"When I have left this world and you feel lonely or afraid, look up to the stars. From up there, the great kings of the past are watching over us. And so will I." That his father had told him, when he had still been a cub. But the older Moyo grew, the less he believed his words, because the longer he lived, the clearer it got to him, that his father was anything but a great king. Chinjo was a cruel lion who ruled his pride with iron claws and fangs and punished everyone who dared to oppose him. He made sure, no one even thought about trying to leave the pride by intercepting the first lioness who dared an attempt and tore her to shreds in front of everyone's eyes. Moyo himself had mostly been spared by his father's cruelty, for he was meant to inherit his rank one day, but finally he could no longer stand aside and watch his pride suffer under its king. It was no easy task to convince the others that they had an actual chance to fight back but after lots of careful planning and with a good portion of luck their coup was successful. Together, with Moyo as their leader they ambushed him and – after he realized that there was no way he could win this fight – drove the fleeing king into the river. In the end no one could tell if he had already drowned, weakened by the blood loss when the crocodiles began to devour him or if they were the ones delivering the final blow but to the pride it didn't matter. The tyrant was dead and they were free at last.
Now, seven years later Moyo lay under a cloudless night sky watching the stars and if there was one thing, he could say for sure… it was that his father was anywhere but up there.
"Moyo?", a sleepy voice murmured by his side. "You're still awake?"
With a smile he loosened his eyes from the sight and looked at the lioness next to him. "I was just thinking about how beautiful the stars are", he answered and lowered his head to his forelegs, just so his nose was nearly touching hers. "And I was wondering how I managed to find something even more beautiful down here."
She gave him a smile and put a paw on his cheek. "Close your eyes and get some sleep. You're talking nonsense, dear."
He chuckled but then did as he was asked and soon, he was fast asleep. For exactly seven years it had been peaceful in his kingdom… until the next dawn.
It began with the morning report delivered by his majordomo, an aged hamerkop named Nyundo. Just like any other day, the bird landed at the king's feet and informed him about everything noteworthy that had happened since they last met. The only news was of a dead crocodile that had been washed up on the riverbanks. It had been quite a while since the last time that had happened but not unusual enough that he considered it necessary to investigate the occurrence any further. However, when only three days later a second crocodile was found dead, he at least had to go have a look at the animal. He followed Nyundo who led him to the corpse and began to inspect it. He couldn't find any external injuries – at least no recent ones – but when Moyo rolled it over to see if there were any on its belly, something strange happened. The maw of the beast opened and a gust of water came out of its lungs. Startled, Moyo stared at the crocodile. "Nyundo?", he asked. "Have you ever heard of a crocodile that drowned?"
"Of a crocodile that what?" Nyundo laughed. "I beg you pardon Sire, but that's ridiculous."
Moyo gave the bird a serious look. "But is it possible?"
"Well… surely", the bird admitted. "I mean, they're no fish after all. But it would definitely be the first time I hear about something like that."
Thoughtfully, Moyo inspected the crocodile once again. Then he shrugged. Maybe the water had just gotten in there after the crocodile had died. What did he know what happened to these creatures when they passed away under water? Nothing about it was hinting at a danger to his pride, if at all there was one less… or two if he counted the other crocodile from a few days ago. Surely nothing he had to worry about.
"But don't you worry?" Skeptically, the lioness looked at the two cubs that were running and playing around at the riverbank. With a paw she was still holding back her own from running to join her friends in their games.
"Two weeks ago, I would have", the other lioness admitted. "But now? No, the little ones should be allowed to have their fun. There is no trace of any crocodiles."
"See, mom?", her cub complained. "No crocodiles. Can I go play now?"
With a sigh, the lioness gave in. It was true. Nothing on this riverside even hinted at the presence of the predatory reptiles. And if she thought about it… actually, for days there hadn't been any signs that there were any crocodiles in this river at all. Even the antelopes and zebras who usually came to drink from this river seemed surprisingly calm lately while quenching their thirst. "Well, fine, Kota, go to your friends. But don't go too deep into the water, you hear me?"
