NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74: You Want A Fight?
'So this is what it looks like from the other side,' Dominic remarked to Leo. The Challenge text looked very much like what he had been offered when he had fought with Nyx. Clearly, he needed to defend his own claim now. But there was one thing that caught his attention. 'The duel will continue until one Challenger is victorious…' he read thoughtfully. 'Does that mean that the kesh and killer rabbit have to fight each other too?'
'There can only be one owner of the Place of Power,' Leo rumbled.
'Well, we don't know that,' Dominic pointed out. For all they knew, technically the ownership could be shared – it kind of was between Dominic and Leo, already. 'But you're right that this text does seem to indicate that.'
Dominic eyed the two other beasts closely for a long moment, trying to gain as many clues about them as he could before he accepted the Challenge. He didn't remember exactly what the vetens had had as their basic Ability, but their teeth and back feet were both strong weapons. As for the kesh, its basic Ability of Easy Landing would probably not serve it too well unless it jumped into the tree above. Which it might easily do – that would be a good strategy for it to take, especially since it was quite possible that whatever alliance the two beasts had would fail as soon as the Challenge started. Or perhaps they would see the point of ganging up on Dominic and then taking advantage of each other afterwards.
'Why are you doing this?' Dominic asked with Telepathy. Not only was it buying more time for his allies to continue sweeping the forest and his Pride to finish picking off any vetens hiding among the rocks in the clearing, but it also allowed him to gauge a little more about the beasts he would soon be fighting. 'Don't you realise how badly you're out-matched here? I won against the matriarch and she could even bring some of her clan into the fight with her. You guys stand no chance.' And if he could demotivate them, make them lose heart, that would only make his job easier. 'Why didn't you just take my offer of an alliance? Then you'd have benefited from this place. But now, you'll just die at my teeth and claws.'
The kesh made a rude noise that Dominic recognised from his own Pride members as the equivalent of a scoff.
'Believe in you and your words? That got my leader killed. I won't make the same mistake. And neither will my companion.' Ah. So this kesh was one of those who followed the previous leader. Maybe he had even been there when Dominic had attacked the group following that leader's declaration of war.
He didn't regret being so proactive – it had got the majority of the kesh on his side without spilling any of his Pride's blood – but he would admit that it hadn't been his finest moment. And it seemed like his reaction was coming to bite him in the butt. Well, perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing – if this kesh harboured a grudge, it was just as well to deal with it now. He'd seen what leaving enemies alive got him with the matriarch. Not that he'd had much choice the first time they'd met.
'Companion, eh? Don't you mean 'competition'? The Challenge is very clear – only one victor. So, out of the two of you, which one do you want it to be?' His realisation didn't stop him from trying to disrupt the alliance between the two beasts. Any time they spent concentrating on each other was time they didn't spend focussing on him.
He was rewarded by the veten and kesh both shifting uncomfortably. The kesh darted a glance at the rabbit, though the blood-thirsty creature kept its eyes fixed on Dominic. Its eyes gleamed disconcertingly and it hadn't said a single word in response to Dominic's mental communications.
Despite his confidence in himself – and his armour, and his Abilities – Dominic couldn't stop a shiver of unease from going down his spine. He had the distinct feeling that this rabbit was contemplating how to most easily rip out his throat. The direction of its gaze – slightly lower than his eyes – seemed to indicate that he wasn't far off the mark with that. Once more, he was grateful for the armour that now covered even more of his throat than his gorget did.
'Enough conversation,' the kesh snapped at Dominic, perhaps noticing a sense of unease. 'If you are too scared to face us, surrender. Perhaps we will be merciful.' It bared its teeth in a mockery of a grin. 'Perhaps we will not.'
Leo scoffed in his mind even as Dominic bared his own teeth, pushing his sense of unease aside.
'As if we would surrender to such as them,' the lion said derisively. And in this case, Dominic couldn't help but agree.
'Fine. You want a fight? You'll get a fight.' Decisively, he accepted the Challenge.
Immediately, his stamina bar filled and his health topped itself off – he hadn't taken too many wounds, and his regeneration had already dealt with almost all of those he had sustained. The Challenge just filled in the last sliver.
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Even before his stamina bar had filled completely, the killer-rabbit leapt at him. Dominic dodged out of the way and transformed the motion into a Tail Strike. The rabbit was remarkably fast – Dominic suspected that the majority of its level up perks had gone into increasing its speed. On the upside, that probably meant that it would only take one good hit to take it down – he doubted its health pool would be any greater than its brethren that he and his Pride had been slaughtering.
