Chapter 8

To Danyal's eyes and the visions he saw, time became a fleeting and twisted thing. He didn't know how much time passed. He didn't know how long he stood there. Time itself seemed to twist about him, and he gazed upon the destruction that was wrought upon the great kingdoms.

The rise of the first Imperium began with attacks and killings at the borders of the Great Kingdoms. With violence and the sounds of the fighting that echoed across the lands, a grim harmony of snarls and howls of pain, shrieks of anger and other war cries that rattled through the air. As soon as one scene ended, the next began, merging into each. For Danyal, it could have been a few moments, but that couldn't be right. Not when he saw dozens and dozens of images. Days and moons of fighting as the visions assailed his senses, pressing at his awareness.

"The First Imperium…" Danyal muttered. The one that inspired Emperor Ben-Kai-Ra when he had slain his father and taken over the lands of Asiatica. He spoke aloud in part to remind himself that he was still there, not just a grim and silent witness to weeks and weeks of conflict from eons ago. He wished Sundar was there with him. Or Rafiki. Or even Vitani.

As he watched, the mists coalesced into another moment. He wasn't shocked by what he saw now. In a small patch of savannah, two more great cats circled each other with eyes narrowed to slits. Then they collided with each other and then more sounds of chaos and fighting erupted into the air. A tiger of flame clawed at the back of a lion he didn't recognise. The Shai'tan was lithe and agile and his eyes were an electric, piercing blue. Not one he had seen before. But there was a depressing familiarity to their poise and their stance and the way they moved with savage reckless abandon that reminded him of Sekhmet. It was doubtlessly another Shai'tan. A servant of the Emperor. After a moment, the tiger struck out at the lion's head, who weaved under the blow and returned with a similar strike. The second blow caught the tiger in the jaw, and he let out a hiss of pain as he recoiled.

"Impressive. Agh… You lions aren't half as dumb as you look, nor half as weak. But it doesn't matter: your reign is still coming to an end. The Emperor shall end you." The tiger spoke his voice grating.

The lion didn't reply, but spat out a mouthful of blood. His foe was bleeding, but he didn't seem too badly affected by his injuries at all. In contrast the lion was breathing heavily from the blows he had taken. Then the tiger roared and charged forward with untamed aggression. The lion's claws arched across his chest, and lines of brilliant crimson blood burst into being.

"Come on…" Danyal muttered. Powerless to intervene. Everyone he had seen in these visions was long dead. Turned to dust a long time ago.

The tiger endured the pain and withstood the blow and then he was within the lion's guard. His head darted forwards and seized the lion neck in his jaws. Danyal looked away. Danyal had seen it before, in countless other visions. Shai'tan verses lion. They tended to end the same way.

The lion's eyes widened with panic as he tried to pull away crying out as the tiger struggled to get a grip. All it would take was a moment, the merest of instants. If he could just get a hold of his neck if he could find a moment's pause, then he could snap his foe's neck like a twig beneath the paw of a wildebeest. Growling through gritted teeth, the two struggled for a moment in the death lock. Then, the lion gave a great cry and pulled away. The tiger's jaws raked across his neck as he did, drawing blood as he did so. The wounds were deep, but not lethal. With a triumphant roar, the lion slammed into his foe with full force, bucking as he did so. The tiger stumbled and fell back, and the lion pushed.
The tiger tumbled to the ground.

"ARGH!" The tiger gave a cry of fear and rolled away, moving with just half a moment to spare before the lion's claws slammed back into the ground. Before he could press his advantage, the grasslands flew apart as more and more shapes entered the glade with growls and roars. More lions, come to aid the first. Danyal's eyes widened. The tiger looked surprised too as he watched his chances of victory plummeting before his eyes. He gave a disgusted growl and turned tail and fled. Then he was running as fast as any cheetah trying to get away.

"Coward! Get back here!" The lion shouted, but he was didn't pursue the Shai'tan.

Instead, he knelt to the ground and gave a sigh. His adrenaline was leaving him now that the fight was over and he was looking cold. could no longer stand on his feet without it coursing through his veins, and the thrill burning in his heart. It always took him aback. How one moment, one would have the fury and the will to fight with every ounce of their strength. And then that strength could vanish like mist once the danger was passed. It left him drained, and his almost lost his footing. One of the lionesses rushed to his side and checked his injuries, but the lion shrugged her off.

"Not now… It's important. That wasn't just any new Shai'tan. I knew him. That was Lord Visha. His sister was a close friend of my mother's…" He told them when they had returned to him. The new lions looked at one another in shock at that. The name was known to them. There were four more in total. Three lionesses, and a second male, and it was he who growled at the mention of the name.

