Chapter 2 (part 5)

Korkey, now with a group of lions padding silently behind him, advanced through the fading light and pouring rain, heading towards Adder's camp. He knew exactly where it was, from the time when the two brothers had shared the camp, until Korkey left, though he couldn't seem to remember exactly why. He knew he had found his two mates by chance, and they had said they had been exiled when their brother had become leader after their father died, because he decided he disliked them. Neither would say who their brother was, however. They had been very young at the time, and he was quite a few years older, but he had taken them in anyway, and so Korkey's little pride had been formed, however his mates were constantly being harassed by Adder, even though the lion never met Korkey face to face. *Coward.* Korkey thought, wrinkling his snout in disgust. His vision went black for a few seconds, then he shook his head and found himself leading the battalion of lions down the ledge, into Adder's hollow. The lions below watched them... calmly almost. Before Korkey could process what was going on, all the lions were surrounding him, even his mates who had been running beside him the second before. Adder strode through the crowd, he looked a lot less evil than Korkey thought he would. He looked the same as he did when Korkey had left.

"Thank you for coming to visit, brother. I'm *terribly* sorry to have dragged you into this, but I have to kill it. Andellia told me of your plan. Nobody here likes you, Korkey, not after it killed my cub, stole their prey, and attacked my lions everytime you saw us. You walked right into a trap, Korkey." Adder took a step closer to him, and Korkey flinched back.

"What..." Korkey blinked and licked his nose in confusion. "What are you talking about? I didn't do any of that." A small voice in the back of his mind, one he barely recognized as his own, whispered, *Yes, yes we did.* He looked around, confused, at the snarling faces of lions that surrounded him. Korkey might have done bad things, all these lions seemed to believe it. But it can't have been him, it was all Adder, right? He was not sure anymore.

"Wait..." he began to speak, but then Adder leaped on top of him, and the air escaped him in a rush.

"Only the evil spirit inside you must die, Korkey," he whispered. "But that evil must be destroyed, or no lion will live in peace." Before Korkey could protest, the jaws closed around his neck, ripping out his throat in one swift bite.

Solar, Chess, and Cheri race through the woods, ignoring the warning given by their parents. The three arrived at Adder's camp, just in time to see a starry apparition of their father, rising up from his body and spiralling up towards them, leaving silver sparkles in his wake, while at the same time, a dark red slug thing crept from this body's mouth, and Adder pounced on it. The slimy thing slithered out from under him, and burrowed into the earth. Adder swore under his breath, and slammed his paw against the ground in anger. Solar blinked as the starry Korkey landed silently beside him. Chess jumped forward.

"Korkey, what happened! What was that! Why did Adder kill you?" Cheri shivered beside her.

Korkey tiled his starry head, his blank white eyes seeming to take in the world.

"It was necessary. Do not be afraid of my brother, it is not his fault." He touched the tip of his tail lightly to her nose, and dusted her face with stars. He did the same to Cheri and then Solar, who sneezed. Then Korkey leaped from the ledge into the sky, and in a few seconds, he had vanished altogether.

Solar stared up into the sky, then the stardust turned to drops of cold water which drizzled off of his snout, it was just rain.

Tears joined the water, hot tears. Then the rest of his fur, starting from his face, began to feel like it was on fire.

His vision went dark, and he fell down the ledge into the hollow below.