Chapter 1

The world was rocky, dusty and grey. An entirely unpleasant patch of land compared to the Pridelands. Kiava and Zuri pulled their way over the acrid landscape of the Shadowlands. It wasn't as dry or as hot as the Outlands, but it reeked of carrion even when there didn't seem to be anything around. After only a few days, the dust was already starting to stain their paws and lower fur a dark grey . The only one unaffected was Ookai who sat atop Bruce. Buzz joined him there, perched astride the shoulders of the mighty silver backed gorilla. The young prince of the Pridelands surveyed the landscape with an increasing sense of irritation. He'd known the Shadowlands were a desolate wasteland, but even so, nothing had quite prepared him for the reality. They had seen little sign of any life since entering the wastelands days ago and now, he was slowly beginning to come to the conclusion it may have been a waste of time to come here. The notion was sobering. They had left the jungle paradise of Valon's brook with vague optimism despite the enormity of their task. It had felt good to embark upon their journey with clear goal and destination and not simply being tossed around by the winds of change and the paths of fate. The Kings of the Past themselves had set them on this path.

Now though, that sense of optimism had long since faded. The Shadowlands seemed to stretch out before them in every direction. Kiava knew the border with the Pridelands was marked by the elephant graveyard, a valley of bones and seismically unstable geysers and steam vents. However, the greater part of the Shadowlands themselves stretched far beyond those ashy plains. A desert of grey dust, hard ground, stone and ash. It was cold at night and there were no trees to provide shelter and the dusty coating on the rocks prevented them from absorbing the heat of the sun during the day, leading to cold rest. To his flank, Zuri plodded up next to him and looked thoroughly exhausted.

"Hey, Kiava." She said. Kiava turned and she looked thoughtful. "Do you think we are at least close now? We should have encountered some hyenas by now, surely?" She asked him. Kiava shrugged.

"Not if they do not want to be found..." He muttered. Hyenas. That was why they had come here in the first place. It had to be the first time in history that young lions from the Pridelands had deliberately entered the Shadowlands trying to find hyenas. Kiava coughed as the dust agitated his lungs and sighed. His throat was parched. Back in Sarafina's lair there had at least always been pools, rivers, streams and brooks. It was named for it. Kiava hadn't fully anticipated the inconvenience it would to search out a water source every couple of days.

"I think... I think I saw a few herds heading north of here and the same two returning in the opposite direction hours later. If they're risking this pace, there must be a waterhole or something north of here." He told Zuri. Zuri nodded. She couldn't smell water yet, but it seemed logical.

"I'm not sure I'd call that a herds." She muttered. "They were barley a pair of males. There couldn't have been more than six or seven of them." She noted. Kiava shrugged.

"Food and water is scarcer here, I wouldn't be surprised if all the herds are similarly smaller sized. They'll get smaller as we near the elephant graveyard." He told her. Buzz nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's true. At least we know we're going in the right direction." The meerkat said, though his dour expression said he didn't think that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"You're not a massive fan of hyenas, are you Buzz?" Zuri guessed. Buzz stiffened.

"I hate hyenas." He conceded "The laughter as they tear you to pieces is terrifying." He shuddered, his hair rising and settling in agitation. Zuri nodded. That was fair. Kiava was proven to be right, soon enough. They located a small watering hole sometime later. The water was almost opaque and left a gritty taste in the mouth. There was a small amount of vegetation around it and more than a little fungus, but Ookai assured them it was not poisonous. It lapped against cold rock however and their tiredness meant it was just as thirst-quenching. Zuri sat down, letting out a sigh and started to lick her paws clean of the gritty dust. There were bruised and blistered from their walking. Kiava, having quenched his own thirst, moved out of the way to let the others take some and then stood up looking around. He climbed a nearby outcrop of earth which loomed over another of the dusty dunes.

"Where are you going?" Zuri asked. Kiava smiled.

