The Last Nightmare

A scream was heard when the water splashed and a grim head leaped out of the river. Crashing the fangs closed and the beast fell back into the slowly floating stream. The paw which it had aimed for hadn't even moved.
Gasping the cub stared at the curling water, before it raised its eyes to the paw still dangling down the cliff. Its owner, a dark furred lion with an unusually short mane had not even flinched. Instead he smiled down on the crocodile.

"Oh Njaa, do yourself a favor and stop trying that", he yawned. "We both know you will never get me. I am far too high above you."

"One day! One lovely day…", the croc responded before it vanished into the dark water. For a moment nothing else was heard than the quiet voices of the night.

With the beast gone the lion turned his attention to the cub's hiding place. "Show yourself. Only a numb one wouldn't have noticed you."

The young lioness silently cursed herself for losing control. But he was right. There was no sense in hiding anymore. Slowly she stepped out of the dry grass and took some steps towards him, trying to look as self-confident as possible.

"Aw, look at you. So scared of the bad crocodile."

"No!", she replied. "I'm not afraid! But you should be. It almost got you! And it looked very hungry."

"Well, he always is. But don't worry about Njaa. As is said, it is too high for him to reach someone up here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Experience", he explained while rolling his eyes. "He tries daily."

"Even in that case it is risky to lay down there. One day he might be luck. Didn't your mother tell you not to take unnecessary risks?"

"Looks like nether did yours. Or what else would you call a cub trying to teach a potentially dangerous stranger, but risky?" He stretched his legs and stood up. He wasn't as tall as the cub had expected but his movements were smooth and calculating. Nevertheless, his physical appearance was enough for the cub's self-confidence to grow further.

"I don't care. You're not very impressive. Are you full-grown?"

He looked at her with a mixture of annoyance and anger. "I'm close to."

"Seriously? You are hardly bigger than my older brother and he is a weakling."

"And you are ill-bred. Didn't your mom teach you some manners?"

"No." She grinned at him. "But she told me to scream for her and her pride if someone beside herself tries to."

"Oh, come on. Stop being so annoying. If you're looking for trouble go to that brother of yours and bother him."

"Well initially it was a lion I was looking for. But obviously it's not you."

"Lucky me then."

"At first I thought it would be you. He was supposed to be right at the spot you were laying at and with your dark fur you looked just as he was described to me. But after you stood up…" She shook her head and her grin got wider. Unfortunately the lion wasn't looking at her anymore. Instead he had laid down, his head resting on his paws and the eyes closed.

"Anyway", she said angry about his indifference. "If someone like you is able to take his spot, he must be gone. If a lion called The Last Nightmare would still be around you wouldn't even dare to stay in the area. I guess you didn't even know it was his spot."

"Oh, I knew", the lion replied to the cub's surprise. "And you are right. He is gone. For good."

"Damn it!", she swore.

"By the way, why would a cub like you look for him?", he asked suspiciously. "After all he was called that name for a reason."

"Well, we were out for hunting in this area and one of my mother's lionesses said it would be a bad idea, because of the lion who would life here, named The Last Nightmare. No one believed her telling but he sounded badass. So I went to figure out, if he was real."

"You looked for him simply because you thought he was badass? Do you even know, who he really was or how he got that name?"

"Um… Not at all", she confessed. "Do you?"

"Yes. His true name was Askari and he got his nickname for he was the last thing his enemies saw when he approached them by night."

"He attacked when everyone was sleeping?"

"Yes. Most of the time he was outnumbered and on top of that one of his eyes was blinded. If he came by day he would have been at a massive disadvantage. You got any problems with that?"

"Nothing to complain." The young lioness smiled. "My mother always says, if you can't win by fighting with honor, don't fight with honor. He who is squeamish does not survive in the Outlands.

Now it was his turn to smile. "Your mom is damn right. Maybe you are not as stupid as I thought." He looked down into her grinning face.

"So…", the cub said after a moment of silence. "What else?"

"Hm?"

"It seems like you know a lot about this Askari. Tell me more about him."

"For sure I could. But what do I get out of it?"

She lifted one eyebrow. "What you get? Uhm… what about the pleasure of my presence?"

He snorted amusedly. "A pleasure indeed. But you know what? You're still nicer than the other people running around in this area. So, why not? What do you want to know?"

She thought for a second. "How did he look like?"

"Slender, but strong. His mane and fur were dark like the night itself and his eye red like fresh blood. He had a nasty scar across his right eye."

"Sounds cool. I also knew a lion that had a scar like that."

"Could he still use his eye?"

"Yup. Why?"

