Chương 24: Book 1 - Chapter 24: None Of Us Is As Strong As All Of Us

Dominic gathered his feet beneath him, savage desire for payback drowning out Leo's faint trepidation. Tree combat was awkward, but manageable. And these irritating monkey-things were easy enough to kill up close. Coiling power in his muscles, he launched himself at the nearest target, visualising a graceful leap that ended with the beast's throat in his mouth and his feet landing perfectly on the vacated branch. For a glorious half-second in the air, everything was perfect. And then it all went wrong.

He knocked the beast off the branch. He just didn't grab its throat. Instead, it went tumbling to the forest floor. He also fluffed the landing, almost completely over-balancing and going head-first himself to ground-level. Please don't throw a stone at my tail; please don't throw a stone at my tail, he chanted as a repeated refrain. He could just imagine it: a not-monkey with a malicious glint in its eyes as it lined up a shot, then threw, the stone offering the impetus to send him straight to the ground.

The moment hung in the balance, his eyes fixed on the not-monkey he'd sent flying. It had landed hard, and had obviously taken damage from the landing based on its slow movements, but it was definitely still alive. Pity. Then the moment passed as the wild gyrations of his tail started making an impact. He pulled back from the edge, able to gain his balance once more. Relief suffused him as he looked up, only to see three not-monkeys just ahead of him, their eyes glinting sadistically.

Dominic moaned in pain as the stones hit his face dead-on, unable to avoid them in his precarious position. Worse, the impact was enough to destroy the delicate balance he'd managed to create and he found himself about to fall again. Damn it, he sighed to himself, but didn't fight it this time. Clearly he needed to do more practice fighting in the trees before he could even hope to take on these beasts in their natural environment. Leo sent him a strong wave of agreement tinged with pointed dissatisfaction.

Knocked off the branch, he let his bodily instincts do the hard work for him in preparing for the landing. Bringing his front legs around to point at the ground, his back legs were then pulled around to do the same. A second later, he landed, his legs bending as they took his weight, perfectly cushioning his impact against the ground. He was completely unharmed; better, he was actually in a perfect position to then spring at the still-downed not-monkey, ripping its throat out.

I guess the saying is true: cats always do land on their feet, Dominic remarked to Leo as he pulled the body into his storage space. Most of time not do stupid things like chase baboons in treetops, Leo countered, sounding aggrieved. Why you try kill them anyway? Dominic blinked, suddenly feeling as off-balance as he had been on the branch. A missile thumped nearby and he jumped, reminded that they were currently in the middle of a fight.

Well, they're attacking us, Dominic replied uncertainly, suddenly unsure about what he should do right now. But not need to kill all, Leo pointed out. Want to find females, not kill monkeys. Leo did have a point, and now his bloodlust had subsided a little, Dominic didn't actually have any desire to resume the fight. Crashing from the treetops sent him leaping forwards – just in time to avoid a bunch of missiles that thumped into the ground behind him.

Alright, let's get out of here, he agreed, running forwards – away from where the not-monkeys were aiming their missiles. With the arboreal creatures close on his tail, he dashed through the undergrowth, hating how he felt like prey, but recognising that it was the only sensible thing to do. However, as he rounded a large tree, he came to an abrupt halt. Ahead of him, the ground rose steeply. He eyed the slope – almost a small cliff face, actually.

He could probably climb it, but he wasn't sure he'd get a good foothold – pawhold – as it looked to be covered with loose leaves and damp soil. Better to go around, he decided nervously, not wanting to be caught by the not-monkeys in such a disadvantageous position. However, as he turned around to go back and around, the faint rustle of leaves made him look up. His stomach dropped. The trees around him were filled with not-monkeys. And all of them with at least two stones or nuts in their paws.

