Chapter 24

Sundar stood in front of Helio, staring at her friend in anger, but it was a fading anger now. His words had pierced her but in a twisted sort of way, he was right. She still hated the idea, even as tried to assure her. The idea of living some lie for the sake of their prides was unthinkable to her. It didn't matter to her what her father, or Vitani said. Or how important it seemed. She wouldn't do it. Helio had promised he would help her, help her through it. Together he said. Together. It didn't dull the pain one bit, but for the first time it felt as though the pain was something she could face. She let out a sigh.

"Helio… I can't." She said. "I won't. Its not in me." The two had been shouting at one another a few moments ago. Angry and bitter, and light and cold had swept through the grasslands around them. Now there was stillness, calmness, the two held together in a gentle embrace. It was in that silence that a sound ripped through the grasslands. Before Helio could reply to her, his head had jerked at the familiar roar. "Helio… Is that…?" Sundar asked, cautiously. She was just on the verge of sending out her senses as the Shaman had taught her, but before she could do so, Helio's ear twitched slightly as the distant sounds of growling and shrieking. He turned pale.

"It's the Imperium!" He realised, his blood running cold. "They've found us!"

Sundar flinched, her anger and indignation lost in a moment.

"What?!" She asked.

"We have to run, now. I can smell them. Wilddogs. And jackals." He said shortly sniffing the air. "We'll have to finish this later. Stay close. We have to get back to the rally point. We're too far out."

"I'm sorry! This is my fault!"

"It's no one's fault. Just stay close." He said, drawing his claws, and she nodded. A moment ago she had felt exhausted. There was little to be found within the well of power in her. She desperately hoped that Yessen and Rafiki could open the gateway themselves, because she wasn't sure she would be enough, even with access to the Rods of the Shaman to help them. Helio strode ahead, but barely managed to get two paces, before a voice cried out to them.

"Stay where you are." It was deep and ominous. Helio looked ahead, and grimaced. In front them, precisely where they needed to go, was a monstrous wolf. He heard Sundar give a gasp. It was by far the largest canine she had ever seen, and was clearly not a native to Africa. It wasn't as large as a full-grown male lion but Helio and Sundar were neither and the she-wolf who glowered at them with bright eyes was easily their size.

"Sundar…"

"I'm right behind you."

Running didn't seem like a good option. She wasn't alone. There were other wilddogs with her, following behind her and their eyes were fixed on them. They possessed a much more familiar scent to them. The wolf sneered.

"This isn't the one that panther described." She muttered. "He is of no interest to me. The female however… That is the Shaman. Take her alive if you can." She commanded. With that, the wilddogs lunged towards them in a storm of teeth and claws.

"Look out!" And Helio slammed into Sundar knocking her to the side, before catching the first of the rushing dogs in his paws and throwing it to the side.

Zavana signalled the attack again and her minions swarmed Helio, giving a growl of his own. He was a powerhouse of muscle, at least compared to the wilddogs he fought. But he could only be in one place at once. Even as he fought tooth and claw against the relentless onslaught, others came from the otherside, biting and gnawing and clawing. More like rodents than canines to him. Zavana circled, watching carefully. Then with a growl she struck. Blood leaked from her mouth as she bit savagely and Helio gave another roar, clawing at her as pain blistered from his shoulder.

"Gahh!" He cried out. He swung a paw wildly, but Zavana was undeterred. The fight was brutal and fast-paced. Then she darted in again, once more snapping at the lion's flanks, while her minions harried him from all sides. A pair of them lunged at Sundar, and Sundar gave a growl and pulled in tightly from the side, trying to ward off some of the wolf's minions.

Zavana had never fought a lion before. She didn't know what to expect. She had initially approached cautiously. More cautiously than the wilddogs which snapped and growled with unrestrained wrath. Now though she was becoming more confident. Dust kicked up as Helio gave ground and the sounds of growls, roars, and barks filled the air.

"Garrah!" Helio gave and yell and clawed at Zavana. She backed up for a moment, and it cost the wilddog beside her more than it cost her. Despite the odds, Helio held his ground and with a powerful swipe he sent another of the minions flying. They tried to move, tried to make a break for it. They knew they couldn't keep this up.

