When the words reached my ears of the third attack on my people outside of the walls, I ceased being willing to allow things to continue as they had been. There was too much that was going wrong, and I refused to allow my people to be picked off like so many meaningless pests.
"Rally together and prepare yourselves for extended search. We will find some of their number and carve our names into their flesh." I commanded, and my people rallied. Our rage had simmered for long enough.
The voices of my people raised in approval as they gathered together into packs of 20, 30, and 50. I hadn't been intending or attempting to keep them from acting according to their natures, but the invitation to action remained intoxicating. As I walked among my people, I gave instructions and encouragement and eventually had to pull Sakkit from one of the expeditions.
"I will chew on their bones and drink their marrow!" he declared. "Do not stop me, Zaaktif."
"You can do that," I replied, " but we both know that that would be a waste of your skill and what you can do for the Empire. Now get your tail back behind the walls and prepare yourself to ensure that any who survive the inevitable ambushes are able to survive through the night."
"Yes." he replied tersely. To his credit, he didn't hesitate at all the same moment I commanded. He didn't say anything more as he turned on his heel and crunched through the snow back towards the interior of Nievtra. I stopped watching and turned to walk back when a voice interrupted me.
"He will rage at this." Shemira noted. "He will chew at the restraints that you have placed upon him either until he frees himself or until finds himself too bloody and exhausted to move."
"He will do what he is commanded."
"While that is correct, he will still chafe at it."
"Then let him chafe. He is not a Hak'Tal, Sik'Tal, or Kou'Tal. His place is not on the frontlines but in the back to ensure that those who place is there on the forefront of our fight are able to return with haste."
"As you command, Zaaktif."
The female's concerns somewhat addressed, I turned my attention away from speaking with Shemira and instead continued to look around at my people's excited attempts at preparing for a new kind of hunt. After a short time, I spoke to Nievtala.
"What can you tell me of the great hunter, Illan'Klli? What should I know about these people who espouse his worship?" The voice that came was playful, though serious.
For most of his mortal existence, he was mindless. As you have seen the umbral ophidians act, he was the same. His focus was entirely on ensuring that he and his mate were fed, that his young were fat and happy, and that they could all survive for longer than any of their kin. In all this, he was successful. However, as he grew stronger, he better understood the [System], and the extent of the blessing that had been bestowed upon him. Even so, he remained selfish, and his focus was narrow. When finally he ascended to true divinity after decades of living as a king among his kin, he found himself with his mate and in charge of the domain of hunt itself. Of course, his time in the heavens has been bloody and tumultuous. Besides his existence as my foe, I quite like him. He is a creature after my own soul. It is a shame that he has always refused to bend the knee to anyone. Regardless, he has established himself as one of the premier deities on this planet, which is aught to his credit.
"Well, that is interesting information, but that does not mean much to me nor does it answer my questions." I gritted my teeth as her reply came.
Yes, it does, little fang. You have not thought about what I have told you, nor have you applied it to your knowledge of the Misti Hawar. Regardless of your request, this is all that I will tell you this time. However, ensure you protect those little ones! If you do not, you will have no further place with me.
I growled deep down in the back of my throat as she mentioned my children. Of course I was going to protect them, but it was also their place to know that they were in a world that would persecute and hunt them merely for existing. If I didn't I would have failed them indeed.
The goddess' presence pulled back from me and I refocused on the hunt that I was organizing. As far as I could tell, we were being treated by the Misti Hawar merely as creatures only marginally more intelligent than beasts. With that came the greater concern: were they as a people considering us as merely animals, or if it was merely those who we were fighting at this exact moment? It was obvious to me that Misti Hawar were far from a unified people. That being the case, if we managed to exterminate a group entirely, would there be any information that made it back to the rest or would it all die with our prey?
"Zaaktif, the packs are ready."
Took's body language was eager, and she obviously was ready to once again exercise her position as the Huntmaster. She had some of her more trusted subordinates, those who had been Khatif the longest as well as some who had evolved to Keel, rallying packs to work in close proximity to each other, preparing to deal with these ambushers in the best way that we knew how.
"Move out." I swiped my hands through the air as I declared the beginning of the hunt on the interlopers to be found and slain. "Now go, and find victory in all you do."
I spoke with the boost of several [Skills] as I commanded my people to victory. Hissing cries of excitement filled the air as they began to move to find their prey. Challenges of who would be most likely to find the Misti Hawar first and then to bring them to justice were issued, and I felt my face crack into an angry smile. Instead of holding steady and allowing the status quo to continue, we would take this time to extract what information we could, and show and prove to our enemies that we could not be engaged in a farce of a war like this.