"Yes, mom!", the little lioness promised and was already on her way to the other cubs where she was promptly greeted with a paw full of mud that nearly hid her in the face.
For a while the lionesses simply lay there enjoying the sun on their fur, while they watched the little ones. Kota's mother nearly managed to finally relax, as suddenly… She jumped at her feet. There was a dark shadow right beneath the surface that was moving towards the cubs who stood a paw deep in the river, happily splashing each other with water. "Kids, watch out!" She ran, hurried down the riverbank, reached the water and pounced, right as the shadow was no more than half a body length away from Kota.
With a surprised scream, the cubs scattered as the lioness splashed into the river. Claws unsheathed, she fully expected them to dig into the leathery scales of a crocodile and to push it back under the water. Instead, she herself made a sound of surprise as her paws reached the muddy ground and stopped her way sooner than she had thought they would. She nearly fell and hectically looked around, searching for whatever the source of the shadow could have been but except the mud she had whirled up in the water, there was nothing. She lifted a paw and the cubs began to giggle. A leaf. With one of her claws, she had impaled a leaf.
Apparently, her expression was quite funny, because by now, the cubs couldn't help it anymore and began laughing so hard, one of them nearly fell over. Finally, she joined in, at first out of relief and then of amusement too. She must have imagined the shadow. The water here was way too shallow for a crocodile to approach unnoticed. Maybe it had been the reflection of a cloud or something like that, that had play tricks on her mind.
"Kota… Kota, wake up!" Excitedly, the young lion tapped Kota's shoulder. And gain, and again. Night had fallen and actually, she had wanted to sleep, but apparently, her friends had other ideas. Muttering something her mother would have been shocked to hear coming from her daughter's mouth, she lifted her head.
"All right, all right, I'm awake", she murmured and gave Puo and Anasa questioning look. "What are you up to? Isn't it a little late?"
"Shush!" Puo, the little male lion put a claw on his lips. "We don't want your mom to wake up and accidentally kill any more innocent leaves." A soft giggle escaped him. "We want to go to the river… and swim through it! To the other side and back. No one has ever dared to do that before! At least that's what Gofu says."
"Yeah", whispered Anasa. "But now the crocodiles are gone, so we think he might do it now and we want to go first. He'll be so mad if he finds out we were there before him."
That indeed sounded promising. Gofu, one of the pride's older male cubs was a terrible showoff and something as cool as what her friends suggested before him would truly make him furious. But still…
"But my mom forbade me to go there alone", Kota remembered, what just lead to Puo rolling his eyes at her.
"Come on, don't be a scaredy-cat", he teased. "And we're going together, so actually none of us is alone."
A little reluctantly, Kota snuck after her friends, as they quietly left the pride's lair and hurried to the river.
Shortly after, the cubs scrambled down the river bank and stepped towards the water. The moon shone bright and reflected in on the surface, so they had no trouble seeing the other side.
"There, you see the rock up there?" Puo pointed at a boulder that lay a little elevated on a slop above the river. "We climb up there and pile up some rocks so we can prove we were there."
"Amazing idea!", Anasa agreed and looked at him expectantly. "Let's go!"
Slowly, Puo took some steps closer towards the water. Kota didn't miss, that he hesitated a few times and kept looking back to make sure they were following him. She grinned. As brave as Puo was trying to act, without the two of them he would never pull it off. With a sigh, she finally stepped into the water and followed him together with Anasa. They could wade a few steps, but soon they lost the ground beneath their feet and had no other choice than to paddle until they would reach the other side.
With their eyes fixed on their destination, none of the cubs noticed the dark shadow beneath the surface, that slowly moved towards them from the depth…
With a grin, Puo stepped out of the water and jumped up the slope before he turned and waited for Kota and Anasa to catch up with him. When they reached him, they all shook themselves to get rid of the water in their furs and looked around. None of them could hide their excitement anymore. Together they started gathering whatever small rocks they could find and piled them up on the bolder. On top of the little mountain they had created, they placed a piece of bark that each of them marked with a scratch. When their work was done, they triumphantly grinned at each other. There was no way, Gofu would be able to deny it. They had been here first. On the other side of the river and not just before him, but probably before anyone else as well. But now it was time for them to get home. Kota climbed down to the river had just stepped back into the water, when she noticed, that only Anasa was with her. She swam in a little arch to look for Puo, as suddenly, she heard his voice from above.
