Chương 11: Book 1 - Chapter 11: One Small Step For Man

Dominic looked at the first stretch of the descent in dismay. The route down the cliff wasn't a path at all. It was a series of uneven stone outcroppings jutting from the cliff face, some little more than narrow shelves, others tilted at awkward angles. Heat rose from the rainforest below in thick waves, carrying the scents of damp earth, unfamiliar flowers, and other – less than pleasant – odors. And it was very far below. Dominic's stomach swooped unpleasantly as he peered over the edge.

Don't fall, Leo warned him sharply. Oh, believe me, that's not on my to-do list, Dominic muttered. Swallowing, he eyed the first step. At least this one wasn't too far, and most of the distance was down. He crouched carefully, claws flexing against the stone. He suddenly felt awkward – thinking about how he should move abruptly reminded him that he'd only been inhabiting this body for a terribly short time. Dominic swallowed again. Come on, he urged himself. It's not far.

I could almost just step off and land on it. Yet, no matter how much he exhorted himself, his body remained frozen, his claws almost making marks in the stone beneath him. Leo sent him a sense of exasperation. I show you, he told Dominic firmly, shifting in a way that felt very odd to Dominic. Like Leo was a commuter trying to step inside Dominic's skin just so he could board an over-crowded tube train – except from the inside.

Distracted from the heights by his sudden worry that the lion was trying to take control – and might be succeeding – Dominic lifted one of his front paws, both of which were tingling hard with pins and needles from the attempted invasion. To his slight surprise – and relief – his paw responded to him immediately. Leo wasn't managing to take control? No, Leo replied grumpily, seeming to give up if the way the pins and needles sensation faded was any indication. You have to do it.

He shoved a thought at Dominic, this one not verbal, but a series of impressions. Dominic blinked then shifted his position slightly. He lowered his centre of gravity, put more weight on his hindquarters. Like this? he asked Leo. No. Once more Leo pressed a series of impressions on Dominic and he shifted his physical position again slightly. Yes, Leo responded with a sense of satisfaction when Dominic had got it 'right'. Now jump. Dominic jumped before his doubts could rise to choke him again.

He was almost surprised when his paws thudded hard against a stone surface, and he was slightly too slow to catch his weight, banging his chest against the ground hard. But he'd made it – the first step. He took a moment to gaze up at where he'd come from – the ledge at least three metres above. He'd once jumped off a two metre wall to impress a girl – and had spent the next three months with a cast on his leg. But as a lion, he'd suffered bruises, and that only because he'd fluffed the landing.

One small step for man… he murmured to himself, feeling a moment of excitement thrill through him at once more doing something he'd never dreamed he could. For lion, Leo corrected him unexpectedly. Dominic sent back exasperated amusement, but the levity following his success made him look at the next step with less apprehension. It was further, but only by a little. Alright, let's do this. Leo, direct me? And the lion did. Working as a team and moving carefully, they slowly made their way down the 'path'.

Some steps were broad enough that he could pause for a moment and breathe. Others forced him to leap immediately again before momentum carried him off-balance. But, little by little, Dominic slowly became more confident, the adjustments from Leo less and less necessary. And then they hit the first sloped step.

Dominic neglected to fully take into account the difference to his landing that the slope would make and the momentum of his jump sent him skidding forwards, claws scraping against stone without slowing him significantly. With a swoop of fear in his stomach, Dominic toppled off the other side of the slope, back feet desperately trying to catch him – fruitlessly. He fell. Fortunately, it wasn't a straight drop to the ground – there was another step a few metres below the one he'd fallen from.

Dominic reached out with his claws and just about managed to grip the edge of the second step, bringing his body to a halt with a painful jerk that threatened to pull him back into free-fall. By the time he managed to pull himself back onto the stone platform, he was panting heavily and his paws were shaking from a mixture of terror and exertion. He slumped to the ground, electing to take a moment to recover. I said, don't fall! Leo scolded him, sounding spooked too. It's not like I tried to, Dominic snapped back.

Setting off again as soon as he felt like his paws would hold his weight properly, Dominic took even more care, planning the landing as well as the leap. By the time Dominic finally dropped onto the rainforest floor, his muscles ached and his heart was hammering. If he were still human, he'd be drenched in sweat. As it was, he panted heavily to cool down. The jungle closed around him immediately, thick vegetation swallowing the cliff behind him almost entirely.

Sunlight filtered down through layers upon layers of leaves, turning the air green and gold. The heat and humidity was oppressive. And it was loud. Bird calls echoed overhead while insects buzzed constantly in the undergrowth. Somewhere far off, something far larger let out a deep, booming roar. After the silence of the dungeon-like passages, the sudden increase in volume was an assault on ears that were definitely more sensitive than he remembered his human ones being.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Dominic swallowed. He couldn't even see the temple from here – he hoped he wouldn't get lost. At least he knew its general direction for now. Move, the lion urged. Dominic did. Progress wasn't too difficult, at first. Game trails wound between enormous roots and curtains of hanging vines.

The difficulty was, as he'd feared, heading in the right direction since the game trails were deceptive in how they slowly turned back on themselves. Conveniently – and somewhat inexplicably – if he was looking carefully, every few minutes he was able to spot the distant beehive-shaped structure through gaps in the canopy. It would vanish again behind foliage when he took a step, but it was enough for him as long as he was alert and looking out for it. Then the ground abruptly dipped beneath him.

