FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Synopsis: It is 1917 and the British plan to attack along the Hindenburg Line with a new type of extremely lethal gas. Unknown to them the gas has an unforeseen effect on animals. Soon after the deployment of the new weapon, a small group of surviving German soldiers stationed near Cambrai, France find themselves working with a courier's horse that was changed by the gas. Not long after transformation, the animals experience growth to immense sizes. Former enemies and new allies must come together to stop a threat that could consume Europe in bloodshed.

Cambrai

Written by Mark Harmon (Hetzer)

With the seed of creativity planted by Cetas Surface

Outside Cambrai, France - November 20th, 1917

The early morning sun peered over the French countryside as its rays broke through parts of the gray cloud cover, casting a deceptively warm glow across the damp fields. Lining the landscape were gashes in the earth, fighting trenches, with each one home to units of hundreds of men. Most sought what shelter they could in the bunkers and dugouts dotted along the lines, with only a handful out in the bitter November cold with the mud. The patter of the frozen rain and minor gusts of wind dominated the ambiance, but if one listened, they could hear hooves thumping against the earth.

At the rearmost line next to a bunker, a lone German soldier sitting on a sandbag at the edge of his trench looked over his shoulder towards the sound. The figure of a horse and rider approaching down the muddy road from the town of Cambrai was heading towards him. Sighing, the man stood up from his seat and pressed his back up against the rear of the concrete shelter to await the horseman's arrival. He shivered and tried to sink deeper into his thick coat. Inside of it he muttered in frustration about being stuck outside on watch on such a cold, wet morning. He waited like that until he heard the horse come to a trotting stop before him.

His helmeted head poked out of the warmth of his jacket and he glared at the man atop of his steed, before looking at the horse. She was a golden mare with a blonde mane and tail, a big white splotch around her midsection with more white that goes from her knees to her hooves and down the center of her snout. He noticed her blue eyes were looking into his own, and it seemed to improve his mood as his glare softened and he almost cracked a smile at the horse. The horseman, similarly garbed as the soldier, but with a thick brown cloth wrapped around his face and a pair of goggles, dismounted while saying, "Ich habe eine Botschaft für den Oberleutnant." - A message for the first lieutenant, this trench's commanding officer. The watchman waited for the courier to produce some sort of correspondence that would give him a reason to go inside the at least slightly warmer bunker. But the courier simply looked at him for a few seconds before he tilted his head and said, annoyed, "Schultz...Ich muss mit ihm sprechen." With a look of disappointment that the courier would be going inside himself, the soldier dropped down into the trench followed by the horseman.

He knocked on the metal door to the bunker and they silently waited. There was some commotion inside and the door creaked open. Another lowly ranked soldier greeted them. The courier's escort nodded at him and stuttered, likely in an attempt to garner pity and be granted access into the bunker "N-Nachricht für den kommandanten." A subtle snort came from the courier at the blatant attempt. A moment later the said commander, a young officer, dismissed the one holding the door, who went back and collapsed onto his bunk and wrapped himself in his blanket with a sigh of relief.

He welcomed the courier inside with a smile. The other soldier made a step to also come inside, but the officer held his hand up and shook his head, "Nein, du musst draussen wache halten." The door closed on the disappointed soldier and the officer turned to the messenger. "Guten morgen, Stefan. Ich hoffe es geht dir gut? What do you have for me?" he asked as he grabbed a steaming kettle and began to pour a cup of tea while Stefan unwrapped his face and removed his _stahlhelm_and goggles. The bunker itself was simply a living quarter of sorts that could double as an artillery shelter with a few ports one could open for light, or to shoot out of if need be. Cots were all around with sleeping men in them. Crates of rations were stacked against one of the walls. The only light sources at the moment were a burning wood stove and a lantern sitting on top of a small table with a few cups and books. The stove was rare for bunkers, but as the farthest back trench line, its bunkers were built with slightly more comfort in mind. The warmth they provided was highly treasured by soldiers in the terribly frigid weather. They were welcomed respites from the harshness of trench life. "Go on, sit." Heinrich waved his hand at one of the two chairs at the small table.

"All is well, all things considered_,_ Heinrich," The courier responded as he took his seat. They disregarded the formal exchange of rank and last names, showing their familiarity with each other. The courier was a lance corporal, Gefreiter_Stefan Karlson,_ and the officer was a first lieutenant, Oberleutnant Heinrich Kraus_._ "Command expects the British to strike today. Scouts have reported massive groups of tanks and artillery amassing," Stefan was handed a small cup of steaming tea, "Danke schön,"_He thanked him appreciatively before continuing,"_To counter the tanks, more artillery has been placed at the main battery, so don't let tank fright get too overwhelming," He joked and took a sip of the warm liquid. Tank fright only got to the new soldiers these days. "We will also be issued two more machine guns for this trench. The networks ahead of this one will be issued three and the one at the front, five." The town of Cambrai itself had a healthy amount of artillery and troops in it. Thankfully, essentially all civilians were removed from the German occupied zone, so the only souls left were the German troops and a few dozen horses left to move guns around when needed. It would be the last line of defense if the trenches failed.

"Do they really expect the attack to be so large as to require all of that?" He asked, surprised at so many machine guns being handed out. The forward trench alone had so many of the weapons that any more would end up with every man in a machine gun crew, with some undermanned.

He smiled at Heinrich and shrugged, "We have a reputation to maintain. The Hindenburg Line is supposed to be impenetrable," he said in reference to the massive defensive line spanning across France that the entente powers have been trying to penetrate to break into Germany since 1916.

"More the reason for them to throw everything they have at us," he responded cynically, "So, is that all? I do not think this required seeing me in person. Nothing they could not tell us through the wire." He paused for a moment. "Someone cut the telephone lines again?"

"They did." Heinrich scowled at the fact that they still could not fully secure the ground lines. They should have all been buried by now. French civilians were the primary culprits. "Regardless," Stefan continued, grinning, "it gave me a good reason to join you in this lovely bunker." He eyed the happily burning wood stove. The things were worth their weight in gold during the colder months.

Heinrich chuckled, "I think Schultz would have loved to have a reason, too." He knew the courier should be carrying a correspondence with the mentioned information detailed out which he could have passed off to Schultz, which still would not have gained the watchman entry. Most officers would take that as meaning the courier was delaying his duties, but Heinrich knew the man's methods and was more than likely well ahead of schedule. He was surely awake and out doing runs hours before. He deserved at least a short reprieve.

Stefan nodded, "I bet." He reached for a pouch at his hip and pulled out a piece of paper, the written word of everything the courier said to the officer, and placed it on the table before them. They exchanged knowing grins before he asked, "Why is he out there again, anyway?"

He shrugged, "He managed to win the lottery again. The man has no luck. But, at least it is good for him." _Schütze_Albert Schultz tended to agitate his superiors when he was idle. Keeping him busy like this was Heinrich's way of keeping him in line. The man may complain but he took his duty seriously. Unfortunately his behavior has kept him stuck at the rank of private, despite his combat experience. The time he got upset at an officer for using his loathed first name has practically made it so even if he did change his behavior, he would be stuck as a private for a while. Changing the subject, the officer asked, "So, how is Annina?" referring to the courier's mare.

Stefan perked up at this question, "Can you believe she has already learned most of the trench system? I just say 'reserve' or 'frontal' and she just goes. Or I say schweinehunden and she goes back to command." The lance corporal loved his horse and never missed a chance to praise her truly remarkable intelligence.

"I think I can believe it. Never have I met such a horse as her. The men love her, too. Schultz told me the other day that there was something about her that just made it all look a little brighter." He looked at his cup of tea as he thought about the mare before looking back up, "I must agree, knowing she is here makes this scheisseloch just a bit more bearable." Stefan already knew this, of course, but it was nice to hear praise for his horse. "She deserves better than this war," he continued. They both silently nodded in agreement. "Do you think she would like some apples?" Heinrich asked as he got up from his seat and opened a bushel of the mentioned fruit tucked away among the rations.

"Of course! I would be worried if she did not." The officer handed him five bright red apples that he took and distributed around his various pockets and pouches. "Danke. I need to get going. We do not want the Brits taking us by surprise, eh?" He wrapped the cloth around his face and replaced his helmet and goggles.

Heinrich nodded before stopping him, "Ah, wait a moment," he requested and began to pour another cup of tea and handed it to Stefan, "give this to Schultz on your way out, and say guten morgen to Annina for me." Stefan nodded and took the offered cup and bid the officer farewell.

He opened the steel door and stepped into the freezing rain. The familiar sound of it pattering off his helmet along with the sudden change in temperature made him shiver slightly. He curiously noted that Schultz was not sitting on his sandbag. Looking up out of the trench at Annina, he found him standing next to her looking over the lines while stroking her neck. He gently placed the cup on the sandbag and clambered out of the trench up to them. Schultz shifted his attention to Stefan, then enviously at the steaming cup he was picking back up. When the courier offered it to him, he eagerly grabbed it with his mitten covered hands, "Danke schön, danke."

"_Bitte," h_e muttered and turned to Annina, "Hey girl. Heinrich says good morning." He rubbed her muzzle and she responded by nuzzling his face. "He also had a few gifts for you." He reached into one of his deep pockets and fished out one of the apples and held it in front of her nose, "It sure does look good! Got four more, all for you." Annina took the apple into her mouth, careful to avoid his fingers. He pulled out another apple and waited for her to finish the first. He held it out for her, but instead of eating it, she used her snout to nudge his hand towards Schultz, who was watching curiously as he sipped at his tea. Stefan smiled knowingly and offered the apple to his comrade, "She wants you to have it."

Schultz paused drinking to look at the fresh apple, then Annina. She looked back at him, and nudged the apple closer. At that, he smiled and took the offered fruit, "Danke, fraulein." He raised it to her in thanks and dropped the apple into his pocket then reached out to stroke her just below her right eye. "She is so sweet," he commented.

"Strange, is it not?" Stefan asked as he brandished a third apple for her. "That she brings more humanity into this war than many others could say." This sort of behavior was normal for her, and was one of the things that made her so special to him.

Schultz silently nodded in agreement and watched her eat the apple. When she was done he asked, "May I give her one?"

"Of course." Stefan revealed a fourth apple and placed it into Schultz's outstretched hand. He slowly approached her mouth with his arm extended. She eagerly took the apple from his open hand, and even gave his mitten a nuzzle of gratitude.

The soldier chuckled and smiled warmly, "Such a gentle creature. It is a shame she must witness this hell."

"Indeed my friend, indeed." Stefan reached into his pocket again, and revealed the fifth and last apple. "Last one." But when he offered it to her, she instead nudged it towards him. "For me? Danke schön, meine freunde." He thanked, took the apple, rubbed her snout again in gratitude. "Now we must get back to it. Be safe Schultz, the British may be attacking today." He mounted up onto her saddle and made himself comfortable. "I'll see you in an hour or so Schultz. Do not freeze to death, alright?" The young man grinned up at the courier and nodded before plopping himself bag down on his sandbag, sipping his tea. "You know the drill Annina. From trench to trench," he said and rubbed the right side of her neck. Knowing full well what needed to be done, she began the trot down the line stopping at each fortification so her rider could pass on the correspondences and warn at least one occupant of what may come today.

By the time they reached the most forward trench the rain had ceased and a mist had settled over no man's land as the temperature started to rise, giving the stretch of barren, dead earth, a mysterious and foreboding aura. Stefan imagined the infamous British tanks slowly lumbering out of the fog, a not unfamiliar sight for the experienced soldier. Annina seemed to be unsettled by not being able to see everything before her in the distance. But as expected she stopped alongside the trench. This one was by far the largest and most complex of the networks. Thankfully the courier only had to inform one man and pass the correspondence, and word would spread in no time at all. One of the soldiers mingling in the trench hopped out and walked up to him to meet the rider.

Staying mounted on his horse Stefan passed on the correspondence and quickly explained,"We expect the British to push forward with a huge attack today. A few hundred tanks have been seen so we have bolstered our artillery battery. You will also be issued five more machine guns within the hour. It is going to be a rough one, so be ready."

The soldier nodded slowly, "A few hundred tanks? Are you sure about this?"

"That is what I was told." The other soldier shivered and went back into the trench to notify his commander.

Stefan scratched Annina's neck in praise for good work, "You did great, girl. Well, back to the reserve trench. Time for a break, eh?" Annina snorted and stamped her hoof in apparent agreement. They would go back to the trench, she would end up receiving affection from the rousing unit, then her rider would take her back for her rest at a stable not far behind them. Then Stefan would walk back to the trench. The courier belonged to Heinrich's unit, but because of his experience with horses from his time on his family's farm as well his former work as a postman, he was often made a courier or messenger. After quickly bonding with the horse provided to him, Annina, the mare was assigned to the unit after Heinrich managed to see it done, arguing that Stefan's regular work as a courier warranted a horse for him on standby. Their unit was stationed in the reserve trench after a week in the front. Each trench's garrison moved up to the one in front every week, with the front most trench moving back and getting a 'vacation' in the much smaller rear reserve trench or the town itself. Annina would follow in a closer stable with each move, meaning she was always in as much danger as the rest of them. That was something that both pleased and upset her rider when they cycled into the forward trenches to remain close at hand.

However, thankfully this region had been mostly silent. It was only until recently that the British were reported to be moving towards the town of Cambrai, their current position. He had actually gathered from running messages around that the British, French, and Americans have in fact tentatively approached the Hindenburg Line all along the front. But it was here that it appeared there would be a large attack. But this positioning at a tame location was not to say Stefan's unit had not seen much action, it was much to the contrary. All of the more veteran men were at the brutality that was the Somme, including Annina. So with the pair's experience, neither even flinched when they heard the unexpected dull thuds coming from no man's land. Ba-doom, ba-doom, and a moment later they turned into a storm like a hundred large drums. The attack was happening much earlier than anticipated. The soldiers in the trenches on reflex headed for their bunkers or huddled in the earthworks. Annina quickly turned around without Stefan's order and broke into a gallop deeper into friendly lines, well aware of what those sounds foretold.

Following the reports of artillery fire came the explosions that shook the earth causing the horse to briefly stumble before adjusting and running as perfectly as if it were a calm afternoon. Stefan looked back, and noted that the explosions were making a steady movement deeper into German lines. "Creeping barrage, do not let it catch us Annina!" The mare snorted and increased her sprint. Stefan bent forward like a horse jockey as Annina demonstrated why she was a courier's steed.

The rider knew the impacts were not far behind, and that a shell could easily overshoot from bad aiming and land right on top of them. But he could not dwell on that. Instead he felt his attention enter a tunnel, where he allowed his mare free reign to carry them away from the deadly blasts while he completely honed in on the ground before them. He subtly guided her around slight dips in the earth, puddles, or any other small, insignificant obstacle that could slow her down or even trip her at the high speed.

But this creeper was quick, likely due to a huge number of artillery and a lot of planning, and it seemed to keep pace with them. Annina kept a good amount of space between them and the creeping death, however. However, shrapnel was unpredictable, and Stefan suddenly let out a cry as he felt something strike him in the lower back _"Scheisse!"_he cried out.At the sound of her rider's cry, Annina got a sudden burst of yet even more speed.He reached around to his lower back and felt something sharp imbedded into one of his pouches and jabbed into his back, but not enough to break skin. He sighed in great relief at the remarkable luck. He then looked behind him to check Annina's rump. Thankfully she had no wounds from what he could see, but one of the saddle bags had been torn open with its contents spilled out somewhere behind them. It was practically a clean cut meaning it bounced off the ground, cut the bag, and struck his pouch. With the damage assessed, he refocused his attention on ensuring a clear path ahead.

By now, Annina had managed to outrun the barrage by a good distance. They passed by a wagon with two draft horses, probably the machine gun cart. The driver had abandoned the animals and was undoubtedly taking cover in a trench. Annina sprinted past the panicked beasts, who seemed to be fighting over which way to run, resulting in them going nowhere at all. Stefan entertained thoughts of unhitching them from the wagon, but that would more than likely lead to his own death. The poor beasts had a chance of survival by luck, but he guessed those odds to be very low.

Soon after the cart they saw the familiar main bunker of the reserve trench and Annina made a beeline straight for it. Once they made it to the trench, Stefan dismounted and hopped in to it, with Annina doing the same with an unusual grace found from a lot of practice. Stefan then pounded on the door and was greeted by a figure adorned with a gas mask. He opened the door all the way to let the two in. Without any guidance, Annina squeezed herself through followed by Stefan, and the door was shut and bolted behind them. All two dozen soldiers made room for the horse, which walked to the center of the bunker. For this unit, a horse in the bunker was not a rare occurrence.

"Shrapnel in my rear left pouch, take it out!" Stefan demanded and ripped off the fabric on his face and removed his goggles and helmet as he turned to Annina's saddlebags. He reached for one of the bags on her rump, but merely found himself lifting up an empty, torn open satchel. His face went pale. This bag was the one that contained her gas mask! He felt someone press on his back and the pouch get tugged as the metal shard was pulled free. He quickly turned around to look at the various crates stacked along the wall with the rations. "Do any of these have extra horse masks?" he asked as he hopefully scanned over the identifying markings on each box. When he found nothing in his quick search he turned to Heinrich, identifiable only by his uniform, who simply shook his head slowly.

Stefan opened up another saddlebag containing his own gas mask and slipped it on. He checked it over and made sure it was snugly settled before placing his helmet back onto his head. Annina looked at his mask then turned her head to see her torn saddlebag. She snorted and took a step towards him as if pleading for him to do something. He rubbed her forehead, without a mask for her the only help he could offer her would be a rag.

The rumbles of the earth became more violent and the reports of explosions became more deafening with every passing moment before it all became a chaotic mess. The impacts were now right non top of them. Once this barrage was over, more than likely gas will follow. Gas was not normally that dangerous, but if it were a crippling type like mustard, then Annina may have to be put down from being fully exposed. He hoped for a more tame gas, the British would likely not want to advance through a mustard gas infested battlefield. But he would not allow her to go with no protection at all. Stefan reached down to the ground for the thick rag he had to protect his face from the cold. He took the canteen attached to her saddle and poured its contents all over the rag. He then wrapped it around her muzzle and used the straps there to hold it into place.

"There, that should help with chlorine," he cooed as he patted her neck. She seemed more content with the cloth but she was a smart horse, Stefan knew, perhaps sometimes too smart for her own good. She knew this was not as good as her real mask. But, with intelligence came reason, or at least she was smart enough to know that staying calm for the safety of those around her was a good idea. A panicked horse in a bunker would probably lead to broken bones all around.

There was an explosion dangerously close to the bunker, dust fell from the ceiling as the ground beneath their feet trembled. The door appeared to have dented inward, bending the big metal bolt barring it. Uneasy glances were exchanged between the soldiers. Getting the door open with the bolt bent like that would be a challenge. If gas followed this bombardment, they could be in serious trouble, trapped in here while chemicals filled the small space. The unfortunate luck was astounding. The bunker could take a direct hit or two from a large round, but a near miss may have ended up being more effective.

By now, several soldiers were starting to whimper and tremble. One was already in the corner cowering. Barring rank insignias and Heinrich's uniform, they all looked the same. But it was this behavior, the terror next to stoicism that distinguished the veterans from the fresh faced boys. Stefan recalled looking like that, a terrified recruit. There was no animosity held towards these scared young men, almost all of them looked like that at some point. He looked up as more dust fell from the ceiling from another close impact. An artillery bombardment could terrify any man. But after a few barrages they reach a sort of acceptance. They could die at any moment, and the best they could do was shelter themselves like now. They had no control over this, so there was no point in crying about it. If it was their time, then so be it. Just pray it would be over quick.

Annina approached one of the soldiers, the one crying in the corner. She bent down to nuzzle at him. Stefan smiled under his mask. Even with death falling around them, that horse had more empathy than many people. It was absolutely strange, he had never seen anything like it. But, it was what made her such an amazing creature. The cowering private relaxed himself enough to stroke her head, while the mood in the shelter seemed to uplift slightly.

Abruptly, they all lurched in surprise as a round landed directly on top of the bunker, creating an absolutely deafening sound that dazed everyone inside. Chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling, while a large crack appeared down the middle. The bunker was now heavily compromised. It may be able to take a lighter shell, but another one like that could kill them all. Many of the men began to pray that the barrage would end before it came to that.

The barrage carried on for several more moments, and even intensified as guns wrapped up their barrages on the forward trenches and moved on to theirs. But thankfully there were no more direct impacts as the explosions came to a slow stop, punctuated by one large explosion in the distance, a couple seconds after the rest. With the barrage seemingly over, Heinrich ordered them out, as the tight confines of the shelter would magnify the effects of a gas.

The nearest soldier to the door took up a pry bar and began attempting to flip the bolt up, so it would jut out from the door. Then perhaps they could hammer it out of its latch. Two more men came to assist, and with all of them tugging it, the bolt groaned as it twisted in the tight confines. Next came the mallet, which they used to pound at the grip on the bolt in an attempt to force it out.

While they did that, Stefan was compelled, along with several others, to take a look outside. If gas did come, then perhaps they could identify it through color, assuming they used a type with a hue. He opened one of the firing ports and scanned the horizon. He did not see any gas, but for all he knew they followed immediately after the barrage and there were shells out there right now venting an invisible chemical. But he was not too late, as several artillery shells hit the earth with a thud, one not more than fifty meters from the bunker. He squinted and focused on the closest one to see if he could identify a color that would give them a forewarning about what to expect. He watched as a purple mist began to collect around the impact zones, where the gas started to expand at an unnaturally exponential rate. It took mere seconds for it to become a terrifying cloud that would soon engulf their bunker. No gas should be able to do that, not from a container as small as an artillery round!

He and the rest of the observers backed down and closed the rifle ports. "Purple gas," Stefan said to the rest of the soldiers, "It is spreading quick and into a huge cloud. It will be here in moments." He gently grabbed the horse's muzzle and eased it upwards to instruct her what to do. New gasses have been deployed throughout the war, so seeing yet another type was not very surprising. What was surprising was how quickly and widely that gas spread with just a minor artillery dispersion. There was no way that door would be open before it got here, they could only hope this new gas was incapacitating like tear gas. They watched the gun ports wearily, while the men at the door desperately hammered at the bolt. Soon enough, the purple mist started to squeeze through the openings and began to wash over them as if it sought them out. The fear of the unknown chemical swept through the two dozen soldiers crammed inside, but none moved. Movement could make it worse.

The first soldier touched by it suddenly wretched moments after the gas swept over him, and right after that he screamed in agony and clutched his stomach before falling forward onto the ground, writhing and whimpering. As the purple haze completely filled the space, over two thirds of them collapsed on the floor, filling the bunker with cries of pain and trembling forms.

