Chapter 14 – The Dead Lion

From the very moment he left Pride Rock, Kovu was boiling with fury. What he'd experienced after warning his pride about the presence of the hyenas was radically different from his expectations, and fully comparable with his worst fears. Not a long time ago, he still had trust for Simba and believed him to be a good and kind ruler, who in spite of all his small flaws and mistakes lead his subjects upon the path of safety and peace. Right now, he was far from having any such illusions anymore.

It wasn't about himself. No, he didn't care if the same lion exiled him from Pride Rock for the second time, or even the third, to be precise. But when Kovu thought about everyone else, about Kiara and all the other lionesses, imprisoned there and made to wait for their own destruction to come, he just couldn't approve to that anymore.

Were Zira and Scar wrong about Simba? Yes, he still thought that they were, to some extent. But not fully. No, the son of Mufasa was the only one who was fully wrong at the moment. And so, as awful as it was, he would need to be stopped.

Kovu knew he was the only one who could do it. He was fully conscious that even Vitani, as militant as she was, would never start a mutiny that would knock the whole pride back into the state of war from which they had barely managed to escape not so long ago. Kovu had to follow the right way to save the situation- and that was exactly what he was thinking of right now. Which path should he follow? He didn't have many options, really. Simba's idea was out of the question. He had no doubts that barricading themselves at Pride Rock would lead to an utter disaster. So was it really Scar's way again…?

For now, he didn't want to accept it. Not just yet. He needed more proof, and besides- now he found a very reliable source of all kinds of useful knowledge. This is why he decided to follow his own path primarily.

Elkanah sat in front of him on a rock somewhere in a forgotten and deserted place on the edge of the Pridelands. As always, it was impossible to make out in what mood he was, since snakes did not show their emotions with an expression of their face. On the other hand, the shaman could see that Kovu wasn't very joyful when he came to him, and not just because of the gloomy weather.

-"I've been waiting for you, Chosen One" – he hissed rather mysteriously. – "I can feel that you ssseek knowledge. It'sss good to asssk othersss for council."

-"I know that" – the lion admitted, not really bothering to wonder where did Elkanah find out about that. – "I gotta say I kind of understand why my stepfather used your services. You're one useful snake, especially if someone's looking for answers."

-"And that'sss why you came to me, hmm? I really can't blame you. Yoursss is not exactly the easiessst part to play in the Circle of Life, isssn't it? Essspecially now…"

Kovu only nodded delicately.

-"Hmm, ssso you ssay you're looking for a clue in how to deal with the hyenasss?" – the serpent continued with understanding, even though the lion did not say anything. – "Yesss, you're right- the case isss tough. But worry not, Chosen One- there are ssspirits on the ether that have sssurvived worssse… and there are alssso those who had failed to sssurvive, ssso now they can advise you what you should not do. It only dependsss on who you want to ssspeak to…"

Elkanah was trying to tempt him, but Kovu had already made up his mind. There was but one dead lion he wanted to speak to right now- the very one whom he always wanted to meet. And for that, he was able to sacrifice a lot- even having to take part in the reptile shaman's darkest rituals.

-"I want you to summon my father" – he demanded openly. And even though there was nothing that changed in Elkanah's face, he felt that the snake was a bit shocked to hear that.

-"Hmm, well well… Who would have thought. Thisss remindsss me of sssomeone elssse who had wanted desssperately to know hisss real father…" – the serpent whispered as he crawled down from the rock and started circling around Kovu, examining him as if he found some new feature in him that he did not notice before.

-"Can you do that?" – the lion asked with audible emotion. Elkanah returned to his stony seat to face him.

-"It'sss not as easy as it may ssseem. I didn't know him and I have no idea where he died… or where he isss now. I can't really sssummon him here. But I might try to bring you to him, if you are brave enough to try…"

-"Yes, I am. And I want to try."

-"I sssee… Unfortunately, I am going to have to put you in a ssstate quite close to death... But don't worry- you should sssurvive the processs…"

-"Have you tried this before?"

-"Not very often doesss anyone have the gutsss to participate in sssuch… unusual gamesss. There wasss probably jussst one sssuch event I remember to have participated in… But like I jussst sssaid- you have nothing to worry about. I am experienced."

-"Is this… going to hurt?"

Elkanah lead out a sound that could probably be considered as laughter.

-"Oh, you know it isss."

The lion took a deep breath…

-"Okay. What do I do?"

The snake moved a bit closer and looked him in the eyes.

-"For now, try not to protect yourssself."

-"Uh, protect myself from what?"

-"From thisss!"

Kovu jumped away to see the serpent attacking him, but he was too slow. He felt two venom fangs piercing the skin at his front leg, immediately pumping the poison straight into his system. Before he was able to yelp, he already felt as his blood transported the deadly substance all over his body. The world around him whirled and disappeared as if covered by a dark curtain, his paws swayed sending him straight to the ground. But he did not feel the pain of impact. He did not feel his body at all anymore- it was as if the part of him that contained his consciousness just left it's material form and sailed away to a world other than the one he knew…

Kovu woke up in the middle of what seemed to be a battlefield of some sort, somewhere in a land unfamiliar to him. The landscape was rocky and rather infertile, the sky had an equally dark grey color. But that was not the most disturbing thing about this alien place he found himself in. All around him, the bones, skeletons and even rotting carcasses of something that looked like large carnivores laid scattered in heaps like dirt or garbage. The bodies were maimed ant torn, the bones looking as if their former owners had been gnawed to death.

The lion flinched in fright and disgust, yet still felt a kind of strong curiosity about what had happened here. Taking a few moments to make a closer examination, he found out that the dead were two groups of animals- larger and smaller predators that had probably fought the fiercest of battles… They were lions and hyenas, but Kovu still didn't know one thing- if what he saw was a vision of some horrible event from the past, or rather a prophetic example of what was going to happen…

He didn't even want to think about the second eventuality. Instead, he focused on attempting to find anyone who was actually alive in this place.

-"Hello!" – he called, quickly noticing that his voice had no real resonance, as if the place he was in was beyond time and space.

But still, he was heard.

The movement he noticed behind his back made him turn around and hold his breath. What he saw was what had until recently seemed to be the corpse of a lion that was now slothfully attempting to stand up on it's feet, not being as torn to pieces as Kovu had initially thought. In fact, the lion looked quite healthy- he had a muscular built, a dark brown fur color and a large, handsome, raven-black mane with a tuft of hair above his forehead, just like Kovu and Vitani… And when he lifted his head to show him a face similar to his, only a bit less angular, staring at him with a pair of azure-blue eyes, the young lion knew it at once.

For the first time in his life, Kovu saw his real father.