Chapter 2

Kiava gave a low moan as he returned to consciousness. His head was killing him. It throbbed and pulsed. He clutched a paw to his head and was unsurprised when he pulled it away and saw the red glistening of blood there. He had taken a serious blow to back of the skull and his vision was still burred. He tried to think back, to the moments before his vision had gone dark. He could recall being confronted by a group of hyenas upon leaving a shallow watering hole. He also remembered the short skirmish which had broken out soon afterwards. He hadn't wanted to tell the hyenas details of who they were or why they had come there, but that had probably been a very stupid mistake because they'd taken his caginess as being suspicious and had decided that meant he was a spy for the Shai'tan. Not his best decision. He recalled a fight. Then the rest of his memories returned and he nearly jumped to his feet. Somehow, impossibly, the leader of the hyenas had possessed some form of Shamanism! Not unlike what Rafiki could do. He groaned aloud. Not good.

"Ugh. That's not fair." He muttered. Zuri. Where was she? Where were the others? He rose to his feet urgently and looked around in panic. He couldn't see anyone. In fact, it was very dark and he guessed he was in some kind of cave, or cavern. Looking around he thought he could see a rocky wall face. But between him and the rest of the cavern, was a claustrophobic entrapment of bones. It looked like a colossal rib cage of some description which continued to serve as such, except now it entrapped him rather than a collection of organs. A quick test of the bone's iron strength, told him was not escaping any time soon. How had they even got him in here? The set of bones lay on its side and it looked like at the ribcage where the spine would have gone, there was another set of bones which could be peeled back, but it was more than he could manage on his own. He growled in frustration.

"Hey, Boss! The boy-cub is awake!" A voice called out. He wasn't alone. He frowned and peered into the darkness. His eyes were starting to become adjusted to the gloom now and he could make out someone else in front of him. A guard or sentinel of some description? It was joined a minute later by a second, familiar pair of eyes. It was the same female hyena he had seen earlier. The one with the unearthly powers, and control of the winds. She looked at him coldly.

"You can leave us, for the moment." She told the guard, who left quickly. Asante glared down at him.

"Where am I?" Kiava asked her. Asante didn't answer him right away, she just continued to glare at him. He swallowed and made a show of inspecting his surroundings. "Given the decor, I guess we are somewhere in the Elephant Graveyard? We are underground. This is Carrocscir isn't it? The Ivory Tower." He asked her. Asante sniffed.

"You can assume whatever you like." She told him, looking him up and down. She was younger than he had first thought. Older then him to be sure, but still little more than an adolescent.

"Where are my friends?" Kiava asked. The hyena paused.

"The monkey and meerkat are elsewhere. The gorilla proved difficult to imprison, until we threatened to cut their throats. That shut it up. As for the other cub. Well."

"If you've hurt her –!"

"Oh, we haven't hurt her. Yet. Bhagari still thinks you are spies for the Shai'tan, trying to discover the pass way through the labyrinth. I don't blame him. That maze of a passageway is the only thing between us and the Shai'tan, and the only reason it secure is because we've killed every spy and scout they've sent trying to divine the correct route." She said. Kiava swallowed.

"I am not a spy." He told her.

"No. Of course not. You are Kiava. Son of Kovu, Son of Kiara." She said, staring at him. "Haven't had royalty here for a while. It's a bold claim to make. Of course, I never met either of them so I couldn't say if you have the resemblance. But I know the Shai'tan burnt Pride Rock. Am I to believe that you escaped such a slaughter?"

"I am standing here."

"I guess you could be an orphaned rogue lion cub so desperate for protection that you'd invent a ludicrous story in order to survive. Were it not so grandiose, I'd commend its originality. But you're more likely to attract enemies than scare them away." Asante said scornfully. Kiava began to growl.

"Tell you what. Let me out of here, and I'll-" Asante paced in front of him, cutting him off.

"I have half a mind to just leave you here, but we can't spare the meat right now. So." She said. She clicked her tongue, and several more hyenas moved into view. Kiava didn't shrink back, but he did draw his claws. However, they didn't move to attack him. Instead, they pulled at the bones that barred his exit from the cell. Kiava stepped out gingerly.

