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  Things in the house never reallysettled down after the cubs got their lessons. From then on, they were tryingto engage him in the same manner as often as they could. Luna was practicalabout it. "It's like eating papa. After a while, you just get hungry again. Andit didn't help that what you showed us was nothing less than a sumptuousfeast!" The situation got bad enough that he finally came up with a plan. Hewould bed only one, once per week. That included the boys, should they wish it.He was thankful when they declined. Itwasn't in his normal repertoire, but he wouldn't discriminate because of hisown feelings. It was the girls who pestered him. He was beginning to wonder ifhe should have made it such a fun time.  Orath bore it well enough, knowingthat she had been the catalyst for it. It hardly meant she was happy about it. Sharingher mate with her daughters on a regular basis rather ground her gears. Onenight, after he came to bed smelling like sweat and sex, she put the matter tohim. "Jon-Tom, they need to find mates of their own. I know I put you up tothis, but I failed to understand the hold you'd end up having over them.  Even one of our boys still has seriousthoughts about hitting the bed with you again! We must introduce them to wolvestheir own age." Jon-Tom snickered. "Orath dear, there isn't a single wolf inthis kingdom that would wish to anger the great Lobo. I'm afraid getting anyhere that are worthwhile by their own merits will be nigh near impossible. Ifwe are to find mates for them, if had best be from outside Eastfallon."

   The search came to a ruinous closewith the arrival of news that the Plated Folk, the hated enemies of all thosewith warm blood, were massing an army to march against the gate at Zaryt'sTeeth. Messengers were traveling to the farthest reaches of the world, lookingfor volunteers to fight. Jon-Tom was all too well aware of the battle and itsoutcome. He already knew that the warmlanders had succeeded in defeating themassed armies of the insects, but it had been at a high cost. In the end it washis magic that had accomplished the deed. But no one knew that here. In histrue time, the battle was long over. Hewas uncertain if his involvement now would interfere with the outcome.   With his present power, he could,with a simple thought, change the course of history. But on the other hand, heknew that he wouldn't, otherwise the way things turned out would be differentin his memory. He was fairly certain that things happened as they were meant tohappen. If he had shown up out of the blue, then he would have known italready.  That made the decision for him.He would go as Lobo, the

Alpha Male of Eastfallon. He already had a littlefame; why not engage in battle and gain some more? 

   He made the announcement the nextday. Orath was visibly upset. "You can't go and leave me here! I'm coming too."There was no way he was going to allow her to come. "Look my wonderful, sexylittle lupine; I cannot die. You can. Besides, you should remain here as theguardian of Eastfallon. I will rally a small company to represent Eastfallon atthe gate." She was prepared to fight his decision, remembered who she was goingto be arguing with, and clamped her mouth shut. He was right after all. Shemight end up being a liability. As the supreme ruler, it did behoove her to stayand look after the kingdom, such as it was.  Thus it was that Lobo, the AlphaMale, put forth a proclamation looking for 200 willing and able wolves to joinhim at the gate. He was in no way disappointed. Many of the old guard showedup, looking older, but just as fierce as ones half their age. A little extrahealing into their old bones made them stand a little taller and move a bitfaster. There were many more green cadets, wolves not yet having the experienceto fight. There were six in particular that stood out, however. Jon-Tom, akaLobo, had to tell them no. "Look kids, I told your mother she would have tostay. I can't go letting you tag along for the same reason. This battle is notgoing to be nice little mock ups, where you clank swords with each other and Iheal the cuts and bruises. The Plated Folk want us all dead. I cannot lookafter you and attend to the battle. So, you will stay here!"

