Chương 14: Book 1 - Chapter 14: Let There Be One Ruler, One King

Hands. Dominic blinked, the realisation completely derailing his previous thoughts. He turned them over slowly and then back again, flexing his fingers. The now-unfamiliar sensation of skin and knuckles momentarily drove everything else from his mind. I'm… human again. How? He tipped his head to look down at himself. After moving so long on four paws, just standing on two legs felt odd. At least he wasn't naked, though he didn't recognise the clothes.

He was wearing a tight t-shirt and a pair of shorts – both in white. And that was it. I forgot about that scar, he thought inanely, tracing the pale line across his forearm. Oddly, there were new scars too – circles around his wrists as if from shackles…. The snarl that ripped through the white space snapped his attention back to the present – and the dangerous animal that stood opposite him.

Dominic had spent enough time in a lion's body during the previous few hours to recognise its posture instantly: lips peeled back from gleaming teeth, ears flattened, shoulders low and coiled like a spring drawn tight. It wasn't quite the wild, murderous fury Dominic had glimpsed in the savannah in the light of his father's torch, but it was close enough to make his stomach tighten. The lion was ready to pounce. Again.

"Easy there," Dominic said, lifting his hands instinctively in front of him.

"Nice kitty." The lion's eyes burned and its snarl increased in volume. Stop ignoring me! Dominic froze. The lion's jaws hadn't moved, but who else could the voice have come from?

"Did you just—" he began, staring.

"Did you just talk?" Of course I did. The words arrived with the weight of a growl, vibrating through Dominic's skull rather than the air. There was also a very familiar emotion to it.

"I know you," Dominic said slowly, his brow furrowed, some of his nerves disappearing with the realisation.

"You're Leo." He blinked, pieces falling into place. He hadn't been reincarnated – he had been combined. And not with some random lion, but the very one who had tried to kill him. It seemed so obvious now. The whole reason for him being an anomaly – two souls and minds pushed into one existence. Dominic had no idea why, but, somehow, that attack had started all of this. Suddenly, the memory of their recent cooperation was very distant as his recollection of the worst few minutes of his life became far more vivid.

"If you're Leo, then I have a bone to pick with you," he growled, almost mimicking the lion opposite. I challenge you too! the lion replied with a snarl, then lunged. Dominic threw himself sideways, the movement automatic after the amount of fighting he'd done recently. His feet slipped slightly – his human body felt clumsy after the grace of the feline form – but the lion's claws sliced through empty air where his torso had been a moment before.

Leo twisted mid-motion and a follow-up swipe caught Dominic across the thigh. Pain flared like a hot brand, the force of the blow sending him sprawling across the textured white-tiled ground. Dominic rolled instinctively, the movement saving him from the snapping jaws that followed. The sound of teeth clicking shut inches from his leg was far too loud. Dominic kicked out instinctively, his bare heel colliding hard with the lion's skull. Leo made a grunting noise that Dominic knew indicated surprised discomfort.

He hadn't hit anywhere vital but, as the lion backed off for a moment and scrubbed at his eye, Dominic realised he'd come close to striking it. I try hard not to kill you, Leo informed him grumpily. You no maim me either. Dominic blinked, his train of thought screeching to a halt.

"We're… not fighting to the death?" Leo actually paused for a moment and gave him a flat look questioning his intelligence that Dominic could interpret perfectly. Of course not. We brothers. But must determine strongest.

"But… you tried to eat me!" Dominic exclaimed. Leo grunted in exasperation. That before. This now. Dominic forced himself to breathe and think things through. Miraculously, Leo actually gave him the chance, proving his own words. He was still angry at the lion for attacking him and starting this all off. But, after spending days in Leo's form, feeling the lion's instincts, hunting like the predator he was… he found his anger ebbing away, replaced by understanding.

Leo had said they needed to establish who was strongest.

"Let there be one ruler, one king," he murmured to himself, eyeing the lion. If this was a test to distinguish the strongest, then Dominic was determined to win it. As he had once before in a space where they had had no bodies to give them any advantage. Leo snarled again in challenge. I no man. And this my body. I win. And to victor, goes kill. He glanced meaningfully over to the meat hidden beneath a glass dome, then shifted his weight, muscles bunching again.

