The long noon sun beat down mercilessly, forcing the lions of the pride to shorten their search for the missing female cub. The scorching heat was a great barrier, stifling their efforts.
Travis, his ears straining for the faintest sound, finally gave up. The tiny voice he hoped to hear was swallowed by the heavy air, and he stopped, defeated.
"Tilda, darling, where are you? Come to Papa," Derek called out. He had shifted back to human form to better climb a tree, hoping the height would grant him a vantage point. As he scanned the horizon, his eyes caught on something peculiar—a crack in the earth, snaking its way across the ground, following the path of the hunters and, most intently, trailing Travis.
The crack widened with an unnerving speed. Derek's confusion lasted only a moment before understanding dawned, and with it, a bolt of lightning seared from the clear sky. It struck a nearby tree with a deafening crack, and the affected trees trembled violently. The other lions, sensing the danger, shifted and scattered, seeking cover from the electrical storm.
Still perched in his tree, Derek's heart leapt into his throat. There she was. Tilda, the naive little cub, was wandering aimlessly, cooing to herself, completely unaware as another lightning strike hit the ground beside her. The earth split open, the crack racing directly toward her.
"Tildaaaaaaa...!" Derek's roar was a raw, panicked thing.
As if his cry were a command, the lightning-struck trees erupted into flames. The branch beneath Derek groaned, then gave way, sending him and a section of the young tree crashing to the ground. He landed hard, his head striking the earth with a sickening thud.
Travis's eyes widened in horror. A chorus of snarls erupted from the pride as they witnessed their king fall.
Immediately, the other lions morphed to their human forms and rushed to Derek's aid. Travis, however, looked back toward the source of Derek's desperate cry. The king was dazed, his vision swimming, threatening to succumb to the blackness tugging at the edges of his consciousness.
Pushing himself up, Travis saw the fire beginning to climb, its hungry tendrils licking at the dry brush. If it spread, it would penetrate the deeper parts of the forest, and he couldn't bear the thought of another habitat being destroyed. The memory of his own lost world was a fresh, painful wound. He still didn't understand how he had come to be here, but if there was a chance his parents were safe somewhere, he had to believe it. First, he had to save these people, and that innocent cub. He would never forgive himself if she came to harm.
He rushed off, his eyes locked on the tiny paw prints in the dirt. A devastating scream from behind made him glance back. The deep crack was pursuing him, a yawning chasm that had already swallowed several of the lions who had lagged behind. Those who had stayed to help Derek were safe, but the others were gone, fallen into the abyss. The remaining lions, seeing the earth itself chasing their king's chosen mate, raised a frantic alarm.
Grrrrrr….
A low growl rumbled from Derek as he slowly came to his senses. The others had managed to roll the fallen tree off him; luckily, it wasn't large enough to crush him. He blinked, clearing the spots from his vision, and the world snapped back into focus. The fear in the golden eyes surrounding him sent a jolt of adrenaline through his system.
Tilda. And his human mate was now in danger.
He surged to his feet, his eyes scanning the chaotic environment. "Which way did he go?" Derek demanded, ignoring the tremors still shuddering through the ground.
The hunters and warriors exchanged fearful glances. Their king's protection was paramount; they couldn't let him throw his life away.
"Your Majesty," a young, growing lion male spoke up, emboldened by his father's legacy of service to the former king. "You can always make another cub with an omega female, one of the exotic breeds we have left. Don't go. We won't be able to handle your death."
The words made Derek's blood boil. In a flash of movement, he unleashed his claws, pouncing on the younger male. He pinned him, biting furiously at his neck, making the lion whimper and scream in surrender. The others looked on, shocked into silence. Their king's obsession with the strange newcomer was baffling, but to question his chosen was treason, a crime punishable by death in any tribe.
"You will not speak of him that way!" Derek roared, a surge of protectiveness overwhelming him for this stranger. "He is my soon-to-be Queen, my future mate! You will all treat your Queen with respect!"
He jumped off the cowering lion and morphed into his powerful beast form, sprinting after the path of the crack. The pride had no choice but to follow, ensuring their king didn't run headlong into oblivion.
They reached the edge of a massive, newly formed ditch that separated Derek from Travis. Derek's gaze followed Travis's line of sight, and his heart stopped. There was Tilda, perched precariously on a huge fallen tree trunk that spanned the chasm like a shaky, unstable bridge. One wrong move and it would collapse, taking her with it.
"Tilda, don't move! Stay where you are! Papa is coming!" Derek yelled.
The sound of his voice finally broke Tilda's daze. The butterfly she had been chasing was gone. She looked around, confused, and then made the fatal mistake of looking down. The sight of the seemingly bottomless ditch beneath her feet triggered a terrified, piercing screech.
"Archhhhhhhhh....!"
"Don't move, kid, it's too—!" Travis shouted.
But it was too late. She shifted her weight.
"Tildaaaaaaa...!" The deafening, simultaneous scream from both Derek and Travis seemed to tear the world apart.
A brilliant, golden light blasted from Travis's chest, a visible force that rippled outwards, seizing the entire forest. The very core of the earth shuddered in response. The deep, dark hole sealed itself instantly, the raw earth covered over as a lush, soft carpet of grass grew in the blink of an eye. Tilda landed on it with a soft thud, unharmed.
Travis stood, momentarily engulfed in the unearthly glow before it was sucked back into his body, leaving him looking perfectly normal again.
A stunned silence fell over the pride. The fissures in the earth were gone, healed as if they had never been.
"He is the goddess reincarnated…" someone whispered.
The whisper spread like wildfire, leaving everyone in awe of the power they had just witnessed. Travis had not just saved the cub; he had restored the land itself.
Derek was stupefied. His mate wasn't only stunning and beautiful; he was a divine being.
"My baby…" Derek rushed forward, scooping Tilda into his arms and covering her cheeks in frantic, relieved kisses. Travis approached slowly, his own mind reeling. He looked at his hands, utterly bewildered.
As he tried to process what had happened, the lions around him began to morph into their human forms. In a wave of reverence, they genuflected, bowing low to Travis.
"Goddess Astrid has returned to us! The Life-Bearer! Thank you for coming to us...!" The name was chorused by the entire group.
Derek, still holding Tilda, rubbed his face against Travis's palm in a gesture of deep affection and submission. "I am all yours, Goddess Astrid," he vowed.
Travis's mind spun. Goddess? Astrid? Were they kidding him? What was that he had just done?
He was going crazy in this world. He wanted to leave.
"Goddess Astrid has been sent to help with the cubs scarcity! Mate with him now, Your Highness, and produce lots of cubs!" a transformed lion man cried out, his expression one of zealous fervor.
The words hit Travis like a physical blow. Him? A breeding machine? The thought of pushing out lion cubs was so absurd, so terrifying, that it shattered his last thread of composure.
"Let's go already," Derek said, his voice low and intense. "We must see if you are in your estrous cycle."
Before another word could be spoken, Travis turned and bolted, running for his life.
Damn this world..