"Get up! Get up you idiots!" Zavana commanded. "Don't let them get away! Harrin – control your pack!" She shouted.

Harrin snarled indignantly, but he barked an order, and three of the wilddogs pulled back. Helio gave a mighty roar. Sundar clawed at a third wilddog, pulling away from its gnashing teeth with a gasp.

"Helio!" She cried out in panic as Zavana lunged at Helio with a ferocious snarl. The lion countered teeth bared, and the two locked in a fierce struggle.

"There are too many of them. You have to run Sundar! Now!" The group had focused their attention on Helio, and it was plain that Helio was trying to buy Sundar time to escape without him. When Zavana clawed with him, trying to find purchase to long her jaws around her neck. Despite her strength, it was clear that she wasn't used to fighting someone with a mane. It was the only advantage Helio had, and it wouldn't last long. Sundar almost turned and ran, but she couldn't. Instead she reached inside herself for the familiar well of power and found a tiny star of power within herself.

"Zavana! Get down!" Harrin commanded. In a minor miracle, she listened to him, and ducked away as frost streaked along the ground. Harrin had seen the Shaman in action now, even if Zavana hadn't. The time she had brought them paid off now. The pack of wilddog minions had regrouped and were now attacking with renewed vigour, surging as a group. Helio and Sundar were surrounded.

"Damn it Sundar! You should have run when you had the chance!" Helio snarled at her. Sundar shook her head. They were back-to-back now, clawing at anything that came close.

"Surrender." Harrin commanded. "You are outmatched."

"You really think so?!" Helio snarled, and spat blood. His heart was racing though. The wilddog was right.

"Get away from them!" Another voice pierced the air. Sundar felt her heart soar at its familiarity.

"Danyal!" She gasped his name, quietly. It was drowned out by his roar. Harrin turned at the oncoming new threat and barked a command.

"Finally!" Helio muttered, too relived at reinforcements to be overly concerned with the source of their aid. Danyal would do just fine. "You took your time!" He snarled. Harrin yelled. Three lions were more than he was comfortable fighting at once: they were only a small pack, but Zavana didn't seemed to notice the danger. She leered with hunger and anticipation, looking at Danyal, taking in his scars and battle-hardened form, dissecting him with her gaze. Brown fur. Dark mane. Emerald eyes. That fitted Leviath's description of the defeated King of the Pridelands, as well as her own prejudices. It was also how the panther they had caught had described the King of the Pridelands, at least after she had her way him. Her eyes glinted dangerously. Their quarry was right in front of them. And he looked angry.

"Sundar!" Danyal roared her name and rushed towards them, like a force of nature. Each paw swipe and bite from the lion sent minions yelping and tumbling. Harrin cursed, recognising him from the reports. So this was King Kiava; the boy King, the Son of Kovu.

"It's him." He muttered. "Back up. With me." Harrin commanded, and the wilddogs split. Now they were more evenly matched, their advantage in numbers vanishing like smoke. He howled into the air, calling for reinforcements. Zavana glared at Harrin and his display of pragmatism.

"Are you scared for me, little one?" She asked him. "Don't you want to see how a real canine fight?" She asked him. Harrin watched in shock as she lunged past him the other wilddogs, and Then she lunged towards the king. The wolf moved with a fluid grace, her muscles rippling beneath sunlight. She lunged. Danyal blocked her with a scarred forearm, and then clawed at her.

"Who the hell are you?!" He asked her. Zavana didn't respond, but bit savagely at his neck, trying to bite through his mane.

"Danyal!" Sundar shouted his name in panic. Blue light surged again and struck at one of the wilddogs who screamed as frigid fire lashed through him. Harrin shook frost from his fur, yelling out orders.

"Zavana! Zavana I told you to get back!" He ordered, but she was ignoring him. Danyal was struggling under the weight of her strikes. He had clearly been wounded at some point in the past, Helio realised. Wounded badly. The other male gave a mighty roar and charged him, and suddenly he too was on the backfoot, ducking and weaving under his cleaving blows and gnashing snaps of his teeth. He ducked and dodged and then bit back at him, drawing blood, and heard the lion pull back with a yell of pain, tearing the wound further. The female was trying to handle more of his underlings, who was snapping and biting at her as light flashed and power raged. She was a shaman, alright. But more and more of his wilddogs were coming now, answering his howl. Inwardly he grinned. Perhaps Zavana would see the benefit of a pack now? She was still grappling with the King.

