<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">Prologue</span></span></span><br/><br/><br/><br/>The high-pitch cry of a child, no older than ten or eleven years old, split the cool night air.<br/><br/>"Will somebody shut that damn child up?! She is REALLY starting to get on my nerves." Heyea's growl even brought a surprized look to Lesik's face. The twenty-four year old wolfess was known for her temper - but normally, that temper was quelled after she'd stuffed her belly full. Lesik casually leaned a little bit closer, eyeing the fresh set of bright red marks on Heyea's cheek - marks left by the young man she'd devoured less than an hour before. That, no doubt, was the reason for her ill mood - she was not used to pain.<br/><br/>The gentle growl of the two wolves' stomachs is nearly the only sound the passed between them for the next five minutes. Lesik was more than pleased with his night. Not only did he avoid injury, but the feisty female raccoon he'd devoured had really hit the spot. The squirms and frantic movements of her body inside of him had sent chills up and down his spine. Even now, as he digested what remained of her, he was still feeling quite nice.<br/><br/>Again, the soft cry of the young female split the air. Growling under her breath, Heyea got to her feet, turned, and called to the human who was tending the newly-aquired slaves - slaves that would be taken to market soon enough. At least, if her little band could stop devouring them "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?! I SAID SHUT THAT DAMN CHILD UP!!" Easton, the human, bristled the slightest bit - but knew more than to talk back to either Lesik or Heyea. He was still unsure of who he was more afraid of. Heyea, with her love of inflicting what torture she could before devouring her victim...and Lesik, who was more than eager to devour anyone, giving them a nice, slow death digesting in his slow-acting, but incredibly powerful stomach.<br/><br/>"Eeehhh...right, Mistress. Ah - 'ow should i go about doin' that, eh?"<br/><br/>The annoyed gleam in Heyea's eye caused him to swallow. Hard. This only furthered Lesik's amusement - and despite his best attempted, he began to chuckle. That laughter only further riled Heyea's anger "YOU'VE GOT A BLOODY STOMACH, DON'T YOU?! PUT HER THERE!"<br/><br/>"Ahhh, but Mistress. I can't be fittin' nothin' like that down. Y'know that, eh?" Easton's eyes shifted from his two leaders, to the crying child - a elven girl who'd seen her mother devoured just the other night. She'd been crying nearly ever since, nearly hysterical with grief.<br/><br/>Lesik, sensing Heyea's growing anger, calmly lifted his hand, trying desperately to contain the chuckles that threatened to well up within him still "Easton? Get Grev. Bloody fox is a bottomless pit. He did a good job today - deserves a little extra. Tell him to devour the girl. Even i grow tired of her whining. You'd think she'd be quite grateful we feed her. However, she is stirring up the other slaves, and needs to be dealt with. Hurry - i want to watch." He'd always held a bit of admiration for the small fox. Not only was he a sneaky little bastard in combat, but he could fit just about anyone and anything down that gullet of his. His ability to digest was damn-near legendary in their little group.<br/><br/>Not to mention, he always pocketed the best loot, and gave more than a fair share to Lesik.<br/><br/>Easton, quite eager to be away from the evil-eyed stare of Heyea, quickly darted off towards the nearby campfires, his sweat glistening in the light ,even from his distance.<br/><br/>Heyea settled back down, and picked up her mortar and pestle once more. The foul-smelling concoction coming from within was utterly terrible. Lesik's snout wrinkled in disgust "Honestly, dear. Must you create that foul-smelling stuff right here? Can't you...i dunno...make it while we are on the move? Ugh, every night, i wake up and have to smell that gods-awful stuff.."<br/><br/>Heyea's cool stare focused on Lesik, whom returned the deadly look with a sly little smile. Snorting in annoyance, she simply turned her attention back to her bowl, stirring and grinding like it was someone's skull she was getting to bash in "Shut your mouth, Lesik. You know damn good and well i need this stuff to cast my spells. No spells? Well, it just makes our little job harder, now doesn't it? Especially when some roving band of fools decides they want to tangle with us. Quit your bitching, and decide where we are headed next." That smile - he could get away with anything. True, they might have been lovers - but there were times she wanted to kill that bastard. Yet...she just never could.