Beast-Kin
Myths & Legends: Book 2
by
Ghost Dream
Prologue
Africa
Jungles of the Congo Basin
The jungle foliage shifted with a non-existent breeze as two bodies hurried past. High in the treetops, a third flitted from branch to branch fast enough to match the pace of those on the ground. Eager shouts chased after the trio as they fled. Heavy footfalls stomped across the forest floor in loud pursuit. Despite the trio's seemingly inhuman speed, the pursuers kept a dogged pace to slowly catch up to their prey. The thick forest, with its uneven ground of mangled roots and rotting wood, did much to hinder the flight of those trying to lose those hunting them.
A small clearing opened up before the trio of the hunted. The first to burst into the clearing in a spray of twigs and leaves was a woman with coal-black skin and wearing nothing but a loin cloth tied around her waist. Her face was angular, with wide, yellow eyes with vertical slits for pupils. Her nose was small and almost flat against her face, resembling more of a mix of a feline nose with a human. Her upper lip had a small, raised portion in the exact center, giving the impression of a cleft lip. She had sharp upper and lower canines like a cat that mixed with otherwise human teeth.
Her small breasts, with nipples only slightly darker than her skin, bounced on her chest as she ran. Her lithe torso and lean frame suggested that she didn't get as much food as she should. Her arms pumped, her hands balled into fists with retractible claws protruding from her fingertips like thin, sharp, curved needles. One hand held a six-foot-long, wooden spear sharpened to a wicked point at one end. Her leg muscles rippled with power, and very little of her body jiggled--aside from her tiny breasts--as she ran, giving evidence of minimal fat on her slender frame.
Most notable about the woman was the large black, cat-like ears that protruded from either side of the top of her head, laid back along her afro of dark, thick, curly hair. A long, thin, feline tail protruded from the top of her backside at the end of her spine. Her tail stood out straight as an arrow behind her, the fine hairs of her tail bristling, giving evidence of her anger and fright. Additionally, her digitigrade feet pounded silently across the foliage, the balls of her feet with curved claws protruding from human-like toes dug into the earth as she ran.
The next to clear the trees was a light-colored female dressed in a similar loincloth to the first. Her skin was a light shade of butterscotch, with eyes so round and opaque they almost drowned out the sclera. The rest of her face was distinctly human, with a petite, sloping nose and full lips.
She had a tight wrap of fabric around her ample breasts, and she soared from the treetops to land, rolling across the ground before resuming her flight without hesitation despite the change in landscape. This woman had round, furry ears markedly higher on the side of her head than a human's, with long, flowing, creamy beige-colored hair whipping in the wind behind her. She also had a furry, light tan-colored tail protruding from her backside that curled upwards along her back.
Her feet were more ape-like, with opposable thumbs extending slightly behind where her big toes would typically be, allowing her to grab onto things like branches and vines with them. Similarly, her arms were slightly longer than normal, with elongated fingers on each hand. Shortened legs allowed her to run more like what an ape would, with the knuckles of her hands on the ground to help propel her shorter, lower frame. Despite this, she still kept an easy pace alongside her companion.
The last to burst through the trees was a tall, pale-skinned woman. She was completely nude, with long, wheat-colored hair frayed out behind her. She had a mostly human face with wide, crystal-blue eyes. A petite, sloping nose sat atop a set of luscious lips with a cleft in the exact center of the upper lip, resembling her darker-colored companion.
She had a wiry, muscular frame with modest breasts that bounced freely with every step she took. Large muscles rippled across her arms and legs, giving her powerful, short bursts of speed. Her hands, while humanoid, had thick, sharp claws that extended from her fingers where fingernails would be. Atop her head, large, rounded cat ears perched, and a long feline tail bristled from the small of her back.
Her digitigrade feet skidded to a sudden halt, the earthy scent of damp leaves and moist soil drifting up around her. As her companions disappeared into the safety of the trees once more, she hoisted a spear, the rough wood comforting in her palm. She turned to face the sparse forest from which her pursuers would emerge, her muscles tense, ready to launch the spear at the first man that arrived.
"KEEP RUNNING!" the woman yelled over her shoulder.
"Neela! What are you doing!?" cried one of her companions from inside the treeline.
"Helping you and Kiara escape, Zalita!" the pale woman hissed. "Now, go. I will be right behind you!"
"They will kill you, Neela!" Zalita replied with an angry whine.
"Then may Ares bless me as Artemis allows me to join the Great Hunt!" Neela growled. "Now, go! Let this be my final command to you, my sisters. Flee! Live! Avenge me if you can, but do not allow yourselves to be captured in doing so!"
"No," Zalita pleaded. "Please, Neela. Come with us!"
A pitiful whine echoed from the treeline. Neela turned to lock eyes with Kiara, giving the monkey-kin a forlorn smile as she accepted her fate. "I love you both," Neela whispered before turning to face her sworn enemy.
A dark-skinned man burst through the treeline, hefting a spear and whooping in victory at the sight of the lone lion-kin. Neela's arm flexed, and her spear shot from her hands like lightning to impale the man through the chest with a sickening thud. The man cried out in pain, his shout a guttural mix of pain and anguish, before his voice strangled out. He clutched at the haft of the spear as he coughed up blood and fell to the side. Behind him, another man was similarly impaled with the same weapon, his surprise complete at the finality of his life as the spear pierced his heart, killing him instantly.
It would take a long time for the first man to die, but death was an inevitable fate he could no longer hope to escape. Neela didn't wait to see the outcome of her attack--she did not doubt the accuracy of her aim--as she turned to flee. A surge of hope blossomed in her heart as she darted for the safety of the trees.
A loud crack echoed through the air, and Neela felt a burning pain bury itself in her thigh. She limped forward as spears rained down around her, one driving deep into her right shoulder. With gritty determination, she pulled the spear through her body and used it as a crutch to continue on.
A second crack echoed in the still air, and Neela jolted, feeling a searing pain stab into her lower back. Hope turned to morbid acceptance as her legs gave out beneath her, and she fell. She continued toward her goal, her beautiful blue eyes scanning the treeline as she crawled on the forest floor, using the strength of one arm alone.
"Go!" she whispered urgently, her eyes wide with fear, not for herself, but for her sisters. "Hurry!"
With strength mastered by centuries of determination, Neela rolled herself over, preparing to kill her hunter with the sheer force of will if need be. Many dark-skinned males surrounded her from a distance, but Neela had eyes for only one man. The man with the stick that made a loud noise. The white man with the gun. Pure hatred and rage filled her, as her eyes bore into his.
"I Ártemi prostátepse me. Déxou ti thysía mou. Epitrépste mou to pronómio na symmetáscho sto Megálo Kynígi," Neela chanted as the man raised his gun to point at her.
With eyes wide from the shock of her injury and her ears laid back across her scalp, Neela's body jerked into motion. Raising the spear high from her prone position, she threw it, impaling the man through the neck. Simultaneously, his rifle fired, the bullet tearing through the underside of her chin as it tore its way into her brain.
Neela died instantly, while the man fell to his knees, clawing at the spear in his throat. He gurgled as he tried to cough, but his body was not able to respond to the signals sent by his brain. His lungs slowly filled with fluid, drowning the man in his own blood.