"That's their Pack-Leader!" Helio cried out to Danyal, who was struggling with the She-wolf. Danyal lunged at Harrin again, but the wilddog was too quick. They were slowing though. Tiring. Little nicks and cuts and bruises were beginning to wear them down. Harrin fought back against the would-be king. Zavana gave a howl. The wilddogs spread out, arrayed against them, standing between them and their escape. Fanning out in a thin line. Growling and snarling. Helio swallowed.

"You came." Sundar muttered, looking at Danyal. Danyal nodded.

"I promise you, Sundar. I am not going anywhere." Danyal said.

"Well." Helio muttered. "This is not quite what I had in mind when I promised to help you through your trials. I swear to the high Spirits, if we get out of this alive you are going to owe me a lot. I am talking meat up to the eye balls. Marbled and tender. I am talking a chunk of the Pridelands big enough to start my own Pride. By myself." Helio muttered. Danyal twisted his scarred limb. The muscle was already screaming. He wasn't as fast as he had been before. He still wasn't. And the She-wolf was eyeing him like he was a gazelle. It made him uncomfortable.

"Bit of an ask at this point." Danyal muttered. Sundar was between them now, the two had been trying to shield her, but she wasn't acting as though she needed their protection. If anything she was the more aggressive of the three.

"You know how I said you were a liability?" Helio asked him.

"Yeah."

"Would you be at all interested in proving me wrong? Showing me up in front of Sundar? You're good at that." Helio asked him. Zavana gave a howl and lunged at him.

"I've been thinking about it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Working on it."

Vitani gave a snarl and clawed at Mortread again. As the fighting around them intensified, the other two lions were at her side, flanking the tiger with synchronized precision. Claws flashed in the sunlight as the lionesses exchanged lightning-fast strikes. The pawful of other rebels didn't try to help. It would have been foolish and dangerous to even make the attempt as claws and teeth flashed in a deadly dance.

Mortread was undeterred. With a mighty growl the tiger-lord bristled with fury and clawed at her, stepping forward in an alien rhythm. Vitani jerked to the side and narrowly avoided a blow that almost took her head. Mortread didn't stop. One after the other came a series of acrobatic manoeuvres, weaving and dodging between the lions. In a whirlwind of fur and fury, the felines clashed with a cacophony of snarls and roars. The ground beneath heaved and trembled. Vitani was panting, but was able to keep up. Just. Mortread didn't seem frustrated though. In fact he seemed almost bored.

"Surrender, Shai'tan, and I just might grant you the mercy of a quick death!" Vitani demanded of him. Mortread growled, turning quickly, keeping his eyes on all of his foes at once.

"On whose authority do you grant such 'mercy' hmm? Don't tell me that you are leading this rebellion? I am almost disappointed…" Mortread asked. "I mean, is this it? These are the foes who defeated Sekhmet and Rish'ut? Sekhmet was strong than I am. Rish'ut capable of more ferocity than me. How is that you were able to bring them to their knees, when you can barely keep up with me?" He asked, tauntingly. Zira gave a roar, enraged. Vitani cursed, but the old lioness' pride had been pricked and she lunged at Mortread, clawing, and biting at him, tearing at his flesh. Mortread stopped taunting them to give her his attention, and stumbled for a moment. Zira cleaved into him, and he gave a hiss as she drew blood.

Vitani lunged and added her claws to the fray, and Mortread grunted in pain.

"Ugh."

"Is that impressive enough for you?" Zira hissed, her eyes glinting. "You aren't unstoppable. You aren't indestructible. You are flesh and blood. A part of this world."

"That, I have never denied." Mortread grunted, then he caught her next blow, and struck back with a blow that sent her spinning away and her vision swimming.

"Mother!" Vitani was there, between them, and Lukaan lunged, giving the two lionesses a moment of respite.

