They made it back to their forest without incident. As they entered the smaller trees, Dominic shivered as he felt something pass through him. It was like a wave which was at once warm and cold. Very odd.

  Suspecting he might know what it was, he called up his progress to the next level.

  Progress to Evolution: 291/991 PP

  Sure enough, his Prey Points had increased slightly. He couldn’t remember what they had been exactly, but they had definitely been in the eighties, not nineties. He didn’t think that it had accumulated all the Points which he’d missed – his total would be a lot higher than that if so – but it was clearly something.

  ‘I guess we’re in the Place of Power’s zone of influence now,’ he remarked to Leo.

  ‘Free Prey Points, I’m not complaining,’ the lion yawned. ‘And since we are planning on waiting for the others here, why not do a bit of mating to occupy ourselves?’

  It was a good suggestion, honestly. Dominic was itching to get to the centre of the forest to finish their task: he really wanted to see if adding the dungeon Core to the Place of Power would have the effects Selessa had indicated that it should. But at the same time, given that the albuhas were completely foreign to everyone inside the forest, he didn’t want to risk them getting attacked. So waiting it was.

  Mating seemed like a good way of taking his mind off it all, if Sekhmet was up for it.

  A look at and quick question to her revealed that, yes, of course she was up for another round. Or two.

  *****

  The rest of the group appeared as Dominic was disengaging from round three – he had estimated that they had just enough time for it. As it turned out, they did just about, though he was a little embarrassed at not completely being done by the time the others were all on scene.

  They all got to see how Sekhmet snarled and then leapt around to bat at Dominic with her claws out. It seemed to be an instinctive reaction since she did it every time, but never pressed further. Fortunately by now, Dominic was well-aware of it and had leapt out of range as soon as he disengaged. Sekhmet rolled onto her back, seeming to enjoy scratching herself against the ground cover beneath herself for a few seconds before rolling back over and standing up.

  Normally at this point they would both lick themselves clean and then, once Sekhmet allowed him close, lie down for a short time together. But not this time. Sekhmet was shameless enough to lick at herself, even in front of the audience, but Dominic felt too self-conscious about it.

  Jenkins bounded forwards to sniff at both of them, ignoring Sekhmet’s low snarl and the way Dominic uncomfortably shifted away from her. He didn’t want a repeat of Lionel’s inspection, not even from Jenkins.

  ‘My turn?’ she asked him brightly just a moment later. She moved to rub herself against him as Sekhmet had, but was way too bouncy to be as sinuous as the older lioness had been.

  ‘Maybe later,’ Dominic replied nervously, eyeing the crowd around them with everyone watching with interest. Something inside him shrivelled up at the thought of trying to do it with such an audience. He could tell from the way Leo was sending him scornful feelings that the lion didn’t agree, but tough: they had a job to do. ‘Alright everyone, we’re home. Let’s get to the centre as quickly as we can.’

  Heading through the forest at a fast trot, Dominic noticed that the albuhas didn’t seem comfortable.

  ‘Are you OK?’ he asked the highest level among them.

  ‘We not like close confines of forest,’ the albuha answered uneasily. ‘No easy flying here.’

  Dominic hadn’t thought about that. Though there was an easy solution to it.

  ‘Let’s get to the centre. There’s a clearing from which you should be able to fly. If you guys aren’t comfortable in the forest itself, you can always patrol the perimeter. To be fair, we do need some look-outs there. And then when you need to rest, you can fly over the forest and back to the central clearing. Sound good?’

  The albuha thought about it for a moment.

  ‘Sound good, but we make sure that leader agree first.’

  ‘Your leader?’ Dominic asked in slight confusion. ‘Jenkins?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But since I’m your leader’s leader, shouldn’t my instructions supersede hers?’ Dominic asked in confusion. That was how hierarchies worked, right?

  Apparently not, as the albuha seemed reluctant to trust his word.

  ‘Must check with leader,’ he insisted.

  While Dominic didn’t have any issue with that per se, since he was pretty sure Jenkins wouldn’t argue with him, it did create a potentially problematic situation for the future. What if he needed to give them instructions in an emergency and Jenkins wasn’t there? Or what if Jenkins died? Dominic steered his thoughts away from that possibility, not wanting to tempt fate. She’d already come too close once.

  ‘And how would I convince you that I should be obeyed even if Jenkins doesn’t agree?’ Dominic asked slowly.

  The albuha looked at him as if he was surprised at him asking such an obvious question – he probably was..

  ‘Defeat our leader, of course,’ he answered.

  ‘Of course,’ Dominic echoed with a hint of exasperation. ‘I thought I already did that.’

  ‘That was last leader,’ the albuha answered. ‘We not sure you stronger than current leader – we all grown in strength since last battle.’

