Shadowland

Chapter 12

The Rise

I am not Walter Disney, nor am I related to Disney in any way. The characters Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, Kiara, Kovu, Zira, Vitani, Nuka, Sarafina, Zazu, Scar, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed belong to Disney. Mohatu and Thembi belong to other people. All characters in this story, not mentioned here are my own creations.

Shadowland, Chapter 12: 'The Rise' is property of Troy Wong, and is not to be resold or posted on any other site without my permission.

"So prepare for the chance of a lifetime.

Be prepared for sensational news.

A shining new era is tiptoeing nearer.

… Be prepared."

-Scar the Deceiver,

Evil Brother of King Mufasa the Great.

Two more days had come and gone. The Amber Resistance, as it had come to be known, had gathered and united almost the entire valley. It was an amazing, surreal sight to look upon them, gathered around each other. Antelope stood by lion. Zebra stood by elephant. Crocodile lay by hippopotamus. They had learnt to put aside their stomachs and fears, for once.

When their cause was explained to all the creatures, great and small, there were few who could refuse.

One of these was the only leopard the rhinoceroses had come across. He had already ignored the lions with 'silent dignity', as he called it, and didn't go much further for the next ones that came to him.

"Why should I, Diego the mighty leopard, help anyone else?"

"Well, because it's for the good of the valley."

"What if I don't care about the valley?"

"You don't care about the valley?

"You care about the valley?"

The Mesa meerkats also did not join the Resistance. They had hid when the lions approached them, and they had run when the elephants did. Whoever was sent to chase them down, whether they were birds, or antelope, or giraffe, or cheetah, the rodents simply hid themselves away in fear.

The wild dogs were slightly different in their behaviour. They reluctantly agreed to help the lions at first, but when they saw that the crocodiles and hippopotami had joined, the creatures that had been preventing them from drinking the clean and conveniently close water of Utopia Lake for as long as they could remember, they withdrew their statements and went home.

There were several others that had not joined, but that was simply because they could not be located in the large area.

The Amber Resistance now had more than four hundred strong; over a hundred wildebeests that were a tiny herd compared to others of their kind in distant lands, sixty-two giraffes of seven different traveling groups and fifty-one antelopes, seventy-six zebras, also a small group. As well as that, there were nineteen hippopotami, three rhinoceroses, sixteen elephants, twenty-five crocodiles, one mandrill, eighteen monkeys, countless birds and reptiles, and a handful of others.

Among these, there were five seers, two shamans and four witch doctors. Surely Torres could not win, now.

In Shadowland, the plans and arrangements had been settled. A war had been brewed, and the next day, at midnight, it would begin. One hundred and twenty-three hyenas, with the aid of two lions would soon battle ten powerful mandrill shamans.

However, the hyenas were about to receive one more soldier to fight for them. None of them knew it, including the lions. Neither did their cruel masters. This person would seek Sapphire late one night, and as a result, she would receive the shock of her life.

xxx

Fighting, fighting. The sound of roaring and barking echoes everywhere. The sound of timber against flesh will not stop. Cries of agony mixed with screams of triumph surround all.

Fighting the battle against the tyrants- me; Sapphire, Coyle, Kalandro, Rae, and Orion, slaying one as I turn and catch a glimpse of him.

And Orion?

"Orion!"

Sapphire stirred from her sleep. Her eyelids gently slid open into slits, then full, wide circles. Trying as hard as she could not to make any noise, not to wake up the others, she got herself into a sitting position and looked around herself. To her right, lay Coyle, sleeping soundly. A couple a metres in front of her slept Rae and Kalandro, both resting deathly still.

Sapphire let out a muffled cry. For a moment, she could have sworn that she saw blood pouring from open wounds in their sides. But it was just another trick that her eyes had played on her. On closer inspection, they were indeed breathing- just very faintly.

She realised that she was panting. Then she remembered that she had been having a strange, almost nightmarish dream before she woke up. That was why.

Then, she remembered the dream she had, back in the small cave in the Grey Mountains, and many times before and after that. They had been happening less and less frequently lately, but she still saw them clearly.

