As it turned out, the lizards weren’t affected by their own weapon. Though that wasn’t all good news for the lions. 

Dominic had theorised that the lizards would have to have some sort of neutralising agent in their mouths at least, just in case they got splash-back from whatever orifice the corrosive spit was emerging from. They probably did, but Dominic didn’t need to check for one simple reason: they also had it on their skins. But sometimes the cure was as bad as the disease.

The lion had found that out the hard way. He’d leapt into the trees, grabbing the closest lizard from above. Going top down seemed to have worked in that he didn’t get attacked by new balls of spit. However, the burning that soon started in his mouth revealed that the lizards were not foes to be taken lightly. 

Having an idea, Dominic had jumped back onto the ground and then hurriedly rubbed the lizard on one of the patches near the base of his tail. 

The patch soon stopped burning and he repeated the motion on the other patches he could reach, then moved to help the lionesses. 

His previously burnt areas were now feeling better, but his mouth was really starting to hurt – clearly the liquid secreted by the lizard’s skin and the one it spat were of opposing pHs and were both as bad as each other in different ways. 

Trying to think outside the box, he actually dropped the lizard and went to lick at the corrosive spots on Hathor. She seemed a bit confused, but didn’t step away from him. After he’d licked the first spot and had stopped it burning, she seemed to get the idea. 

That turned out to be his saving grace, even if it did end up leaving smears of his own blood over all three lionesses. By licking at the corrosive patches, he neutralised that substance with what was smeared around his mouth from biting the lizard, and at the same time stopped the burning of what he’d got all over his teeth and gums. 

I definitely need to level up, though, Dominic thought grimly even once all the burning had subsided. Running his tender tongue over his teeth, he felt that they had been eaten into – it was like he’d got a whole load of cavities all of a sudden. 

He wasn’t sure whether his ongoing Regeneration would help with that, but was pretty sure a level up would. Either way, his most powerful weapon was significantly damaged right now, and he hated to know what that might result in if he met the wrong opponent. 

The problem with that was, of course, the fact that he was less than a quarter towards his next level and he needed his teeth to kill the creatures to get there. Then again, since he was now sharing Prey Points equally with all the members of his pride, perhaps he didn’t have to do quite as much effort. Though that wasn’t exactly what he’d intended when he’d chosen that option….

‘This is where having hands is really useful,’ Dominic thought at Leo, aggrieved. ‘I wouldn’t have had to touch the damn lizard with my bare skin: I could have covered my hands with some protective cloth, or even thrown something at them from a distance.’ As it was, he wasn’t keen on going and biting anything else. The lion stayed silent – probably wisely since Dominic wasn’t actually looking for a debate.

The lizard he’d previously grabbed was actually still alive: Dominic wasn’t keen on finding out whether its blood was poisonous. It also turned out to be very slow. Sloth-like, really. Despite him having dropped it a good few minutes ago, it had only made a few metres of progress back towards the thicket it had come from. 

And of course, Jenkins looked on the verge of prodding it, Hathor and Neith being wiser and staying at more of a distance. 

To nip that in the bud, Dominic sent the youngest lioness a sense memory of biting into the lizard and his whole mouth burning as a result. She recoiled from the creature like it had bitten her, scrambling backwards to leave a much more wary distance between them. Good. 

The lion wasn’t all that keen on leaving the creature alive, though – with as much pain as it and its friends had caused, he wanted to at least gain something out of it. 

But he wasn’t willing to touch it again. 

Eyeing it thoughtfully, he wondered if there was a way of killing it nonetheless. He wasn’t sure how his tail weapon would react to the corrosive liquid on the skin of the lizards otherwise he might try using that. However, his previous thoughts about the benefits hands could offer him were giving him an idea. Sure, he couldn’t have mouth protectors, nor could he throw spears or rocks, but there was still something he could do.

Going over to a rock about the size of his paw, he stretched his mouth wide and grasped it with his teeth. Internally wincing as he felt it grate against his canines a little, he slowly and gently lifted it from the ground. If he felt or heard anything that might indicate his teeth were too weakened to deal with this, he would let go immediately. As it was, it appeared that his corroded enamel was coping with the strain. For now, at least. 

Moving over to the crawling lizard, Dominic opened his mouth again and let it fall – right on the lizard’s head. 

[You have killed Skeet (Basic Beast level 5)]

[You have earned 7 PP]

At first disappointed by the pittance in Prey Points that he’d earned, Dominic reminded himself that that had to be the total split four ways meaning that the creature was actually worth 28 points. Not bad, though still not worth the damage, he decided. Then again… 

He cast a considering eye up at the branches of the thicket. Apparently they only attacked when creatures were actually directly below them, so several metres away from the trees, the lions were safe enough. 

