I wasn't surprised when we arrived at the capital city much sooner than I thought possible. What did surprise me were the massive guards stationed outside the castle. I could see that they were like rhinoceros, except they were missing the telltale horn... only they weren't. As we were being checked for weapons, I got an up close look at one and the horn had been cut off and added to a thick metal pole.
I did not ask why they would maim themselves like that and removed a lot of their fighting capabilities, because I had to assume that was actually why. It removed a lot of their fighting capabilities. The best way to stop anyone from rebelling or taking over was to take away their ability to fight effectively.
We were allowed entry and assigned a lion woman as a guide. I was not turned on by her at all. She had an air of superiority that only royalty gave off and I could tell that she thought she was beneath her station by having to play host for outsiders. Her tail didn't swish from side to side, letting us know that she was completely on guard and was ready to react to anything that happened.
“It's a lion pride.” Nat said and didn't bother whispering as we passed several more female lions. She knew it was pointless to whisper around animal hearing and I nodded to her.
We were led to the throne room and brought inside without an announcement or even a proper greeting. I thought that was odd for only a few seconds, then saw that the room was pretty much filled with lions, male and female alike. They all knew who we were and that we were coming. There was no point in announcing our arrival, royal meeting protocols be damned.
“So, you are the latest chosen heroes of the Goddess.” A man's voice said and several of the female lions moved out of the way to reveal a lion man. It was not the king, however. No, this was the last male hero that I had been looking for. “I'm surprised you're still human.”
“I'm surprised you were changed so quickly.” I responded and he let out a bark of a laugh.
“One of the first beings I met when I came here.” He said and reached back and pulled out a very handsome lion woman. “I fell in love with her at first sight and I was changed soon after.”
“Ah. You chose to.” I said and he nodded. “I hope you've been happy.”
The lion woman smiled demurely and nodded.
“It's been the best life I have ever had.” The old hero said. “Don't get me wrong, though. I spent years looking for the source anyway.”
It took me a moment to realize why. “You wanted to honor your promise to the goddess and to thank her for bringing you here.”
“You're pretty bright.” He said with a growling laugh. “The other heroes when they found me just accused me of giving up too soon and living a comfortable life.”
I chuckled. “To be fair, you looked a lot longer than the others did.”
“I know.” He said. “The trail dried up a long time ago and after another year of fruitlessly wandering around the wilderness with my wives, I came back to the capital and settled down.”
“Did you have any cubs?” I asked and he, the woman next to him, and two others gave me happy smiles. “A nice big family.”
He nodded. “I made myself useful to the reigning king and trained his troops, in exchange for letting me stay here with his pride... and with his daughter.”
I blinked my eyes for a second, then nodded back.
“Why are you here?” A growling voice cut through the throne room like a knife and the lions split right down the middle. A lion man with a mane that went down to his abs stood up and was a foot taller than every other lion person in the room.
“We encountered two villages of rat scouts on the way here to meet the hero that lives here.” I said, not bothering to lie. “They are preparing for war.”
There was a mix of growling laughter from everyone in the room, the women included.
“We can handle a few rats.” The lion hero said.
“Can you handle a thousand?” I asked and he gave me wide eyes. “What about ten thousand?”
The growling laughter died out.
“You lie.” The king lion said.
“Once I found out, I rushed here to inform you. I knew you knew about the rats being close, since any good king would.” I said and he preened a little. “However, I didn't see any gathered troops, except around the castle.”
“We need to increase the defenses.” The lion hero said.
“As far as I can tell, the rats are going to lay siege to the capital. If you don't have the proper supplies for everyone inside the city, having a good defense won't make any difference.” I said and there were several dissenting voices in the crowd.
“What do you suggest?” The king lion asked.
“I'm not here to help you.” I said and he let out an angry growl, which was quickly taken up by everyone, including the lion hero. “I was sent to this world for a specific mission and I completed it. I only came here to talk to the hero before I left.”
“You won't be leaving.” The king lion said and we were quickly surrounded by slightly growling lion men. “You have brought the rats to our doorstep and you are refusing to help defend the people.”
“Actually, you brought them to your doorstep. I just killed a clan of cats and a gathering of Coons. It's not my fault the rats filled those villages and none of your people did anything to stop them.”
“You dare...”
“I only came here to ask the hero if he wanted to leave.” I said and the hero's wives let out barks and growls. “Don't worry. I won't ask him if he does, since he's happy here.”
“You would leave him and his family... and the rest of us... to die.” The king lion said.
“This isn't a fight where one person can make a difference. This is going to be a long and drawn out war that's been building for years. Regiments, battalions, formations, and battlefield tactics are going to be needed, none of which I know of and I can't help you with.”
“You cannot leave to warn the rats that we know of their impending attack.” The king lion said.
