Eve Shepard growled angrily when someone approached her. Grita, a Nurgbull who could have crushed Eve with one hand, who at over four and a half metres in height, half that at the shoulder and Father Crow knew what weight because there was no fat on her, flinched at the sound.
"Chieftain." She said in the deep voice. "The doe's wish to know if they can clear the field. The battle has left them hungry."
Eve looked up from Tali'Zorah's unconscious form. Meeting the Nurgbulls eyes and tilting her head, but couldn't hold them for more than a few seconds as she remembered that she was a Chieftain now, that meant responsibilities. Another growl, but at herself and she quickly scanned the battlefield. Bodies, limbs, blood and weapons covered the rocky dirt of the woodland clearing. Nafar was rubbing something into a wound on her lower arm. Morg stood five metres away her hoof on the end of the chains keeping the slaves from doing something stupid. The doe's were standing in their hunting groups, watching her and giving the fresh corpses a longing look. Her own eyes returned to the bodies and her mouth watered as her stomach demanded attention. She swallowed hard, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell from the bodies hit her like a hammer between the eyes, and made her mouth water more.
She placed one of Tali's arms over her shoulder then every so gently lifted her bridal style. She knew the suit could take a bit of a beating, but with was no replacement parts, no spare suits, or Quarian antibiotics any damage could be a death sentence. She marvelled at how easy it was to hold her limp friend, she was stronger than when before she arrived. Putting those thoughts aside Eve looked back up to Grita.
"Stack the weapons, strip the bodies down to the flesh, then everyone can eat. Make sure to save a few for Morg. Make sure to they know to leave the leaders head, that will be joining Shaman and Apprentice." Girta gave her a nod and stomped off shouting orders, the doe's descended on the bodies. "Morg, please keep the them" She jutted her chin at the slaves, "company for a minute or ten, I want to get Tali settled. See if you can communicate with them."
"Of course chieftain." Morg replied and sat down before the ten captives. Eve heard for the first time since meeting the beastmen Morg speaking in her slow monosyllabic way. It almost made her chuckle. Skirting around the blood soaked battle field set her stomach rumbling again at the smell. As she walked past the head of the leader now without his helm, she gave it a kick and sent it rolling towards the pillar. It was only when she reached her furs that she realised her problem and looked around for some help and spotted Nafar.
"Nafar, could I borrow you?" She called out to the bilelord.
"What do you need Chieftain?" She asked once she jogged over.
"Two things. I'm out of arms, so could you carry my furs over behind the pillar. Second, are you alright? I saw your arm." Eve said holding Tali a little higher to prove her point and nodding to the injured arm.
"Of course." She squatted down and rolled the furs into a bundle. "The wound is minor, a shallow but long cut. It may scar but it is not a problem."
"Good, I'm glad its nothing serious."
Once a comfy place was set up out of sight of the feasting that was going on, Eve laid Tali down gently.
"Nafar, I want a hunting team with her at all times until she wakes. They are not to touch her for any reason, a single hole in that suit could kill her. When she wakes one should come and get me immediately day or night, the only thing not to be interrupted is prayers. If she won't wait they are to bring her to me. She shouldn't be violent when she wakes, but none the less I want them unarmed." Then she takes a deep breath and forces the words out. "If she is violent when she wakes, no one is to attack just run and find cover, I will deal with her. Is all that clear?"
"Yes chieftain." Nafar then she gives Tali a once over. "Only three fingers and her legs are like ours. Is she a doe from from your lands? May I ask who she is?"
A small smile crosses Eve's lips.
"Her name is Tali'Zorah, she's a friend and like a little sister to me. Yeah she's from where I came from. As for being a doe, she was once but not any more. She grew right before my eyes from a young woman, not much more confident than our doe's, to a warrior on par with you or Girta. I literally fought three wars with her alongside me. She's also one of her peoples leaders, so I don't understand why she is here."
Nafar's mouth hangs open at the words.
"Truly?"
"Yup."
"The tribe is growing stronger with each day under you Chieftain. First Morg and yourself, then Girta and I, and now another chosen. Even the doe's are quickly becoming warriors. Truly we are blessed."
"My presence or not, it is everyone working hard to improve that is making us stronger. I will admit to the Gods blessings helping a fair amount. She might not be chosen, we'll have to wait and ask when she wakes."
"Apologies Chieftain, we do not need to wait. Look she bears the mark of the Gods." Nafar pointed to the two circular clasps that hold Tali's hood in place, they were the same colour but on closer inspection they both bore the eight pointed star of the Gods.
