Heir to the Throne
The Final Red Sunset: Part II
The animals were panicking. I was panicking. I could hear nothing but a dull roar, and the snap of burning teeth on grass, trees and the very air. The heat was on our backs, as if a summer sun had risen in the night.
"Kopa! Run! Go to the Gorge!" I screamed at him, before running towards my army. "RUN!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Already he was sprinting through the grass as swift as the fire itself.
"Everyone! Stay calm! Follow me! I know of a safe place!" I called over the din of screaming animals, raging flames and my own heart stampeding in my ears. Only a few animals heard, and few saw me, a small, feeble lion beside the flaming lion that would devour us all.
We will die here…if I don'tdosomethingnow! The oxpecker birds were fluttering around my head, twittering in terror. The din of the fire competed with the screams of the terrified animals. We need to move!
"Vitani! Zuberi! Nuka! Help me!" I yelled at them. The three sleepy lions blinked at me half comprehending and groggy. "Help!"
Nuka responded the fastest. He began calling for the animals to follow him. Vitani and Zuberi spread out further along and roared orders at the army.
There was confusion. I saw shadows leaping in the darkness, leaping flames that burned themselves into my eyes, and I felt the hot, breathing, terrified mass of animal yearning, struggling, screaming to survive.
"FOLLOW ME!" I roared, and began to move forwards. In my peripherals, I saw Nuka do the same, on my right; Vitani and Zuberi follow suit on my left. We ran.
"Run south! Run south!" I called, and heard the call being repeated behind me. I heard it in the tongues of zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, springbuck and leopards, cheetahs and caracals.
Together we ran, and like a river, flowed away.
I was afraid to look back. However, when I did, I saw over the dark backs of the animals, a wall of fire that hunted us all. The ultimate predator…
"Nuka! Take the lead! I'm going to run back and keep the rear!" I called to my brother.
"Where are we running to?" Nuka yelled back.
"The Outlands!" I replied, my voice hoarse, before looping around the cantering herd of the strangest collection of animals I believed the Pridelands had ever seen in its long, ancient history.
Kopa made it back to his half of the army, out of breath and terrified. With the help of the pride and Torsus' herd of buffalo, he quickly had them mobilized and moving swiftly towards the Gorge. Already high towers of illuminated smoke curled and twisted into the sky. The blaze lit up the night.
Kopa, Simba and Sanura ran at the head of the column of animals moving towards the Gorge. Kopa knew his mother was somewhere on the flanks with the rest of the lionesses, performing the duty of carefully herding the animals.
Nina was at the rear helping Malika, whose paw greatly slowed her down.
"Where did -the fire –come- from?" Simba panted.
"It was set -for -us." Sanura hissed through gritted teeth. "They –tricked- us."
"Only-thing-that-makes-sense-" Kopa panted. "No-lightning-"
"-Damn-reckless-" Sanura growled.
"Ruthless! They- willingly sent all these animals-to-their-deaths!" Simba said angrily.
"They-don't-know-these lands-as well as we-do!" Kopa replied. "We'll-be-safe in the –Gorge!"
"The perfect ambush!" Sanura said, with barely contained satisfaction.
They ran, away from the fire and into the darkness.
My plan, hastily conceived while escaping certain death, was simple. I saw it come to fruition under the light of the rising sun. The army approached the Outlands when the sky was starting to become rosy with light. I saw the last star of the night fade into the distant, solemn night. I had resumed my place at the head of the charge while Nuka, Vitani and Zuberi lead the flanks, and rear.
With the aid of two zebras whose loud honking calls were useful in calling the attention of my troops, I called the army to a halt before the Outlands. The line of ash that marked the boundary between the Outlands and the Pridelands had turned into an ashy cloud, disturbed by the hooves, paws and feet of my soldiers, that obscured part of the sky.
I thought it appropriate to make a speech before diving into the next step of the plan. Somewhere, somehow, I felt a calm had settled over my mind. And now, back where it all began, it was time to end everything.
"Look back!" I called to my army. They did.
Behind us, rose a vision, a vision of a blackened land, a burning land, a lifeless land of ash and smoke. The Deadlands returned. Here and there, I could still spot fires burning and cinders swirling, resilient even in the daylight.
But we had escaped it. Everyone of us. And we would plunge ourselves back into it to defeat the darkness, but now was not that time.
"That is what we have escaped. That was your home, and mine. But our enemies burnt it, as they intended to burn us." I said.
There was an uproar. Perhaps some of the animals had not thought it was intentional. Perhaps they thought it was a freak accident. But how? In the savannah, fires are started by lightning. It had not rained as I had suspected it would.
"That fire was started by the elephant usurpers! They intended, knowingly, to destroy every single animal below the line of the Fish River! Last night, all of you saw with your own eyes an attempt to burn down the South!" I yelled into the quiet morning air. The deathly quiet of the morning air.
"But they have not burnt us! They have not destroyed us! They have merely warmed the spirit within us all that is angry, that is righteous, which is proud and strong! Last night, they raised their own doom! WE WILL FIGHT! WE WILL HAVE REVENGE FOR THE GRASS THAT WAS BURNED! OUR GRASS! OUR HOMES! WE WILL DESTROY THOSE WHO HAVE THOUGHT TO DESTROY US! WE WILL HAVE JUSTICE! REVENGE!" I roared.
I was answered with a roar. A roar that was angry, righteous, proud and strong. A roar that was like the very spirit of life. It would fight. It would destroy. It would defend, protect, attack and kill. Or be killed. And that wasn't an option.
"LET THEM BURN!" The army cheered.
"JUSTICE! REVENGE!" They cried.
"LET ME LEAD YOU NOW! LET ME LEAD YOU INTO OUR FIRST BATTLE! TASTE THE BLOOD AND LET IT LEAD YOU TO YOUR ENEMIE'S DEATH!" I roared, and then turned, leading them right into the Outlands. I ran, intent on generating the fury that would crush our enemies.
The twenty odd hyenas that had been posted in the Outlands to prevent the escape of the lions had not expected an army of southern Pridelanders to storm their post at the crack of dawn. They woke only at the approach of our hooves, paws, and feet, like the sound of an earthquake. They barely had time to scream, or bleed, or cry, before they lay amongst the swirling red dust of my cubhood home.
The Anthill, much like Pride Rock, was in ruins. But there would have been no hope of fitting an army the size of the one that lay before me in there if it had been intact anyway. With the hyenas, dead or dispersed, I allowed my troops some much-deserved rest before our real battle later on. Nuka, Vitani, Zuberi and I contented ourselves by lying in the pitiful shade of the Anthill ruins. We were joined by a few other animals. A proud zebra stallion, a wildebeest who lead one of the two herds that formed the army, and two leopards.
The group discussed battle tactics and endlessly debated the events of the night before. I found myself thinking of Kopa. I expected that he would send me a message via an oxpecker when he wanted us to join him in the Gorge. This would be after the elephants had already met his army in combat, my half of the army would enter the Gorge from the north and ambush the elephant forces from behind.
This, I predicted, would only occur after Kijani realised we had not perished in the fire. And that would occur when all the flames had burnt themselves out. Kopa and I had already discussed how this part of the plan would go down, and the origins had come, ironically enough, from something I had learnt as a cub from my mother and her lionesses.
In the early days of our exile, my mother had launched small attacks on Simba's hunting parties. Her forces had not been as many or as strong as Simba's but we had many mouths to feed. After the Pridelanders had made a kill, my mother, Naledi and Bora would, along with some hyenas (before they too had abandoned her) lure them away from their kill. My mother would approach them by herself, and they would drive her away, lulled into thinking she was the only threat. While they chased her, the others would steal the kill.
Kopa and I planned to use a similar technique on the elephants. Unfortunately for my mother this ploy had only worked once or twice, as it had relied on the initial ignorance of the Pridelanders. Fortunately for Kopa and I, we only needed to use it once. Hopefully.
I looked out over the large crowd of animals that filled the Outlands. I nearly laughed. Even my mother would have admitted that this was a decent haul. There had probably never been this many zebra in the Outlands, even if I counted every one of her hunts together.
"We are living in strange times, Nuka." I murmured to my brother.
When the sun had reached the blue pinnacle of the sky, I sent out scouts to survey the progress of the fire. They returned to tell me that most of the fires were out, although as I had seen earlier there were a few places where fires still burned.
Overall, every piece of land they could see had been blackened. The southern Pridelands had been burned down right to the ground. Now, we could all smell the acrid smoke and ash on the wind. I imagined that the air would be choked for a few days after a blaze that big.
I wondered how Kopa had fared. He had had a greater head start than my army, and I knew that the Gorge was safe from flames. Few things grew there that fire liked to consume.
Kopa was glad for the dust, barren earth that made up the Gorge. It had been entirely untouched by the savage fires that had decimated the line and colour of the southern landscape. His army was entirely exhausted. They had had a long run in the night. There was a sickly feeling of anticipation in the air of the battle ahead. Kopa could feel the anxiety, could smell it.
But, he could also see the courage. All of the animals would fight. For that he was grateful.