"That can't be!" She said. "I met her cubs… He wouldn't have…" He trailed off, staring after the tiger in wonder. He shook his head in disbelief.

"He already tried to kill Shaana. And you just watched him fight me. He barely seemed to recognize me." His comrade added. The older lion sighed at that.

"Then he has chosen to join Shein in this madness. That's another one." He said. He slammed a paw into the ground. "What makes them think they can trust him? Why do they turn on us at the words of a mad tiger?" He growled in frustration. The injured lion crawled back to his feet, wincing as he put weight on an injured limb.

"Who knows? Who cares? We don't know who is and who isn't capable of joining him until it's too late. I've heard terrible stories already. Prides being attacked… even wiped out entirely. It's not just us lions either. I came after Visha because he murdered a family of Cheetahs and I know for a fact he attacked one of my Pride's vassal leopard tribes as well even before I heard about Shaana."

"They're attacking the leopards and cheetahs too? What for! What had they done to him? I thought it was us that this new Emperor hated." The lioness said, looking angry and hurt.

"That's the third, in just a few days."

"How many is that now?"

"I've lost count. Where is the High King? What is he going to do about this" She asked him directly.

"He's meeting with Lord Ba'alin at Crown Rock,"

"Who's that?"

"He's representing the rest of the Tiger Lords… The ones that haven't betrayed us, I mean. But with Visha changing sides, and spirits know how many others doing likewise, who knows how many that actually is?"

"He's actually going to talk with a Tiger Lord?! At a time like this? Is the King mad?" She asked in shock

"No. But he is desperate. More of the more of the Tiger Lords are defecting to Shan-Al-Kir in droves and now they're attacking whole prides. Its chaos and carnage. There doesn't seem to be any kind of plan or strategy. It's just bloodlust. Kwanza wants to stop any more from turning. He needs to know about Visha, and the others." The lion said. They were right. They needed to report this information. Their own lands were no longer safe. They needed the safety and security that Crown Rock offered them. The group of lions departed the glade quickly, leaving it deserted but for Danyal. He had been watched the fight anxiously. This time, this place, must have been in the distant past since he had clearly seen Marsade and Rafiki before their enmity.

Something in his bones told him that this was no fabrication, no fiction that Marsade tormented him with. For some reason or other, Marsade wanted to show him something. But with no idea who or what he was supposed to see, he was left aimless.

"What am I supposed to do? Just wander this way and that and see what happens?!" He asked aloud, but received no reply. The spirits and the kings were as deaf to his pleas in this place of shades and echoes as they were to him in the waking world and seemed just as ambivalent to his suffering.

At least he could take the time to recover a little. If he was going to receive a history lesson on the Imperium's at least it gave him time wasn't being left to Marsade's tender mercies. He shuddered at the thought and alone though he was, he still felt a spike of shame. Feeling his mind the simian's hands had been a horrific experience. Every dark moment, every worst day, every guilt, terror, loss, and pain had ever experienced had been dragged up out of the darkest places of his mind and he'd been made to experience them once more. He'd rather die than go through that again. It turned his stomach to even see the shade of Marsade before him in the ancient past.

But now he seemed stuck here. He'd lost track of how long he'd been there. At least hours. Days seemed more likely. Maybe longer. He hoped Sundar was alright. He'd seen half a dozen different fights in that time. Some had involved the lions, kings and rogues, some involved cheetahs, or leopards. The one commonality had been the presence of tigers, beings seduced by the philosophy espoused by this self-proclaimed Emperor. It had been quite disturbing to see, as more and more were swayed by the words of Emperor Shan-Al-Kir. He'd seen visions of the times when he had come to them, speaking to them as a teacher or mjuzi. In time others had done the same so that his words could be heard coming from other's mouths. The preaching of strength and power was unmistakeable. He took some comfort from the fact that speakers were not always welcome, in fact they were often met with hostility. The trouble was, that few would dare inflict harm upon a creature for espousing mere words. And in places where the Emperor's minions were not welcome, they were allowed to leave in peace, letting them go elsewhere to spread their poison. And in other places… In other places he watched they swayed by his logic and passion and fiery promises of a world without limits, without the bondage of law or conscious or compassion. It was like watching a rot or decay spread. The Emperor's words seeped into other creature's hearts and festered there.
It was horrible to watch. Shein spoke of nature, of life and of the Great Circle. He spoke of balance and of order, with such passion and emotion, and feeling. He talked of the thrill of the hunt, and he talked of obeying ones heart, and being true to yourself.

