[3rd POV]
(Southern Serengeti)
The southern marshlands of the Serengeti were a different world after dark.
The air was heavy, thick with moisture and the smell of wet earth. Mist clung to the grass, and the croaking of frogs rose and fell like a heartbeat beneath the sky. Fireflies hovered over the shallow pools, their soft light flickering across the reeds like scattered embers.
This was not like the dry savanna of the north. Here in the south, the ground swallowed sound, and the place was damp. This part of the region was always the one to experience the wet season the most.
It could be said that this part of the region was the most unsuitable for lion habitat in the whole Serengeti. It was overly wet during the wet season and also experienced the worst in the dry season. Even during Mbali's rule, this region was considered a wasteland.
But this place held a special place in someone's heart. Leo lived here and ruled this region before he defeated the three brothers. This part of the region was also where his kopje was located.
But now those were only history no one remembered. Currently, three new kings rule this part of the Serengeti.
Said three lions rested near the edge of a wide pool, their golden coats dimmed to bronze beneath the moonlight. Behind them, their small pride was asleep, three females and three cubs.
But while the pride were sleeping, the kings were awake.
Not because they want to, though, but because the vultures that appeared in the sky that morning still lingered in their mind. Upon seeing the unnatural flight of those carrions, no king could have peace of mind.
Saro sat upright. He was the first leader among equals. He had a beautiful golden coat and a thick mane with dark ends. The glow of the moon outlined the proud curve of his shoulders. He was quite the remarkable lion, as were all lions who had enough strength to become king.
"You hear that?" he asked his brothers.
Beside him, Dax lay stretched out. Dax was a very average-looking lion that was known for his speed and intensity in fights. "I hear frogs," he muttered. "And more frogs."
Saro shook his head. "No. Listen between the sounds. There's something missing."
The third lion, Kaen, was lying farther out. He was the youngest and the smallest among the three, but he had with him sharp senses.
"I think you are overthinking the situation, Saro. Nothing is happening. I hear only natural sounds," Kaen said.
But even though Kaen said that, he was not ready to sleep peacefully just yet. As stated before, the appearance of the vultures caused quite an impression on the kings.
The three waited in silence, their senses always vigilant even though it might look like they were not doing anything. They listened carefully to the sound of the frogs and insects, their noses were scanning every passing scent carried by the wind, and their eyes were watching, their inbuilt night vision always on the lookout.
But what alarmed them a few minutes afterward was not anything they saw, smelled, or feared. Quite the opposite actually, it was the lack of them.
At one point, the sounds faded away, the wind stopped blowing, and then there were no movements in their field of vision.
Everything stopped, and somehow that was more unnerving than everything happening.
"Now you can worry," Kaen said. His voice became the only sound.
After his words fell there was a numbing kind of silence. The kind that made them hear their own breath and their own racing heart. They did not need to feel, they were quite literally told they were afraid.
"Do you think it's the hyenas?" Dax said.
And what a hopeful question that was. Perhaps in a world of sunshine and rainbows, it would be the hyenas.
"Hyenas are the opposite of silence," Saro replied.
At this point, no one was looking around or moving their ears to hear anything. They were literally frozen on the spot, their eyes moving from each other as if to communicate in silence.
"Do you think it's him then," Dax asked again, "The tailless one?"
No answer was the answer. They had seen the vultures, they had been in the Serengeti ever since Leo was king, so they knew what that implied.
"But why would he come back and why here of all places?" Saro asked, but it sounded more like a complaint to fate.
If the old king really did return, why would he come for the pride that ruled the marshland of all things? Shouldn't he fight the ones occupying the Central lands instead?
The silence prevailed as the three lions waited for something to happen.
And to their relief, something did happen. The wind started blowing again, and it carried with it a certain scent. It was a smell they were all too familiar with because that same scent used to mark every corner of the Serengeti.
Now their heartbeat crashed. Their worst fears came true. They should've guessed. There was no other beast that could silence the whole ecosystem with his presence alone.
"Let's go," Saro said and got up in a splash of dirt water.
"Are we leaving?" Kaen asked.
