Chapter 13: Reflection

At the river, the lion pride had come to drink after their meal. Some animals were still present at the river bank, but they created as much distance between them and these predators as much as possible.

Kael stood at the very edge of the murky river. The hippos were some distance away and clustered together in one large mass of grey and dirty water.

'Is this how I look like now?' Kael asked himself. He stared at his reflection in the water.

He could see that he shared some resemblance to the Pride leader and his mother. But there was also a distinct uniqueness that appeared the more he looked.

This uniqueness would only be noticed by someone who lived among lions.

Another thing to note was the golden-edged fur he had. His brown fur looked like it was in the process of turning into fine gold. No doubt, this was an effect of transitioning into the primordial lion.

Another thing was his golden eyes. When he observed himself in the water puddles back at the den, he saw his eyes as being brownish with a hint of gold in them.

Now, he had a pair of beautiful gold irises with black pupils encased within them. If not that he was seeing it now, he wouldn't know the changes. So far he did not notice his vision change for the better.

Kael bared his teeth so that he could check for any oddities. The other lion cubs who were nearby looked at Kael strangely.

Why was this cub showing his teeth to the river, it looked comical.

Oddities were also found in his teeth. He noticed that they were starting to have a metallic gold glint on them. They were also extremely pointy, like a little like and they would draw blood.

He had felt that the way hetored meat had become easier and easier but he had assumed it was because his jaw muscles were getting stronger. He had no idea that his teeth were not spared from the transformation.

'sigh'

Kael sat down, the setting sun cast his lonely shadow over the land while painting a beautiful picture on the body of the water. 

The sound of twigs snapping and water splashing slowly got vague in his ears. Kael slowly lost himself in thought again.

Times like this, times where it was all peaceful, these times made him wonder if he was just dreaming, maybe he would sleep one day and wake up as a human.

These times made him reflect on who he was, who he is, and who he was becoming.

A second look at his reflection in the water and his eyes revealed to him the face of a human. The human face looked exactly like his face from his previous life.

The two faces, one bred in civilization, one bred in the wilderness, one soul. The eyes stared into each's own. Slowly, the human face faded away, leaving behind the face of a lion cub.

'There may still be a possibility that all this lion stuff has not been real, I could very much be dreaming,' His mind flew farther and farther from his body.

'But then what? If he woke up as a human, and all this had been just a dream, I would have to go back to his boring, regret-filled, antisocial life.'

But here, he may no longer be a human, but he had a chance to live a better life. A life way more fulfilling than before.

'And what is so special about being human anyway,' Kael thought, trying to comfort himself. His tail swished from left to right, drawing marks on the wet ground.

'I'm stronger, faster, and going to be bigger than any human could ever be. I didn't lose my intelligence, instead, I feel like I'm getting smarter. Humanity could not offer this to me, so why should I desire it,'

Out of all the noise from twigs breaking under some animals feet, one in particular drew his attention.

His ears perked up and turned to the direction of the sound. It was farther than others.

Kael looked around him, the lionesses were spread out and too far away from the cubs that were playing, the closest adults were Pavel and his buddies.

Suddenly, Kael felt that something was wrong. That feeling that one would get when they were being looked at, Kael was having it at this point.

The hair on his body stood on end and his spine ran cold.

He immediately looked to his left, in the direction of where he got that piercing feeling from.

There was nothing but bushes and trees more than five hundred meters away. It was getting dark and he couldn't see what was behind the vegetation well. The distance was too far away for his natural lion cub's standard night vision to see clearly.

Subconsciously, his golden-hued claws shot out and dug into the wet ground. He stood up, his ear perked up and his limbs apart.

He stared intensely at the bushes, prepared to run if needed. He was not seeing anything but his instincts were telling him that danger lurked around the corner.

*BARK!*

There was a loud dog-like bark.

*HIHIHIHIHIHIHIIIAHIEE!*

Followed by crazed high-pitched animalistic laughter. The laughter drew the attention of a few lionesses who looked in that direction. The cubs also looked at the bushes curiously.

*HIHIHIHIHIHIHIIIAHIEE!*

Then the crazed laughter was followed by another, and another, another. And it was getting louder.

Kael's eyes widened from genuine fear, he was perfectly aware of the kind of creatures that produced such sounds.

He snapped his head to the right to see the lionesses including his mother frantically running towards them at top speed. They would be here in two seconds or more.

'Not enough time' Kael's mind spurned with pressure. He snapped his head to his left again. What he saw made his blood run cold.

At some point, two hyenas had stepped out of the bushes and were running towards the cubs.

Behind them, hyenas were bursting out of the bushes one after the other. A rough speedy calculation and Kael estimated that the hyenas would reach the cubs before the lionesses.

Not wasting the second he had left to make a decision, he immediately started running towards them with all his might.

It was as if the sudden burst of speed from this cub angered the crazed creatures who were coming.

The laughter got louder and louder and out of the bushes burst out dozens of hyenas.

'Almost there,' Kael had almost reached the safety of the incoming lionesses. Just a few more meters from his mother.

For reasons very much irrelevant to safety, Kael decided to turn his head and take a look behind him.

Right there, a large spotted hyena had its snapping jaws a few inches away from his butt.