Indra was furious with himself for not having appointed night watches. Their peaceful, monotonous routine on the southern plains had made them careless, and now they had paid the price. Their situation was precarious to say the least; they were in the middle of nowhere with no horses or armour.
'These people could not have gone far. They were clever enough to conceal their tracks around camp, but they would not have wasted time doing it for long. I'm sure we will be able to pick up their spoor in the forest.'
They split up and made their way into the forest looking for any signs of the thieves. Indra tried hard to calm himself; he needed all his senses under control. He wished Mitra were around: he could have done with his advice. Next to him, Soma, who was deep in thought, suddenly remembered something.
'Paras' brother was killed near this forest; he told me that it was forbidden for our tribe to enter it. Maybe these lands belong to a hostile tribe and we are trespassing.'
Indra was not in the mood to be governed by rules.
'I don't care. It does not give anybody cause to steal our horses. The people who did this are going to die slowly and in great pain.'
He stopped as the trail widened ahead. In front of him was a pile of horse dung. He examined it and discovered it was not more than a few hours old. Ahead of him on the path, Soma called to him excitedly. He had found the tracks of their horses.
As Indra knelt to examine them, something else caught his attention. Next to the horse tracks, he found rather strange-looking sets of footprints. They looked human, except for the toes that seemed to extend into sharp claws. Soma also examined the tracks with interest.
'Nothing human could have made these.'
Indra looked up at him.
'They might not be human, but they are intelligent. They sneaked into our camp and made off with our weapons and horses--that cannot be the work of a wild animal. Call the others and catch up with me. I'll go ahead and check out these tracks.'
Indra moved on and was swallowed by the forest. Soma mimicked the cry of a falcon and the others soon joined him. He quickly told them what they had discovered. They drew their swords and hurried down the trail after Indra; the hunt was on.
As he made his way through the jungle, Indra was amazed at how quickly and efficiently these creatures had moved through the darkness. They seemed to have been about eight to ten of them. Most likely they were a hunting party that had chanced upon their camp, but there were a lot of things he could not explain. How had they managed to keep the horses quiet? Deva horses were trained only to recognise one master; to have led them quietly away in the night like sheep . . . it was unexplainable.
He saw a dip ahead on the path where the forest sloped away into a steep valley. When he looked down from the rim of the slope, he was amazed by what he saw. The mist rose like plumes of smoke from the depths of the valley, enshrouding the dark green foliage in a thick white cloud. Indra looked down and realised that the task at hand might not be as easy as he had initially thought. Most of the descent into the valley would have to be in near zero visibility.
And then he heard a deep, sinister voice--as if someone were speaking in his head. 'Leave now or die.'
As Indra stared down into the slope, he heard Soma and the others come up behind him. He turned and motioned for them to be silent. As they stealthily approached, he whispered to them, 'Whatever we are chasing is down there, waiting for us.'
Even as he spoke, he saw the foliage behind his companions part, and a branch whipped through it. Indra screamed, 'Look out! It's a trap,' and threw himself to the ground.
The branch had been bent backwards and released; it moved with the speed of a whiplash and struck his companions in the square of their backs. They toppled headfirst into the valley. Without a moment's hesitation, Indra drew his sword and plunged down the slope after them.
The young warriors tucked their heads into their knees and rolled down the slope, a technique that they had learnt in training to break their fall. The slope levelled out into a broad ledge that stopped their descent. As each of them reached the ledge, they got to their feet and drew their swords. Soma, the lightest, was the last to arrive. As he got up, Vayu saw something drop from the trees onto his friend's back.
'Soma! Watch out!' he called.
But the Pisacha had already landed on Soma's back, its fangs going for his jugular. Soma turned his head and the creature's huge fangs caught and ripped off the top of his ear. Soma screamed in pain.
Indra saw the shape of the creature as it prepared to bite into Soma's neck a second time.
'Soma! Duck!' Indra yelled and, raising his sword, launched himself into the air.
As Soma bent his head, he felt the bronze blade pass millimetres above him. It struck the creature on its neck and severed its head clear off.
Indra wiped the blade on his tunic as he got to his feet and called to the others. 'Chakra!'
The other three immediately moved into formation with him and formed a defensive circle around the wounded Soma, as Pisachas sprang from the treetops and came at them from all directions. The creatures ran into a wall of bronze blades, the Falcons, with a stunning display of swordplay, cut them to pieces. Yet, wave after wave continued to come. Within the protection of the chakra formation, Soma bound a rag around his head to protect his torn ear and called out that he was ready again for battle. Indra barked out a sharp order. 'Forward!'
The chakra slowly changed from a defensive to an offensive formation as they moved forward to finish the enemy once and for all. Indra watched one of the creatures re-attach its severed limb and attack him. He swung his blade and decapitated it.
'Take their heads! That's the only way to kill them.'
With the element of surprise now lost, the Pisachas were no match for the superior strength and skill of the Deva warriors. Before long, twenty-five Pisacha heads rolled on the jungle floor.
Indra motioned for the others to be quiet and listen. They could hear the faint rustle of branches, but the sound was travelling away from them, below, into the valley. The Pisachas had posted a lookout; others would know what had happened to their hunting party.
