27 Burn it Down

Albert had gone to the sea cliffs to call his tribes adult males who wanted to help. Most of them agreed as well as the hawk beastmen and a few of the peacock beastmen. He gathered a flying army. Most of them were trying to find mates, but they were also interested in learning this new fighting strategy.

Winston welcomed them into the city and made them swear not to tell anyone else their secrets. Also never to use what he taught them against the tribe. They were sworn into the village and were treated with respect. Many of the flying beastmen found mates. Especially the peacock beastmen. Females were especially drawn to their colors. Within a week, the city was ready for the attack.

Winston went ahead with his army of flying and non flying beastmen. He made sure to leave enough to guard the city while he was gone. Shelly worried about them and wanted to go, but her mates were all against it. She eventually agreed to stay home and help the females and cubs. She started classes for them. David taught the cubs games and kept them happy. Shelly taught the females how to crochet underwear. Shuu taught the few males that remained and were not guarding the city how to cook. Harvey found a few medical students and taught them medicine. They stayed busy.

Winston and his army made it through the desert in 2 days. They traveled at night and slept during the day under the sand to stay cooler. When they arrived at the City of Flames, Winston had the males who were not able to fly spread oil all around the city. The flying beastmen took some oil and explosives and poured them throughout the city. While the scorpions and rootless beasts were distracted with the flying beasts, Winston had flaming sticks thrown into the city. It ignited the flames and explosions went off throughout the city. Most were killed instantly, but the few who escaped were killed by the army waiting outside of the city. They stayed to make sure there were no remaining survivors. After a day of fighting, they rested and headed back. It took another 2 days to return.

When they finally made it back, Shelly led the village to rejoice and threw a party! She had been teaching the females to dance and sing. She taught them 'World at our feet' by Timmy Trumpet. She had also taught her males how to make leather drums. Shelly tried to teach them other songs to go with the drums but changed the lyrics to some they could understand. She liked 'Song 2' by Blur and some Led Zeppelin songs and many more. They didn't have metal for the symbols but they learned how to keep a beat. Shelly told them it was like a heartbeat to bring the music to life. All of the male beastmen were happy. Some joined in and others watched. They felt safer knowing that the threats had been eliminated. Now they only had giant behemoths to worry about, but those were easier to fight if the beastmen had at least 3 stripes. They partied all night and slept late until the next morning.

Shelly also planned to teach them every song she could think of about animals they might like from 'Welcome to the Jungle' to 'Animals'! She got to live her dream of being a rock star even if it felt like 'Where the Wild Things Are!' Shelly encouraged them to come up with their own songs. She said, "It's just like talking but you add some changes with your voice and beat." Soon all kinds of new songs were being sung from everyday occurrences to lullabies at night for the cubs. Shelly taught some of her males to hum and others to play the drums. They were happy that she was happy. Indigo heard Shelly sing and said, "If I didn't know you were not a mermaid, I would be sure you were singing a siren tune."

Shelly just laughed. She thought about singing the Ariel siren, but decided against it in case she attracts any more unwanted attention. She talked to Indigo about the upcoming trip. She said, "I'm planning on visiting the fox village with you to find a suitable female for you. Hopefully we will find one soon." Indigo nodded and looked hopeful. He was ready to go. She said, "I will talk to my mates and see when we will leave." He agreed and would wait. What else could he do? He did like the village and learned a lot of new things but he missed the sea. He dreamed about the day he could bring his new mate back to the sea and start a family of his own merfolk.

Shelly told her mates about the plan to visit the fox village. They agreed and said they would leave tomorrow after they packed up everything she would need. The males were used to traveling light, but they did not want their mate to feel uncomfortable. It was a two day journey to the nearest fox village. Harvey made some dry fruits and meats for Shelly. She had also shown them how to make chips out of the rest of the potatoes or 'stone fruits' as they called them. She had trail mix with nuts and dried fruits. The wheat and oats were still growing. Soon she could harvest them and create more food and snacks.

The next day they set off towards the fox village. Winston had informed the chief of their trip and he was happy to look after the village. He felt safer with less threats from the City of Flames. Winston had also passed a law that there would be no more rootless beasts if no females abandoned their mates. Shelly had explained therapy and marriage counseling as best as she could and said, "If it is a small problem try and work it out. If it is a major problem and you hate your male to death we can kill him instead of turning him into a rootless beast." The males agreed this was a better alternative. Their worst fear was being abandoned and turned into a rootless beast. They would rather die. The village had a kill on sight order for any rootless beasts or scorpions that may have escaped from the City of Flames.

Shelly felt better about this law and felt it would keep the females safe. She didn't want any females to be kidnapped and tortured. At least ferals were better than rootless beasts. Curtis had tried to be a good male and had eventually learned what was beast for Bai. She wondered if Bai had ever made it to the beast world. It was almost summertime and the City of Beasts would be experiencing a drought this time in the book. The Tiger village was safe from drought from the deep water hole. Just in case, Shelly taught them how to dig wells and some beastmen who were farther away dug a well so they would have access to a closer water source for their females.

Over all the lives of the beastmen in the tiger village had improved greatly. They loved their new king and queen! Shelly hoped more beastmen would want to join after the destruction of the City of Beasts. The village would continue to grow until it was larger than the City of Beasts. With the improvements in the city it would be the capital of the Beast World.

The trip to the fox village was relatively uneventful compared to the recent battle. They came across a few rootless beasts who were not in the City of Flames when the city was destroyed. The males were quick to kill them! They would not allow any rootless beasts to kidnap their mate. Shelly was safe with them and they made it to the fox village safely. When they arrived they were stopped by two fox beast guards. They seemed a little scared of so many 3-striped beasts and the 4-striped Tiger king.

Winston said, "Tell your chief that the Tiger king has come with his mate to find a female for a merman." The fox beastmen yipped and barked at each other in their beast forms. One of the fox beastmen went to inform the chief of their village. A few minutes later an older fox beastman with 2 stripes came towards them. He had bright red hair with black tips on his beast ears and green gold eyes. He welcomed them, "Hello Tiger king. I have heard about your village and what happened in the City of Flames. We are very grateful that you took care of those rootless beasts and Scorpions. We have been targeted in the past because of our small village. Our females are safer now thanks to you."

The fox beastmen seemed to acknowledge the Tiger king and his group. They felt safer with them here in their small village.