Artiface of Strength Ch. 05

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Florence makes a challenge.
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Part 5 of the 14 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 08/12/2015
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Tuesday morning arrived more or less, as it always did, but unfortunately for the pack, there were a couple of minor exceptions. The first of them was seemingly minor; Florence's car was in the compound. This was unexpected, because no one had thought to see her this morning; everyone had assumed that she might be in later in the day. The pack had been rooting for her, wishing her the best on her date.

The second exception was as odd one, but nothing that was worrisome; Beth was actually in the hall for breakfast for a change. Everyone knew that thisrarelyhappened. What with her job at the roadhouse and the required late nights there, not to mention her activities afterward, she usually didn't show up until at least lunchtime, and sometimes not even then.

So, if there was a worrisome exception, it was the fact that Beth was there for breakfast, and Florence was not. The pack needed its routine, and this was not the way that things usually happened. John and Beth were not saying anything; they were doing their level best to seem as though everything was fine. Not a word of worry had passed their lips, but this was only the mask they wore to reassure everyone, they had been sending to one another all morning long.

"Her car was parked with the rear wheels in the garden, Beth. I got up early and moved it before anyone else saw it, but eventually someone is going to notice that half of the pepper plants are gone."

"Have you seen her?"

"No, she wasn't in her cabin, and when I tried sending to her, all I got was a storm of emotions, none of them good. I couldn't break through it; I've never met a wolf who could block me."

"Looks like a disaster then. Whatever happened, it was so painful that she doesn't even hear her Alpha."

"She's alive at least, and I didn't smell any blood in her car, so she must be physically O.K., but from what I felt, I'm betting that she would prefer a physical injury to what she's going through... You don't think..." John said worriedly.

"I don't know John, Florence has never been like everyone else, but still... I don't know what else it could be that would causethismuch distress."

John sighed and then said, "So which one of us should seek her out?"

"John, for once I think we should go together, let's be her parents and do this right for a change."

The Alpha was in the process of agreeing, when the door opened, causing the hall to fall into complete silence. Florence had walked into the hall, and while her make-up and lipstick had been reapplied, she was completely nude, her eyes showing that she was there with a purpose.

She spoke. "I, Florence Billington, formally challenge Tisquantum for the number three position in the Billington pack." Her challenge was perfectly made, and as it was proper, it could not be ignored. She then turned and walked out of the hall, clearly heading for the meadow where all challenges took place.

The hall exploded into chaos behind her. While challenges up and down the ranks were frequent, and generally even friendly, leadership challenges werefarless common. There had not been a leadership challenge since the pack had arrived here back in 1815, and every wolf knew that in other packs, leadership challenges occasionally led to death.

All eyes in the hall swung between John and Tom, as dozens of shouted conversations started all at once. "What the Hell?" Tom said, "What difference does it make whether she is number four or number three? We share everything."

John replied sadly, "I think she's in pain Tom, maybe she just needs to fight an equal and work some of it out of her system."

"What do I do, Alpha? Do I go easy on her and let her win, or do I try to take her out?"

John looked to Beth, questioningly.

"Tom honey, I think she'll welcome the pain. Go ahead and kick her ass; just don't kill her."

"Mmph," Tom grunted sorrowfully, "I suppose that she is waiting; let's get this over with."

Breakfast forgotten, the entire pack followed Tom out of the building and out to the meadow. Not a word was spoken by any member of the pack; this was a solemn and honored occasion. All off-compound members were being contacted. Businesses would likely not open in Whiskey Town this day.

Florence stood in the middle of the meadow. She respectfully remained silent and motionless as Tom slowly removed his clothing and began preparing himself for battle. He stretched his muscles before looking at her and following the ritual, he asked, "Form?"

"Wolf," she replied, as was her right as challenger. Their ritual granted the right of selecting form to the challenger: human, wolf, or hybrid. Wolf was the most chosen, as it made for a more serious fight than as human, and was a less lethal form than hybrid. Human combat was rare, mostly taking place to settle drunken squabbles and bar bets between friends. Hybrid challenges were mostly to the death, as that form was the form of rogues and insanity.

