When the sun was high enough to bathe Sugriva's entire body in its glow, he opened his eyes and slipped down the side of the building, landing in the courtyard. Amu wasn't there, which was a little frustrating. The boy was rarely late. In the back of the courtyard, in the small office, Divyan looked over maps as scouts whispered in his ears. Sugriva went to his side. "General, where is Amu?"
"Not today, Sugriva," he said. "Something came up, and he's staying at the nest." His eyes were sullen, then he looked up. The sorrow was replaced by a glimmer when he saw Sugriva. "Want to do some field work?"
The monkey nodded eagerly. "I've been caged too long."
"We need a patrol at Sita Falls." He pointed on the map, though Sugriva knew where that was. As children, they would go there all the time, standing on the ledge and daring each other to jump. It was part of the lore of the Falls.
"Too many jumpers lately?"
"Would be nice if that was all." He sighed. "People go out there, and they don't return. That's not unusual, but usually suicidal ones don't tell people where they're going. We think it's bandits, maybe a few rogue Fangs. Are you up for it?"
"Yes. I will go immediately."
Divyan walked around the table and embraced Sugriva. "Thank you. You are family to me, and doing this removes a burden. Stay safe so you can keep training Amu. He gets better by the day because of your guiding hand." He kissed Sugriva's forehead, then the two rested their foreheads against each other. "Most importantly, do not engage. If there are enemies, report it."
THE TREES OVERLOOKING the falls were sturdy enough to create a small camp in the branches. Most people didn't look up, unless they were janaav of certain breeds. He prayed to the Ashtadash that this wasn't the case. The size of the base would require him to sleep as a monkey, and hopefully that would just make him look like a greedy macaque.
There was no one there on the first day. Even the animals stayed away, leaving only a handful of rodents rummaging around the undergrowth and a few insects chirping off in the distance. The silence exhausted Sugriva.
After a week of waiting, he heard slithering and rustling in the bushes off in the distance. He clambered up a tree and moved through the branches swiftly. As he closed in, the sound died off. When he was right over it, the movement took off away from Sugriva at incredible speeds. He landed on the ground and discovered a trail of thick blood, more like mucus. The slithering pattern was consistent with a snake, but it would have been over a meter wide, which was larger than any Fang aside from Ravasha. Based on the tracks left, there were three tails. Definitely not bandits or Fangs. Demons.
Yes, Sugriva. My kind are close. One sniff of you and they would embrace you as a brother. You wouldn't have to hide.
The scent made its way to his nostrils and Sugriva's eyes dilated. The verdant foliage took on a ruddy hue. He could see and smell the few animals around him. There was no desire to eat them, just to kill them all, to rejoice in spilled blood and broken bones.
"Sugriva?" The word came from a voice too sweet to be at Sita Falls. He made a fist, trying to hide his black and red nails, though the smoke they emitted was too thick to conceal.
When he saw her, she looked delicious. The slender neck would snap easily. The fragile wings would crack under his teeth. Fat and muscle mixed perfectly over the rest of her, and he knew it. Every nip of flesh would be celebrated over his tongue as much as when they made love. He licked his lips. That's right. There is a full meal, and she delivered herself. If you consume her, she will always be with you.
"Sugriva, it's Prisha. I heard you came out here, and I missed you so much. There's something I have to tell you."
She found him, and her hand touched his head. She stroked his cheek and brought him up for a kiss. The red faded.
"Hello," he whispered, then kissed her. "Why are you here?" Panic struck him as he thought of what he just saw.
"To be with you." She started to remove her shirt, but he stopped her, eyes darting as his ears strained to listen.
Maybe she wanted him more than he thought. Maybe she would be okay with the thought of running away. Fear was replaced with hope.
"Let's jump off the cliff together. You can spread your wings and fly us away from here. Find a small village, settle down, have lots of kids. We can protect them from the world and tell them all the crazy stories about their dad." Her skin felt like down and sent tingles through Sugriva's hand.
Prisha laughed, dimples forming. "I wish I could. I had something I wanted to tell you, Sugriva." She rested her head against his chest.
