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Chapter 16

Brasta's POV

The dirt was brittle, crunching beneath my paws as I paced back and forth, while the growls and whimpers of dying and wounded lions sounded all around me. I was half out of my mind with guilt and anxiety, muttering to myself. "That twisted son of a bitch..."

We were in a nasty position; my troops had repelled the first attack- but I was not confident we could repel the next one. We were trapped like antelope- Sadic's forces were over the hill, pinning us down. With a sigh, I looked around, observing the situation.

It was not a pleasant sight; blood spilt on the parched dirt, the corpses of our fallen comrades and our foes lying on the ground. Buzzards circled above, eyeing the carrion below. Would I end up like my friends, food for scavengers like buzzards- or worse, hyenas? I shuddered as I thought of my sister- or worse, Strike- ending up like that. The thought of even the rest of my pride- even those I didn't know particularly well- ending up like that was enough to send a pang through my heart. I hung my head as a wave of despair and nausea went through me. Everything seemed nearly hopeless before- but the reality of what that meant was rapidly crashing down around me.

I sat there, consumed in my thoughts, until I heard a familiar voice behind me. "It's not hopeless yet." I rapidly turned around to see Strike, looking every bit as weathered as I felt- but still somehow smiling. And unlike me, his smile was not fake. I felt myself brighten a bit- he'd been making me do that a lot, lately. And thanks to my actions during the first attack, he might be around a little longer for that to happen.

"I know." I said, keeping up my own smile a bit better. But it certainly feels like it, was the unspoken implication, and the brief frown on his face showed that he'd got it. "So, what are the casualties?" I said, moving onto a different subject.

Strike looked back towards a side entrance to the caves, which led to our little infirmary. "We've got about twelve lions dead, and about seven wounded." I winced- that may not sound like much, but in a pride of a little over forty, that was a lot. I breathed a sigh, and asked,

"Who?"

"Kioo, Hariri, Pamba, Hasira, Zamaradi, Akiki, Almasi, and Jiwe are wounded; Jiwe's dying as we speak. Not sure who's dead yet- the bodies were in no condition to tell." I growled low in my throat. Those hyenas were downright detestable, and getting more so by the minute. I recognised the names of course- I had at least known them all. I had never been more than acquainted with most of them though- Jiwe, Strike's lieutenant, was the only one I'd really considered a friend. We'd been good friends back when I was a cub. A few complications had arisen when I'd gotten older, however, and we'd grown apart. Now I could barely remember him at all, I thought with a small amount of guilt- ever since Strike had arrived, my attention had been elsewhere. Was that what would happen to me- gasping my last breaths away, alone?

I shook my head with a sigh, my mask of indifference seemingly frozen onto my face. "How's Father doing? And Toj- sorry, Kopa and Fuwele?" I had to at least make sure they were alright.

"Haraka's a bit scratched but none the worse for wear. Complained a lot more than it actually hurt." My mask slipped into a genuine grin to match his- there he went again, bringing a glimmer of lightheartedness to a time so dark. "As for Fuwele- she's busy tending to the sick, while Kopa's keeping watch over Maua." My little niece, like the rest of the cubs, had been hidden away in a side chamber of the cave system, on the side opposite the infirmary. I couldn't help but think of her fondly- my adorable little niece never talked much, but was still endearing.

"And you?" I asked softly. He shrugged.

"I can still fight, thanks to you." For a second I wondered if that was a bad thing; I didn't want him dead. Quite the opposite, really. But then again, I didn't want to see him badly wounded, either.

"You're welcome." Strike smiled again, then looked up at the sky, blinking. The sun was more than directly overhead, at about the one o'clock position. He looked down with a sigh.

"It would seem our hour's almost up. I'll get my troops ready again- you get yours. I need to choose a new lieutenant, anyway." With curt nods, we headed back towards the main entrance of the caves, where the relatively undamaged members of the pride were waiting in a small semicircle, including Kopa and Fuwele lying down together near the front. I could see the looks on their faces- hopelessness, exhaustion, anxiety, fear. Everything I felt myself. And how I envied them for it. They could show what they felt openly- I couldn't afford it. I had to be the strong, confident commander- a role which suited Strike more than me at the moment, to be honest. But I couldn't let them down, I couldn't let them see- it would only hinder the battle and lower their morale.

