"Oh, my gosh!" Nala cried, falling onto her back in alarm. "What the heck is that?" she asked, pointing at what she had found underneath the sand.

She couldn't believe it. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. To say that it was disgusting was the understatement of the century. She felt like she was about to be sick. Her stomach churned at the sight.

Haiba looked rather disgusted. "It's a body," he finally answered. "Although it's not like any one I've ever seen."

Nala and Haiba stared down at the body buried in the sand. It wasn't a skeleton – what would normally qualify for a dead body – because it had all of its skin. It appeared to be a lion. The skin had become tight and rigid, clinging to the bones of the body. Its eyes were sunk deep back into its sockets. Its mouth was wide open, as if this lion had seen the most terrifying thing imaginable.

"What happened to it?" Nala asked, taking another step backwards. It was a stupid idea, but she thought that this thing was going to reach up and strangle her. Her imagination liked to run wild sometimes. "It looks like it's been sucked together."

"More like drained," said Haiba. "Considering the skin is still attached to the body and hasn't worn out, I'd say that this… lion – I think it's a lion – has been completely drained of all liquid. Or, to be more exact, water."

"Water?" Nala raised her eyebrows. "I'm starting to see a connection here. So this guy – if it is a guy – has been completely drained of water?"

Haiba nodded. "Yep. Drained dry. Every last drop. Like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

Nala grimaced, disgusted at the thought. "That's horrible," she said. "Who could do such a thing?"

"Either someone with severe thirst, or some kind of weird sea creature that we've never seen before," Haiba replied. "I'd pick the latter."

"Sea creature?" Nala looked doubtful. "In the middle of the desert? Haiba, you're talking crazy. Maybe a snake just strangled him or something."

"Snakes don't attack like this," Haiba told her. "Besides, since when does a snake drain water from bodies? It doesn't add up. The only creature I know of that drains water from someone's body is a mermaid."

Nala raised an eyebrow, remaining unconvinced. She'd heard stories about mermaids before. Her mother had quite an imagination – something she had most likely passed down to her daughter – and had delighted in telling her cub stories about mermaids and all kinds of creatures that lived beneath the water.

But none of that was true. It was just a story.

Wasn't it?

"Mermaids aren't real, Haiba," Nala said. "That's just something you only hear in fairy tales."

Haiba raised his eyebrows at her. "Really, you think? Mermaids are very real, Nala. Deep under the sea. So deep that you'll never ever find one – unless one of them decides to come up to the surface."

"But they're nice," Nala argued. "Aren't they?" she said, suddenly beginning to doubt even herself. She put a paw to her forehead. This headache's getting worse…

"Oh, yeah," Haiba replied. "Most of them are nice. Get lucky and one just might give you a kiss. But then you don't want to meet the nasty ones. Those are mean. Real mean. They're weak, and pathetic, and useless. They can only survive on water. That is, water from someone's body. It's pure. Full of nutrients and energy and… Well, a lot of other stuff. It gives them power."

"So a mermaid has decided to bring us all the way out to the middle of a desert to drain all the water from our bodies?" Nala said. "Haiba, that just sounds—"

"I'm not finished yet," Haiba interrupted. "You see, these mermaids – while very worthless – are extremely beautiful. Like the most beautiful creatures in the world. So beautiful that it has this… hypnotic effect on you. One look at one of the mermaids and you'll fall for it – instantly."

Nala narrowed her eyes. "So what you're saying is… that if I took a look at a mermaid, then—"

"—You'd be all over her in a second," Haiba finished with a smile. "What confuses me is why a mermaid is living out in the middle of a desert."

"That's what I said. That's why it doesn't make sense," Nala told him. "A mermaid – if it's even real – wouldn't come out to the desert. They'd… fry up and die, or something like that. Think about it, Haiba."

