It’s followed by a stampede of wolves that obstructs our path, they dash and crawl without regard to the trees and shrubs in their way and form a muddy fog of black and gray pelts.

Though, one of them sits still, menacingly staring at us. That wolf snarls, their bare fangs drip with blood, and their elongated body twitches, with their fur void of color while brimming purple shine of the moon, stained with gore– it’s the image of a vile creature unaffected by this chaos.

We jump on Dom’s Speedor and he drives as fast as he can. This is too dangerous– no, everything after the event became dangerous.

He manages to run around the gaps left between the animals, but they close down quickly and leave us with no other choice but to run over a few of them.

A harsh turn to the right forces us out of the mob, but the wolves sprint behind us. We’re being hunted!

“Dom! I don’t think we can flee from them much longer”, I shout from my trembling throat, “They’re after us!”

“And what am I supposed to do?”

We look behind us for a second; they’re getting closer in less time than we expected.

Cragger squeals, “Use your Golden Chi!”

“You’re crazy! I’m not going to do that—”

They begin to gallop at our pace, and one of them latches onto our vehicle.

Dom plugs in his Chi without hesitation– the Speedor speeds like crazy in zig zags, and we get hit by whatever is obstructing us. It rumbles on the bumpy road, but manages to keep its ground.

By a miracle, we find ourselves further near the grasslands. I can see Mount Cavora from here! Now’s our chance!

From the top of my lungs, I growl desperately, hoping my cries can be heard nearby.

Dom brakes his Speedor in a drift, which kicks behind a cloud of dust that flinches the wolves cornering us– but this doesn’t stop them from approaching in large numbers.

Fog seeps from their eyes. I can see the shine reflecting on their pupils… Their foam drools off their teeth, and their howls echo from the distance, as these menacing creatures crawl on the ground, penetrating their claws into the dirt.

I can’t do anything, neither can my friend. We are surrounded, alone, afraid, defenseless.

That’s unfortunate.

As I close my eyes shut and squeeze Cragger between my arms, despair seeps into my thoughts and reality.

Sweat drips from my shivering paw pads, freezing at the touch of my friend’s cold scales.

if this is my final moment, then so be it.

“Halt! You fiends, stay away from my son!”

This loud, tenacious roar catches the wolves off guard, ceasing their rabid intimidations on the spot.

A swarm of small lion tanks rumble at high speeds, shooting their Chi lasers on everything in sight, as growls and barks screech from around all corners, muffling down the cracking bones of those dead wolves who flew amongst the clouds and crumbled underneath tracks.

The night sky brightens at every spark of light bolting out of their cannons and sizzling the canines’ pelts, but a few of the victims manage to jump on top of lion warriors, as if their bodies haven’t been mutilated to a crisp.

Loud rumbles shake us– Dom places himself in our front, hiding us from harm behind his giant and glamorous tail feathers.

We’re trembling, confused, afraid.

“Woosh, there is no time to waste! Jump!”, Lagravis’ voice shrills in agony.

The peacock grabs our arms to lift us both, one at a time; seconds after my body is raised, when his plumage brushes off my face, the view reveals itself, with piles of wolf corpses scattered everywhere, drowned under their rancid blood. The damp moon hazes the horizon.

I turn my head around: Eris and Lagravis are standing on his Royal Fighter, he’s stretching his hand to grab me.

After my friend is rescued, Dom hops onto the vehicle and hugs us for dear life. We’re petrified, from head to toe– eyes shrunken and mouth shut, as we wait for this hell to finish. I hide my face on Woosh’s feathers.

This… this is a nightmare. I don’t want to be here, their excruciating whimpers haunt me…

Lagravis, while resting on the Lion Temple’s throne, presses his fingers against his eyelids in absolute disdain, as I hug his leg, sobbing and trembling. 

We couldn’t get enough sleep, even after dawn. The blood, the pile of corpses… all of it kept me awake. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I wish I didn’t.

It all happened so fast; the gunshot, the hysteria, the bloodbath– so many tragedies, and yet… How come? Why?

“My lord”, Longtooth kneels before my dad, visibly worried, “I am not in a position to give my input, but…”

“Go forth. Tell me about your findings.”

