Chapter 25: In Sight (Patreon)

Dominic jogged through the trees once more, this time alone. If he could sweat, his fur would look like he’d just been swimming. As it was, his nervousness was less obvious, but still very much present. 

Almost religiously, he checked his storage space every few moments, making sure nothing had changed. Each time, it was fine, but then he’d check it again a few seconds later. Far too much hung on a success with this initial gambit. 

He felt the eyes on him, saw some movement through the treetops though no kesh came to speak to him directly. He’d already covered that earlier: he’d ‘paid’ sixty Prey Points for his passage and a promise to discuss a pact with the kesh on condition of victory. 

The leader had wanted more details, more solidity on the pact itself but Dominic had refused. He hadn’t wanted to pay a hundred Prey Points, but he was more willing to do that than to concede terms at that moment to the greedy monkey-like creature. The leader had clearly recognised that and had given in with bad grace. 

It wasn’t that Dominic was planning on having a long-term relationship with the kesh – certainly not the one the leader presented – but he didn’t want to promise something he had no intention of delivering. Not only was betrayal a slippery slope – after all, if he didn’t keep his word to the kesh, perhaps some of his pride might start wondering if he would keep his word to them – but he didn’t know whether in this new world words might have more power than in his old. Actual, enforceable power. Better safe than sorry – he didn’t want to find out too late that breaking his word wasn’t possible, or would curse him or something. 

So that led to him minimising the cost by coming through alone. Or at least, that’s what the kesh saw. Dominic checked his storage space again. Everything was fine. Good.

Time passed and the number of movements around Dominic reduced to nothing. The closer he got to the sonic wolves’ territory, the fewer other creatures there seemed to be. He kept checking his storage space. Each time it was fine, until it wasn’t. A stab of fear went through him as he saw that some were starting to lose health points. He needed to hurry this up. 

Once the clearing was in sight, Dominic slowed down and pressed himself to the ground. It was time. He was banking on the kesh not wanting to come too close to the clearing – with their vibration attack, they would surely be a threat even if they couldn’t reach the monkey-like creatures. Certainly, he hadn’t seen any signs of kesh following him for a while.

One by one, he pulled the lionesses out of his storage space, letting each move away from his paw before he pulled the next. They each took their cue from him, lying down in the undergrowth. 

‘That was unpleasant,’ Sekhmet told him, grooming her paws and face as if to wash off the feel of the storage space. 

‘I agree,’ said Menhit, shaking her fur vigorously before she lay down. 

‘I quite liked it,’ offered Jenkins, as ever the voice of dissent. ‘It felt safe.’ Neither Anuke nor Hathor offered an opinion, not seeming to care either way. The other lionesses chimed in with feelings across the pride chat, a mix between thorough dislike from Isis and tentative enjoyment from Zarini. Dominic was just happy they were all fine. None had lost more than a handful of health points which, considering the amount of time they were in there, was as much as he could ask for. 

Of course, he had tested extensively with Prince before the sun set since, all things considered, he was the most expendable of the Pride. He wasn’t happy to do it, but Dominic had made it clear that he either cooperated or was kicked out then and there – Leo in full support. Apparently that was enough to make him willing. Begrudgingly.

Not that it would have mattered if he hadn’t agreed – the mouse had proved that he didn't need agreement to put creatures into his storage space. But the feelings and thoughts that Prince was able to report back to the lions, limited as they were, helped Dominic know exactly what he would be putting his lionesses through – and the lionesses knew exactly what they were agreeing to.

After finding out exactly how long a lion could stay in his storage space before their health points started declining – and learning that he could get a sense of their health bar when they were in his space to begin with – Dominic went to speak to the kesh. 

The intelligent monkey-like creature had been confused about why the lion was paying then but not actually going through, but Dominic had…extrapolated the truth. He’d said that since he was planning to head through at night, he didn’t want to bother the kesh at his actual time of departure since they seemed to be more active in the daytime.

At that point he let slip a bit of information which Dominic made careful note of – it could be useful later.

‘We’re here?’ Anuke asked, bringing everyone’s attention back to the task at hand. 

‘Almost,’ Dominic said through the Pride chat. ‘The clearing is ahead of us, but I don’t know whether all the wolves are there, and I’m hesitant to move forwards myself.’ The downside to Dominic’s growth which even Leo had to admit was that he was starting to get a bit too big for traditional stealth. If he could gain a magical Ability which would help him hide, that would be ideal, but it wouldn’t be soon enough for this fight. It was fortunate, therefore, that there were lionesses in his Pride who were both stealthy and Stealthy. ‘Hathor, Mara, would you take a look, please?’ 