And he talked of those who would demand you did otherwise and of the ones who would shackle you with demands of undeserved mercy. Those who would bind you with laws designed to deny you your hearts true desires. He offered a simplicity. An uncomplicated philosophy. Strength, was the key. Then he asked them a question. By what right, could anyone, even the king, demand anything of you? Many had no answer, it was as if a fire had been set in their hearts.

It was a kind of freedom, Danyal supposed. A kind of release. But it was evil to his eyes.

He offered them only the freedom to oppress others in turn. The freedom to murder, and steal and destroy. The freedom to hurt and twist and lie. It was a kind of madness.

That was a familiar ideology. He had heard it from the Shai'tan of his time, and it was as corrupt and twisted there as it was here, in the heart of the Old Imperium.

He needed to find a way to leave. To end this dream, or vision or whatever it was filtering through his skull. The relief from his torture was welcome, and a return to the waking world would mean a return to the agony of Marsade's whims, but even so, he had to return.
He couldn't leave Sundar there alone. Not with Marsade. Not with the insane Shai'tan, Mortread. She was in danger back there, and that was enough. He had to get out. But whatever it was that he was meant to see, he would not leave until he saw it. So he followed the visions. And what he saw filled him with disgust. More attacks. More fights. More betrayals. More deaths.

It didn't stop.

Eventually, he came across the lion den, following the vision to where it led, to a great rock of enormous magnitude. Before him, a number of lions were making their way towards a single, solitary peak of stone, the shape of a teardrop. It was windswept smooth, uncracked and seemingly unblemished, surrounded by other rocks of lesser magnitude. It gave it a flower-like shape and stood tall and proud. The others lions looked up at it, and Danyal knew what it was before he heard any of the lions speak the name.

"Crown Rock." The younger lion said, looking up in awe with some of the lionesses. The older male smirked.

"Impressive… isn't it?"

"That is the heart of the Great Kingdom? That is Kwanza's Throne?" He said, looking awed. And Danyal had to agree, it was a magnificent sight. As tall as Pride Rock, and glowing in splendour in the afternoon sun.

"Aye. That is the seat of his power. In the heart of the Crownlands – greatest and mightiest of the Lion Prides. Even the other Lion Kings kneel before him. Come." And they went, with Danyal following at a short pace behind. The lions made their way towards the centre of the great stone. Eventually, they were met by other lions who greeted them and lead the way.

"Who approaches?" Said a familiar voice.

Danyal almost jumped. He recognised the lioness who had spoken. It was. Neema, Jino's Queen, the first lioness he had seen in this vision, belonging to the Pride that Marsade had been friends with. He almost sighed in relief. These lions must have been dead for years, but he was still relieved to find them here, now. He had feared they had been killed by the Shai'tan.

"Its just us and our cubs" The other lion called out. He was clearly already familiar with the queen. Neema nodded seemingly recognising them on sight. She smiled at the small form of a one of the Pride's cubs who was trying to hide behind its mother.

"It's good to see you…" She said, though her smile turned to a frown upon seeing the injured male.

"Marsade! We have injured over here!" She called over her shoulder.

Marsade was still traveling with them, it seemed, because in a few moments the Shaman appeared with his staff of thornwood held tightly in his hands. He looked tired, but paid no heed to his own exhaustion, when he saw the injured.

"I am all right…" The male lion said, though he almost stumbled when he took a step forward. Marsade immediately began examining their wounds, taking several herbs from inside a shell on his staff, which he crushed with the flat of the spike on his staff, and began to apply the juices, muttering a shamanic chant as he did so.

"What happened to you?" Marsade asked him, sounding concerned. The male winced at his prodding.

"This? Just a souvenir from Lord Visha. The Emperor's latest student."

"What?! Visha has turned?" Marsade balked.

"You were right… More and more of the Tiger Lords are declaring themselves Shai'tan and joining up with Shan-Al-Kir and his Imperium. Visha and I fought after he murdered half a dozen creatures in my lands, and then escaped. I suppose his joining up with his new Emperor as we speak." He muttered. Marsade pulled away, his eyes dark.

"I can add his name to the list of people I should have killed him when I had the chance." He said darkly, thinking on the Emperor as he frowned. "Visha. I can't believe it. How do we know who is whose side anymore?" He asked.

"My advice? If they are trying to kill you, they aren't on your side." Neema offered. Marsade gave her a scowl. "Sorry. It's been difficult since what happened at the Far River." She admitted. One of the males cocked his head he hadn't heard of this.

