Chapter 3

Kion stepped on another piece of broken bracken and snarled to himself as the sound around him, broadcasting his location to every one of the spies of the Shai'tan who might have been listening. He hissed in annoyance. He used to be so much stealthier. The thought gave him pause. Was he really starting to feel old? He shook himself. No. His aches and pain came from wounds and scars that covered his body, not from the slow decay of time. He let out a sigh.

"Well." He said. "Not far to go now." He could recognise the patch of jungle he was in. A couple more weeks travel at the most, and then he would be back at the Night Pride. Once upon a time, he would have thought of that as Home. But he couldn't quite bring himself to do so now. The Night Pride wasn't home without Rani. Without Balyio, Surak or Nirmala. It was simply a place. A place where the tree of life stood. Or at least what was left of it.

He stayed still for a moment. He could imagine what Vitani would say to him once she saw him. She was going to be furious that Kiava was nowhere to be seen with him. He had struggled with himself not to chase after the young Prince of the Pridelands. He had spent days trying to find a trace of his nephew's scent, to no avail. Part of him had wanted to wander around aimlessly. But in the end he had no choice. Without the revenant hunting him, Kion had no trace to follow. If Kiava did not want to be found there was little he could do about it. He would have to return to Vitani and the rest of the Pride empty pawed. It was not a meeting he relished. He wondered what Kiara would have said to him.

When his thoughts turned to his sister, he felt a familiar pang of regret. He hadn't seen his sister for moons even before the Shai'tan had devastated their respective kingdoms. He had kept intending to visit. To see Kiara and their parents. But there had always been something else. Some other task, some other concern. Just a few messages sent to one another by birds. Anga and Ono; or Zazu, when they could be spared. Even Makini journeyed to and from the Pridelands more often than he had.

He could remember the last time he had been there. When last he had been to the Pridelands he had met briefly with Vitani's Lion Guard, but had spent most of the time there with his family. He'd finally ran out of excuses to avoid spending time with his brother-in-law and found to his surprise and relief that he had quite liked the young dark lion; who had seemed surprisingly wary of King Kion. Almost timid. Presumably Kovu recalled their previous encounters in the Outlands. But the two had gained a measure of respect for each other since then even if that wasn't quite the same thing as being friends. It had been smoothed over in time. Especially when the two had managed a brief sortie into the Outlands. That little adventure in which the two lions met up with Jasiri and Janga had led to the two lions helping to deal with another hyena clan encroaching on the Outlander Pact's territory; though the details of that particular escapade were a sworn secret since it was almost certainly the sort of thing that Simba would object to and Kovu had at the time, been doing his very best to make a good impression with Simba. Kion smiled at the memory. It had been the last time he had seen Jasiri, or Kovu or indeed any of his friends in the Pridelands. When the time finally came to return to the Night Pride he had promised his mother that he would bring Rani the next time – even if it meant leaving Bunga in charge of the Night Pride. But that second visit had never happened and now of course it never would.

The wind blew around him, but he knew without needing any Shamanistic sense, that it was nothing more than the wind.

"Too much." He muttered to himself. "Too many." He didn't bother turning his ear to the Spirit world. The Great Kings had fallen silent. They had no wisdom or words of comfort for him. Nor for any of the remnants of the Pridelands royal family. He wasn't even sure what he would ask them, even if they did deign to answer.

Back within the bowels of the Outland tower, Koron lay in the darkness, on the ground with his eyes wide open staring at the ceiling of their immutable cell. He couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he was or how exhausted he felt after the slaughter of the day. Inti's fate clawed at him, no matter how much he tried to deny it to himself. He found no rest. A dozen aches and pains filtered through his body, but it was Sara's words from before that haunted his sleep. They had pierced many moons worth of defences and denials. Maybe it was true. Maybe he really was selfish? He had told himself that there was nothing he could have done to try to save Inti. Even sacrificing his life in a futile gesture of martyrdom would have doubtlessly resulted in reprisals from the Shai'tan. And it wasn't as if Inti had made the attempt to sacrifice himself for Koron! So why should he have been expected to do so? He had been left with no choice. He repeated the mantra.

