Anaria was a peaceful and pristine country for the most part. Open fields and green pastures stretched for miles carved by trickling streams and brooks. Picturesque mountains with snow-capped peaks stretched across the horizon. The winters were never too cold and the summers were just right for reading a good book in the shade of a tall oak tree. The people grew fat and merry off the bounty of the land and most lived to a ripe old age. Many small towns dotted the countryside but very few were large, bustling cities with thick, industrious smog and cobbled streets, the smaller communities fostered closer, friendlier societies. A majority of Anaria's population were herbivores who lived peacefully with each other. There were a number of omnivores who lived in these communities who might have eaten their neighbors if they were so inclined, but for the most part they agreed that it was in everyone's best interest to restrict themselves to a strict vegetarian diet and live peacefully within the community, still these sorts of creatures made many uncomfortable to live around and herbivores were usually careful not to get caught alone with one lest they forget their vows against eating meat. For most Anarians a polite but offputing badger or racoon living up the road was the worst of their worries but a rare few omnivores enjoyed the taste of meat more than they enjoyed the culture and security that herbivore society offered, some of the inhabitants of the land were pure carnivores. These types of creatures were born into a life of exile, herbivore societies would never accept someone into their midst who would have eaten another citizen at every meal time. These sorts of animals were outcasts from any civilized regions of Anaria, they were forced into hiding in secret places, keeping their heads down in dense forests and marshes or living in caves along the craggy cliffs to the north wherever they could find refuge. the herbivores, always warry of carnivores, would drive them out wherever they found them overwhelming them with their numbers. Not that the carnivores minded much. If you had asked them they would have told you that they much preferred the wild, carefree life without responsibilities, laws, taxes, or government. Attacking the herbivores where they could and eating the helpless catches was far more exciting than any life their prey ever led. The predators learned from a young age how to wield a blade and fight off any resistance that could be raised from the towns that they attacked which made them all skilled fighters and they were the scourges of the land. Even an entire battalion of well armed guards was hardly a match for even a few seasoned carnivores. Even large towns were vulnerable to attacks and small settlements were completely helpless against the raiders who terrorized Anaria.
 
One such band of five foxes marched their way over the hills of northern Anaria. Brock, Larena, Mark, Fang and his mate Val all wore leather armor covered in metal spikes and carried rapiers on their hips. Mark, the oldest in their party, tugged at a chain which trailed behind him. Manacled to the chain were several young prey of various species who all wore glum expressions, their heads hung low, and all stark naked. They weren't marching so much as trudging, occasionally stumbling to catch their balance when Mark tugged at the chain, one of them was crying. They each knew exactly what they were, food. The raiders' destination was more than a day's march away from the cave that the fox clan called home and the raiders needed rations for their journey. Rather than load each fox's pack with their own weight in prey it was easier to tie them up and have them walk themselves. The younger, stronger prey were usually chosen as traveling rations because they could more easily keep up with the swift-footed foxes who led them. Some of the manacles scraped against the ground as they walked without anyone to fill them. A few of the prey had been released from their shackles when the group had stopped for breakfast, a few more when they had stopped for lunch. The chains were a paradox to the prey, each of them wished for all the world that somehow they might get loose from them so that they could escape the foxes who escorted them, but at the same time they knew that as soon as the shackles did come free they would meet their deaths in the bellies of the foxes, so long as their chains were secured they were still alive.
 
"Admit it," Larena scoffed "you're lost."
 
"I'm not lost." Fang replied agitatedly "I know exactly where we're going," then he added under his breath "I just... don't know where we are in relation to it."
 
"That's called being lost." Larena reiterated. Her sharp ears were good for combat and made it difficult for anyone to ambush her but it was hard to have a private conversation around her when she could practically hear your unspoken thoughts.
 
Fang shook his head in refusal "The Kanta River is somewhere south of here, if we find that and follow it upriver to the border the settlement we're raiding will be on the south side. We may have to ford the river if we can't find a bridge but..."
 
