One week late, on a dark evening. The clouds were clear as they made way for the bright moon to shine its light on the wild lands.
The night breeze filled the lions with a sense of freshness. There were deep puddles of water around the dens, they wouldn't have to go to the river for a long time.
This time would be the time most lions were preparing to sleep. But they were all wide awake, staring at the scene that was taking place under a tree.
Kael who had been sleeping under the tree had woken up to a mild surprise. On his left was Uncle, calmly looking at his lying figure.
On the right was Pavel, his expression was one of contained hatred. Soft growls escaped his lips once in a while and his claws were already bared. There was not much difference between him and Uncle now, both had the same mane size and body size.
And standing in front of Kael was the pride leader, too close for Kael's comfort. The pride leader looked down from his point of view.
He didn't growl or bare his claws, he simply stared. Kael stood up, his movement carefully followed by the pride leader's.
Kael turned his head to look behind him. He saw Katari and the other lionesses on his side standing behind him.
Katari had her body lowered and her limbs poised to launch herself at the enemy at any moment.
One wrong step forward and all hell would break lose. Kael slapped his tail on the ground and shook his head signaling for Katari and the rest to stand down.
Kael walked forward until he stood right beside the pride leader. The pride leader had to tilt his head down and sideways to look into Kael's golden eyes.
Kael too looked up slightly so that he could lock gaze with the pride leader.
He knew why the pride leader was here, he had come with choices. Either submit like Pavel or get expelled like Burdo.
Kael never planned on staying where he wasn't welcomed. He already had it at the back of his mind that he would have to leave one day. There was still a world out there waiting for him to discover after all.
But before he left, a test of strength was necessary. The preys he hunted were not special at all and could easily be caught with sufficient skills.
Most predators stayed away from the pride because of the pride leader. The only animal Kael had ever seen stand up to the pride leader was that hyena three years ago.
Kael had never had a chance to test out just how significant his transformation into a primordial lion was.
Two years ago, he would never have thought of attempting what he was about to do. However, constantly going through the memories of multiple primordial lions every night had left a mark on his thinking process.
The pride leader began to growl, and Kael was not breaking eye contact. This was an insult, this was disrespect, this was a challenge.
One second, they were still staring at each other, the next thing they threw themselves at each other.
A blur of red and gold sped around and claw marks began appearing on their bodies.
'FUCK' Kael screamed within as he made distance between the both of them. That claw attack from the pride leader had not been able to do serious damage but it had left burning scratch marks on his side.
Perhaps, now, Kael was finally understanding the gravity of what was happening. But he still didn't get scared, rather his pupils shrank to express his eagerness. The pain made him feel awake like he had awakened his lionheart all over again.
The pride leader looked at his son with calmness mixed with caution. He didn't seem to be fazed by the small bout just now.
Katari almost jumped when she saw the three claw marks on Kael's side. She and the other lionesses were getting agitated.
Pavel and Uncle stood in front of them, baring their fangs and growling to warn them from interfering.
Katari didn't even give the two lackeys a second look, the only reason she hadn't taken action was because Kael had not asked her to. But there was a limit to her patience.
Golden claws shot out from Kael's paws as he ran towards the pride leader. They clashed and their paws met.
A muffled bang sound was released as the pride leader and Kael felt a numbing sensation on their paws.
The pride leader lunged for Kael's unprotected neck, intending to end the battle swiftly as he did with Burdo.
Kael saw the incoming jaws and hurriedly ducked. He then raised his head up, grabbing onto the pride leader's neck from below.
This action was futile as the mane on the pride leader's neck was too thick for Kael's bite to be effective. To Kael, it felt like he was trying to bite thin iron strings bound together.
The pride leader stood on his hind legs, amazingly lifting Kael's entire body along with him. Then with fierceness, he slammed his body down knowing fully well that Kael would be beneath him.
Kael's mind went blank, it was as if he was being crushed by a boulder, he never knew the pride leader was this heavy.
The weight was crushing him and the pride leader's mouth was drawing closer to his mane-less neck.
For a second, he wanted to signal for Katari and the rest to attack, but he refrained.
Suddenly, purple electric bolts began surfing through his body. The electric bolts swam through the surface of his body, making a striking contrast with his golden fur.
The pride leader who was lying on top of Kael, received the full brunt of the electric attack.
His massive body was thrown off by the shock and he rolled on the ground uncontrollably in pain. This did not last though as he soon overcame it before charging straight at Kael.
Fortunately, Kael had also gotten up in time. They clashed again, the pride leader tried to bash Kael away but Kael was stronger than he looked. His hind legs sank into the cold ground as he stood his ground without moving.
This time, the pride leader's jaws locked on Kael's neck. He intended to crush this unfilial son of his with all his might.
Kael responded by circulating the electric currents around his neck. This shook the pride leader off.
They resumed with their claws. The pride leader had his red hot claws and Kael had his metallic electric-coated claws to retaliate.
The fight continued for minutes, they were evenly matched, and the pride leader knew this. If something wasn't done, he would lose face in front of everyone.
The pride leader's eyes began giving off a bright red glow. His chest space had the same glow and the temperature around him was becoming unbearable.
*ROAAR!*
*WHOOM!*
A mighty roar was released by the pride leader, followed by a terrifying and visible heat wave.
Kael, Pavel, Uncle, and the rest were all blown away by the force, even Eidel who had the same lionheart as the pride leader was not exempt. They looked up to see that the tree and the surrounding grass had all been set ablaze. The fire rose for meters, giving birth to an unbearably hot environment.
The fire cast a bright glow on the dark surroundings that challenged for dominance with the moonlight.
The pride leader slowly walked out of the raging wall of fire, one heavy and confident step at a time. His eyes settled on Kael's figure.
Kael stood there with some patches of his fur having been burnt off. He gazed unwaveringly at his father.
They were equally matched, yes. But now it appeared that the pride leader was way more skilled with his powers than any other present.
His lionheart didn't seem to be fully awakened yet he had become strong enough to challenge and even beat up a young Primordial lion.
Kael took this as a lesson, he still lacked experience. The pride leader could read his son's expression, this was never a fight for dominance in the beginning. It was more like a test Kael had set for himself yet failed by a few errors.
Kael was not petty, neither was he stupid and arrogant. This was the first time he had ever fought a lion so seriously and that lion was his father.
He was not ashamed to accept this as his defeat. Whether he would accept defeat in the future was unlikely.
Kael didn't bow his head or do anything to signal his acceptance of defeat. He just turned around and walked away. Katari and the other lionesses in his pride hurriedly followed him.
The flames died down as the pride leader relaxed. As he looked at Kael's shrinking figure, his eyes didn't carry any hatred.
Uncle and Pavel came to stand beside him, they had conflicted expressions on their furry face. To think that golden guy would last so long against the pride leader and even force him to go all out.
Kael didn't immediately leave the Hot Lion pride territory. With five young lionesses by his side, he met Nalii, Priya, and Diane.
They had been watching intently. If not that she had a bit of trust in Kael, Nalii would have done the same thing she did when he was young. The feelings she had never for her son were far stronger than what she had ever developed for the pride leader.
Strings of golden light flowed out of the void and converged in front of the three lionesses, forming three contracts.
These contracts were a bit different from the ones he had given Katari, Olivia, Eidel, Ruda, and Zabita.
On the contract in front of Priya, it stated that the reward for joining Kael's pride was the awakening of her Lionheart into a spirit lionheart. It was very specific about the type of Lionheart Priya would awaken.
On Diane's contract, the lionheart mentioned was the Warrior lionheart. On Nalii's, it was the Veggie Lionheart.
Kael had truly prepared for this day.