It was midday now, and they were all panting in the heat, lying against the walls of the Gorge, in what little shadow they could find. Accompanied by his mother, Kopa strolled amongst the extensive army, until he found Sanura, with Malika, Amani and Nina, at the back of the group.
"How is your paw?" He asked Malika. She blinked up at him in the harsh light, the light reflecting off his bright coat made her squint.
"It's quite painful still. But I'll be fine." She said, adopting a brave face.
He smiled doubtfully at her. "I don't think so, Malika. It would be best if you stayed out of this fight, I think."
She blinked again, in surprise, before attempting to reply but she was cut off by Sanura.
"That's a good idea. But where would she go?"
"Meera told me that her sister stayed in a cave around here somewhere. Malika can stay there until after the battle. She should be relatively safe, unless elephants can climb." Kopa said.
"I'll take her there now." Sanura said, rising to her paws.
"No, I need you to do something else for me. And you, Amani. Nina can take Malika." Kopa said.
Sanura frowned at him. "What do you need?"
"You and Amani are our fastest hunters. I need you to scout the elephants whereabouts. But it's not a normal scouting mission." Kopa said. "But I think you two can handle it."
"Thanks for the compliment." Sanura said sarcastically. "Maybe if you tell us first, we'd be more enthusiastic."
"Hush, Sanura." Nala said, placating.
"Sanura, you're so rude these days." Amani said, looking less happy than usual.
Sanura scowled. Then she glanced at Nina. "Well, hurry up then." She told the other lioness, who was slowly helping Malika to her paws.
Kopa, Nala, Amani and Sanura walked away while Nina and Malika limped in the direction Kopa had pointed out the cave. "So this is the plan," Kopa began.
Kijani roared in frustration. His anger was punctuated by the crunch of a snapping tree trunk as he plunged one tusk into it. There was a ripping sound as he lifted the trunk, roots and all from the ground, and threw it at the floor. He breathed heavily, and the angry sound of it was all he could hear.
"They better have perished in that fire!" Kijani screamed at Rani Rani. "I want to see their bones, their charcoaled flesh! I want to smell the melted goo of their eyes! If you've lied to me, witch…" He growled, painfully squeezing her white trunk with his as he pulled her close to stare her straight in the eyes.
She looked at him calmly. "If they haven't died yet, they will die soon regardless." She said coldly. Behind her Kijani could see the eyes of the Pridelanders, the many, many Pridelanders that made up his army, the greatest and largest army in the unburnt Pridelands, upon him. The animals were silent, watching this display of power and anger.
Kijani let go of Rani Rani roughly. She did not stumble as he expected but held her ground and fixed him with a cool gaze.
"Send in scouts. Find them, or better yet, find their bodies." Kijani spat. Rani Rani did not move, instead Aturo, on Kijani's other side, turned to shout orders at the troops. Several hyenas came forward, reluctantly.
Although most of the fires had burned down, and only a few twisting columns of smoke drifted above the land, the hyenas were not keen on venturing into the black savannah that stretched before them. These were the self-same hyenas who had set the place ablaze in the first place. Kijani watched them with grim satisfaction, as they gingerly put paw amongst the ashes and began their expedition to find the lions.
After all he had done, Chikane was displeased to so quickly be put to use again. He was one of the eight hyenas who was sent into the burnt south Pridelands. He noted that the number of hyenas, that walked into the Pridelands when the army had first invaded, had been greatly diminished. And yet, he counted all ten of the original war elephants, and their number had increased when the small collection of Pridelands elephants had joined them too. There were about thirty elephants now. The hyena's numbers were far fewer.
He glanced bitterly over his shoulder at the animals that stayed in the green unburnt grass. There were more animals than he had ever seen. It was enough to make him gasp in awe. And what a collection of animals. He imagined that every specie in the savannah had gathered behind Kijani to fight the lions.
He was terrified and excited to see the battle, if there would even be one, he could not imagine that any army in any part of the world would be able to withstand the size, strength and might of the one that stood behind him.
The power of it made Chikane shudder. Made him shudder worse even than when he had seen the searing, retina burning flames leap from his mouth onto the grass the night prior. The blaze that had ensued was nothing short of an inferno. He and the other hyenas had watched as the flames, like living creatures, had run through the grass into the darkness. He pitied any animal that had found itself in the way of that roaring, hungry fire. But that, that was pebbles compared to Kijani's army. Pebbles.
He felt that he couldn't pity any animal that got in the way of Kijani, only envy them, that their death could be from something so great.
Sanura and Amani walked in a daze of awe struck horror. This is the dead land. Everything was gone. In place of the green summer grass, the bushes, the occasional shady tree, the happy bird song, the eternal hum of insects there was, instead, scorched earth, ash, the smoking, blackened skeletal remains of tree trunks, hazy irony clouds and there were no animals. Everywhere was silent. Sanura's nose was filled with the thick, acrid stench of smoke. And death.
Amani was crying.
Sanura could only feel disgust and illness. The sheer destruction of it all. The loss. The complete disappearance of familiarity. Sanura had not known anything else except the Pridelands. This was not the Pridelands. This couldn't be it. This was some other, awful, nightmarish place, where only ghosts walked. Is this the way the world will end?
Amani whimpered.
Neither of them saw anything for a long time. Sometimes they passed trees that were still burning, but everything else was gone. Razed.
"I don't even know where we are." Amani said after awhile. "Nothing looks familiar."
They reached the top of a swell in the landscape. The wind blew against their cheeks, sending the smell of smoke right into their noses. "It's burnt a long way." Amani commented, and it was true. The entirety of the south was now gone. In the distance, Sanura could see some green… the rest of the Pridelands.
"Hey, Sanura, look there…" Amani said, nodding her head in the direction she meant.
Sanura looked. Picking their way towards them, Sanura spotted a small pack of hyenas.
"Elephant scouts," She murmured. The lionesses watched without moving.
"Sanura, I'm-" Amani began when one hyena gave a hoot of surprise.
"They've spotted us. Let's go." Sanura said, turning on her heel and trotting down the hill back towards the Gorge. The hyenas barked and cackled as they gave chase. The distance between them was large enough, that Sanura and Amani were forced to slow down to allow them to catch up.
"They're heading west! Send someone back to Kijani!" Sanura heard a hyena shout. She looked back and saw them gathered on the hill, she and Amani had just vacated. They weren't following them.
"They'll be after us with the army now." Amani cried.
"Just what we wanted." Sanura said, now picking up the pace. "Let's go!"
Somewhere at the rear of the greatest army in the Pridelands, removed from the action by the sheer number of animals that stood between Kijani and themselves, were Timon and Pumbaa.
"Hey, we're moving." Timon said dully as the animals that were lined up before them began walking forwards. In the thick of the crowd, where Timon and Pumbaa walked, mostly underfoot of much larger, stronger animals, it was loud and excitable. Few animals in the Pridelands had ever been to war on this scale. Timon imagined that they didn't quite know what they were getting into.
He felt that he wasn't quite sure what he was getting into.
All he knew was that he and Pumbaa had not been there when the lions had needed them. If they had been at the Ruin when Kijani had given the fire order they could've reported back before anything had happened. Now they weren't sure what had happened.
Where were the lions? Were there any left?
"There must be a reason." Pumbaa said. "We must be marching to or against something."
"I hope it's to the lions…" Timon cringed at what he had said and then corrected himself. "If you know what I mean. It means they're alive."
"But also that we're marching to change that." Pumbaa said darkly.
Sanura and Amani ran through the Gorge. They could hear the trembling of the earth; beat by the heavy feet of elephants, of the Pridelanders they would march against.
Will we defeat them? Sanura's heart beat.
Will. We. Defeat. Them?
The first thing that warned him was that rocks were falling, trickling from the walls of the Gorge. He saw beside his paw, the very stones and pebbles twitching on the ground. The entire ravine seemed to shudder, anticipating the battle as much as Kopa did.
He felt that now was the time to rouse his army, prepare them for the avalanche. The lions and other cats were already prowling above, along the edge of the ravine. Only Kopa remained with the vanguard, a collection of buffalo, wildebeest and antelope. Heavy, crushing animals.
He paced along before them, his paws thudding dully on the compacted earth of the Gorge floor, in his chest, he felt his heart re-enacting something similar.
"I must ask you one thing before you carry us all into battle." He said to the vanguard. The animals contained in it were pawing the ground with diamond-like black hooves. They were snorting. Breathing heavily. The buffalo were letting out heart stopping bellows every few moments.
"Which army is stronger?" Kopa asked. The animals cried out, roaring and bellowing angrily. "Yes, it is we! A battle is decided by the spirit of the animals that fight it! And I see that here today there is no one stronger than we! Today, I will see the wind falter against the current of your power, I will see the earth weep at the force that will be unleashed, I will see the sun turn dark at the hotness of our courage! Today, we hold death at bay, we forget pain, we forego misery until we hold victory between our teeth!"
He let out a roar, a roar that recalled nights of thunder and lightning. He roared and roared, and felt the lion spirit within him rise and rise and rise. He saw it in his army. He felt it.
Then, he felt Sanura and Amani rush past him. Amani kept running, but Sanura stopped beside him. "They're coming!"