Normally, movement worsened the effect of gas, but this kind did not seem to care."Hilfe! Help! Somebody help!" cried out one of the men at the door with the two soldiers helping him before twitching on the ground. He struck the door with the hammer, as if he could knock it down. Mid-swing the mallet fell from his hand and he fell over forward screaming and clutching his torso while he slid down the metal barrier.Another dashed towards the door to try his hand at getting it open, but before he even reached the thing his legs seemed to just give up on him and he suddenly crumpled to the floor twitching.

Stefan now and made his own attempt for the door. After dragging the trembling mess propped against the door away, Stefan took up the mallet. His head was swimming and he started to shake, but he felt no pain, yet. He began to strike the bolt with mighty swings, yet it did not want to move! The grip of the thing actually started to bend. Another soldier pushed him out of the way and began to strike it with the metal butt of his rifle, with as much success as the mallet. Stefan realized the futility and backed away, trying to concoct some kind of plan. The soldier with the gun dropped the weapon and began to desperately slam his body into it, crying out, "Nein! Nein, nicht davon, bitte!" Stefan took a look around, there were only three others left standing, rather uneasily. Heinrich was still up, along with a private like the one slamming the door. His vision was starting to fade and his legs began to wobble. Annina, who was surprisingly still standing, albeit seemingly dazed, let out a nicker and collapsed. The man at the door weakly heaved his body into it one more time before he went limp, propped up against the door. That was the last thing Stefan saw before he keeled over and embraced darkness before even hitting the ground.

When his eyes shot open again, he was not sure how long he had been out. But the lack of purple meant the gas was gone. He heard a weak moan from someone else still alive, and heavy breathing that was clearly coming from Annina. He sat up and took stock of the situation. The man at the door was stirring awake, as well as Heinrich and the other unknown private. But the moaning and crying was not coming from any of them. He looked over the still forms, and spotted a twitch coming from one. He crawled over to him and touched his chest, but that seemed to make it worse as he cried out sharply.

Keeping his hands off of his torso, Stefan started to remove the man's mask, hoping more regular air flow would be beneficial to him. The other three by now were fully awake. The two privates were checking for signs of life among the rest while Heinrich huddled over his comrade with the courier, hoping he could be of some help. When he pulled the mask off, they were met with a gruesome sight. They resisted the urge to look away as they looked him over. His eyes were so flooded with blood that it flowed from his tear ducts, his nose disgorged massive amounts of mucus mixed with more blood, and from his mouth he vomited up his breakfast that mingled with yet even more blood.

The man weakly reached up with one arm, and Stefan immediately grabbed hold of it. Even through the mess, he could tell this was Feldwebel Gericke, one of the veteran soldiers. Stefan could not claim to have known the man well, but he fought with him, and the sergeant saved his life before by clubbing a Frenchman to death that tried to impale him on his bayonet. This was no way for him to die, this undignified wreck on a bunker floor. The man squeezed his hand with a near bone crushing grip before he gurgled up more fluids, and his hand went slack and fell to the floor.

One of the privates came over with a blanket to cover the sergeant, mostly out of respect, but also so they would not have to continue to see what that horrible purple death did to him. The other soldier signed a crucifix and muttered a short prayer. The man that brought the blanket hesitantly peeled his mask off part way, smelled the air, waited a moment, and pulled his mask off completely, revealing the face of Schultz. They followed his lead, and they all unmasked themselves, showing the last man to be Gunther Baum.

Now that all of the dead were confirmed deceased, attention shifted to the blonde mare at the center of the bunker. She lay upon her side, unmoving, but breathing quickly and shallowly. Stefan knelt down next to her head. Her left eye focused on him and they simply stared into each other, possibly their last moment together like with Gericke. The three men huddled around the horse. "Is she dieing?" asked Gunther.

"Ich weiss nicht, Gunther." Heinrich shrugged, "I am no horse expert. What do you think, Stefan?" He asked the courier as he sat on his knees by his equine companion.

Stefan scooted closer and reached his hand out and placed it upon her neck. He did it merely to try to give her comfort, but to his surprise, the flesh beneath his palm was moving and spasming, as if her insides were shifting. He moved his hand to her stomach and felt the same thing. He felt her muscles, to find that they were straining and flexing "Something is wrong. I - I do not what is happening. This is not-"

'Stefan...' He was cut off by a voice in his head, and he looked again towards Annina while a warm sensation washed over him. That voice, it was absolutely unfamiliar in tone, even if it was not an actual voice, but he felt that it just came from Annina. What was happening?

But before he could dwell on that, a loud POP rang out through the bunker, like a bone cracking and Annina nickered and thrashed about. The other three soldiers backed away to the sides of the bunker, nearly tripping over the numerous dead, to avoid the swinging limbs. Stefan merely scooted back on his knees and watched, still touched by the sensation and feeling an unusual easiness, despite the bizarre situation.

'It hurts!...' The same voice spoke into his mind. She was crying out to him. He needed to be there for his friend, who was clearly in a lot of pain. He felt fear, but he knew he needed to overcome that to reassure her that he was here for her. So, he slid closer, and stroked her forehead and her cheek as her body convulsed. He was not sure how, but he felt her relax and feel eased by his touch. There were more snaps, and they occurred in rapid succession. To their shock her bone structure was changing! Her forward legs cracked and ground as they began to broaden and actually move and reposition. Another loud CRACK and the joints in her front legs snapped backwards.

"D-Dämon! Heiliger Christus uns retten!" Gunther cried out as he realized she was starting to transform, and ran for the door. He began to pound on it and slam his body into the steel barrier, yelling unintelligibly like a mad man. Terror filled his eyes and he cried out, begging the Lord for help. It was a disturbing reenactment of the struggle during the gassing.

Schultz and Heinrich grabbed a pair of Gewehr 98 rifles from the numerous scattered on the floor. Eyes down the sights of their rifles, fingers quivering at the triggers, they were prepared to end her life. Stefan cried out, "Nein! Nicht schiessen!" Then, to his surprise, they did not fire, no shots rang out, and their rifles slowly lowered, their faces pale as if they just saw a ghost.

"_Mein Gott..."_Schultz muttered in awe, eyes wide while Heinrich merely shook his head slowly, in similar amazement.

Annina however, unperturbed by the near loss of her life, was still changing rapidly. Her hind legs shifted to a more human like position, though still retained the backwards joint. Her forelegs shifted position as she grew shoulders for them. The hooves on her 'arms' began to crack open, and with a dull boom they burst, revealing three fingers and a thumb on each, all tipped with the material of her hooves. She truly looked like a demon taking form in the mortal realm. However, he knew otherwise. Something was coming from her, that voice perhaps. This was not a demonic transformation. Did that voice, did it reach Schultz and Heinrich as well? They appeared to have not even heard him when he pleaded for them not to shoot.

The soldier banging on the door stopped and fell to his knees, hands clasped in prayer. Tears fell down his cheeks and he begged for mercy from the Lord. Was this voice not speaking to Gunther? Why was he terror struck, while they were in awe?

Her muscles began to change to suit her new form. Her calves and thighs swelled and sculpted into strong, shapely pillars of strength fitting for an equine. Her arms swelled, and like her legs they completely abandoned the boniness of the typical horse. The hooves at her feet and her ankles grew in size as they prepared for the challenge of supporting the increased weight of her form with only half the limbs.

"Schiessen! SCHIESSEN!" Gunther cried out after he ceased his prayers, now staring at the two men with the rifles held limply in their hands. Fear has completely overcome his senses. But the men did nothing but watch, as Annina rolled onto her back. The saddle straps snapped from the girth of her expanding torso and fell from her body. Upon her chest, two mounds began to form and expand into rather large formations, their eyes managed to grow even wider when they realized what they were. Gunther, upon understanding his comrades would do nothing, crawled his way to a rifle discarded on the floor.

"Nein! Gunther stop right there! Gunther!" Heinrich shouted to the panicked man when he noticed what was about to happen. Gunther grabbed the rifle and brought it to bear on the thrashing creature. "_NEIN!!"_Heinrich brought his own rifle to his shoulder, aimed for Gunther. The panicked soldier placed his finger upon the trigger as Heinrich went for his own.

There was a thud and a shot rang out. A bullet struck the ceiling of the bunker, a spark and a poof of dust. The shot in the small sealed, concrete space amplified the sound, causing everyone's ears to ring and briefly see double, "It has you possessed! Stop! We must stop it!" Gunther screamed over the ringing as he was on his back with Schultz on top of him. Schultz had his hands on Gunther's rifle with the weapon pressing onto the terrified man's throat.

Gunther continued to scream and cry about demons and began to thrash about. "Shhh-shh-shhh, my friend. It will be alright! She means no harm!" Schultz cooed to his frightened comrade.

"No! We must kill her while she is weak! Please, do not be a f-fool!" He stuttered as Schulz began to press harder, "We must! We... must..." His shouts began to quiet to mumbles, then silence as he slipped into unconsciousness. Schultz stood up with the rifle in his hands, and returned to the commotion in the middle. Annina's thrashing had all but stopped, and her knickers were replaced by her slow, deep breaths.

Stefan sat there still on his knees and his hand still on her head, completely in shock at what his wonderful horse has become. A monster? No, he knew otherwise. An abomination? Certainly not... she seemed, pretty... beautiful perhaps. And that was not just because of her ample bosom. Her face seemed to have subtly changed, still a horse, but, different somehow. She still had her fur and hooves on her feet, but it all seemed so much less bestial. So much more...

Human.

He could not believe it. He must talk to her, or communicate somehow. Surely she must have gained greater intelligence with her new form? But she would not be able to speak Deutsch yet! Perhaps that voice her heard in his mind? That was Annina, he was certain of it. He shifted his gaze to his two comrades also staring at their company's beloved equine. Their faces were plastered with confusion.

"Why did you not shoot?" He asked them as he returned to gazing at the horse creature on the floor.

Heinrich was the first to speak, "She asked for mercy," he stated simply.

Schultz attempted to clarify the cryptic remark, "It was in my head... 'Please, do not kill me,' she said." He shifted, uncomfortable or unsure of what he felt touch his mind, "It felt like Annina... I-I suddenly remembered almost everything about her. The time she kept us warm that one night," A small smile touched his lips, "when she gave me her apple. I felt at ease, I could not shoot her... not Annina." He shook his head and sat down onto a cot.

"I felt the same thing." Heinrich muttered, "Killing her would have been like killing a dear friend, I felt..." He shook his head. He perked up when the familiar sounds of fighting worked its way into the bunker. The British were already on the offensive. "We must get out of here."

Stefan slowly got to his feet and went for the door, his eyes not leaving Annina. If she were conscious, there was no doubt she could stand up on her own two feet! He shifted his attention to the dented door with the mangled bolt. There was no longer a proper gripping point on it, now that its regular right angle has been beaten into a more obtuse shape. They decided that pummeling it further would only make things worse. They all got into a tight position where each could grab a hold of the bent metal and pull at it. In unison, they gave a mighty tug, their boots scraped along the floor as the wedged bolt overcame their boots' traction.

"Ah dammit, we are going to be here for a while." Schultz grumbled. "Any ideas?" He looked towards his commander as they ceased their efforts.

'May I help?' The three men spun around instantly when they heard the strange mind-voice of Annina. Each one gaped at what was before them. Sitting on the floor, was Annina. Awake and looking perfectly healthy and looking at them with a clear smile on her face. Her eyes fixated on Stefan in particular. Stefan saw much in those blue orbs. They still had the familiar gentleness and innocence that she had always seemed to have, but now they seemed so much more alive, more emotionally expressive, and most amazing of all, they held intelligence.

She tried to stand, but her untrained legs shook and she fell back onto her rump. Stefan without thought found himself at her side, ready to help her take her first steps in her new form. She was quite large compared to him. He wrapped his arm around her larger one, "Here, try again."

'Thank you.' she said and attempted to stand again. Stefan was briefly startled at her weight and his legs braced as she stood up. She wobbled and gently leaned against the smaller man. Amazingly, the top of his head was only as tall as the bottom of her breasts. She had to be nearly three meters tall! The mare had to hunch over so as to not touch the ceiling with her head. Heinrich managed to gather his wits and came to her other side. Schultz however still stood by the door, dumbstruck.

With their help, she began to take slow steps, carefully avoiding crushing the dead. Her heavy hooves clopping on the ground were a sharp contrast to the patter of their boots. Amazingly, only a dozen steps later and she gently shrugged off their help and began to walk around the bunker on her own. Stefan followed her with his gaze, still in awe. 'She's beautiful, like something from a dream...' He thought.

She glanced at him and smiled again with that pleasantly human smile 'Perhaps it is.' He heard a chuckle in his head, 'I appreciate the thought.'

Stefan blushed furiously and attempted to hide it by looking away and covering his face with his arm as if scratching his head. 'What? She can read minds?!'

'Yes,' came the brief response with a touch of mirth.

Stefan glanced at the other two men, who did not seem to be hearing their 'conversation,' to his relief. He did not want them thinking he found a horse attractive.

'What is wrong with that?' she asked, again with slight humor that demonstrated she was not offended.

Thankfully Heinrich saved him from having to answer that as he folded his arms, and spoke with a surprising steadiness, considering the circumstances "You learn quickly, very quickly."

'Thank you, Heinrich.' Stefan heard her response to the officer, so apparently she could speak to multiple people at once through this technique. It was truly amazing.

"Y-you are telepathic." Schultz finally spoke up, stuttering, "I c-could not believe it at first. Telepathy is just something for stories." The man maintained his awed expression, but there was the barest hint of a smile and a flash of eagerness.

"I assume telepathy is how she is talking in our heads?" Heinrich asked, to which Schultz slowly nodded.

"Being telepathic also means she can read minds." He looked at her, "Can you read minds?"

'Yes.' Heinrich and Schultz looked disturbed at this, but she was quick to assuage their fears, 'Only idle thoughts, I believe. I ca not sense coherent thoughts from minds or even speak to those shrouded in fear. That said, a small amount of fear is fine, like what I felt with you two, and unlike Gunther, whom I could not try to comfort.'

"Us two?" Heinrich inquired, and looked to the courier, "was Stefan not afraid?"

Before she could answer them, there was a loud banging on the door followed by a German voice shouting through it. "Is anyone alive in there?!"

"Ja!" Heinrich yelled back, "The door is jammed! You may need a cutting torch to get us out!" He approached the door to allow them to hear him better. There was the sound of some pulling on the barrier and groaning as what sounded like several men were trying to open it. "It is no use! The bolt is blocking the door, we cannot move it!"

A large hand gently moved Heinrich out of the way as Annina got into position to try to move the offending blockage. 'Allow me,' she commanded as she stood to the right of the door and grabbed a hold of the lock. The three men watched as she put her immense strength to the test. Even without a good grip due to the bent shape, she was able to hold onto it and put her whole body into it. The bolt fought against her, but it and the door groaned as she overwhelmed the bent metal and it slid open. It was amazing, Stefan thought. She may be female but she was easily stronger than all three of them combined. She had a lot of muscle mass, but he did not expect her to be that strong. With the bolt out of the way, the mare then moved to push the door open, much to the soldiers' horror.

"Wait! No!" Heinrich cried, but it was too late as she nudged it open, surprising the men on the other side as they were not expecting anything like her to come out of the bunker.

"_Oh mein Gott!"_Someone screamed and the men on the other side stumbled over each other as they backpedaled away from the giant in the doorway. The few that brought their firearms along scrambled to ready them.

"Hold your fire! Do not shoot!" Heinrich demanded as he squeezed around Annina and placed himself directly in front of her. "I order you not to shoot!" Stefan and Schultz joined him at his side. Stefan noted that while they may be shielding her lower body, her chest up was still exposed. Her height and mass was incredible, he thought again.

"What the hell is... is- is that Annina?!" The soldier at the head of the group seemed to relax a little and lowered his C96 pistol when he realized the beast looked just like Annina, barring some obvious differences.

"Yes, yes she is. You have nothing to fear of her!" Heinrich raised his hands to try to ease the tension. He may be the highest ranking man here, but with a shock like this even rank may not be enough to calm the situation after the whole front line was just gassed. Annina placed a hand on Stefan's shoulder, further testament of the creature's friendliness.

A sergeant with scars on both cheeks that looked like he was shot in the face at some point pushed his way past the four men, who all were nearly a head shorter than the big man, and gave a crisp salute to Heinrich. His eyes darted to Annina, but it looked as if he was completely uncaring of the three meter tall equine-human creature behind the officer. He then spoke in a hoarse voice, "Oberleutnant," he stated simply as he saluted, "I am glad you made it sir, considering the odds I did not expect it." A scowl crossed the man's face.

"The odds? I need an estimate on how many-" The officer paused when he looked behind the sergeant, "Kurtz, please have the men lower their weapons." Heinrich demanded and nodded to several soldiers standing behind him.

Kurtz looked over his shoulder to see three of the men with their weapons still trained on Annina. The one with the handgun slowly shuffled away from them to escape the sergeant's wrath. "Dummkopfen!" He yelled at them. "You are aiming weapons out our commanding officer! Lower those rifles or I will shoot you all myself!" Two of them quickly lowered their rifles, but the third, a young man, still had his at the ready, and judging by his shaking, he may end up shooting. Not taking any disobedience, the sergeant grabbed the rifle and punched the soldier in the face in the span of a second. The soldier stumbled back in shock. "We welcome anything that is not out to kill us in this shit hole, do you understand me private?!" Kurtz practically screamed at the top of his lungs, his face turning dark red. The soldier nodded rapidly. "Good," Kurtz muttered slowly as he handed the rifle to the man with the pistol and turned back to Heinrich, now completely calmed. "Sir, I assume you meant to ask how many men are left. I can give you an exact number. Twenty four, no wounded."

The officer simply stared at his subordinate, before slowly repeating him, "Twenty... four?" The sergeant nodded, a dark look on his face. "My God," Heinrich muttered in disbelief and looked at his boots as he did the numbers. When he looked up again, he allowed an angry frown to purse his lips, "Twenty eight with Gunther in the bunker. Out of five hundred. That is almost a ninety five percent kill rate." He shook his head in disbelief. "There were thousands out there!" He needlessly pointed towards the forward trenches in the distance. "I thought most of the men died because we were trapped in that bunker." He shook his head and closed his eyes and muttered "Thousands..."

There was a moment of silence as everyone, including Annina, thought about the implications. The sounds of the nearing battle began to ring louder in Stefan's ears. The enemy was moving quick, as there were now thousands of dead soldiers in the trenches instead of live ones to defend. In a matter of minutes, so many lives were extinguished by a purple gas from a few dozen artillery shells. In the grand scheme of it all, it was just another statistic. But it just was not right. Thousands die over the course of a battle, not over the course of minutes! The amount of death they had to wrap their heads around was staggering.

In an attempt to change the direction of their thoughts, Kurtz decided to address the elephant in the room. "Sir, I feel required to ask," He looked up at Annina, "what has happened to Stefan's horse?" Stefan frowned at him calling her 'his horse.'

'The gas did this to me, Kurtz.' Annina answered herself, revealing her new abilities to the soldiers.

The men, as expected, recoiled and took a step back at the voice entering their minds. All except for Kurtz, who flinched, but stood his ground, and looked up at her with his head cocked. "Holy shit, you can talk. In a way." He bowed his head slightly in apology, "I suppose that makes you like us then. You belong to none and I think Stefan would agree. We instead would like to call you friend. You have earned that much with this unit, Annina."

'Thank you. I consider you a friend as well,' she responded and smiled weakly at the man, who raised an eyebrow at the human expression on a horse's face, and offered a very slight grin himself, the thoughts of the dead were still heavy on their minds.Feldwebel Johann Kurtz was a very aggressive man with a violent streak, but he was not a cruel person. One may expect someone like him to never have paid Annina much mind when she was on four legs, but the man showed a surprising amount of affection towards her, but only in front of the veteran men.

The sergeant shifted his gaze down from Annina's large size to the officer standing in front of her. "We have wasted enough time, sir. We must begin falling back to Cambrai. The British will be here soon."

As if to emphasize the sergeant's point, someone else down the trench line yelled out, "Tanks crossed the second line! Third line has been overrun!" Defensive lines meant to hold out for months were now being overwhelmed in minutes. Stefan had to agree, they needed to move now! There was only one trench left between them and the British.

"We are retreating. Spread the word, sergeant," the officer ordered simply and nodded.

Kurtz turned to the men behind him and ordered to a couple, "Schliemann and Kleist, tell the others!" Without saying a word, the two quickly took off down the trench. A moment after they left, the ground beneath their feet shook. Glances were exchanged. That did not feel like artillery. The soldier with the handgun stepped up onto a shooting alcove to look outside the trench.

"Oh my God..." he muttered and fell off the alcove and landed against the back wall with a look of absolute shock on his face. Another soldier took his place to look outside. But he was only there for a split moment before he dropped back down inside again. Less than a second later the ground nearly shook them off their feet and what looked like a smashed half of a British tank rolled like a barrel right over the top of their trench.

Kurtz was the next to step up on the alcove and see, "Heilege scheiße! We are going to need the artillery for this..." Unlike the other two he actually stayed up there and watched whatever could possibly be happening.

"What is going on out there?" Stefan asked. A siege gun could be able to toss a tank like that, but it would have to be fantastically huge to send it flying all the way from the second trench. That was a little less than a kilometer!

'_See for yourself.'_Annina answered for the sergeant. She was easily tall enough to see out of the trench, and she was focused on whatever was out there. She reached down and hooked her arms under both of Stefan's and lifted him up to see outside. Other soldiers reached up to climb out of the trench to see for themselves.

Stefan swore he was prepared for anything strange after what happened with Annina, but in no way was he expecting this! He could accept a massive gun hitting the British and throwing tanks around, who knew what the engineers back home were putting together. But this, this was not destruction wrought by a giant gun. It was the two black and brown stallions he saw abandoned earlier. Except they transformed like Annina, but they grew to over twenty meters tall! His jaw practically fell off at the sight. The British were mere insects in comparison! And the stallions treated them as such, as they seemed to happily crush man and machine alike under hoof. The brown one reached down and pulled a tank from the ground, raised it overhead, and sent it flying across the air. That explained how the tank made it back here, at least.

"Down, down, down, please!' Stefan squirmed in her grasp, severely unsettled at the sight. This was the stuff of nightmares. Annina complied and placed him back into the trench. He felt his body begin to shiver violently, and not from the cold. Heinrich and Kurtz were still looking out of the trench, appearing strangely calm.

"Well, this is a lovely show of justice." Heinrich commented about the unbelievable spectacle.

"Bastards are getting what was coming to them. However, I think we should run, now." The sergeant recommended with his head slightly turned to his commanding officer.

"Indeed." Heinrich nodded in confirmation.