"Askari couldn't. But still he was able to fight like a demon. And he did."

"Tell me about that. Whom did he fight and why?"

"Ok, but you should lay down. This story could take some time. But beware, it is a gruesome tale."

She followed his request and looked at him attentively. "I can handle that."

"Fine. You know, everything began quite close to where we are right now. Long ago this land was home to the pride in which Askari grew up. By that time, it was much more fertile. It could have been a paradise if there wouldn't have been the hyenas."

"Hyenas! They all are thieves, traitor and murderers. I hate them!"

"And so did the lions of Askaris pride. But in this case, they were the intruders. The lions had taken over the hyenas' land and chased them of. But they returned. The lions had to fight them back over and over again. Askari was the leader of the lions entrusted with this task. Together with a group of eight other lions he protected the prides borders as the warriors of their king. They all were skilled fighters and as a unit they were strong and never lost a fight. But one day everything changed. The day, when Askari and Ushindi, the king himself fell in love with the same lioness. Her name was Heshima, the newest member of Askari's group. Both of them wooed for her and in the end, she chose Askari. Unfortunately, neither the king nor the rest of the pride accepted the choice of an ordinary lioness to reject someone with royal blood. But her decision was final. Time passed on and with every day Ushindi saw Heshima with Askari he became more jealous and angry. And the day, he heard about Heshimas pregnancy he decided to end his anger. As soon as she was capable of joining her mate's group again it happened. At first everything was as usual. They lined up in their battle formation and charged at the incoming hyenas. Just as usual Askari and Heshima lead the attack. The plan was to break through the hyenas' lines and to scatter them, a tactic, which had already proven successful. But this day things went differently. Moments before they met the enemy the whole group stopped the charge and retreated. As a unit the lions always had been able to defeat the hyenas easily, but now with only two of them left they were outnumbered. Of course they fought bravely but in the end they were overwhelmed. No mercy could be expected from the hyenas, for they had lost too many by the lions' fangs and claws… Do you know what hyenas are capable of, if they ever get the upper hand in a fight?"

She tried to nod but the older lion had already continued to speak.

"The male hyenas pinned Askari down. The fun part was claimed by the females. In front of his eyes they began to tear his still living mate into pieces and I assure you, they took their time to do so. It is told that even the lions of the Pride Lands heard the screams. After the hyenas were done, they left him close to death with what was left of his mate. When they were gone, someone else approached Askari, who was barely alive. It was Moto, his second in command. He bent down to is former leader and whispered into his ear, it wouldn't have been personal. Just an order of his king. But Askari shouldn't worry. His cub would be taken care of. Then he smiled down on the betrayed one and closed his eyes. Later that day he reported the execution of his order to the king. As a reward Ushindi allowed him to take Askari's position. But the king asked for one little favor. He should return to the battlefield to bring him his rivals head. Of course, Moto accepted, but when he arrived the battlefield, he found it empty. He told himself and the pride, the hyenas must have taken the bodies and luckily for him everybody was fine with that explanation. The only true flaw was Askari's cub, which was nowhere to be found. Months passed. Years passed. Things changed. The hyenas finally left. Some said, it was because of Moto and others believed, they simply had accepted their defeat. But without the hyenas there was no need for those, who defended the prides borders and so the group split up and they left the kingdom. Some with the intend to found their own pride and some in search of adventurer and new challenges. And then, years after the betrayal in a pride not so far away from here a lioness complained about nightmares. She told her pridesisters about the dark figure which haunted her in her sleep. It had the shape of a male lion. The dreams were that real to her, she did not know for sure, if they were even dreams. No one worried about that. Instead they assured her, that if a male lion would have entered the territory, they would have noticed him. But her dreams didn't stop. They became worse. Now she was sure, someone would haunt her at night. Nobody took her serious, for they didn't knew of her past. She had told her new pride she came from Ushindis lands but nothing about what had happened, what she and the rest of the warriors had done. And one day, when the sun rose the pride awoke in terror, her dead body lying right next to them. Her eyes were opened wide and her throat and muzzle bloody."

"She got killed?", the young lioness asked, more suspicious than scared. "While sleeping among a whole pride?"

"Yes." The lion nodded. He seemed to be impressed by her reaction. "And she would not be the only one. More and more members of Ushindi's warriors began to suffer those nightmares and their numbers began to decrease. The day that lioness was killed there were seven of them left. A week later six. After a month there were four of them. By now the tales of what had happened had got around. Among the remaining traitors, fear spread. One more of them, a loner, disappeared only for his bloody corps to be found days later. Three where left. Two where left. And soon after, Moto was the last one alive. He had been spared of the nightmares his former comrades told him about and the day he finally saw the dark figure approaching him he did not tremble in fear but followed it. He left his new-found pride and tried to catch up to the stalker. He followed him right into a gorge with only one entrance, where he confronted him. His face was priceless when he recognized the lion in front of him."