"But my brethren and I are still the best this world has to offer." Mortread said. It more simply the truth of it. They were the strongest. And law of the Strong, said that the strongest should Rule. It was simply nature. A force of the universe like gravity and light. Vitani glowered. She wished she had the Roar to call upon. Instead there was only herself.

"I beg to differ." Lukaan sneered, and the white lion slashed at him with both claws. He was by far the largest of the three lions attacking the Warlord, and the only one who could go toe to toe with him when it came to brute strength. Zira and Vitani were moving around him, striking with quick cuts and vicious swipes, and darting back out of danger whilst he set the tempo, the solid back and forth that kept him in check.

It didn't feel like they were making a difference. He wasn't being worn down, that they could tell. But they were pushing him back and away. Away from Five Stones and portal that was surely being opened. The fought of the others surged through her, and she lunged at Mortread.

Then the unthinkable happened.

She clawed at Mortread, overextended, and he was suddenly there under her guard. She gasped as his shoulder rammed into chest knocking the wind from her.

"Vitani!" Zira called her name, and Lukaan tried to defend her, but he was too far away. He clawed at her front, knocking her arm away and she was defenceless to him. He flicked his limbs up and a mighty uppercut struck her under the jaw and knocked her back and over onto her back. Panic seized her. She was defenceless. She'd made a mistake.

But Mortread didn't move in the for the kill. He was simply standing there. Waiting for her to get up. Her heart in her mouth, she ran to her feet, making use of his mistake. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Ice like fear clutched her heart. That could have been it. That could have been the end. If he had stepped forwards and lunged with his jaws, that would have been the end of it.

Why hadn't he?

It was a mistake that would cost him.

Unless it wasn't a mistake.

Lukaan was by her side, pulling her back, and Zira was rushing their foe, trying to hold him at bay, but it shouldn't have been quick enough. She'd been wide open for several moments.

Mortread crouched low inviting her to come to him, Lukaan and Zira followed suit, the two others following her lead and ready to move with her as one. Mortread wasn't one to show mercy.

"He's toying with us." She realised with a gasp. "It's a trick!"

"What?!"

Vitani gasped as sudden realisation gripped her. Idiot. She heard her own voice. Of course they weren't doing well. Of course not. That would be too easy. There had to be another explanation and it wasn't their own strength or guile.

"They aren't trying to chase us. He's trying to keep us here!" She realised suddenly. Zira's eyes widened in realization a mere moment later.

"No!" She hissed.

"Back. Back to the Five Stones, now!" Lukaan realised. Mortread growled. They weren't foolish after all. They were capable of stratagem. But it wouldn't be of any help to them now. Just because they realised the danger, didn't mean they could do anything about it.

With a flurry of strikes, he weaved under Vitani's guard and sank his teeth into her side. She howled in pain.

"Vitani, no!" Zira cried out in alarm as Vitani gasped in pain.

"You're too late." He spat between blood and fur. "You were always too late. It's over. It's done. You've lost. You lost moons ago. Stop this struggle, for all our sakes." He hissed. Vitani cried out and pulled away and the teeth dragged through flesh, spilling blood and viscera as she pulled herself free. Pain, white hot and raw leeched through her as nerves that had never fired before screamed in protest and outrage.

"No!" Vitani cried in a shout that was half gasp and half moan.

"Yes." He said. Without any further pontificating, swung his paws, and his claws knocked her back and into the ground with a sickening thud. Instead of moving in on her exposed belly, he turned to Zira who clawed at him. He ducked away from Rish'ut's Oracle. Her claws sank into his back, but he barely paid any notice to it. Lukaan roared and charged into him, and Mortread leapt, landing behind him, and kicking with his rear legs like a bucking Zebra. The blow knocked the wind from him with a sickening lurch that almost made him vomit and a bruising pain.

Vitani was scrambling to her feet. Now though she realised that he wasn't trying to beat them. He was trying to keep them there.

"Retreat." She called. "Back to Five Stones! Away! We aren't helping anyone here!" She commanded. It went against her every instinct but her fears doubled as Mortread made no move to follow her. Instead of his hulking clawed form, only a cold laughter echoed after them. It sent a chill down her spine for how unlike Rish'ut it was. Terror gripped her.