"What happened?" he asked cautiously. Neema spat.

"A group of genuine Tiger Lords seemed to have tried to remove Shein from power. Shein managed to persuade one of them to back down with that forked tongue of his, and then murdered the other three where they stood. Then, just to prove a point, he spent a moon tracking down their mates and cubs and had them torn apart. He's utterly ruthless." She snarled. "But more than, it's becoming harder to harder to persuade the rest of the Tiger lords to risk themselves in a fight that most of them already see as Shein's vendetta. they don't see as theirs. It's even harder if they risk bringing ruin upon their family if they even try." She said, though her eyes didn't look too sympathetic. Perhaps she thought the tigers ought to have tried harder? In any case, their discussion was interrupted by a roar to the right of them, and Marsade flew to his feet.

"It's the king!" He said quickly. They moved swiftly to the other side of Crown Rock.

Approaching from a distance, was what Danyal could only describe as the largest lion he had ever seen. Kwansa the Great was a mighty golden lion, with a blond mane that looked almost white. Standing next to him were a pair of lionesses and standing with them was Rafiki. The mandrill leaned on his staff awkwardly, and as they approached, he smiled at Marsade.

"So you've come back to us at last! Rafiki was beginning to grow concerned!" He said. Marsade nodded, and Danyal noted that he looked different. There were a few lines of scars on his form, and his eyes were darker. It was a subtler thing, but somehow Danyal knew that this was a slightly older Marsade then the one who he'd seen with the lions before. Sometime had clearly passed. A few moons perhaps?

"I couldn't leave Jino or Neema or Kono now could I? Not after Kucha's death. But I had to track down a couple of the other Tiger Lords to find out what was going on." Marsade said. He didn't look pleased.

"You were looking for other Tiger Lords? What for?" Rafiki asked.

"Shien's rebellion against the Great Kings is spreading like wildfire. I wanted to find out just how large this madness was."

"And?"

"I never got an answer. I only found two of them. One had already had his throat clawed out by one of Shein's lieutenants. The other attacked me when he saw me and declared himself free of the Lion kings and their 'puppet shaman'."

"What? Are you okay? What happened?"

"He died. In the struggle." Marsade said with a cold look in his eyes. Rafiki's eyes widened with realisation nodded slowly. It wouldn't have been much of a struggle.

"Ah… I see." He said. Now Marsade was looking at the high king, and he bowed low. Kwanza had bright yellow eyes, but they were wise and compassionate. He was not a young lion by any means, but neither did he yet look old. Instead, his age simply made him appear wise and experienced.
"Greetings your majesty. It is good to finally meet you in person. Rafiki speaks very highly of you." He told him. The High King nodded giving a warm smile.

"Any friend of Rafiki is a friend to me, though I am given to understand that you are good friends with King Jino?" he said.

"I have stayed among their Pride for a time, yes." Marsade admitted. Kwanza nodded.

"Then you are doubly welcome here, Shaman. King Jino is one of the greatest kings among us, and I value his friendship and his counsel. He is good lion." He said.

"So was Kucha." Marsade said sadly.

"Indeed. I didn't know him nearly as well as I do his brother and I regret that. Now I never will." Kwanza said.

"It's busy here now…" Marsade commented. Kwanza nodded.

"There are many Kings here Shaman. We have gathered here as Shein's attacks have become frequent. There isn't anyone here among who hasn't heard of this Shai'tan Emperor by now. Shein has enflamed the souls of dozens of followers and let them loose along our borders. Their victims have come here to my Land. As High-King, all are welcome here. Crown Rock is a sanctuary. A safe haven, for our kind to retreat to in times of conflict. That's why you can see so many lions, lionesses cubs gathered in one place." He said. Marsade looked around, and couldn't help but smile as he counted over a dozen cubs in one corner.

"It's magnificent." Marsade said.

Danyal agreed with that assessment. He had speculated that Crown Rock contained a den of some kind within it, much as Pride Rock did but the sheer size and scale and number of lions who moved around it took him by surprise. He had never seen so many together in one place. There were a dozen different prides gathered, and Danyal shared in his surprise. After the assembled kings had gathered Danyal recognised a pawful of them. He saw Neema and King Jino – and also others he had witnessed in his wanderings of the ancient land. Those who had survived Tiger attacks and Ben-Kai-Ra's insurrection.

"That is why I am determined to protect it, to protect us." Kwanza said. "Duna," He turned to a small bluebird who hovered nearby. Clearly the Kings Majordomo. "Please, call the rulers together. I wish to speak." He told the bird. It whistled and swooped away.