"Who are you?" she shouted at the thing that stood in front of her. Her voice echoed in a surreal way as it shot like a bullet through the air, out into the distance. The sky flashed white again, like the brightest bolt of lightning you've ever seen, though no sound came. That shadowy being in front of Sapphire grinned an evil grin. Its teeth were so white that she could hardly open her eyes while looking at them. She had trouble even facing them.

"The question is not who I am, dear Sapphire…" it replied after what seemed like an eternity. "… The question is when I'll strike, and what I'll do…" the shadowy figure laughed as the storm angered again, rain pouring down, thunder and lightning booming, and gales sweeping in from all directions, or did the storm anger as the thing laughed?

For some strange reason, Sapphire was momentarily blinded. Not by a bolt of lightning, but instantly, seemingly caused by nothing. During those few long seconds was she most terrified, for what she heard was beyond explanation. What she heard was terror at its purest, and that cannot be described using words.

When she regained her vision, she found that the thing once standing in front of her was gone. "Where are you?" she called out, her tone of voice easily revealing her state of mind: petrified.

"I'm right beside you." That creature's voice boomed back at her. Before she could turn to her side to see it glaring down at her, the shadow struck her down, then grabbed her, and threw her over the cliff, into the gorge, down below, falling, falling, falling down into the eternal darkness.

She jolted slightly at the unpleasant memory of it all.

Sapphire knew very well, without even trying, that she would not be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. So she rose to her feet and scanned the landscape, trying to decide where she would go.

"I'll walk up the river." she breathed to herself, as she began to stroll away.

The serene flowing noises of the river did a great deal to soothe her as she wandered up north, using it as a path. After ten minutes it had done its work- she was tired enough to return to her sleep now, but there was the problem of the long walk back downstream. Her head was heavy. Most of her wanted to set down right there and doze off peacefully, but a smaller, safer, smarter part of her made her realise that the land she was taking refuge in was a foreign land, and if any danger were to arise, she would not have anyone to help her fight it off.

Shaking her head vigorously, as if to get rid of the fatigue, she turned and began to make her way back down to where her three companions were.

Then, she heard a voice calling her name. It was soft and welcoming, like the sight of a cottage in the woods that you could rest in, after days of sleepless traveling. Just like a cottage, it called her closer. Not only that, but it was familiar, too. So familiar that at first, she thought it was Coyle. But, of course, it was not. She was too tired to think for herself who it really was.

So she looked for its source. Casting away her better judgment to return to Coyle, she began to search. She looked everywhere around her, in the wake of every boulder, in every ditch, and behind every tree. She rummaged around for it for an hour, and at times, she felt she would collapse from exhaustion. But she went on. Why was this so important to her? She did not know. She knew only of what she was doing, there and then.

At last, she came to a great tree of titanic proportions. The tree grew no leaves; all it had were a mass of naked branches at its top. The boughs were like curious, slithering snakes that were making their way away from the trunk.

She reached the base, the voice still calling her, piercing her mind. She took a moment to amble up one of the huge roots that belonged to the tree, bulging out for the ground. Closer now, she could see that the trunk was smooth and pleasant to touch. Looking up from where she was, the branches above were of so many that they almost looked like a patterned ceiling.

Then, she realised that she had seen a tree like this before. It was unrecognizable, until now, because it had no leaves. But there was one just like it back in Amber Valley, by Ivory Cliff.

It was a mighty baobab tree.

The voice grew louder. It was coming closer. She felt something tap her on the shoulder, and with a shriek, she fell off the root she stood on, onto the ground, on her back.

Fizzles, sparkles and stars filled her eyes for a moment. She heard the voice calling her name again. Now it was much clearer. 'It must be right above me!' she thought to herself, with a sense of panic. She blinked, and blinked again. Only then did her vision return to her.

Standing tall above her, looking down on her face, was Orion.

xxx

Daeon woke suddenly to the sounds of yelling and screaming as he felt himself being thrown to the ground by invisible forces. Rolling to his back with a moan, straining to see through the dark, he finally distinguished Torres' face above him, twisted into a vile grimace. He saw the lion's arm hovering up in the air, claws at the ready, about to strike.

