The Mutant World (13 page)

Black Mane looked at Tamara for a moment and then smiled. “My name is Cato,” he said.

Tamara smiled and shook her head. Cato was a very common name, many people named their sons after the legendary High Lord of Illyria. “Hmmm, I’m a little disappointed,” she said, “but then again…Yes, you do the name justice.”

“I’m glad you approve,” chuckled Black Mane.

“But I think I’ll still call you ‘Black Mane’,” said Tamara. “That’s more original.” Tamara got little else from Black Mane that night, but over time she would learn more and more. She knew he was Illyrian and had left his homeland because of some quarrel with his former mates. She also knew he had sired other young. Normally none of this would have bothered her, but she began to realize that she was becoming a bit jealous and even possessive, and she
still
had not sent him away. In fact, it was now four years since she was supposed to have sent him on his way for good, but that didn’t happen. Instead, once he discovered that she was pregnant, he stuck around and had actually helped her raise the boy. Yes it was a male, and even Tamara had to admit that she enjoyed this family life much better than her other life. However, she was Mavie, and Black Mane was obviously the head of this family, that was NOT the Mavie way. The more she dwelt on this, the more it bothered her, and finally she made her decision.

It was late and her son Barrat was asleep. That’s when she told her mate that it was time to go…for good. Black Mane looked at her questioningly and without saying another word, she imperiously pointed into the night. The man moved back a few paces and Tamara then saw something she had never seen before, Black Mane transformed. She knew he was Feral like her, but she didn’t know he was capable of full or even partial shapeshifting. His body sprouted white fur as he began to grow and soon he dropped to all fours and standing before her now was a giant snow white panther. Only tiny bits of black could be seen on the beast. In terror Tamara heard Black Mane’s voice in her head as he spoke to her telepathically.

“I don’t know what I have done to offend you, but so be it. I have long since given up on understanding women. I’m much too old for that stress. Give me my son. I will take him east. There, as he is my son, he will be honored and protected beyond your dreams.”

Tamara, now feeling chills to the bottom of her feet, could only shake her head. The great cat let out a growl and took a half step forward. His lips were now pulling back exposing his teeth. Tamara, although terrified, stood her ground. She had no illusions about her chances against this monster, but she stood her ground. “No,” she said. “Please just go. I should have done this a long time ago. I meant to do it before you knew I was pregnant, but…This is the way it must be! I am Mavie! And a Mavie cannot live this way…even out here.”

After a long moment, the cat reverted back to human form. His hair was now snow white. Only feint hints of the black remained. It was obvious now that this was the man’s
true
hair color. “What a twisted land this is!” he said in disgust. “I warned Bellasaris about that Mavie woman centuries ago!” Then he looked at Tamara in pity and sighed. “Black Mane is dead,” he said. “I will not try and take the boy. By the traditions of the people you find so unacceptable it cannot be done unless he is in danger. I
will
move on. But I will say this. A man of my blood will
never
be dominated by a woman. He will either flee this bizarre society or he will overthrow it. Either way, he will eventually seek me out of his own accord or I will find him. Look to your life if I find that he has been slain or abused by you because of your ridiculous prejudices,” and with that the large male turned and disappeared into the night.

Tamara stared after him. Realization and shock was setting in, regret would not be long behind and it would only get worse in the days, months and years to follow.

“It…It was really…He
was
…” stammered Tamara. Then she fell to her knees. “My son is the cub of Cato Curtis! He’s an Illyrian Prince!”

For the next twelve years Tamara raised her son alone in her forest home. When the boy asked about his father she truthfully told him that she had sent him away because it was against her people’s law for men and women to live together in that way. But Barrat could see the pain in his mother’s face and hear it in her voice as she said it. Tamara was a sad and seemingly unwell woman. She would become lively when in the company of her son or speaking about his father, but Barrat noticed that when she was alone and believing him asleep, she would often stare into space lost in her own world. He didn’t understand at the time, but any adult mutant would have immediately recognized the signs. Cato had not bonded with her, but she had bonded with him. Although she drove him away, she had indeed still loved him, and so was now literally sick with longing and regret.

