Bal was a Dek, Men which the Slith had bred to work in the mines and on the farms, and all others form of hard manual labor, and so he was the "Saint Bernard" end of the human spectrum. He stood nearly nine feet tall and his arms, legs and chest were proportionately massive with muscles far larger than any normal human could have gained despite the strictest training regimen. His biceps weren't grapefruit sized, they were melon sized. His chest was bigger around as a bull gorilla's, his upper legs were large as beer kegs, and on top of all this was a thick mat of hair that fell just short of being a full fur coat. For this reason, he was now wearing only a tattered bit of torn coveralls; they covered his crotch down to a third way to his knees, and a thick bundle of threads held the waistband at one end and one shoulder at the other. Plenty of clothing for this hot world and since he'd arrived on this world with nothing but an escape pod, was all the clothing he owned.

Sinril the Mithrin, came from humans who were selected (and then bred into small docility) for household tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, washing and caring for the Slith. Barely three and a half-feet tall, his arms were not only not muscled, they lacked any definition at all save when he strained at some task, when his bicep showed itself, a slim reed that struggled to do its duty. His proportions were not that of a child (though he was of the same height), he brought to mind more the "elves" of Earth legend in his shape and form. These two had been surviving together for two weeks and formed a rather tenuous friendship hindered by something Bal couldn't quite put his finger on...like Sinril had a secret he didn't want to share. No matter to Bal if the man had secrets, hell, marooned on a strange world, secrets didn't matter, but it did put a wall between the two of them.

But that wall suddenly loomed high over Bal with Sinril's next words. "I'm going to be moving out of this camp for the next three days. I won't be very far away, but you'll need to keep well away from me, okay?"

Bal looked over, puzzled, at Sinril's small, sobered face. "You're moving out? Man, you've seen this world. Hell of a rough place. Plenty of dangerous beasts out there." Not dangerous for Bal's brawny frame, but for little Sinril...creatures that would run from Bal would stalk Sinril!

"I know that, but I must go." Sinril returned. "I must do this once every thirty-two days, be away from you for three days, then I can return for twenty-nine more." Sinril had been marking a careful calendar on one of the cavern's walls, now Bal knew why.

"Well...there's another of these burrows southwards on this same cliff face about a hundred yards. Would that work?" Another creature killed both to feed Bal's appetite and to prevent it from coming after Bal.

Sinril shook his head. "Not far enough. I would still smell you."

"Nothing else will be safe." Bal warned. Then he stopped. "Smell me?"

"I must be further away." Sinril avoided the question.

"Further away, nothing is safe."

"Nonetheless, I must go."

Bal sighed. "All right. But at least try the other burrow. See if you do smell me."

"It is dangerous."

"More dangerous at night. There's a reason I took over this cave." Bal pointed to a nasty scar along the side of his ribs. "First night I was here, I got this. Thing ripped my escape pod to pieces to get to me. I searched for a cave the next day, lucky enough to find this. And you were lucky I found you before nightfall when you got here. The things on this planet can rip apart steel metal as easy as they rip up bare rock."

Sinril licked his lips. "It is dangerous for you if I stay."

Bal sighed. "So tell me why and I'll judge which is worse."

"Because I am about to come into heat."

"Heat?"

"I must tell you about the Mithrin. The Slith did not only breed us for their households, they bred us for their beds. They mate every thirty-two days, or must if they are not to go on a rampage."

"So what did they do to you?" Bal asked. The Slith had done things to the Deks, too, things he hadn't shared with Sinril. But nothing they'd done to Bal would be a threat to Sinril!

"Made us capable of serving their needs if female Slith were not available."

Bal had to wrap his brains about this new bit of information. "You mean the Slith would just jump on you and fuck your ass?"

"More than a brief ravishment." Sinril was flushing bright red from his forehead to the neck of his jumpsuit, and perhaps over all his body. "Once a Slith takes his mate, he remains mated to them for the entire three days of his mating period. All male and female Mithrin can accept this mating. In fact..." And Sinril stopped.

"Go ahead." Bal said. "I haven't heard anything threatening to me, yet."

"In fact, all male and female Mithrin have no choice but to mate. Or should I say, seek out a partner to be the passive for."

"So if you stay here with me, you..."

"I will attempt to ravish you." Sinril said. "So you see, I must leave. Otherwise, we will be bound together for three full days while I mate with you, force you to please me, over and over again, without a break, without...without separating from you. I will have no control over it. None at all."

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