  Dominic could have pointed out that he had increased in more levels than Jenkins had and he had already been a higher level before. He could have also pointed out that he was at least three times Jenkins’ height and significantly heavier than she was. He could have said that he had many more Abilities than she did and had fought against creatures far more dangerous than she was and came out as the victor. But he didn’t, because he knew that the only way of convincing them would be defeating her in front of them.

  ‘Alright,’ he sighed. ‘Before I head out again, I’ll fight her. OK?’

  The albuha didn’t answer but that was fine – it was a rhetorical question anyway. Dominic was about to move away from the winged-coyote when the creature said one more thing.

  ‘Howler.’

  ‘Sorry, what?’ Dominic asked in confusion.

  ‘Howler. My name. Howler.’ Dominic eyed him, then smiled mentally.

  ‘Alright. Nice to meet you, Howler. I’m Dominic, though sometimes Leo takes over for a bit.’

  ‘I know. Very confusing,’ the albuha answered sagely. ‘Had pack member like that once.’ Then his body language slumped. ‘Ended up scratching his own eyes out – convinced the other was waiting to pounce. Died soon after.’

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  ‘Good to know,’ Dominic answered, not knowing what to say. Did the albuha, Howler, think he was crazy? Or were true multiple personalities actually a thing from wherever they came from? He probably shouldn’t tell Howler that he and Leo fought from time to time.

  Fortunately, he was distracted soon after when he saw a kesh sitting in the branches above him – in an area where they were not supposed to be.

  Baring his teeth in anger, he leapt up onto the branch, using his wings both to get him level with the monkey-like kesh and then to help him keep his balance once he landed. That they made him look even bigger and more intimidating was just a convenient coincidence.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded with Telepathy.

  The kesh cowered back from him, its four arms spread wide, presumably to show that it was empty-handed. It clearly hadn’t reached Tier 2 yet, so what he received back through his Telepathy was a feeling of fear and an attempt to placate.

  Dominic tried to send it the same question wordlessly but the kesh didn’t seem to understand, instead it just backed away and cowered even lower to the branch.

  The sound of crashing came from the side and Dominic looked up just in time to see another kesh coming in. He snarled and prepared to attack, but this new kesh just swung to stand between him and the one from before, its own hands opened and spread wide.

  ‘Not kill! Not kill!’ Dominic heard as soon as he made telepathic contact with the new kesh. It was bigger, and obviously had made it into Tier 2.

  ‘Why not?’ he demanded. ‘You are not allowed to be in this part of the forest!’

  ‘Apologies, apologies, but Big one say come, guard.’

  ‘Big one?’ Dominic asked suspiciously.

  ‘Yes, yes. Big one. Like them, but big. Big!’ the kesh repeated with obvious panic in its voice, pointing with two of its hands at the party below. No, at Procyon and Sirius, Dominic realised. Nyx?

  ‘This is big one?’ he asked, sending the kesh a picture of Nyx.

  ‘Yes, yes. Big one.’

  ‘And ‘big one’ said you could come here?’ Dominic asked, still suspicious. He remembered the claims the kesh had made in the past all too well.

  ‘Yes, yes. Big one say come. Guard. Watch. Kill intruder. Many intruder.’

  It was a good story, though it seemed rather similar to what they’d claimed before. And if it was true, it would mean that the Pride would have lost Prey Points to the kesh which wasn’t great. Dominic suddenly wondered whether the Pride chat range was wide enough to reach Nyx wherever she was at that moment.

  ‘Nyx?’ he tried. ‘Can you hear me?’

  There was silence. He tried again, this time focussing on sending his voice directly to the ameshek leader. But still nothing. Apparently she wasn’t yet within range.

  ‘Alright. You both come with us,’ he answered. ‘I’m going to check with ‘big one’. If you’re telling the truth, I will let you go. If you’re not, I will kill you. If you try to run, I will consider that as evidence of you lying to me and kill you. Understand?’

  ‘Yes, yes, Great one, understand. Not lie. Not run. Come with to Big one.’

  Dropping down to the ground, Dominic watched as the two kesh seemed to communicate with each other. He remained tense, ready to leap up again and attack them. But they both just scampered down the trunk of the tree, dropping from about halfway down to land lightly among the party.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Sekhmet asked warily with Procyon and Sirius echoing her. Dominic quickly explained the situation and then they continued through the forest, needing to slow down a bit for the lower-level kesh.

  By the time they got to the clearing, the sun was already below the horizon, though they could all still see well enough. The kesh were probably the least capable in the dark, but even for them the last light of the day was still enough to scamper easily through the forest.

