The day had nearly faded into night as Kion and the guard rushed through a dusty, dry canyon. Ono had gone ahead to scout the area as Kion led the others through the rocky passage. They had all travelled for days, weeks even, to get here. Through barren, desolate wastes and chilling, bombarding blizzards. To this crescent carved, corroded canyon. Before them lay a new land, untouched by a Pridelander for almost five years.

The Uasilands. A land of beauty, perfection and balance.

Or so they thought…

"Kion!" Ono's shuddering cry swooped in from the canyon's peak, quickly followed by a crackle of green, chilling lightning. The egret hovered just above his fellow guard members, panting heavily as his body shuddered.

"Ono! What's wrong?" The adolescent lion roared, the sound of the coming storm raging ahead. The other members of the guard halted their charge, kicking up dust as they flickered their attention between Ono and Kion. Glancing over at the thunderous horizon, Kion couldn't help but query. "Are we anywhere near the Uasilands yet?"

"Yes but…" The young egret halted. His sharp eyes scraped the darkened horizon before returning to his leader's worried gaze. "You'd better see for yourself, come on!" As the egret swept around, Kion turned to the rest of the team. Fuli smiled at her lion friend, preparing her body to continue sprinting. Bunga flexed his claws with his paw as Beshte shook the dirt from his back.

"Come on everyone!" Kion smiled as he started to sprint off, following Ono down the canyon. "Till the Pridelands end!"

"Lion Guard defend!" The others quickly replied, their moral reinfused into their bodies as they followed their fierce leader into the unknown. The canyon widened as they approached a sharp turn, directing them westward. Kion watched as Ono flew over the canyon's edge, just as he and the guard turned the corner.

Surprisingly, the ground suddenly became colder, immediately turning from a sun-baked orange to a dead, soulless grey. The skies above them instantly flashed with a greenish hue as the guard reached the canyon's sprawling edge, halting their sprint as they were met with the decaying, broken sight before them.

"Hevi Kabisa!" Kion's voice trembled as he caught sight of what lay before him. The almost heavenly, lush landscape had been twisted, consumed in a seeping hue of darkness and decay. Rolling hills that once contained vast herds now lay barren, littered with the skeletons of those fallen a mere month prior.

"It can't be…" Fuli stepped forward, her slender body shrinking in upon itself as the chilling breeze stabbed her soul. Beshte felt his normally cheerful, open heart sink in his rounded form as he glanced up at the green-hued tower piercing the cyclone storming skies above.

"Kion… What do we do now?" Fuli's trembling voice skimmed the young lion's ears. A decimal droplet of despair dripped from his cheek, saturating the broken earth beneath him. Everything that had been promised, a place of safety and unthinkable power. A place with the means to defeat Scar…

And yet here it lay in ruin.

The guard's worrisome stares forced Kion out of his deep thought. Even Bunga who normally would be aching for a fight had shrunken in on himself, crossing his claws in uncertainty as Kion glanced at him. What could they do? The Uasilands were gone, the Pridelands were gone.

No! He couldn't back down. They couldn't back down. They were the Lion Guard, bringers of hope and protectors of the Circle of Life. The young lion scanned the horizon, hoping for any sign of life, any sign of hope gleaming off in the distance.

It was at this moment that Ono returned, fluttering his way towards his friends. The egret's beak swooped down, weighed in by its heart-sunken expression. A frantic Kion noticed this, raising his head through the thunderous tainted sky.

"Ono! Did you see any sign of Kopa or Karimu?" Kion placed one paw forward as Ono fluttered down to his eyesight. The young egret exhaled softly, lowering his beak as he landed with a weighted flop.

"No, but I did see some lions near the tower over there." He raised his wing, pointing out towards the west, beyond the sickly tower's glare. Kion stood still for a moment, looking out in the direction Ono had pointed out. If there were survivors here, they must have known where Kopa was, or what had happened. With a sudden intake of air, he turned back to the rest of the guard, who faintly glanced up at him, their eyes flickering between the ground and Kion, uncertainly.

"I don't know." He flicked back to Ono, who fluttered his wings, cleaning the dirt from them with his beak. "Kopa didn't say anything about other males." A bolt of sickening lightning hit the ground nearby, causing the young egret to leap from his grooming.

The entire guard turned to the flash just as a chilling wind blasted past them. A corrupted, greenish hue remained at its impact site for a few moments. The guard stared ahead, unaware of the horrors that were about to be released.