"And we're ready!" He said, before addressing the army. "Prepare yourselves! This is the battle for our kingdom! Our homes! Our lives!"
The animals answered readily.
"Set the birds free after we charge. They mustn't know we're here." Kopa ordered Sanura. "They must fly to Meera." Sanura nodded and left his side.
Below his paws, the earth bucked and rocked. There was a roaring in his ears. They had placed themselves behind the point where the Gorge curved, obscuring them from the elephants as they approached. However, his pride was patrolling above and now Kopa saw them give the signal.
"Take them by surprise! Charge through them! Stick together and divide their forces! They must not be prepared!" He commanded. "Wait for my command." He felt almost giddy as he left his position standing before the vanguard, and began climbing up to the suspended paths along the walls of the Gorge. Once there, he took a deep breath.
It begins.
"FOLLOW! Keep behind me! They must see me first!" He began forwards at a run, careful not to fall off the wall.
Kijani was too angry to even look around him. All thought had left him except to crush the lions, to end those who had been a thorn in his side since they had put foot in this place and even before. Everything around him twisted and stretched until it was all just colour and sound.
He didn't even notice the lion's appearance until he heard the screams and shouts. Then he looked up.
The white lion was running above them, along the walls. The stupid animal was roaring but he was alone and Kijani thought with a wicked thrill of glee that all it would take was one knock against the wall of the Gorge to send the lion tumbling onto the prongs of his tusks.
Kijani threw back his great head and laughed.
Then he heard it, underneath the heady vibrations of his own mirth he heard it. The very earth leaping beneath his feet. The trembling, shaking, the raw power. He wanted to shout at his troops to get out of the way but by then the black, hoofed river was flowing and they were all going to drown under it.
Kopa's army hit Kijani's with an unholy force. The first blood of battle was drawn and Kopa watched with sick fascination as wildebeest crashed into zebra and kept running. He saw buffalo horns gouging elephants in the side. A small group of zebras trampled over the hyenas that ran beside Kijani. Like a many-forked river, Kopa's forces flowed between Kijani's army and drove them apart, screaming.
Kopa saw Tsu kick a hyena in the head before ramming his head against another. Like trees collapsing in a storm, Kijani's army folded backwards. Despite this, Kopa saw, by the long train of animals packed into the Gorge, that their numbers were greater than his own by far. However, the Gorge was functioning better than even Meera had predicted. Blocked by their own forces, Kijani's army could not manoeuvre in the tight space.
He ran back towards his army stationed behind the curve of the Gorge to deploy the second wave of troops. He was followed by some of the hyenas who had survived the first wave. They were snapping at his heels before he had even made it round the bend.
Pressured, he turned to knock one off the ledge, but nearly lost his own balance. There were three of them, and that advantage was enough this time, where he didn't have a lot of space of his own to move. One of them vaulted over him by climbing higher up the wall and then skidding down back onto the ledge ahead of him. He was trapped now. He ducked their blows and met their fangs with his own.
Cackling loudly, he felt the jaws of one hyena sink into his back. Reflexively he bucked, throwing the hyena off the ledge. It clung on for dear life, paws scrabbling at the rock. He ripped the other hyena from his foreleg and before it could recover he seized it hard at the neck, snarling.
He hadn't noticed the third one coming from behind and was almost thrown off the ledge entirely. He saw the ground lurch sickeningly towards him, before he dug his claws into the rock and clung for his life. His hind paws scrabbled for purchase in empty air. He dangled.
Above, he heard the hyenas laughing.
Not yet. Can't die yet. He heaved back onto the ledge, swiping at the hyenas before he had fully pulled himself to safety. They skittered away from his claws, and then teasingly moved closer to snap at him.
Then one hyena flew over the edge, screaming to his death in the Gorge. His father roared viciously, knocking both of the hyenas to the ground in rapid succession. Dust rose from where the older lion had slid down into the Gorge from above.
"Go!" He snarled to Kopa, who obeyed.
He lurched around the corner, and saw the second wave of his army waiting. "CHARGE!" He yelled and they did, yelling battle cries.
"Lions! Leopards! Get ready!" He roared at the Pride next. He would send them in with the third and final wave.
He peered around the corner. "Wait for it! Wait for it…" He yelled. He could hear the lionesses snarling and roaring above him, waiting, anticipating the bloodshed and the battle.
The second wave connected with a sickening thud. He watched as the ten elephants at the front of Kijani's army, including Kijani himself, swept his forces aside with a mere toss of their tusks. Kopa flinched as a zebra, her side gouged red, crashed against the side of the Gorge, before tumbling to the ground, striped legs twitching.
He saw Kijani charge forward, his eyes rolling and mad, before ducking low and then hooking his tusks beneath a buffalo, ferociously, and in the most terrifying display of strength Kopa had seen in his entire life, Kijani tipped the buffalo, throwing the poor animal hard onto his own legs. Kopa could hear the crack from where he stood.
Kijani roared. A roar that would rival any lions. He swung violently to each side, catching unwary and unfortunate animals with his impossibly deadly tusks.
Kopa could not wait to take him down himself.
The lionesses were screaming in anticipation above him.
He saw the second wave cleave Kijani's army in two, pressing them against each wall of the Gorge. There was no better time to send the lionesses in, where they could easily pick off the animals. "CHARGE!" Kopa roared. "AIM FOR THE ELEPHANTS! TAKE THEM DOWN!"
The army on the ground charged forward, and Kopa saw, in flashes, the lionesses sprinting off above.
He ran along the ledge.
Screaming like fury the lionesses launched themselves into the Gorge, skidding down the rock like falling lightning. Kopa saw Amani, Sanura and his mother land on top of one of Kijani's elephants. When he looked at them again, they were all covered in blood, snarling.
Aiming, he launched himself into the fray, falling heavily on top of a zebra and pulling it to the ground. Its head connected with the ground first, and he leapt off it as it convulsed in agony.
His father was fighting nearby. The older lion had risen onto his hind legs and was battling a northern wildebeest with a ferocious intensity, Kopa had never seen before. Simba's eyes were burning, his teeth were bared to the hilt, and each of his claws flashed through the air faster than Kopa's eyes could track them.
The sun arched overhead, spilling bright light onto a dark fight.
Ahead Kopa caught sight of the hyena that had escape him the day before. He shot towards him. The hyena's eyes widened as it caught sight of the furious white lion, burning in the sunlight, as he streaked towards him. Kopa's teeth locked down. He could feel the blood pulse into his mouth. The hyena slashed at his face with desperate paws. He threw Chikane down, breathing hard, and then knocked him with a heavy, righteous paw. Chikane lay on the ground, head lolling.
Kopa frowned as he stood over Chikane. "I already gave you mercy once. I won't do it again." He said and then stepped over the animal. You will die slowly.
There was a crash behind him. Kopa saw Nala, Sanura and Amani bring down an elephant. The great weight of the colossus served to crush his fellow soldiers around him. The lionesses were ferocious. Nala roared in triumph. They did not have much time to celebrate, as they were soon swarmed by snarling animals.
Ahead, Kopa saw Dafina and Nina fighting back to back against a troop of baboons. The other animals were screaming and beating their fists against the earth, before launching, with fangs bared, at the lionesses. Dafina blocked one such attack against Nina, knocking the baboon back, before snapping in warning. Kopa saw that Dafina was bleeding heavily, the baboons had managed to rip holes in her pelt and her face.
He ran forward to help them.
I was watching the skies and seeing nothing except the blustering winds sweep thin clouds into chaotic twisting and painful shapes. I was imagining a bloody Kopa. I saw their tusks gouge into his sides. I saw shadows and I heard someone humming strange lilting tunes.
"Meera, stop that." Nuka said. "You sound just like our mother."
"What?" I snapped.
"You're humming. She used to hum that same song." Vitani said.
"I didn't reali-I can't stand this waiting." I growled, renewing my pacing from where I had stopped.
"A little bit of anticipation makes the blood taste so much sweeter." Zuberi said softly.
I did not respond. I was uncertain of how to.
"Hey look!" Nuka said suddenly. I looked.
A single bird shot hazardously from the sky towards us. The small thing crashed at my paws, chest heaving. "Battle has begun! The king awaits you!"
The bird's wings were twitching.
"He sent only one?" Nuka asked curiously.
"We were attacked…by Kijani's vultures…I was the only one who escaped…"
"Good job." I scooped the bird up, and put him between Nuka's shoulders. "Look after him, Nuka."
"Wait!" The bird said, while I was departing to rally the army.
I looked back.
"There were–" The bird faltered. Vitani peered at him on Nuka's back.
"He's dead." She reported.
I looked away.
"Let's not dishonour his memory. We march."
The light was fading fast and the Gorge had taken on a bloody hue in the dying sunlight. Kopa was feeling worried now. His army was flagging. They were tiring. Kijani's army was larger, and even if they were struggling to move in the Gorge, they were never short of replenishments.
He saw Tsu fall to the ground, his leg collapsed beneath him. Dafina was on her last legs, fighting half-heartedly against a hyena. In a few moments, Kopa knew she would fail. Feeling heavy, he moved towards her to help her, passing in the process, Nina lying in the dirt, unmoving.