"To look have a look around. Try to work out where we are." He said and carried on his way. He mounted the ridge and looked out across the Shadowlands. He could see more of the barren wasteland than ever and was disheartened. A few hills smattered the landscape. Dead, or wasting acacias pierced the skylines, but offered no shelter, no sustenance for the herds, and looked ready to collapse if so much as a hornbill landed on its skeletal branches. Far, far in the distance he could see the green tinged edges of the Swamplands and beyond that, he knew, lay the northern borders of the jungle and the distant wilds, its verdant hue looking enticing. When he turned around however, he saw a sight that made him gasp. It was a long way off. Very far. But he knew it by sight. A great pillar of white stone that reached high, high up in to the sky. A tower. Smoke and steam coiled around it and at his base he thought he saw rocks and tunnels, a labyrinth of passages and tunnels. It was some distance away to be sure, but there was no doubt in his mind, that this was Carrocscir. Around it, were tusks, bones and teeth, some faded patches of flesh and dust between them, the remains of titanic creatures. Rather than be disgusted by the decay, Kiava was pleased. It was the beginning of the elephant graveyard... the rear border with the Shadowlands, rather than the border to the Pridelands. He smiled. As it had turned out – they had been heading in the right direction after all. Carrocscir looked maybe a day away. Two at most. As he moved back, something caught his attention. A pair of gazelle were nearby, grazing on one of the tiny patches of grass before the tips of the Shadowlands merged into the elephant graveyard. Descending the outcrop, he turned to the others and reported his findings.

"Did you see anyone else? No hyenas? None of the Shai'tan's dogs?" Buzz asked. Kiava shook his head.

"No. There was no sign of them. I guess they are all deeper within Carrocscir." he said. Ookai nodded.

"That makes sense. If they really are fighting the Shai'tan. Then that place is built like a fortress. They could last for weeks there, providing they got enough food and water." He pointed out. Kiava nodded.

"Speaking of food and water, we have one yet not the other. I spotted a pair of gazelles out there that way. I thought I might try to fetch us some meat. You in the mood for some gazelle?" He asked. Zuri blinked.

"You want to go after that alone?" She asked him. Kiava shrugged.

"If I can't deal with a gazelle by now, there is no hope for me ever being able to defeat the Shai'tan. So how about it? Want some meat?" He asked. Zuri practically purred.

"Kiava, I would love some." She winced as she tried to stand up but Kiava shook his head.

"I've got this. I'll be right back." He said. Buzz nodded and leapt up onto Kiava's back, straddling the cub's neck. The speed of his movement too him by surprise.

"I'll come with you." He said. Kiava chuckled and didn't argue and left Zuri alone with the apes.

The meerkat and the lion located the gazelle again easily enough. Kiava crouched low behind a pile of rocks. It wasn't what he was used to. There was a distinct lack of grassland for cover. At a guess, he made the distance about thirty paces. Easy enough to close in the savannah but trickier in open wasteland. Thinking back to his lessons from Danyal and from Sarafina, Kiava moved as low to the ground as he could. His golden fur had been dimmed and greyed by the days spent in the dusty Shadowlands and the land was not known for its good light. Clouds of dust and even the odd pocket of steam disrupted the sunlight, casting a dim sheet of light rather than the blazing daytime sun of home. Buzz had dismounted from him, having claimed to not want to be too close once the blood started flowing. Kiava watched the gazelle carefully. One was shorter than the other and he initially focused on that one. But a closer look showed the larger gazelle was favouring his right foreleg and slower to move. And old injury? Aging limbs? Perhaps he had gotten it trapped in rocks during a lucky escape from a predator? He couldn't tell, but it made him a tempting target. Kiava tasted the air with his tongue. The wind was still coming towards him. They would not find his scent, which was good but if the gazelle happened to turn and see him, he would lose both. He leaned in, and whispered to Buzz.

"Could you do me a favour?" He asked him, softly. Buzz shrugged.

"What would you have me do?" He asked. Kiava told him and Buzz looked surprised.

"Kiava! I am fairly sure that's... I don't know... Cheating somehow!" He said. But did as he had been bidden.