When the Regent of Golgorath had laughed at them in his power, he had howled in mirth, a terrible cry of amusement that had a quality that almost hyena. Cruel and capricious and utterly without mercy. When Mortread laughed, it sounded different. It was sardonic and harsh. But it was somehow more certain. More final. A world-weary chuckle at the absurdity of their attempts to stave off the inevitable. Self-assured and confident and implacable as decay.

"Helio!" Sundar cried out in desperation as she saw her teeth sink into his back. Helio gave a gasp, and fell to the ground, clutching at his neck. There was blood. Blood was leaking from him the wound at a visceral rate. Zavana pulled back, arched her spine, and she let loose a howl of triumph and victory that chilled even Harrin. There was blood in her jaws and it trickled out around her mouth. She turned and looked at the other lions with murder in her gaze, her expression settling on Danyal and Sundar. For a moment, Harrin was concerned. After all, they wanted those two alive, didn't they? Helio struggled. Despite his best efforts to summon one last reserve of strength, his breaths were coming short and quick now, in ragged gasps, and his eyes glassy and disoriented in pain. Zavana's eyes gleaming with an unsettling mix of triumph and satisfaction.

"Helio!" Sundar screamed his name.

"Enough!" Harrin shouted out. "Both of you! Surrender now or he dies! I won't give you another warning." Sevara stared at him, looking shocked and surprised. Danyal and Sundar looked at one another, frozen, not in surrender but in indecision. Even that moment cost them, more wilddogs were emerging and surrounding them, cutting off their escape. Zavana bared her teeth, and lowered them threateningly to Helio's neck.

"No!" Sundar shouted, desperately, and the light winked out. "Don't!" He said. Danyal growled in indecision, looking around desperately for a way out, for another option.

"Take them! Or he dies!" Zavana commanded, interpreting their pause as capitulation, and other wilddogs descended on Danyal like a swarm, biting, tearing, pulling. One gripped its jaws around his neck, another pulled tightly his forearms, pulling them apart, the teeth pulling, sawing against his flesh, and drawing blood. Pain lanced through him. More wilddogs came near Sundar, who shied away from their leering teeth, but tried to move towards Helio, desperate. Zavana bared her teeth, and gave a delighted, cruel smile as Sundar and Danyal were subdued. Danyal thrashed as he felt a paw jam in his back. Helio's eyes flickered, looking up at them and at the wolf who held her teeth over his throat.

"…No… Don't…" He muttered.

"We have them, Commander." One of the wilddogs said. Harrin nodded, and looked to Zavana, who sniffed, begrudgingly.

"I told you." She muttered. "And you thought to be in a Pack made you stronger. It's an unforgivable weakness." She said. Then she lunged, and bit down savagely on Helio's neck. Sundar shrieked and Danyal growled.

"HELIO!"

"No!"

Blood burst and sprayed everywhere. Helio jerked once, and gave a rattling gasp and choked. Helio gasped out in pain again, stiffened, and then fell silent.

"NO!" Sundar cried out again. "Helio! Helio! Please!"

"Helio!"

Harrin glared at Zavana. "What are you doing?!"

"No sense in carrying the dead weight." She told him, fiercely as Danyal pulled, and Sundar screamed and cried again, desperately trying to pull her way to him. She reached for power, reaching for her healing shamanism deep within her and felt it surge within him towards where Helio lay. Danyal wasn't idle either. He jerked and writhed, but there were too many. The wilddogs dragged her back, pulling her away. She struggled anyway, screaming. The raw pain and agony she felt was plain in her voice to all to hear. Danyal could only gasp in shock as Helio fell with a choked gasp. The asiatic male was moving slightly, but then he stopped. He lay completely still, his eyes wide open and unseeing.

"No!" Danyal gave a shocked gasp. Cold gripped him.

Sundar let out another tearing cry of pain and light flashed around her, bright and brilliant. It kicked up dirt and rock and Harrin gave a gasp as rock and shrapnel went everywhere, and he felt his feet leave the ground as he and others were thrown clear.

She fell to the ground, exhausted. And it was no surprise. Frost and dirt lay scattered around.