Simba and Nala had teamed up and were fighting an elephant on the ground, while Azima and Aziza were launching themselves in turn at its back from above. The lions had already taken down three elephants in this way, but it was not enough. There were too many.
Where is Meera? Where is Meera?
Kopa's mind had adopted this line as a chant.
He knocked a wildebeest to the ground, out of Chumvi's way. She nodded to him as a thank you, before whirling around, claws extended and slashing another antelope to the ground.
The worst part of the battle yet, was the vultures. Kijani had enlisted a huge flock of them, and they wheeled around on black wings, only to dive at combatants on the ground. Kopa's back and head were bleeding from the vicious tap of their beaks.
They seemed to be targeting him, and no matter where he moved on the field, they would swoop down and swarm him. He heard the screaming that precipitated this, and attempted, too slowly, to duck and dodge.
A barrage of black feathers crashed into his back, followed by several others, while he roared in excruciating pain. His forelegs buckled, and his vision swam.
The birds squawked as he felt something collide with his side.
"Get up, Kopa!" Sanura roared, dispersing the birds with a few snaps of her needle-sharp teeth. He did, swaying.
"We're getting swamped! Where's Meera?" Sanura roared to him.
"She should be here soon!" Kopa yelled back to her, while they moved back to back to fight a circling group of enemy leopards. "We just have to keep holding on!"
"We can't go on much longer!" Sanura said, desperately.
Beside them, Simba, Nala, Azima and Aziza brought down another elephant with a cheer.
"We have to try!" Kopa snarled, through gritted teeth.
A shadow crossed Kopa's face, and then vanished, flashing golden sunlight into his face. Then another shadow flitted past, and another.
"What is th-?" He began before his heart leapt at the sight of Zuberi, Vitani and Nuka sliding down from above.
I lead the army in through the North. Dust leapt into the air behind us, as we moved like rapids through the Gorge towards Kijani's army.
I knew we had taken Kijani's troops by surprise when they began screaming and attempting to run at the sight of us. I saw that the smaller, weaker animals populated the back of the army. We swept through them like wind through leaves.
With two buffalo beside me, we toppled a giraffe, felling the tall animal like a tree. It fell to the ground behind us, crying pitifully.
"Meera!" I heard my name called. Timon and Pumbaa were suddenly running beside me.
"Keep with me!" I yelled at them, before plunging right amongst Kijani's number and beginning my assault.
It was obvious that the second wave was much appreciated. Kopa's army began a defiant cheer that we could hear from where we were, on the other side of the curve of the Gorge. I began battling my way through the animals to get to Kopa.
Above me, the sun was setting. The entire world was turned red and bloody by its light. Entirely appropriate. I saw Zuberi fighting a huge elephant nearby. Vitani was hanging on with all her might on the animal's back.
I passed by Kijani himself and snarled in greeting. Our eyes locked and despite my earlier desire to meet Kopa I took the challenge with relish. Kijani looked angrier than I had ever before seen him, but then I must have looked the same.
"How did you survive me, Meera?" Kijani sneered, as we approached one another, both our teeth bared. "I think you must be the first animal to claim that honour."
"This world cannot get enough of me, I fear. But I think it's tired of you." I replied and leapt forward, slashing at Kijani's trunk. He reared back, and I slipped aside when he came crashing down, narrowly missing being crushed. He moved slower than me by a large margin, and he was tired. In time, I would win.
"Your kind possesses endless amounts of arrogance. But we, elephants, are stronger! In time sheer force will triumph over everything!" Kijani cried, sweeping towards me with his tusks. I dodged.
"Short sighted, Kijani!" I sang, running up the walls, twisting around, and leaping onto his back. My claws were extended and I made sure to dig them into his skin as I spidered along his back to his head. He roared in pain and threw himself against the wall in an attempt to crush me. I leapt off at the last moment, and he ended up injuring only himself. I landed heavily on the ground, and turned around. He was already charging towards me.
I threw myself out of the way at the last moment, winding myself on the ground when I landed. Oof.
"We will defeat you, fool!" I roared at Kijani. "And we will take our kingdom back and forget your name, and your very existence!"
He roared back, and prepared to charge me again.
But, something distracted me. There came a great wind and the sound of screaming from further on in the Gorge. Both Kijani and I looked back. Then my heart stopped.
Impossible.
Kopa had been rushing through the throngs of fighting animals to find Meera. When he had heard her army's battle cry reverberate through the walls of the Gorge, and then had heard the screams and cries of Kijani's army, he had known she was nearby. Zuberi, Vitani and Nuka had breathed fresh life into the lion's attack plan. They were leaping from walls onto the elephants, snarling and crying in vicious bloodlust as they did.
Kopa had found himself embroiled in a strange battle with an animal he had never seen before. It was a she elephant with skin as white as his fur. She battled with an eerie grace, he could see she was ancient, and she was decorated with a kind of curling, shining 'tree branch' of a kind he had never seen. Both Kopa and the white elephant were covered in blood, as they met slashed and shoved, before bouncing back and circling one another.
He could see the elephant breathing heavily. Could see the frozen fury in her eyes. At first he had thought she was merely evading his attacks but now he was certain that she was leading him through the battlefield.
Ignoring his feelings of misgiving, he followed her, fighting his hardest.
"So, you are the king!" She cried to him. "The one who ruined the leonine dynasty? I never expected the likes of you! So beautiful and yet so worthless!" She was saying as they whirled through the battlefield.
"And who are you so I might put a name to the insult?" Kopa snarled back, dodging her glinting tusks as she swung them towards him.
"I am Rani Rani!" She cried, and swung back again.
He moved his head back, narrowly avoiding her tusks once again, before he launched himself forward, grabbing hold of her trunk. She screamed, not expecting such a rude assault.
He pulled back, stretching her trunk excruciatingly, he saw tears form in her eyes just as red streamed from his mouth. The sight of red blood on her white skin was curiously invigorating, he noted.
She could not pull away, so she ran forwards and he was forced to let go or be crushed. But she didn't turn in time to pre-empt his next move and he raked his claws along her flank. She sidestepped, once again forcing him to dodge. He threw his weight onto his hind legs and then sprang onto her back. She lurched side ways at the force of his weight. Then she span, lumbering, in an attempt to throw him off.
He slipped off her back, his claws shearing her white skin into red ribbons. She screamed high and piercing. It was a scream from another world. Quickly, before she could recover, he rammed into her right leg, forcing her onto her knee. He dashed around the front, and he saw the terror in her eyes.
"Die!" He roared, just as she made her final scramble for survival. He was about to leap right at her face, when she pulled, with her trunk, a leopard who had been battling a hyena beside them, and blocked Kopa's attack with the body of the terrified animal. Kopa crashed into the leopard and rolled, their paws became tangled. While he struggled to his paws, he saw Rani Rani limp to the hyena, brain it against the floor, and then begin singing.
Singing?
"What are you-?" Kopa yelled incredulous, but his cry stuck in his throat when he saw Rani Rani's eyes begin glowing green. The hyena she had killed was writing on the floor. It was obviously fighting on the same side as she, but Rani Rani clearly did not care. Using one tusk, she slit open the hyena from belly to throat. The poor animal sobbed, but Kopa could only hear the eerie sound of Rani Rani's chanting.
From nowhere a strong wind had risen, and it began swirling riotously around Rani Rani and the hyena. Kopa was frozen in place, watching in a kind of sick fascination as something green and glowing began to emerge from the hyena's open guts.
Raise the angry spirits from this land, raise the malevolent warriors to destroy my enemies and wreak their revenge upon the living. Raise the angry spirits from this land, rise the malevolent warriors to destroy my enemies and wreak their revenge upon the living. Raise the angry spirits from this land, rise the malevolent warriors to destroy my enemies and wreak their revenge upon the living.
Kopa knew the words in his heart even if Rani Rani's singing was in an ancient language that he had never before heard before. He saw a huge, glowing paw emerge from the hyena. The paw dwarfed the dying animal. Behind it followed a gigantic leonine arm, and then another clawed paw. Kopa could not help thinking that the green of the apparition was precisely the same colour as Meera's eyes.
There was an earth shattering roar and a tremor that knocked Kopa to the ground. Something dragged itself out of the hyena into the air. Rani Rani was laughing hysterically.
"Oh my-" Kopa gaped as a huge, glowing lion emerged from the now dead hyena. The lion was as tall as the Gorge itself. His eyes glowed white and Kopa saw unmistakeably a burning, ghostly scar across one of those glowing eyes. "How…?"
"Feast, my malevolent warrior! Gift these worthless souls with the majesty of your power! Grace them with the magnificence of death! Destroy my enemies…and yours!" Rani Rani shouted at this ghostly, gigantic, glowing effigy of Scar.
I saw what was unmistakeably my worst nightmare turn the corner of the Gorge. Our eyes met. And then I felt the sweetest pain, as Kijani's tusk connected with my shoulder and sent me sprawling. Green eyes. Like mine.