Dominic swallowed, the feeling of being a hunted animal returning with a vengeance – the beasts had a disturbingly human glint in their eyes. And were they waiting for me to notice them? he wondered uneasily. It seemed to be the case, because the moment he instinctively took a step backwards, there was a loud hoot from one of the biggest not-monkeys near the front. In clear response, the rain of stones began immediately after. Dominic ran.

He had no strategy, no plan, just the knowledge that if he stayed there, he would be stoned to death. Painfully hard objects thumped into him, two, three, five, at once. His shoulder, his crown, his paw, his left hip, his right flank…. He lowered his head and just kept running, grimly determined not to fail. A rock cracked crushingly into his rear left leg and he could no longer put his full weight on it. Still have three! Leo encouraged. Run!

Searing pain radiated through his right shoulder as a stone crashed into it. But he was out of the amphitheatre-like zone. He didn't pay attention to where he was going – only watching ahead to make sure he didn't accidentally run into another trap. The not-monkeys pursued him, their hoots and whoops sounding disturbingly like a malicious human mob. Dominic just kept running. They descended the trees to taunt him. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Dominic grit his teeth as he resisted the urge to attack – he didn't have the time. However, when one got ahead of the rest and actually had the temerity to land on a branch ahead of him, only just above head height, turning to present its rear end and spray out urine at him, that was too much. Even Leo was too indignant about the mockery to urge Dominic to keep running. He dodged the pungent yellow stream, then pushed off his front paws to reverse his momentum, leaping upwards to grab the not-monkey by its throat.

He almost failed – his bad leg buckled under him and his leap wasn't quite as powerful as it should have been. But the monkey was so close that he just about managed to snag it by the back leg instead of his original target. Landing heavily back on three paws, Dominic slammed the not-monkey into the ground by its leg, then released it while it was stunned and lunged to grab it by the throat.

Then, as the hoots that had been fading became louder, Dominic took off run-limping again, even before the not-monkey had expired. The moment it breathed its last, Dominic was surprised by golden smoke that wreathed his jaws. What entered his body as he breathed in seemed to give him a small second wind, vitalising his flagging muscles and making his back leg and right shoulder hurt ever so slightly less. Then, it, too, disappeared and a hard, cold weight appeared on his tongue.

He didn't dare stop, but just continued hurrying forwards as fast as he could. Thanks to the golden smoke, he had just enough strength to keep, and even increase his lead ahead of the not-monkeys. The hoots and whoops grew quieter, then less frequent. Finally, his pursuers gave up, apparently losing interest. Dominic came to a limping stop, hiding himself at the base of a large tree. He waited, only moving to breathe raggedly, and trying to keep even that as quiet as possible. Nothing.

No sound of crashing branches, no whoops, no hoots. Just that ever-present sense of being watched – though it didn't have the maliciousness of the not-monkeys. Think they're gone? Dominic asked Leo tensely. The lion was silent, but Dominic felt him pressing more into their head, obviously paying close attention to their senses. Obligingly, Dominic opened his mouth and breathed deeply. Yes, Leo finally decided. Dominic breathed deeply, finally relaxing a little. Damn, that was close, he sighed.

Too close, Leo agreed. Too many. Yeah. Individually not difficult to fight, but together…. He considered his injuries – now he focused on them, every single one screamed for attention, each competing to be more painful than the last. Practically no inch of his skin was completely free of injury – he was almost surprised to still be sandy-brown. Even if it was red-tinged in too many places. When he inspected his left hind leg, his heart sank.

My resolution not to test how much meat can heal appears to have been short-lived. That looks far too like a broken bone to me. Indeed, though there was no bone poking through the skin on his lower leg – thank the Bard – the shape looked distinctly wrong. Another worry occurred to Dominic. Even if meat can heal a broken bone, will it heal it right? Unfortunately, there was little Dominic could do about it. His paws just weren't the right shape to be able to pull his bone back into place.