"You wanted to speak with our clan leader. My mother has decided to grant that request." She said, though her expression told him what she thought of that as a concept. Clearly, she was unimpressed. Kiava however stopped and stared at her.

"The matriarch is your mother?" He asked in surprise. Asante laughed, as all hyenas did, and it sent chills down Kiava's spine.

"You didn't know? I am Asante. Daughter of Shenzi and Banzai. Not as longwinded a title as 'Flame of Pride Rock.' Perhaps I could start styling myself 'Storm of Carrocscir'?" She said sarcastically. She made his previous titles seem silly the way she said it. Kiava stared at her for a moment. Then bowed his head.

"My apologies, your highness." She said. Asante stared at him in surprise, taken aback by the bow. She couldn't recall a single time in history that a lion had willingly bowed to a hyena. The other hyenas seemed likewise stunned and one of them almost choked. Asante coughed, now looking slightly awkward.

"Ummm. No worries?" She said, uncertainly. Kiava nodded and followed her from the cell.

He followed the hyena's lead, down a long and twisted corridor. It confirmed Kiava's guess that this was indeed the largest fortress in the elephant graveyard. The darkened stone passageways were lined with ivory, elephant tusks, bones, teeth, and horns, which glistened white. It was macabre, he thought. Several holes opened out onto open skyline, letting moonlight light the walkways. The Ivory glistened silver in the lunar light. As the cavern opened up into a wider den, he saw other hyenas, some young, some old. They were all the same clan as Asante, that was clear, the unmistakable spots that covered their rear and back gave that away in a heartbeat. There were all sorts scattered about. Lying around here and there, in little enclaves. Some were alone, attempting to get some sleep in the busy area, others were gathered in families, resting next to partners and pups. Occasionally a raised voice would betray a laugh, or an argument. Some of them feasted on a leg of meat or more often a bare bone, though that was rare. Most of the hyenas looked underfed and malnourished. As they passed, reactions were different. Some viewed the young lion cub with curiosity and surprise. Others reacted with a scowl or frown. A few leered at him directly, showing sharp pointed teeth as they did so, chuckling to one another as they did trying to get a rise of him. A few whoops and growls and sneers game his way, which he tried to ignore.

They also reacted to Asante. Hyenas moved out of the way as she approached, though they stumbled over one another in other places. Several gave nods of acknowledgement, even the occasionally smile of gratitude. The same was true of the hyenas that moved around them. They were, Kiava was beginning to realize, a sort of cross between Asante's bodyguard and her own private pack. Hyenas seemed to give them a measure of respect, even the ones who were obviously experienced fighters.

Kiava was forced to reassess the young hyenas he'd encountered. The Shadowpups they seemed to be nicknamed. Many were without scars and injuries, and he was beginning to wonder if that wasn't due to inexperience but simply because they had never been injured? Were they that good? And what did that make Asante, their leader?

Far from the tower, a small serpent navigated the stonework and silvered past jackals and other snakes, and spoke to the largest creature. The monstrous tiger that loomed over all of them. He spoke to him quietly, so softly that others couldn't not hear him, though they heard the tiger's booming laugh.

"So there is a route through that accursed labyrinth after all! And they were foolish enough to reveal it without first checking for spies?" Amun asked, incredulous.

"They were not looking for spies my lord. They were wounded from their fight, and the leader was about to lose consciousnessss. Alsssso, they were also dragging prisonersssss, their attention was diverted. They looked, but did not see." He assured them. Amun sneered. Finally. An opportunity like this was unlikely to come again. They had made a critical error. Now was the time to strike.

"Indeed, young snake. You have done very well!" He turned to his fellow. A titanic python who moved and hissed. Poisonous yellow eyes blinking. Amun nodded to the green snake in approval.

"Abyss." He addressed him. "Ensure that this snake is given his own command. He is eager for battle, and has an eye for strategy." Then turning to the jackal at his other side, he grinned.

"Sevear. Follow him. I want the tower destroyed." He said. The campaign in the Shadowlands had been going poorly. Finally, this was the breakthrough he needed.