Kurtz turned around and pulled a whistle from his coat and blew it loudly, then yelled at the top of his lungs to hasten the spread of the order, "Rückzug! Um Cambrai! Schnell, während sie abgelenkt sind!" Now was not the time for an orderly withdrawal. It was time to scramble. Annina quickly grabbed both of Kurtz's remaining men and lifted them out of the trench, much to their surprise. Then she removed Schultz and Stefan while Heinrich and Kurtz, not ones to be manhandled, climbed themselves out.

Annina moved to get out, but Stefan stopped her, "Wait! Gunther is still in the bunker." She nodded and went back inside. Stefan then broke into a run alongside Schultz with their rifles tucked to their stomachs. Annina's large size would have no problem of catching up to them. The two soldiers chanced glances back towards the giants, who were massacring their way through the tanks, which meant they were heading away from them, at least. Artillery was clearly trying to hit them, but it was not easy considering the erratic movements of a living creature. One lucky crew managed to hit the brown beast in the shoulder, but it only briefly staggered and left a scorch mark on its fur. Stefan looked forward again, he had to steel himself as he felt tremors of fear wrack his body. "This whole day is just a big fucking nightmare," he growled out to his comrade, frustrated about how hopeless everything seemed to be becoming.

Schultz clucked his tongue and shook his head, "Either the world's coming to an end, or my dreams came true." The man did not seem like he meant to say that to anyone in particular and found himself slightly startled he said it at all.

"What?!" Stefan was not exactly sure he heard the man correctly, with how preposterous the words were. Maybe the gas actually did something to him.

Schultz coughed and let out a forced chuckle, "And I thought I would die by a giant steel machine, not a... er... giant... horse monster!" He looked forward again, apparently confused with himself as well.

"A joke? Mein Gott, do you enjoy this?!" Stefan was dumbfounded at the man, yet his strangely pleased demeanor seemed to be contagious.

"Aha... um..." He paused, as if trying to think on how to respond to that, but instead he quickly changed the subject as he glanced backwards again, "Say, where is Annina with Gunther?"

Stefan turned his head to look back at the bunker, looking quite lonely and insignificant in the foreground with a pair of giant stallions smashing the British in the background. For someone as strong as her, it really should take no time to toss Gunther over her shoulder and get out. Unless, of course, he woke up and was trying to shoot her again.

He noticed Heinrich and Kurtz running towards him, the two were quite fast, even with their thick clothes and gear. That was when Stefan felt his foot catch something metallic and he fell forward into the wet grass. "Ach,wunderbar!" he spat irritatedly as his hands and forearms were streaked with the wet earth. Looking back at the object, it appeared to be a piece of the tank that hurtled over the trench. The rest of which was only a few dozen meters ahead now.

Schultz laughed and grabbed his arm to help him up. He felt another hand grab his other and it forcefully pulled him to his feet where he found himself looking at an angry Kurtz. The sergeant glared at him for a moment before growling "Move your ass." But Stefan did not seem to notice him say anything as he looked past him, back towards the bunker. Artillery shells that were intended for the stallions began to impact around the fortification. It was already weakened before, it might not survive another direct hit.

Kurtz, infuriated that his subordinate craned his neck to look beyond him, grabbed him by the shoulder and forcefully turned him around before kicking him into movement. As he began running again, he yet again took another look back to see their former quarters struck by a shell. He could not help but stop to turn back around to see the result. Kurtz came running up again, looking very upset with him, before he himself looked back too see what got his soldier so distracted. He paused as well to observe the state of the bunker as the smoke cleared. The muddy earth meant there were not many dust particles, but there was still the smoke from the exploded ordnance, so it cleared within seconds. To Stefan's relief, the shelter was still intact, though it appeared to have caved in slightly. It would never survive even a light shell now, but those inside should be alright. Annina may be dazed, but she had to get out before another wayward artillery round found its way towards it.

The sergeant moved to get the corporal going again when the brown stallion caught his eye and gave him as it grabbed another tank and made to hurl it. He appeared to have been aiming for the bunkers dotted around the area, and by chance he sent this one towards their former quarters. It flipped end over end before landing squarely on the compromised structure, collapsing the roof. His heart sank, if Annina and Gunther survived that, then odds were they were trapped. As strong as the mare was, there was no way she could move piles of reinforced concrete and war machine on top of them. He felt himself move to go back, but Kurtz intervened and shoved him in the direction of the town. But then, he gasped when the rubble burst outward as a large body came out of it. The sergeant kept shoving him, now getting very angry.

"Wait!" He said to him, "It is Annina!" The sergeant, who could not contain his curiosity on how anyone could have gotten out of that ruin, looked back as well. There she was, Annina was stumbling away from the ruin with debris sliding off of her, steadily growing. She appeared to be dazed and confused, and possibly in pain as she clutched her head and moved unsteadily.

Kurtz was the first to speak, despair briefly flashed across his face, "Fuck! Now we lost Gunther!"

Heinrich with Schultz, who continued on, turned back around and came trotting back up to them. Schultz was gaping in awe while Heinrich helped the two soldiers to their feet. "By God, not another." Heinrich groaned fearfully, "I pray she does not turn blood crazy as well."

"She will not," Stefan assured him and looked back at the spectacle. That mare was much too loving to go on a rampage even with the power that she would inevitably realize with her size. As she trudged clear of the bunker, the pain seemed to fade as she began to relax and stood straight as her stature increased exponentially. With a sideways glance she looked at the four men, her friendly eyes still unchanged. That made Stefan certain, with huge relief, that this change was not giving her the murderous intent like the other two. He felt his resolve begin to return, at last something was turning for the better!

The other two horses had noticed the equine and ceased their actions and began to approach her, leaving British troops to flee back towards friendly lines, their tanks abandoned. "We have incoming." Kurtz hissed to the other three, as if anything louder would attract their unwanted attention. They were in the middle of a field, left barren and flat to be the killing field approach to Cambrai. The town itself was several kilometers away, with the rest of their destroyed unit running for their lives towards it.

However, the tank that rolled over their trench was nearby. Kurtz pointed it out and Heinrich immediately ordered them to it. Once they reached it, with more than a little relief, Stefan could not help but briefly wonder what their comrades in Cambrai were thinking about the situation. If he had to lend a guess, it was likely along the lines of, 'Poor bastards.'

And that was precisely what Stefan felt like. Schultz's legs were shaking, Stefan noticed, then realized his were trembling even worse. He was wrought with anticipation on how the meeting with the horses will play out. Heinrich seemed neutral, and Kurtz looked like he was mulling over how we was going to go about killing these things, and his flashes of frustration showed he was failing at it.

The artillery and gunfire directed towards the giants had ceased. The British likely reached the conclusion there was nothing they could do to them at the moment. Cambrai itself was silent as a ghost town, which was very odd indeed. Perhaps the gun crews did not want to attract attention after witnessing the ineffectiveness of the British guns. The only sounds other than their panicked breathing was what sounded like a series of snorts and very, very loud earth shaking stamps. Stefan and the rest watched from behind their cover to see what was going to happen. He noted and was relieved to see that Aninna was larger than the other two, coming in at what must be around a mind boggling thirty meters.

They seemed to be communicating. His experience with horses revealed to him that these transformed giants still communicated with a lot of body language, like their ears. He was also certain telepathy was involved, as he doubted subtle body language would be adequate with their enhanced intelligence. At the moment, Annina seemed quite upset and ready to attack the other two. He could only ponder at what they were discussing.

-

"I will not allow you to go to that town!" Annina found herself mixing the body language she always used as a mare with her new found telepathy as well as some of the capabilities of her changed vocal chords that helped get her point across... a growl. The two males seemed frightened of her, as she was quite a bit larger than them. The taller one, the brown, came to her chest while the black was just under that. Despite this, she was not sure she would be able to handle both at the same time.

"Well, we can either go that way," The black one nodded towards the British lines, and then looked at Cambrai. "Or that way. And that way has some humans I would like to get to."

"So you would like to murder the Germans? The ones that fed you and took care of you?" She folded her arms with a disgusted looker on her face. As far as she was concerned, the German humans were her friends. The British she knew were the enemy, but as brutal as war was, there was still room for mercy, and after the slaughter they went through, they needed some, even if they gassed a few thousand German soldiers to death shortly before.

"The ones that whipped us? Yelled at us? Killed us when we could no longer work? Abandoned us when the world exploded around us?!" The brown one said angrily. The physical injuries he sustained during the bombardment did not heal with the change. Both males were covered in gashes, some seemed quite severe. The mare remembered passing the two with Stefan on her back. It was amazing that they survived the artillery bombardment. From her perspective she could tell that the barrage flattened everything and killed every other horse that could have been on the field.

Annina glared viciously but could not immediately figure out what to say to them. As a courier horse she was very well treated, and Stefan and his company were incredibly kind to her. But she knew how the draft horses were treated. However, human soldiers had their own miseries, she realized, and decided to use that "What, you think you are unique? I have seen what goes on at the 'front lines.' Humans living in holes in the ground, often stuck in their own filth since getting out could get them killed. They cower from the thunder falling from the sky that may turn them to giblets. Fumes that make them choke and die. Being forced by masters to fight, only to be killed in droves and then return to their, cold, wet 'homes' tired and beaten. I have seen them, I have seen your kind too. Frankly, I think their treatment makes them about even with you."

The black stallion visibly mulled over those words, and Annina caught his emotions and thoughts. He was calming down, the anger waning away, she even noticed a hint of regret. But the brown one still retained the fire of hatred and loathing. "You do not understand!" he nickered and snorted in frustration.

'Fool.' She thought and shook her head, "You should not condemn many for the actions of a few."

"Just watch me." He grinned evilly and suddenly took off running towards Cambrai. But what little she caught from his thoughts was that was not his destination. His goal was a band of Germans fleeing towards the town. That band was what was left of the company that treated her so well. She will not let him harm them!

She did not bother saying anything after him. Arrogant males like that could not be reasoned with. She instead took off after him. The group of soldiers saw him coming for them and began to scatter in every direction. A good tactic if the stallion was just a horse, not a giant behemoth that could intercept them all quickly before they even could find some cover.

But lucky for them, Annina was not about to allow that to happen. Coupled with her greater size and speed from being a courier horse, she easily caught up to the bloodthirsty male. He looked back at her, and she would have laughed at his expression of fear if the situation was not so dire. He vainly tried to move faster, but Annina grabbed him by the waist and easily threw him backwards, narrowly landing on a ruined tank... the very one Stefan and others were behind. She mentally kicked herself, she could have crushed them! A glance and a prod at their minds revealed they were physically fine. The fear they felt was another matter.

Thankfully they decided running from the impending fight was their best option. Annina quickly went over in her head on how to go about handling this situation in her new form. She has seen soldiers fight in trenches; they often used objects when it came to hand to hand combat, to give them an advantage. As the other horse began to get back to his hooves, she reached to the ground and grabbed the tank wreck. She raised it up, and brought it crashing down onto his skull. It crumbled and fell apart, but a spray of blood and the backwards staggering of the stallion showed it had some affect. After he gathered his wits, he glared up at her in anger, blood flowing down his face. With nothing else to use, she remembered the next best thing she saw soldiers do, throw punches.

She cocked her fist back as he came towards her, ready to tackle her to the ground. In one swift motion she threw her fist forward and into his muzzle. There was a crack and he stumbled backwards. Annina could not believe how well that worked! But it was not well enough as the stallion, muzzle pouring out blood, came back at her with a clumsy kick into the stomach. As she clutched her abdomen, the stallion tackled her to the ground so he was on top. For a moment he paused, thinking about what to do now. He decided to mimic Annina and readied a punch to the muzzle. But he was slow, and did not even pin her arms. Annina used her right arm and smashed her fist into the left side of his stomach, easily knocking him from his perch atop her as he grasped his abdomen in pain. Annina wasted no time to follow up her attack. She shot to her feet and raised one hoof over his head. He barely had time to register what was about to happen before she slammed it down. His skull cracked and crushed under her hoof, instantly sapping the life from him.

With this one done she turned to face the black stallion, hoping to find that he decided to remain neutral. However, when she looked towards him, he was already upon her. Once again she found herself on her back, but this time with her arms pinned. Pity, this one seemed to have some kind of conscience, for a moment or two at least. The black one wasted no time in tearing into her with his fists. She was struggling to put her superior strength to work when there were cracks of gunfire and the stallion nickered in anger as a little pellet struck him in a tooth after he bore them at her, like he thought he was some kind of predator.

The distraction was perfect as she managed to roll him off her chest and on to his back with hardly any resistance. She turned the tables as she quickly sat upon his own torso and pinned his arms. But rather than assaulting his face, she wrapped her hands around the much smaller male's throat. She was unable to wrap all the way around the thick horse neck, despite the size difference. Regardless, she pressed her thumbs into his windpipe, and completely crushed it.

-

Stefan and his three comrades lowered their rifles as the giant black horse tried one last, futile, gasp for air before passing on. Though Stefan found he could not really relax, even though he wanted to now that the danger was put down. He was confident that Annina would not harm them, but seeing a brutal fight like that on such a scale greatly shook him up. Even Kurtz seemed perturbed by the skull and throat crushing, and he was no stranger to brutal hand to hand combat. The mare never seemed even capable of thinking about killing anything. Then there she goes and kills two in a couple of minutes. His instincts were going haywire. A part of him said run until he collapsed, she could easily snuff them all out without a thought! The other cried out that this giant was his friend and all was well in her presence. All he had to do to reassure himself of that was look to the men still running towards the town. She killed to save those soldiers. He has done it himself plenty of times before. If that was not testament enough of her goodness then his primal instincts could go rot. He knew she would be upset if he let his fears win out.

Stefan's mind was brought back to the situation as Annina stood on one knee to get a good look at them, covering the soldiers in a massive shadow. By now the cloud cover began to dissipate, as if no freezing rain ever even happened, thus letting the sun to shine through to the earth. The sunlight silhouetted her form rather brilliantly. Coupled with that, her size, and the pleasant, warm sensation of her mind brushing his, it was like staring up at a goddess.

She eyed them over. Kurtz and Heinrich stared back and Schultz rubbed his head and shifted, trying to avoid eye contact, as if he was embarrassed by something. She focused on Stefan for a few moments, before they heard in their minds, 'Look at you all! You are so tiny...!' The friendly squeal in her mind voice was amusing, as it made Heinrich guffaw and the sergeant's face twitched as he tried to hold back his own grin. The officer slapped him on the back and he, too, broke out laughing with him, followed by Stefan and Schultz.

"That,"Stefan shook his head, grinning and saying as his fears now completely vanished "seems more like Annina."

'What, you cannot possibly think I would hurt you all?' Stefan mentally kicked himself. He let his mind wander and she must have picked up on them. 'You may be small, but you are no less significant and I no more.'_She said to each one of them. Then she looked at Stefan and spoke to him in particular, _'I understand your fears, and am happy that you feel safe with me.' God, the pure kindness that came from her warmed the body as well as the soul, he thought again as he felt her mind get particularly personal with his own.

But their brief reprieve from terror was short lived. The town itself was the source of some more booms, and not the artillery kind. To confirm this, an entire howitzer went flying over the buildings and into a house at the outskirts. This was followed by an absolutely massive white stallion with gray splotches standing above the buildings, followed by various other stallions and mares of different sizes. The soldiers that were a part of their unit, who almost reached Cambrai by now, immediately turned around and were heading back. The giants wasted no time at tearing into what must be the survivors of the battery and garrison.

"Dammit all to hell! I did not know they managed to hit the town! No wonder the fucking guns have been quiet, they were hit too!" Kurtz rasped out, "Looks like the artillery horses decided to go with mass slaughter." The British artillery must have used the fog cover to hide their artillery to get in range to hit the town itself, but only with the gas as the buildings appeared unharmed. This meant the horses used to tow the heavy weapons were subject to the transformations as well, though the delayed growth was curious. Perhaps it received a lighter gassing than the front and resulted in delayed growth.

The officer and the sergeant quickly went to work on a plan. "That was the last of our defense, and we have no means to fight giants." Heinrich analyzed.

"The Englanders do. Well, might. Maybe we can form a truce?" Kurtz proposed.

Schultz scoffed, the two men looked at him for his inevitable opinion, "Who in their right mind would accept a truce from just a handful of enemy soldiers?" he put forth.

"Ah," Heinrich grinned, "Not just a handful of enemy soldiers. Just a handful of enemy soldiers and one very, very large and lovely mare." Heinrich's gentlemanly attitude never seemed to fear crossing the species barrier, "I am certain she can greatly sway their decision."

"Yes..." Kurtz slowly nodded, "but surely they will start trying to blast her the moment they realize she is coming towards them." Cambrai began to fall apart as the giant horses used it like some kind of sandbox of destruction. However some seemed content just standing in place, hopefully they were the more noble spirits like Annina.

Schultz and Stefan were transfixed with the sight. None of the buildings were taller than the monsters, which there was at least sixty of, an impossible number to defeat, surely? Annina could not possibly take them all, particularly the ones comparable to her own size. But nonetheless, the mare was staring towards the city with a very offensive expression. The kind of expression that says: Come over here and I tear your arms from their sockets.

"You are very protective." Stefan felt the need to say to her.

As she looked down to Stefan and Schultz, her expression softened into a friendly, gentle smile. 'I have seen plenty of soldiers, German and otherwise, risk everything to defend their comrades. Why should I be any different?'_She had a point. Now that she no longer was an animal that could do nothing and just hope not to take a bullet, but was in fact superior to any soldier, she was very capable of defending what she cared about. And one thing she really cared about was the band of soldiers that treated her so well during this dark time. _'Count me as a German soldier, hm?'

Schultz coughed and chuckled nervously, "Ah, well, welcome to the life of a soldier! Mud for breakfast, artillery for lunch, and bullets for dinner. Of course, a lady such as yourself deserves better, so whatever decent food I have..."

"You are trying to be a flirt!" Stefan laughed and nudged him in the side with his elbow.

"I am not!" He responded indignantly, "I am merely trying to be a gentleman."

'I do not think whatever you have will be enough to sate my appetite,' she commented, amused.

"Oh! Yeah, right... the bigness..." Stefan was starting to understand Schultz now. There was definitely a deep seated desire in him, and it was strongly connected to Annina and possibly her size. The others seemed liked they were reaching that conclusion, as well. Kurtz visibly sneered while Heinrich and he stayed neutral. Stefan personally did not care what his comrade desired. He absolutely knew that the man was not interested in carnal acts with animals. But as strange as it was Annina was not an animal anymore. He himself already came to the conclusion that she was quite beautiful back in the bunker. Schultz apparently though the same thing, but seemed to have a desire for more.

His thoughts went back to food and specifically what Annina would eat, while Kurtz and Heinrich resumed planning their next action. "Where exactly will you get food, anyway?" He asked, looking up at her. "All the apples in the trenches probably would not be enough!"

'Hrm...' She glanced at her stomach, and it rumbled loudly, causing the two higher ranked soldiers to momentarily stop their planning to make sure a tank was not approaching. 'I do feel awfully famished now that I think about it. I could possibly... graze... but that will not be enough. Besides,' She looked like she just realized something, 'Grazing now feels like it would be very demeaning.'

"Achtung!" Heinrich clapped his hands together. "Here is what we will do." The three turned their attention to the officer and Annina's ears perked up and turned to him. "We expect Annina to be excellent at convincing the British that we are not just four German soldiers, but we are... shall we say, five German soldiers? And one of us is most certainly very difficult, if not impossible to be just a harmless prisoner." He turned his gaze towards the British in the distance, "Of course, seeing Annina approaching them is just asking for them to start shooting again. So we need a diplomat or two to convince them she does not wish to harm them." He looked to Kurtz "We believe presenting myself and the sergeant would be a good gesture of faith considering we are among the last of the leadership not captured or dead. Surely they took prisoners or at least our troops fled to their lines, so we could convince them to release them, meaning we would not be totally out of place. The men currently running back from the town," he nodded towards the twenty three soldiers on a mad dash back away from Cambrai, "should head towards British lines, considering it is their only option." He then looked towards the two privates "Stefan and Schultz, you two will have to remain back until we work something out." He looked towards the British lines again. "It is a fair distance to their lines. Therefore, Annina, please give us a lift."

'You wish for me to carry you?' The question did not seem to be laced with surprise at the thought, but surprise at any one of them warming up to the idea so suddenly.As much as Stefan trusted Annina, jumping into her hand would probably end up being quite the surreal and unsettling experience.

Heinrich craned his neck to look her in the eyes, "If that is alright with you, my dear."

'Oh no, it is not problem for me.' She actually seemed quite happy with the prospect.'However, I know he would never tell you himself, but Kurtz is afraid of heights. I think it best for that to be known first.'

Heinrich spun around to face Kurtz, his eyebrow cocked and a grin plastered on his face. Kurtz sputtered, "I - I am not! I -... Scheisse," h e sighed. So the man was afraid of something after all, Stefan mused. Kurtz took a deep breath and puffed his chest out, "Just do not look down they say. I will not allow myself to slow you all down." He put on his best face, but the slight frown showed he was very unhappy with the prospect of it.

'Very well.' She laid down her left hand, palm up, for them to clamber onto. 'I shall carry all of you in one hand, so I can have the other one free in case of an emergency.' Stefan looked at the colossal hand with amazement. It was incredible that her hand alone was big enough to hold all four of them fairly close together. One of her fingers would probably even beat them, short of perhaps Kurtz, in a wrestling match. Stefan thought back to the time he held a mouse, a pet a childhood friend kept unbeknownst to his parents, in the palm of his hand. He was not a cruel child, but the thought of being able to crush it crossed his mind, before being ejected in disgust. He never imagined being in the mouse's position, but he doubt it felt much about the size difference. Its whole life was as a small creature in a big world. It was normal and fine with being tiny. For him, he just felt awe and a quiet primal fear he knew was absolutely unjustified, as he knew Annina would not harm him. But it was not natural, human beings were not supposed to be able to sit in the hand of anybody. It was so surreal.

Annina detected his thoughts, 'For I as well. Being able to hold a friend in my hand, it seems so strange. But I suppose we are going to have to adapt to this, will we not?' Stefan mentally agreed with a grin before stepping up onto her hand with Heinrich and Schultz. Schultz appeared to be having an overly good time about the whole thing. Kurtz simply stood there on the ground, eyes wide with a frown on his face. 'Come along, now. I will make sure you do not fall.' Kurtz looked up at her, annoyed that she was cooing at him like a mother to a child. But then he glanced beyond her and he took an unconscious step back.

"Ah, ficken." He pointed towards Cambrai, "They are coming!" He patted his rifle for minor assurance and backpedaled to the cover of the now mostly flattened tank. Annina looked back, and quickly deposited her comrades onto the ground next to Kurtz.

-

It only took her a moment to realize running and leading the murderers to the British line would simply lead to more killing, so that was out of the equation. She took a quick headcount of them, and came up with a total of twenty one, all of various sizes and genders, but they seemed panicked. She had a sneaking suspicion that these may not be out for human blood.