“I wasn't planning on leaving this castle anyway.” I said to their surprise. “However, the researchers need to return to the wall to warn everyone of the rats and to send out messengers.”
A female lion let out a surprised sound and stepped around the king. “You mean a call to arms!”
I nodded. “A single person like myself might not make much difference... but, a hundred thousand other people? That will.”
She waved her hand and the lions stopped growling and moved back to appear less threatening. “You antagonized my husband on purpose.”
I nodded again. “I needed to measure his dedication to his people and to see if the hero was going to abandon the life he built here.” I smiled. “I'm glad I was wrong on both counts.”
“I am no coward!” The king lion said and then roared. It was joined in by all the males and it was fairly loud in the room and echoed off the walls. “We will rip the little vermin to shreds!”
The lions roared again and the females joined in this time. The killing intent was pretty high and I was glad that despair wasn't setting in.
“We better send the researchers off, so they can get those messages out.” I said.
“I will have a missive prepared.” The queen lion said.
“If I may suggest prioritizing the wolf packs?” I said as if it was a question and she took in a sharp breath. “They do love to fight.”
“We... will need to find out... their emblems.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper, and I could tell that she regretted not getting to know them before now.
“I can definitely help with that.” I said with a smile. “I just happened to pass through one of the settlements when they were having a pack leader gathering.”
Her face broke into a huge smile. “Follow me to the document room.”
I nodded and we all went with her, just to make sure that none of us were left alone.
“Go with them.” The king lion said to the lion hero and he came with us.
I quickly had Nat draw out the emblems I described and the lion queen added individual notes to them to ask for their aid in helping to defend their nation from being overrun by vermin. They were all bundled up into a package and given to the bunny researcher.
“George, you know how important this is.” I said and he nodded. “You can keep the rings.”
George let out a neigh of agreement and we left the document room. The lion hero followed us out to the front of the castle and I took out the cart and attached it to George. It already had the rat shield on it, so they still had safe passage through the rat front lines. The bunny researcher and the healers climbed onto the cart and then it was time for Nat and Paula to say goodbye.
“I l-love y-you.” Nat said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“I love you, my little hero.” Paula said and have her a kiss. “These past few weeks of 'vacation' have been the best time of my life; but, now we both must go back to our lives.”
Nat couldn't stop the tears from flowing. “I miss you already.”
Paula let out a neigh of happiness and then she kissed Nat as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered. It went on for several minutes and no one, not even Sugarlick, said anything to interrupt them. Paula broke the kiss and her eyes had tears in them, too.
“I wish I could stay.” Nat said and ran her fingers through Paula's hair.
“I wish you hadn't told me that.” Paula said jokingly, and Nat laughed through her tears.
“My dream. My love. My heart.” Nat whispered and gave her one more kiss. “I'll never forget you.”
“Nor I, you.” Paula said and climbed onto the cart with Sugarlick. “Goodbye, little hero.”
“Goodbye.” Nat said and held her sobs back until the cart disappeared from sight.
I held her in my arms and whispered sweet lies to her. She held onto me tightly and didn't calm down for quite some time. When she recovered enough, I brought her back inside the castle. I ignored the surprise on the lion hero's face, because I knew he thought I was going to try to run or something. I had told the truth, though. I never intended to leave the castle by normal means.
They set us up in guest rooms and Nat ignored hers and stayed in mine. I had two more days left for the six month anniversary of when I had been summoned here and I spent it all with Nat and comforted her.
“You know you could have stayed with her.” I said the morning we were going to leave.
“No, I couldn't. I don't really have any kind of life here. It was great finding the love of my life.” Nat said and then sighed. “There's just... besides her... there's nothing here for me.”
“Even if you went back over the wall?” I asked for confirmation and she gave me a glare. I laughed and raised my hands in surrender. “I'm just asking.”
Nat's glare changed to a smile. “I've had enough of this place.”
“Then let's give our regards to the king and his queen before we leave.” I said.
“You don't want to just pop away?” Nat asked with a grin.
“I don't want to be vilified any more than you do.” I said and put an arm around her and we left the guest room. We went to the throne room, which in reality was just where the lions stayed during the day when they weren't busy. We were let in without so much as a second glance and saw some very happy people.
“I assume the mobilization is going well?” I asked and the queen nodded.
“Like you, I don't know much about fighting with an army.” She said and pet her husband. “We do have a few people that do and it's going splendidly.”
“I'm glad.” I said and gave them a regal bow. “It's time we take our leave.”
“I thought you said you weren't going to leave the castle.” The lion hero said.
“Technically, I'm not.” I said and closed my eyes. Goddess Jasindia. I prayed. My self-imposed work is done and I am ready to leave.
There was a soft laugh and I opened my eyes to see a portal open in front of me.
“Good luck.” I said to the lions and led Nat through the portal, which closed behind us.