"Perhaps that white witch was worth it after all!" Kijani cried in unmistakeable triumph. I tried to get back to my paws but my shoulder burned with exquisite pain. Scar was much larger than I remembered he had been in life. I was his spitting imagine in so many ways.
With a mere sweep of his spidery claws he crushed five zebra from Kopa's army. He didn't even look down and continued towards me, with a silent but jagged smile on his face.
I need to. Get away. "How will she grow up to be king?"
I surged to my paws, and limped into the battle.
"Where are you going, Meera?" Kijani taunted. He could let himself be crushed, but I wanted to live.
There was nowhere to go. I couldn't escape. "To be King?"
Scar was right behind me. Over my shoulder, I saw him squash a buffalo. The animal didn't even cry out.
I ran.
I saw Vitani ahead. But her face was stretched in impossible shock at the sight of the gigantic lion behind us.
His giant paw landed right before me, nearly killing Vitani who moved just in time. I looked up and saw, like something out a dream or nightmare, the massive underbelly of the ghost Scar. How did this happen? How am I seeing this? Then his hind paw hovered above my head, landed just before my own tiny paws, followed by his last paw. Then he was immersed in the crowd of terrified animals. He hadn't even noticed me.
I hit the ground with a sharp pain.
Nuka watched as his sister collapsed, shaking, as the giant Scar walked over her. Her army visibly faltered, horrified, as Scar plunged his huge maw into their midst and pulled whole animals bodily into the air, before tossing them away.
Chaos reigned.
We're going to lose! Nuka thought in horror. Scar threw back his head and laughed. From nowhere thunder rumbled in the air, and lightning cracked. Nuka closed his eyes, blinded. All he could hear was screaming.
He couldn't help himself. He began to laugh. "It's only Scar everyone! Simba trashed him before most of you were born!" He ran, cackling, right at the gigantic lion and bounced off his paw ineffectually. This didn't stop him and he began attacking in earnest, narrowly missing being kicked into the sky by Scar's back paw.
Vitani and Zuberi were launching themselves at Scar from the walls. Vitani landed on his shoulder, tried to cling on but slipped down Scar's glowing green fur to the ground. Not before the spectral lion attempted to shake her off.
"He's too strong!" Vitani yelled at Nuka who was dodging Scar's limbs for his life. "We need to retreat!"
"No! Fight! Fighty fight fight!" Nuka yelled back incomprehensibly. He fell back as Scar surged ahead. Vitani fell off the mighty ghost, and landed hard on her paws. Zuberi was racing back towards her, as behind him, Scar knocked ten of Meera's fighters to the ground.
"Leave him, he's too strong!" Zuberi called.
Vitani obliged and turned away from Scar even as he decimated their army. Then she saw Nuka, who had been descended upon by two elephants.
She screamed at Nuka, who was dancing like a mad thing as he dodged the attacks of the pachyderm. "Nuka! Watch out!" Vitani screamed. She saw the second elephant approaching, this one wielding a rotten tree that it had apparently wrenched from the earth.
Nuka ducked a swipe of the tusks from the first elephant; he let out another one of his manic cackles, only to be smashed in the head by the second elephant. He crumpled.
"NUKA! NUKA NO!" Vitani cried. She started towards her brother but somebody else brushed past her first, moving like the wind.
"MEERA!" Vitani shouted, but her sister was already halfway there.
I pulled myself to my paws, forcefully dissipating my weakness.
Not Nuka. Not Nuka. Not Nuka!
I don't care what you take! Anything but Nuka!
The battle slowed down. The colours darkened. I saw shadows fighting in the shadows. I heard my heart drumming out a steady beat.
The elephant rose onto its hind legs as I sped by, and I saw Nuka lying on the ground. He was still moving, weakly, he must move away! The elephant began to fall towards the ground, feet first, and it would have crushed us both if I hadn't pulled him out of the way at the last minute.
Simba, Nala and two lionesses from Kopa's pride swarmed the elephant that had attacked Nuka. Simba grabbed its trunk and pulled, while the other three lionesses attacked its legs and back. Vitani and Zuberi were driving away another elephant nearby.
Amongst the turmoil, I looked at my fallen brother.
"Meera!" He murmured.
"Nuka…" He was bleeding badly. There was already a growing puddle of blood at my paws.
"It's so dark!" He said, blinking up at me.
"The sun set." I explained. "I'm sorry, I… you need to get out of the battle, you're wounded badly." I said to him.
He coughed, and I saw blood drip onto my paw from his mouth. His eyes were closing.
"No, Nuka, don't you dare…" I growled at him, and began pulling him as much out of the battle, and out of the way, as I could. "Nuka, just rest, you'll be fine…you have to be…"
"No, Meera…" He whispered weakly. "I don't think I will be…"
"Shh…"
"It hurts…it's…" Nuka said weakly.
"Don't even say it." I growled. "Oh, Nuka…I can save you, I will save you! You've saved me so many times… you don't even know it… Nuka, you have to…for me…Nuka…"
Nuka turned his head to look at me. "Stop it. Stop it! Don't leave me! Don't you dare leave me, Nuka! I'll…Nuka…no…"
Kopa fought his way through the army but it was hopeless, the giant lion prowled easily and he was bogged down by the sheer number of animals between them. Even if he did catch up he had no idea how to stop the colossus…if it could be stopped. Kopa doubted that anyone in the history of the Pridelands had any experience with homicidal resurrected ghost giants or knew how to defeat them.
He skidded beneath the clashing horns of two huge antelope that had met on the battlefield and were now attempting to gore each other to death. He saw Kijani, rising head and shoulders above the combatants, fighting aggressively ahead. He saw Rani Rani nearby, in a kind of a trance. Her trunk was moving, almost dancing, like Kopa had seen cobras do before they struck. She was surrounded by ten elephants who were apparently killing any animal who came near them.
Defending her? Why?
Kopa was distracted, he caught sight of Meera on the outskirts of the battle, hunching over near a high Gorge wall. He veered through the battle and approached her.
He saw Nuka, lying on the ground, his eyes wide and staring but at nothing at all.
No.
Kopa's stomach felt as if it had dropped out altogether.
"Merah…" He said, his heart breaking.
She turned, her eyes dry and cold. She looked at him, through him, and then tore off into the battle, letting loose a vicious shriek, as she plunged into the sea of animals.
Worried, Kopa debated going after her, but something stopped him. The white elephant…He looked back at Rani Rani and realised.
"MERAH, WAIT!" He yelled. She didn't hear him. She was long gone.
Vitani panted, she was high above the battle, tracking the movement of Kijani moving through the battle, she braced herself, preparing to swoop down into the Gorge and leap onto his back. But her muscles were burning, and she could see that they were losing.
"Hesitating?" Zuberi asked her. He was covered in cuts, was bleeding from multiple gouges in his side, and both his ears were chipped and torn.
Vitani looked away, preparing again to launch herself forward. But, she shook her head. "We're going to lose, aren't we?"
"If we don't figure out a way to kill that thing then yes." Zuberi said, without inflection.
"I can't die yet."
"I can't let you die yet."
Vitani looked at him, into his eyes. "I think I love you."
Zuberi allowed a half smile. "You have a penchant for tragedy…" He growled angrily. "But I do too."
Vitani beamed at him. "Now that we've said all we needed to, let's go and die together."
"Yep," Zuberi replied, and they slid into the Gorge.
Malika watched from her high vantage point, inside what smelled like Zuberi's cave. Some of the things she had seen that day had shocked her. But now, she watched with terror and fear. The tide of the battle had turned again and it was not in the lion's favour. She tracked her pride nervously. Sanura had started out the battle with Simba and Nala, but had moved on and was battling an elephant by herself. Nina had fallen. Dafina had fallen. Chumvi had vanished. Malika could see Simba, Nala, Aziza and Azima systematically bringing down elephants, slowly but surely. They had taken down five already.
Kopa was now rushing through the battle after Meera, who had run ahead. Malika could see her brown coat flashing between fighting animals. She was headed towards the ghostly lion.
But moving in the opposite direction, Malika could see a new combatant enter the battle, her heart leapt at the sight of him: Rafiki!
There may be hope after all!
He was picking animals up, dangling them into the air above him before dropping them into his jaws and swallowing. When he laughed, thunder and lightning flashed in the sky. Only now I noticed the storm clouds gathering overhead.
I ran right at him. And I knew he saw me. I wanted to scratch his face until it bled rivers.
"SCAR! FATHER! You've ruined everything! EVERYTHING! I did what you told me to do! I did everything you wanted! I DESTROYED SIMBA'S THRONE! I AM QUEEN! I AM STRONER THAN MOTHER! I DID EVERYTHING YOU FAILED TO DO! THESE LANDS ARE MINE! THESE ANIMALS FIGHT FOR ME! AND STILL, STILL YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING! YOU RUINED MY LIFE! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" I screamed, and threw myself at him.
I never felt more aware of the killing power of my body. My claws, my teeth, my muscles. I tore into him. I fought him with everything I had.
Nuka is dead! Dead because of you!
You killed him!
You destroyed me!
You destroyed my life!
I hate you!
I hate you!
I HATE YOU!
