Chapter 3
A Rising Threat

Another beautiful day dawns in the Pridelands. Today Mufasa was taking his son on a tour of the kingdom and he wanted someone to escort him. That someone was Dornaus, who happened to be putting a new outfit through field testing. He got rid of the M1 rifle and hunting vest altogether and only wore a simple black shirt and pants. He still carried his Sig Sauer P229 in his IWB holster though; he deemed a firearm of sort to be a necessary arm to supplement his Taser.

At least on the outside, the human looked like a visitor touring the kingdom while doing research on wildlife behavior(he was clutching a DSLR camera). Mufasa and Simba head up Pride Rock to have a little father and son talk while Dornaus stood behind, making sure no one tried to sneak up on them. Well someone did, and his name was Krieghoff.

"Ah, Dornaus Mason." He said. "The military commander known for his brutality in war."

"That's the nature of war, whoever you are." The former serviceman spun around. "What do you want?"

"A monthly payment of fifty thousand dollars. If not, then I'll leak the Navy documents to the press and you'll be in deep shit."

"We'll see about that." Dornaus fires his Taser at the whistleblower and incapacitates him. "Looks like somebody's gonna spend a long time in lockup."

Dornaus signals to Mufasa to inform him that he was momentarily departing. Once he got an approval from the king, the human applies handcuffs to Krieghoff and drags him back to a small shack within his compound. It wasn't a terribly big shack but it was large enough to be converted into a prison cell. And while it may seem to be constructed of nothing but mud and dirt on the outside, the male human wasn't dumb enough to make a cell with just that.

He reinforced the walls with steel beams he bought from the local construction store. The cell was the strongest building within the compound and no one could escape it, not unless they had a bomb. Even the floor was reinforced with a layer of steel plating underneath to prevent captured prisoners from digging themselves free. The door was made from RHA steel with similar thickness to that of a WW2 Tiger's frontal armor.

Amenities within the cell included a toilet, sink, and very basic bed. It wasn't comfortable but that was what the former serviceman could offer, given the fact that he didn't want too much development in what was considered wildlands.

"Enjoy your stay, asshole." He said. "I have an appointment."

"Get me out of here, you bastard!" the man warns. "If not I'll call the cops."

"With what?"

Dornaus instructs his prisoner to look out the window on the right side of the cell shack. He does so and watches in horror as his satellite phone was shot to pieces. As for his rental truck, well it was towed away with the help of Anele, who had come to claim the truck for the rental company after his friend told him he found it abandoned in the Savannah.

The arms dealer had no idea of the prisoner and fails to hear his screams as he drove off with the last possible line of hope for the whistleblower. All that remained on the compound was the Ford F-150 Raptor but the keys to that vehicle was on Dornaus' person at all times and the vehicle was stored in a garage far away from the cell. On the bright side, he did have an endless flow of water and food would be provided 24/7, though the meals aren't going to taste like anything in the restaurants.

In the meantime, Dornaus has rejoined Mufasa and Simba. Due to the earlier encounter, he was back in his tactical gear. As the king listened to the morning report by his majordomo Zazu, the human scans the area with the scope of his rifle. The crosshairs stop at the elephant graveyard as the silhouette of something emerges. Dornaus does rough range estimates and compensates for the bullet drop.

PHT

A 5.56 caliber bullet shrieks out from the barrel of the suppressed MK12 and shrieks towards its target 300 yards away. Down in the elephant graveyard, a Hyena attempts to get a view of the Pridelands but is killed when the bullet penetrates his head. The other Hyenas gather round their fallen brother. The human in the Pridelands had shot him.

Mufasa, Simba, and Zazu glare at the human as he lowers his rifle. They couldn't see the Hyena from this distance and had no idea what the bodyguard fired at.

"What was that for?" Mufasa questions.

"Hyena head." He answers. "Saw one poking out from the bone yard."

"Are you sure it was a Hyena?"

No response was needed. Barely seconds after Mufasa finished his words, a mole emerges from the ground and informs him about an impending attack by the Hyenas who owned the elephant graveyard. Several skirmishes have already happened between the lions and Hyenas in the past and their relationship with one another was icky at best.

"Zazu, take Simba home." He said. "Dornaus, let's go."

"Roger that sir." the bodyguard answers.

"Can't I come with you, dad?" Simba asks.

"No, you will stay son."

"But…"

"It's too dangerous."

"Your honor." Dornaus remarks with a little too much glee as he inspects a Model 308-1 Napalm Grenade. "I'd say we make ourselves smoked Hyena."

"Calm down there, Dornaus. We're going to try diplomacy. If that doesn't work then only would we switch to lethal confrontation."

"Copy that."

Well… Maybe Mufasa spoke a little too early. Barely two seconds after both sides met up with each other, the situation turned ugly. Dornaus couldn't even fire his gun and had to resort to hand-to-hand fighting like the rest of the lions. But fighting Hyenas with bare hands was no issue for the human. He had fought off packs of them before and fighting them were like kicking puppies, literally.

Several of them were kicked off the edge, back into the elephant graveyard. With the immediate threat to himself taken care of, Dornaus draws his Sig Sauer P226 pistol and fires at the Hyenas in defense of the lions. He manages three kills before the Hyenas decided enough was enough and they dispersed. But the human wasn't done yet, oh no. He still wanted to see the world burn and now was the best time.

He tosses every single one of his Model 308-1 Napalm grenades into the elephant graveyard. Everyone watched as fire engulfed the sea of bones, taking the lives of many Hyenas. Mufasa was surprised; he had never expected his bodyguard to be this cold. Not like he was complaining. Sure Dornaus might be a bit over the top at times when it came to violence but one thing was clear; the Hyenas wouldn't be attacking the pride for a long time.