I slept for a few hours of rest before I was awoken by a small figure leaping onto my chest. The thing nuzzled into my breasts and wrapped thin arms around my neck. I shook my head and looked at Aphiwe that looked deep into my eyes with a sharp toothed smile.

  “Morning Sister,” Her face peeked up from between my tits as she rubbed her cheek against my sternum. “I have exciting news. I went and practiced some more and there is a group that has come to see us. Hyenakin, but they have stripes instead of dots.”

  I cupped her and pulled her up to rub my cheek on the top of her head between her ears. I let out a cackling yawn. I remembered pulling away from Melokuhle as she and Bongani cuddled together on the padding with my encouragement. “I’m proud you went and practiced without me. That is a great sign of a warrior in training.” I sat up holding Aphiwe to my chest as I went over to the food and water stored in my hut. I handed her some dried meat as I chewed my own.

  “Sister, I heard some people whispering about you,” Her ears drooped as she kept close to my chest. Her jaw worked the meat until it was chewed properly. “They say you are not a warrior anymore.”

  “They cannot change what I am in my heart. Just cause Ade has charged me with breeding will not change me. I would rather leave the cn than listen to her demands right now.” I dipped a cup into the fresh water and held it to my lips chugging it down before repeating it and handing it to Aphiwe.

  “What do you think I will be told to be when I am grown?” She asked while she sipped at the water slowly.

  “If I am in charge you would be a great warrior in the cn. Bringing honor and strength to the vilge. I will raise you to be able to lead the warriors into great battles at my side.” I wrapped my hand around her shoulders as she finished the cup and leaned her cheek against me. That strange alien feeling filled my chest once more.

  “I will be your great warrior Sister. I will work and be strong like you.” Aphiwe sat in my arms for a few moments as she rexed in the attention. I had never been doted on like this when I was a child and I worried it would make her soft. “I will go practice more. What are you going to do?”

  I thought about that for a moment, “I’m going to see these other kin. It has been years since we have met with other hyenakin and I was not an adult then. Now I would be allowed to interact with them.” I set Aphiwe down and she smiled up at me. “Don’t forget to drink enough water, and eat plenty of meat for your body to grow strong. We will meet and evening meal, I will have a special treat for you.”

  Her toothy grin was dazzling and I felt that warmth flood through my chest as she scurried off with the energy of a child. Her ribs still stood out and I would have to do plenty of work to fill her out. Stretching out my body I could hear my powerful muscles creak in the morning light. I let myself scratch behind my ears for a light moment to send shivers down my own spine.

  I stepped into the light of day. The quiet paths between everything were littered with my kin sleeping in what shade they could get. I could still smell the orgy I had sparked the night before. A sense of pride that my powers could manipute people so well filled me. Rolling my neck I strode through the grounds, my ears pricked up and listening for the sounds of our guests.

  When I entered the feeding pits I could see the strange kin. All of them were smaller than us spotted Hyenakin, their bodies riddled with stripes and reddish sun kissed skin. A few of our warriors sat with them as they were discussing something. I approached my ears facing them to soak up what they were talking about.

  “A joint trip into the dungeon?” Spoke our eldest warrior, her hair gray and dry. “Wouldn’t that just spread our experience gain thin?”

  “We scouted the dungeon and it has grown. There is a new floor with a powerful boss that syed many of our warriors. We had it on the ropes but it changed halfway through the fight and as it slowed down the wounds we were inflicting on it started to heal rapidly. I think that if we worked together and got it to slow down you could step in and out damage its healing.” The thin nky warrior spoke up, her eyes shining green like the grass around a watering hole.

  I took a closer look at our cousins and marked the difference in our garb. They hid their chests behind wraps of leather that tightly wound around them, squishing their wonderful breasts to their bodies. I walked up behind my people as the striped ones looked up at me.

  I spoke my mind, “What makes you think we could not get him to that point?” I felt offended for my people.

  The other woman that was speaking looked at me locking her eyes with mine, “It is more that we can take minimal damage while doing so. Our abilities to dodge blows is second to none.” She stood up and hunched her shoulders. I could see the thicker hair along her spine standing on end as she growled deep in her throat. “More importantly we were talking to your warriors. If you were one you would already have been here.”

  I waved my hand in the air as if brushing away a foul stench, “I am the daughter of Ade. One of the greatest warriors of the tribe. I have fought in the sparring pits with the warriors since I was old enough to stand. Many of them can vouch for my ability to measure them.”

  The warriors of my cn looked at me with worry but nodded, the oldest among them stood and whispered into my ear. “Ade assigned you to breeding. What are you doing?”