"Must have been expelled from her colony," Haiba mused. He saw the look Nala was giving him, and then decided to explain. "Mermaids live in colonies. Entire kingdoms, actually. And normally the mean ones don't do so well there. So, this one must have been thrown out – meaning she's banned from being in the water."

"So how did we end up in the water?" Nala asked.

"Uncharted water," Haiba responded. "It's not governed by the mer-people. I could tell by looking at the waves. Different pattern."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nala said, her eyes wide. She couldn't understand any of this. "Haiba, my brain is actually hurting. I think I can feel it melting. I have got such a headache…"

Haiba nodded, running a paw through the fur on top of his head. "Yeah," he agreed. "Must be the heat. It's getting to us both. We've got about half an hour left."

"Excuse me?" Nala yelled, her eyes nearly popping out this time. "You said five minutes ago we had three hours!"

"Yeah – when the heat was at that temperature," Haiba replied. "Didn't you hear what Simba was saying earlier? It was getting hotter. The mermaid must be draining all the water from everywhere. Probably the water hole, too. With no cool, everything's just getting hotter. In just five minutes it's become about three times hotter. In about half an hour, we really will be puddles of goo."

"Look at this," Maji said, reaching into the sand, and wrenching something from it.

She pulled out what appeared to be the foreleg of a lion. A bone stuck out of one end, with dried blood surrounding it.

"He was pretty young," she said. "Still not enough water. It's the cubs that I need, Simba. They're the ones with all the energy. The power that I need to stay alive. One day without water and I wither, and I die. But with you…"

She smiled, pinching Simba's cheeks. "I might be able to live for three – maybe even four days without any water! I'm so lucky to have found you. You're such a fine…" Her eyes glowed blue. "Specimen."

Simba stared straight ahead, having lost the power of speech. He was so in love with Maji that he couldn't do anything at all. He could just barely register her commands. He was just a shell of his former self.

Maji grinned evilly.

It was time.

"What are we going to do?" Nala fretted, fanning herself with a paw. But it didn't help at all. The temperature just seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. She couldn't even bear to think about the sun, let alone look at it. "This is hopeless. We're going to burn. Burn, burn, burn for ever."

Nala collapsed into the sand, but soon jumped back to her paws when she saw that she was lying right in front of the dead corpse. "Yikes!" she cried, running behind Haiba. "You've got to think of something! And fast!"

"I know. I'll try."

Haiba closed his eyes, and sighed deeply, looking totally relaxed. Nala stared at him. "What are you doing?" she asked, confused.

"Trying to get into my happy place," he replied, opening one eye. He then took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. "It's a Grand Lands trick. Getting into your happy place allows you to think better. I'm sure I'll come up with something within the next five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Nala yelled. "We could be dead by then! You've gotta think faster, Haiba! You're the weird one! I can't think because I'm going to fry!"

"All right, all right!" Haiba opened his eyes, and walked over to the dead body that was partially buried underneath the sand. "This may look completely disgusting, but bear with me for a moment."

Haiba frowned, stuck his tongue out, and then gave the body's chest a long lick, tasting it thoughtfully.

Nala retched, looking away from Haiba and down at the sand. Her stomach lurched, and she felt like she was going to throw up.

Haiba returned his tongue to his mouth, and smiled. "Hmm. This body tastes funny. That's odd."

"Well, he is dead!" Nala said, staring at Haiba with wide eyes. "Why the heck did you even do that? How's it going to help? What's next, are you going to eat him?"

"No," said Haiba. "I tasted him to find out where he'd been killed," he explained. "We need to keep going forward, and then hopefully we'll find where this mermaid kills her victims. Come on." He looked up at the sun. "We have to kill her within the next five minutes, or we're dead."

With every step she took, Nala found herself feeling weaker and weaker. The intense rays from the sun were searing her body. She didn't know how much more she could take. She began to feel drowsy, and wanted to just collapse in the sun there and then.

But she knew she had to keep going.

Lifting her head up, Nala smiled at what she saw just in front of her.

"Simba!"

