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The Lioness had taken me on her adventure, and I had no idea where we were going to end up. Would Orestes wait for us, or would there be nothing but danger, as Darrow had warned.
Chapter Five
Mika
The world was alive around me. Small animals scurried around the undergrowth of the forest; brave animals that dared to get this close to the area where Gargann lived. Their small size allowed them to escape his attention, something that was not necessarily true for me. If stealth had been my mission, then I could have likely made it through the terrain, but I was not here to hide from Gargann. This was my chance to make a name for myself, to finally become the man that my family wanted me to be. I knew I was a disappointment to them, having not inherited the same gifts as them. My fathers were lions, half brothers who ruled the pride of Orestes alongside my mother, a human woman named Emilia, a woman who had left her world of mortals to live alongside the lions. She had taken my fathers as husbands. I considered them both my parents as they had taught me valuable things and both of them had been constant presences in my life. They had both protected me and nurtured me, but I paled in comparison to them.
My first father, Divad, had a rare and special talent. He could walk between worlds, traveling through different portals that took him all over the cosmos. It had been assumed that I would follow in his footsteps and develop the same gift, but it had never happened. He tried to train me in it, helping me to find the traveler within, but the instinct was not a part of me. He had tried to tell me that he wasn’t disappointed, but I could see in his eyes that he had hoped to have a child that he could take all around the world with him, and that would one day be able to travel across the worlds himself.
That was not me.
My other father, Naaro, was a strong and swift hunter, the best in the pride. He had taken down every great creature that Orestes could boast, and other creatures in other worlds as well. He displayed trophies from all his hunts proudly and there was not one person in the world who would ever try and dispute his claim as the primary Alpha. Naaro ruled the pride and took care of the lions, while Divad went to other worlds to speak to other lions, to try and bring a sense of community to the wider prides that existed in other worlds. A long time ago, long before I was ever a glint in my mother’s eye, lions sent out clans of explorers to other worlds to populate them, creating various prides that branched off from Orestes and created new mythologies and new histories themselves. In some of them they still had memories of Orestes, stories passed down for generations, while others had forgotten their origins.
One such pride was one that my grandmother had come from. She had come from the same planet as my mother, but Kara was a lion, while Emilia was a pure-blooded human. I suppose the lack of lion in Mom’s blood had diluted my powers somewhat, making me lesser than other lions.
Nobody liked to say it, but I was teased when I was younger by the other lions who were stronger and bigger and more imposing than I. They all knew that I wasn’t the way I should be, and as the years had passed nothing changed. I never grew into my skin or developed the instinct to walk between worlds.
But I was still destined to be the Alpha.
As the only son carrying my father’s blood, I was destined to rule the pride, even though I did not feel as though I deserved the position. There were mightier lions than I, stronger lions, and I wasn’t sure I could lead them simply because I had the blood that required it. My fathers had earned the respect of the lions through their deeds, but what had I done? I was little more than a figurehead, a man who had no accomplishments to his name, and I didn’t even have any siblings to talk to either.
In fact, my life had been quite a lonely one. I was in a unique position from the other lions, given that I was the son of the two most powerful lions in the pride. Other lions saw themselves as beneath me, and there was always a distance between us no matter how hard I tried to be a part of the pride. I went on hunts. I took part in the feasts. I even participated in the feats of strength, but when I lost people looked upon me with pity, and as I grew older, I never improved.
I was getting to the age now where I needed to earn their respect. When it was time for me to take my place at the head of the pride, I needed them to want to rush into battle by my side, for there was no telling what dangers lay out in the wider world. There was such great hope for me, and I was dashing them all.
I had spoken to Mom about it before I left. She told me that I needed to take matters into my own hands, that just because I didn’t have the strength of Naaro or the ability to travel like Divad it didn’t mean I was useless. Perhaps by trying and by achieving something myself I could earn their respect; all I had to do was try my best and that would be enough.
I wasn’t sure if she was right, but I knew I needed to do something. The time for the Great Hunt arrived again. Gargann was said to be the fiercest beast in the land, his great teeth could break trees, his paws could create craters in the ground, and facing him was almost certain death.
When I declared that I was going to hunt him there was a gasp among the other lions. Divad had laughed, thinking it a joke. Naaro had formed a steeple with his fingers and looked solemn, as he often did.
