Chapter 11

"Right. There you go! That's how it's done!" Jasiri cheered, as Koron and Inti struggled with each other, grappling with on another like lions several times their size. Inti struggled against his partner, inching his way forward as Jasiri called out instructions to the both of them. Her voice was light, keeping a cheerful tone, but her eyes were fierce and intense. Watching the two of them was Kion.

Vitani had determined that if Inti and the other cubs were going to learn to defend themselves, they might as well learn to do from someone with actual talent, and Kion had begrudgingly agreed. Jasiri had invited herself along, suggesting that the cubs might benefit from her experience and if nothing else, Kion could use a demonstration partner. Kion hadn't refused. The presence of Zira though had been a wholly unwelcomed addition to their enterprise, at least as far as Kion was concerned. Just as Kion had gotten used to her being there she would pass some comment or make some remark that sent him jolting back to reality.

"This is much better than practicing bowing!" Inti said through grunted teeth. Koron grunted and snarled.

"Pay attention!" Kion warned, but the damage had been done. In Inti's moment of distraction, Koron had inched just a tiny bit forward, locked his rear legs, and with a fierce growl heaved Inti to the side. The younger flame-haired cub yelped in surprise and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Koron growled in triumph and Jasiri gave a musical laugh as Inti landed in a heap and looked up at Kion and Koron sheepishly.

"Whoops." He said. Kion rolled his eyes.

"'Whoops' is right." He said. "Are you hurt? Do I need to send for Makini? Or Sundar?" He asked. Inti shook his head. He was uninjured. He didn't need Makini and her foul smelling herbs. Or Sundar and her… powers.

"No No. I'm okay." He said. Kion sighed in relief.

"You need to focus. Stop getting distracted. In a battle there could be anything going on around you. Roars and growls. Screams. Screams of people you know." Kion reminded him. Inti shuddered, but nodded. Kion's point was well made.

"I know, I know." He said, getting up. "Again?" He asked. Kion shook his head.

"Not just yet. I want you to run back to Five Stones and back. When you've done that three times, we'll go again." He told him. "You too." He added. Koron nodded and darted off to follow him. Jasiri watched them go. They weren't as fast as Fuli but they were quick. She looked at Kion, who had a serious expression on his face.

"What you thinking about?" Jasiri asked him. "They're getting better. Most of the work is undoing the bad habit's they've picked up in Golgorath." She said.

"You mean how they'll focus on what's in front of them and nothing else? I'm sure they'll get over it." Kion said. "No, I was just thinking about how young they were. I know I told Vitani I was that age when I started learning, but I had the Roar of the Elders." He muttered. That was true enough.

"Okay, sure, they won't be splitting rocks apart with just a word, but –" Kion shook his head, interrupting her.

"It's more than that. I got through plenty of scraps I had no business getting through. It made me less… breakable." Kion said. Jasiri nodded in understanding.
"Ah. I see. I suppose the best way we can protect them, is by making sure they don't need magic roars in order to protect themselves." Jasiri told them. "Do you want to explain to Makini how they got hurt?"

"They've got the raw talent for it." Zira interjected. "That Koron boy is the better of the two, even if Inti still wins most of their fights. It's a wasted muscle. He spent so many moons wasting away beneath Golgorath: he'll need just as long with proper food before he has the ghost of a chance of getting any better." Zira decided. The former Outlander Queen had been watching the two cubs with feigned disinterest. Kion hadn't liked the idea, but Inti hadn't objected. If Zira wanted to hurt to him, she had plenty of opportunity to do so when they'd been locked away in the bowels of the Outsider's former fortress.

"You said you that weren't going to get involved!" Kion snapped, glaring at her. Zira sunk down on her paws. The older lioness glared at the two of them.

"I am not talking to them, am I? I am just talking to you. Or am I to be silent as well?" She asked.