The bodyguard gets up, then walks up to us, before bowing in gratitude.

“There have been two consecutive incidents in the past few days. Isn’t that suspicious?”

Dad sighs, his hope gone thin– he can’t argue, because that statement wasn’t false. Instead, he nods, though in aversion, as he snarls and sticks his hind claws out.

“Yes, that is true. It has only been two nights since my son was attacked.”, he stares at point blank, and, in a quick turn, looks at Longtooth with an earth shattering expression, “Are you implying that they’re correlated?”

An ominous silence establishes itself in the Throne Room; the harbinger of chaos, a warning. It drowns us in fear, the one that lives inside our anguishing anxiety. Though, it gives us time to think, to plan ahead.

“I believe so. The gunshot was fired by one animal the day after that, and even if we don’t have clues about who did it, it’s obvious that both actions were made as a threat.”

Ah– I’ve seen this perpetrator before, maybe?…

I add, muttering, “Yesterday, there was a pale green crocodile in the middle of the crowd… He had a long grin.”

Lagravis’ golden eyes water, as he leans his body to pick me up and places me on top of his lap.. An emotional smile spreads across his muzzle.

He pats my head, silently sobbing, “My son, I’m truly, truly sorry for what happened. I’ll make sure to solve everything, whatever it takes.”

This morning, my dad decided to inspect the Wolf Lair. Guards caught me by surprise while I was playing with Cragger, and I had no choice but to leave. My friend, who had insisted on following me, hopped onto their vehicle.

The land is barren, lifeless– so arid, in fact, that I can feel its dust grate my feet. My lungs ache a bit everytime I breathe this dry air, but maybe that’s because everyone is tucked inside their base, except for Wakz and Winzar, his trusted escort.

Lagravis raises an eyebrow, as he places his hand behind his back.

“Let me ask you a question, Wakz. Have you noticed anyone missing last night, after the Speedor Race ended?”

The elderly wolf tenses up– his ears and tail stiffen in opposite directions, a sign of alertness; he makes eye contact with his guardian, who replies with the same reaction.

Dad takes a step closer to Wakz, glaring at him with the coldest, piercing stare I’ve ever seen.

After a brief moment of doubt, Winzar approaches my father, stretching his chest, not afraid of the king’s presence. The patches of black hair on his muzzle and muscular build are already intimidating enough, even if he’s covered with velvety gray fur.

“Your Majesty, do not treat our elder like that!”, he growls.

Wakz pats him on the shoulder, “Hush… now is not the time.”.

He tilts his head downwards, losing himself at the sight of the dry dirt; a million memories seem to flash before him, as he pants in disbelief, unable to move. Terror consumes him whole, desperate by sorrow.

“Lagravis… forgive me for not knowing sooner. Wilhurt is on the loose.”

“Wilhurt? Are you serious? He’s been gone for years– this isn’t a mass murder, but a hundred wolves gone rogue!”

Lagravis covers his face, pinching his nose bridge. Dumbfounded, he huffs; an incident like this surely couldn’t be caused by one individual– a force beyond our imagination needed to be what caused this. Wolves can’t just snap out of the blue, right?

“Your son was attacked the day before, Lagravis.”

Cragger holds his arms together, waving his tail in fear. He’s upset enough to leave me and join Wakz’ side.

“But I’m asking about yesterday’s bloodbath!”, Lagravis slips out of his mature mannerisms, folding his face into a macabre yet horrified snarl.

“How hard is it for you to understand that you are threatening Chima?”, he raises his voice, failing to maintain his composure, “How could you let all of this happen?”

Wakz pants, hugging Cragger. His entire body is trembling, closed up in dread, as his pale yellow eyes stiffen after that sentence.

“Your pack, Wakz. Think about the hundreds of wolves that died yesterday! They’re wreaking havoc all around our lands, and you’re here, refusing to do anything!”

I nip my dad’s tunic, pressing my tears onto it.

Is… is there a way to stop them? Are we even able to end this war, finish it all without pointing fingers at each other? There needs to be a solution, somewhere. We can’t sit still the entire day and expect problems to disappear by themselves.