Barrat was now sixteen and his mother seemed to be finally coming out of her funk. The reason for this was that deep hate was overriding her other feelings. However, this hate was not directed towards Cato, but instead towards the society and system in which she belonged. Tamara had never forgotten what Cato had told her the night she sent him away, that her son would either flee the country…or overthrow it. She would put that to the test.

“Where are we going, Mother?”

Tamara smiled and replied, “To the city.” The boy was large and already capable of semi and full transformation. He was a strong willed boy and temperamental at times. She had told him many tales of his father and subtly seen to it that this would be the example to follow. Still, even without this little help, she could tell that his father’s words were already beginning to ring true. This boy would never put up with the Mavie system, and that was why she was taking him to the capital. Besides, aside from his brown hair, he was already the spitting image of his father. It hurt just to look at him.

“What is a city?” said Barrat.

“It…Well, soon we will begin to see towns. These are places where many people live all together in one place. A city is like that, but
much
bigger. There are many females there as well.” The boy made a quizzical grunt and Tamara chuckled to herself. Although he didn’t understand it, Barrat was going through the stages of “The Hunger”. He had been feeling it since he was twelve, but was now becoming a bit bad tempered and unmanageable, very soon the urge to mate would be uncontrollable. Tamara had already seen the signs. The hunger could be very dangerous with no available females around, and that was one problem that she definitely couldn’t help him with. Tamara chuckled again, thinking of Mavie customs.
I would like to see one of those fools try to put a collar on THAT boy’s neck,
she thought.

They arrived at the town of Tan three days later and Barrat would soon get a hint of what real Mavie society was like. Most of the adolescent and adult males wore collars of some sort which were explained by his mother to be inhibitor collars.

“What are inhibitor collars?” asked Barrat.

“They are devices that prevent the males from using their powers,” said Tamara. The next question from the confused boy was answered before it was asked by a Mavie girl ordering a young male around. The youth was trying to talk to the girl, but she didn’t want to hear a thing that he was trying to say. The boy was starting to become angry himself and finally looked her in the eyes and started yelling back, much to the surprise of the women around. Barrat had noticed that most of the males in this town walked around heads down and eyes to the ground. They never looked the women in the eyes and they seemed to be a rather pathetic and unhappy lot. He wondered as he saw them being ordered around by the females why they didn’t stand up for themselves, he would soon find out. The girl, shocked and quickly outraged by this boy, slapped him across the face…hard. Some primal instinct must have taken hold of the boy who suddenly exposed his fangs and roared. The girl jumped back and immediately pressed a button on her wrist band and none too soon, for the youth was already beginning to change and lunge forward. The boy cried out and dropped to his knees reverting back to completely human form. The girl laughed and then began yelling at the boy again and then slapped him once more. Yet this time the boy was sent sprawling face first into the dirt.

“He doesn’t have his original strength anymore,” said Tamara. “I think she may have broken his jaw.”

Several of the on looking young women who were the same age as the two quarreling teenagers were now jeering at the fallen boy. Barrat had seen enough.

“Cowards!” he cried in outrage at the girls. They looked at him in surprise as he stormed over and shoved the first girl away from the youth on the ground. She landed on her backside with a painful thump.

“Why you…HOW DARE YOU?!?” she screamed jumping to her feet and reaching for her bracelet, but then she noticed that the larger boy wasn’t wearing a collar.

“That won’t do you any good now, you screeching Hag-jal,” said Barrat, and the girl gasped at being called one of the loudest and ugliest carrion birds on Bellasaria. Barrat then gave the other young women a look and they all stepped back a few paces. He then reached down, broke the collar on the fallen boy’s neck and helped him up, his jaw already beginning to regenerate. “You’re pretty strong,” Barrat said to the first girl, “but let’s see how tough you are without that to rely on.” The girl looked nervously at the boy she had struck. “Well,” said Barrat to the other boy, “she started it, go on!” Several of the watching young men were now beginning to nod.