Kiava crouched low in the dirt again, as Buzz snuck away from him and circled round to the right, so that he was directly behind the one looking to Kiava's left. From there, Buzz reached onto his back, where a piece of plant fibre tied an assortment of his five-inch-long javelins. As per Kiava's request, this one hadn't been treated with fire ant venom but would still sting.

When Kiava nodded to him, Buzz arched his back and threw the spear. It sailed through the air and landed like a porcupine quill in the side of the gazelle's left leg, just above the hoof. It cursed, stamping the hoof, thinking he had been stung or bitten by some insect. In that moment, Kiava ran as fast as he could, sprinting towards the gazelle, letting out a soft roar. The second gazelle, thinking he was the one being attacked and by a full-sized lion panicked, neighed, and ran. The first, the one checking its hoof, lurched. It's right leg limping from some old injury, it's left already in the air as he fiddled with the wooden spike, and it tried to run on both feet at once. Its clumsiness cost it only a second, but it was all the time Kiava needed to run up to the gazelles' side and launch himself at the creature's neck. The prey creature bucked, trying to throw Kiava off, but Kiava's grip, honed by hours of practice on a much more skilled opponent, was vice-like. He pulled tight and bit forwards on the creature's neck, trying to get teeth around the windpipe.

The creature jerked and began to run, Kiava clinging on for dear life. Each time he went for a stranglehold, the beast would shift and run. Buzz called out his name and Kiava changed tactics. Instead of trying to force his whole mouth around the creature's sizeable neck, it focused only on the throat. With this he had far more success and his teeth crushed around softer flesh. The beast panicked and shifted. Kiava released his hold on the gazelle and he fell away, a huge chuck of meat caught between his teeth. He rolled as soon as he hit the ground, sprung to his feet and was up and running again. He needn't have worried. As soon as he had dropped away, he had severed a major artery and cut the beast's throat. It managed to make ten paces before it collapsed to the ground with a gurgle, its life bubbling away. Kiava moved in quickly and slashed deeper into the throat, granting it a merciful death. It passed out and then died in seconds. He would have preferred to have strangled it down. It would have been less messy, less terrifying for the prey and left more blood in the meat. But he had managed it. Buzz ran up next to him, panting.

"Nicely done!" He said, patting Kiava on the back, but then blanched when he saw the blood dripping down his muzzle. "Carnivores." He muttered, moment later, the curse was followed by retching noises.

Kiava tried to ignore it and allowed himself to feel the elation at his own kill, probably for longer than was strictly necessary. He couldn't help but feel proud at how well he had done. Most cubs could not boast of being able to survive like a real rogue, hunting solo and taking meat. He chomped down a chunk of flesh quickly, before licking his lips and surveying the kill again.

"I can't drag all of this back and we'd never eat it all anyway." he said aloud, suddenly feeling slightly guilty at the wastefulness of it. Perhaps he should have sought smaller prey. "We'll just cut away the flanks and juicy parts and drag those back for Zuri." He said, thoughtfully. Buzz nodded, though the old meerkat looked a little uncertain at the idea of dragging meat back. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say a word, an ear spitting laughter filled the air around him.

Kiava span to the sound of the laughter, but the noise seemed to fill the air. Then shapes seemed to spill out of the rocks and surrounding rockeries. Shapes with a horribly familiar silhouette. Shapes that laughed a horrible, eerie laugh as they approached. Kiava turned and found more of the sleek shadows moving around him. Seven of them, all laughing, giggling, jeering, or chuckling the same twisted mirth.

"Oh yes! Very well done indeed you lion! Many thanks for the delicious meal!" The leader said and Kiava recoiled.

It was a She-Hyena. The female was, smallish for a hyena. In fact all of them seemed on the scrawny side, though Kiava was not likely to mention that fact aloud. The hyenas advanced and then a pair of then launched forward, seizing the meat, slashing into it wildly with claws and teeth, swallowing huge gulps of the red, bleeding meat, slobbering with every bite. Only the leader seemed to restrain herself and if Kiava intended to use their momentary lapse of focus to escape, it would have been useless, she was staring at him intently.

