Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Flower Romance ❯ Book 1: Sacrifice ( Chapter 1 )

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Dark Flower Romance

Book 1: Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp

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A mighty, male lion that was all blonde in coloration, minus the lower part of his mane, which sported a dark brown and the tassel on his tail, prowled into a cave where he was greeted by two lionesses. One of them was a deep red, and the other was a cinnamon color with a blonde mask on her entire face. The other was a near mirror image of her mother, merely a diminutive and younger form of the original. All eyes shot to the male, who brought up the subject of there being bad news. His pride members could feel the bad aura springing from his words. When he spoke, it was usually to bring warning or to compliment the lionesses on their hunts. This series of information was the prior subject, and one of the most dangerous ones of them all.

“What is it, Savresh?” The elder of the cinnamon lionesses questioned as she walked up to the male. Her daughter, merely observing the conversation, lounged in the background with her head rested on her outstretched paws.

“He has returned to Gir Forest,” Savresh spoke in an ominous tone. It was no news that the Asiatic Lions wanted to hear.

“Who has?” The daughter questioned. The way Savresh spoke of them, it was as if demons were invading their land. What could be that imposing?

“Tajara.”

The red lioness took a step back as dread etched itself on her features. “Oh no. What do we do? Must we take hiding once more?” As much as she hated it, she knew all too well the events that played out while Tajara roamed through their home from beyond the field of dark flowers. It wasn't safe for any lion to be roaming around, and if they were to be seen it was best that they traveled in numbers. The Great White Beast paid no mercy to who he slaughtered.

“If we don't want to anger him more than he already is, it's best that we don't make ourselves his victims,” Savresh advised. It was bad enough that their ancestors were brutally slaughtered by Tajara before he disappeared. Their clan could very well be next.

The adolescent lion lifted her head and sat up, interjecting into their conversation. “I don't understand. Why do we need to hide, and who is Tajara?” She had been warned about him since she was a cub, and knew the bare minimum of information behind his infamous legend. He was a white Barbary Lion who prowled around and when he came out of the field of bat lilies, bad things happened in Gir Forest. That was the extent of information she had known.

Her mother turned to her. “He is known as the demon of Gir Forest, but he just used to be known by his name: Tajara. He is a rare type of lion called a Barbary Lion. From what I know, he may be the only one who exists in the wild. Long ago, my ancestor, Shefalika, who is your grandmother found an orphaned cub out in an open area of the forest on a rainy day when she was hunting. At that time, she only had one surviving cub and that was me.”

“So, you were Tajara's sister?” Well, adopted sister, in a sense. They did grow up together and were under the care of the same maternal figure.

Her mother frowned harshly and narrowed her brown eyes. Her voice ran as cold as her heart turned in the presence of any fond statement about that beast. “I no longer claim that stranger as a part of my family.”

“What happened?” The young lioness inquired. Her mother wasn't one to just lash out and react coldly to someone without just reason. The elder cinnamon lioness was usually stoic, but she had a very kind soul. Tajara must have done something horrendous to make her say such nasty things about him.

“I am unsure as to why he had done it but he slaughtered my pride and left me orphaned to fend for myself. It was hard and I have been through a lot. Thankfully, Savresh was kind enough to take me into his pride, but I'll never forget what Tajara has done.” If her words could get any colder, they would have. To hear her mother speak in such a chilling tone, nearly made her blood run cold, and it was the first time in a long time that the young lioness was afraid of the one who brought her into this world.

Even so, she wondered about the other side of the story. “But, why would he do that? Why would Tajara kill those who raised him?”

“That's what we want to know,” her mother growled, folding her ears back flat with her skull.

“Did anything happen to make him want to kill them?” She cocked her head. Surely there was a reason that he turned against her mother's pride. There had to be. Lions didn't just kill each other for any reason at all.

“Do you know about the other types of lions besides us?” She asked, her ears returning to their up risen state.

“Other types of lions?” Her daughter inquired.

