Prologue

Being powerful doesn't give you the authority to take advantage of the powerless, a lesson that is all too familiar to my family. Hey, I'm Apollo and it may amaze you but no I'm not human, yeah, believe it or not, I'm not. I'm a lion, yes a lion. Surprised, aren't you? Well, if you're human, I have a warning for you, don't let what happened to the humans of our world happen to you, please. And maybe, just maybe, show a little love for your planet and the other forms of life you share it with.

I don't know when it happened and, in all honesty, I've only ever heard of it in stories but the humans of our world didn't just disappear, they were the cause of their own extinction. For years they tortured our planet, depleting its resources to build skyscrapers and those factory thingies my parents always told me that their ancestors told them about. They looked down on all other species and when they finally got the upper hand on us, they turned against themselves. They judged one another for every little difference, choosing the comfort of a select few individuals over their entire species, which is ironic considering my folks say they outnumbered us by like, a million to one. But judging from the stories, humans were awful and I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as humans domesticated us and in doing so we followed their example.

It all started after a day we refer to as, 'The Day of Salvation'. Humans set off explosives so powerful they destroyed mountains, killing one another and getting rid of so many animals in the process. The leaders of the human world fought in a last attempt to decide who was really fit to rule the world alone, but in doing so they destroyed the very thing that gave them that power, their own people. A few days after the last humans died out, the animals were fighting to survive, but the world was in no way fit to even think of sustaining life. Darkness floated over the earth and fires raged on for days with no sign of dying out. And to make a bad situation worse, a huge ball of fire was on its way to the earth.

The last animals to walk the earth, what an honor to some, but not everyone accepted the thought of extinction. No way, not Leonidas the Great at least. Leonidas the Great was the leader of the Nzuri Pride, the most powerful pride of lions at that time and they dominated the savannah. He ruled with an iron fist to predators, but to prey he was known as an ambivalent leader. He tried his best to keep the animals calm and keep their hopes up, but there was only so much you could do when everything else was signaling death.

The meteor was showing no sign of stopping, hurling itself at the earth like it had a personal vendetta against any life that remained on it. Some called it the final triumph of evil over our world, but it turned out to be nothing of the sort. The meteor landed in the middle of the African savannah, raising dust and debris for miles, but oddly no explosion, no kaboom, no death. King Leonidas was the first to approach it and it would change his life forever. He touched the space rock and what happened next was amazing. The entire rock glowed and exploded in a golden light filling the atmosphere and King Leonidas became the embodiment of its energy. The meteorite granted him powers; the powers needed to restore our world.

Some say it was the God of the Sun giving animals a second chance at the world, as Leonidas wielded the power of the sun itself. Every step he took restored the world closer and closer to its natural state. The grass began to grow in mere seconds, followed by the trees. Streams rejuvenated themselves and the darkness of the sky faded like a mere illusion. But the power of creation also had its own destructive capabilities. Leonidas was given the power of a god and the power to protect his pride lands from all who opposed him. His mighty roar was powerful enough to shake continents and a single swipe of his paw could take down any creature who stood before him.

Leonidas wielded these powers like a god, managing the creatures of the savannah and keeping them in line, determined to recreate the world in his own image. The prey of the savannah was loyal to him for his protection, but predators and even his own pride feared him. In an attempt to ensure their safety, they planned to overthrow him, but Leonidas foiled these plans, and in the doing so, he became a lone lion. He lived on his own, hunted on his own and ate on his own. Not an animal approached him out of fear for his powers. In time the great Lion grew old and with no one to pass down his power to, he died with them.

But just like humans, other living creatures could be just as underhanded and evil. Senone, a young lioness known to be after Leonidas' own heart was the first to leave him, but also the first to return to his carcass. She figured that there was a way to take Leonidas' powers by force and in testing her method, she devoured the Great Lion's heart. But performing such a heinous act to another Lion, had dire consequences and the very god who blessed Leonidas, cursed Senone. She was cursed to be a servant in her own body and the only way the animals could have described who took her sanity was the goddess of evil. Senone lost her mind, becoming a demonic and feared queen of the savannah. Wielding the power of darkness, she kicked all other predators out of the savannah and ruled it by striking fear into the heart of prey.

Lions, leopards, cheetahs, they were all banished from the savannah and forced to live in the desolate plains. Senone allowed only the vultures and hyenas to roam her lands, as long as they swore allegiance to her as her very own minions of death. Senone however, knew that she was still mortal and intended to keep her grip on the savannah, luring young male lions into her territory and forcefully bearing their cubs, laying waste to them after. The lioness raised her own pride and built a new savannah in her own image. A place where predators ruled over prey and did as they pleased. But as times change, so do people. And in Senone's very own lineage of darkness, the light couldn't help but show itself in her granddaughter Hestia.

Hestia, blessed with powers similar to her grandmother was not a being blessed by the darkness, but a being blessed by the light of the moon. She gathered lions of the desolate lands and fought against her very own family, defeating them and liberating the animals of the new world. Years passed and she united the savannah as the Queen they deserved. Creating a world not in her own image but in the image the people needed. She formed predator and prey laws and made the world a paradise for animals big and small. In age she decided to share her powers to her descendants, sparking new abilities among each and every new generation of lions, but the power of the moon remains the most revered ability of the savannah.

Finally getting the queen they deserved, the animals celebrate her memory once a year with every descendant of hers granted the ability of the moon proclaimed to be the next leader of the Hearth Pride, the pride made by Hestia herself. So this is the history of my world, a new Earth where predator and prey respect each other. And to maintain the balance of this world, an order was created. The Defenders of Nzuri, named after the very pride King Leonidas ruled over. And my dream you may wonder? To become a member of that order and make a name for myself as great as King Leonidas himself, for I am Apollo, Lion by birth and Hero by wish.