"Sundar? Sundar!" Danyal reached for her. But Sundar wasn't moving either. With a growl, Zavana scowled. She had weathered the storm better than the smaller wilddogs, but now there was only one lion still standing and she was rushing at him. Other wilddogs descended on Danyal like a swarm, biting, tearing, pulling. One gripped its jaws around his neck, another pulled tightly his forearms, pulling them apart, the teeth pulling, sawing against his flesh and drawing blood. Pain lanced through him.

"Bring them." She commanded, the surviving wilddogs. There were only a handful of them still moving, but there were enough to move the unconscious lioness, and enough to threaten the only lion still unconscious and moving.

"Yes. Mistress…" Muttered one of the smaller wilddogs. Some of them were now trying to waken their fellow wounded wilddogs. Zavana snarled.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Mistress? Our Pack-mates?"

"What did I just say about carrying dead weight?" The She-Wolf asked, she turned her gaze away, and stalked away. The wilddogs dragged their prize behind them.

Vitani, Lukaan and the others pushed their way to Five Stones as quickly as they could. Zira growled at the Shaman as she approached, and Rafiki nearly dropped control of the Gateway.

"Move it, Rafiki!" She said. The wild look in her eyes was even greater than usual. She looked rattled. Vitani shared her anxiety, until she saw a comforting sight in the appearance of Kion. The former King looked haggard, but he was alive.

"Kion!" She called out to him. He turned, and his eyes widened.

"Vitani? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He was pulling Damy with him, and for a moment she was worried the wound in his neck had been ripped open, but the blood that covered him was a mix of friend and foe. None of it was his. She could also see him analysing her for injuries at the same time. For a moment their foreheads touched. She was gasping, her lungs screaming. They had sprinted as fast as they could, making no effort to conserve their strength.

"We fought with Mortread. But he was toying with us. Dragging out the fight. I don't know why but he wanted us to stay, we have to go!" She said with a yell. Her blue eyes flashed. "Now!"

"I don't know if everyone has –"

"Now Kion! Now!" Vitani's voice was raised. Zira wasn't the only one who was rattled. Kion nodded quickly.

"Everyone move!" He ordered. Lukaan turned to her.

"If anyone – "

"They'll know to hide. We can return later to find any stragglers. My skin is crawling, Lukaan. This is a trick. A trap. I don't know how yet, but I know it." She said firmly. Her every sense was screaming at her to flee before something horrible, something calamitous happened.

"I agree." Zira said. Her own hackles were raised. She was looking around as if she expected the other Shai'tan, or the Emperor himself to emerge from behind the stones. Yessen gave a nod, and moved his arms. They passed through as quickly as they could. It was only when the Gateway shuddered close behind them, and she looked around them, seeing Almasi and her cubs and many if not all of the rebels and asiatic lionesses that she began to brief easier. When she caught sight of Yoddha, reporting to Lukaan, she let out a breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest fast than a cheetah's heart at full sprint but only now was it beginning to slow. As the adrenaline left her, she felt fatigued, and wiped the cold sweat from her brow.

Mortread had been playing with him. They'd made him a bleed a little, driven him back. But how much of that had been genuine? Could they trust anything that happened? She would need to force herself to speak to her mother at some point. If anyone understood duplicitous warfare as well as the Shai'tan, it was her.

Almasi was running up to her.

"Vitani! Vitani! Did you see Danyal?!" She asked with urgency. Sara and Inti were with her, thank the Kings.

"He wasn't with you?!" Vitani asked. She was surprised.

"I was with him! But he ran to find Sundar! I don't see them here!" Sara said, her voice rising in panic. Vitani and Kion looked at one another.

"Then he went to ground when he found himself too far away from Five Stones." Vitani said, firmly. "In a day or two, when the Shai'tan have moved on, we'll return –"

Zira gave a growl.

"He won't be there."

"Dany- Kiava is a smart Lion." Vitani caught herself, aware of others listening. "When he isn't being a sentimental fool. He is capable." Vitani said. Zira shook her head.

"No, girl. Think. He won't be there." She muttered. "When you fight a snake, you cut off its head. Gah."

"What is she talking about?" Sash asked, fearfully.

"No. Oh Great Kings no." Lukaan almost swayed on his feet.
"Ash and blood." Jasiri murmured. The hyena looked disturbed. She had realised too.

