four other males turn their backs and walk away toward the far end of the open field. Other herd members were backing away. He caught a sense of tension in the air. The herd looked nervous. He smelled no scent of danger; heard nothing that would warn of alarm. He could sense something was wrong here.

“We will eat near the edge of the meadow,” he told Faline and Geno.”

“Is there something wrong, Bambi?” Faline asked in her smooth voice.

“I am not sure, but there is something going on,” he said.

He bent over and started eating when he saw Filon come up slowly, seeming to hesitate. He looked over his shoulder as he approached. He was on guard. The male walked up and whispered.

“Something is wrong, Bambi,” he said. “When I came on the meadow all the deer moved away from me. I am used to them ignoring me, but they have never shown fear of me.”

“Ronno is stirring up trouble,” he said. “Have any of them approached you?”

“No,” Filon said. “They have gone out of their way to ignore me.”

He saw Ronno and the other four males talking and then as a group, they all turned and walked toward him. He continued to eat not wanting them to know they had drawn his attention. The all got within a few lengths of him. The he stopped. He noticed three of the deer stood to his flank, while Ronno and the other two stood in front of him.

“We want to talk to you,” Ronno said as if in charge.

“So,” he said keeping an eye on the others.

“We want Filon gone,” Ronno shouted. “We want you to chase him out now. If you do not, then we want a new herd leader.”

“I said before, Filon has done nothing to deserve me doing that.”

“He killed my friend Kragus, and he must pay for this,” Ronno said bitterly. “If you do not throw him out, we will find a new herd leader.

By now, Geno was standing close enough to hear. He saw the face turn from curiosity to pure anger. He was getting mad. This was a direct challenge to his leadership. Ronno knew this.

“If you want to be herd leader, Ronno, here I am,” he said and lowered his head.

To his surprise, Ronno lowered his head to accept. He leaped forward at Ronno who leaped forward at him.  They hit hard in the meadow. It was like hitting a tree at full speed. He locked his head with the big deer at the shoulder. Ronno dropped his head and tried to pin him against the ground. He shifted his weight and pushed hard with his rear legs. The force pushed Ronno back breaking the lock. Ronno dropped his head and started again at him. He hit him and then started to push him hard. As he did, he locked his head with his.

“Now,” Ronno cried out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the males to his side lower his head and start to charge his exposed flank. With Ronno holding on to him, he could not turn to defend that attack.

“Die,” the other deer called out and came at him.

There was nothing he could do about it; he was going to be hit hard. They were all going to gang up on him even those such fight are supposed to be with only two deer fighting. He tensed his side As the charging deer got close to him, a blur of motion came from the back hitting the charging deer in his side.

“You die,” he heard Geno shout. His son had charged and the other deer did not see him. As the second attacker came close to his flank, Geno hit him in his own side at full speed with his shoulder. There was a loud impact noise He heard several cracking and popping from inside the deer Geno hit. His impact knocked the other deer aside and sent him sprawling on the ground.

“Geno,” Faline called out.

Now he understood; this was not a fight to challenge him or remove Filon. They were out to kill him. He got angry and dropped his head hard, driving Ronno’s face into the dirt.

“You little runt,” another deer to the side yelled and started to charge Geno from the rear. As he came up behind he saw Geno do something he had never seen before. He kicked out hard with his two rear hoofs. Filon had killed Kragus this way, but Geno was smaller. Instead, he hit the deer lower in the neck and chest.

He threw his full weight into Ronno. This time he held nothing back. As Ronno lifted his face out of the dirt, he got under his head and with all his might pushed. He slid under Ronno and almost lifted the deer off the ground while pushing him back. Ronno flipped over onto his back. The senior male hit the ground with a heavy thud and it stunned him for a moment. Before the big deer could move, he was on him. Normally he would stop fighting now, but not this time. Ronno had proved he do anything to get rid of him. He would never give him another chance. He did something his Father taught him to do if he ever found himself in this kind of fight to the death. He raised himself up in the air and stomped on Ronno’s side hard.

“DAAAFFFFF,” Ronno cried out.

He rose up again and hit him and again, and again, and kept on until Ronno stopped moving. Then he turned quickly to see what else was happening.

The one deer Geno hit in the side was trying to get up. He was no longer a threat. The deer Geno kicked was running off the meadow. He could see the blood trail on the ground. There was a lot of blood. Geno had turned to face the other two deer head down. He could clearly see the young body was full of rage.

“Come on,” he son cried out to the others. “You want to try me?”

Felon also had his head down ready to hit them if they moved. The two had wisely decided to stay still. He looked around. No one else was coming. The fight was over. He looked up at the rest of the herd. No one else came near. The rest went on eating. What happened was no concern to them. He walked over to the other three deer. He was not even sure of their names.

“Leave the herd,” he ordered. Go find somewhere else to live. If I ever see, hear, or smell you again, I will kill you myself. Now GO!”

The three herd males turned and ran into the forest as fast as their legs could carry them. In a moment, they were gone. He then looked at the deer still struggling to get up. He knew that deer would be dead soon. He finally went to look at where Geno kicked the other deer. There was a long streak of dark liquid on the grass. Geno's hoofs must have cut that deer open. With that much blood loss, that male was already dead. Both Filon and Geno came over. Geno looked at the deer he had hit.

“I am sorry, Father,” he said meekly. ”I know I should have let you fight them, but they were all going to attack you at once. I will not let them kill you.”

“As long as it was just Ronno fighting your Father, that is correct, no one should interfere,” Filon said. “When the others attacked, that is not allowed. You were right to help your Father. You have down well, Young Prince. I just wish I could have been of more help, but they surprised me with what they did.”

Geno looked down at the long streak of blood and then back at the struggling deer. “I killed the one I kicked and the one on the ground will likely die.” It sounded like was going to sob.

Yes,” he told his son.

“Then I am a killer again,” he muttered. “Maybe Gurri was right. Maybe I am a monster.”

“No,” he said sternly. “What happened to Wesal was unfortunate and yes that might have been a mistake to chase him, but you did not kill him. Here, these deer would have killed me, and then you, your sisters, and your mother. Do not forget I have killed too,” he said and pointed to Ronno’s still body. “Your Grandfather also killed when it was necessary. You helped me defend the herd, as any herd leader will do. You are my son and I am proud of you.”

Geno nodded his head with his budding rack now bleeding in some places. “Thank you, Father, but it is only because of what you taught me that I could do this.”  He then looked up at Filon. “I also learned from you.”

“I saw that,” the large deer said with a grin. “And you have learned well. I also think you will not have to go back to the yearling herd again. You have proven your place in this herd. I think by the end of next season, you will be a senior male, assuming we all live that long.”

“I suppose so, but I do not feel well, excuse me,” he said and slowly walked off the field.

His mother came up to comfort him but he shook his head. “I want to be alone for a while,” he said and walked away.

“One thing for sure,” Filon said. “He will have no problems getting a doe this season. After seeing what happened here, no yearling or even a herd male will want to challenge Geno.”

“That is correct,” he said looking at the death around him. “He had to learn this lesson. I just wish he could have learned it later.”

“I am sorry I put you and your family through so much trouble,” Filon said lowering his head. “I will leave the forest if you want me to. You do not have to chase me out.”

“No, you were not the cause of all this,” he said. “You were just the excuse the others used. I rather you stay; I will need more senior males. As you can see, I can depend on none of those,” he said and pointed his nose at the herd still standing far away.

“Thank you,” Filon said with a bow of his head.

He looked around the field. “We should leave before the scavengers come to clean up this mess. They are the only ones that won this fight.”

“Yes, herd leader,”

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