“We are a type of lion called an Asiatic Lion. Tajara is a type of lion called a Barbary Lion, which is known to be the heaviest subspecies of lion. Unlike us, they aren't known for living in prides and they are usually solitary. That's a suspicion that we've had for a while as to why he possibly attacked our ancestors. The Barbary Lions are said to be our relatives but unlike us, they have had contact with humans and were used to be battle gladiators long ago. They were also rumored to be kept by royalty,” her mother explained all of the knowledge that she knew on Tajara's breed. All of these could be considered possible factors as to why he would slaughter her mother's pride, but they were all inconclusive evidence as well. The mystery of their murder was irritating and stressful to think about too much.

“So, that means that Tajara is like a king,” her daughter noted much to her disgust.

Her voice lowered. “You could consider him an exiled king.”

“How do you know so much about this?”

“I heard that human hunters have a conversation about the Barbary Lions when I was young. Back then, they had said that his type of lion was extinct in the wild. I believe that Tajara may be the only one left who is not in human captivity.” If not, he was definitely the only lion of his type in their area.

“The only one left?” Her offspring questioned as her crestfallen features were cast to the ground. The thought of being the only one of your kind left in an area was sad. She couldn't imagine having no one around who looked like herself or was the same type of lion as she was. Even if Tajara was a murderer, he must have lived a sad existence.

“You feel sorry for him?” She knew her mother would disapprove of her comment.

“It must be lonely to be the only one left,” she began to explain herself. “I mean, can you imagine what that must be like? It's terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Could you survive eternal solitude? It's a blessing in disguise that he's solitary by nature. He must feel so totally alone in a tainted paradise. He is a king without a crown or a kingdom. Tajara would have to come to terms with the fact that he is the only Barbary Lion left. Therefore, he has no family and no pride. Learning that, he must have been in shock and grief. Life is probably tough and at times brutish. It takes a lot of mental fortitude in order to be able to live with that acceptance. Maybe in ways, he thinks our world is fascinating. Maybe the lack of having another Barbary Lion to talk to made him descend into madness.” When she thought about his psyche during his revelation, it really made her wonder about his motive for slaughtering the pride. Maybe Tajara was overcome with grief and loneliness? It didn't make the situation right, but it validated the anguish he must have gone through at the time. It was sad that she would never know her ancestors, and she could have only imagined the horrific moments they went through before they passed away. Such an act did not make Tajara a wonderful example of the king of beasts, but at the same time, she could see things both ways.

“You certainly are defending someone who mercilessly slaughtered,” the red lioness was growing peeved with the subject matter, and even more so that this little female was defending the white demon.

“I didn't mean it like that, Karobi. I just meant that it must have been sad to be the last of your kind. I didn't say that I didn't feel bad that he killed my ancestors. Of course I think that's sad.” Not to do so would have made her no better and twice as heartless.

“He is not one to feel bad for,” her mother noted. Doing so was upsetting everyone and it was making her look bad.

“I heard that Tajara is coming inland across the fields of cat's whiskers,” Savresh informed the group of lionesses of their enemy's position.

“What? Why would he do that?” Her mother questioned.

“Things have been hard, Sultana, and food is scarce. I believe he's coming inland to find something to eat,” Savresh clued-up the others. When food ran scarce the animals hunted each other more than usual, their brutal instincts set in and their hunger drove their killing force. The concentrated number of animals that were present in Gir Forest made them easy prey.

“The droughts have been harsh. He's either run out of food or water, or he's come down to mate,” Sultana replied. Those were usually the reasons Tajara crept into Gir Forest. Most of the time it was for the prior two reasons, as most lions turned down his advances.

“Mate?” The young lioness cocked her head.

“It's an educated guess. Many times, he has tried to take a mate and many times he has been refused. However, every time he goes back alone something bad happens to the Asiatic Lions. Usually, someone is killed or they end up dead,” Sultana told her.

“How awful.”

“I told you, Zahra. There is no way that you should feel bad for him. He's a cold-hearted killer,” Karobi remarked. Maybe now, the naive youngster would get it through that thick head of hers and stop taking pity in the pitiless.

