Dog began to indicate animals near. Moa slowed Horse to listen for prey animals. Deereater's mind had an image, (deer, big). Moa moved horse carefully. The prevailing winds were northwest to southeast. Dog said, (close). Moa dismounted with her hunting bow. Three arrows would be enough, so she tucked two into her belt. She moved quietly through the tall grass with Horse right behind her. Around a large outcrop, down a draw, there stood five large deer. Above them, and unseen by the deer, was one large lion. Moa stood transfixed. As long as the lion did not see or smell her she would be safe.
Lyllia: [Moa, lions hunt solitary unless they are feeding cubs. There may be another she-lion around this early in the year.]
Moa: [Thank you, Lyllia.]
Moa began to back up. Horse and dog did not have to be told twice. A voice unknown to Moa ordered her. [Knock an arrow.]
Moa: [Who?]
[Now, do it now.]
Moa looked up at the outcrop, but she could not see the top. Dog yelped. She spun around to her right in the direction of the yelp. Yellow eyes vaulted straight up from the rocks toward Horse. She fired hitting the lion in the neck. The mammoth beast spun around to face her to leap again with the arrow's fletches looking like a flag on a pole in a ball game waving in its neck at her. Ten meters was covered by the animal in a fraction of a second. Her male body fell backward to roll out of the way. Two arrows and a dagger was what she had in her belt. Horse moved away as the lion attacked her again. Dog grabbed a lion hind paw with its mouth. Dog was flung against a rock with a sharp cry of pain for its trouble. Moa fired again hitting the beast in the breast when it paused to fling Dog. The lion's head dropped. The huge animal was still moving toward her so she fired again. This time her adrenaline kicked in. She experienced the same wonder of her arrow fletches touching her right ear Jane did when shooting the Southern raider.
The straight fletching of the Tsitsistas arrow touched her right ear just before she loosed the arrow. The sound it made was a whoosh like the falling of a large branch from a tall tree. The arrow buried itself all the way to the arrow's fletches into the lion's breast. She dropped the useless bow to jump on the mammoth beast's back to slit its throat with her dagger while it was stunned with pain. In the process of slitting the lion's throat, she broke two of the arrows buried in the beast's neck. She looked for the small herd of large deer. The herd was gone. Moa suddenly realized there was still another lion around. She tied the huge carcass by its huge hind paws to her saddle with her 20 meter rope. Horse would drag the lion up to a spot on the rocky ledge that was higher than the outcrop. Deereater limped up behind her.