[3rd POV]
"At this point, we will chase them out of the Serenegti entirely," Scarface said while gazing south, the rising sun was on his side.
Although the sentence he uttered brought delight and pride to the other lions, the tone he used was grave and full of worry, making them confused as to how they should react.
The most dominant lion in history, Leo, was being chased away and they marked every land they took as theirs. Soon enough, the Serengeti would belong to them; wasn't that a good thing?
Apparently not from the look Scarface had on his face.
To chase away their source of fear was foolish; they needed to destroy it completely. Scarface as he stood, knew that he was a testament of what happened when one allowed an enemy to survive and run away.
"We need to catch up to them and attack," Scarface said, turning his body towards the other lions.
Leo and his pride were moving slolwy so at this distance, Scarface and his team could catch up anytime. The pride had cubs and pregnant lionessess, while they were made up of male in their prime.
"The hyenas will stop us, though," Baraka, the lion who carried his father's frame and physique, said.
As the days passed, hyenas from all over the Serengeti had gathered around Leo and his pride. At this point, their scavengers acted as a sort of barrier between Leo's pride and the coalition. Leo also had eyes in the sky, so they couldn't outmaneveour their number as well.
"Then we simply break through them. If things continue like this, we are playing right under Leo's plan. We will be nothing but victims walking into the jaw of the beast," Scraface said.
He thought killing the hyenas before the real battle was a much better alternative than allowing them and Leo to fight together.
"We are not here to take over the Serenegti, we came together to kill that thing, make no mistake," Scraface said, baring his teeth and sharp gaze to every male in the vicinity.
Some were reluctant, but none had a logical reason or alternative plan to say anything. They're reluctancy was only backed by feelings. So no one voiced any complaints.
Lions and hyenas were sworn enemies as well, so what harm could killing hyenas do?
After the sun rose to the sky with seemingly great enthusiasm, the lions set out. Their pace could not be said to be running but they were walking fast. The length of their pace alone was many times wider than that of females so they closed the gap quickly.
When noon rolled over, the lions had already covered half the distance put between them and Leo's pride. And it was then that they came face to face with the clan of hyenas under Leo's rule.
The hyenas were bickering among each other over the skeletal remains Leo and his pride had left in their main. The bones still had decaying flesh on them. The carcass of the buffalo, even after being stripped of flesh, was quite a sight to behold.
Six or seven hyenas were tearing away at the bones while at the same time fighting amongst themselves for the remains. One could see other hyenas around the area, but they all had a fraction of the carcass, which they were chewing on.
The sight of sixteen lions paused their daily life. All the hyenas locked their gaze on the lions. In turth, they had sensed their presence and smelled their scent a long time ago. But none moved because of words that held more weight than sixteen lions in their heart.
The words of the king.
From a location way ahead, a female hyena that was bigger than all others slolwy trotted towards the lions. The walk took a long time, but every soul waited even though it took ten minutes.
The staling worked for both parties. During that time, more hyenas in the surroundings gathered to the place, their head low but their stubby tails straight. Scarface also approved of this becuase the more they gathered, the more they could kill in one battle.
Long before it happened, everyone knew it was going to be an all-out fight.
Eventually, the female, the clan leader, stopped ten metres away from Scraface and his group that spread sprasle. It might look far but at this distance, the animals could clearly see, hear and feel their opponent.
A dozen vultures lazily create circles in the sunny sky. Their shadow appeared much bigger than they were whenever they flew beneath the sun.
The moment the hyena stopped was the moment the rest moved. They stood in their place, their tails standing upright towards the sky. Soon enough, hyenas that were all ready to fight littered the area like dots in the sand. Their number was close to sixty, from what Scraface counted.
The lions did the same. They didn't stick together like a human group or army. Instead, their numbers spread as wide and as long as the fifty hyenas. There was a good 30 metre gap between every lion. They didn't need to fight together against mere hyenas.
Even if there were eighty hyenas, a lion could take five hyenas by itself with casual ease. In fact, it usually required a whole clan to chase one lion king away. From this perspective, it was clear to see the outcome of the battle. As easy as determining rain when one sees dark clouds in the sky.
Scarface was deeply impressed. Not because of their number or their strength but by the courage that these animals had when they could sense their own death. He wondered if he could motivate a completely different species in the same way Leo could.
In that aspect, Scarface had deep respect for Leo. Size, strength, and power could all be contributed to one's birth. But what lay before him was something that was earned, created, and embraced.
No words were spoken.
It was odd enough to expect words from animals in the first place.
In a clash between this many animals, it was hard to recall who made the first move. Was it the sudden roar of Baraka? Was it the sudden act of aggression by the hyenas that sprint towards them or was it Scarface's growl?
Five minutes later there was a cloud of dust in the area, thick enough to rival the clouds of vapour in the sky.
The dry earth drank the red blood, mistaking it for water. The violent noise created by the hyenas contrasted with the strategic roars and growls of the hyenas. It would be wise for all hyenas to attack one lion at a time but Scarface was already prepared and spread the forces thin to match the hyenas.
If a lion roared, the other nearby immedaitely rushed to the sound for help.
Outpowered and outplanned, the only advantage the hyenas had turned tragic. The numerical advantage only causes a swell in casualties and not a swell in their chances.
After half an hour had passed, one could see broken hyenas fleeing the scene if they were not already corpses on the ground. The female lion, the leader, dragged her unmoving hind legs while retreating towards the north.
It was admirable that she was running further away from Leo's pride instead of leading the enemies towards it.
The hyenas had tasted, for nearly a year, the paradise that was living under Leo's rule. Animals were controlled by their ultimate desire and purpose, which was to reproduce. No danger at the presence could compare to the prosperous life their cubs would lead in the future under Leo's rule.
Such love for the future might be due to the fact that the dominant gender in hyenas was female, all mothers.
The hyenas died.
But they did manage to give Leo and his pride one more day until inevitable conflict.
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[3rd POV]
Leo stood alone in the middle of the landscape. If one were to take an aerial shot, they would notice that he was the only animal in a two-kilometre radius. When he had heard reports of the sudden movement from the enemies, he stayed behind while he ordered the rest of the pride to continue moving south.
Leo's ears moved like mini-satellites, his nose twitched, picking up the long scent of blood.
An hour later, a vulture reported what happened. The enemies had moved back to recover their stamina and the small wounds inflicted by hyenas pushed at death's doors.
Leo processed what happened with a stoic face. His hatred for the hyenas lingered but the thoughts of the king were nothing but positive for the species. Leo might be racist, but the king was fair.
Leo turned around and moved quickly to catch up to the rest of the pride.
By evening, the pride continued to move. It was only near midnight that Leo was satisfied with the grounds they covered and he allowed the pride to rest.
The place they decided to stop at had a murky pond from an underground water source, so they were able to quench their thirst. There were also a few lizards and frogs, which the cubs caught and ate as snacks.
By dark morning, when everyone was still asleep, Leo was stirred awake by a flutter of wings. When he opened his eyes, his most faithful servant was before him.
"I have great news for you my lord," Grim said with a barely hidden smile.
Leo contemplated whether this was a dream. He had definitely not expected Grim to return to quickly, considering the tall task that he bestowed upon him.
"They come tomorrow," Grim said.
Leo's eyes widened, and he chewed on his teeth to feel the sensation in his mouth.
The value of something was rarely a quantity. In this case, the one day the hyenas earned was worth a thousand.
And 64 hyenas were worth 17 adult lions.
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