[3rd POV]
Leo stopped the march when Pride Rock came into sight. It still stood far in the distance, jagged against the pale sky, but from here both he and his pride could see their enemies clearly.
The land between them was a graveyard of what once thrived. The sun was already high by this point and its light exposed every crack in the earth.
Grass had long since withered, leaving brittle stalks that bent under the dry wind. The trees that dotted the horizon were stripped bare, their branches twisted like skeletal arms. The air itself carried the stench of rot, a faint reminder of the slow death of the kingdom.
Leo let the pride rest for a moment while they discussed strategies. During their last battle, there had been no chance to implement strategies since they were attacked out of nowhere. But now, there was time, and he would not waste it.
Leo warned his pride to be careful and to watch each other's backs. Scar was ruthless, and Leo knew that even if the vain lion lost, he would try to drag others into his downfall.
He would try to hurt him as much as he could.
"I'm sure everyone feels the tension in the air," Leo said, his voice steady though the silence of the wasteland made it heavy. "It's going to start soon."
"I promise victory, but I cannot promise everyone's safety. Make sure you take care of yourselves. And in case one of us falls, let us not break apart and be blinded by rage."
His tone softened after that as he looked at his pride with pride. "And lastly, I want to thank each and every one of you for following me into this battle. For most of you, this is not even your fight, yet you are still willing to put your life in danger for me. You have my utmost gratitude. A king couldn't have asked for better subjects."
The pride bowed their heads with quiet smiles, accepting his rare gratitude with grace. For a few minutes they lingered in silence, sharing wishes of strength and luck, before setting forward again.
The cubs on the other hand were left there. They were told rules which they must strictly follow. They were only going to be a hindrance in battle so it was best that they did not intervene.
At the same time, the cubs were already old enough to run away or fight for their safety. Most of them were already bigger than a hyena. But still, they were made to stay there. They watched as the adults slowly disappeared into the horizon.
The pace of the pride was slow but had a steady weight, like the only thing stopping them now was time. By sunset, the Pridelands would welcome a new dynasty.
In response, Scar and his forces began gathering at the base of Pride Rock. Their numbers easily overwhelmed Leo's even now. But it was clear from the behavior of each side who had the upper hand.
When Scar's army had fully gathered, lions and hyenas, they too began to march forward.
For a moment, the two sides approached each other slowly. But soon enough, their pace quickened and their speed only increased with each passing second, until both sides were running at each other full speed.
Malice was in the air. War was abrupt.
The hyenas released crooked cries of fear and horrific laughter of anger. On the other hand, the lions roared and growled.
Together, they created a chorus that was sung before the start of an epic. It was the sound of threat before violence, life proving life before meeting end, and it was footsteps of the approaching battle that would be here anytime.
On Scar's side, the hyenas were at the forefront of the group. They were dispensable. They were cannon fodder. Scar's own pride followed right behind the line of hyenas, stalking through the bodies of hyenas like they were tall grasses.
On Leo's side, the king stayed at the very back, only following his pride and always prepared to defend. He let the older lions and the younger lions charge first too, while the best five lions were a little behind. If Scar's lions joined the battle, they would be the ones to meet them. The hyenas were of lesser threat so they let the weaker members meet them.
The world seemed to wait in anticipation as the two forces neared each other inch by inch. The very air became frozen for a still moment and then exploded out when both parties made the first contact.
They crashed together like thunder and blood was the rain. The ground trembled beneath their charge, dust and broken earth exploding upward as claws met flesh and teeth sank deep. Hyenas screeched and wailed, their crooked cries echoing across the barren land.
The front lines of hyenas shattered at the first collision, that was to be expected since the lions were bigger and stronger. They were many, but they were weak, and they met the wall of Leo's pride with no order, no discipline. So bodies rolled into the dust, some torn apart in an instant.
But number was always the advantage here. Leo's pride made a neat wall but behind them was no one else. On the other hand, the hyenas came in waves and even though the front-liners fell quickly, a bigger wave came upon them, trampling their own in order to hurt the enemy.
The lions swiped at the hyenas. Paws equipped with deadly claws, that was the extra weapon each lion had that hyenas didn't. The lions made use of that as they began raking the closest enemy.
Some hyenas had their faces peeled halfway, some suffered a broken jaw, others torn lips while the rest suffered worse injuries.
The lions were not unharmed too as they had to deal with the snapping of a hundred jaws. That much jaw was enough to chip away an elephant, much less lions. Their loose skin worked to prevent cut, penetration and tear damage but that too had its limits.
Imagine a war between animals to be completely different from sentient humans. The beasts were driven by instincts, not sentience. Each action they made, even a single one among the thousands, seemed way too deadly from human eyes.
But not only were they acting with such malice and violence, they were able to soak those up too. In the times of battle, the animals had endurance you simply would not believe.
There was no order. Even Leo's pride barely held a proper formation. The whole thing was chaos incarnate, where each beast attacked the nearest enemy on sight.
