Mortuus Rex's Den

– Mom mom! Tell the legend of Sagamara!
The lioness, lazily lounging on the soft grass in the shade of the trees, shudders, then jumps up abruptly and, rearing her fur, fiercely hisses at the approaching cub.
– Don't you dare say the name of the Primordial King aloud! Never, do you hear! How did you even know about him?!
The lion cub, slightly dumbfounded by such a violent reaction, sprawls on the grass in front of an angry mother towering over him and squeals uncertainly:
– Well, we played, and... and I accidentally overheard a conversation... that it was not the Great Dark who founded our pride, but Sagamar...
The lioness doesn't seem to even listen to her son's confused story. Gradually it calms down, the coat smoothes, the grin disappears. She sits down, tucking her paws under her and looking with an unseeing gaze somewhere into the distance. The lion cub pauses and carefully sits down next to her, waiting.
– Well, well, – the lioness says after a while in a quiet, tired voice. – I will tell; in the end, we have to tell our descendants about this so that they never forget... Listen: a long, long time ago, there lived a lion named Sagamar. He had no home, no pride, and no one knew where he was born or who his parents were. But when he grew up and matured, he became strong enough to collect his pride. Sagamar was a cruel, but petty leader, and, moreover, a terrible coward. Not all the lionesses of his pride were happy with him, and once several of them conspired to invite a familiar lone lion to the pride, who would kill Sagamara and become the new leader. And so it happened – Sagamar remained dead on the plain of the savannah, and the pride, under the leadership of the new leader, moved west, into the mountains. But then…
The lioness pauses for a while, then sighs noisily and continues the story:
– So, the pride lived in the mountains and everyone was happy. But then Sagamar returned.
– How! – the lion cub cries out in amazement, – he died!
– I do not know. Well, someone says that it was not Sagamar at all, but another lion, similar to him. Anyway, he was eerily black, not as black as coal or damp earth, but completely black, so that darkness came from his skin and dissipated in the wind.
– Great Dark!
– Yes, this is it. What happened next, you know – he killed the leader of the pride and took his place, proclaiming himself king – the first King – and then cruelly dealt with several lionesses, as they say, with those who participated in the conspiracy against Sagamara.
– I don’t understand, – the lion cub drawled, blinking in confusion, – if Sagamar is the Great Dark One, then why is it possible to talk about the Great Dark, but not about Sagamar?
The lioness, blinking, reluctantly replies:
– Perhaps the fact is that the Great Dark One despises his previous pitiful incarnation and does not want to be spoken of as a pitiful loser like Sagamar. Or maybe the reason is different. Maybe there are many reasons. Just remember: pronouncing the name of the Primordial King in vain, you risk falling out of favor with the Great Dark. And now... – the lioness gets up and stretches with languor. The sun goes down, the forest is covered with a grayish-green twilight. The little lion cub remembers the beast, from whose skin pure darkness emanates, and shivers, carefully peering into the shadows swarming in the thickets.
– Now it's time for you to sleep, – the lioness concludes and slowly walks away. Her son runs after her, trying to keep up, but before that he stands motionless for a while, intently examining a strange shadow, especially dark in the wrong half-light of twilight. It seems to him that this shadow is like a lion.