Tom bowed deeply to Florence and she returned the gesture, both of them dropping their gazes into the ground, giving one another the respect and trust that neither would initiate combat until both were ready. Then they raised their heads, gazed into one another's eyes, shifted into their wolves and began, the pack silently watching.

Tom wasted no time, coming directly at Florence, attempting to use his superior strength and size to his advantage by bull-rushing her in an attempt to bludgeon her into submission. Florence had expected this type of attack and sat back, letting him come forward. She knew that with the possible exception of John, she was the quickest wolf in the pack. She had always possessed an unearthly sense of what her attackers were preparing to do. She wasn't clairvoyant exactly, but she seemed to process information faster than anyone else, always seeming to be a step ahead of her opponents.

Tom flew at her, claws and teeth exposed and ready to tear into her; wolves healed quickly, and there would be no mercy. Most any injury short of death or complete dismemberment would heal...eventually. No one was surprised at the viciousness of his attack.

Florence never wavered, nor did she move until the last possible split second, throwing her body into an airborne roll around Tom's blitzing attack. She neatly dodged him as he flew by her, his claws missing her spinning belly by a hairsbreadth. As he sailed past her, she spun again, and struck with blinding speed, slashing both of his left side legs, front and back. His skin sliced open neatly, spraying blood over the meadow. Her claws had cut through muscle and severed tendons, causing Tom to crash into the muddy meadow floor, unable to stand. Just as quick as it had started, it was over.

The pack was stunned. Few had thought that she'd win; none had imagined that she would completely destroy her opponent so quickly. Most of the warriors had not even seen her attack; Tristan, who had followed her movements, began to realize that he wouldneverpass Florence.

She approached Tom growling. He promptly opened his throat and belly to her, yielding his number three spot in the pack. John stepped into the meadow, directing the medical team to where Tom lay, and finished the ceremony, acknowledging Florence had won her challenge.

Florence bowed to John, and then said, "I, Florence Billington, formally challenge Samoset for the number two spot in the Billington pack.

Shocked, Sam looked up at Florence, not recognizing anything familiar looking back from her eyes, just a blank stare gazing back upon him. She'd just casually obliterated the wolf she called Uncle and she didn't even seem to care that she'd come dangerously close to crippling the man for life. If she would have removed his legs completely, they likely would have never come back; her lipstick was not even smudged.

With the option to accept the challenge or immediately yield his position, Sam looked to where Tom was being held together and replied without emotion, "I accept, and may the Lady preserve us all."

Seeing only disaster in the offing, John took the only option he had coming to him. The only delay their customs allowed was to delay the combat until after the next scheduled meal time. This rule was technically in place to allow those wounded in combat to heal before undergoing another challenge, but it also had the effect of limiting ladder-climbers to rising three spots per day, as well as allowing those who had lost their spots the option of re-challenging the following day.

Florence could have objected to John's maneuver as she obviously had no need of healing. Indeed, even her lipstick didn't need to be fixed, but she made no complaint, merely settling into a lotus position and beginning to meditate right there in the muddy bog of the meadow.

The rest of the pack was now in an uproar.What the Hell was going on? Did you see that dead look in her eyes? Heck no, I wouldn't want any part of that! Are they going to be able to save Tom's legs? Buddy, if I'd been Sam, I would have just yielded my position and let John deal with her. Good Goddess, what's happening with Flo, she seemed fine yesterday!"

John, Beth, and Sam were more careful to present a brave face to the pack, but they nevertheless hurried to the infirmary to check on Tom. Arriving there, the medics assured them that Tom would be fine, his injuries had been almost surgical in nature, and would be therefore easier to repair.

Tom had been shot up with local anesthetics, and the medical team was suturing him back together, although with both muscle and tendon damage, they were going to have to do alotof stitching. Tom was awake though, and because of the locals he was quite literally, feeling no pain.