Savresh thought about it for moment, then walked up into the group of females and sat beside of Karobi. “You know, Sultana might be onto something.”

“What?” Sultana questioned. What was Savresh aiming at?

“Maybe if we made a treaty of peace with Tajara and offered him one of our own as his bride, then he would not bother up and stop killing our kind.”

“Why would you do that? How can you be certain that he would not kill the bride?” Karobi asked. It sounded too risky, especially since they were playing Russian roulette with someone's life in the process.

“More importantly, who would even dare offer them up to be with a tyrant like him?” Sultana added. Everyone in their pride, as well as in the entire forest feared the mighty white lion. Whoever decided to make that choice was only going to make it to be a sacrifice for their pride and a representative of the lions in Gir Forest.

“We should at least see if he would take the offer as a peace treaty. If we keep living like this, there will be any more Asiatic Lions either.” Lest they forget, their own species was endangered in the wild as well. The only Asiatic Lions that existed in the wild were all located in the forest.

A twisted smile crossed Karobi's features. “I have an idea.” She spoke; her tone was filled with amusement.

“What are you thinking, Karobi?” Sultana passed her a scrupulous glare.

“I think that Zahra should be our offering to Tajara,” the red lioness spoke with pride, as if it were the best idea of the century.

“What?” The young lioness nearly yelled the question. She didn't like where this was going at all. How could Karobi just throw her under the bus like that?

“Karobi, how could you say such a thing?” Sultana was outraged that she would offer her daughter up like that with no remorse for her decision. She should be ashamed of herself for making such an offer with such pride.

“Tajara has been coming down more often lately, not just when the bat lilies bloom. The less of Tajara we see, the better off we are and the better off our prides are. He'll keep coming down here if we leave the situation as it is. He's bad luck. By sending someone to him to be his mate, we reduce the number of killings among the Asiatic Lions.” It made perfect sense, and since Zahra was so supportive and optimistic towards the white lion, she seemed like the best choice. It was perfect in her mind, despite Sultana's protests.

“Do you have proof that it's Tajara who kills the lions of Gir Forest?” Zahra rose and took a step towards Karobi.

“They die when he comes here. It's proof enough.” Who else would be at fault? The red lioness let a low rumble escape her throat. “Since you're so insistent on defending him, you should be his bride. You're old enough to mate. You should be lucky that you're even still in this pride,” she shot. After all, most of their prides only had three members, she was one too many.

Her mother stepped between the two, bearing her teeth at the red lioness. “Karobi, that's enough. How could you be so heartless as to doom her to such a cruel fate? You know as well as I do that she could possibly be killed by him. Do you want her to die?” Even if she didn't care, Zahra was her daughter.

“Something has to be done. If no one will take the action then I will,” she growled, shooting the lioness a glare of hatred before turning away. She stalked towards the opening of the den before Savresh jumped in front of her in a flash of color.

“Wait!”

“Savresh, what are you doing?” Sultana asked, her tone cut into the ears of her fellows.

“I'm going to go and talk to Tajara.” If no one would step up, then he was going to do it for them.

“You can't!” The cinnamon lioness pleaded.

“I didn't mean directly confront him,” Karobi even knew that was not the best plan of action. Confronting the lion directly would surely mean that Savresh would meet an untimely end.

However, Savresh would have none of their protests. Turning away from the group of females, he exited his den and walked through the Gir Forest. The dense, golden grass tickled his underbelly as he walked around the many tall trees. Savresh made his way to the edge of the forest, which opened to the enormous field of bat lilies. The buds were closed as of now, but it would not be too long before they burst into the beautiful blooms of the black, oddly beautiful flowers that his daughter loved so much. It wasn't as if he wanted to sacrifice her to a Neanderthal like Tajara, but he didn't see any other option. Savresh knew that none of the other lionesses would offer themselves up in order to keep him from attacking their prides. They were much too worried about their own lives.

