Mandla came to on the floor, blearily opening his eyes to see Kaveh looking down at him.

Not this shit again.

He took the proffered hand, rising to his feet to see Nicola and Karl both standing, surveying the damage.

Last again. This is officially a thing now and I’m sick of it.

Mandla’s thoughts were pulled back onto the scene in front of him as his brain finally registered what he was seeing. It was… sobering.

A notification flashed in the corner of his vision, letting him know what had happened.

The Hunger has been sated.

But at what cost?

They’d cleaned the room out. Only scattered crumbs and crushed food cans, a few covered in bite marks, remained. There was a hole in the wall from where they’d burst directly into the next storeroom. Mandla didn’t even want to know how much they’d devoured.

“Uhh, Kaveh…”

“About a third. Of all of it.”

Mandla absorbed this with a troubled expression. The message had implied this was something that would happen repeatedly, and get worse the stronger they got. Just the four of them had torn through a third of a food store meant to feed over a hundred people. This was going to be a huge problem.

Nicola spoke, her voice shaken as she too realised the potential implications.

“So we’re all agreed on hitting that Hegemon as soon as possible?”

The boys all assented. Being stuck at level zero for however long it took for the Hunger to return sounded like a death sentence. No matter their disputes, they all realised the gravity of the situation, and the necessity of expanding, of getting a stable food supply.

Turning to leave the storage area, Mandla started as he saw the crowd that had gathered outside in the tunnel.

Shit. Yeah.

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

After a lengthy set of explanations, the group held a round table with all the Legends and a few representatives from the Classless, including Maxwell.

They had to get serious.

Mandla opened the conversation.

"We'll need a plan, we can't just human wave it."

Nods from all around as everyone agreed. Kaveh grimaced.

"Even with the hyenas, there are more of them than us. No doubt with a few Mini-Elites hidden in the herd. Realistically, what are our options?"

Karl was in favour of an aggressive, lightning strike assault.

"Same deal as with the burrow. We use the hyenas to soak up the other beasts’ attention while we go for the big one. End it quickly."

Approving murmurs sounded from the gathered Legends. Nicola disagreed.

"Using my hyenas as cannon fodder is short-sighted, they give us mobility. We can kite the elephant out into a spike trap or something."

My hyenas?

Her plan was well-received however, and Mandla didn't like the trend that was forming. Karl and Nicola were the two clear frontrunners for leader and everyone could see it. Sides were forming.

And I'm being left by the wayside. I have to do something. I need time.

Maxwell, munching on a can of rations, had input.

"We should gauge the market first though. Do we have a clear idea of the elephant's turf? Is there anything around us we can use, maybe another convenient pack of predators? We have too many unknowns to start going bullish on any sort of plan."

Seeing an opportunity, Mandla leapt in.

"Yeah, I agree. We need to take the rest of the day and map out the elephant's stomping ground, then we can organise with every variable accounted for. We know some of it thanks to the refugees, but the Hunger has put us in a precarious position. Any surprises will fuck us. Hard. So let's go check the lay of the land ourselves, spend the night preparing, and attack tomorrow."

His idea received the widest support, no doubt because it put the battle off until tomorrow, drawing glares from Karl and Nicola. This close to the endgame, all three of them had realised it was now or never. They all wanted the big hat, but only one of them could wear it.

Not a fucking chance. I was born to lead.

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

Karl was stressed.

Since Nicola’s depressingly fortuitous encounter with the hyenas, he’d felt his influence within the group waning faster. Part of this was the unexpected agreement between her and Mandla. When he and Kaveh had gone off and discovered the bunker, they’d closed ranks and somehow made themselves the heroes of the Classless. That was acceptable, he still had most of the Legends in his corner.

But then she’d given them hope. By taming the hyenas, she’d demonstrated that they didn’t have to live under nature’s whim. That there was a future where humans were back on top.

Trudging through the grass, he, Andrew and the rest of the [Heavy Swordsmen] were trying to map out the top edge of the Hegemon’s territory, shying away whenever they encountered grazing animals.

Their plan was to go all the way north until they either hit the river or the Partition boundary, then head east until they began to see large herds, at which point they’d come back south-west towards the burrow. Of course, plans rarely agree with reality.

They’d come across a nest of snakes, big ones, and had decided to veer off-course instead of trying to suicidally battle serpents in tall grass. The problem was, they now weren’t sure where they were relative to where they’d started. They were still headed north at least.

