Chapter 25

Across the shadowlands, a noise could be heard. It was a disturbing sound for a pawful of reasons, but chiefly among them, was the singular fact, that no one acknowledged the sound when they heard it. Not even to each other. Brazenly, stubbornly, the victorious hyenas refused to react to the echoing grunts, gasps and occasional screams that echoed around the rim of skeleton canyon. They knew the source of course. Rumours spread like wildfire at the best of times. The lions of the Pridelands might be surprised to learn that hyenas were at their core incorrigible gossip mongers.

After the battle with the remains of the Abyss' forces, carrion had begun to gather around the place. That was unavoidable. It seemed likely that some of them would be spies of the Shai'tan – or in the very least, be willing to trade the off titbit of information when it suited them at a later date. There was no way of keeping all of them from the remains – so the defeated serpents were piled in a pit to one side far from where the hyenas had gathered in the hopes that little of any interest would find its way back to the Shai'tan. The hyenas patrolled the rim of skeleton canyon and surveyed the grounds surrounding the den with wary eyes They knew two, the source of the sounds. Most could probably guess it approximate source.

Zuri didn't need to guess. She knew it with cold certainty. That certainty weighed heavily in her heart as she the rocky entrance to the den, barely paying attention to how she placed her feet, even though a nasty trip or slip might send her hurtling to a painful injury on the treacherous terrain. The den was defensible, but that made it tricky to get in and out of.

There were four hyenas guarding the entrance with their backs to the cave and she pushed past they without a word. They too were standing there resolutely ignoring the noises. Most animals; even the reavers and murderers without a conscience found the sound of a screaming child to be unsettling. It was instinct. They couldn't help it.

King Kiava lay in the cave, on a flattish chunk of rock. The young cub's eyes were screwed tightly shut, trying to keep the mounting pain he was feeling at bay. He was shaking, convulsing. The pain was rising within him, burning, blistering, raging with every beat of his rapidly beating heart. It was absolute agony. Most of the time he was barely conscious. Reason and thought were almost impossible to hold on to. Mamba venom was like that. The poison ripped its way through the young cub's body, tearing through his muscles, his organs, his chest with every beat of his heart, and with each beat of his fading pulse, agony shot through him. Paced next to him, her face pale. Nearby was one of the greenish pools of water. At the very least Kiava wasn't in danger of dying of first.

"I couldn't find any wort root." She said, urgently. "Mother used to say it was the best there was for fever. But I found something that might help with the infection. There's not much, but it'll help!" Zuri spat out. She was wracking her brains to remember everything her mother had taught her about such herbs. "And tuliza!" She said. The small purple flower was known to help sleep. Perhaps it would help Kiava sleep? The hyenas had done what they could for Kiava, but Zuri had been aghast to learn that there was nobody in the entire clan experienced with such herbs. It seemed like such an important job, especially if they didn't have Rafiki or Makini to help. Even the Outsiders had managed that with her grandmother. She swallowed, hoping she hadn't accidently swallowed any of the precious flower. They couldn't afford to waste it. She touched Kiava's skin and almost flinched back. It was hot! Dangerously hot. His fever just kept rising and rising. Shenzi's watched the poor young lion cub face looked ashen as she oversaw a pair of hyenas do what they could for the young prince. The water of the pool was murky but it was cold. Perhaps it helped. Perhaps it did not.

"And this will help?" Shenzi asked, urgently. Zuri seemed to sag a little.

"I… I mean… It can't hurt right? It's got to help. It has to!" She said urgently. Kiava coughed, and she looked down. Kiava's breathing was heavy and ragged. Shenzi didn't know how mamba venom worked. Was the poison attacking his lungs as well? She didn't know. "It's just got to keep him going, until Asante's ready to try again!" Zuri said. Shenzi looked to Asante. Asante looked exhausted. Her mane hung in matted clumps over her face. She saw her mother's critical eye, and started to pull herself up, but Shenzi shook her head. She still needed to rest. She was drenched in sweat and to an onlooker she might appeared to be one of the walking wounded. She wasn't though. Just exhausted. Asante had shamanic powers and she had used those powers in the way that came most naturally to her, on the battlefield. She was after all the commander of the Shadowpups and, at least according to her, that where she was good. But Shaman could heal. Everyone knew that. So, she had tried. As soon as Kiava and Bhagari had been taken into the den, Asante was there, at their side trying to use her gift… But she had no training or even instinct when it came to healing, and her efforts were poor, little more than throwing what she barely conceptualised as spiritual energy at her friends and hoping for the best. It was ineffective. She was flailing with no clue as to what she was doing, and while Kiava and Bhagari had regained conscious briefly she worried her efforts were doing little more than prolonging their suffering.