   They didn't take it too well. Allsix of them actually filed a petition to go, addressing the Alphas in theofficial chambers just like any other petitioners.  He had to admit, they were pretty smart,listing off the reasons they should go. They listed their abilities, whichthanks to him were extensive, the fact that they would be there with him, theirfather, to prove the bravery of Eastfallon. They rattled on for an hour. He satand listened patiently until they were finished. Then he stood up. "You makegood points for being included in the garrison when it leaves. However, I askedfor two hundred. I now have one hundred and ninety seven. That leaves room forthree of you. You must choose amongst yourselves, and you must do it now.Otherwise, none of you will go. That set them to arguing with each other overwho had the best merits. An hour later, after tuning them out the best hecould, he stood. "It is as I thought. Since you can't decide, I will. None ofyou are going." He stood and left the room.  For the duration of his stay beforeheading off to the Gate, Jon-Tom noticed that they avoided speaking to him. Hefigured it would be the case. Better have them alive and at home then deadheroes with their blood leaking onto the ground beside the Gate. It was a weekhe had to endure it. Only Orath supported his decision. As she put it, "Thereis no need to put the heirs of Eastfallon in harm's way." They did come to seehim off, their faces grim and unemotional. Luna was the only one who broke downand whimpered a little. He kissed the tops of their heads, ruffled their furand turned without another word. They would forgive him eventually.

   The march to the gate wasuneventful; outside of the numerous others they met with who were answering thecall to duty. There were legions of fierce felines, indomitable ursines,frantic flyers, and hordes of other hosts all heading to protect the lands theycalled home. Each night they set up camp, sometimes sharing what they had withothers less well equipped, and moving on again in the morning. Jon-Tom wantedto just magic everyone to their destination, but his captains, some of theoriginal wolves he had recruited to wrest the kingdom away from the reds, convinced him to move with theothers. "It will be best to blend in, Lobo sir, rather than stick out. Few knowyour real power, so if you wish it to remain obscured, you best follow thepaths like everyone else." They were wise words.  Each day brought them closer, a painstaking process to someone who had been in such swift forms as a dragon and aunicorn. After a tedious week of travel, it began growing on his body that hemissed home, not in the usual sense, but because he hadn't bedded his matesince before he left. A little flag went up in his head that tonight would havebeen Luna's turn. As much as he wanted them to move on, he was now finding thathe missed the closeness their times together created. He would never admit itopenly, especially not around here, but he really did get off screwing thegirls until they couldn't see straight! As the Alpha Male, his words andactions were not to be challenged, but continued activity with his girls mightcause some friction with the more traditional wolves.

   This thought made him laugh. He wasstretched out on a cot in his tent, recalling those crazy early days when he,Mudge, Clothahump and a few others, including that monstrosity Falazemar, hadtraveled to Polastrindu, one of the largest cities around.  Their job at the time was to convince the citycouncil of the imminent danger the Plated Folk presented to all those on thisside of the Gate. It hadn't gone well until they convinced General Aveticus.His quiet command of the council brought

all the others into line. It was agood thing too, for the threat had been very real. From there, Jon-Tom's groupheaded off to some literally unexplored regions, followingThe-River-Eats-Itself past the Earth's Throat and into the lands of TheWeavers. Jon-Tom had had to overcome his fear of the oversized spiders, thoughhe had handled it better than Flor had.  A cough outside the flap to his tentpulled him out of his memories. "What is it?" He growled. He wasn't disposed tobe nice right now, for the forthcoming battle had no room for kindness. Youeither lived or you died. One of his recruits came in, a bit on the short side,dressed to the hilt with armor, helmet, boots; essentially being covered fromtoe nails to ear tops. His muzzle stuck out a bit from under the helmet, but itwas black with soot. "Sir, I have a request, if I may ask it!" Jon-Tom rolledthe voice around inside his head. It sounded vaguely familiar, being a bithigher pitched than his usual men. But this one was younger, obviously, and notfrom an area prone to bathing. He had no idea what his name was. Then again, hehad not taken the time to introduce himself to the others. A mistake, he nowrealized. "What is it soldier?" The other stuttered just a little. "Sir, thisbeing the third day of the week, I was wondering sir if I might beseech you tocomply with a simple request...Sir!"

   Jon-Tom sat up on the cot. "Soldier,I don't know what you want from me. We are going to war. If you want to gohome, the answer is no. If you want more food, the answer is no. You havesuitable armor and weapons. So if your request is along those lines, forget it.Anything else within my power, you can have." The soldier stood a littletaller. "Thank you sir. I had no intention of letting you go with sharing yourbed on the day I was promised it!" The wolf took off her helmet, revealingLuna. Jon-Tom jumped off the cot and growled. "What the hell are you doinghere? I told you to stay in Eastfallon!" She smiled, her white teeth sharply contrastedwith the dirt on her fur. "Yes you did. I disobeyed. You go to battle toprotect our people, so I can do no less. I will not sit behind and wonderwhat's going to happen."  He was so angry he nearly swattedher right back through the door to the tent. "Luna darling, I have alreadyfought this battle once. We won. I am now sticking my neck out again. I know Ican't die. I can't say the same for you!" She was stripping out of her armor.Just like a woman, he thought to himself. If they can't win by reason, use sexto soften up the competition. The problem was, she was right. It was her day,and he really needed some action. He held up a paw.

