đź“– Chapter 2: The Lion Hunter
Hercules stared at his son. "Why didn't you kill the wolf?"
Sirab lowered his head. "Father… I was afraid."
Hercules grabbed his son's arm and raised his voice. "We are hunters, Sirab. If we don't kill — we are killed."
Then he walked away, leaving the boy alone with his shame.
Years passed.
Sirab turned fifteen, but he never forgot that moment. He remembered the blow, the blood, and his father's harsh words. One day, his mother held his face and said, "Your father didn't strike you to hurt you, my son. He did it to make you strong. We live in danger — always. And only the strong survive."
It was time. Every boy who turned fifteen had to pass the lion test. Go into the jungle, face a lion, and return with its head — or never return at all.
That year was Sirab's turn.
He sat with his mother for the last time. She hugged him tight. "You are the son of Hercules, born in the village of lions. I believe in you."
Sirab rolled his eyes. "Mother… you don't need to hug me like I'm a child."
She smiled through her tears as he left the house. Outside, the whole village watched him with pride. His father came forward.
"Remember, my son," Hercules said. "If you want to stay alive… you must kill others."
Sirab nodded and entered the great jungle.
He searched for days, but found nothing. "Where are the lions?" he muttered. "This is supposed to be their jungle."
With time running out, he whispered, "If I don't return with a lion… they'll banish me."
Then he smiled with a spark of madness in his eyes. "The dark side of the jungle. That's where they hide."
He stepped into the cursed part of the jungle. It was silent. Dark. The trees so thick, he couldn't even see his own hands. Strange snakes hissed nearby, and twisted roots pulled at his feet. It felt like walking into hell.
Suddenly, he found a patch of moonlight — and heard something.
A massive lion.
He pulled his bow and fired, but the lion charged. Sirab leapt aside just in time, losing his weapon. The lion roared and lunged again. Sirab drew his sword and defended himself, barely staying alive. "This lion… it's a legend," he whispered. "No one's ever hunted something like this."
But his foot caught a stone, and he fell. The lion bit into his neck.
He felt his blood drain. The world faded. He saw flowers, light… and a woman in black clothes whispering:
> "Not your time yet."
Sirab opened his eyes — still alive.
The lion was still drinking his blood. Sirab pulled a small knife and drove it into the beast's neck. The lion howled. Sirab struck again… and again… until the lion fell, dead and silent.
"I'm alive," he whispered. "But how…?"
He looked at his body. Wounds — healed. As if something had saved him.
But there was no time for questions. He cut off the lion's head and began walking home.
When he reached the village — it was burning.
The people were dead. Children slaughtered like animals. Men and women — stabbed and torn.
Sirab lost his mind. "No… no, no! WHY?!"
He ran through the smoke. "Mother! Father!"
He found them — barely breathing. His father's body was covered in wounds. His mother's chest was bleeding. He fell beside her and grabbed her hand.
"Mother! I'll take you to the city! You'll live!"
She smiled weakly. "No, my son. It's too late for me. Your father is already gone. I… I will be next."
"No, no please!"
"Listen to me," she whispered. "Promise me… kill them. All of them. Destroy the kingdom. Free the people."
Sirab's tears fell onto her hand.
"Hunt them, my son. Every last one."
He nodded. "I will, mother."
And then… she died in his arms.
Sirab stood alone — in blood and fire — staring into a world that had taken everything from him.
> Next chapter: The HUNTING BEGAN