Silver Moon: Bk. 02 Ch. 04

"Okay Maric assign several to start offloading the luggage and I will find out where the trucks are and have them come around. Pack them the same as when we came out as best possible." That would put the weapons closest to the back for easy access. Something about this place was making Dan's spidey sense tingle and he really didn't like that.

As he was scanning the area he could tell that some of the pack as well as his guards were picking up his feelings. Just looking didn't show anything that could be considered concerning. There were other planes with baggage handlers and mechanics and such but no large crowds, no scent of gun oil, or even excessive interest in the group.

Dan narrowed his eyes and sent a command out. *Be on the lookout for anything that might be of interest to us. If something so much as smells wrong check while telling me. Let's get the women and children inside just to be safe.* If he had known what was going to happen he would have packed them back on the plane.

Several wolves moved forward and cleared the way to the entrance to the building and walked in. Moments later an all clear was sent over the bonds and Dan walked in followed by the rest of his guards and pack. Inside the terminal they were in was mostly empty though there were people around. He was still feeling something which had his hackles ruffled.

Outside was a man dressed as a janitor of some sort who was wielding a broom in a haphazard way. He was doing his best not to stare at the people since some of the other-beings could sense that. Instead he would sweep for a few, turn towards the window for the next pass and keep going. Once the count looked about right he signaled the officer in charge with the hand away from the window.

The officer was seated in the front of a large cargo truck and as soon as he saw the signal he stepped out. That got a definite reaction from the native people of the land and they scattered away. Anyone in that Red and Gold livery was directly connected to the Emperor's retinue. Gaining their attention was not a good idea since you could vanish and nobody would say anything.

He carefully adjusted his uniform before signaling his soldiers to form up and follow him inside the terminal. When he walked in a slight sneer crossed his face since he could tell everyone in there was an other-being and below him on the wheel of life. "Who is this Alpha Danilo Legarith?" He didn't even bother to look up as he neatly took his silk gloves off and carefully tucked them into his sash.

The second the troops came in the door the females moved back and the males moved forward. *Maric have the wolves unloading get the heavy weapons. I have a very bad feeling about this and we might need to fight our way out.* Dan looked down at the smaller man with a trace of amusement on his face. The expression didn't reach his eyes though. "That would be me and might I ask why you have met me with guards?"

The officer finally looked up and was definitely startled. The man who spoke wasn't tall but he was massive and oozed danger. The other wolves were rather on the large side as well. They didn't look anything like the ones he was used to dealing with. That didn't matter since he was there at the Emperor's behest and he had the full power of the country behind him. "It is requested that you appear before the Emperor and explain why you are in his country."

Dan's expression didn't change but the others could tell that he was not amused and was starting to feel a wee bit on the annoyed side. "I will be more than happy to come visit your Emperor once I am done presenting my mate and myself to the Red Kitsune Clan's Spirit Lord. He commanded us to report to him before the full moon which I am doing." He made sure to stress the 'your emperor' as he was talking.

The man did his best to try looking down his nose at Dan while projecting his innate superiority and failed. Even he could tell that this thing wasn't impressed with him and how he knew he wasn't sure but a number of the others were mentally laughing at him. "That can wait since The Emperor has commanded your presence in his court. His wishes override commands from anyone else in his country."

Dan crossed his arms and started down at the man. The half amused expression had left his face and his eyes were cold as was his expression. As he contemplated the other he felt Amarish shift on his shoulder. At some point he had traded shoulders with Amariah. When he stood Dan could hear the rustle of robes and knew that Amarish was feeling something and most definitely wasn't amused. "Little man I will make this clear before we leave. Red has ordered my mate and me to his estates. Since he is the spirit lord of her clan we will obey him. If and when he decides that it is time for us to accompany you to 'Your Emperor's' court then we will go. Now get out of our way."

The officer drew himself up as tall as he could. "If you do not accompany me I will place you under arrest." He waved a hand at the sergeant in charge and they prepared their rifles to shoot. They were pointed at the ceiling but the warning was clear.