"My home!" a voice whined. All the foxes turned to look at a mouse who had stopped walking as a troubled look had crossed his face upon hearing the details of the settlement that was the raiders target. Mark gave the chain a tug but the mouse held his ground. "Please, you can't attack that settlement. They have no weapons, no way to defend themselves, there..."
 
He was interrupted by the back of Marks paw smacking his face, "SHUDDUP, MEAT!" he shouted at the disruptive prey.
 
"But please," the mouse continued through the stinging pain "there are women and children there. You can't..." Mark again interrupted the mouse but this time instead of hitting him he stretched his jaws wide and engulfed the mouse's head. The bitter pleas of the mouse were quickly replaced by desperate muffled cries as he kicked and struggled against his bonds as Mark swallowed his head. A metallic click could be heard as Mark took a key from his belt and unlocked the unfortunate mouse's wrist cuffs before swallowing again, then the ankle cuffs as his legs began to disappear into Mark's mouth.
 
"You shouldn't eat before a raid," Val chastised him "you'll be weighed down and off-balance."
 
"Little fucker was pissing me off." Mark replied with a burp after he had finished swallowing "Besides, if that settlement is really as defenseless as he said they were then they'll be an easy target.
 
"Did you consider that he might have been lying to throw you off your guard?"
 
"Nah. Prey aren't that smart" Mark said with a dismissive wave of his paw.
 
Val glared at him, "You should still be more careful. One day you might get yourself into trouble." Val had lived on her own for several years before joining the clan and as a result was a more experienced warior and survivalist than any of the others but she wasn't very good at making friends. in fact, her mate, Fang was the only fox who she actually got along with.
 
Mark gave a low growl but Fang interrupted him, "We should keep moving, once we find the river we'll reach the settlement in less than an hour, then we'll wait for nightfall to cover our approach." Fangs ability to end conflicts before they started and keep everyone focused on the task at paw were just two of the reasons he so naturally filled the role of king of their clan and why Val found him so attractive.
 
*******
 
The valley dimmed quickly as the sun dipped under the horizon. The shadows stretched longer and longer until the last rays of sunlight vanished and all of the shadows joined to create a single solid darkness that blanketed the entire earth, a darkness that was only broken by the light of the oil lanterns lit around the settlement. From where Larena lay prone atop a nearby hill her sharp eyes saw that it wasn't so much a settlement as a camp. A few permanent structures had been built in the middle but for the most part the dwellings were shanties or canvas tents. Larena saw a few lanterns circling the borders, most likely guards patrolling the perimeter, but in the open valley there was no way so few guards could possibly keep an effective watch of the entire area. Larena crawled back and slid down the far side of the hill to rejoin the rest of the raiders "It's even smaller than we thought," she reported "still plenty of prey though. There's a few guards but nothing we can't handle."
 
"Good this will be even easier than I thought." Fang said with an eager smile "Brock you stay here and watch the slaves and try not to eat them all." Brock grinned and looked at the prey who all shrunk back at his gaze as he licked his lips. "Remember if something goes wrong and we don't catch anything tonight we'll still need to have something to eat on the way back to the clan tomorrow." The fat fox had a habit of over eating, he had a very wide frame which would have made an easy target for any would-be prey with a sword or bow which is why whenever the raiders went into battle Brock was usually stationed as a lookout to catch any escaping prey or guard the prey they had already caught which, as you can imagine, only led to him eating more. "Fan out to cover ground quicker." Fang continued "Move quietly and try not to raise the alarm. Everyone but the guards should be asleep by now so take them out first and the rest should be cake. Does everyone have their chains and nightlace?" the rest of the raiders opened their packs to show several sets of chains and manacles just like the ones that the slaves now guarded by Brock were wearing and several pouches of white powder. It was a nuisance to carry the heavy chains into combat but they would need them once the fight was over to lead the prey they captured back to the clan. The powder was an extract from the rare but beautiful, blue and sweet-smelling nightlace flower that only grew on the slopes of the white mountains in northern Anaria, it was a natural sedative which wasn't addictive and had no side effects when taken in small doses. Some of the clan mixed it with their drink since the diluted form helped them sleep better but its main purpose served to incapacitate prey as even a small whiff of pure nightlace powder could render then unconscious for an hour or two. Once fang was satisfied that everyone was ready he drew his sword. "Let's go."
 