"Alright, my cheery lot- get up. We still have a battle to finish- and win, Gods willing." I wasn't entirely sure the Gods were even caring right now- it certainly didn't feel like it. But like every other little worry, I had to put that aside. They needed someone to give them hope, someone to raise their spirits- and I would have to do my best. "Less than an hour ago, they came at us, smugly laughing at our misfortune- well, who's laughing now?" I said bitterly. "We repelled them once, we can repel them again-"

"That's right." piped up my father. His face took on an expression of haughty defiance- which was just what we needed right now. "Those mangy mutts thought they could take on us lions, and look what happened! Sadic and Drake sent them running back to them like the whipped pups they are."

"So let's show them what we can do." said Strike, his crooked smile visibly raising the spirits of some of the warriors, while his tone was both soothing and encouraging at the same time. "Let's show them that we can't be beaten by them- we will NOT be broken down! We will NOT fall like a sundered tower. We will NOT be blown away like dust in the wind! FOR THE PRIDE!" He let out a roar, that I and the rest of the pride proudly answered, my Father taking a second before roaring himself.

We were not a moment too soon- with near-impeccable timing, the screechy sounds of hyena laughter could be heard again. I caught myself stiffening- but I knew now was not a good time to be afraid. I hadn't been too scared before, why should I now? With quick precision, I shouted orders at my own troops. "Form ranks! To your positions!" The orders were repeated by Strike, my father, and their lieutenants as I quickly moved to the right, Nyete joining me with his squad. We quickly advanced back to the base of the hill and formed into our wedge formations, our ranks a little looser due to the lack of men. Ordinarily, that would be a good thing for a skirmish line while attacking- but we were defending now, and a skirmish line would break faster than a cowardly general could order a retreat.

Within a minute, I could see Strike's troops in formation along with father's troops at the centre. Good- we at least couldn't lose from lack of preparation. I looked up at the crest of the hill as the hyenas emerged again, laughing all the way. If possible, they looked even more vicious now; as if our previous engagement had only made them madder. This was not good; not good at all. Drake and Sadic appeared soon enough, Drake bringing up the rear and Sadic on the side. From this distance, I couldn't make out their expressions. But I knew Sadic was glaring down at me, just itching to watch me suffer. Well, I'd hate to disappoint him- but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

We waited. The field was still- neither side made a move. But it was not quiet at all- the wind had started howling again; a sound which, mixed with the hyenas' insane cackling, was truly bloodchilling. The tension between the sides was thick as fog. Finally, the stillness was broken by Sadic raising a single paw, then pointing down towards us, like an angry god pronouncing judgment upon a soul soon to be damned. "Attack!"

With a loud scream, the hyenas charged down the hill again in a crescent formation, the dirt flying up under their paws. I glanced back to Nyete, and whispered, "Brace yourself." We had only a few seconds to get ready before they came smashing into our formation.

I could almost feel the shudder that went up and down the front ranks, as lions and hyenas leapt into the fray, the cacophony of growls, whines, and whimpers ringing in my ears. I battered and slashed left and right with my claws, as the howling mob of animals struggled. This had no semblance of order- just brutal desperation. Now here was a proper fight.

Within the span of four minutes, things were looking up. We were beating them back, our front ranks knocking our attackers back. We were outflanking them on both sides, a vicious pincer manoeuvre that I was sure would send them reeling back. Rank after rank of hyenas threw themselves at us and were repulsed. I shouted myself hoarse, trying to keep my troops alive. Nyete and his sergeants obeyed my orders, keeping my warriors using hit and run attacks.

Across the way, Strike and his new lieutenant were having even better luck than I, and I sent up a silent prayer for things to stay that way. Despite the dust and dirt obscuring the field again, I could tell we were winning. A few more minutes, and we could send them packing back across the field...

And then the centre crumbled.

And the tides turned.

One lion fell, his neck slashed by the claws of his opponent. This then allowed said opponent to slip further through the line and kill another of our warriors, widening the gap so that now two hyenas could slip through. And then those two hyenas killed again. Sure they were met with resistance, and the laughing canines were killed almost instantly by our own troops - but the damage was already done.

I looked to my left, and in the distance, I could see Strike had the same look of pure horror on his face that I was trying to keep off mine.

They had found the chink in our armour, or rather they created it. The disjointed armada of hyenas turned their attention away from our fighters, and the same malicious grin crept across all their faces when they saw the opening their fallen brothers had created.

And they ran towards it. No!

"Stop them!" I yelled at my men. But I was too late. Much too late. By the time the words left my lips, hyenas had already begun to pour through, eagerly licking their lips.

I knew what would come next. Any fool could guess what their plan was. They had abandoned their previous tactic to attack us all at once and try to force their way through our whole line. Instead they would focus all their attention on breaking through one spot, attacking us from within and tearing apart the whole line.

