Rick spoke eloquently and I felt a surge of affection in my heart as he spoke about me in such glowing terms. I could feel safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t only chosen as a default option because my parents happened to be involved with the lions, but that Rick wanted me because of my own qualities.
Alyssa remained quiet while she considered Rick’s words. Bruce was getting more animated beside her, gesticulating wildly.
“You can’t actually believe him?! He’s crazy! He’s filled with these ideas. Lions are strong, lions need to stick together. He says that a little more humanity cannot hurt. I say it will hurt us more than anything! We have already lost a lot of what makes us strong and unique, that’s why this pride has been falling apart and why I am the most superior lion. I have devoted myself to exploring my innate abilities instead of trying to be something I’m not. We should be leaving the human world behind, not indulging in it!”
Bruce was becoming apoplectic with rage and he seemed to have much to say about the matter, but Alyssa raised a hand, which stopped him in his tracks. She pursed her lips and looked to the side before moving her gaze back to Rick, although it passed over me first and I felt myself under intense scrutiny. It was entirely unsettling.
“You speak well Rick. I can understand why the pride chose you as their leader, but I think perhaps, Bruce is right and you have been spending too much time with humans. Diluting our bloodlines is not the way to make us stronger. If you are too weak, then you should strengthen yourselves by joining to us. This reeks of desperation and is a cowardly move. You should not cling onto the glories of your past. Accept your fate, accept the changing winds of time and be one with my pride, or cast yourselves to the mercy of the world and find a new home, but do not desecrate this sacred place with your delusions. I cannot stand by without issuing a challenge.”
Rick sighed. “I’m sorry that you can’t see it my way, Alyssa, but I’m not going to walk away from my home. This pride has lived here for generations, and I won’t see an end to it during my lifetime. I accept your challenge, are you prepared for what awaits?”
“I am Rick. There will be no shame in your defeat.”
Rick turned to look at me and he clasped Dalton’s hand. It was all happening so quickly and I felt as though I should have a say in it, but what could I say?
“Do you really have to do this?” I asked.
“We do,” Rick said. “We have to prove that we are strong enough to defend our home. There is no other way.”
“But I saw you against Bruce. You struggled to beat him together, are you going to have to fight him and Alyssa at the same time?” I asked.
“It’s going to be okay,” Dalton said, squeezing my arm softly. He kissed me on the cheek. “We have you to fight for now, as well. We’re not going to let anyone take our home from us.”
I watched as Dalton and Rick strode forward, two warriors going into the heat of battle. I retreated to stand by my parents. I knew that we wer
e likely the first humans to ever be witness to such a thing as this, and I feared for our lives if Dalton and Rick failed. Bruce and Alyssa weren’t likely to let us leave with the knowledge that we had of their culture. They couldn’t afford to let us live, but I didn’t bring that up. We all knew it. Dalton and Rick knew it too. If they failed it would be the end of everything.
Chapter Sixteen
On one side of the clearing stood Rick and Dalton, on the other Bruce and Alyssa waited. Bruce had a hungry look in his eyes and he seemed to relish this moment. Alyssa was a little more reserved, studious, even cautious, perhaps. There were errant murmurings all around me of people speculating and fearing the outcome of this conflict. It seemed so barbaric to me, to decide the fate of this community on a fight, but it was traditional and honorable. I just had to hope that Dalton and Rick could match these fearsome warriors.
My two lovers were deep in conversation with each other. Bruce and Alyssa remained silent. Alyssa looked proud and although I knew nothing of her, I got the impression that she must have been intimidating, considering that she commanded so many lions. They congregated together, an entire army of warriors, and I dreaded to think what would happen if Rick and Dalton killed their leader. It seemed as though all out war was brewing and this was the first battle.
As I watched them they shifted into lions.
“I’ll never get tired of seeing that,” Dad said. I shared the sentiment. Rick and Dalton looked majestic and beautiful. Their bright, soft fur gleamed in the sunlight. Bruce was strong, his muscles defined, but his fur was not in as good condition as my lions. And then there was Alyssa. A proud lioness, there was no mane, just a sleek coat of fur that was the color of sand. Her eyes were wide, but they narrowed as she leaned forward, her body as straight as an arrow. Her mouth rippled as she snarled. Next to her, Bruce stepped forward and roared loudly. Rick and Dalton roared in unison and their rumbling thunder made my soul shake.
