rumbling growl told me we’d been joined by not one, but several cats that together formed a lethal assemblage. At least two dozen females had materialized from the tall grasses around the trees, and two more males, albeit smaller than the one facing me, approached the group also.
Once the entire pride arrived, they paced back and forth, growling and hissing, waiting for the signal to strike. The circle of death was frightening enough to make the devil drop his pitchfork and run, but all I could do was tremble in my golden sandals and wait for something to happen.
Nothing did.
I was expecting an attack, but the lions seemed to be waiting for something else. The male lifted his head and roared before stepping aside, signaling it was time for me to go. I took one hesitant step forward and then another.
When I reached the tree line nearly a quarter mile away and passed the tallest of them, I heard the crack of thunder. Although there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a hum of electricity made the tiny hairs at the nape of my neck stand on end.
I turned to peer at the group, shading my eyes from the sun, and heard the male bellow loudly. He repeated the action three times before all the females sat down. All except one. She strode forward, nuzzling him, but kept her eyes focused ahead. On me. With a final earsplitting roar, the male stepped back and the female answered. Before I could blink, she was headed toward me at full speed.
A gasp of horror escaped my lips, my heart quickening. Spinning, I raced over the crest of a looming hill and across the terrain as fast as my legs could carry me. I leapt over a fallen tree and a few seconds later heard the scrape of her claws on the bark. Ducking through underbrush, I twisted and turned, desperate to escape the lioness chasing me, but I was a clumsy sort of prey.
If I’d had a weapon, I could perhaps have fought her off. She was nearly on top of me. As I stumbled over a rock, her claws raked down the length of my dress and the ripped fabric trailed behind me, catching on branches and bushes. When I darted across a shallow stream, she leapt quickly to the other side, turning to face me. She crouched down, her golden eyes assesssing me, her powerful limbs flexing.
If I was going to be dinner for a hungry pride of lions, then at least I could give them a good run for it.
After kicking water in her face, I spun and ran back in the direction I’d come from. My breath came in heavy gusts and my stomach clenched; I knew that at any second I was going to feel her claws sinking into my back and her teeth kissing my throat. I despaired, knowing that I’d die here. I’d never find Amon and never save those I loved.
I wondered how long Dr. Hassan would wait for me. Would he find my gnawed bones and give me a proper burial? Would he even know what had happened to me? If only I could see Amon again before I died. Stand in his embrace once more. Thinking of Amon made me remember what he’d said the night before. He’d cautioned me to embrace my instincts. So what was my gut telling me?
I was scared. Was it possible that this lioness was the one who would judge my worthiness? I’d been expecting an actual sphinx or a monster of some kind. Not an average, everyday lion. Perhaps I’d been thinking about everything wrong. Isis had said that if I was judged unworthy, then my heart would be consumed. What was I supposed to do?
It was soon obvious that the lioness was toying with me instead of finishing me off. As the sun sank in the west, I knew I wouldn’t have the energy to continue much longer. Oscar’s words returned to me then about how death was found in the sunset and life in the east. I was headed toward death.
Finally coming to a stop, I turned to face my pursuer. The lioness paused and growled softly, as if disappointed that the mouse she’d been playing with was no longer interested in the game.
“Look,” I said. “I’m not sure if you’re the answer to this riddle. I don’t know if you want to just wear me out or if you really mean to eat