Lucida the Lioness Essay

It was around the time of the 100 years war, the bitter battle between France and England. While the world was obsessed with creating empires there was one empire that existed on a plane beyond us. To silence the voice of lions was the intent of mankind. Many eons ago, the Lion did not roar, he spoke, loud from the mountain tops and filled the world with terror. He breathed fire onto the lands below and warned of the doom of the world should a savior not be found. The word of men assumed that that savior would be a man and did not look amongst women. The answer would come in the land of Lionire, whose king sought a solution to the endless battles and torments of the lions. The prophetess Clyra had told him that his strength lay not in a man or a god, but in a woman. She told him to set sail for an unknown land and was told that he would reach this place without needing a map. After months of travel and many toils, he landed on the Cypriot islands where he fell in love with a fisherman’s daughter. Lucida was beautiful and golden, unlike the maidens of his own land who were comparatively insipid. At Lionire, trouble was worse than ever before, the Lions burning the land to cinders. But Lucida sat in her parlor and looked out over the Purple Moors. She noticed on the far side, a group of hills to which she was unmistakably drawn. The sun shone high and Lucida took the road to the Lion Caves, although she knew not what awaited her. She walked and walked to a place where time stood still and even though she walked, seemed to be going nowhere. While the wind whipped through her golden hair and the sun shone on her deep gold skin, Alfred argued with his counsel that Lucida was the answer to the portent and the country’s prayers. Meanwhile, a messenger entered the counsel-room and announced that Lucida had disappeared. After a time, a herd boy entered saying he had seen her walking that morning. He told the counsel that Lucida was seen walking towards the Cractus caves where the great lions dwelt. The people searched and searched for days and could find no trace of Lucida. After the 5th day it was assumed she had been taken by the Lion, yet the search party could go no further than the entrance to the caves. Alfred gathered his troops and set off to war, but it was not with the fear that he had carried for years. He had a peace that Lucida was alive and that she was the chosen one. So, Lucida had looked up at the hills above her and seen the gigantic lion looking down at her, she had known fear like this before but her name meant ‘the light in the dark’ and she spoke clearly to the Lion of Cractus. â€Å"If I am to dine with you or to be dined upon, this is my destiny and I am here to honor it. † One step at a time, she walked into the caves and reached out towards the Lion who came to her as a kitten would. And Lucida spoke to the great lion of Cractus and the lion himself told Lucida that he was seeking a peaceful existence between man and animal, and that if she formed a pact with him, his voice would be silenced and no more people from Lionire would be killed at the lions den. He told her that she needed to gather the women of Lionire to go to battle with their men, that they should be a partnership and not of subordination. When Lucida came down from the hills on the 6th day, she was bright and engulfed in an expanding light that the entire Lionire could see. Alfred sat astride his horse and looked out at the impossible army he was supposed to defeat. They were outnumbered 5 to 1. On her return, Lucida gathered the woman of Lionire together and those who were able to fight and they marched to the battle-fields where the enemy would be defeated. On her return, it was known that Lucida had fulfilled the prophecy and had been blessed by the great Lion of Cractus. Thereafter, not a single Lionirian citizen was ever to be killed again by a lion of the Cractus caves. She became known as Lucida the Lioness and peace reigned over the country until Lucida’s apparent death. She was known to have emancipated the women of Lionire, giving them the right to fight for their country. As a result, Lionire held the finest army in the land, its women numbering amongst its warriors. It is said that a hundred years later, Lucida took the path to the caves one last time and was never seen again. The lion’s voice was silenced and in its place was a roar that still chills the blood of those who hear it. It is a symbol what the world used to be and of the strength of a woman who was able to lead an army.