The first nightmare

Five years ago.

Walking, nothing but walking. Even thou he had never been able to win one of them, by now he missed their daily fights. More than two weeks had passed since his father had located the first one of their targets. Unfortunately, the pride, the lioness had joined was not far away from the two rogues' former homeland, so they had to be extra careful. The noises of their training fights would only attract unwanted attention.

The black furred lion walking in front of him stopped at the top of a hill. "Behold", he sarcastically muttered. "The lands of the first and most glorious kingdom."

With only a few steps the youngster caught up to him. The Pridelands… They had reached their destination! Standing next to his father, he took a look at the wasteland in front of him. "Well… I've kind of imagined it a little more… fertile", he admitted.

"Usually it is", the older lion said. "But after two dry seasons like this in a row with nearly no rain between… Even a paradise like this looks like a pile of dirt after that."

He nodded. Neither of the kingdoms they had passed through in the last time had looked better than this. He couldn't tell, why he had expected to find this one looking different. "And you're sure she is here?"

"Absolutely. That vulture described her perfectly." The black lion snorted contemptuously. "After all those years fighting these inferior creatures, she joined a pride that considers them as allies."

"So, it's true? The Pridelanders are living side by side with a hyena clan?"

"Yeah… But that's not our business." With his healthy eye he looked at the black sky. "The night is still young. These is enough time for a little reconnaissance trip. You see that big rock over there? That's the pride's lair. Get an overview of the situation we're dealing with. And if I think about it… If you see her and there is an opportunity, use it. Let her nightmare begin! You still have the gift, Ulamali gave us?"

"Of course." Struggling a little with the sling around his neck he took it of and put the hollow fruit that was attached to it down.

"And you still know how to use it?"

"Yes." He searched the fruit for an opening, found it and stuck a claw through it. When he removed it, it was covered in a viscous liquid. "A small scratch is all it takes", he repeated the old monkey's words. "And do not clean it off with the tongue afterwards. Don't worry father, I won't disappoint you. Chagina will pay for what she did to you and mom." By that he went off into the darkness.

. . .

Sneaking through the hyenas laying around in groups in front of the giant rock was not a big deal for the young lion. Due to his darker fur he blended in perfectly with the withered ground and the starless night. His stealth skills were incredible, but noisy as the hyenas were, even a hippo could have sneaked right through them. Shortly after he moved towards the long ledges base. Through a wide crack one could enter into a cave that served as the lions' lair. Quickly but completely silent he slipped in.

In the cave enlightened by little to no moonlight he managed to spot at least eighteen lionesses. One of them was laying a little elevated from the others. Next to her was a slender lion with a black mane and in her embrace, she held a small cub. It couldn't be long ago this little guy had been born. A little further away there was another cub, a female this time. She wasn't much older than the other one and was snuggling against a lion just old enough not to be considered a cub himself anymore. This was the royal family, he concluded.

For a second, he was worried, the lioness next to the king could be Chagina, but then his eyes found another one, laying further away from the rest of the pride, only accompanied by a dark furred lion. It was her, no doubts. Long years had passed, but same as with the other members of the guard he would never forget her face. Slowly he approached her, thinking about how he would do it. Calculating he looked at the male. Would he notice it, if he began to whisper? Taking the risk, he lifted his paw and extended the poisoned claw. With a swift movement he pricked it into one of Chagina's forelegs and prepared to hide. Luckily, the lioness did nothing more than to snort and shake her head a little, just as if a fly had landed on her nose.

Still keeping an eye on the male, he patiently watched, as the lioness's sleep turned from peaceful to uneasy. He could see, how her eyes started to move under the lids and how one shiver after the other was running down her spine. When he was sure, the poison was taking its full effect, he bent down and whispered into her ear.

The lioness's head rose, her eyes wide open, looking at Kenua, who already stood in the cave's entrance. With an evil grin he returned her glance. In this state, it was no problem, if she saw him, even better, it would make things worse for her. "See you next time", he murmured as he turned around and vanished into the darkness.

. . .

Keeping the hyenas in check was an awful job, or at least it was for Chumvi. He heavily disliked their smell, but the worst was their weird sense of humor. Nevertheless, he didn't complain about his task. Just like everyone in Scar's pride he had to fulfill a certain duty and there were worse than his. Like dealing with the bones and other leftovers or cubsitting. Yeah, those were far beyond what he could endure. Considering that, he was glad neither to be a lioness nor a male hyena. And he was glad to share his task with Chagina. After he had managed to befriend her, she had agreed to train him, what he was very happy about. Her fighting skills were far beyond everything he had ever seen from the females he used to know. It was no surprise Scar had immediately taken her in. Her abilities and the fear the hyenas had of her were exactly what he needed since those pesky fleabags had a new clan leader. Azur and her stupid brat seriously blamed him for the harsh dry seasons the last two years had brought and incited the other hyenas to question his rule. As if it was the king's fault that the clouds had decided to bring thunder instead of rain…

A loud outcry brought him back to the here and now.

"Not again!", Chagina growled. She hadn't been in the best of moods for days and now she looked seriously pissed. With a roar she rushed towards the four hyenas, who had started a brawl and furiously separated them. Yelping, the pitiful guys tried to escape her, but she made sure, everyone got his share of the beating she gave them.

"What was that?", Chumvi asked her, after they had continued their round. Sure, it was the second time, they had to separate these idiots, but still this reaction had been a little over the top, even for her.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Well, two of them are just immature youngsters and the other ones are Banzai and Ed. You know them. They're friends of the king."

"Are you sure it was them?" She gave him a confused look.

"Is… uhm… everything ok?"

"Nah, I'm fine, boy. Have you ever seen a hyena being able to hurt me?"

"That's not what I meant. You seem a little uneased and you're looking worn out, if I might say so." In fact, that was an understatement. Due to the drought, no one was doing very well, but even compared with the huntresses Chagina looked bad.

"As I said, everything is…" She stopped and shook her head. "Urgh, what am I saying? You're right! I feel like crap! Hadn't had a restful night in two weeks or so!"

"How comes?"

She made a grimace. "It may sound odd, but I'm having nightmares."

That came as a surprise. He'd never thought, someone like Chagina would be upset by a minor thing like a bad dream. "Well, ever has some, I guess", he tried to cheer her up. "No shame in that."

"I know that." She gave him a weak smile. "It's not that I'm embarrassed or so. Having nightmares is nothing special… but these were different."

"Different?", Chumvi asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"Have you ever had one of these moments when you think you woke up at night, but the next day you're not sure if you really were awake?" Chagina had stopped and stared into the wasteland, seemingly focusing at something Chumvi couldn't see. "I woke up one night after having a nightmare. It had been nothing special, just the common weird stuff, but then it changed. There was this strange feeling and… this voice. And then I saw…" She shook her head. "The next day the feeling was gone and there was no evidence that someone had been here. But the next night the voices returned and I saw them again. And also in the next one and in every other night since then."

"Whose voice? Who have you seen?"

The lioness looked at him and for the first time he saw an expression on her face, that had never been there before. She tried to hide it, but as she answered, her eyes couldn't hide her fear anymore. "The dead ones…"