"If only we should be so blessed." Jasiri muttered, but although Zira glowered at them, she didn't continue the point when the cubs returned panting. Both of them were rather tired, but that was the point. It was their endurance being put to the test now.

"Now." She said to them. "You're small. You're not going to be fighting the Shai'tan yourself. But there are ways smaller animals can fight larger ones. Like a hyena and a lion." She said, flashing Inti an encouraging smile. Inti nodded, excitedly. This was what he had been looking forward to. The wilddogs of the Shai'tan were bigger than him, taller and stronger too. If he was going to be useful, then this was where he needed to pay attention. Jasiri stood in front of Kion, squaring off against him.

"You ready?" She asked him.

"Always, Jasiri." Kion retorted, and Jasiri darted in towards him, thundering at him like a bolt of lightning. Kion reacted as she'd expected him to. He bellowed a roar and swung a paw at her. Kion was a lithe lion. Less stocky compared to Mufasa and Simba, but strong nonetheless, much stronger than the average hyena, a lifetime of training alongside Fuli meant he was quick as well. He moved like a blur to meet Jasiri as she snapped at him, trying to seize him by the neck. Kion threw her off, Jasiri's teeth closing around empty air.

"Surprise, is your weapon. They won't be expecting much from a cub, and you can punish that mistake." Jasiri explained, as she landed lightly. "Hyenas and wilddogs will try to power through with savage and brutal blows. Just one bite in the right place can leave you crippled. So don't get hit." She added. Kion scowled at that. She was fierce alright, but Jasiri was dancing around him with an elegance that was uncharacteristic of most hyenas.

"Now I remember why we never sparred that much." He muttered as he clawed at her and she danced backwards.

"Because whenever we did, I always showed you up to Bunja and Beshte? And sent you to Makini bleeding?" Jasiri suggested in her sing-song voice. Makini had never been enthused with his sparring at the time, come to think of it.

"Something like that…" Kion muttered. He lunged at her again, but this time Jasiri wasn't quick enough.

"Oof." She grunted as the air was knocked out of her. Inti winced.

"That looked painful." He muttered, as Kion clawed at her, but Jasiri struggled out from under his grip. Zira smirked. There hadn't been any doubt in her mind how this would go.

"Try not to get, ugh, try not get caught by someone who is stronger than you!" Jasiir grunted. The difference in their upper body strength was fairly obvious now. Kion adjusted his weight.

"Give up?" She asked her, as he she moved beneath him, panting hard. She looked up at him, and grinned.

"I guess so. So Janja was lying all those times he said it was just the roar, huh?" She asked him, as Kion snorted.

"You tell me. I did train with hippos and cheetahs." He smirked. Jasiri looked over to the cubs.

"Yeah, don't go near the Shai'tan; most wilddogs are already going to be your biggest problem for moons and moons." She said. She looked up at Kion. "Are you going to let me up now, your highness?" She asked him. Kion looked flustered, and stepped back and Jasiri clambered up. She looked to Inti and Koron, who had been paying attention.

"Get this right, and we'll see about getting Forn involved He's about the right size." Jasiri said. The single wilddog among the rebels was more grizzled and scarred than most of the wilddogs they were likely to encounter but he would probably be willing to assist. It was a shame they weren't any jackals. She was sure she would have been able to bully Dogo and his large family if he had survived. Koron and Inti set about practicing as they had instructed, but Zira gave a disapproving frown as she did so.

"They aren't even using their claws…" Zira muttered. "They'll shrink back at the first sign of pain." Kion glared at her.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to remain silent. We all know how you would train them. Do you think for a single moment Vitani hasn't considered it? She isn't stupid. This way is better. How much training do you think they'll get if they hurt each other in the first five minutes?" He said. Zira sighed.

"They aren't fighting Pridelanders. They'll be fighting murderous dogs. At best. Besides you have that Mandril to patch them up." Zira countered. Kion wasn't sure if she was talking about Makini or Rafiki.