I felt my body get lifted off the ground. My paws were dangling. He picked me up with his gigantic paw, and it felt like I was flying.
Below, I heard the battle grow softer, as the air rushed over me. I heard someone screaming my name but I did not look down. I was finally going to look him into the eye.
And he would know my fury.
He would know the fire that burned within me would incinerate him and the world.
"Scar." I said, as we looked at each other, face to giant face.
"MERAH NO!" Kopa screamed from far, far away. She was very high up, ascended to the heavens. He knew that Scar would kill her, because whatever it was that was holding her up was not the real Scar, or even a ghost of him. It was something Rani Rani had conjured, and it was something that would only go away when Rani Rani, herself, was destroyed.
Meera was going to die. Again. And he was helpless.
"Move, Kopa, if you want to see the end of this."
Kopa looked back to see Rafiki. The mandrill looked far older than Kopa had ever seen him. He had his staff in his hand and a look in his eye that would fell a raging elephant. I hope it does, thought Kopa.
"I must not be distracted." Rafiki told Kopa. Then the mandrill raised his hands high into the air.
"Great Kings, hear me now. Raise the Sun over this land and dispel the darkness. Great Kings…Great Kings…" Rafiki chanted.
Kopa once again heard the words and understood them even if the sounds on his ears sounded old and strange. This was the ancient language, the one all the animals had forgotten. How does he know the words?
Rafiki's staff began to glow. The mandrill stepped back, clutching it with both hands as if it had suddenly began to fight in his hands. Kopa stared. The staff was visibly shuddering. Rafiki braced himself, digging his heels into the ground, as suddenly bright, hot light burst from the end of the staff, and leapt into the air before them.
The light bubbled, shifted, bloomed, and rapidly began to form legs and a head and a mane, and claws and teeth and roars. Kopa gaped. Again. He didn't have long to do so, Rafiki collapsed onto his back, breathing hard and trembling.
Kopa felt it as if from a distance. Ahead of him, stood the mightiest lion he had ever seen. It was larger even than the giant Scar. The lion glowed a shining gold, and his mane was like an inferno, even brighter and hotter than the fire of the night before. The lion moved quickly towards Scar, and before he could toss Merah into the air the lion met him head on, and they quickly began to fight viciously. Meera tumbled into the air, and Kopa screamed.
But Rafiki raised his staff and the golden lion snatched her in his mouth, halting her fall, then laid her on the ground, and sprung forwards towards Scar.
Simba, Nala, Aziza and Amina appeared beside Kopa, all four of them gaping.
"Father!" Simba cried.
"Mufasa!" The other three said at the same time.
"Is that…Mufasa?" Kopa gaped. The golden lion slashed the green one in the air, and they fell back, crashing against the walls of the Gorge. At their paws animals scrambled for safety, both lion and elephant army alike.
Meera was in danger of being crushed, but she dodged their paws and ran towards Kopa, her eyes larger than he had ever seen them. It was almost humorous to him, in all his shock.
"Merah!" He cried, anticipating her approach.
The fighting effigies moved back, roaring like thunder, and pawing at each other in the sky. Scar knocked Mufasa back and Kopa shrieked again as the latter's paws knocked Meera to the ground. She was definitely out cold.
In Kopa's horror he knew. I need to end this!
"What is going on?" someone screamed.
Recovering his footing, Mufasa threw himself at Scar, forcing the latter to dodge by crashing into the wall of the Gorge. The rock face collapsed and animals screamed as the avalanche swept over them. Soon they stopped screaming.
"Dad!" Kopa said, turning back to Simba. The battle had gone to chaos now. None of the animals were fighting as they fled for their lives. Except for the elephants, as Kopa saw through the moving bodies, who were approaching them with slow menace. "You need to help me! We need to kill the white elephant! That will kill Scar!"
Simba nodded. The lionesses nodded.
"We need to protect Rafiki, nothing must harm him!" Kopa told them.
"I'll help." Sanura said, stepping in line beside Kopa. Her tawny coat was soaked in blood. Her one eye was closed. But, she had a crooked smile on her face.
Kopa helped Rafiki switch to Sanura's back. The mandrill collapsed against Sanura, ignoring the blood. Sanura extended her claws and looked around, almost daring someone to approach her.
"Go now." Kopa told his father and then went to rescue Merah.
I woke up. Where am I?
Somewhere familiar.
I was in the Pridelands.
Was the battle over?
What happened?
I walked through a desert of the Pridelands I once knew. There was no grass. The trees had no leaves. But there was something wrong…the trees were far larger than I remembered.
I looked around. But saw nothing. It was as if there was a hazy fog encroaching around me. I could not see very far and everything was shapeless and grey. I was all alone. And suddenly, terrified.
"Kopa?" I asked the silence.
"Hello?"
The Pridelands was dead, and broken, and here nothing grew. Here, there was no one.
A trill of fear gripped me. Ran right up my spine. I couldn't stop the tears. I found I was crying as if nothing could console me. Like a young cub. I had never felt loss and pain like I felt inside of me. I had never felt so small and alone.
I backed up against one of the dead trees. Was this how the world ends? Alone in the endless gray?
Then I felt something behind me. Something…soft. "Sh, little one, hush now. It's alright." Somebody's voice said, somebody much bigger. The voice was familiar but I couldn't say how. I wasn't afraid, even when big, warm paws pulled me close and held me.
It was a lioness. Her fur was so soft. She held me until my tears stopped. I looked up, to see who it was. I couldn't see her face. All I could see was the night sky above. It was a clear night, the sky was a pure blue velvet. I could see, and the sight filled me with relief, stars twinkling in the blue, hundreds and hundreds, thousands and thousands, of glorious, sparkling stars.
"Did I ever tell you about the darkness?" The lioness murmured in my ear.
Sniffing, I shook my head.
"I'll tell you now, Merah." The lioness lowered her head, put her mouth right by my ear. Her paw was on my cheek.
"Don't be afraid." She whispered. And suddenly I didn't feel afraid. Suddenly, I felt safe. "The world may be dark now, just as it is every night. But, the darkness doesn't last forever. Eventually the sun must rise. Eventually the sky must brighten. And if it doesn't…at least the night is filled with stars. A million stars."
The lioness lifted my head gently, and together we looked at the stars. My tears began to flow again. The stars were the lions that had left this world…I had lost so many. How can I look at them and be reminded of my guilt? I looked down, away, crying. But, the lioness was crying too now.
"Oh, Merah…" She wept.
"I can't live without them. I can't be alone. They can't leave me. It's all my fault. It was always my fault. I'm so sorry. They can't go. They can't leave me. Mata. Please don't let him go. Please don't let Nuka leave me. Mata. Please." I cried.
She wept, I could feel her teardrops on my head. And then she looked down at me, her eyes brimming. I recognized her now. It was my mother. Zira.
I was suddenly filled with anger. "You did this! Why do you hate me so much? Everything is ruined! You just couldn't give me one damn chance! Even my name…You named me this because you hated me. "Because bitterness was the only thing I saw when I looked at you!"
She didn't like that I think. The tears continued to flow from her eyes. But they were not the eyes I remembered from my cubhood. These eyes, Zira's eyes, were soft and gentle. I gasped, my grief threatening to explode out of me. But she seemed to be shuddering out of control as well. She began to tremble and then suddenly became huge, so big that she blocked out the sky. Terrified, I cowered. Her fur suddenly turned blue, the same colour as the sky in the day. She was the day. Her eyes went white and glowed. I shivered in fear, and looked away, it was too bright.
"Did you forget, Merah? Did you forget?" She asked me, her voice booming loudly from every direction.
I stared, fearful.
The huge sky lioness swam before me in the shining blue, swirling around me like the wind. Her voice was like an echo. Like a voice deep within. I saw her white eyes like two suns.
She whispered right in my ear.
"I called you Merah because when I saw you, I saw, not what your father saw but what I see in these butterflies, something precious and delicate. The other meaning of Merah is 'tiny piece of sky'." She said, even more softly. "Hope, Merah. Hope."
"Mata…" I breathed. The tears began to flow again. Hot against my skin.
I was crying. Crying. It felt as if water had burst into a desert, into a sad dry place, giving it life. These were not the tears of despair nor were they tears of anger the only I had ever known in my life. These were the most beautiful tears. Purifying tears. Tears that became rain. Rain that washed away the scars, and the pain. My mother vanished, vanished with a blue smile.
And everything became bright.
I remembered this place too. I had been here before. After Pride Rock fell.
But there was someone here before me.
Something dark that was walking out of the light.
Nuka.
"Nuka! Nuka!" I cried, overjoyed to see him. "I thought you were dead! Nuka, you're alive! Nuka!"
I ran towards him but no matter how fast I ran or how determinedly, he always stayed just out of my reach. But he smiled, as if it were a joke.
I didn't get the joke.
But he kept smiling, and now he was fading.
"I love you, Meera. We'll never be separated…for long…I love you…I love you, Merah…Merah…Merah…"
He kept fading. And I kept running.
Simba was running. The lionesses were at his side. He saw ahead the twenty elephants left in the battle. It was now, lions versus elephants. The final battle. He saw the white one, behind the rest of the brutes, allowing them to fight before her. Simba saw that her eyes were out of focus.