"Alright. You can stay. Isuppose I can look after one of you." She paused for a second before finishingdisrobing. "Six of us. We all came. We agreed to it, and there is nothing youcan do about it. We will defend this world just like every other brave soul wehave encountered." He got hot under the collar.

   "I can't look after you and fighttoo!" Luna was now naked. She came up and unbuckled his belt, drawing off hisleather clothing a bit at a time. "You have trained us yourself. We are thetops in our generation when it comes to handling weapons. You're here for thesecond time fighting the same battle when you already know the end result. Ifthat's not cheating, then I don't know what is!" He was thinking of an answerwhen she slipped her mouth over his cock. It was sufficient to end his protestson the spot. After she got him off that way, she pulled him to the cot. Beforethey started, she said only one thing. "You'd better toughen this contraptionwith your magic or there isn't going to be much of it left by the time we'redone!" He did and she was right. He ended up putting a sound damping spell inplace, or else the entire camp would have be around to check out the commotion.  But even before she could get himpinned down in bed, he voiced another protest. It was one initiated by hisnose. "Luna, you're in heat!" Her eyes got a little wilder. "Yes papa, I'm inmy first heat. But you promised me this day. So what will you do?" He knew thelaw. It was explicit about incest and conception. His remedy was simple. "Therewill be no viable sperm for you, young lady. If it was your intention to trap meinto giving you children, you have another thing coming!" She sighed. "I hadhoped, even if it did break the rules. But I will take what I can get." He wasso angry with her, he went a little overboard on the physical aspect of theirpresent activity. He pinned her down, which was completely effective given hislarger size, and growled in her face. "You had better be able to deal with meyoung lady, because if you can't deal with what I'm about to dish out, you'llnever survive on the battle field!"

   The only two things that saved herwere the fact that he was overall a conscientious person, and that she washorny as hell from her hormones. If not, she might well have suffered permanentharm. It was the closest he ever came to rape. His intent was to show her whatcould be expected out of a battle; no mercy from the enemy. What it turned intowas a affair he never forgot. He started without foreplay. As he explained it,a bit tersely, an enemy would hardly warm up before trying to kill you. Hepushed in without lubrication, causing her to

yelp. Of course, he was fullsize, hard as a rock, and in no true amorous mood. He drove it in, heedless ofher attempts to stop him. She wanted to do battle; here was one she mightactually survive. He pushed harder and harder, deeper and deeper, changing to afeline's cock once he was in.   She figured out right away that thiswasn't punishment, it was a lesson. He had told them to stay home and theydisobeyed. Her father was a kind wolf, or man rather, but he didn't like itwhen people went against his wishes. She had done just that. So instead ofbuckling under what she was about to receive, she opted to go with it andlearn. But in the first three minutes, she had suffered more pain than in herentire previous life. She felt his cock change, and then a shooting sensationlike a hundred needles springing forth in her cunt. It wasn't so back when hepulled back, but the push in was agony. She refused to cry out again. Shebucked her hips to meet his each push, showing him that she wasn't about to becowed by his efforts.

   For Jon-Tom's part, he was angry,both with her and with himself for what he was doing. He quickly relented inhis "punishment", finding it not to be his way. He stopped, changed his cockback to a wolf's, pushed in some healing and kissed her nose. She opened hereyes. "What's the matter papa? Don't you think I can take it?" He kissed heragain. "I think you can. What I do know is that I can't dish it out. It isn'tright to turn something good into a punishment. But damn it girl, I told you tostay home! All of you! What am I supposed to do with you guys now?" She wiggleda little under him. "I'll tell you what you can do as soon as you fix therawness you just caused me." He repaired the slight but uncomfortable damagewith a quick application of his power. She hugged him close.   "You know papa, I would have takenanything you felt I deserved." He kissed her again. "You deserve only the besthoney. But that's where I think I made a mistake. You kids have never beenexposed to the dangers and nastiness that seems to abound in this world. You'venever had to deal with life threatening problems." She pulled her hips againsthis before speaking. "But papa, now we have the opportunity to do so, you wishto take it away. That doesn't make any sense." She was right. He was being atotal idiot again. "When you're right Luna, you're right. Here I am stilltrying to protect you from the things that you need to know." She was feelingbetter inside, and was now grinding away against his much more comfortablecock. He was still trying to speak. She was making it difficult.

