While they didn’t consider me to be their true Alpha, the leader of the swarm, all the Alphas that had been assigned to my command recognized me as someone with power and leadership. Given that, all the Alphas had remained close once they’d realized that there had been serious casualties on tonight’s scouting. They wanted to know what I had to say, and I understood that if my response wasn’t what they expected of me, or even better, then they wouldn’t be willing to follow me any longer. The grin remained on my face, unaffected by the pressure. Once the Alphas were all ready to listen to me, I began to speak, using my newest [Skill], [Conqueror’s Rebuke].

“Creel, Friish, Shaal, and Qalt are dead, along with their packs!” My voice thundered through the den, and I could hear it echo down into the deeper recesses. Though I didn’t know the four Alphas personally, though I didn’t care about them or their packs, I could feel the indignation build within me. The suns-forgotten humans had slaughtered my subordinates. They dared to make me look like a fool? To have my actions be questioned? “The Nievtala forsaken humans slaughtered them, and they were too weak to protect themselves! Those who died were weak, they were those who deserve to be forgotten!”

My critique of their failure came to me naturally. They were weak enough to be ambushed and slain, of course they didn’t deserve my pity. Even so, I could feel that I was losing most of my audience with my words and attitude. “They stood alone, and they were weak. Do we keelish stand alone?” I let the question hang in the air, but before long, a squeaky, young voice shouted out from the front of the assembled Alphas, “NO!”

I looked down, and there I saw Joral, the little Brood Alpha. His eyes seemed to glow with his passion, and he looked at me in obvious idol worship. There was no sign of his brood, as they were only about halfway to adulthood and weren’t expected to participate in the hunt for the humans, but somehow the little keelish had made his way through the thick of the press of adult keelish bodies and stood front and center as I gave my speech. Joral waited for my next words, and I didn’t wait any longer.

“Do we keelish hunt alone?”

“No!” Though Joral was the first to cry out, he was echoed by Sybil, who stood beside me and a couple other of the Alphas standing in the crowd.

“Do we keelish live alone?”

“NO!” The voices, most of the Alphas now, rang out in unison.

“We are the blade that is bared at the throats of those who dare to oppose us! We are the shadow that chills! We stand together, and with me, you will find greater strength than you have alone! Those who fell fell because they were not with me! Do you not feel the power that fills you? The certainty that your every step will be taken towards victory?” I could feel Sybil’s magic convincing my audience of my words, but more than that, this, the first use of my new [Skill], cemented in them the idea that following me would bring them strength.

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[Skill: Conqueror’s Rebuke; an active Skill granted to those who have earned and are granted the innate ability and right to rule, and will use that ability to conquer. The use of this Skill imbues the user with the ability to lead their followers into battle, and has two effects. Effect one: gives a 10% bonus to all Stats of all followers while under the Skill user’s command. Effect two: give a 5% debilitation of all Stats of all foes who hear the Conqueror’s Rebuke. This Skill can evolve. Evolution requirements: lead a group of subordinates numbering at least 100 into battle, and emerge victorious in the form of a complete rout five times. Progress: 0/5]

“Follow me to battle! Follow me to victory! Follow me to vengeance!” I then repeated myself.

“Follow me to battle!”

“Battle!”

“Follow me to victory!”

“VICTORY!”

“Follow me to vengeance!”

“VENGEANCE!”

“Victory by fang and blood!” As I’d fully worked the keelish into a fury, I began to stalk purposefully through the crowd, giving the weakest and the least impressive packs the honor of being the vanguard. They gloried in their assignments, not knowing that I had assigned them to be the stone against which I would smash the humans to pieces. Yes, the stone would be damaged by the hammer and the steel, but it was what I had, and what I needed. I wouldn’t hesitate to use their lives to kill these humans. After all, though it galled me even to think of it, I knew the time was basically already here for our swarm to flee.

The humans would have sent windwords to their “capital”, or their friends, or their generals, and their armies would be on their way. Worse, their High Speakers would come, and though we might stand against one or two of them, we would be swept like so much dirt from the face of the continent without care or regret before their power. In order to escape, we needed to destroy this force that believed they could kill us all by themselves, and then, under my leadership, escape.

Though, before our inevitable escape, we could indulge in the joy of conquest. I gave the commands of which packs would go where, which would support me directly, and which would serve as the bait, though they didn’t know that yet. As each Alpha received their commands, they excitedly bowed before trotting off to their own packs. Before long, the lesser Alphas had left my presence, and I called Sybil, Foire, and Shemira to me.

Sybil, of course, had stayed by my side the entire time, and Foire quickly rushed to my side, but Shemira had been elsewhere, working on… I couldn’t even remember what she had been assigned to do by Sybil. Regardless, I looked my three subordinates in their eyes, and gave them my commands for their own assignments come the next night’s fall. After all, their support and leadership would help me to keep the vanguard force focused and engaged.

“Remember–none of you should engage the humans. Maybe let yourselves be seen from a distance, but never for long. Their arrows and magic will find you if you make yourselves a target, and I refuse to have you be slaughtered like so many of the common rabble.” The callous words came naturally to me, and there was no reaction beyond agreement from my three elites standing before me. Then, seeing their silent acknowledgement and agreement to my commands, I dismissed them and retired to my quarters.

After all, what was a bit of conquest if I couldn’t indulge in a bath beforehand?