"Evening all. Bet you weren't expecting this! Three chapters in two days! Hey, I never like to leave you guys hanging, it's awesome after.

Cheers: Haradion"

Chapter 6: Return to the Twilight Realm

When Sundar opened her eyes – she immediately berated herself for her stupidity. Her father had been right. He turned to him, and then her blood ran cold. He was not beside her. Nor was Danyal's body. She was alone. She looked around, her heart beginning to race in confusion. The world was… grey. The Sun above them was a sickly red and cast long shadows across the grey land. The air was still and tasteless. Not a breath of wind. She looked around in confusion.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"Well that dependssssssssssss… Have you been a good lionessssssssssssss or a bad lionessssssssss" A Voice said. Sundar looked around. There, sitting on a rock, was a serpent. A medium sized, red snake, the colour of blood. He was the only dot of colour besides herself. She eyed it cautiously.

"One minute I was… I was inside his mind." She said. The snake nodded, its tongue flicking in and out.

"Yesssss. And hissssssss mind came here… You were unfortunate enough to be caught in the currentsssssssssss."

"Who are you?" She asked him. The Snake gave a sly grin.

"Hunter, Killer, Ssssolider, Sssspy. Wyrm and Worm. A Murderer. A Ssssavior. A Ssssinner, A Ssssaint. It all depends on your persssspective… The Truth is in the eye of beholder. I did great good and terrible wrongssssss. I Killed for power, and for friendship, or my own life, and for the livesssssss of others. The raissssed Kings and toppled Kingdomssss. I have been many thingssss, lionessssss. All of them came to nothing. Here and now, I merely… a Messenger… A guide, for otherssssss. For thossssssse better than myself. I assist those who find themselvessssssssss here… prematurely." It hissed.

"Where is here?" She asked. The snake hissed.

"Nowhere. And Everywhere. In between worldsssssss – at the edge of dreamssssss. Behind a memory. A World of Twilight. A place of Judgement. And in my casssssssse… atonement. " He replied. Sundar shifted.

"Where is Danyal?" She said. The snake frowned.

"The one you ssssssssssseek. He is in this place asssssss well." It hissed. Sundar sighed with relief. The snake pointed with its tail. The direction in which it pointed was hidden by mist. Sundar eyed the white mist cautiously. The snake laughed.

"The mists hold no terrors for you lioness… Only for those lacking in certain… qualities… Now go. Find the one you sssssssseek – and try your hardessssst not to return here… It is not a pleasssssant place… Even lessssss of late. The earth in turmoil, and there are plotssssss and ssssssschemes that threaten to rip the heavensssssss apart… Beware the Emperor. But beware the Fire Priessssst. And beware most of all those closesssssst to you. Treachery has brought down the mightiesssssssst of Kings… I know that well." It said.

"You were a King?" She asked in surprise, as she took her first steps towards the mists. Of all the things he had claimed to be, that surprised her most of all. The Snake laughed.

"Ha! I was the traitor…" It said, as the mists filled her visions.

She walked for a time that could have been an hour, but felt like a minute until the mists cleared.

And there he was. The young lion was standing there, in the grey world – his injuries carved into his body – but seeming to not bother him. He simply stood there when she approached; he turned his head to her, and said nothing. His eyes were hollow – and gaunt. His skin was a tinge greyer – as if he had spent a lot of time underground, and his emerald green eyes seemed glazed.

"Danyal?" Sundar asked, as she approached.

"I don't know you…" He whispered. Sundar shook her head.

"I mean here to help you. Here to take you home." She said. Danyal shook his head.

"My home… my home is gone…"

"Your Family need you back…" She said.

"My mother is dead. There is no one else."

"There are people who care about you." She said. Danyal paused.

"I failed them… Sara and Inti are dead and it's my fault. You should not have come here. Get out." He said. Sundar shook her head.