One of the night watchmen, a squirrel yawned as he headed out of the guardhouse on his rounds. It was stupid to have to stay up all night to walk around a settlement of sleeping herbivores just to make sure nothing happened, nothing ever even happened when they were awake, the quiet, little place never had anything interesting happen. As far as he could tell the night watch was just a formality. He was just wondering if he could find some dark corner to hide himself away in to nap until his shift was over when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He spun around to find himself staring into the sharp toothed grin of a fox whose features were made all the more startling and terrifying lit as they were by the flickering light of the lantern which the watchman dropped in fright. The light extinguished as the lantern smashed on the ground and before the guard could react a balled fist smashed into his face in the darkness and he sprawled on the ground unconscious.
 
Val moved from shadow to shadow always vigilant. A few yards away she could see a fox tail disappear into a tent and knew it must be Mark, maybe it was just Val's trained eye but the other fox looked as though he were barely concealing his movements, it was a miracle he hadn't been seen yet. Val opened the door to one of the cabins (which was little more than a curtain set in the door frame) and took stock of the interior. A family of Deer lay snoring on one side of the room, on the other side lay a group of avians, it seemed living in a community so small didn't allow for much privacy. Val froze as she realized that not all of them were asleep, an elderly deer sat at a table on the far side of the room. He had his back to the doorway though and hadn't seen Val enter. The vixen held her breath as she moved slowly and quietly up behind the wakeful cervine and knocked him out with a swift blow to the back of his head with the butt end of her blade. Waving the package of nightlace under his face for good measure she went around to each bed and systematically drugged the house's occupants one by one with such skill and stealth that not one of them woke to find out that they were as good as fox food. Once Val was sure the prey would not wake she moved to the next house. She had almost made her way through three houses when she heard a scream from a few houses over, someone had been seen. The settlement began to come to life as they were alerted to the foxes' presence. One of the voles that Val hadn't drugged yet began to stir. Cursing under her breath she leapt atop him. The vole woke to a heavy orange weight landing on him, knocking the air out of him and the sharp end of a blade being thrust into his face as a female voice gruffly spoke, "Don't move."
 
A guard gave a frenzied holler as he leveled his spear at Mark and charged madly toward him. The fox easily sidestepped the wild attack though and swung his sword at the guard's back as he passed. The guard cried out as the sharp blade sliced through his fur, he turned to face the fox again but a well-aimed kick from the raider sent his spear flying out of his grip. Mark then barreled into the unarmed guard knocking him to the ground. The community's volunteer guards were so green they would have stood very little chance against the four raiders even if they had known they were coming a day in advance, as it was they were caught completely unaware and more than half of their force was already incapacitated before they even knew the foxes were there. They stood no chance at all and in very little time the battle had ended. Val and Fang marched the survivors who hadn't been drugged into the center of the settlement at sword point while Mark and Larena began fixing shackles to their wrists and ankles once they had been stripped naked, slaves weren't allowed any possessions, not even clothing. Many of the prey resisted but they would very quickly learn either to cooperate or be eaten.
 
One racoon reached out from where he had been shackled and grabbed at Mark. "Please!" he begged "You don't have to eat me. I'm a predator too, just like you. You could let me join you."
 
"GET OFF OF ME!" mark shouted at the racoon as he tried to shake him off "You might be an omnivore but you've spent your whole life with the rest of these leaf munchers, that makes you dinner."
 
"No really, I eat meat." he persisted, stubbornly clinging tight to the fox. "Just last month I ate my neighbor's children."
 
"YOU BASTARD!" roared a nearby mouse, "I KNEW IT WAS YOU! I'LL FUCKING RIP YOU TO PIECES!" The mouse tried to lunge at the racoon but his chains held him in place and all he could do was pull at his restraints until he was foaming at the mouth and glaring daggers at the racoon. Mark was loosing control of the prey but at that point Larena had noticed what was happening and rushed to help. She pulled the Racoon off of Mark and held him still while Mark forcefully shoved the mouse back into place.
 