Of course, the problem was hitting it. He tried several different combinations – Quick Strike, Sharp Bite Attack, Rapid Attack, Tail Strike, Powerful Swipe – but the veten was just too fast.
Dominic dodged a return strike from the rabbit's feet and then leapt back again as a rock struck the ground below where his head had been just a moment ago. A quick glance upwards revealed that the kesh had done just as he had expected – jumped up into the lowest branches of the tree above the black stone with rocks in its hands.
'Bring in the females. Keep the primate occupied while we pin down the rabbit,' urged Leo as Dominic dodged another attack from said rabbit, his own attempted strike once more hitting thin air. The lion growled in annoyance – he wanted to be the creature that no one could touch, not the one facing such an opponent.
Leo's suggestion wasn't a bad one. They now had three of his Pride bound to him – Sekhmet who had been the first, Nyx, and Jenkins. Arguably, they could pull all three into a fight like this as they were considered by the System to be one entity. However, Dominic was reluctant to do so if it wasn't absolutely necessary – the rabbit had landed one blow on his muzzle and it was still seeping blood despite his regeneration. Clearly, the rabbit had a powerful Bleed Ability, or something similar. He didn't want to risk his three companions getting overwhelmed by that. Though it was true that Nyx might be able to pin it down with her Sonic Attack allowing the others to take it out….
But Leo's words sparked a different idea. Right now, he was playing their games. For all he knew, they'd already decided on this course of action – keep him occupied by the veten who would wear down his stamina, then distract and maybe injure him with rocks from the kesh which would then leave him easy pickings for the rabbit afterwards. But he didn't have to play along. And there was something inside him that wanted to do this on his own as long as he didn't risk losing the fight.
Without giving his enemies any warning, he leapt into the air, triggering Airborne and tucking away his armour and tail mace at the same time. Catching the air at the apex of his leap, he beat his wings hard to avoid one stone that was thrown at him, and then let himself drop in the air to avoid a second. The third and last one caught him right in the chest, however, and he felt a crack even as he lost a small chunk of health. But now the kesh was out of ammo and, judging by his wide eyes, he knew it too.
Dominic drove himself forwards through the air, shooting towards the kesh. The monkey-like creature scampered out of his way, but that wasn't enough to save him – Dominic's paws caught ahold of the branch on which he had been perched and started prowling towards him, keeping his wings slightly spread to help him with his balance.
The kesh hooted angrily at him, but Dominic wasn't deterred.
'You will never win!' the primate projected at him, Dominic's Telepathy easily picking up on it. 'I'm too strong!'
The words gave Dominic a hint of doubt, but he shook it away again a moment later. He knew how the kesh fought. This one was outmatched and he knew it. Besides, even if the kesh did prove to be stronger than expected, Dominic could pull in the three females to help.
'Stay back!' the kesh ordered desperately. Dominic paused for a moment, once more feeling reluctant to move forward. And then the effect left.
'What was that?' he asked Leo even as he continued moving forwards.
'I don't know,' the lion replied, sounding troubled. 'Just end this already. Playing with your food is for cubs.' Dominic mentally stuck his tongue out at Leo – pot calling the kettle black? But the lion did have a point, so Dominic didn't argue.
The kesh had backed away almost to the end of the tree limb. He could go up or down, but either way he needed to choose fast. Dominic eyed him and saw which way he intended to move. Gathering the strength in his hindquarters, the lion leaped forwards and snatched him out of the air as he leaped for the branch above their heads. His teeth closed around the kesh's torso and pierced its flesh.
The kesh fought back even as his teeth crunched down. His hands scrabbled at Dominic's head and the lion closed his eyes and shook his head as he fell back to the branch where they'd started. The kesh's movements got weaker and its body started to go limp.
'I surrender,' Dominic heard as little more than a whisper. But before the System could offer him any sort of vassal arrangement as with Nyx, Dominic made his choice. This kesh had already proven himself to be a problem. He'd had his chance to join Dominic twice over, and he'd rejected it both times. Worse, he'd used his knowledge of the Place of Power to pose a threat to Dominic and his people.
'No,' he replied, his mental voice hard. 'No mercy today.' And he bit down all the harder, injecting every ounce of venom he could.
The kesh had obviously dedicated at least a few level ups to increasing its physical resistance as well as its body, as Dominic's teeth were met with some resistance. But a few more Stamina Points dedicated to the task was enough to overcome that, and his teeth slid together with a crunch as the kesh's body was almost bitten in two. Letting it go, Dominic watched as the kesh fell to the ground with a bloody splatter.
Amazingly, it still wasn't dead – the fingers on one of its paws opened and closed as if searching for something, anything to help.
And then the killer rabbit pounced and ripped the kesh's throat out.