"If your methods worked, you and the Outlanders wouldn't have lost." Kion reminded her.

"Lost?" Zira asked. "Is that how you remember it? As I recall, when Kiara and my Son persuaded my Pride to end their hostilities there wasn't a clear victor. If it had come down to a fight between the two Prides, I am rather certain that my warriors would have come out on top. I promised not to hurt the cubs, Kion but you do them no favours by hiding them from the real world." Zira told them, haughtily. Jasiri snarled.

"Did you forget just where they found you? And who it was that found you there?" She asked her. "Those cubs are well aware of the real world." Jasiri told her. That actually did make Zira pause, and she considered for a moment before nodding her head.

"That's true." She conceded. Then smirked at Kion's surprised expression. "What? You think I can't admit when I am wrong?" She asked him.

"It isn't like you." Kion said, warily. Zira shrugged. That was true enough. "We're doing this my way. Not yours, Zira. My Lion Guard trained like this, and the only time Vitani came close to beating me was when she started training her way. Not yours. If we have to summon a healer here it means something has gone disastrously wrong." Kion reminded her. Zira growled in annoyance, and for a moment actually looked upset.

"Fine." She said. And she turned away and began to stalk away. She planted herself on a hill nearby turned to look at where Koron and Inti were training, and glared cinders at Jasiri and Kion for a few moments more, before turning away from them haughtily and pointedly ignoring them entirely. Her attention was now solely on the cubs. Jasiri watched her suspiciously and glanced at Kion. Kion looked annoyed and scratched at his neck. He breathed out slowly.

"I need some tuliza…" He muttered. She had successfully riled him. Makini still had a little of it for just such occasions.

"Is it me, or did she actually seem upset? You think she just wants to be useful or what?" Jasiri asked him. Kion scowled at her she left. She was on their side now, he knew that. But it didn't make it easier.

"I don't think she likes being reminded of how little Vitani needs her and much better her daughter became once she was out of Vitani's life." Kion said after a moment. Jasiri nodded in agreement. She could understand that. If anyone else understood what it was like to try to struggle from under the grip of their parent's influence, it was Vitani.

"I've got this here if you want to go get some food." Jasiri suggested. He could also get some of the calming herb, but she didn't say that aloud. Kion nodded gratefully and looked to the cubs.

"Be careful." He said. "If you get too badly hurt, Vitani will have my head." He reminded them. Koron rolled his eyes but Inti nodded earnestly. Somewhat reassured, Kion left leaving Jasiri in charge of the cubs by herself. The cubs training to fight wasn't ideal. It was less than ideal. But it was better than nothing. And they could also drill for what to do if the Imperium found their hidden lair. The hyena gave them a cheerful grin.

"Okay." She said brightly. "Let's begin again."

Yessen had told Sundar to pick a place where she could feel comfortable, and she had done so. Right between the Five Stones that gave the area its name. The large, pillar like rocks jutted out of the ground like the claw tips of a great paw. Sundar didn't know why, but there was a stillness to the air where she sat. A quietness. The stones themselves were grey, almost a pale blue; and covered with lichen and growth towards their base. It gave her a small fragment of privacy. Yessen sat in front of her, cross legged. From here she could see the cubs practicing their training, the huntresses coming back in, and where Danyal and Vitani were set. Vitani hadn't let the young lion out of her sight since he had been proclaimed King. She didn't know if Danyal found it reassuring or not. But he seemed to be handling the pressure better than she had expected him to. And what's more, Sara was finally getting over her preoccupation with Danyal's scars, and the deep-seated shame she carried over the fact that Danyal had been hurt trying to save her. That was good news. Danyal cared deeply for those cubs. It was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him.

"You seem in a good mood. You have been for a while. Care to share?" The baboon told her. Sundar realised she had been smiling.

"Just thinking. It's finally starting to feel as though we actually have a chance against the Shai'tan's Imperium." She told her. "I want to make the most of it." Yessen nodded.

