‘It’s time,’ Dominic said quietly to his companions.

  The first fingers of dawn were extending across the sky. They could not push their luck any further if they hoped to remain undiscovered. Of course, even though they hadn’t been flooded by an army of bloodthirsty beasts eager to tear their throats out, it didn’t necessarily mean that the matriarch wasn’t already aware of their presence.

  Still, Dominic had been careful to approach the camp from downwind and the breeze hadn’t changed since then. They had also done their best to be quiet when travelling and even more so when resting. Plus, he knew from Howler that the winged beasts usually used for scouting were primarily day hunters and the albuhas didn’t have great night vision either. The light of the moons might have been enough for watchers to see the approach of Dominic’s group, but he had to hope that that wasn’t the case. Though he wasn’t intending on sneaking up on them exactly, the less time they had to prepare, the better.

  Taking a moment just to make sure that the armour they had been given hadn’t shifted out of position – the kesh’s agile fingers were perfect for repositioning those which had or to refasten where needed – and that everyone was fully rested in terms of their stamina, Dominic led his group of multiple beast species to battle.

  Dominic trotted at the front of the alliance, everyone travelling at a pace which wouldn’t exhaust the slowest of their members. Nyx led one of the flanks with the trodils. His other new allies ran on the other flank, their packs or herds following on their leaders’ heels. It made something of an arrow formation which would serve them well in the fight to come.

  Dominic wasn’t optimistic enough to think that he might be able to win this without anyone else fighting but him. The matriarch had proven before that she was willing to put the bodies of her horde between herself and him – he doubted that her strategy would have changed significantly even if she was willing to counter internal challenges on her own. But he did have hopes that she might be obliged to answer his Challenge this time – Dominic himself had experienced a Challenge he couldn’t refuse when he had been faced with the other chimera. It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that in order to keep her position as leader of the beast attack, she had to personally answer any beast who wished to challenge her.

  Of course, whether any System intervention would apply in this situation when Dominic wasn’t part of her faction, he didn’t know. But he thought that there was probably a good chance of it. After all, if the Settlement Challenge was levied against a place with just a small group of powerful warriors, managing to survive with a high percentage of the population alive couldn’t be the only win condition – surely it would be possible to take the fight to the beast wave leader. Either way, he was determined to see this through before he had to go to defend his Place of Power.

  Dominic noticed immediately when they had been spotted. Winged beasts started circling overhead, looking uncomfortably like vultures even though he knew that they weren’t actually those specific birds.

  Deciding that trying to keep a low profile was now useless, Dominic stood tall. Feeling Leo’s approval, he opened his mouth, filled his lungs and then let out the strongest roar he could.

  He didn’t put any extra effects into it – he wasn’t attempting to stun or damage anyone with the Sonic Attack aspects of it. Due to that, he didn’t have to stand still while he roared. But he was pretty sure that his message had got through loud and clear. A challenger had arrived.

  Every few steps after that, he let out another roar. Soon, his lionesses joined in with him, declaring their presence and their intentions to take over this land – and those on it.

  Getting into the swing of it, the rest of his merry band started joining in one by one. Howls from the few albuhas in his ranks, hoots from the kesh, and the odd, uncomfortable thrum from the amesheks which was felt more than heard. Even the ulla decided to add his herd’s bellows to Dominic’s Pride’s calls. The other most recent allies seemed a little more hesitant to so declare themselves, but a few among their number let out the odd quiet call of their own, apparently unable to completely resist.

  Since they were within the range limit of the Pride chat, Dominic reached out to a scout he had sent out ahead – Zarini, who had picked up Ambush at level 6, had doubled down on her stealth capabilities by earning an actual Stealth Ability at level 10 which combined excellently with her natural talent in moving without being detected.

  Dominic’s main army had been grabbing all the attention so she had managed to sneak up to the top of the ridge without being detected – at least as far as she could tell.

  ‘What can you see?’ Dominic asked her even as they continued advancing, declaring their intentions all the while. It was a pity that Teeth had been sniffed out so quickly by the matriarch as a spy. It was even more unfortunate that he’d lost his only contactable eyes in the matriarch’s camp, and he hadn’t wanted to risk sending out scouts ahead of time out of fear that they might accidentally trip an alarm and start the battle before Dominic’s group was ready. Now, however, was a different question.

  ‘They all moving,’ Zarini reported back to him. ‘Lots, lots moving!’ Her voice was urgent.

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  ‘Are they approaching the ridge yet?’ Dominic asked intently – that was a key factor.

  ‘Starting, yes. Not here yet.’

  ‘Thanks. Stay there and tell me when you see the matriarch.’

  ‘Yes, pride leader.’