Dan's voice got even quieter when he spoke. "You and what army is going to arrest me? If you are as foolish as to do this your men will be as fodder for cows." *Prepare to attack. Any provocation and attack. No captives.* By now Dan was enraged and very little except for the death of this impotent little man would assuage it.

Amarish was letting his powers flow around the room and he focused on one man who didn't feel right. He was too young to tell why but he was almost emotionless and before the officer told anyone to fire the man started to. Amarish didn't even think twice before his sword came out. This time he didn't bother with the little flick since that was just showing off. When it came out he slashed it straight at the man and a wedge of power flashed out. The bullet was transected as well as the gun. The man got a horrible expression on his face before the top half of his body slid off the bottom. Blood spurted everywhere.

Dan didn't even hesitate. He lashed out at the little man and tossed him over his shoulder at the women. *Don't kill him.* He didn't really care what else they did to him since he had felt one of the pups get hit by the bullet and his eyes flashed pure molten gold. The massacre only took moments but it took several minutes for the wolves to stop tearing the body's asunder. The crowd was running screaming as limbs, offal, and other bits and pieces flew.

As Dan was controlling the wolves to keep them from going on a complete rampage he could hear Amariah crying and calling. *Clan Lord I can't keep him alive. I need help Clan Lord please help Sammie.* She was crying even as she was using all of her talents to save the boy. *Please save him, he is my friend.* The last was a tiny whimper.

Dan stalked over to where Amariah was and she was holding a small hand over his chest. Dan pressed his on top of hers and let a trickle of power flow. This young Dan had to be careful of how much power he used. "It is going to be okay Amariah. We are going to do this together. We will do it with my power and your fingers." He took a moment to briefly stroke her hair before he realized his hand was bloody.

"You have claws don't you little one?" When she held up her fingers several claws extended. "Good, this is going to be hard for you but I need you to pull the bullet out so I can heal him. Where it is will make it very hard on Sammie if I just heal him. Can you do that for me sweetie?"

She firmed her face up and spoke. "Yes Clan Leader. I feels bullet and take out." Using her tiny fingers and claws she captured the bullet and pulled it out and tossed it away. After checking for any more pieces she looked up at Dan. Her small blue eyes were filled with trust. "No mores pieces."

"Put your hand over mind and let your power trickle into me. Just a bit since you know where the damage is." When she did that he gently pulled on the pack and slowly and carefully healed Sammie. He was going to take time to recover since Dan hadn't completely healed him. Dan picked him up and handed him to his mother. "Do you give over your right to the life of that person? I have need of him but will not demand it."

Her face was contorted with fury and fear but she listened to Dan. "I do my Pack Leader. Though he does not deserve it make his death quick unless otherwise needed." She knelt down and picked up Amariah. "Thank you little lady and Sammie has told me that you are his friend as well."

Dan turned away to where the pups were holding the man down. He stalked over to the group and he glowered down at the man. "You are mine to deal with. It was asked of me to make your death quick. Though it bothers me to do that I will follow the wishes of the mother of the pup you almost killed."

He ground that out and his voice sounded like he was crushing rocks as he spoke. Dan reached down and grabbed the front of the man's shirt and lifted him up so he was hanging a good foot off the ground. "You will die when I am done speaking to your emperor."

Right about then a Kitsune hurried in and froze at the mess. His ears and five tails appeared and he bowed down to the enraged wolf. "Clan Leader I deeply apologize for the delay in my arrival. An accident was staged to block the road we needed. I did not know this till we arrived." He was in formal robes to greet the visiting dignitary. His spirit lord was very specific about how Dan and his mate and pack were to be treated.

When he shifted Dan did as well and mentally had to sigh. He knew for a fact that he now had more tails and had a feeling each tail was a different color. If he looked he was sure that he would find that each tail was the color of one of the clans that now looked at him. What that meant he wasn't sure but the other Kitsunes eyes widened and he bowed even deeper.