As he surfaced from the dense underbrush, he caught sight of Tajara, making his way out of the field of closed, black blooms. His pure white pelt was a distinct contrast among the dark blossoms. He was massive in presence and taller than Savresh. A thick, black outline of his ghostly blue eye was his only strong contrast. In sheer presence alone the lion was intimidating and unlike his drab counterparts. His luxurious mane trailed down his stomach, a trail extended to his hind quarters, and bushels of long hair stuck out behind his arm pits. The long, white fur stopped just short of being mid back. The only other distinct features on the white animal were his scars, one slashes through his right eye, eternally closing the ocular organ and extended down his face, one was present across the middle of his nose, another under his left eye across his cheek and the largest of all ran vertically down his shoulder as is something drug a sharp object down it.

The two lions locked eyes and stepped towards each other with precaution.

Savresh held his head down and glared at Tajara, ready for anything. Tajara on the other hand, merely stood there as if no danger was present.

“Who are you?” The deep voice of the white lion sounded.

“I'm Savresh, the brother of Bhim. I know that you've heard of him,” his dark counterpart introduced himself.

“Bhim? That old fool?” It made no difference whose brother he was, Tajara held more than dark feelings for the aforementioned lion.

“He was the old fool who took you into his pride-“ Savresh started, but he was interrupted.

“The old fool who filled my head with delusions. Are you here to do the same? If so, you can go away before I am forced to put your carcass beside of his,” Tajara threatened. There was nothing more irritating than a lion that showed up merely to avenge another. He had his reasons for slaughtering Bhim. Some things should be left in the past. That was one of them.

Bhim was dead. Nothing would change that. It wasn't as if Bhim could see his brother's efforts anyway.

“I didn't come here to fight you. I came here to make you an offer,” Savresh held his head high and straightened up his form. Tajara wasn't going to attack, not just yet anyway. He might as well make his body posture a non-threatening one, as to not give him any ideas.

“What could you possibly offer me?” There was nothing he truly wanted. Nothing that was plausible by any enemy lion's terms.

“If you swear that you won't bring chaos and death here, then we will give you one of our lionesses to be your mate. It might not be much, but it's all I can offer,” Savresh told him. This was the only thing he could even think of that would come close to being a fair trade and as much as he was conflicting over it, at the same time, he knew that it might be a sacrifice well-made in the end. One life was worth saving hundreds in his eyes, even if it would be the life of his very own daughter.

“So, this is what that's about? You've got to be kidding. Everyone in your pride as well as the others hates me,” he was no fool. Any lioness who wanted to be his bride was not doing so willingly.

“There is one who at least sees things through unbiased eyes,” he closed his golden eyes and lowered his head. His words were sorrowful, but he knew that it would come to this.

“You don't seem like you're so keen on that idea. What's wrong, old man? Do you honestly think I'll do something horrible to whomever you offer me? You never know, I might treat her better than she deserves.” It all depended on the conditions and circumstances, as well as her attitude towards him and the purpose in which she was given away. If Savresh thought that he could send someone in to kill him, he was sadly mistaken. If he dared to do such a thing, then he would come out of the bat lilies just to bring him down.

“I don't want her harmed.” More than anything, even if her life would be away from all she knew, Savresh wanted his daughter to at least live.

Tajara frowned at his psyche behind all of this. “What is this? You'll give her to me because you can't wait to get rid of me, but you don't want me to hurt her. Are you really in a position to make demands?” As far as he saw it, he was the one to call the shots.

The other lion's head only reached a new level of being lowered. His tone was one of defeat. “You're right. If you want her, I can arrange for her to be at your den.”

“I suppose the idea isn't a complete turn off. You'd just better hope that I like her. Bring her by in the morning,” Tajara would entertain the other's idea, at least for the moment. If anything, he was curious as to what kind of lioness they had in mind to be his bride.

Savresh turned away and retreated into the darkness of the forest with a solemn look on his face. Even after he had the guts to offer his daughter up to the mighty, white lion, his stomach felt sick with regret. `What have I done?'

