Chapter 52 52: One against All

[1st POV] When the beasts carved by evolution for war clashed, the world could not help but watch with bated breath. The vultures in the sky, the rodents in the distance. Even the herd of Impala stopped and stared from a faraway area, along with two vehicles, one to document me and the Mbali brothers respectively. All of them became witnesses. A lion against three lion kings. How crazy did that sound? Well, it looked even crazier. ... Baraka crashed down where I once stood, his massive paws crushing the cracked soil between his claws. His wide jaw snapped shut with a clack sound loud enough to be heard. His movement was like a stampede condensed into one body. A cloud of dust exploded under my paws as I leapt back just in time. I landed in a crouching position and my muscles coiled like an armed spring from the momentum. I rocketed out, faster than ever before, stronger than ever before. It was the natural course for a growing lion to always be stronger than yesterday. He flicked back, surprise evident on his enraged face for a split second. He swung his arm at me in a bit of a panic. An awfully predictable move. It's like how you know the untrained person will start the fight with a wild right hook most of the time. I ducked even before he attacked. His swing flew past me with a gust of wind and I lunged at him with renewed force. His attack threw off my aim even though I dodged it perfectly. Instead of the neck, my jaw clamped down on his shoulder. My teeth caught muscle and mane. It was like biting into a boulder wrapped in thick wool. A grunt resounded from his chest as I clamped down. He then twisted violently and pushed me off. There was a flash of shame in my eyes at being shrugged off that easily. If weight was power then Baraka was Superman. To top it all off, I had bitten down on more mane than flesh, so my bite came off rather easily. At that point, both of us were in each other's range and the next collision came almost like instinct. There was no roar or growl, just a sickening thud of flesh hammering flesh. It was the rawest part of the fight and revealed a lot to me. Baraka was giant. He was giant in terms of everything, be it the length and size of his fangs, his claws, his fur, his skin and even his jaw. But unexpectedly, I was no dwarf either. I boldly went fang to fang and claw to claw with the behemoth of nature. Truthfully, for a lion that went toe to toe with a leopard twice his size as a cub, the current size difference was not impressive. It was nothing new. Nostalgic even. Still, I was overwhelmed when it came to the rawest display of power. I let that moment stretch for as long as I needed, so I could know exactly how much. How bigger and stronger was my enemy, and how much longer would it take to surpass him? When I learned what I needed, I shoved him with all the strength I could gather. I pushed him away, but I also pushed myself away. The weight difference between us was around 50 kilograms. He was a whole person more than me. My earlier suspicion was nearly correct. He was not 300 kilograms but he was really close. That would put me in around the 240-250 kilogram range. There was a small pause between us after I pushed him away. We kinda just stayed there, a few metres apart. But that did not last long, Baraka came at me once more. He swung his paw down like a Warhammer. And yet I could not feel any threat from his attack. I noticed that his thick fur, while providing great defense from fangs and claws, made him extremely predictable. His fur would flutter with every little movement he made so if you paid close attention, you could predict him. I slipped his attack with minimal ease and then threw my own attack. My paw arched like a blade and I hit him across the face. My sharp claws dug into his skin and leave a trail of cut on his face. I was aiming for his eyes but close enough I guess. The color of blood was easy to spot upon his coat of white. He scrunched his face up and pulled back a little. It was one step back. But that was enough to finally ignite the two brothers into action. They quickly proved that they were not just there for decorations and that nature did not play fair. Makali came in like a ghost. He looked way too eager for a lion running into a fight. His sharp teeth were bared with spit flying out due to his momentum. He lunged at me, swift like a blade. I too leapt towards him and we both met in mid air before we crashed on the ground. We kicked up a cloud of dust in our wake as we tumbled in the sand. I learned quickly why Makali gave a very dangerous feeling compared to the others. Makali had a reckless way of fighting which was all offence. As we fought, he did not care about defending or controlling the fight. His only aim was to claw at my face or bite at my neck. He abandoned all care for his own health and was focused on destroying mine. It was an unexpected style of fighting. Scar had been too cowardly and Roku was too sane to fight in the same way. Perhaps this was the way most lions fought, full aggression without much of a mind. Due to his aim of only hurting me, I was able to control the flow of the fight as