The dogs drew back for a moment, just to savor the taste of the impending kill, and the old bull looked at the lioness.
She saw some pitiful message in those tiny bright eyes, and, though she could not read it, the message drew forth the last bit of humanity that she possessed.
She exploded from her lurk, landing in the midst of the dogs before they knew she was there. She lashed out, broke the neck of one skinny piebald bitch, disemboweled another dog with a rake of her claws. The rest fled, shrieking disappointment and outrage.
She was alone with the bull. He made meaningless sounds at her. She shook her head, and growled softly.
After a while he turned away and shuffled slowly back the way he had come.
She followed, just out of sight, until he reached the border of the world, and she watched as he passed out of the world. She could follow no farther. But just before he went away, he looked back into the world and smiled at her, a strange thing for an elephant to do.
The image of the thin-faced man with the gentle eyes was gone, and it never returned to trouble her.
The lioness hunted the steel Serengeti for many seasons after. She was strong enough to choose her own mate, a big deep-chested male with a wild black mane.
Once, when her cubs were still small, a hyena approached her. He made strange gestures at her, and babbled in the foolish hyena way. Oddly, he didn't try to do her or her cubs any harm.
After a while she chased him away, and she never saw him again.