Fucking Nicola.

Mandla hated admitting inadequacy in anything. He saw himself as quite capable and life had generally served to validate that idea. But looking up at Nicola’s smug grin atop the hulking hyena, at the head of a massive pack of the giggling beasts, he had to admit it.

How the fuck is she so capable all of a sudden?

The party inside had spilled out somewhat in the time Nicola had been gone. The terraforming of the earth had completely cleaned the air and whatever had fried their electronics ensured there was no light pollution, possibly on the whole planet. This meant that the night sky was more beautiful than most of them had ever seen, especially for those who were drunk.

Someone had of course brought their own guitar to Mandla’s party all that time ago. The spearman had thought it was kind of pathetic, these guys always just did it to get laid, but it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the knockoff bard had been their only source of music throughout their ordeal. He had been serving his purpose, singing popular songs for the dancing revellers, when the music all of a sudden had stopped as he pointed across the savannah in horror.

It was a huge clan of hyenas.

Screams had erupted as everyone rushed inside, pushing and shoving to get back to safety in the burrow. Mandla himself had rushed to the top of the mound, summoning his [Assegai] and launching it at the lead hyena, a particularly large example of the new and improved species.

Identified: Mini-Elite – Spearback Clanmother (Symbiote)

What?

His confusion compounded as something shot his javelin out of the air.

Nicola?

Focusing on the Mini-Elite, his Ascendant eyes picked out a shape sitting astride it, holding… a bow.

His shoulders relaxed, though his confusion remained. How had she made the huge beast a symbiote? What did that even mean?

He slid down the side of the mound, walking up to the approaching army. Kaveh burst out of the burrow behind him.

“Mandla, hyenas!”

His [Sahm] was already in hand, the poisoned tip of the small arrow emanating corruption. Mandla waved him down, solemnly shaking his head.

“Worse. Nicola’s back.”

“What?”

Kaveh had wanted to go after Nicola immediately when she disappeared off into the tall grass. Mandla had convinced him otherwise. He’d been dismissively sure she was just having a tantrum and would be back soon. After all, she wasn’t an idiot. No way she’d try take on something big on her own.

As the hours had dragged on though, Kaveh had grown more and more worried. The party had come outside by that point, so Mandla had advised him to pace inside, instead of out here where eyes were on them. It wouldn’t be a good look if people were to find out one of their leaders was out sulking.

Watching the last of the terrified partygoers duck into the burrow, Mandla wondered if it would have been better if they’d gone out to look for her.

As the huge hyena stalked up towards them, Nicola’s proudly grinning face came into view, smeared with ash and dried blood. Her normally sunbeam-blonde hair had… spots?

…like the hyena she’s on.

She called down to the two boys.

“Missed me?”

Kaveh was not impressed, crossing his arms.

“So you were out looking for hyenas? At fucking night Nicola? Do you have any idea how worrie-”

He was interrupted by a roar of defiance from the burrow behind them.

Turning towards the noise, Manda watched as Karl rocketed from the entrance, parting the grass in a blistering sprint. He had [Forseti], his intimidating axe, summoned and was gripping it with clear intent as the [Heavy Swordsmen] followed him out, backing him up.

Nicola reacted immediately, manifesting her [Longbow] and launching a whistling [Bodkin Point] at the axehead, putting a large dent in the blade and nearly knocking it out of Karl’s hand. He came skidding to a stop.

“Nicola? What’s going on here?”

Sobering up instantly as he looked around and saw just how many hyenas were arrayed around them, especially the big one Nicola was on, he let the dented axe disappear in a wave of golden flakes before summoning his [Rönd] and [Sverð], readying himself for battle. The swordsmen got in formation behind him.

Nicola had her bow trained on him, and her aggression had influenced the animals as well, as her Symbiote, the large hyena Clanmother, bared its teeth at the warrior, giving a low, dangerous growl. The hyena clan around her grew more excited, the yipping and giggling bringing back horrific memories of the raid on their first fortification.

This was obviously heading towards an unfortunate accident. Mandla wanted to calm things down but calming things down in this case meant jumping in between a massive clan of hyenas and a half-drunk Viking. Truly a terrible position. He took a step back.

But of course, the terrible position is the one Kaveh chose as he leapt in between the two sides, hands out like he could physically keep them apart.

“Okay let’s all take a deep breath. Tensions are running high so let’s take five and figure this out, yes?”

Karl frowned.

“What is there to figure out? The system tells us clearly. Nicola went out and allied with the single biggest killer of our people.”

Nicola retorted.

“You mean I’ve turned our biggest weakness into a strength.”

Karl snarled.

“You were there! When these things attacked, we saw first-hand what they’re capable of. What they’re itching to do even now. Get off that monster so I can kill it.”

He swished his sword, which made a deep growl itself, causing the entire pack’s hackles to raise as they all turned as one towards Karl and the swordsmen. Nicola raised her bow, fingers lightly resting on the string. Kaveh blurted out a desperate plea.

