think? Vitani said rolling her eyes. “Kovu scanned the wall and then spoke. “ I think it says we need the other ingredients to get past?” Kovu explained. “Luckily I’ve had a hairball stuck in my throat since I went to the moon beam pride and I still have some dirt on my paws” Kovu sighed in relief. He scraped some of the leftover dirt off his paws and coughed up a hairball much to Vitani’s disgust. He put them on a podium next to the clue and a door appeared in the wall. Kovu led his companions through the door and to his delight in front of him was water. Kovu ran towards the water but he didn’t see the line in front of him saying in big bold letters that you can’t miss

DO NOT CROSS THIS LINE

Kovu fell down a trap door and into a pitch-black passage. Vitani and Panthera-Leo slid down after him. Kovu scratched his paw against the wall just above a torch and a spark appeared and fell onto the ash making it catch fire and showing a little bit of light. Vitani looked down and shrieked at the top of her voice. They were surrounded by thousands of serpents. Kovu turned around to climb back out but the trap door was gone. They were trapped with ten thousand snakes. Kovu slipped and fell into some of the snakes. One of them bit his hind leg (Luckily this type of serpent wasn’t poisonous) and Kovu roared in pain. His roar was so mighty that the walls began to shake. The walls began to crumble and the whole pyramid crashed down on top of everyone. The serpents slithered away. Kovu emerged from the pile of debris. Out of the corner of his eye he saw water dribbling out of a pile of stone. Kovu quickly grabbed a dry leaf (one that didn’t have any holes in it) and scooped up some of the water. “What was that crunching noise? Asked Panthera-Leo. Suddenly Vitani poked her head out from underneath Panthera-Leo. “MY SPINE!” she winced. Panthera-Leo, Vitani and Kovu set off back to the pride lands and to Rafiki’s tree. “Ah you have found the water, you must be the first lions in history to get through the pyramid” Rafiki told them “And last” Vitani added. “Rafiki mixed the water with the hair and dirt. “ You must drink it Kovu” Rafiki urged. Kovu stared at the murky brown liquid in disgust but dunked his face into the antidote and swallowed the water. Then much to Kovu’s disappointment Rafiki said something else. “To make it work you must do a good deed that will affect the whole pride, in a good way” “Hold on a moment, either the monkey just said he has to do a good deed, or I must still have sand in my ears!” Panthera-Leo panted as he hit the side of his head trying to knock some sand out of them. “ But what good deed shall I do” Kovu asked desperately. “Well that is entirely up to you” Rafiki told him. That night Kovu and Vitani slept outside with Panthera-Leo. Kovu began to churn up and he ran away into a bush. His footsteps woke Vitani up and she saw him being violently sick. “What’s the matter with you” she said loudly enough so that Panthera-Leo didn’t wake up. There’s this thing that says Watini gets sicker every day,” Kovu explained. “Oh then I don’t need to worry about you then” Vitani sighed and she plonked her head down and fell asleep then Kovu followed her.

Chapter fourteen: The battle of Zira

Kovu had a dream very different from the other ones. Zira was in it of course but this time Kovu didn’t die! Kovu was walking through the desert and Zira set snakes on him. Vitani and Panthera-Leo roared and scared all the snakes away. The pyramid fell down and it squashed Zira. Then Kovu looked up. A cloud in the shape of a crown was floating in the sky. Then Kovu knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