"Lord of the clans our spirit lord has requested that you allow him to deal with this person. Since this is his territory and under his control he is not pleased by the actions of the Emperor. He has specified that the Emperor's punishment is up to you decide but this one he wishes to make an example of." To be brutally honest the enraged male in front of him scared the crap out of him. The last time there was a Lord of the Clans was a war with the Oni and that had decimated the clans before it was over. That was also centuries ago.

Dan contemplated the male in front of him and finally nodded. "Since your clan spirit has asked this I will grant him the rights to punishment." He started to heave the man at the Kitsune when the Kitsune raised a hand.

"No need for that Lord of the Clans." He walked over and his tails started glowing and red tinged flames could faintly be seen. He stroked the man's cheek. "This is your punishment. Once the Lord of the Clans is done with you the purifying flames of the Red Kitsune Clan Spirit Lord will cleanse your spirit. Once cleansed your spirit will be returned to the cycle of life to start anew." He stepped back and bowed to Dan. "What are your orders sir?"

Dan looked up as a good two dozen Kitsunes walked into the terminal and they were heavily armed. Several were glowing the red color of their spirit lord, the rest were carrying modern, for this world, automatic weapons and were moving between the pack and the crowd. "On your life take the pregnant women, mothers, and pups to your estate. I will be there soon."

He turned and started calling out orders. Many of them Maric had already implemented since he knew what was going to happen. The crates of weapons were opened and a wide variety of weapons were handed out. Every time his wolves trained with their personal weapons Dan had to raise an eyebrow. Suzy had a cut down Locabar axe, another had a mace that just looked evil, and a variety of close combat weapons. Everyone was issued pistols and a few long range weapons.

The Kitsune had to twitch his ears. "Were you planning on invading and taking over?" He was only halfway joking when he said that.

From Dan he got a snort. "Nah, I just like to be prepared and especially when I am going into a country full of unrest." He was going to have to talk to Red about this mess his country was in.

As Dan finished talking to the Kitsune Maric walked up and met Dan's eyes and looked down. "Alpha the transports they had planned on using have been secured. All the troops except for the drivers have been dealt with." While he was taking to Dan a number of bodies were being carried inside and tossed in a corner.

Dan nodded and looked at the Kitsune. "I am leaving now. Take the rest of my pack to safety. Leave a truck or two to get the luggage since I want Alysson's planes off the field as soon as possible."

The Kitsune bowed again and left to follow Dan's orders. He was very grateful to be away from the male. As soon as he walked out he started calling orders and his Kitsunes jumped to get to work.

Inside Dan looked around and called all his wolves to him. Several were detailed to go with the women and kids. The rest were coming with him and he had about 25 males and females in front of him. "Well the Emperor opened up a can of 'oh fuck' even though he didn't realize it. We are going to take him up on the offer to visit and nobody will stop us from stopping to say hello." A low deep growl could be heard when Dan said that. They might have calmed down a bit but they were all still enraged.

"Don't kill any more innocents than needed. Guards and officers are fair game though keep the kills quick. I don't want anyone separated from the pack. Form up in twos so you always have someone by your side." He turned to the Kitsune guards. "Protect my mate. I know several of you will stay with me but if anything ends up going sideways protect her and get her out of there." All nodded at his orders.

Pam met his eyes for a few moments. "You had damn well better escape with everyone possible as well Dan. If you don't I will be less than pleased and talk to Red about having you come back as a poodle." Everyone winced at that.

Dan laughed and pulled her close and gave her a solid kiss. "Anything but that my love. I would end up with a really cranky wolf and I would be the maddest poodle in town."

He finally turned and took his swords from the case someone was holding and stuck them in a silken obi he used when he wasn't in formal robes. When he did he found that he was now in formal robes though they were different and so was Pam. He grunted and hoped they were easy to clean blood out of.

"Let's go gentlemen and ladies. We have an appointment that we shouldn't be late for." He was still holding the man though by now Dan had lowered his hand and the man was half on the floor. Dan didn't bother lifting him up and dragged him outside. He climbed in the first truck and seated the man next to him. "You had better get us through with no problems or I might just start ripping pieces off. The first will be your pencil dick."