"Aziza, Azima, ignore the rest, we take her down." Simba called. "Nala, with me." The lions split in two, both pairs running towards the walls. The elephants were prepared for their tricks this time, and swung around to face their tusks to the leaping lions instead of exposing their backs.
Rani Rani remained out of reach, locked between two lines of furious elephants.
Kopa was running. He dodged Mufasa's golden paws, and then Scar's green ones. Merah lay, twitching on the ground. He hoisted her onto his back and then began to maneuver to safety. She was murmuring against his back. Strange words like: "Mata…tiny piece of sky…hope." He hoped she was having a good dream at least.
He spotted ahead, the dark shapes of Vitani and Zuberi. They were moving quickly to help Simba. Sanura and Rafiki were right against the wall, hiding behind some rocks. Kopa headed towards them.
"Look after Merah. I have an elephant to kill." Kopa told Sanura. She nodded forcefully. "Hurry, Rafiki is fading fast."
Kopa nodded and hurtled towards his father and the other lions.
There were too many elephants for them to kill. They would need to be clever about this. Meera's the smart one…Kopa thought in frustration. Not me.
But he put his mind to the problem.
The elephants moved in coordination around Rani Rani. With every attack that the lions launched they responded in defense. Rani Rani herself moved far slower than the rest. Kopa wondered how they could distract the other elephants to get to her.
Then he smiled.
Sanura was confused when Kopa turned back and ran towards her. The white lion had a look of extreme excitement on his face. "Rafiki, can you send Mufasa that way down the Gorge?" Kopa pointed to the elephants.
He saw that the mandrill was on his last legs, but with a skip of his heartbeat he saw Rafiki raise his staff and turn the golden lion around. Mufasa began galloping towards the elephants.
As he hoped, the giant Scar ran right after him.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Kopa shouted at the lions at war with the elephants.
The pride leapt up the walls, scrambling for safety as the giant lions crashed into the elephant forces. The elephants were too slow to get out of the way, and were crushed or scattered by the eight paws that rushed right through them.
"NOW! GET THE ELEPHANT!" Kopa commanded at the top of his voice. He had not specified which elephant, but it was obvious in the darkness that he meant the one that was visible even in the low light.
It was a massacre. The six lions leapt upon Rani Rani, who lost her focus. The effigy of Scar began to flicker and fade. Then it winked out like a flash of lightning. Aziza had Rani Rani's trunk. Simba, Nala, and Azima were on her back. The elephants hastily regrouped and began to close in on the lions. Kopa dashed away from Sanura, Rafiki and Merah, to help them.
He reached the elephants just as Mufasa did. The larger lion blew through the elephants once again, knocking them back, before he vanished into the wind like a golden dust.
Sanura felt Rafiki faint against her, but she hardly noticed it. Rani Rani was fighting with every inch of her life. She was throwing herself against the walls, knocking the lions off onto the ground. Sanura saw Aziza and Azima get thrown off. Aziza got up. Azima didn't.
Kopa reached Rani Rani, and raked her back with his claws and his anger. She roared and reared up. This was a mistake. Simba and Nala rammed right into her from the front, and she crash back to the ground. She did not get up. But neither did Kopa. He was thrown back against the wall of the Gorge as Kijani wrapped his trunk around Kopa's waist and threw him.
"You!" Kopa growled.
"You…" Kijani repeated, much more menacingly.
He was injured badly, limping. One tusk had been snapped off. There were cuts and gashes, undoubtedly from ferocious lions, and Kopa saw a huge wound in Kijani's side.
Maybe I can ki—
Kopa did not get to finish his sentence. He heard a low rumble and then a crack of lightning. Rain began to fall. Hard.
The battle raged on around him, but he saw Vitani and Zuberi stop, their faces fearful.
This place floods.
"Leave them! The battle's over! Get out of the Gorge! Move! Move!" Kopa began to shout at the pride. Some of the lions obeyed his command. Zuberi and Vitani had been on the edge and could escape, but Aziza, Nala and Simba were at the heart of a furious group of elephants.
Kopa saw Kijani advancing towards them. He smiled at the elephant.
"This is the end, Kijani." Kopa said, his eyes were locked with the elephant's, unwavering.
"Your end," Kijani replied.
They launched themselves at one another.
Kopa was tired, but he was still faster than Kijani who was tired and badly injured. The lion and elephant danced in the rain, the quickly thickening mud slowed their movements, and it felt to Kopa as if he was fighting in slow motion.
Around him he saw the moving bodies, orbiting around himself and Kijani, he saw the flashes of fur that were his mother, father and Aziza as they bravely continued to fight. He saw Zuberi and Vitani return to the fight, to help him to the end.
He dodged Kijani's tusks, and he threw his own blows at the elephant. There was blood. And fatigue. And everything was an agony.
The rain fell down in torrents.
Please, Great Kings, let this end.
Kopa thought to himself, as he launched himself at Kijani, catching the elephant in the eye. There was a roar, and the mammoth stumbled to his knees.
Kopa walked slowly forward, knowing that this was the moment.
Kopa stood over Kijani, who ironically, was hunched over in pain, in such a way that it looked as if he were bowing. Kopa felt himself grow cold. This was the last moment in which he wanted to feel like a king, just before he had to kill someone.
He took a deep breath, and recalled the hyena of the day before. Would he be able to do it this time? Kill in cold blood?
He heard Sanura. "Do it!"
He heard Aziza. "Kopa's soft heart continues to get in the way."
He heard Merah. "I need you."
He lifted his paw. It began to fall. But something fell far faster. It was a bolt of lightning. Kijani was illuminated for a brief second, his eyes wide open, and burning, before the light faded and there was nothing except the smell of burning flesh.
I was chasing Nuka. But he was fading now. He looked back at me. I could see every detail on his face. Nuka turned into something else, a lion's nose on a white sky, then a lion's nose on a furry white lion's face. Blink. There were eyes. Stormy, gray eyes on the furry face. Blink. Blink. His mouth is speaking to me. He's saying my name. "Merah! Merah! Wake up! Wake up please!" His name is-
Kopa. I blinked. Sound returned and I was lying on my side. There was something wet on my face. On my whole body. It was raining.
"You're awake! Thank the Great Kings! Thank Mufasa! Get up, come on, we have to move now…easy, easy, lean on me, Merah. The battle's over! We won!" Kopa saying to me. I was on my paws. Life was flooding back into them. I looked around. The Gorge was empty. There were no animals except for the ones lying dead on the ground. I saw ahead, a herd of elephants fleeing as if a demon was after them. There was also mud, and rain which was becoming heavier.
I remembered Scar and Mufasa but they were gone. I saw Zuberi approach Kopa and I. He had Rafiki on his back. The monkey had fainted. Vitani came behind Zuberi, supporting Sanura who looked completely ravaged.
"We need to get out of here. The Gorge will flood if this rain keeps up." Vitani told Kopa.
"Take the lions, leave now. I'll run up the Gorge to check if any animals are still alive, or if any are still down here." Kopa told her.
"What if there aren't any?" Sanura asked, tiredly.
"It doesn't matter, I need to check." Kopa said. "Dad, can you take M-"
I cut him off, forcing myself to stand properly. "I'll go with you."
"We'll all go." Vitani said.
"Alright, let's get out of here." Kopa agreed. We all made our way hurriedly northwards of the Gorge. Animals lay dead alongside us. Their hooves and legs splayed. Blood at our paws. I saw a few leopards climbing up the walls, to vanish over the lip of the ravine and to safety. I glanced ahead, breathing hard.
There were also elephants ahead.
"That's Aturo." I growled. "They're running away! Cowards!"
"Leave them, Meera. They should run." Kopa murmured.
We passed Rani Rani's corpse, huge, white and swollen.
Thunder and lightning cracked overhead.
There weren't many animals left. What few there were Kopa ordered to follow us. By the time we reached the mouth of the Gorge we had a small army behind us. The Gorge became an empty riverbed at its most northern point, which was now incredibly muddy and wet. The last animals poured out like a living river; some had already climbed the wet riverbanks and were running into the savannah. Many were cheering, whooping and crying out into the raining night. There was a feverish atmosphere in the air, not the least bit dampened by the swirling thunderclouds and heady heat of the summer rain.
We mounted the riverbanks, dragging our paws out of the mud, before plunging them back in to scramble up. We were dirty and tired when we made it onto the grass.
All of the lions threw themselves at the ground, breathing heavily, and soaking up the rain in sheer relief. The drops were like purifying tears, washing away the blood, dirt and pain.
"We made it." Kopa said to me, his head in the grass, but his eyes on me.
"We did." I said back, smiling.
Beside us, Rafiki stirred, and then his hand twitched.
"My staff…" He murmured. "Where is it?"
"Sorry, Rafiki. You'll have to make do with me for now." Zuberi told him kindly and moved so that the mandrill could support himself on his back. Rafiki used Zuberi's flank as a support so he could ease himself into a seated position.
"We've won, Rafiki." I told him.
