The lion's paw slammed against my chest and hurled me back; my feet dug into the ground in an attempt to stop me from falling. Blood was oozing from the claw mark that was imprinted on my torso. The stinging sensation made me squirm; my eyes were squeezed and my mouth was wide open as I tried to deal with the pain. The beast roared once again to signal its superiority.
After I had quickly regained my composure, my eyes were set on the beast. Not committing to my strike proved to be quite painful to say the least and this mistake would not be repeated. I dropped back into my staggered stance; I decided to take the offensive this time around and lunged forward, pushing off of the ground with my rear leg. Slipping would lead to my downfall, therefore, I was extremely careful when moving on the wet grass.
The lion remained stationary, after all, the animal was confident in its ability to defeat me; it was more advanced in both strength and speed. When I was two meters away from its head, I swung my dagger downwards. Water droplets were cut in half as they came into contact with the blade's edge. The weapon glistened as it cut through the air and made its way to its target. The beast aimed to deflect my strike using its paw, however, it was unaware that I knew of its intentions.
Halfway through my motion, I changed my attack from a swing to a thrust. The lion was caught off guard and did not know how to protect itself as its forepaw was defending a non-existent swing. The blade struck one of its eye and pierced straight through, producing a fountain of blood. Its vital fluids splattered all over its face as the beast roared deafeningly.
Without wasting a single second, I pounced forwards once again; this time, I went for the kill. I shoved my weapon into its thick skin and punctured its heart. I heaved a sigh of relief and closed my eyes but in a moment of carelessness, I failed to realize that my opponent had not yet kicked the bucket. I felt a shooting pain springing from my left shoulder.
As I looked down, I was horrified to see the lion's fangs buried in my body. The beast took its last breath in that position. Luckily for me, the teeth did not stab deep, or else I would have been in a lot of trouble. Let us not get it twisted, I was still in agony, but it could have been worse.
I grabbed its jaw with my right hand and forcefully pulled it away from my shoulder. Blood dripped from the holes onto my tanned skin and trickled on the grass; I released my grip and the head thumped the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt in the process.
I sectioned off a piece of cloth from my garments using my canines and created a makeshift bandage for my torso. The last thing on my to-do list was to die from blood loss. I tied both ends of the fabric into a knot and tightened it securely.
'Something terrible must always happen around the holy lake, first Henry, now this.'
Cautiously, I walked towards the pond, making sure not to slip. My body had already lost a lot of blood, so I was feeling lightheaded and even the gentlest breeze could cause me to tumble over at any moment. I also washed my clothes in the water as they were stained crimson red. After healing myself for ten minutes, I removed the bloodied bandage and dried myself. The claw and bite marks would leave behind some nasty scars, but I was not one to care about aesthetics.
While returning to the cottage, I reviewed the fight in my head. I had learnt two valuable lessons: never attack haphazardly and never lower your guard until the opponent is fully subdued. The constant downpour came to an end and glimmers of sunlight penetrated through the thick webs of branches. The droplets of water became ever so apparent as rays of light shimmered through them. I carried the lion's corpse on my back; all the meat would have gone to waste otherwise!
My face wore the proudest smile as I passed through the doorway and faced Jasper. The latter's mouth was wide open and his eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets. His eyes stared back-and-forth at my wounds and the animal's body. He tried to string a sentence together but was too surprised to say anything. The silence was prolonged for another minute before I broke the ice.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"Are you kidding me? You managed to defeat a half-grown lion at five years old and transported it on your back like a bag of leaves, what do you expect me to say?"
"Only geniuses can do something like that at your age. You're on the right track," he added.
"Hunter and Xavier will be thrilled to hear of your accomplishment."
"Can you butcher it and prepare a feast, I'm starving," I said.
"Am I your personal butler now?" Jasper joked.
"You sure do look like one."
The orc took out a meat cleaver from one of the drawers; the rusty blade still had blood stains on it.
"Are you sure that thing won't poison us?"
"Relax! During my lifetime, I've only gotten ill ten times due to it."
"That's very encouraging, I'm in safe hands," I sarcastically replied.
Surprisingly, Jasper sliced through the lion with such ease; his cleaver cut through the meat like a hot knife through butter. He looked like a seasoned chef carving a roast.
"Maybe you've found your calling in life."
"My knife will end up between your eyes if you continue with your jokes," he replied.
The mouth-watering aromas bombarded my nostrils as the perfectly sliced steaks were being cooked on the grill. Jasper had his work cut out for him; he kept flipping them and coating them with his secret sauce. After he was done cooking, we sat around the table and began devouring the meal.
"Hunter and his brother fought today, that's why I wasn't able to train you."