INE

My vantage point had been a lower bough of a lone yellow Fever tree in a dense lot of palms. I was back around the place where I had killed the Rompon. The air was warm and breezy; the earth was muddy and scarce of grass. There were no birds around the woods, not even a chirp. Only the wind swooshed back and forth and around, swaying the tall palms and the leafy plantains along.

Heavy breeze swept the loose hair over my face, blocking my view. I scolded myself for forgetting to wear my pin. I tossed my tresses behind my shoulders and craned my neck to survey the ground ahead. The palms were tall and slender-stemmed. The unshaded, coarse ground around the roots did not seem fit for resting. Even the crown did not look like it could bear a heavy creature like a biped. I wondered if the creature perhaps inhabited elsewhere and was only foraging here.

The sinister feeling was still lingering in the back of my mind. It became heavy I scraped the bark of the Fever tree with my nails, breathing the green-fruity smell of the palms and debating if I should just stay here for more time or continue the search.

I lifted my head at the rustle of grass and peered through the long leaves of the plantations. My breath caught. A hunching figure emerged from between the plantains to pick up a fallen palm fruit from the ground. It stood tall with round head, long arms and rusty colored hair covering its skin. Picking up my pike, I eased from the tree and followed behind stealthily, across the clump of plantains to a shadowed, hollow cave.

It seemed to be a whole lot of space for a single creature. I'd be damned if there were more than one in there. But the possessiveness over the blade was too strong. I shoved the qualms away and dared a step closer to the mouth of the cave. Next step, I stumbled into a muddy puddle.

A new word popped in my mind. "Zounds!" I hissed.

It smelt a lot-muddy, musty, damp and everything I disliked. The air turned from nice and warm to cold and unbreathable as soon as I stepped inside. Holes on the enfolding roof had ensured dull light. Underfoot, the dry leaves and stalks crunched, rendering me caution. I peered through the dimness of the empty shell of the rock and inched on the stone ridges of the cave-floor.

From somewhere deep in void, I could hear dribble of water. I followed the sound as there was no other way to go. Droning flies flocked the place next to the small trail of water running down a surface stream, and other insects that I could not identify scuttled around the dry and rotting palm shells littered around the floor.

Oh, it was a mess!

Curling around the surface stream was a cramped passage. I had a hunch that the blade was in there somewhere. Holding the pike out in front of me, I made towards it.

The passage was enclosed by cragged walls. But there was something unusual about it. As and when it grazed my arms, I felt a flicker of burn run through me. The passage ended at a sunken chamber, reeking of something acrid. I lowered my pike when I realised it was empty. The floor was covered with thickly padded barkcloth. I scrabbled about the layers of the barkcloth, and found my blade lying at a corner, hidden under the dried plantain leafs.

One of the Rompon horn made a dull sound as my fingers brushed over it and I bit my tongue. The last thing I wanted was for the biped to hear me. Handling the blade and the pike on both of my hands, I scurried back to the passage.

I stopped short half-way through the passage. The biped was now lumbering near the surface stream. Oblivious to my presence, he was absorbed in fetching the running water with a dried palm shell. My skin prickled. This wasn't going to be easy, I thought as I stood stock-still. Worried, as I dragged my legs back was when the Rompon horn chimed the second time, making the biped creature finally notice me.

The biped took a brief moment to realise his intruder. I tightened my grip around the pike, and flinched at a growl from the creature. He bent forward and took a leaping step inside the passage. Seeing me swing my pike to the front, it bared its large teeth and stuck his neck forward. I wondered if it was a challenge.

I eased the blade to my foot and gripped the pike in both my hands. He stopped advancing when I swung my pike the second time, making the sharp tip graze his shoulder. There was no way of escape. I was very much trapped within the passage. Yet, I eyed his sides helplessly. There was too little space for me to clear out.

A moment of distraction was all the biped had needed to pounce forward and grab the pike. He was too strong. He growled frantically as he shook the other end of the tool, almost hysterical. It was a stupid way of a brawl with a stupid creature, but it didn't mean he couldn't harm me. I only had to let go of the pike to know what he was capable of doing. So, I hung on to it. But as I swayed side to side, the walls touching my skin brought the same burn over me. Heat rose in waves inside me, my vision blurred. Slowly, I felt the waves rise to my throat and smother me.

The pike slipped from my hand. Hissing in pain, I balked. The blade was around my legs. I had another hunch to pick it up, but I ignored it. I shook my head and looked at the creature. He was punching the end of the pike to the cave floor. He grunted in a weird guttural voice at each strike. It was terrifying and annoying at the same time.

A sudden sensation grazed my heels. The blade was resonating. Quite tones sounded from the life-spine string. The biped stopped its punching and looked from me to the blade. It grunted and bared its teeth again as if it were mocking me for losing my tool.

This was not an opponent, this was a nuisance.

There it was-another hunch. My hands reached for the blade. I might have still had a chance to evade this foolish creature. This time I'd hold tight to the blade, and maybe scare it away with sounds.

But when I saw it again, its eyes were wide. It stared at the blade with some recognition. Its face scrunched in anger. There was pure malign in place of mockery now. It screeched out loud, twisting is head up and down. Fear gripped me again and I tightened my grip on the blade.

The blade was still making soft sounds. And they were increasing the tempo. The biped was still making that hooting noise. A flash of silver light danced in front of my eyes. It brought a fleeting moment of recognition from something in the past-an image of a shotel sword. I looked down to my hands. The blade that was an instrument had now morphed into a weapon-the same shotel sword I had imagined.

I raised it up. There was no hint of the Rompon horns, or the life-spine string. Only the grey material of its previous form remained. It was not even pliant like it has been in the past, but solid and flat, almost semi-circular in shape. My fingers were clamped on the small hilt. The rest of the curved surface shone grey along the sharp double-edge, making it distinctly lethal.

I slashed the mortal edge across creature's chest, cutting through its leathery skin.

Brown blood splattered across the walls. A sudden silence fell over the cave. Flailing, the biped struggled for its voice. But all that came out of its mouth was a hiss. Along with the blood, there was something else oozing from its wound-white wisps of mist-the creature's soul. The realisation brought a greedy smile to my lips. Hunger rippled through my belly. I inched closer to the creature as it slumped to the floor and opened my mouth to suck in the escaping mist. Here was my first meal in Idanwe.

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