When he returned to his den, the sandy-colored lion slowly walked in with his head down and a solemn expression. More than anything, the remarks of the lionesses were things that he feared especially Sultana's reaction to his encounter with Tajara and the idea of giving up their daughter to be his bride. Luckily, when he entered the cave, Sultana had stepped out and only Karobi and a sleeping Zahra.

Noticing the male's melancholy expression the red lioness walked up to him and kept her voice low, as to not disturb the younger lionesses' slumber. “What happened?” Undoubtedly it wasn't good.

“I need you to help me with something.” A thought crossed his mind. It was better to do this while Sultana was out than to face her wrath and fight with her about the deal that has already been made between him and Tajara.

“This is what happened…” Savresh explained his encounter with the white lion and their conversation about bringing him a suitable bride. He also mentioned how Zahra came up in the conversation, as well as his idea to take Zahra out to his den while her mother was away. They would explain everything when she got back and deal with her anger about it then.

Agreeing, Karobi took the adolescent lioness and hoisted her onto her back. Lucky for her, Zahra was the type who would sleep through the most terrible weather. Even the loudest of falling trees did not make her flinch. The two left the sanctity of the den and travelled through the forest carefully, making sure not to drop her. That would stir her from her slumber and make things worse on the two of them.

“You shouldn't feel bad about your decision. It really is for the best. In the end, Sultana will forgive you.” At least, that was Karobi's reasoning behind everything. It wasn't just his decision that this was to be done, it was hers as well and as her accomplice, she would share the equal form of Sultana's punishment.

“Somehow, I doubt it will be that simple. This is Sultana's child,” Savresh knew better than to take those words of comfort for what they were.

“She is also yours.”

“That's why this is hard.” It was more like an unspeakable anguish, as if a piece of his heart was being ripped savagely out of his body, leaving him to bleed and be picked apart by vultures.

“Our race will prosper. Just remember, when you make this sacrifice, it will prevent our pride's deaths as well as many others in the forest,” Karobi decided that he needed to hear support instead of sympathy.

The three entered into the field of blossoms, the waving stalks beat lightly against their forms. Savresh thought to himself for a moment, gazing down at the ground. `I hate to think that I am giving my daughter away to Judas,' he sighed. `The Bat Lily…she always did love looking at these. She even went off to play in them against my will. Zahra has always been a risk taker…but at the same time, she's been shockingly level-headed and kind. If anyone can melt Tajara's heart it would be her…but at the same time, I fear that she may only make him worse.'

“We're here,” Karobi's voice cut through his thoughts before they could go down a more negative path.

Together, the two laid her down gently in front of the opening of the white lion's residence. Giving her one final lick of the face, Savresh said good bye to his daughter. This small action caused the young lioness to stir from her slumber. Quickly, the pair of lions scampered off before she could stir completely awake, disappearing over the many mounds of rocks that surrounded the area.

“Hm? Father?” Zahra willed her heavy eyelids to stay open as she languidly pulled herself up from the large stone she was placed upon. Blinking, she glanced around at this unfamiliar territory she was placed in. “Where am I?” She murmured, peering into the large den that was on the side of a tall mound of rocks so tall that they could possibly be their own mountain. It was as if she was in front of Mother Nature's largest work of modern art. The lioness was very confused. Flicking one ear her clouded vision cleared up as she stood up and rubbed her head with one paw. “I don't…recognize this place. Ugh…my head is killing me. I feel like someone knocked me out with a rock.”

Suddenly, a white flash rushed down from the mountain of rocks, skillfully jumping down as it made its way to the ground. Her vision was directed to the blur as it made its way from rock to rock with ease. It was like they had been on this mountain all of their life and knew which stones were strong enough to support their weight. Landing at the bottom, a few feet in front of her the massive white lion slowly made his way up to her. “Who are you?”

Immediately, that scar on his left eye gave his identity away. “You must be Tajara.”

The lion smiled in turn. “Then you must be my bride.”

…To Be Continued