“Wait! Wait! We’re a team, remember? We can solve any disagreement without weapons by just talking it out.”

Bro, please don’t get more involved.

Karl shook his head, raising his shield with a grim look.

“Are we looking at the same scene? She’s gone insane. I’m putting an end to this.”

Nicola rolled her eyes.

“You’re drunk. And making an emotional, impulsive decision. How do you propose we leave this place without Nikki here?”

Nikki? 0 points for creativity.

“So you think it’s cool to be some sort of ice queen, ja? You think coming to our home with the object of our trauma and telling us to shut up and deal with it is how you look strong and win allies?”

“Winning allies is incidental. No matter how much vodka you drink in there, this place isn’t our home. I’m not interested in making you comfortable, I’m interested in getting out of here. We all have trauma. That doesn’t make the benefits of having a pack like this at our command any less real.”

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He’s not listening.

Mandla hadn’t seen the worst of the hyena attack, but both Karl and Nicola had. From talking with them and other survivors, the spearman had pieced together just how stressful it must have been, especially on the first day, confused and vulnerable like they all were. But looking at the two sides here, he found himself leaning towards Nicola’s argument. They didn’t have enough manpower to assault the Hegemon, that was just a fact.

But at the same time, he knew that most people felt as strongly as Karl about this. After the successful clearing of the burrow, most had agreed they wanted to hunt the hyenas down next and murder them to the last pup.

Now Nicola was saying they should enlist the beasts’ services? Very hard sell.

Still, Mandla didn’t just want to watch as Kaveh got himself killed trying to get between the two elite warriors. He’d been carefully gauging how much stronger she was now and one thing had immediately stood out to him.

They didn’t even know her new skills and she’d put a huge dent in [Forseti] with her shot. She could probably break through Karl’s [Rönd] with enough arrows. With enough distance and distraction, she would.

At the same time, Karl could probably survive whatever she threw at him long enough to make a decapitating strike on her Symbiote, the Clanmother. She’d lose control of the hyena clan and they’d all be fucked.

He sighed.

Stepping forward, he walked up next to Kaveh, directly in between the two other Ascendants.

“Kaveh, I fucking hate you for putting me in this position.”

“Wha-”

“GUYS! Karl. Nicola. Let’s all take a fucking breath, please. Nicola, coming here with these beasts without warning was fucked up. You’re smart. You knew the reaction people would have. Somebody’s probably having a panic attack in the burrow right now. You’re absolutely the bad guy in this. Solely, in fact.”

She frowned.

“If you spoke up just to shit on me, I’d prefe-”

“BUT! Karl, she is right about their necessity. We’re tough as shit, you especially. But if we’re going to attack what’s up north, we’ll need all the bodies we can throw at it. Would you rather they be people, or hyenas?”

As always, the question came down to this. How many lives are your principles worth?

Karl ground his teeth and spat.

“Fine. You have a day to prove to me we can use these, or I’ll start organising kill squads.”

Ultimatums? You don’t have that much pull.

“Rather, how about we put it to a vote? Nicola gets a day to make her case to the actual people affected by this and we let the burrow decide instead. That way we know the highest number of people are satisfied.”

Karl narrowed his eyes.

“Enamoured with the democratic process, ja? So you two really are working together.”

He dismissed his sword and shield, letting them blow away in the breeze.

“I know that giving this girl time to scheme will always result in defeat. But have your sham vote. The Ascent only recognises one thing.”

He turned around and marched back into the burrow, the swordsmen meekly following after.

Power.

With the brewing situation defused, Kaveh immediately turned to fussing over the small blonde. Mandla instead turned to look at the hyena clan arrayed around the burrow. There were dozens of them, their eyes glinting in the weak starlight as they relaxed in the grass, their hairy, muscled forms dotted all around the mound.

Already, the possibilities were whirling through his mind.

----------------------------------------

“So you’re sure?”

Nicola rolled her eyes.

“Yes dude, stop stalling. This will work. Get on the fucking hyena.”

They were in a small clearing, standing in a rough circle to watch the goings-on in the centre.

Mandla stood to the side with Kaveh as Nicola was coaching the Cavalry Legends into claiming a mount using their [Rider’s Bond] skill. The mount in this case being a pony-sized hyena. Karl was still at the burrow, taking his turn standing sentry from atop the mound.

Mandla didn’t know if this plan would work, hyenas weren’t exactly bred for riding. Not to mention the Legends didn’t have access to the Symbiosis option. Maybe it worked completely differently for them.

Either way, there were two [Doctors] on standby. Just in case.