"The river flows where it will." He replied. Zuberi and I nodded sagely, assuming this was a positive response. Rafiki sighed, his thin body drooped. "I think this year I must retire."
"Me too." Zuberi said dryly.
Rafiki's head snapped up. "What is it?" Zuberi asked him.
"We should move." He said, and, tiredly, we all did. Then I felt it, rather than heard it. A rumbling, a vibration under my very paws. It began as a small quake, until I could hear it roaring and splashing, and stampeding towards us like liquid, foaming wildebeest.
As we watched, a huge torrent burst from the Gorge and set the river running. Kopa who had been too close, had his tail soaked.
We were all staring.
And then we were laughing.
We were all shivering and bleeding and wet as the rain fell. But I held Kopa and cried."We won. We won. We won." Was all Kopa could say, in my ear, and I repeated it back.
We won.
It took most of the night to walk the way to Pride Rock. When we got there the shock of everything that had happened was somehow perfectly represented by the crumpled ruin of Pride Rock. It was worse than I had remembered. And in every direction the grass was brown and trampled as if by the feet of a thousand elephants. On top of the ruins I saw the fallen shape of a lion.
"It's Kanai." Kopa told me, when we climbed up the rocks to look. He was dead. Malika suddenly appeared from amongst the rubble. She looked terrible, she had not been in the battle but she was badly injured, her foreleg was mangled. Her eyes were dark from crying.
"I came back when the elephants ran…I was there with him when he passed." She told us. "He said thank you."
We bowed our heads in the darkness for Kanai. I wished I had seen him one more time in life. My best friend from cubhood. I couldn't cry. I knew there were going to be many dead. There were not enough tears in the world to cry for all who were lost this night. I looked back at the horizon. It was not morning yet, but I could feel it was fast approaching. My stomach clenched. I turned to Kopa and held him.
We continued to walk. We found some of the pride at the top of the ruin. Aziza, Nala, Simba, Sanura, Vitani, Zuberi and Malika. Pumbaa and Timon were also there. Bruised and battered, but alive.
"Where is everyone else?" Kopa asked.
They shook their heads in silence. Kopa looked away, and I saw he was holding back tears. I looked at Simba. His face was grieved. He took a deep breath. We both looked away.
"What now?" Vitani asked. "What do we do?"
"We say our goodbyes. We say our thanks. We pick ourselves back up and we rebuild our world, our home. Slowly. Painfully. But we will rebuild." Kopa said. "One day it will be better."
In the darkness I remembered: "The world may be dark now, just as it is every night. But, the darkness doesn't last forever. Eventually the sun must rise. Eventually the sky must brighten. And if it doesn't…at least the night is filled with stars. A million stars." I looked up. There they were. In every direction, as far, eternal and as infinite as the universe itself, I saw the stars twinkling down. The Great Kings.
Kopa looked up as well. Then, the whole Pride.
The night did not last forever. I was the first one to see the sun appear as a sliver on the horizon. The sky began to lighten rapidly. First, in deep colours of purple, navy and a brilliant red, and then into soft pinks, yellows and oranges. The clouds were lit up. The stars were dimmed as the majesty of the sun rose higher, spreading bright arms of light in every direction. Kopa's fur was orange in the light.
The sky opened up, and the land awoke, orange and glimmering. The rain had begun to evaporate from the night before, shrouding the land in a glowing haze. The sun was completely above the horizon now, a white eye watchful over the land. I could see everything clearly now, the trees and the grass, and the animals that were flocking en masse towards the Ruin.
It felt like the very first day in the world. The day we were all born. Blinking, into the sun. I didn't want to leave this world yet. This endless, infinite world. I looked at Kopa who was fiery now, his mane caught alight by the sun. Through despair and hope. Through faith and love.
"I love you, Kopa. Never forget that." I told him.
"I love you too, Meera." He said to me, smiling that soft smile.
Then the tears fell, for the last time, and I couldn't stop them.
"Those better be tears of happiness." Kopa said to me.
I shook my head. This was going to be difficult. I had hoped this moment wouldn't come…I didn't want to do this. "I don't want to leave you." I told him, and felt the tears falling harder than ever. My stomach was tight, clenched, my heart breaking.
"We'll always be together. There's nothing in our way now." He said, trying to comfort me. But it was me who should be comforting him.
"Kopa…I…lied…" The words were excrutiating. "We can't...be together..."
He looked confused, hurt. His eyes were shining in our first sunrise together that wasn't broken and covered with the shadow of my mistakes. But it was also our last.
"Merah?" I forced myself not to cry. I didn't want it to be the last thing he saw of me. He saw it now. That I was fading from this world. That I was not meant to be here. The dead would rise, but they would also fall…again.
"Merah!" He cries, in disbelief, but so does his mother. Both of us looked away as we heard Nala's gasp. I had known it would come at some point. Simba, too, is glowing as I am. Glowing softly beside the sunrise as he begins to fade in its light.
"Kopa," His father's face is sad.
He struggles to understand. I can see it in his face. Simba and I are glowing. Like a golden dust. We will blow away in the wind.
"I'm so proud of you, son." Simba whispers.
He stares at his father and then turns around to look at me, confused, and scared.
Somehow he understands. He is also crying. "Please don't leave me." I have to tell him. He needs to know that I never wanted to leave him.
"They only sent us back to save you." I say and I see my own paws disintegrate and glitter away into the wind. Like petals blowing into the breeze, or butterflies on the wind. She laughs sadly. He had to know. Because he is everything. "But I think you saved me."
I thought about everything that had happened. I thought about my entire life in only a matter of seconds. At first it felt sad, angry, lonely and then it changed, became powerful, strong, blazing like the sun. I knew it was time. I was ready for it. Even if he wasn't yet. The sun beamed. And then.
Then I prepared to leap. Into the next world and beyond. I don't think my mother named me right. I'm not bitter.
When you fight with every piece of your flesh, bone, muscle for what you want it's never bitterness that drives you. It's something more beautiful and rare than that. I did not hate as my parents had done before me. And it allowed me to be light, to be as free as the wind, to launch myself into the sky as any winged creature.
Then I flew. If birds could do it then I can.
"I love you. Please don't go…please…" He begs. It breaks every part of me. But they are calling, and I have promised.
"Dad, Meera, please no, somebody, stop, no please…Merah…" His voice says my name. My name. Hope.
"I love you." The wind whispers, and is gone.
Kopa collapsed. Sobbing. The light was bright over the new Pridelands. Kopa could only cry.
Nala moved beside him, rubbing her head into his mane. Her own face looked older than ever before, streaked with tears. There was blood on her cheeks, and one of her perfect ears had been torn. He fell against her, unable to keep standing.
They held each other tightly. On the ruin of their throne, at the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning they clutched the only thing they had left. Kopa felt something touch him, something soft, it broke through his pain, intensifying it and then soothing it. Sanura, her cheeks wet, had put her head to his mane.
"My King." She whispered, her voice hitched.
Malika joined her sister. "Kopa…my king." She bowed. Aziza. All bowed before Kopa. Zuberi and Vitani bowed. Vitani's eyes were streaming, Zuberi was keeping her up, but even as she supported herself she moved to touch heads with Kopa. "Long live the King." She murmured. "For her. Please."
Kopa wasn't sure who started it, but one of his pride roared. It was a mournful sound. A triumphant sound. It was the broken song of kings. Soon, the air was filled with it.
The wind picked up, blowing Kopa's mane along with it and tossing his tears into the emptiness. Even though it had the sharpest kind of pain, even though he was certain it was the single most difficult thing he ever had to do, he closed his eyes, and pulled himself together.
We say our goodbyes. We say our thanks. We pick ourselves back up and we rebuild our world, our home. Slowly. Painfully. But we will rebuild. One day it will be better.
He roared.
He stood proud, and looked over his land, and his pride, and his animals. The very soil and sky, and the earth were his, and he was theirs. He gave himself a moment, he thought of Meera and his father, of Nuka, of Dafina, Nina, Azima, Amani and Chumvi. He thought of the animals lost in the fighting. Of Zazu, of Kaidi, Layla, Radhi, Baya, and then he looked ahead, away from the past, into the light. It is time.
A/N: And that's that. I know it isn't a happy ending, but that's how I always saw it...I can't believe I'm at this point. The end. Thank you, every single one of you who read this, and to those who took the time to review and comment, thank you to you too. This was the very first, novel length fanfic that I ever finished, and to me, it's proved that I can do it. If I have to. Even if it does take about four years.
I have a small anecdote to finish off this final author's note. Today, when I opened the final red document to do my last check over and edit, I found that I had accidentally deleted all of my previous edits, which comprised about 3000 words of the final chapter. For the last two hours I have been frantically rewriting this and miraculously here it is. Sometimes I think if you want something too much the world conspires to make it harder for you to get. But it's here, it's posted, it's done!
Tomorrow, I'll post the epilogue, and also the illustrated ebook/pdf, which I promise will be really nice, so please take the time to download it, or at least have a look at some of the illustrations which you can find links to in my profile. This is Goatheart, hopefully ending Heir to the Throne off with a bang.
So long and thanks for all the fish! ;)