Prologue

Great, clouds gathering. A nice, bone chilling storm is about the last thing we need now. But then again, nothing has gone our way today (or any day for that matter) it seems. Hey, that ought to teach me: if you want to waste your time chasing myths, rumors and phantoms all you can hope to get is hungry, and a wet fur if you are stupid enough to pick the rainy season to go adventuring (and indeed, we are)…

Right, like I had any choice to begin with. Vitani this, Vitani that...  Well, guess a little rain won’t (and can’t) stop me from doing what I have to do; following orders. That’s how hierarchy works, like it or not: Zira says, I obey. I can’t escape that just because of some insignificant orbs of water falling from the sky.

Nonetheless, the sooner we get this over with, the better: spending the day with my o-so-adorable brothers, who have been arguing and irritating each other from dusk till dawn it seems, is about as fun as beating your head into a rock for hours on end, and it yields similar amounts of headache, no doubt. If we were to fail our assignment, and we will, chances are it’s because those bloated egos of theirs crowded out anyone we could have ever come across, that and their incessant bickering. Not to mention the risk of an ambush, since we are walking through a canyon, the perfect place to waste any lion-trio that draws far too much attention to themselves. Maybe it’s time I tried getting that through their thick lion-sculls.

“I don’t suppose you’ve ever come across the term ‘discretion’ in your limited vocabularies?”

Nuka interrupted his discussion with Kovu, glaring at Vitani with the most arrogant grin he could muster.

“Oh my, looks like my baby sister has learned a new word, now isn’t that nice?”

“Besides, what could a bunch scruffy, emaciated scavengers ever do to us, sis?” Kovu yawned, trying to behave relaxed. His eyes, however, betrayed him: he was feeling just as uncomfortable as Vitani was. Who could blame them: their surroundings, consisting of sand, rocks, sharp cliffs and the sorry excuse for vegetation you could usually only find in a grade-A wasteland, combined with a dark and unsettling pack of clouds above their heads, could only be described as overly depressing at best. Vitani figured even the elephant graveyard was to be preferred over this place. The mere thought of having to spend one more second out in these grim surroundings sent a shiver down her spine.

“Haha, everyone‘s a comedian. Do me a favor and do at least try to keep up the appearances. This isn’t a damn field trip; some of us are still actually trying to execute their orders in a serious manner. Besides…” Vitani paused, “I’m getting the feeling there are worse things out here than just hyenas…”

The party paused, Nuka being ahead of the other two. With an unnerving smile, he turned around and slowly strode towards his younger companions. Feeling uneasy and unnerved, Kovu chose to break the unnatural silence that had descended upon them.

“Vitani, drop the gloomy mood already. Nothing here but sand and rocks, I mean, what could possibly be out here?”

Nuka’s smile darkened even further, as he was really amused at the fear displayed by both his brother and sister. He approached Kovu, who backed up a little.

“That’s the question, isn’t it? What could possibly be out here for us to fear?” he whispered.

Kovu inched further towards Vitani, shivering barely noticeable. Nuka continued.

“Oh my, looks like my baby sister has learned a new word, now isn’t that nice?”

“Besides, what could a bunch scruffy, emaciated scavengers ever do to us, sis?” Kovu yawned, trying to behave relaxed. His eyes, however, betrayed him: he was feeling just as uncomfortable as Vitani was. Who could blame them: their surroundings, consisting of sand, rocks, sharp cliffs and the sorry excuse for vegetation you could usually only find in a grade-A wasteland, combined with a dark and unsettling pack of clouds above their heads, could only be described as overly depressing at best. Vitani figured even the elephant graveyard was to be preferred over this place. The mere thought of having to spend one more second out in these grim surroundings sent a shiver down her spine.

“Haha, everyone‘s a comedian. Do me a favor and do at least try to keep up the appearances. This isn’t a damn field trip; some of us are still actually trying to execute their orders in a serious manner. Besides…” Vitani paused, “I’m getting the feeling there are worse things out here than just hyenas…”

The party paused, Nuka being ahead of the other two. With an unnerving smile, he turned around and slowly strode towards his younger companions. Feeling uneasy and unnerved, Kovu chose to break the unnatural silence that had descended upon them.