"Watch out down there, here I come!", he shouted and Kota raised her head just in time to see him jump straight of the bolder… before he landed right on top of her.
Everything went blurry before her eyes and turned into a flurry of bubbles, fur and paws. Then, out of nowhere there was the bottom of the river and a pair of dead eye sockets stared at her from between two rocks. She tried to scream, but instead of a sound, only a stream of bubbles left her mouth. Then she paddled upwards, as hard as she could. Her head burst out of the water and coughing, she gasped for air.
"Puo!", she heard Anasa snarl. "Are you crazy? You nearly killed her!"
"You idiot!", Kota joined in as soon as she was able to speak again and angrily swam towards the riverbank. "Why did you do that?"
"I… I'm sorry…", murmured the young lion. "I thought it would be funny… I didn't mean to hit you."
"Well, but you did!", Kota hissed without turning back to look at him. Still mad at him, she paddled onward, as suddenly…
"AH!", Anasa yelped and splashed forward in shock, kicking water in Kota's face.
"What's wrong?" Kota hurried, to catch up with her.
"Something touched my paws!", the small lioness cried, then her face darkened and she glared at Puo. "That was you, wasn't it?"
"Hey, no, that wasn't me!", the young male complained. "I'm back here, how could I…" He flinched and a hint of fear appeared on his face.
Kota turned around just at the right moment so see the water turn dark, as if a shadow had fallen over him… a shadow under a cloudless sky. The cub's eyes widened in terror, then suddenly, he was dragged down into depth and swallowed up by the black water. Screaming, she paddled as fast as she could towards the riverbank and crawled out of the water, with Anasa right beside her. "Puo!" She turned around and stared at the river. "Puo, where are you?" But no matter how often she shouted her friend's name… there was no answer.
One more time he took a deep breath, then, with his head hung low, Moyo approached Puo's mother to deliver the terrible news. Last night, the pride had been awakened by the screams of two cubs. Together with Kota and Anasa, Puo had snuck to the river to swim to the other side… and only the two young lionesses had returned, shivering in terror and screaming for help. The whole pride had instantly rushed to search the river, but found not a sign of the missing cub. Only when the new day was dawning, Nyundo had found the little body downstream, caught in the low hanging branches of a bush pulled it out. Now it was Moyo's duty to hand the small lion over to his mother, so she could take her farewell.
Hours later, the wailing of the lioness was still sounding in his ears, while he and Nyundo marched up and down the river trying to figure out what had happened to Puo.
"He must have gotten a paw tangled up in some water plants", the hamerkop guessed. "Or he was caught by a current that dragged him down… we can consider us lucky, that the other two made it back to land unharmed."
"You're probably right." Moyo sighed. He decided to set up a rule for cubs to only be allowed to go to the river if accompanied by an adult and for all those to ensure the little ones would follow it. He could only hope that would prevent any more tragedies like this one.
Tears shrouded his sight as he lowered himself to the wet ground at the riverbank… Here they had found his son, caught in the branches of one of the bushes that hung over the river. Puo had been the best that had ever happened to him, better even than that Moyo had allowed him what he had longed for for years, to join his pride and to be with the lioness he loved. But now he was gone forever… his son was dead. Crying, the lion raised his eyes towards the stars could and nearly feel the stream of his tears raising the river's water until it rushed around his paws. A second later, he lowered his eyes and blinked… No, he hadn't imagined it. The river had grown indeed. But how was that possible…?
A dark shadow rushed towards him, right below the surface. He wanted to jump up but before he could react, the water splashed. Sharp claws dug into his paws and nailed him to the ground, holding him right where he was. With rising terror, he looked at them. They were nearly translucent and seemed to emerge right from the water, that was still slowly rising. Again, he tried to break free, but the claws only dug deeper into him. He yowled in pain. Higher and higher the river rose until it nearly reached his chin. Then suddenly, the dark shape of a face rose from the water, looking down at him with a malicious grin… and he disappeared beneath the water.