Another flash of lightning hit behind them, and then to the side, then the other. Before they knew it, lightning bolts had struck all around them, though the ground was too dry, too dead to spark flames. No, the land cracked and crumbled, glowing with a faint green hue as the guard held their ground, ready for anything. Kion stared up at the sky. A strange, swirling void hung high above their heads, an emptiness that exposed a vision of an endless ocean of nothingness, seeping into the dead Uasian soil as it sparked across the sky, into this realm with its green, smoky tendrils.

"Kion?!" Fuli's body shuddered as she glanced over at her friend. The rest of the guard slowly moved into an encircled defensive pose, glancing around at the large, illuminating circle surrounding them. With a beat of a heart, something emerged. A rocky, almost paw-like appendage burst from the ground before them, then beside them. Before they knew it, they were surrounded by slowly arising creatures, born of rock and fire.

"What in the Pridelands?!" The young lion's auburn eyes widened as the creatures started to arise from the ground. They cracked and crunched as they arose, revealing their four, mineralised bodies. Their twisted muzzles clicked into place as a spew of drooling lava spat across the ground, burning it with a sickly green hue.

"Erm Kion, We're not in the Pridelands anymore!" Bunga couldn't help but challenge his leader's comment, preparing himself to fight back the demonic creatures before them.

"Urrgh, not now Bunga!" Fuli growled, digging her claws into the ground as the creatures finally stood before them in all their twisted glory. Their soulless, void lit eyes stared at the guard, sending bolts of frozen fear through the bodies as the void above them halted its corrupting bombardment.

The first arisen beast stared towards Kion before slowly raising its head to the moon seeped sky. Its ragged, cracked muzzle split open, frothing with lava as it gave off a single, low pitched growl into the air.

Upon hearing the earth-shaking growl, the other creatures charged. The guard prepared themselves for combat. Kion focussed, inhaling deeply as his eyes narrowed. The skies far above them rumbled with thunderous applause as the faint figures of the Lions of the Past arose through the void, dispersing it with their mighty form.

Bunga was the first to strike, charging towards the creatures with all the bravery he was known for, not to mention stupidity. They attempted to pounce on him but, unfortunately for them, Bunga had other ideas. The honey badger leapt into the air, clearing the creature's rocky teeth with ease.

Landing upon one of their heads, he felt the creature's skull start to split beneath him, spreading to its body as the rocky form gave way. Before he knew it, Bunga found himself resting on the ground, surrounded by the boiling lava that formed the creature's innards.

Fuli and Beshte held their ground, swinging and bashing the creatures away as they swarmed, though It didn't take long for their position to become compromised. Fuli felt a cold, soul-consuming shot streak across her side as she fell to the ground, the smell of cauterised fur and flesh clung to her nostrils as her body spasmed in pain. Beshte rushed to his friend's aid, knocking the demonic creature off her with a strong, unrelenting flick of his head.

Ono watched on from the air, occasionally taking a dive bomb to attack one of the creatures. As he arose from one such attack, he realised the sheer extent of the corruption spreading across the Uasilands. Row upon row of the strange creatures arose from the ground. The guard was surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of these creatures. He glanced back to his friends just as Fuli fell.

His heart sank.

Just as one of the creatures reached Kion, the young male lion let his eyes fully sharpen. The building power within his soul suddenly erupted from his muzzle, harmonising with the thunderous clouds above, shattering through the corrupting void, dispersing its shattering as the Great Lions empowered his roar. Within seconds, the Prideland's prince cut a sway through the nightmarish creatures, forcing their earth-laden bodies to fly into the air before disintegrating as they hit the earth from which they came.

As Kion's roar cleared a path through the demonic invasion, Beshte nudged Fuli to her paws, letting the injured cheetah regain her balance as the creature that had attacked her stumbled backwards into Kion's roar. Flying off into the sky with its hopeless brethren. As his roar boomed across the dead land, he started to hear a familiar voice, whispering into his mind.

"Do you see now, Kion?…" The voice grumbled with an earthly tone, chuckling ever so slightly in between his words. "Your precious circle of life is a lie!" The young lion's vision started to fade as a broken, impossibly deformed land flickered before his eyes. Their auburn lenses watering slightly as his mind struggled to regain control.

"In life, there is only eternal suffering, eternal hunger… An inevitability…" The voice grew deeper as Kion's muzzle closed. The roar that had kept the creatures at bay slowly fell into silence as the lion-formed clouds quickly dissipated, stabbed with the unholy bolts of green lightning high above them.