"Zuri… Asante can't –" But Zuri interrupted her, looking over at Kiava, her face desperate.

"How is he?" She asked her. Shenzi glanced at Zuri, a guilty expression on her face.

"He's fading fast…" She said. Zuri extended a paw, and closed it around Kiava's. It wasn't even close to being fair. It wasn't right. They had won. Kiava deserved better than this. He deserved better than to die because of a snake's last trick. The venom had done its work though and there was little she could do other than watch as its cold creeping power sucked the life from Kiava. That wasn't the worse of it though.

"Come on Kiava." She whispered. "You can do it. You can make it through this. Just hold on." She told him. Not all snake bites were fatal after all, and Kiava was strong. He was a fighter. He had defeated a Shai'tan! He wouldn't be beaten by such a thing, would he? But this wasn't any old snake bite. It was a mamba – one of the most feared and dangerous serpents to crawl the earth. They were rare in the Pridelands, but more common in the Shadowlands, where grim creatures spawned and multiplied, in the dark places of the world. She clapped a paw to her face, and hurriedly wiped away the tears she could feel forming. Shenzi turned away, but she had seen them.

"How is… How is Bhagari?" She asked, feeling a little guilty she hadn't shown as much concern for their ally and friend. She could barely form the words to ask, her throat felt swollen, as if something was caught in her throat. Shenzi shook her head.

"Asante second is no better than Kiava. He's unconscious most of the time now. Zuri. It may only be a matter of time for the both of them." She said, flatly. She had tried to say the words gently, but the tone sounded strange even to her ears, as if she had lacked the practice. Zuri snarled.

"Don't talk like that! Kiava will pull through! I know it!" She said, though there was no weight to her words. Shenzi nodded, uncharacteristically calm.

"Of course." She looked around, the other hyenas now finished with their work. "Perhaps I should leave and let you two have some privacy." She said. Zuri nodded silently, and the hyena left them. "Come Asante." She said. "You need some food in you, before you faint." She said. Asante nodded, paused to look with concern at Zuri and Kiava.

"Will you be –"

"Come on." Shenzi commanded. Asante followed her.

Before the battle with Abyss' snakes, their new lair had been something of a triumph for the hyenas, with light and water and rather defensible. Now it seemed dark and dismal. For a while she said nothing as Kiava's breathing slowed, and became tired gasps. The herbs she had brought seemed to be helping to ease his pain now, bringing him some relief, she knew. He was asleep. She wondered if he was dreaming? She hoped not. His nights had been haunted by visions and traumas since they had been driven from Pride Rock. She hoped his sleep was at least restful for a few brief moments before the pain built again and it inevitably did. His body convulsed, but he was silent for the time being. He only screamed when the pain became unbearable.

Zuri knelt down next to him, she pushed herself close so that he could feel her against him and took his paw. His grip was slack and fell from her hold so she gripped it tightly herself. Forcing down her fear and slowing her breathing, she leaned in close to him.

"Hey there Kiava…" She whispered to him, her voice becoming calmer. "I'm here." She didn't know if he heard her. He made a sound, which might have been an acknowledgment, or it might have been a grunt of pain. She didn't know. Even if he could wake, she didn't know he if was lucid enough that her words would mean anything to him.

"Ookai and Bruce say hi… They'd come themselves, but Bruce doesn't fit in the cave and Ookai is with Timon. Timon knows a lot about poisons, they're trying to find something to help you. I think Shenzi is hoping Hissis knows something that might help." She said. "Banzai is keeping control on the Hyenas… everyone is worried for you. That's kinda funny, isn't it? Who'd have thought a few weeks ago they'd be a horde of hyenas hoping that a lion king will… live? " She said. She looked down at friend. He was deathly pale, a raging fever burning through him, and the venom of a black mamba running through his blood. Still, he lived. She didn't know how he did it. After everything that had happened, he still survived.

