[3rd POV]
(Group 2)
The second group consisted of Nia, Tala, Kali, Asha, and Shira. They were followed by multiple hyenas as they moved away from the rest of the group. They were not running for the sake of running either. Instead, it was more like they were dragging the fight elsewhere while fending off the hyenas at the same time.
A few vultures flew down to help and guide them towards the planned location. A gorge existed only a kilometre away from the Pride Rocks. Yes, it was the same gorge where Mufasa died and the reason why Mufasa could quickly reach there to save his son was also because it was near the Pride Rocks.
The group was heading directly to that gorge to get a better fighting position. Inside the tight space of the gorge, the hyenas would not be able to surround them and they could fight back equally even though they were five against many hyenas.
"They are more than expected!!" Tala screamed out while turning and running away briefly before turning back and fighting off the two hyenas that slammed on her.
She swung her paw with very ill intent. She nicked one hyena on the nose, leaving a clean cut, She kocked the other hyena at the head, sending the enemy to tumble. But the hyenas also figth back, they immedaitely bite down at her paw.
Tala groweld, quickly retracting her paw and snapping her teeth at the hyenas but missing. She ran again before they could continue and find the rhytm of their attacked.
From the hyeans prespective, it looked liek they were winning and the lions were runnninga way and fighting back to fend them off.
"There are around 40 of them!!" Nia said, "We can win if we take down ten each!"
"Easy to say, harder to do!!" Asha said, twsiting her body and swiping her claws at the hyenas but the enemy was able to step back and dodge the attack.
Another hyena lunged at Asha's flank, its jaws clamping into her fur. She spun violently, raking her hind claws across its snout until blood sprayed across the dirt. Before she could breathe, another came from the side and she rammed her shoulder into it, knocking both of them back but leaving her own ribs bruised.
It was not a chaotic war environment anymore and the hyenas had space to fight. So, although it might seem unrealistic, it was harder to kill them in this case.
"We need to get into the gorge, the king said help awaits there. Stick to the plan." Shira said. She was the daughter of Roku and was the most intelligent among the younger generations. She knew the importance of the plan and how they would win against the odds through that.
It was a hard-fought battle. They couldn't simply turn their backs and run because then the hyenas would lunge from the back and attack from the blind spot. There had to be a good mixture between retreat and fight.
Nia turned suddenly and lunged head-on into a charging hyena, her weight slamming the enemy flat. But before she could finish it, two more crashed into her side. They snapped for her throat, but she kicked upward with her hind legs, throwing one aside while clamping her teeth onto the other's spine.
A crunch followed but she did not have time to see what damage she did. She staggered and continued running.
The hyenas began laughing halfway to the gorge. The beasts were quite mindless and the moment they tasted blood, they did not even bother considering that they could be lured into a trap.
After ten minutes or so, the lionesses finally reached the gorge.
"Get down into the gorge!!" Shira roared, she had been at the lead and avoided most confrontation. The others cared for her still because she was so young.
She was the least battered so she decided to hold the hyenas back while the others ran down the gorge.
"Move it!!" she said and then lunged back, catching two hyenas mid-air that were trying to use the sharp descent of the gorge as some kind of a leaping ramp to catch the lionesses.
Shira slammed the two hyenas on the ground. Her own juvenile body aching sharply upon contact. But whatever injury she suffered, the hyenas had it twice as bad so it was worth it.
A guttural roar left her throat, a sound of need, anger and the unwavering desire to survive. The hyenas came with their intimidating number but Shira blurred those numbers and only focused on the fight.
Her aim was not to win, but to slow them down. So she decided to fight as ferocious as she could. She would do freakishly brutal things so that it would make the hyenas second guess themselves and waste time.
It was a tactic their king used when he held the gorge. The lionesses learned, without having to be told.
So when a hyena shot forward, aiming to cripple her legs, Shira pulled her legs back from the snapping jaw and then grabbed the hyena's face with all of her claws.
Her jaw bit out immediately as well. But this time, instead of trying to bite flesh, Shira bit at the soft ear of the hyena. And in one violent pull, she peeled the ear and skin off the hyena. It was not a lethal attack, but one that sent the hyena crying out in pure agony.
Another came at her, this time shooting for her throat. Shira tried to move away but the hyena managed to grab her neck. She roared out, but that was choked into a crooked scream.
But in such a moment where the instinct screamed at her to escape and defend, Shira attacked instead. She pushed forward, making the hyena who tried to keep its hold bend the neck to the extreme. The lioness had loose skin so that protected her for a bit.
