A few minutes have passed for this present moment. Kora snaked through the various corridors and hidden passages that were lower and lower at the moment.
Now she is somewhere that could be said to be the basement of her residence.
The place was like a small maze of corridors and rooms made entirely of black rock that were roughly carved.
It was dark and very humid, but this humidity was conducive to the appearance of bioluminescent mosses and fungi in shades of blue and these greatly facilitated the visibility of the place.
After a few more moments of walking in this sinister place, Kora and his entourage arrived at a space like a "boss's lounge", as those of dugeons know?
This room, despite being larger than the rest of the corridors, with a much higher ceiling, was strangely much more lit. This was due to the high quantity of these mosses and fungi that filled the walls and ceilings along the entire length of the paths until now.
In this "hall" there were two more lion-man warriors. They were watching a hyena-man who was bound by two chains that attached his arms to rings on the wall ahead.
This hyena-man had a slightly worn appearance. He wore a kind of light armor made of the bones and leather of some animal.
It was worn and had some stains of dried blood that appeared to be from the character who wore it.
His grotesque hyena face was bare. He had some scars and his left eye was white, he was probably unable to see with that eye. He had circular ears full of small bones that were probably used as ornaments. His hair was short Mohawk with shades of light brown.
He had a large jaw that reached up to the top of his cheek. His mouth had a little bit of dried blood and on his big snout too.
The guards next to him made a kind of greeting by hitting their left fist with their right fist in greeting the presence of their now present leader. Thus waking the hyena-man from his daydreams.
"You can leave now, good job." Kora orders the two guards to leave as soon as he arrives.
They promptly leave respectfully.
"You three wait outside. I want a private moment with this one." Kora also addresses the three guards who have followed her until now.
"Yes ma'am!" They respond and leave quickly.
Now the two were alone. The prisoner was there with a look that expressed all his hatred and hostility to the figure in front of him.
"What's with that look ... It's not the first time we've met. How's that eye?" Kora speaks while looking at the prisoner with an amused look.
"Hi hi hi hi ... Not so good because of you, bitch!" The hyena-man responds with while aggressively trying to fade away the chains that bound him.
"Ho ho ho ... I see that you still have a lot of courage despite being a Hyena. Come on, you worm ... don't make me waste any more time. Tell me what I come to do on my land." Kora interrogates him as if he wants it to end soon because he has better things to do.
Ping! * Spit * "Nuca ... better kill me soon." The home-hyena spits on the ground with contempt while looking at Kora with no apparent fear.
"Oh ... it looks like I'm going to have to get it out of your mouth." Kora answers him smiling.
"If I hadn't stuck to these meteorite streams, I could have my revenge." The hyena-man responds in a silent whisper inaudible to himself.
Kora, who had recently just moved to approach the hyena-man, ends up hearing that statement and then stops.
"What did you say? I heard wrong? You are here now in chains because you failed to defeat some of my subordinates and ended up getting caught and now you think you will defeat me. Hahaha ... Just being a hyena-man. " Kora responds while laughing with amusement.
(Author: In the work, I have established that hyena-men are socially seen as a kind of clown because of the laughter-like sounds that often leak.)
Kora didn't take him seriously. As you never took him. She has known him for a while. This hyena-man was one of the most skilled warriors in the tribe of hyena-men. His name was Jeff The One-Eyed. Title obtained thanks to Kora who was the cause of the blow that left him blind in one eye.
The territory of the hyena-men tribe is close to the domains of the lion-men tribe. Because of this, there have already been several conflicts between the two tribes, more on the part of the hyena-men who were looking for resources to survive since their lands are miserable and full of death.
A place that was common to find bones of "Beasts" that died a long time ago. Before the hyena-men settled in the region, the place was known as a natural cemetery.
A place unable to proliferate life. Naturally dark and filled with an aura of decay. It was a place that no one would like to live.
It was a place of death and forgetfulness.
It was also a place inhabited by "Flying Beasts". There are several species of huge birds that always came into conflict over territory. Despite being an inhospitable place, it was full of the energy of death that was naturally cultivated by the environment full of corpses.
(Author: Over time I will better deal with the "Beasts" and the "Energies" present in the world. While I am producing the story, I let my creativity float create a new and unknown world. So bear with me ... I am new on here.)
Back, about the hyena-men. Its only sources of food are the remains of the carcasses of "Flying Beasts" that are left on the ground to rot and be part of the other several common bones of the place.
This environment meant that the hyena-men had to adapt as best they could. They had to reproduce quickly, always rely on numbers, learn to manipulate bones to make weapons, tools, armor and other things.
And without forgetting to learn to always be sneaky, making it the least reliable species of all ...
Enough information, let's go back to the current scenario.
As soon as Kora would continue with what she was going to do, but that was interrupted by the aspirations of a captive, home-hyena Jeff, speaks quickly:
"Damn woman, I'm a lot stronger than the last time you defeated me ... Let me go and I'll show you what I can do. Or are you afraid that I'll do the same thing you did to me? Would it even be nice to have an eye? blind to match your scar, don't you think? " The hyena-man bravely disdains and challenges the monarch's superiority.
"You're starting to get annoying, lesser creature. How could I be afraid of a being so weak ... At most I feel sorry!" Kora with authority replies. The atmosphere changes. No -home-lion or woman-lion likes to be challenged. This makes Kora no longer feel like playing with him.
"It must be easy to say that while I am in prison and you are there with your so-called" pride "thinking you are superior!" In a last attempt at provocation Jeff ends up successfully by touching on a subject that is important for any lion-man ...
Your Pride!
"Ohh ... Is that so !? Okay, then I will show you that your foolish dream of at least touching my fingertips will never succeed!" Kora answers him as she opens a huge smile full of teeth that make her look like a demon.
(Author: I take as a reference for comparison the smile that the damn statue from the manga Solo Leveling does ... Who knows what I'm talking about can get the reference. She scares me lol.)
It even looked like she was waiting for this moment and couldn't hold it anymore ...
It was time to move those old bones that went a long way without tasting the battle!
.....