After a while, the rulers had gathered, and it was an impressive sight. "My friends… Fellow Kings and Queens of the Land." Kwanza said slowly. "By now you will no doubt heave heard what has happened. We are under attack. Not by some rogue Pride, or gathering of reavers from beyond our borders, but from within. By former friends and allies. By Tiger Lords who have revolted against their liege lords, renouncing their loyalty. Worse, they have renounced our laws and our authority to protect the circle of life from their whims and excesses. They have instead declared that they are a law unto themselves, and think that this gives them the authority to kill at will. To take what they want. They think we are too weak to do anything to stop them. They are mistaken." He gave a growl. "Ba'alin. Come out here." He called. A great Tiger emerged from a den nearby, and some of the lions gave a cry of alarm at the sight of him. Jino gasped, and a lioness who could only be Kung'aa, Kwanza's Queen, who was clearly heavily pregnant. At the sight of the tiger she looked at her mate in alarm. Ba'alin took a step forward, looking uncomfortable, but Kwanza smiled at him encouragingly.

"Some of you here know Ba'alin. He has represented his people here at Crown Rock for as long as any of us, in those rare occasions that we need to deal the Tiger Lords as a group. Those who known him will know him to be have always been loyal and a fierce friend of the crown. Those who do not know him, shall trust my word on the matter. I conferred with Ba'alin about our current situation, and he has agreed to serve as the voice of the Tigers. I have already spoken with him, and I think it's important to listen to what he has to say." Kwanza said. Ba'alin looked around and swallowed, but before he could speak a voice rang out.

"What can he tell us that we don't already know? Your majesty, I really don't think-" A lioness interrupted.

"Emperor Shan-Al-Kir." Ba'alin said softly. There was silence. "That got your attention, didn't it?" Ba'alin said. "Shan-Al-Kir. Don't you want to know who he is? What he is?" He asked them. There was quiet. "The Shai'tan formerly known as Shien-Su is a criminal among our kind. The name Shan-Al-Kir is a title he has taken, a name he chose. Firstly, I think it's important to get a few things sorted. Shien is a renegade. He is worse than any rogue you've even heard of. A mad creature. His cruelty and his malice are without match. He's a true Shai'tan." He looked around. "For those who don't know, that means accursed one. He's an outcast. He was exiled moons ago from his family and his home." He swallowed.

"You exiled him from your land, into ours. You should have killed him." Jino said. He had a sour expression on his face.

"Perhaps we didn't get the chance to do so." Ba'alin explained. "We know for a fact that he murdered his own father, a Lord called Naaz, and at least two of his own blood, brothers we think, in a deadly fight. We also believe that the fight was sparked when he put his little philosophy to the test, and took a tigress to mate who was… less than willing. A tigress who was already mated to Shien's own brother." He said, unable to hide the contempt in his voice. One of the lionesses gave a gasp in horror. Ba'alin nodded. "The Shai'tan take what they want. And he did. As he always has." Ba'alin gave a distasteful grimace. "It is our belief that he left her with terrible injuries and when her mate discovered the attack he fell upon Shein in a rage, which Shen won. Then he killed their father, the Lord Naaz. I have heard this from the lips of the tigress he attacked, though she died of her injuries not long after."

"You mean he just left her there!?"

"Indeed. He had want he wanted from her. I don't tell you this to shock you; I tell you this because I need you to understand just who these Shai'tan are and what they think makes one worthy of rule. It appals and repulses us as much as it does you. But there is little we can do about it." He said.

"Little you can do about it?! Shan-Al-Kir, or whatever he called himself was under your authority, your rule! If you knew he was capable of this, why wasn't he dealt with at the time?" Marsade snapped angrily. "How many others have been killed since then because of your incompetence?" He said. Shein's eyes narrowed into anger, and Danyal was taken aback to see a sudden burning. A primal anger. A soaring rage. Then the tiger controlled himself, and the anger seemed to melt away. He breathed in.

"There were certainly those who called for his execution, and believe me, we would have been happy to do so. However, I remind you that we are not allowed to execute our own criminals. The High-King's decree is that only he can pass a death sentence in his lands and by the time a messenger arrived at Crown Rock, Shein had killed his captor and escaped. He also slaughtered the party who went after him, and murdered their families for a grand finale! If you want to blame anyone. Perhaps if Kwanza had trusted others to execute others… but that is a discussion for another time."

Rafiki raised a hand. "The only person to blame for this crisis is Shan-Al-Kir himself. It's no one else's fault." He said firmly. Begrudgingly, Marsade nodded. Ba'alin continued slowly.