"Mortread made fantastic bait, because if we want any hope of defeating the Imperium, we need to target its leaders. They know this. They would make the same… calculation." Zira hissed. It was obvious really. The first thing she should have thought of. It's what she would have done. She was rusty.

"But he let us go. He was toying with us. Why would he do that if he was targeting us!?" Lukaan said, his voice rising in panic.

"We weren't the ones he was hunting. They weren't after us."

Mortread emerged from the Gateway with a handful of wilddogs and shook the blood from his fur.

"Mortread!" Castella Ra rushed towards him.

"My Lord."
"Zavana. Did you perform your task?" He asked her.

"I did. Though there were casualties." She said. "None we cannot be without however." She said, coldly.

"A pity." Mortread said.

"But you achieved your objectives?" Castella asked her, urgently. It would be a shame if after all of that, they didn't even manage what all that had been for.

"Most of them escaped to parts unknown, as we expected them to. But your… performance… was more enough to distract their mightiest warriors that their most precious commodity was left unprotected. As you said they would." She said, begrudgingly. Mortread nodded. The Pridelanders were impressive foes: only fools – dead fools – denied that. But they were predictable and prone to all sorts of heroics. They were easy enough to anticipate. "Leviath spoke of you as one of the more… strategically minded… of her brethren. I see now her assessment of you was accurate." She said, sniffing the air. Mortread snorted and looked at the she-wolf. She was utterly unflappable. Confident. Capable. It would be a shame to lose her service when she returned to Leviath. He preferred the company of capable of minions.

"That may be the kindest thing Leviath has ever said about me. She is not easily impressed." Mortread noted, with a smirk. Castella grinned.

"Not just her. I told you. My father is going to be thrilled. And you shall be rightfully exalted above all the Shai'tan." She said, smiling in genuine delight.

"We aren't done yet." He reminded her.

Zavana coughed. Castella was standing very close to Mortread. Close enough to feel his body heat, and hear his heartbeat quicken.

"You're dismissed. All of you. Get some rest." He said. A few of the wilddogs glared at her as Zavana nodded, and slunk away, haughtily. She thought momentarily on Harrin, but felt nothing. She licked her paw again, dismissively. She had told him honestly that she felt no allegiance or kindship to him. It was a pity, but such was the way of the world. It was the lone wolf that survived longest after all. She had no pack. No allegiance to him. If he really was loyal to the Imperium, then, she reasoned, he had got what he had always wanted: to give his life in service to something greater than himself. It was a win-win all around, really.

Danyal gave a groan. His head hurt, and he was hot. He breathed in and instantly spat out the dirt and dust which came with it. He crawled to his feet. They were in some kind of cave, he thought. Stone walls, blocking out the light. He looked around desperately.

Sundar.

Where was Sundar?

He forced his eyes open.

There.

Her dark brown form wasn't far away and though she seemed exhausted, he could see her chest rise and fall. She was alive. He groaned, and felt around for injuries. No open wounds – well, no open wounds he didn't have earlier at any rate. He remembered the flash of light and the gateway swallowing them. Ugh… Sundar began to stir.

"Danyal? Thank Spirits you're okay… Helio!" She said paniced. "Where is he?!"

"Sundar… Its too late." He told her.

"No. No! He was right there! I could have helped him! I just needed… We just needed… Oh. Oh Danyal." And she began to cry. Danyal held her close to him as her sobs ripped through him. It wasn't fair. By rights they should all be dead. The familiar sinking feeling of guilt and shame rocked through him. He wanted to tell her that it was fine, that Helio would be alright, that he would survive. But he could think of no way that could possibly be true. Helio was gone. Like all the others they'd known.

"Where are we?" She asked him. Before he could answer, a voice echoed towards them.

"A long way from home, little Shaman." Mortread said.

The tiger was standing over them. Danyal crawled to his feet and tried to enter a battle stance, but his vision swam and he clutched a paw to his head. Mortread leaned back, and Danyal looked around him now, and his heart began to sink. There were dogs and jackals everywhere. At his side was the wolf from before. The one who had cut down Helio.

"You!" He roared defiantly. The She-wolf didn't say anything. Sundar saw her and her eyes blazed. Mortread saw his reaction.

