2 law of beasts

No Beast shall hunt another Beast unless Beast has broken the Law. No Beast shall steal from another. No Beast shall indiscriminately kill. No Beast shall maliciously harm humans without proper and just cause.

Those who break this Law shall be punished in the hands of the Beast Army following the gravity of their crime. This is the Law of Beasts, held by all Beasts, and bled by all Beasts. For without Law, Beasts are no different from Animals.

The Law of Beasts - Circa Eight

It had been centuries since the Law of Beasts was first enacted, and to this day, the Law still held absolute power over the Beast Kingdom.

Ever since she was young Kiera could recite the Law word by word and in almost perfect clarity. She was bright since her youth and it carried with her throughout her years of military schooling. It was evident from her first year at the Academy that she was going to be a strong warrior, and it certainly wasn't long until she was accepted into the King of Beasts' elite circle within the Beast Army.

She had won many fights against other stronger, much older Beasts, and thus, had rapidly gained recognition for her quick thinking and mastery with her sword. Her fame only grew when she was appointed as one of the twelve Beast Generals.

"Please spare me!" The Beast's cries made their way over to her ears but Kiera regarded the man with a cold stare. He chose to collapse on the dirt ground as he begged on his knees after Kiera's men had dragged him out of his hiding spot. They stood in the middle of the wreckage, where the houses of the villagers once stood in perfect condition. Now many are in a state of disrepair, with broken walls and doors. The village of Beasts was covered in a stream of blood and disemboweled bodies lined the streets. Her nose was assaulted by the stench of death. It was enough for her to want to drive her sword into the man's skull.

"You beg for mercy?" Her voice carried not even a hint of clemency towards the Beast. She had none for the man. There was no need to hide her disgust for the heinous crime he had committed. She wanted to kill the Beast without sparing another glance. If she so wished, she could have done it, but that wouldn't bring back the Beasts of this once quiet village.

"Where was your mercy when you Hunted down a whole village of Beasts?" The man whimpered at her mercilessly cold tone. He shrank back but that did not stop him from reaching out to make a grab at her pant leg.

She stepped away and the man's blood-encrusted hands only grasped the empty air before him.

"I-I-I promise you I won't do it again! Please, believe me!" Spittle flew from the man's bloodied mouth, his face caked with the blood of many innocent lives.

"Enough." She motioned for her strongest warrior to take the groveling man. "Lock him up in the transport carriage. Make sure his arms and legs are securely bound in silver."

Bryan did as he was told. The incredibly tall and broad-shouldered brown-haired man stepped toward the criminal with silver cuffs in his hands. Behind him, another one of her Beast warriors carried another set of cuffs.

"No! Don't! They were mostly Prey Beasts! Nothing special!" When he realized his screams were for naught, he scrambled away from the approaching warriors. As he tried to straighten up, Kiera took notice of his changing eyes.

"Stay back! He's shifting into his other form." She instructed the men closest to the changing Beast.

She waited for the sickening sounds of bones snapping and of clothes tearing apart, refusing to look away as the figure before them all morphed from a simple man into that of a disfigured Beast. Kiera did not blink as she stared at the Deranged Wolf Beast, remnants of his shredded clothing hung down from his hairy body, almost like skin.

His wildly searching eyes narrowed as he set his sights on Kiera. Even in his enraged state, the Beast's thoughts were of getting rid of Kiera first.

He charged at her.

"General!" She heard one of her Captains shout in her direction as the Wolf Beast came barreling towards her, swiping at one of her soldiers that stood in the towering Beast's way, sending him flying a few feet back.

She dodged over to the side as one of the Beast's claws narrowly avoided digging into the skin of her back. Instead, he managed to rip into her sturdy leather bodice.

Kiera twisted her body around, her eyes never leaving the Beast as he reared his monstrous wolf head back and howled. The haunting sound seeped into her ears and she instinctively recoiled at the temptation to release one of her own beastly howls.

Her hand went to the hilt on her hip and the Beast immediately stopped howling as his ears twitched to pick up the sound of her movement.

He growled, flashing his white fangs at her as the sound vibrates through his throat. The Beast got ready to attack again and Kiera slipped her silver blade out from its sheath.