But that did not mean she should not be prepared for a fight. A fight she would probably lose. But what else could she do? She noticed the soldiers that were running from Cambrai were in the paths of the giants. Hopefully they will be able to avoid the stampede, or worse, the wrath of the huge equines.

As the horses reached the soldiers, most simply stepped over them and continued on. But a few actually stopped and began to collect the panicked men in their massive hands. From a distance it appeared they grabbed them gently, but she could not be sure what was happening. Before long, the herd was only a couple hundred meters from her. So she decided now was the time to do something. She stamped a hoof that shook the humans below off their feet, snorted and shouted into their minds, "STOOOP! Stop right where you are and do not move!" She adopted an aggressive posture not unlike a human, with her fists clenched, leaned forward slightly, and a scowl on her muzzle.

Most of them ceased running, but several kept coming and she again snorted and took several steps forward. The challenge got through to them and they too halted and backpedaled a few steps. "Good." She pointed out the five, two mares and three stallions, that grabbed humans. "Show them to me!" They immediately obliged and opened their palms. The soldiers were indeed alive and not smashed, but they looked like they wanted to just vanish into their helmets and hide. "Bring them here. Slowly, and with your hands extended." Poor things, she could not imagine the terror of being picked up unwillingly like that. At least the four below her consented to the idea.

Just as she ordered, they approached steadily. As they came towards her, Annina noticed far back in Cambrai, that they were being watched. The large gray stallion seemed to unsettle her. He looked like some kind of incarnation of hate. She ignored him for now and focused on the five coming towards her with the precious captives. She held out her hands, and waited for the humans to be deposited.

One by one, the group stepped up to deposit their prisoners into her waiting hands. They still were cowering balls, but they were now in safe hands. Not taking her eyes off the other horses, she took several steps backwards before turning and dropping the soldiers off with the four others behind the tank wreck, who were quick to comfort their terror stricken brothers. She repeated the process until every one was accounted for and safely back on the ground. Standing back up, as tall and imposing as possible, she inquired to the collected herd, "Now, why do you flee?"

One of the mares, a pure white horse, that returned the humans to her spoke up first, "The others! They wish to kill all of the small ones. It was horrifying! We could not bear it as they massacred without mercy." She looked very saddened, with a hefty dose of fear at the whole ordeal. She made no effort to conceal her thoughts, so Annina picked up a flurry of information from her. She was mortified, very upset about the killing, and simply wanted it to end so she could figure out her knew life in peace. The blonde mare could certainly sympathize with that.

"So," Annina folded her arms, "You are not out for blood, I see. Then relax, for we are friends." She smiled at them, "Tell me, then. Who is the dominant one in the town?" If she had to guess, it would be the gray male. The violence she sensed from him has probably been greatly influencing the other horses in the town, rather than trying to suppress their disdain like she would have attempted.

"Dierker! He speaks of slaughtering every small one, and he claims he will lead us towards the others," She pointed to the British lines, "as soon as they are finished seeking out every one of the small ones back there." She nodded back to the town, "He is the big one there, watching us." That confirmed her suspicions, as well as her fears. If they were simply venting out their fear and pent up aggression, then perhaps she could have intervened. But with someone to lead them, that was probably impossible at this point.

So the rage would likely not vanish but be nourished by a murderous leader. The British, and what was left of the Germans, would suffer. She felt her heart ache at the thought, and felt a burning anger within her. She could not allow this to happen, those animals were ruining any chance they had at peaceful interaction with humans. "Then we must warn them!" She turned to look down at the tank with the collected Germans, 'Heinrich! We need to speak with the British. The blood mongers will be coming for them once they feel they have found everyone in the town.' She looked behind herself at the herd collected behind her, happy that they had some friends and she was not the only one with a conscience.'This herd is friendly and means no harm.'

The officer stepped out from behind the tank, and looked over the many horses before him. He did not even seem perturbed when twenty two pairs of eyes of giants shifted towards him, but Annina knew. The man hid it well, but beneath it he was terrified. The strong face he put on for his comrades was admirable. "Well then! It would be best to get moving quickly. The original plan was for you to carry us most of the way, and we clear the rest of the distance on foot. But now, we may not have the time. So, what must be done is approach as close as you feel comfortable, hold a hand up to show friendliness. Then I will step off, as I speak English, and approach on foot. You will try to beckon someone over by signaling with your hand," He mimicked the motion to wave someone over, "Hopefully someone will meet me and we can get the message relayed faster. Otherwise, I will jog the whole way and meet them myself. Finally, when I have convinced them of you and our new friends' peaceful intentions, I will have one of their guns fire off a star shell to signal to you that it is safe to approach."

'Very well, let us begin.' Annina lowered her hand. 'Heinrich, Stefan, Kurtz, and Schultz, get on. I will carry you the entire way. I will approach slowly and with you all in clear view. You must try to get their attention. If they fire, I will take the hits myself and fall back.'

Heinrich nodded in agreement, "Hopefully their commander has a level head. It could work, but do not hesitate to flee. You may be able to take an artillery shell or a dozen, but we certainly cannot."

'Of course, I will do my best to protect you.'_Annina thought back to all of the artillery barrages she had witnessed. She knew very well what they were capable of doing to her little friends. But the two stallions she fought took multiple direct hits, and they were not even as large as her. Since that happened less barely fifteen minutes ago, it was impossible that the British have managed to move larger howitzers into position already, though she was sure they were in the process of remedying that. '_About the rest of you,' She looked over the rescued soldiers from the rest of her unit, they visibly shrunk away from her gaze, and she felt a tinge of hurt at that, 'You must be carried by some of the others' She nodded to their new allies, 'I cannot carry you all myself.' As much as she would love to do that, the idea of carrying people like this thrilled her, she was just not big enough.

The five that initially picked them up while they fled from the town moved forward at Annina's request beside her, and all six giants lowered their hands for the small humans to clamber aboard. Seeing that they were not moving, Heinrich attempted to usher them on, "Get on, gentlemen, we have a lot of ground to cover."

"Are you insane?!" Croaked out one of the newly recovered survivors. Heinrich frowned and furled his brow, but before he could reprimand the soldier, Kurtz beat him to it.

The sergeant grabbed the offending soldier by the neck, "That is your commanding officer! You will listen to his orders, and you will not insult him! I expected more from you Dieter, what the hell is wrong with you?!" His tone softened and he released his grip. "She will not harm you, I assure you." The anger came back to his face, "Now onto the hand!" He nearly croaked the last sentence out, as he remembered that he himself would be absolutely terrified of being so far above the ground. Annina smiled at him to try to reassure him. She had a lot of respect for this man. He may have been a bit aggressive but she knew he would risk his life any time for the men he fought with. She may have yet to fully discover her personality, but she was certain she would do the same for those she cared about. She already killed two for that very reason.

When it came to set out, it would be a bit less than a dozen kilometers to the actual British front line, which would be their artillery at this point. They would have abandoned their forward trenches and fell back to the big guns. Even for someone of her size, that will be a decent walk. And so she set out, and before long she found herself with the time to think, but she was never inattentive. She watched her feet, careful to avoid stepping on any wayward humans lost in the field of battle or any tank traps that could harm her hooves.

It was truly amazing how one's life could be so dramatically changed. Just this morning she was a mere courier's horse delivering the message of the incoming British. They attacked earlier than expected and she found herself running from artillery. It was not her first time, but in hindsight she could laugh at what her bestial mind thought. As far as she knew, it was a mighty force of nature that occasionally decided to come thundering down. While at the same time, the cannons that fired the shells must have just been demonstrations of dominance, like the stamping of a hoof. But now with her new intelligence it was so obvious, that it was these humans, these creatures that rode around on her back, that created these amazing, deadly devices- not nature. It was a strange world the humans created, but it was astounding. If she made it out of this alive, she wished to see what they have done outside of making war.

So, with the artillery barrage closing in, she moved as quick as she possibly could, before making it to her unit's bunker. She was moved into the bunker to stay safe. All of that was nothing new to her. But the first problem was she unfortunately lost her gas mask, she hated the thing, but it was needed. Stefan was upset of course, and tried to use a cloth to protect her. It was far from a gas mask, but it meant so much to her that he tried what he could, even to her bestial mind, and more so looking back at it.

But then came the purple gas. She did not understand the difference between gasses, but she did understand it was dangerous. Regardless, she remained fairly calm, because if she started thrashing then the situation would have gotten worse for her and the humans. She was expecting something horrible from the gas, but not like what the soldiers went through. Their masks were helpless to save them as they started to drop like flies and scream in sheer terror and pain like the wounded left to die alone in no man's land. That was when her mind went through its first, very rapid change to improved intelligence, and the development of her mental abilities that made communication possible. Unable to control her new skill, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the shrieks of the poor soldiers as they suffered. She felt herself cry out in her own mind from the horror. It was like a creeping black plague that grabbed a hold of her mind and throttled it as dozens died in agony around her. Their own minds crying out and latching onto her own. It was horrible, the pain, suffering, and loss of those she cared for. Unbearable! When the soldiers passed on, the darkness grew cold, and left a sad emptiness, as the beacons that was their living bodies ended. What was left were echoes of horror, ghosts of the now dead. Residue from their minds touching her own, perhaps.

She soon found herself surrounded by the echoes, as they slowly vanished. Rather than simply throw them from her mind, she felt herself gently whispering to them. That act seemed to create a slight warmth, as if they were the last shreds of a mind dying, knowing that there was someone with them as they vanished from the world. One stayed longer than the rest, as his body refused to die, but he too passed on not long after the rest.

In that vulnerable mental state, she believed that was what made her into what she was. A consciousness developed in moments. Her new mind came into the world surrounded completely by suffering, and her mind decided to hate it. Misery, suffering, fear and anguish, it had no place in her new world. As a result, she felt a powerful compulsion to challenge it and end its existence. When she asked Stefan of these feelings while they marched towards the British lines, he mulled over her words for a few moments, and thought back to her 'You have a beautiful soul, Annina. One characterized by goodness and a desire for peace. I always knew you had kindness within you, even if you did not know it before. We all knew. When you changed, the suffering you felt did not break your soul like it may have done to others, but instead strengthened it, and all the wonderful things about it.'

His words felt right. Protecting others from suffering felt like what she needed to do, and it satisfied her, even though she knew it would be difficult. The right way was rarely the easiest. Dierker, the one leading what they have come to call the bloodmongers, if his change was like hers, then his soul was consumed by the agony of the gassed gun crews around him, and he decided he enjoyed it. She shuddered at the thought, to see enjoyment in death. Perhaps all of the horses developed like that during their change. Some may be affected more so than others. During that vulnerable moment of change, hundreds of human soldiers died around them, and the clashing of minds resulted in a personality that either rejected or embraced the death around it. At least to some extent. Personalities like her own and Dierker, those that ended up on the severe sides of the spectrum, apparently gravitated to a leadership position over the other equines.

After this rapid development of the mind were the physical transformations, and they were supremely painful. While her intelligence formed, she simply laid there, eyes closed. She felt the hand of her rider caressing her, and it brought some reassurance to her troubled mind. That was all she felt, there was no pain. But just before her physical change, she thought his name. It was then that she discovered this strange form of communication. She felt her mind touch his, and she knew he heard his name. Then, right after that discovery came the cracks, the tearing, the pure unadulterated terror over what on this green Earth was happening to her! Her mind was mostly covered in what was like a layer of red, red because of that pain. But even through the haze she felt these connections form with those around her. There was Stefan, afraid, but worried for her well being. She cried out to him, and moments later came his soft touch again. It was wonderful. But the others, they had no clue what was happening and fear laced them because of it. When her gaze caught Heinrich and Schultz, she found them with their weapons ready to take her life. She instantly called out to them, 'No. Please, do not shoot. Mercy!' She sensed their confusion, and then pressed on into their minds, desperate to live. She pushed forth memories she held of them. She showed them last winter, when temperatures dipped into bone rattling lows. She laid on the ground and allowed nine soldiers to press up against her to keep warm. She showed even more recently, when she offered Schultz the apple. She did whatever she could to remind them of who she was, and it worked.

But Gunther, no. The poor man was consumed with terror and shock. She tried, tried to do the same with him, but she felt her thoughts as if they just bounced off of some kind of closed bubble that encompassed his mind. He brought a rifle up, ready to kill her right there, only to be tackled by Schultz. She heard the rifle fire its deafening noise in the closed bunker.

"Are you ready for this, Annina?" She heard Heinrich say up to her, taking her from her recollections of her transformation. She looked at him in her hand. He was gazing up at her while Schultz and Stefan peered through her fingers. She detected unease from them, most certainly because of all of the British guns lined up to fire at anything marching towards their lines. Kurtz was simply sitting cross legged in the center with his back to her fingers with his eyes closed. He would not allow the others to know it, but she knew. The man was mortified right now. She wanted to comfort him, but the sergeant was not the type to be nurtured. He at least was handling his situation well. At some point during her reverie she ended up raising a hand in greeting and approached the British like that. Now, she uncurled her fingers to better reveal the men in her hand.

They waved to try to get their attention. Ideally, the sight of living people in her hand would demonstrate that she was not here to squash them all. The rest of their group remained a good distance behind and simply watched from afar. In an attempt to seem less intimidating she gently sat down on her haunches. The guns were a fair distance away, but she could swear she saw their barrels lower with her. Finally, the hand she held in greeting and peacefulness turned to a wave to beckon someone over. Anyone would do, just someone that could meet Heinrich and relay a message.

Then with that, she lowered her hand, and Heinrich stepped off to begin his jog onward by himself. While she doubted anyone would want to approach her, someone would surely meet Heinrich at least half way. She eyed her friend warily, ready to leap to her feet and snatch him up at the first sign of hostility. Her senses picked up a much more different feeling from the man himself, however. He was apparently at ease. comfortable in the position that her significant size put him in. He apparently knew this would work out, and his confidence brought her some reassurance.

Quicker than she expected, the British sent someone out on a little machine on two wheels with a small one wheeled cart attached to its side. She watched it approach Heinrich, much faster than the man's pace, even though it had to bound over rather rough terrain and obstacles. The driver apparently entered her range of thought, and thus unwittingly connected himself to the network, which appeared to have about a five hundred meter radius. But she forewent trying to speak to him, as it could spook him more. He was already praying, expecting her to lunge out and grab him. She felt herself frown, everyone seemed to expect the worst from a giant. The vehicle came to a stop in front of Heinrich. Though she could not hear them physically, she could hear them through their thoughts. The man on the machine asked if Heinrich spoke English, and when he confirmed he did, asked him to get into the little cart on the side. The German officer placed himself in the side car and they both rode off back to British lines, much to the driver's relief.

She was watching them go when she heard one of her companions in her hand speak to her, "Put me down now, bitte." The raspy voice requested of her. Looking down again, she saw Kurtz has stood up and was looking at her. Feeling that the situation has stabilized enough that the men did not need to be in her hand anymore, she let them down. Kurtz happily jumped off before plopping back down again with his back up against her leg, followed by Schultz who sat down next to him.

Stefan, however, stood there for a few moments thinking about what to do. Then, he stepped back away from the edge of her hand and turned around, "May I stand on your shoulder?" He asked up to her instead. Annina felt very pleased and happy to hear him say that, as the constant trepidation and even fear over her immense size she has been sensing has dampened her mood.

'I would like that, actually.' Very carefully she raised him up to her left shoulder and allowed him to step off her hand. She then cupped the area to catch him if he lost his footing while he slowly approached her neck, wobbling slightly from the height. He sat him self down and rested his side against her neck, helping to secure his seating. 'Comfortable?' She giggled at the effect of having someone so tiny that she cared about so close to her own massive body.

"Yes... you are very soft." He commented as he felt her fur.

'You kept good care of me.' Even in the middle of a war Stefan made sure to keep her fur soft and clean. She did love a good brushing. Stefan's little hands roamed over her neck, patting her not unlike the many times he demonstrated his affection when she was just a normal horse. The feeling was not the same, his tiny size meant there was not much effect. No fault of his own of course, but the massive size difference meant his gentle touches no longer pleased her physically. But the mental comfort had ample effect. The comfort and happiness Stefan felt had a positive effect on her mind that brought her joy. 'You are so adorable. If it would not look so offensive to the British, I would be nuzzling you right now.'

She felt him flush a bit with embarrassment, but the thought amused him. "You will get the chance soon enough." He removed his helmet and pressed the side of his face into her neck and rested there, basking in the warmth that was both her body and her mind. Annina was content with this, as the friendly presence so near left her feeling fulfilled herself. They stayed like that for a while, knowing that it was important to maintain watching the British for any sign of aggression, but they did allow themselves the pleasure of each other's comfort the entire time. Eventually, their relaxation was broken by the sudden discharge of a howitzer. Up in the sky a bright light flashed into existence behind them before slowly descending back to earth with a small parachute. That was their signal.

She gently plucked Stefan from his perch before scooping up the two soldiers below, much to Kurtz's chagrin, who briefly insisted on walking the distance. She slowly got back to her feet and scanned over the British line in the distance. It was hard to see much detail, but there were soldiers in trenches carved out of the earth in front of the artillery, with all eyes on her. She slowly took one step forward. There was no response with gun fire, so she took another, and another, and before she knew it, she was walking towards the line, with no retaliation. She was surprised, how the humans remained in their trenches with a creature that could crush them underfoot approaching. They were scared out of their minds, yes, but yet they stayed put. Animals flee, but men could stand tall in the face of death if they had the leadership or the will. It was truly impressive and admirable.

She stopped about one hundred meters from the forward trench, just a few steps away for her. At this distance the soldiers below were looking up at her in awe. She detected a lot of fear, as expected, though it was slightly subdued from reassurance from their superiors. She then slowly bent down, her left arm up, palm towards them to continue to appear friendly. She placed her right hand onto the ground, and her comrades jumped off.

Heinrich came walking towards them with a huge grin. He was clearly very pleased with himself. "Gentlemen, and fraulein, the British have agreed to a joint force while we figure out how we are going to resolve this. _Oberstleutnan_t Manfred survived the attack, but the British commander has requested I be with him during planning, as I know the situation best. So I apologize, but I must be off." He looked to Kurtz, who managed to straighten himself out in front of the British soldiers. "Sergeant, I wish for you to be present, perhaps your experience could be of use."

Kurtz eyed him warily, "Will I be an aide, sir?"

"Among other things," Heinrich shrugged.

"Damn." He scowled at being stuck as an officer's paper boy, but followed his lieutenant anyway.

-

Shortly after the cease fire was put into place, all captured German soldiers were released and with aid from the British began to tend to the battlefield. Stefan dragged yet another man out of a bunker and with the help of two British soldiers; the corpse was lifted out of the trench and placed in a line with a bunch of others. The British and Germans took the opportunity to clear the dead and seek the wounded and trapped, while at the same time moving their line forward to encompass the superior, albeit battered, fortifications of the former German lines.

However, as mentioned this meant taking care of the dead, and as feared, there were very many. The trenches, dugouts, bunkers, and even the fields were littered with thousands of cadavers from the gassing. Then there were the British casualties from being crushed by the giant equines. It was truly horrifying, like something from a nightmare. Stefan felt a lot of anger in his heart towards his former enemy, that was only slightly assuaged by the fact that they did not escape this unscathed either. But regardless of that, the ratio of dead Germans to British was painfully one sided.

The British general, General McGregor, personally apologized, for what it was worth, to the Germans for the gas. He claims to have begged to command to not have the gas deployed, saying that it would ramp up chemical weapons research by the Germans if it did not outright end the war with a brutally bloated casualty count that would scar the honor of Great Britain forever. But they insisted. He also claimed they had no idea that it would do this to horses, saying that the gas was very rapidly pressed into service after an accident that killed off many chemical weapon researchers. He did not know whether to believe the man, but he could fester in his disdain for the British atrocity at a later time.

The Englishman went on to explain that the gas could not be filtered except for some of the best systems that were of course not issued to soldiers. They only survived because they were immune to the gas, which transforms the internal organs of victims into useless masses of flesh. For a few others, the gas may take a few minutes to start taking affect, while only a handful would be almost completely immune short of unconsciousness.

He also apologized to Annina and the other horses for what had become of them. Their change was certainly very inconvenient, but they actually seemed to enjoy their new forms, saying it gave them freedom and the ability to communicate with humans. Those giants, at the moment, were engaged with helping in recovering the dead and wounded, mostly with moving tanks or rubble that may have people trapped inside or under them, dead or alive.

Something worth noting about these other horses, though, was that their abilities were not like Annina's. They still were capable of telepathy, but only to the extent of transmitting and receiving thoughts in a direct link. Only Annina could detect the idle thoughts from people close to her. Nor were they apparently affected by most of the emotions of those around them like she was, which was probably connected to her passive detection of thoughts. However they could still feel very intense reaction, like during their initial change with the gun crews dying around them. Annina figured out she could easily block out these idle thoughts, and for the sake of everyone that got near her, decided to keep them blocked out. One last thing discovered, was that several of the horses attempted, and successfully, to say some German words. That was a surprise, as it showed that these creatures could potentially speak human languages, demonstrating their vocal chords were significantly changed as well.

Heinrich was with the British general and other officers, and Kurtz who was now his aide was with him. The general reached the conclusion that Heinrich would be the liaison for the Germans, as he was one of the only people to see these monsters up close and could most accurately predict the effectiveness of any attacks they planned. Lieutenant Colonel Manfred was fine with this. The Germans would not actually be able to do anything but be resigned to a support role, as they had no equipment of their own to fight the giants with. So, his leadership was best used to oversee the surviving troops.

"Alright, that's enough laddies, outta the trench, yer on break!" said a British soldier towards the work group. Stefan did not know what he said, but he had a good guess as the British soldiers left the bunker and trench and scattered about. His next work session unless stated otherwise would be in a couple of hours. In the meantime, he would like to spend his time with people that could speak his language. Unfortunately, there were only around four hundred German soldiers, merged in with thousands of British troops helping with the work. The transition was surprisingly quick. Apparently a common enemy could mend the deepest wounds between people. However, that still meant there were hardly any of his comrades around in the mass that was the new front line.

Stefan walked alongside the trench, seeking out a group of German soldiers to be with. But obviously due to the small number and them being scattered all over, he could only find a few working. He was about to resign himself to sit at a fire with a bunch of British soldiers before he noticed five horses were gathered and sitting in a circle beyond the trenches several hundred meters away, and one of them was Annina. He could speak with them at least, and one of them was certainly his friend.

He walked over the planks placed over the trench, which was the forward most German trench before, and strode over the artillery beaten earth. He came up behind Annina, her massive form now practically the only thing he could see. "Annina?" He said lightly.

