The robed figure moved closer, closer, shuffling forwards with a bowed head. In one black paw a long black staff topped with an orb held in place by a holder that looked like a claw; the orb was clear but filled with a black mist. The figure shuffled towards Simba; slowly, slowly, until it stopped just before him. He was older, grayer, and bowed with fatigue, but he was struggling to move away from the black figure.

A slow hiss began to drift through the air, soon becoming a high-pitched hum. The hum was soon a roar, and as the orb shot out and struck Simba on the forehead he let out a mighty roar then fell limp to the ground, his spirit being sucked into the orb. The head of the figure turned quickly after it had trapped Simba in the orb…

Arina woke with a scream of terror and shot backwards away from the wraith, slamming roughly into Maten. Maten jumped with alarm and leapt away from the writhing lioness as she pawed at her head, sobbing with distress. He quickly wrapped his paws around her and murmured into her ear, trying to sooth her.

"Rina, Rina, it's alright, you were dreaming. Calm down, you're okay, you're safe."

Simba watched, heartbroken, as his granddaughter sobbed into the arms of the cub he had been ordered to have killed. With a painful grunt, the old lion hauled himself to his paws and shuffled slowly out of the cave as the rest of the Pride crowded around the princess. The wound he had received from Amber that night was nothing more than a painful memory, but a scar did remain.

Kovu followed Simba as he walked outside, noticing the worry on his face. As Simba collapsed weakly to the shadowed stones, burying his face in his paws, Kovu walked up next to him and stared down at him. When Simba realized Kovu was near him, he picked his head up slowly and stared into the hard eyes of the king.

"Something is wrong with you, Simba. You've been acting weird lately. Don't think I haven't noticed. What's going on?"

Simba buried his face again and Kovu put his head closer to his, listening to his mumbled words.

"The Council of Kings and the Goddesses have charged Maten as a danger to the Pride and have ordered me to have him killed…"

Kovu started and jerked away as if he'd been slapped. He was silent for a long time, shaking his head slowly. Before he could react, Simba suddenly sat up and stared into his eyes.

"Don't mention this to anyone… I would rather face the wrath of all fourteen of them than order Maten's death. I couldn't face Arina or Vitani…"

Arina suddenly barreled out of the cave, followed closely by Maten and the rest of the cubs. All were pale with terror, although Arina looked like she was staring into the face of death. Arina led the way down the side of Pride Rock and to a clump of trees not far away.

The lionesses came out next, bristling and snarling but dodging backwards to avoid contact with whatever was chasing them. A black mist filtered out of the cave, and as it touched the lionesses they fell in their places. Simba and Kovu backed up to the edge of Pride Rock, cowering backwards away from the mist. Simba looked over his shoulder; the drop shouldn't be too bad, and he could probably avoid the jagged rocks…

The mist suddenly stopped and surrounded them. In a blackness where neither lion could see the ends of their whiskers, an outline was visible.

It was a robed figure, shuffling closer and shrouded in darkness. In one black paw, it carried a black staff with an orb at the top held in a metal base that resembled a claw. The orb was clear, yet a black mist floated inside of it. The figures bowed head suddenly raised, and a pair of blood red eyes burned their way into Simba's mind.

The life seemed to seep from his limbs, and try as he might he couldn't rip his eyes away from the figure before him. The staff reached forwards slowly and Simba felt as if he was being held down. A voice echoed through the mists, a voice unusually deep for a female.

"You have disobeyed their orders…"

Simba let out a roar as the orb touched his forehead and then he suddenly fell limp. To Kovu, who could suddenly see what was happening, Simba's body fell to the ground but an illusion of him stood, the orb still touching his forehead. The voice echoed through the mist again.

"It is time for you to face the consequences of your actions."

Kovu watched in terror as Simba's spirit was sucked into the orb, and the mist became golden. The red eyes bore into Kovu's, and he found it hard to twist away.

"Do not make the same mistakes!"

And as suddenly as he had feared death, the lioness stalked back into the shadows with Simba and vanished. The mist faded, leaving a bewildered Kovu trembling next to the body of Simba. For the many hours it would take for the lionesses to come out of their state of unconsciousness and the cubs to work up the courage to return Kovu would remain petrified in place, staring where the hellish red eyes had just been and wondering what vicious a face they had belonged to.