We couldn't let them get that far.

I ran towards them the same time as my men, and on the other side of the hole I could see Strike and his men doing the same. By the time we got there the hyenas had already done a considerable amount of damage; several lions laid dead on the ground, more food for the buzzards whenever this was all over. With blood oozing from their lips, and soulless malevolence in their eyes, they met our attack head on.

Again, how the tide had turned. Just a minute before we forcing them back, now they were overpowering us, decimating us.

Of course, we put up a hell of a fight. I bit and slashed and hit every single thing I came in contact with. Nyete and his sergeants were following my example and fighting with extra ferocity, but things weren't even anymore. We weren't just facing an enemy, wave for wave, pushing against each other. All of Drake and Sadic's forces were pushing on this one spot, and the pride had no idea what to do. For us there was no plan, no formation, just a desperate attempt to keep things from getting any worse. An attempt that was failing by the second.

Suddenly, my left side felt like it was on fire, and I cursed when I realized I had taken my eyes off the enemy again. I turned around, shaking my attacker's jaws loose, and angrily scratched the hyena's forehead, just above his eyes. The searing pain and the blood rolling into his eyes distracted him just long enough for me to end his life.

But his screams of death were blocked by out by a much louder noise, one big enough and booming enough to block out all the other sounds of fighting. A lion's battle cry. I would know that voice anywhere.

Taking my eyes off the battle around me (yet again), I saw my father charging at a pair of hyenas who had surrounded one of our members, tearing into with just as much determination as his men. My father was proud, stubborn, some might even say arrogant, but he really was dedicated to his cause, to the very end. No wonder a group of our kind was called a pride.

But the little grin that had slowly been making its way onto my face soon became nonexistent, when I saw another pair of hyenas, unseen by my father, coming up behind him as he finished off the first pair. "Father!", I warned, forgetting about everything else and running towards him.

He turned around just in time to see the first hyena raise his claws and slice his neck. He was such a top-notch fighter, one of the best of our pride (how do you think he earned his title as king?), they wouldn't dream of making it a fair fight. That's why they decided on a sneak attack. No doubt Drake and Sadic themselves told their men to kill him before he ever got a chance to fight back.

When I was half-way there I could see the look on his face as he realized what they had done. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung slightly agape in shock. I couldn't imagine what it was like for him. One minute he was perfectly fine and the next his neck was slashed wide open.

It all happened so fast. And it wasn't over yet.

That grin that hyenas always had, that evil grin I hated with a passion, grew ever larger on their faces as they watched my father sway back and forth and eventually collapse onto the ground. His mouth wide open, and his eyes rolled to the very back of his head, he laid limp on the grass...and I knew he was gone. My own father was gone; killed in cold blood like so many of my pride-mates. And even though I had promised myself I would stay detached, when I realized he had died part of me felt like I died with him.

The only thing keeping those bastards from eating him were the same lions he had died helping, who now avenged his death by ripping his killers to shreds, and then tearing those shreds to pieces, and eviscerating those pieces into miniscule particles.

I would have done it myself (like I had to save Strike) if I wasn't frozen where I stood. It was a foolish thing to do in the middle of battle, and it seemed I would never learn my lesson, but I had far greater things on my mind than fear of death.

The world around me changed. With my father dead I finally saw things for what they really were. This wasn't a proper fight anymore (it wasn't even a fight), and it hadn't been for six or seven minutes now. It was a bloody massacre.

The king was dead because we were more than outnumbered. When I looked around me in this sea of chaos, I saw more brown streaks of violence than I did golden - a lot more. My pride was just a tiny band, a speck, standing up to a whole legion. The latest causality only proved my worst fears, we had no hope, no ghost of a chance of winning this. If we kept this up any longer, we'd be reduced to nothing. Drake and Sadic would feast on our carcasses while their men killed the rest of us our in the caves. We couldn't let that happen.

Forcing my mouth open, I bellowed the one word I prayed I wouldn't have to say today. "RETREAT!", I yelled. And the tiny band of our survivors turned and fled.

Kopa's POV:

Oh how the best laid plans fail.

As soon as Brasta gave the order, it was a mad dash all around me and Fuwele to get back to the caves. Now that the king had fallen we all knew that any chances we had beating the invaders out here were dead. Now our main priority was to get back to the rest of the pride and protect them at all cost.

Countless paws tore across the blood-stained ground, abandoning the bodies of their killed brethren to the jaws of enemy. What would happen to their corpses now was too horrible to think about. May the gods and goddesses have mercy on their souls.