I need my own beast to command.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Karl wasn’t too proud to admit he’d been rash in his initial reaction to the hyena pack. He could see the potential in having something so powerful on your side, however distasteful. And seeing the effects of the Symbiosis function on Nicola, he couldn’t deny its benefits. No doubt there were more she had hidden.

A plume of smoke was becoming visible in the distance, a dirty smudge on the sky that seemed an omen of their future.

Andrew grunted beside him.

“Isn’t that coming from Marloth? That’s the town to the north, right?”

Karl shrugged, unsure.

“I think so. But does the Partition extend that far? It looks hours away.”

“Only one way to find out.”

The group kept at it, hiking up the savannah, making sure not to disturb the wildlife. As the town grew closer and closer, they gradually prepared themselves to face whatever was going on up there.

Warning: Legends are barred from invading neighbouring Partitions until local Hegemon is subdued.

When they ran into the shimmering blue Partition wall.

Karl tutted.

“Ah well. At least we can turn east now.”

He looked up at the sun to determine the direction. It was directly above them.

“Anyone know which way east is?”

After a little confusion, they set off east, more apprehensive with the knowledge they were walking directly towards the elephant’s territory now.

Their pace naturally slowed, their glances grew more furtive, and weapons were gripped tighter, especially for Andrew, who’d experienced the beast first-hand.

Unbidden, an image of his father appeared in Karl’s mind, glaring in disapproval at their cowardice. Golden sparks flashed involuntarily in his hands as he almost instinctively summoned his weapons at the memory.

Andrew gave a concerned glance, wondering if he’d seen anything. Karl shook his head.

It’s happening more often now.

His words to Kaveh outside the bunker had been partially true. His mother did come to South Africa with him to pursue her PhD. But the real reason she’d been so willing to travel halfway across the world, was to escape Karl’s father.

A wealthy, philanthropic businessman on the outside. A brutal tyrant in their home. Karl didn’t have a single happy memory with the man that wasn’t in public or in front of cameras. The knowledge that it was all fake even tainted those few instances, like when Karl had won a national youth fencing tournament and his father had embraced him onstage.

It was the first and last hug he’d ever gotten from the man. The worst part was, even after the beatings, the verbal abuse, the constant tension they lived under in Sweden, when he thought back to that hug, his chest filled with a fuzzy warmth.

He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts with a frown.

I’m pathetic. A whipped dog desperately craving attention from its master.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t change how he’d grown up. His lip curled in a depressingly familiar way when he thought someone was being cowardly. He bulled straight ahead into things, just like the man he hated most. To his eternal shame, he’d shouted at his mother once and she’d flinched away. Afraid of him.

Coming to South Africa had been a new beginning, a reinvention of Karl. His height and classic Nordic good looks had shot him to popularity and he’d been a pretty big influencer. He couldn’t deny the lifestyle had changed him, in his opinion for the better. He could show a softer, weaker side of himself and people ate it up. Life wasn’t about being as tough as possible just to survive. He could enjoy himself.

Then the world had ended.

Since his Trial especially, he’d been having more and more flashbacks to the Bad Old Days, slipping into behaviours he’d thought he’d suppressed for good. He could feel that he was more aggressive than he’d been before. He could only hope it was the environment or some Ascent fuckery. The alternative was… troubling.

Still, he couldn’t deny that it was an asset in the ruins of society. The Classless refugees that had managed to make the perilous journey to the burrow alive had brought with them tales of devastation. No one from too far afield had made it in, so there was a lot of information missing, but Karl was under no illusions. Whatever remained of civilisation would eventually be subsumed into a powerful enough Ascendant’s fiefdom.

He didn’t plan on being that Ascendant, but he knew, deep in his bones, that he wouldn’t, he couldn’t submit to anyone. He’d done enough submission to last a lifetime. Being the most powerful didn’t appeal to Karl, he knew from his father’s business dealings that strength invited challenge all on its own. All he wanted was to carve out his own little area where he could be left alone. He would die before putting his destiny in the hands of another once again.

He just had to get powerful enough to make messing with him not worth the cost.