Then he heard a roar of rage. Before he knew it, Torres was off him, and on the ground, tackled down by Ryun. Daeon got up quickly. He saw everyone, the whole resistance, standing around them in a huge circle. Torres was trapped inside.

He also saw the more important matter that Ryun was struggling to keep his attacker down. He ran over to help her, roaring as she had done to intimidate the enemy, pouncing onto Torres and landing with a thud.

"No, Daeon! Stay away! He is dangerous!" he heard Ryun scream. But he ignored her warning. This person had to be dealt with.

Why was no one else helping? And, furthermore, why were some of them backing away? Had they an army of cowards on their hands?

Ryun was tossed heavily to the ground, and was Daeon. Torres growled in triumph. Daeon struggled to get up. As he tried to move both his right limbs, he felt a sharp, internal pain. He could not get up. The agony was too great. All he could do was turn to see Ryun, laying there, doing nothing but breathing weakly, as the tyrant strode triumphantly over to her.

Out of the crowd ran a young wildebeest. As she escaped from the circle to join the fray, friends and family members called her name, 'Kyomaraju', in protest of her risky decision, but she did not change her mind.

"Stop!" she boomed, in a surprisingly loud voice.

Torres halted at the sound, and turned to face her. He smiled maliciously as the thought of killing a child entered his mind. "What would a feeble wildebeest child like you have that would stop me in my tracks?" he asked scornfully, as he carefully observed the limp that Kyomaraju sported in one of her hind legs as she walked forward.

She said nothing. She just approached him steadily and bravely.

Torres focused on her with his magic. At any moment, winds would blow in from behind him, sweeping her up, off her feet, back to where she came from. But as seconds wasted, nothing happened. He looked at her face. It showed her toil. To his unpleasant surprise, the tyrant realised that the girl was countering his own spell. Nothing was happening. And both of them pressed on.

xxx

"Orion?" exclaimed Sapphire in disbelief.

Orion nodded solemnly and smiled gently. "Did you miss me?"

Sapphire got up and stared at him, eyes wide open, mouth gaping. "But… But you're dead! I saw you! You were crushed in the caves!"

The lion seemed to cringe a little at the thought. "I know." he replied at last. "But I met someone… Or rather, 'something' that gave me life."

"What?"

"A lion. His face appeared to me while I was falling. He-" answered Orion, casually.

"While you were falling?" Sapphire broke in. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I was just falling. Then he appeared to me, and said that he could save me if I did him a few favours."

"So you accepted…?"

"Hey, I'm standing here in front of you, aren't I?"

Sapphire was about to say something in return, but then, with a look of horror, she remembered something she had seen on her first day in Shadowland.

He glanced at her for silence, looking squarely at the walls behind him. Upon one of the walls stood a shadowy figure. Sapphire turned to look at it as well. The moment she laid eyes on it, she felt a sense of comfort, as well as a chill. What was this thing?

It sent shivers down her spine. Then it ducked down behind the stones and disappeared. The two lions turned away, not knowing what to expect next.

They had not walked for a minute into Shadowland before the ground began to shake furiously and abruptly. Towering fortifications began to; quite literally, disintegrate into sand that poured down into the path, which began to fill up like a puddle trying to manage a whole lake of water.

Sapphire stared at the dust as it plunged to the ground dangerously close to her in large portions. Her eyes grew large with fear.

"How did you enter this land, Orion?" she questioned.

Orion opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. He paused for a moment with a puzzled look on his face. Then he answered, "I can't remember."

With those three words, everything fell into place. Sapphire remembered an image that she had seen moments after the walls of Shadowland were collapsing.

She turned back one last time, to the entrance. Deep inside, she knew that this passage would be closed to her forever. She could no longer return.

And she spotted something else, too. Standing atop some elevated, natural tower, she saw a lion with eyes glowing red like frenzying fires. One moment passed, before finally taking after Coyle, and running.

"Hey, what's with the look?" he asked, seeing that Sapphire suddenly didn't look too comfortable in his company. "Am I scaring you?"

Sapphire shook her head from side to side. "No. It's just that…"

"Yes?"

