章 28: Escape

Upon the hill, overlooking Ravenstown, Peter moved through the group of men gathered on top of it. Each of them turned, some patting others as he moved through them, they parting around him as he came to a stop at the top of the hill, beside an older, smaller man, holding a cane in one hand and sunglasses covering his eyes.

He looked down at the man, lips curling in anger at the sight of him. "Stop scowling." The man spoke up, not even turning to look at Peter. "It is unbefitting of a man who failed so miserably."

"I did not fail, Deucalion." Peter shot back, fully facing the right-hand man of Fenrir Greyback himself, frame tense and radiating anger, fingers flexing as eyes flashed a dangerous red. But Deucalion did nothing, simply figure continued to face the battlefield below. "This has simply been a minor inconvenience."

"One that shall be rectified by my hand." Deucalion returned, finally turning to face Peter. "Our campaign in Europe rests upon your victory here in Britain. If you fail, we will be unable to push further west than Germany. If we cannot secure Britain, we cannot secure Europe and if we cannot secure Europe, then we cannot send much-needed reinforcements to take over Scandinavia."

"As I said, it has been a minor inconvenience. One that I shall solve." Peter stressed, eyes glaring down upon Deucalion as the men around them shifted uncomfortably, just waiting to see what would happen between the two Alphas.

Out from behind his sunglasses, red eyes stared back and for the first time, Peter felt a chill run up his spine. It was so easy to forget just who Deucalion was, and that was a powerful Werewolf, one that had already laid the groundwork for the formation of a mass Werewolf Pack before Fenrir came along and took over through force. But whereas Fenrir had overwhelming power with little intelligence, Deucalion had both power and intelligence in droves. Strong enough to overwhelm and suppress other Alphas, but the intelligence to plan and oversee four campaigns at once.

And Peter struggled not to look away. "These, British have proven themselves surprisingly resilient, especially this Wizard they call, Dragon. And now from what I'm seeing, he has three like-minded individuals suggesting that their numbers are growing." Deucalion explained. "If not nipped in the bud soon, then they will not only take Britain forever out of our grasp but may also strip us of our efforts in Europe as well. That cannot be allowed to happen, am I clear?"

Peter nodded his head.

"Good, then finish it today." Deucalion then spun on his heel, cane tapping out on the ground before him as he began to walk away. "There can be no more failures, Peter or else your life will be forfeit."

And as Deucalion walked away, Peter turned back to the battle taking place below with a growl. For a few moments, he did nothing before fully allowing his powers to run throughout his body.

"We finish this now!" He growled out, releasing a loud howl as he began to rip off his clothes and then the skin, revealing a furred body beneath. All around him, the men on the hill followed his lead before they all rushed down the ground heading towards Ravenstown.

-X- Line Break -X-

Damnit it all, this is insane!' Harry cursed, diving to one side as he fired a number of spells in quick succession, dropping a few Werewolves. Around him, the battle was in full swing, Werewolves besetting the group of Aurors and the members of his squad from all sides. They had held out well in the beginning, the first few droves being quite weak. But then around halfway through when not only the numbers increased, yet their power did as well.

Speed, strength, durability and magical resistance also increased dramatically.

Whereas the initial group would go down with two or three spells, a single in Harry's case. They now were taking upwards of five or six spells to take just one down. As a result, they had formed into little groups here and there. His own squad were gathered together just north of his position. The Aurors themselves were split in two, but their numbers were dwindling.

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

As a howl ripped through the air, cutting deep to their bones as they all turned to look to see dozens more Werewolves rushing down the hill. Considering they were already outnumbered and the nature of their wave tactics, it was no doubt that while few in number, these would be the most elite members of the Werewolf Pack based in Britain. With them already struggling there was no doubt in his mind that they would be unable to hold them off here.

"Retreat!" Harry shouted over the noise of battle. "Fall back out of the Wards, now!" He had tried his best to keep Ravenstown but right now, Harry recognised that defending it would be impossible and his first priority as dictated by Croaker, was to fall back if it was impossible to win.

An Unspeakable Field Agent must be willing to give his life to win. Yet at the same time, an Unspeakable Field Agent must be able to recognise when a situation requires the sacrifice of their lives and when it is not a viable option. If victory was unlikely even with sacrificing their life then it was unviable. After all, just like a wand, a Field Agent was a tool and if it still had uses, then there was no need to discard it.

As the Field Commander, it was his duty to recognise when the sacrifice of his agent's lives was necessary and when prioritising their lives was required. And sometimes, that meant sacrificing others in their place.

Much like he had expected, his squad followed his lead, they were situated in the direction he was heading and so, they linked up quite easily. On the other hand, the Aurors were behind him and with the Werewolves coming mainly from that direction, they were forced to take the brunt of their attention. Which served to provide Harry and his squad the perfect opportunity within which to escape safely.

Making their way through the streets, spells spitting out and striking out at Werewolves coming from nearby alleyways and the path up ahead. The Dragon Squad made their way with relative ease, the Aurors acting as perfect meat shields to keep the brunt of the Werewolves busy.

Just as they were about to pass through the wards, they suddenly heard the thundering pounding of something closing upon them. They turned to see a large, black-furred beast closing in upon them rapidly from the rooftops of the buildings. It released a roar before leaping off the building and landing between them.

Its landing cracked the ground, and Harry heard a rage-filled cry from Valkyrie as he struggled to see through the smoke lifted up from the ground and clouding his vision. From the smoke, Harry noticed a large hand swiping out at him and he barely had a moment to raise his arms before the hand struck his guard. It was strong and powerful, more so than anything he'd felt before and it broke his guard with ease.

Claws cut deep, somehow breaking through the Dragon Scale armour he wore and leaving deep gashes in his arms. A cry escaping his lips, Harry was flung through the air, smashing through the walls of another building.

Laying there, Harry coughed out some blood as he clutched his arms with a groan of pain. Pulling them away, he noticed the blood seeping out and Harry quickly clamped down his Occlumency Shields in order to smoother the pain before it spread. As soon as he did, he once again became aware of the battle going outside and pushing himself to his feet, gripped hold of his wand and rushed out.

Numerous Bombarda and Reductor Curses smashed into the giant Werewolf's back, effectively saving Eagle from getting his body cut clean in half. It also served to draw the attention of the Werewolf towards him and as the red eyes of the creature locked onto his own, Harry realised who exactly this person was.

'Peter Hale, he's larger than any Werewolf I've ever seen before. Is this an Alphas form?' He questioned, taking note of how little damage Peter had taken from the numerous curses that struck his back.

"Dragon!" Hearing a shout, Harry turned to see Dog and Bear rushing forwards, the former jumping upon the back of Peter as to distract him. Meanwhile Bear tackled the Werewolf around the waist, it didn't do much, but it certainly drew his attention elsewhere allowing Harry to rush by.

As soon as he did, Valkyrie and Eagle who had situated themselves right upon the border of the Ward scheme, fired dozens of spells just as Dog and Bear released Peter. The angered Alpha went to strike out at them only for the spells to then hit him, knocking him back.

This act saved both their lives and allowing the team to rush towards the Ward scheme, Peter and his Werewolf Pack hot on their tails.