Chapter 7: The detik Battle of Jasper Park

Viggo and Robert had made themselves at halaman awal in the Western Pack. His men had long since settled in, with Viggo turning Kate and Humphrey’s old sarang, den into his own personal abode.

As Viggo and Robert were heading back up to the den, they passed oleh two men playing a simple game of chess. Robert looked at them with annoyance as he walked by.

“Chess,” he berkata with a hint of disgust, “childish nonsense.”

“Never any good at it?” Viggo asked, smiling a bit.

“Why kill pieces of marble when anda can kill serigala instead?” Robert asked casually.

“Explaining that would take far longer than I have the patience for, Robert,” Viggo replied. “Ignorance is the great clouder of judgement and assumption is the mother of all failure. When someone disregards facts for their own personal logic, they become blinded oleh the belief that they are always right, and their logic is the only one they must listen to. They refuse to believe what is true. Such is the simplicity of the thought process people like anda possess. Hence why they are called simpletons.”

Robert held in his anger. Viggo could be frustrating when he got like this. Anyone who wasn’t at his level of thinking, he considered to be inferior of mind. He was a good friend otherwise, just as long as anda didn’t bring up anything regarding strategy atau planning.

Viggo had learned to expect things like this from Robert. Some people were just…slower than others. It could be frustrating and even annoying to be stuck with someone who was so much slower of mind than him. At least Robert had been blessed with strength of body. As they reached the den, Robert changed the subject.

“So Viggo,” he said, “how did anda manage to build such a large army anyway?”

This pertanyaan was understandable, so Viggo decided to plainly answer it in his own way.

“Fear, greed, and power are the three great motivators, Robert,” he replied. “Great influence can get anda many things in life.”

“But how exactly did you-“ Robert began.

“A wise leader does not reveal all of his secrets,” Viggo interrupted. “Not even to his most trusted allies.”

Viggo looked out into the valley and toward the forest beyond it.

“Did anda secure the borders?” he asked.

“Why would I?” Robert replied, matter-of-factly. “After what we did to them, they would be foolish to try and retake this valley.”

Viggo sighed internally.

“You underestimate these wolves, Robert,” he said, “and that ignorance will get anda into trouble one day.”

“How do anda know they would dare to take such a risk?” Robert asked.

“Because I know these wolves, I’ve studied them,” Viggo replied, beginning to get annoyed with how stubborn Robert was being.

However, it also gave him a slight bit of joy and spiteful excitement. He was tempted to advise Robert on how best to prepare, but he wanted to see him fail more. He wanted to see him get his comeuppance when his ignorance caught up with him and this all inevitably failed. He wanted to see the look on his face when he realized his folly, and he wanted to be there to say, “I told anda so.”

Meanwhile, the combined force of the Western and Northern Pack had secretly arrived at the edge of the valley, just inside the pohon line. There were surprisingly no humans guarding the border and the serigala grew suspicious. They couldn’t tell if it was either an ignorant oversight oleh the leader, atau if it was an elaborate ruse meant to draw them in.

Stinky sent Kyle and the northern serigala to the northern and southern sides of the valley in two splinter groups, waiting for his signal to flank the humans and catch them off guard. The western serigala began to pindah out of the forest and into the valley. Robert and Viggo noticed them immediately from atop the outcropping at the entrance to the sarang, den and Robert gave his orders to the men below.

“Send everyone to the front,” he said. “I want every last man fighting. Leave none alive.”

“Are anda sure that’s the best course of action, my friend?” Viggo asked.

“Why don’t anda just back away and let me do what I do what I do best,” Robert said, frustratedly.

“With pleasure,” Viggo replied, smiling. “It is nothing short of a thrill to watch anda work, Robert. Even if your tactic is a bit simplistic.”

“Do anda have something to say to me, Viggo?” Robert burst out, angrily.

“What? anda can’t take a little criticism?” Viggo taunted, “or is that just your ego I’m bruising?”

Robert gave him a dirty look before turning his attention back to the battle in the valley below.

Unlike the first, the detik Battle of Jasper Park was shorter, but much lebih of a struggle. Stinky and the western serigala could handle the Crimson Pack. Other serigala were easy, but humans with guns were much lebih dangerous. While they had managed to draw all of the humans out, they still had to be careful.

They were easily outnumbered, at least two to one, maybe more. Stinky and the others wouldn’t last long, but they didn’t need to. Once most of the humans had entered the valley, he gave out a loud, drawn-out howl.

On each side of the valley, the Northern Pack was waiting. They heard Stinky’s howl and rushed into the battle, flanking the humans and catching them all off guard. Viggo had been expecting them to pull something like this, but Robert clearly had not and Viggo looked over at him, pleased to see the surprised look on his face. He always loved being right.

“I warned anda about this,” he berkata as Robert turned to retreat. “Leaving yourself vulnerable, overcommitting your troops. Perhaps a bit of chess could’ve helped anda strategize your way out of the embarrassment in which anda now find yourself.”

“Keep talking and I’ll leave anda here to deal with them oleh yourself,” Robert fired back. “You can throw your little game pieces at them.”

Viggo followed Robert down the slope and out the back side of the territory to the west, before they headed back north toward Viggo’s main base. Despite being so suddenly outnumbered, most of the men were also able to escape as well.

Stinky, Claudette, Runt, and the rest of the serigala celebrated their victory for hours after the last human turned and ran. This was a huge win for the wolves. Pushing the humans out of their pack showed them that the Western Pack wasn’t as vulnerable as it appeared to be. But the fight was still far from over and many battles were yet to come.