                                                        ***

Kovu woke up before sunrise and went to Rafiki’s tree. Rafiki, who was known to be lazy, was still up. “ Ah Kovu I sensed you coming” Rafiki mumbled. “How?” asked Kovu “ I am obviously used to your scent by now” He sighed. “ Young Kovu I have some interesting news for you, if you don’t do a good deed by six O clock in the afternoon you will die,” Rafiki explained. “ I don’t need to worry about that because I know what my good deed is going to be” Kovu whispered. He looked around and then whispered something into Rafiki’s ear. “Oh I like the way you think” Rafiki howled. Suddenly an ear-shattering roar filled the air. “Oh no, it is a war cry” the wise baboon gasped. “Go young one” Rafiki shouted. Kovu sprinted out of the tree and ran to Panthera-Leo and Vitani. He shook them awake. “What’s your problem I was dreaming about meat?” Vitani yawned. Suddenly another roar pierced the air. “Does that answer your question?” Kovu answered. “Panthera-Leo sprung up into the air. “AHH what are we going to do we’ll die or get hurt or WORSE” He panicked. “Calm down you big cub” Vitani shouted grabbing him by the tail. “You don’t exactly look tranquil yourself,” Panthera-Leo argued. “Break it up you two!” Kovu yelled. “He’s right, let’s go and tell Simba” Vitani declared. “There’s no need for that,” Kovu said as he saw Simba prowling down Pride Rock. Simba lumbered past the trio of lions and stopped a few feet ahead of them. He saw Panthera-Leo out of the corner of his eye. “Who’s that?” he growled. Vitani stepped back and gulped. Then she began to speak. “This is my mate, Panthera-Leo and I saved him from drowning in a gorge and he’s that rouge that we were talking about a few days back!” She panted. “What are you talking about?” Simba asked. “Vitani hid behind Panthera-Leo. Simba pushed him aside and cornered Vitani. He huffed out a warm breath, which was his own way of saying: You’re in big trouble now. Vitani’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. Panthera- Leo tried to revive Vitani by whomping her chest with his paw. “You come with me, I need you to complete the last of your training,” Simba mumbled at Kovu. “ Kovu hesitated but then followed the great king to the peak of Pride Rock. “Kovu, as king it’s your job to see what pride is attacking,” he explained calmly. Kovu plodded up to the front of the rock and looked across the plain at the approaching pride. His eyes widened with fear as he suddenly realised who it was. It was a lioness with a straight face, a hunched body, evil eyes and sandy fur. It was the dreaded, and very much alive, Zira! “It’s Zi-Zir-Z-Z,” Kovu stuttered. “What?” Simba asked. “ZIRA!” Kovu screamed. “What are you talking about, Zira’s dead?” Simba reminded him. “Look for yourself,” Kovu panicked. Simba stared over at the pride that was about to attack. He turned around and shot down the rock. Simba rushed through the cave where everyone slept and roared until the whole pride was awake. “What’s the matter, Simba?” yawned Nala. “ZIRA’S ATTACKING, EVERYONE SO GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT, LEAVE YOUR CUBS HERE AND I’LL HANDLE THE REST!” Simba commanded. The adults sprung up and dashed outside. Kovu appeared at the entrance. “Who’s going to watch the cubs?” he questioned. “I didn’t think of that!” Simba gasped. “We will!” boomed a voice from the outside of the cave. Panthera-Leo walked in with Vitani. “Alright I’ll trust you this once, but if I see a single dead cub on the floor then…” Simba raised his paw to his neck and slid it across. “Sir yes sir” Panthera-Leo saluted. Simba rushed outside to help his pride. Kovu reluctantly followed him. As he reached the exit he heard Vitani mumbling something under her breath. He looked round to see her shaking. “Just relax,” he told her. “What do you mean relax of course I’m relaxing if I was any more relaxed I’d be dead!” she panicked. Kovu ignored her and trotted outside. He couldn’t believe who was fighting along side Zira. He was tough he was rough he was with his two friends. Yes it was Abando, Micatei and Bonja. Also the hyena pack from mount fare was there. A few of the snakes from the desert slithered at the back. The two guards from the moonbeam pride had come along too. Kovu felt like his bones had turned to water. He hadn’t been this scared since he first met Simba when he was a cub. He knew that he had to fight for the sake of the pride. He ran towards the others. “Well if it isn’t my son” Zira mocked. “How dare you call yourself my mother, when have you ever acted like one!” Kovu screamed. “Any way if you want to live then all you have to do is ask that stupid monkey of yours to make an antidote to make Scar return from the dead. Rafiki heard this and came out of his tree. “I’m sorry Zira, no magic can do that,” Rafiki apologised. “He lies, whoever wins this battle gets the monkey as their servant,” Zira declared. “We’d never treat Rafiki like a servant!” Kovu argued. Rafiki ran back to his tree and hid. “Let the battle