Chapter 4 Taken to the beast city

The golden snake immediately transformed his upper body and caught the female before she hit a branch that he was sure would break her spine. She was soft! was the first thing the snake beastman noted. Even after transforming into his human form, his arms and skin were covered in golden scales. Looking at his state, he frowned, he needed to let her go or else he'd accidentally poison her to death. He stretched out one hand and used his extremely long nail to scrap hard aganist the thickest tree branch creating a flat surface, the tip of his tail which was like a snake of its own appeared before his eyes with soft leaves held by it.

"Don't get hopes up! I'm only helping her because I startled her." he tugged the leaves from his tail and lay them on the surface then gingerly placed her on that surface. His tail slumped disappointedly and went back to coil around the tree.

Rustling sounds made him look down and that when he realised a beastman was climbing up...even to the top, countless movements could be detected. He hissed irritably then stole a look at the female one more time, he took in her features....she was soft and white and very pretty. He had only gotten a small chance to glimpse at her eyes and they were the most beautiful he had ever seen, they were just like the forest, deep ...even her hair was like red fire.

He sighed and comuflaged himself to look exactly like the tree he had been on and soon, a male beastman descended and looked around with a frown....like he was sensing another creature. Particularly, eagle beastman had one cool trait which was eyes sight but even with that, he couldn't make out the snake from the tree but that didn't stop his heart from shuddering. His instincts told him this place was infested with danger and this female could now belong to that danger but he had gone through a lot to get to be the one to come down. He had to take her either way!

He looked to where the female lay and he was astound. White skin peeped from beneath the leaves that covered the female and she had beautiful red hair, she also had a really nice scent on her but...was she sleeping? Not really sure...he avoided looking at her body as that was disrespectful to a female if the one who looked at her wasn't her male and being an eagle beastman who were praised for their centuries old legacies of being honest and sincere, he looked up ahead and stepped forward. The surface on which the female lay was extremely flat....like it had been scrapped by something sharp not long ago. There were still traces of the tree surp too. His senses further heightened and he noticed the tree trunk....a pair of golden eyes were watching him.

Snake beastman!!!! His heart trembled and he fought hard not to transform, he'd be at a disadvantage here and the snake....was just watching him, he reached for. the female and the snake flicked out its forked tongue. Seeing that there was no hostile reaction from the snake beastman, he gently wrapped the female up. The snake beastman on the other hand had found the one to hold accountable if anything happened to the female. He shut his eyes and let the eagle beastman carry away the female and take her with him.

Surprised by the extremely calm nature of the snake beastman, the eagle beastman who was a mortal enemy with snakes sighed and climbed up. Getting to the top of the tree with the female, the young male with a female wrapped in leaves swallowed a lump and distinctively looked back where he had come from. Some of his feathers had erupted and stood erect on his body showing how defensive his body had gotten while in there!

His colleagues soon flocked him to take a closer look at the female but all they could see was the red head since she had been wrapped from toe to face.

"Your Highness...let's take a look!" one of the men from his clan said excitedly but the lad only glared at him. His 'father' the eagle King had sent him here on his first mission since he had just transformed into his human from the previous evening. He had been excited about this but seeing the gazes directed at the female, his mood soured. He always hated how the males behaved like spineless fools when it came to females and now that this one was exceptionally special, the other males eyes were literally glimmering with intensity. "Step back!" he ordered grimly and they flinched from the tone of his voice. Despite being a newly transformed beastman, he was a four level beast and at such a young age, it was a formidable achievement that earned him admiration and respect from his people

His subordinate stepped forward in his beast form and the prince rode the eagle back to the center of the city. Cheers and roars could be heard from below as over five thousand single beastmen cheered on at the entrance of a new female who was hailed to have been gifted by their god. Landing at the main stone castle, Lumina got off the eagle with the female safely cradled in his hold and looked below at the extremely excited males who had flocked the front of the castle since god knows when! Before he could express his displeasure, another annoying creature came forth who was none other than Shawn. "Eagle prince...hand over the female." he said stretching out his hands to take her but Lumina glared at the beastman with hate. He didn't hand her over and just entered the building to meet the other chiefs.

Sydney was bad at fainting and she always regained consciousness the next minute. It was no different from now. After seeing death flash through her eyes when she saw that snake, she regained consciousness the next minute but didn't dare move. She knew she was going to die anyway...there were no shortcuts here, she could neither run nor fly, she was going to die so she resigned to her fate but after a few more minutes, she didn't feel herself inside the snake's stomach.

Someone that was extremely cold was holding her...she didn't get her hopes up and didn't dare to open her eyes but that didn't stop her body from trembling which was a rather big give away. Was the snake making a fire to eat her? All she could hear was the rustling of leaves and not long, she was lay on a flat surface. Another rustling from above made her cry her soul out. Was that his friend?! She didn't move but soon was lifted off the ground by someone else...his body was scalding hot. She could feel it even from with the leaves she had been wrapped in. Not understanding the current development, she let herself wait and keenly listen to what was going on.

Reaching a room, Lumina placed the female on the stone bed and stepped away from her. She had been trembling in his hold all this time and this told him she was awake and was scared. "I'll go bring an animal skin for you." he informed and stepped outside.