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">G-glooorrrrgpph</span>; Heyea's stomach growled happily, gurgling and churning around the unfortunate individual who had seen his last few minutes inside her stomach. Despite her normally foul mood, the wonderful sensations coming from within her brought a tiny smile to her face.<br/><br/>Lesik shrugged "Well...i've been thinking. I think...we might as well head for the big time." He leaned in a little bit closer, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper "See, i've been sendin' a few of our folks out, trying to gauge where the best area to strike would be. Listen - farms and the like are one thing. Traveling merchants, sure. They make wonderful slaves, and if not...well, we can eat them. However...gettin' one or two at a time, and whatever spoils they might have laying around...it simply is not going to keep working. What i think...is we need to set our sights a little bit higher. I'd say..." His eyes focus northwards, gazing out across the darkened plain as if he could see what he wanted to see clear as day.<br/><br/>"Espen."<br/><br/>"Espen?" The surprize etched on Heyea's face drew a smile to Lesik's lips "Yes, dear. Espen."<br/><br/>"You bloody fool...it is a TOWN! We can't bloody well assault a town head-on. That is daft!  Even if we have those creatures, they'd mop the floor with us. I don't know about you, but i don't have an urge to end up in a box."<br/><br/>"My dear...do you really think i'd do such a thing unprepared? Oh, no. Things have been set into motion. The town is overflowing with refugees from our little assaults out here in the plains." He begins to count off on his fingers "I've made a few deals with the Gorvax tribe - they are more than happy to go out of their way to make sure no trading caravans make it here. Noone is running the farms. People are going to start getting hungry, Heyea. Suddenly, everyone will seem like the enemy. All those veggie-gnawers will start to end up in the bellies of predators. They will realise how much they want more. They will join with us, Heyea. Those who don't?" He shrugged, as if it were the most common thing in the world "We will kill them. Think of the spoils - an entire town. Slaves - more than enough to make us rich. More meat for the grinder, in case things ever turn bad for us. Not to mention, with us in control of that machine, we can release our 'pets' near their town and cause further turmoil. Not to mention, bolster our own forces with them. There is no way we can get in and get everything - but we can pick at them, little by little...."<br/><br/>Heyea's eyes brightened at the idea. Lesik always had been quite the motivational speaker "...You are a damn fool, Lesik. It won't work. Still...will be fun to watch you get killed by a carrot-chewer." Lesik smirked "I love you too, dear."<br/><br/>Grev's voice caused both of them to start, though Heyea's yelp of surprize quickly turned into a growl "GREV! I SWEAR, IF YOU SNEAK UP ON ME ONE MORE TIME, I'M GOING TO BURY MY FOOT BENEATH YOUR TAIL!"<br/><br/>The young, handsome fox smiled his bright, shining little smile at Heyea. At 20, the young fox was a peice of art - exceptional in combat, handsome beyond what most could dream for, a glutton when he wanted to be, smart, wise....he had it all. He'd pissed Heyea off more times than he could count...and more often than not, his only punishment was a very rough time in her bed. Lesik was almost thankful for those moments - it gave him opportunity to 'explore' "Grev? Take care of the girl, will you? She is being quite noisy." Lesik offered his subordinate a little wink.<br/><br/>The look of surprize and excitement on the fox's face managed to bring a smile to both of their lips "Eh? Oooohhhh....so i heard. Cryin' about nothing. Ahh well - i suppose it is my civic duty to make sure the leaders of our little band are not kept awake at night."<br/><br/>Both of them turned to watch with interest as Grev strolled right to the cuffed girl, picked the locks with a claw...and brought her suddenly-silent, shivering form up to his face.<br/><br/>Lesik smirked - oh, this was going to be good.<br/><br/>Grev's tongue washed across the young girl's face, bringing a soft cry of shock to her lips...then, his jaws opening wide...he began to slide her head-first along his tongue, past his teeth...and right into his throat.<br/><br/>Heyea's thighs rubbed together softly, and she sat her bowl down "Mmmph....god, he does that so well....let's head to bed early tonight, hmm?" Lesik cast a glance towards her out of his single good eye, grinning nearly from ear to ear. Heyea always did get rough and antsy after watching Grev do what he did so well. Ahh - tonight was going to be perfect. His gaze one more shifted north, the smirk on his muzzle growing even broader. One more week, he assumed. One more week until he'd arrive in Espen. One more week.<br/><br/>Damn, this was hot.