The Dark Moon Fangs lore #4 (Patreon)

- The she-wolf is mine!

The ambush was organized perfectly. On both sides of the gorge, along which the White Wolf detachment was walking, the samurais laid down mountains of boulders, which, having fallen, were supposed to block the kitsune's path to retreat. Archers and fighters with throwing weapons settled on the slopes. Lord Riken himself, with a small force, took up a position not far from where the gorge made a turn. As soon as the white armor appeared from behind the rock, he gave the order to attack. From above, arrows and shurikens flew at the Children of Inari. Kitsune and their allies rushed to the protection of nearby stone sheds and trees, but a few fighters remained lying, bristling with arrows and bolts, like strange red hedgehogs.

The dark samurais leader himself roared triumphantly, then flapped his wings a couple of times and was within sword-strike distance of the guards leader.

- Today you will die! And then I'll personally see to it that you become one of us. Old Kosame will perform the ceremony, and your soul will forever belong to the Dark Moon Fangs clan.

With these words, the wolfen demon attacked the White Wolf.

The sweep of a huge wing threw the commander of the guard several feet. A blow from the monstrous halberd split her shin. Riken took to the air to deliver the final blow from above. The White Wolf miraculously managed to roll to the side, but the next blow of the wolfen tore her left shoulder. Unable to hold the naginata with both hands, the she-wolf released the shaft and took out a dagger from her belt. Against the backdrop of the huge demon, the dueling weapon looked like a toothpick.

- I told you that today you will die! - Riken clearly savored the victory and was in no hurry to deal with the enemy. - Your appeal will be a lesson to all who take the side of the kitsune. -

The she-wolf was silent. Her gaze was directed somewhere to the heavens. It seemed that she was offering a prayer to the spirits.

- Come on, accept your defeat! Take an oath of allegiance to Dark Moon Fangs voluntarily, and then I will spare your life! Admit that I won!

Shirokami said something, but over the noise of the battle and the screams of the dying kitsune, Riken did not hear her words. He had to come closer and bend down.

- Fool, it was I who defeated you.

- What are you talking about… - wolfen twitched, a surprised look on his face. He raised the left wing and saw an arrow lodged in it. He turned around and realized that the screams that he took for the screams of kitsune were the screams of his own warriors. He looked up and saw the Children of Inari on the slopes, not his samurai. The foxes did not get into an ambush, but they themselves arranged it for Dark Moon Fangs. They sacrificed their fighters in order to defeat Lord Riken's clan.

- Retreat! - Wolfen flapped his wings and flew away towards the setting sun. The pierced wing did not obey well, so it seemed that the demon was limping in the air. The Dark Moon Fangs clan, or rather, its remnants, scattered in all directions.

With her good hand, the White Wolf lifted the naginata and wiped its blade on the grass. Then she lifted her head and looked at the fading sunset. A mirage appeared in the unsteady evening haze - the figure of a wolfen warrior in white armor with a tiger's muzzle on his chest. The figure of Serdak (the she-wolf recognized him even with the lowered visor of his helmet) bent in a respectful bow, turned around and disappeared along with the last rays of the sun.

Sirokami bowed almost to the ground and said softly:

- Goodbye.