"Now." She drawled. "Although I must say, I am impressed with the hunting skills of a young cub such as yourself, the real question, I think today, is what is a lion cub and meerkat are doing in the Shadowlands? At the rear entrance to Carrocscir, no less?" She asked, calmly, but stroke forward with arrogant self-assurance. She said. Kiava swallowed and decided it would be pointless to lie.

"Hello." He said, carefully. "Please. Take as much food as you want. Consider it a gift." He said. He couldn't stop them if he tried, but it seemed only polite. "We are travelling through the Shadowlands on a very important task." He said slowly, eying their teeth warily. They looked awfully sharp. The other hyenas seemed amused and chuckled to themselves though that may have been their natural mirth. The lead hyena smirked.

"Really? I never would have guessed. And this task, would be what exactly? I am sure you could trust us with such knowledge, given that this is our home and you are trespassing." She said. Kiava paused. He had indeed come to speak to the leader of the hyena. This hyena, though clearly of some significance, was not nearly mature enough to be leading an entire clan... So instead, he held his tongue.

"It is quite a delicate matter..." He said.

"Did you not hear us? Tell us what you are doing here now! Come on Asante, let me take apart the meerkat – we've just eaten and I could do with some desert!" One of the hyenas said to their leader. Asante held up a paw.

"Hmm. You're just a kid." Asante said. "What the hell are you doing here? Sneaking around? A lion with barely any scent on you." She looked at him suspiciously. A swagger permeated her voice, but there was a hint of curiosity in her demanding tone.

"Whoa. I am not sneaking. You're the first hyenas I've seen." He protested. "I've actually been looking for you."

"Now that I find hard to believe. I'll agree, it sounds more than a little farfetched to imagine the Shai'tan have recruited rogue lion cubs to their cause, but when you refuse to tell us of your purpose here, we are left to draw our own conclusions." She said. "So I'm gonna ask ya' one more time. Why. Are. You. Here."

"Who cares why they are here? Let's just kill them and be done with it and feed the pups for a few more days." One of the hyenas suggested. Kiava instinctively drew his claws before he could stop himself, but Asante caught the action and crowed with laughter.

"Ha! He doesn't like the sound of that, Bhagari!" She laughed.

"Kiava? Who are you talking to?" Kiava's stomach twisted as he heard Zuri's voice, and turned to see her approaching. Asante whirled and saw her. Zuri stared at them in shock and at Kiava surrounded by the pack. Bhagari was not slow however, and barked an order.

"There's another of them! Grab her!" And three hyenas leapt after her. Zuri yelped in shock and darted to the right, vanishing behind the same rocks the hyenas emerged from. Asante cursed and Buzz leapt atop Kiava's neck again.

"Go!" He shouted, desperately, frightened by the number of hyenas. Some part of Kiava registered that he needed to speak to the clan leaders and that these hyenas could help with that, but one look at the three hyenas charging after Zuri flushed all thought of that from his mind. Kiava dived to the left and struck at the nearest hyena. They were smaller than most, but still taller than him by half and when he lashed at the hyena with claws outstretched it recoiled then bit down at him. Kiava dodged the blow by a hairs width and leapt over his attacker. And like that he was out of their encirclement. Asante wheeled around, and cursed again, with another colourful reference to her lieutenant's parentage, trying to give orders to two groups of hyenas at once. Bhagari howled, shouting to retrieve Zuri, and Buzz cried in panic, as two made after Kiava – and by extension him. Kiava followed where Zuri had fled and found Ookai and Bruce and Zuri at the waterhole, trying to calm down Zuri. When he arrived, he climbed the taller rocks to gain height.

"Ookai – Bruce! Get down here now! Guard the right flank. Zuri, Buzz, take left. They'll be scared of Bruce, but he can't take them all at once! Stay tight together!" He ordered quickly. Ookai was so surprised that he did as ordered without complaining or arguing, scooping up a rock in each hand. Asante's hyenas rounded the corner, even as Kiava leapt down onto the unsuspecting hyenas. He shouted as Kiava landed atop him and clawed into his back.

