Ares sat down on one side, and Lana sat down opposite him, and Rori took their place at his side too.

Approaching the top of the hill was a mountain of a man, though he looked to be rather young still. They were at least a foot taller than Ares, his body thicker than anyone he had ever seen, but all pure muscle. A brick shit house, that was the phrase that came to mind. Their hair was long and near black, and their horns spiralled up and then back down, though curling up at the end. Their horns couldn’t really be seen when standing ahead of them, unless one was much taller. How awkward it was for them to sleep, no doubt.

When they saw Ares, they snarled out something in their language. Ares glanced towards Rori, who didn’t seem to react at all, and so he looked back up towards the oxman. Lana pressed her fists against the base of her horns, which he returned, and then she grunted something back at them. The large oxman then took his place beside her, staring daggers at Ares.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Ares said, staring into their eyes.

“I’m sure.” They replied back.

Ares’ brows lifted and then he looked to Lana. “Charming.” He smiled and then looked back at the oxman.

“This is Morak. His father is the horn, but cannot make the talk. We mean no disrespect.”

Ares shook his head. “It’s fine. I hope your father is well.” Ares said, causing Morak to snort out, crossing their arms as they remained silent.

She then introduced Ares, but they didn’t seem to respond, and so Ares just shrugged.

“He probably can’t…” Ares cleared his throat. “Ah, nevermind.” He said, glancing towards Rori and then leaned in. “If I mention something about his horns, is that disrespectful?”

“It would depend, but they are a point of pride.” Rori replied back.

Ares nodded and then said. “Nevermind, I’m not here to start a fight over a terrible joke.” He bowed his head.

“Now I’m intrigued.” Lana replied back. “What do you think of my horns?” She asked.

They looped once, though generally came out the sides of her head. Ares flashed a smile. “Almost as beautiful as your eyes.”

She narrowed her eyes, and Ares couldn’t tell whether or not she was offended, so he just winked, causing her to smile slightly. His heart pounded wildly and he internally cringed, hoping that he didn’t have to try and flirt badly anymore.

They remained silent for some time, but by then another horn had appeared. Another oxwoman, though much older. She at least was the curvier kind of oxfolk. She was probably like a grandmother, and her hair was white, flowing down in braids in front of her leaf shaped ears, covering most of them away from sight.

She seemed surprised to see Ares, but bowed her head and offered a greeting.

“I am Grita.” She said, tapping her fists at the base of her horns, which the other pair of oxfolk returned. Ares bowed his head to her.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Ares.” He bowed his head once more as she sat down beside Lana, and then the pair began to speak.

They exchanged pleasant words with one another, asking about their day, how their tribe was, that sort of thing. As they spoke, three other horns appeared, all large men in their mid-forties or so.

‘God damn. Are there any just normal looking dudes around? Why does everyone look like they could crush me with their pinkies?’

As they fist pumped their horns, Ares nodded his head in greetings. Orion, Urtz, and Ombe.

Although they were surprised by Ares too, they didn’t really comment much on it. It seemed as though they were all part of a similar tribe, or at least, could trace their ancestry back to one great leader, which is what they told him as they spoke together, or rather, as Ares listened to them.

Then, finally, the last horn appeared. They were a shorter oxman, fairly thin too. They were old, almost decrepit in a way. They greeted the other oxfolk, tapping their horns with the side of their fists, and then bowed their head towards Ares, who returned the bow.

The moment they sat down, they rolled their shoulders and the audible cracking and popping of their shoulders, caused Ares to wince. That’s when he realised, this guy was the baddest motherfucker here. Even the others seemed to wait for him to speak first.

“Excuse me.” The older oxman’s voice was low and raspy, like falling sand. “This old one, Sohka, greets you.”

“This young one, Ares, greets you.” They both bowed to one another again.

“What brings a human here, I had not expect one of your kind, especially as the chief of a tribe of beast folk.”

“That’s because I’m not wholly human. I would consider myself only half a human, and even then, I’m not so sure that’s low enough.”

Sohka’s eyes opened from their near shut form, and then widened. “Is that so? I am sorry for such disrespect.”

“No, I can understand why you would think that. My appearance doesn’t exactly say I’m anything else.” Ares shrugged and then smiled. “I don’t take offence to it the first time.” Ares was particularly careful with his wording, though smiled.

“You have come to speak to our horns. What have you come for?” The old man asked.

Ares nodded his head. “I thank you for coming to meet with me, especially so swiftly. I believe my matter to be important, so I appreciate your willingness to meet with me. I have come to speak with you about the humans, and my plans.”

He paused for a moment, and when Sohka nodded to let him continue, he did so. “The humans will soon come to devour your lands. I am here to try and stop that from happening, or rather, to drive them away.”