"No, we are hunting," Saro replied. "Rather be the hunter than the hunted."
And with that, the two lions followed, and they all went towards the direction of the smell. They moved through the forest like ghosts in the night. Even with their heavy frames, they were moving extremely quietly and swiftly.
They were the ones being hunted by the old king, but what they had gained was too valuable to give up. So they moved with purpose and determination.
Beating hearts became a drum of war in their chests. Fear turned into something sharper, aggression. You either run from fear or fight out of fear, and they decided to do the latter.
When they reached the source of the smell, they were greeted with nothing but a tall tree. Saro walked forward and sniffed the tree carefully and pinpointed exactly where the scent was coming from.
It came from the base of the tree. It seemed the lion had come into their territory and decided to leave a mark there.
"He's not here," Saro said, and immediately the three kings entered a formation of sorts where they had each other's backs and faced different directions.
They waited for a long time afterward, but nothing happened. Soon enough, sound returned to their surroundings, and that gave them some relief.
"I think he is gone," Kaen said.
"Indeed. It seems he is not ready for a fight just yet and is trying to reclaim his territory without conflict," Saro said.
"As if," he continued with a scoff, "We will not give up what we have out of fear."
In their minds, that was a better strategy. Return to your old kingdom, make your presence known again, and hope the other lions give up their newfound kingdom out of fear for your former might.
"That's good to know."
But then a voice suddenly came from behind the bushes. The lions immediately became alarmed again, and they closed up on each other even tighter. They moved under the same tree where Leo had marked his scent and looked towards where the sound came from.
There was movement in the bushes, but the expected lion did not pop out. What came out instead was a vulture that was unnaturally large and healthy for his species.
"Now we know this can only end in your deaths," he said, referring to himself as more than one even though he was alone.
The lions gawked at this vulture with confusion.
"Just to make sure, you were also the one who boldly roared this morning right?" the vulture asked to the first of the equals, Saro.
"Who are you?" Saro asked and growled towards the vulture.
The deep vibrations were extremely intimidating in the quiet of the night. It seemed like the vibration had an increased volume as it shook the ground itself.
But the vulture showed no fear.
"Never mind, I was simply trying to show a final act of mercy before death," he said and then bowed.
"Good night to you all, forever."
The growl intensified to a completely different dimension. The deep vibrations now seemed to shake the air itself. It was so loud it could be mistaken for a small roar.
It was guttural and frighteningly obvious that such a sound could only come from a ginormous beast.
"???" Saro himself was so surprised that he froze completely.
But even then, even when he stopped growling, the sound continued.
That was when it hit everyone that that was not him. The sound came from somewhere else, it came from above.
Realisation hit them like a bucket of ice water as all three lions looked up in sync. There, on the same tree that they were standing under was something living, something breathing, something growling.
The air thickened instantly. The faint light of the moon touched the branches and glimmered over fur so black it seemed to swallow the light instead of reflecting it.
The lion's pitch-black mane made it almost impossible to make out the features of the beast. His ginormous form was tangled on the tree branches, wide paws and curved claws hanging on to hold the weight up the tree.
It was like a nightmare given form to them. The only thing they saw in that dark silhouette was the almost glowing and piercing eyes.
What they experienced next was like lighting of fear hitting the same place multiple times. The place being their heart.
How long has he been up there? Fear.
How could they misss something so big? Fear.
He could've killed and jumped at them anytime. Fear.
It was too late to do anything now. Fear.
By the time the three kings reacted, Leo also moved.
From everything being silenced, now everything screamed.
A roar so loud and violent made everything white and split the quiet night. It made their shocked screams void, like a noise during thunder.
The lion, the one they feared most, leapt down from the tree. Gravity and momentum gave him impossible force that when he crashed on Dax, he became tangled flesh and bone that only imitated a lion.
One lion killed in one pounce.
How horrifying it was would never be known, because none of the so-called kings of the Southern Pride survived.
And Saro? He died when his neck was bitten and his throat ripped out.
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I am facing some technical issues with webnovel. When I paste chapter from patreon, it doesn't give spaces anymore. That's why I didn't upload yesterday. Sorry.