But that didn't do anything to erase the gnawing guilt that burrowed into the pit of his stomach. Only once had he killed before. A rather vicious wilddog, who had sustained crippling injuries from a previous fight, and broken both its legs. The dog had barely been coherent, slurring its words and seemingly blind. It had practically been a mercy killing. This was different though. Why had it been different?

Inti was his friend. The concept was almost foreign to him. For so long he had known little but pain and fear. They had taught him hostility, anger, and aggression. Not qualities predisposed to forming friendships. Somehow, he had begun to care for Sara and her brother. They were not as weak as he had first supposed. It wasn't fair. Even if Inti survived this by some miracle, he supposed that was over. You didn't stay friends with people you tried to kill. Sara had remained quiet, occasionally sobbing and muttering the names of distant kings and rulers of the past, he supposed entreating them for protection. He didn't recognise the names, except for Kovu and Simba who he knew had been the Kings of the Pridelands before the Shai'tan came. For a moment, he wondered what his own ancestors would have thought of the display in the pits. Whether his parents, if they could see, would have said anything as he tried to kill Inti to save his own life – and Sara's. Would they have been disappointed? Would they have understood? He couldn't ask them. Of their tiny family, their littlest of Prides, only he had survived. He had often wondered why. Why had he, of all his family been allowed to live? It made so little sense. His parents perhaps were dangerous – but his sister was no threat. But she had screamed. She had cried at the death of their father. Perhaps that was enough. It had been enough for Rish'ut. Enough to justify killing her. Koron had learnt not to show pain or fear that day. If he was going to die, he wouldn't do it crying and screaming. He would die fighting and bleeding. At least that was what he had always told himself.

His odious thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound. A scratching noise outside. Someone was coming. It was unusual, and unusual was never good in Golgorath. It was late too. The rest of the Spire was asleep. What could have been moving at this hour? A shudder went down his spine. Wordlessly and without a sound, he approached Sara, pressed a paw over her mouth and shook her awake. She awoke with a start, her eyes widening with panic, as he muffled her attempt at a scream. She struggled for a moment, but stopped when she recognized him. He listened again. The scratching had been replaced by a scuffling sound. Then a loud thump was heard. Sara and Koron both rose to their feet. Perhaps their captors had decided to execute them after all? Then the door to their cell was dragged open with uncharacteristic strength far beyond that of a wilddog who usually took several nudges to move its weight, and Koron growled as loud as he could, unsheathing his claws and stepped in front of Sara. If they were going to kill him, he was not about to go down without a fight!

"Sara?" A voice called out from the gloaming. Koron hesitated.

Sara gasped.

"It can't be! Mom!?" She whispered, before pushing past Koron and rushing out of the cell. Sure enough – there was the owner of that familiar voice.

It was her mother. Almasi. Flanked by Vitani and Damu. Koron couldn't help noticing the crumpled form of a wilddog in the corner with its throat ripped out but Sara had eyes only for her mother and she rushed out of the cave with such speed and such haste, it was as if Almasi were offering her immortality. Sara flung herself at her mother, and she embraced her daughter tightly. Koron was astonished.

"Sara! My girl, oh thank the Kings you're alive!" Almasi cried out to her. Damu gave a gasp and even Vitani's eyes seemed bright for the first time in an age. Almasi's voice was strained and her eyes filled with tears and suddenly Sara was holding tightly to her mother as if afraid that if she let go, she would disappear.

"I knew it! I knew you'd come for us!" Sara said. "We didn't know if anyone… I mean that fight… With Sekhmet! You were stuck and we thought – we didn't know!" Sara said crying. The last she had seen of her mother, Almasi had been lying bleeding and trapped beneath a fallen tree toppled by the most vicious of the Shai'tan and Danyal was being pulled apart. They had heard nothing since, and despite all that Sara had hoped, she had feared the worst. Her mother shook her head.