"No, nothing. Don't worry."

Orion waited for a moment. "Alright then." He walked around Sapphire, observing the tree, observing his surroundings. "Where have you been? What've you been doing?"

"I've been sleeping by the river with Coyle and two others that I came across in this land." she replied.

"Alright then."

"But there is something you don't know about. There's going to be a war at that rock tomorrow, at midnight." she told him, facing Lava Den in the distance. "This land is dangerous. We have to be careful here…"

"A war?" asked Orion disbelievingly, yet somewhat excited.

Sapphire nodded. "Coyle and I are leading it."

"What? I take my eyes of you for five minutes and-"

"You don't understand. These creatures that live in this land have cruel masters that starve them of food and keep them from drinking water. That's who we're fighting. We're fighting for their freedom." she explained.

"I see…" he replied, soaking up everything that had just been said like a sponge soaking up water. "So, I guess I've gotta help you."

"Help me what?"

"Help you fight the war, Sapphire."

Sapphire didn't know what to say. She was worried about this 'spirit' that Orion had told her about. It was the spirit that had corrupted Torres. It was the spirit that had possessed the bird, causing the earthquake on the stone path. Now it was out to get Orion. And it was inside him at that very moment, living off him like he was its vessel. She just nodded and tried to smile.

"We should get back to that river you told me of. You look tired. I know I am."

How surprised Coyle would be when he saw Orion the next morning. How surprised indeed.

xxx

With a yell, the magic pressure increased. Kyo's grip weakened. Breezes came at first, but then winds, and gales. Kyo fought hard to withstand it all, all the while, with screams and gasps coming from behind her. Seeing her like that pleased Torres. He laughed an evil laugh.

Just as Kyo was about to be quite literally, blown away, she felt the winds weakening after a loud cry from a familiar voice. It was the witch doctor of her herd. He was helping her. The thought of that strengthened her. She pressed on as the gales grew softer and softer.

If that was all that Torres had to offer, then they had already won. But that was far from it. With another of his roars, the clouds above them broke and rain came pouring down. Thunder and lightning crashed. The two magical folk could not counter this spell, however hard they tried. Bolts of lightning struck inside the circle of animals. The bolts were chasing Kyo and the witch doctor away.

But then, the storm held back some. A shaman had stepped in- a mandrill with two staffs. The weapons were fused with all sorts of stones and natural objects. Most were for decoration, but some had a purpose, like the thorns that stuck out of them, and the rocks that gave the staffs weight and body.

The baboon was frowning furiously, shouting out words that nobody there understood. But it was helping.

Then, suddenly, out of the circle stepped magic wielders of all shape, size and kind. They all followed the first three's example. Torres faltered. A bead of sweat grew fat and rolled down his face. He was stressing.

The Resistance thought they were winning for one brief moment, but they were wrong. With a shout, a wave of ghostly black light came from Torres himself. It expanded like a ring, and pushed all the shamans, witch doctors and seers back. They yelled with pain. Some were blown away by the force, landing heavily. Others simply collapsed on the spot, exhausted from the effort. Even the shaman with the two staffs could not go on.

Torres fell to the ground as well, but unlike all the others, he moved, straightened his back, and got back up. Clearly, he had somehow increased his control from 'minor abilities' to 'incredible powers'.

The Amber Resistance was in trouble. All their magicians were gone.

"They will plan to break loose from the grasp of their evil leaders, in a war that will last just one night, but will have a huge influence on the fate of the Circle of Life. And on this night, their cries of sorrow will turn to screams of rage. Their tears will become raging, torrential rivers that will show no mercy, and their blood, drawn from their tyrants' weapons will summon storms a hundred times worse than those of that seen in The Fall. They will yell their warcries, they will stampede, they will knock down the walls that have always been their boundaries, and they will crush and destroy the tyrants. In this battle, Sapphire of the Night, Orion the Brave, and Coyle; Second Shaman of Claw will lead them."

-4th part of the 283rd prophecy of the Great Shaman Metutu, during the reign of

King Mohatu; Greatest and Highest King That Ever Ruled.