“Are you certain?” he asked.
“I am,” I replied, holding my head up high. A lump formed in my throat and I tried to make sure that my voice did not tremble, although I did not think I was entirely successful.
“Do you require a hunting party to attend you?”
“I wish to do this on my own,” I had said. This brought about another series of gasps. I knew most people would be thinking that I was condemning myself to certain death, but I couldn’t see any other avenue to earn their respect. If I could do this, if I could conquer one of the great beasts of Orestes then I could return with my head held high and this deed would live long in their memories. I would finally prove myself the equal of my fathers.
The other outcome, of course, was that I died. I had already figured out in my mind that I was not going to retreat. This was all or nothing. If I slumped back to the Tower of Orestes with my bow in hand, carrying no trophy, I would never be able to hold myself with pride. At least if I died, I would earn their respect, even if I would not be able to enjoy it. But I tried to believe that I could defeat Gargann. There had to be a way, even if he had not been defeated for a long time.
The great creatures of Orestes did not die like traditional creatures. They were tied to the world somehow, and I assumed they would only die when Orestes itself died. When they were hunted their blood would be nourished by the land and they would be reborn, ready for the next hunt. It was an endless balance of life and death, a cycle that would remain unbroken for as long as the lions lived here.
The environment around me was a forested area, with thick trees that created a shadow of darkness, blocking the sun from shining. Tall mountains stretched around me, giving the world a sense that it was closing in on me. My bow was on my back. My sword was at my side. I also had my other weapons of course, the weapons that were gifts from my father. Although I had not inherited everything from them, I had inherited the essence of them. The spirit of the lion burned in my heart as fiercely as it did within them. I could feel the beast crawling within me, prowling, waiting for the moment when I would release it from my flesh and transform into the majestic animal that lived within all of us.
I was not going to release it yet though. I wanted to remain still and as small as possible, crawling through the world before I got a sight of him.
The tall grass swayed gently as the slight breeze wafted past me. It carried my scent away from the forest, away from Gargann. I crept forward, keeping my head low, moving from shadow to shadow, trying to be as much like a ghost as possible. I skulked through the forest and managed to find a way to Gargann’s lair. There was a part of the forest that was like a bowl, where two mountains met and in this bowl, there was a gaping maw of a cave, a dark mouth that promised nothing but death. Gargann was inside, curled up in there somewhere, waiting to emerge from the shadows.
I examined the area to see if I could form a trap. My best bet was to wait for him to come out and then fire arrows quickly, peppering his body and perhaps even strike an eye to blind him. Once that was done, I could rush towards the other side and wait for him to lumber towards my previous position, fire some more arrows, and then repeat the movements, always keeping him off balance, always remaining out of distance.
If it was so easy, of course, then anyone would do it, but Gargann could cut down trees with one swipe of his paws, turning my advantage to nothing in an instant. I licked my lips and checked the wind again, breathing a sigh of relief as the wind was still blowing away from me. I picked up a rock and held it in my hand. At some point I was going to have to begin the hunt and lure Gargann out of his cave. I stood a better chance of beating him if I stayed out here rather than heading into the cave. Every advantage would be his then, so I just had to wait.
Naaro had always told me that the most important quality a hunter could have was patience. It was easy to feel a rush of blood and lose the advantage, to fire the arrow at the wrong moment because an eager finger twitched, and all the preparation was ruined. I bore that lesson in mind as I stood there and waited for Gargann to emerge. Nerves rippled within me and a knot tightened in the pit of my stomach as I stared into the darkness. There were moments when my eyes played tricks on me and I thought I sensed movement, but there was nothing. I calmed my mind, telling myself that if I lost concentration then I would end up losing the hunt even before it had started.
It might even take days for me to do enough damage to kill him completely. I might have to keep him coming in and out of his cave over and over again, but in time he would be mine. I would stand over him and cut my trophy from him, then I would return home and hold it aloft and finally I would know the adulation of my people.
Another lesson that Naaro taught me was that in a hunt you always needed to be prepared for the unexpected. This wasn’t something that came easily to me. I often had things meticulously planned out in my mind, so much so that it was hard to account for surprises. This time something happened that I wasn’t prepared for at all, and I had no idea how it happened.