A second rounded the ridge after them, only to be struck on the head by a rock hurled by Ookai and sent stumbling. Zuri swiped at a third, even as Kiava clawed as his foe and was sent tumbling from his back. The hyena though retreated to its allies, rather than press its advantage and turned to look back, wincing in pain.

"Stay back! We didn't come here for a fight! Just get out of our way!" Kiava called. Asante did not look convinced.

"If you're no threat then why run?"

"You attacked us, remember? You went for Zuri!" Kiava insisted. Asante cocked her head, then nodded, conceding.

"Alright... Let's say we believe you... What do you really want then?"

"We need to speak to the leader of the clans of Carrocscir. I believe her name is Shenzi." Kiava replied, his anger rising. Asante laughed. And Bhagari jeered.

"HA! Not spies but assassins then? Is Amun so desperate that he sent a viper that didn't look like a snake? And he thought a lion would do better? HA!" Bhagari laughed. He grunted and the hyenas leapt in frenzy towards them. Bruce, the great gorilla bellowed and swung his two treetrunk like arms at their attackers and two hyenas were lifted into the air and sent flying. One dived at Zuri, grinning manically, expecting her to scream in terror. Zuri simply ducked, then launched herself upwards, crashing into the leaping hyena's stomach and knock it aside, then landed on its front.

"Pinned You." She said, without a trace of mirth and began to claw at its face.

"Don't kill them." Kiava managed to shout over the din. He wasn't yet a particularly great King, but he knew enough of diplomacy to understand that he would have a challenging time convincing the hyenas to fight alongside him if he killed their welcome party, even if it was in self-defence. Kiava jumped over one attacking hyenas and landed into a sprint, running at a second, before feinting and clawing at a third. Before long, all three had severe injuries on their sides, but neither were mortal and Kiava was retreating, having both angered and hurt three at once. He glanced from side to side, trying to control his breathing. Then they all leapt at him. Kiava dived, not at any of the attackers, but backwards and two the attackers crashed into each other, slamming their skulls against first themselves and then hard rock.

Suddenly, Kiava's three opponents had become one. Kiava landed into a crouch and roared. It wasn't a spine-tingling howl of primal anger, but it did sound serious to its attacker who reacted to the growl with panic. Buzz vaulted over a hyena and drove and wooden spike into its back. This one was dipped in fire ant venom and the poor creature howled in agony as the poison seared through the injury like acid. It ran around in panic, before crashing into the outcrop of rocks and falling backwards, its tongue flopping out and its eyes glazed.

Ookai span atop Bruce and flung his final stone from on high. The pellet soared through the air and crashed into a sixth hyena with a wet slap. It too collapsed, clutching a paw to its head, even as Zuri collided with it and smacked with both clawless paws. After three or four repeated strokes, it too went still.

"Who are you...?" Kiava's one opponent asked, as it took a step backwards, sounding spooked and Kiava recognized it as Bhagari. Kiava jerked forwards and slammed his paws into the hyena knocking him to the ground.

"My name is Kiava." He said, slamming the hyenas head against the stone, knocking him out cold, ducking back Sarafina had taught him. The lessons came to him as easily as breathing.

Then he turned to face Asante, who was looking stunned.

"I am Prince Kiava, Son of Kovu, Son of Scar. I'm the son of Kiara, daughter of Simba. I am the Prince of the Pridelands and all the light touched earth. The Flame of Priderock. And I am here to speak with your matriarch. And I've come in peace. I don't care if you look at me and think I am a weak cub, or if you find the idea of such a thing amusing. I don't want to fight you, but I am here for a reason and I won't be hindered by your ignorance any longer. So please, if you would be so kind, take me to your leader." He said.

Asante looked on in amazement.

"You... My fighters... The Shadowpups..."

"You have a club. Great. I'll apply later. But if we could please move?"