The other members of the guard watched on in horror as Kion fell to the dusty ground, his eyes drained of all life as the shadowy void above them diminished. The creatures that had attacked them crumbled into nothing but rock and soil, leaving a chilling breeze howling across the empty wastes of the Uasilands.

"Kion!" Fuli rushed to her friend's aid, her leg still soaked with her own blood as she struggled to sprint to his aid. Beshte and Bunga slowly followed her, their hearts frozen in their chests at the sight of their fierce leader's motionless body. Ono joined them, nearly crash landing in the death-tainted soil as the others tried to awaken their leader. Fuli wept softly above her fellow feline, her tears staining his fur. Surprisingly, she wasn't the only one crying. Even Bunga, for all his bravery, had started to drip from his eyes.

As the guard gathered around their fallen leader, Kuwinda watched on from a shallow hill far to the west. She had noticed the corrupting presence raging on high in the sky but it was upon hearing the roar that she knew she had to investigate. Her sharp, huntress eyes immediately noticed the sombre scene playing put before her.

Yet again, a hero had fallen…

"Oh no…"

Shujaa led Kopa through the snow-blasted crevices of the Theluji mountains, crossing and twinning around the frozen peaked mountains which created an almost impossibly traversable maze. They had struggled for hours, through thick, sinking snow to claw-screeching ice sheets. And yet, they had made it.

As the snow started to settle down, a large, rocky opening spread out across Kopa's eyes. Kwaheri slowly followed behind the two males, using his staff to balance himself through the thick snow as Ulinzi held onto his back, giggling as only a cub could.

As they entered the opening, the small group of males were beheld the sight of a decently sized grouping of mountain gorillas of varying ages and genders. The mothers gathered around the rocky walls, chatting as their infants played in the thin layers of snow. The males, however, gathered around two of their brethren fighting, seemingly training, given the growls of encouragement and advice pelted out from the onlookers.

As Kopa glanced up at the howling, blizzard winds above, Jicho broke through their battering storm before landing perfectly and elegantly on a snow plastered branch sticking out of one of the rocky walls. Without delay, she started to wipe and reheat her feathers, removing as much of the snowy particles from them as she could. As Kopa and Shujaa passed her, she fluttered down, landing beside Kwaheri and Ulinzi as they passed.

"He should be waiting for you ahead!" Shujaa smiled at Kopa as they continued through the gorilla's sanctum. As they did, one of the gorillas glanced over at them before slowly approaching. It was the same gone that had held his ground against Kopa, only halting when Shujaa intervened. As the gorilla approached, Shujaa turned to Kopa, his muzzle washing with concerned normality.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up later." The slightly younger male lion approached the gorilla, who simply sat before him. Kopa took a moment to watch as Shujaa and the gorilla quietly started to converse before strolling off, their conversation inaudible to the Royal Mlinzi.

Within moments, Kopa glanced back at the opening up ahead. A howling breeze blew through, covered in a thin layer of snow as it called to him, whistling in his ear as his paws slowly started to step forward. As he strolled off towards the storm-battered crevice, Jicho and Kwaheri took the moment to relax, letting Ulinzi have some rest beside them.

"I still can't believe how far we've come." Kwaheri spoke calmly, holding his staff out to admire its many etched scars and burns woven into its wooden skin. The crystalised core hummed in his hands as he closed his eyes, sensing its echoes reach into his mind.

As the primate focussed, Jicho couldn't help but hear a sudden familiar outburst happening not far away. She turned to its source, an icicle-ridden cave that led further into the mountain's innards. As the chanting and howling continued, two monkeys emerged, striking and swinging at each other with wooden staves. As they emerged into the softly frosted opening, their fellow clan members emerged, cheering them on as the two fought viciously. Jicho's eyes widened as a familiar female primate emerged, clutching a carved wooden staff as the two males continued to fight before her and their clan.

"Erm, Kwaheri…" The eagle nudged her monkey friend as he glanced down at the lion cub beside them. Feeling her feathers scrape his arm, he turned to her, only to be met with the energetic sight of a very familiar young monkey over-power his opponent at just the right time.

"It can't be…" The middle-age primate grasped his crystal cored staff as his brown, trembling eyes beheld the sight of his son for the first time in nearly a year. He had grown up so much. His once puny, pathetic body had now gained muscle, which helped as he unarmed his sparring opponent, stabbing his staff into the thin snow beside his clanmate's head, winning the duel. A sudden shriek of energetic howls erupted among the clan, a celebration of the young monkey's victory as the female monkey approached him with open arms.