  Pausing at the edge of the clearing, Dominic took a moment to absorb the sight before him.

  The rest of his Pride lay in piles all around the clearing, apparently unaware of Dominic’s group’s intrusion. He frowned mentally – they needed to work on their guarding skills. There was still an obvious difference between lions and amesheks, but the two species weren’t lying far from each other anymore – there had been noticeable inroads on integration there.

  Beyond them all was Nyx, lying almost at the base of the tree in the clearing’s centre, the massive mound of ameshek unmistakable. As if they had finally sensed him there, heads started lifting to look at him and his pride.

  And then they were all scrambling to their feet and rushing towards Dominic and his group.

  ‘Keep your group back for a moment and keep an eye on these two,’ he told Howler, indicating the kesh. ‘I’ll introduce you once we’ve all greeted each other.’ Howler waited for Jenkins to back up the order before he acknowledged it. With that, the two of them followed the other lions and the two amesheks in running towards their Pride.

  The following few minutes passed in a storm of heads, tails, and body rubs almost strong enough to knock him over. He greeted everyone who approached him with equal enthusiasm. His wings seemed to get particular attention, enough of it to knock out a few feathers. When the sandy fur was replaced by black and coarse fur, he didn’t hesitate but greeted the amesheks with the same amount of enthusiasm that he’d greeted the lions.

  Finally, Nyx approached him with the others pulling aside to give her space. They stood there looking at each other for a moment.

  ‘Welcome back,’ Nyx told him with a dignified air. Yet something told Dominic that she was uncertain. He took the initiative, stepping forward and rubbing his head against hers. He had grown in size at least a little, he realised, even though he hadn’t chosen that as an enhancement. Although still smaller than the lead ameshek, he could now comfortably rub the top of his head against her chin without her having to stoop.

  ‘It’s good to be back,’ he answered. A moment later, Nyx responded to the greeting, humming deeply in her chest in the same way Procyon and Sirius did when they were happy.

  ‘I am glad that you have brought my pack back to me,’ she said after they had finished greeting and had stepped back. ‘How they have grown!’ she answered with a feeling of surprise. And was that a little lust Dominic detected? Could Nyx be coming into season too, or were the two amesheks just that attractive to her now? ‘You all have,’ she remarked, looking at the others. Then she looked up at the clearing’s edge. ‘And brought new companions. Are they pack?’

  ‘Yes,’ Dominic answered, then pulled back a little so he could see all the lions and amesheks at once before addressing them. ‘Everyone, these are our new Pride members. They will probably be guarding our outer perimeter but will be welcome to join us here in the centre whenever they want.’

  ‘Good! Need more eyes to watch.’ Disengaging from where she had been greeting Sekhmet, Isis seemed very positive about that.

  Kalista, the leader of the other pride, though apparently still not Tier 2 sent across a similarly definite feeling of approval.

  ‘Alright, Jenkins, want to bring your group over to greet everyone?’ Dominic asked the young lioness with a hint of humour. She bounced happily at the invitation and pushed her way through the mass of lions and amesheks, running across the clearing back to the albuhas. Once she got there, she turned around and led them back, her head raised proudly into the air, her tail lifted and twitched behind her like a proud little cub’s.

  Following her with more caution, the winged-coyotes sniffed around, eyeing the rest of the Pride as they drew nearer. Carefully, the two groups started greeting each other politely, by smelling each other’s tails and licking each other’s faces.

  Seeing the two kesh still standing patiently where he’d left them, Dominic was reminded of what he wanted to ask Nyx. Though, if he was honest with himself, the fact that they hadn’t slipped away while he was distracted was as much evidence that they were telling the truth as them running away would have been evidence of them lying. Still, if they had been telling the truth, that indicated that there was a problem, so it was worth raising it with Nyx anyway.

  ‘Nyx, did you instruct the kesh to move out of the part of the forest I restricted them to?’ he asked neutrally.

  ‘I did,’ she answered calmly.

  ‘Alright, I’ll be back in one second,’ he said to her, then jumped into the air and glided back to the kesh. He could hear some surprised reactions behind him. ‘You’re free to go,’ he told the Tier 2 telepathically. ‘‘Big one’ has confirmed your words.’

  ‘Thank you, Great one,’ the kesh answered gratefully, and then the two of them rapidly disappeared into the forest. Leaping into the air again and spreading his wings, Dominic glided back to Nyx’s side.

  ‘Those are new,’ Nyx remarked, pointing with her canine-like muzzle towards his beige-coloured wings. Dominic spread them widely so she could see, then tucked them back in on his back again.

  ‘So,’ he started neutrally, not wanting her to feel like she was being accused of something, ‘why did you instruct the kesh to leave the areas I restricted them to?’

  here!