Rise of the Lions (6)

As the duo of man and beast stood in silence, the first to speak was the beast.

"Now that the contract is complete, you and your descendants shall wield the power to tame and command lions of all kinds, that is, as long as they are powerful enough to command such beasts."

"W-what was that feeling that washed over me, Great Lion?" asked a dazed Erwik

"My name is Zephyr, and to answer your question, the feeling you had was called divine intervention."

"..."

After being hit with what felt like a sledgehammer, it took a moment for not only Erwik but the rest of his party to register what they had just heard.

The reason why they are so gobsmacked is due to the relationship the gods have with them as humans.

Since neither Tristan nor Cedric had descended onto the human continent (that they know of) along with the fact that no one has ever had contact with a deity, left the humans in a situation where they worshiped the nature around them and assign to them certain godly identities.

For example, one of the more highly regarded gods of the Likonian Pantheon which most farmers pray, was the Goddess of Harvest, Zabrina.

Another god who is largely worshiped is the God of Fire, Rizel.

The reason why the Likonians worship their God of Fire over any other elemental diety is due to the significance fire plays in the lives of early humans.

The Likonians have worshiped Rizel since the time of Lyrick, who at the first sight of fire immediately thought it was a deity who granted them warmth.

Ever since then, the worship and following of the God of Fire grew until he became the unofficial leader of the Likonian Pantheon.

Unbeknownst to the Likonians along with every other human, is that their gods, whether druidic in nature or not, are not truly real, that is, for now anyway.

...

"W-wait, so you are telling me that I was led here by a g-god?" asked a wide-eyed Erwik

"That is exactly what I am telling you."

"Which god was it, w-was it the G-God of Fire?" asked a hopeful Erwik while studdering

"Hahaha, no it definitely wasn't one of those idols you call gods." laughed Zephyr

When the hunting party heard the beast's remark, they were understandably left dumbfounded, and who could blame them, a beast of all things just practically told them that their gods are nothing but false idols.

"What do you mean by an idol?" asked a now stern Erwik

Hearing the lion's words was an especially large hit to Erwik, ever since he was a child he had been brought up on the stories of the God of Fire along with the other Likonian gods, and through life, he had seen what fire does to those foolish enough to touch it, so he thought, "Surely this must mean something."

"Hmm, seems I have hit a nerve, well, let me explain."

"Your "gods" along with all of the other deities you humans follow, are in fact not real, the only gods who truly exist, are the God of Creation, Tristan, my creator, and subsequent father, along with all of his children who are the real gods," explained Zephyr

"However, there is a god who you humans inadvertently worship under a false name, and that is the God of War and Honor, Cedric, also known as the God of Humans, he is the god who you and your kin were all shaped after."

Hearing the shocking new revelation about the gods, it understandably took Erwik and his retinue time to process what they heard, and who can blame them, they were just told all but one of their gods were not real.

"S-so all of the gods, even the Goddess of Harvest, are n-not real?" asked a stunned Erwik

"Correct."

"A-and who did you say was your creator?"

"The God of Creation, Lord Tristan." replied the smug lion

"L-lord Trysten?"

'Haha, the Lord did warn me about them not pronouncing it correctly.' laughed zephyr internally

...

After another few minutes of talking, Erwik decided to finally get to the main point.

"So, what did you mean by the contract was complete, and what power to control lions?" asked Erwik

"The contract that we made is quite literally a contract, one that binds me and my bloodline to yours until one goes extinct, whether it be my bloodline or yours."

"When Lord Tristan had first told me of this I was hesitant, but now that I know what bloodline power you have awakened, I can't help but laugh at how he had all of this planned out." said the lion

"So you are telling me that all of this was planned out by the God of Creation?" asked a wide-eyed Erwik

"Since the day your ancestor, Lyrick first took a breath." replied the lion

King Erwik II would have been pretty shaken up after hearing that his awakening and his meeting with this lion were all planned by the God who created everything, but he would have been able to accept and cope with it, now, however, he wasn't quite sure.

He was just told that since his ancestor's first breath over eight thousand years ago, this was all planned out.

After hearing that he had just fulfilled an eight-thousand-long destiny, Erwik needed a moment to think.

Once he was finished digesting the new information, he turned to the lion to ask what this new "bloodline" power is.

"Sigh, that was hard to accept but I've pushed past it I guess, so, what can you tell me about not only my new power but bloodline powers in general," asked Erwik with renewed vigor

"Ah, finally, I thought we would never get to this part, so, Bloodline powers are, well, powers, that once someone awakens to, then his descendants all have a chance to inherit."

"In your case, you have awakened the power of control and dominion over all lions, the only limit to this power is you have to be more powerful than the lion you wish to tame and control."

