"BASTARD!" Icarus roared out, as he chased his daughter's attempted rapist with tireless fury.
Iago fought as hard as he could, using all of the skills and maneuvers that his father had taught him. Unfortunately, Blood had definitely not taught his favored son everything he knew, and even if he did Icarus remembered defeating him with ease in any case. As such, the much weaker and less experienced son was on the run for most of the fight. Icarus, in his near blind rage, had to admit the source of his vicious onslaught that he was currently raining upon his adversary was because the boy's skill was initially able to give him the advantage, especially as he had struck first. But the key word there was 'initially'; as soon as Icarus was able to strike back he was able to pin down the scrappy lion and attempt to exact his justice upon him.
But, alas, Iago's lack of size and his brilliant red mane were exactly what allowed him to bob and weave and avoid any sort of fatal damage from Icarus's jaws. The one bite the boy couldn't completely dodge was rendered ineffective due to the mane that Icarus swore was an oxymoron to the otherwise-sickly looking lion under his claws. In that moment Iago landed a blow that nearly blinded the more experienced lion, and used that to get out of Icarus' grip and jump out of the tree, sprinting for his dear life and hoping he was running to safety. Icarus followed, and his larger size was perhaps a detriment in this situation as it meant he was slower than the wispy young tyrant he was nonetheless determined to catch. "YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER! AND WHEN I CATCH YOU…" Icarus called out as he put on an extra burst of speed. For a split second it seemed as though the dark lion was about to catch Iago. In fact, he very well could have buried his claws into the boy's spine, if only he hadn't been tackled to the ground at this very moment.
Although Icarus lashed out with nearly all of his strength, his claws were unable to hit anything at all. This was because his assailant had jumped back just in time, and Icarus was able to make out a lioness' form once he got a good look at her. Or, rather, the forms of many lionesses because though the tan-furred lioness was the one to accost him, she was followed by about 7 others who stood beside Iago as though they were an obedient army awaiting their orders. And, just as soon as Iago noticed this, oh how his demeanor changed. Icarus' growl as he stood his ground and prepared to pounce once again earned a cocky grin from Iago as opposed to fear. "What's the matter? Where's all of that anger just a second ago?" Iago taunted, but recoiled as though struck as soon as Icarus roared at him. And as soon as he roared at him, the tan lioness stepped between the two of them, prompting Iago to regain his courage. "Step aside." Icarus calmly ordered, though the fury in his eyes told exactly what would happen if she decided not to do that.
"You are in no position to make demands here. I say you should quit while you're ahead." The young lioness kindly, professionally yet firmly informed. However, the dark king in front of her was not to be deterred. "Not until Iago is dead at my feet!" Icarus hissed, and at that, Iago chimed in. "Such big talk, coming from a little bitch! Penda, you and your pride show him what happens when anyone steps out of line!" Iago ordered, but it would be Icarus to make the first move. And that first move was to lunge at Iago, his claws would never reach the scrappy lion because he was intercepted by Penda throwing her full weight right at his head, and then the other 7 lionesses piling on top of him. As Iago backtracked, and began to see that Icarus was only being slowed down by his pride, he bolted back to Ivory Tower as fast as he could. Seeing that Iago's form was getting smaller and smaller as he ran faster and faster, Icarus decided it would be best to deal with the 8 problems in front of him.
And deal with them he intended to. As Icarus now allowed his self-control to wane and the demon of rage within to take over once again, he became a totally different lion altogether. He immediately kicked out, launching the lionesses of him as though he were a disobedient horse. Although Penda and her pridesisters were proving to be more of a match than the uncouth and untrained rabble that were the wild dogs, they were still up against a lion from the Wastelands; one who had, out of necessity, mastered pitched combat and had knew enough tricks to survive and somewhat thrive in that horrid environment. On top of the experience and training factor, he just had more strength than any lioness could muster, accounting for 4 of his opponents at any given time. His claws bared, he threw carefully scouted and calculated punches to each opponent that made the mistake of getting too close. For every lioness he knocked away, another lioness took her spot. However, none of them ever took too much of a risk, never once set themselves up for Icarus to land a decisive, devastating blow. Icarus had to admit, their strategy was sound; much better than he expected from the callow, inexperienced youths that had clearly choosen their allegiance poorly.
However, Icarus had seen this tactic before. Mostly because he and Saul had used this same exact strategy on a lion much stronger than himself. Unlike Miran, however, Icarus was not so foolish as to allow himself to get tired out so easily. Despite being a bit older than these young huntresses, Icarus never once exerted himself to the point of losing stamina.
For this reason, he was able to inflict more damage upon his opponents than they were able to inflict upon him. And for this reason, once Penda caught the scent of what could only be Icarus' approaching pride, she immediately called out to her pridesisters, abruptly stopping any more attacks. "The scent of another pride!" She more indirectly ordered than stated a fact, and her pridesisters caught the hint. Although some of the more vicious and battle-frenzied lionesses hesitated, they realized exactly what would happen once this blood-lusted father had any sort of back-up.
It was time for them to retreat.