They made their way past the last of the hyenas, (Kiava was unable to get a good enough look to even guess their numbers) and the passageways began to open out. The ground began to slant downwards, going deeper, deeper, not to the top of the tower as he would have guessed but down and deeper. And the light became less of the silvery grey he had seen above the ground, but a sickly, twisted green. The air became hotter too, despite the night's air. They came to the entrance of a tunnel, guarded by another pair of hyenas. These were clearly veterans, older than Asante by some time and pitted with war wounds. It was clear that the spirits had told him the truth. The hyenas had been fighting the Shai'tan in the Shadowlands for some time. They seemed nearly spent. Asante passed them without comment, and Kiava followed.

The tunnel opened into a great cavern. It was lit, not by the light of the moon, but by the green geysers which littered the room and occasionally splutter with searing hot steam. In the centre of the room, was pile of bones, legs, flanks, and skulls. They were a polished ivory white, and cracked where the marrow had been sucked from them. At the very top of the pile, was an elephant's skull. It towered over them, but it was only that of young elephant. In its middle where its truck would have been, lounged an old hyena. Her paws rested either side of the tusks which jutted out from either side of her. Next to her stood another hyena, a male. Both looked old. Old, and greying and twisted like gristle. In spite of their age, they seemed tough. The matriarch arched her neck when she saw Asante enter the room, but Kiava attention was immediately diverted by the familiar yellow form of a lioness cub at the foot of the dais. It was Zuri. She was standing there looking up at the Matriarch, with a slight tremor to her step. Zuri steeled herself when she caught sight of him but she was shaking slightly and was clearly terrified. Her courage returnedand her face lit up when she saw Kiava approaching.

"Zuri!" Kiava said, his face flooding with relief. Zuri opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of the chieftain hyena's sharp voice.

"So! This is the fabled 'King' of the Pridelands? A strange thing. I imagined you'd be taller." She said. Then she stood up on her throne of skulls. "I heard you were rather insistent that you speak to me? I am Shenzi. Call me what you want, but tell me what you are doing here!" She said, her voice was cutting and sharp. For a moment he was put in mind of Sarafina. Kiava looked up at her, and then bowed his head.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." He said. If his bowing to Asante had caused a stir, it sent a murmur around the throne room of this bone palace as he did so now. Shenzi's eye narrowed, as if trying to decipher whether it was a mockery or not. She didn't say anything for a moment. Then she cleared her throat.

"That. Was not what I expected you to call me." She admitted. A slight smile edged onto her lips. "I would not have expected such manners from a Lion, even in my own throne room." She commented. Kiava cocked it head.

"Yeah. Sorry." Kiava said. "I'll be the first to admit that my ancestors could be… remiss in their dealings with hyenas." He told her. "On the other paw, my parents were murdered before they could share that particular prejudice with me." He said carefully. Shenzi stared at him intently.

"Your parents. They would be Kovu, son of Scar and Zira. And Kiara; King Simba's daughter." She said coldly. "Or so you claim. You wished to speak to me. Speak then."

"You know my family well." He gulped. "Umm. Could I ask first? My friend, Zuri. Why is she here? Not that I want her gone, but what did you want with her?" He said slowly. Shenzi smirked.

"A slight misunderstanding. When they said they had the heir to the Pridelands, I assumed it was her. Among hyenas, its not usual for the mantle of Matriarch to follow any particular dynasty, but when it does it usually falls to their female descents." She said. Kiava nodded slowly, and Zuri smiled.

"And there was me, being led to believe hyenas were uncivilized." She said. Had she just made a joke? There was deathly silence, throughout the throne room. Then it erupted into laughter. Shenzi howled, and the gathered hyenas in the throne room chorused with giggles. Shenzi gave a smirk and pointed a claw at Zuri.

"I like you. You're brave to joke in front of hyenas, girl. I like you're guts." She said.

"For breakfast or supper?" Kiava asked. Shenzi's mouth twitched, but she shook her head.

"Eh. Her's was better." She said.

"They usually are." He cleared his throat. The ice had been broken, but the male next to Shenzi still eyed him warily.

"As entertaining as this charade is, what are two lion cubs doing being employed as spies for the Shai'tan? Are you stupid, or under coercion? Be honest and I'll be sympathetic as I cut your throat." Banzai warned him. The threat didn't carry much weight at this point. Kiava glanced at him warily.

"We are no spies. My Name is Kiava and I really am Kovu and Kiara's son. We fled when the Shai'tan attacked our home. Like they are clearly attacking yours." Kiava said carefully. Shenzi nodded slowly.

