The Lion Age #1: Hunted *Chp. 1*

Prologue

The warm morning air surrounds me and I breath it in deeply. The Savannah glows a pretty golden color as the sun rises in the distance. Everything is so beautiful this morning that I can't bare the thought of leaving it forever.

Tonight will change everything.

Everything about me will change.

If only I had more time to think about my selection. But I've had my whole life until now to make my selection and never thought to be serious about it so now it is my fault that I don't have time.

Chapter One

"Nadia?" My mother's voice sounds from across the Savannah Plane and I reluctantly get up, walking back to her protection.

"Why do you think that you can just go wherever you want, Nadia?" My mother glares at me and I know what's coming. Her long speech about how I could be killed by hyenas if I stray too far from the pride.

"Come on, mother! I'm two years old so I think I'm capable of fighting off a hyena!"

My mother growls at me with frustration, "You are not allowed to stray from the pride alone! You could be killed by hyenas or attacked by males!"

I give a small laugh and flick my tail in frustration, walking away from my mother without any other word.

Ever since my two litter mates died at birth, my mother has been over protective of me and my brother, Nubia. He's fine with her protection, because one day he might have to leave the pride to start his own and I suppose his philosophy is: why not use the protection while I have it?

But I hate the protection my mother provides.

I know that she is trying to keep me safe, but I don't know when she will realize, that I'll be an adult in a year. She doesn't let me participate in hunting, training and, she hardly ever let's me join in a play fight.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I shouldn't be so hateful to my mother, but sometimes that's easier to think than to do.

I look around the camp, trying to find a quiet spot to think.

Think about tonight.

At the age of two, each lion or lioness from each pride travels to the tip of their territories where all four pride territories meet.

The four prides are Day Pride, the strong and brave. Dusk Pride, the smart and calm. Twilight Pride, the medics for all the prides and my pride, Dawn Pride. The sly and quick to take action.

From the stories I've heard from the elders of Dawn Pride, each pride sits at the edge of their territory. The one who is first to arrive wins the privilege of going first. Each lion and lioness will come forward to stand next to their leader one at a time. The leader is the one who gives a small speech about the lion or lioness and then, when he is finished, the lion or lioness will choose the pride they want to join by walking into that pride's pride-grounds and roaring. After this they will find a place to sit next to their new pride mates.

For males, this process is a lot harder. If they choose to join a new pride they could either be excepted and will never be allowed to have cubs or they will be killed. If a male chooses to stay in his existing pride then he might have the chance to have one mate and one litter of cubs. Otherwise he will become an outcast at the age of three, when he matures into a complete adult and has the strength to take over the pride.

I have always wondered how Nubia is handling his decision. I would suspect that he will remain in Dawn Pride but I'm not quite sure. For a lioness, it is much easier to make a decision and lionesses never become outcasts, unless they are weak as cubs and their mother must leave them behind. A lioness is almost always wanted, so my mother had told me.

I wonder what my father would have told me. Would he have helped me make my decision or would he have told me, that I have to choose Dawn Pride, like my mother? But now that my father is gone, I guess I'll never know what he would have been like.

The Selection Rite is coming quickly and I still need more time to decide.