The Evening Lion
Many millennia prior to the common era, Yuvians (i.e. humans) lived in tribes. Each tribe had a soul animal. The humans of these tribes would mimic the lifestyle of their soul animals. The only rational species on the planet copied lesser intelligent beings. This made it the most barbaric time in entire human history.
Having said that not all tribes were violent. There was a tribe of Billi, i.e. cat was their soul animal. These were quiet and peaceful people. They lived silently and tried to keep away from whoever was a threat to their life. They were good at quietly camouflaging themselves. So whenever any enemy attacked they would simply hide, absorb the damage caused, and move to a different place. They never got aggressive. They never fought back. Result of that they kept on moving from place to place until they reached a beautiful small island.
The tribe of Billi was happy here. They lived very peacefully and so they dropped their defenses. They stopped hiding. The community grew in size. Still, they didn’t feel it was necessary to prepare for any unfortunate attack. This was their mistake because their enemy was near. A very scary tribe lived on another island just a tiny shallow water body away. These were brutal mindless people who killed for sport. Their soul animal was Tiger.
When the enemy attacked the first time, there were a lot of casualties that day. Many lost their relatives. At that time the person leading the tribe was a wise woman named Amanza. That night she was discussing with the elders their next plan of action. Where to move and how without being detected. That’s when a young fit man came to them.
This one is Sham Shera, Amanza’s nephew, i.e. sister’s son. He is an odd animal. Unlike any other from the tribe. He is angry, especially because his parents were killed in this attack. So he suggests to his aunt, “We must prepare for a fight”. But she rejects his proposal saying, “We, the people of Billi, do not fight. It’s who we are. You cannot change that.”
Sham gets very angry and storms away. That’s when he swears to protect his tribe from the enemy by himself. He trains in the forest during nighttime along with his many pet cats. The cats don’t really do anything. They simply sit and watch.
Amanza issues an order, “We must return to the old ways. Hide and don’t be caught. If you do get caught, do not struggle. Close your eyes and accept your fate.”
The camouflage of the Billi tribe works beautifully during the day and the night. They create such an illusion that the enemy would feel as if nobody lives in that part of the jungle. It’s only during a few hours when the sun is setting, the lighting is such that they cannot hide. Once the enemy learns that, they start attacking only during the evening time.
Fortunately for the Billi people, mighty Sham is there to protect them. Initially, the enemy comes in small batches which Sham is able to scare off very easily. His strength grows with time and so does his popularity among his people. After all, he is single highhandedly protecting his people. I don’t know what magic this is but his body literally grows in size despite him already being a fully grown adult. The biggest honor given to any person is when their name is used as a common term for something. Since Sham protects them during the sunsets, the tribe people start using the word ‘sham’ when talking about evening time.
One ‘sham time’, the Billi people notice something strange on the horizon. This is a time when the sun turns water golden and yet water at a distance appears to be black. They don’t understand what is happening. As they continue to watch, the black patch in the water keeps on growing. It grows and grows until they realize that a huge army of the enemy tribe is coming toward them.
Sham is ready for yet another fight. But will he be able to hold them back? After all, he is the sole defender against at least a thousand barbaric fighters of the enemy. While the rest of the tribe hides Sham begins the fight. In these few years of training, Sham’s body has become big and muscular. He stands at least three feet tall over those dressed-in-black fighters. Holding a variety of blades in hand Sham starts killing.
His mantra is simple, ‘one hit, one kill’. He just has to hold them back till sunset. Sham keeps on fighting. He grunts and roars. The sharp claws he has dawned are so big that one hit to the chest and they puncture the heart. It’s a massive bloodbath.
Sham is clearly overpowering them despite being alone. But the problem is their number. More he kills more of them come. By the time he puts down a thousand enemy fighters he too is gravely wounded. At one point he gives out the loudest roar possible as he rips apart a fighter’s body into two halves. This scares the enemy and those that are still alive run away like a bunch of cowards. Watching them flee the Billi people cheer for Sham.
The sun hasn’t set yet so the fight isn’t over. But Sham is barely able to stand. He suddenly loses his balance and falls on his back. His people immediately come out of hiding and surround the great warrior Sham. They weep as they witness life slowly leaving his body.
“Aunty…I’m-” calls Sham.
Amanza comes and takes Sham’s head in her lap. Placing her hand over his head she says, “You’ve done a lot for us. You went against my order and protected us. We are indefinitely indebted to you. Soldier, it’s time for you to rest.”
He is dying. There’s nothing they can do to prevent that. Sham’s many pet cats come near him and start licking his wounds. With whatever strength is left in him he carcasses his cats saying, “Now it’s your responsibility to protect them.” As he speaks there is visible fear in his eyes because he sees the enemy approaching, larger in size than before. A tear comes out of his right eye as he speaks his final words in a shaky voice, “You are their only hope.”
When he dies, Sham’s body along with the cats near him begins to glow in golden yellow light. These felines instantly grow in size. Also, their black and white skin turns uniformly golden like the setting sun. They start growling as their voices get deeper.
Despite being lesser animals they somehow know who is their enemy. These 20-25 transformed cats scatter along the coast and give out a loud roar while looking at the enemy.
It’s a commonly known fact among the people of those times that cats don’t like to go in the water. But not these cats. The moment, the enemy arrives in shallow waters they run towards them and attack. They start killing the enemy left and right as they are more fierce than their creator Sham. Within minutes the enemy realizes that it’s a losing battle and so they run away.
The sun has already set and so the battle of that day is over.
Whenever the situation changes, we have to learn to adapt in order to survive. Although his tribe did not understand this, Sham did. These mutated cats were given the name Shera i.e. Lions. That night the Billi tribe split into two. While the majority followed the old ways, there were some who made Shera their soul animal and Shamshera their god.
Strangely, these lions had developed an instinct that drove them to protect all local species from outside threats. Despite them being animals with inferior brains, the humans of that time declared Lions – the king of the jungle.
Over the many millennia that followed, the legend of Shamshera only grew. Some worshiped him as the protector of all life, some considered him the father of lions, and others called him an avatar of God. The most significant change that happened was when in his future depictions, his human head was replaced with that of a lion.
In the following generations whenever a hero rose to significance, to them, the perfect example of bravery was Shamshera – The Evening Lion.
END
Rexal World Stories