"Your friend said the same thing." She slowly walked down the steps towards Kiava. Kiava met her gaze and didn't flinch even as she approached him. Kiava heard Zuri hold her breath as she approached Kiava, extended a paw, and grabbed his chin. She moved it roughly, and Kiava kept his gaze on her, as he did. Shenzi held it for a moment, before releasing him.

"I met Kovu. For a very short time, when he was younger than you are now. Just a tiny brat he was. A scrawny bundle of fur. Scar took him in when he got his parents killed. I'll admit you have an uncanny resemblance to him. But you remind me more of King Ahadi than you do Zira's kid. Same coat. Same fur." She shook her head. "I hated that lion. Even for a Lion King he was an egotistical, arrogant fool." She shook her head again.

"Alright." Banzai said. "Let's just say, for a moment that we believed you. That you really are who you say you are. That doesn't explain what you're doing here. You'd be far better off, seeking refuge in the Mountainlands, or the Southlands. Why come here, to the Elephant Graveyard?" He asked. Kiava blinked.

"I came to speak to you before we met your daughter and her shadowpups. The Princess Asante has some… unusual gifts." Kiava said. Shenzi twitched. One of the hyenas reacted to his calling Asante a Princess. She glared at Asante who looked away. Obviously, there was something at play here. Shenzi didn't look happy to hear him. He backtracked carefully.

"My daughter is a gifted hyena." She told him. "In ways." She said, frowning.

"The Shadowpups are some our most promising fighters. The children of our best warriors." Banzai explained. "Asante is one of the best of them. You'll find that everyone here has earned their position, Prince Kiava. The Shadowlands are brutal and unforgiving."

"Well. You wanted to speak to me." Shenzi said. "You have my attention."

"I have come here with an offer." He decided the best option was to get it out in the open. Concealment and secrecy had nearly cost him at the border. "I want your help. And I want to help you. We both want the same thing. We should work together against the Shai'tan, and the Imperium. Against Emperor Ben-Kai-Ra." He said. He half expected there to be shouts of laughter. A chorus of giggles and laughter. Instead, he received stoic silence. Shenzi's smirk vanished, and she became deadly serious once again.

"You survived the siege of Pride Rock. How many more of you survived the attack?"

"Eight." Kiava said without hesitation. Banzai interrupted.

"How many of those aren't cubs?" He asked. Kiava paused.

"Four." He admitted. "And one of them is an adolescent." he said.

"So three." Banzai said. There was murmuring around them. Shenzi scowled.

"That's not much of an offer." Asante said for the first time, glaring at him. Kiava winced. That was of course the truth. If he had been offering this before the attack, then there might have been some incentive, but a ragtag group of survivors was far less use to the hyenas that a fully sized Pride.

"It's better than no lionesses." Kiava said. Shenzi scowled at then shook her head.

"No, Kiava. I disagree. I would say that none, is by far the best number of lionesses to be fighting alongside with." She said. Banzai nodded in agreement.

"But-"

"Kiava, you forget! We had an alliance with a lion once, before, and look where that landed us! None is precisely the amount of lionesses I want to be fighting alongside." She growled.

"It was wrong, what happened to you." Kiava said.

"What do you know about what happened to us?" She sneered at him. "What does any lion know? Or care to know?"

"I know you joined Scar. Back before he even went by Scar. I know you fought for him for many years. I know that you were friends, once. Before he betrayed you." Kiava told her. "I also know you did some pretty horrible things for him. Things you didn't have to do. That hurt my family. But the past can be the past. I'm not here to open old wounds." He told her. Shenzi growled.

"This dominion of mine, is made of old wounds, cub. Let me tell you something about Scar. Scar made grand promises. He offered us everything we'd ever dreamed of. Scar climbed to power on a mountain made of hyena corpses. Mufasa's was just the final step. Everyone remembers Mufasa, but who knows the names of all the dozens of hyenas he had killed? Every wrong he inflicted on the Pridelands, he inflicted upon us first twenty times over. We were savaged at both ends, Prince Kiava. But even before then, we were outcasts in the Pridelands. Driven out because of reavers and maniacs. Judged by the actions of a fanatic. Let the past be the past? Those words are only ever said by people who are ashamed of their people's past. I am not. Kiava. We are hyenas. We survive. We survive where nobody else can." She sneered. "So no, Kiava. Forgive me for sounding discourteous. Thanks, but no thanks. We will survive this without the aid of any more lions, thank you very much." She said.