"As we had no way of following him, he was declared exiled – to be killed if he ever returned to our lands. Which was the best we could do given he'd already escaped and no different to passing the sentence of death in his absence." Ba'alin told them.

"So that's it then. We know who Shein is now. He's nothing more than a rabid killer. He will be hunted down and destroyed for his crimes; that I swear to you all. But we cannot hold the other tiger's responsible for it." Kwanza declared. There was more grumbling at that.

"He's a murderer and worse, but it goes beyond that. His… experiences… have changed him. He was able to take what he wanted, in all its forms. Meat. Power. Mates. Prestige. Land. Whatever he wanted. And no one was able to stop him. He kept pushing. Still nothing stopped him. In a real sense, he thinks he is indestructible. There is nothing caging him. That knowledge has shifted his perspective. He feels liberated and he fears nothing. So he doesn't see any reason to be ruled. He can't be intimidated; he can't be threatened. He will only submit to that which is stronger than him. He won't submit to any rule or law that can't best him. And he is spreading this ideology, this perspective around him like a plague. Those who follow him are the ones who embrace this new outlook. Strength is the only true measure of worth. And might, the only restriction." Ba'alin said.

"An enlightening history lesson, Ba'alin." A voice said, and Danyal turned with a number of other eyes and saw Jino standing up. "But it doesn't help us."

"Agreed." Kung'aa said. "No disrespect to you, but Shein is a threat to us all, as are other Tiger Lords. We don't know who's on whose side anymore. Shien must be dealt with… before he infects every Tiger Lord with these delusions." She said. Ba'alin nodded.

"That's simple enough to fix. I know where he can be found."
There was a long pause.

"What."
"I know where he is. He wishes to speak with High King Kwanza. Ruler to ruler. To discuss… Peace." He said. Danyal stared in disbelief. Were his ears deceiving him?

"Peace!? He murdered Kucha, and Erevue, and Nyah, and Spirits know how many others! He's inspired a dozen other Tigers to do the same! Between them, they've brought blood and death to the Great Kingdoms and they think we'll be cowed? They think we'll just let them get away with it!"

"If you want peace, then you have to make concessions. If not, you have the combined might of a dozen Lion Kingdoms gathered here today. You would have to concede little to force him to back down in such circumstances."

"We'll concede nothing!" Marsade hissed.

"That isn't your choice, nor under your authority." Kwanza said firmly. Marsade turned in anger and Rafiki took his friend's arm.

"Marsade. Come with me." Rafiki said, and moved away from the group. Shaking his friend free Marsade's eyes flashed. With a jet of flame, he propelled himself through the air some distance away, and landed into a crouch. Rafiki scowled at the prominent display of power which drew stares and cries of alarm and shock.

Out of ear shot but within sight of the gathering, Marsade finally spoke.

"I can't believe-"

"Marsade. Kwanza has a duty to his Pride. If he can avert a war, if he can punish Shien without plunging the land into chaos and civil war, then he has to take that path. Don't be so blind as to not see the consequences of meeting this Emperor blow for blow. He wants a war. Going headlong into this is playing into his paws. Think." Rafiki urged him.

"There are a lot of lions here-"

"Which means a lot of lions will be killed." A voice said.

Marsade and Rafiki turned, and Marsade's eyes widened.

"You!"

"Yes. Me." Said Yessen. The baboon looked at Marsade, and extended a hand in greeting. Danyal gagged in shock. He knew the Shaman, who had been teaching and training Sundar. He recalled him falling out of the sky with Rafiki with shard of stone in his chest, and he knew of the baboon's power. And yet, while Rafiki had implied that he and Marsade had been once friends, it was even harder to imagine him looking at Marsade with the friendship now in his eyes. Marsade turned to Rafiki.

"What did you bring him here for?!" He asked in annoyance. Yessen frowned.

"Nice to see you too. It's only been a century." He grumbled.

"We came to talk some sense into you." Another voice added. Danyal whirled around and found himself face to face with two more shaman, one of whom he recognized as Margane. The other could only be Halien, the final shaman. The two females, a gibbon and chimpanzee, joined the baboon, orangutan, and mandrill.

"Marsade. We're concerned about you." Halien said. The young ape looked at her old friend with wide eyes. Marsade smiled.

"Concerned about me? Hah! What do we have to worry about! You're all here! All of you! With you here, we can deal with Shan-Al-Kir. Forget a gathering of Lion Kings – this is a gathering of Shaman. We can wipe his filth off the face of the earth!" Margane said excitedly.