  I looked deep in my elder’s eyes, “I am standing up for your honor. Don’t mistake it for anything else.”

  She scanned my eyes flicking back and forth from them. After a tense pause she nodded and looked back at our guests, “She is amongst our strongest. She would not be with us to the dungeon but she has fought in our training pits for years. I’ve never met a finer warrior. I would have asked the same question.”

  The warrior with her hackles raised still growled, “Unblooded then. The unblooded in our tribe keep their mouths shut when in the presence of their betters.”

  I squinted at her and let out a growl of my own that rumbled in my chest. “You dare insult my honor. You are tiny, almost as if your hunters are worthless and underfeeding your paltry bodies.”

  The warrior leapt over the table vaulting it with extreme agility. “I ought to put you in your pce. Bring you to your fighting pits and show you what real warriors can do.”

  “Who are you to challenge your betters?” I growled as I looked down at her fixing her with my most dangerous gre that had made my own cnsmen pause in their actions.

  “I am Haloor, I lead my generation into the dungeon. Your cn may be the strongest amongst the savannah, but we have the greatest treasures pulled from the dungeon. You barely looked old enough to be off your mother’s tits.” Her eyes were icy and strong. I wanted to throw her off her game though.

  I filled my mind with thoughts of pleasuring others and let out the barest hint of my aura of pleasure. Filling just the small area around me. I watched her eyes grow wide and confused for a moment. I whispered to her, “I’ll take you on. If you lose you will be my bitch for the rest of your stay here in our vilge. Don’t worry, I will take great care of you.”

  Haloor looked at me and her resolve firmed when my aura faded, “Bring me to your sparring ring. I’ll show you what your pce is. If I win, you will serve me while we stay here.”

  I turned my back as if she were no threat to me, a grave insult in our cn. I could feel her anger swell behind me as I walked slowly to the sparring ring. The other warriors besides us were grumbling up a storm about the folly of youth.

  I grabbed a sparring spear and shield not addressing my enemy as I entered the designated ring. I turned to her and looked upon her when I was ready. In her hands was grasped a club, instead. She had a wide stance and her weight was on the balls of her feet as if she was ready to spring into movement at a heartbeat’s notice.

  I spread my feet out like I had shown Aphiwe. I lifted my shield to just below my eyes as I pulled the spear in line to be hidden behind it as well. From the corner of my eye I could just gnce Aphiwe rexing in the shade as her eyes stared at us intently.

  We were both ready and without a signal we started to circle one another. Her feet were silent on the ground as mine scraped along to keep my stance strong and solid. We darted at one another. The club whistled down as I raised the shield. My spear snaked under the shield in a line to ram into her gut.

  Before her club fully struck the shield she sprang back keeping my spear from knocking the air out of her lungs. In a fsh I was back in my stance and watched as she bounced on her feet. Haloor’s agility was impressive and the quickness of her retreat was a testament to well earned skill.

  To keep her on her toes I charged forward thrusting at maximum length as she sprang to my open side bringing the club in a fsh towards my weapon shoulder. I followed my thrusts momentum and whipped my shield around, knocking the club off course. I swept my spear at knee height with my spin while she was overbanced. Instead of colliding with her knees she leapt into the air in a twisting spin kick aimed at my head.

  I met the kick with the edge of my shield in a jab against the thick hamstring muscle to knock it into numbness. Haloor yelped at the blow as the kick was halted. She hopped back on one foot, getting out of range of my spear.

  I let my shield drop from defending me as I stood up straight. “You are too used to fighting monsters. You should yield before I really hurt you.”

  A vicious growl erupted from Haloor’s throat as she pushed off with her back foot while my guard was down. The club was raised above her head in two hands. Her grip was impeccable as the distance was closed in a fsh. I locked eyes with her and jumped back a step bringing myself back into a stance as the club blurred past my face. Her weight all came down on her recently hurt leg and the sharp jolt of pain froze her for a moment. I capitalized on it by thrusting my spear with all my strength into her curled abs.

  A huff of air exploded from Haloor’s lungs as her legs and hips were shoved backwards. She sprawled down, her hands caught her weight before her face was shoved into the dirt. With a quick swing I clipped the back of her head with my shield’s edge eliciting a squeal of pain. Just as I was bringing my foot down to force her into the ground she rolled away from me and clumsily got to her feet, her hurt leg dragging as one hand held the back of her head.

  I assumed my stance and prowled towards her as she retreated away from me. A moment before my attack she called out, “I yield.”

  I stood up straight and looked at her with pride and a victorious grin. “I accept.”