Sohka continued to remain silent, though the other oxfolk horns had some reaction, mostly surprise, with Morak scoffing. Sohka remaining silent was rather eery, so he continued. “My plan is to unite the beastfolk under a single banner, to show the humans that we won’t drop down just for them to trample over our bodies.”

With that, Morak started to laugh out, unable to contain his laughter. The other horns threw him a glance, and then a sigh.

“This human walks into our camp to tell us, what, that the humans will come to take our land? Our land?! What land is ours?! Land cannot be owned, who owns land? The land is here, it is land, we graze and we move on, if another wishes to graze, why would we stop them?”

Ares leaned in to Rori. “Is what he mentioned about the land, their belief system?”

Rori nodded their head, and Ares returned the nod before returning to his sitting position.

“It doesn’t matter what you think about the land, that is not how the humans see it. They will take this land, prop up their cities, and then they’ll gain even more power to come and take more, and more, and this won’t just affect you, this will affect all the beast folk.”

“You’re pretty open about what your people are up to. Are you here to betray them to us?” Morak said.

Ares rubbed his chin and then ran his fingers through his hair. He then turned his head and then leaned in to whisper, though quite loudly, to Rori. “Does he keep calling me human?”

Rori nodded his head.

“Didn’t I say, that I wasn’t wholly human?”

“That’s right.”

Ares nodded his head and then he glanced over to Sohka. “I did say that I was not a human, and that I took no offence the first time. Should I take it personally?”

Sohka looked to Morak, remaining silent, though staring at them for some time, then turning back to face Ares. “I ask for forgiveness.”

“I forgive, but I do not forget.” Ares stated, though nodded his head. “Now if I may, I would like to hear your opinion on the matter.”

“You are a stranger, and though we welcome you, we do not know you. You say you wish to unite the beast folk. Under who?”

“Myself.” Ares admitted. He did not continue along that.

“Why you?” Sohka asked.

“… Why not?” Ares replied back.

“What do you want from us? To ally with you?”

“No. I want you to come under me. Though I would like you as allies, I unfortunately do not have the time for such a thing. I wish to conquer Dragon’s Spine.”

The other horns sat up straighter, surprised by his words. Even Sohka narrowed his eyes. “You wish to… conquer Dragon’s Spine?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Voshk asked me to do so.”

“Voshk of the tigerfolk?”

“Yes. He passed away a few days ago, and he entrusted me with this task. Rori here should have been the next chief, but he entrusted me with the position. Then I had to fight Bosk and Wolfen, and I beat them, and then I became the chief. I let them go with their own people so I currently only have a third of an entire people, but they’re my people.” He chuckled.

“What if we decline your offer?”

“Then I would ask if we could rest here for a few days before we move along elsewhere. My people had been attacked by humans, and some are still injured.”

“Will you tell me more about what happened?”

Ares retold the story, of how he met Rala and her family, saved them, then executing the humans, though went into fair detail to do so.

“Unfortunately, humans don’t view you as what you are, they don’t think you’re folk, they just think you’re beasts.”

“You say you defeated fifty men, single-handedly?” Sohka looked towards Rori, as if to confirm such a thing.

Rori nodded their head, though did not say anything.

“I would like to see such a strength.” Sohka smiled, causing Ares to shudder slightly. There was something unnerving about it.

“Well, I would like to show you, but there’s nothing that it will do for me.”

“If you can show me, that you have the ability to deal with fifty soldiers, I will ponder on your words.”

“Pondering doesn’t help me…” Ares sat up straighter. “How about this. Each of the seven horns will send their greatest warrior, whoever that may be, and I will face them. One on one, I will go through them, and if I can beat all seven, would you allow any that wish to join me, leave your tribe to join mine?”

“You will not force any to join you?”

“No. Only those that will be impressed by my amazing feat.” Ares laughed.

Sohka nodded his head. “Very well. I accept this matter.” He bowed his head.

“Remain here, and we shall convene in ten days. Your people are welcome to sleep under the skies with us, and we shall allow them to rest. We are more than happy to help you after your ordeal. We shall lead you further inland, where one of our larger tent cities currently resides. We will be able to feed and house your people with the fruit of the land.”

“Thank you, Sohka. I appreciate your kindness, and your willingness to listen to my foolish wish.”

“If you believe your wish to be foolish, why do you wish for it?”

“Voshk asked me to take these people to Dragon’s Spine. I am failing him in some regard, as most have left. However, a friend asked me to help the beast folk of this world, and I told them I would.”

“A promise to a friend?”

“Yes. I know it sounds stupid, but it means a lot to me.”

“I understand.” Sohka smiled.