Chapter 33: Breaking Bread (Patreon)

In the end, Dominic had chosen not to say anything about the goddess to the lionesses. Nor did he mention the verging-on-betrayal of the ameshek leader. In fact, all he ended up telling them was that he had started the process of securing the Place of Power, and that he had to come back when the sun set on the next day. Even then, he was pretty sure that the ‘Place of Power’ went over their heads. 

But that was fine – they didn’t need to understand. For now, they were willing to just relax and chill for a bit, though Dominic was aware of how they were very much sleeping with one eye open. For all the appearance of complete relaxation, he was sure that they would be able to react at a moment’s notice.

The other lions of the pride were another question, but Dominic was still in two minds about whether to bring them to the centre or not. After all, the lionesses he had brought with him had struggled enough against the wolves; if they decided to break the tentative alliance between their groups, the rest of the lions would stand little chance. They were just way too outlevelled. 

Which actually was a question Dominic had: all the wolves he had killed had been around the same level, and that a higher one than any of his pride except for himself. And the leader herself had evidently reached the next half-step threshold, something even Dominic hadn’t. 

He didn’t think it was possible for a normal animal to have outstripped him so easily, not without some extra help, anyway. Opening his status screen, he accessed the new tab which he had spotted had appeared next to his own status and his pride’s status.

Place of Power status

However, when he mentally selected the tab in question, he found an annoying message present. 

Status is currently unavailable: connection with Goddess Selessa of the Hunt, member of the Great Pride incomplete. 

Sighing, he closed the screen. Looked like he wouldn’t be able to make any progress until the next evening.

What should I do? He wondered to himself. The battle for the Place of Power was over, the ameshek’s alliance in place but not secure. The next threat was the kesh, but that would probably have to wait until daylight – from what he had seen, they weren’t particularly active during the dark. 

While that might be useful if he was planning on launching a night attack, the problem was that he didn’t know where they slept. Plus, he was a little uneasy about just attacking them outright, for all that he knew they were going to be problems. 

‘Striking them while they are unaware is the best option,’ Leo told him. ‘Why are you reluctant to do so?’ he asked curiously. 

Dominic took a few moments to think about it. 

‘I just feel like it would be unfair to attack with no warning,’ he said finally. ‘I know, I know,’ he attempted to preempt his companion, already feeling the lion’s contempt. ‘It’s the best thing to do to ensure survival for our pride. The fewer injuries or deaths we sustain, the better off we will be. And as soon as the kesh realise that we have no intentions of dealing with them the way they’re hoping, they’ll be prepared for our attack.’

‘Which puts those we are protecting at risk,’ Leo added, his tone intent. Dominic suspected that if they were in the mental space together, the lion would be looking at him with predatory eyes, his posture crouched and his tail lashing. The former-human was tempted to drop into the study, but he decided not to in the end: the alliance with the ameshek was still new enough to not want to risk being completely unaware for any length of time. 

‘Yeah,’ he ended up simply sighing. Feeling abruptly antsy, he pushed himself to his paws and started wandering almost aimlessly. The lionesses lifted their heads as he came near, but dropped them again once they realised he didn’t want anything in particular. 

The ameshek also watched him warily – none had left the area since the lions had appeared. They hadn’t returned to their sleeping pile either. The wolven creatures were just as wary of the lions as the lions were of them. Not that Dominic really blamed them.

The bodies of the ones who had been killed and not yet absorbed still lay nearby, as did the Cores of the two who had been absorbed by lionesses – neither side had touched them. Thanks to it being night time and therefore colder and with fewer insects around to start clustering around them, they hadn’t yet started to putrefy. However, their condition could only worsen. 

Dominic was tempted just to absorb them, but was aware that such an act might not be appreciated by his new vassal. So, instead, he turned and made a detour towards the small hill of flesh that constituted the ameshek leader. 

After having had some time to cool off, he’d been able to think through the situation more clearly. And with the time to reflect, he was able to admit that he…probably hadn’t dealt with the whole thing as well as he could have. 

He was still annoyed at the leader for not having warned him – he would have probably touched the thing anyway because otherwise the battle would have been rendered pointless, but at least he would have been able to make a contingency plan. 