"Well then that makes things interesting, and this going to be fun to explain." Eve said as she scratched her horn. "Go get something to eat Nafar, once the girls are fed send over a group. I'll wait with her for now."
"Very well Chieftain." Nafar gave a nod and walked towards the sound of feasting.
Kneeling down she carefully took one of Tali's hands in her own and held it, gently rubbing her thumbs over the material.
"Tali what happened back home? Things must be going badly if what brought the Gods attention down on me is anything to go by. Please don't be rash when you wake up, I really don't want to do something drastic. You have no idea how much I have missed you, so don't be dumb just wait for me to explain things." Eve said in Alliance standard English.
She felt a feather like touch as plucker did something in her mind. Then she bowed her head and started a new prayer, all the while holding Tali's hand.
As usual when she offered prayers time stopped having much meaning, but not long after she started her third repetition she smelled something that set her mouth and stomach off. Ignoring the distraction she made sure to finish before raising her head. A hunting party were sitting and kneeling around her, their hands and faces covered in blood.
"Did Nafar give you my instructions?" Eve asked the group.
"Yes chieftain." One of the doe's said, then much to Eve's embarrassment her stomach growled again. "Bilelord Nafar told us to bring you food."
Two of the doe's held out their hands, one was holding a heart, the other a liver.
"Thank you girls, but I don't eat uncooked..." Eve started to say when plucker hit her mind.
Usually the urges it placed in her mind were gentle, suggestions to ease her into a particular action or to say a particular thing. This new urge was not a suggestion, it was barely even a command, it was an all consuming need and there was no force that was going to stop her fulfilling it.
Her hand shot forward grabbing the heart, ripping it from the doe's hands she brought it straight to her mouth, sinking her teeth into the still dripping muscle. She tore a chunk off and chewed.
The urge passed, and she was about to violently spit the raw meat, human meat, out. Then the taste registered. It was by far one of the most delicious things she had ever put in her mouth. She hesitated and chewed again slower, savouring the subtle but rich taste. Then what she was eating popped back in her mind, plucker did it's thing and the horror diminished to nothing, after all her gut was perfectly capable of digesting raw meat just like every other carnivore and omnivore from Earth. As to the cannibalism, she knew that in extreme cases humans had survived by eating each other, was this so different.
She swallowed and absent-mindedly took another bite, as she stared off into the distance pondering. Then it was gone and she felt fine, great even, but her eyes drifted to the liver held by the other doe.
"Is that for me too?" She asked, a bit too eager. The doe held it out to her, and she took it. "Thank you, and I'm sorry about snatching the heart. Apparently I get a bit grumpy when I'm hungry."
"It is fine Chieftain. Your claws are not long enough to hurt." The doe that she had snatched the heart from said.
"Good, good. I'll leave you to watch Tali. If she wakes tell her." She switched to English "Tali wait Shepard coming." And back to dark tongue. "Please repeat that to me."
They did so, it was all monosyllabic and flat vowels but it was understandable enough. She just hoped the translator would work it out. The names were clear enough that Tali ought to understand that much.
Standing she thanked the does again and took a bite of the liver, it wasn't as good as the heart but not bad, walked towards Morg who had fallen silent a while ago.
"Morg, any of them speak a language you know?"
"Yes Eve." She pointed a finger at one of the slaves, three men seven women, a woman. "She speaks the language of Kislev and enough of the others language to talk with them. None understand dark tongue, so we may speak freely."
"So, now we have ten people, only one of whom can understand us. They look about a useful as the doe's were when we took them in. Any idea how far away their homeland is?"
Morg rubbed her chin.
"If we take the fastest paths perhaps seventy days, if we take the safer paths more than a hundred less than two. The weather, other warbands, or other things may make it longer still on either. That would bring us to the edge of the Gods lands and into the northern manlings lands, their homes are beyond even that."
"And that bastard dragged them all the way here? Why?"
"He likely wanted to sacrifice them to the Gods. Morg believes she saw the mark of the Serpent on his body before Morg ate him." Morg pointed to the slaves. "Eve they come from the lands that not only deny the Gods but actively oppose them."
That sent a chill down Eve's back. They were foes of the Gods, people she was oath bound to battle. She was still unsure if her oath's were as binding as she feared they might be and what, if any, punishment there would be for breaching them. They had never given her any urges or knowledge like what plucker put in her mind, but to her they felt just as binding.