Maybe if I put my teeth around my ankle? He swallowed, hating the thought – and just knowing it would be agonising… but not seeing much other option. Having a bone that didn't heal right would cause more problems. Eat first, Leo urged, sounding just as worried. Yeah, Dominic replied, feeling sick enough not to want to, but knowing that he should.

Pulling out one of the not-monkey carcasses – he decided that would be poetic justice – Dominic was about to take a bite when he remembered the ball currently in his mouth that had since warmed up to body temperature. Spitting it out, he saw a golden stone, about the size of a baby's fist. Huh, another of these, he remarked. Seeing it reminded him of the one he'd taken from the hyena.

However, his interest only briefly distracted him from his pain and he quickly started tearing off chunks of the not-monkey – he could decide what to do with the two golden orbs when he was healed. He ate as quickly as he could, choking down large chunks of meat just to prepare for his next move. He could already feel tingling around his leg bone – the healing was starting. Moving quickly into a curled position with his leg pointing towards him, as straight as he could make it, he set his teeth around his ankle.

There, he froze. Just do it! he ordered himself firmly. Do it! He forced himself to stop thinking about what would happen next. Then, biting down, he pulled firmly. Moans escaped his mouth as absolute agony shot through him. He could barely believe that he'd feel the bite of his teeth through the awful sensation of shards of glass moving under his skin, but he could. The tingling intensified, as if his body knew that this was the priority. His stomach emptied.

Dominic prayed he'd managed to force enough down his throat to manage the healing. The shards of glass stopped hurting quite as badly; the bite of his teeth began overwhelming it in terms of pain. His stomach emptied and began aching with famine. Let it be set! Dominic begged whoever might be listening, then gently relaxed his neck muscles so they weren't pulling quite as tightly. The break throbbed, but he didn't see the bone shift.

With a sense of relief, he allowed his teeth to slide out of his own flesh, then he immediately started tearing at the carcass again. He ate everything that was easy to access on one carcass, then pulled out another and did the same to that. Forcing himself with all his will to concentrate only on the tearing and chewing motions of his mouth. Slowly, the pain all over his body dulled and then even the dull throbbing reduced. Finally, Dominic felt like the bottomless hole of his stomach was starting to fill again.

Flexing his left hind leg, he couldn't feel any hesitation, or awkwardness. Pushing himself to his feet, he tested it gently, and then put more weight on it. Gaining confidence, he tried a little jump forwards, and then a bigger one. It held – indeed, it felt like nothing had ever happened to it. Finally, he slumped back on the ground. It's fine, he sighed with relief. Leo was silent, but felt troubled. What's wrong? Dominic asked.

The lion was silent for a long moment after but, as Dominic went back to finishing the carcasses properly this time, he responded. Couldn't have done that, he admitted. What do you mean? Dominic asked, mystified. Before. Broken leg – death. And now…. Leo hesitated. Couldn't have straightened it. Wouldn't have known how. Dominic had the sense that he was moving restlessly. Sometimes frustrated no body. But now…. Thank you, brother. Dominic was silent for a moment.

Though he couldn't truly understand what it would have been like to be a lion, only a lion, he had seen clearly how fine the line was between life and death on the savannah. A lion with a broken leg was a target who couldn't hunt properly. A slow death, perhaps, but death all the same. Abruptly, he realised that he'd forgiven Leo for attacking him. He could tell that the lion hadn't been in great shape when he'd taken over the body – he was still thinner than he should be.

Dominic, in his human form, had surely offered easy prey for him. Could he really hold the lion's desire for survival against him? None of us is as strong as all of us, he offered after a moment. We will face the world together, and we will conquer it. He swallowed as he made a decision. Brother. He felt pure joy emanate from the lion's presence that lay so close to his own. It was almost overwhelming. Dominic huffed, the closest to clearing his throat that this leonine form could do.

Then he looked at the second golden orb lying on the ground where he spat it. Well, he said, aiming for dry and landing somewhere closer to embarrassed, this had better be worth a broken leg.