The Beast lunged at her again, but even in his half-transformed form, he was no match for her many years of training with her sword. She calculated the path of his claws and ducked her head, stepping off to one side as the Beast swiped his claws in one long arc.

Her blade slashed at the Beast's legs when she ducked, she heard the sizzling as the silver cut through the tough hide of the Beast. He howled out in pain.

Her sword dripped blood onto the forest ground. Kiera watched as the Beast is reduced to howling out in pain as he hunched himself over, trying to nurse his wound like a common dog.

She took this time to completely immobilize the Beast. She drove her sword into his back and in between his shoulder blades, causing his howls to turn into screams as wisps of smoke appeared from where her sword was wedged into his back.

Kiera watched as the Beast painfully morphs back into the lame figure of a man. Now he lay on the ground, naked, bloody, and in unimaginable pain.

"Bryan, the cuffs." She flicked the blood off of the length of her blade. In one swift motion, she slipped it back into its place on her hip.

The Bear moved quickly, a lot more different than he did before. He did not take any chances and roughly moved the man and grabbed his hands, closing the silver cuffs around his wrists. The man only could cry out as the silver touched his skin.

"Forgive me General. I did not think the man would risk changing into his incomplete form to attack."

"Act quicker next time." Before she could respond to the man, Cody appeared with his arms up behind his sandy blond head. He wore a smirk on his face, always quick to point out other people's faults but never focusing on his own.

"Oh, and what were you doing you damn dog?" Jade lashed out at him as she handed Bryan another pair of cuffs.

"Earlier you didn't lift a single finger as we were searching for the man." Her eyes flashed in anger as she huffed out. Bryan ignored the two bickering Captains as he cuffed the defeated Beast's feet.

"Shut up you ugly fox."

Kiera sighed as she listened to her Captains fighting, her fingers scrunched her eyebrows together in what she believed a mother would do whenever her children acted up.

"Enough. We need to head back to the capital, and quickly. I don't want the Beast to die before he is brought in front of the Grand Council."

Bryan nodded and hoisted the now bound man over his shoulders, carrying him over to where the silver bars awaited the criminal on the transport carriage.

Kiera walked over to where she saw one of her men land after being thrown into the air by the Deranged Wolf Beast. She was relieved to see the man was back on his feet with the help of his fellow warrior despite the long gash on his chest.

"How are you faring Private?" She asked even though she could see the man could walk on his own even as he currently had one of his arms slung over another person's shoulders.

"It's just a nick General. I'll be right as rain in a couple of hours." He responded, slightly straightening up his posture as he spoke to her.

"Do you think you're well enough to ride with us back to the capital?"

He eagerly shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about me General. I'm a lot tougher than I look." He smiled coyly at her before quickly wincing as his friend elbowed him, injuring him even further.

She nodded once and chose to ignore the look the two shared before she turned to instruct her men to pack up and make their way over to their horses. It seemed like the warrior was well enough to flirt with her, then he should be well enough to ride off immediately.

Kiera made her way over to where she tied her horse, Lassie. She quickly ran her hand through her black horse's mane in a calming manner. Lassie had never been the one to spook easily, but the number of bodies and blood everywhere had gotten her horse on edge. Kiera could tell just by looking at the way she kicked the ground when she spotted Kiera making her way toward her.

"Don't worry Lassie. We set off now." She whispered to her after she made sure no one would be able to hear her console her animal. Then she swung herself up, mounting Lassie after untying her from around the tree.

"Move out!" She yelled at her men, all lined up and mounted on top of their horses. Bryan was the only exception as he had chosen to drive the carriage that was carrying the cage. "I want a dozen men to be around the carriage at all times! The rest of you are to be vigilant as we are not stopping until we reach the capital! Let me know the moment you sense or see any monsters on our way!"

Her men shout in accordance, showing her they understood her commands.

After she was content with the determined look on their faces, she nodded and spurred her horse forward. Her men follow behind. It was a long way back to the capital, and they could meet many other deranged Beasts along the way.

It didn't matter to her. Kiera's only focus has and always has been to bring criminals to their knees. She will not stop. She couldn't. Not until Beasts from all over the land followed the Law, which she doubts will ever happen as there seems to be no shortage of deranged Beasts. This time they're lucky they only encountered one on their patrol over the western mountains.

She rode silently in the front while Jade and Cody continued to bicker like their usual selves on either side of her.