*

Pretty much at random, acting mostly on instincts, Nala picked her first target, a small male in front of her. Common sense dictated she should identify the leader of the enemy clan and take her out first, but seeing as her pride had been caught totally off-guard, they had no time for such fancy-crap. Besides, in the chaos which would soon ensue, and the ever increasing noise-levels accompanying it, shouting any order was thus pretty much a waste of time. They’d have to rely on a pre-coordinated battle plan. A plan which they lacked, so it just came down to try knocking the enemies out, taking them down and holding them back altogether. Starting with the little mud in front of her.
A quick bash to the yaw sent him falling sideward, and a second smash on the chest made sure he’d have to do with a few less ribs. But before Nala got any decent chance at gnawing the enemy’s spine, the female behind her first target counterattacked, effectively using her larger weight to put Nala out of balance. It was only now Nala noticed why the hyena’s had actually chosen to attack in a two-line formation: a first one was to take the initial beating, leaving it to the second one to counterattack, in hopes of giving the first one a better chance of surviving the initial charge. The hyenas weren’t only sneaky, smelly and noisy, but also seemingly clever. Of course, such little tricks didn’t put an experienced combatant like Nala off, who managed to block all bites intended at her by three hyena’s which were by now attacking her, punching one of her opponents square in the face (braking one of the hyena’s fangs) and grabbing another by the neck as she leapt sideways to escape from the persistent attacks. As she jumped sideways, one hyena still firmly locked between her yaws, another lioness jumped in to handle the attackers left behind by Nala, who could then focus on her target. Feeling it’s end was near, the hyena put up an incredible fight, not cutting back on desperate cackles and whoops, not to mention her persistently kicking in all directions at once in the hopes of escaping Nala’s iron grasp. But after Nala pushed her opponent down on the ground with her paws, the hyena’s fate was sealed, as Nala now needed only to tighten her bite and violently jerk her head sideways. In a single shiver going down her whole body, the hyena almost instantly stopped moving, now dangling limply between Nala’s teeth.

Although Nala fared pretty well, thanks to experience gathered the previous time hyenas had been omnipresent near the rock, the overall situation didn’t look good for her pride: the hyenas’ dedicated formation-fighting had buffered the first lion charge and had prevented them from withdrawing afterwards, allowing bitter close-combat to take it’s course which was not at all to the hyenas’ liking, as they preferred to gnaw-run-gnaw-run, nor did it benefit the lions as they had no room to charge and profit from their massive weight.
But a more serious problem came to the attention of Nala right after her first kill: the hyena flanking-formations were beginning to box the lions in, not to mention their right flank was getting dangerously close to the ramp. Realizing they would not be able to hold out that much longer when surrounded, Nala put all efforts on trying to buy Kani more time to evacuate the cubs. To that end, she made her way to the enemy’s right flank, whilst shouting directives on the way.

“Watch the flanks, they’re boxing us in! And keep ‘em from reaching the plaza!”

Of course, most of what she said went lost in the pandemonium all around her, so she herself was about the only reinforcement to combat the enemy’s right flank. Nala was quick to single out the leader of that particular flank (though probably not the hyena matriarch), as that tall hyena actually seemed to be doing a good job at leading her spot-faced company. They were about to break through to the plaza, having taken out about three lionesses already. But they weren’t going anywhere with Nala around; she threw herself in the middle of the enemy formation, hammering down on the leader who had her back turned to Nala (as she had been ready to run up the ramp to the plaza). The unfortunate female’s back couldn’t possibly stand such onslaught, and she collapsed as Nala’s battering paws shifted fractions of her spinal column out of place. The other hyena’s who had been about to storm the plaza now turned around of course, enraged by the slaughter of their squad-leader. Finding herself surrounded from all possible angles, Nala was unable to counter the barrage of bites which ensued, and not before long she was covered in bite-wounds, although she still managed to deflect the lethal ones with great skill. Although she’d had loved to stay around, she noticed her services were needed elsewhere again, more notably the at the center of the battle, where the lion-defense had entirely collapsed: a determined, long-maned, even imposing hyena female was leading her force forward with the skill of an experienced tactician, followed in her wake by a peculiarly mutilated male (who seemed vaguely familiar despite missing about half his face). With the courage brought on by despair, she managed to create an opening by grabbing an unsuspecting enemy by the throat as he briefly glanced at what was happening in the center. Just before reaching apparent enemy leader, however, already looking her straight in the eyes (as Nala’s actions didn’t go unnoticed), a shrill scream arising far above her cut her attack short.

*

Shenya spotted the enemy just as she carelessly tossed aside the slack body of a slain foe: an impressive, determined, not exceptionally big but certainly very dangerous lioness with a undeniable regal air, even in the midst of battle. Shenya was unable to guess her age, as she combined the agility of a lioness in her prime with the skill of a lioness near retirement. An exceptional foe altogether, that’s why Shenya immediately signaled a few remaining members of her company to cover her, as she was certainly not up to the task of dealing with this foe alone.
Then suddenly, before Shenya had the chance to confront the lioness with the now grim gaze, a familiar cry echoed over the battlefield, originating from a destination unknown, seemingly from the sky (which was, by all accounts, impossible). Was it… Shetani?
The fighting almost instantly paused, as friend and foe alike gazed up to asses the possible additional threat to have arisen. Everyone stared at a small crowd that had gathered at the very top of the Rock, above the plaza, perfectly visible from the battlefield.

Atop the rock sat Shetani, along with three of her henchmen and one crippled, wounded and battered lioness of whom the only part not to have been broken seemed to be her pride, as she kept sitting up firm and proud, even though sitting upright in her condition seemed a torment in its own right. More important, however, were Shetani and the hyena sitting next to her. Shetani spoke up again to the seemingly distressed crowd below her.

“Enough! This battle is over, lions, accept your defeat…” she yelled with soar though content voice, after which the hyena next to her stepped up, still holding a franticly crying cub between her teeth, letting it dangle over the abyss in front of her, “… or face the consequences!”

*

Something snapped; in a split second, the relentless fighting machine Nala had been only moments before broke down into a million pieces, leaving only a fragile, scared and helpless lioness. That at least was how Nala felt the moment she saw the poor little cub dangling overhead, with only a hyena’s fangs keeping it from tumbling down in a seemingly endless depth, towards a certain death. This of course seems strange, as by any account, being confronted with foul play to that extent in the middle of a battle would normally just enrage the defenders some more. But not Nala, not any mother worthy of that name. Not a queen whose only dream to visit in her sleep is the vision of a son she never had, being lifted up towards the sun for all animals to walk the r above her cut her attack short.

*