by Natavia
“You’re back!” Safari yelled, bringing me out of my thoughts. She ran to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders.
“I wasn’t gone that long,” I said.
“It seemed like it. I don’t have many friends and the warriors here don’t say much. I saw your handsome mate, where did he go?” she asked, looking around.
“Probably in the water. You know he’s not good with heat,” I replied.
“Naji has been snooping around here, asking the warriors where you were and if you ran off to see Eze. I think some of the prides in the village are up to something. It’s been too quiet, and usually in a jungle, that’s not a good sign,” she said.
Eze came back inside the temple and wiped his forehead.
“Feel better?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m cool. Just had to cool off,” he replied.
Loud roars came from outside the temple. Safari ran to the window that overlooked the garden.
“Naji’s pride is in the garden. No wonder he’s been snooping around. He was waiting for you to return with the saber king,” she said. She drew her daggers and I told her to put them away.
“I have to disobey, Sy’noba. They didn’t come here for peace, they came to stir up trouble,” she said. Safari blew into a small horn around her neck and my warriors shifted into their cats. Eze was gone when I turned around, he must have crawled out the window. Me and Safari ran out of the temple and into the garden where the lions surrounded Eze. Naji’s mother, Tika, leapt out of the tree and landed in front of me.
“You all are out of line,” I said.
“No, you are out of line! You brought him here with you to mate? To wash out our species?” she asked and I drew my spear.
“I’ll kill you if I have to, Tika. Get the fuck back!” I yelled and her sisters surrounded me. My warriors surrounded them but I told them to stand back.
“This is my issue and I will handle it by myself. Tika isn’t a threat to me,” I said.
“We no longer believe in Y’kiki. We formed our own tradition so we decided to cast you out. A saber hasn’t visited this forest in years until you came here,” she roared.
“I’m not going anywhere. I belong here and I will die here if I have to, and if I do, I’ll come back in the afterlife and kill anyone who is connected to you. You want to challenge me?” I asked and Tika smirked.
“Looks like someone else is going to die and it won’t be me,” she replied and that’s when I saw him. Naji’s father jumped out of a tree and attacked Eze from behind with his teeth in Eze’s throat. Naji’s cat charged into Eze and they both tore at his neck. Suddenly, a big war happened right before my eyes. My warriors fought with the lions. I jumped over the crowd and drew another spear. Both of my spears pierced through Naji’s father stomach but it didn’t stop him. Eze’s heavy paw knocked Naji into the temple while his father clung to his back. Eze slammed Naji’s father into the lake and pounced on him. He pressed his paws down on Naji’s father and ripped his head off his body. The fighting stopped as the lions stared at their king’s lifeless body floating in the water, blood surrounding him. Eze’s eyes turned red and a gold shield covered his neck and his sharp tusks almost touched the ground. His loud roar shook the forest and the water from the lake spilled over onto the grass, flooding our feet. I jumped onto his back and rubbed his head. Eze’s body was overheating from anger. Tika ran to her mate and screamed as she held his mangled headless body. Naji shifted to his human form and ran to his mother.
“You sided with him!” Tika screamed at me.
“He’s my mate! I stand by him the same way you stood by yours,” I replied.
“If he’s so much of your mate, why did you go behind the waterfall with my son? You let him taste you because you knew being with one of those monsters was wrong! I saw you and Naji from a tree that day and your eyes were filled with lust when you were near him. Your saber can sense my truth,” Tika said and Eze huffed.
“Go home, Tika. There has been enough bloodshed here,” I said. She ran towards me and shifted in mid-air with her mouth gaped opened; she was lunging for my neck. I hurled my spear and it went through the back of her neck, sending her into a tree. The spear got stuck in the tree, leaving Tika’s bloody body hanging. One of her sisters ran towards me but Safari jumped over my head and landed on her sister’s back. Safari jabbed her dagger into the lion’s neck, twisting it so it could snap. Most of my warriors were dead but the few left stood next to Eze.
“We will be back!” Naji said and ran off with his pride following behind him.
“All of them together are too strong for us. If he gets the other prides to join his, we will be doomed,” Safari said.
“Take the others and go back to Tiban,” I replied and climbed off Eze’s back. I reached out to him and he walked away from me. He shifted into his human form and went back inside the temple.
“I’ll deal with them by myself,” I said to Safari.
“No, you won’t! I don’t care how strong you are and what you are capable of, we will not let our queen fight alone!” Safari said. There were only eight warriors alive. I told them to go back to Tiban but they stood next to Safari.
“We are true believers of Y’kiki. We are warriors; death is not a bad ending, it’s the start of a new life. Cat spirits don’t die, we live on forever. Death is a gift,” a tiger warrior said.