A chill ran down her spine. The story this lion was telling was scary and all, but so were her mother's bedtime stories. It was the creepy smile which appeared on his face. "Askari", she concluded.

"Askari, indeed. Scarred, from inside and outside. Halve blinded, and broken in heart, but filled with an undying lust for revanche." The smile on the lion's face became wider and she got a glance of his incredibly sharp looking teeth. "Like the others his corpse was found right next to his awaking pride members. The only difference was his death itself. Instead of a ripped open throat he had wounds all over his body. His demise hadn't been a quick one."

"Just as Heshima's hadn't."

"Exactly. But it wasn't over yet. Askari's former warriors had paid the price for their betrayal, yet there was one left to be punished."

"Ushindi."

"The Last Nightmare entered his homeland just a few days later. Now there was no need for hiding anymore. The pride's lionesses backed away from him, when the he entered their lair. You could smell the fear in the air. Most of them recognized Askari, the one who rose from the dead. He walked strait up to the king but to everyone's surprise he didn't attack. At first Ushindi was frightened, but the longer he looked at him, the more confident he became. This old, wounded lion could never be able to kill him. His body was scarred all over, one eye blinded and a halve crippled leg. He couldn't imagine how this walking corpse had been able to defeat Moto. And so, the king stood up, mockingly calling Askari an old friend and asked what had earned him the pleasure of his visit. Askari replied, first of all he wanted to talk. Considering himself superior Ushindi accepted. The black lion asked, if he would regret trying to kill him. The king took a moment to think about it, smiled and negated. Then he asked, if he would regret killing the one they both loved. Again, he smiled and negated. Now he asked, if he would regret murdering an innocent cub's mother. Once more the king smiled and negated, but this time he asked a question too. If first of all Askari had come to talk, what was it, he secondly came for? Vengeance, the black lion replied, but before that he would have a last question. Amused the king nodded. Askari came closer to him and asked, if he would regret not to kill the cub. This time there was no respond and no smile on Ushindis face. But it was too late for him. The second lion nobody had noticed jumped at him and pulled his head behind his neck. Before the king could react, Askari leaped forwards and shredded his throat into bloody pieces."

The young lioness' yaw dropped open. "The cub."

"The fatal mistake Moto and Ushindi had done. All those years ago the cub had decided to sneak after its parents, eager to see them fighting in a glorious battle, and by that had witnessed the betrayal of them and their downfall. After the traitors had left, it approached them, finding only its father barely alive. Through the demise of his mate Askari was broken, but the sight of his son gave him the necessary power to continue. With the recovered strength he buried Heshima's remains and fled with his cub. For sure he wasn't the best dad a young lion could wish for. Although he was broken in body and mind, he cared for his son, but first of all he taught him to fight. Day by day the young lion had to challenge his father. He grew up with a sometimes heartless mentor instead of a real father, but for he had seen, what they had done to his mother, he did not care at all. Finally, when the day came the cub had grown enough strength and skill to defeat his father, they both knew, their time had come. And as you already know, they got their revanche." He bowed his head to show, his story had ended.

The young lioness couldn't hide her excitement any longer. "That", she panted, "was awesome."

"You think so?"

"I loved it! Stories about revanche are the best once anyway. And all the blood! So cool!"

"You're crazy girl. Hey, now after you know to everything about the life of The Last Nightmare, do you want me to tell you how he died?"

"Sure!", the cub replied in expectance of another exiting story.

"Well, he spent his last days right here on this rock with a crocodile trying to get him every morning. Until a year ago, he dropped dead and fell right into its mouth."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"Not all legends get the glorious ending they deserve. But it's fine. I'm pretty sure he was dead before he even fell. I guess that's what they call the circle of live."

"My mother says the circle of live is a fairytale."

"She thought the same about The Last Nightmare, am I right?"

"Well…" The cub thought about what to respond, but the dark furred lion didn't look at her anymore. His eyes were facing east. Behind some nearby hills one could already see the first rays of the dawning day.

"I guess you got to go now. Don't want your mom to get angry, don't you?"

"Damn you're right!", the little lioness swore. "She is gonna kill me! See ya!" By that she turned around and disappeared into the dry grass.

"Yeah. See ya." The lion turned his head back to the east. On one of the hills he spotted the silhouette of another, full grown lioness. "Great", he growled. "Here comes the sun…"