   "Look Luna. I've seen

this battleunfold. It wasn't a pretty sight. A lot of good people died. I have no desireto go home after this is all over and tell your mother that one, or two, or allof you perished." Luna grunted a few times as she worked over his cock. "Papa,do you know that mama says that you can be the stupidest male she has evermet?" He chuckled. "Yes dear, I have been told that many times." She made aface when his cock hit a particularly sensitive spot. This time it was a goodfeeling. It also made it hard to talk. "My point papa is that you haveincredible power. I know you don't flaunt it, but why not give some out to us?Then we can look after ourselves." He thought about it as she ground into histhrusts. She was right. He was a miser with his power as of late, not wishingthem to be dependent on him to fix every little problem. But giving them theability to heal was in no way overt, but it would be effective.  "You make a good case. But where doI stop? With you and the other five stowaways? With everyone from Eastfallonwho has come to fight? With everyone out there striving to preserve our way oflife? I know many died. As much as I would like to save them, if I do, then thewhole timeline changes. If I change the timeline, bad things happen. So what doyou suggest I do?" She was hanging on to him, digging her nails into his flesh."Papa, if you don't mind, shut up for now. I'd much rather concentrate on whatI doing!" She was under him, but doing all the work. He was enjoying it, and itdisturbed him that it did. But as the saying from his world went, when in Rome...He started pushing deeper, allowing a bit of power in, furthering theirpleasure. It's the things like this, he thought, that show I'm pampering themtoo much. But then Luna went into an orgasm, and he followed, driving hisreservations from his mind.

   The next round was with her bentover the folding camp table. Luckily, nothing on it was breakable, for it allwent flying across the ground. She grabbed a hold of the end and spread herlegs, lifting her tail high. He pushed in, grabbed her tail, and startedpumping her like a mad man. In fact, he did just that, changing to human in midpush. She could feel the change, looked back, smiled and squeezed the musclesin her cunt...tight! He increased his size a little, allowing it to grow on eachpush, until it was just barely moving. She tried to give it a "hug" and foundit was impossible to do. She relaxed and let him go to it. His motions got tobe so strong that all at once the table gave way. She stumbled forward, but washeld in place by his firm grip on her tail. He was now using it to pull herback on his forward thrusts.   He stopped for a moment, and gotboth of his hands on her hips, leaving her tail to drape to one side. Shewished then that she had something to hang on to, for his movements weregetting wild enough to thrash her about like she was a child's toy. She got hisattention long enough to get him to stop. She disengaged, turned and hopped up,facing him. "Oh papa, this will work easier for freestyle I think. I needsomething to hang onto!" He got his hands under her ass, but shifted his wetcock so that it hit her ass. She tightened up at first, and then loosened herhold on her sphincter, letting him slide in. He was kind enough to use hishuman cock, albeit a bit smaller than normal. It slid in like a hand into a glove,and she took over the motions, allowing him to stand there holding her. Itwasn't long before she could feel the heat rising in her, and she soon peakedher pleasure with another orgasm. He blew a load not long after.