"You defeated a Shai'tan. You have no idea the atrocities she had committed across the world, in the Imperium and beyond. My Pride is in your debt Slayer. I am here to repay that debt – by bringing you home." She said. Danyal stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"Repay… Let me die. Let the others to move on… Let them rescue Kiava. Let… me… die." he whispered. Sundar shook her head.

"What is this accursed place?" She asked aloud.

"It is no place for the living… You should leave." A voice said. There was a flash a light, and a great lion appeared. The figure was gold – so gold he seemed to shine with his own light. Everything except for his mane, which was as black as night. Sundar's head was beginning to hurt. Things were getting a little to strange for her now. But instead she turned to him.

"I am not going anywhere without him." She said. The Lion said nothing. It was a great golden creature, but its mane was as black as night. It stared at her with amber eyes.

"You have no choice. He cannot return to earth. His mind is dead. He merely waits here for his body to follow. Then he will move on." He said. Sundar stared at him.

"No… No he's still alive!"

"His body lingers, but you felt the shattered mess that his mind. His injuries are too severe for him to survive… I am sorry. I truly am. He was a very brave lion." Sundar growled in frustration.

"It isn't fair! He managed to kill a Shai'tan! He should –"

"Should or should not make little difference in this realm my child." The Lion said. Then he hesitated.

"But... perhaps the balance is already broken... He would not be the first soul to be returned to the earth in recent days. The Necromancer, Marsade, has to be stopped. The damage he does unintentional already causes ripples throughout heaven and earth. The damage he could do deliberately does not bear thinking about." He turned around and faced Sundar directly.

"I know who you are, Princess Sundar of the Asiantic's… And I know what you flee from. But you have fled from the fire only to fall into the abyss. The Pridelands are the Shai'tan will be stopped in the advance across the world, or it will be where defiance is finally crushed. The future is a whirlpool now. None of us, not even Kira, can see what it holds. The Imperium and the Lion Prides will clash… Again… And this time, separating them by whole continents will do nothing to slow the slaughter. The Shaman are at war with one another… Pride Rock is destroyed and both Carrocscirr and Golgorath are one more inhabited. The Life of one Lion is nothing compared to the chaos that already strains against the fabric of creation…" He said. Sundar's face fell. She said nothing. Then the lion sighed.

"But my Sons could never stand idly by though… Even if it doomed the Pride, they would rather end it doing what they perceived to be good then preserve it with evil… Or Apathy." He turned to her.

"If one Soul has been risen by the Enemy… Perhaps we can do the same and maintain the balance… Just. Bane walks the Earth again – his hunger devouring him as much as it devours anything that stands in his way. If we bend all our will towards it, we could… perhaps…" He didn't finish. "There will be a cost. How or what or when, I don't know, but there will be consequences to this action. For all of us." he warned her.

"It may be that in doing this, I doom the Pride to oblivion… But perhaps it is for the best. If it is the Prides Destiny to die, then let it die, and let something else be reborn." He said. Then he extended a paw, and light seemed… to drift… from his paw, to Danyal. The grayness left his features, his eyes began to gleam once more, and the blood which had been slowly trickling out of his wounds for all this time, slowed. He gave a sigh, and crashed to floor, unconscious. Sundar felt dizzy, and she too fell to the ground with a gasp. White mist descended upon them again. She stared up at the Gold and Black lion.

"Thank you…" She said. The Lion nodded.

"You risked all, for a lion you didn't know, using powers you do not understand. Maybe even you do not understand why yet. Beware that gift, Sundar, and use it only in great need. You are not ready for it. Yet. The Imperium cannot be allowed to advance any further. That is Ben-Kai-Ra's goal. He sees himself above the Kings and Gods, and he will not be satisfied until the whole world is brought under his control… And with the Shaman aiding him… He may yet succeed." He warned her, as the world faded into white.

When she opened her eyes, her father was staring at her, tears shining in her eyes.