"No, Marsade. That's not what we meant. We can't –"

"Of course we can! Margane, your power over the rivers and rains of the world is unmatched by either of us! Halien, you can command the whole might of the storm! Wind and lighting and are natural to you as breathing. Yessen, the very earth trembles when you order it! It would take nothing to make Shan-Ali-Kir tremble as well." Marsade said. Yessen glanced at Rafiki, looking concerned.

"Marsade. We're not assassins. Our role on this earth is not to police its people. It's to protect it's the world. We are its guardians, not its gods." Yessen said. Marsade's smile faltered.

"What?" He asked in mild confusion. Clearly, he didn't see the distinction.

"We could destroy Shan-Al-Kir. But the damage we would do to the circle of life in the process is… substantial. We must exercise restraint."

"Restraint? That thing is a monster! Mercy has its place, Yessen, but there is a thin line between compassion and weakness. Shein has already murdered Kucha in cold blood. But worse, he is turning people, Yessen. Spreading like a contagion. Soon it won't matter what happens to him, they'll be others to take up his cause and what then? You can't seriously believe he should be left alive!"

"No. I think Shein deserves to die for that he's done. But it is not our place to administer justice. Not our role. The Shaman of this world have to stay detached. There are rules. Conditions to the power we wield. It's intended for another purpose than its mortal affairs." Yessen said. Marsade stared at him.

"Rules that we created. Rules that we decided. Based on how you think it should work. Not because anyone told us. Don't tell you agree with Margane, that this isn't our fight?" He said. Yessen winced.

"Please Marsade. Try to understand. It's not that we don't want to help. But there could be consequences to our interference. As best as we can tell, the Power of the Creation we wield is a part of the circle of life itself. A remnant of the Creator's Divine Might." He held out his staff, and it levitated few inches from him. An emerald green glow encompassed it when it left his hand, and Danyal emitted a loud gasp when he saw it, for each of the other rods emitted its own ethereal light. Blue, Green, Gold, White and Red, dancing like crystals of ice, sparks of flame or shimmers of intense radiance. It was mesmerizing. Yessen voice spoke again, distorted by his own magic.

"Yessen. I know you think that I've been frivolous with my powers. I know you think I use them for trivial thing. Don't think that I don't understand the responsibility it takes to wield them. Please don't think I don't. But I also have a responsibility and a duty to my friends as well!" Marsade said.

"No. You don't. Or you wouldn't if you had done what you were supposed to do and remained uninvolved." Halien said sadly. Marsade ground his teeth. How could he make her understand?

Halien turned to Yessen. "When was the last time we met? More than two of us I mean?" She asked him.

"That would have been about two hundred years ago. At the eruption of Ecru-Crag Mountain." He said. As Yessen said it, Marsade remembered. That Fire Mountain had been building for years, decades even. They ought to have been prepared for it. But they thought had enough time for years before it burst its crater. They were seriously mistaken. They had miscalculated. Instead of erupting out of its top, it had gathered its store of magma into the side of its chamber and its might had been unleashed prematurely. The fiery eruption had shaken the earth and shook the very sky for days. They had come to the mountain, to find hell descending upon the earth. Rock, fire and ash rained around them. Toxic gasses filled the air, burning, searing, heat blasting vegetation and animal life apart. Magma raging down the side of the mountain, an explosion in avalanche form crashing down with each pulse of its crater, spilling out boiling rock.

It had been a terrible sight.
There, He, Yessen and Halien had averted near catastrophe. The volcano's initial blast proved to be a catalyst. A hundred other craters of magma below the earth began to rupture, roused into fury by the shaking of the earth. Blast upon blast, a chain reaction igniting the very ground itself, that Marsade feared would rip the very skin of the earth apart.

There were very few memories of Marsade that frightened him. It was one of less have half a dozen events Marsade recalled with genuine fear. Where they felt their duty to protect the world was in danger of failing. The Shaman had stood there though. The raging inferno of the world was eased. Its anger tamed; its hatred cooled. The magma blasts subsided, the heat leached form pools of lava like poison from a wound. The deadly miasma of the craters purified and restored by Halien's powerful sky sorcery, and the tremors of the ground eased.

The danger they had all felt had been averted. The might of a planet tamed by the sorcery of three shaman.

"Ecru Crag." Marsade repeated.

"Do you believe that Shien presents even a thread of the danger we witnessed at Ecru-Crag?"

"No… This is different."

