Chương 6: Book 1 - Chapter 6: The Way Is Shut

Dominic still wasn't entirely comfortable with the gallop of a lion at full speed, but as long as he didn't think too much about it, he found he was able to go faster than he did the last time he tried – the lion's help? Or muscle memory? The shadowy creatures were evidently unable to move that fast, and he soon left them far behind.

However, any relief was quickly destroyed when he turned a corner sharply while maintaining as much momentum as possible, and found that his route forward was completely blocked only a few paces away. His speed worked against him and he slammed into the wooden barrier. A moment later, wincing a little at his new bruises, he noticed that there was a door with a paw mark in the middle of it.

It was too obvious a solution for Dominic's preference, but he could hear the growling of the shadow beasts coming closer, not giving him much time or choice. Hoping it wasn't a trap, he placed his paw in the middle of the impression. Around his paw, white light shone and a loud click resounded out into the corridor. The door easily gave way before him. Dominic hurried through. On the other side, the dungeon-like corridor continued, blocked by another wooden wall a bit ahead.

Dominic turned around and leant on the door he'd just come through, hoping that it would click shut again. It did and Dominic backed away in satisfaction – perhaps the shadow beasts would be stopped by the barrier. It was only when he realised that there was no paw mark on this side of the door that he considered how he might have just blocked off his only escape route too. The way is shut, Dominic considered grimly, hoping that the rest of that particular line wouldn't apply.

With no time to investigate further, Dominic headed off towards the next obstacle. Again, it was a wooden wall, marked only by a paw mark. The difference was that this indent was on the floor close to the wall and had a stone half-covering it. Rolling away the stone took a bit of effort but it moved easily enough. Dominic pressed his paw against the now uncovered impression and, as before, the door clicked open.

Glancing back, a shiver went down Dominic's spine as he saw the shadows slowly emerging from the hairline crack under the first door. So much for that keeping his pursuers at bay! At least it was clearly slowing them down – Dominic took a moment to close the second door too. Ahead of him was another wall and door, this one with several stones at its base and no sign of a paw print – not until he rolled away one of the stones and revealed it hiding behind.

Dominic sighed heavily and wished he could roll his eyes in exasperation – he could see where this was going. Sure enough, as he made his way through the corridor, meeting door after door, it became increasingly difficult to reach the imprint due to the obstacles blocking it. Following the stones that were easy to knock away with his paw came larger ones that increasingly needed more of Dominic's strength.

As a result, the time it took him to clear the imprint also increased, allowing the shadowy beasts to slowly, but surely catch up. Dominic glanced back as he approached yet another door – this one blocked by a large statue of a winged being that looked like something out of a fantasy book, though he paid little attention to the details. A shiver went down his spine as he saw the shadowy beasts were almost completely through the previous door.

Urgency hastening his movements, Dominic stood up on his back legs and strained to topple the statue over, but struggled to do even that because of its wide base. The shadow beasts' red eyes bore into him like embers of a fire, full of hatred and desire to see him fall. He gulped, doing his best not to imagine what might happen if they caught up before he got through. Danger, the lion warned him. Really? Dominic asked with his best sarcastic tone.

But returning his eyes to the statue in his way, he redoubled his efforts. The statue still refused to move. Dominic chanced a look backwards and his heart started beating harder than it already was in his chest when he saw that the shadowy beasts were through and advancing down the corridor towards him. He pulled away, then surged forwards, slamming his shoulder into the statue. It was painful, but Dominic didn't care about that – the statue had finally shifted.

It wasn't enough to reveal what stood behind it – only a bare inch – but it was proof that this wasn't impossible. Urgency pulsed through him – from the lion or his own sense of danger – and he threw himself at the statue again and again. It shifted bit by bit, agonisingly slowly as Dominic's bruises grew. The edge of the imprint was revealed, and then part of its pad.

Dominic glanced down the corridor again, and for a moment he was frozen in fear – the beasts were only a couple of feet away now and he still hadn't revealed enough of the imprint to press his paw into it. Cloying terror rose inside him and urged him to surge forwards and scrabble ineffectively at the thin crack between the statue and the imprint. Dominic fought for calm, knowing that if he lost his mind, his life would follow soon after.

It felt like using his hands to hold back the tide, and for a long moment, his attempt to control himself felt pointless. And then something changed. Like before when he had been overwhelmed by his emotions, he felt something click into place. Suddenly, he was no longer holding back the tide, but sticking his finger into a hole in the dam. And as long as he kept his finger there, his fear would not be able to control him.

Not daring to look back at the oncoming beasts, and cursing himself for the precious seconds his little panic attack had lost him, Dominic eyed the statue, searching frantically for a better method. The statue's base was wide, resisting his efforts to push it over. But if he could apply enough force to the top…. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Dominic coiled his hindlegs under him, then pushed off the ground.

As he did so, he felt sudden cold pain erupt in his hindquarters as claws raked them – the beasts had caught up! Dominic extended his paws, his claws out in his fear, and slammed into the top of the statue. There, he latched on, using his own weight to urge it further off balance. It rocked, teetered one way and then the other, and then, Dominic's weight making the difference, it fell almost slowly towards the ground.