   They kept it up until the morninghours, when Luna was too exhausted to continue. He changed back to the DireWolf body, just in case someone showed up. The problem that remained forJon-Tom was her scent. Her hormones from her ovulation were driving hisolfactory senses off the charts. He finally shut down the receptors in hisnose, effectively cutting off the aroma. His cock was still raging and he hadto fight it down. The damn thing had a mind of its own. He forced it down witha thought, sighing with relief when it went limp. "I never thought I'd have aday where I'd be glad of that!" he mumbled aloud. He hardly needed sleep, buton the other hand he didn't want Luna found in his tent, regardless of whetheror not she was his daughter. With a sigh, he spelled her back to her tent,feeling deep down inside that he should return all of them to their home. Butshe was right; there was no point in denying them a chance to prove themselves.  Thus, he was up and ready when hiscaptains came to discuss their next move. This one was going to take them tothe area outside of the wall. Zaryt's Teeth, the huge crags that blocked thePlated Folk, and of course the great Gate that blocked the pass, were to be thesite of their encampment. Well, not the mountains themselves, but the plains onthe warmlander side. When they arrived, it was already crawling with mammals ofevery description. There were male and females, though fewer of the latter.When he first fought this battle, he had no interest except in Flor and Talea,his own species. Now he looked at the various ladies more like Mudge might. Hehad to continue pushing down his own hormones. This proved the case when alovely wolf lady walked by. He followed her with his nose until she went into atent. He looked around at those occupying those in her vicinity and had anepiphany.

   It was going to have to wait. A callcame out for experienced warriors to take positions of command within thevarious ranks. Even those who had never met "Lobo" recognized that he was animpending figure. So he went to the tent of General Aveticus. The martin,normally quiet and somber, let out a whistle. "They grow them big inEastfallon! You sir, and your mate, have quite the reputation for beingwarriors of an uncanny nature. How would you like to be in charge of all thecanine corps that have volunteered for duty?" Jon-Tom stood a little taller. "Ithank you, general, but if my position is to stay behind the lines and directothers to their possible death, then no, I will not accept. I came here tofight. With me are my children, who have also come to fight. We will battletogether, or not at all!"  The martin raised his eyebrows."Strong words. You seem to have both uncommon sense and unbreakable dedication.If you intend to fight side by side with your family, then you have thestrongest possible reason to want to survive. That will make you excellent onthe field. In the mean time, would you consent to give us some sound advice inregards to battling our ancient enemy?" Jon-Tom bowed. "With every fiber of mybeing!"

   The discussion turned to Plated Folktactics, which had not changed much in the past several hundred years. Jon-Tonknew about the new methods, but was careful not to spell them out. He pointedto the maps, making suggestions about placements of the bears and other bigfighters, and over in other areas, putting in archers who would have a clearshot at the insects as they washed up against the Gate. He was equally savvyabout the air attacks, having spent time with Mel-Aura. Again, he had to becareful not to overdo it, or else he might tip the scales prematurely. Thistimeline was a tricky thing. When he was done, Aveticus bowed deeply andthanked him for his sage advice. Jon-Tom, aka Lobo, returned to his camp.  He called his children in. He madecertain that they knew he was unhappy with them being here. He had taken thequieting spell off his tent, so the whole camp knew he was pissed. Everyoneheard every word he had to say. But what they didn't know was that during histirade, he endowed his children with the power of advanced healing. He went onestep further and made it automatic. "I don't need you freezing up out there ifyou get cut down." As a demonstration he pulled out his own sword and hacked atPeppy. The poor wolf tried to duck the swing but got caught in the arm. Theblade bit to

the bone. But even as he prepared to cry out in pain, the bladewas pulled away. The tissue knit itself back together like it had never beencut. Peppy growled at his father. "What the hell was that for?" Jon-Tom heldthe sword up. "This isn't play time you idiots. This is for real. A blow cancome from anywhere. Like I told your sister, I can't be looking out for you allthe time. So you will need to be on your toes." He swung the sword again, thistime finding it blocked by his son's own weapon. Jon-Tom smiled. "That's muchbetter. But remember this; you may not die out there, but every cut will hurt.Your pain I will not diminish, for it is what will keep you going until thisbattle is done."

