Animalia: The Lost Kingdom

Chapter 6- The Lion and the Lamb

The feast ended pretty early, it was good especially so everyone could get enough sleep. I fell asleep at dusk, around 8pm, if the concept of time existed here. As I fell asleep, a strange feeling fell upon me. Something was pulling me towards a state of unconsciousness. Two figures stood, contrasted to the dark light, and they were walking towards me.

"Who's there?!" I shouted.

The two beings spoke at once "No need to fear, my child. For all who have done wrong must fear me." I still couldn't see them clearly. But they were walking on all fours, and one was larger than the other.

"To see us clearly, you must accept us in your heart." It was disturbing that they knew my thoughts and how they spoke at once. But for some reason the two had an aura which made me feel that I should trust them. As soon as that thought passed, the two beings became clear. One was a Lion, with the lushest, golden mane. The Lamb on the other hand was far different than the ones you'd normally see. See it had the same structure and posture as normal, but one its forehead, were seven horns, circling around as if it were a crown. And below the horn were seven eyes.

"Now that you have accepted us, we shall tell you who we are. We are the Lion and the Lamb. The scriptures tell that the we will bring salvation to the universe." They then stopped talking in unison, with the Lion speaking only "I am the Lion of Judah. The King of all Kings."

Then the Lamb spoke. "I am the Lamb of the seven spirits of which God had sent out into all the earth."

I was beginning to understand, these were the Lion and Lamb from the Book of Revelations.

"Not to be rude or anything, but what are you two doing here in my dreams?"

"Young child, we have come to warn you of something treacherous. In tomorrows battle, a great betrayal will occur." The Lion announced.

A betrayal? Who would betray us? "Do I know this person?"

"A friend will unfortunately betray you. But I ask that you should not fear. As I have a plan for this person that will turn the tide in the war. I cannot tell you who this person is, as it may affect the future I have foreseen." The Lamb explained.

I was feeling worried. Who out of all of my friends could be the betrayer. Alarick, Abe, Marshall, Savia? Any of them could be the one.

Again, both the Lion and the Lamb spoke at once "Do not fear, Leonard. We have a plan, you must always trust in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." Then the dream ended, and I woke up.

I had taken a walk towards a river, near my tent. Sitting down, I felt relaxed, but tense. This was probably the pre-battle feeling that my parents felt in the wars they fought in.

"Leonard?" A voice appeared behind me. It was Tabitha, in a nightgown. She looked gorgeous in the moonlight.

I smiled at her "Hey there"

She smiled back and sat down next to me "You couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Yeah. Had a pretty strange dream." I sighed.

"That's understandable" She rested her head on my shoulders, and I put my arm around her. "Can I be honest with you, Lenny?"

"Yeah, what's up?"
"I feel scared for tomorrow." She was trembling a little. "I- I don't want you or Marshall to die, and there is so much going on here and so much Animals that I adore here, that if I lose any of my friends... I just don't know what will happen to me." I understood what she was saying. I myself didn't want any of the friends that I've met here to die, especially Marshall or Tabitha. They were the only family I had, and war isn't my favourite memory. It was the cause of my parent's deaths.

"I promise you Tabby, I will not die. I am going to continue fighting until my last breath. And not only will I survive, I will make sure everyone one of our friends survive." It seemed like a stretch. It was a war, and there are going to be so many casualties. But saying that did make her feel better. I still felt worried about the betrayal, but sitting by Tabitha made everything feel better. She always had that effect.

"Leonard, I know that we promised to hold off any relationships until we saved the world." She lifted her head off my shoulders and looked at me. "But I just can't wait anymore, especially since anyone might die tomorrow."

I knew what she was going to say. This was something that I wanted to say as well for so long.

"Lenny, we've known each other for a while. We're adults now, so its good to be open with our feelings. And as cheesy as it sounds... well, I love you. And that's the way it is, if you don't like it then... then... uhh"

She was going red very quickly, I chuckled "Were you trying to play hard to get?"

"No... Shut up, I'm always hard to get." She was also laughing as well

"Really now? 'Lenny I wove youu'. That's real hard to get"

She jokingly punched me "At least us women can say what we feel. You guys have to act all tough and emotionless."

"Hey, I'm not emotionless! I can tell you easily that I like you a lot" In all honesty she was right, for some reason I couldn't say how I felt about her.

She scoffed "Pathetic! Told you guys can't say their feeling." She laughed.

"Well..." I leant towards her "Still doesn't change how I feel about you"

She was leaning in too. "And what is that?"

Our foreheads were together "You're gonna find out soon." When people say that actions speak louder than words, they're right. Because in this glorious moment which I wanted to last forever. Even though Tabitha and I liked each other for a few years, this was our first kiss. And I had never felt any better, all my fears and worries disappeared as we held each other in the moonlight.

The sun was starting to rise as Tabby and I woke up. We had noticed that the forest was already bustling with noise. A barn owl was standing near us.
"Good morning, humans. Please wake up and hurry to get ready. The battle is about to start in three hours." The owl chirped before flying off.

I looked at Tabitha. She looked worried and it was painful to look at her like that. Thankfully I have a plan; yesterday in training, I spoke to a fast Hatzegoptryx named Tayir. He had agreed to take Tabitha away from the battle if she were in danger. That way, I will uphold my promise to protect her.

She got up and brushed some grass off her "We should get ready."

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." I gave her a reassuring hug and we went on our way to get our armour ready. It was time.