"Optimism is important. Especially when your emotional state is as… impactful… as it is with our kind." He said. "But so is focus."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." He said. In front of him, were a number of very similar looking berries. "Which of these are poisonous?" He asked her. Sundar frowned, and looked at them. She didn't recognise any of them. Had Yessen and Rafiki used a gateway to secure some foreign fruits from far off lands? That seemed like an incredibly frivolous use of power when the effort last time had nearly drained him completely. It boded well for his recovery, she supposed.

"I don't know." She said, shortly. "I've never seen those before in my life."

"So how would you find out? I don't recommend tasting them to see." Yessen told her. Sundar paused.

"Wait. You can do that?" She asked, excitedly. Damu, one of the lionesses, knew many healing herbs and berries by sight. It was a useful skill to have. But she had learned the knowledge from her mother, from passed down lore and snippets of information. Yessen closed his eyes, reached out a hand, and extended his senses into the world before him. Sundar did the same and felt her mind brush against something strange. She didn't know what she was looking for, but they felt differently to her.

"Huh." She said. "That feels strange." She said. Had it felt strange to him too, the first time? He couldn't remember. It was so long ago.

"As I am sure you have discerned by now, Sundar. The Shaman are those who can sense the spirit world. Feel it. Listen to it. But the Spirit world and the Material world we call our home are linked in a hundred thousand different ways." He explained again. Sundar nodded. She could understand that, both Yessen and Rafiki had spoken about it. She was beginning to understand what they meant. "What twists one, twists the other. When the world is in balance, the land flourishes. When that delicate balance is upset, the word itself pays the price. It is no coincidence that greed, selfishness, fury inevitably leave the world stained and strewn with damage. It is the way of things." Yessen told her. "Feel in the spirit world. Which of these is violent? Which of them burns. Which of them causes disgust, pain, misery. Which had, for years, turned away animals that would feed on it?" He asked her. Sundar swallowed. That fitted with what Danyal had told her about the Pridelands. When the tyrant Scar had ruled over the Pridelands, the land itself had revolted against his reign. She reached out. Testing with her power. Prodding. Probing. The temperature of the air around her plummeted, and blue light began to trickle from her like luminous water. She inhaled deeply. Yessen watched her closely. She was only holding a small amount of power. The Shaman had explained in great detail how holding too much at once for too long risked burning herself out. She had gotten into better habits when it came to using her gift. She sniffed.

"This one." She said, pointing to a dark purple berry that sat in front of him. Yessen pointed with a long bony finger.

"That one?"

"Yes. No! Wait…"

"Take your time." Yessen told her. Sundar nodded and tried again. There was a feeling to it that wasn't there with the others. Did that mean it was poisonous? Or just that it was overly sweet? Her senses brushed against it.

"I think… Yes. That one." She said firmly. Yessen picked up the poisonous berry and held it up to his eye, appraising it. He stared at it for a moment, looked to her, and then swallowed it whole. Sundar leapt to her feet.

"What are you doing!?" She gasped. Yessen grinned.

"Nope. Not that one." He told her, nodding. Sundar looked at aghast and continued to stare at her mentor. Nearby, Rafiki threw back his head and howled with laughter worthy of a hyena. Sundar didn't look impressed.

"I thought… What… Gah!" She grunted in frustration at the Shaman's actions. Yessen continued to smirk, a twinkle in her eye. Rafiki occasionally came across as insane with his muttering and chanting. Yessen's insanity was a subtler thing, she was beginning to find.

"Would you like to try again?" Yessen suggested, looking amused.

Sundar was the only one practicing. The cubs continued their training under Jasiri's watchful gaze. The hyena had stopped shouting instructions for the time being and was allowing the cubs to struggle with one another at their own pace. She gave them a little more freedom than Kion did, though not enough to satisfy Zira, who still grumbled at the ineffectiveness of their teaching. Jasiri had been tempted to ask Zira to help demonstrate, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to cross claws with her at the moment, even if she had promised Vitani that she would play nice with the rest of the rebels. She wasn't sure she trusted her not to slip.