It was one thing when a cub drowned in the river. A tragedy in any way, but nothing unnatural or unexplainable by any lion's understanding. A full-grown lion on the other hand, that lay on the riverbank as if he had not even stepped into the water… that was something different. It was years in the past, that Moto had accepted the former rogue into his pride. He had always been a thorn in his father's side and to him it seemed to be the perfect chance to proof, that he would be a better ruler than the old tyrant, so he invited him into the pride, thus gifting him and the lioness he was in love with a future together. But here he lay now. It didn't take much to figure out that the lion had drowned but there were no clues that made it seem like he had entered the water somewhere upstream and washed up here later. Moyo was baffled and even Nyundo could think of anything that could have happened.
"Be so kind and go search for the old Ulozi", he said to the bird. "I want her to have a look at him. Maybe she'll find something that we're missing."
The hamerkop bowed and lifted into the air to find the pride's shaman.
When Nyundo returned with the old baboon lady, it was already getting late. Without a word and with sadness in her eyes she began to gently examine the body. She as well came to the conclusion, that the lion had drowned but like the others she had no explanation for how it could have happened… until her eyes fell onto the dead lion's paws. Carefully, she took them in her hands and felt them. Then her expression darkened. With her hands she dug a small hole in the ground not even an arm's length away from the corpse and rubbed the earth between her fingers. "The ground here is soaked", she noticed. "It seems the river rose until it reached…" She took some steps where she dug another hole. "At least up here. That's even higher than this river grows even when it's rainy season… Have you seen his paws? It looks like… something… someone was holding him in place, while the water rose around him."
"This is crazy…" Moyo was anything but convinced. "Who should have done that? A crocodile? There are no more crocodiles in this river, we've checked that more than twice."
"No crocodile." With an ominous look the monkey stared into the river's deep water. "Shetani…" she murmured.
"What did you say?" Moyo hadn't understood what the old one had said. Was it a name?
"You know the tales about the great kings of the past, don't you?", she asked instead of answering him.
"Of course. Every lion knows them. The great kings of the past, watching over us from the stars, though it didn't really help this poor fella or his son."
Ulozi nodded, without any reaction to his comment. "And did they also tell you what happens to those who spend their lives with malice and tyranny? Of Shetani?"
He shook his head. "No, but I don't see how some old story is going to help us with…"
"Your father."
The monkey's words struck him as if she had beaten him with her stick.
"Your father killed this lion. Him and his son."
"No", Moyo managed to say after he swallowed hard. "My father is dead."
"That he is." Dead serious, Ulozi put a hand on his shoulder. "And yet, he is not gone."
Enraged, Moyo snorted and shook her off. "Spare with this 'he lives in you' bullshit! I had nothing to do with their deaths, if that's what you're hinting at. I liked him and I'd never sink so low that I'd hurt a cub!"
"That's not what I meant." Ulozi shook her head. "But in a way, you understood me correctly. Your father may be dead, but still, he lives on. Here in this river."
"That is ridiculous." With a growl he turned around to leave. He'd heard enough from this babbling old monkey. Fairy tales wouldn't get him anywhere.
"Listen to me, Moyo!", Ulozi hissed and with a leap the lion would never have expected from a baboon her age, she was in front of him, raised her staff and blocked his path. "The old tales tell us of kings who have been good in life and earned their place among the stars. They are those we like to tell our young ones when we put them to sleep. But there are others, of terrible and cruel creatures who brought sorrow and death over those who stood in their way. Of creatures like your father, so evil that even in death they haunt the land they once walked. We don't find them in the stars, but in the destructive forces of nature, like in fire or rarer, but not impossible, in the water. We call them Shetani and exactly that is what your father has become when he died in this river!"