I wasn't surprised when we arrived at the capital city much sooner than I thought possible. What did surprise me were the massive guards stationed outside the castle. I could see that they were like rhinoceros, except they were missing the telltale horn... only they weren't. As we were being checked for weapons, I got an up close look at one and the horn had been cut off and added to a thick metal pole.
I did not ask why they would maim themselves like that and removed a lot of their fighting capabilities, because I had to assume that was actually why. It removed a lot of their fighting capabilities. The best way to stop anyone from rebelling or taking over was to take away their ability to fight effectively.
We were allowed entry and assigned a lion woman as a guide. I was not turned on by her at all. She had an air of superiority that only royalty gave off and I could tell that she thought she was beneath her station by having to play host for outsiders. Her tail didn't swish from side to side, letting us know that she was completely on guard and was ready to react to anything that happened.
“It's a lion pride.” Nat said and didn't bother whispering as we passed several more female lions. She knew it was pointless to whisper around animal hearing and I nodded to her.
We were led to the throne room and brought inside without an announcement or even a proper greeting. I thought that was odd for only a few seconds, then saw that the room was pretty much filled with lions, male and female alike. They all knew who we were and that we were coming. There was no point in announcing our arrival, royal meeting protocols be damned.
“So, you are the latest chosen heroes of the Goddess.” A man's voice said and several of the female lions moved out of the way to reveal a lion man. It was not the king, however. No, this was the last male hero that I had been looking for. “I'm surprised you're still human.”
“I'm surprised you were changed so quickly.” I responded and he let out a bark of a laugh.
“One of the first beings I met when I came here.” He said and reached back and pulled out a very handsome lion woman. “I fell in love with her at first sight and I was changed soon after.”
“Ah. You chose to.” I said and he nodded. “I hope you've been happy.”
The lion woman smiled demurely and nodded.
“It's been the best life I have ever had.” The old hero said. “Don't get me wrong, though. I spent years looking for the source anyway.”
It took me a moment to realize why. “You wanted to honor your promise to the goddess and to thank her for bringing you here.”
“You're pretty bright.” He said with a growling laugh. “The other heroes when they found me just accused me of giving up too soon and living a comfortable life.”
I chuckled. “To be fair, you looked a lot longer than the others did.”
“I know.” He said. “The trail dried up a long time ago and after another year of fruitlessly wandering around the wilderness with my wives, I came back to the capital and settled down.”
“Did you have any cubs?” I asked and he, the woman next to him, and two others gave me happy smiles. “A nice big family.”
He nodded. “I made myself useful to the reigning king and trained his troops, in exchange for letting me stay here with his pride... and with his daughter.”
I blinked my eyes for a second, then nodded back.
“Why are you here?” A growling voice cut through the throne room like a knife and the lions split right down the middle. A lion man with a mane that went down to his abs stood up and was a foot taller than every other lion person in the room.
“We encountered two villages of rat scouts on the way here to meet the hero that lives here.” I said, not bothering to lie. “They are preparing for war.”
There was a mix of growling laughter from everyone in the room, the women included.
“We can handle a few rats.” The lion hero said.
“Can you handle a thousand?” I asked and he gave me wide eyes. “What about ten thousand?”
The growling laughter died out.
“You lie.” The king lion said.
“Once I found out, I rushed here to inform you. I knew you knew about the rats being close, since any good king would.” I said and he preened a little. “However, I didn't see any gathered troops, except around the castle.”
“We need to increase the defenses.” The lion hero said.
“As far as I can tell, the rats are going to lay siege to the capital. If you don't have the proper supplies for everyone inside the city, having a good defense won't make any difference.” I said and there were several dissenting voices in the crowd.
“What do you suggest?” The king lion asked.
“I'm not here to help you.” I said and he let out an angry growl, which was quickly taken up by everyone, including the lion hero. “I was sent to this world for a specific mission and I completed it. I only came here to talk to the hero before I left.”
“You won't be leaving.” The king lion said and we were quickly surrounded by slightly growling lion men. “You have brought the rats to our doorstep and you are refusing to help defend the people.”
“Actually, you brought them to your doorstep. I just killed a clan of cats and a gathering of Coons. It's not my fault the rats filled those villages and none of your people did anything to stop them.”
“You dare...”
“I only came here to ask the hero if he wanted to leave.” I said and the hero's wives let out barks and growls. “Don't worry. I won't ask him if he does, since he's happy here.”
“You would leave him and his family... and the rest of us... to die.” The king lion said.
“This isn't a fight where one person can make a difference. This is going to be a long and drawn out war that's been building for years. Regiments, battalions, formations, and battlefield tactics are going to be needed, none of which I know of and I can't help you with.”
“You cannot leave to warn the rats that we know of their impending attack.” The king lion said.