Inti had mixed feelings about the ancient lioness. On one paw, he knew exactly who she was and what she had done. Danyal's stories about the murderess were well known. They all knew Scar's former Queen and the terrible things she had done. On the other paw, he struggled to reconcile her with the broken shell of a lioness he had found in the depths of the Shai'tan's prison. In spite of everything, he found himself believing her when she claimed to want to make amends with her daughter and to help reclaim the Pridelands from the Shai'tan. It made him a little uncomfortable that she had taken an interest in him.

"I've got you!" Koron grunted and he hurled himself towards Inti. Inti ducked under the blow, moving back as quickly as he could. Koron was savage in the arena, and he had remained so when they sparred. But he went all out from the get go. He knew that if he could tire him out, he could win reliably. Koron fought like he always did, nothing held back, and it made him tire quickly.

"Nope! Try again!" He jeered, as Koron snarled. Zira snarled in annoyance.

"Stop dancing boy and hit him!" She called out to Koron, who didn't find the commentary helpful at all. In fact, he looked away from Inti to shoot her a glare, and Inti used the chance to lunge towards his friend and struggle with him. It brought back Inti uncomfortable memories of their time in the arena.

"Hah! Got it!" Inti called as Koron looked passed him and seemed distracted. Inti used the moment to weave in past his guard and deliver a powerful shove which nearly knocked him to the ground.

"What's the matter?" He asked, when Koron leapt to his feet and continued to stare passed him, frowning.

"Wait, hold up. What's that?" He asked, looking worried. Jasiri stood up, calling a halt to the training and Zira's smirk vanished. A small pinprick of light was hovering in the air, some distance away. Glowing like an ember. Jasiri recognised it at once, having seen it on more than one occasion during her time among the Shai'tan's armies. It was also where days before they had emerged at five stones, after the battle of the canyon. Sundar could reopen gateways that hadn't been closed properly. That was how she and her pride had arrived in the Pridelands in the first place. Was it possible that the Shai'tan had now done the same? The thought lanced through her, a sudden spike of fear and terror.

"Get back here, now!" She growled, eyes wide with worry.

"It's a gateway!" Inti gasped, as the glowing ember of light twisted and the skin of the world rippled and warped. Sundar and Yessen were back at the stones. There could only be one explanation for it. "King's above, something's coming through!" He exclaimed in panic. Some army of the wilddogs perhaps? Or simply one of the Shai'tan's spies? If they hadn't unpicked Sundar's gateway, what calamitous bad luck had led to a gateway opening directly in front of them? The shimmering, glowing light of the tear in the skin of the world began to spread before them, and Koron scrambled back, moving so quickly he kicked up grass and dirt as he moved.

"Get behind me!" Jasiri shouted, and suddenly the hyena was there between them and the Gateway. Between them and whatever was going to come through, even if it proved to be one of the Shai'tan themselves. "Run!" She ordered them, and crouched low, baring her teeth.

The gateway ripped open seconds later, the fabric of reality peeling back.

At first, she thought it must have opened into some far place on the distant side of the world, because it was dark. Nightfall in some far-off place? But there were no stars, no moon, no light of any kind.

"Ash and blood…" Jasiri muttered. Empty. Emptiness thundered towards them. Through the gateway there was nothing, and the nothingness hurtled towards them. The crack of moving towards them, widening. Splitting. Screeching. And moving with speed.

"Run!" She shouted and the four of them moved. The split in the world moved erratically, without any consciousness or drive. The air simply pulled apart, and left a trail of nothingness behind it. Grass and earth were consumed. It moved with an implacable hunger, and an unrelenting and unnatural void that twisted and convulsed. Inti ran and didn't even look where he was going. Koron was right behind him, and Jasiri didn't feel any braver.