Hathor sent Dominic an image of lions meeting, a sense of impatience attached. Clearly, the lionesses were keen to go find the rest of the pride. But Dominic was wondering if there might be a better way of approaching this, one which would net them a whole lot more Prey Points. 

‘What are you thinking?’ Leo asked curiously. ‘Your thoughts are racing too fast for me to be able to fully grasp them.’

‘What I’m thinking is that although I don’t have hands, that doesn’t mean tools are completely out of the question. And I’m thinking that I want some revenge,’ Dominic told his partner, shoving an image of his idea at Leo. 

The lion made a curious grunting noise. 

‘That could work,’ he granted. ‘But it could also go badly wrong if they start attacking in a group.’ Dominic accepted that point. 

‘If so, we’ll run away. No harm, no foul. They’re clearly slow creatures, so we’d easily get away.’ 

‘Then let’s try,’ Leo told him with a hint of anticipation. ‘I would be ashamed to show these teeth off to my females – let’s get the points we need to level up and repair them.’ Dominic shook his head, his mane flapping around his ears. 

‘Always with the females,’ he sighed, a little exasperated.

‘Of course,’ Leo told him, completely unrepentant. ‘Though I’d imagine we’d rather not reencounter these creatures again at a higher level, if we can avoid it.’ Dominic shuddered at the thought. 

‘Definitely not!’ And actually, thinking about it, while the adult lions were OK against the lizards, the cubs probably wouldn’t be. Level 0 with probably very little defence, and much smaller bodies…they’d succumb to the acid quickly. Dominic felt a wave of agreement from Leo, and an increased desire to commit genocide on these wretched acid-spitting lizards. 

In response to Hathor and Neith who were both starting to look very impatient, their tails flicking and their movements becoming sharper, Dominic sent his intention to kill the lizards. Figuring that they might be more motivated by protecting the cubs than gaining more power for themselves, he sent an imagined image of a cub walking into the thicket and being attacked and killed.

The furious response from the lionesses was exactly what he wanted, their lips curling up to bare their teeth, even as they looked ready to pounce at the lizards in the trees. 

But that wasn’t what Dominic wanted them to do. Instead, he sent a sense of ‘wait’, then looked around the area for what he needed. They settled, impatiently, but they did it. Apparently past experience of his seemingly crazy plans which eventually turned out beneficial was enough to make them trust him in this. 

Finding a long stick, Dominic grabbed one end of it in his jaws. It took a bit of experimentation, working out the best way to hold and move it. Certainly, it was a lot harder than picking up a stick with his hands, but alas, that particular limb was currently absent. 

Finally, he worked out a way of holding the stick almost sideways, the end of it trapped between his back teeth on both sides, though slightly angled forwards. It was awkward, and he could already feel the effort his neck muscles had to make to control the length of the branch. Nonetheless, he had succeeded in the first step. 

The next step was more dangerous: although the branch was quite long, he would still have to enter the spitting lizard’s range. At least he knew how to neutralise their attack now, though. 

Stepping forwards, he used the stick to knock the lizards off their branches without needing to touch them. The four closest to him fell from the canopy like overripe apples. Uninjured in the actual fall, that state wouldn’t last long. 

Sending an image of himself picking up a rock in his teeth and then dropping it, he encouraged the lionesses to do the same, coming forward to kill the lizards. 

They were confused at first. Dominic had to drop the stick for a moment and demonstrate for them with a stone, another lizard-splatter soon created. 

Fortunately, after that, Neith, her head cocked to one side, came forward, grabbing at the stone delicately with her jaws. That one actually turned out to be too big for her: Dominic’s mouth was a bit bigger than hers. So, looking around, Dominic found another stone which looked to be a bit smaller. 

That time, Neith succeeded in picking up the stone and then dropping it…but not quite in the right place. Dominic sent her another image of dropping it on the lizard’s head, rather than next to it, then moved off to continue poking lizards down from the canopy, accompanied by a beat of dull thuds as Neith kept dropping the stone onto the ground. . 

A message that flashed up soon after revealed that Neith had succeeded in correctly targeting the lizard’s head. Or had damaged it sufficiently that the same result happened. 

[A member of your party has killed Skeet (Basic Beast level 5)]

[You have earned 7 PP]

‘Should I call myself the Harvester from now on?’ he wondered, in a much better mood now he was succeeding in getting some payback on the nasty lizards. ‘Actually, I know - the Stoner since I’ve taught lions to use stones.’

‘Please don’t!’ Leo rejected swiftly. 

‘Spoilsport.’ Dominic was silent for a moment. Then, cocking his head to one side, he sent a cheeky mental grin at his companion. ‘How about talking about how stoned those lizards are then?’

A disgruntled growl was his only response.

S_Winter

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