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"I can smell it on you," she said.
"What?"
"That root." She took a step closer. "You've been hoarding it in your den. The scent lingers."
The king stood still as the wild lioness inched closer and closer. Her body echoed the cool savanna night.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Have you ever seen its flowers?" she continued without answering the king's question. "The humans hunt this plant, but it does nothing for them. This is a plant for lions." Idly, she scratched at the tousled grass of the dry plains. Her head was bent, but she kept her eyes fixed on the king.
"Do you... wanna get out of here?" he said awkwardly.
In a flash of blue glimmer the lioness turned and stared him down. Their faces almost nose-to-nose, she bared her teeth and made a deep hiss. The king could smell her breath. It was the breath of a lion that had not eaten in a while.
"I have no interest in small talk," she growled. "You'll take me if you want me. But listen to what I have to say."
The king grimaced. The wild lioness didn't appear to be anywhere near as strong as he was, but in the partitions of moonlight she had a kind of pure, untrained vigor that was... intimidating? Impressive? He didn't want to be scared of her, but...
She could kill me. He thought. But that thought wasn't enough to make him back down.
"Then tell me," he said with some confidence. "I respect you. I'll listen."
The wild lioness backed out of her aggressive stance and dipped her head slightly. "My old pride is dead. Killed by starvation and arrogance. When humans came and killed the great beasts, my pridemates thought themselves too good to eat rats. Here I am, sole survivor, haunted by ten thousand deaths."
In the light of the moon the lioness' eyes seemed to shine an unnatural blue. Suddenly she smelled not just of hunger but of smoke and incoming storms. A place that lightning had struck long, long ago. The king could feel the weight of the ten thousand deaths rolling out of her mouth like early-morning fog.
"Give me the roots of that plant. I need to form a new body for these spirits..."
To himself, the kind admitted he was scared. She could kill me. She could kill me easily.
"Mukombero... it ties the spirits to the meat. I'm so hungry."
In the far distance, beyond a grove of wispy acacias, there was a tremendous crashing sound, like the felling of a massive tree. The ground trembled beneath the king's paws. He watched, paralyzed, as the blue light in the lioness' eyes faded. She growled listlessly, letting the spirit force escape her.
"Do you understand?" she asked.
The king nodded.
"I'll follow you back to your pride."
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