"Kion! Rafiki!" Jasiri shouted out for Kion and then for the Shaman, the one being who might have some kind of power over the tear in the world. Inti screamed in panic as he tripped.

"Inti!" Koron saw his friend fall, but kept running, eyes wide looking back. Inti looked behind him to see the world breaking and closed his eyes as nothingness consumed his vision. Something took hold of him. Dragging him by the nape of his neck and he felt the ground beneath his paws.

"Move!" The words slammed into him, and he was moving again. It was Zira. The ancient lioness had darted back before Jasiri had even realised, he had tripped and fell behind, before the scream had even left his mouth and before Koron's panicked cry. "Do you want to die here?!" She asked him. He didn't. He hadn't, survived for so long in Golgorath to die to this. Ahead of him, he could see Almasi and Sara. They were running towards them to their panicked shouts of fear and he felt his heart in his mouth as he screamed out to them.

"No! Get away! Get back!" He shouted in warning.

"Vitani, you stupid girl, move!" Zira shouted to her daughter. She could feel the crack behind her. Cold. Unnatural cold that was not merely the absence of heat but a sense that through that gateway to nowhere was a place where no heat had ever permeated, no light, no motion. The cold coming from it chilled her spine and sent her hackles straight to attention. There was a lurch as the crack seared into the ground and a huge chunk of soil, earth and stone shifted under their feet, tilting, tipping, coming undone. It was as if the world was falling away and crumbling.

"No!" Someone shouted in panic. It may have been Almasi, or Vitani, or Danyal. She couldn't tell from the pounding in her ears. Zira let loose a roar and gave one final burst of speed, urging herself to go further.

Then Rafiki was there, standing between the stones. Eyes wide, calculating.

"Mericful spirits! What is that?!" It was Makini. The young mandrill looked aghast at the void unfurling in front of them. Never in any of her studies had she come across such a thing.

"Yessen! Sundar!" And he slammed his bakora staff into the ground. The gourds at its tip rattled and time seemed to slow. Sundar and Yessen were a short distance away, closer to each other than to Rafiki, but their focus and gaze was on the cubs and on the wayward gateway behind them that consumed everything in its path and which was bearing down on them.

Sundar's thoughts were ablaze. A gateway. From right where she and Yessen had called it into being. The thought twisted her gut. How was that possible? It had taken power, enough power that it had nearly knocked Yessen clean out to tear such a hole through the world, to path a way to freedom from the canyon from the Shai'tan's minions. She didn't have time to dwell on that thought as Inti fell and Zira grabbed the flamehaired cub.

She reached for her power faster than she had ever before, finding it instantly and seizing so much in the grip of her mind that she felt it burn through her. It seared her mind, burning her spirit as she did so. Like gulping down boiling water. She had no time for caution. To her side, Yessen did the same, and her senses exploded with power as she felt more than saw Rafiki do the same grabbing hold of more power than she had ever seen held together and throwing it towards the gluttonous maw of the bore in the world. Light, ethereal and discarnate erupted around them. A glow that was blue, green and gold and the scent of the ocean mingled with that of the earth bloomed. Rafiki let loose a cry she had heard him make when fighting with his staff and made a wrenching motion with his hands and the crack froze in the air behind them. The coldness withdrew and Zira moved away from the void with all haste. Inti ran to his mother, shuddering.

"Inti! Are you alright?" She asked him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He said, looking over his shoulder at the tear in the world as Rafiki and Yessen moved their power. With only a little trepidation, Sundar joined them. Together the three weaved the spiritual energy they felt as they had when opening and closing the gateway that had brought them here. This time, Sundar payee closer attention to how they moved the strands of energy she felt in her mind, the connections between the grass and the wind and the stone and the world. Moving it firmly, harshly, compelling it to remain in place. As they watched the tear in the world folded back together. Smoothing back until there was nothing, even to their senses, to betray that it had ever been there. The ground, where the crack had seared, was not so spotless. An ugly scar moved through the earth right up to one of the stones, cleaving away rocks.