Now Moyo had enough. "You seriously want me to belief that my father has risen from the dead, took control over the river and is now randomly drowning lions in there? That is madness! No, you can't expect me to belief that and there's no way I'm going to deliver that to my pride as an explanation for the lions we've lost!"
"I'm begging you, listen to my words!", Ulozi tried one last time, while the enraged Moyo stormed off. "Stay away from this river! It's just going to get worse if he isn't stopped!" But Moyo didn't answer. He was already too far away.
From their hiding spot behind some bushes, Kota and Anasa saw the old monkey helplessly leaning onto her staff, before she left the scene as well. Frozen in fear they looked at each other. For them, there were no doubts, that what Ulozi had said was true. The old tyrant, Moyo's father who had ruled this land before they were even born had returned as a Shetani. And he was determined to get his bloody revenge…
Night had fallen once again, but today there were clouds that hung like a curtain on the sky, dimming the light of the stars, that had shone onto him since the day he had returned as to mock him. A gurgling growl escaped his throat. With every life he had ended, he had felt stronger, more like himself, not that shapeless figure that he had initially believed he had been damned to exist as. And then, yesterday for the first time after years, he had unsheathed his claws again and buried them in his prey. What had this pathetic rogue thought he was doing, settling on his old territory and starting a family? It was his right, no, his duty to erase him and his spawn from the land that was rightfully his! And what had his useless son thought he was doing when he allowed such an audacity? But he would show them what it meant to betray him! Slowly, he slid towards the riverbank and lifted a paw from the water. Just as it had in the last night, it rose out and above the surface and again euphoria rushed through him. His second paw followed and he managed to pull his whole body out of the water… He stood. He had finally left the river! Carefully, he took a step forward. The earth beneath his feet got wet and soaked with water, but the river didn't hold him back anymore, as it had in the nights before. He took another step and then another. Further and further he went, away from the river and towards the place where he expected to find his prey…
Kota had slept terribly. In her nightmares she had been at the river. She had been at the riverbank and watched Puo's panicked attempts to swim towards her though he didn't get any closer no matter how hard he tried. "Kota, Kota, help me!", he had shouted, but she couldn't move. The only think she could do was to watch, as the dark shadow came closer and closer and then rose from the water and crashed down on her friend, dragging him down with it into the depth. She went to look for Anasa to distract herself, but whatever they tried, hide and seek, tag, playing pride… without Puo, it all just wasn't the same. And even darker than the loss of their friend, the shadow of the monster that had taken him from them was looming over them. The Shetani.
"And the king doesn't even try to chase him off", Anasa said. Again, their thoughts had found their way back to the dead tyrant, despite their attempts to play one of their games.
"He doesn't even belief he exists…", Kota interjected. "If only we could…" She stopped. With one of her paws, she had stepped into a puddle. Startled, she looked at the sky. There were no clouds and as far as she remembered, no rain had fallen this night. She took a closer look and jumped back with a yelp. That was no ordinary puddle. It was a pawprint filled with brackish water!
"Come on, that's nonsense!" Sternly, the king looked at the two shivering cubs who sat between their mothers' legs. "There is no such thing as a Shetani! That's just a horror story. Where did you even get this idea? Please don't tell me Ulozi told you that?"
Kota and Anasa quickly glanced at each other and then shook their heads in unison. They didn't want the shaman to get in any more trouble with the king, she had always been nice to them. And it wasn't even a lie. She had told him, not them. They had been eavesdropping and you couldn't tell anyone anything if you didn't know they were there. That however didn't stop them from insisting on the truth behind their story.
"But the pawprints are real!", Anasa tried again. "We can show them to you! The Shetani must have made them, really!"
The king sighed and looked at their parents. Most likely it was the concern in their faces and not Anasa's persuasion skills that finally convinced him to have a look at the tracks. But as he saw for himself, what they had found, Kota was sure that even he seemed alerted.
"See? We were telling the truth!", Anasa shouted. "The Shetani came out of the river all the way here! Please, you have to ask Ulozi how to stop him or he'll kill us all when he comes back!"