The slithering returned. Inaudible words left Prisha's lips, words Sugriva knew would break him, but at the time, that didn't matter. The rustling came toward them. "We need to run."
Sugriva seized his staff. Prisha sputtered, "Sugriva, you have to listen. Don't silence me."
A black monstrosity appeared out of the bushes, and three heads peeked over the foliage. One head looked like a skull. The other two were grotesque masks of demons with large fangs, wide eyes without eyelids, and red or black faces. They spoke in unison in a way that made Sugriva's ears shuddered. "So little food, but you two will do. Thought we scared them all off, we did."
"Run, Prisha." Sugriva didn't look back. He took his staff and ran at the abomination. "Tell your dad what you saw."
"No survivors," they echoed in unison. The skull transformed into a snake head, venom dripping down exposed fangs, then lunged after Prisha. Sugriva caught the creature's mouth on his staff, brought it down to the ground, and crushed its head underfoot. The other two heads howled. "You hurt our brother!"
"Was really hoping that was a kill," Sugriva muttered.
Prisha ran, her feet pattering toward the cliff. He prayed she was going to fly, and that she knew which way she was going. Otherwise they were both dead, and Jaya would be none the wiser.
A black mucus, similar to what was on the tree in Mibtha, formed into small needles. They jabbed at Sugriva, and the monkey kept shifting forms to make him a difficult target. When given the chance, he struck with his staff, bending and breaking the needles. Each successful hit was met with a hiss. The snake head shook, turned back to a skull, and joined his demented siblings.
"What are you?" Sugriva blurted out.
You know, the voice in his head said, trembling with excitement.
Every attack, every parry, was met with a blood lust. He wanted to feast on this creature and steal its power, but at the same time the thought revolted him.
"We are the Teen Brothers. Sewed together at birth by our overlord, we escaped his hell and now wander here. We are free. Free. Free!" The heads, on elongated necks, braided together in their glee. "You are the first to fight back. We will wrap you up, then swallow and digest you alive. We look forward to it. And the woman? She looks young. Breeding stock. Yes."
She is ours. We breed with her. We eat her. They cannot touch her. She is ours. The hissing in his head was disorienting, but going in the right direction. Sugriva allowed the rage to wash over him. His hands flexed, and the wood staff creaked under the strain. Then the crimson washed over his sight and he grit his teeth. The creature had to die.
The Teen Brothers paused, thinking over something. "We could make you watch! Yes, we will not kill you. Just cut all your sinew so you can't move." They lunged again.
Sugriva danced between the hungry heads. He thwacked them repeatedly, creating cracks in the skull and masks. They howled as they couldn't land any meaningful strikes. Then he thrust the staff into one of their mouths, down it's throat, and pinned it against the ground, putting all his weight on it until the staff broke through the muscle and pierced down to the ground.
The face gargled up blood, eyes rolling back, and then the head went still. The two heads wailed, "Brother!" They knocked Sugriva away, nudged their brother, and when they realized he was not coming back, they consumed him. Their teeth tore into the meat, blood and ichor spraying up, until their was nothing left but a ragged stump. "Now we are more
powerful. You will die."
The staff was consumed in their feeding frenzy, leaving the monkey unarmed except for a small utility knife. He ran toward the Falls, toward Prisha. She stood, looking over the cliff. The drop went on for hundreds of feet, towering so high above the jungle below it looked as if there were two worlds separated by the earth itself. Sugriva yelled, "You have to fly. For both of us, you have to fly."
She froze. Then she said, "I can't. I don't fly right."
"You flew fine the other night." He took his gamble as he heard the goading of the Teen Brothers catching up to him. Arms wrapped around Prisha, and he jumped off the cliff. He took out his knife and undid the bindings on her wings. "Please, Prisha. Fly."
He shifted, no longer able to speak words of encouragement, only able to trust in her desire to survive, the innate desire Sugriva saw in most people.
Though they were at Sita Falls.
Sita was a woman who was about to be outcaste. She slept with a noble man who denied it, but she was pregnant and could not account for the father. Instead of facing the shame, Sita jumped. Prisha wanted to tell Sugriva something. Was she pregnant? Fear knotted in his stomach.