"You'll pull through this, Kiava. I know you will. We've come this far, right? The two of us? And those who've joined us along the way. Ookai and Bruce, Timon and Asante. We'll make it. You promised. Back when it was just to the two of us. Kiava didn't move. "I know… I know that mamba venom is deadly." She said, struggling to force the words out. "But… Think about all the other stuff we've done that's impossible? We survived the fall of Pride Rock, survived the Shai'tan, survived the desert, and the wilds and the jungle that. We survived Bane and found Sarafina and Asante and Shenzi and all the others. We beat the wilddogs and the serpents and Amun! So, you can't be dying here. You can't be dying now. Not after everything. You can't leave me now. Please don't go. You can't. Not my Prince Kiava…" She was rambling and she was crying and her tears wouldn't stop flowing. "Please wake up Kiava… Please don't leave me here alone." She muttered. The shadowlands were a terrible place, a blight of dust and shadow. "Not here. Not now. I need you. The Kingdom needs you… Please you stubborn idiot, please, I need you to stay. I'll do anything. Anything the Kings ask of me." Kiava still didn't answer. She knew then. She knew that she was watching her friend die. Then, the tears came. They came fast and hot running down her face. Then, with her laying there, Kiava gasped, and his eyes burst open. His emerald green eyes were dyed a deep red as tiny blood vessels burst around them, as if he'd been starved of breath.

"Kiava!" Zuri gasped as his eyes found her.

"…Zu… Zuri…" He managed to gasp; his voice was hoarse and he struggled to swallow. The worst of the pain had subsided, but he was still aware of it.

"Kaiva! Stay still! You've been-"

"Poisoned." He said flatly. "Yeah. Whoops." He muttered. He could remember the snake, it tearing into his skin before being killed in turn by Asante. Stupid.

"Whoops?" She echoed, aghast. "Kiava, listen to me, you need to hold on, alright? Just hold on. The others are trying to find something to help." It was a fruitless endeavour. But none of them could bring themselves to sit about and do nothing.

"Waste of time…" He muttered. "More than one great king died to a snakebite. That's why they make good assassins." He grunted through the agony. Zuri stared at him.

"What are you talking about?! You can't… you can't just give up now!" She said.

"Zuri…"

"No! Please, Kiava… You can't!"

"I am sorry Zuri… I am really so, so, sorry. I've let you down…" He told her softly. Zuri felt his paw grip hers as she shook, tears once again leaking from her face. "I am just glad you are safe. Back there for a moment, I thought one of the snakes had you…" He said, remembering how the deadly serpent's subterfuge had nearly cost them the battle. Hiding the most hateful of them amongst their own dead, only to strike when the attack was least expected. It had been suicidal for them, but devastating for the hyenas.

"You came for me…" Zuri said. "I thought we were going to be overrun but you came for me and sent the serpents fleeing. You led a charge and fought Abyss by yourself…" She said. Kiava grunted.

"That wasn't very smart of me." He admitted. "But I couldn't just stand there and do nothing…" He said. Zuri smiled and Kiava looked up at her. "You, were amazing out there today, Zuri… You always have been, but seeing that was something special. I saw you fighting mambas at the same time. You were amazing. Absolutely amazing. Thank you for everything. And thank you for being my friend." He said, struggling to find the words. Zuri slammed her paw into the ground.

"No Kiava! You're saying goodbye. Don't you dare say goodbye! Not like this! Not after everything we've done…" She said. Kiava grunted.

"Zuri, I need you to do something for me… And it's going to take a lot from you and I am sorry. I never meant for it to happen like this… but I don't have any choice anymore..."

"Anything! Whatever you need! What is it? What can I do?" She asked him, desperately?

"We'd need gourds if we were doing this properly... Still, we can improvise." He muttered. "We should have someone else but I guess it's just us."

"What is? What are you doing?" She asked him. Kiava swallowed.

"Zuri, I need you to kneel down for a moment…" He said. Kiava struggled to his feet and Zuri gasped, helping him.
"What are you doing?! You need to –"

"I know what I'm doing, this will only take a moment." He muttered as he leant over Zuri, who looked away bowed her head, and then felt something strange.

"Right… How does this go?" He muttered. "Let the Pride be my witness…" He said, glancing around at the empty cavern. There was no one. Not a soul but him and Zuri. But the words were right. All the Pride was gathered here. A pride of two. "I, Kiava, Son of Kovu who was the Son of Scar, and Son of Kiara who was the daughter of Simba; King of the Pridelands and all the light touched earth, Flame of Pride Rock, do… -" He paused to cough, and retched as he tasted his own blood in his throat. "-Under the Light of the Great Kings, do… do declare before all… that…agh –" He doubled over in pain briefly for a moment.

"Kiava, we can do this later if you need - …"

"No. This is important. It needs to be done. The Pridelands need a King… and a King needs an heir." He said. Zuri stepped back, realising what he was saying. And tried to climb to her feet.

"What are you… No! I can't-"

"You can. I'm too young to have cubs – and we don't know if Uncle Kion or Aunt Vitani are even alive."

