30 MMA Bears Four - Part 3

Suddenly a chorus of loud panting, heaving noises rang out from the forest. It was deep, foreboding, and earth shattering. Then what followed was even more so. A line of at least two thousand hulking, grey figures rushed from the tree line. They were hollering and shouting with deep guttural voices, following a particularly large rhino wearing white war paint on its face. The ground shook as they charged, and the silence of Swiftclaw was now filled with bloody battle cries, and fear.

"Rhinos…" the Elder said. "There aren't many shifters which can match bears for their strength, but rhinos…"

"What should we do?" Bran said.

The Elder turned to his clan behind him. "You are Swiftclaw! Protect your home, protect your land, protect those that you love. Stand and be mighty!" His voice was booming as he transformed into his bear form, huge, majestic and white.

Bran commanded a hundred fighters to hold the bridge, but only ten could stand shoulder to shoulder on it at a time. All around the cracks and creaks of Swiftclaw's army transforming into bears could be heard. It should have put fear into even the bravest of hearts… And yet the rhino shifters did not flinch. They charged on all fours towards the bridge, their massive sharpened horns ready to pierce fur, flesh, and bone.

"Stand your ground!" cried the Elder. "Hold the bridge at all costs!"

Bran leaped over his men, his light brown fur rustling in the wind as he did so. He was not one to shirk a fight, and as the reigning champion of the Tournament, he knew his fighters would be heartened knowing that he was standing with them.

"Here they come!" Bran shouted.

Marlow had been right, the bridge was doing its job. The rhinos as yet were ignoring the river itself, and were trying to cross by the only route open to them, but they were being funneled down to a narrow line of bear shifters willing to lay down their lives to protect their homes.

The rhinos smashed into Swiftclaw's fighters. There was an almighty crash. Howls of pain as claws pierced thick skin and horn cut through fur. Bran grabbed a rhino by the horn and pulled it to the side of the bridge, using its weight against it and throwing it off the side into the river. Another came at him, this time he leaped onto the back of the gigantic creature and bit hard into its neck.

The line was holding for now, but for how long was uncertain. With each defeated rhino shifter, another two would come to take its place. More of them, organised and grunting as they moved, filtered out of the forest towards the bridge. At least 500 rhino warriors were now attacking the bridge to Swiftclaw, with only 100 trained bear fighters to repel them, the rest waiting for their orders. Sure, there were many more citizens of Swiftclaw, but they had a job to evacuate the town through the mountains should the bridge fall. To protect the young, and to get the word out about the Cabal's treachery.

Suddenly, a line of rhinos made a charge for the river beneath the bridge. Marlow organized his group of fighters at the embankment, ready to kill anything which tried to step foot on Swiftclaw land.

As Marlow had expected, the rhinos were cumbersome in the water, with large slippery rocks jutting out of the river, making any crossing treacherous. And yet, they still came, relentless and filled with rage. Despite the torrid waters, the rhinos were progressing across the river, albeit slowly, but Marlow would be ready for them. As they reached the land, the bears rose up onto their hind legs using their height advantage and rebuffed the rhinos as best they could with vicious claws and sharpened teeth.

"Hold the line!" the Elder's commands now contained an air of desperation about them.

The rhinos, due to their low center of gravity were now pushing the Swiftclaw bears back on the bridge. With a loud howl of pain, two of the bear shifters in the middle of the bridge collapsed under another rhino charge, killed by stabbing horns. The rhinos now looked increasingly likely to make it into the main street.

"Fall back!" the Elder now ordered. It was time to regroup and make a last ditch defense of the town on Mainstreet.

The bears obeyed, and pulled back as quickly as they could to the start of Mainstreet. Rhinos stabbed and pierced at the retreat. Many of Swiftclaw fell…

Bran and Marlow made it back to the main street, but not unscathed. Bran was nursing a nasty wound on his shoulder, and Marlow had snapped three of his claws as his paw ricocheted off of the thick armour of an attacking rhino.

"Now what!?" Yelled Bran.

"We stand here. It's now about buying time…" said the Elder.

"Buying time for what?"

"The evacuation of Swiftclaw," the Elder said holding his head high but sensing defeat. "We have to fight until our last, otherwise no one will survive!"

The residents of Swiftclaw gathered their things together. They held their loved ones near, and headed as quickly as they could to the mountains. It would not be easy, but there was a small mountain pass which would allow some of the clan to escape.

What was left of Swiftclaw's army now regrouped. Forming lines across the main street. The Elder, Bran, and Marlow stood in front of the line, ready to make their last stand. Suddenly, Marlow saw something.

"Elder, look, that rhino charging across the bridge, he has white war paint across his face," said Marlow.

"Yes… That must be their leader," the Elder replied.

"If we can get to him first, hold him hostage, perhaps we can buy ourselves some time?" said Marlow.