Eve knew she was at a crossroads, the place were duty and morals split, never to reunite. The illusive man and Cerberus came to mind. The organisation had been formed with the best of intentions, to protect humanity from the shadows by any means, against any alien threat. It took time for them to fall but even at the end the illusive man, and all how followed him, believed they were protecting humanity.
Was her situation all that far removed from that. She had taken up a duty, sworn an oath, a part of which was to battle the foes of the Gods. The ten people before her were those foes, even if now they were defenceless. The gave her fearful looks, and she realised she must have looked quite the sight. Naked, the mark of crow tattooed all over her body, blood around her mouth and coating her hands, casually eating dripping raw meat. Her duty was clear, her path chosen she gave the order that would have damned her soul, if she still had one. She didn't have to like it, and certainly wouldn't enjoy it.
She turned and walked away, saying. "Morg, kill them." There was a series of screams, a swoosh of displaced air and silence returned to the clearing.
She walked to the pillar and scooped up the head, and with far more force than was necessary rammed it onto a hook. Plucker did it's thing and words came to her lips.
"A small gift for the Hound, lord of blood." She said.
As she finished the words a second Gods breath blew over the clearing, bringing the power of Father Crow and what she thought of as the eighth gale, Hound she assumed. A deep groan of discomfort clawed its way past her lips as she started to stumble but caught herself on one of the chains, her legs had started to burn. There was no pain, but she was unsure if that was her blessing from Father Crow or because there actually was no pain. Looking down she watched as her feet flowed and stretched, her toes melted away and fused together, her heel and ankle shifted about and her tendons lengthened. Her focus was so complete on her legs that a second spike of discomfort in her head, took her by surprise. She instinctively let go of the chain that was holding her upright, landing to the ground in a writhing heap, a moment later darkness fell.
Eve returned to awareness in fits and starts. Her vision was somehow both blurry and sharp at the same time, her focus shifted from near to far and back again. Her head rolled to the side and she saw a mountain. Snow caped and pristine, the faces were carved into great statues of bearded people holding up the peak. A group of thirty bearded people shouldered what looked like muskets and fired, a cloud of smoke obscured them. When a helicopter flew past then two more. A large hoof appeared and a pair of strong arms lifted her and sat her back again the pillar.
She tried to look up, naturally taking the slight shift in balance her horn caused into account, and misjudged it completely smacking her head into the pillar. The knock made her wince, in surprise rather than pain, but it did cause her vision to clear up almost immediately. Trying again she looked up and saw Girta, who had grown a second set of horns, was the one who had moved her and just to her side was Nafar, with a long scorpions tail. On one knee a few steps further was Morg, who had a huge, even for her, smile on her face and a third eye in the centre of her forehead and each was a different solid colour, yellow, brown and green.
She tried to speak but all that came was a rasp. Nafar walked to her side and held out one of the water skins. Giving her hand a thankful squeeze, Eve took the skin and a sip to wet her dry mouth. The water quickly took on the coppery taste of blood as she swirled it around, swallowing it down she took another, larger gulp of water. Running her tongue across her teeth, she discovered why. A second row of teeth had grown in behind her original set. A quick glance down showed what she thought, her legs had changed to hooves just like the rest of her tribe. Looking up she gave her sister and subordinates a quite toothy grin.
"It would seem the tribe has done something to please Father Crow and the Hound." She said, opening her mouth wide to show her new gift.
"You have more than your teeth and legs chieftain." Girta said as she reached over and tapped something above Eve's eyeline that moved her head slightly. Reaching up herself she found a horn matching the first in length but without the holes for her insects.
"Your eyes have been blessed also." Nafar added as she crouched down beside her. "The pupil has widened to be like ours."
"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but what did we do to attract this much of the Father Crows attention? And why did the Hound send us some of its power too?"
It was Morg who answered.
"I heard you gift the head to the Hound when you hung it. The skull of a champion in service to the Serpent. That is the only reason I can think of for his gift." A sly look settled on her face. "As to why Crow blessed us. What loving Father does not shower favoured daughters with gifts!" Then she started to laugh and they all joined in.
They were still laughing when a doe ran around the pillar and stopped by Eve's hooves.
"Chieftain, the Ta Li is awake!" The doe said in a hurry.
Struggling to her feet and accepting a hand up from both Grita and Nafar. Eve found that her balance was all off and staggered about for a bit, but as she went to take her first tentative steps a voice stopped her.
"Shepard!" The slightly electronic voice of Tali'Zorah vas Normandy said and Eve had just enough time to look up as a purple and cream suited person tackle hugged her to the ground.