"I'm here. I'm okay. And I'm never leaving you again." She assured her. Sara pulled away and impulsively embraced each of the other two lionesses in turn, licking them affectionately. Even Vitani seemed pleased to see her, though her usual cold exterior typically forbade such displays of 'gushiness'.

"Where's Danyal?" Sara asked suddenly. The young lion was conspicuous for his absence, and Almasi's expression didn't improve her fears, but she nodded. "He's alive. He is with some friends back at the tree of life. He was hurt fighting Sekhmet and couldn't come himself. He wanted to, but speed was vital and he needed rest. But I promise you he is fine Sara, he is fine." She said. Sara grinned.

"That's great!" She said. Almasi looked past her, looking for Inti, and her fears returned when she saw that he was not there. But Sara wasn't alone. Koron exited the cave entrance warily and Almasi had to bite back a growl when she recognised the cub that had been fighting Inti in the pit before. Koron flinched away.

"You!" Almasi hissed, anger coursing through her as she attacked the cub. Koron dived out of the way, and Vitani restrained her friend.

"Mother! It's okay! This my friend, Koron." Sara assured her as Almasi regained control of herself.

"Friend?" Almasi asked sceptically, and Koron knew then that she had witnessed them in the pits, before the carnage.

"He didn't have a choice mother. I'll explain later, but you have to believe me – I trust him with my life." She said. Almasi sighed.

"Fine, he can come along." She said.

"Thank you." Koron said sincerely, wincing as he did so. Sara turned to look at him, scarcely able to believe it as she beamed at him.

"You see! I told you! I told you that they were coming for us." She said. Koron stared. She was right. She had claimed as much. Multiple times and without any semblance of hope or proof. He still couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. His body itched. The faintest embers of hope beginning to light up inside him. The possibility that there might be an end to their captivity. The desperate hope of release. Of escape. A hope he thought he'd killed.

"You really came for them…" He muttered.

"Sara; where is your brother? Where is Inti? We can't leave without him." Almasi said urgently.

"Better make it quick. We don't have long. Things are finally starting to calm down after Rish'ut's slaughter." Vitani hissed at them.

Koron managed to pull himself together and speak with a sense of urgency.

"If he is still alive then he is in the Oracle's cell. It's the darkest, deepest dungeon the Shai'tan have on the continent – though I hear the Imperial Heartlands have worse, I have never seen it's like. As far as I know, It's sealed by a boulder the size of an elephant. You need a huge group of animals, or a Shaman's rod to move it." Koron explained. Almasi whirled around.

"How could you possibly know that?" She asked him. Koron shrugged.

"I've been here for over a year. I probably know more about this place than half the guards just from tall tales and whispered rumours." Koron explained, as quickly as he dared. "Come on. We'll have to be quick!" Almasi's expression softened.

"A year?" She asked even as Vitani's head jerked to him in shock. Now that he was out of the dark, she could make out the scars and injuries that dotted his form, both old and recent. With a pang, she realized some of the most recent must have been made by her son.

"It's this way. Deeper." He said. He nodded in the direction of the lower tunnels. There was no sign of any more wilddogs, but that couldn't remain the case for much longer.

"Let's get Inti, and then let's get out of here." Sara urged them. Almasi nodded.

"That's my girl." She said. Vitani took the lead, and they made their way through the passageways as quietly as they could. They circled downwards, beneath the surface of the outlands, and the air grew damp and fetid again, as it had on their escape through Khnum's lair. Eventually, they came to a three-way split in the tunnels. Vitani looked from one to other.

"Which way?" Damu asked. Vitani hesitated.

"These are new… These were not here when I lived here…" She said. She took a sniff of the air, trying to discern which way to go. She recoiled. Koron nodded.