Hearing the cold but calm voice of the man who had saved her, Sydney peeped from the leaves and saw the entrance covered with a very long animal hide. The room in which she was, was made of huge stone boulders and everything else was also made of stone. Was she in the Amazon?!!! Were these people indigenous people from there? But how come their english was this good, like they've been speaking that for years! No, she needed to make a great evaluation before she jumped to conclusions. The animal skin by the entrance was thrown open and a very muscular chest was all Sydney saw, the person had a brown hide in his hands. "You must be uncomfortable without an animal skin. I got this one for you..it's should fit." Lumina spoke to the female who was in the leaves.

"Thank you." she said recognising the familiar voice. He was the one who saved her and brought her here.

"I'll leave it here." Lumina placed the animal skin besides her then stepped back. "The herbalist will be here to treat you. I'll go get you some meat to eat. Um, do you like fruits? There are sour and sweet ones..which ones should I bring you?" he asked.

"Sweet." Sydney replied and watched as the equally muscular back disappeared behind the animal skin. Her stomach growled as all the stress left her body. She fought to get out of the leaves and could finally breathe comfortably.

Outside in the Great hall.

"Eagle prince...now that you are here... let's begin."

The female needs something to eat. I'll go get it " he said and walked past the fourteen men.

"Shawn can cater for that." One male with pointy fur ears spoke. He was the fox king.

"She doesn't want people she's not familiar with near her." Eagle prince Caden spoke and went to get the fruits.

The King's present looked at him flabbergasted. He was speaking like he's known her for forever! Shawn said nothing and stood by the side. He was a blind beastman, born this way but he still survived and rose to higher power ranks despite his abnormality. At the age of 30 now, he was still a single beastman and despite his outstanding achievements, no female really wanted a sick male. He hence dedicated his time and life to serving the chief's council and he was assigned with the duty of looking after females. Because he couldn't see them, many male beastmen didn't take it to heart.

"Where's the city Lord?" A man with spotted fur ears asked.

"He's returning soon." Parrick who had been among the small group spoke up. After seeing the group that had saved the female leave, his Highness had asked him go along and he was to come soon. Despite not wanting to, he had to as that was his duty as the city's Lord.

Sydney took the animal skin hide, it was smooth and lovely....She tried it on and just like the man had said, it indeed fit perfectly. It was a tube top and knee length skirt ..it was quite heavy but ruling that out, it was really beautiful. As she admired her new dress, she looked up upon hearing heavy steps coming her way.

"Female....I'm coming in." Caden said and upon being permitted, he stepped in with a stone basin full of fruits in one hand and the other hand carried another stone basin full of pipping hot roasted meat.

He paused in his steps seeing the female who had a soft glow on her face ...she was very pretty..not like the females he had seen so far but he lowered his gaze in order not to make her uncomfortable. "I brought food." he said and walked over to the stone table. He placed the food there and turned to the female.

Sydney on the other hand had her mouth hanging open. She had gotten to see her saviour and if she is to say that she's in heaven, no one would blame her for that assumption. The man before her was very, super duper handsome. His face alone could send any woman to her knees, his sharp silver eyes and extremely long and beautiful lashes fell in his cheeks gracefully whenever he blinked. His lips were also a cute shade of pink and his nose stood straight articulating his facial features, he seemed like the extremely cool type of person. She continued to observe him and his body was drool worthy...did these people have gyms out here?! His muscles were taut and he had tattoo markings in his muscular arms. His packs...they were eight!! Go have mercy!

Feeling the female's unwavering gaze in him as she studied him, Caden blushed and cleared his throat making her look at him. "I'm Caden, a male eagle. What can I call you?!" he asked carefully.

Sydney....my name, it's Sydney." she said absent mindedly but then frowned. "What do you mean you are a male eagle?!"

Caden looked at the female and smiled. Right, she wasn't from around here as the gods had sent her to them....she didn't know about this world. Come and eat Sydney. I'll tell you." he said and gestured for her to settle on the stone seat he had dragged over.

Seeing that he wasn't ignoring her question and he intended to tell her, she walked over to where the foods were and she couldn't help salivating, she for a moment forgot about her question and reached for the food. The fruit basket had mangoes, strawberries, grapes, bananas, and a variety of exotic fruits, she first tried out those.

So...what I said about being an eagle...I meant I'm a beastman. Both an eagle and can also look like this." Caden explained.

That's impossible!" Sydney said looking up from the food.

The gods brought you here." he said softly.

What gods?" Sydney asked putting a stop to the food.

You came from the sky....don't you remember?!" Caden asked perplexed by the fact that she was clueless. Did not the gods tell her this before they sent her here?!

I remember that very well but no gods sent me. I....I just found myself falling." she said with a frown. Before she fell, she remembered being in the backyard of her home which was quite away from other settlements. It had been like any other usual day but the suddenly, the sky turned dark and an abrupt tornado started not far from her house and within seconds, she was sucked into it following the events of her falling. Was that God? The tornado?!

Don't think too much about it..eat first and we will figure the rest out later." he assured her and Sydney saw sense in what he said. Yes, she'd learn more on where she was and find a way to go back home.