"No!" It was Zuri. She looked shocked. "We came all this way! You can't –"

"Can't what? Say no?" Shenzi asked her. "That sounds like Ahadi."

"Hang on –"

"There's your answer kid." Shenzi told him turning and climbing up atop her throne of bones. "Sorry you came all this way."

"Wait! I've seen the state of your fighters! You're losing. But the Shai'tan aren't unstoppable, they can't be!"

"You have nothing to offer me, Prince Kiava. Nothing." She told him. "You're a King without a Kingdom. If you kill Amun? Break this siege? Defeat an army of jackals, wilddogs and snakes, all by yourself? Then perhaps, we might be able to come to an arrangement. But for three Lionesses, and the vague promise of fighting together? I think not, Kiava. We have been deceived before. We won't be again. Certainly not on the word of a Lion." Shenzi said firmly. There was a murmur of approval from around them as the hyenas heard this. Zuri looked downcast, and Kiava looked angry but not surprised.

"You just talked about the injustice of the lions of the Pridelands judging your whole race by the actions of a fanatic!" He asked. "And you aren't that innocent. Are you really going to do the same because of Scar?" He asked her. There was another grumble now, at his impertinence, but Shenzi glared at him indignantly. Then she shook her head, and waved a paw.

"I'll concede, you are no Shai'tan Spy. So out of kindness I'll have my daughter take you to the borders. You'll be given free passage from Carrocscir to the Shadowlands. After that you are on your own. And believe it or not, I wish you luck in your own quest, Pridelanders. But wishes are all I have to give to you." She said. Kiava sighed, defeated. There had to be a way. There had to be something. He would need to find some other group. Some other fighters. Perhaps he could still use the hyenas to keep Amun out of his fur until he had the strength to face him – then perhaps, he could defeat the Shai'tan, and earn their trust and respect. But as it was, it was clearly futile to-.

A loud roar echoed throughout the bowls of Carrocscir shattering his thoughts and plans.

"What in the – ." Asante began, but she didn't finish. With a huge roar, a pack of wilddogs burst through the tunnel. A pair of teeth closed around the first sentinels' neck, ripping his throat out. The second went down under a rain of blows. Asante was the first to react, giving commands quickly, as the surrounding hyenas gathered around the throne. Banzai was next, leaping from the great height to land atop a jackal, and biting into its spine.

"Impossible!" She breathed.

"The labyrinth is breached! Guards!" Asante shouted, quickly, as shouts of alarm began to fill the air. The Ivory tower was under attack. And the tunnels were breached. They must have been followed! Her stomach twisted and churned. It could only have been a matter of time. More and more Wilddogs began to pour into. Kiava turned in a panic as Amun's booming laughter could be heard throughout the tunnels. They were surrounded. Carrocscir was breached. The last stronghold in Africa that opposed the Shai'tan, was falling.

The Outlands and the tower of Golgorath was no stranger to tigers now. The creatures from the far east were terrifying monsters even to most of their allies. But the latest addition to their ranks was a novelty. The first of the tigers not to be one of the seven warlords who led the Imperium. Castella-Ra. Daughter of the Emperor. She paced along the halls of Golgorath and kept her claws tightly sheathed as she moved along the dusty red floor of the termite mounds. It was a habit of hers. Some of the Shai'tan walked with their claws out as matter of practice and enjoyed the intimidation it brought with it, but she preferred to move silently when possible. It was a holdover from her cubhood. In the days since her arrival at the frontiers of the Imperium she was only just beginning to grow accustomed to the wasteland that the local called the Outlands. It wasn't a pleasant place. Rish'ut had taken it as his lair for security rather than comfort. The heat was not nearly as intense as some parts of the Imperium, at least with the spire. So long as there were termite mounds over her head the shade made a decent den. Apparently, there had used to be a problem with termites themselves in the area, but Marsade had purged the area with sorcery and flame so that now, dust and sand were all that clung to her fur. A wilddog passed in front of her but shrank away when he saw her approach. Curious, she held out a paw.