"We have it." Yessen declared. The last traces of the tear in the world vanished from sight. The other Shaman gave a sigh of relieve. Vitani shared the sentiment. First things first.

"Inti! Koron, are you okay?" She asked them. Danyal and Almasi were also there, looking alarmed. The rest of the rebels didn't look too assured either.

"We didn't do anything!" Inti said, suddenly. "It wasn't us!"

"We know. Don't worry." Danyal said, quickly, before Vitani could speak.

"Thank you for helping Inti." Almasi said, looking at Zira. Who nodded stiffly. Kion though, was looking alarmed.

"What was that? I only moved away for a few moments!" He said. Jasiri shuddered.

"I don't know. It just appeared out of nowhere. Right from where the gateway we came through was. Suddenly it weas there and tearing through everything. How is that possible?" She said. She looked around when she asked, but it was clear that she was talking to Rafiki and to Yessen. The two apes looked at each other and shuddered.

"It looked like a gateway. Or part of one at any rate." Yessen said, thoughtfully.

"A gateway from here to nowhere. To no other place." Rafiki added.

"I didn't know that was possible. None of you conjured it?" Makini asked. She looked extremely worried at the prospect. A sentiment plenty could agree with.

"Nor did we. But we just saw it. And no. We didn't. Not on purpose and not by accident either." Yessen said, sharply. He didn't want any of the rebels blaming Sundar or them for the misadventure. "We will simply have to be more careful when we use that method to travel. To use it only sparingly and with care." He suggested. They would need to consider this. Discuss it further. They had never heard of such a thing before. It was not an encouraging thought.

"Hmm." Vitani didn't like that, but she nodded in agreement. There was no point trying to hide what had happened. Pretty soon all of the animals among the rebels would be gossiping about it.

"What do we do if that happens again?" Makini asked. Yessen and Rafiki glanced at each other.

"Shout for Rafiki or myself. Quickly." Yessen told her. Makini nodded, and supressed a shudder.

"Thank goodness everyone is okay." Kion said. Danyal agreed with that, and Vitani nodded. That was the main thing. Inti certainly felt so. He glanced at Zira, wanting to offer his thanks but she was already inspecting the damage to the ground.

"It's a good job the birds don't fly around here. That could be seen for miles from the air." Sheh muttered. That was true. Kion couldn't argue with her assessment. Sara was just glad her brother and friend were okay, and now that the adrenaline had faded Jasiri was feeling particularly uncomfortable. Falling into such a crevice would be a horrible way to die. Assuming it was lethal. She liked the thought of existing in nothingness even less. Falling forever.

That particular nightmare was confined to the recesses of her subconsciousness when Calin called out to the others.

"Look." He said. He was looking at the stone, one of the five stones which gave the place its name. Below what had been the base of the stone, was now exposed rock, open to the air again. It went deeper, further down than they had supposed. But more interesting was what lay on the exposed stone that were now exposed to the open air. Images. Paintings, like the sort seen on Rafiki's tree. In the lair of the Lion Guard, and in the Tree of life. Crude images, faded and near colourless of beings. Lions, and hyenas too. Other beings. Animals he recognised and animals he didn't. Vitani looked and shook her head.

"Looks like we weren't the first to make this our home." She muttered. Danyal nodded in agreement. To have been buried under so much soil and stone, they must have been there for a long time. Under undergrowth and dirt and shifting soil. Lost and forgotten. Perhaps they had been drawn by Pridelanders. Old Pridelanders. Or perhaps they were others. Lost and forgotten. Buried and gone. She stared at one of the figures. A maneless lion. A lioness? A cheetah? Or a tiger. Painted onto the stone. He shuddered.