Lion Guard: The Lion's Heir

Chapter 11: Las Navas de Tolosa

Kopa stared across the valley floor, mountains all around them, and tried not to shutter upon seeing the sheer might of the army opposing them. In all his life, he'd never seen more fighting men gathered in one place. A sea of banners and tents washed over the grass like a lake of vibrant colors.

"Dios sea bueno, never before have so many Spaniards come together in one army!" Archbishop Jimenez of Castile crossed himself while looking over their own camp. If their count was correct, the Crusader army numbered just over twenty-thousand fighting men. Alfonso and his Castilians made up the largest contingent, with Kopa's Navarrese and French in second, Pedro and his Aragonese third, and the rest made up of the military orders and Crusaders from Leon and Portugal.

Twenty-thousand was an overwhelmingly massive number for an army. The Angevine Empire and Reich Empire were both capable of raising forces that large but not easily. Even so, Kopa felt a knot forming in his stomach when he looked back at the Almohad army.

"Last count?" He asked King Alfonso, who stared the Berbers down with grim determination.

"Mis exploradores tienen buenos ojos, over forty-two thousand."

Afua almost yelped and crossed himself.

"Forty-two thousand!!! I thought only the Aurevitas Empire at its prime could raise armies that large!!!"

"Al-Nasir probably emptied his entire Caliphate for men for this. Maybe he does plan on continuing on to France after this. Also, mon ami, Aurevitas at its height could raise armies over a hundred-thousand strong."

Clovis was drinking some wine when he choked on it and violently pounded his chest.

"Dieu ait pitié!! Ashamed what's become of the Aurevitas then, eh."

"These bastardos won't reach France because we're going to stop them here. We're well positioned. We can beat them. The Lord God knows we can!" Alfonso roared, earning similar enthusiasm from Pedro and the others. Kopa and his knights did much the same, though the sheer magnitude of Al-Nasir's host lingered on their minds.

That evening, after several hours of discussing their order of battle, Kopa and the Kings each went to confession before going to bed. The King struggled to sleep as the thought of a flood made of Berbers sweeping over them and continuing on to Navarre, then France and England haunted him.

"Dieu ait pitié! Jésus-Christ, Seigneur et sauveur, protège-nous ! Saint Michel Archange, protégez-nous, s'il vous plaît!!!!"

Breathing heavily and his heart pounding, Kopa's eyes shot open, and he saw himself back in the valley. The stars still shined above him, yet he was alone, the Crusaders and Almohads both gone.

"What's happening? Where is everyone?"

Suddenly, the wind picked up but not like any wind he'd ever felt before. The clouds above him steadily gathered in an unnatural and ethereal manner. Not sure of what this meant, Kopa could think of only one thing and fell to his knees and began praying again when suddenly the wind picked up, and he heard a voice slowly rising among it.

"Quoi? Who's there!!!?"

"Kopa." The voice grew, and yet, somehow, Kopa felt calmer. He'd never heard it before, yet somehow the voice reminded him of his father's.

"Kopa." Looking back at the clouds, his eyes widened as a figure slowly appeared atop them. A lion of a man with a tremendous red mane and imposing features loomed over Kion. Yet he wasn't a man anymore. He now seemed unearthly, almost angelic, with an aura of radiant light surrounding him and what he could only describe as a golden halo around his head.