  ‘Right everyone,’ Dominic projected to all those around. He’d added the leaders of their allies into the Pride so that there would be easy communication between the different groups in their alliance. Plus, just like with the kesh, it might make their allies seek to draw closer to the Pride due to the advantages given to Pride members – but that was for the long term. For now, the leaders could easily communicate with other Pride members and they would lead their groups into the battle with their usual means of communication. ‘Those who can, make a run for it to the top of the ridge. We’ll be in a much stronger position if we can capture that ground before our opponents do!’

  So saying, those capable of running fast without burning themselves out, did so, picking up the pace and charging up the slope ahead of them. Those unable to move at the speed desired stuck together to present a tougher target. There was a risk of the watchers who were beginning to peek out from the grass and trees lining the ridge, or the scouts who were in the air above the basin deciding to take advantage of the temporary separation. It was a risk to split their forces like that, and Dominic wouldn’t have done it if it didn’t seem that the matriarch’s forces were even more disorganised, but he definitely wanted to take that ridge. If they could, they would have momentum on their side.

  ‘They coming! See matriarch!’ Zarini warned as Dominic’s paws ate up the earth of the slope. He itched to run faster – he was holding himself back to the speeds of those around him. He reminded himself there was no point in him rushing ahead and then getting surrounded at this stage.

  But they had further to travel than those inside the basin, and even as they reached the final stretch, he saw the heads of some of his opponents clear the top of the ridge, bolder than the watches who were still staying in their vantage points. Hyenas, those bloodthirsty rabbits, and a type of beast that he didn’t personally recognise, but which looked a bit like a greyhound with a feline face – clearly built for speed.

  Roaring loudly, Dominic urged his people to even greater speed, risking surging forwards a little beyond the rest of his group to lead the vanguard of their charge.

  They slammed into the beasts on the top of the ridge, the force of their charge driving their opponents back or even trampling them in some cases. The world quickly exploded into flying blood, claws, the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones, and the scent of death.

  And it wasn’t just those on the ridge that they had to contend with – those were only the start of a veritable flood which was pushing up the slope towards them. Dominic leapt forwards, then used Tail Strike with his new and improved tail mace to veritably destroy a whole group of beasts.

  The impact of his tail mace was better than he had hoped, half of the beasts practically exploding into blood and fragments of flesh and bone; the others severely injured. He quickly dealt with those who were injured with swipes of his claws or bites of his teeth.

  With a moment of breathing room, he was able to take stock of the situation. The flood of beasts storming up the slope towards them were obviously obeying the whoops and chattering of the matriarch who Dominic easily spotted standing at the top of a mound of earth in the basin itself.

  They were disorganised – Dominic’s group’s attempt to keep a low profile obviously having succeeded. But there were so many of them! Howler’s estimate was way off – there were at least five beasts for every one that Dominic had brought.

  Fear flooded his heart – had he brought his people into a suicidal battle? Already, they were fighting hard for the ridge itself, the push of numbers on both sides turning the place into a killing field. So far, none of his people had yet fallen, but that was only because those at the vanguard were the higher levelled members of his Pride.

  And so far their opponents hadn’t yet flooded over the uncontested areas of the ridge to encircle them, but that would no doubt come. And then they’d be no better off than when they had been fighting the hyena matriarch the last time!

  No, they had levels, equipment, and intelligence on their side – they would win this battle, numbers or not.

  Not daring to embrace Rage, so close to his own people and in such an uncertain battle, Dominic still pushed every speed enhancing Ability he had to be in as many places as he could possibly be. Striking from behind, ripping through flesh, biting off limbs…. He didn’t necessarily go for the kill, but fought to give his Pride members a better chance of surviving the next few minutes.

  At the same time, he was peripherally aware of the amesheks linking together to blast whole groups of the attackers. The health of those targeted quickly spiraled downwards as the other Pride members took advantage of their enemies’ immobility – and their own immunity to the attack – to kill those closest to them.

  Rocks flew through the air too, even as a mournful howling noise filled the space between them, making their attackers hesitate for sometimes a crucial moment.

  And then, for a moment, there were no other attackers.

  It wasn’t that they had cleared out all of those who sought to kill them, but the fastest had been taken down, and the next wave hadn’t yet made it to the battlefield.

  Immediately, Dominic saw the air fill with golden dust as those who he’d managed to give Healing Cloud to as well as the one he was currently sharing it with helped their Pride-mates. Giving permission to his Pride members to absorb the carcasses lying around them had a secondary cloud of golden dust billowing upwards.

  While he would normally encourage them to keep the strategy under wraps unless it had to be revealed, in this case Dominic couldn’t assume that the other side didn’t know about it, not since the matriarch had seen him use it before. While it was possible that she had chosen not to share it with all the beasts, Dominic wasn’t willing to risk his Pride-members or allies’ lives to keep it a secret. It just wasn’t worth risking those on his side not being healed when they needed to be.

  Taking advantage of the brief pause, Dominic turned to face the oncoming wave of beasts, large and small. Opening his mouth, he stood tall and Roared.

  here!