However, he kind of understood why she had. She’d been checking the validity of his claim, at the same time as finding a way to quickly and easily dispose of her enemy without any risk to herself and her people if it turned out his claim was false. As an added ‘benefit’, it highlighted just how little he could rely on the System’s ‘vassalship’ – was it just because the System knew he wasn’t actually at risk that it didn’t force the leader to warn him? Or because she didn’t know whether it was a threat or not? 

Though was the vassalship even still in place? Dominic had reacted badly when he’d emerged from the place of power and had leapt at the ameshek – did that count as an attack? Or not, because he hadn’t caused any damage? 

With these questions in mind, he settled down in front of the leader. She was awake, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight, her antennae twitching restlessly back and forth. Dominic wondered whether it was a sign that she too was experiencing internal emotional turmoil. 

‘You wish to speak with me?’ she asked, her voice sonorous in his mind.

‘I do,’ he answered, then paused for a moment, wondering where to start. ‘Do you have any…preferences of what we do with the bodies of your kin?’ The ameshek gazed at him for a long moment.

‘I am surprised that you have not chosen to eat them, to show your victory over us,’ she rumbled, her tone unreadable. 

‘I wouldn’t eat them,’ Dominic responded, even as Leo sent a sense of being intrigued at the thought. ‘I might Consume them, though. But would you prefer to do that, or have one of your group do it?’ he asked. 

‘What are you doing?’ Leo asked him privately. ‘She’s expecting us to eat them. Why don’t we just go and do that.’ 

Dominic ignored him – he couldn’t explain why exactly he was asking the question, only that it seemed important to do so. Maybe he was being too human about this. 

The ameshek was quiet for a long moment.

‘It is an interesting question that you raise,’ she said eventually. ‘To the hunter, the kill? Or to the hunter’s pack?’ She paused for a little longer. ‘You have one of your pack there too, I see. What do you intend on doing with its remains?’

‘I was going to offer one of her sisters the chance to Consume her body,’ Dominic admitted. He had been the one to Consume the other lionesses who had fallen, apart from the one who had died during the first hunt Anuke led, but now he could explain the idea to the Tier 2 lionesses, he thought they might be interested in doing it instead. 

 It just made sense to him – without the possibility of burial or cremation, Consuming the bodies meant that in some way, they remained part of the pride. Cannibalism wasn’t something he wanted to engage in, but he was pretty sure that Consuming the body through the system wouldn’t count the same way as eating the body would…. 

‘I see,’ the ameshek answered thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps I have a suggestion. In your choice to leave me my life, you sought to make an ally, to bring two very different packs into cooperation with each other. Is that right?’

‘It is,’ Dominic agreed a little warily.

‘Then shall we not cement that with a sharing of flesh? We consume the body of your kin; you and yours consume the body of ours.’

Dominic didn’t know how to respond. This certainly hadn’t been what he’d been expecting when he’d approached the ameshek leader in the first place. Cementing an alliance through eating bodies. His imagination couldn’t help drawing parallels with stories he’d read about cannibals and their ‘long pig’, even as his logical brain told him that it wasn’t any different from ‘breaking bread’ together, a practice which had long been a way of starting attempts for reconciliation or amity. 

‘That’s an interesting suggestion,’ he answered non-committedly. ‘I have a question, though. Are you genuinely interested in an alliance between us?’

‘I am your vassal, according to the System,’ the ameshek answered swiftly. 

‘Are you, though?’ Dominic asked, his eyes narrowing a little, his tail tip flicking without his direction. The ameshek silently gazed at him. 

‘I am,’ she said eventually. ‘But I understand your concern. When you attacked me earlier, the System considered it as an unprovoked strike and offered me the opportunity to sever our alliance.’ 

Dominic felt tension creep into his muscles. His mind started running through potential actions for if she struck at him. In the back of his mind, he could sense Leo waiting, poised to send warning to the lionesses currently relaxing. However, the ameshek didn’t make any sort of move to do so.

‘So what do you intend to do?’ Dominic asked, while wondering why he hadn’t received any notification about the vassalship being severed. 

‘I didn’t sever the alliance, if that is what you are wondering,’ the ameshek told him, a hint of amusement in her voice. 

It took a few moments for her words to sink in, and when they did, Dominic felt surprise rush through him. 

‘You didn't?’

‘No.’

Dominic waited for a few beats, hoping she would expand on her short response. She didn’t, so he found himself forced to ask another question.

‘Why not? You’d have been free if you had.’

*****

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