"What about the tsunami that struck the far isles?" Margane asked. "When the sea surged and threatened to drown the entire peninsula? We were even more desperate then."

"Shien is just as dangerous as any disaster we've faced!" Marsade said. "He's corrupting people. Turning them. Making them like him. He's not just a rogue warlord with a bloodlust. He's an infection. A plague." Marsade said angrily. Yessen sighed. "This situation with Shan-Al-Kir, is an earthly matter. It must have an earthly solution. We all have a role to play in this world, Marsade. That is the role the Kings must play. To lead. To bring order and law to a chaotic and cruel world. Ours is just to make sure the world is there to bring order to." Rafiki said. Marsade stared at them, seething in quiet fury at the injustice of it.
"I don't believe you! You don't want to get involved. You think that we should just leave them to it. To let what will be, be and not to interfere. You want me to abandon Jino and Neema, and leave them to avenge Kucha by themselves."

"Who said anything about avenging him? I thought you just wanted to protect the survivors? Listen to yourself, Marsade." Yessen said. "We need to think. To consider. To contemplate –"

"No, you listen to me Yessen. This is the right thing to do, I am sure of it! Rafiki, please, Kwanza is your friend! Kung'aa is your friend! If doing nothing is the right thing, why does it feel so wrong? Trust your heart. Let's do what feels right!" He said.

"I… Don't know, Marsade. Yessen has a point. I don't think we should get involved…"

"If Kwanza were here, right now in front of you, would you save his life? If he were mortally wounded, and you alone could heal with you?"

"Of course I would, I am a healer, I wouldn't turn away-"

"You see? This is no different! This is us, healing the world. Healing the pride!"

"Of course it's different! It isn't up to us to decide this world's destiny!"

"Destiny is just accepting inevitability! And I don't accept it!"

"Marsade your anger is right, but your thoughts aren't. You are only feeling, Marsade, you aren't thinking as well." Halien said. She swallowed.

"Think Marsade. If we interfere now, what about the next time? Are we prepared to cross this threshold? We don't age, Marsade. We endure. We are Eternal! If we interfere now in the affairs of the mortals, will we become obliged to do so every time? What is to stop them from bringing every one of their problems to us? To bring every war lord and murderer to us to deal with? I want to help Kwanza, but what of all the other Lion Kings gathered here? Are we bound to deal with every war lord every time one rises?" She asked him.

"Ask me for my answer when it happens." Marsade said with a thread of coldness to his voice.

"Marsade! You can't rule a kingdom and travel the world at the same time! How do you expect to go where you are needed when you restrict yourself to one kingdom?"

Marsade broke off, and Danyal looked at the five Shaman. Yessen hadn't raised his voice, or displated any anger, but his displeasure was apparent on the ground she stood, where it was fractured and cracked. Gusts blew around Halien, and he could see Margane's breath form clouds when she spoke, the temperature plunging around them, her breath evaporating with her patience.

"Enough."

Margane said, and there was a rush of air. Her patience was worn out, and the ground around her flashed and froze into a biting frost. She took a step forward and it crunched beneath her feet.

"Look around us." She commanded, her voice like the cracking of glaciers, and the Shaman did.

The ground around Marsade was burned, singed, still glowing hot in another. Blown apart around Halien, fractured and broken around Yessen. Five identical circles of scarred land from their power bursting from them.
Danyal remembered when Sundar's own powers had leapt from her unbidden in her anger against her father and new that their argument was stirring powerful feeling in the shaman of the world.

Yessen blinked when he looked upon it.

"Umm… My Lords and Lady-Shaman?" A small voice came. All five turned in surprise, and Danyal, entranced at the etheric displays of power, during in surprise having not been paying attention to any of the surroundings while this battle of wills was occurring. It was a young lion cub, and Marsade recognised him immediately.

"Kono…" He said. Jino's son nodded, looking around uncertainly.

"Um… Kwanza… that's to say, um, the High King, um, he wants you – I mean, he wanted to ask if you were able to come with him and the other lions to speak with… with Shein." Kono said, looking agitated. With the sights he could see, Danyal didn't blame him. Margane seethed, her eyes cold. She nodded to the young cub, and turned to the others.

"There is your answer. We can observe this meeting. We can continue this… discussion… later. If Kwanza is able to negotiate a peace with Shien, then this will all be for naught anyway." She said. Marsade brooded, his eyes giving a clear indication of what he thought of any peace with Emperor Shan-Al-Kir. They were angry and bitter. Slowly, he let out a breath.

"Very well." He said. "Then let us go with the Lion Kings. Let us bear witness to their negotiations."