Chương 38: Wary

Ch. 38: Wary

"It's no use. Quit resisting," Exley said. Dory flailed with her sickly arm, attempting to escape his iron grip around her wrist.

"Why are you doing this!?" Dory asked, "Hel-" Before she could finish it, Exley's other hand wrapped around her mouth.

"I think you don't want bad things to happen to you. If that's the case, you'll keep your bloody mouth nice and tight." Samson rested his hands on his head as they walked. He stared at her pleading eyes. He said, "Just tell her. She might not know."

"Shut it, will you?" Exley said. Sampson said, "Your brother is the reason my cousin died." Dory's eyes went wide. The neighborhood fell to ruin around them. The shiftabeests still razed the city block. While people had managed to make their escape, the shiftabeests turned their nervous energy to cars, telephone poles, and glass windows.

"How do we know?" Sampson continued, "I could tell that's what her eyes are telling me, uncle."

"She doesn't need to know everything, Sampson," Exley huffed.

"We had to make sure, though. This ain't just baseless," He turned her attention back to Dory, "We found someone who was also in the party. She told us he did it." Paulie, the other thuggard in the group, continued to gawk at Dory.

"Yeah, some woman with a bent leg named 'Jan.' She pretended that wasn't what happened, until we bent her leg the other way. Then she admitted everything.

"Yes, we confirmed our worst fears. That your brother was a good for nothing layabout who stepped on my nephew's neck to get ahead. I say enough!" Dory had continued to pull. He raised his hand at her and she shrunk away. When she went to speak, it wasn't to cry for help again. It was to defend me.

"He wouldn't do that!" She hissed.

"Oh? You think him so noble that he wouldn't hurt a fly? How pathetic."

"Noble!? No. I think his ego is too large to not play the hero. Besides… he told me that there was a betrayal on that mission. Are you sure your nephew-" Before she could say anything, he slapped her across the face, dazing her.

"There," he said, "Oh come on, I didn't hit her that hard. She'll come to in a minute. Take her for me, will you, Sampson?"

"I wanna hold her," Paulie spoke. Exley quickly said, "Let's keep her safe for now. I want the dirty NPC to see her uninjured."

"He is an NPC right?" Sampson asked, "Because… well… you did say that he defeated two cores by himself. I mean… it's not like he got secretly touched." Exley turned to his nephew, "This man is hiding something. I just don't know what. But something about him… prickles me. We must be wary."

"What are you talking about?" Paulie asked.

"I don't bloody know what I'm talking about, do I? These eyes can identify a person's weakest physical trait. But when I scanned this man… there was a 0% physical weakness."

"0%!?"

"That's right. Not even his cock and balls were bright red."

"How could a man be that strong!?" Paulie asked.

"Strong!?" Exley turned to Paulie, "Strong!?" Exley burst into laughter, "No man could be that strong! Especially not some silly little nonny. No, he's got something that's disguising himself from my eyes. But that… that makes me wary." The laughter had echoed through the havoc and suddenly a flash of something in the distance caught the Exleys' attention. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Quiet." With a splat, the head of a bouldabeest, a beest with the qualities of a boulder, landed and rolled past them at waist height. A roar followed. Half beast but all too human. Exley gave a signal that meant hide. Exley dodged behind the bouldabeest's head. Paulie and Sampson, holding Dory, jumped behind a mid-sized sedan. Exley peeked out. His eyes widened as he saw the culprits. Just then, Dory began to come to. She stirred, and started calling out again. Exley hissed to Sampson, "Shut her up. Now."

Sampson's hands held both her wrists. He tried to grab them both with one hand but as soon as she gained consciousness, she began to struggle. Paulie reached over and placed his hand over her mouth. His vacant eyes looked deep into hers, "Be quiet, pretty lady. It ain't just us you gotta worry about anymore. It's them." He wouldn't let her move her neck. Instead, she moved her eye balls. There were four bipedal beastmen. Lion men, each impossibly buff, and each around eight feet tall.

"Leonids. A deadly class of sapients," Sampson whispered to Dory, "They like to skin their prey." The four leonids idly walked around. One of them dragged the carcass of the bouldabeest like it wasn't the size of a crane. The biggest leonid was ten feet tall and covered in bone accoutrement that rested on his zebra pelt. Exley broke off a piece of the bouldabeest's head. He tossed it over his head. It landed with a shatter in a different direction.

The leonids turned to look and Exley used a burst of speed to join his nephews. One of the leonids lifted his nose in the air.

"They're starting to notice, "We could take them. It's possible."

"Possible. But not assured. We have other priorities." Exley said. Dory's eyes kept darting between the two groups of predators, wondering who she would rather take her chances with. Then, she could feel his breath on her neck. Paulie, his face closer than it needed to be.

"Let us dash into the shadows before a chase gives way."

"Alright, uncle," Sampson said, "Whatever you say." Sampson picked up Dory. She did not make a sound. The three jolted into the streets before the leonids could notice.

"Griffin's wings." Kayla spoke her ultimate move and it conjured wings into existence. Not yet at a level where she could take flight, she leapt from building to building. The montabeest was in sight but still a ways away. Occasionally, she would be slowed down by some oncoming shiftabeest that she would promptly deal with before continuing her move. A windabeest blew down toward her, she reached up and smashed its head with her hammer. The windabeest's neck broke and it went down instantly.

Kayla's feet landed on the building. She ran to the other side with every intention of jumping to the next. She lifted herself and placed her foot on the edge but her eyes peered down and she stopped. Kayla almost fell off but she managed to shift her weight back and fall behind the guard rail of the building's rooftop. Her eyes peeked over. Down on the street, she saw the leonids. They were lounging on a stoop, taking large bites from their prey idly.

That's what brought the shiftabeests in, She thought, Lion hunting for prey. The being at the center who towered over his brethren, sat the most relaxed. She held out her hammer, those guys could do a lot of damage to the people down there. She looked up yonder at the montabeest roughing a building up with its horns, but then looked back down at the crew. As they spoke, they made no effort to silence their words. Each sentence came as a booming roar.

"Folus," said one of the smaller ones pacing, "Shall we continue our romp?"

"Easy, Snir," Folus, the large one with the mane said, "We are where few before us have been."

"I am eager to hunt," Snir said.

"Shall we spill easy blood for easy gain? Or shall we bask in the luck the devils have granted us? A hatch opened on our hunt. We are in the wicked place. So few make it inside. We have an astounding opportunity."

"I care not for glory," said one of the other ones, Muno, as he licked blood off his claws, "I wish to make bleed. We ignore the big one. It would feed our pride for weeks. What prey could be more captivating?" Folus smiled, "Can you not smell them? Among the flock? There are golden sheep with sharp teeth. They swarm to chummed pastures. One is near us now. It listens in. If the Umbun were killed, the hatch would close. We would lose out on the glorious bounty. We will keep the hatch open.

We have much experience to gain from this slaughter." It all sounded like roars and snarls to Kayla. She counted four leonids. An exceptionally small number. Leonids were experts at strategy, they did not engage unless they knew they could have some sort of upper hand. Kayla wondered, What if they wouldn't want a fight? I don't think anyone's ever encountered a leonid pride this small. Could they have members already? The sharp cold of the air made Kayla notice the wave of body heat that hit her neck.

The many battles she'd fought caused her to be aware of the slight breathing. She straightened as her mind put together the puzzle of the tiny leonid pride. A deadly growl dripping with hunger whispered behind her. She could not understand it, but here is what was said:"Lost, little lamb?" She turned around and met the leonid's fifth member.