"Frankowski,.Leo.-.Tank.3.-.Kren.Of.The.Mitchegai" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frankowski Leo)

day. At least, they were the best that would be staying on the
planet. All of his very best subordinates were in space, training for
the mission to come.

Those on the stand had made their kills and had already eaten.
Duke Kren's was the dozen and sixth preparatory meal of this Day
of Honor.

The great minds of the Krenbold were here to witness Duke Kren's
transition, and he owed them a good show. He sprinted lightly on
his long, webbed toes, three on each foot, not counting the heel
spur, to his placid daughter.

He gave the girl the usual two sets of slashes with his claws, one
across the back and the other across the breast, for to harm the
legs would cripple the prey and spoil the sport.

The juvenal cried out in her pain, leaped high and ran as the crowd
cheered their leader's prowess. Duke Kren held up his bloody
foreclaws, acknowledging the praise of his subordinates and
allowing his daughter a sporting head start.

Applause among the Mitchegai was the hollow sound caused by
beating the left hand on the chest. Had anyone wished to express
disapproval, they would have made the higher-pitched sound of
their right hand striking the buttock, but no one here was that
foolish.

Duke Kren then started out after the girl with great loping strides.
Forgoing the repeated passes that some might think too
flamboyant, he quickly overtook his prey and pinned his daughter
to the ground with a precise, traditional hold. Careful not to kill the
youngster too soon, he peeled open the flexible, overlapping skull
plates of the screaming, struggling youth and ate her tiny brain,
relishing the flavor of the bright blue cells that were already
disassociating themselves in his saliva.

The major struggling stopped, as the cheering went on. He quickly
ate the rest of his daughter's quivering young body, efficiently
stripping off great gobbets of flesh and swallowing them without
chewing. As a gesture of generosity, he left the skin, the bones,
and the intestines to be distributed to the poor.

It was a good kill.

Like certain African frogs and South American fishes on Earth, the
Mitchegai practice faginism. The adults eat their own children. The
flesh of juvenals is the only meat that these carnivores have
available for food, it is the only thing that they had ever eaten as
adults, and indeed it is the only thing that they can eat.