“You can’t get away with this!” snarled the girl and two of her friends soon appeared beside her. Barrat roared and then semi-transformed. Immediately looks of awe and fear appeared on the girl’s faces and they began to seriously rethink their original idea. This didn’t go unnoticed by the watching males and several shocked women.

“Wait!” cried a voice, and a large and somewhat attractive woman cautiously approached the group of kids. She looked at the girls and the two boys, one now collarless and the other, larger youth, who obviously had
never
worn a collar. It was also obvious that this youngster wasn’t even of the Mavie; at least he hadn’t been raised as one. He was entirely naked and had the look of one who had not been properly trained to behave with women. “Who are you boy?” she said eyeing the newcomer.

Even Barrat had been taught to respect age and authority and this woman was clearly someone of rank in this town.

“I am Barrat, son of…”

“I am his mother,” said Tamara cutting him off. “I am Tamara, of the forest Mavie.”

“Sister,” said the other woman, “this male should have been brought to a civilized town and place into state custody as soon as he was weaned. He has no collar and he does not respect women.”

“Wrong,” said Barrat, I do respect women…or at least that woman,” he said nodding to his mother. “But I don’t like bullies and cowards! Hiding behind this thing!” said Barrat, pointing at the broken collar. “Stripping your opponents of their power so that you can beat them up and tell them what to do? Humph! Why would I respect this scum?”

“Yes,” said Tamara. “That girl did indeed start it…the physical part that is.”

The big woman looked at the scowling Barrat and then at the others. The young girls were openly terrified of him and the surrounding young males were looking at him…and the girls in a way that she didn’t like. The boy who was freed of his collar literally glowed gratitude. It wouldn’t be easy getting another one on him. She then turned and looked at Barrat again. The boy was staring her right in the eyes. Slowly a smile formed across her face.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a man like this,
thought the woman.
Most of these males are whipped dogs. Hmmm, he’s coming into manhood and…his eyes are beginning to wander.
It was true. Barrat was starting to appraise the newcomer openly, something these broken men would
never
do. The big woman was genuinely flattered. Barrat had never seen a female like her before. Actually, other than his mother, he had never seen another woman at all before. She was very well-made and attractive and much more curvy and busty than his mother.
So you find me to your liking, eh?
thought the big woman.
Well, the feelings mutual, big boy.
The woman then looked to Tamara.

“Forgive me, I am Lady Sonja. I am the chieftess of this village. No doubt you were very attached to this cub and so would not part with him. However, he is no longer a cub.” Sonja sent her mind forth.
“Sister, the boy has no collar and his need must have manifested long ago. His eyes and scent give away his hunger even if he doesn’t understand it. Isolation from others helped his condition, but he must have been feeling it since puberty. And now that he’s been exposed to females besides his mother they’ve been fully awakened. He could become dangerous to our women if ‘The Hunger’ should take complete control. I like the boy. Give him to me for a while. I promise he’ll be less cranky and more agreeable afterwards. Then we’ll see him properly collared.”

Now on Earth, in almost
any
society there, this statement would be seen as
very
improper and on many levels. But this was not Earth, and on Bellasaria it could be seen as both a generous offer and a compliment. Besides, it was true, soon the boy would be wanting a woman in a
very
bad way. His Bellasarian genetics would see to that, plus he was feral. He would have to mate and that could get ugly if a willing female could not be found readily. In any other Bellasarian culture (accept for the Akkadians) this would not have been an issue at all. In fact, some little or even not so little girl would probably have come looking for
him
by now, but this was Mavieland. The chieftess, assuming that Tamara would
want
Barrat made harmless, offered to gentle him down enough to slip a collar on him with no fuss. Finally, she was a chieftess. For a woman of her rank to be interested in a very green youth like him was indeed a great compliment. Tamara at first was going to refuse, but then changed her mind. This was going to be Barrat’s first test. If he couldn’t deal with a village chieftess out in the boonies, then taking him to Mavie City was a waste of time. Better to leave him here than to bring shame on his father’s bloodline in any great way elsewhere.