“Bury the others in the forest and burn the dead lions,” I replied and they nodded their heads before walking off. Safari rubbed her face against mine before she helped the others. When I walked inside the temple, Eze’s back was turned to me. His body was covered in his saber’s fur and the muscles in his back flexed as he breathed—he was in mid-shift.
“I didn’t want to tell you about Naji because I was vulnerable. My heart wasn’t into it,” I said. He turned around and faced me with glowing red and gold eyes.
“You let him taste you after I was inside of you?” I asked and I nodded my head.
“When I told you he was lusting after you, what did you say to me?” he seethed.
“I said you were overreacting,” I replied.
“And all this time you made me feel guilty about sleeping with Lynx before we knew about our history, yet after you learned about us, your body still craved another cat?” he asked.
“I was aroused and the urge was weighing heavily on me. It only happened for a split second. You know I’m speaking the truth,” my voice trembled.
“I’m going to Camden where I belong,” he said. He walked past me and I ran after him and into the jungle.
“STOP!” I yelled and he kept walking. Frustrated with him avoiding me, I threw a dagger at his back but he turned around and caught it.
“I’m not letting you stab me in the back anymore. Do you realize all of this shit is because of you? That’s what you are, a goddess of a war. Not a mate, not a lover, nothing! But this time I’m not dying for us. If I do die, it will be for my own kind. Go on back and fuck your lion boy to keep your breed pure. When you let him that close to you, you let him in. He’s addicted to your taste now,” he said.
“You don’t mean it,” I replied.
“Your cats better be gone by tomorrow night,” he said.
“What about the innocent lions and cubs? There are some who want to be free. I saw it in their eyes when I visited their villages. There is still hope for some of them. Not all of them are bad,” I replied.
“I want all the lions gone! Every single one, cubs, too,” he said.
“You’re speaking out of anger,” I replied.
“I’m speaking like the king I was before I met you,” he said and walked away.
“I’m not giving up on the innocent ones! They don’t have anywhere else to go!” I screamed at him.
“You’re their queen! Figure it out!” he shouted back before disappearing into the jungle. Instead of returning to the temple, I ran to see Ockbutu.
Eze
“W hat happened to you?” Riu d
ropped the pail of water and ran to me. It was snowing in Camden when I arrived. With only a large leaf covering my genitals, I was still warm despite the freezing cold.
“I got into a fight in Y’kiki’s forest. This isn’t my blood,” I replied.
“Come on, let’s get cleaned up and go to dinner with the rest of the tribe,” she said.
“Why are you always out here?” I replied as I followed her to the tree house.
“Because I have to make sure everyone is hydrated and healthy. Call me the doctor of the village. Where is your beautiful lioness?” she asked.
“In the forest,” I replied.
Riu gave me a change of clothes and a wet towel to clean the blood off my body. She turned her back so I could get dressed.
“How is Quanir? Why didn’t he come?” she asked.
“Quanir is busy with cubs,” I replied.
“WHAT!” she yelled and I chuckled.
“They aren’t his cubs. The lioness he’s interested in has cubs and she’s staying at the estate with us. Quanir saved her from her pride,” I replied and she gasped.
“I want to meet them. He’s finally growing up,” she said.
“He’s also part-owner of the family business. I’m decent now,” I said after I got dressed. Riu turned around and hugged me.
“You were always a good kid,” she said.
“Be honest with me, Alexander knew my legacy, didn’t he?” I asked.
“Yes, he did. He kept you away until you were old enough to understand. I guess he wasn’t expecting the legend to be true about Rajan but when you were born, an ancestor was present. He told your father about the birthmark on your foot. He said his son had the same birthmark, his son was Rajan,” she said.
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“Dead,” she replied.
“Did you know about Rajan and Y’kiki?” I asked.
“Rumors and myths were spread around but nobody knew the truth. Their love was hidden if it was true. Rajan was before my time but his cave is in the mountains if you want to know more,” she said.
“Thank you but I know enough,” I replied.
“Is it true? Did you purposely die?” Riu asked.
“Yeah, to be with Y’kiki again who is now Sy’noba,” I replied and she covered her mouth.
“So, it is true! I knew it but I didn’t want to scare her off. Does her hair turn into spears, daggers, and knives?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Let’s go to the hut. I won’t mention a word until you do,” she said.
Minutes later, we were walking through the snow towards a big hut made out of animal skin and trees. When I walked in, everyone bowed their heads. My father wasn’t too happy to see me.
“Welcome home!” a cousin shouted out.
It took almost an hour before I made it over to my father because I was stuck in the middle of the crowd.
“This son-of-a-bitch doesn’t look nothing like yah,” a great-uncle said to my father.