Even if he didn't know that body intimately, Dominic would know he was preparing to pounce. To resume the dominance fight. Dominic flexed his fingers, then glanced down at his hands again.

"Hold on," he said abruptly. Leo blinked, freezing in place. What? he asked cautiously, as if wondering whether Dominic had seen something he hadn't. Dominic closed his eyes and concentrated. He recalled the feel of paws instead of hands, sharp claws instead of nails. The heavy balance of a tail. The subtle twitch of ears and whiskers. The weight and power of a lion's shoulders. The fluid freedom of his movement. The effortless combination of powerful muscles that sent him soaring over savannah and crevices alike.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. For a moment nothing happened. And then the world blurred. His body shrieked in pain, stretching between shapes as though unsure of which to settle into. Dominic focused harder on being a lion, grimly ignoring the way his nerves sparked and ached. When he opened his eyes again, his view of the world was lower once more and all four of his paws were planted firmly on the ground.

Dominic felt almost like he could fly at realising this was possible. Across from him, Leo was staring, shocked confusion flickering in his gaze and body language. What you done? Given myself a fair chance, Dominic replied. Even without a human mouth, the words flowed easily between them. How? Leo demanded. Then Dominic saw curiosity in his gaze and then concentration. Wondering what the lion was doing, Dominic waited, using the time to climb to his paws and shake his fur into place.

After a moment of looking constipated, Leo opened his eyes again and growled in discontentment. Can't do it, he complained. Then he shook himself. No matter. Lion form best anyway. He eyed Dominic with predatory intent. We have true battle now. Alright, Dominic agreed, feeling a moment's thrill – a battle that wasn't to the death. This should be interesting. The two lions faced one another for a long moment, their gazes meeting, each assessing the other. Then Leo charged.

Dominic dodged the first rush cleanly, muscle memory from the last few hours guiding his movement. He twisted as Leo passed and snapped at the other lion's shoulder. His teeth connected. Leo roared, more offended than hurt, and spun with frightening speed. A paw smashed across Dominic's face. Needle-sharp claws raked fur and skin, and Dominic jerked his head aside just in time to keep them from reaching his eye. They broke apart, circling; neither rushed in again immediately. Leo's tail flicked slowly.

Learn quickly. Dominic chuffed, holding his head up proudly. I had a good teacher, he admitted, making Leo huff in pleasure. Then, the moment over, they once more focused on the fight at hand. The earlier exchange had been fast and brutal, Dominic learning his own movements without Leo's nudges just as much as he'd been observing the differences in Leo's movements without his own direction. He'd feared at first that, without Leo, he'd forget how to fight, but he was relieved to find that it wasn't so.

He'd fought enough in this body that he'd integrated the leonine instincts and could meet the lion blow for blow, strike for strike. Dominic twisted aside as Leo lunged, claws skidding slightly across the tiles as he pivoted away from the snapping jaws. He whipped around and snapped at Leo's shoulder again, teeth grazing fur before the other lion spun clear. A paw slammed into Dominic's flank, claws extended just enough to rake bloody lines into his skin.

He staggered, then regained his footing just in time to duck beneath another swipe. The lion was stronger. There was no denying that. Leo's blows carried more weight, his balance more instinctive. Leo simply had more experience in this form. But Dominic had something the lion did not: a strategic human mind. Leo came in again, jaws wide, aiming for Dominic's throat. This time Dominic didn't try to dodge. Instead, he dropped.

The movement was completely unnatural for a lion – he folded his forelegs and rolled sideways beneath Leo's chest and onto his back, using the momentum of the charge against him. For a brief moment Leo's weight shifted forward without support. Dominic's head surged upward. His jaws closed on the loose skin at the base of Leo's neck and tugged. Dominic's movement pulled the already off-balance lion down and he fell, for a moment completely vulnerable.

