Chapter 41: Chapter 20 – Retaliation

"Again?" Mom exasperatedly said as she watched me casually throw my new captive to the ground. "Kira, this human attacked us! Worse, he's a mage! Who knows what he could do!?" She berated me.

I smiled at her sheepishly. She wasn't wrong, after all.

"I'm sorry." I inclined my head submissively as mom's eyes narrowed, staring down at the unconscious mage. "But... Mom, think about it. These humans... They were different from those others. There were so many of them, and they were far too organized. What if there's more from where they came from?" I asked.

Understanding sparked in her eyes. "Ah. That makes sense." She nodded. "Alright, fine. Whatever. Do what you want with him."

I smiled brightly at her, giving her a tight hug. "Thank you, mom," I whispered.

She patted my back a few times before pushing me off. "Yes, yes. Now, go and help the others gather the corpses." She ordered. "I'll take care of your little human toy."

I obeyed, trusting that my mother could see beyond her anger and hatred of the human and realize that, right now, he was worth more to us alive than dead.

I sniffed at the air, taking in the cloying scent of death that hung over our village. With an ease borne of long and back-breaking practice, I quickly deciphered the smell, allowing me to find where the human corpses lay without much difficulty.

As I worked, I kept an eye on my fellow fox-kins, making sure that none of them seemed overly hurt.

And, as far as I could tell, none of them were hurt too badly, thankfully. There were some injuries here and there, of course, but between our natural healing abilities and the abundant feast that we would soon have, those would be gone by the time the sun rose tomorrow, if not earlier.

Thus, despite the fact that we'd literally been invaded by humans for the first time in what I was pretty sure was centuries, the mood was surprisingly good.

After all, we'd just gathered a massive haul of human flesh, and to add to that, we still had our elven prey to feast upon.

Overall, I had to admit, I was feeling pretty good about it.

"You captured another human?" Leiran asked as we worked together to give back all the stolen trinkets to their respective owners. Most didn't really have any real use to us beyond being toys or looking pretty, but that didn't mean that we didn't want to have them back.

"Yeah. Was it a bad decision?" I asked him even as I grabbed a half-broken crossbow, examining it even as I tried to remember who it belonged to.

And, after a moment, I did.

As I threw the crossbow onto Wiss's pile, I kept an eye on a thoughtful Leiran, who looked to be deep in thought.

"... Maybe. He's a weakling and a coward, but mages are dangerous in a way that normal humans could never be." He said, a scowl forming on his face as he spoke. "Take what you want from him, and then kill him quick."

I nodded, accepting his advice. "I will," I promised.

Leiran grinned, showcasing his bloodied teeth. There was nothing more said between us as we kept on working in comfortable silence.

It was a shame that this comfort wouldn't last for long, and had I known what was about to come, I might've tried to enjoy it more.

---

 

I wasn't sure why exactly it was that mom had asked us to wait before diving into our food, but as she stood up on her side of the bench, her three crimson tails twitching behind her, I immediately understood that mom was deadly serious about whatever it was that she wanted to say.

"The humans invaded our home." Mom began, her voice so high that she might have as well been screaming, her eyes ablaze with passion as she looked at each one of us in the eyes.

"They stole our things, defiled our land, and wished to kidnap our people. But now, here they are." She waved a hand at the table in front of us, which was piled to the brim and beyond with human corpses.

"Just like many others before them, they have failed. Now, they are nothing but food for us to devour." She kept on speaking, a scowl forming on her face as she did.

"Despite that, this cannot go unpunished. Far too many humans have been coming into our lands." She snarled, leaning forward and grabbing one of the corpses, ripping its head straight off.

"No more. I am sick and tired of these arrogant manlings thinking of us as toys for them to catch." She proclaimed, waving the severed head in her hand to emphasize her point.

I found myself nodding in acknowledgment of her words, just as many of the others did. And yet, mom wasn't quite done with her speech yet.

"I want to punish the manlings." She told everyone, her eyes focusing on Arias especially. "We avoided a disaster because the humans were weak. But what if they'd come in greater numbers? What if they'd had more mages or powerful warriors?" She demanded.

I looked around the longhouse, trying to see what the general sentiment in response to my mother's words was.

Unsurprisingly, it was a... mixed one.

