Hanuman III

His mind raced "Macchindra had to be some where close by!"

Hanuman dropped the armour he was wearing and raced to the spot leaving the search party behind him. Skidding to a stop near the spot where he had earlier heard rustling that night. all was quiet as before in the moonlight.

"Where is he..." he thought dispiritedly.

The night was still dark and it was many hours before sunrise. There was a slight mist that surrounded Hanuman, the moon still shone through the leafy vegetation and the leaves crumpled under his feet. His breath began to fog as Hanuman felt a cold draft emerge through the trees.

As he saw straight ahead, the leaves rustled slightly and he perceived a movement through the trees. Hanuman stood rooted to the spot.He had seen a lot in life, but this felt nothing like anything he had known before.

A dark form slowly rose through the leaves, sand, dead leaves and grit falling off it. It was somewhere just under the ground. It surged towards where Hanuman stood. 

He stood there staring transfixed...

...and then years of training and combat experience kicked in.Hanuman squatted down on one leg to maintain balance and agility.His hand had automatically unsheathed the goatskin holder where his trusty blade rested.

The form started gaining speed and made its way towards him - Hanuman knew it was an animal of some kind. But couldn't fathom what. He waited till the form was within touching distance and then leaped up in the air to avoid it.

The creature broke through the earth. An otherwordly screech rended the air as the creature landed on one end of the clearing and Hanuman at the other.

The moon shone full in the clearing and Hanuman saw what tried to attack him. Razor sharp fangs and beady eyes fixed on its prey, the creature dribbled. It evidently was not agile becuase of its strucutre. four padded feet and tough scaly skin as hide, the creature looked like a small rhino with fangs. An excellent close combat fighting machine.

Hanuman knew he had to find a weak spot. He had a sharp blade.

"between the eyes..." he thought.

He knew he had to be on top of the creature to drive the blade down onto the spot. He gave a sweeping glance across the clearing and spotted a rock jutting out nearby. the creature stood there snapping, gurgling and waiting. Its beady eyes fixed on Hanuman. 

Hanuman's hands closed on the knife handle as he sprinted powerfully.

The creature set off towards Hanuman with an ugly screech. He reached the rock and used his inertia to change direction and gain altitude...

The Knife went straight through the centre of teh creatures head, as it let out another screech and landed with a thud behind Hanuman. It wasnt dead yet.

Hanuman whirled around with his knife but it was gone. There was a hole in the ground where the creature had landed. evidently, it had retreated from where it had come.

"Hanuman!" Tehmul came running through the undergrowth. Hanuman whirled around but the adrenaline began to settle.

"Yes..." Hanuman said and winced. He looked down to see his calf bleeding from a gash where the creatures forecep like claws had connected.

"you're Hurt!" Tehmul exclaimed

"its nothing...look for Macchindra in the undergrowth there, he must be there, get the men. dont go alone!" he said pointing to the undergrowth where he had spotted the creature.

"It did not breathe like an animal..." thought Hanuman as the men combed through the undergrowth.

"HERE!" he heard a shout. Someone had found Macchindra.

Hanuman ran to the spot where Macchindra lay on the ground - motionless. He was skin had turned white and his pupils looked dilated.

"Is he..." Tehmul began,

"There's still life, take him to Hakim saab" Hanuman said...