They were dead.
The ground came closer and closer. Trees were distinguishable instead of a vibrant green blur. Prisha shifted into a hawk, grabbed Sugriva in her talons, and swooped above the trees and river.
The howl of the Teen Brothers could be heard behind them, but Prisha kept flying. Sugriva would have to come back with a small squad to hunt it down. No doubt it would go to ground, and that would be difficult to track. Not to mention he now had to tell Jaya that demons were in their backyard. Meeting Ravasha deep in the jungle was far different than anathema a half day from the capital.
Prisha dropped Sugriva on a tree and landed on the branch. She shifted to her janaav form. "Thank you." Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "I'm not afraid of flying. I need to go, though. You can get back, right?"
Sugriva's jaw dropped. He looked at the cliff. "That's the only way—" but it was too late. She took off toward Jaya.
"Are you kidding me?"
IT TOOK A DAY AND A half to get from the bottom of the cliff back to Jaya because of how far around he had to go. The entire time he muttered profanities of what Prisha did and wondered what it was that made her take off so quickly. Did she fly correctly in that moment of terror, and she wanted to show her parents? That's what he hoped. Was she going to fly away with their child? He didn't care. She left him out to dry in a dangerous environment, basically unarmed. Still, he would utter prayers time to time that she was safe.
When he finally arrived at Divyan's nest days later, it was abuzz with activity. People ran around with bolts of fabric, others with ornate saris. Women painted henna on each other, intricate designs of brown and red going up hands and arms, and across faces. He scrambled up the tree, as this was the sign of something festive, when Divyan should have been prepping for demons. If Prisha told her father what happened, the clash of arms and sound of horns would consume the entire empire.
Instead, laughter consumed the inside of the nest, and guests arrived with expensive gifts. Sugriva went around the back and tugged on a servant's shirt. The servant whirled about and scolded, "You are interrupting a marriage. Whatever you need better be of the utmost importance."
The servant recoiled at the sight of the rough man, clothes tattered, with a stench that could be noted from across the room. Each tear in the clothes was met with a scratch and, blood.
"I need to speak with General Divyan. Now. Need his approval to gather warriors."
"His daughter is getting married, and you want to break up his most celebratory day? It can wait until tomorrow." Even though a servant, he kept his head high. Didn't he recognize Sugriva? The servant was certainly diverging from his path to address a warrior in that manner.
A knot formed in Sugriva's guts and he nearly ripped the servant to shreds. Do it. It is within your duties to teach him his path. Killing him is not even a deviant act for you. The voice laughed, and Sugriva could feel it dancing as it sang.
But the servant wouldn't think anything of demons, and the mistress of the house said nothing good of Sugriva.
"I will gut you, servant. He sent me on a mission. I've completed my mission, and I need warriors now." The monkey snarled, nose twitching as he put his hand on his knife.
The servant's eyes went wide. The man stuttered, then hustled inside. It didn't take long before the general was out. "What is it, Sugriva? What did you find?"
"A three-headed demon named Teen Brothers. It's two-headed now, and in hiding. I need warriors to put it down."
He whistled and a bird janaav landed nearby. "Go to the barracks get five warriors. Bring them to the eastern gate." The bird took off. Divyan grasped Sugriva's arm. "Root out any other demons, as well."
Divyan embraced Sugriva and said, "I am sorry we could not invite you to the wedding. I know how deeply you care for Prisha. She is marrying General Ajit, a young and talented general. If not for this being his wedding night, I would send him with you, so the two of you could talk and respect each other. But that will have to wait." He put a hand on Sugriva's neck and put their foreheads together. "Report to me as soon as you get back."
Leave the demon. Kill Ajit. Why does he get your woman? You taught her to fly. You talked her through issues with her family. You deserve her. Ajit doesn't. Or just kidnap Prisha and run off. You're strong enough. Embrace the shadows within you, and you can move without being detected. Come, Sugriva, let me teach you to walk into one shadow and out another.
