[1st POV]
After I was done with Nala, it was already early morning. The sun was above the horizon and the pleasant warmth of sunrise was quickly turning into unbearable heat.
But instead of waking up, Nala panted heavily. Her laboured breath died down slowly until, eventually, she fell asleep. That put my plan of setting out early in the morning on hold. But it was my own fault as well, so I didn't blame her.
So I delayed our travel for a few hours. In the meantime, I decided to hang out with the cubs. None of them was young enough to be helpless against a hyena but I decided to warn them nonetheless.
Two cubs died because of my lack of warning and discipline, so I did not want the same thing to happen again. I told them loud and clear how to behave when a fight happens. Stick close to your mothers, don't interfere unless completely necessary.
They didn't have to try and help. They should avoid being a burden and that was it.
I would've advised them to hide or run in times of battle but since we would be so outnumbered, separating like that could be more dangerous. So I told them to always stick to their mothers or another adult.
After the warning, I decided to play with them. I let them all gang up on me to try and take me down. They tried their best and without holding anything back. I was not like their mothers, who could no longer shrug off their full assault.
But in the name of being a good father, I became their punching bag so to speak. Try as they might but teeth or their claws could not leave a mark on me. They stood no chance when full-grown adults failed.
I was still cautious with them though, so they would not harm themselves when attacking me.
When going full effort, they only lasted twenty minutes. After that, they all walked away to rest. Some of them went to the watering hole nearby to drink water.
I watched the last of them leave with a smile. Then I turned to the lion sitting a few metres beside me.
Yes, a lion. He was no longer a cub at the age of 2 years old. He was in his subadult stage and it was about time I kicked him out of the pride. I was kicked out when I was 2 years old as well.
"Zael," I called him and he turned to me.
He was the second biggest lion in the pride, right after me. At such a tender age, he was nearing the size of a full-grown lion. He was the son of Roku and he inherited his father's cunning and intelligence. But he also had the blood of Baraka because he was much bigger than he should have been.
I planned on kicking him out of the pride after I defeated Scar. Until then, he would definitely prove to be useful in the upcoming battles.
"I hope you realise you are no longer included when I addressed the cubs," I said.
"Of course, my Lord," he said with a nod. His mane had grown thick enough to protect his neck, but they were still brown and golden, showing his lack of experience.
"What I want from you is quite the opposite. I want you to be on the frontlines with me, charging headfirst into any danger. This will be a great opportunity for you to test yourself and gain some experience while risking no danger to yourself," I said, "Because obviously, as long as you are a part of my pride, your life will not be in danger."
"I understand, it will be an honour to fight alongside you," he said.
"I've seen you put my advice into action," I said. Zael would occasionally train himself and set out on hunts of his own. It was not to the extent of what I did in the past, but it was enough to easily put him above lesser lions.
"Use this chance to find your limit and improve further." I said. He was definitely the lion I least favoured in the pride, especially because he was growing into an adult and was already starting to look at my lionesses.
At the same time, there was a part of me that kinda roots for him and wanted him to grow stronger. Was it because I wanted a challenge from him or was it because I see myself in him? Who knows.
"Thank you. I will not forget all you've done for me," he said.
He got up and left after he dipped his head slightly. I saw that the action of bowing to another lion was getting harder for him. Good, that meant he was growing up properly and not into a bitch.
The morning passed by quickly, and before noon, Nala woke up. Finally, we were able to start our journey.
The pride started moving south. We walked for the whole day and only rested during the night. It was the dry season and the herd of buffalo had splintered up and occupied every region of the Serengeti in search of food.
Therefore, food was never an issue for us. We simply hunt one down during the night. We eat and sleep. And the next morning, we continued our journey.
The pride moved at the speed of the slowest member. That meant we were moving at the speed of our youngest cub. Due to this, I predicted we would not reach the Pridelands in less than two weeks.
It took us two whole days of travel to even reach the edge of the Serengeti.
..
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(2 days later)
"We will stop early today," I said when we reached the final watering hole in the Serengeti. A scout of vultures told me that there wouldn't be another watering hole for miles after this one, so I decided to stop there for today.
The pride did not have to be told twice before they flopped on the ground. Lions were not really built for endurance. They were not exhausted but travelling for two days definitely tired them out quite a bit.
Some lionesses head to the watering hole, which was a drying lake that was now a quarter of its actual size.
The pride tried camping on the shore, but I told them to move further. It could get quite cold at night during the dry season and sleeping near water or damp earth would not do anyone good.
We were staying in the watering hole, so we easily found prey as well. We ate the night before, so no one really hunted, but it was good knowing that they were there for whenever we want to eat them.
The pride huddled together in a pile of bodies. I lay at the very centre, our body heat kept each other warm and cosy. A pride of 27 lions lying together was a sight to behold.
But the night did not pass by as well as it had the two previous nights. Because as the chilly breeze blew on the huddle pride, it brought with it not just air but a scent.
My nose twitched when I caught that scent and my eyes snapped open in the dark. A deep growl crawled out of my throat even before I realised it. The sound was a low vibration barely audible to the human ear.