"Congratulations, my son." The female chieftain pressed her hand on her son's shoulder unaware that Kwaheri was slowly approaching them. The other clan members crowded around the defeated primate only before yet another fight started between two of the younger members. Her warm brown eyes met her son's, whose eyes swayed a little to the side as the sound of footsteps hummed in his mind. "Your father would have been proud."

"Indeed he would!" A heart-halting silence fell as the monkeys listened to Kwaheri's voice. The young male and his mother immediately turned to the staff-wielding primate before them, their mouths agape at who stood before them.

"K…Kwaheri?" The female spoke, her voice trembling as her hand grasped her own staff. The entire clan remained silent, their mouths agape as their previous leader stood before them. The female chieftain couldn't believe it. Her mate had returned.

"Mtafuta." Kwaheri watched as his love's warm eyes slowly watered, crystallising ever so slightly as a soft glistening of snow started to fall upon her cheeks. Their son stared at his father as Mtafuta slowly stepped forward towards Kwaheri.

The two primates continued to stare at each other, washed with once lost hope now refilled with a familiar, warming sensation. Even as the snow started to seep into their fur, its chilling touch could only dream of staining their boiling hearts. With a comforting smile, Kwaheri raised his arms out openly, smiling lovingly as his mate, his love, slowly started to move towards him. The clan huddled together, bewildered by their leader's heartfelt reunion as the current chieftain slowly moved in to embrace her long-lost love, before raising her hand to his face.

"Hey!" Kwaheri screeched as Mtafuta's hand slapped across his face, leaving the male shocked. Before he could say anything else, she quickly grabbed his chilled, tense body, holding him tightly as her eyes slowly started to water.

"We…I thought you were dead!" Mtafuta's stained Kwaheri's fur as his arms carefully cradled her. Both of their hearts raced as their perception of time slowed. Not even the twinkle of snow coating them distracted them from this moment. The entire clan watched on, humming affectionately as their leaders embraced each other once more.

Jicho watched from afar, her wing cradling Ulinzi as the young lion cub wiggled and hummed. Her chest flickered with a warm, comforting feeling as she watched her primate friend hold his mate. His son slowly stepped forward, spreading his arms outwards as his parents welcomed him into the family cuddle. The sharp-eyed eagle could barely tell if it was a melted snowflake or an innocent tear rolling down her cheek. She continued to cover Ulinzi as she noticed Kopa, slowly sneaking around a snow-tipped corner off in the distance.

Kopa barely noticed the commotion happening behind him. After all, he was too focused on what lay ahead. As he turned the corner he was met with a surprisingly clear opening staring out into the snow-capped mountains beyond. A single, muscular gorilla sat at the edge, staring out at the howling storm raging on high above and far beyond. As Kopa approached, the gorilla remained still, staring out into his fallen kingdom as the Royal Mlinzi's paw steps muffled deeper and deeper.

"I was told you were coming." The gorilla's deep, commanding voice boomed through the fur-gnashing air. He turned his head slightly to the side, letting a single one of his brown, mournful eyes glance towards the Royal Mlinzi approaching him.

"King Sokwe!" Kopa smiled softly as he approached. It had been a while since he had last seen the old gorilla king after all. But the primate refused to repay such pleasantries. He flicked his eyes over to a pair of etched boulders resting in two snowy lumps.

"The last time someone with that scar came here, they destroyed my kingdom…" King Sokwe's eyes watered slightly as his voice softened. As Kopa sat before him, he turned his attention to the lion, inhaling sharply as Kopa glanced at the boulders. He noticed a pair of familiar names etched into the rocks.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He lowered his head in respect, remembering the two playful gorillas who had entertained him much during his stay here, all those years ago. As King Sokwe continued to stare judgingly at Kopa, the royal Mlinzi softened his body, letting his sorrow filled eyes glisten ever so slightly. "Your sons will live on through the realms, I know they will. "

"A lion with the scar you possess snuffed them out." The gorilla arose, pointing one of his thick, muscular fingers at the male lion before him. "How can I trust you won't do the same to me?"

Kopa halted, unsure of how to approach the situation. Despite his own immense strength, King Sokwe could easily kill him. As the gorilla's cold, piercing eyes demanded an answer, Kopa took a single step forward, his mind imbued with the thoughts of his beloved.

"They captured Karimu, Sokwe." Kopa's eyes focussed, burning through King Sokwe's chilling sight orbs. "If I don't find a way to get to the Uasian Tower…" A tear emerged from the lion's eyes as his voice trembled. The gorilla turned back away from his feline friend. He knew of Kopa's connection to the Uasian princess after all.