“Cut it out and put the whiskey down!” Riu said to my great-uncle.
“Heyyyyy, Eze,” three of my female cousins sang to me.
“Go outside and cool y’all asses out in the snow!” someone called out to the girls.
“They are going to be banned soon if they keep that up,” another cousin said.
“What are you doing here, huh?” my father asked.
“I’m the king, I can’t visit home? What type of shit is that?” I replied.
“It’s for your own good,” he said and took a swig of the liquor out of his brown cup.
“I already know the history. You think I’m going to meet the same fate as before but I’m not,” I said.
“Come talk a walk with me,” he said.
Once we left the hut, my father punched me in the chest and I slid across the snow.
“You don’t listen, son! I want you on the outside where it’s safer. I came back home so that you wouldn’t have to be here,” he fussed and I stood up.
“I can handle myself and don’t put your hands on me again,” I warned.
“You might be a king but you are still my son. The outside world is better for you. Why do you want to come here? You’re not used to this type of living,” he said.
“I have been here before and I lived quite fine. Maybe I like this world better than the one with the humans. But, truthfully, you just don’t want me to discover Rajan’s history but it’s too late,” I said.
“So, everything is true about you?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“That lioness is Y’kiki?” he asked and I nodded.
“Even myths have myths I see. Where is she?” he asked.
“We got into an argument after I was attacked by her tribe. I killed a king of a pride and now they want war with me, so I’m staying on this land until they come for me. If something happens to me, make sure you look out for Quanir. I’m not going to let them kill me again,” I said.
“Kill you again? I thought you died in a forest fire,” my father replied.
“Naw, I didn’t want anyone to know the real reason. The sabers would’ve went after Y’kiki and her tribe and I didn’t want anyone to hurt her. I was attacked by lions and left to die,” I said.
“You can’t kill a saber on his own land and get away with it,” he replied.
“Tomorrow, I want warriors guarding all portals. The lions are going home. If they refuse to leave, kill them. Our blood shouldn’t be spilled on our land. After they leave through the portals, I want them destroyed,” I said.
“Welcome home, son,” my father smirked.
“I’ll be in my cave,” I replied.
“I will warn the others now,” he said and patted my shoulder. As I walked away, he called out to me.
“What about Sy’noba?” he asked.
“I don’t want a hair on her head touched. Restrain her if you have to because she will defend some of them. Make sure you wear extra shields because she’s spear-happy and never misses,” I replied.
“Get some rest. I’ll come to you when the sun rises,” he said before he went back inside the hut.
*************
My cave overlooked the land. From where I stood, I could see the top of Y’kiki’s temple. It was a beautiful scenery, and through the snow, I could see tropical birds flying around Y’kiki’s forest. A cool breeze grazed my cheek and I let out a loud huff.
“Leave me be,” I said. The breeze turned into the silhouette of Y’kiki.
“The king has finally returned to his throne,” she said, standing next to me. She grabbed my hand as she looked at the land.
“My forest will be destroyed soon so I might as well enjoy the scenery with you,” she said and I pulled away from her.
“That’s all you’re concerned about?” I asked.
“What more can I say? You’re the king of this land and can do what you want with it. All I want to know is if you’re doing it out of hurt or do you really want to send the innocent lions home. A home they have never seen before and probably won’t be able to survive in. Times have changed, the outside world isn’t made like this. Here, they can be themselves not disguised for humans. You want to take that away?” she asked.
“If it means sabers can have peace then, yes, but as far as other cats, you’re their goddess. You can help them find a way since they pray to you every day,” I replied.
“This isn’t fair,” she gritted. “Sy’noba is in trouble,” she said.
“What?” I asked.
“After you walked away from her, she left to go to Tiban by herself. Her warriors don’t know she’s being followed by Naji and his pride. So, tell me, my king, how is this fair?” she asked and disappeared. I shifted and ran down the mountains into the snow. My body rolled into a tree and went tumbling over. I ran past Riu.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
Sy’noba is in trouble, I thought. Riu roared and alerted the others. Seconds
later, a herd of sabers were running behind me. It made my hate for the lion pride grow even more; I still wanted them all gone. When I was with Sy’noba, I didn’t see her as a lion. I saw her as my better half and nothing less. I had to save her!
Sy’noba
O n my way to Tiban, I stopped and took a drink of water from a small pond to keep my energy up. I heard a noise from the bushes behind me and I perked up. The scent of another animal filled my nostrils and a low growl escaped my throat. Sharp thorns flew from the tops of the trees and stuck to my body like needles on a cactus. Suddenly, I couldn’t move or breathe because the thorns were poisonous. My body fell over into the pond and I began shrinking to my human form. Naji jumped from a tree followed by a few others and they stood over me.