Limbs flailed around, jaws snapped shut with only sound, sometimes with flesh and bone in between. Blood seemed like a resource which every animal was excited to throw away. Red soon pooled on the land, but the dry earth drank everything with endless thirst.
Leo did not join the battle just yet, instead his eyes looked past the chaotic battle and locked with Scar's own gaze.
The two kings shared a look briefly, both snarling at each other with the culmination of years of anger.
Overlooking everything from above were the vultures and the drones. They swirled in the pale sky, their shadows stretching across the wasteland.
Scar's lions hung back only briefly before stepping forward. Their long silhouettes cut through the chaos of the hyenas. They were terribly fast, so much faster than the hyenas, so much faster than Leo's own pride.
They jolted out amid the sea of hyenas like sharks erupting from the sea. They were nine powerful lions, two of them being full-fledged male lions. They didn't have the size advantage, but they had enough bitterness and malice to make up for it.
"Careful!!!" Nala screamed from the back, but it was all too late. Some of the lionesses managed to move back in time but three of them got caught by the enemy.
The slender lions latched on the neck, the shoulder and the chest. They sank their teeth with the intent to kill. They also swiped out their claws, raking the lionesses and sinking their claws in flesh for a good hold.
Finally, Leo's side released painful cries.
"NO!!!" Nala burst forward from the back, finally it was time for the top hunters to enter the battle.
Eshe, Nydia and the other known warriors came forth and met the enemy lions head on. The fight between lions was much more different than between a lion and hyenas. This time, the battle was more balanced, with neither side winning immediately. It wasn't brutal but it was much more lethal.
While lions and hyenas exchanged blood, lions seemed to exchange danger and deadly blows with each other. It was a frightening sight in its own right. Every action they performed was made to kill, and they had killed, hundreds of prey had died from them.
So they were throwing these same attacks at each other, trying to rob the other of their life.
Amid Leo's lionesses, Zael also came forward. He was a male lion among females so his sheer size and presence stood out. He came forward and bellowed a deep roar before raging.
He made quick work of three hyenas that tried to aid the enemy lions before two lionesses came on him. One attacked from the front while another leapt on his back. The two bit as hard as they could but females were much weaker than males.
Zael released a deep growl before his claws came out and he began dealing with the two lionesses.
His massive frame bucked, throwing the one on his back to the ground with a sickening thud. He pinned her with one paw and snapped his jaws toward the second, forcing her to retreat with a hiss. His mane seemed to have gotten even darker ever since they came to the Pridelands, his eyes were orbs of fury.
The battle raged on.
The hyenas felt a huge relief as Scar's lionesses were able to deal with one lion each. That gave breathing space for them and also to look for another angle of attack.
But right before they could launch an attack and turn the tide, a roar punched holes into the howling air. Leo's roar shook the battlefield and his presence alone elevated the battle to a whole other dimension of intensity.
"Disperse!!! Remember the plan!! Take them out one by one!!" In retaliation, Scar did not join the battle but instead screamed out the order.
Leo took a giant leap into the air. He jumped past his army of lions and landed directly onto the clan of hyenas. But without protesting in fight they dispersed immediately. They made puppy sounds the moment Leo lunged into battle.
His entrance was a sign to the rest of the pride as well. The lionesses shared a look between themselves before they too dispersed, as if also following Scar's command.
Leo had separated the pride into four groups in total. There were the top five fighters of the pride, Zael, Nala, Eshe, Nydia and Sabaa. They made the first group and played the most important role. They were to stay with Leo and fight Scar and his pride head on while the rest would deal with the hyenas.
The rest of the pride were further separated into three groups. Although Leo did not say it out loud, he did not put together lionesses that were too close and could drag each other down if one fell. So the groups were a mix of the older generation, the younger ones and even Tala who was not included in the first group due to her previous mistake.
Each group found each other amid the chaos and dispersed immediately. The hyenas, seeing a chance to run away from Leo, did so with an unhealthy amount of need as they bolted after the other lions.
The chaotic battlefield split into four. Almost every hyena split apart and followed the three groups of Leo's pride. They moved into another location to have their own battle.
Meanwhile, Leo and the first group, along with Scar and his pride of lions remained.
Leo watched all this happen and did nothing else. It was all part of their plan so he let it proceed.
After the others had left, Leo turned back to the battlefield. Scar kept with him five hyenas beside him but other than that, it was only lions that stayed in this particular battle.
Looking around, Leo analyzed his enemies and he couldn't help but grin a monstrous grin.
"Too easy," he said.
He turned to face Scar and his pride. His own lions immediately positioned themselves behind him.
The two lion prides went into a stare down briefly.
"This is the end," Leo said.
The vultures in the sky were many, enough to cast a shadow in the particular area where the battle was going to take place. The carrion were crying out in anticipation.
"You all haven't welcomed me," Leo said, addressing Scar and his pride.
"I'm home."
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[IMAGE]
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Author : Thats the third chapter of the night.