Eight

The sky was blue and bright. The loud chirping of the night birds could be heard all around the horizon.

The loud howl of wolves could be heard as they approached a small house. Though the house was in the city it looked old.

The wolves marched towards the small with the order to kill.

"Sahara, surrender the child and save yourself." A woman dressed in royal attire was seen holding a golden sword. She was holding a staff and behind her was an arrow pot.

"What are the orders?"

"Shoot her! The woman shouted from behind the group of men.

"The baby is still there." One of the soldiers announced.

"Get the boy. Kill Sahara!" The woman shouted.

"Yes, Your majesty!" The Soldiers chorused.

More soldiers launched forward and they broke down the door but the woman jumped out before they could catch her.

Sahara tossed the boy into a room and bolted the door. She stood before the door with her claws and fangs elongated.

"Surrender Sahara. You cannot win this fight." She screamed from outside.

"You can try all you want but you can't have my child." Sahara seethed.

Her senses were on high alert, ready to give death to whoever trespassed.

"Don't be stubborn Sahara, just let me have the boy. I promise to take good care of him."

"You don't deserve him Rhema. You're only going to use him for your selfish purposes." Sahara retorted.

Rhema snorted and shook her head, "At least he'd live longer with me. No one can harm him if he's with me."

"Keep dreaming, Rhema." Sahara snarled. "You won't go anywhere close to my son!"

She was staring daggers at her sister and the soldiers. She took a protective stance and stood by the door.

"Shoot her down! Tear her to pieces Rhema barked the order and the wolves launched at Sahara. The soldiers also shot arrows at her but she skillfully evaded the arrows and killed the wolves.

Rhema knew that she was no match for Sahara so she couldn't attack her without the help of her husband's army.

Some soldiers attacked Sahara. They grabbed her and pulled her out but she countered their attack. She grabbed their feet and threw their body upward. She met their floating body with her elongated claw.

Blood splattered on her face and she spat it out immediately. "Stop this Rhema, this bloodshed isn't necessary," Sahara advised.

"Why not?" Rhema laughed. "I will do anything to get what I want."

"This is against everything our father taught us." Sahara tried to make her understand.

Rhema placed her hand backward and she took an arrow from behind her. She positioned it on the arrow and shot it at Sahara but she caught the gold arrow in her hand before it could hit her.

"Don't mention father!" Rhema gritted her teeth. The amount of hatred she felt for her father was immeasurable. If he wasn't dead at that time then she would have surely killed him.

"Why Rhema? Why shouldn't I mention him? Do you feel guilty now?"

"I feel nothing for him at all. I could kill him now if I see him!" Rhema yelled as she released several arrows.

The arrow caught Sahara's neck. She held her neck and staggered backward. Her back hit the door.

"Mother. Mother are you okay?" Little Thaddeus was peeping from the keyhole the entire time. He saw how they brutally attacked his mother and how a strange woman shot an arrow through her neck and as soon as she started healing, the woman stabbed a golden arrow Into his mother's chest.

"Mother! Thaddeus shouted and he struggled to open the door.

"Stay back in, Son, I won't let them get to you." Sahara managed to get up once again.

"You think you can defeat my soldiers? Rhema laughed evilly.

"Finish her and bring me the boy!" She barked more orders.

The soldiers tried to grab Sahara once again but she avoided them expertly. She dug her claws into their ribs.

The soldier groaned and tried to attack again so she dug her claws into his neck.

"You can't win, Sahara, only I am deserving of a child like the Lion King, not you." Rhema wanted that child at any cost.

"Tell that to the gods that chose to bestow me a child and not you."

"I will kill you and take him!"

The voice kept echoing repeatedly until Thaddeus sat up on his bed.

"Mother!" He screamed.

He never stopped dreaming of the day she was killed. That day was a day he would never forget.

Thaddeus picked up the glass of water by his bedside and gulped it. He sighed and slowly laid down.

"Don't worry, Mother, I will surely avenge you." He muttered as he fell back to slumber.

However, as soon as he closed his eyes again he heard his father's voice again.

"Go.Save yourself!"

Thaddeus was tossed and turned uncomfortably on his bed. He seemed to be having a bad dream. He was sweating as his chest moved violently.

"Father!

He shouted and sat up. He immediately looked around to see that he was in his room. He was perspiring so much that his cloth was dripping wet from sweat.

"Another nightmare." He muttered as their faces flashed in his mind.

Those dreams have haunted him for a very long time. Everything he did to take those thoughts off his mind proved abortive.

That incident keeps playing in his mind every day. The death of his parents has haunted him all his life. Those dreams have been haunting him for the past eighteen years and every attempt he made to forget everything, failed.

"I will only get peace after killing every one of them! Thaddeus hissed.

He stepped down from the bed. His eyes shone like the sun's rays. His canine elongated as the thought of revenge crossed his mind.

"Thelma... Don't do it! His father's last words again rang in his ears.

Then he remembered the story told by his father. "Sahara has two sisters, Rhema and Thelma..."

"Aunt Thelma was that you? Why did you pretend like you didn't know us? Why did you do that? Why did you help them instead of us? Why did you kill my innocent father?"

These questions have been bothering Thaddeus since the time of that incident. He wanted answers but there was no way he could get answers without going back to Southampton.

The City that took everything from him.

The city took his mother, his father, and now his home.

"I will have my revenge!

"I will kill them all!" Thaddeus vowed.

He went out of the room, took a quick bath, and changed his clothes as he headed out.

As soon as he left the house, A lion with golden furs was seen running in the woods. The lion was huge and his golden wane shone brightly into the night.

The lion ran until he was standing before a tall tree. He looked inside the tree and pulled out a blanket made of leaves and roared.

His roar startled the birds and every creature around.

That blanket was the same one he made out of love for that baby.

Everything was perfect before they came!

He was supposed to keep her as his woman but they snatched her from him!

They took his woman and killed his father. Their crime is unforgivable!

Thaddeus always tried to imagine what the baby would look like now but he couldn't guess. He tried to forget her but he couldn't.

She was always on his mind.

"King Thaddeus, we are ready when you are," A young man with deep blue eyes and long hair arrived beside him.

Thaddeus shifted into a human and he returned the leaves to the tree.

"I'm ready. I just need to arrange some things and wait for the others. I can't leave them behind.

"They will all be here soon." The man replied with a bow.

"Have you found out who those people are and why they were so determined to kill us back then?"

"We found out that those people were hunters and ....."

"Do you know who they were? Thaddeus grunted, cutting his words short.

He was impatient. He wanted to find out who they were as soon as possible.

"Vlad has all the information we seek." The man reported.

"Where is Vlad now?"

"He is on his way back. He should arrive here anytime soon."

Though it's been eighteen years since it all happened but Thaddeus has never been able to forget it all. He is determined for revenge.

"Ashurst, be prepared," Thaddeus gritted his teeth. "I am coming back home."