Her ears perked up and she turned around to face him. Despite her immense size, her telepathy made him easy to hear, as she mostly heard his thoughts, rather than voice. 'Stefan!' she said happily, and she reached down and plucked him up off the ground. The next thing he knew, he was sitting on her thigh before the other horses. The fur under his rump was delightfully warm. 'This is Stefan! Before the change, he was my caretaker. One of the nicest humans I know.'

Stefan blushed as his mind filled up with greetings, but he remained silent, suddenly shy about these large creatures. 'I knew a few, too! I wonder if they are alright...' Commented the white mare that first spoke with Annina, her name was Gisa. 'There was this one that always gave me these small red fruit. They are so delicious!' Gisa appeared dreamy eyed for a moment, as she thought about the fruit.

'Apples. Heinrich always made sure there were some for me." She looked down at the soldier on her leg, 'I assume apples do not grow big enough for our size." It was more of a statement than a question, one that was shaded in some sorrow.

Stefan remembered the apple Annina let him have before she changed. He patted his pocket, it was still there. He decided not to take it out, or else it would seem like he was teasing them. "No. But there are a lot of apples in the world."

'I wonder,' A gray stallion inquired, 'what exactly do we eat now?' He nodded to another stallion in a distant field, attempting and failing to eat the tiny grass, 'We could graze, sure, but it seems wrong, and grass does not really taste good anymore. And it it is hard to eat, and not very fulfilling...'

"Heinrich asked General McGregor of this," Stefan said, "He said he is working on getting a massive shipment of hay."

Gisa mock gagged, 'That straw stuff. I hate it.'

"I am sorry! But unless you all figure out how to shrink back down there is not much else anyone can supply in mass quantity just yet." Stefan found that slightly strange, most horses love hay! What did they feed them at the battery?

Her ears folded back and she groaned, 'I am staaaaarving.'

"Hallo?" Another German human voice interrupted them. Stefan recognized the man on the ground immediately as Schultz, and he was holding a bushel of apples. "I got this out of one of the bunkers. It is still considered German provisions, and I think you are part of the German Army. So... here?" He raised it up, offering it to Gisa.

The horse giggled with delight and plucked the small bushel from his tiny hands. 'Thank you!' She then poured the contents into her massive mouth. It was obviously not enough, but she relished the taste for a few moments. She then swiped Schultz off the ground and hugged him to her bosom. He disappeared in the mass of fur and flesh for what seemed like too long, and Stefan and Annina were very worried he got crushed or was suffocating. But once Gisa finished, Schultz was safely in her hand, grinning like a hyena.

"He loved that I am sure!" He said to Annina, laughing at Schultz.

'_Indeed, indeed...'_Annina agreed.

But then Stefan realized something, Schultz knew she was hungry even though no telepathic conversation was directed at him. He was curious to know how his comrade knew Gisa in particular seemed to be very hungry. "Hey! Schultz! How did you know to give her those apples?"

Schultz snapped out of his dreamy daze to answer him, "Her stomach growled when I was passing by with the bushel. It was like a tank shaking the earth!" So it was the right place, at the right time. That was lucky for Schultz, the man was probably going to dream about Gisa now.

'It was not that loud!' She mock frowned down at him.

"Well, you never heard a tank before, have you?" He retorted.

'Well, I-... what does a tank sound like?'

"Exactly." He quipped triumphantly.

'Why, you!' Schultz cried out as he was once again grabbed and brought up to her muzzle to look him in the eyes. She playfully glared at him, before smiling, 'Schultz? Is it?' He nodded, 'Nice to meet you. I am Gisa.'

"Nice to meet you too, Gisa." She opened her hand back up so he could sit in it. "But I am sorry, I would like to get to one of the fires. It is a little cold..."

'Stay, please. I will keep you warm.' Once again Schultz was handled like some small pet and he found himself on top of Gisa's left breast, held in place with her hand.

Annina looked down at Stefan on her thigh, 'Are you cold, too?'

"Well, no..." Despite that, he was lifted up and brought to her stomach before he could say anything else. His back was pressed against her abdomen as he sat in her open palm. Stefan was mildly shocked at being suddenly handled, before coming back to his senses. He looked over to Schultz and saw he was enjoying himself a bit too much. He grinned up at Annina. "Schultz, he was not really cold, was he?"

'Nope.' A small smile crossed her face as well at the antics of their comrade before looking down at him again. 'Hmm,' she hummed through her mouth rather than mind, _'I think it is now safe to nuzzle now.'_Then without waiting for a word from him she scooped him up and Stefan found himself at face level with her. Her massive nostrils blew warm air on to him before she gently prodded him with her snout. It knocked him onto his back where she continued the assault, focusing on his abdomen that sent the man into a fit of laughter. Stefan briefly thought about how ridiculous this must look, what with a veteran soldier getting cuddled by a giant mare, but he did not care! This was the most pleasant thing to happen to him in a long while, he felt genuinely happy despite the dire circumstances surrounding them.

When Annina finally relented she pulled back to get a look at him, with a huge look of affection. If he was in this position a few hours ago, he would be screaming in terror for sure. Creatures just are not supposed to be this big or incredibly powerful. But Annina, he felt at ease near her. She seemed to radiate goodness so much so that it has managed to completely eliminate any fears of her. He felt perfectly safe and protected in her grasp and he world just seemed a better place with her. He sat up and looked at her with his own smile, "You are amazing," he stated simply, slightly out of breath from her demonstration of adoration towards him.

'I do my best!' She lowered him back down to rest against her stomach. She gently stroked him with her thumb before they resumed their conversation with the others, all of whom were grinning about the fondness they witnessed between the two.

-

"If we surround the town with our artillery then that would stop them from getting out. Contain the threat." A young British officer suggested as he and three other British officers plus Heinrich looked at the map of Cambrai.

Heinrich shook his head, "Two problems with that. One, the town is bigger than this map gives it credit for, I do not think there is enough manpower. Two, unless you have armor piercing munitions for howitzers, then the guns are ineffective, at least at longer ranges." That idea _might_work if they had more guns, and bigger ones, like a German Bertha. But enough guns that big was wishful thinking. Eventually more artillery will arrive to make the plan more feasible, but doing so now would risk a breakout.

"Gas? Mustard gas, chlorine?" The same officer added.

Another Englishman shot that plan down, "We were only issued the X1 compound. I wouldn't risk exposing them to more of that. Besides, I doubt they would have much effect on creatures so large, it may just enrage them." Or do nothing at all really. At their size a gas would just linger at their feet. Mustard gas could cause irritation, but as mentioned they had none.

All of them nodded in agreement. Heinrich doubted if there was any way at all to do this with the equipment they had. The howitzers might, just might, be effective at very close range. But that was a huge might that could get people killed. The horses were far too big for the standard high explosive shells howitzers always fired to yield any good results at long range. But, that looked like their best bet short of getting some bomber airplanes or maybe zeppelins if he could contact high command. But those rarely hit the right target, let alone moving ones.

The flap of the tent opened and General McGregor came in, looking pale and upset. "Gentlemen," he sighed and did not continue for a few seconds, as if collecting his thoughts. "I have very, very grave news." Heinrich had a good feeling on what this news was going to be... "The X1 agent has been used all over the western front this morning. We thought it could break the trench warfare, but instead it has had the same results as we have seen here. However, it turns out it does not only affect horses. There have been confirmations of dogs, cattle, and possibly cats and a fox."

Just as Heinrich expected him to say. "It affects all animals? Oh God, no." He shook his head, disturbed. The implications were staggering. "How many?" he asked. The line was one hundred and forty kilometers long. If they attacked all along that with the gas, then the body count could be as high as the hundreds of thousands with countless giants running rampant.

"Thousands. We were lucky that you Germans only had a small amount of animals in the town."

Heinrich slammed his hand on the table before turning around to hide his frustration. He removed his cap to rub the back of his head as he soaked that information in. The rest were silent as they comprehended what may become of Europe now. Heinrich placed his cap back on and leered at the general. "You said this gas transforms internal organs to kill men. A gas that apparently tries to transform people, and fails terribly, and you tell me nobody bothered testing it against other creatures?"

The General leered back, "Nobody, no."

"Bah!" Heinrich snorted, "Englanders! Like Americans, get an idea and jump right into it!"

"Listen, boche!" One of the officers glowered at him, "We just wanted this war over before Christmas."

"Fat lot of good that did you!" Heinrich retorted with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Quiet!" The General barked before saying, "There's been a similar pattern. We've got the hostile ones, then we've got the ones that don't want to kill us all. So we can cut down their numbers to half. But our focus is still Cambrai! This is the experimental phase, we need to figure out what works. What have we got?" The General placed his hands on the table and looked down at the map. "Lay out ideas gents, we have work to do."

"Bomber aeroplanes?"

"Don't have any. I'm working on that, but we must act now." Even if they did have bombers available right, they were hardly accurate, even if their foes were building sized.

"Blockade?"

"Not enough manpower." That was precisely what the German officer already explained.

"Artillery barrage?"

"Ineffective." The general scoffed at that one, they all already saw how well that worked. He was starting to get agitated at the useless ideas his subordinates were laying out.

"Fighter planes?"

"Some are coming, but what is that, a joke?" He looked up at them, "Anything that might actually work?!"

"Well, _Herr_General." Heinrich also put his hands on the table and leaned over it, "We could have our horses fight them, and we support them with artillery, by having them carry them in as close as possible. Perhaps at very close ranges, they may be effective, or perhaps not. But we must find out."

"Do it." The General stood up, quickly likening to the plan, "Send them, and have them carry as many howitzers, crews, and shells they can take."

Heinrich nodded, and turned to Kurtz, who was sitting with several other aides. The man was a stark contrast to their cleanliness, and with his rather large size honed from battle, along with the wild look in his eyes, it looked like he could and would kill all of them with just his bare hands. Lucky for them he was not out for English blood at the moment. He explained the attack strategy to him and sought his opinion on the idea. When the sergeant expressed his approval of it, the officer smiled and nodded, "Bring word to Annina and the others." He ordered to the soldier turned aide. With great relief at the opportunity to escape the officers the sergeant quickly stood up, saluted, and marched straight out to deliver the orders.

But one thought lingered in Heinrich's mind. Annina would surely participate, but would she be able to convince enough of the others to follow her into a battle that is, at the bottom of it all, a fight for human survival?

-

By now, all of the horses had collected in front of the trench, as there was nothing left they could aid with. Tank wrecks were cleared, bunker rubble had been searched, and collapsed dugouts were excavated. Their immense sizes made such work rather trivial. The stallion that was grazing, Klaus, had eventually come to the conclusion that eating the grass was not working very well. Schultz and Stefan, still safely in the grasps of the large females seemed to be in the process of dozing, or at least Stefan was. The poor man was awake running minor messages in Cambrai far into the early morning before Annina herself was awake, having chosen to allow her rest as he jogged from place to place. When he finally got to her to wake her up for breakfast and to go out to the trenches with fresh messages, he was out of breath and looking awfully cold.

'Suitable compensation for allowing me a few more hours', she thought as he gazed down at him. Apparently the warmth and the sounds and comfort of her body had been having the expected effects on him. It looked incredibly adorable to her, the way he was resting against her. The roles have changed. Stefan cared for her before, and it was like she was caring for him now. She could not help but be immensely pleased with herself.

She looked towards Cambrai, far in the distance. The beasts at least were not tearing the city apart. They were probably playing some sick game where they had to find their prey without making it that easy, she thought. She sneered in contempt, how could they be so violent?

"Annina?" She caught the sound of a gravelly voice, which she instantly pegged as Kurtz, though the mind voice sent to her would have confirmed that anyway. She looked down at him, his face, as usual, seemed angry. He always looked like he wanted to stab something with his bayonet, but it may have had to do with the vicious scars on his face. She recalled that day, when he was shot through the cheeks by a bullet at the Somme. It was not a fatal injury of course, but the marks would be with him forever. Because of her abilities, she was probably the only one that knew just how badly his old injuries regularly pained him. He hid it well, but she was certain it fueled a large part of his aggression. But he never was angry at her, thankfully. She suspected that Kurtz was someone that would hate himself if he ever hurt something or someone that could not defend itself, despite his apparent violent demeanor.He was troubled and vicious, that much was clear, but not cruel. The man, now that he had her attention, continued, "Command's come up with a rather simple attack plan. You, and all these other horses, are going to attack the ones at Cambrai. But not alone. You are to bring a number of howitzers and crews with you. They want to see if they can take them down at close range. The rest of the army will follow after you if you make a breakthrough, but the fighting will not last that long I am sure."

'I do not think we would make a breakthrough.' Though their numbers were not terribly unbalanced, she highly doubted each of these horses would be willing to join in an attack that would risk their hides like this. Even if the howitzers worked up close, which she had no idea if they would, they were far from easy to aim at a moving target so close.

"I do not believe so either. So I am going to try to help you out with some strategy." Annina was not sure what kind of advice the man could give, but she was definitely open to ideas. The sergeant wasted no time in beginning to explain. "I see no means on how to reliably protect the howitzers, a brawl is too chaotic for that. But, that does not mean you should not make the effort. If the guns are effective at close range, then it is probably in your best interest to at least protect a few. If not, the crews will scatter and you will not have to worry about them. Now where to put these guns... do not put them in a tight group. That is just asking for some stomping action. You will want high ground for them, so if the crews are willing to do it, place them on a structure and hope the building can take the recoil. Maybe one of the guns could blast someone's balls off. As tough as they may be, I do not think high explosive to the nuts is harmless no matter how big you are. The rest, assemble them into a nice, spread out line, not too close together." Annina had to admit, she had no handle on strategy and probably would have ended up just putting them all into a group and hoping for the best, and putting the guns on top of buildings had never even occurred to her. He looked like he had more to say, "War is not fair, and as far as I am concerned, old fashioned brawling is not either. When it comes down to it, you need to kill or disable by any means possible. Stab them in the eye with something. Go for the crotch. Bite. Use your head to smash faces. And most importantly, gang up on opponents! Surround and beat the _shit_out of them!" He slammed his fist into his other hand several times, "Assuming of course numbers are on your side."

Annina slowly nodded. That was actually good advice. She had a brief brawl's worth of experience in her new form; the others had none at all. In fact, they only had actual hands for a few hours now. That sort of advice would probably not come naturally to any of them in such a short time.

"And one more thing. I am going to talk to Heinrich about getting paint for you all. That way, with a big colorful marking on your bodies, the howitzers will know who to shoot and not shoot when you are all in one big fight."

'Very well then. I will tell the others.' The human nodded and walked off to find Heinrich. Annina looked down at Stefan. He was still asleep. But, he needed to be moved. She reluctantly scooped him up into her hand and stood up. She approached Gisa, who was discussing with the others, and asked for Schultz. She unenthusiastically gave him up. Schultz did not seem too happy about it either. She made sure they were awake before approaching a fire with a group of British soldiers and letting them off.

She giggled as one of the Englishmen said, "Christ, lads. Remind me not to anger you and hafta face HER."

-

Annina informed the others of the plan as well as Kurtz's input. Some looked like they wanted to pick a fight with the bloodmongers, including Gisa who seemed to have taken a strong liking towards humans. Others were neutral, and the last group did not want to fight.

"Why should we do this for them? It is not our fight." Was the argument among the naysayers. She really had no immediate counter to it, though. The Bloodmongers were out for human blood, not theirs. They had nothing to fear, really. After pondering the answer to that, she responded.

"Because this is a human world. It is theirs. When it comes down to it, you are either with them, or against them. We are too big and dangerous to try to avoid them. When this is all over, they will know that we helped them, and they will be grateful. Maybe we will be able to live with them, somehow. But that will not happen if they do not have a reason! But without human support, what could you do in the world? Turn into some blood crazed monster? They may seem to be incapable of taking down a giant. But they can." She thought back to the massive guns she had seen in the past. Siege guns she thought they were called. Surely, those monstrosities could take down someone of her size. "Can you grow hay? How about apples? Where do apples even come from?!" That reasoning seemed adequate, she was proud of herself for coming up with it. "Think about that, before you continue to ask why we should help them."

"We could hunt animals," one suggested.

Annina snorted, "Where? Like I said, humans control the world. Who is going to let giant horses hunt on their lands? We are just too big, that would not sustain you! Our food needs to be grown, it is the only way without destroying whole populations of animals. Humans know how to grow plants. We do not." As a normal horse she would spurn the idea of eating meat. However their changed forms seemed to have effected their diets. The idea of eating meat did not make her feel ill to think about.

Most began to nod in agreement. A few still seemed to have a problem with it. She sensed, that these were the ones that fully understood they might die. Was it worth it? Yes, of course! At least, that was what she thought. Not all were of that opinion. But, there was nothing else she could say to persuade them.

-

Gisa laid down on the ground as British soldiers splashed bright blue paint onto both of her shoulders, completely splattering them so it would be visible from the front and back too. Annina glanced down at the howitzers lined up for them. There were eighteen, for all of the horses that agreed to come. The guns go in one hand, as the so called skeleton crews and shells were carried in the other. It was just the bare minimum, just enough shells to get off a few shots assuming they could reload in time, and just enough crew to operate it to some respectable level. Aimed shots were their goal, not barrages. The guns themselves were on the heavier end as far as howitzers went. There were not many of these types, but they were the best bet for close range kills.

Gisa got back on her hooves once they finished. She was the last one, so now, they were ready. All that awaited now was the order to move out. They did not have to wait long, as Heinrich approached moments after the painting was complete.

"You are good to go!" He offered her a salute, "Good luck and stay alive. Losing you would be a tragedy, so you are to retreat whenever you deem it necessary. Understood?" She nodded in response. "Then off you go!"

'Goodbye, Heinrich.'

"Goodbyes are for the dead and penal battalions. Stay alert, confident, and on the offensive and you will make it back before lunch."

Just encouraging words. She was just as likely to get her skull smashed in than as much as any other horse here. Still, she appreciated the effort. The officer, just as soon as he came, disappeared again. She briskly turned around and spoke to her so called squad, "Collect your humans! It is time to move out!" She was already starting to feel like a unit leader. It was quite nice. "And do not drop anyone! That would look horrible."

The Englishmen, all chosen for being the bravest, toughest and fastest the artillery brigades had to offer, still seemed to be frightened out of their minds at being handled by giants. Annina allowed her crew to lift their ammunition into her hand before hopping aboard themselves. She looked them over. Typical, scared as trapped rodents. Maybe if she were just not so big. If none of them were this big the humans would have no trouble at all with marching into the town and putting all of the bloodmongers down themselves. Why could it not be so easy?

She then bent down and retrieved the howitzer as instructed, hands supporting the wheels. It was heavier than she expected, but nothing she could not easily handle. She tucked it safely against her side and waited for the others to be ready. Gisa was already prepared and in the process of treating the humans like adorable little creatures as she nuzzled one. "Careful, Gisa," She commented, "You could knock him off."

"But they are so adorable when they are tiny!" She lamented, but nonetheless she heeded the warning, ceased the act and straightened up. Once they were all ready, she ordered them onward.

-

They had a fair walk ahead of them. They had to move fairly far back into the lines to collect the howitzers, as the guns have not moved forward into the newly occupied ground just yet. So they had to move through a few kilometers of friendly territory, then stride across the new no man's land, which was the long stretch of abandoned German trenches coupled with the empty land to Cambrai. The few horses that stayed behind would at least be helping in moving the guns forward while Annina and the rest were away. The whole front line would be moving forward with them to continue to encompass the German fortifications. Thanks to the size of the equines that will be helping, the process would be very hasty.

The entire walk was not actually particularly long. But like before they would have to watch out for obstacles, and that would slow their movement. The barbed wire was not an issue at all, but it was the tank traps that could harm their hooves if stepped on, and these traps were everywhere.

The walk left time for Annina to once again lose herself in her thoughts. Other than the coming fight, what most were probably thinking about was food. It would be fantastic if they could eat something. Something their size! Even whenever a shipment of food for them arrived, it probably would not even be enough. If only they could be smaller again... like just before her growth in the bunker, it was perfect, if a bit large compared to a human.

She thought back to that moment. It was rather frightening. The giant stallions got rather close to the bunker, or so she thought, as the bunker felt like it was about to crumble. As she went for Gunther, her fears increased as a massive boom stuck the bunker, another artillery shell hit the structure. It sent her to the floor as debris began to fall from the ceiling, and the impact on the weakened shelter left her dazed and seeing double. But she managed to shake herself from it quickly, another hit would surely kill her. She grabbed Gunther and went for the door. But before she made it outside, her luck gave out, and not by another artillery shell. A tank crashed through the roof, narrowly crushing her, but trapping her under heavy reinforced concrete. Gunther fell from her arms and was caught by the collapsing roof as well. But to her dismay, she did not sense his mind nearby, meaning his weaker body was crushed by the weight. It was only a minor consolation that his unconscious state prevented any suffering, however brief, from transmitting to her.

She tried to push up to move the weight on top of her, but it was too much, it refused to budge. She began to panic. Will Stefan and the others come back to find her? The smart thing would be to not to, and that frightened her more. Another artillery shell landing in the ruin could sooner kill her, if not the blood thirsty stallions.

It seemed remarkably unfair that those other two became so large. If she were that size, this would not be a problem right now. It was also cruel that she was going to be denied this whole new life after not even an hour of experiencing it. The thought angered her, which pushed her to try again. The position she was in had her on her stomach with the weight of the rubble on her back. She had essentially no limb movement, so she was unable to press against the ground to try to lift the rubble. Try as she might, she could not budge with what seemed to be a slab of concrete flat on top of her. She felt the thumping of the giants draw a bit closer as they chased around scattering troops. The thought of giants nearby horrified her almost as much as her trapped state. She had to get out!

Right after she had that thought, a flash of pain erupted into her head. It made her cry out with a loud nicker. It felt like her brain was growing and wanted to be freed from the confines of her skull. But even through the haze of the torment she felt the rubble move around her. She tolerated the agony just enough to push again, and she began to feel the debris yield. Even the crushed tank shifted form her might as her mass pressed against it, pushing it through the other wall of the bunker. With her limbs finally free she burst from the ruins and stumbled away, clutching her skull as the world around her shrank.

That growth saved her from either death or entrapment for who knew how long. Now if only she could shrink back down. She began to wonder if it was possible. She talked to the other horses earlier, and found out that none of their growths caused them extreme pain. She found that strange and very interesting.

But further investigation into the matter had to wait, as they reached the outskirts of Cambrai. Many of the horses tearing it apart saw them coming, and began to form up in a group. Clearly they saw their approach as a challenge. The so called Dierker the gray stallion was the biggest of them all, comparable to Annina. They certainly have been busy. She recalled a rather large spire of a church dominated the sky above the town. It of course, was missing.

