John Burkitt - The Spirit Quest

Irritated at the intrusion, he spoke without turning. "Avina, please leave me alone."

"Hmpf. That's some way to treat family. I thought I taught you better than that."

Metutu's eyes shot open wide and he whirled about. Before him stood the form of a beautiful lioness whom he immediately recognized. "Asumini!"

The lioness smiled, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "No hug for your old Auntie? Or are you getting too old for that?"

In response, Metutu leaned forward and wrapped his arms around tightly, burying his face in the soft fur of her neck. "Oh gods, I’m so depressed! And how I've missed you!"

"I know." She smiled again, a faint silvery light playing about her form, like a ring of frost around the moon. "But I heard you talking nonsense, so I had to come see you."

"I am unworthy." He sat back and looked at her morosely. "Akase lies dying, and I can do nothing. All the long hours I spent learning herb lore at Busara's side, and I've come up empty when I am most needed. I am useless." He turned away and looked at the ground.

"Pfahh! Have you not listened to one word I've said to you? Use your head, you young twit!" She batted him lightly with her tail. "There is great virtue in Maraliscus when mixed with Heartleaf."

"What?!" He snapped his head around to look at her, but saw only empty air. He looked about, confused, while his mind began working furiously.

"Maraliscus will kill by itself," he muttered. "It suppresses breathing. But the Heartleaf opens the lungs and...." His eyes widened and he shouted with glee. "Yes! It stimulates breathing. They balance each other out! That just might do it!" Snatching up his things, he took a step towards the path leading down to the ground, but stopped after a few strides.

"But the nearest concentration of Maraliscus is half a moon's journey away." He slumped to the ground. "Oh gods! To be so close!" He leaned back against the rock face, stretching his arms out for support. His left hand closed over something soft and velvety, and he jerked it away involuntarily, looking down.

Next to where he sat lay a neat clump of Maraliscus plants, carefully sitting upon a swatch of Heartleaf.

Metutu closed his hands reverently over the priceless herbs and lifted them to his face, inhaling the faint scent of wild honey that clung to the plants. Uttered a silent prayer to Aiheu, he struggled to his feet and carefully picked his way down the slope to the cave entrance, where he saw Makedde talking quietly to Yolanda.

Without preamble, he simply showed Makedde the herbs and explained what he intended to try.

"Absolutely not! Metutu, I realize you are knowledgeable about herb lore, but this is not the time to experiment. Akase is already very weak; any abrupt change could push her over the edge."

"Brother. Please, listen to me. This is the only chance we have. I know I'm right."

Makedde looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Very well. I shall tell Ahadi. Whatever you intend to do, do it quickly; Akase's time is very short."

Metutu grabbed his things and hurried inside the cave, where Akase lay unmoving, bathed in a coating of sweat that matted her fur. "My Lady?"

Slowly, the queen opened her eyes to look at him. "Metutu?" she said muzzily, the painkiller blurring her voice.

"Yes. I have something here for you." Filling one of his small bowls with water from a gourd, Metutu shredded a piece of Heartleaf into it. As he picked up the Maraliscus, he realized with some alarm that he did not know just what the correct dosage might be. He thought quickly for a moment, carefully gauging Akase's weight, along with the fact of her pregnancy thrown in. Taking hold of a corner of the soft leaf, he closed his eyes. "Aiheu, guide my hand."

He tore a small piece off and ground it up carefully, adding it to the mixture in the bowl. The concoction immediately turned an ugly greenish yellow color, and began to give off a strong acrid odor.

He picked the mixture up and held it out to her gently. "Here. You must drink this."

She sniffed it warily and recoiled. "Gods! What is it?"

"It may help you."

"May?" She looked at him peculiarly. "Don't you know?"

"No," he admitted. "I don't." He pulled the bowl back slowly. "It’s not without risk, but it's the only thing I know that may save you and your cubs."

Akase's eyes opened fully and she stared at him fixedly. "The cubs also? I could have my cubs?"

"Possibly-"

"Then let me have it."

"My lady, what if-"

"What if, indeed." She smiled, and reached up with a paw to stroke his agonized face gently. "Metutu, should I die, I will smile down on you from the stars above, for I will know that you did your best by me and my children."

Metutu clasped her paw in his hands and nodded wordlessly. Moving behind her, he lifted her head, grunting with the effort, until she could reach the bowl. She sniffed again, wrinkling her nose with distaste, and looked him in the eyes.

"Aiheu abamami," she whispered, and drank.

Metutu emerged from the cave mouth a few minutes later and sat down wearily. Makedde wandered over to him and sat next to him, holding his brother close as they fought the chill of the approaching night. "Well?"

"We wait and see." He looked about for the king, seeing him sitting some distance away at the point of the promontory with another lion. "Have you told him?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He said he trusted in you and Aiheu, and that was enough for him."

Metutu looked at Ahadi, unable to speak.

The king sat silently, watching the ebony blanket of night draw itself over his Pride Lands, the kings of the past taking their places in the vault of heaven one by one. But tonight he could draw no comfort from their presence. His thoughts lay inside the cave, with Akase.

Shaka, his brother, lay next to him quietly. "Ahadi?"

"Hmm?"

"You awake?"

"Of course," he said, offended.

Shaka's ears drooped. "Sorry."

Ahadi sighed and nuzzled his brother. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just nervous."

Shaka said nothing, but moved a little closer to his brother, sharing the heat of their bodies. Thus the four brothers comforted each other as they began the long wait for the dawn.

In the depths of the cave, Akase lay quiescent as the medicine did its strange work within her. Time had become meaningless, and so it was with some surprise that she opened her eyes to the gray light of dawn seeping into the cave. Raising her head gingerly, she tried to sit up, but only made it halfway before collapsing back, panting heavily. Gods she was tired! Her stomach rumbled noisily, and she wondered if there was any leftover zebra lying about.

Her eyes flew open and she peered at her abdomen with renewed interest. The pain she felt was not the sharp stabs of agony from yesterday, but the mild pangs of hunger. And that other sensation she felt...she froze as she felt a soft kick from one of the unborn cubs inside her.

"Oh, God!" she exclaimed with delight. "Ahadi!"

Outside, the king's eyes flew open as he heard her call. Leaping to his feet, he inadvertently smacked Shaka in the nose with a hind leg.

"Ouch!" Rudely awakened, the lion rubbed his wounded nose, eyes watering as he watched his brother sprint towards the cavern mouth. Ahadi burst inside, trotting quickly over to Akase and nuzzling her lovingly. "Beloved! Thank God you're all right!"

"Oh, pfft on me. Listen!" She laid a forepaw over the back of his neck and drew his head close to her, pressing his ear to her belly. Her eyes sparkled in delight as she watched his face light up. "I can feel them! I can feel them, Akase!" She laughed, the sound filling the air like sweet music as she kissed his cheek. "Thank Aiheu."

"Aiheu, and a certain mandrill we know." He grinned widely. "Metutu! Makedde! Come in here immediately!"