"I handpicked them myself. We have the fewest losses against the Shai'tan than any warband, despite half of us being underaged and you just tore through them." She said aghast. "Bhagari was right. You are assassins." She said, sounding shocked. Kiava groaned. Hyenas...

"You cannot possibly be that stupid."

"How else could you have managed that, unless you've been training to fight other animals every day of your existence?" Asante asked. Kiava paused, thinking back to his lessons from Sarafina. Well. It was exactly what he had been doing. But once you say it out loud…

"Okay. Maybe not stupid. That's a fair point. I know it looks bad, but if you'd just let me-"

Asante gave a growl, sinking into a crouch.

"You'll have to go through me first..." She said. Kiava sighed. She had just watched him tear through her other fighters. Admittedly, he had used dirty tricks and unexpected angles of attack. There was no way it would work a second time and she was clearly no longer estimating them. But she was outnumbered, five to one and he had no wish to further damage their chances at negotiating with the hyenas by injuring an entire pack. Even if they did have it coming. Even so, he sank into a crouch.

"As you wish..." He said, softly.

Then Asante charged him.

Kiava dived out of the way, to avoid her attack and her bite missed him by inches. He twisted his body, planting both rear feet behind him firmly and jumped back to the space where he had been just moments before, striking with both paws. Asante ducked and weaved around his attacks with a grace unbefitting a hyenas and suddenly was right up next to him, practically nose to nose. She bit at his chest and teeth dragged along the front, cutting several lines of red into him, yet he jerked away at the last instant and did not lose any huge chunks of flesh.

"Kiava!" Zuri shrieked, panicked now, as Asante changed direction, jerked away and then kicked him with both hide legs in the belly. It was a move he had only ever seen performed by Vitani and had supposedly been developed from witnessing a Zebra kill a male rogue with a single blow to the chest shattering the ribs and puncturing a lung. Both crashed into Kiava, sending him crashing to the ground, the air forced from his lungs. Kiava rolled away, confident his ribs were bruised and shouting in pain, as Asante turned.

Then suddenly, Zuri was there, helping him to his feet, even as Bruce's great arms swung, holding Asante at bay, as he crawled to his feet. Asante backed away, as if noticing their numbers for the first time.

"Asante... there is no need for this..." Kiava said, but Asante wasn't listening.

"Get away!" She shouted. Then there was a great bang, and a huge flash of light. The earth trembled and the wind began to roar and Kiava wondered if perhaps one of the fabled Geysers were erupting, an insurmountable blockage of pressure, being unleashed. But it was not a geyser. The winds howled and Kiava took a step back.

Light, brilliant white light was streaming from Asante, from her claws, her fur, her eyes. They glowed white, as the winds crashed and raged around her, currents of air streaming like a tempest, a storm, for which she was the eye. The whirling tempest of magical energies span around her, as she screamed in panic.

"What the..." Kiava managed to say... Then the breaths of air narrowed into a single jet, invisible, forceful, and just tangible at the edges. The blast of air struck Kiava in the chest and sent him flying, the whirling storms began to pick up and Ookai and Buzz were plucked out of the air. They screamed as they span. Zuri and Bruce cowered and bust and rocks and trickles of water were sucked into the typhoon, spinning, and crashing and twisting. Asante screamed in panic and Ookai and Buzz were silenced as they were flung against the ground and fell still. Bruce cried out and Asante focused on him. A bolt of energy flew from her paws and crashed into Bruce and Zuri, crackling like lightning.

They both screamed as it coursed through them. Asante howled in panic her powers spiralling out of control.

"ZURI!" Kiava called, desperately. This was unnatural... Yet Kiava recognised sorcery when he saw it. His nightmares were infrequent now but one leapt out in his memory. Marsade hovering in the air, staffs of power whirling around him, raining fire upon his foes.

Somehow, she was like him. A Shaman. But how? Rafiki had claimed there were only five. Was this... something different? Or something new? Whatever the case, it would not help Zuri. There was no time to think, to plan, or to scheme. Kiava jumped and forced his way through the winds, the whirling vortex's of air and the debris they had picked up and latched onto Asante. Immediately, the magic bolts ceased and Bruce and Zuri both collapsed to the ground.