But it didn't need to be heard; the vibration could be felt.
The lionesses around me stirred awake, wondering what they had done wrong. Were they piling on top of me again? Did they bite me in their sleep?
"Go back to sleep. I have work to take care of," I said and got up.
The lionesses assessed the situation and it was not long before they caught the scent of intruders as well. At that point, everyone calmed down. After all, if they were just lions, what was there to worry about?
I got up and made my way towards the scent. I walked over some bodies, and some were awake. But no one was too concerned.
When I left the pride, only one lioness followed me.
"You can go back Nala," I said to the one following me.
"No, I want to come with you," she said, very insistent even though I asked her only once.
I guess it made sense that she was the only one concerned for me. Unlike the rest of the pride, she hadn't gotten used to the challengers.
I hummed, "Suit yourself,"
And we continued walking towards the intruders. None of us made a sound, so it was eerily silent. That was why the drone that briefly flew past us sounded very loud.
"What is that?" Nala asked.
"Ignore it," I said simply and then I decided to release a roar.
I didn't put in an effort but my size and the silence made my roar echo loudly. It was my final warning, a kindness that stemmed partly from my laziness. I didn't wanna fight for a land that I was leaving anyway. I wanted to sleep instead, to be honest.
But instead of running away, the intruders made their way towards the sound. We were staying downwind so they didn't have our scent like we have theirs. So the roar worked as a way to reveal our location.
"Interesting," I said and growled. I quickened my pace because that small reaction of theirs successfully pissed me off.
They were not just wandering rogues who happened to come close to us by chance. They wanted to challenge me. They were intentionally coming close instead of running.
And as the king, I would accept every challenge
It didn't take us long to reach the enemies. They were concerningly close to our camp. I had sent out Grim and the vultures to scout our future path instead of covering our surroundings, so I did not know of their presence beforehand.
I stopped when we came upon a clearing. It had barely any grass, trees, or vegetation. I decided to stop there and wait for the challengers to appear.
Soon enough, the challengers came. They were more than expected. We tracked each other from our scents, and the first thing I saw from them was their glowing eyes in the dark.
Five pairs of glowing eyes, meaning a five-lion coalition.
My suspicion was true. I had killed all the dumb brutes among the challengers, and what remained were cautious and smart challengers that knew to team up instead of coming and dying in my hand.
When the lions came closer and we could finally see them, Nala blurted out,
"Jabari?" she said in recognition.
"Nala?" the lion in the middle, the biggest and what I assumed was the leader-ish of the group.
Nala had told me in detail about her travel to the Serengeti, so I knew who they were. I was not classy. But I was more focused on another lion who stood at the side. He was walking in last place among the group.
"So this is where you ran off to," Jabari said and then looked at me. There was the initial surprise and fear, but then anger overwhelmed them.
Arrogant and young. I've seen a dozen like him.
"You've made a big mistake, Nala, you should've stayed with us," he said.
You could see it in the way that he was ignoring me and addressing Nala instead. He had no respect; he was full of himself, and he probably thought he was the main character. All signs of a lion are soon to be dead.
"Disturbing my sleep and boldly challenging me was bad enough, but you insist on angering me further," I said while walking forward, so he focused on me instead of Nala.
"I say you've mastered the art of digging your own grave," I said while approaching them. My teeth bared and my mane came alive, ready for violence.
When I got into their faces, none of them had the courage to approach me. I guess everyone was waiting for another to make the first move, but no one did, so they just stayed there.
I exploded forward and all of them flinched. I already won.
None ran, though, scared as they may be. They were determined to go through with whatever hopes and dreams they had.
Numbers matter in a fight. Even if a lion is so much superior compared to other lions, if there were two, he would almost always lose.
Two lions working together did not just 2X their power. Their overall threat and power increased manyfold.
So even though I could easily walk through a dozen lions back to back, when five of them fought together all at once, they were a decent challenge. If we were talking purely physical, I was 100 per cent going to lose even though I was twice the size of an average lion.
But my physical size and body were not the only things I had going for me. They were merely one of the many.
And yet even then, my victory was not certain in a proper fight.
I had to fight wisely and efficiently.
Unlike what most people would expect, the way to win in a fight against five lions was not to fight against five lions. Realistically, I could not beat five lions.
This was not some kung fu movie where the main character fought against five enemies, dodging and blocking each attack, making minimal movement and beating them down.
No, the way to win against multiple enemies was to fight them one by one, very quickly and ruthlessly.
So instead of focusing on all the enemies, I focused on one. I picked the weakest and scrawniest looking one. My main goal was not to put down the strongest one first but to reduce their number. That was their main strength.
Two lions lunged at me, their claws tearing at my hide and their teeth clamping down on my mane in their attempt to aim at the neck. But I ignored all of them. I bludgeoned through them like they were air and not alive.
My eyes were focused on only one target.
My target tried to defend himself by standing on his hind legs. His two paws came swinging in order to slow me down or stop my approach, but I dodged his first swing and tanked the other.
And then his hind legs propelled him forward. His jaw opened, leaving space between two rows of sharp teeth. But before he clamped down, my paw landed on top of his head.