She scanned the area for structures suitable to place the howitzers on. As they were still on the outskirts, structures in general were spread out and few, so their options were slim, as most were sloped. She could only find two flattop buildings within a reasonable distance, they were about four hundred meters from each other. But she was not sure if they could handle the fire from the weapons, she did not exactly understand architecture. Fortunately, despite the fear she felt confidence from most of the humans among them. It seemed they would like to shoot a bloodmonger and worry about collapsed structures later. As someone that survived a collapsed building, she commended their attitudes. She turned to her group, "Klaus, Uwe, and Ingrid bring your humans to that flat building over there," She used her howitzer to point to the south, their right, "If you cannot fit them all, just put them down and try to protect those that are on the building. Jürgen, Silka, and Krissie, that one over there." she pointed left.

The groups split up to their assigned destinations. It also created a type of flanking formation, as they created a V to the forming group of Bloodmongers. That would have been great if it was a gunfight, but it was not, excepting the howitzers. Including that, they were outnumbered, so if the guns failed then they could end up outnumbered and spread out. She placed her howitzer and crew down in front of her, and ordered the others to do so in a line in front of them. They were staying put, for now. When the Bloodmongers came their way, they would face these guns first. They still were outside the town, so there was a small window for the guns to have clear, unobstructed shots as the enemy hopefully charged them head on. The thought that they could move to one side and nullify half of their guns crossed her mind. She sorely hoped their leader's mindlessness included tactics. After the first shots they would move in front of the humans while the line formation would allow the crews to retreat in an orderly manner between their legs.

Their opponents across the forming battlefield were watching the howitzers around them. They probably recognized them as the big boom devices they often towed around before. Some looked unsettled by them. Whether it was because they had an ingrained dislike for the sound they made, or because what was left of the German battery managed to take down a few at close range, Annina could not tell. She hoped it was the latter.

But Dierker was not going to let the guns alone, Annina felt it. As the head of the group he was probably the one adapting to his new intelligence better than the rest, much like her. She observed him ordering his own group to divide into separate detachments. As they split, she counted two groups of four moving to challenge the flanking guns and horses, while the rest came for them. She felt the tension in her comrades rise as they approached, each one hoped the guns would be able help even out the imbalance in numbers.

The eastern guns fired first. Both rounds from the rooftop cannons missed as they flew too wide and descended into the city. However the cannon sitting on the ground managed to strike one in the leg, blowing it out from under the charging stallion and sending him crashing into the ground with a chunk of his thigh missing. The western group waited a few more moments before firing. Two horses went down as shells burrowed into their stomachs, brutally disemboweling them, but the ground artillery missed its mark. She would have cheered if she did not see the howitzers be replaced by dust. Their recoil was too much for the civilian structure and the top collapsed, taking the guns and crews with them in a cloud of debris. She hoped the crews would be able to make it out of the ruin intact, but three out of six shells found their mark right from the start, which was certainly an excellent opening. Her allied equines at the flanks stepped in front of their human crews to challenge the charge coming to them. The horses at the eastern flank clashed with the bloodmongers in a now even three to three brawl. The western group lost their momentum as they suddenly found themselves two against three.

The main group started their charge and headed their way in a run, smashing through small buildings like a tsunami, invigorated by their greater numbers. Snorts, nickers, and even growls came from them. She readied herself to leap over the guns before them, now suddenly feeling more confident in their effectiveness at very close range. As they closed in she tensed for the staccato of artillery fire. Annina found herself strangely calm, time seemed to drag on as the seconds stretched to long moments as she began to focus on the coming fight and decided on how she would throw herself into the it. Abruptly, smoke and fire erupted in front of them as the twelve guns roared out. It was reminiscent of the old line infantry, a line of musket men getting one more volley off just before the whole fight collapsed into a violent brawl with anything from bayonets to entrenching tools. Except this brawl would involve tank sized fists.

Five horses abruptly went crashing to the ground as the large artillery shells burrowed into their bodies. Wasting no time, Annina's group leaped over their human comrades. She braced her shoulder and slammed into a small mare, knocking her backwards into a stallion, sending them both to the ground. She was going to descend her hoof onto their skulls, but she was suddenly hit herself and knocked to the ground by a stallion. She landed next to one of the howitzers. Thinking quick, she grabbed it and rolled out of the way of the stallion's hoof. On her way to her feet, she used the barrel end of the gun like a small knife and jabbed him in the side. It did not puncture, but it sent him stumbling backwards as the force may have broken a rib, while the thick barrel of the weapon looked like it barely felt a thing. She shot to her feet and charged at the beast. She wrapped her right hand around his throat to stabilize his head, then stabbed the gun into his right eye. He screamed out as she balled her hand into a fist and hammered the howitzer deeper into his skull, killing him instantly. Her comrades followed her example and picked up the rest of the battery, turning the brawl almost into some kind of one sided twisted knife fight.

Their enemy backed away, surprised at the strange fighting technique. But they, too, did what they could by grabbing whatever they could to fight back with. Cars, large piles of debris, carriages, and anything else of decent size. None of it would be as effective as the steel howitzers. Annina was about to order an attack when Dierker pushed his way to the front of his group. The stallion was tall, almost as tall as she was, and very thickset, owing to his draft horse origins. He stared her down with eyes of pure hatred. This monster was more like the _daemon_the ill-fated Gunther cried about. He laughed derisively at her, "We get the opportunity of our lives, and you just waste and squander it. Pitiful." His words oozed with contempt as he shook his head in disapproval. "Do you aspire to be some kind of saintly defender of humans?"

"I only do what is right and can see what the future will hold for my actions, can you say the same?" Saintly defender may apply to her, but she knew this was the best way for the future, for all horse and human, despite the bloodshed required to reach this goal.

"I see open pastures, stupid mare. I am just finally giving these furless little monsters what they deserve. Your way may be best for the humans, but this is the best for all of our kind. You should think of your own before you think of others." The way he referenced the future along with her own private thoughts made her suspect he was also like her, capable of picking up on idle thoughts. She made sure to contain her mind.

'Ey lass, keep 'em talkin' while we zero in on 'em, will ya? Almost ready.' Her ears twitched at the voice in her head. A sideways glance revealed a gun still intact, off to the south where only one of her own stood, the other two beaten or dead, but all three bloodmongers on that flank pulled back or were killed. Two crewmen were steadily aiming their gun at Dierker. She resolved to buy them more time to line up a guaranteed shot.

"Why must you do this? Can you not see how you are ruining all of our futures?" All along both lines, the horses began to lose their battle high as postures started to relax and they exchanged confused glances. Dierker, glad to hear himself talk, decided to indulge her question,

"Working us like slaves! Making us mate with whoever they choose! Whipping..." He began to go into some kind of monologue. That was much easier than expected. He was an egotistical type that liked to hear himself talk, apparently. Her eyes flicked over to the gun crew, but Dierker caught her glance and looked, as well. His eyes widened when he saw the barrel of a howitzer aiming right at him with a pair of humans grinning while one held the firing cord. The man yanked it, but with that movement Dierker was able to just barely move as the gun belched out and sent a shell straight towards his head. As he turned his skull the round struck his cheek as he was turning away, making it detonate its explosive payload, but the angle did not allow it to penetrate. Instead the left side of his face was covered in explosive fire. He screamed out as it rent his flesh and scorched it at the same time. He clutched it in pain as he yelled out for his companions to attack.

At the same time she issued her own order for attack and both sides went barreling into each other. Annina went straight for the savage gray draft. He had just enough time to brace himself for the collision, but instead of tackling him she used her momentum by driving a hard punch into the side of his snout. She went for another jab, but he grabbed her hand and sent one of his own into her muzzle. Staggering away from each other, she leered and snorted out the blood flowing into her nose. When they attacked again, they both found themselves in a sort of arm lock with both restraining each other's arms from easy movement.

The stallion looked at her with a neutral expression, before grinning and simply stating, "You are hungry."

She did not ponder how he knew that, as she quickly noticed his teeth, stained red. It only took her a moment to realize what this meant. "Monster!" she roared out, and pulled him towards her and slammed her forehead into his muzzle. She meant to hit him in the nose, but fell short and hit his teeth. He stumbled back clutching his bleeding mouth, while she herself felt warmth oozing out from the top of her head. But there was no time to worry about that as she had an animal to put down. However, before she moved, someone approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her. The other draft had a lot of strength, and she could not easily free her arms. Dierker approached, ready to exploit her vulnerability. She began to swing her head backwards in an attempt to hit her captor's muzzle. Regrettably she missed as his head was not directly behind her and he subsequently dodged further attempts.

Dierker wrapped his hand around her muzzle to stop her head from thrashing. He once again bared that sneer of his as he pulled back one of his fists ready to clobber her. She desperately sent out a message to her comrades for aid, but they were all engaged in fights of their own. There was no one to help her. She braced for the battering while at the same time she struggled to free herself.

But the hit never came, instead she heard the distinct rattle of machine gun fire and a peculiar buzz. Dierker stumbled back as tiny bullets rattled against his skull. They had no effect short of possibly hitting him in the eye, but the attack caught him off guard. A pack of human airplanes descended from the sky and began to strafe any horse without blue paint on their shoulders. With Dierker no longer in front of her, Annina threw herself forward and out of the grasp of the other stallion. He did not have another opportunity to attack her as Gisa pounced upon him and began to beat on him with an artillery cannon.

Now free to focus on Dierker, she lunged at the distracted beast, tackling him onto a house and planted herself on top of him. She pinned his arms with her knees and wrapped a hand around his throat. He was as big as her, unlike the small one she killed earlier. His neck was much to thick and muscular for her to crush, so she used the other hand to jab him repeatedly in the face until blood was splashing her on the muzzle. The male, bared it though and focused on freeing his arms. He thrashed and bucked until he got his left arm free. He flung it up to get her own throat, but Annina pulled away and like a dog catching a treat, grabbed his middle finger into her muzzle and bit down. There was a crunch and a pop, and blood splattered onto her face as the stump of Dierker's finger pulled free from her maw. She spit the bloody morsel out and went straight back to assaulting Dierker's face. But someone wrapped their arms around her midsection and pulled her off of the evil creature. But whoever it was failed to contain her arms and she drove her elbow into the side of his head.

She immediately fall back towards where the howitzers were lined up as she noticed more bloodmongers coming from the city to assist Dierker. They were winning the fight, but now the reinforcements brought the mongers back up to par with fresh fighters against her own battered. "Everyone fall back! Run!" She lunged at one of the two horses ganging up on Gisa and shoved him into the other, allowing the draft mare the chance to flee. Dierker was standing where she beat on him. Blood all over his face and oozing from his nostril, the scorch mark on his face compounded it all into a brutal mockery of a horse's head. The bloody stump of his finger was seemingly forgotten. Planes continued to strafe them, causing most to cower and cover their eyes. But Dierker just stood and stared at her, with a bloody grin plastered on his face.

As she joined in the retreat, she only counted twelve others of her own. Six gone, out of eighteen. Only twelve of those willing to fight left. As she ran, Dierker shouted after her, "I do not know about you! But I think the numbers say the furless should die!"

-

Annina sat down behind the artillery line with a sigh of relief. She let down the group of British artillerymen she collected in the retreat and went straight to nursing her muzzle and scalp, both were bleeding. But thankfully, most of the blood covering her face was not even hers. She grinned as she thought about Dierker. She surprised herself, at how well she did. The fool must have been knocked down a few notches!

The other horses sat down around her, tending to their own wounds. Soldiers began to collect around them, wanting to look at the giants after the bloody fight. Many were looking at her, and with good reason, as she probably had enough blood on her to paint a barn. Heinrich or some other officer was going to approach them soon, for a situation report. Whoever it was better come to her, because she was not moving. She noticed Kurtz standing in the crowd, arms folded, looking them over.

'Most of it is not mine.' She directed towards him, in reference to the blood. The man grinned wickedly and nodded in approval.

"Six gone." She heard Heinrich as he stepped out of the crowd. "I am sorry."

'We got... I would say about fourteen of them either dead or out of the fight." She groaned. 'That still leaves them with, what? Twenty five? This is impossible, Heinrich!' She looked down at him with pleading eyes. 'We cannot go out their again. Not without a new plan, they would be expecting the artillery next time.'

"We will come up with something else, Annina, do not worry," he assured her, confident in his and the other officer's abilities to develop a new strategy.

She sighed tiredly, 'I cannot fathom anything else we could do.'

"We have been doing this longer than you have, fraulein, we will find a way. Soldiers have to always face impossible odds. They always risk never going home again. It is how war works." She did not need a pep talk, but he was right. Heinrich's unit has had to deal with impossible odds before, and he and many others were still here. The officer watched the artillerymen speak to their comrades about the action they saw. He looked back up to her and asked, "How did the guns work?"

She shrugged, 'They work. Rooftops were too weak for the guns and there were only three direct hits. They all caused crippling and fatal wounds. The rest took out a good chunk and evened the odds number wise.'

"Inaccurate, but effective." He nodded, "Better than useless. Thank you, Annina. Rest, and if you need anything, speak to Kurtz."

-

Stefan and Schultz shoved their way through the crowd, which was beginning to disperse. They were over a kilometer away from where Annina decided to sit down and rest and have been making their way over since. Stefan was worried about the mare. Schultz was too, but also for Gisa. "Annina!" He called out as he got near and stepped out into the clearing between the men and the horses. The courier noted she was covered in a lot of blood. She looked as if she survived a trench melee, which really was not that far from the truth, actually. "Christus, I looked like that walking out of the Somme," he commented, worried for her.

'I remember,' She responded rather weakly.She let down a hand for Stefan while Schultz went off to find Gisa. He stepped on and was brought up to eye level. 'Kurtz's advice was quite useful.'

"The man knows how to win a fight. He taught Heinrich everything he knows." He observed blood trickling from her nose, "Are you okay? Do you need help?" He knew he could not do much, but the presence of a friend could certainly help someone with Annina's characteristics.

'No, no. I am fine. Just... I just wish I had water. And food.' She fell backwards, so she was lying down, and placed Stefan on her stomach. He looked at her face from between her mounds and she looked back. 'I want to clean myself up. I want to drink without needing a truck load. I want food. We all want this. I suppose I do need help. But there is nothing you can do.' Stefan could certainly understand her feelings. After a brutal fight like that tending to basic needs would draw the mind away from the memory. Large amounts of water and food would do them so much right now. 'I wish I could be small again. That would really, really, help. This is a curse.' She shook her head, 'Dierker and those murderers found food. Apparently it did them well, too!'

"They did? What is it?" She stared at him, as if it was obvious. It took him a moment, but then he struck realization. His eyes widened, and he felt like vomiting. "Y-you would not do that, would you?"

'I would sooner eat my tongue and hands, and then die.' She scowled, horrified at the thought, 'Maybe trees are good?..."

"Ah... imagine them as broccoli?"

'What?'

"Broccoli. A vegetable that is good when boiled."

'See! I wish I could eat human food. But it is too small, and not enough! I want to be normal again.' Stefan did not know what to say, he could give her his apple that he still had. But what would that do? Taunt her? 'I grew when I needed to. Can I not shrink? I badly need that, right now!' She rested her head on the ground for a moment before plucking her friend off of her stomach. While holding him she rolled onto her side and placed him down on the ground right in front of her muzzle. 'Please, just stay close. I want your company right now.' Silently obliging, he stepped closer and placed a hand between her bloodied nostrils. Her warm breath felt good in the cool air. He basked in it for a few seconds before stepping around the upper half of her mouth and walked up close to her eyes. There, he sat down cross legged and leaned against her muzzle. There they simply watched each other as Annina let the closeness of their contact warm their minds.

They sat in silence, allowing their minds to remember simpler times, and beyond. Together they imagined happier times ahead, where Annina was of a smaller size and Stefan took her all over his homeland. Soon both of their eyes were closed in a sort of meditation that brought small smiles to both of their faces while their minds played. Stefan showed her his family as well as what his life was like before the war as a postman. Annina showed him what it was like to run through an open field as a horse without a rider, something he thoroughly enjoyed. At some point in their reverie, while the mare was imagining Stefan feeding her apples, the courier abruptly found himself no longer propped up against anything. His eyes darted open and he caught himself from falling over. Before him was Annina still, now with her own eyes open wide with surprise as she gradually shrunk. She sat up on her haunches and stretched out her legs with Stefan between them. They watched each other, the mare's gaze steadily rising while the human's panned down, with looks of mounting glee adorning their faces. When she finally stopped, she was back to her original three meter height.

Annina stood on her feet, and without saying a word approached Stefan and grasped him in a hug that lifted the small man off his feet. Smiling wildly, he reached up to grasp her neck and hugged right back. "How did you do it?" He muttered to her.

She grinned happily, 'I found something, in my mind. I just fiddled with it some. That is the best way I can describe it, and then I found myself shrinking!' Still in embrace, Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out the apple he had. She eagerly bent her neck down and snatched it up with her mouth.

-

"Oh! Ooooh!" Gisa grabbed Schultz off the end of her muzzle after she noticed Annina approaching and she was a lot smaller. "You are so tiny! How did you do that?!" She looked at Schultz, "Maybe you can bring me more apples Alby!" She cooed happily.

Annina looked up at her, but had to pause briefly. Schultz loathed being called Albert, his first name, and there he was being called Alby? He must like Gisa quite a bit. Shrugging it off, she answered the question, "The only way I can tell you is through our minds. "Open up, please."

Gisa did as instructed and allowed the other mare to guide her through the process that she claimed to have done. Through the mind's speed, it only took less than a second for her to reveal the process. Right after, Annina's presence left her mind and she did as instructed, all while internally expressing an immense desire to be small again. She held her eyes closed tight, with Schultz still in her hand. But, she felt nothing! And when she opened her eyes, Schultz was still there tiny as ever, eagerly awaiting for something to happen.

"It did not work," she frowned.

"Odd..." Annina pondered that for a moment. As far as she could tell Gisa did everything right. "How about this. Allow me to try it for you." Nodding, the white mare allowed Annina in to prod around. Again it took less then a second, but when the blonde mare did the process for her, It seemed to work! She quickly placed her human friend on the ground as she eagerly looked about as her perspective of the world shrank. Soon enough, she was breast to eye with Schultz. She promptly picked the man up and pressed him into her chest, not unlike what Annina did with Stefan. Though this soldier did nothing to hide his pleasure about the positioning.

Annina stood there coming to an understanding. If Gisa was representative of the group, then she would need to personally shrink the other horses herself. It made some sense. Among them, she was the only one with the advanced mental capabilities. The way she could enter a willing mind and interact with it was unique to her and possibly Dierker. This must be another unique ability of hers. Not wasting a moment she beckoned for the rest of her fellow equines to come to her location.

It only took moments for word to spread through their network. Each of them started to work their way through the humans below to come to her. As she watched them approach, Annina certainly could understand the humans. Giants were closing in on her, and despite knowing they were friendly, instincts told her she should flee. She had no problems squashing her flash of fear, however. When they were all presented, she set to work. Everyone was perfectly happy to be shrunk and none seemed capable of doing it on their own, confirming her suspicions that she was needed for the process. Many soldiers gathered round to observe the spectacle, and many approached the shrunken horses, now with their inherent fears no longer justified. Through her request, soldiers brought out fruits, vegetables, and water for their equine allies, who promptly tore into it like it was the first time they had ever seen food.

With the massive size difference now eliminated, the barrier that deterred most of the humans was no longer present. Before long, there was a large gathering of the horses and soldiers mingling together, happily interacting with each other without fear. The massively improved morale brought great joy to Annina, who sat next to Stefan while she idly munched on the contents of a bin of assorted vegetables he retrieved for her. She looked around, marveling at the spectacle. It was truly impressive how quickly the humans warmed up to them now. She spotted the familiar presences of the artillerymen they fought with earlier. They happily expressed much gratitude for not being forgotten and left behind when the horses retreated, and they personally encouraged their comrades to interact with the equines.

It was the behavior of those men that brought her the most happiness and hope. By aiding, protecting, and fighting with them, they developed a liking towards the equines that began to spread to the rest of the soldiers. She imagined it to be among the first steps towards being accepted by the rest of the human world. And now that they could shrink themselves down to more human like sizes, they could even possibly integrate and live among them one day.

She sensed Heinrich making his way towards them, and turned to face him before he said anything. He simply scanned over what has transpired with an approving look. He then looked at Annina with a pleasant grin. "Congratulations," he said and she could tell her sincerely meant it. He was very happy for her and her companions. "How did you lot manage this?" he asked, looking again at the other equines.

'I was in a state of deep thought with Stefan when I stumbled upon the possibility within my mind. I acted on it, and I shrank down. However for the others to shrink, I must do it myself in their mind." she explained. She also could not help but wonder what else could possibly be buried within her mind, or if she had discovered the extent of it.

Heinrich nodded slowly as if he started to come to an understanding, "You are a catalyst, it seems. Certain acts require your action to work. That blending of minds you seem to enjoy doing with Stefan only can be done with you to control the... network, I suppose. You are required to cause the shrinking process. Can you also make yourself and others grow again?" She sensed he already knew the answer to that, and simply nodded in response. She was certain of it, though she has not actually attempted it.

He smiled again, "Just as I hoped. Enjoy yourself and have fun. I will find you later, we need to talk." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Annina wondering what exactly was on his mind, and it must have been good as the man looked like he had something very, very important in the works.

-

"She can shrink them." Heinrich smirked as he looked over the expressions of the British officers.

"...With her mind?" Oone asked, disbelieving.

"With her mind. She is a catalyst. The others require her help to shrink themselves, and to grow back." The possibilities of this power could potentially avert the developing crisis that was thousands of giants, and even aid in putting down the hostile ones, if she could abilities could be deployed against them.

The general rubbed the stubble on his chin and questioned, "Do you think she can do it to our enemy? Make the infantry viable?"

Heinrich was quite pleased that this Englishman seemed to think a lot like him, "That is precisely what I think will help balance the odds."

"But how do you know? At one point you told us she can't even speak to a mind that simply chooses to ignore her. How in the bloody hell would she go about shrinking an enemy?" A young officer wondered. A good question, and it was his other worry about the idea.

Heinrich explained what he saw, "The process is quick, only a few seconds believe it or not. Do it upon an unsuspecting foe, and they likely will not have enough time to react." The general nodded at this in approval,

"We will test your theory. Not in a straight up fight just yet, however." General McGregor went on to elaborate, as his subordinates seemed confused how they were supposed to do that, "A raiding party. A few soldiers will accompany Annina to the town. She will shrink one down, then the soldiers do what they do best."

He was hoping the general would be accepting to a stealth mission, and here he was proposing it. That put Heinrich's worries about the idea being tested in a battle at ease. This way, if his theory was wrong, they would just need to figure something else out, rather than lose men and horses. It would cost time, getting a team to the town while Annina was downsized, but that was alright if it could preserve the lives of soldiers, and those of his unlikely allies. "A sound plan, _Herr_General."