But something was off. The other scarred Lion was full of rage, hatred and little to no empathy. He had heard of the Scar's origins and yet, Kopa shared none of these traits. Taking a quick glance back at the young lion, he exhaled softly. He knew Kopa and what he was capable of.

And what he could do to his enemies.

"Very well…" He slowly turned back to Kopa, raising his arms wide as he welcomed the royal Mlinzi closer. "What would you have of my clan, Royal Mlinzi?" The Gorilla king stood proud and tall before Kopa, shadowing the lion from the howling storm on the horizon. Before Kopa could think, a flash of green light gleamed from behind the muscular, monstrous primate. A wheezing, agonised howl alerted the Royal Mlinzi to an unnatural presence. Before he could speak, he noticed the elongated, twisted shadow swooping in from the howling storm. His heartbeat slowed as the flow of time ground to a halt, leaving King Sokwe in a near motionless, curious state.

As Kopa swayed past the large primate, his suspicions were confirmed. Striking down from the heavens was a rocky, ethereally glowing vulture swooping down with its sharp, flesh-piercing talons, prepared to strike at the gorilla king.

But Kopa was having none of it…

As time slowly started to regain its pace, Kopa leapt up at the dive-bombing creature, cutting it off from its attack as time returned to normal. The last thing it would see is Kopa's savage paw swiping at its face, disintegrating its rocky skull with a single swipe. King Sokwe simply blinked as the creature's skull splintered in the air, sending pieces of rock and crystal raining down towards the Gorilla king. As he cowered and covered his face, the shrapnel fell past him, stabbing the thin layer of snow as Kopa elegantly fell to the ground, rolling twice before resting just before the edge of the mountainside.

"Wh… what was that!?" King Sokwe's hand trembled as he regained his posture, arising from the snowy earth as he glanced over at Kopa. He couldn't help but pant as the lion arose from the liquidated snow. Both of them slowly regained their breath for just a split second before Kopa slowly trotted towards the Gorilla King.

"That's a Giza!" Kopa's eyes sharpened as he spoke, scanning the land around them as King Sokwe relaxed. Upon seeing no immediate danger, Kopa approached the gorilla king, his ears still firmly erect and alert. "Corrupted souls of animals that are trapped within the Shores of Jela, or so we thought." The Royal Mlinzi explained, even if the gorilla's face still seeped with confusion.

"Hmm…" he turned his head away from Kopa, pondering many of the rumours that had swept through his clan. He remembered a few of his gorillas noticing similar, rocky creatures patrolling the lands beyond his borders. "So the Uasilands are to blame for my son's death." His eyes shot back down at Kopa judgingly as his body bulked up, preparing to charge at the lion. "Your people DID kill my son!"

"NO!" For the first time in their conversation, Kopa's voice had elevated into a complete, ear-deafening roar. He prepared his body for any retaliation from the gorilla king, staring him down with locked, precise eyes. As he breathed in though, he realised the position he had taken and started to slowly calm down. "The Uasilands now are not the same as before." Turning his attention away from King Sokwe, Kopa's mind started to click. There were only a handful of lions that he knew that had been given scars similar to his, but one name seemed to fit all of this. The obsession with Karimu, the desire to take the Uasilands…

"Wait, what did the lion who killed your sons look like?"

King Sokwe froze, his posture sank as Kopa's question hit him out of nowhere. He remembered that moment as if it was yesterday. "Well, he had dark brown fur, and orange, demonic eyes…" he remembered how the eyes changed, swirling with a sickly green as he crunched down on Hafifu's neck.

The description matched perfectly…

"We need to move!" Kopa quickly approached the remains of the Giza, scouring the rocky and crystalised remains with his skilful eyes. As he did, King Sokwe pivoted his head slightly to the side, scratching his brow.

"But why, where?" King Sokwe planted his hands into the snow, standing strong and still as Kopa analysed the Giza's fragments. As his paw approached the crystal at its centre, a blue gleam of light started to burn through its corrupted green surface.

"Don't worry…" Kopa softly spoke as his paw cleaned the crystal. What amazed him was how the fragments had created a perfect small model of the Uasilands, with the now cleansed crystal acting as the Uasian Tower itself. His brown, focussed eyes watched as a small part of the crystal started to liquify, letting one of his claws enter the sub-zero interior of the crystal.

"I have a plan…"