"But Vitani-"

"- might be dead and I can't make her my heir if she isn't here. I need you, Zuri. I know how Taka felt. It shouldn't have to be you. But there's no one else. And I trust you." He said. Zuri was stunned. She wanted to argue, but she couldn't find the words.

"As I said, We should really have gourds. But these are the shadowlands. Blood and ashes are all we have…" With that, he bit down savagely into his own forepaw, hard, and then squeezed his paw tightly shut. Fresh blood, bright crimson and shining, flowed up. Zuri's protests died in her throat.

"Do declare before witnesses that Zuri, Daughter of Damu, is my Heir... The Crown, Throne, and Kingdom of the Pridelands shall pass to her… and her descendants… For so long as the stars shine in the heavens. This vow I make, with the life of the land…" and he bent forward, and swiped his bleeding paw over her forehead. It left a red streak on her head. "And the earth of the kingdom…" he picked up a small pinch of dust and let it fall onto the red mark. He stared at it for a moment. "…and by the blood of the Kings." He whispered the final words. It was soft barely anyone had heard the words. Blood and ashes. Not the gourd juice and fertile soil used to anoint the Kings of the Past, but ash and blood. A crown for a kingdom at war.

Zuri's breath caught in her throat. It felt so final. She shouldn't ever have heard those words. Only Kiava and his son or daughter. Only a Shaman and the King's closest family. It was usually held in secret, in the den of the Pridelands, before the child was presented to the Kingdom. Few other than the new heir's parents, the ruling king, and a Shaman were present, it was wonderful and terrible. Zuri, who remained on her knees, was looking up at Kiava, with tears running down her face.

"Please Kiava. We're going to do something… We're going to find a way! I promise you..."

"We've never lied to each other Zuri. Let's not start now. Don't make promises you can't keep…"

"Kiava… Please…" She was in tears now. Kiava grunted as the pain became too much.

"Zuri, I… I just want to say… Oh… I don't suppose it matters now…" He said. Then, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground. Rolling onto his side, he let out a low moan, and looked down at the bite wounds on his chest. There were black veins around the wound, where the skin was raised, and he knew that if he pushed back the fur, he would see the skin tinged a sickly greenish yellow. The pain was building now, climbing on its way to its familiar peak with every beat of his slowing heart. He moaned again, and his head rolled back. Zuri shouted and Shenzi came rushing into the cave.

"What happened! Is he okay?"

"He woke up and spoke to me, but now…" She trailed off. Shenzi looked at the lion cub in silence. It was a strange feeling, to feel sympathy for a lion cub. It was only the second time in her life she could ever remember feeling it. She also felt bad for the girl. She knew devotion when she saw it, though Zuri seemed more sensible than Zira had. But there was nothing to be done.

Shenzi wasn't the only one feeling useless. Asante wrestled with herself and her thoughts. It wasn't just the bites and bruises she had sustained in the fighting. She could feel the splitting pressure of a migraine at the base of her skull and she hadn't slept for more than a few moments since the battle. They needed a Shaman and instead they had her.

Bhagari wasn't resting in the same cave as Kiava. Instead, her second in command lay in another cave, and this one was filled with injured hyenas, including a few of her shadowpups. It wasn't that they thought Kiava was special, just that her mother had decided it was sensible to separate Kiava from the rest of the clan so that if he died, they would at least have some time before announcing it to everyone. Kiava screams of pain had skewered that plan neatly. Her focus wasn't on Kiava though – she would return to his side soon enough. For now, she focused on her other friend; who did not deserve to be alone any more than Kiava did. In the den, Bhagari was sitting against a rock, and, unlike Kiava was conscious. His eyes lit up as Asante entered.

"Commander…"

"Don't try and move…" Asante said quietly.

"Heh… No danger of that…" Bhagari said, grunting. "You look like crap…" He said. Asante shook her head, and sat down beside him. She'd been swaying on her feet.

"You don't exactly look like your normal rosy self." She retorted.

"Yeah, I've been better." He said. "How... How is the king doing?" He asked her. Shenzi grimaced.

"Kiava is younger than you… the snake bit him more times. Timon and Ookai are trying to find something but there is nothing to find and they know it. No one's even heard of someone survived a dose of mamba venom and you… you and Kiava you both took more than enough to…-" She trailed off. She couldn't say it. "Aren't you hurting? Kiava could barely keep it together." She said. Bhagari grunted.

"It comes and goes." He said. "Like you said, he took a larger dose than I me, and he's smaller than me. Kid's got grit though." Asante stared at Bhagari for a moment, determined not to let herself betray her emotions. She had seen Zuri weeping over her friend, and she had no desire to make a similar scene. Not in front of her shadowpups.