Nicola herself was changed. She now had silver eyes and her blonde hair had developed dark spots. Her pinky nails had turned sharp and thick, and she could fire them off about once a day. Useless ability for an archer, but everything helps. The real gem was that she could now daze people with her laugh. It didn’t affect Ascendants much but a few Classless described it as like “being starstruck” when she giggled at one of Maxwell’s jokes. Her Symbiotic abilities were all listed in her Unique Advantages tab, and apparently she could see a status for Nikki as well in the Symbiosis tab. The idea that animals had their own version of a status dampened the excitement of finding out her new abilities. Could they also increase in power?

The whole commotion with her return had happened two nights before, and she’d spent the whole day yesterday trying to convince the burrow that this was their true utility, beyond just being damage sponges. That it was possible for them to ride one of the hyenas. It had barely been enough to turn the tide of votes as they were reminded of the task ahead of them, to defeat the elephant. But no one had been brave enough to test the theory out. Finally, today, they’d gathered enough courage.

Jabulani hesitantly approached the beast as it licked at its fur, hand out. Getting close, he lightly tapped it on the flank before leaping backwards. The hyena didn’t react. Light chuckles arose from everyone watching.

“Fuck you guys, I saw these things eat someone alive right in front of me. I have no shame about being cautious.”

Nicola sighed.

“Come on, Jabu, look around us. If these things wanted to eat us, we’d be eaten.”

She was right. The hyenas had given them no problems since they arrived. Mandla quietly thought that was only due to the fact that they had plenty of food available in the form of the meerkat piles, but he kept his peace.

Swallowing loudly, Jabulani approached the hyena again. Touching its flank once more, this time he kept his hand on the coarse fur. The beast continued ignoring him.

Emboldened, he walked up to its front and reached for its head, visibly pausing when the hyena looked directly at him. Gulping again, he slowly put his hand on its neck and started stroking. The dark quills running down its back rustled, startling him.

“Don’t be scared, Jabu, that means she likes it. I know you might not be familiar with female pleasure.”

More chuckles from the small crowd as Nicola eased them into growing more comfortable around the hyenas. This show was as much for them as it was the Cavalry.

Jabulani was fully petting the beast now and its tongue lolled out as it let out a giggle.

Everyone froze.

Jabu resumed stroking and the crowd visibly relaxed. Looking at Nicola, it seemed she’d been holding in some tension as well.

She stepped forward.

“There, she’s comfortable with you. Try bond her now, it should be easy.”

She really just makes guesses and says them with absolute confidence. Maybe that’s the secret to leadership.

Jabulani lay his hand flat on the hyena’s head and closed his eyes. Mandla felt a whisper of sensation, a flash of the same feeling as when his [Ixwa] was sucking up quintessence.

The hyena gained a light shimmer that sunk into its fur, and started licking Jabulani’s hand.

Opening his eyes, he pumped his fist in victory.

Almost immediately, questions were flung at him.

“What’s it like?”

“How do you do that?”

“So you can ride it?”

“Can you use skills on it?”

He was overwhelmed for a second before Nicola stepped forward, waving them off.

“He’s not going anywhere people, relax. But now you see what I was saying? We can work with them. This is how we’ll beat the elephant.”

A squad of hyena riders, each heading up a team of the beasts, with Nicola at the front firing projectiles. It was an impressive image.

Mandla turned to Kaveh next to him.

“Yo, not gonna lie, I expected th-”

A notification interrupted his thoughts.

Countdown initiated. Find acceptable food source before terminus.

What?

Count: 300 seconds…

Count: 299 seconds…

Count: 298 seconds…

The count continued in the corner of Mandla’s vision as he saw Kaveh and Nicola also focusing on the new update. He waved Nicola over.

“Any ideas?”

She shrugged.

“Power demands sacrifice? I don’t know. Maybe food is the sacrifice.”

He shook his head.

“Nah, doesn’t seem like it. I guess it would be if we were struggling with food though. Still, I expected something more substantial.”

Kaveh laughed.

“We looking gift horses in the mouth now? We lucked out. Let’s go get some food.”

Making their way back to the mound and down into the burrow, they went to one of the storerooms and found Karl already there, sitting patiently next to a small hill of food.

“You know anything?”

Karl shrugged before answering.

“I got the notification, and came here to wait. I tried eating some biscuits a few minutes ago but they didn’t trigger anything.”

They sat around him, gazing at the piles of food they’d managed to stack in just this one room, let alone the others and confidently let the timer run out.

Count: 3 seconds…

Count: 2 seconds…

Count: 1 second…

Ding!

Warning: You have been afflicted with The Hunger!

Affliction scales with number of Advantages and time spent active. Should The Hunger not be sated, Ascendant shall revert to Level 0 until the next affliction period!

Food imbued with quintessence will have a greater effect than food without.

Mandla barely had time to read the text, involuntarily shovelling food by the handful into his mouth where it seemingly disappeared. He could almost feel it in his cells, the yawning, ravenous hunger turning him into more beast than man. He saw the others acting just as primal, just as gleefully savage, before his vision tinted red and he lost himself in The Hunger.