I have Nine Lives

Chapter 25: A small scuffle

The lion shaman was an old man who wore a white robe that hid almost his whole body, only his face was visible and you could clearly see some strands of his hair framing his face and they were all white, his face was also not as youthful as before and his back was almost bent. He even had a walking stick in his hand that he was using to support himself to the ground.

On his right was a man around his early thirties, he was imposing with a golden mane and red eyes, he wore a militaristic uniform and it seemed he had a high rank as his uniform was different from the others, he was most likely a general of the lion army!

On his left stood another man but he wasn't as imposing as the other one, he had a dark red mane and a big smile on his face, his cheek had a small stitcher scar going from around his nose height to his mouth, he looked pretty amicable at first but his green eyes were hiding underlying intentions, he wore the same type of uniform as the other man it only was of a different color. While the man on the right had a blue uniform he had a red one.

Felix could see what was happening using his strong eyesight but he couldn't hear anything that was said over there.

The tiger shaman was middle-aged and his body was fully scarred as he wore nothing over his chest, he had some fur pants on and boots, his face was also scared and his visage was almost destroyed, only his bright blue eyes remained unharmed.

He also had two people with him, his left and right arm which were also generals in the tiger army, they wore similar uniforms unlike the people from the lion tribe and they seemed to be both battle-hardened veterans, even though there was a huge distance between them and Felix, Felix could feel that if he fought them they could kill him with their eyes closed!

The old lion shaman tapped his walking stick on the ground and looked at the tiger shaman with a demure look on his face and said:

"Can't we talk this through? Even though this old bag of bones doesn't have much time left I'm sure you wouldn't want to corner me and my tribe."

The tiger shaman bowed towards the lion shaman, it seemed the man respected him somewhat as he opened his mouth:

"It's not that I want to fight you and your tribe sir but we have our own difficulties, your son also didn't inherit most of your shaman blood so you know what would happen in the next generation, we are just saving time..."

The man on the right frowned as the tiger shaman's eyes moved to him when he talked about the incompetent son, it seemed the general was also the son of the Shaman!

The shaman put his hand forward in a motion meaning that his son should refrain from commenting on this situation, the lion tribesman on the right stopped his half-open mouth, it was true that he didn't inherit his fathers' bloodline fully but he was still plenty strong!

The lion shaman looked in the eyes of the tiger shaman as he inquired:

"Can you really not leave us alone? This war can be avoided and who knows? Maybe my son would fully awaken his shaman powers down the line..."

The tiger shaman suddenly started laughing as he pointed at the mans' son and responded:

"I already know you have tried everything you could to awaken his shaman powers but you failed! This isn't a talk about the shaman position anymore, even if he inherits and gets some of the powers his bloodline is too weak to handle them! Do you think that we from the tiger tribe would let such a fat sheep go? We live in the mountains while you live in the plains and forests which are full of food!"

"You traded with us before but you suddenly cut off the trades because I quote 'there isn't enough food anymore', what not enough food? Juts rear some of your subordinates and send them to us! You have the pig tribe, the gazelle tribe, and the flamingo tribe under you, you have plenty of food!"

The lion shaman frowned as he told the tiger shaman:

"You might not understand it but we from the Lion tribe have started to go beyond the need of eating only flesh to survive, we can feel our bloodline purifying every day and I think this can happen to you as well, you just have to give up on eating only meat and start to eat more balanced diets, I think that..."

The tiger shaman shook his head as he interrupted the lion shaman:

"Just shut up you doddering old fool, your words made me lose all the respect I had previously for you! Eat anything else but meat? Look at your weak subordinates! Boys show these two what meat-eaters are all about!"

The guards that stood on his left and right immediately attacked the lion shaman guards, both of the generals started by defending and counterattacking their opponent's charge but there was something strange about their opponents that they couldn't put their finger on properly.

The fight between upper echelons wasn't one that Felix could truly understand, all he could see was shadows and blurs fighting each other and even Catro had trouble following the fight, he didn't have time to explain to Felix what was happening.

The lion shaman shook his head looking at the fight in front of him and he waved his walking stick immediately stopping all four fighters making them split up!

The tiger shaman eyes widened but then he snorted:

"You think that you can show your might before us like this? Even If I fall in battle I will still take down you with me, since my tribe is stronger we will win!"

Both of the lion generals were bruised while the tiger generals uniforms were scuffed a bit but they didn't have any injuries on their bodies.

The lion shaman frowned as he started to slowly return to the lion tribe while saying:

"Ay, It's good to be young and so full of strength, however, don't be mistaken, if I die you won't be the only one that I will take down with me..."

An intense pressure arose from the lion shamans' frail and old body, a silhouette of his younger version appeared above him which made the Tiger shaman gulp his saliva but then he closed his eyes for a brief second before he started returning to his camp, tomorrow was time for war!

Felix looked at the upcoming generals and shaman, his eyes were wide with both respect and wonder about them, he never saw someone so strong up till now, the way the generals fought left him stupefied as he never saw someone be so fast up till now, they were zooming around in his vision!

The lion shaman was frowning as he slowly got closer to the camp then entered it, before he entered the tent he could feel a gaze on him which was blatantly unhidden, his tired eyes looked to the side and saw Felix's youthful eyes meeting his for a brief second, in that brief second the lion shaman felt something strange happening.

Technically speaking as one of the strongest shamans on the continent he would be able to see through the fate of individuals who were born on the Tarot continent but Felix's fate was void and intertwined with 5 more fates, this was very strange as a person could have only one fate...

The lion shaman shook his head and continue towards the tent, he was old and he didn't have much time left, he had to leave this world to the youngsters as he had to ascend and meet the ancestors after the fight tomorrow!

Felix felt something strange when the corner of the lion shaman left eye met his, he could feel that he was seen through both inside and outside his body, it wasn't a good feeling at all.

Catro didn't say anything as he stood near him and only spoke after the upper echelons entered their tent:

"You must be unique for his excellency to glance at you, I'm impressed by your talent but there is nothing that special about you, I wonder if..."

His mouth didn't open again after he said that then he decided to take his leave as he had to rest for tomorrow's battle, Felix got his own tent and decided to go early to sleep so he could be well-rested for tomorrow's fight.

Before he could go to sleep Landers entered his tent to give him a small speech about the importance of surviving the upcoming war and other things, but lastly, there was one thing that remained in Felix's mind:

"The lion and cat tribe's are considered cousins so we should help each other in perilous times, however, for the other tribes they are all outsiders so in tough times they should rely on themselves!"

After a bit of pondering Felix realized that Landers meant that he should help those of the Lion tribe but not their ally tribes!

He wondered if there was something else under the facade of this war besides their shaman growing old but it wasn't the time nor the place to prod for such answers.

All he could do now was rest plenty so he could be at full energy, he had a war to fight and even though he had multiple lives he wanted to lose none through the whole war!