NOVEL NEXT Interlude Book 1
The hyena matriarch watched as the lions retreated, that male watchful with his teeth bared until they were far enough away that they would get sufficient warning of any attack. He was the only reason she’d called off the attack. Broken his fangs might be, but his claws were still all too sharp.
Grunting at her daughters, they took up the call, whooping and grunting to order the clan to move out. The weakest hyenas, the immigrant males, were the first to move, turning tail. The males of the clan were second. The lower ranking females were next, though went with reluctance at times. Finally, with a final look at the pride of tawny-coloured lions making their way up the hill, each of the females’ mouths filled with a cub, the hyena matriarch turned and made her way into the bush too.
It was time to find easier prey. The male had been right: this attack had offered too much risk for the potential gain. The male would have offered significant advancement potential for her and those she wished to grant it to. But killing him would have taken far too many bodies.
Especially with the new possibility he’d opened to them all: the ability to gain even more strength from their enemies and their dead.
While that new ability was very interesting, it didn’t help if he was able to kill her clan members before they could absorb a kill and heal their wounds. They had to gain more strength to match him, overwhelm him with numbers, if not power. Force him to take wound after wound until he succumbed, all without losing any of their own.
He had been more powerful than she had anticipated. They had already killed more than one of his kind without anything like this difficulty. She had expected it to be more difficult because of the females defending cubs, and so had made sure to bring as many reinforcements as possible, but her calculations had fallen short.
At least it wasn’t too much loss – the majority of the dead were immigrant males, ones which had either been sniffing for scraps on the periphery of their clan before the world changed, or ones which came sniffing around later after.
Only one female had died, but the matriarch wasn’t upset – she had been a rival who had been gathering support. Perhaps if she’d been allowed to live, she’d have staged a takeover at some point. Not that the matriarch would have allowed that to happen.
None of the matriarch's own sons or daughters had died, which was the most important thing. Most were not present here anyway; they didn’t need to be to benefit from the fight, thanks to the matriarch’s personal Ability.
They would have another rematch, the matriarch didn’t doubt it. Lions were as attached to their territory as hyenas were. Only now the world had changed, hyenas were no longer forced to scatter at the approach of a scavenging lion pride.
One day it would be hyenas which ruled the land. This territory was a good starting point.
*****
Leo growled sulkily. He had withdrawn into that odd mental space his brother had created and that he had added to. Choosing to lie under the shade of a tree in the savannah extension outside the inside cave, the lion was grumbling to himself about the loss of their territory.
I’ve only had it for a few days, he moaned to himself. What are the females going to think of me? A male lion chased off his territory by scavengers of all things.
A male was supposed to be the defender of his territory; what did that say about Leo that he couldn’t even do that? Who was going to want to mate with him now? He’d be lucky if the females didn’t just chase him away and be done with it.
This is all my brother’s fault. If I’d been in control, I’d have…I’d have….
He’d have what? Continued attacking? Sure. Probably died? Also likely. Dominic was right – that they’d got away with their lives, all of their lives, was something of a miracle. They’d lost a lot more the first time they’d encountered this group of hyenas, and there had been much fewer of them at the time.
That didn’t mean it didn’t rankle, though. Especially since they might have killed a good number of the filthy vermin, but they hadn’t made much of a dent into the mass all the same.
And what of the former-human’s latest hare-brained plan? Attacking the nasty creatures which had made them flee before? Was it not better to go and take over another pride’s territory? Perhaps even absorb some more lionesses into the pride?
That was a good idea, Leo decided. I’ll suggest it to my brother. Then he thought for a moment. Later. He didn’t really feel like talking to Dominic right at that moment.
*****
Almost halfway across the world, a woman shivered. Leaning forwards, she threw another bit of wood on the fire.
“We’re going to need more firewood, Reggie,” she said, her voice hoarse. The bruises ringing her neck that were revealed as she moved gave evidence to the reason for her difficulty speaking.
“We’re running out of furniture to destroy,” the man also sitting in the firelight told her tiredly.
“Then we need to go scavenging for more,” she said firmly. The silence that followed indicated his lack of agreement. “Reggie….”
“It’s dangerous, Lindie.” The woman, Lindie, made a sharp gesture towards her neck.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“It’s not only humans to watch out for now,” Reggie warned her. He shivered for a moment. “Have you seen the size of the rats out there?”
“Stuff out of nightmares,” Lindie agreed with a similar tremble that had nothing to do with the cold. “But we can’t just hide here forever,” she pointed out doggedly.
“Why not?” Reggie demanded. “I don’t mean forever, I just mean until things get better.”
“And when’s that going to happen, Reggie?” Lindie snapped back at him, her eyes flashing. The man grumbled in his chest, but looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “Electricity went off more than two weeks ago, cars and guns with it. Phones, computers, all of it – dead! And with it, civilisation. I know you think the army’s going to swoop in and make it all better, but all I see is things getting worse!”
Reggie refused to meet the woman’s gaze, staring instead into the fire, a muscle ticking in his jaw. With an explosive sigh, the woman went back to poking at the fire, her stomach rumbling as their ‘dinner’ cooked over it. At least they’d opened the can this time: living through one can exploding had been more than enough of a lesson.
Then a humourless chuckle broke the silence.
“What’s so funny?” grumbled Lindie, half-heartedly glaring at the man.
“I was just thinking of the rats, and then thought that at least we didn’t have lions around. And then I thought of –”
“Dominic,” Lindie sighed in unison with the man. “Do you think he could have…?” The man shook his head.
“Poor bastard,” he sighed instead, thinking of his nephew. “Bet he didn’t stand a chance.”
A pall fell over the two of them, and this time neither of them broke it.
*****
In a galaxy far, far away, a being stirred. She had been sleeping for an age, digesting her most recent meal, a godling who had challenged her…at some point. But now, the lethargy of a good meal having left her limbs, she stretched.
The impact of her enormous limbs shifting sent earthquakes rippling through the surface of the great planet on which she lay. The cities around the edges of bodies of water found themselves abruptly facing tsunamis. Fortunately, built to be resistant to all sorts of damage, they made it through the permutations unharmed. Not that she cared: if they were too weak, they deserved to die.
Around her she felt a stirring, members of her pride vanishing, perhaps to signal the others that she had finally risen.
“Lady, what disturbs you?” the pride member closest to her asked, staying a respectful distance away from her and keeping his beak lowered.
She yawned, razor-sharp teeth like sky-scrapers set in her cavernous jaw.
“I feel a shift. A change. Tell me, what has been happening while I’ve been resting?”