The two lionesses sent assent and then sneaked away. Hathor was the only one with an actual Stealth Ability, but Mara had Sure Feet which she had discovered helped her move more quietly. At least, her feet seemed to have an enhanced ability to avoid noisy areas. In addition to a lioness’s natural abilities to stalk their prey, he was confident in both of them.  

Dominic had been a bit hesitant to bring Tier 1 lionesses into this fight and Leo even more so – the idea of bringing the potential mothers of his cubs go into danger was enough to make him almost veto the whole endeavour. Not to mention a pregnant lioness. Probably it was only the fact that while Menhit was starting to show her pregnancy, they weren’t his cubs that made him agree to having her join the group. 

The problem was that there were only six Tier 2 pride members. One of them needed to stay with the cubs and the rest of the Pride since neither of them completely trusted the other adults to look after cubs of lionesses who were not blood related to them. Nor would they trust the three males around their original pride’s cubs. 

So that meant Neith, as the one who actually had cubs to look after, had to stay with the pride as their temporary leader, and the number of available Tier 2 lionesses was reduced to five. Isis could have stayed behind, but Dominic was hoping that her Protective Mother Ability might be useful in the fight. 

In the end, the former-human had handpicked the Tier 1 lionesses, choosing the ones which had the most useful Abilities. Taking advantage of one of them, Dominic focussed on sending a message to Cleo. 

‘Do you sense anything?’ She took a moment to think about it, then sent a response, making it available on the chat for everyone to access. She’d heard movement from the clearing up ahead, and smelt something which no one but Leo recognised. 

‘The wolves,’ he said grimly, putting his thought in the chat so the lionesses could all know the scent of their enemy. 

After a few more moments, Cleo sent them all another sense message – this one of the scents which filled the air around them. Unsurprisingly, they were clearly deep within wolf territory. If the scent of their marking that even Dominic’s nose picked up didn’t tell him that, Cleo’s message which identified just how much they pass through this area would. 

Still, it didn’t appear that they were about to attack, so the lions waited for the two scouts to come back. Dominic kept watchful attention on the pride chat in case one of them sent a message about being in trouble. 

When Hathor came back, she did it so surreptitiously that Dominic almost attacked her when she appeared. 

‘What? She just came out of nowhere, suddenly under my nose!’ Dominic told Leo defensively in response to his wordless reprimand. Then huffing quietly, he focussed back on the lioness. ‘What did you see?’ 

Instead of giving him an explanation, she put an image in the group chat. It showed the wolves gathered in the centre at the foot of the massive tree. One of the moons was up, shedding plenty of light for Hathor’s excellent night vision to see exactly what was happening. 

The wolves appeared to be sleeping, curled up together. It was hard for Dominic to count just how many there were with the way their body parts were interwoven, but he caught glimpses of at least seven wolves sleeping together. He would guess that there were probably ten or so there, and then there were three others who were on guard. 

For a moment Dominic feared that they might have spotted one of the lionesses with their odd antennae, but the lack of stirring indicated that even if they had, no one had raised the alarm. The former human started plotting. The first attack had to count – they were already outnumbered and the level 7 lionesses would be definitely outmatched one on one. The bonuses offered by Pounce – and Zarini’s Ambush – would have to tilt the odds in their favour.  

Not long after, Menhit returned, the moonlight glinting off the beginnings of curves in her belly. Dominic had a moment of doubt – should he stop her joining the attack? If she was slowed because of the cubs she was carrying she could be in real danger. 

‘No prey around the clearing. No signs of any patrols,’ she told them all. ‘Good time to attack.’

‘About that…’ he said to her. ‘Maybe it would be better if you stay here – provide backup.’

She looked at him with her yellow predator’s eyes, sharp and piercing. 

‘Fight with my sisters,’ she said firmly, her tone not leaving any room for doubt. Dominic eyed her for a long moment. 

‘What do you think?’ he asked Leo feeling a little helpless. The lion sent him a sense of a shrug. 

‘Females lions are fierce and protective. I wouldn’t argue with her. If she is willing to take her unborn cubs into battle, it is because she is confident she will survive it. And without her, we are all less likely to make it through.’

‘Alright,’ Dominic accepted with a sense of a sigh, looking away from Hathor. The lioness made a low moaning sound of approval, clearly reading his agreement from his body language. ‘Here’s what we need to do.’

*****

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Chapter 26: The Players In Place