   The day finally came when the PlatedFolk led their attack. Jon-Tom had been marking the days off, so as to be ableto see his earlier self running ahead of the horde. With him were Clothahump, adead Talea, Mudge, Caz, Pog, Bribbens and Flor. (Talea, for those not recallingthose details, had had her throat slit by a Plated Folk guard.) It was crazywatching the insects approach, nearly swarming over them before they made theGate. From then on, it was an active war zone. He returned to his post, ralliedhis troops, and took up positions to be deployed at Aveticus' command. Itdidn't take long. With a cry, they swept down onto the opposing side, dealingblows with swift precision. The first wave they had to deal with was composedof smaller bugs, meaning of course that they were between three and five feethigh. After about a half hour of fighting, they seemed to sense something theothers could not and made a retreat.   As they scrambled away, a line of significantlylarger Plated Folk came forward. These were much fiercer looking. A few of themwere pseudolucanids. To Jon-Tom, they were the largest damn stag beetles he hadever seen. Their pinchers were large enough to take off an unwary animal'shead. And that's just what they set out to do. Despite the bravery of thevarious species of wolves, foxes and other miscellaneous canines, the linebroke. Jon-Tom was battling one of these huge killing machines when he heardone of his children cry out. In a lapse in his concentration, he turned tolook. It was all the opening the big brute needed to snap out with his enormousmouth parts and severe his left hand from his wrist. Without thinking, Jon-Tomtook his right hand and forced it into the creature's tough carapace, tearingout its guts on the exit out the other side. His shoulder was pressed upagainst its abdomen.

   The others paused in their fighting,on both sides, at this unprecedented action. Jon-Tom pulled his hand out anddropped the intestines on

the ground, before looking to his own stump. He wouldhave healed it, but such a display would cause a disruption in the ranks.Instead, he reached down and plucked a double edged battle axe from the ground.He stuck the shattered wooden handle in his mouth, and with a wrench, tore theblade loose from its moorings. He took the bright steel axe and slipped it overhis stump, spelling it to keep it attached. He did one practice swing. The nextlobbed off a mantis's head. He went to work with gusto, remembering what theyhad done to Talea. His children rallied behind him, and the rest behind them,until they drove the attackers back into the valley. A call from the wall drewthem back. Jon-Tom left only reluctantly. Ichor stained his blades and coveredhis body.  Once back at camp, several membersof the medical guild tried to assist him with his injury. He only needed totell them once to leave him alone. All six of his children came to his tent fora conference. Their armor had dents, their leather was cut, and blood stainedeverything they wore. But under it all, they remained intact. They too refusedthe healers. There was no point in alerting the world to their presentinvulnerability. They got a respectable title after that little stunt. Theybecame known as the Unflappable Eastfallons. Luna, however, tried to talk herfather into restoring his paw. "Father, you're a mess right now. You look quitedisgusting, with that damn bug goo covering you. And your poor paw. Why didn'tyou heal it?" He growled. "You know damn well why. I couldn't have everyonerealizing that there was more to me than meets the eye. If I went fixing myselfout in the open, everyone would lose heart knowing their leader wasindestructible when they were not. So I did some quick thinking and slappedthis baby on and kept going. You see how well it worked!"

   It was a good thing too, because theywere called back into the battle within two hours of their first foray. Jon-tomhad stripped of his armor in an attempt to get it clean. It hadn't been hisidea. Now he was needed again. He threw on his breast plate and a pair ofleggings, and thus equipped went back into the battle. His apparent lack ofaccessories drew complaints from his captains. He told them, politely enough,where they could stick it. He waded back into the battle with a grim, grotesquepleasure. His left was still capped by the axe, and in his right he carried alarge sword. With the fluid motion of a dancer, he wielded both weapons likethey weighted nothing. Insect heads flew through the air in such rapidsuccession that it was hard to keep count. In ten minutes over three hundredlittered the ground.  His

children were doing good worktoo, though by no means quite to the effect of their father. Their swordsdarted in and out as quickly as they could, only occasionally missing theirintended targets. The rest of the Eastfallon troops kept the Plated Folk fromgetting a foot hold, and battered them mercilessly every time they tried torally. Bodies began piling up, making fighting difficult. It was soon apparentthat would either need to take the fight elsewhere, or retreat. Jon-Tom was inno mood to retreat, but remembered that the tide of the battle was shifted whenthe mice and rats appeared, led by that socialist dragon Falezemar. His choicein the matter was taken away by the call of a retreat from the wall. He wasn'thappy, but he knew a wise move when he heard it. He bellowed for the others tohead back first. He would follow.