Using his back paws as levers, Dominic kicked upwards and threw Leo to the side, then, before the other lion could get up, Dominic rolled on top of him, set his jaws around Leo's throat, pinned his front paws in place with his own paws, and practically lay on the other lion's body to stop him bringing his back feet into the fight. They froze. Dominic felt fierce triumph course through him. He had defeated a lion. The same lion who had so dominated him the last time they had met.

Yet this time, it was the other way around. Leo was the one pinned on the ground. Leo was the one with jaws around his throat. It was a struggle not to bite down – his predator's instinct wanted to make the kill, and the part of him that was still angry at the lion's original attack wanted to make Leo pay. But Dominic resisted it. Leo had said it wasn't to the death, even when he'd had the upper hand. Dominic wouldn't play the villain now and betray that trust.

The satisfaction that he had won when they both wore the same forms would have to be enough. Do you yield? Thankfully, communicating didn't require moving his jaws. Leo was silent for a moment. Then the lion's tail flicked once in acknowledgement. Yes, he responded with a body-shifting sigh. Then, after another pause, he continued grumpily, You've won. You eat first. Dominic slowly released him, but Leo didn't move until Dominic had shifted off him.

The tantalising scent of fresh meat met both of their noses and their eyes were drawn almost inexorably towards the meat in the centre of the room. The glass dome had retracted and it glistened invitingly. Dominic glanced towards Leo, but the other lion looked away. Hoping that it wasn't poisoned – because he was definitely hungry – Dominic stepped towards the chunk. It smelt fine, and his first lick seemed right so he chewed a few bites off the chunk.

Each time, he felt the meat settle in his belly and then disappear as another one of his hurts eased. By the time he'd eaten half the meat, he was fully healed. There he stopped. Leo, he called. The lion glanced over from where he was slumped on the floor in what looked like a sulk. What? he demanded, his tone coloured by a pout. Here. You must be hungry too. Dominic stepped away from what was left of the meat. Leo eyed him uncertainly for a moment, and then climbed to his feet.

He approached the meat, watching Dominic warily as if expecting a trick of some sort. But when Dominic just lay down a few paces away, Leo relaxed and started eating. Watching the injuries Dominic had inflicted be wiped away was almost as strange as experiencing it for himself. How is this going to work? Dominic wondered. Are we now separate bodies? Can I now transform between human and lion as much as I like? He tested transforming back into a human.

It was hard and even more painful than when he'd transformed into a lion, but he managed. Leo paused eating to examine him. Dominic tensed slightly in preparation – would Leo take this as an opportunity to resume their earlier battle? But no – the lion just continued eating after a moment. Dominic tried to pull up his status screen, only to frown when it was completely blank. Literally blank – the only thing that was written was his name.

DOMINIC MARTIN COLE / LEO Though, he supposed there was a change – Leo hadn't been identified before. But why would they still be on the same status screen if they were two separate beings? Curious as to whether it would look any different in his lion form, Dominic transformed again, the process just as unpleasant as the previous times. Before he could pull up his status screen again, sudden tension in Leo's body caught his eye.

Leo snapped his head upward, his ears rotating while his head twitched this way and that as if he was trying to pinpoint a distant sound. Something watches us, Leo growled, a rumble starting in his chest. Dominic tensed. Now he thought about it, that ever-present sensation of being observed was stronger than ever. He copied Leo, searching for something out of place. And then he saw it. From the way Leo stilled, the lion had seen it at the same time. A ripple, a flicker at ground-level that didn't belong.

They didn't need to communicate, not verbally. Dominic saw the flick of Leo's ears, the twitch of his tail, and he just knew what the lion wanted to communicate. Dominic started sauntering in the vague direction of the shape. Leo did the same from another angle. They were all too obvious in this room with nothing to hide behind, but if they could only get close enough…. The flicker against the wall remained stable at first – Dominic watched it out of the corner of his eyes to avoid tipping it off.

But as they got closer, it started shifting more and more. Dominic sensed that its attention was almost entirely on him. But it was foolish to forget about the other lion in the room. Just as it decided to make a break for it, Leo pounced.