"Brother, are you alright?" Sam asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine everyone; stop worrying! Flo hit meexactlywhere she meant to hit me. Believe me, I saw it in her eyes as I sailed by, she could have killed me if she had desired it. Her strikes were dead-on perfect! Sam, there is absolutely no way that you can beat her with a blitz attack, she's just too quick. If you are going to beat her, you are going to have to be willing to take damage to give damage. You'll have to bleed her out; she's just too quick to take any other way. I had no idea what I was dealing with!"

John broke in when Tom started to repeat himself, "What the Hell is going on Beth? Have you any clue what's going through her mind?"

"Her date must have gone poorly."

John exploded. "Her date went tits up, so she's fucking trying to kill my Betas? What the Hell Beth!"

The medics blanched at this eruption, and while they refused to meet their Alpha's eyes, they mumbled, "Please Alpha, we are working here. If you yell, we will make mistakes."

Somewhat chastened, John took a deep breath before continuing, "Beth, did you talk to her?"

"She's in the meadow John, you know that no one is allowed to contact her while she's involved in a challenge."

"Beth...really? How long have I known you? What happened when you ignored the rules and tried anyway?"

"I'm still trying Alpha, but she's locked everyone out. I've been begging her to explain, but I have no idea if I'm even getting through to her."

"Let me know if she responds, and I mean right away this time," he hissed at her.

"Yes Alpha."

He turned his attention to his second, saying, "Sam, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but fight to win as if your life depended on it. Hold nothing back. We all love her, but if you have to kill her to save yourself, do it. Whatever the fuck is going on, you didn't do it; do not get yourself killed trying to save her by pulling your punches!"

"Yes Alpha," was all he said.

"Do we have anyone in transit from the Resort? Someone who might have a clue what happened last night?"

"I think so," Said Tom, "but we only allow Omegas to work there and I don't have the duty roster in front of me."

"I'm on it," said Sam as he ran out the door.

"I'll be in my office. You three let me know the second anything happens. This ismycall. Do you understand me, Beth?"

"Yes Alpha."

John stomped out of the medical area, but instead of heading for his office, he impulsively headed for the meadow. He hadn't pulled rank in over a century, he'd never needed to, but what was now calmly sitting in the meadow scared the Hell out of him. Short of a rogue wolf stuck in hybrid form, he'd never seen anything so fast or so lethal. If Tom was correct and Florence had struckexactlywhere she'd intended, then the only thing keeping any of them alive was being held at bay by a slender thread of sanity. If Florence broke, she'd be the most dangerous rogue Were in history. He wasn't positive that hecouldcontain her if she snapped

Before today, she'd been very good, now in her uncertain mental state, she was beyond dangerous. In obvious pain with her back up against some kind of unknown wall, she was the worst sort of foe, one who evidently couldn't care less if she lived or died. But so far, sheseemedsane, and had managed to follow all of their ritualistic procedures to the letter. John had no cause to order her taken out, and he had no doubt that she sat in the meadow just to prevent being communicated with, to prevent being talked out of whatever she had planned. So he walked to the edge of the meadow and sat down in her direct line of sight, hoping that she would acknowledge his presence there.

Hours passed, and Florence never moved a muscle. She never even opened her eyes. John received reports as he sat there waiting. The medics thought Tom would be fine in a week or so, and oddly enough, Tom was said to be in higher spirits than anyone, still maintaining that Florence was in complete control.

Sam had reported back that two of their Omegas had been in the Resort working the previous night, but could not be contacted as they had headed off of the mountain into the city to spend their day off. They were out of even John's sending range. Sam had immediately sent Wolves driving to the city in an attempt to contact the missing Omegas.

Beth reported that she had not stopped sending to Florence, pleading with her to answer, but evidently Florence wouldn't, or couldn't respond. Beth still had no idea if Florence was even receiving her sendings. Lunch was approaching, and they were running out of time.

When the lunch bell rang, Florence stood for a moment and without any sign that she recognized that anyone was watching her; she turned and walked to the far side of the meadow, where she sat down and went back into her trance. Her eyes had passed right over John's, she'd said nothing, nor given any indication that she was even aware of him, nor had she responded to Beth's endless pleading.