Then he turned back to the racoon. "So you really ate that snack's brats, huh?"
 
The racoon nodded enthusiastically "I snuck into his house late one night and gulped them right out of their own beds."
 
"And you want to join our clan then?"
 
The racoon nodded again. "If you just let me out of these shackles I can help you. I'm a hard worker, just give me a chance."
 
Mark and Larena exchanged a glance "Well if you're really a predator we do have a place for someone like you in our clan."
 
"Really!?" the raccoon's face lit up.
 
"A very important place." Larena added.
 
"A place that's very near to all of our hearts." Mark leaned in closer and almost whispered to him "And you know what they say the fastest way to any fox's heart is." The raccoon's ears drooped as he realized the cruel trick the foxes were playing on him as Mark and Larena chuckled wickedly "Oh come on coonie." Mark pressed "Even if we do eat you we're doing you a favor. Anything is better than living in the bureaucratic nightmare of prey society, I would know." the Racoon didn't reply, just slumped dejectedly. Mark shrugged and resumed his work.
 
The raiders had chained the last of the settlement's wakeful citizens and were beginning to drag out the unconscious bodies of the drugged prey to be chained before they woke when Larena suddenly snapped to attention, pointing and shouting "IN THERE!" the rest of the foxes looked where she was pointing and saw movement through one of the windows of the houses.
 
Val and Fang drew their blades and darted into the house but they breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was just one squirrel. He looked as though he had barely reached adulthood and his knees were knocking as he quivered in fear at the sight of the two raiders. He held a rapier which he seemed barely able to lift with both paws but he held it pointed at the foxes. "You should put that thing down before someone gets hurt and come with me." Fang said as he took a step forward and held out a paw to him. As the fox advanced though the squirrel lunged at him with the sword aiming for his head. With a ring of metal, Fang easily parried the wild thrust then flicked his blade in such a way that disarmed the young squirrel. The squirrel squeaked in fright at he saw the fox's sword swinging at him but instead of running him through Fang's blade passed behind the squirrel's head and used the flat of the blade to pull his victim closer to himself, holding him against his chest. "You really shouldn't have done that, snack." The squirrel came face to face with Fang's sharp toothed grin which opened to show the slimy pink interior of Fang's mouth which gladly accepted the squirrel's head as fang pushed it in.
 
Val had rushed to help Fang and stood ready to help her mate if he required it but once he had the squirrel in his jaws she relaxed a little then smiled at Fang. "Well done, oh mighty king of the raiders," she said teasing him a little as she traced the squirming outline of the squirrel traveling down his neck, "another prey settlement captured. You're people can sleep and eat well knowing they have such a worthy leader to provide for them."
 
Fang returned her smile and gulped down the squirrel's toes "It can be difficult at times," he replied "but the position does come with a few benefits, not that serving my people isn't benefit enough."
 
"Benefits such as the first prey after a raid?" Val suggested patting the bulge in his belly.
 
He nodded "That is one such perk, another is the pick of all the finest vixens in the clan. Only the best for the king. The keenest huntress, the bravest warrior, the strongest willed..." he complimented her as he leaned in for a kiss. Val could taste the squirrel on his breath as their tongues rolled over each other. As he broke their kiss he grinned mischievously before adding "...and the finest ass." as he stole a glance under her tail.
 
Val smiled showing off for her lover as she countered "But, even though you may pick her, such a... perfect woman wouldn't return her king's affections unless he were also worthy. A skilled tactician, a benevolent arbitrator, a seasoned champion and of course... equally well endowed." Her paw slipped from Fang's belly down inside his codpiece.
 
Fang gasped as he felt the velvet fur of her paw brush against his girth "You know, Mark and Larena are chaining up the prey, it might take a while, plenty of time for you to 'return your king's affections." in response Val smiled and dropped to her knees.
 
Mark and Larena had spent the better part of an hour gathering up the sleeping prey throughout the settlement and fitting the chains to their wrists and ankles. Serenaded the whole time by the wild cries and moans coming from the house that Val and Fang had gone to investigate. It had taken some effort with only two foxes but they had managed. They had found that the settlement housed so many prey that there weren't enough chains to hold them all. They made a quick feast of the remaining prey then there was nothing more to do but keep guard over the prey until Val and Fang finished.
 