The voice never felt so loud and truthful. He did deserve Prisha. He could feel the shadows groping at him, bringing him into the fold. If he simply asked, he could disappear into the shadows and reappear where Prisha was, and just as quickly travel anywhere in the jungle as long as it was dark. His chest hurt. His head pounded. Sugriva was forced to a knee as he held his head.
"I won't succumb," he whispered.
THERE WERE THREE WARRIORS at the gate when Sugriva arrived. The last two were holding everyone else up. Sugriva paced back and forth thinking of what he would do when he returned to Jaya. For the time, all that mattered was killing the demon plaguing the jungle. Maybe he could even eat the demons and gain their power. He looked at the other three warriors. He could take them all.
What mattered was reclaiming his lover in a way so she didn't get upset. They would be exiled into the jungle. They would live that quaint life. She would live that quaint life. He thought of what she currently had: everything. "And I want her to have nothing except me." He sniffled, but did not cry. He would not cry.
A warrior asked, "What did you say? You mutter to yourself and pace back and forth. Is it the demon out there?" He walked up to Sugriva and poked his chest. "Or in there?"
Sugriva smiled. The warrior looked young, but not inexperienced. "Do you know what demons can do? I fought one in the jungle. Like a bad dream, I kept having to fight him. Formless bodies shift in ways your mind can’t comprehend. Torture is their art, and we are the canvas. Maybe they secrete an acid that dissolves you. Jaws unhinge to wrap around your head and sever it from your shoulders in a bite. They do not break bones. They shatter them into dust. If you do not fear this demon, it will maim you." Some embellishment couldn't hurt. Overconfidence, though, could get them all killed.
The warrior stepped back, horror written on his face for the briefest moment. It was enough. Then he composed himself and said, "The six of us can still deal with it."
The final warriors ran up to them, apologizing for the delay. They were all armed and armored as suited them in battle. Sugriva sprinted out the gate, and they kept up. When they neared the falls, Sugriva stopped. "We will rest until day." It was the middle of the night, and he did not trust fighting a creature with control of shadows.
Call out to me, Sugriva. I can give you control over the shadows. Just ask.
"Two will be awake at a time.
Two shifts. I will take the first."
THERE WERE NO SOUNDS near the Falls the next morning. No birds. No lizards. Nothing. The other soldiers were on edge, like Sugriva the first night he was at the Falls. "Come," Sugriva said, and he took them to where he fought.
They can't do this. Death awaits all of you if you meet a demon. Let me in. Use my power.
Sugriva arrived at the place where he fought the other day. Black blood soaked into the ground. There were cracked shards from the masks and the skull. The warriors stepped back when they heard slithering off in the distance. Sugriva could smell the fear and hear the rapid heartbeats.
Cattle to a slaughter! Bleed and feast, rip them open and chomp their bones!
"Calm," he said. Sugriva brought two swords on the trip instead of his customary staff. He needed something to slice through the thick muscle and sinew that made up the entire monster's body.
The Teen Brothers sprung out of the undergrowth, wrapped around a warrior, and burned his skin. They chewed on him, and when they were finished the last of his skin turned to smoke.
"Don't just stand there," Sugriva howled, the crimson hue coming over his vision. "Cut it up!"
The battle began in earnest. Sugriva cut and sliced, then had to jump back as another warrior attempted to claim glory.
Instead, the warrior caught a fang on his thigh. Venom injected in such volumes that it poured out with his blood, and his thigh ballooned and turned purple. The warrior fell and screamed. Then his thigh grew large enough that his skin split, revealing dark purple muscles, and an ooze was secreted.
Sugriva pointed and said, "Medic. On him now." The warriors looked confused. There were no medics, or their medic was the first or second warrior to fall. The man would be dead soon. Sugriva took his chances and cut the leg off.
"We remember you," the Teen Brothers said. "You killed our brother." Their heads weaved between each other, hypnotizing. The skull and a mask remained. Monkey flung himself above the heads, shifted into a monkey, then when he cleared their heads, he shifted back to a man and came down on the extended flesh. He severed the skull's neck, and it fell and flopped, squealing. "No," howled the final head. "We will not forgive you!" He devoured his brother, then looked back to Sugriva.
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