"You. Stop a moment. Who are you?" She asked the dog. The mammal flinched but turned to face her.

"My name is Harrin, my lady."

"You are one of the wilddog commanders, aren't you?" She asked him. Harrin nodded.

"Third-Pack Leader, under Lord Mortread, formerly under Lord Rish'ut, formerly under Lady Sekhmet." He said. Castella's mouth twitched.

"You've outlived two Shai'tan then. I'm impressed. You must be a mighty warrior, or skilled tactician, Harrin." She congratulated him.

"Forgive me, my lady, but I am neither. I seem to have the fortune to be in the right place, at the right time, is all…" He said. Castella nodded.

"As do I, Commander Harrin, as do I. What are you doing now?" She asked him. The dog hesitated.

"I am seeking out several of my packmates. They didn't report for duty this morning. I suspect some confusion over the allocation of patrols." He held her gaze for a moment. "They appear to have made a mistake, my lady, but I have always known them to be hardworking and loyal soldiers." he said. Castella started, realizing that Harrin expected her to be angry at his soldier's incompetence. If she had been Rish'ut or Amun, or even Asamode, she might have. Mortread, she knew, would have investigated the reasons for their absence personally, and weighed it against their previous service and only then, pronounced judgement. It was a facet of his personality she admired. Was it mere mercy? Or did it have some deeper strategic motivation? She never knew, and for herself, she had never asked. It was merely a part of his character.

"Far be it for me to interfere with Lord Mortread's troops, Commander. Go on your way." She told him. The dog nodded, gratefully, and left her presence. She watched him go, and then turned away. It was becoming more obvious of late that many of the dogs and jackals suffered when on mundane duties for too long. They made fine trackers and fighters, but guard duty, border patrols and other such menial work seemed to chaff them to the point that they became useless. Asamode's suggested solution had been to execute every dog which lapsed. Mortread's had been to organize more hunts. They seemed that they had an endless supply of targets. The former slaves, the lionesses, the asiatics that Asamode had reported and above all the missing Prince Kiava, were all at large. The trouble was, as far as they knew, they were all gathered in the same place. That might afford them a small advantage once they finally hunted down the rebels. It would mean they could be utterly destroyed. Until that moment came though it made actually locating the rebels an endeavour that was, for the moment, fruitless.

She brooded as elegantly as she could. It didn't do for a princess of the Imperium to be seen to sulk. She arrived at her destination. It was the tallest of the towers of Golgorath. She climbed through the narrow entrance way, and found herself on the delicate narrow ridges around the edges of the highest Spire. The height was dizzying. Far below, she could see jackals, wilddogs, and others creatures around the base of Spire. They looked, like termites to her from where she stood. Moving around below her, beneath her. The wind was far more powerful up here, and a gust jarred her back to earth. Settling her feet she moved along, and found what she was looking for. The looming bulk of her father. The colossal Emperor Ben-Kai-Ra, stood there surveying his dominion with dark eyes. She cleared her throat, but if he was surprised by her presence, he didn't flinch. Without turning around, he inclined his head.

"Daughter. Why have you come here?" He asked her.

"Father. Since you have arrived in the Serengeti, you haven't deigned to speak with me. You summoned me here, to be near you I thought." She told him. Still he didn't turn around. "Have I done something wrong?" She asked. He chuckled.

"Castella. How little you know me. If you, had be sure, we would have spoken far sooner." He said. She relaxed, slightly.

"So why the silence?" She asked.

"I have been diverted of late, by other matters." He explained calmly. He offered no apology. She simply nodded in understanding.

"You mean by the Pridelands lions? Their resistance is unsurprising. When we invade another's territory, they are bound to resist for a time." She said, pragmatically.

"It is their persistence, rather than their resistance which diverts my attention, Castella… And their resourcefulness. To attack us here? In Golgorath, seems to beggar belief. They made use of spies and infiltrators. But what's more alarming to me are these reports that the Prince of the Pridelands survived. It troubles me." He muttered.

"Isn't he just a cub?" She asked. "What use is a cub to them?" She asked him.

"He won't stay a cub." He reminded her. "But he may yet prove to be more dangerous as a child than as an adult. In my experience, people will perform all kinds of acts of heroism to protect the perceived innocent youth. Without the Prince they are merely rebels, traitors, and insurgents. With him, they become freedom fighters. Restorationists. Warriors of the Light." He said with distaste.

