Chapter 14: Hyenas

Saliva dripped endlessly from the mouth of the spotted hyena. It could almost taste the cub it was about to catch.

It was so focused on pursuing this little lion that it failed to see its companions halt their crazed laughter. If failed to see its companions come to a chaotic stop.

Just a little bit more. Every time it tried to bite the cub but missed, the collision of his two jaws would send a crisp sound. This sound further frightened the cub, pushing it to the limit its paws could ever go.

*BAM!*

A faint dirt-brown blurry figure flashed past the cub and slammed into the hyena. Kael didn't stop running, but he turned to see his mother pin the hyena to the ground with her fangs already digging into the hyena's neck.

He didn't stop running until he was far away, he quickly hid under a bush that had enough space under it for him to conveniently hide his whole body.

Only then did he take a good look at the bloody chaos.

Nalii quickly crushed the windpipe of the hyena in one bite. She didn't stop to inspect but burst out with speed to her other cubs.

She didn't check if Kael was safe, but that she had eliminated the immediate threat was enough for her. Eidel, Ruda, and Burdo were still at the river bank.

The other lionesses quickly arrived at the bank to protect their children but lives had already been lost.

The hyenas outnumbered the lions three to one, maybe more. They reached the river bank before the lionesses and had already begun a massacre.

One hyena caught a lion cub in her mouth before she could process what was going on. The hyena began shaking his head rapidly from left to right, tearing up the little cub in the process.

Blood splattered everywhere as the hyena began munching on the dead cub. A sorrowful roar from a lioness spread out followed by the hyena being tackled to the ground by the mother of the cub.

Pavel and his buddies had run away as soon as they saw the sheer amount of hyenas coming towards them. Perhaps, if they had stayed to defend the cub, the casualties would have been little. But they would have faced a high risk of perishing under the attacks of the hyenas.

These hyenas were by no means as big as a lioness, talk less of a lion. The biggest among them, a female, was almost the same shoulder height as Big Aunt.

Kael watched as two hyenas fought over one cub. One bit onto the neck while the other bit the legs. They dragged and dragged until the cub was torn into two halves.

Big Aunt found herself surrounded, her little cub was under her, right beneath her belly. She used her body to defend her cub from the attacks of the hyena. Her juvenile and sub-adult children were nowhere to be seen.

The hyenas were ruthless, four of them covered her on all sides, seeking a way to bring down both the mother and child.

They would take bites at Big Aunt's rear side, injuring her and making her turn around repeatedly to fend herself from the attackers.

What made it worse was that one of the four attackers was the hyena matriarch. Her bites were slowly opening large wounds on Big Aunt's body.

This was the same situation with almost all the mothers. Nalii was busy protecting Eidel, Ruda, and Brudo, from two hyenas. On a normal day, she would have nothing to fear from these crazy animals, but now that she was on the defensive, she found herself in a tight spot.

The only lionesses that had it easy were those that had no children. They went on the offensive with their full strength, easily going toe to toe with two hyenas at once.

But Kael could see from his hiding spot that if the battle continued like this, life would continue to be lost among the cubs.

Eventually, one lioness would also succumb to injuries sooner or later.

'Where is the pride leader for fuck sake,' Kael thought anxiously as he saw the blood trickling down his mother's shoulder.

*ROOAAAAAARR!*

*ROOAAAR!*

As if to answer his wishes, two powerful angry roars sounded from behind. Looking back, Kael saw the pride leader and Uncle rushing to the battlefield with killing intent flashing in their eyes.

Within the second of their appearance, their large frames blurred past Kael, followed by a hot breeze that made him wonder how something so big could move so fast.

The two brothers reached the hyenas in a jiffy, bringing with them a rain of slaughter. One slap from the pride leader to the head and a cracking sound would echo out. Not only was his one attack enough to break the neck of any hyena, but it also cracked their skulls.

He was truly magnificent, he ran through the hyenas like a wrecking ball. Those that came too close to his face would get bitten to death.

Some hyenas managed to jump on him from his blindspots but found that his defenses were too effective.

His mane was so thick that they found it impossible to land a solid bite on his neck and shoulders. His regular fur and skin were also incredibly tough, their canines couldn't penetrate it.

In short moments, the pride leader had taken care of the hyenas around him and ran straight towards Big Aunt.

His brother was struggling a bit though. Uncle wasn't as powerful as the pride leader, he still needed more time to dispatch the hyenas. He still had to be careful, if the hyenas gathered in him, he would be torn to pieces.

The appearance of the two lions instantly turned the tide of the battle. It no longer seemed like the pride was outnumbered, now it looked like the pack of hyenas were at a disadvantage. The power of the Pride leader was clear to see.

The morale of the hyenas instantly plummeted with some of them starting to cowardly edge away from the battle.

Big Aunt was on her last legs, riddled with bloody scratch marks. She searched for a way to run away with her cub but she was surrounded from all sides.

When she heard the roar of the pride leader, the one who she depended on the most, she became excited. Despite running out of stamina, she found the will to hold on a little longer.

Like a meteor, the pride leader rammed into two of the attacking hyenas. This gave Big Aunt room to breathe as she quickly picked up her cub in her mouth before running away.

Two consecutive sounds of bone cracking and the two hyenas fell with twisted necks.

The third hyena ran away, frightened. The size of this lion was too intimidating and its companions were dead. What was the point of fighting if not to throw his life away?

The last hyena, the matriarch of this hyena pack, stood her ground. She growled and bared her teeth at the pride leader who did the same.

The pride leader might be bigger than the hyena leader by a lot, but she was fearless. Her eyes were filled with hatred and ferocity, and so were the pride leader's eyes. They circled each other, their claws ready to do the utmost damage.

Time seemed to stand still as Kael held his breath. It seemed like forever would pass before one of them made a move.

Then, they lunged at each other at the same time.