"You're alive!" He gasped. He gasped for air, suddenly feeling as though she had been holding her breath. Behind her, Danyal spluttered and gasped as well. When he coughed, blood sprayed, and his would began to bleed again, but the lionesses gasped in amazement.

"Impossible!" Damu and one of the Asiatic lionesses said at the same time. Sundar smiled.

"What happened?" She asked her father.

"For two minutes… you stopped. So did he. The minute you touched him... You stopped breathing. There was no pulse, not breath, no nothing! I thought you had killed each other!" He said. Danyal, behind her, was taking things less well. He had instantly began to shake, and Almasi was struggling to keep him on the ground.

"AARGH! No! No! No! No! No! I… Can't…" he had a wild look in his eye. Almasi tried to calm him down, but it was no use.

"The darkness beyond… the shadow that waits for all – I saw him for a moment there! A void that swallows the sun! I saw the Shai'tan disappear into the void – heard the screams! And She!" At this he pulled away from Sundar.

"She was inside my head! What the hell is she?"

"Danyal its okay! It's okay!" Almasi tried again. He began to calm down as he recognized her.

"Almasi… Almasi… Sara, Inti." His eyes widened, as more memories returned to him. memories of pain and blood and death. Falling.

"Kings No. No! Not me! You weren't supposed to stay with me! You were supposed to stay with them!" He almost screamed. Sundar heard fear in his voice, guilt even. He didn't look at Almasi; he refused to look her in the eye. Vitani had had enough.

"Danyal!" Vitani said, and Danyal froze at the sound of her voice. He turned to her. She was staring at him, fixing him with a penetrating gaze.

"Danyal. Listen to me. Listen!" She said. Danyal quieted.

"Danyal, nobody blames you! We are going to rescue Sara and Inti. We are going to find Kiava and Zuri, everything will be fine, do you hear me?" She said. Danyal nodded slowly.

"Right. You have been through a lot – you need to rest some more, recover. Then, when your injuries are healed we'll –" She didn't finish.

"Wait…" Danyal said. His eyes had widened in horror. He was staring at his injuries in disbelieve. More blood had pooled around him, activity reopening wounds. Damu rushed to prepare more herbs to try to staunch the bleeding.

"Vitani, tell me, is there an injury on my back?" He asked her, his voice growing quiet. Vitani nodded uncertainly.

"Yes – it much be excruciating – we'll try to –"

"No…" He said. "It doesn't hurt. I can't feel pain there; I can't feel anything past that point. I can't even move it." He stared up at Vitani in horror.

"I can't move my rear legs... I can't run, or hunt, or fight." He whispered, the full realization dawning upon him.

He said. Vitani tried to think of something to say. Some words of comfort, some kind of offering. Suddenly this young lion before her seemed very much less a lion and more of a cub. She wanted so much to say something that would make the fear go away. So help in him some way. But no words came out. She just stood there, her mouth half open, in silence. And Sundar remembered the words of the Lion on the other side, in the twilight world.

"There will be a cost. Who or what, I don't know, but there will be consequences to this action…"

This was the cruel cost the world had extorted from him. He had is life. And no way to use it. He was alive – but unable to live.

"Damn you…" She whispered. She had no doubt, that somewhere, in the darkest pit of hell, in the ice cold plains or the burning hellfires, somewhere, Sekmet was screaming in agony, and laughing. Laughing at the suffering she had caused. Even if death, the Shai'tan were spreading pain. Sundar stamped a paw on the ground, and ground it into the dust.

"Damn you all…" She muttered. It had been for nothing. She had risked all, for nothing.

AN:

Well! Well, well, well! A lot to talk about I imagine. Two returned cameos in the Twilight Realm and two names being dropped. Surely you can guess which four I mean? The Twilight realm itself making a Cameo! It's a Judgement festival!

And… Danyal is ALIVE! And he will stay that way for now – but he is crippled. Oh no.

Please, discuss in the Reviews! I would say more, but it's late where I am, and I want to get this released quickly then go to bed! Goodnight!