I felt like I should be quiet through this ordeal, but my father did not think the same. He was always one to get talkative when he grew nervous.
“It’s astounding to see a lioness fight alongside the males. There are so many similarities between the actual animals and these shifters, but in some ways they have advanced. In nature you would never see a lioness command the respect of a pride like Alyssa does,” he spoke, almost reverentially. I wondered if it was possible to respect someone and want them to lose a battle at the same time.
But I didn’t have the time to waste admiring Alyssa, or for learning her story. The two lions I loved were about to spring into battle and all I could do was watch with bated breath, praying that they could somehow find a way to win.
*
Dust rose as their paws thundered into the ground. The four lions charged at each other, eating up the ground between them. Bruce seemed the hungriest for battle. His head was low and the rumbling roars never ceased coming from his mouth, as he moved ahead of Alyssa, eager to fight Rick and Dalton, his mortal enemies. His muscles pumped and, eventually, he seemed to be carried by pure momentum at the end of it, ready to crash into Rick and Dalton. But unlike Bruce and Alyssa, Rick and Dalton moved as one, the very definition of a team. They ran side by side and, at one point, their bodies matched perfectly so it looked as though there was just one of them. They had been friends all their lives, and I knew that no matter how much I shared with them, I could never reach the same depths of their relationship.
I hoped that I would be able to get close though, for there was a real possibility that I could be mourning at the end of it, especially as I watched Bruce’s snarling face charging towards them, his sharp claws ready to attack, ready to tear them apart and leave nothing behind but a bloodied corpse. I winced as the three of them met, only three because Alyssa was slower than them, or perhaps she was deliberately holding herself back. Part of me wanted to close my eyes as my body sang with fear, but I could not tear my eyes away. I watched, and then I smiled as I saw Rick and Dalton split apart as Bruce came at them. They moved in harmony, like echoes of each other, and Bruce seemed confused. He stopped dead in his tracks and twisted his head side to side as Rick and Dalton circled him. Bruce bared his teeth and reared back on his hind legs, ready to spring himself forward.
Rick was the one who thrust himself at Bruce, while Dalton continued straight on to Alyssa. The world around me shook with the thunder of their paws. The air simmered with their rage. Rick swiped a paw at Bruce. I was about to pump my fist in celebration, until I realized he’d missed. Bruce flung himself at Rick and the two lions rolled along the ground, their limbs entwining, their bodies blurring together. They snarled and growled and slashed their claws at one another. A cloud of dust obscured my vision. I could see one lion burying his head in the other, but I couldn’t make out which one it was, even though I craned my neck and strained to see.
Dalton stopped in his tracks. He was about to engage Alyssa, who was a direct contrast to Bruce. Instead of charging into battle she had bided her time and waited patiently for the battle to come to her. She studied the proceedings carefully and it was a testament to her character that she showed patience, rather than charging in hot-headed like the males. Her body went rigid with tension and every sinew in her body grew taut as Dalton approached but, at the last minute, Dalton stopped and turned around. I followed his gaze. The dust had settled around Rick and I saw how Bruce was atop him, bringing his paws down like knives, cutting into Rick’s flesh. I moaned and clutched Mom’s hand tightly. My eyes were framed with worry. Bruce’s muscles bulged with sheer power and I knew it had been foolish for Rick to try to take him on alone. He’d already been battered and left bleeding once. I couldn’t help but feel I should have done more to stop him. I should have done more to try and talk sense into Rick. What was the point of me having such a position of power in lion society if I wasn’t going to wield my influence responsibly?
But it was too late now.
Dalton knew the same thing.
He turned his back on Alyssa, a risky move because it gave her the advantage, yet she didn’t attack. I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t make out her inscrutable gaze. Dalton turned around and galloped towards Bruce and Rick. He ran so fast. Bruce seemed to be entirely occupied with Rick, lost in the fury of bloodlust, so he wasn’t aware, until the last moment, of Dalton, who lowered his head and butted Bruce away.