   It wasn't that simple. The PlatedFolk charged in. Jon-Tom was the only thing standing between them and histroops, who now had their backs turned. With a holler and a bellow, he went towork, swinging his left arm in great arcs, taking out the smaller insects bythe dozen. His sword arm was straining as he turned it into a virtual propellerblade, dicing the bugs to bits. Limbs went flying, heads rolled and still theycame. That's when he felt the ground shudder. He turned about and saw thebiggest damn bug he had ever laid eyes on. He was certain there was no equivalent,no matter the size difference, to anything that lived on Earth. The thing was agood twelve feet high, and its jaws made the stag beetle's look like ice tongs.Jon-Tom's last thought before he fell into fighting this beast was, I'm glad Ican't die!  The other Plated Folk moved out ofthe way of their huge brother. The thing paused to glare at him with compoundeyes. It lashed out with a foreleg and was rewarded with it being severed atthe joint. A deafening roar blasted out, and it sprang forward. It overshot itsmark and very nearly crushed him under its weight. But then, he wasn't anythingclose to normal anymore. With a heave, he hoisted the monster up and threw itabout ten feet. A glance up the wall saw many stunned onlookers. He wasn't hereto put on a show though. The beast righted itself and charged again. Jon-Tom steppedaside and severed another leg as it passed.

   It turned, this time sizing him upbefore attacking. It was too bad the thing didn't know what it was up against.The third charge brought it up close before it veered off, trying to get himoff guard. Losing his paw was as good as it was going to get today. When itdoubled back, he was ready. He leaped into the air, and with one crushing blow,drove his axe hand right down into its head.

The creature was stopped sosuddenly it flipped over on top of him. When the dust settled, there was onlyan upended bug leaking fluid from its severed legs. The huge wolf was gone. Thecrowd had no time to worry, for a second later the sword tip erupted throughthe chitin and sliced up towards the head. An axe head shown through, and amoment later, the Dire Wolf named Lobo stepped out of two halves of a dead bug.A cheer went up from his side of the wall.   None were as happy with his feat aswere his children. When he reached the top, Luna was the first to great him. "Uh,papa?" He smiled a sickly grin. "What isit Luna dear?" She returned his smile with a pained one of her own. "Papa, whenthis is over, please do us all a favor and take a bath. You smell awful!" Hesniffed himself. The odor was reminiscent of cockroach turds and worm guts. Hehad smelled worse in his life. "Nah! I think I like it!" He walked towards histent and vanished from sight. His smell lingered.

   Of course, you all know how thebattle turned out. (If not, read the book, The Hour of the Gate.) There weremany wounded, and those not too hurt were asked to look for survivors on thefield of battle, or if needed be, remove the dead. It wasn't a job for the weakhearted. But Lobo the Axehand, as he was now called, waded in and pulled outanyone he could find. If there was the slightest life left in them, theyeventually recovered to live another day. One was a wolf, hacked and dying, butnot dead. He touched the body and was rewarded with a gasp. Eyes flickeredopen. "I felt what you did. Why didn't you leave me to die?" Then the eyes grewlarge. "You are the commander!" He flopped down beside the injured soldier. "Notany longer. The wizard's have done their job, and we have won. But you seemupset for the gift I have given you. Why?"  The wolf unbuckled the straps,pulling off the armor and throwing it to the ground. The clothing underneathwas tossed aside as well, leaving a naked and battered wolf hermaphrodite. "I'ma freak. I figured that I might gain some fame in battle and if I was killed,then so much better. I have suffered at the paws of others for my freakishness.Death was all I wanted." He leaned in and stared him/her in the eyes. "Today isnot a good day to die. And don't call yourself a freak. Somewhere in the timelineI have three kids that are hermes. What's your name soldier? And what gender doyou consider yourself?" The wolf stood before answering. "My name is Woulla. Iwas raised as a girl sir." He cleared his throat. "Well Woulla, I think youhaven't met the right person yet. I'd like to introduce you to my son. And Iwill, but only after you

put your clothes back on. I have a reputation as itis.

   In the days that followed, all ofhis kids found wolves that they had an interest in. With all of the bravest oftheir species gathered in one spot, it wasn't hard to accomplish. Woulla quicklyfell for his son, and he for her. Since Woulla could pass for a full fledgedfemale, it made the situation all the better, leastwise in Orath's eyes. Jo-Tomwas joyful for any happiness his children might find. They had done well duringthe fight, and had proven themselves worthy of being remembered in the tales ofthe Gate. Whomever they chose as mates was alright with him especially since hegot him off the hook for his once a week routine. It was about time theystarted making lives for themselves. He had Orath to keep happy for the rest ofher life. And she had him.      ,