IX
My world fell away from me.
“Jehosephus, tcha djiaval
roiv me!”
The draig emerged from the willows and alders and
stopped at the edge of the grass. The chromatophores in her smooth skin
adjusted from deeper greens towards olive and brown as she rocked back and
forth on her legs, flexible tail curling around her feet. With elbows resting
on her thick thighs, she looked as if she was hunkered down and deliberating me,
her long, pointy ears laying flat along head, they swept back in an image of
demonic horns. She laced her clawed fingers together, fiddling her thumbs as a
human would.
The remains of my lunch
wanted to rise into the back of my throat. My body tensed and my time became
defined in slow heartbeats.
Thump!
I fought panic by trying to
assess the situation; to force myself to focus on the details. She was large:
she had to be three and a half meters from snout to tip of tail and would
easily stand two meters high at the top of her head.
I brought my rifle to my
shoulder. I spastically thumbed the safety off. I couldn’t stop the shaking of
my hands.
Thump!
She sat there sniffing, her
nose tracing a small arc through the air. Beyond that, neither of us moved. We
stared at each other as I tried to calm my spasmodic breathing and steady my
rifle.
Thump!
For an eternity her eyes
never left mine. They portrayed intelligence and soul, the likes of which I had
never observed in any other animal. There was familiarity in those green depths.
I felt a little control return to me. My body began to feel rooted back to the
earth; strong and supple like a willow in a storm.
Thump!
She was savage beauty: broad
of chest, hairless, olive-hued skin with faint, purple tiger-striping. Every
subtle move revealed a ripple of firm muscle beneath her smooth skin. Her thick
lips curled back on her broad, doglike snout to reveal an arsenal of fangs and
teeth. She almost seemed to smile and I felt cold sweat begin to trickle down
my back.
My finger applied a little
more pressure to the trigger.
Thump!
She uttered a series of low,
gurgling growls. The sounds felt familiar. Then she broke eye contact with me
for the merest flicker of a moment and looked past me.
The hair on the back of my
neck stood up. I barely felt this last chill pass through my body. I held the
crosshairs of my scope steady upon her. I had no choice now.
Thump!
I felt the line pass from my
eye to hers. Silent against my heart pounding in my ears, my rifle bucked
against my shoulder as her head exploded almost simultaneously and she crumpled
in a twitching heap.
I was a willow. I let my
body rock with the recoil and re-found her through my scope. She was dead. Twisting
my body, I started to slide the lever to chamber another cartridge. I watched
the world pass through the darkened steel tube of the scope as I twisted and
shuffled my stance.
As I turned, an inhuman
shriek emanated from behind me. Through the ringing in my ears it sounded like
a distraught wail.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Time turned towards normal as
the slide on my rifle seized; the bolt only half-open. Pivoting on my right
foot, I shifted my grip on its fore stock and slid my left foot around to complete
the reversal of my stance. My eyes only had a moment to register the running, second
draig as I swung my rifle at its body like a club.
Crraaaaaack!
The impact of my rifle
reverberated up my arms and into my shoulders as I struck the beast as hard as
I could muster. Pieces of the rifle’s butt stock flew off into the grass as the
draig skidded past me, its tail flailing behind it. The momentum of my swing
toppled me over. My wrists protested with agony as I braced my fall. Nauseating
pain swept through my arms and shoulders as I pushed off from the ground, my
legs already scrambling into a run.
Blind panic owned me.
I took off through the
grass, trying to force my hands to unsheathe my knife as I ran. I leapt over
the body of the first draig and plowed into the trees. I was oblivious to the
whipping and slapping at my body and face from the branches. My hat was brushed
off my head. All I could focus on was the river.
I broke through the trees
and splayed out on the riverbank as I tripped over roots. I somehow managed to
hang on to my knife and started to push myself up. Pain lanced through my arms
and left thigh as I was thrown through the air. I sailed into a rock and I
rolled, trying to right myself.
I fought at the pain and
righted myself, blood saturating my pants, holding my knife out ahead of me. I
had no option of playing dead with a draig.
Before I could stand erect,
the draig made a great, head-on leap at me. I thrust out with my knife, the
blade scoring a bloody path along its cheek. We collided and my knife slid in
behind its shoulder blade. I let the beast’s own momentum roll us over, pushing
at it with my feet and free hand. Bellowing with pain, its claws ripped into my
jacket, tearing through to my skin as we rolled. There was more pain and warm,
sticky wetness.
We stopped rolling and I
tried to jump up. Its claws were tangled in the ruins of my jacket and pack. I
was pulled over and twisted into the river. Its claws ripped free as I pressed
the quick-releases of my pack straps. Sputtering, I rolled over to get my face
out of the water. Pain lanced through my ankle as the draig grabbed for me,
holding on to a boot and twisting my foot in its hands.
The draig hissed and crawled
after me, my knife still protruding from its shoulder. I tried to kick at it
but my legs were leaden. They couldn’t move; my arms wouldn’t move. It grabbed
me and put a hand on each side of my face.
I was so tired. I couldn’t
care any more. My body was heavy and began to sink down into the cool water of
the river. Somewhere within me, the ages-old conflict of predator and prey
began to trigger the resignation of loss. Endorphins pumped through my system
and that merciful shutdown began to slide me towards nothingness. I could feel
the currents of the great river flowing around me. I would flow with them soon.
Kinyantai n’Sruh.
The draig opened its mouth
wide and licked its lips with a forked tongue. I smelled its breath on my face.
I would not be the prey. I
screamed, then. I screamed in anger, frustration and abandonment. I screamed
for all I was worth and flailed with my leaden arms, trying to pry its hands
from my head. I lunged and sank my teeth into its forearm. The draig hissed
again.
A faint sting flicked my
earlobe and death came as the last of my energy drained away. Death came with a
great sound of the air splitting in a crackling boom.
The draig’s lower jaw crumpled back into its head and
its whole body convulsed. We both sank back into the water and the current
rolled its body away from me. The water was cool and comforting as daylight
faded to night.
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