McGregor looked to the highest ranked officer, "Devlin, I need you to find volunteers, four men should be enough."

Heinrich coughed to get his attention, "With all due respect, general, Annina would probably work best among close friends. Kurtz, two of my s_chützen,_and I volunteer."

"But you volunteer your men without their thoughts," the general prodded, "Would they really be up for it?"

Heinrich turned to look at Kurtz, sitting in a chair, "Möchtest du jemanden zu erstechen?" The sergeant grinned toothily and gripped the shaft of his sheathed bayonet. He looked back at the General, "My sergeant is more than willing. Private Schultz is very dedicated to his comrades and Private Karlson rode Annina through artillery barrages and machine gun fire and their fluidity together kept them both alive. If there is anyone that can fight alongside Annina and not urinate themselves, it is these men from my company."

The general yielded with a nod, "Fair enough, leftenant. I want you to set out as soon as possible."

By that, he meant get to work. "_Jawohl!"_Heinrich beckoned Kurtz and turned on his heel and exited the tent, leaving the British officers upset that the Germans were getting all of the action this time.

-

"Heinrich!" Schultz gleefully bellowed with a lazy salute as he saw the man approaching, followed by Kurtz, "Sergeant, too! Sit down, have a chat, take a load off, you work too much." The soldier was currently sitting in Gisa's lap. Annina and Stefan were next to each other and several other horses sat in a circle with a collection of food in the middle. They were all cleaned up from the fight they had earlier, now that they did not need entire reservoirs to bathe with.

Kurtz looked like he was about to yell at the private, but the lieutenant held up a hand to silence him and whispered something to him. The sergeant nodded and walked off as Heinrich took a seat, a gray mare scooted over to give him room. "From the looks of it, you all seem quite content." He commented with a friendly smirk.

"Well I know we are!" Schultz agreed and pushed himself deeper into Gisa's embrace. The mare responded by wrapping both arms around him in a tight hug. The other horses simply gave him thoughts of agreement, their moods greatly improved now that they no longer needed to worry about sustenance.

Heinrich shifted his attention to the bushel of red fruit before him. The horses ate fast, there was only around a dozen of the apples left inside. He then turned to look at Annina and Stefan, both of whom were sitting next to each other, with the young man leaning against the larger female. Stefan appeared very relaxed like that, and Annina seemed happy to have her, no longer her rider, but her friend so close. "Annina, Stefan," He glanced at Schultz, "Schultz, I need you all to come with me."

Without another word, Heinrich strode off towards a bunker used as as one of the German-British coalition's weapon caches. Kurtz was already there in the process of assembling their rifles, ammunition, bayonets and various other supplies they may need on a tarp. Heinrich was pleased at the speed the man got things done. He turned to face his soldiers, saying, but paused as he noticed Gisa standing behind Schultz. Allowing her to listen, he continued, "As you saw, Annina can shrink the giants. This, as you may or may not have figured, can turn this whole mess into a crushing defeat for these monsters - but only if we tread carefully and use it to trim their numbers. I doubt we will be able to shrink them all." He stopped and spared a glance at Annina, whose large hand had encompassed Stefan's. He found himself doubting whether he should bring the courier.

He quickly dismissed the thought. That was mildly unfair, Schultz was the one getting very obviously inappropriate while in uniform and under his command. But, Schultz, Stefan, Kurtz and he were all veterans of their unit. Schultz often complained, and could be very friendly to strange women, but the man had an iron will. Stefan had a role as a successful courier because of his calm demeanor under stress. Kurtz would fight a bear with his spade if he thought he had a chance at winning. They all knew and trusted each other, including Annina. If there was a squad of rag tag men with no infiltration training going onto a possible suicide mission and coming out with at least Annina alive, it would be them. "With the whole front consumed by chaos by the British blunder, our homes and the lives of thousands of men, women, and children are at stake. Souls like Annina, kind and merciful ones with the capabilities to end future bloodshed, may be the way to deter the coming storm. If there are more, we must find them. But first, we strike a blow to those who wish our deaths. The immediate threat. And that, my friends, is only possible with Annina. By God do I wish there was another way, but I see none." Heinrich finally locked eyes with Annina and looked up to her. "You are a Paragon of your kind. You may not fully realize this yet, but you will drive forward a new era in this world's history. Whether we will hear the howling winds of war or the chant of peace, rests with you."

The mare looked surprised by the man's cryptic words, clearly caught completely off guard. But the look soon vanished and was replaced by a confident nod. 'The howling winds shall carry the whisper of peace.' She understood. For peace to come, people must die. Soldiers must stand strong, shoulder to shoulder with their fellow man. German, British, French, American and the numerous others need to forgive their sins done to one another and face a threat that endangered all if left unchecked.

At least for now. Then they could go back to killing one another. There was a slight twitch on Heinrich's face at the cynical thought, but nonetheless he looked up to her with a stoic face. "I stand with you," he declared.

Stefan stepped forward, and placed a hand on the mare's forearm, "I enlisted to protect Germany. It needs me now more than ever."

Heinrich briefly thought about how... romantic, this seemed. Like it was something from those fantastical novels with soldiers willingly marching to their deaths for God and Country and for the safety of the innocents left at home. Maybe they were not so unrealistic after all.

"I have to impress the ladies, do I not?" Schultz plastered a lopsided grin on his face, "What better way than to jump into hell, kill a couple demons, and come back out raving on about killing hundreds?"

'I will fight with you too!' Heinrich was taken aback at Gisa suddenly bursting that out. He was honestly not expecting the rest of the horses to want to fight, not willingly. He wrote it off as her attraction to Schultz and was about say she could not come because she was too big for a rifle. But Kurtz, having sensed the coming denial, spoke up.

"She is strong as hell. I would be willing to bet we could equip her with a MG08 or a Vickers." He let out a throaty laugh, "If she could do that, I could see why Schultz is so horny for her." Heinrich inspected Gisa, with the currently pink Schultz in front of her, and could not help but agree with his sergeants deduction.

-

A truck bounded along the ground as it putted towards Cambrai. The flimsy looking vehicle was far more indiscriminate than Annina and Gisa in their larger forms, and was much quicker than on foot. It was an English lorry, with the driver being from the same nationality as his vehicle. Heinrich was in the front seat with him as his three human and two horse squad sat in the back. The truck itself would likely be spotted and intercepted if it tried to enter the town, but it would at least get closer than the horses in their larger sizes could without appearing like it actually wanted to get in. Then they would attempt to enter the town on foot. The blood mongers were scanning the outskirts for fleeing humans, but they were not flawless. The handful of German soldiers that joined their ranks and French civilians from the town seeking refuge could attest to that.

Kurtz was further instructing Gisa on the MG08 machine gun in her lap. The heavy, water cooled weapon, normally accompanied by a crew as much as seven, could be handled by her alone, and a lot of straps. The ammunition belt was linked together with others into a very long chain with the whole massive belt contained in a modified crate strapped to her back along with the water tank. Stefan had to admit, she was _terrifying_looking like that, with the hoses and the belt wrapped around her with the giant gun in her hands.

She received a whole five minutes of trigger time. But in that brief amount of time she proved very capable with the weapon. Her size allowed her to control the gun as if it were a regular infantry weapon, and her horse's strength allowed her to stand up and move with the ninety kilograms of weapon, water, and ammunition with relative ease. However, the jury rigged setup was prone to jamming, so Kurtz, the one among them with the most machine gun experience, was going to be her co-gunner. He would clear jams, make sure the hose was pinch free and remained attached, and to feed the belt into the weapon. It made them down one rifle, but a machine gun was worth a dozen, so it did not really matter. Arguably, a machine gun was a bad idea on a mission like this. However, their rifles may fire a large round, but these were creatures around three meters tall with a lot of muscle. The bolt action rifles alone may not be able to take a charging horse down in time before it broke one of the human soldiers in half.

Annina herself was not armed with anything. All her attention needed to be on shrinking giants. If she could not do that, their best bet at drawing the least attention would be Kurtz climbing up them with two bayonets like a deranged mountain climber. Annina actually picked that thought up from the man and shared it with Stefan, and they both found it hilariously amusing, though they did not tell him that. No, if she could not shrink their enemy, they would simply return to friendly positions.

Schultz was silent, his rifle on its butt vertically between his legs as he glared at it. Stefan was fairly sure of what the man was thinking; he was scared out of his mind. Scared he was going to die just after some fantasy of his came true. That he may not be able to lay with Gisa. But thankfully, his mind still controlled his loins, he was no conscript. Schultz was going to do his duty and die if needed. They all knew the man was an excellent soldier despite the way he sometimes behaved.

Stefan spared a glance to Annina, who was balancing precariously on the seat intended for a human buttocks. She caught his glance, and asked, 'Is something on your mind?'

'I am wondering. When this is all over, what happens then?' He mentally shared wit her. As far as he was concerned, Annina was one of his dearest friends, even before her change. He knew the world would not be readily accepting of such creatures. He worried about her future.

'Well, if we all die we do not have to worry about the future.' Stefan was surprised that she would think like that. Her lips curled back into a smile and she gave him a gentle nudge. 'Relax. I am sure we will all make it out of this. The future has far too many paths to predict, so for now we must try to influence it towards the correct direction. I know what you are thinking, that my kind will be killed out of fear.' She cast her eyes downward and shook her head, 'I do not want to die. But by doing what is right, and showing thousands of soldiers our worth, then maybe we could secure a good future.'

Stefan nodded slowly, "If there is any good left in this world, then something wonderful may come out of this." Stefan said that aloud for his other companions to hear.

Schultz scoffs, "Yes... something wonderful."

Kurtz chuckled hoarsely, "She is a damn horse. I do not think your cock will satisfy her." Schultz's head shot up and he glowered at the Sergeant with his face flushed red.

Gisa looked between the two for several seconds before shrugging. 'It is not like he has to just use his cock.' She focused one eye on Schultz and winked at him, an expression she most likely learned from the same man. Kurtz went rigidly straight at her words and stared at Schultz, the implications racing through his mind. A grin slowly spread across his lips before he burst into hoarse laughter. The other soldier looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the ideas planted into his mind.

Suddenly, the truck came to a stop. Heinrich appeared behind it, looking into the back at them. "We have arrived. Is everyone ready?" A round of confirmations came from them. Heinrich nodded in approval, "Let us get to it then."

-

When they made it into the town, Annina could detect hints of humans hiding in it. She could not locate people solely on mental connection, but she knew they were there, and they were terrified. But many of them carried a sort of resignation with them that calmed them and allowed her to touch their minds. She offered gentle reassurances to those she could reach. They were confused, but the returning signal of hope spurred her determination.

The team was quick on their feet as Stefan, on point, lead them through the streets. The courier carried enough correspondences through the town, including the civilian sectors, to know the layout through memory alone. They avoided gatherings of their foes, and sought out the loners. Spotting the giant equines was a simple task of seeing their gargantuan masses over the buildings and bee lining for the ones that chose to be alone. They hugged closely to anything taller themselves so as to avoid being seen overhead. Thankfully the initial scurry of energy that was their original hunt tapered off. At this point many of them seemed to just be putting in a token effort in their searches. If she had to guess, hunger for those that chose not to turn to carnivorous acts were starting to feel a lack of energy. The initial transformation apparently took a lot of energy, as everyone did not take long to feel the pangs of hunger. If they were discovered, Annina would grow herself and Gisa and the two would snatch up the four soldiers and make a run for it. An ever thickening line of British artillery would face down any pursuers. At this point many may not even have the will to chase after them at all. This may be easier than expected.

Small bursts of gunfire could be heard throughout the town as pockets of German survivors were discovered. The intermittent small arms fire meant when it came to firing their own, they would not immediately draw attention. Their weapons would, ideally, simply be written off as another group of soldiers giving their last desperate effort to live.

Soon enough, as they cut through ruined buildings, they came upon their first prey, though by accident. It was a black stallion, lying on the ground beneath the rooftops, thus he went undetected. His slow breathing implied he was asleep. "At your leisure, Annina." Heinrich whispered to their powerful equine friend. Annina went into her thoughts, and replicated what she did earlier. She found shrinking the sleeping stallion was child's play, as his mind was not even conscious to challenge her. Soon enough, there was a severely shrunken anthropomorphic horse lying in the street, and strangely, he never awoke during the process. Schultz and Gisa raised their weapons, ready for their officer's order to shoot, "Stand down," He said instead, gently pressing Gisa's massive gun down, and looked to Kurtz, "Sergeant, you know what to do." He nodded toward their mark.

"Yes, sir," he responded simply. He pulled a long serrated sword bayonet from its sheath and quietly made his way over to the slumbering stallion. He briefly stood over the beast, before crouching down, and raised his bayonet straight up, point down. With a mighty thrust, it plunged straight down into the beast's throat. His eyes shot open, but he could not move, as the blade crushed his spine. Staring the beast straight in the eyes, Kurtz dragged his blade perpendicular to its neck, halfway decapitating him and snuffing out his life almost as quick as the monster did to the German troops only hours before. Annina and Gisa dragged the heavy body into a building and out of sight. Both were clearly disturbed by the brutal killing. But, as violent as it was, Kurtz assured them that it was an extremely quick death, a mercy he felt these animals did not deserve.

They continued on, their next target a golden mare not too unlike Annina. However this one was awake unlike the Stallion before. She was sitting upon her rump in the middle of the street, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Annina informed them she was thinking about how to feed herself. Apparently only a small handful of the bloodmongers took to devouring human beings. With affirmation from Heinrich, she shrunk the mare down to a manageable size.

They saw the look on her face start out as shock and horror, but soon it molded into that of actual happiness. That happiness was short lived, however, for as soon as she stopped shrinking, bullets tore into her. Schultz and Stefan both fired twice with practiced efficiency, all of their shots finding clean torso hits. Gisa on the other hand, let loose like a novice gunner, with an overly long burst. However, her large size and strength resulted in a terrifyingly tight spread that cut the mare down. Heinrich told Annina through their link that he found himself feeling a tinge of regret at having her killed. Perhaps they could have convinced her to defect, as assurances of food has always been a powerful tool for gaining allies. Annina had to agree. But they could not risk it, not during such a delicate operation. When your foe was connected to each other telepathically, you could not waste time in ending them before they could realize their situation and get a message off to someone else nearby. The resulting chain would end up with every horse in the city knowing they were there.

After once again hiding another bloodied corpse, they carried on with their deadly mission.

-

General McGregor puffed on a pipe as he watched the town several miles away. What a massive cock-up. England was going to go down in history as the nation that toppled humanity from their cozy position at the top of the food chain. Whether they win at this or not, humans were not at the top anymore.

He considered it a bad idea to use the gas on such a scale, and he tried, along with other high ranking officials, to get Operation Purple Christmas scrapped in favor of more conventional methods. Such a deadly gas, one that seeped in through the skin as well as through the respiratory system, and killed more than ninety percent of its victims would have seen to the wars end within weeks, all with few English, French, or American military casualties. But it would be, and now was, at a massive cost of life. Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers and likely even French civilians were dead along the Hindenburg Line. And now, look what this got them. The German's horses and any other animals caught in the gassing transformed right out from under them and grown to mind boggling sizes. Then, before he knew it an entire infantry division and their supporting tanks were literally crushed under hoof. After they succeed against the bloodmongers, this bloody war will probably be considered over, with the Germans on the moral high ground. At least it will have accomplished the goal of ending the war before Christmas!

But succeeding against the bloodmongers will be quite the challenge. But, there was still hope. If there was anything this bloody war saw a lot of, it was guns. Big ones. At this very moment the Royal Marine Artillery boys were moving as quick as possible to send their big siege guns out. He himself was bound to receive a magnificently unwieldy and powerful BL-12 inch siege howitzer. The monumentally massive caliber of those weapons could easily obliterate one of those massive horses no matter the range it fired from.

But after observing the passable effectiveness of more proper guns at close range, he doubted they would even get a chance to use the Twelve. It was near on a hundred tons, so getting the thing positioned and actually hitting something that was alive and moving, even if at that massive size, would probably be impossible.

Still, if that huge shell hit one, it would be one hell of a show. Now, if they could get railway guns out into the field, that may just blow one to pieces. That would be amusing, but completely unnecessary. They needed big guns, true, but guns so big that they needed to be moved by a train was absolutely overkill. No, even the biggest siege guns were pushing it. Regardless, the French did move one of their railway cannons to a position not far from here. It was highly unlikely that weapon would be useful, even with its immense size.

Every spare artillery caliber gun within miles has either been brought to bear over the day, or was at least en route to the new front line. Rather than trenches bristling with troops and machine guns along the front, they now had lines of artillery, their guns leveled out for direct fire as if they were firing upon an army made solely of tanks. Thousands of the things of all sizes, all along the lines. British, French, American, and even German guns have all lined up to establish a barrier to protect from an incursion into the rest of France. Unfortunately, there was not a line to the east that could protect that side of Europe. They have done what they could do brief the Germans east of the kill zone on the situation, and there was no doubt they will be deploying their own siege guns. The Huns liked their siege guns massive, bigger than even the twelve inch, but he doubted it would be enough to contain the threat. A lot of their artillery was lost in the initial gas attacks along the line. Germany was also the only massive military power combat ready east of Cambrai, so they would shoulder most of the burden until the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary could mobilize and contribute to the defense.

He had been receiving regular updates on the news along the front. Cambrai was a rather small situation in the scheme of things, but it was perhaps the most violent. Numerous animals have been changed and grown by the gas, but they were not normally hostile like the horses in Cambrai. In fact, when dogs changed they turned out to be incredibly friendly, helpful even. Wild animals tended to be skittish. The horses and mules, among the majority of changed considering their use by militaries, seemed to fall into groups of friendly, neutral, or hostile. However without the guidance of a catalyst, they tended to be rather tame in nature, and the hostile ones were not too difficult to eliminate as they lacked leadership or guidance. Cambrai was odd in that, so far at least, it had the only two catalysts discovered, and both were strong opposites of each other. This lead up to the situation they had now, with both catalysts essentially leading their own respective groups with the neutrals dividing among them. It was completely insane. But they needed this situation resolved quickly so they can start having Annina shrink down the giants all over the French countryside. But that was not easy considering the organization that this Dierker brought to the table.

Oh how he wished they could mount these guns on some kind of self propelled platform that would not crumple under the recoil, and still move at a respectable pace. Then they could actually take the initiative and chase these monsters down. The tanks were not cut out for this. Earlier this morning they were the biggest, most terrifying thing on the battlefield. Now they were practically toys to these enormous creatures. You were better off on foot than in one of those metal death traps. If they had the time and materials they maybe could modify some of their tanks to be a sort of self propelled platform for the howitzers. That would solve the issue of having to push a gun into close range on foot and set the thing up to blast a giant before it got stomped. A mobile platform would remedy the set up process, but a tank could barely trundle along at a jogging pace on hard, flat ground. They were slow as all hell and would never be able to catch one of those behemoths.

But then an epiphany struck him. He took the pipe from his mouth as his brows furrowed. Artillery platform, one strong enough to carry a howitzer as well as not buckle under the recoil, and quick enough to catch a giant, and not get immediately crushed. By God, the answer was right under his nose! He sorely needed Annina and those Germans to get back safe. If that catalyst died out there then he would be struck with a bunch of 'normal' horses and his idea would be impossible.

-

After their fifth kill the squad decided they should not keep pressing their luck and return while it was safe. As telepathics themselves, Annina and Gisa knew that when enough horses fell off the network, then others would become suspicious. Annina was sure that if she were leading a group that was slowly losing members like this, she would already be alert. Her mental effects had a greater range than those of the normal mental capabilities, and were more in tune with those around here. Five kills alone helped to balance the scales at no cost to their own strength and they confirmed the effectiveness of her abilities against their enemy. This mission was a success.

So, they backtracked to where they came from. The truck driver assured them that he would be waiting for them in the outskirts, they just had to get to him. Annina knew that Stefan felt the overbearing pressure of leading them around undetected. He knew the place well, even in its battered and destroyed state. It was the presence of her in his mind that reassured him, and her constant updates on the idle thoughts of the giants certainly helped him decide on their routes. The two mares could simply grow and then flee with their four comrades, but ideally they would like to escape the town unnoticed. Leaving five dead without a trace would certainly have a larger morale impact.

As they continued on, rather abruptly, a cold presence seeped into Annina's mind. An opposite to herself. She instantly knew who it was, and he knew exactly where they were.

Thinking quick, she grew herself and Gisa. While in the middle of their growths, both moved to grasp their friends, but Dierker came crashing towards them. His huge legs crashed through buildings as he hurled himself towards them. He slammed into the two, his larger size easily outmatching their still growing forms. The pair tumbled away, dazed from the heavy impact as they fell into several buildings.

The soldiers tried to scatter, with each one fleeing in a different direction. Annina was quick to launch herself to her feet. She immediately started her counter charge. But Dierker's attention focused on the humans fleeing around his feet. He chose one, and with one mighty step, _Oberleutnant_Heinrich Kraus was killed instantly. She physically cried out as his familiar presence in her mind vanished. The mare braced herself as she went barreling into the murder's side, sending them both crashing to the ground. With her on top, she was about to pummel him into the ground when she noticed his left hand held another one of her friends.

Kurtz was wrapped in his hand, desperately trying to pull something from his belt trapped in the stallion's massive grip. She felt the icy presence of Dierker feel amused at her change in attention. With both of his upper arms pinned beneath her knees, she grabbed the evil monster's left forearm and tried to squeeze it to loosen his grip on the soldier. But he held tight, and the vice grip closed in on the small human. Kurtz let out a blood curdling cry as his legs and pelvis and lower abdomen were crushed. But showing amazing will, the man still held his senses as he pulled his bayonet free from its pinned position at his waist, and with trembling arms raised it up and stuck straight down into the soft flesh between the stallion's thumb and finger.

Expecting it, Annina caught the man as he fell from the male's hand and quickly tucked him close to her chest before propelling herself to her feet as help was about to arrive for Dierker. Gisa had already just collected the other two soldiers. Without having to say anything Gisa turned on her hoof and ran with Annina close behind. They sprinted out of the town, with Gisa briefly slowing to take the British driver up with a jogging grab.

Annina sheltered the crippled soldier in her hands as she ushered into his mind comforting assurances. His thoughts in return were a muddled mess of agonizing pain not made any better by the jostling movements of her run. Pain would not block her presence, not like significant fear, but touching his soul in such a state of agony practically brought pain on her self as well, but she bore through it as she tried to assuage him.

By the time they reached friendly lines, Kurtz was still alive but she could tell he was rapidly deteriorating. The guns remained silent as the pair leaped over them into the safety of the friendly zone. She was expecting to hear them fire away right after, but still they stayed silent. A glance back showed their pursuers had stopped a fair distance away, outside of the effective kill range of the guns.