"It's not a bad idea," said Bran.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," said Marlow, grinning, the only thing he could do in such a dire situation.

The rhino hordes were regrouping themselves. Now that they'd taken the bridge, they were forming their lines to charge again against Swiftclaw.

"Okay, Marlow, Let's try it. See his henchmen either side of them?" The Elder pointed at two lumbering rhinos either side of the rhino leader.

"Take them out?" said Bran.

"Yes. Leave the leader to me," the Elder now had no time to discuss the plan further. The rhinos were charging, and what was left of the Swiftclaw lines wouldn't hold out much longer.

Bran was the first to attack, as the Rhinos smashed into the Swiftclaw lines, led by their white faced leader. Bran leaped over the advancing line and managed to reach one of the henchmen by the leader's side. He struck out his claws and pierced the henchman's skin at the shoulder, pulling the horn to the ground. They wrestled there as Marlow made his move.

Not as athletic or strong as Bran, he had his cunning to rely on. The remaining henchman looked at Marlow and readied himself for a fight. Marlow charged on all fours, the rhino lowering his horn to counter, but just a Marlow reached the rhino, he slid to the ground and clawed at the rhino's front knees. The henchman lurched back in pain, but he was not defeated. Marlow struck again, but this time the henchman pinned him to the ground with his head, and attempted to impale Marlow with his horn.

Marlow was no match for the henchman's power, the horn hovered inches from his neck, ready to pierce the skin. Just as he was bracing himself for death, Marlow then heard a loud cheer go up from his Swiftclaw allies. As if from nowhere, Gage appeared at the front of the battle. With one deft movement, he cut deep into the henchman's side, leaving it badly wounded on the ground. Marlow recovered, watching in sheer pride as Gage, the greatest fighter the clan of Swiftclaw had ever seen, rallied the bears around to him. He performed a spinning back kick, knocking one rhino unconscious, then with his claws, tore through two more. Then another, and another, perhaps defeat was not such a certainty after all. Renewed, many bears followed him, breaking through the rhino lines.

Now it was left to the Elder. The most ancient of the Swiftclaws. Legends, myths had been told for generations about him. The things he'd seen, the battles he'd won, but no living Swiftclaw had ever truly seen him in all his glory. Through the carnage, the Elder, huge and white, stared down the rhino leader.

The rhino's face covered in warpaint, it glared at the Elder menacingly. It snarled and grunted. But the Elder remained composed. Silent. He galloped towards the rhino leader and let out an almighty roar which shook the ground around him. Their bodies clattered together as both of them fought with verve.. The rhino leader was strong and burly, but even for his age, the Elder was fast and still had much strength left in his body.

The Rhino flicked its head and pierced the Elder's thigh with his horn. The pain shot up the Elder's leg, but now was not the time to give in to agony. The Elder grabbed hold of the rhino leader's horn and began to twist. The twist was so powerful, that the rhino let out a cry as its head began to turn. Its body crunched to the ground, the rhino leader now lying on its side, helpless, the Elder pinning it to the ground.

A hush fell.

"Listen to me, rhino shifters. If you do not leave immediately I will tear out your leader's throat!" The Elder brandished his teeth wide and white.

There was a silence as few knew how to react to this turn of events. Reluctantly the rhino leader finally spoke. "Do as he says, back to the forest!" It seemed that the rhino leader valued his life more than victory.

The rhino army soon retreated. Showing mercy, the Elder allowed the rhino leader to return home with them. "Tell your Cabal masters that we will not easily be defeated" the Elder said.

And with that, the siege of Swiftclaw was finally over.

Many died that day, some of Swiftclaw's finest, no doubt some of the rhino shifter clan's greatest warriors too. Howls of heartache and pain filled the air.

"Why did this happen?" Gage asked the Elder.

"I do not know, but we nearly lost our homeland today, Gage. This cannot happen again or there will be no Swiftclaw left to defend," said the Elder.

"Do you really think it was the Cabal who forced the rhinos against us?" asked Bran.

Marlow interjected. "Of course it was. I doubt they are done with us, either."

"This is a dark time," said the Elder. " Forces outside and inside our clan are moving against us."

"Inside?" asked Gage.

"LoHawk and those fanatics who are loyal to him could have helped us today, but they were conspicuous by their absence." The Elder sat down for a moment, looking weary. "I suspect he and the Cabal planned this today, but without proof I cannot move against him, it would risk civil war within our clan."

"Then what do we do now?" Bran looked impatient with the entire situation, adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

The Elder smiled. " We wait, young one. We simply wait to see what tomorrow brings…"

The next day did bring something, an event which took the Elder by Surprise. At around noon they were spotted in the forest. Three men, not shifters, climbing through the woodland towards Swiftclaw town. When they finally reached the bridge, which had seen so much bloodshed the day before, the Elder was waiting for them, having been alerted by his scouts in the woods.

"Go no further, gentlemen," the Elder said in human form.