Nala was surprised to find Simba standing right in front of her, but she didn't care. At last, she had found him!

Nala grabbed for Simba with her paws, ready to give him a big hug.

She then frowned when her paws went right through him, as if he were a ghost. Nala frowned as Simba faded away into nothingness, leaving only the yellow, yellow sand.

"What?" Nala didn't understand.

"Mirage," Haiba said, watching her reaction. "That happens a lot in the desert. You think you're seeing something good, but then it's not really there. Right now I see a babbling brook with loads of pretty lionesses around it. But I know it's not real."

"I wish it was," Nala mumbled. "Simba being there, I mean; not the pretty lionesses."

"I'm very, very sorry, Simba – but I'm afraid your time is up. I have to feast. I have to invade that beautiful body, and suck every last drop of water from it. All that energy. All that fire – and that's not a word I use very often. I so detest heat." Maji stroked Simba's cheeks. "Plenty of colour in that face of yours, Simba," she told him. "That means more for me."

Simba simply smiled, not a care in the world. His whole mind had shut down because of Maji's irresistible beauty. All that kept going through his mind was how wonderful she was. It was impossible for him to think of anything else. Totally and utterly impossible.

She was going to drain all of the water from his body, and he didn't even care. She could do whatever she wanted with him. She could eat him whole, and he wouldn't mind one little bit. He would do anything for her…

Maji laughed, pushing Simba to the ground, so he lay on his back, staring up at the sky, still smiling. She licked her muzzle, her heart beating with excitement at what she was about to do.

Every time she drained all of the water from her victim's bodies, it gave her such a rush. A mad, wild rush that gave her the greatest sense of satisfaction and pleasure. Murdering was all she knew. It was all she could do. She needed at least one victim to get her through the day. It was necessary to ensure her survival. She hated the wretched life that she had been cursed with – but she could do nothing about it.

Maji leaned towards Simba, a maniacal grin on her face. She opened her mouth and let out a monstrous retch, as a long, forked tongue flicked out. "Here we go again," she said for what felt like the thousandth time, before lunging towards Simba.

She kissed him passionately, shoving her long tongue inside his mouth. Her breathing became heavy with anticipation, as she knew that her tongue – what she used to drain her victims of their water – was now working its way down Simba's body.

Simba's eyes grew wide, and he tried to let out a gasp – but he couldn't breathe. He quickly snapped out of the hypnotic trance that Maji's beauty had caused him to go into, and became horrified as something long violently forced its way down his throat and into the lower areas of his body.

Something was sucking something from him. Draining him. His eyes lids grew very heavy, and he felt like he was going to pass out. His head was ready to explode. He'd never ever felt anything like this before.

Maji smiled as her long tongue invaded Simba's body, and began to lap up all of the water, sucking his body dry. It would only take about a minute. Having done this for so long, she had become an expert at it.

Simba felt weaker and weaker, as the whole world around him began to blur again. His eyelids flickered, and he fought to stay awake.

But whatever had invaded his body was far too strong. It continued to suck something from his body. He didn't know what. He couldn't sum up the strength to even think. Everything was so confusing…

Maji continued to suck the water from Simba, knowing that no one would be able to stop her now. Before long, Simba would become a dead husk, soon to be buried under the sand for ever and ever.

And then the whole thing would start all over again.

"Oof!"

Maji was shocked when she found herself pushed to the ground by something – or someone – else.

She looked up to find an angry cub staring down at her, her eyes blazing furiously. "Okay, Little Miss Mermaid, let me get one thing straight: no one kisses my future king and gets away with it!"

Maji growled, and shoved the cub hard in the chest, sending her flying into the air and crashing down into the sand. "Ow!"

Nala picked herself up, ready to face Maji again. She wasn't going to let her kill Simba like she had killed everyone else.

This ended now. "Haiba, help me out here." She looked behind. "Haiba?"