The Falcons looked along the ledge for a way down and soon found a narrow path cut into the slope that doglegged its way to the bottom of the valley.
***
The Pisacha lookout watched as Indra instructed his companions to spread out on the valley floor. They split up and moved silently through the trees. The lookout was forced to change its position frequently to keep an eye on all of them, playing right into Indra's hands. As soon as the creature moved, the rustle of branches gave it away. Two fist-sized rocks thrown by Varuna and Agni struck it in the chest and knocked it down from its perch. The creature hit the ground and was up and running almost instantly, hotly pursued by Agni and Varuna.
The others started to converge on the creature from all directions, but it was too fast for all of them. It carved its way through the thick fog, clambered up a steep mountain trail and disappeared into a cave. As they stood near the cave and contemplated their next course of action, Soma arrived with good news. Their horses were alive and were corralled with good food and water.
A quick search of the area revealed their saddlebags and weapons; they had been hidden in a little burrow near the horses. Armed and well supplied, they readied themselves to take on the cave.
'Torches and swords, boys! And for Surya's sake, try not to kill each other in there,' Indra called out, as he lit his torch and led the way into the cave.
The light from the torches threw spooky shadows on the walls of the cave as the Falcons made their way through it. They took each step with caution as they waited for the Pisacha attack to come. The cave narrowed and slowly began to snake its way upwards into the mountain. Varuna shone his torch against the sides of the cave and saw that there were many handholds carved into the rock. He wondered what they were for as he whispered to Indra, 'I don't like this; what're they waiting for? They should have a
ttacked by now.'
Agni laughed. 'After their little ambush failed, they must be skulking in their holes, afraid to step out.'
'Shhhh! Listen,' Indra said as he strained his ears.
The sound started to get louder. Varuna was the first to react; he suddenly realised what the handholds were for.
'It's water! Hold on to the sides.'
The five of them had just about made it to the sides of the cave when a wall of water hit them. They were swept off their feet and were barely able to cling on to the walls. The flood lasted only for a few minutes, but their torches had been swept away or ruined beyond repair. They were now wet, cold and, without their torches, blind. The Falcons cast away their robes; their weight now they were wet would only hamper them in battle. Clad only in their loincloths, swords in hand, they continued up the passage into the pitch-blackness.
They climbed in silence, Indra setting a comfortable pace; he wanted to conserve their strength. He had a strong feeling that they would need every ounce of it. At long last he saw a glow ahead. They quickened their pace as they reached the end of the passage and soon all five of them stood at the entrance of a giant cavern. The walls and ceiling were covered with phosphorescent algae that glowed in the dark. Its stunning beauty took their breath away.
Agni was the first to break the silence. 'All right, I know this is beautiful. But I'm wet, cold and a little hungry. So can we move on, kill these wild men and get out of here?'
Vayu rubbed his belly. 'I'm with you on that one, especially the hungry bit.'
Indra was the first to look down and notice the floor of the cavern.
'Well, before that, we might have to get wet again. Look!'
His friends looked down to see that the floor of the cavern was not a floor at all. They were faced with a large pool of water, still, dark and deep.
Agni did not waste any time; he sheathed his sword and plunged into the pool. The others followed suit. They swam quietly so as to not disturb the water; they were not sure what lurked within its depths.
Indra crossed the length first and trod water a few feet away from the opposite bank of the pool. The walls had several large bare patches with algae missing. On closer inspection, he realised that they were tunnels leading out of the cavern. The others arrived and for a moment they huddled together in the freezing water as Indra struggled with his choice of which exit they should swim for.
The Pisachas took the decision out of his hands as they chose that very moment to attack. The Falcons felt a rain of stones hit them. Though small, the stones were unerringly accurate. One struck Indra on his forehead and he shouted for them to split up and swim for the shore. His vision was blurred as blood flowed from the cut on his forehead into his eyes. He saw a small sandy beach leading up to a tunnel. He took a lungful of air, dove under the surface of the water and swam for it.
Indra clambered onto the beach and drew his sword and dagger. Several pairs of red eyes watched him as they moved forward to attack. Indra did not wait--he let out a bloodcurdling yell and ran at the Pisacha line.
***
Varuna was an expert swimmer. As the shower of stones began, he took a deep breath and made for one of the tunnels furthest away at the extreme end of the cavern. He was sure none of the others would attempt to swim under water that far. Not that he did not appreciate their company, but right now he just wanted room to swing his sword and kill some more of those beasts. He relished the thought of more combat. No rules, no wooden sword, this was life or death. This was the real deal.
He broke surface near a rocky shelf at the mouth of the tunnel. A few of the Pisacha had gathered here in wait. A blood-curdling yell from Indra momentarily distracted them. Varuna leapt on to the shelf and echoed the yell. Before the creatures could recover from their surprise, he drew his sword and dagger and rushed at them.
Varuna hacked and slashed his way to the entrance of the tunnel and the Pisachas fell in huge numbers to his blade. After a while his arms began to tire, but the attack showed no signs of letting up. He carved a path across the shelf through to the entrance of the tunnel. The creatures came at him from three sides and started to push him into it. Varuna immediately realised that he had chosen the wrong exit. With his back to it, he staved off the relentless attack.
