Chapter 30: Bighorn Shepherd
Fusing these creatures... would be suicide.
His mind raced. ’If I fuse even one without loyalty, without docility, it could be like handing a weapon to an enemy." He looked at the sheep again, watching as they moved with organized instinct, bodies packed tightly, horns ready.
’They’re powerful already. Fusing them now would just create monsters." His voice dropped. "Monsters that could wipe out everything I’ve built.’
Vi folded her arms. "You’re right to be cautious. These aren’t livestock. Not yet. They’re wild. Intelligent in their own way. Territorial. If you fuse even one without taming it, it’ll become a beast no different from the wolves."
Kaelor sighed. "We’ll need something else then. A tamer. A herder. Someone who understands animals."
"Or," Vi added with a knowing glance, "a way to make them follow willingly. Not out of fear but trust."
"I see." Kaelor replied.
....
A couple of hours later, Kaelor returned to the hills, now formally named Bighorn Field, accompanied by two farmers. Hound had gone ahead to the town and returned with them.
The plan was simple, yet bold: fuse some of the largest Bighorn rams with the farmers. If it worked, there was a high chance they could influence or even control the entire flock.
Standing beneath the soft glow of the late afternoon sun, Kaelor faced the two men. One was an aging father with graying hair and calloused hands; the other, his son, still lanky from youth but already hardened by fieldwork.