After the bath, we walked out of the cave together. During the stroll, I struck up a light conversation with the woman who had been helping me, and I finally learned her name—Sarah. I also asked about the person who had saved me, but she only referred to him as Master. She said he wasn't around at the moment, that he had important matters to attend to in the Giant City.
"Giant City? Are there actual giants there?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
She nodded slightly. "There were. But the giants were killed long ago by the powerful beastmen of the Eagle Tribe. The tribe took over the city, and now they rule it."
As we stepped fully outside the cave, I spotted several beastmen flying down the side of the mountain, each carrying a female on their backs. Curious, I turned to Sarah.
"Where are they going?"
"They usually go down to collect fruits and vegetables—and to gossip," she added with a chuckle. "The females like going down there to relax instead of staying in the caves all day."
"Can we go?" I found myself asking without hesitation.
She looked at me with her small, sharp eyes. "If we can find a beastman to escort us, I guess we can. Wait here—I'll see if I can find someone."
As she walked away, I watched her closely. A long scar stretched across her face. She was short compared to me—maybe in her mid-thirties—and wore old, worn-out animal skins. I stood at five and a half feet, noticeably taller. The contrast between us was striking.
Turning away, I took in the view. Standing on top of the mountain, I saw a vast land of green stretching endlessly into the horizon. From here, the world seemed boundless, cloaked in layers of trees. I wondered if this world had any deserts or wastelands at all.
I called out to Tinny. She transformed into her robot form with a soft mechanical hum.
"Go and analyze the trees, the fruits, the soil. See if there's any food safe for human consumption, and assess the soil's richness for agriculture. Bring back samples," I ordered.
"Yes, sir," she chirped before shifting into a small metallic bird and soaring into the sky.
As she disappeared, I whispered to myself, I have to learn their way of living—their strength, their strategies, their military formations. Everything.
I was deep in thought when I suddenly heard Sarah calling my name. She came running toward me, panting lightly.
"I found someone! A young beastman who will fly us down the mountain. We'll join the others for security."
While she spoke, I looked up and saw him—a young, strikingly handsome man approaching us. He had a lean, muscular build with defined six-pack abs and delicate, angular features. His dark hair matched the sleek black feathers covering parts of his body. He wore a feathered skirt that covered just enough to be modest, leaving his strong legs fully visible.
He eyed me coldly. "Who is she?"
Sarah quickly replied, "She's the one Master saved from the Mystical Forest."
"She's really pretty," he muttered. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Such a shame, though, that Master seems interested in her. Such beauty... what a waste."
I stiffened. He was talking about me as if I wasn't even standing there. His words rubbed against my skin like sandpaper, making me uncomfortable.
He transformed into a massive black eagle. His wings spread wide, and he lowered one wing like a staircase.
"Hold on tight," he said.
As we lifted off, I gripped his feathers. They were soft, almost silken. My fingers brushed deeper until I felt the warm skin beneath. Suddenly, he flinched.
"Stop that," he barked. "I'm not ready to have a female master—especially one who already belongs to him."
I froze. Belongs to him? Who was this Master, and why did everyone speak of him with such fear and reverence?
As soon as we landed, I turned to Sarah, demanding answers.
She smiled gently. "Master is a good man. He treats his mates well. You have nothing to worry about. That idiot doesn't know what he's talking about."
I looked at her skeptically. Her reassurance didn't calm the turmoil inside me.
She reached for my hand and led me toward a group of women. They were picking what looked like strawberries and chatting happily. I counted about ten females in the circle. A short distance away, beastmen stood tall, watching over them like silent sentinels.
As I knelt beside Sarah and picked up one of the berries, I fell silent. My thoughts swirled like a storm. So many questions filled my mind—questions no one seemed ready to answer.
A voice behind me jolted me out of my thoughts. I turned around quickly, surprised, and saw a smiling face looking back at me. She was larger than me in both size and height. Her black hair rested on her shoulders, and her skin was fair—though not as strikingly beautiful as that of the young man who had flown us down the mountain earlier.
The more I looked at her, the more I began to notice a curious pattern: the men here seemed to be more beautiful than the women. I glanced around again at the males and females gathered nearby. Their features were refined—sculpted cheekbones, smooth skin, glowing eyes—while the females, though not unattractive, lacked the same ethereal allure.
My eyes returned to the woman in front of me. She smiled and introduced herself. "I'm Shira."
"I'm Alexia," I replied, giving a small nod.
She tilted her head slightly. "Are you new in the tribe?"
"Yes," I said softly.
She studied me for a moment, then asked a question that caught me completely off guard.
"So… how many beast husbands do you have?"
I blinked in confusion. "What?"
"How many beast husbands?" she repeated, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The question made me uneasy. I asked naively, "How many is one supposed to have?"
She shrugged. "Well, that depends on you. You can have as many as you want. Me? I have six. They're really nice to me. I've only had two litters of cubs so far."
I stared at her, wide-eyed. "I… I don't have any beast husbands," I said firmly. "And I'm not planning to have any."
Her mouth fell open slightly in shock. "What? Why? You're a female—you need a beast husband. Who else is going to take care of you, pamper you? It's really hard to survive without one."
I frowned, unsure of how to respond.
She continued, "We female aren't as strong and capable as the males . So we rely on the males for protection. They hunt, cook, defend us. And in return, we give them a home, comfort… and we help control their wild nature."
I listened in silence. The rules of this world were unlike anything I had known. Everything she said sounded so normalized—so ingrained in their society. But I couldn't help feeling a growing resistance stirring inside me.
Was this truly the only way to live here..