Just as he felt his arms were going to tear from their sockets, it was over. He dispatched the last of them, a female that had bitten a huge chunk of flesh from his thigh. As he staggered back he slipped on the blood of one of his victims and fell backwards. He tumbled and slid on the loose gravel into the tunnel, which sloped downwards before it fell into a sheer vertical drop. Varuna tried to cling to the edges but only succeeded in dislodging a huge rock that fell into the deep pit after him.
As Varuna hit the bottom, the rock fell on him and pinned the lower half of his body to the ground. He struggled to break free, but the rock was lodged too tight. Even as he thought his predicament could not get any worse, he felt a trickle of water against his face. Varuna pushed the rock with all his strength, but it would not budge.
The water level continued to steadily rise around him even as his struggles to break free intensified. As the water rose above his head, the brave Falcon continued to pit his strength against the rock, but it was to no avail. Slowly Varuna's struggle ceased and his body became still.
***
Agni found himself forced through a tunnel by a throng of the creatures. In the dark he had lost count of the number of heads he had taken. Yet they continued to pour in and fall on his sword, to be chopped to pieces. Then as suddenly as it had begun, the attack ended. Agni continued to swing his sword wildly a few times before he realised there were no more of the enemy left to slay.
He leaned on his weapon and caught his breath. Barring a few superficial wounds, he was relatively unscathed. He started to make his way further up the tunnel when suddenly something fell on his head. It was a Pisacha, a juvenile.
What it lacked in size the little creature made up for in sheer ferocity. It wrapped its hind legs around Agni's neck in a vice-like grip as it tore at his scalp. He grabbed it with his free hand and tried to prise it off his neck. Just then one of its claws went right into his eyeball and ripped it out of its socket. The intense pain gave Agni superhuman strength. He screamed as he pulled the creature off his back by the hair on its head. Then he held it at an arm's length, spat into its face and sliced off its head.
Agni struggled to stay on his feet. He reached for the side of the tunnel to brace himself, but felt only thin air. Just then a body crashed into him and he toppled into space. He hit the ground and found himself tumbling through a shaft along with one of the Pisacha. He hit the bottom with a resounding thud.
Momentarily winded, he struggled to his feet. He found that he was in another tunnel. The air in there felt thick and moist and had a particularly unpleasant smell. As he felt the walls on either side he found they were scalding hot. He needed to get out of there quick. He groped around the floor and found his sword. Finally something was going right for him. He smiled at the thought and listened for any sound that might betray the position of his enemy.
He heard the scratch of claws against stone; it was on his blind side. Agni's smile widened as he swung the sword with all his might in the direction of the sound. The bronze blade struck an overhanging rock and threw out a flurry of sparks. Agni's one eye widened in terror as the very air around him exploded into flames.
***
The tunnel Vayu chose was the nearest, but the most inaccessible. It was high above the water level and required him to scale a steep rock face. He'd seen creatures pour out of this tunnel and spread themselves across the cavern walls as they prepared to repel the Falcons' attack. Their speed and agility on the slippery rock face was amazing to behold. Vayu held his sword between his teeth and started the steep ascent. He used the strength of his upper body to good avail and made use of the numerous footholds to make quick progress up the rock face.
Vayu was alre
ady half-way up to the tunnel when the Pisachas spotted him. There was mild panic in their ranks as they turned and headed back towards the entrance of the tunnel to cut him off. Vayu quickened his pace and was there a moment before them. He waited now, sword in one hand, dagger in the other. The creatures began to screech in alarm and tried to stop him from getting into the tunnel. Vayu just stood there and hacked them to pieces. Somewhere in the distance he heard Indra's battle cry. He screamed his response at the top of his voice, momentarily frightening the creatures. As he waited, the next attack came at him from within the tunnel. Three Pisachas jumped onto his back and struggled to knock him off his feet.
As Vayu shook them off, more creatures rushed to the entrance of the tunnel from behind and tried to drive Vayu back. The precariousness of his position only served to spur Vayu on: he chopped and hacked his way into the depths of the tunnel. The creatures were no match for his ferocity and they fell in large numbers before his sword.
The tunnel opened out into a small cave. As Vayu entered it, panic set in among the Pisachas. They began to pile up their dead in his path to obstruct him but soon it was all over. Vayu felt around the floor of the cave with his feet and discovered a pile of dry wood. Using a few pieces of flint from the cave, he made a fire, fashioned a makeshift torch and took a look around. He was shocked to see that a majority of the creatures he had killed in the cave had been females and juveniles. He pushed aside the pile of corpses and looked to see what the creatures were so desperately trying to protect.
In the light of the torch, he saw what looked like a stone altar built against one of the walls. On it, neatly arranged, were bowls of clay, a stone axe, a flint spearhead and a variety of primitive tools. He realised that these creatures had been human once and they had zealously preserved the last vestiges of their humanity in this little shrine.
Rajiv Menon -- ThunderGod Page 15