At the same time, Dominic felt something shift within him, but he had no time to consider it – if he was caught by the falling statue, it wouldn't be good. Dominic managed to just about leap clear, though he landed badly and stumbled, his left wrist sending sharp pains through him. He'd leaped past the shadow beasts, back down the corridor, and they didn't take too long to turn and start advancing on him again. Run, the lion urged him.

No, Dominic replied, holding his ground, though his own instincts agreed with the other. Run! the lion insisted even more fervently. Just a little closer, Dominic murmured in return, not resisting his body's urge to tense up, to prepare to react. Then, as the shadow beasts came almost within reach, Dominic leaped again over the shadow beasts' heads, in the direction of the door.

He felt a trail of burning cold swipe along his right back leg as he sailed through the air, not quite high enough to avoid the shadow claws. As a result of the ensuing numbness, his limb buckled under him as he landed. But three legs were still working mostly well, so he just limped forwards with them as fast as he could. Pressing his paw against the impression, he waited impatiently for the door to slide open. Leaping through the open door, Dominic quickly shut it, almost in his pursuers' faces.

Then, as he looked at the space in which he now found himself, he froze. This is different, he noted warily. Instead of one door, there were two, neither impeded by stones or statues. One was directly ahead of him, a wooden wall blocking the corridor, like all those before. The other was different – a stone door in the stone wall. Both had paw imprints like the previous doors; the door in the wall also had 'Exit' written in clear letters. Go, the lion insisted, emanating fear.

Dominic glanced backwards – for now, there was no sign of the shadowy beasts. But which one? he wondered. He was highly tempted to press his paw to the door with 'Exit' written on it and be done with it, but his curiosity bade him to investigate the other door. Why are there two? Leave, now! the lion urged him. Not safe. I'm just going to look, Dominic replied, padding over to the other door.

The numbness from the shadow's attack had faded and his wrist had dulled to a vague throbbing – strained, perhaps, but not badly. And then even that vanished. Dominic noted absently that his stomach felt just a little emptier than before. The other door looked just like the doors in the corridor, except there was nothing blocking the imprint. Which door should I take? He wondered. Glancing back at the door he'd just come through, he saw that already shadowy tendrils were beginning to creep through the crack.

He didn't have much time to decide. The exit or… this? Exit, the lion answered him firmly, sounding increasingly frantic. Dangerous! Dominic took two steps towards the exit, then paused again. He turned his head to check on the shadow beasts' progress. Only a little further forward than before. He had a moment to consider this decision carefully.

He'd wondered before whether he was in a gladiator's cage, and the last few minutes running through the gauntlet like a rat through a maze certainly hadn't done anything to dismiss that impression. Two parts of him wanted to leave – the one that agreed with the lion that this was dangerous; the other a spiteful part that wanted to leave and spoil whatever fun his observers might be having. Of course, that was assuming 'Exit' was not a trap.

However, even if it were genuine, a large part of Dominic didn't want to take it. The sense of a barrier shattering he'd felt as the statue began to fall was just another piece in the puzzle he was beginning to put together. Calling up his status sheet, he noted the new addition with little surprise. DOMINIC MARTIN COLE /? Species:? Form/s:? Tier/Rank:? Domains Predation – Basic Stage 1 Aegis – Processing Sovereignty – Basic Stage 1 Aegis, hm? Doesn't that mean shield or something?

Dominic mused, then closed the status screen. He glanced at the door he'd come through, then shivered as he met a pair of glowing red eyes. The first was almost through. Leave! Now! the lion snarled at him. Hesitating for just a moment, Dominic drew a breath, then whirled back to the door with no label, pressing his paw into the imprint. As the door cracked open, he heard a rumble and saw the door with 'Exit' being blocked by a stone wall that descended in front of it.

Swallowing, Dominic realised that he wouldn't be allowed to change his mind. Good thing he wasn't intending on doing so. What do? the lion accused him with fear and anger in its voice. Risk and reward go hand in hand, Dominic told him, hoping fervently that he was right and that he hadn't just doomed them both. He cautiously stepped through the open door and into the darkness beyond. Clearly it was nonsensical to the lion, but Dominic had taken the safe route for long enough to know where it led.

He'd seen it in the first messages that had appeared – this was his time to grow. Aegis was 'processing'. Not unlocked like the other two Domains were. Perhaps this unmarked door was the key. Performing for an audience or not, he'd clearly received rewards for getting through situations – combat with the pig-dogs unlocked Predation and gave him sharper claws and teeth; escaping the…

that place had unlocked Sovereignty and though there had been no obvious reward for that, it sounded too powerful to not prove itself in time. Leaving now would pass up on any rewards for Aegis that he might earn, he was pretty sure. The moment he stepped through the door, it slammed closed behind him, torches on the walls flaring into life. At the same time, Dominic leapt into the air as he felt something hard and cold close around his wrists and ankles.

Looking down, his heart sank as he realised exactly what had grabbed him: shackles with long chains attached. You killed us! the lion snarled furiously.