Dominic yelped as loose earth gave way under his paws. Suddenly he was sliding down a muddy incline between two steep ridges. Dirt sprayed everywhere as he scrabbled desperately for purchase. He hit the bottom heavily. Well, he groaned, that was dignified. The lion was unsympathetic. Up. Dominic looked upward and wished he hadn't. The narrow ravine twisted upwards at a brutal angle. Worse, something was crashing through the foliage above.

A second later, a log burst through the undergrowth and came bouncing down the slope directly toward him. Dominic froze. Jump! the lion snarled. Dominic leapt sideways barely in time as the log thundered past hard enough to shake the ground beneath him. What the hell? Another one appeared almost immediately afterward. Dominic dodged to the other side, claws digging furrows through wet earth. Then another. And another. His eyes narrowed.

There's no way these are natural, he muttered as he ducked beneath one that hit a rock and bounced up into the air, then sprang over another, letting his automatic reflexes save him. Are they spawning up there or something? Confusion came from the lion, immediately replaced by urgency. More! No time to theorise. Dominic bounded uphill, weaving desperately between crashing trunks. Mud splashed beneath his paws while broken branches whipped against his face.

The logs weren't entirely random either – they came alternating high and low often enough that Dominic gradually realised he was being forced into rhythm. Duck. Leap. Duck again. The lion began nudging his movements before Dominic consciously made them. A tingle in his muscles warned him when to spring; a twitch of instinct adjusted his footing milliseconds before he slipped. And slowly, almost despite himself, Dominic began consciously moving with his body instead of fighting it.

For a short time, it was even fun – feeling his body respond like a dream, leaping, twisting, landing, and ducking low only to repeat the sequence with a litheness that he'd never experienced before. And then he didn't spot a branch until it whipped stingingly across his face, narrowly missing his eye. Concentrate! Leo scolded. Dominic didn't respond, but admitted quietly to himself that the lion had a point.

The top of the ravine came into view suddenly as Dominic leaped over a log and then again over a barrier of low thorny bushes. There above, he saw three ape-like creatures crouched among the roots at the top, chattering excitedly as they shoved another log downward. One spotted him and screeched. Dominic leaped over the log, then barely touched the ground again before he lunged. The creature barely avoided him, but the one right next to it dodged the wrong way in its panic and came into his range.

His claws ripped through its side and sent it tumbling backwards with a shriek. Dominic was on it immediately, ripping at its throat with the efficiency he'd learned from fighting the pig-dogs in the puzzle room. Leaving it to bleed out, he turned to deal with the other two creatures. Seeing his predatory gaze fixing on them, the two ape-like creatures vanished instantly into the canopy. Cowards, the lion growled. Attack us with logs, but run from our claws. Dominic panted hard, eyeing the trees warily.

Just stronger self-preservation instincts than anything else we've encountered so far. He was tempted to pursue the beasts – the logs had been really annoying – but decided that it would be too much of a risk. He only had until sundown to reach the temple and didn't want to find out what might happen if he failed. Turning to the beast he'd downed, Dominic decided to have a quick snack – all the effort had made him peckish.

Only, just as he approached the carcass, it shimmered and vanished, not even blood indicating where it had been. Hey, that's not fair! Dominic complained. I killed that one fair and square! A chill went down his spine as he heard mocking laughter echo around him, barely audible. Did you hear that? he asked Leo, suddenly feeling cold. Hear what? Dominic hesitated, then dismissed it, unease curling in his stomach. Never mind.

Setting off again, it didn't take long for Dominic to get past his unease, replacing it with a faint sense of triumph. The ravine challenge had felt impossible at first. Now his body was starting to feel more like his own – like when he needed it to move in a certain way, it would do so without him needing to either think about it – or not think about it. Dominic took a moment to pull up his status screen, nodding in satisfaction when he saw the new entry. DOMINIC MARTIN COLE /? Species:? Form/s:? Tier/Rank:?

XP Pool: 0 / 2000 (100XP: 1EE) Domains Predation – Basic Stage 1 Aegis – Basic Stage 1 Realm – Basic Stage 1 Conduit – Evolved Stage 1 Translocation – Processing Sovereignty – Basic Stage 1 Translocation, Dominic mused. Self-explanatory, I take it. He hadn't felt any sort of barrier break this time, but he'd certainly felt a shift in how comfortable he was in his new body – and how it responded to him. He closed the screen. Can't waste time analysing my status, he reminded himself, continuing to move forward.

He was cautious, half-expecting something to fall on him or drop away from his feet at any moment. Contrary to his expectations, however, the challenges remained minimal. Walking through the jungle wasn't exactly easy – roots conspired to trip him up, leaf loam covered holes that threatened to twist his ankles, and thorns hid in the most unexpected places. But although the sounds of beasts and birds moving through the forest around and the canopy above kept him wary, nothing tried to attack him.

In a way, Dominic wished they would – the anticipation was worse than a fight itself. The jungle gradually thinned as the terrain rose again, eventually opening onto a deep chasm cutting through the earth, its other side shrouded in a thick haze. Dominic slowed down, padding forward carefully just in case the edge crumbled away beneath his paws. At the edge, he paused, peering downwards and feeling his stomach swoop again.

Glancing around, Dominic's eyes fixed on something else – a fallen tree stretching across the ravine only a few body-lengths away. The natural bridge bowed in the middle and looked alarmingly narrow. He couldn't even see its end because of the mist. Swallowing, he edged closer and peered down. Milky-looking mist swallowed the ravine whole. No bottom either. Dominic slowly backed away. You've got to be kidding me.