"It's this one." he said. The others looked at him in confusion.

"How do you know?" Damu asked. Koron winced.

"Can't you smell the blood and fear? Those are two things the Oracle has in abundance." Koron turned to Almasi. "We can usually hear the oracle's screams from the surface." Koron said. He finally asked something he had been wondering since seeing them. The last Sara had seen them, they had been fighting one of the Shai'tan. If they were here now…

"Did you really kill Sekhmet?" He asked her. Almasi glanced at him.

"Not by ourselves. But yes. Sekhmet is dead. She won't ever hurt you again."

"Think you can kill another of them? Can you kill Rish'ut?" He asked her. Almasi shuddered again.

"I'd rather not fight him if I can avoid it. But I'll die before I let him lay a paw on Sara or Inti. Or you for that matter. I promise you that." She tried to reassure him.

"That's not it." Koron said after a moment. "If you do kill Rish'ut… I want to see it when you do." He said evenly. It was chilling how coldly he said, but worse still was how Sara didn't so much as blink when he said so, and Almasi couldn't bring herself to be shocked by either of their reactions.

If Rish'ut had hurt Inti more than he already had… if he had killed Inti… She could barely finish the thought.

Sara too was consumed by those thoughts. Inti would be fine, she told herself. Of course he would be. She couldn't let herself doubt it, though she felt her pace quicken. Of the two of them, he was by far the stronger. He'd adapted far more quickly than she had. He had proven himself in the arena to be more capable even than Koron.

Vitani glanced at the two cubs, but then when she looked back, she froze. There was something moving in the darkness before them. She motioned for them to silence themselves, and almost seemed to melt into the shadows. Sara was suddenly coldly cognisant of why Vitani had been called "Lady of the Night" by some of the cheetahs and leopards. It was not purely for their penchant for ostentatious and grandiose titles and accolades (she was for example, fairly sure that one of the King's titles, 'Flame of Pride Rock', had been one of their inventions). As Sara watched, Vitani seemed to blend with the shadows, fading from view, and invisible to all senses. Even Damu – an Outlander who had supported Zira and known Vitani since they were both cubs, seemed in awe. Even the blue of her eyes, vanished. Then a few moments later, Vitani lashed out of the darkness, and seized something in her teeth. It struggled defiantly, but at the sight of the two cubs, and the three lionesses went still, eyeing them with contempt.

"Make a sound above a whisper and I will tear out your eyes, and leave you in the dark to rot." Vitani threatened. The wilddog fell still, though Sara could hear its laboured breathing.

"What are you waiting for? Just kill him!" Damu whispered urgently, and the dog stiffened but gave no hint of its emotions. Then Sara recognized him.

"Wait, I know you." She said suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "You're the wilddog captain. Their pack leader. Harrin!" She said. Harrin remained still. Almasi looked at her questioningly. Jasiri had mentioned the wilddog leader. One of the few she considered to be dangerous.

"You know this mutt?" She asked. Sara nodded vigorously.

"That's the one who took me from the Night Pride! The one who led the pack that captured us in the first place!" Sara growled in anger. Harrin was staring at the three lionesses, and his eyes darted to the tunnel exit, clearly contemplating making a dash for it. He didn't seem to like his odds because he remained still. Instead, he looked at Sara and spoke very slowly and very softly.

"As I recall, I was technically only put in charge of that pack after the assault. You killed the original pack leader, and his successor was executed by Amun." He said. The distinction didn't seem to matter much to Almasi who almost roared in anger, but instead she hissed like a wildcat and leapt on Harrin, forcing him to the ground.

"You! I should rip out your stomach right now!" She seethed. Vitani scowled.

"We don't have time for this!" She reminded them, but Almasi was having none of it.

"You are the reason my children are in this hellhole at all! Don't you dare deny it!" She said, bristling with anger. Harrin shook his head.

"I did my duty. I followed my orders." Almasi was furious. She drew her claws.

