Survival in the Velds -- Part 2

Click here for Part-1 of "Survival in the Velds"

"Quick. Shoo the children away with you. Take shelter somewhere. Go!", Zumba hissed. "You take care Zumba", Salya said and ran with the children. "You also. Go. This is my battle. I don’t want to see any of you in harm", he growled at his consorts.  "No master. You won us. We will be with you till our last breath, or your last breath", the consorts growled back in unison.

"Hello. Zumba. Father-murderer!", Po'El shouted.

"Face me Po'El! Why shout miles away? Afraid?"

"Of course not, dear. Sorry for keeping you waiting. The rule is to give a warning. You saw the warning yesterday noon. So, you've lived 18 hours at my expense. I'm good at math and geography. You'll have to pay for this", he growled as he was walking near Zumba.

He remembered his battles. The one with his father, where he inherited the land. The one with Taanoi, where he won 5 lionesses -- including Salya. "This is going to be tough", he muttered to himself.

"Mutter to me!", Po'El roared as he pounced over Zumba with lightning speed.

One blow to the left, another to the right and then attack his neck!

Po'El was flawless in his attack technique. But Zumba had anticipated the last move and covered his neck.

"Good. So now we go for round two", Po'El panted.

"Now its my turn!", Zumba roared with all his might and slapped Po'El hard. He nearly displaced his jaw. In a distance a man in a brown tent was shooting this on his HD camera -- 2 naked males were fighting while 6 naked females watching with delight. "My God! Gruesome! This indeed is Africa!", he muttered with glee.

The fight lasted for 15 minutes. The final blow was delivered by Po'El. Zumba's neck was slashed open, his groin muscles were hanging like loose flesh. Zumba bled to death. A gruesome one, indeed.

Po'El licked his nails. "Warm", he muttered. Zumba's consorts were helpless. Po'El had won them. "In the line. Now!", Po'El roared. The 4 of them lined behind 6 of Po'El's consorts. "The kids? The kids! This male had kids! Where are they?"

"This way", one of Zumba's ex-consorts guided Po'El to impress him. Po'El kissed him hard, licked the insides of her mouth and whispered, "You and me tonight". She blushed. She was the new favorite  of the master.

"Well, well", Po'El muttered. Salya was shocked to find him here. The children were playing nearby. Salya pounced over him, and he slapped her hard. She fell off a short ledge. "Aren't they cute? What's your name?", he growled. "Don't kill them, Po'El! I'll do as I say! They don't even know how to talk!", she cried.

"You'll anyways do as I say! And for the kids? Rules are rules, dear. I'm merely diminishing any future possibilities of usurping", he joyously growled as he dug his teeth deep into the children's necks -- one by one. All the children could do was meow. He slapped the bodies hard, to ensure that they were really dead. He then jumped off the ledge and made way for Salya.

"Why invade our territory? Isn't your land good enough?", she growled. "No dear. The land is verdant with lots to feed on. In fact, so much that 5 generations could live on it! But, I needed more", he remarked. "Did you kill Z. . u. . m. . ba?", she asked in a shaky tone. "Had to. He was very brave, relentless. It's been years since I've fought a male like him", he honestly replied. She felt elated. She turned away and started walking.

"Ahem. Where are you going?", he asked. "Does it matter?", she asked him. "Rules are rules, right?", he said. It suddenly struck him. Zumba had won her from Taanoi, and now Po'El had won her from Zumba. She could do nothing. She was not a commodity. She was more. She was a trophy. His trophy.

She was helpless. She did not know that she could end this agony, not by killing him -- that she could not in her wildest dreams -- but by killing herself. She did not know the concept of suicide, lest she would have jumped off the highest cliff and got away from all of it. "My babies. My cute, little babies", Salya quietly cried beside Po'El who was fast asleep. Zumba died an honorable death. 