"Yiera," Liao spoke, his voice cautious. When mom turned her head to stare at him, he continued. "I know where you're coming from. I do. But... Humans are dangerous. For each one of here, there are thousands, millions even, of humans. Amongst those, there are some who could crush us with ease." He warned.

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Mom inclined her head in acknowledgment. "I understand your worry, Liao, but that is not my goal. I do not wish to exterminate the manlings, but simply to teach them a lesson. We have been invaded so often now, that I believe it's time we return the favor for once." She proclaimed.

Liao pursued his lips but nonetheless backed off, still somewhat cautious of what mom was talking about.

In a way, I agreed with him. "Mom," I piped up, causing everyone in the room to turn to me. "Are you certain this is a good idea? This is our home, and abandoning it like this sounds..." I trailed off, trying to find the words.

Thankfully, it seemed as though I didn't need to, as mom shook her head. "No, not abandoning it, Kira. Never abandoning." She said softly before abruptly letting out a massive sigh. "I just... can't stomach this arrogance of theirs anymore, dear."

For a few seconds, there was silence as we all looked at each other, wordlessly communicating our feelings. Mom toyed with the head in her hands for a bit, letting the room stew in silence before speaking up once more.

"This is not a decision I can make by myself." She finally said, her voice no longer as bombastic as before, and yet still filled with passion. "Let us put this to a vote, my kin. Should we retaliate against the ever-growing human encroachment, or should we remain as we are?"

I stared at mom, my eyes slightly widening. As far as I knew, this was the first time that anything had ever been put to a vote rather than being decided outright by her.

After a bit of thought, though, it made sense.

Mother's role as our leader wasn't the same as that of a leader of humans might be. Sure, her word was law when it came to the tribe, and she enjoyed a number of benefits, but that was more due to her strength than because of her position.

But, in the end, she was more of a first amongst equals than, say, a human queen or princess or whatever.

Slowly, a hand went up, and all eyes turned to it, and through it, at Leiran, whose face was set in a half-grimace, half-grin. "I vote we kill the humans." He succinctly said, glaring back at anyone that looked at him for too long.

Slowly, more hands were raised. "They threatened my child," Arias said, crossing her arms under her chest. "I want to kill them too, but until it is born and grown, I do not believe it a good idea for me to go."

Mom nodded at her. "Of course." She acquiesced. Then, her eyes turned to face me.

There was no pressure within them. Nothing to indicate that I had to do what she wanted. Just a desire to see what I wanted.

And... Despite everything, I found myself slowly raising my hand as well.

It felt like a betrayal to everything I'd known in my previous life, for me to do this. I knew that most humans were innocent and simply wished to live in peace.

But despite that, I could not bring myself to care.

Did that make me a bad person? Maybe. But at this point, I felt as though I was beyond caring about that.

After all, being a bad human did not equate to being a bad Northern-Tailed Fox.

Mother's grin as she saw me raise my hand was positively blinding, and my heart fluttered in response at the show of parental pride.

And, with my vote, the discussion was sealed. Slowly, more and more hands began to rise as plans were discussed, ideas thrown around and concerns voiced.

By the end of it, everyone had agreed. It was a change the likes of which had never before happened in our relative monotonous lives, but neither was it an unwelcome one.

"Thank you, my kin." Mom smiled as she settled back down. "But enough about that. We have much time to discuss this further. Now... Let us feast!"

And with those words, the dam broke, and nine hungering foxes descended upon the plentiful carcasses in a festival of gore and cannibalism, one that I reveled in.

I chewed through spines, forced entire limbs whole down my neck, and sucked up organs like they were spaghetti. To a normal person, it would've been a horrifying sight.

It was a shame that I'd long since stopped being a normal person.

The feast lasted for over thirty minutes. There was simply so much food that there wasn't even a need to fend off the other foxes, since everyone had more than enough food to eat.

By the end of it, I felt positively bloated. The fact that my belly hadn't even extended despite me shoving more than a dozen human bodies and a number of other prey down into it was a testament to just how esoteric and efficient my stomach was.

Fortunately for me, however, I wasn't quite so full that I didn't have room for the main course.

After all, even just the hand of an elf was a full meal. An entire body was a delicacy. And four entire bodies?

That was months worth of food right there.

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