The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 39: Death

The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 39: Death

The battle's intensity started to fade slowly, both sides had lost a great amount of forces, but none of them even considered a retreat. "Mwisho!" Dogo exclaimed, filling the hearts of his warriors with bravery, exhorting them to keep fighting until the enemy was totally defeated. He and Bedor were dealing with a huge group of cheetahs, aided by some of Kion's lions.

Kion, for his part, took down every enemy that got in his way, with fierce and deadly bites, blows and tackles. He roared courageously, having the purpose of finding Baturu and confront him. "Mwoga! Coward vermin! Show yourself and fight as the king you claim to be!"

A young lion approached Kion, limping and bleeding from several cuts over his face and body. "My king!..." He cried hopelessly. "...I couldn't stop him!" He fell to the ground while crying at Kion's paws.

"Oh, Kuto, you're terribly hurt." Kion said with worry. "What happened? What are you talking about?" He began to feel a knot in his heart, anticipating very bad news.

Kuto kept crying. "The queen...your queen...she's..."

"Dead!" Baturu appeared all of a sudden, still with tears on his face, speaking while holding Rani's head with his jaws. Kuto cried violently, deeply and ashamed of his insufficient fighting skills. Kion's eyes were dim, lost and incredulous, then they turned into a gaze full of sadness, rage and mourn. Baturu dropped Rani's head over the ground as if it was nothing. "Now he's been avenged!" Baturu cried out loud, roaring into the sky.

"Y...you...Mwanaharamu!" Kion hit directly at Baturu's pride with that grave insult, he ran towards him, decided to fight him to death. Two lions got in his way and tackled him, biting him and throwing blows at him. Kion roared intensely while struggling, biting and scratching the lion's faces, he roared again and while blocking some of their ferocious attacks, he bit their muzzles with power and great strength, disfiguring them, making the two lions to screech. Kion gasped and shook them off violently, throwing them to the ground, letting them bleed to death. "Kwanini!" He exclaimed with desperation when seeing that Baturu had run away. "Why, oh why..?" Kion lowered down his head while crying bitterly, along with Kuto. "...my queen...m..." He sobbed, countless tears ran across his face. Dead rhinos laid around him, dead cheetahs and lions from both sides, death jackals, every corner was filled with death. What remained of Baturu's forces had escaped with him.

Despite the victory, sadness invaded the hearts of every warrior, the jackals, cheetahs and lions cried for the loss of numerous comrades, the high cost of a temporary victory. But Kion was the one who cried the most that night, the night when his beloved was taken away from him, in the most infamous and cruel way. "Kwaheri." Kion said. "Goodbye, sweet Rani, oh sweet Queen..." Kion sat over the darkened ground, glaring down, picturing his mate running through tall grass, under a never ending sun. "...my heart..." He sobbed. "...we'll see each other again. I'll caress your delicate face...we'll lay down under the moon...I...I'll miss you so much!" Kion cried loudly, with doleful and desolate gestures. "Rani!" Kion kept crying. "Rani!"

The remaining warriors, jackals, cheetahs and lions grouped around him, lowering their heads as a sign of mourning. The jackals howled, the cheetahs chirruped and the lions roared, all sharing the same grievous, fatal tone.

Kiara woke up inside the refuge, groaning and standing up effortfully, looking at the wounded allies laying all over the place. A young jackal approached her. "Oh, queen Kiara, you should rest. The battle's over."

"I'm fine." Kiara replied. "That mourning...who is it for?" The intense howls and roars got her very worried.

"For the fallen." The jackal lowered down his gaze and looked away. "I'm very sorry to tell you this..." He let out a sigh. "...queen Rani is one of them."

Kiara gasped. "R...Rani?" She looked down and grunted with helplessness. "Who?" She mumbled angrily.

"Baturu." The young jackal said.

Kiara looked at him, with a sad glare. "Thanks for informing me." She walked towards the exit of the cave.

"Where are you going?" The jackal asked.

"To mourn her." Kiara exited the refuge.

Kiara walked towards the strong wailing, following the twitching of her ears. She cried bitterly with her head lowered, passing by the laying corpses, staining her paws by the blood covered ground. Kiara went uphill, slowly walking between a pair of tall rocky walls. She kept moving until seeing the crowd around Kion. She gasped and rushed towards them. "Excuse me." She passed between the sitting animals.

Kion looked over his shoulder, still crying. "Kiara."

"Kion." Kiara approached him and nuzzled his neck, sitting down next to him and laying her head over his chest, sobbing just as him.

"That scum..." Kion said. "What he did to her, th..."

"Please, brother." Kiara stroked him and groaned with sorrow. "Don't tell me."

Kion's crying echoed among the allies and his own warriors. "I will avenge her." There was great rage in his words. "I will destroy him, Kiara."

After about another hour of mourning, Dogo approached Kion. "I know what's to lose a loved one, Kion." He gestured at a pathway that led to the caves. "The body and the spirit never take those hits easily." Dogo turned and began to walk towards the pathway, followed by Kion, Kiara and some others. "Choose the cave of your liking and spent the rest of the night there." They walked until reaching a crack. Dogo looked at the jackals that accompanied them. "Usiku mwema, warriors of mine. Rest, as your body and soul deserve."

"Goodnight, my king." The jackals made a reverence then left.

"Come." Dogo got in the crack, followed in line by Kiara and Kion. They walked between the tall and dark rocky walls, inside the narrow path that led to the caves. Dogo stopped walking when they reached the first set, three caves where an uphill pathway laid between them. "These are just the first ones, you may explore all you want until you find one of your liking."

Kiara sighed. "Thanks, Dogo. We'll take this one." She gestured at the first of them, just at their side. "All we need now is to..." Her voice was still broken. She sobbed and a tear went down her face. "T..."

"I understand, queen Kiara." Dogo bowed his head down and started to leave. "Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything else." He finally walked up the path, heading to his own cave.

Kion and Kiara entered the cave, it was warm but they both felt extremely cold on the inside. They went to the bottom of the cave, a lowered rocky spot. Kiara laid down while sobbing, Kion did the same, getting his head over her neck. "If only I could say goodbye to her..." He started to cry again.

"Me too, brother." Kiara cried as well.

"It's not fair." Kion sobbed. "It's just not fair." He laid his head strongly on his sister's neck. "I miss her so much, Kiara..." Kion's crying was bitter, hopeless and nostalgic. "I always wished to die first..." His voice was greatly broken. "...before her, just so I never suffered this."

"She died with honor, Kion. Battling against evil." Kiara sobbed and let out a deep sigh.

"She was taken away from me." Kion spoke with an angry yet broken tone. "I will take everything away from him!" He exclaimed. "It's a promise."