Realizing that the threat has passed, Annina quickly shrunk herself and Gisa down. Without losing a step she shifted Kurtz so she cradled him with both arms with his broken lower body dangling limply. He was twitching slightly as blood crept from his mouth, his gaze unfocused. She recalled the location of the nearest medical station and rushed off towards it, Schultz and Stefan tailing behind her faster gait.

A doctor saw her coming and ushered her in to the big tent. The doctor pointed out a table where she placed the soldier down. "What happened to him?" The doctor asked as he set to work assessing the damage. "Jesus, he looks like he was crushed by a tank."

"Essentially that was what happened. Will he live?" She asked of him, desperate to hear that the man could help Kurtz.

The doctor shook his head in amazement, "I... no. No he should have died on the way here. He has so much internal bleeding it's coming out of his mouth. There is nothing I can do. This man is going to die within minutes if not seconds." He grabbed a syringe of morphine and with pained resignation he stuck it into Kurtz's leg, knowing that he was once again easing the passing of another soldier.

Kurtz's mouth bobbed open and closed multiple times as his eyes tried to focus on Annina. Giving up on speaking, she felt his voice enter her mind, "This is it then. Crushed by a god damned horse. I cannot believe it." His words carried bitterness and anger with it. Saying nothing she sat down on her knees and with her right hand she scooped it under his head while the other clutched his hand. His physical body simply twitched as his mind started to lose its hold. But his mental presence warmed at the touch and closeness.

She did not intend to say much, she simply willed for their minds to mingle, not unlike what she did with Stefan. She was going to make his last moments peaceful, he deserved that much. Their personalities embraced. Kurtz was angry, spiteful, and possibly violently hateful. But beneath it all she knew he had a good heart. She felt his anguish over the loss of every soldier under his command killed today. The death of Heinrich tore at him even in his physical trauma. In his dying throes his mind raced with thoughts of better times. He showed her his family and his home, and with that information she brought it to life in his mind. The shaky memories settled down as his incorporeal body found itself home as it relived happy times. It was a simple thing. He was just home with his mother and younger siblings, joyful as could be despite his failing body. She watched it play out, both warmed and dejected at the fading image of Kurtz, his face unscarred and a massive smile across his lips. But she felt him falling away from her as his body died, and she struggled to maintain the flickering world for the fallen soldier.

Minutes passed in seconds in the mind, but she was sorry she could not hold it together until the very last moment. But Kurtz used the last of his strength to take some control of their link. The interior of the home fell away to a simple white cloudy nothingness. Before her, standing eye level with her was the scarred sergeant. His uniform was muddy, his helmet was battered and he held a worn rifle in his left hand. His gaze into her eyes showed no anger, just the long look of someone deep in thought. She was worried he was already gone and this was a mere fragment of him left, before he suddenly spoke.

"You are going to make this world a better place, a more beautiful place." He shook his head as he looked at his boots. "Your existence alone already does." He looked back up at her, "I am happy to be able to lay down this rifle," The weapon slipped from his hand and hit the white ground with an echoing clatter, "knowing that there will be people like you to make men like me no longer needed." He offered her his arm and she grasped it, locking their forearms together. "I would die again fighting for what you wish for the world. I only hope there will be no fight. Goodbye, Annina."

Letting their arms separate, she bid him farewell. He spun on his heel and walked away into the foggy white, leaving her alone with the abandoned, tired old rifle still at her feet. Annina stared at the gun as she felt Kurtz's presence begin to completely leave her. The rifle was all that remained of him, before it too faded away. With just herself left in the void, she could not help but wonder. What did Kurtz see in her? She was unsure of her future, but Kurtz saw a beautiful world in it, and somehow she was involved in shaping it. She could not know how he could see so far into her, so far that even she could not see it. But it left her almost happy. The pain of the losses of Heinrich and Kurtz were still strong, but the sergeant left her with a feeling of motivation. Not one driven by revenge, but a simple drive that coupled with her desire to see things turn out for the best. If Kurtz could have this affect on her, she could not help but wonder what Heinrich would have told her, if he had the chance.

She pulled herself from her own mind to find herself looking at the passed on body of Kurtz. His eyes were closed of their own volition and his lips were sealed, with the barest hint of a smile. Stefan's hand was resting on her shoulder, and she nuzzled into it.

-

At some point while they were away, the British general had a revelation on how to overwhelm the bloodmongers through superior firepower. It was a simple plan, so simple in fact that Annina, along with Schultz and Stefan were upset that nobody, including themselves, thought of it until after their lieutenant and sergeant were killed in a situation that could have been avoided. He sought them out immediately after they returned, to her dismay in fact. She wanted a moment to reflect on what Kurtz had said to her and to seek the counsel of her human friend, Stefan, on the matter, as well as mourn the deaths of her friends. But they had to move quick, more people like Kurtz and Heinrich were dieing in that town, and it was only a matter of time until the bloodmongers moved on. They could possibly move into the civilian populations in the region, or back east into Germany itself as the strengthening British line became a significantly less viable target. So McGregor came up with a plan that would allow them to intercept the bloodmongers even if they did try to flee.

The idea was to break down howitzers so that it was just the gun and the recoil mechanisms. In that state it would be impossible for a human crew to operate as there was no way to aim the weapon, as it would just lie their helplessly on the ground. However, the plan called for no human gunners at all. Instead the pull string for the weapons would be lengthened and a long piece of wood would be tied to the end of it to serve as a grip point. Their horses, grown back to their gigantic sizes, would carry the weapons in their hands and operate them like hand cannons. The idea was they would approach a bloodmonger, use their one shot to either kill them outright at point blank range, or severely wound them. Then they could use the weapons as bludgeons in the ensuing brawl, which at that point they should have attained numerical superiority.

It was fantastically brilliant. There was no way the bloodmongers could counter it. They would not even see it coming until it was too late. Then they could mop up the rest, or even force a surrender. Annina herself planned to finish the job the British gunners tried earlier by shooting Dierker in the face. They wanted to move quickly, which meant she had practically no down time right after their little commando raid.

Annina herself was holding a large BL-9.2 inch howitzer. The gun was large by human standards, however with her massive size it fit snug in her grip. But it had quite the heft to it. It was like holding a heavy steel weight, which it essentially was, and she would have to raise the thing with one hand and pull the dangling pull string with the other. She fired a practice shot earlier, and it launched itself out of her hand and destroyed itself on the ground. This new one she would be sure to hold tight so she could keep it to crush Dierker's head with if her shot missed.

Now they all stood before the town, even the ones that were neutral before. It seemed the food from the humans and their company swayed their opinions. This put their numbers at sixteen, each with a British gun in their hands. Airplanes were buzzing around overhead, waiting to assist any of them in distress, but she doubted they would be needed. It was time to end this, and it was going to be over very quick. The total number of enemy horses in the town was slightly more than twenty, but Annina's unit will have the advantage. With the mare's order, the horses advanced onto the town at a steady pace in a line formation. They were matched by eighteen blood mongers including Dierker himself. They all were holding artillery cannons from the German battery. The rest of the beasts stayed in the town, and Annina suspected they would not be joining the fight. The eighteen that did decide to partake stopped in a line matching their own about four hundred meters away. When nothing happened, Dierker ordered a charge, just as Annina wanted him to. They broke into a run straight for them, confident with their weapons and greater numbers. Annina had her allies raise their weapons, their enemy faltered and slowed in confusion, but it was too late. At point blank range their weapons fired and there went over half of the bloodmongers in an instant. Some shells missed, but at that range most found their mark, and many went down hard with only seven left standing. Acting quickly, they counter-charged and slammed straight into their broken rank, howitzers flailing.

Between the two fighting forces, Annina and Dierker looked each other down. For once, the horrible male did not have the look of cruel arrogance, but she detected fear. Knowing she had the upper hand, she shoved through the brawl towards him. The stallion seemed uncertain about what he should do as the mare approached him with a very large, loaded howitzer.

She expected him to run away, so when he actually sprinted towards her, she did not have the time to ready her heavy weapon. Finding herself on her back and Dierker wrestling her arms, she could not get the gun into position. But her misfortune was short lived as the white furred form of Gisa came plowing into the stallion and threw him off of her. Annina shot to her feet, and the two mares stood side by side, with more of their allies showing up to support them as the melee very rapidly became a crushing defeat for the bloodmongers.

Once again the male surprised her by again attacking, rather than fleeing. But she was more prepared this time, and raised her weapon and pulled the cord. The massive cannon hurt her wrist as it lurched it back, but through the smoke cloud she saw Dierker still coming.

She had missed, and now he, once again, slammed into her. But rather than try to beat on her, she felt him enter her mind as he tackled her to the ground. "You figured out how to shrink. I found something else. Something better!" Their minds mingled, much to her horror. He was dark, cold, and the hatred she felt almost made her ill, and he did something to her. She sensed panic coming from her comrades, and she felt her body scraping along the ground as if she were moving. It only took her a momentary glance around to realize she was growing, again! It was not painful like the original growth, but it was not something she wanted! Dierker and her were growing together, which meant she would have to take him on alone. Despite being on the ground, she found her perspective going up and up as the buildings started to become absolutely miniscule. The unwelcome presence in her mind radiated with glee. "I knew it would work! I only needed another like myself. The odds are even again."In his reverie, she managed to throw him off of her and jump to her feet.

By now, even Gisa who was only slightly shorter than herself normally, was at hip level, and that difference was steadily expanding. The mare looked up at her and crossed her arms, "Hm. Schultz told me about how he loves the size difference between he and I. He would go nuts over this." Annina could tell that despite the joke, Gisa knew how dire this was.

"You must leave," She said down to them as she just kept growing, putting Gisa at knee height. The rest were already starting to flee back to friendly lines while Gisa lingered. The airplanes flying around were starting to feel much less unreachable. By the time she stopped, she could easily reach beyond the altitude most of them were maintaining. A look down showed Gisa was only halfway as tall as her shin. "Go!" she boomed to her, prompting the tiny mare to run off.

She turned to face Dierker, who had also stopped at a similar height. An airplane buzzed between them. The pilot inside was absolutely floored at the scale of the two titans. If she held her hand next to that airplane, she could balance it on a finger. The city beneath their feet looked absolutely miniscule, and her presence alone was destroying buildings, as he hooves were wider than a street and had to destroy buildings to make room. Whole structures were barely as tall as her ankles.

She felt fear and worry wash over her. If she allowed Dierker to best her, then not even her fellow horses would be able to stop him, let alone the humans. She allowed that fear to drive her and take her out of the shock of the situation. She lunged at Dierker, still admiring his work, and landed a punch square into the scorched side of his face. There was a crack as she broke something and Dierker stumbled back, buildings crumbling beneath his feet as if they were nothing more than tiny little toys.

She cringed at the sight. There was not going to be much of this town left after this. The airplanes sprang into action and began to initiate strafing runs on the stallion. The peppering bullets did not even faze the stallion, she doubted he even felt a thing. One of the craft carried out its run too long and he swatted at it like a fly. Its wooden frame crushed instantly against his hand, sending the broken pieces hurtling towards the ground.

'Bloody hell!' she caught a pilot saying to her. "We cannot do anything here. Hold on ma'am, we will try to get some bombers out here.' The aircraft climbed up out of reach and began to fly off into the distance, leaving her all alone. She readied her fists as Dierker came charging at her.

-

Stefan and Schultz, along with every human along the line stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle in the distance. Two titans fought it out in the middle of the town that has been the center of attention through the whole day. The town itself looked like a play set at the feet of them. They did not even seem to notice the tiny buildings being demolished below.

The rest of the horses, helpless to do a thing now that they themselves were miniscule in comparison, came running back to the human lines seeking guidance on what to do now. Shaking themselves out of their awe, the pair of soldiers found Gisa to find out what happened. She scooped them up and looked at them wide eyed. 'They just grew! We have no idea how it happened, but they are so huge! I think I understand how you little ones feel now. It was terrifying!'

"We must act quickly!" They were interrupted by the voice of the general shouting up to them. "The French have deployed a railway cannon not far from here. We need all of you to go get it and bring it here." Stefan and Schultz could not understand what the man said, but Gisa answered that question.

'He wants us to go get a railway gun. Why?' She inquired to to her comrades.

Schultz's eyes widened at that request. "A railroad gun?! Christ, even at your sizes that is a tall order."

Stefan nodded in agreement, "They would have to carry it as a team, but a gun that size may have the strength to hurt Dierker enough to give Annina the advantage."

'I do not believe you understand how big they are right now.' Gisa stated simply, confused as to how they thought an artillery weapon would be any help now.

"And I do not think you understand how big a railway gun is. It probably will not kill him, but we must help Annina!" Schultz urged her on, "Listen to the Englander, you must get that gun!"

-

She was not sure how to handle this. Both of them have developed a basic understanding of hand to hand fighting, so the standard tactic of tackle and beat was not exactly working anymore. Their exchange of strikes was a contest of endurance, something she could not risk losing. Nothing was big enough to use as a weapon, leaving them both with just their bodies.

She could not lead him to the British lines, either. It was not that he would not be willing to follow, it was the fact it would not do a thing to stop him and many more would die. So instead she had to figure something out. She was alone here and countless lives depended on her. She did not allow that to pressure her, but to instead drive her harder.

She lashed out with a kick that connected with the male's knee, making him land on it. She followed through with a punch to his head as it came to stomach level with her. She managed to strike him two more times before he used his crouched position to launch himself into her. They both fell to the ground, and he had no chance to pin her so they ended up right back where they were once they got back to their feet, only with Annina slightly satisfied at the damage she had done to him.

The familiar rumble of aircraft in her ears caught her attention, as well as Dierker's. Bomber airplanes were inbound for Dierker, at a relatively low altitude but still out of reach. Annina took a step back so as to not risk getting hit by any. Dierker looked up at them and rather than move, he simply let the bombs land on him. Little explosions dotted along his body, and he simply laughed! They were like firecrackers, they made a lot of noise and some flames, but were relatively harmless. Then, the stallion turned to follow the bombers, and with a mighty leap and his arm extended, he actually managed to reach their height! His hand swept through their formation, completely obliterating three of them and prompting the rest to scatter and ascend.

Still laughing, he looked at her again. "It is hilarious! Is it not?! They can do nothing! We are just so big! It is like swatting at flies. Big, dumb, slow moving flies." Annina glowered at him, but said nothing. Those were people! They were not flies! She tensed, ready to attack again, when another voice called out to her.

"Bring him towards the British lines!" She heard in her head, a slightly familiar voice she believed to be from Klaus, one of the males in her group. It would be foolish to look for him, so instead she spoke back, making sure Dierker would not be able to intercept it.

"I cannot risk the damage that would cause. I have to do this alone." She retorted, she obviously already had this idea and decided it would only make things worse.

"The others arebringing a giant gun over. It is huge! I think it may actually be able to hurt Dierker, you must try!" Deciding to trust the male, she feigned a falter in her confidence, before breaking off to make a run for it as if she were fleeing from his wrath.

As she hoped, he followed after her."Haha! You think your precious humans can help you now?" She cleared the distance to the line in a significantly quicker time in her much larger size. From her incredible height she could see the huge railway gun sitting out in the open. At least, it would be huge if she were of a reasonable size. But it looked like it may be big enough to maim Dierker, allowing her to take the upper hand.

She slowed her stride to a stop directly in front of the big howitzer and turned to face the evil one, and he slowed himself. A grin broke across his face as artillery began to pelt him harmlessly. She knew those guns were irrelevant right now, what she needed to do was to make sure that huge one had a guaranteed hit on Dierker. She doubted the thing could fire very often.

"Exactly as I expected. When I kill you, I will not have far to go now!" He declared and began to approach as Annina ran scenarios through her head. She thought back to what Kurtz first told her about brawling. That was when she recalled something useful. Go for the crotch he said.She mentally kicked herself. Of course! She silently thanked the late sergeant as she swung out with light, but quick kick. She struck the male right in his free to the air testicles. Dierker's eyes bulged out of their sockets and he staggered and held is nether regions. Annina used the opportunity slip behind him, and kick him in the back of the leg, sending him to his knees. She watched as the gun fired. It was just a poof and a loud pop from her huge size, but she could tell from the reactions of even the horses that it was thundering. The shell slammed into Dierker's left thigh, blowing a decently sized hole out of it, undoubtedly eliminating the use of that leg.

The male screamed in agony at the loss of his flesh. With him unable to push up with his legs now, and disoriented from the hit to his groin, Annina wrapped her arms around his neck and began to squeeze the life out of him. The thick horse's neck would be impossible for her to break, but not for her to do this. He flailed at her arms, trying to get her off, but to no avail.

But she did not kill him like this. No, she had complete control now. So she watched the huge gun in action. The French crew scrambled to feed a new shell into the beast. Dierker's movements began to slow as he lost oxygen and his struggles all but ceased. When the weapon was ready, she dragged him toward it, pried his mouth open and practically put the barrel of the weapon into his muzzle. It looked ridiculous, so tiny, but it was certainly deadly.

The gun fired again, this time straight into his open mouth where it hit the back of his throat and exploded. The blast blew up into his brain, sending fragments up to it and killing him quickly. In disgust of the horrible creature she held, she brought his body away from the gun and dropped it unceremoniously on the ground with a thud that visibly shook the countless artillery cannons and humans around her.

There was dead silence for a few moments, as she stared at the corpse. She shook her head in contempt, before her mind was suddenly hammered with the cheers of the humans and horses beneath her. Looking down at them, she could see they were physically cheering for her, but she could scarcely hear them.

A huge smile crossed her lips, and she raised a fist in triumph.

-

Stefan pushed his way out towards Annina. He wanted a good look at her, in her titan size before she shrunk herself back down again. He was the only one to get so close. Knowing she would not hear him, he simply used thought to speak to her. 'That was amazing. I have seen some things in my time, but that was just incredible."

He sensed her huge eyes look down at him as he approached her hoof. He reached out with a hand to touch it in astonishment. He was not even taller than her hoof! Where before he reached past her ankle. Here it was like a sloped wall nearly twice his height before it turned to fur. She responded in glee, 'I had a lot of help.' Her giant foot lifted away from him as she took a step back. It landed with a thunderous shake that shook him to his core, but he felt no fear. She knelt down to get a better look at him. 'You are so incredibly tiny. I must hold you before I shrink.' He offered his acceptance and he saw her mighty hand come down towards him. The swoosh of displaced air washed over him as her hand came to a rest before him. He grabbed a hold of her fur and climbed up to the top and crawled over to the center of her palm. Where before she could hold four grown men with some space between them, now her hand could hold several parked tanks.

She slowly lifted him up to eye level, aware that too quickly could hurt or even kill him. When she stopped, he found himself looking into a blue eye larger than he was. It was incredible how comfortable he felt about this. Only earlier today the concept of giants mortified him, but now now. Even with those eyes so big, all he saw was warmth and he felt comfort from that. He knew the purity of this one's soul, and with such a massive presence it only brought him peace, rather than fear. It was as if the horrible things in the world could all be stopped with her there. That meant a lot to a man that has seen so much death and fighting over the last few years.

He stood up and walked over to her eye, and laid a hand on its edge. He saw his reflection like a mirror in it. Her pupil dilated as it focused on him. He never knew eyes were so beautiful. They were impressive in their own right, but so close, and so big, he could see every little detail. He shook his head in amazement at the sight.

Soon she began to shrink herself. He remained in her hand all the way down to her normal size, where she brought him into two arms and embraced him. He hugged back, happy to see it all over and her back to a size where he could show her proper affection.

-

General McGregor further informed them of what had happened across France, saying that Annina would be needed all over the former Hindenburg line to gather up the groups of horses and other animals to help them come to understand their new life, and more importantly shrink them down to a manageable size. But, the situation has contained itself rather well. Most of the creatures were lost and confused, but not hostile. Those that were, were dealt with by the significant amount of ordnance that has coated France for the past three years. They were being assembled in large groups to hasten the process, as the biggest concern was food at the moment. But with the threat of Europe being overrun seemingly averted, the humans could focus on moving massive quantities of appropriate food for the very short term. So that meant, after she shrunk the surviving, less violent blood mongers down she could have a rest for the night.

The general ensured each of the horses had a place to stay in the form of large tents. Annina, specifically got her own to herself. She was currently here with Stefan, both were sitting on several bedrolls laid out for her to sleep on, with the tent sealed closed.

The pair found themselves in the familiar position with Stefan leaning up against her larger size with her arm around him. They were not sharing their minds though, they were simply enjoying the physical closeness.

Annina was not sure about the affection they felt for each other. They were never afraid to nuzzle each other when she was a four legged horse. But she was starting to feel more for her small human. It was odd to think about, like what Schultz seemed so open to with Gisa, but she was not turned away from it. Perhaps one day, if Stefan felt the same way, there could be something more.

Her mind wandered back to Kurtz. She has been wanting to ask Stefan about it since it happened, but circumstances did not allow her the time. Now, she had a whole night with him, so she brought it up, 'When Kurtz died, I spoke to him. He told me some interesting things.'

"Like what?" He used his actual voice to speak to her.

'He said I will make this world a better, beautiful place. He said he would die again fighting for what I wished for the world.' She was certain that memory of the sergeant will stick with her for the rest of her life.

"Soldiers fight for many things. Country, God, Freedom. What do you wish for the world?" The man looked up at her, curious.

'I do not know, exactly. It is so much to think about. I am not even sure how big the world is!' Stefan chuckled at that. Though she was certainly very capable, she still has only seen the world as it was for less than a day. She had much to learn.

"You will develop these sorts of things over time. Today you learned much already. It will come in time. But if I had to guess, it may have something to do with peace and unity. Look at what you have done. German, British, and horse stood side by side today under your guidance to put down evil today. It was like something from a fairy tale."

'But that was just out of necessity. It had to be done.' She was not exactly sure how the former enemies will see each other after this. She hoped they would lay down their arms, as coming together after something like this would surely create some kind of bond.

"What needs to be done and what actually gets done are not always the same thing. Though you did not make the decisions, you were always at the head and strove to see it through. You have a strong will to see what needs to be done fulfilled. Now, with all of the others out there that need your guidance, you are destined to become a leader. And I think you will be an amazing leader. One that will make this world a better, more beautiful place." She had a strange feeling that Heinrich would have told her something along this vein. It felt right, but it sounded so difficult.

'That seems rather overwhelming.' She stated her thoughts, though mildly amused. She would not run away from this, no matter how much of a struggle it would be.

"Well, if it helps any I will stay with you to help shoulder the burden." He looked up at her, smiling eagerly. Annina suspected something deeper there. Perhaps he was starting to feel the same way as her, though his thoughts seemed slightly confused as if he was not sure himself. They could work on that.

'Is that so? How about tonight? It is going to get quite cold.' She looked back down at him, herself smiling lovingly at her closest friend.

"Of course. I hate the cold."