Chapter 24
If you've never been in a fight, let me tell you something. It does something to you. You can feel a difference in yourself, welling up inside. Whether it's the most ancient of all animal survival instincts – fight or flight – or simply the pure human need to succeed – there's no denying the changes you can feel in your body, whether it's human or animal. My heart rate increased. My muscles tightened. My tail twitched. I expected to become confused and uncertain, unsure what to do and whether or not I could do it. But I realised I was seeing the world with an unbelievable crystal-clear clarity. And I'm not just talking about the brilliant eyesight of the leopard. I could feel exactly what was going on around me. I knew who was where, what was what, what was about to happen. I could hear Asha growling and yapping. Ferdie yowling and slashing. Philip grunting and galloping. Hork-Bajir bellowing, leaping towards us five-feet at a time. And the human Controllers, shielding themselves behind the helicopter, firing their weapons at anything that moved. The four of us, in a deadly ten-to four combat, possibly to the death. A sickening sight of blood, teeth and claws.
I released the tension in my muscles and ran towards the nearest Hork-Bajir. If I hadn't been so intent on the battle, I would have been amazed by the power and grace of the cat. I was so strong, yet so supple. I was like liquid metal. Nothing could stop me. My paws hit the ground, the muscles in my legs propelling me forward. It took almost nothing out of me. I could cover almost ten feet in a single stride. I could go on forever.
"Arrgh!" I leapt up, straight into the face of the Hork-Bajir. A seven foot leap into the air – and I didn't even notice! I ignored my own commands, and went straight for the creatures' long, snake-like neck. My teeth clamped down, piercing the thick brown hide. The alien went limp. I landed my four paws back on to the ground, and, swinging my frying-pan paws, kicked the weapon out of the way. The alien stopped breathing. One down. Goodness knows how many to go. I ignored the sickening realisation building up inside of me as I took the Hork-Bajir's life and went for another, this time restraining myself.
--Sam! Behind you!-- Philip's voice in my head. I spun round my cat body in one effortless twist, catching sight of the nine-hundred pounds of Philip's ox body snorting and raging beside me, continuously ramming his two Hork-Bajir with his massive horns. The Hork-Bajir's blades nicked him, but were unable to do much damage through the thick fur covering his body.
I saw the other Hork-Bajir behind me, his wrist blades attempting to swipe me.
I growled and jutted forwards. The Hork-Bajir leapt backwards, his huge elbow blades almost slicing through the middle of my face. He levelled his weapon – what the Visser had called a Dracon beam – at me, and fired.
I dived to my right. The red beam hit the ground beside me, opening up a small crater and scorching the pavement. Bits of gravel flew into my eyes. A human would never have been able to carry out that kind of manoeuvre. But then, I wasn't human. I stood up, facing my opponent. He'd lost his nerve having missed his shot at me. I took advantage of his hesitation. I leant back on my hind legs, feeling the incredible strength build up like molten steel. Then, I released the power and leapt for his face. My claws dug into his eyes, blinding him. He staggered back in pain, crying out in agony. I jumped off his, and sprung back. I panted for a moment, getting my breath back. Leopards have greater endurance than cheetahs, but we're definitely not wolves.
--Sam! Help!-- It was Asha's voice, somewhere to my left. She was being shot at by too human controllers with those laser-style Dracon beams. She was dodging, back and forth, left and right, but they were slowly backing her into a corner. I could see a couple of semi-circular burn marks on her flank where the beams had hit her.
--Coming, Asha!—I called, running towards her, ignoring the aches of my tired muscles. I shot up behind one of the two controllers and leapt, front legs stretched out, and hit him in the back. I tried to ignore the cry of 'coward' from my conscience as the controller hit the ground, face first. I grabbed the weapon and flicked it towards Asha. She took it between her teeth and, using the mighty bone crushing jaws of the hyena, crunched down on the hard, white plastic. She slung it away. The Dracon beam was no use to anyone, now. Asha laughed her hyena cry and glared at the remaining controller. Now one-on-one, Asha seemed to gain confidence, and loped straight towards him, grabbing his leg in her jaws, clamping down as if it were the Dracon beam. The controller fell, yelling in pain. His weapon dropped to the floor, and Asha kicked it away. . She wasn't graceful. Even though hyenas are actually closely related to cats, they moved more like a dog, lumbering forwards on their long legs. But they have good endurance, and, although injured and shaken, Asha wasn't loosing much energy like my leopard morph was.
--Argh!-- Ferdie! Whilst Asha had practically beaten her two opponents and Philip far from loosing, Ferdie was not so lucky. He was limping; one of his paws a bloody mess. He looked as if he had been hit by the Dracons several times. He had given up attacking, and was now just concentrating on escaping.
--Hold on, Ferdie!-- I called. --Guys – I'm going in to help Ferdie! Asha, get out as soon as you can, morph something small! Don't fly – they're still able to shoot upwards! Hide! Philip – you stay ox, go for the rest of the humans. I'll hold off Visser Five.--
