Ber jeered Gur’mekh on the way to judgment. "I hope the King rips you alive! Kill my son, will you?? May you rot in hell!"
Lenti was right behind him, crying, “Murderer! Murderer!”
Gur’mekh looked back at her and said plaintively, “I love you! How can you hate me, Lenti??”
Ahadi came to the promontory and looked out at the distant approaching band of hyenas. He was not sure what was on the wind, but he had a good idea what was about to happen. He sent out a delegation of lionesses headed by Uzuri to confirm his suspicions.
Gur’mekh whimpered. “Roh’mach, I was possessed by a demon spirit! Please, I didn’t want to hurt Avina! I swear!”
“And you are much better now? Is that it?”
“No! I’m not better! Please don’t kill me while I’m bound to this thing! It will steal my soul! Don’t let it steal my soul!”
“I’m not letting it do anything to you,” Amarakh said curtly. “Explain this to Ahadi. You’re at his mercy, not mine.”
Just then the lionesses fell in around the hyena guard, walking at a distance but still menacing with their strong, lithe bodies looming like giants around them. Gur’mekh began to shudder. “I didn’t want to hurt her! I swear!”
One of the lionesses glanced over at him and scowled, showing her fangs. “So, you’re the little wretch that killed her! You’ll pay for that meal, scum!”
“He killed my son,” Ber said bitterly. “He’ll pay for a lot of things today!”
“Silence!” Amarakh said. “The King alone will pass judgment on the prisoner. The King alone!”
Of course, ringed by so many powerful lionesses, Amarakh’s shouting was so much empty noise. She began to feel apprehensive herself.
Ahadi stood on the promontory. Gur’mekh caught sight of him and began to squeal and yelp, struggling against the hyenas that held him fast. “Oh gods! Don’t do this! I’m innocent! Let me go! Oh gods, he’s going to kill me!”
“Quit whining like a pup!” Amarakh said. “We have our dignity. Face him the way you faced Avina.”
“I was possessed!” Gur’mekh shrieked. “In God’s name, ask Shimbekh! Please, call for Shimbekh! She’ll explain everything!”
Ahadi watched the agony in Gur’mekh’s eyes. “There goes the most unfortunate of creatures,” he said to Akase. “I expected an arrogant buck and instead I got a terrified boy.”
At the base of Pride Rock, two more lionesses appeared, flanking Gur’mekh on either side as he scrabbled up the slope, babbling almost incoherently about the Makei.
Gur’mekh tried to hold himself steady as they reached the top of the path, but when he turned to see Ahadi sitting silently in the mouth of the cave waiting for him, he began to whimper again.
“This is Gur’mekh,” Amarakh said. “He called for Avina’s life. His jaws are stained red with her blood. We bring him to your justice.”
The hyena looked into the face of Ahadi. He could see death in his eyes. His knees began to buckle, and he urinated on the cave floor. “Roh’kash, help me! Help me!”
Ahadi came over to him. Quietly, without malice, he purred, “I do not want to kill your immortal Ka. Aiheu will decide. I give you a chance to admit your guilt.”
“Have mercy! Oh gods!” Gur’mekh fell on his back, soiling his fur in the urine as he began to paw at Ahadi. “I don’t want to die!”
“That is not an option at this point. You will have an opportunity to be right with your God. Now tell me Gur’mekh, they didn’t torture it out of you, did they? Are you guilty as they say?”
Gur’mekh knew there was nothing he could do to save himself. He decided to do the only decent thing. “Forgive the others. I talked them into it. All my fault. The Roh’mach didn’t know. All my fault. And I’m sorry. So sorry!”
“It’s good that you’re sorry. Your friends are glad as well, for I will not punish them. Now don’t you feel better telling the truth?”
“I thi-think so. Yes.”
“Now then, I want you to think really carefully. I can make it swift and nearly painless. But the gods may not think you have suffered enough. Or I can punish you now, and you will die forgiven.”
Gur’mekh knew he was not guilty of killing Avina. But he was guilty of killing Demrath. With the chance of eternal damnation looming over him, he tried to think clearly. “I don’t know,” he cried. “I don’t know!”
“But you must know, Gur’mekh. When you do something, be it good or bad, there are consequences. I would not want to face God after an easy death. I would take my punishment now, but it is your decision.”
Gur’mekh’s jaw began to tremble. “Help me decide,” he silently prayed. “Roh’kash, Great Mother, your will be done.” He gasped for air, his heart pounding. “Well then, I want to be sure. Hurt me bad. Hurt me very bad.”
Ahadi looked around. “Take the cubs outside. Far away. Wife, you may want to leave as well.”
Time dragged by as the young and fearful walked away. Gur’mekh kept silently repeating his prayer. “Roh’kash, Great Mother, rescue my spirit. Roh’kash, Great Mother, rescue my spirit....”
Finally, Ahadi nodded gravely. “You ripped her alive. If you would find peace, I will have to return in kind.” He looked upward. “Oh gods, look down on your child. Witness his suffering and accept his atonement.”
“If you do this, do you promise you’ll forgive me? Promise?”
