The Misfortune Cycle: River Desert

Chapter 15

Torun shot upwards and his shoulder hit the ceiling. He tried to roll with his fall, but someone fell on top of him and he fell on his left arm. It was Lamia, still wearing the headset and screaming. Pain flared up, as they both laid on the ground and groaned.

Torun tried to sit up, and his world swayed around. The others weren't any better. Ashraful was lying feet up and Lanka was on the floor, holding his collar, for some reason. Jamal was crouching on the ground, now gathering himself. Budda wasn't anywhere to be seen. Maybe he fell into the water.

Jamal was the first to recover. He had anticipated whatever happened, and in a second, he was back on his feet. He looked at Torun. Then he pointed his gun and started shooting.

Something roared behind Torun.

He turned around it to look, but for a second, his head couldn't really register the image.

It was the buffalo from earlier, half of it's body in water, trying to get on the boat. But no matter how much his mind screamed to him that it was, it was not the buffalo. It was like the buffalo was a layer of filth it was covered in, and now that filth was being washed down by the water that dripped from it's body onto the deck.

And what was beneath was even more confusing.

As Jamal's bullets chewed into it, it let out another roar, and one of its primate-like hands slipped from the railing, only to get grip again. Water dripped from it's furry body, as it's boarlike mouth chewed on something, spit dripping onto the deck. It's spit was black as ink.

Torun's hand went for the knife at his waist, but never reached it, freezing instead. His knees felt weak, almost unable to support his weight. He felt a vein throb in head as the world sharpened into crystalline clarity.

He thought it was the creature's doing until he recognized the familiar sinking feeling in his gut.

Fear. Fermented, rotten fear, freezing his joints as his heart pounded in his chest, urging him to move.

Torun watched in frozen horror as the monstrosity found a clawed grip on the wood of the deck, hoisting it's body upwards. It was considerably larger than the buffalo had been; almost as big and heavy as a small elephant. It wouldn't fit on the deck. The barrage of bullets paused, Jamal had emptied a whole magazine into the beast, and it did not even seem particularly bothered. The boat tilted again, as the beast pulled on it, bringing parts of its lower body up. Lamia had probably managed to take off her headset, because she started screaming again. Torun hadn't noticed when she had stopped.

Then the water behind the thing erupted. Kalyani's spindly limbs wrapped around it from behind. Torun shielded his face from the splatter and when he looked, one of her arm was around its neck, and the other around it's shoulder, trying to pry it off the boat and into the water. One of her legs was against the hull, pushing herself and the beast away from the boat. But the beast held on true. Kalyani shrieked in her nasal gargling voice.

Then her neck snaked around to bite it in the eye.

The thing roared, taking one of its taloned hand off the deck to rake Kalyani. Kalyani's skin tore open like paper. But she didn't let go of her bite. Black blood gushed out of both of them.

And Torun found himself moving.

He dashed towards its hand on the deck, bringing out his knife. The inward curved edge was the sharp one, and Torun remembered that as he brought the knife down on its wrist. The blade went in and the beast roared.

Then it yanked its hand out of Kalyani's hold and swung for Torun.

The blow landed at Torun's feet, as Kalyani let go of the beast's throat and pressed down the hand. The beast thrashed its head, trying to free itself of Kalyani's bite, but Kalyani extended her neck liberally. The bloody display made Torun stand still for a second, then he raised the kukri knife in the air and brought his entire weight down on the wrist.