"While this power is extremely powerful and if used right can cause the downfall of any primitive nation and civilization that inhabits this island and the continent." explained the lion

Erwik, who was entranced in learning about these new powers of his and some background on them, was shaken out of his trance once he heard the words, "island" and "continent".

"Hold on, are you telling me that we are only living on an island and there exists a much larger continent inhabited by us humans out there?" sputtered Erwik

"Wait, how the hell do I know what an island or continent is, I have never heard those words before."

"Haha, do not worry human, while I was speaking to you, I used some of my mana to implant the meaning of those two words that you haven't heard before." laughed Zephyr

"O-ok, I g-guess." stammered a befuddled Erwik

"So how does my power work then, do I just walk up to any lion and it automatically follows my command?" asked Erwik

"Haha, wouldn't that be convenient, no that is not how it works, the way for you to, for the lack of a better term, tame a lion, is you will need to approach them and either incapacitate them and then send some of your mana or in your case, aura into the lion and command the beast to submit."

"Depending on how strong you are compared to the lion will determine your success rate, for example, as you are now you can most likely stroll up to a pack of regular cave lions and send out a wave of aura and make them submit, but right now you can at most make 5 basic cave lions submit to you, when it comes to regular lions like plains lions or forest lions, you can make 15 submit at once."

"That is why it would be better for you to separate smaller groups of stronger lions and tame them then, or you could always just incapacitate them, that works too." explained the majestic beast

"Then what about you, just from the mana you are emitting, I can tell that I would stand no chance against you, and I could MAYBE fight only one of your pride members at a time, so how did I tame you?"

"Ah, finally, a good question."

When Zephyr said that, Erwik felt himself slightly frown at the fact the beast just insinuated that he had been asking stupid questions this whole time, but hey, what can he do but listen to the beast who could signal-handedly wipe out all of Likonia City.

"The only reason, and I stress, the ONLY reason you have tamed me along with my pride, is due to the contract we made, as well as the interference of the gods, specifically, Lord Cedric," replied Zephyr

"When I was created by Lord Tristan himself, the almighty creator, I was given a task, along with my pride whom he created along with me, we as the only 'Helios Lions' in existence, were given the task of contracting ourselves to you and your descendants, so long as they are worthy that is."

(A/N: I took major inspiration from the way the Targaryen's bonded with their dragons)

"Each direct descendant of yours is able to TRY and contract themselves to one of my children, wives, or if they are lucky me."

"Each member of your direct progeny is only able to contract one Helios Lion at a time, hence as long as they contract with one of my kin and that kin dies before the contractor, then and only then will they be able to try and contract another Helios Lion." explained the now dubbed Alpha Helios Lion Zephyr

"You keep saying my direct progeny, what do you mean by that?" asked Erwik with intrigue

"As long as the person who is trying to contract with one of my kin has pure enough blood, then they will have a chance at succeeding, not any regular person can try to contract a Helios Lion, we are a special species that is connected to you and your Bloodline."

"W-what do you mean by "pure blood"?" asked a skeptical Erwik

"Haha, oh don't worry, there won't be any need to keep it in the family, what I mean by that is if the person is related to you or the current head of your family by at least two generations."

"For example, as of right now, the only ones capable of contracting one of my kin, since you are already contracted to me, would be your children, and grandchildren."

"However, once you die and your successor takes your place, an automatic ritual will happen as soon as he or she ascends the throne, in that case, then their children, grandchildren, siblings, and children of their siblings, will be able to contract a Helios Lion."

"Past that point, the grandchildren of your siblings will be deemed as not having a pure enough connection to your bloodline to be able to contract with us," explained Zephyr

"And what about this new power of mine to control and tame lions, will it die out with me?" asked Erwik

"Don't worry, it will not, however, it is not a guarantee that your children will inherit it."

"All I am able to tell you is that the direct descendants of you, such as the first son, or sometimes daughter, will always inherit your power, after that, it is a coin toss whether your other children will inherit the power, and as the generations pass, the descendants of the younger children will have a lower and lower chance at inheriting the power of yours, however, say five generations down, the descendant of your third son, for example, inherits the power, their first child will guarantee inherit but after that, it goes back to diminishing in chance."

"Do not ask me why it is that way, that is just how the creator intended for it to be," said Zephyr

"W-wow, that sure is a lot to take in," said Erwik

"I'm sure it is, now, I think it is time for you to get accustomed to your new power." declared Zephyr

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Authors Note:

Hi everyone, I am truly sorry it took this long for a new chapter to come out, believe me, I had every intention of releasing chapters sooner, but then I got stuck doing my end-of-quarter projects for school, and then this past week I have been in a weird slump where I found it hard to concentrate on writing.

I will try my best to work through this slump but I apologize if I go 5 or more days without posting.

Just know that I really appreciate the feedback and love I have gotten on this book, and I have zero intentions of dropping it, so stay tuned for more!

I hope you all have a good day and week, and many blessings to you and your family!