When John witnessed this, he gave up and headed for the dining hall. His pack needed reassurance, and they were not getting it with him sitting here. However, when he arrived in the hall, he found Tom had been wheeled in, evidently against Dr.'s orders, and was holding court, telling anyone listening that Florence was in control and evidently on some sort of vision quest that no one understood yet.

John's first impulse was to immediately order back Tom back to the infirmary, but before he could snap out the order, he noticed that Tom's presence seemed to be calming the pack. So instead, he sent a personal sending, "Good job Tom, but as soon as lunch is over, you are to go directly back to the infirmary, and go nowhere near that muddy field! Do you understand me? Tom looked at John and nodded his head before going back to his efforts with the pack.

Lunch was uneventful. The Omegas from the Resort had not yet been found, and soon, all of the pack except for Tom and those sent to the city were back in the meadow awaiting the challenge.

Florence walked back from the far edge of the meadow when she saw that Sam was ready to go. He removed his clothes and said only, "Form?"

"Human." She said without emotion.

The pack was surprised by her choice. After her almost surgical disposal of Tom, every wolf had expected a repeat performance in this challenge. 'Human' was the form that drunken warriors picked to settle fights in the clubhouse; it was a brawling style fitting uncoordinated drunks and hot-heads.

"Tom," Beth hurriedly sent to the Beta trapped in the infirmary, "you'll never guess what she did..."

"She chose 'human' didn't she?"

"How did you know," she gasped.

"I think I'm figuring out what she's up to. Bring John to me after she wins. We'll need to talk about the third challenge."

"She's going after John?! And what do you mean, 'after she wins'? What makes you so sure that she will?"

"Yes, and she's going to demolish him. She won't let him brawl with her any more than she let me blitz her. Sam skips his martial arts training most of the time and slips out to have a beer. She's going to absolutely crush him. I'll keep this bed warm for him; he's going to need it."

"I'll let John know."

This time, Beth immediately informed her Alpha of troubling information. Tom took it all in with a grimace, but he made no comment. He could see Tom's logic and realized that his Beta was probably correct."

Both combatants performed the rituals solemnly and the combat began, and it went almost exactly as Tom had predicted. Samoset was a mighty warrior and a great second-in-command...not to mention the first wolven philosopher, but he was seriously outclassed. He realized this almost as soon as the combat began. He was going to lose, and he knew it, so he pressed the only advantage that he had, his mouth. He began speaking to her whenever they broke apart, fighting defensively and doing his best to prolong the combat, frequently retreating from her to deliver another comment.

"Florence, you knew just how to attack me...You caught me out, and now you are rubbing in the fact that I've been skipping training...now you are just making me look bad...The only way I could win this, is if you make a stupid mistake, and we both know that you won't do that...You aint gonna kill me, and you are not in that stubborn trance anymore...so I know you are hearing me now...Flo, none of us know why you are doing this, and you aren't letting us help..."

All of this took several minutes to deliver as she was systematically beating his ass. His left eye was completely closed, his nose was broken and blood was pouring down his face. He was pretty sure that at least three of his ribs were broken too and now he was having trouble breathing. She'd knocked him to the ground repeatedly, and he'd only managed to lay a fist on her two or three times. His blood was all over her, and he was amused to see that he had lipstick on his fists. Not that she seemed to notice...

"Florence, won't you let us help you?"

She stepped back and paused her punishment of him, "John will help me after dinner, and now...yield!"

Sam had gotten his message across, and even though he was unsure of her answer, he'd done all he could. He wasn't stupid, and there was absolutely no reason to continue this farce. He fell to his knees and said, "I Samoset, yield the number two spot in the Billington pack to Florence Billington."

John recited the rest of the ceremonial words sadly; well aware of what was coming next. Tom had been correct, John was immediately challenged, and the combat was scheduled to take place after dark when the moon would be above them.

As Sam was being tended back in the infirmary, John was storming, "What did she mean by that? Does anyone have a clue? Tom, you figured the rest out, what does she mean that I will help her after dinner?"

"I'm sorry John," he responded, "I figured out the 'what' and the 'how', but I think only Beth might be able to figure out the why of this."