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“What’s happened?”
“It’s… it’s better that she tell you herself. She has not been well since you left. I’m sorry,” Meela said, and then scurried away before I could press her for more information. I entered the dwelling and saw my mother in the depths of the cave, covered in shadow. Her breathing was a heavy wheeze and the color of her skin was whiter than the snow that had not fallen in this world for generations. I fell beside her and grabbed her hand.
“Lanas, is that you?” she asked, her eyes cloudy, her hand reaching for mine. I took it and clutched it, horrified at the weakness I now felt.
“What’s wrong Mom?” I asked.
She choked out a laugh, and a spluttering cough followed. “Oh it’s just a silly thing. I was gathering water and I suppose I was carrying more than my fair share. I stumbled and fell and cracked my head. They tended to my wounds, but I think there’s something deeper inside, something that cannot be fixed.”
A lump formed in my throat and tension rippled all over me. A knot twisted in my stomach. I clutched at her hand more tightly, as though if I held on hard enough then I could stop whatever was happening to her.
“This can’t be right Mom. You’ll be well again. You have to be.”
She shook her head. “This happens to us all Lanas. It just happens to be my time. I’m just sad that I will not get to see you grow old. I know it would have been unlikely to happen, but I always thought that it might have been possible. There are still so many things that I never got to do…”
“There is still a way Mom. Don’t give up yet. Just hold on. Hold on for a little while, for me, please. I have someone here. I’ve been somewhere Mom. It’s a long story but… I’ve been to Orestes.”
“Don’t treat your mother like a fool,” she said, laughing again.
“I’m not Mom. Ava has the ability. She needed me to help her be able to do it, but we went to Orestes for help and we brought back one of the lions. He’s here now. His name is Mika,” I turned to Mika, hoping that he would not turn away from this moment. I pleaded with him and when my mother reached out to him, he took her hand.
“These hands are strong,” she said.
“It’s true. I am from Orestes.”
“Are you here to save us, or just comfort us as we pass into the great plains?”
“I… I am here to understand the plight of your people and to see if there is anything we can do,” Mika said.
Mom nodded slowly. “I always dreamed of seeing a sunrise on Orestes, ever since I was a little girl. It was the one place in all the world where everything would be right. If you can save them, please do… all I have ever wanted for Lanas and all the children of this pride is a chance to hope and dream, just as I did when I was a child. All we’ve known is suffering, and it’s only going to get worse. One of the things that has kept us going all these years are the stories about Orestes, how powerful and kind and wise the lions of Orestes are. Please prove yourself to be as noble as the lions in those stories. I would like to know that this pride is going to live. We are only simple people here, yet we have suffered much. All we have ever wanted is to tend the land and see our people flourish, yet that is a right that has been denied to us because of the state of this world. If there is anything you can do to stop it then please do so, for my son, for all our sons.”
The words slipped out of her mouth and then she fell into silence. She was not dead yet, but I could sense the weakness within her. I bowed my head and swallowed back a sob. She was everything I had. To lose her was unthinkable.
“I’m sorry,” Mika said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Just go. Go to Ava and tell her what your decision is. Put us out of our misery already. You must have seen enough here. Do not allow these people to grow hope in their hearts if you intend to burn it. If you are going to leave us here then leave us in peace quickly and let us suffer,” I said.
Mika nodded and then withdrew from the cavern, allowing me some moments alone with my mother.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ava
“This is madness. Surely you can’t believe that this is actually going to happen?” Darrow scoffed.
“Of course I believe it because it’s the only way we have to get out of this world.”
“If you think that I’m going to go through that then you have another think coming.”
“Then you can stay here and live out the rest of your days with this dying world. You can see if you can outlast the sun here,” I said.
Darrow snarled. “If the lions of Orestes are as great as you claim then perhaps they can find a way to renew the soil and make this world as it once was.”
I threw my hands up and paced around the room of my chamber. “You don’t get it, do you? This world is dying. There is no way of making it new again. Those days are gone. Our ancestors were able to reap the benefit of the land. They took what they wanted while it was available, but it’s not any longer and we’re not our ancestors. We’re not going to get that chance. If we stay here then we die. Does that sound like a home to you? Does that sound like a place that wants us here? We’re going to leave whether you like it or not, because I am the Lioness of this pride and I make the decisions about its future. I am responsible for the wellbeing of everyone in this pride, and I shall not see it fall into ruin.”
“You will betray everything your ancestors stood for, even your father,” Darrow spat.
“You are the only person in this room who has respect for that man. Perhaps if my ancestors had shown the same attitude then we would not have been in this position at all. Perhaps some of the lions who have died over the years because of hunger and illness would have been able to survive. Think of how many lives you have condemned because you want to cling rigidly to some kind of ancient path! It is time for a change, and if you cannot see that then clearly there is something wrong with you.”