"If I had the time I would make this nice and slow. You will never hurt my children, or anyone else's again." She said. Damu and Vitani looked impassive. Koron watched, not with eagerness but did not shy away from the impending murder. Harrin briefly considered entreating her for mercy. He could tell her that the Shai'tan had provided more than enough meat for his mate and pups. That he had followed orders because it offered a straightforward way to live and thrive under the brutal rule of the Pridelands newest dictators. Such claims even had the helpful advantage of being true, which was useful because it was rather tricky to come up with a convincing and sympathetic lie when there was a claw wrapped around his throat. Somehow, he doubted she would listen. Almasi sneered.

Then she raised a paw, ready to cut his throat with a slash powerful enough to sever his head from his neck.

"Wait. Don't kill him!" Came a voice. It was Sara. She placed a paw on her mother's claw.

"Mother, please. Don't kill him. Let's just get Inti and walk away." She said. Almasi stared at her.

"I can't let him get away with what he has done to you! I can't!" Almasi said bitterly. Sara sighed.

"Yes. But he also saved us more than once, the day we arrived. Rish'ut wanted us dead once he realised we weren't Kiava. The Shai'tan wanted to have us killed rather than risk the Emperor discovering they had found and captured the wrong cubs. Harrin convinced them to let us live." She looked abashed. As if the words had been forced from her. Harrin's eyes widened and stared at the child. She hadn't wanted to spare his life, she'd felt compelled to. She'd have liked to have seen him put to death. He was almost impressed and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. So much for the innocence of children. Almasi stared at him, and then with some effort released him. Harrin dropped to the ground and wheezed for air. When he had caught his breath he looked up at the lioness and his daughter. He'd never thought to see Sara's mother, but could see the resemblance. He could also see how much she wanted to take the head from his shoulders. Harrin bowed his head towards the young cub. "Thank you, lady lioness. It seems I am in your debt." he said, trying and failing not to sound smug. Sara growled and suddenly lunged towards him, quicker than even he'd thought possible. Before her mother could do anything and before he could so much as flinch out of the way, Sara slashed at him. Her claws slashed his face, marking him below the eye. He grunted in pain and jerked giving a loud shout of pain. Sara glowered at him. The wound was hardly debilitating, but it was painful.

"Don't you even begin to mistake that mercy for my forgiveness! If Inti's dead, mother will have to pry me off of you, and I won't ever forget what you did to me and my brother! How much you made us hurt!" She told him. Harrin looked at her, nodded once, then darted past them down the tunnel. Vitani cursed.

"That may not have been prudent." She said, cautiously. "Why do I get the feeling we may have made a terrible mistake?" Sara couldn't help but agree. She had hoped to extort the wilddog for more information first. Her heart turned cold as she looked up at her mother. Almasi didn't say anything thought, but bent down and nuzzled her daughter. Sara couldn't help but return the gesture. It had been so long since she'd seen her mother.

Damu shook her head, her eyes distant. "No. But I find it useful to return mercy with mercy. If nothing else it encourages others to do the same, and you never know when that could come in handy." She said softly. Almasi sighed.

"Is there anyone else we need to avoid killing?" She asked her daughter. Sara's eyes narrowed.

"No. None, whatsoever." She said, expressionless, thinking about the wilddogs, jackals, serpents, and vultures she'd seen aligned with the Shai'tan. The ones who had jeered and laughed as she'd desperately fled from predators twice her size. The ones who'd laughed at her pain and misery.

"Just Jasiri then." Damu said, thinking of their ally who'd led them into the ruins under Golgorath. "I do hope that that hyena hasn't gone and done something foolish." Damu said, cautiously. Jasiri had been their guide, and though both she and Vitani knew their way around their former Outlander home, much had changed since Zira's rebellion.

"Then let's rescue Inti and then leave this blasted place once and for all." Vitani said, snarling and showing her teeth.