Mark used a stick to draw shapes in the dirt as they waited. "How long are they going to take?" he protested impatiently "If they were going to take this long then why couldn't it wait until we made camp?"
 
"Did you really want to try to fall asleep while listening to this noise one tent over?" Larena asked. That gave Mark a moment's pause. "Besides, they're in love. I think they're cute together."
 
"HA!" Mark rudely emphasized his disagreement "Love? I stopped believing in ideas like that when I was kicked out of my village just for being a fox. Fang is and always will be a tail chaser. There isn't a fox in the clan that he hasn't had his cock inside of. I've had him, and don't act like you haven't."
 
"Maybe that used to be true but Fang has really changed ever since he met Val, I think she really might have tamed him. They hunt together, fight together, eat together..."
 
"Yeah, they do everything but work together." Mark mumbled as he tossed the stick aside "They left that to us while they went to go fuck together. Fang hasn't changed one bit just you wait and see. Val might be today's hot dish but he'll tire of her eventually and when he does he'll drop that bitch like she's last week's hairball."
 
"I don't think they would have gone through the trouble of a binding ceremony for the sake of some cheap fling." mumbled Larena. She wanted to believe it but in reality Mark was close friends with Fang and knew the king far better than she did. Trying to shift the topic of the conversation she prompted "I never knew you used to live in a prey town."
 
Mark looked away at that, "Yeah, I was born and raised in a small city near the capital. One day, a friend and I were playing near the river when he fell in. I rushed into the city to get help but when we got back to the spot he had been swept away by the current. Without a body some of the others started to think that I had eaten him and it wasn't long before they were out for blood. They killed my parents but I got away. I ran for days before I eventually ran into one of the clan's raiding parties scarfing down the last performers from a traveling circus, at first I thought they were going to eat me too. I was eight at the time."
 
"Mark... I'm sorry... I..."
 
"We all have our sob stories." he stated bluntly "But it taught me something: if you're not eating prey then they'll eat you." he aimed a half-hearted kick at a nearby, chained avian.
 
Larena sat quietly for a while, thinking about what Mark had said. Soon she noticed that some of the drugged prey were beginning to stir, it wouldn't be long before they woke to find that while they were sleeping they had been enslaved by the raiders. "We really should get ready to move soon." she said "Fang and Val need to finish up." she stood and turned toward the house when she saw the two other foxes already coming to them.
 
*******
 
Brock's face lit up as he saw the four foxes returning over the hill and his smile only widened as he saw the many chains that they towed in their wake, each one tethered two score of prey. "There you are. I was starting to worry that something might have happened."
 
"Oh yes," Mark said his voice dripping with sarcasm as he tried his best not to roll his eyes, "what would you have done all alone out here by yourself with all the prey we left you to guard? by the way, about half of them seem to have gone missing. Do you have any clue what might have happened to them?" he asked observing the chain of prey that Brock had been left with and noting several empty shackles along the chain that had been occupied when they had left. The traumatized expressions of the prey that remained was also very telling, but then again most prey that had been captured by a predator shared the same mortified look of animalistic fear whether or not they had just watched several of their friends scarfed down the gullet of a fox who had promised to reunite them soon. "Did they all fly away? turn invisible?"
 
Brock ignored the question and instead began looking over all the newly captured prey and licking his lips then his eyes locked onto one prey in particular, the racoon who Mark had teased earlier. "OH! you caught a raccoon." he exclaimed "raccoons are my favorite." He made his way over to the prey and began licking his head and nibbling on his ears. The unfortunate prey squealed and trembled in fear as he tried to struggle out of the fat fox's grasp but he couldn't get away from him, let alone get away from the chains that held him in place.
 
"I thought you told me last week that rabbits were your favorite," Larena mused "and the week before that you said it was avians, the week before that it was squirrels and before that..."
 
"AAAAAAUUGHHHMMMMMPH!" However Larena's statement would have ended it was cut short by an ear-piercing cry of fear from the raccoon as Brock opened his jaws wide and stuffed his head inside.
 