When I also stood on my hind legs, I was so much taller than them. They stopped at six or seven feet, whereas I touched ten. My claws came out and raked his forehead. The force of my hit shut him down, his head dipped low and revealed his head to me.
My jaw opened and I crashed it on his head. My teeth smashed on his head, working as daggers to cut and penetrate the skull. And only then did I clamp down hard.
A scream left his throat and he began his mindless cat struggle. My arms held him down, my strength overpowering his smaller frame.
I mauled him for the next intense seconds.
The four other lions attacked me, but I ignored whatever damage they did to me. I was not Bruce Lee; I could not have fended them off anyway, so why waste effort. I trust my bulk to protect me while I focused on one lion.
But as we thrashed around wildly, the other lions released their hold on me. If they had held on, their jaw might break or their teeth might fall off. Me and my target wrestled and thrashed around wildly for ten or so seconds. The others did not know how to interfere in such a scramble of fur and teeth.
A few moments later, the thrashing stopped. I held the lifeless body of a lion by the head, my hold was on the crushed skull.
In total, it was around twenty seconds. That was how long it took me to kill one lion.
I dropped the body and silence followed. There was more of them, but they were ridiculously outmatched. I had much experience of fighting under me; I had perfected the art of killing a lion. I knew the weak spots, the vitals, and I knew exactly how to use my size and strength to my advantage.
"Jahil..." Jabari said with shocked eyes while gazing at the corpse of his youngest brother.
I spat out blood and hair to the side and smiled at him with red teeth. I checked my body, and I was right, they barely did any damage to me during that short and panicked time.
"Young blood. You have no idea what you got yourself into," I said, and stood up. If they were not going to attack, I wasn't going to either.
I was at a massive disadvantage when it came to endurance because there were still four of them. I had to kill four lions while they only had to kill one. The burst of strength I expended just now also took quite a chunk of stamina, so it was a good time to catch my breath.
"I remember you," I said while looking at the lion with the scar. It was a scar that I had left on him.
"You called yourself Oba, right? You were so determined to take back the land of your ancestors with your brothers. In the end, you abandoned your brothers and escaped," I said.
That got the attention of the other lions, as they looked at him with varying judgment. After all, what kind of lion would want to team up with a coward who abandoned his brothers?
"I spared you, but you came back with more challengers by your side. I won't spare you again," I said. I made him my next target, but not because of what I just said.
He had recently just recovered from fighting me. No matter how much time passed, I was sure he would never be the same after fighting me, be it physically or mentally. It was safe to assume he would be the second weakest one.
"I'll kill you!!" It was Jabari who screamed and came at me.
Afterwards, it was the same tactic. I killed Oba and another lion whose name I did not know. I was efficient in the art of killing, more than a lion had right to be.
I mauled Oba and wrestled him. I slammed him on the ground with my raw strength, and while he was on his back, I tore open his underbelly and pulled out his intestines.
The other lion made sure to protect his underbelly. He would crouch low on the ground while we fought, never showing his vulnerable parts. He didn't even want to stand and made sure he was on the ground like a turtle hiding in its shell.
To break him, I leapt as high as I could and slammed down on him. My 400-kilogram body crashing on top of him was perhaps worse than having his insides become outsides.
I slammed on him two times and broke his spine and his ribs. His broken ribs must have stabbed his lungs because he died of suffocation.
When it was only Jabari and his brother Jafari, I no longer fought recklessly. I could confidently take two lions at once.
So that fight lasted the longest.
I bit off Jafari's tail and tore his balls in the process. With his testicles hanging out and bleeding profusely, he died rather quickly.
In the end, it was only me and Jabari.
"Do you realize now? What you are getting into by challenging me," I asked, but I got no answer.
He was bleeding all over his body, some skin peeling off to reveal pink muscles. His hind leg was broken, so he was sitting down with his front legs barely propping him up.
I was not exactly in the best condition either. Like I said, five lions were still a very difficult challenge for me. I suffered many wounds throughout my body. My lips were also cut and bleeding, making me taste my own blood.
But all of them were surface wounds. I suffered no broken bones, nor did I have a chunk of flesh torn off. My hide could not fend them off, but the massive layer of muscles did.
Jabari did not answer. There was no spirit left in him.
He no longer put up a fight as I came close to finish him. He simply lay down and waited for me to deal the last blow.
I bit at the back of his neck and thrashed my head a few times, snapping his spine and ending the fight.
After killing all my enemies, I took a few minutes to catch my breath and then released a roar of victory that woke up everything in the vicinity.
I did not bother roaring multiple times and stopped quickly. I did not have the energy to give a long chain of roars.
There were no other words on the battlefield as I walked back to Nala, who had watched everything.
I pushed her down and mounted her. She was very much ready for me at that point; her aroused scent was what made me mount her in the first place.
After I enjoyed the rewards of my victory, we slept there on the spot without bothering to return to the rest of the pride.
..
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[IMAGE]
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Author : This was a lot ng chapter. So no automatic double chapter.
Extra chapter for every 600 stones. That means 600,1200,1800, each mark being an extra chapter.