Kiava grappled with Asante, clawing at her. The winds howled and span.

"Asante!" Another voice called. Asante seemed to flinch.

"Father?" She said, suddenly. Kiava used the distraction to claw at her neck, wrapping an arm around it and pulling down with all his weight. The air span as Asante choked. Still Kiava's grip tightened, strangling, pulling, asphyxiating. Asante began to thrash and struggle, her eyes wide and the storm doubled in size.

And still Kiava's grip tightened. Asante chocked and gasped for air. Her paws shook, her face contorted. Then the air moved. It shifted. It passed through her. Through her skin, her ears, her eyes, her paw tips. The air, the blessed air she needed, pulsed through her body, through her lungs, moved not by her muscles and lungs, but by the sheer force of her will and the mystical shamanic energies. After a moment, she inhaled, sending air throughout her body where her limbs were on fire. Then her eyes snapped open and Kiava was ripped from her back.

She began to breath normally again, regularly and Kiava was thrown into the air, where he hung there, suspended by some invisible force.

"Asante!" The voice came again.

Asante turned and Kiava saw another hyena approaching. This one was older, bigger and his body covered in scars and war wounds. He looked grizzled and battle hardened and he eyed Asante carefully.

"Asante! Let him go!" He warned her. Asante struggled.

"I..."

"Take a deep breath. Let go of the power you've gripped hold of. Let yourself relax. You've beaten them... Now let go... Let the storm die down." He said, his voice soothing and calming. Asante struggled. Then the debris dropped to the ground. The roar of the wind ceased and in the still calm. Kiava hung there in the air.

Asante sighed, the last of the white light streaming off her. Then the ground rushed up to meet him and a stunning pain struck him as he fell and landed headfirst on stone ground. Then he collapsed, unconscious.

The senior hyena glowered at the Shadowpups. Bhagari gasped, seeing Banzai standing there. Asante's father. The Matriarch's consort. He looked in amusement as Bhagari and his cohorts groaned and began to rise, clutching their heads and other bruises. Asante was panting and looked about to pass out. She smiled weakly at her father.

"Dad..." She said, swaying on her feet. Banzai looked around in exasperation and at the two unconscious lion cubs and the bodies of their friends.

"Are they alive?" He asked Bhagari, who quickly checked.

"Yes... All five of them..." He said. Banzai nodded.

"Good. Take them into Carrocscir."

"Father... What if they are spies?"

"Then we'll kill them like the rest of the snakes we find. I had thought the Lion Prides were destroyed..." He said. Bhagari looked on distastefully.

"Not all of them..." He pointed out. Banzai nodded.

"The Matriarch will want to speak to him..." He said, looking pointedly at Asante. Asante shook.

"I... I didn't think..."

"Of course you didn't. You were doing your job – defending our borders while under siege. You didn't have any idea what to do with lions. You acted perfectly reasonably. I don't blame you at all." He said and with that he looked at all the Shadowpups, who nodded gratefully. "I am however..." He continued. "...Interested to hear why you were all unconscious when I found Asante and her... gift... spiralling out of control... How did two lion cubs manage to best all of you?" He asked, as they walked, dragging the unconscious forms of the lion cubs behind them. A few swallowed and looked nervous, so Banzai let the matter drop, though he smirked.

Far away, unseen by any, a short green figure the length of a branch watched them intently, eyeing their movements, looking at how they moved through the labyrinth. He nodded to himself. So there was indeed a rear entrance to the Ivory Tower. Amun would be very pleased. The snake's tongue flickered in and out and then the Shai'tan spy slivered away, to report his findings. Particularly one very interesting looking She-Hyena.

AN:

Well, here you go. Here is the next entry. We have finally reached where I left off the last time before the great rewrite. However, as this story has expanded, I urge you to exercise due diligence, as some of the reviews may contain spoilers to events that - since the rewrite has expanded the number of volumes - might not happen until the next book. I hope you enjoy the series.