Jimlion
When the day finally came that a poor soul was rescued.
At the end of Bovodar and the Bears, we learn of yet one more new character. This fella is named Jimlion. And he is, well, a lion. Chained up since forever, poor Jimlion’s been passed from one owner to the next. His first taste of freedom came when Bovodar and the bears took Kalas Hall from the wicked King Valemod.
Before his emancipation, however, his state of life was filled with sorrow. In fact, when Bovodar first encountered him, he had no idea that he was even a lion. Once, when chained to the wall in the feasting hall, Bovodar looked to a pile of bones, and there in the pile, saw a pair of eyes he could not explain.
During the dinners, Bovodar was thrown into the bones that were piled up in the corner of the dining hall. It was so smelly there because the meat still attached to older bones was rotten. Whenever the white bears finished their portions of meat, they would cast their bones over at the pile, frequently hitting Bovodar.
At one point as he lingered in that pile, Bovodar noticed the same pair of eyes he saw the first night when he ate at the table. Fearful of whatever creature was rolling around in the pile of bones with him, Bovodar scooted back as far as his chain would allow, until finally he saw that it was a lion.
Much transpired before Bovodar could finally break his own bonds and join his friends in a grand assault on the castle. But when that hour had finally arrived and he claimed his own freedom, he used all of his strength and rage to snap those chains and take revenge against his persecutors.
When the noise died down, and the hall was finally a quieter place, Bovodar was able to return to that spot where he was immobilized and humiliated during Valemod’s dinners. And there, from underneath the bones, emerged Jimlion—whom Bovodar would also free once and for all.
After the lands around Kalas Hall were finally liberated from the tyranny of King Valemod, there was much rest, mirth, and happiness. And finally came the journey home, down south through the Beluosus Sea, round the cape where they saw the Lighthouse of Sotkala. Both Bovodar and Jimlion were making that journey together, new friends that they were. Tedthun, Bovodar presumed, was acting captain of this ship, and he regaled Bovodar with tales of how bears were the “finest navigators in the world,” attributing their skill to the great bear, Ursilius, “from whom it is said all bears descend.”
Always keeping the land to the left side of the ship, they eventually passed the land of the armadils before they finally made port and disembarked to take the road back to Irv Forest.
In two short weeks after landfall, Bovodar had returned home. He introduced Tedthun, Jimlion, and the other bear sentries to his mother and father, Brana and Goban Yarkery.
After that amazing homecoming moment—when Goban and Brana rejoiced to see their son alive, healthy, and wiser from his travels—the time for Jimlion to leave had come. Thrilled with his journey on the ship, thrilled with seeing the North, thrilled to be in such new climes—thrilled with his new freedom—Jimlion was ready to explore a little in solitude. At which point, he said his goodbye to Bovodar for everything, in sincere gratitude for everything he’d done for him:
“I would gladly have you stay with me, Jimlion,” said Bovodar. “Though I do not immediately know where you could sleep. As you can see, my old friend Grep had a home in the hollow of my tree, but I think it is too small for you.”
Jimlion crouched down and gazed at the small doorway that the little mole once comfortably walked through on a daily basis. “I will be fine,” Jimlion said. “I’m sure that there is plenty of places here in Irv that would be a suitable residence.”
“Of course,” conceded Bovodar. “But, you know, I can always build more room. I suppose I am going to become a carpenter someday.”
Jimlion declined Bovodar’s offer to build him a house. After being cramped up on that little ship, and after being cooped up in that nasty little pile of bones in Kalas Hall, it seemed that Jimlion was starting to get an itch to explore a bit of the world. So, after saying a temporary goodbye and promising to keep in touch as often as possible, Jimlion withdrew into the woods to find himself a new place in the world. That pitiable lion, after living a shell of a life, was now going to catch up on all the things he had missed out on—things other lions knew of well. It was a big world, and he could start anywhere. And just as his figure had disappeared into the thick bundles of trees, Bovodar could hear the lion yell, “I promise, good kind Bovodar, I will return within a week to let you know what I find! I’ve never been free before, so this should be fun!” And with that, Jimlion had departed.
You can read about Bovodar’s very first adventure in the novel, Bovodar and the Bears, available on Amazon at THIS LINK HERE. And if you do decide to journey into Bovodar’s world, please consider leaving a rating and review—it truly helps independent creators like us.
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