Once we were inside the caves things didn't get any better. The hyenas poured into the main entrance only a few seconds after us, and the never-ending line of our attackers forced us to move backwards, directly in front of the tunnel systems. It took me a moment to realize this was a deliberate move on their part.

They were splitting us apart.

I glanced back at my wife and to my horror I realized she was already being pushed away from me. Like so many other lions, she was backing away from her attackers as they pushed her and several others down one of the many tunnels that divided this place.

"Fuwele!", I yelled after her. She didn't answer, possibly because she couldn't hear me, or possibly because she was fighting for her life like I was. I couldn't even go after her because these damn hyenas were pushing me and my comrades down a separate tunnel. I knew if they succeeded the chance of me finding her in this labyrinth in all the chaos would be slim to none, but I had no way of stopping them.

Even though I had promised myself and Brasta I would protect her, Fuwele was on her own now.

NO! I thought to myself, a sudden wash of shame and fury spreading over me. She was my mate, and I couldn't abandon her!

With a mighty roar I lashed out the hyenas surrounding me, catching them off guard just long enough for me to raise my paws and slash each and every one in them in one swell swoop. I injured some of them and killed at least two, but they were least of my worries. They had finally given me enough room to move around again and I wasted no time in dashing through a hole in the maddened, panicked, shouting throng as it was swallowed up by the darkness of the caves. Now, being a lion, I have excellent night vision- but it didn't help in this situation.

I couldn't go back the way I came; that path was blocked off by at least a dozen hyenas, so my only option was to go further in and hope I stumbled onto Fuwele somewhere in the maze that was our cave systems.

"Fuwele!", I bellowed, passing by numerous warriors of both sides.

Even though I knew the other lions probably needed my help and leadership, I wasn't rejoining the fight until I knew my wife was okay. Brasta, Strike, and my lieutenant could handle things while I was gone, so when I reached a fork at the end of the tunnel I picked a side and kept looking.

Thankfully there were no hyenas or lions down this one (though they had to be close by since I could still hear the sounds of fighting), so I had more room to move around.

Unfortunately, since it was empty it meant my wife wasn't down this one either.

"Fuwele, where are you?!", I repeated, straining my vocal chords from shouting. I ran around another corner, then another, then another, and I really started to get worried.

One minute passed. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four. Gods know what was going on with the rest of the pride, who I left behind to my find my mate; but I knew Brasta and Strike would the do the same as me to protect their sister.

When I screamed her name for what seemed like the fifteenth time, I finally got a reply - but it wasn't from her. "Daddy?", a little voice squeaked.

My blood turned cold. "Maua?", I whispered, looking behind me.

Sure enough my little girl was standing there looking at me, wide-eyed and exhausted, sharing the exact same expression as I. Even though she wasn't who I was looking for, I was still relieved to see she was still alive, what with the world falling apart around us. But then that relief turned to confusion, and then that confusion turned to anger as I realized what her presence in this part of the tunnels meant.

"What are you doing here?!", I growled; it was the first time I had ever raised my voice at her, the first time I ever had to.

"I was hiding in the den, like you told me, when everyone starting running and screaming and saying something happened to the king. So I snuck out, so I could find you", she explained, eyes lowering to the ground. I felt suddenly bad for raising my voice at her, then shoved it aside; there were worse things to worry about.

"I told you to stay in the safe room with the other cubs! You could have been killed!", I ground out, teeth gritted.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen daddy, but I had to make sure you were okay", she said guiltily, before lifting her eyes to face me. "Do you want me to go back?", she asked.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean...", I ordered clumsily. Normally my decision would have come firmly and swiftly, especially during a time like this. But since it was a time like this, we were in the middle of a battle zone, and I had no clue what was happening to the others or Fuwele, I wasn't sure what the right move was - send her back in send her into a potential bloodbath or keep her close to me and risk getting her caught up in it anyway. In the end, my fatherly need to protect won over my common sense.

"Just stay by my side for now. I'll find someplace safe to hide you and then I'll get back to looking for your mother", I finally decided.

"Mom's missing?!", she asked, alarmed. Oh Gods, I shouldn't have said that...

"Come on", I said, letting her climb on my back before we started running again. "Damn it Fuwele, where are you?", I thought.

Nyete's POV:

Divide and conquer, a classic military tactic, and one Drake and Sadic were evidently very familiar with, since their hyenas had been so successful at forcing us apart and picking us off one by one.

