Chapter 42 (Part 14)
The lion spirit loomed before them its mane a blaze of molten gold, its form towering like a god carved from fire and wrath.
Every step it took cracked the marble beneath, sending ripples of heat through the chamber like waves from a dying sun.
Around it, the spectral guards of Kashyapa circled in perfect formation shadows with gleaming blades, their eyes hollow yet burning with purpose.
Rihan spat blood from a split lip, dragging his sword upright again.
His voice rasped between clenched teeth.
"This thing… it's not an illusion. It's the king's pride made flesh."
The lion roared and the walls trembled.
The murals along the chamber twisted to life, shifting through scenes of Kashyapa's reign: endless wars, bloodied sacrifices, the rise of Sigiriya's throne.
Each roar sharpened the visions, as though the beast's very breath was rewriting history itself.
---
The First Clash
The lion lunged a blur of golden flame.
Alok snapped his chains up, steel shrieking as they coiled around the beast's flank.
The impact hit like a thunderclap, flinging sparks into the air and rattling his bones to the core.
He staggered back, breath ragged.
"It's too strong… the chains alone can't hold it!"
Serina moved like lightning, her spear glowing as it pierced the phantom's hide.
But instead of weakening it, the lion's flames surged brighter devouring the strike as fuel.
"It feeds off attacks!" she cried.
"Then don't strike it head-on!" Ceya shouted, raising a blazing shield to intercept the lunging guards. "We need another way!"
The Lion's Curse
The lion's eyes burned crimson as they locked onto Alok.
Its roar came again so deep it vibrated in his chest, shaking something ancient within him.
Whispers crawled through his skull like smoke.
"Bow… Chains-Bearer. Bow to the throne… as your father did."
Alok froze.
For a moment, he wasn't in the chamber anymore he saw his father kneeling before Kashyapa's throne, chains binding his wrists, his face hidden in shadow.
"No…" Alok's voice broke, trembling with rage.
"No that's not real! My father would never bow!"
But the image lingered.
Doubt crept in like a shadow that wouldn't die.
The Strategy
Namea's voice cut through the chaos.
"Alok! Look at its mane the chains of fire. They match the seal on your pendant!"
Alok's eyes widened. She was right.
The lion wasn't just a beast it was bound to the throne. Its strength came from it.
"If we weaken the throne," he murmured, "the lion weakens too."
Rihan grinned through blood-stained teeth.
"Then let's break a king's throne. Sounds like my kind of blasphemy."
Breaking the Throne
The group split in two.
Rihan, Lielle, and Serina held the guards at bay steel clashing with spectral fire while Alok, Namea, and Ceya turned toward the throne itself.
The seat of Kashyapa pulsed with molten light, deflecting every blow like divine judgment.
But then Alok's pendant began to burn.
His chains lashed out on their own alive, furious striking the base of the throne.
Cracks spiderwebbed through the golden stone.
Each one pulsed with a dying heartbeat.
The lion howled a sound that shook the murals and warped the air.
"No! You dare shatter the Lion King's memory?" thundered the Extera's voice from the void.
The Phantom's Desperation
The lion's fury became a storm.
Flames lashed like whips, tearing through pillars and walls.
One caught Serina across the chest she flew back, crashing into stone.
Blood spattered her lips, but she forced herself upright, spear trembling.
Ceya cried out, her shield of fire fracturing under the next blow.
"We can't take much more of this!"
Alok stood in the storm, his breath heavy, his eyes burning blue.
The chains around him shimmered half metal, half spirit drawn toward something on the mural behind the throne.
There etched in faint light was an image of his father.
And beneath it, the words glowed softly, ancient and half-erased:
"Sedfxsoo enko…"
Alok clenched his fists. The words pulsed through his mind like a heartbeat from another lifetime.
"Father… if this is the truth"
He raised his head, eyes blazing.
" then guide me."