The Lion of Veronya I— When First He Roared

Adinoyi had almost forgotten the title.The Lion of Veronya.His deeds earned him the title. Battle of the Serpent’s Neck. The Second Wars of the Midlands. Thirty-five years had passed since that day, yet the memories remained as sharp as steel in his mind.At the time he had been only twenty-seven years old—a young warrior who had risen rapidly through the ranks of Veronya’s army.The Midlands War had raged for nearly a decade. Veronya had allied itself with the kingdoms of the Midlands of Wazobia: the Njeki mercenaries led by the infamous warlord Gidi-gidi, the great Kingdom of Benin, and the warriors of Igala. Together they stood against the invading alliance of Zonan, Biala, and Walia, whose armies had swept across the land like a storm.For years the war dragged on, neither side able to break the other.But in the final campaign, the invaders gathered their full strength and launched one last overwhelming assault. Their armies pushed the Midland Alliance back to the narrow strip of land known as the Serpent’s Neck, the place where the two great rivers met.There the final battle would be decided.The Njeki and Igala forces held the eastern flank against Biala, while the armies of Veronya and Benin faced the combined might of Zonan and Walia.At the head of the enemy armies rode two of the most feared warriors in the world.Balogun the Iron Bender of Walia, a giant of a man who wielded a mace capable of shattering steel.And Murtala the Mighty of Zonan, master of the skies who rode into battle upon a monstrous winged beast known as Jemage, a giant bat whose scream could split stone.The battle that followed was chaos and thunder.Steel rang against steel. War beasts roared. The sky darkened with arrows.Then disaster struck.Commander Otipa, leader of the Veronyan army, was struck down by a Walian sky-archer. The arrow pierced his throat, and the great commander toppled from the saddle of his lion.The mighty beast roared in confusion, riderless amid the carnage.For a moment, the soldiers of Veronya faltered.Their commander was dead.Their army leaderless.It was then that Adinoyi acted.Spurring his horse forward, he leapt from the saddle and landed upon the lion’s back.The beast erupted in fury, bucking and twisting violently, trying to throw him off. Its massive claws tore into the earth as it roared and thrashed.But Adinoyi refused to yield.He seized the reins with iron determination, gripping them with the strength of a man possessed. The lion struggled fiercely, but slowly—slowly—it bent to his will.Adinoyi reached down and pulled Otipa’s fallen helm from the ground.The lion-crested helm of Veronya.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Gemini_Generated_Image_wqpigswqpigswqpi.png"/>He placed it upon his head.Then he turned the beast toward the enemy commanders.If Veronya was to survive, the head of the invading army had to be cut off.Adinoyi urged the lion forward and rode straight toward the enemy lines.Balogun and Murtala saw him immediately.Believing him to be Commander Otipa, they gave chase.Balogun rode upon a monstrous reptilian beast known as a forest lizard, its claws sharp as iron and its scaled hide harder than steel.Murtala descended from the sky upon the great bat Jemage, its vast wings blotting out the sun.

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