The fight had went from orderly, strategized stand to a jumbled, confused mess. None of us had any idea what we were doing anymore. We were cut off from the rest of the pride, our three surviving leaders Brasta, Strike, and Tojo were nowhere to be seen (they were probably fighting with the other group somewhere else), and our own little band of fighters was rapidly thinning as lions and hyenas broke off from the group to fight one-on-one with their opponents.

Worst of all, there were more losses than there were victories; and with each death on our side the enemy outnumbered us more and more. The hyenas' skinny, lanky frames could maneuver so much more easily through the narrow passageways and low ceilings than us bulky, brawny lions, allowing them to surround us and then corner us. In other words, the odds were more than stacked against us - the odds were determined to see us all die.

It seemed retreating into the caves was a horrible mistake.

"Gods no", someone whispered, terrified.

Confused, I looked away from the hyena I just killed and my eyes widened when I was realised why my brothers were so afraid. The tunnels in our home went to many places - family dens, assembly rooms, cisterns. But more than a few of them led to the occasional dead end. And just our luck; this was one of them. Our backs were literally pressed to the cave wall.

We were down to just seven lions, the enemy outnumbered us to 2-1, and we now had nowhere left to run even if we wanted to. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, the devil and the devil's best mate showed themselves. The hyenas all stopped in the middle of the collective battles, and stepped to the side to let the two of them pass out of both fear and respect.

Their leaders knew we had no chance of escaping, so they had finally come out of the middle of the battle and moved to the front so they could have a perfect view of our deaths. But just because there was almost no chance of us making it out of this didn't mean we would give them the satisfaction of pointlessly begging for mercy. We were still lions, just like them, if there was one thing we never did in battle, it was show fear.

Acting as the leader of the survivors, my face was as cold and reserved as I could make it as the rival generals reached me. I wasn't only the one refusing to squirm, none of my men or women broke a single sweat when Sadic's forces turned back towards them again. The pride (scattered through this narrow tunnel) and the hyenas glared at each other, none of us breaking eye contact as for anything except blinking. We stood there, literally staring death in the face, and daring it to make the first move.

Drake and Sadic, who were still being uncharacteristically silent, eyed us from the top to bottom and obviously weren't impressed by what they saw; not that any of us cared less about their opinions. However I noticed Sadic's eyes shift and light up for a fraction of a second and I realized he must have found something interesting to him. I had no idea what though, since the only thing I knew of that really excited the pair was killing.

I finally broke eye contact with the bastard for a second and realized that out of the seven lions and lionesses trapped between fifteen hyenas, one of them was the king's daughter. Fuwele.

Eyes ablaze, I glared at Sadic again, knowing my expression would explain my intentions far better than any words could. He wouldn't touch a single hair on that girl's head so long as I was still alive. The king might be gone, and Brasta missing, but I was still his lieutenant, and keeping his sister safe was just as much my duty as protecting the pride.

Sadic smirked, obviously getting the message, and turned back towards his men, giving them the signal they had all been waiting for.

"Leave no survivors", was the last thing I remembered him saying - since I was the first one to die. Just like King Haraka, I never saw it coming. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domini, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lords, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Fuwele's POV:

Nyete's head fell to the floor of the cave, freshly decapitated by that monster's claws, and the battle began once again. Except this time the hyenas stopped playing games with us and fought to end it. Though you could easily say the same about us, spurred on by the fury of watching Brasta's brave lieutenant become the latest victim of this war.

We were giving it as good as we got, but ferocity, no matter how intense it was, was still no match for sheer numbers. This was no longer about defending the pride. We were in a completely different state of mind than we had been at the beginning of this terrible day. We had all accepted our fates, and now we were determined to go down fighting, taking as many of these bastards down with us as we could - for the honour of the king, and Nyete, and all the other brave souls who had perished.

As for me? I was torn. The warrior in me wanted me to stay and fight till my last breath. But the part of me I was ashamed of, the scared, lonely girl who had lost the protection of her father, her brother, and her mate all in one day, was telling me to run for my life. Because my nightmares, and Brasta's nightmares had finally come true, just as we both knew they would someday.

"Hello Fuwele, long time, no see." Sadic said, striding through the violence almost nonchalantly as he approached me. "You know, I was hoping I'd find Brasta here, but this is a much more pleasant surprise. Maybe, anyway. I was hoping to be able to let him see you dying and helpless, before I had my way with him; but I'll make the most of it." he said, licking his lips.

Again I was torn between fight or flight. But my mind was finally made up when Sadic was just a few metres away from me, and coming up fast. And at that moment I chose flight, turning around and disappearing into the mob, with him right behind me. Shame followed me, but shame was better than the alternative in pursuit...