“I wasn't planning on leaving this castle anyway.” I said to their surprise. “However, the researchers need to return to the wall to warn everyone of the rats and to send out messengers.”
A female lion let out a surprised sound and stepped around the king. “You mean a call to arms!”
I nodded. “A single person like myself might not make much difference... but, a hundred thousand other people? That will.”
She waved her hand and the lions stopped growling and moved back to appear less threatening. “You antagonized my husband on purpose.”
I nodded again. “I needed to measure his dedication to his people and to see if the hero was going to abandon the life he built here.” I smiled. “I'm glad I was wrong on both counts.”
“I am no coward!” The king lion said and then roared. It was joined in by all the males and it was fairly loud in the room and echoed off the walls. “We will rip the little vermin to shreds!”
The lions roared again and the females joined in this time. The killing intent was pretty high and I was glad that despair wasn't setting in.
“We better send the researchers off, so they can get those messages out.” I said.
“I will have a missive prepared.” The queen lion said.
“If I may suggest prioritizing the wolf packs?” I said as if it was a question and she took in a sharp breath. “They do love to fight.”
“We... will need to find out... their emblems.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper, and I could tell that she regretted not getting to know them before now.
“I can definitely help with that.” I said with a smile. “I just happened to pass through one of the settlements when they were having a pack leader gathering.”
Her face broke into a huge smile. “Follow me to the document room.”
I nodded and we all went with her, just to make sure that none of us were left alone.
“Go with them.” The king lion said to the lion hero and he came with us.
I quickly had Nat draw out the emblems I described and the lion queen added individual notes to them to ask for their aid in helping to defend their nation from being overrun by vermin. They were all bundled up into a package and given to the bunny researcher.
“George, you know how important this is.” I said and he nodded. “You can keep the rings.”
George let out a neigh of agreement and we left the document room. The lion hero followed us out to the front of the castle and I took out the cart and attached it to George. It already had the rat shield on it, so they still had safe passage through the rat front lines. The bunny researcher and the healers climbed onto the cart and then it was time for Nat and Paula to say goodbye.
“I l-love y-you.” Nat said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“I love you, my little hero.” Paula said and have her a kiss. “These past few weeks of 'vacation' have been the best time of my life; but, now we both must go back to our lives.”
Nat couldn't stop the tears from flowing. “I miss you already.”
Paula let out a neigh of happiness and then she kissed Nat as if she was the only thing in the world that mattered. It went on for several minutes and no one, not even Sugarlick, said anything to interrupt them. Paula broke the kiss and her eyes had tears in them, too.
“I wish I could stay.” Nat said and ran her fingers through Paula's hair.
“I wish you hadn't told me that.” Paula said jokingly, and Nat laughed through her tears.
“My dream. My love. My heart.” Nat whispered and gave her one more kiss. “I'll never forget you.”
“Nor I, you.” Paula said and climbed onto the cart with Sugarlick. “Goodbye, little hero.”
“Goodbye.” Nat said and held her sobs back until the cart disappeared from sight.
I held her in my arms and whispered sweet lies to her. She held onto me tightly and didn't calm down for quite some time. When she recovered enough, I brought her back inside the castle. I ignored the surprise on the lion hero's face, because I knew he thought I was going to try to run or something. I had told the truth, though. I never intended to leave the castle by normal means.
They set us up in guest rooms and Nat ignored hers and stayed in mine. I had two more days left for the six month anniversary of when I had been summoned here and I spent it all with Nat and comforted her.
“You know you could have stayed with her.” I said the morning we were going to leave.
“No, I couldn't. I don't really have any kind of life here. It was great finding the love of my life.” Nat said and then sighed. “There's just... besides her... there's nothing here for me.”
“Even if you went back over the wall?” I asked for confirmation and she gave me a glare. I laughed and raised my hands in surrender. “I'm just asking.”
Nat's glare changed to a smile. “I've had enough of this place.”
“Then let's give our regards to the king and his queen before we leave.” I said.
“You don't want to just pop away?” Nat asked with a grin.
“I don't want to be vilified any more than you do.” I said and put an arm around her and we left the guest room. We went to the throne room, which in reality was just where the lions stayed during the day when they weren't busy. We were let in without so much as a second glance and saw some very happy people.
“I assume the mobilization is going well?” I asked and the queen nodded.
“Like you, I don't know much about fighting with an army.” She said and pet her husband. “We do have a few people that do and it's going splendidly.”
“I'm glad.” I said and gave them a regal bow. “It's time we take our leave.”
“I thought you said you weren't going to leave the castle.” The lion hero said.
“Technically, I'm not.” I said and closed my eyes. Goddess Jasindia. I prayed. My self-imposed work is done and I am ready to leave.
There was a soft laugh and I opened my eyes to see a portal open in front of me.
“Good luck.” I said to the lions and led Nat through the portal, which closed behind us.