"They can be crushed soon enough, if necessary. Or they can dwindle to nothingness. All the continents resisted, at first. Sooner or later, they decide that peace is preferable to war, no matter who their rulers are. When I departed Oceanica the same creatures who resisted most strongly begged me to stay and continue my rule there." She told him.

"Ah. I've heard it said that you were a popular ruler there." Her father said. She smiled, eager for his praise.

"With most of the enemy fighters captured or killed, all that was left was to organise the survivors. After so long fighting, many of them saw a significant improvement to their lives when the carnage ceased. I am sure the same will happen here." She said with confidence.

"I am not so certain." He told her. "The Pridelands have proven to be difficult to control. And they must be mine, Castella, they must." He said. Castella watched him for a moment, then finally decided to ask him something.

"Father. Why do these lands mean so much to you?" She asked him. At first the Emperor didn't respond. He clawed at the ground.

"I don't understand how people can forget…" He muttered.

"Father?"

"These lands are our inheritance, daughter. Our home. Our true home." he told her. Castella cocked her head.

"I know the stories. All life is said to have emerged from here." She asked. He sighed.

"Stories. Histories." He corrected her. "I focused your education on practical things for a purpose but in doing so I may have neglected other aspects of it. What do you know of the origins of the Imperium?" He asked her.

"I know enough..." She told him. He smirked.

"All life began in Africa, daughter. Ours too. These are our ancestral homelands. Before our exile. Before being cast hence to the distant lands. Ripped a world away, by the Shaman in the name of balance."

"I always thought it was just a story. A feytale." She admitted. It made a useful justification, but she wasn't sure he had ever believed it.

"Our ancestors were mighty, Castella. Powerful. And distrusted by the other races because we dared to be honest with ourselves, and others. What we wanted we took, what we desired, we fought for, and what we couldn't defend, we lost. They called us unnatural, but what can be more natural than that? They were the unnatural ones, perverting nature around to suit themselves? They created a cage and called it balance. No, we swam in the current of life, and did not try to warp it into something it wasn't. Didn't try to warp ourselves into something we were not... We were driven hence because they were frightened of us – and rather than seek to make themselves stronger they instead worked to shackle us, to bind us to their way of thinking."

"Until the First Emperor." She said. Ben-Kai-Ra smirked.

"Ah, so you were paying attention. Yes. Shan-Al-Kir rose up in revolt against the High-King. Shein's hundred, some called them, though there were actually slightly more. History loves its round numbers." He snorted. "The original Shai'tan." He told her. Castella nodded. She knew the story but she knew no one who could tell it like her father, who make the listener feel every heartbeat, to feel as though one was actually there. "They fought their way across Africa, to the throneland, where he intended to defeat the High-King himself, and begin a new reign… They fought great battles here in this place." He said. His eyes were closed, as if communing with those mighty warriors and killers.

"Here? In the Outlands?" She asked in surprise.

"Here… and in the Shadowlands… and in the Pridelands… all across the Serengeti . But we were defeated. Defeated before they made it to the King's throne, not by any creature or warrior or king. Not by the claw of mortalkind but by the workings of the Shaman. The sky blazed with white light and the world turned to ash. A blast that seared the air and poisoned the ground. The First Emperor's task was never accomplished, but we shall succeed where he failed, my daughter. What he started the day he cast aside his old name and became Emperor Shan-Al-Kir! And this time… The Shaman are powerless… because we have one of our own…" He said. When he spoke she could imagine the fighters. Tigers and Tigresses of majesty and power and unrelenting conviction. Ascended warriors of the truth; loyal to themselves and to their purpose. It made an excellent story. A glorious mythology. He made it sound like some kind of crusade and as he spoke she felt a surge within her of righteous zeal. He was right. If Africa was where it had all started then the Pridelands mattered more than any other territory. Their recapture would prove that they were right, undoing a hundred years of injustice and ignominy. Victory delayed was all the sweeter.

"So, the Pridelands need to fall." She said. The Emperor nodded.