Part of this overall goal included taking the group over and heading to Johannesburg to find his mother. Standing in his way were Nicola and Mandla. Nicola was by far his biggest rival. He didn’t know her circumstances as the first time he’d met her was Mandla’s party. But he could see a single-minded drive in her eyes. She was also highly motivated and by the looks of it willing to do whatever it took in her pursuit of power.

Mandla was more of an enigma. They’d been less friends and more friendly acquaintances, and had partied together a few times, but he’d never gotten any vibes deeper than “bored entitled rich kid”, maybe with a tiny controlling streak. There were people just like him all over the SA festival scene. But for some reason, he was also gunning for the top spot. Less effectively than Karl or Nicola in his opinion, but he was shrewd enough to play kingmaker. He was in Nicola’s corner right now, but Karl knew if her loss became inevitable, he’d switch sides.

For the best, in Karl’s opinion. Mandla had great decision-making skills, but he wasn’t hard enough for the Hegemon position like him or Nicola. He was an advisor, not a leader.

Nicola, however… He’d been dancing around the idea ever since she came back from her forest excursion. She was incredibly wilful. Incredibly useful to the group as well. But he might have to kill her.

“Hyenas!”

Instantly, he materialised his [Bryntröll] in its double-bladed form, as the massive axe, [Forseti]. It was the only form he could use for now, but it did the job. The huge weapon felt no heavier than a slim spear to Karl, an effect of its inherent skill, yet it was perfectly balanced.

Actually seeing the hyenas in the distance made him dismiss the weapon as he remembered that they were on his side now. But a cursory investigation of the commotion over there revealed something intriguing. They were chasing what looked like a normal sized adult rhino.

Identified: Mini-Elite – Juvenile Juggernaut Rhinoceros

A twinkle shone in Karl’s eye at the notification. He turned to Andrew.

“Come on, we need to save it!”

Karl tore off at full pace, leaving Andrew’s confused response behind him.

Arrows screamed through the air from the hyena pack, as Karl saw Nicola on her large hyena, shooting at the sprinting grey rhino, with her Cavalry riding by her side, wielding lances. Most of the arrows bounced off its thick hide but a few dug in, creating weeping injuries in its side.

She demonstrated her new skills as well as she shot a [Flare] at the beast’s back and the arrow broke apart upon hitting its skin, flame spilling across the rear portion of its hide like a Molotov cocktail. The rhino let out a high-pitched whine and its singular, prominent horn lit up with a grey light.

The rhino’s body gained a barely visible aura as it started to accelerate. Increasing its speed at an increasing rate, the rhino began to pull away from the crowd of yipping hyenas at its flanks, blowing out the fire on its back. Only Nicola and her horridly named pet managed to keep up as the rest of the pack, along with the other riders, fell away.

Arrow after arrow, Nicola fired from her shaky position straddling Nikki’s neck, peppering the poor rhino even as it began to pull away from her too, its acceleration bringing it towards Karl. She increased her bombardment, futilely launching more and more bolts into its armoured hide. As it extended the gap to the point she was in danger of losing it, almost blurring at this point, she changed tactics.

With cool efficiency, Nicola stopped the barrage in order to aim with precision. She loosed, sending a [Bodkin Point] whizzing into the underside of one of the rhino’s feet.

With a pained bellow, the rhino tripped, its skill forcibly cancelled as it fell hard and rolled its bulk straight through an acacia, shattering it before sliding to a stop within a large copse of trees. Right in front of Karl.

He squatted in front of its grey bulk as it groaned in pain, with a clearly broken leg.

“You’re hurt, ja?”

The rhino let out a sharp whine as if to say “No shit.”

Chuckling, he stroked its head.

“I’m guessing I need to impress you for this to work.”

It was at that moment that Nikki burst onto the scene, panting as Nicola aimed her bow at him from above. The rhino was luckily mostly shielded by the fallen tree trunk.

“Karl, you’re not even supposed to be in this region. Move.”

Karl didn’t, making sure to position himself so Nicola couldn’t aim at the rhino’s most vulnerable points.

“I’m not going to do that, Nicola.”

She huffed in frustration.

“Really? I’m whittling down our enemies and getting my Gigglers some sorely needed levels, and you’re going to be petty ov-”

Her eyes widened as she realised what he was doing, then narrowed as she raised her bow again.

“Karl, I’m not playing with you. Move.”

There it is.

Karl summoned his [Rönd], bringing it up to his chin while his [Sverð] growled a low threat in his main hand.

“No.”