Haiba was staring at Maji, his eyes wide. "She's so beautiful…"

"Oh, come on!" Nala exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "So much for your help!" He then looked at Maji, who seemed ready to tear her throat out. "Now, if I were a mermaid, how would I be killed?"

Maji roared, grabbing Nala by the throat. "You're a very interesting little girl, aren't you?" she said. "There are not many people who can resist my beauty. Even the females. That spices things up a little when I have to drain them too to survive." She narrowed her eyes at Nala. "What makes you so special?"

"Easy," Nala responded. "I'm very angry. You see that cub over there?" She gestured to Simba. "He's my boyfriend, and I don't exactly like the idea of you having your dirty paws all over him."

Maji rolled her eyes. "Shut up," she said, before throwing Nala back down into the sand. "I'm not going to let a little brat like you ruin my feast."

She headed towards Simba, ready to finish things quickly. Unfortunately, savouring Simba wasn't an option now. She had to finish this before she died of dehydration. Mermaids like her didn't last very long out in the sun.

Nala growled, jumping at Maji and wrestling her to the ground. "You're not doing anything!" she yelled. "This ends now!"

Maji smiled. "Oh, you're quite right about that." She then slashed Nala hard in the face with her claws, before throwing her aside.

Nala let out a cry of pain, putting a paw to her face. She was horrified to see blood – and quite a lot of it. "Oh, you're gonna get it now."

Maji reached out for Simba's body, only for Nala to jump out right in front of her. "Get out of my way!"

"I don't think so."

Maji couldn't take any more of this. She was going to tear this cub's head off. She was dead meat.

Extending her claws, Maji tried to slash Nala in the throat.

But before she could do anything, she gasped in pain, falling to her back. "No!" she cried, putting a paw to her chest. "No! It's… it's…"

Nala watched with confusion as Maji clutched her chest, gasping and gurgling in pain. "I'm…" Her eyes widened in horror. "I'm too late."

Maji looked up at the sun, feeling its powerful heat burn her. Everything was burning. It hurt to speak, it hurt to think, and it hurt to live.

She was too late. She had failed to drain the water from Simba's body, and now she was paying the price for it.

Maji opened her mouth wide, and let out a deafening screech. Nala covered her ears, wincing at how loud she was. Water exploded from Maji's mouth, as she continued to screech at the top of her powerful lungs. Gallons and gallons of water shot out, as her body began to shrink in size and shape. She was becoming smaller, and smaller, and smaller…

The screeching abruptly stopped, as Maji disappeared from sight.

She was gone.

Nala felt a little confused, but that didn't deter the sense of accomplishment she had. "Good work, Nala," she told herself, a smile on her face.

"I carried him," Haiba said, once he, Simba and Nala were back, safe and sound, in the den at Pride Rock. "I carried him."

"Stop complaining," Nala said.

"Six hours!" Haiba cried. "Six hours! And that was just the swimming! Altogether, it took us twelve hours to get back home!"

"What's your problem?" Nala asked.

"He woke up after the first!"

Simba sat up, a woozy look on his face. He looked absolutely exhausted. "Can you stop shouting, please?" he asked.

"It's hurting my brain."

"Well, you were almost sucked dry by a mermaid," said Haiba. "You should consider yourself lucky that she didn't get to finish the job."

"What happened to her, anyway?" Nala wondered. "It was really weird. She just kind of shrank and shrank until she was… nothing."

"She ran out of time," Haiba explained. "Mermaids can only go a certain amount of time without water. And it looks like that time came around. So, she just shrank up and died."

"Oh." Nala shrugged. "Well, that's good, I guess."

"And the water came back into the water hole," Simba added. "That's good, too."

"And it got colder," Nala added. "Looks like the mermaid dying reversed everything."

"It seems so." Haiba smiled. "There we go. No more trouble for the rest of today. We can relax, safe and sound."

"Simba!" Mufasa's voice rang through the den. "You're in very big trouble!"