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The lion had no pride, the newly crown king of the Laetus Kingdom took that away from him, and now he was alone in the world. He had been exiled from his clan by royal decree, he was forbidden to see his family or friends, and thus he was cut off from the people he knew. All of that for siding with the losing side in the civil war a year ago forced to roam the roads of the mainland as a wanderer, offering his services as a chancellor to high nobles and cities; but there was no work for someone of his kin, lions were despised as traitors in the continent, mischievous creatures that betrayed the call to arms of the Emperor, twenty years ago. Without a lord, a mercenary company, or the protection of a city, the lion was completely and utterly vulnerable to bandits and corrupt officials, having to his name only a sword, a small shield, and the clothes he had come with to the continent.

He was Lovell of... well, it didn't matter, he was just Lovell, and he was far away from home; so far away in fact that many peasants didn't even know what his species was, having never seen a lion before.

Lovell was not much of a fighter, he was more of a counselor, but these were not peaceful times, the new Emperor of Shumor was a four-year-old wolf, and the whole continent was engulfed in chaos. Old feuds between families were resurfacing, the kings under the imperial crown were fighting among themselves over titles and land, and the dukes and other small nobles were pushing their agendas in the courts of their superiors.

If there was a worst time to be a lone traveler, this was it.

"I want meat," said Lovell looking at the skies.

The young lion hadn't eaten meat in days, and his provisions of eggs and bread were running dangerously low. But he couldn't stop to forage for food, he needed to find someone to serve, he was not going to become a beggar or bandit. Luck will have it, he was after the hint that in that region a lord was seeking competent counselors, and he thought he could be one of those.

And then he heard it, the clash of metal against metal, somewhere in the woods to his right. His battle instinct pushed his hands to the handle of his sword, but he stopped for a while, hearing. The clashes were fast, one after the other, the fight was of one or two against many, it was an unfair fight.

"Don't get involved..." he muttered to himself.

The clashes became faster and faster, one of the fighters had fallen, and the other one was fending off many enemies. He then remembered the prince he had served back in the Laetus, the prince he wanted to see crowned king of the land, he was just and brave, and he had the best intentions for the kingdom, fighting against his unjust brother, the other prince, with all his strength, but ultimately failing because of turncoat among his ranks. If he didn't intervene in that battle in the forest, wouldn't he be betraying his late lord's honor too?

"Gods, if I am to die today, take me to the house of my prince, take me to the paradise of the brave..."

Lovell jumped into the forest and started running among the trees, sword in hand, shield ready. He was fast, almost a blur, and he reached the battlefield in just a minute. There, in a clearing, were seven men poorly dressed, bandits, weasels, cats, and rats, surrounding a lady in full plate armor. She was a snow leopard, her tail long and dense, beautiful as a star. At her side, there were two dead warriors, clearly her protectors.

"It's for the better, lady Murie!" said one of the weasels "The kingdom will be better off without you".

"You can come and try to kill me, you traitorous rat!" answered the leopard.

"Tamas, shoot her!"

Tamas was a rat armed with a crossbow, and he took aim and... was impaled with a short sword from the back, someone new had entered the battle.

"Who the hell are you!?" asked the weasel turning around to face the new enemy.

"Me? Just a lion that was passing by..." answered the lion.