Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

                Sophia and Gabriel sat next to each other among a group of tents that had been set up in a clearing in the forest, trying to act like nothing was wrong. It was hard when every little sound made Sophia want to jump up and tear into something. She knew that Gabriel had to be feeling the same way, but he appeared much calmer.

                She looked at the lion sitting next to her, his mane looking longer than the last time she had seen it. Unlike in their human forms, he was much larger than she was, and Sophia, feeling anxious, decided she didn’t like that. She jumped up, pushing on him with her front paws. The sudden action caught him off guard, and he nearly fell over.

                Sophia didn’t give up easily and kept pushing against him until he got the hint and rolled over on his side. He gave her a look of confusion, glancing in the direction he knew the lions would be coming from. Sophia understood his concern, but she knew they had a little time to mess around. After all, no one had called over the radio yet alerting them to the presence of lions.

                Not caring that there were others around, Sophia nuzzled the side of Gabriel’s face. He reached up with a large paw, putting it around her and pulling her close to him. Immediately, she squirmed away from him. While she had no ideas of keeping her relationship with him a secret any longer, she simply wasn’t in the mood to be cuddly. She was much too agitated for that.

                Once free from Gabriel, she took several quick steps away from him, then turned to face him, raising her tail in the air and stretching forward with her front legs. She had too much pent up energy and she needed to get rid of it somehow.

                Realizing what she wanted from him, Gabriel stood up and took a step towards her. As soon as he did so, she sprung into action. She darted to one side, then switched directions and pounced on him before he could figure out what she was doing. Standing up on her hind legs, she was able to reach the back of his neck. She buried her muzzle in his mane and then started trying to climb on top of him.

                Before she managed to get on his back, she heard a click. Immediately becoming serious, Sophia walked away from Gabriel and listened carefully. Three more clicks came in quick succession, and she knew it was time. The lions were coming.

                As she glanced around, she could see that the rest of the shifters around her were ready. Only Gabriel looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. Quickly, Sophia returned to him and gave him a gentle headbutt in his chest. It was the only sign of affection she had time for. Right after she did that, she heard the sounds of something large crashing through vegetation.

                The first ones that were visible were three pronghorns, a metallic glint coming off of their horns and hooves. Not too far behind them came an impala. Then, there was nothing. Sophia waited, watching and listening. She knew that the pronghorns and impala who were acting as bait were faster, but she didn’t think they were that much faster. She couldn’t help but think that the lions had figured out their plan.

                If they had figured anything out, it wasn’t the entire plan. Soon, Sophia could see them through the trees. About twelve lions were slowly making their way towards them with a handful of wolves mixed in. Behind them were even more lions. The first group, including who Sophia was sure was Victor, stopped less than halfway to their campsite, the space behind him filling up with more and more enemies.

                Gabriel had told her that the pride had about 70 lions, but when she couldn’t see them, it hadn’t seemed like that much. Now that she had the 70 lions in front of her, Sophia started to feel like their chances weren’t so good. Perhaps in a straight out fight, she would have had real cause for concern, but Sophia and the others didn’t plan on taking chances.