"Bhagari, I am sorry. I should have been quicker." She muttered.

"Eh. Don't ya worry about that, ya hear me? You moved as fast as you could and I don't doubt you did what you could."

"It should have been me." Asante said quietly. Bhagari stared at her.

"What?" He asked.

"We saw Kiava in danger and I should have been the one to act or better yet, used my gift from the get do… I could have blasted that worm into chunks!" She said. Bhagari shook his head.

"Snakes are tricky. You can't blame yourself, Asante. I was the fool, you said so yourself." He looked at her seriously. "Can you heal us?"

"I've tried! I think… I think I can move energy around. I can make you stronger for a while. I can keep you alive a little longer – that's what I've been doing! I've been doing all I can! But the venom is still there. I can't repair the damage that its already done, I can't stop of the pain, and I can't heal you… just… keep you going… until… until the poison kills us both…"

"Then you need to stop, Asante." He told her gently.

"I can't! I can't… I have to try!"

"No, you don't. Stop it. You'll hurt yourself." He said.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"No. But you know as well as any of us that you have to do what you can and then know when you stop. You're a leader, you know it. Even if Kiava doesn't yet. You can't burn yourself up, just to keep as alive. Not if all it will do is keep us alive as the venom burns me up and my insides turn to slime before my eyes. That's not healing, commander." Bhagari said.

"I've failed you…" She said.

"Never." Bhagari barked. "I know you're the boss, but come on."

"I'm not enough. You've never ever let me down, but I am supposed to be matriarch one day! I am supposed to lead and I can't save my second, how the hell am I supposed to save our clan?" She said. "Carrocscir is lost. If Kiava dies, then our alliance with the Pridelands is dead in the water. Even if his aunt is alive, we'll never convince Zira's daughter of our intentions, and once the Shai'tan learn Amun is dead, they'll send more and scourge the Shadowlands for our defiance. It's all falling apart. We don't have much out here, but its hopeless. Everything that's left will come to ruin." She told her, sounding desolate. Bhagari shook his head.

"Stop talking like that!" He grunted. Hyenas weren't good at the mushy stuff. That was lion business. "We won, remember? Even if it doesn't feel like it, there are dozens of other hyenas out there alive because of you and that lion cub, look at them."

"I don't care about them." She said, looking away.

"Liar." He said. "I know you. Even if you don't know yourself. I know you think you were just a replacement, but you're not. You're the strongest of us. Why'd you think you've got that weird shaman thing going on?"

"Bhagari…"

"You're our leader for a reason, Asante. I'm glad to have fought beside you."

"Bhagari… please. I'm sorry…"

"Why? What did you do wrong? Gah." He challenged her.

"If I'd been smarter… If I'd learnt to use my powers instead of squandering it on cheap combat tricks… If I had been quicker…"

"Who knows? Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe it wouldn't have changed anything. Maybe you'd have been bitten instead. We don't know."

"I wish it had."

"Don't you dare!" He snarled at her. "I know you'd have done the same for me. But that doesn't mean you have to. I've got your back, remember? Stop getting sappy on me. It's embarrassing." He complained, but there was no edge to his words. There were tears in her eyes. He pretended not to see them.

"I can't help it." She admitted. "You're my best friend."

"Ah. Well in that case, I won't tell anyone." He told her. He smiled, a last joke on his lips. "In fact, I'll take it to the grave." He said, as silent tears fell.

Back in the other cave, Kiava gave a stifled cry of pain, glancing at Zuri, as if guilty for crying aloud in front of her. Zuri shook her head.

"Kiava, what can I do? How do I help you?" She begged him. Kiava had no answer.

"Just… Just promise me that you'll be okay. Even if… Even if the worst happens." Kiava muttered. "And please. Just stay. Stay with me. Zuri. You've been there since the beginning. Please don't go now. For me?"

"Anything for you. I wouldn't leave you alone." She said. Kiava smiled.

"Thank you…" He managed to gasp. He could feel unconsciousness creeping up on him again now. The pain was building, always building and it was worse this time. It would fade again - perhaps in a few hours. Then he would be lucid again. But then the pain would return. He wanted to fade. To let oblivion take him. It was inevitable. It would kill him eventually. Why suffer more? Why draw it out? But he heard Zuri's words and her quiet sobs. No. He wasn't so selfish. Zuri was worth staying alive for, if only for a few more hours, a few more days. She had stayed by him. No matter the cost. He wasn't going to leave her now. He swallowed his screams, he bit down upon his pain, and he writhed there, as the agony mounted into a tempest beneath his skin once more.