*******
 
The evening of the next day the five foxes led what remained of the settlement's population up a steep incline in the craggy cliffs of mount Kalanthrine, the site of an ancient, dormant volcano which still left the land for miles around dry and barren and smelling vaguely of sulfur. Nothing grew there and the herbivore colonists stayed clear of it, the perfect place for a clan of carnivorous foxes to hide. As the raiders guided the prey up the cliffs some looked up to see another party descending the cliff side toward them. As the group approached they saw that there were seven prey being escorted by two foxes, unlike the captured prey which Fang and his party escorted though these prey did not wear any shackles or chains, only wide smiles as they practically skipped for joy down the side of the mountain. As the two parties passed some of the settlement's inhabitants called out to the free prey, begging them to help them escape their captors. The free prey looked back to them pitifully but did nothing to help as if they wished there was something they could do but knew well they couldn't.
 
"Welcome home everyone." one of the other foxes greeted the raiders "I see you had a good hunt."
 
Fang grinned "We ambushed them in the night, they never stood a chance."
 
"Excellent." said the other fox "You're the first raiding party to return and we were beginning to run short on prey. I almost didn't want to free these ones." He pointed to the prey he and his companion were escorting "We're just escorting them back to prey territory and then they'll be free to go."
 
"It sounds like we got back just in time then." Fang replied, he then jerked on the chains he was pulling and held up a paw to signal for the prey to stop "Prey," he called out to the surviving herbivores he had captured, "I want you to see this. I know many of you think we are mindless predators, that we eat what we want without any regard to who we are eating." there were several mutters of agreement from the prey. "But we are not savages. We only do what we must to survive, we aren't so cruel that we would take all hope from you. While you are slaves of the clan you will work and, so long as you don't try anything stupid, once you have worked enough you will be set free, just as these prey are now free." He pointed to the other group. There were murmurs of excitement and even cheers of joy as he said this. Once they had been caught most of the prey had resigned themselves to certain death, some of them had begun to plan their escapes but none of them had ever imagined that the foxes might willingly let them leave. Even if it was a slim chance it was better than none and it caused a spark of hope to ripple through Fang's audience as another jerk of their chains got the procession moving again. Once the other group rounded a corner and disappeared it was only Larena (who was at the back of the group) with her sharp ears who managed to hear the slurps, gulps and muffled whimpers that came from the direction the other party had gone. Whatever Fang might tell the prey, times were hard for the clan and prey were too valuable to simply turn loose. If a little hope was all it took to motivate the prey to work for the clan and keep them from constantly plotting escapes and requiring constant guard then the foxes would lie as much as they had to.
 
They did not have much farther to go and soon Fang turned to enter a cave and Mark motioned to the prey to follow him. The cave was small enough that the foxes and some of the taller prey had to duck as they went through but just on the other side of the opening the rock walls fell away into a gigantic cavern. If the prey's hopes had risen when they learned that they might one day earn their freedom they fell again now. The predators in Anaria were few and far between, most lived on their own, kidnapping prey where they could and avoiding everyone, even their own kind. Rarely did enough carnivores come together to form a pack, tribe, or gang. Even when they did they would be run off or killed by the prey in the area if they grew too large or to close to a town. When the raiders had mentioned their clan none of the prey had expected more than one or two extended families of the carnivorous vulpines. But the foxes clan was hidden in the caves on the secluded mountains. As the prey entered the caves they saw many large structures built out of bamboo shoots from the surrounding valley, many large cottages, several levels of raised platforms and walkways with foxes patrolling and keeping watch on several cages large enough to hold thousands of prey but currently holding only a very few. The clan's remote location was good protection but also made hunting and raiding very difficult and most of the time there were very few prey to go around. The raiders tugged at the chains and began leading their prey to the cages, some of the other foxes in the clan giving them hungry looks as they passed by. With so many foxes and so few prey it was clear that the entire population of the settlement would be eaten in a matter of days, not nearly enough time to earn their freedom. As they were led into their cage with a few harsh kicks from Mark, Fang closed and locked the door behind them before adding "Welcome to the clan."