"I… there has to be another explanation! It…" The king's eyes met the cubs' pleading looks. "Ok, ok. I'll tell Nyundo to have an eye on the river tonight. If he actually witnesses an undead lion rising from it, I'll be more than willing to listen to Ulozi's tales. Then and only then, you got that? And until tonight I'll be searching this area to see, if there isn't some rogue roaming around who just played an incredibly bad and cruel prank on us."
"But maybe that's too late! Please, if he…"
"That is my last word, kids!" With that Moyo turned around and began calling for Nyundo, who he sent out to scout for any strangers that might be in their territory.
That night, Anasa and Kota didn't sleep in the pride's lair. They begged and pleaded until their mothers gave them permission to spend the night at Ulozi's tree that stood only a short walk away from their home and before the sun had vanished from the sky the two had reached it.
Finally, his time had come. One more time the sun had set and clouds had gathered over the land as if to follow his commands. And again, he had felt stronger than the night before, strong enough to do, what he had failed at yesterday. He was just about to rise from the water, as he noticed a movement from above. Just below the surface, he watched, as a bird circled over the river and after a while settled on a branch on the riverbank. A bird, he knew all too well.
"Nyundo", he growled a little bit louder than he had intended and the hamerkop froze. Then he looked around with a startled expression.
An idea began to form in the old king's head and he chuckled softly. Slowly and without a sound he moved to a place where lots of reed would provide excellent cover for him. Then he spoke the name again.
"Who's there?", he heard the bird's voice after he had called for him one more time. Then Nyundo jumped down from his branch and stared into the reeds. "Children? If that's you and this is supposed to be some sort of joke, you little ladies are in some serious…"
That was all he could say before with a flash of water, the old king rushed out of hiding. His jaws closed around the bird that was wildly beating its wings to escape. He threw his head around and with a satisfying crack of his spine, the majordomo, who had so eagerly accepted his treacherous son as his new master, went limb. Pleased by his first successful hunt for this night, he tossed the body into the river, where it was carried off by the current. With a grin he spat out some feathers and set off into the night. Strengthened like this he had no doubts that he would reach his goal tonight and teach his old pride a final lesson.
Cuddled up closely, Kota and Anasa lay in front of Ulozi and listened to her story, while she pointed out the fitting pictures on the wall behind her. Shivers ran through them but they both knew that the tale was too important for them to risk, that she would stop telling it to them, by admitting they that they were afraid. Luckily, the story was about to reach its climax. The hero was a young lion who had been forced to fight the Shetani of a cruel hyena matriarch that was terrorizing his pride even after she had died in a wildfire. He had fought bravely but as it now turned out, it was all thanks to a small and fearful jackal that the story concluded in a happy ending. She had dug up the hyena's leg bone from the ashes of the fire and cracked it. Only after that, the lion had been able to kill the flaming hyena, who had vanished into smoke.
"So, there is still a bone of Moyo's dad laying around somewhere that we have to break to defeat him?", Anasa concluded, after Ulozi had finished her story.
"I think so", said the shaman and nodded. "Most likely somewhere in the river. Something, the crocodiles left over or missed. But who knows where exactly it is?" She sighed. "You should sleep now. The night is not the time to dive for bones and most certainly that is no task for two little lionesses. Come here." She opened her arms invitingly and the cubs snuggled up to her, hoping they would somehow be able to get some sleep tonight.
Slowly and carefully, he put one paw in front of the other as he stalked through the sleeping lions. The soft sound of the drops of water occasionally falling off his body was the only sound beside the even breaths of the pride. There she was, still as beautiful as the day he had first seen her. But what was it, his grandfather had always said? Betrayal had a pretty face. Step by step he came closer until he was right beside her. Then he lowered his head to her face. Her eyelids twitched as drops of water fell on her fur.
A voice sounded right in her ear, a voice, she hadn't heard in years. A voice, she had though she had never had to hear again.
"Hello, my love."