“Vitani, drop the gloomy mood already. Nothing here but sand and rocks, I mean, what could possibly be out here?”

Nuka’s smile darkened even further, as he was really amused at the fear displayed by both his brother and sister. He approached Kovu, who backed up a little.

“That’s the question, isn’t it? What could possibly be out here for us to fear?” he whispered.

“Some say that way back, there indeed used to be hyenas out here. After their crushing defeat at the pride rock, four years back, they ran, ran as the pridelanders hunted them down, fled until there was nowhere else to flee but here, since we, pitiful outlanders, had taken what they used to call their homelands. But they found nothing here but sand, rocks and death. And so they perished, one by one, starving to death, even turning on eachother in the end…” Nuka uttered in the most ghastly manner, glaring at Kovu, “But though their bodies have long since disappeared, their spirits live on, angry, full of vengeance. The Kings of old only know what they might do to three lonely lions venturing into their realm, unaware of what lurks in the shadows…”

And as if Nuka had planned it so, heavy thunder echoed down through the canyon just after he had finished his tale. As one could have come to expect, both Vitani and Kovu yelled out in fear, be only for a short time. Once they had come back to their senses, Nuka broke out in the most annoying laughter, utmost amused at his own sense of humor. But before Vitani or Kovu even had the time to get back at him, it seemed like Nuka’s laughter echoed back at them, only louder and more shrill, with a grim touch to it. In one word: terrifying. In a rush of panic, they all turnrd to star into the dark canyon ahead of them, as Vitani mumbled with a voice that sounded like it was stuck somewhere in between anger and fear:

“Oh right, why bother being cautious for but one second, there’s nothing here but sand, rocks and death…”

Kovu figured it would be best if he didn’t say anything, while Nuka limited his response to an offensive gesture, as they ventured forward to locate the source of their terror. As the laughter faded away, an unsettling silence set in, seeming even scarier than the shrill laugh hat had startled them.

The lions suddenly froze, as they heard a deep, slightly deformed and coarse voice behind them.

“Boo…”

Great. We’ve had it.  Yeah, no doubt about it, we’re goners. Or aren’t we? Like hell that is a ghost, those aren’t real…Well, just standing here being paralyzed with fear probably won’t do me any good, so I might as well try turning around. And keep my cool, yeah, got to keep my cool. I know them brothers of mine won’t. Right, just calm down and turn around, nothing to see here… I need a vacation, I need a drink, I need something to eat, I need to get some sleep… but first, I’ve got to turn around…

As Vitani turned around to have a look behind her, she couldn’t notice any changes, except for the lonely, gray figure that had appeared. At least, he looked gray: everything started looking gray at dusk, especially with a thick pack of dark clouds above your head. As she had expected, it was a hyena. At least, that she presumed since she had never actually seen one: they had already fled their lands by the time Vitani was born. But it looked more or less like what her mother had described: scruffy, paled spots, long forelegs, big jaws, big ears, black muzzle, short manes… But there was something missing: his right eye. As a matter of fact, the right side of his head looked like one big scar, his ear being torn apart as well. A lion’s claw, definitely. Furthermore, the right side of his thin body and head were covered in… burns? Considering how the hyena looked, she wasn’t so sure anymore about him not being a ghost. By now, Vitani’s brothers turned around as well. For seconds on end, they just stared. Suddenly, the ghostlike figure spoke again, giggling.

“Obviously you haven’t ever seen a ghost before…” he grinned, though his single, pale-green eye spoke not of amusement, but only of cold hate (for the time being). While all three lions were at first indeed confident of him being a ghost, Vitani quickly regained her calm and was the first to speak out.

“Like I said, everyone’s a comedian. You just plan on sitting there for a while, or are you willing to make yourself useful for a change?”

Surprisingly, the hyena kept on giggling, while it wasn’t really rd a deep, slightly deformed and coarse voice behind them.

“Boo…”

Great. We’ve had it.  Yeah, no doubt about it, we’re goners. Or aren’t we? Like hell that is a ghost, those aren’t real…Well, just standing here being paralyzed with fear obvious why: being outnumbered three to one, he was actually the one in trouble. By now, Kovu’s