In the meantime, Shira ragdolled the hyena and flipped him. And then without a second thought she bit at the open belly and she bit down on the small protrusion on it.
It was the shaft of the hyena. Both males and females have this so they all shared the weakness. Shira violently tore that away from the hyena.
Not to mistake it with attacking the testicles though. That was Leo's thing, Shira was attacking the shaft.
Shira continued to hold the hyenas back for a few more seconds. She sent four hyenas crying in the duration. And after everyone was in the gorge, she followed too.
The lionesses ran down the gorge as fast as they could. This time, they sprinted without pausing for a fight.
The hyenas came down like a tsunami. Only four or five hyenas had been injured and could not follow so there was still a good number of them. Their teeth were bathed red from the small wounds they inflicted on the lionesses.
They laughed madly and snarled angrily while trotting down the gorge.
The lionesses continued running through the tight gorge that looked like an open vein of the earth. They ran until they saw one monkey peeking out from the edge of the gorge from above.
They slid to a stop and turned, seemingly to stand their ground.
Five of them stood side by side, panting while blood decorated their fur. But the determination in their eyes spoke of hope and the sheer fight still left in them.
Their king really put huge expectations on them. But instead of complaining, they took that as a great honour. Leo was a very independent lion king, even hunting for the whole pride more than the pride hunted for him. He was a provider unlike anyone else.
So this was a great chance for them to finally show gratitude and also to show their king that they could be depended on.
They stood like mountains stacked against the hyenas. Seemingly unwavering despite the wounds, seemingly unkillable despite the blood. If lions had spirit theirs must be burning in that moment.
"Wait for it, wait for it," Shira said as the hyenas loomed in front of them. It was a scary sight to stare at the clan of hyenas coming at them with dripping open jaws marked with their own blood.
Any other animals would've run. But that was always what made the lions so special. Sheer pride made them stay.
The lionesses stood their ground, solid.
"NOW!!!" Shira screamed out right when the hyenas were in the perfect distance. Her voice bounced off and echoed through the gorge.
The hyenas paused, confused. But they were not confused for long because they soon heard a rumble from the sides and there was a violent earthquake beneath their paws.
When they looked to the side, that was when they noticed a rockslide coming down from either side of the gorge. The intimate objects rolled down with no mercy, only weight that would crush anything in their path.
The hyenas released crooked barks and tried to run in panic. But their numbers worked against them so they stumbled on each other. The more they hurried, the more they fell and the more trapped they became.
It was too late. The boulder-sized rocks crashed onto them and crushed them in an instant. A few died instantly due to their head getting smashed while they fell, but the others had their legs crushed, ribs broken, or in some fortunate cases, had their shoulders dislocated.
They howled in pain.
The violent sound of rocks smashing against rock could be heard. The squelching of blood and the sound of bones crushed by rocks sometimes echoed too.
A huge dust rose, blinding the hyenas even further. But the moment was short, it was over almost instantly. But the damage that was done was consequential.
And yet it was not over.
One hyena shook her head. She was one of the lucky ones to be piled on top of others so she was not injured. But when she looked at the cliff of the gorge, she saw mandrills on both sides. They were screaming loudly in celebration, some even dancing in victory.
The hyena bared her teeth in anger but then recoiled when a rock smashed on her face. Half of her face was lost, her eyeball completely crushed inside her skull.
She cried out.
But that was only the beginning. After the rockslide ended, the mandrills began throwing rocks at the fallen hyenas. There was no mercy as they were attacked from all angles.
One could only wonder what the hyenas did in the past to make the primates so angry. Perhaps some hyenas had killed their loved ones, perhaps it was only anger for destroying their home. Perhaps it was both. Perhaps it was more.
Regardless, the mandrills had their vengeance for everything done and undone. The onslaught lasted for nearly a minute. By that point, no hyenas were unscratched.
After that, all hope was lost. The lionesses roared and ran towards them. They leapt up the small pile of rocks and began ending the injured hyenas.
The mandrills on the top of the gorge also came down. They scaled down the cliff with surprising speed, their thick fur jiggling and their colourful faces were nightmare. When they opened their jaws, it showed fangs that were longer than any felines or hyenas.
Monkeys were not taught how to kill, so they simply tore at the hyenas until they died of pain or blood loss.
It was a brutal and sad end.
That was the end of the 40 hyenas. None of them left the gorge alive.
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Author : I wanted to explore more of how each group deal with the hyenas instead of just giving the spotlight to Leo like we did in the first battle.
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