Her eyes flashed open but it was too late. Strong jaws closed around her neck and silenced the call for help she had wanted to scream. Locked in his fangs she was torn off her sleeping spot and her paw kicked into empty air. Instantly her fur was soaked as if heavy rain had suddenly fallen on her. She lashed out with her claws but there was nothing she could do to escape his grasp. He bit down and she felt cold fangs piercing her throat and water pouring down into her lungs. Then, he let go of her and she dropped to the ground. A wordless cry for help formed on her lips but instead she only managed to gurgle up some water mixed with blood.
The last thing she saw, was the shimmering shape of her former mate and king staring down on her with bared teeth.
"Did you miss me?", she heard him ask, before everything went dark.
A roar forced Moyo out of sleep and he jumped up. Panic rushed through his veins as he saw the figure looming over the lifeless body of his mother, its jaws open wide. Blood and water were dripping from its teeth like salvia from the fangs of a rabid hyena. Frozen in fear he stood there as the creature looked straight at him and stepped over the corpse. It was definitely a lion, though his body was nearly translucent and dripping as if formed out of water. His mane was dark and in the few moonlight that fell through the clouds it seemed to be formed from brackish water with mud whirling around in it. But the lion's face was all too familiar and the realization struck him nearly as hard as the sight of his dead mother. Ulozi had been right. Here he stood… his father!
"Surprised to see me, boy?" With malice glittering in his eyes, the Shetani moved toward him, while the lionesses, who had been awakened by his roar backed away from him in a panic. "I got to say… I'm very disappointed to see what you have made of my heritage… Though I have to admit that I never thought you had the balls to turn on me in such a way… But I wasn't willing to step down already, and I still am not! Looks like there are still lots of matters I have to attend to!"
Fighting against the rising panic, Moyo steadied himself. Then he made a decision. "Run!", he shouted. "Run, as far away from the river as you can get!" And he lunged at his father, just as he had done it all those years ago.
Kota had not been fully asleep when the roar of a lion tore through the silence of the night. Anasa and Ulozi as well were wide awake in an instant.
"There he is!", the shaman gasped and clutched her staff in her hands with such a force, Kota nearly expected it to break.
Another roar sounded and other fighting noises could be heard, coming from the lions' lair.
Terrified, Anasa jumped up. "No! My mom is down there!", she screamed and tried to clamber down the tree trunk, but was stopped as the monkey rushed forward and grabbed her, with a speed none of them would have expected of her. "There is nothing you can do to oppose him", she said, holding on to the cub tightly. "Now there is nothing we can do to help your parents. It's too late!"
Kota jumped to the tree's edge and stared through the darkness trying to make out what was happening in the distance. This couldn't be! There had to be something they could do, there just had to! And then it came to her. There, down in the river when Puo had jumped down on her and she had been pressed underwater… Ulozi was wrong. There was something they could do!
"I know where we must go!", she shouted over Anasa's wailing, who still in Ulozi's arms had started to cry.
With one of her hands, the shaman reached out for Kota. "Kota, please, belief me, if you run in there right now…"
"That's not what I mean! I know where it is! The bone!" And with that, she jumped off the tree.
Never in her live, she had run this fast. As fast as she could, Kota rushed through the savanna, Anasa and Ulozi close behind her. They reached the riverbank. There it was, on the other side of the river. The bolder Puo had jumped down of. Panting, Anasa and Ulozi stopped right behind her.
"We have to get over there, right below that bolder!" Her claws dug into the earth below her. There were feathers. In front of some thick reeds there were feathers, like those of a hamerkop. Nyundo… She blinked a tear from her eye, swallowed her fear and jumped into the river. She felt relief when she noticed, that the others were following her to swim beside her. When she reached the spot she had aimed for, she took a deep breath and dove. Water and bubbles surrounded her, just as on that day only the pressure frmm above was missing, so she had to fight to reach the bottom of the river. She forced her eyes open and searched the ground. And there it was. Locked between two rocks lay the skull of a lion. She paddled towards it and tried to pull it free, but without success. She managed to loosen one of the rocks but then she couldn't help but to return to the surface, where she gasped for air, once, twice and dove again. The skull was free and just in time she managed to grab it, before the current carried it away downstream. Then she surfaced again and hurried toward the land.