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Survival in the Velds -- Part 1

Zamba was on a victory ride with his family. He strolled the Velds naked, dragging his kill. It was a matter of pride in the community. His long, shiny hair covered much of his neck and cheeks -- trimming hair was taboo. His consorts followed him closely; with eyes on the kill and the area they were walking on. They had to remember the extent of his territory, lest someone should usurp it!

Zumba was a father -- he fathered 6 cute babies. As of now, they could barely speak. But they mimicked cats. Zumba would always instigate them, only to hear their feeble meows. His consorts would come in between, growling, asking him to back off. Zumba had to listen, if he had to ever mate with them again! He loved his family. He loved his territory, which he inherited from his father. "Inherited", he smirked at his own reflection in the pond. "If killing one's own father and usurping his throne is inheritance, then so be it! Even he would have inherited!", he laughed and roared. He loved his father, but his father was getting in the way. "Not any more", he whimpered.

Salya creeped towards and sat close to him. Salya, one of his consorts, was his favorite. Zumba had won her in a duel. Ever since that day, she had always loved him. Salya creeped closer. He could feel her warmth. "It's OK. . You did what you had to. Let's hope you will give your sons an option to not kill you", she murmured while she was tending to his wounds.

"Tell me one thing. Why do you lick my wounds?"

"My mom used to do that when I got hurt. So I thought I might as well do that to you!"

"Of course! There's one more place I'm badly hurt"

"Where? You animal! You don't know how to hunt one prey properly?!"

"The wound's in here. See?", he signalled his unkempt nails towards his grotesque lips.

"Oooo. That's badly hurt. Very badly. Come here; let me tend your wounds"

And what happened next is left to the discretion and imagination of the reader.

Day broke. Zumba had nothing to do. He roamed around, and asked his consorts to go in other directions and collect news. "Why ask us to collect news? You have your messengers!", they would shout. "My messengers serve the title. You serve me. And, I trust you. Is it that bad to trust you?", he roared. A shudder passed through anyone who heard that high-decibel noise coming from his vocal chords. His consorts quickly hurried away.

He seldom met people of his kind. He thought of things differently. He had radical notions. He believed that all living beings had a 'soul' -- that living and dying is part of a grand cycle. Others shrugged his ideas off. He would let them shrug. That day, he noticed something different. The territory had alien markers. "I didn't do that", he murmured as he closely checked those marks on trees. They were done by somebody powerful, so powerful that he tore off the tree's bark in one stroke!

"Danger is coming. Be careful and stay close. And no matter what happens, I want my kids safe", he conveyed his message to his consorts. It was only a matter of days when the big fight was expected. He could not sleep that night. Salya tried to play with him, but he slapped her. "Coward! Hit the one who's coming to fight. How dare you hit a female?!", she growled and sprung upon him to hit him.

He easily overpowered her and whispered in his ear, "Remember the duel? You look the same angry as you were then. Let me smell your anger. Oh, look at that heart beat! My God, you are tempting me!". "What if I am?", she murmured as she was looking at him through her eyelashes. "In that case, let me prey on your heart", he kissed her body and her soft, tender breasts. She moaned. He continued the foreplay a bit longer, till she could no longer take it. She then scratched his chest and moaned, "Do it! Do it!". "Not today. When the fight is over, then you'll have the time of your life!"

Sun rose as usual. No. Not as usual. With dawn came the imminent omen. The birds flew from their nests all at once, the bison moved away from the velds. No animal wanted to be witness to the event that was about to unfold. Many had heard of the legendary Po'El. Po'El - The Usurper. Legend says that nobody, that is, nobody could escape from Po'El once the eyes of Po'El were set on that mortal. There were rumors that Po'El was cordoning Zumba's territory, but Zumba had shrugged it off.

"He has to give us a warning. That is the rule", Zumba once said. "So, the marks you saw yesterday were made by Po'El?", Salya asked Zumba. Salya sounded terrified. The consorts were looking white with fear. The children were playing with a lizard.

Click here for the Part-2 of "Survival in the Velds"

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