as he walked out the door, leaving Jack and Castiel in the meeting chamber by themselves.



Jack stood by the window, his eyes fixed on the children playing outside. The decision had been made, and soon some of these children will be sent to training, and Jack didn’t like it one bit. He sighed heavily as he turned to exit the chambers and saw Cassiel standing in his way. “Yes, Castiel, may I help you?” Jacks voice was ladden with depression and exhaustion. Cassiel shook his head, and stepped aside to make room for Jack to exit. Jack took a few steps forward towards the door, and stopped short, just in front of Cassiel, putting his hand on his shoulder. “In spite of all this, I am glad you are on our side Cas, unfortunately I do not know if we both will survive this battle.” Jack let a faint smile break against his hardened face, and his hand slipped off of Cassiel’s shoulder as he left the room, leaving Cassiel in there, alone, and deep in thought.



The sound of boots echoed in the alleyway as Gabriel walked briskly toward the AAF Training Academy. He had his scribe in hand, still scanning possible canidates, as he walked into the front door. Two soldiers standing the quarterdeck watch popped to attention quickly, and saluted. 


“Good mornig sir, Airman Draven, and Sergeant Rieal reporting all conditions normal, standing by for further instructions.” The Sergeants voice shook as she spoke, Gabriel had a feeling she had never had an encounter with any of the five highest ranking riders of their time. He returned their perfected salute, with a quick, sloppy salute. His eyes never left his scribe, still gazing over names, until one name stood out among the rest.




“Sergeant Rieal, it says here you graduated top of your class, and ranked highest in ariel combat skills. That is impressive. How would you like to be promoted to Lieutenant, and join me in preparing recruits for a high importance mission?” Gabriel still had his eyes on the scribe, but only lifted his eyes when he heard a thudding noise from behind the podium which the two soldiers had been standing behind. When Gabriel glanced behind the podium only Airman Draven was standing.


“Draven, where did Lieutenant Rieal go?” Gabriel asked, a puzzled look on his face, and followed Dravens gaze to the deck, where Rieal had apparently fainted.

“Also Draven, you will be promoted to Ensign and assist Rieal, understand?” Gabriel looked at her in the eyes, making sure she didn’t faint as well.


“Yes sir, thank you sir.” Draven saluted, and bent down to pick up Rieal and placed her back on her feet. Gabriel smiled, and walked down the corridor, looking for more potential recruits for the upcoming battle. He himself preferred war ridden veterens, but these young , gung-ho individuals would work as well.



Gabriel checked every classroom and every tent, looking for possible individuals for this mission. He had found enough to promote to officers, and the rest were just going to have to toughen up to be the soldiers he was looking for. Granted a lot of them would need more training. Most of the recruits in this place were just that, recruits, new to the entire military way of life. Some of them were just rich kids looking to get away from their over bearing parents. Then there were some that were right off the streets, looking for a place to sleep, eat, and get clothes. Although some of the recruits were made up of bums, rich brats, convicts, most of them were regular young adults, volunteeering themselves to defend their country, and Gabriel had the utmost respect for them. When he had finished scouring the training center, he told Rieal to hold a meeting with all the recruits currently undergoing training, and invite all incoming and processing recruits as well. If all went well he was going to brief everyone on the upcoming events, and brace them for more strict and brutal training. He hoped that most of the newer recruits, those still in the paperwork stage, would still enter the AAF, and not be turned away from the harsh truth he was about to release to them.





Gabriel had decided to hold the meeting in the Training Dome, where they taught their trainees to ride their dragons, it would be the only place big enough to hold all the students and officers in the AAF. Jack walked in as Gabriel was finishing his speech, and sat down in the back, glancing over all the potential warriors that sat in the stadium. He was glad that Gabriel was breaking the news to them instead of him, Gabriel was more of a people person, and all the students seemed to take a liking to him. Jack was more of the political part of the school, delivering punishments, and writing the rules and regulations. Jack barely noticed that Gabriel had finished, but was aware of the fact when everyone stood and began walking out of the auditorium. He saw Gabriel walking toward him, and he stood.


"How'd they take it?" Jack asked, concerned.


"Well, they were surprised at first, but once the reality of it sank in, they all seemed willing and ready." Gabriel replied, rubbing his temples, the excitement in his eyes seemed to have dimmed a bit and the reality that most of the soldiers would be young adults finally set in. 
Jack grasped Gabriels shoulder, and gave it a slight squeeze, showing a slight smile. After that breif moment, Jack put his arm around Gabriels shoulder, and they both walked out of the facility and back to the AAF housing facility.