You have done well, Zavana." He said. The she-wolf bowed her head.

"I am sworn to serve. I have served." She said.

"That you have. I shall be informing your Mistress of your success." He said. He looked down at Danyal. "Greeting, Prince Kiava… Allow me to introduce Her Royal Highness, Castella-Ra. Princess of the Imperium, Daughter of Ben-Kai-Ra, Jewel of the Empire and Heir to the Ashen Throne." He said with a smirk. Sundar shook her head.

"No…" She whispered. The words rang in her ears. The Emperor's Jewel.

Castella nodded. "I believe you've been giving Mortread some bother… Not a wise move, if you ask me." She said.

"You…" Danyal spat on the ground. Castella didn't move. Rage bubbled inside of her. Zavana. Mortread. Castella. Unmistakable rage burned hot within her. It wasn't like when she can commanded her own power. It was a feeling she had felt only twice in her life. Once when she had seen visions of herself in the twilight realm, beset by anger and corrupt with power. And once upon touching Marsade's staff. Blistering with heat and agony and fury and life. Grief gripped her. Gripped her heart like a vice, and gathered her power.

"Danyal get down!" Sundar shouted in warning. It was all the warning she had. Danyal threw himself back on the ground and Sundar reached inside herself for her power, and gripped as much of it as she could in her mind. Helio's face flashed in her mind. She gripped it so tight it burned her minds and her thoughts, leaking from her. An aethereal glow lit up around her, sapphire light bled from her eyes and she let loose a roar. Whether she meant to hurl that power at Mortread, or Castella, or the murderous obscene she-wolf mercenary, she didn't know.

The power leapt from her, the temperature around them plunging and crystals of frost blistering around her paws on the ground before her. Danyal had seen it before when she had let loose destructive and devastating power. Flashes of light lit up the air around them like shooting stars.

Then they stopped.

No sooner did the light leave more than a pace or two away from her then the mystical energies evaporated into the air. Mortread smiled and small smile, but Castella grinned.

"Having trouble there?" She asked as Sundar gasped. She couldn't hold the power any longer. Yessen's warnings rang in her ears, and she released it with a groan before it burned her up.

"What did you do? My powers…" She grunted. Danyal gasped in horror. Around them, on the stones and in the dust were markings. What he had mistaken for scorched earth and split blood were glowing with the faintest of embers. Marks. Symbols. Writings in blood. They pulsed with light. Somehow he knew they were responsible. Sigils drawn in blood, a permanent sanguine stain.

"I have to say." Mortread said. "I am very glad that worked. Speaking of whom… I believe you've been introduced." Out of the shadows came a familiar figure. Danyal gasped in terror at the figure. The orangutan wasn't even deigning to set foot on the ground. Instead he was suspended by some unseen means. He was burned, scarred, and wounded since he had last lain eyes on him, but even the missing and mutilated stump of an arm couldn't make up for the aura of fear and dread which emanated from him. Marsade grinned.

"Hello again, your majesties…" He said, grinning a shark like smile. The two lions could barely express their shock, and then the dark Shaman held out a palm and shadows leapt like fire from their source, moving, twisting, and writhing like tortured souls. They slammed into Danyal and Sundar, searing them with their hellish heat. And all they knew was pain.

Mortread watched the prisoners writhe until they lost consciousness. Then he nodded to a wilddog.

"Take them into the tower." He said, looking around him, at the desolate Outlands once more. Home sweet home. It wasn't pleasant to be back, but at least they had their prey.

"Yes My Lord. Should I inform the Emperor of your victory here?" The wolf asked. Mortread hesitated. It was Marsade who answered.

"No. I want to question them first. Starting with the male." He said.

"Why him?" Mortread asked.

"I would prefer not to damage the female if possible. There are possibilities." He said, not mentioning the Tigons by name. "I am sure the Emperor would like the Prince alive, but I doubt he needs him uninjured. I can afford to be more… ruthless." He said. Mortread nodded, fairly sure he didn't wish for more detail.

"As you wish." He said. Castella purred.

"You did it." She said. Mortread smirked.

"Not yet. There is more to do. But… yes. Today has been a good day." He said.