The man pissed his robes when Dan threatened him and jerkily nodded. Once everyone was loaded up Dan told everyone to start. As they were driving his face hardened again since the populace tended to vanish as the trucks approached. That indicated the Emperor and his troops were feared and the people had been treated badly. Red was going to have a handful of problems when Dan was done. The Emperor and any males were not going to survive unless they were young enough to educate on being a proper leader.

The drive took close to an hour since the streets meandered and there wasn't any direct route to the palace. Eventually they did arrive and Dan quietly reminded him of what would happen if they were stopped.

Thankfully the soldiers and officers appeared to be junior to him and he managed to bully his way to a courtyard near the throne room. Or so the man said and it smelled like he was telling the truth so Dan contacted his wolves. *Take them down and hard. Nobody survives who is a soldier or officer. If someone attacks you kill them as well. Make it fast and clean.*

As he was climbing out of the truck his wolves piled out and went to town. Their definition of fast and clean tended to be ripping the heads off the soldiers and keep going. Dan kicked the man out and climbed down. Since he had removed his swords to get in the truck he inserted him into his obi again. "Good job my wolves. Now shall we go in and say hello?" Dan's smile was hard and mean when he asked that and when his wolves growled it got even meaner.

As they moved towards the doors inside Dan went first with several of his wolves and two of the Kitsunes ahead of him as a screen. Pam was right behind him with the two little Kitsunes on her shoulders. Somewhere she had acquired her own set of swords and she also was in her mid-form with the same types of tails Dan had. Surrounding her were the balance of the Kitsunes and around them was his pack.

As they walked into the building people would stop, stare, and vanish into a number of doorways. Any soldiers were taken out as soon as they were seen. Since that was usually by the wolves in front as they peeled off two more would take over. The closer they got to the throne room the more troops appeared and Dan figured they were just now starting to respond to the threat. If so they were doing a pathetic job of it.

As they were moving his wolves were taking damage from lucky strikes and a number of gunshot injuries. As they were hit Dan wouldn't even think before applying pack powers to heal them enough for them to survive.

When they did finally reach the door to the throne room there was a good shield of men blocking it and the doors were shut. Dan contemplated them for a brief moment. "You have about five seconds to surrender or you will be killed. It is your choice." Dan started counting down and by the time he reached zero about half the troops had started running. "Kill them and make an example of them."

Suzy, the one with the locabar axe snapped it around and sliced a man open from his left shoulder to right hip before snapping it around and lopping his head off. The male with the mace slammed a soldier on one side and shattered his chest. Pieces of the man splattered several other soldiers.

Dan wanted to have a bit of fun as well and snapped out his Katana and joined in the fray. By the time they were done anyone alive was spewing their guts from the mess. If possible it was even messier than the airport and the entire foyer was coated with blood, intestines, bodily fluids, and stray parts.

Dan tried the door which was barred shut. He frowned at it before waving Suzy over. "Could you please unlock the doors? They seem to have forgotten we were coming." He stepped to the side.

She gave him a polite bow. "It does seem so. Give me a few minutes and I will open the door for you." Suzy lifted the axe and slammed it down into the door and there was a cracking sound. After several blows she could see the bar across the doors. One last massive swing and the door bar cracked. Everyone stood to the sides before the door was shoved open and a number of gunshots could be heard. Since they were using something like a trap door rifle they had a short amount of time to get inside.

Dan signaled and they entered the chamber. A faint glow surrounded him. "Where is the Emperor of vermin? He extended an invite for me to come and say hello." He glowered around the room till he caught sight of the man sitting on an elaborate throne that was encrusted with gold, silver, and gems.

"How dare you enter without permission? You will be detained and arrested for this assault on my holy self." He puffed up and glared back at Dan. "To whoever kills him will get his heads weight in gold and jewels."

Dan snorted at him. "Rotsa ruck you mangy mixed mongrel of an ape and a randy goat." He lifted his sword to his shoulder and heaved the officer towards the Emperor and waited for him to be in the air before speaking. "I am done with your assistance."