"Undoubtedly. But they are resourceful, and organized. Weak, yes, but also fluid like liquid. Water doesn't need to be strong to resist being pulverized… It merely needs to be itself… Twice now I have sent forth my legions. Twice now they have been rebuffed. Twice now one of the Chosen have been slain. One I could believe was incompetence, but two is a pattern and I shall not risk the demise of a third…" He told her.

"Sekhmet was a fool." She said dismissively. "An arrogant, feebleminded fool who couldn't keep in check her own emotions. She was ruled by her anger and fear and hatred and she lost her fights because of that."

Ben-Kai-Ra growled in fury. It wasn't often that he directed his anger at her and she almost jumped at the unexpectedness of it.

"Be careful how you speak of the Fallen, daughter! She was Shai'tan. She was one of us. Her death must be avenged, not mocked." He warned her. Castella took a step back.

"Forgive me. But it must be said that she didn't suit the task she was set. And Rish'ut must have been wounded in the fight before and had a personal grievance against half of the parties involved. He never would have stood a chance." She told him. The emperor growled softly.

"You list their faults quite proudly."

"I merely think you are too swift to dismiss the simplest option, when it has yet to have been used to full effect." She told him. The Emperor laughed.

"Very bold, to call me hasty. What then is your suggestion? Don't tell me you want to lead them in this hunt? I thought we got over that in your adolescent years…" He said. Castella smiled. She had his interest now.

"Not I, father. I speak of Lord Mortread."

"Mortread? Our youngest brethren. He has already proven his incompetence…"

"Father, please. I know Mortread doesn't share Sekhmet's brute strength but he is a tactical genius, as well you know. He is also a skilled fighter, and he commands the respect and obedience of his underlings through more than threats of summarily execution, so they are known to keep their nerve under pressure. He is also possibly the finest tracker among the Shai'tan – even your own skills are second in that regard. He is perfect for this mission. Honestly father, I don't know why you haven't already –"

"Enough." He said, and she fell silent. She turned to her now for the first time, and she took a small step back out of pure habit as his fiery gaze fell upon her. The Emperor stared at her, his immense size and silhouette casting a shadow around him that dwarfed her own.

"Father..."

"Be silent." He told her, and she froze. "You think Mortread is the most suitable for this task? Let me tell you why I disagree, Castella. It is because he is unreliable and has already failed once in retrieving the slaves as they fled the tower from under his nose, a failure for which I have yet to devise an appropriate discipline. He has already expended his chance in this mission, when he was right atop of them and when had every solider we possess in his paw. He failed then. And I have seen nothing to convince me that now would be any different. Why waste energy and effort on a flawed tool?" He asked her. Castella swallowed, wondering if she dared go this far.

"How else can he prove himself reliable again? And let it be known, whilst he did fail in his task to recapture the cubs, he did defeat Khnum! A River Lord, of the Great River. A Scion of Sobek the Black if I am not mistaken. A River Lord which Rish'ut apparently had no idea was even there, right under his very nose… Where it not for that oversight, there is every possibility he would have succeeded. Yet, far from being deterred by this, he defeated the reptile, and killed it. He even won a scar on his stomach, on the right for his troubles. Those are not the actions of a flawed tool, father… I urge you not to let your pride allow you to make a more costly decision." She said, choosing her words carefully.

The Emperor stared at her, then laughed, his voice booming around Golgorath.

"Ah… Castella-Ra… If only the rest of my court had the courage to argue with me… If only you had been born a male – What an Emperor you would have made… What a Shai'tan." Chuckling, though his daughter flushed, he waved a paw. "Perhaps you are correct, daughter. I shall reconsider this. Perhaps Mortread will have a chance to prove his quality after all. Perhaps you will too." As she turned to leave, he paused though. "One thing, Castella… One question. I had not noticed that Mortread was wounded on his belly. It's not a very visible wound. Do you make a habit of studying my Chosen's wounds in such detail?" He said. Castella didn't hesitate an inch.

"You've always impressed on me the importance of identifying vulnerabilities. But in this instance, I simply spoke with one of his commanders. Harrin his name was. Commendable fellow – worth keeping an eye on." She said without flinching, all the while keeping her face straight, and making eye contact. There was no bead of sweat, not faint twitch. She lied as easily as breathing. Her father nodded.

"Of course… Getting to know the troops."

"Precisely." She lied. She turned away, and not another word was said between them. She was her father's daughter, after all.