There are only three things the huntresses of Artemka should ever fear

The trio of Huntresses were trying to decide whether stealthy movement would be good or flat out sprinting away from the site of their raid, would be better.

They had forgotten one of the rules their elders kept repeating to them as they grew up and trained.

As with so many young women looking to show how skilled they were and how brave, they forgot that huntresses had to also be smart in picking their prey.

They had just reached their Year of Blooming, and like all Huntresses they were searching for a mate. The tribe required them to find a outlander male to bring home to strengthen the blood lines and keep the tribe strong.

So these three young women went looking to the North-East for a suitable mate for them to seduce and bring back to the tribe.

They knew that there were plenty of villages and even homesteads out there just ripe for the picking. And after 2 weeks of travels, they came across a small human village.

Spending a few days in observation of the comings and goings, brought their attentions to a trio of male youths. They were not muscle bound brutes but wiry, farmers and loggers who would bring good blood into the tribe through their children.

They observed which houses the youths went to sleep in and made plans to sneak in and ‘abduct’ them. A quick seduction would make sure they followed them home to the tribe of course, like so many Huntresses had done for centuries.

But there was just one thing these youthful Huntresses had forgotten. They didn’t ensure that their prey was uncoupled. A small mistake but one that would have serious consequences later on.

That night they sneaked into the houses, used a cloth of sleep flower to keep the youths quiet and then carried their prey out of the village. A very successful raid and they left a decorative knife behind to tell the families what had happened to their youths. It saved a lot of time and trouble when the families knew their sons were not going to be killed or had wandered off.

By the time the dawn broke they were only a short distance away from the village and they were celebrating their skillful raid when a faint set of screams echoed around the forest.

The Huntresses went silent to hear more and one of them suddenly thought of their mistake.

“Did we check to see if they had any intended?” was her shaky question to her friends?

“No. We didn’t see anyone special they talked to or worked with. And they don’t have marriage bracelets.”

They looked down at the trio of youths and one of them spotted something strange around one of their necks. A quick look at she found a thong tied around his neck with two gold rings threaded on it.

“Oh goddess. This one is wearing human intended rings. Check the others.”

All three were wearing the rings on a thong around their neck.

And now the Huntresses had a decision to make. Do they start running now and hope to outrun the human females they knew were hunting them, or do they try to sneak away and avoid them that way?

As they had a short quick discussion while standing over the unconscious bodies of the youths, they didn’t notice the silence of the forest around them, until it was too late.

A trio of young human women silently walked out of the forest behind them and slowly walked towards the Huntresses.

“Give us back our husbands to be and we will allow you to leave in one piece.”

The trio of Huntresses looked around and started running, hopefully the human women would not pursue them now they had their intended to deal with.

What they forgot about is that the mothers would be along to find their sons leaving the young women to deal with the Huntresses who made a serious mistake.

It is hard to outrun a predator who is capable of running you into the ground and simply sweating a bit.

===End===