"That… that was incredible! How did you know…? Oh, doesn't matter!", the shaman gasped and took the skull from Kota. "But now we have to…"
"There are rocks up there!", Anasa panted and struggled to get up to the bolder. "You can use them to smash it! Hurry!"
They all rushed up to the pile of rocks, Kota and Anasa had built together with Puo when they had come here for the first time. Ulozi placed the skull right in front of it and reached for the largest rock in the structure. Then she lifted it high over her head and with a scream, smashed it down on the bone.
Groaning, Moyo got up.
"Pathetic. To think that I once expected you to take my place one day", his father mocked him. "I should have gotten rid of you long ago, but now I'll fix that!" With his dripping teeth bared, the Shetani crouched, ready to strike.
Moyo braced himself for the final attack. By now he knew, there was no way he could stop this monster. Whenever he had thought he had wounded the beast, the water had just molten together again as if nothing had happened at all. And now he was too exhausted to withstand another full-on attack. But at least, his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. The rest of the pride had escaped, he had managed to stop his father from killing even one more lion.
The Shetani pounced and Moyo felt his teeth digging into his side. He roared and tried to get free, as suddenly, his father let go of him and stumbled back.
"What the…?" The monster flinched and then began to scream as if in incredible pain, fell to the ground and held its head with its paws.
With his last remaining strength, Moyo flung himself at him. His teeth went through the Shetani's muddy mane, closed around his neck and bit down.
One last time, his father yowled. Then the beast dissolved until nothing was left but a big puddle full of brackish water.
Panting, Moyo stood there. He had done it. He had done it… And quietly, the victorious king sank to the ground.
With her eyes wide open, Kota stared at the crushed remains of the skull. Then, Anasa asked the question, they all had their minds fixed on.
"Did it work?"
Ulozi put a finger on her lips, then cupped a hand behind one of her ears and listened. The cubs followed her example… and there was only silence. Al the noises and roars were gone.
"I think, we should risk it and go see", the baboon decided and together, they went on their way back.
When they reached the lair, they found it empty. Only a lion lay there in a huge puddle of water, blood and mud. The Shetani was nowhere to be seen. Together, Kota and Anasa ran toward the motionless body.
"Oh no, is he…?" Carefully, Anasa placed one of her paws on Moyo's. Kota came closer too and softly brushed against the king's nose with her snout.
A soft gust of air stroked her fur, as Moyo exhaled with a rattling noise. Then one of his eyelids opened and he managed a weak smile when he noticed the cubs. "Oh… you two…", he whispered. "You're all right. Thank the great kings…"
"He's alive!", Kota sobbed happily and rose to hug the wounded lion's snout.
"It was close", Moyo groaned. "Ow… ow, please stop that."
"My king…" Ulozi came to them and bowed. "You did it. You and these two cubs." She pointed at Kota and Anasa. "They found what was left of your father in this world and destroyed it."
"So, that was you? When he suddenly looked like someone had smashed his head in?"
"Yeah, exactly", Anasa half laughed and half sniveled and wiped some tears from her eyes. "That was us."
"Thank you." Breathing heavily, the king smiled at them. "Looks like you saved me…" He struggled to get up and the cubs did what they could to help him. "Let's… let's go find your parents and tell them it's safe now… and who our little heroes are…"
Slowly and supported by Kota and Anasa he limped into the direction where the pride had fled.
The king's praise filled the little lionesses with a pleasant warmth, but Kota knew it had not been only thanks to them that they had managed to find the dead king's skull and stop the Shetani. When they left their lair, she looked over her shoulder, back at the river where the first light of the rising sun could be spotted. For a moment, she simply enjoyed the sight and then whispered: "Thank you, Puo…"
AN: It is a little late, but here it is, my second Lion King horror story. Actually it was written last year and today I just finally managed to motivate myself to translate it (and to be honest, I just hope I didn't butcher it in doing so...). However, I still hope, you enjoyed it. Happy Halloween!
Btw. The amazing cover I got for this story was drawn by JuaTheLion on DeviantArt and I simply love how it turned out!