we rolled across the ground. My limbs spread out wide and firm to control the wrestling. Without much effort I was able to pin him beneath me. A nasty snarl came from his throat and he bit down on the side of my head. He did not get my ear but he got my flesh and mane. His jaw had such a strong hold on me that although I pinned him down, I could not get up. But in such moments my mind was calm. I was not fighting on pure instinct and experience like they were. There was a balance inside me where instinct and mind controlled the fight. I need to thank Roku for that. My claws came out and I dug into his open chest. I pushed down at my paws with all my power and weight. I did not put my paws at the centre of his chest but at the edge. So as I pushed down, they slipped and my claws left four bloody lines on each side of his chest. There was a small mane that went down his underbelly but that did not cover his sides. So he had no defense. ROAR!!! A roar of pure agony left his throat. Perhaps when he fought other lions, they replied to his aggression with their own aggression. Perhaps when he attacked, they got angry and attacked as well. But not me. You never want to give me such openings because I was smart enough to exploit them. My head snapped down quick and I clamped down at his throat. His roar of agony came out strangled when I did so. The mane and the loose skin stopped me from penetrating but I could choke him with pure bite force. Alas, in a battle of three against one. I did not have the luxury of choking out my opponent. It took too much time. I felt a weight crash down behind me. Two distinct paws with sharp claws at the tip latched onto both of my sides. And then I felt a crushing bite at the back of my neck. My jaw released Makali and my head was pulled back. I roared out in anger and tried to grab behind me but I couldn't reach him. I stood up on my hind legs, trying to get away from the crushing jaw but it followed me. When I stood up, Roku followed by standing up as well and refused to release his bite. He was much shorter than me when we stand so the back of my neck was his limit. I tried to spin around but he followed my action so that he remained behind me. He could not contend against me in frontal assault the last time we met him. After six months, he realized his chances would be even worse. So he was determined to attack me from behind and keep the fight there. I was not able to turn around but that was enough to know which side he was on. I reached behind me with my paws and then I grabbed his mane and part of his skin. "!!!!!!" For Roku, the world spun. It was no longer possible to keep his jaw shut when he flipped into the air. For me, I simply bent my back and pulled Roku behind my shoulder. He was shorter than me and was already at the tip of his toes trying to keep his hold on the back of my neck. It could not have been easier to pull him off the ground and throw him over my shoulder. A perfect judo throw. Well, as perfect as a lion could do. His back crashed on solid ground with a thud. The air was knocked out of his lungs, causing him to release a silent scream while his eyes rolled behind his skull. When he came back to his senses, he only saw a blur of teeth coming down at him. There was no air to scream, so he released a weird sound while sucking in air. My jaw clamped down on his muzzle from the top. Then I proceeded to thrash around violently to try and tear his face off. I did not commit to my aggression though. I learned from last time that I couldn't focus on one opponent for too long. I released my jaw and then turned around just in time to see Baraka stampeding towards me. I did not have time to gather momentum but I had to meet him head on. I stood on my hind legs when he lunged at me. Our arms hammered against each other as we both canceled each other's swing. But when we clashed, I was pushed away due to my lighter weight and because I could not create momentum like he did. I rolled on the ground but eventually came to a stop in the same crouching position. My ears folded and my lips were pulled up to show my fangs. I could feel goosebumps all over my body and that caused my mane to puff out, making me look bigger and more dangerous than before. There was no more attack after that. The three brothers took their time getting up to their feet. I was also busy catching my breath. When things calm down, that's when you realize how out of breath you really are. A train of growl left my throat like a song. The deep vibration resounded through the surrounding. It was a warning. After the three of them stood up, they started circling around me ever so slowly. They did not growl back, simply circled around me to try and initiate the attack. In the meantime, something in my mind clicked into place. My mentality was that of an animal backed into a corner with his life on the line. So when they come, my main priority would be making sure to keep them out of the battle. after one clash. That meant clawing at their eyes, biting at the nose and if I got the chance, tear out their fucking testicles. ... ... [IMAGE] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote stones!!