“I promise, son. While you can, go as far as you can. Your friends will have to drag you the rest of the way.”
“I understand.” Gur’mekh shut his eyes and whimpered. “Mother Roh’kash!!!”
Ahadi swept his abdomen with his outstretched claws. In a private hell of pain, Gur’mekh shrieked all the air from his lungs, gasped in and shrieked again. It was often said that at that same moment Gur’bruk and Kambra fell to the ground and covered their ears, trying to block out the squeals of his death agony.
Gur’mekh gasped for air, foaming at the mouth and shuddering on the floor. His mangled, bleeding entrails were laid open to the horrified audience of hyenas. The Roh’mach had to look away, covering her face with a paw. Ahadi looked at his paw red with Gur’mekh’s blood and glanced again and the unfortunate wretch gasping out his life.
“Somebody help me!” Gur’mekh cried. “I can’t get up!”
Ahadi looked on the youth with compassion, taking Gur’mekh by the nape of the neck and lifting him upright. “Can you walk?”
“I’ll try.” He shuffled forward, stiff-legged, his face a portrait of pain and hopelessness. “Roh’kash, great mother, my spirit longs to nurse at your side.” He gasped, struggling to finish the prayer of confession. “Forgive me. Brother Sun, Sister Moon, do not shine on my transgressions. Shine only on my good deeds. Let my debt be paid.” Tears began to flood his cheeks. “Oh gods, I’m hurt!”
“I know,” one of the lionesses said. “It was a brave thing you did for me. I forgive you.”
He looked and saw it was Avina. His heart focused on her. One of the blessed, she might be able to protect him from the Makei.
Demrath nuzzled him. “I accept your sacrifice. Oh gods, we could have been good friends. Why do things work out that way?”
“You are good and noble. Protect me in the moment of my death.”
The members of the hyena escort looked around to see whom he was talking with.
“He’s in shock,” Ber said.
Gur’mekh turned to look at Ber. The old hyena, once so full of hate, could not meet the desolate eyes of the dying ban’ret. “I admit it. I killed Demrath.”
Ber gasped. “Why did you do it? Why?”
“Because I loved Lenti. I would have done anything for her love, but I destroyed her.”
“Are you saying you really were possessed?”
“Yes.” Blood-soaked drool began to run down his neck. “I’m sorry, Ber. Accept my death.”
“You die a brave death. I accept it.”
Gur’mekh’s agony was so great that his head swam. He stumbled, and some of the hyenas propped him upright. Reduced to a bare crawl, he had to will each step up the promontory.
The Makei’s voice echoed in his head. “You don’t have to die. If you will curse Ahadi with the words I teach you, you will be King on Pride Rock and he will crawl to his death. Even now it is not too late. Do you understand me, Gur’mekh?”
“Oh I understand,” Gur’mekh thought in reply. “I understand that you are afraid! I will feed off YOUR agony for a change!”
One of the hyenas that walked ahead of him was Jalkort. “I know you tried to rush Shaka to save me. You were willing to die in my place.”
“You knew I loved you, Jal.”
“I’m going to try and help you, but you must resist the evil. Resist it, brother!”
“I’m doing my best!”
Again, the hyenas looked about. Ber alone understood what was happening. “Pray, Gur’mekh. While you still draw breath, pray. The Nisei are coming for you.”
“You are good, Ber. Just like your son.”
The Makei’s voice ran through his head once more. “I also forgive you for attempting to drive me out. If you’ll swear allegiance to me, we will be friends, not enemies. I will give you power, fame, and the pleasures of Akase. The prophesy was for you to take Ahadi’s place. And when you’re king, you can help the hyenas achieve mastery of the world. We will rule together, unbeatable and immortal. Just swear allegiance to me, and all this will be yours, and much more.”
“No.”
“Don’t be a fool!”
“For once, I’m not a fool.”
“If you don’t say yes, I’ll hold you together and let you linger for hours in this agony! And it can get worse, much worse!”
Gur’mekh began to wretch up bloody scraps, wincing with the effort but helpless to stop. His moans were broken by fits of gagging. “Never!” he defiantly replied. Still, he felt such pain that he couldn’t stand it much longer. A cold sweat ran from his brow and his jaw trembled. Retching again, he shrieked, “God, let me die!”
One of the hyena guards offered to push him off the tip of the rock but he gasped, “No! Don’t touch me! I can’t stand heights!”
Jalkort whispered silent advice into Ahadi’s heart, and the King came out to the end of the promontory. Gur’mekh looked up and saw Ahadi’s large, sad face. He looked into those eyes and saw the goodness and sorrow Ahadi felt for him. Gur’mekh was glad that that noble creature would not be victimized by the Makei.
“Do you release me, friend?” he asked in his desperation. “Have I paid the price?”
Ahadi reached down and whispered, “You have paid in full. I forgive you. Relax, son--I’ll be gentle and quick.”
Gur’mekh knew that the Makei was defeated. He smiled at Ahadi and exposed his throat.
The lion took it gently but firmly, kissing away the burden of his mangled body. Forgiven, Gur’mekh’s spirit slipped away toward the eastern horizon to join his ancestors. He found peace at last.