Dad’s tone returns to normal, “Wakz. I will send my guards to monitor your lair. From this day onwards, we will scout every nook and cranny of this place in search of the missing wolves.”

“That’d be of great help, if you didn’t just accuse our elder of treason!”, Winzar barks, holding himself to no lunge on my dad.

In a matter of seconds, Lagravis grabs my hand, ready to leave, as he glares at him. 

“Soldiers, keep an eye on them. I don’t have time to waste.”

While the moonshine barely manages to spread on the ground, the training area’s horizon is painted by its soft light– the painted battlefields shine bright, echoing blood red paint. 

Besides me is the armory, crammed onto the walls of the Lion Temple, where each and every armor produced and displayed has been delicately forged to perfection. Weaponry such as saws, scythes and spears were left here by soldiers after their scheduled training.

“Hey kiddo, right behind you!”, this loud, sharp voice emerges from the distance.

I turn around and find myself face to face with my uncle. His disheveled hair looks heavy, falling onto his shoulders. 

He runs at a mannequin, picks it up and brings it over.

“What about we train while your dad’s busy? You can’t be defenseless for the rest of your life, you’ll make Lagravis worried.”

My arm is still hurt, I can’t go on like this. It… it has been too much.

An itch crawls all over my fur, as the unnerving sensation transforms into the abominable sickness from that time at the Fangs.

“Sorry… I don’t want to”, I stutter, “No— I mean— I can’t. My body feels weird.”

He leans towards my face, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. Seems like he’s looking out for signs of illness.

When he gets closer, my skin begins to frost; the cold sweat dripping from my snout bothers me, it tickles and it stings my nerves, so I lick it.

He pokes my snout, “You can’t fool me out on this one, buddy! I know you’re just nervous. C’mere now.”

I equip a silver light armor Lavertus grabbed from the armory, then Lavertus lends me his sword, a Royal Valious, one of the four legendary swords of the Lion Tribe. 

Its magnificent black blade bounces the sunlight off into the faraway sky, reflecting my face onto its shine. No blacksmith in Chima can recreate this beauty without black leochium– a raw, scarce material extracted from the few mines in the middle of Chima. It is actually so strong, it can only be molded in extreme heat, with fire combusted by Chi. Due to its rarity and sheer power, only a few of the Lion Tribe’s royal family possess this weapon.

I wield the weapon, admiring its uniqueness and surprising weight. It pushes my wrist down a bit, but I hope this doesn’t matter much.

“I’ll teach you how to swing that sword with your weak hand.”

He kneels, points his wooden sword upwards, before slashing downwards with one hand, then pushing the wood up to the side.

“Repeat after me, Laval.”

In synchrony, we kneel, then slash with our sword from down to up—

The hilt of the weapon is heavy enough to pressure my hand from pulling it upwards, which makes me fall and cut the mannequin in an ungraceful manner.

With a mediocre final result, the unrecognizable mannequin remains frozen, unaware that its insides of cotton scatter away into the ashes of a corpse.

Its only purpose was to embody the fragility of oneself, a weakness that forces our soul to remain captive inside us: life’s ephemeral existence. It is by no means alive– but it’s supposed to represent an animal, the enemy, as a target, one that’s waiting patiently to be killed. If this sword, prized heritage from my family, is capable of obliterating this doll, then what could it do to someone else? Why am I being trained to murder people?

Is this what strength truly is? Destruction? I don’t think I can do this – every fiber of my body paralyzes at the mere thought of it. 

Lavertus worryingly looks at me, “Yo, buddy…“, he murmurs, “are you okay? You look pale.”

I breathe deeply. What should I do?…

“Uncle Lavertus, do you think that there’s another way to solve problems without resorting to violence?”

I let go of the Royal Valious, and it bounces a fee times before sinking into the dirt ground.

His muzzle falls open, eyebrows skyrocket; he’s clearly never seen me like this. 

He sighs, “I know I’m a commander… but war really rubs me the wrong way, you know?”

He itches his head, shaking his tail sideways

“But if someone tried to attack us, we’d have no choice but to defend ourselves. That’s what my brother ordered me to do, teach you to—”

“…Why? Why do we need to use brute force? Why can’t I be the Lion Temple’s shield? If this is how it is, I’ll leave.”