HK: Chapter 2

The Mrudutalam Marsh was sweltering. It really was more of a jungle than anything, comparable to something like the Amazon. The Gadah River practically inundated the ground in multiple places, though there was still solid ground to be found here and there. It all seemed like the sort of place where the noise never would end, between the croaking of frogs, buzzing of insects, and the song of various birds. It should have been more alive than it was. However, Shastri Tripathi had been correct about the lack of such noises. The only real sound of note was the watery noise of the slow-moving river and the faint buzzing of insects too small to be considered prey by anything noteworthy. Everything else, the frogs, birds, and so on, had long since vacated the area.

The denizens of the Mrudutalam Marsh knew exactly what was going on. That they were in the path of a mass migration of deadly predators, they'd seemingly known it for some time, too. Far longer than the people of Apsadanam Village had, at any rate. They would have had to in order to clear out to the extent that they had. As I walked, sticking to the drier parts of the ground, I couldn't help but think that this whole debacle seemed to have been in the works for weeks at least. That the Village was just beginning to feel the effects was not a good sign. It meant that they'd largely been caught napping.

It was as I pondered that fact, and tried to figure out how to rectify it going forward, that my Heightened Senses picked up on a change in the pattern of the sound of the water lapping at the banks of the dry ground I was standing on. My Danger Sense translated that into a warning, coming from the direction of the Gadah River, and my enhanced reflexes allowed me to spin about just in time to catch sight of the lunging form of a great reptilian beast rising from the water of the Gadah River to attempt to strike at me.

It was large, easily the size of a heavy-duty pickup truck at twenty-two feet and just as heavy at four tons. It was covered in toughened, armorlike scales and had a maw filled with teeth that were the sharpness and dimensions of long daggers, the longest of which were a full nine and a half inches long and sharp as a blade. It was the grasping claws, however, tipped with arrow-like talons, that concerned me as it leaped out of the water with its forelimbs extended to attempt to grapple me.

In short, it was some form of ancient giant Crocodillian megafauna, likely a Sarcosuchus or some such beast. I barely had time to brace myself for the grapple before it grabbed onto me, yanking me off my feet and into the river. Here, it tried to perform a death roll, drowning me so that it could eat me at its leisure. However, as I took a deep breath, letting the water fill my lungs and allowing my water-breathing capabilities to come into play, its claws clutching at my borrowed armor, the Sarcosuchus seemed to realize that I wasn't drowning and began to switch tactics.

With a lash of its powerful tail, it propelled itself, and me along with it, down toward the river bottom to attempt to bury me, its claws slicing into my borrowed armor and gouging out wood and cutting into leather and padded cloth. I braced myself, and when we reached the river bottom, some fifteen feet below the surface of the water, I struck out with both feet, planting myself in the bottom of the river. The Sarcosuchus drove me down into the river bottom to the point where the muck reached mid-calf on my legs, but I managed to arrest our descent. Then, with a muffled shout thanks to the nature of being underwater, I reached out with a Crane's Beak style strike and plunged my fingers into the right eye of the Sarcosuchus.

It let out a hissing growl of pain as I withdrew my hand, plucking the eye out alongside it. As it did so, the Sarcosuchus tried to withdraw a bit, and that gave me the opening I needed to draw my blade. With a growl of my own, still muffled from being underwater, I jumped up, propelling myself up into the middle of the water where the Sarcosuchus had retreated and lashed out with my sword. As I did so, my breathing fell into an interesting pattern just before I struck with a thrust that incorporated a textbook setting-aside parry from Joachim Meyer's style of Fencing, displacing the swiping claw of the Sarcosuchus off to the side before thrusting the blade home through its snout and skull, the strange breathing pattern giving me a bit of extra power to my attack.

The razor-sharp length of bronze punched into and through the tough, armor-like scales of the Sarcosuchus and cored through the thick, stone-hard bone of its skull before skewering the brain of the creature. The power granted by my godly body, along with the extra power from the breathing technique, allowing me to do that. The Sarcosuchus let out a hissing roar and began to thrash about in its death throes. As it did so, it took me along for the ride, my grip on my blade practically unbreakable. Its tail smashed into my side, cracking the wooden plates of my Swamp Hunter Armor and bruising my ribs with enough force to shatter a reinforced concrete slab. I expelled a decent chunk of water from my lungs at that, clutching my side, but the pain swiftly faded as my God Body decided that it was going to deaden those nerves.

Fortunately, that was all that happened, as the Sarcosuchus stilled moments later, letting out a final, rattling hiss before dying. It floated there in the middle of the river, leaking blood and bits of brain matter into the water and advertising it all to any beast that might feel a touch peckish, which was likely many of them, given the migration that was going on. I knew I couldn't stay here, but at the same time, I also knew that the hide on this Sarcosuchus, as well as the bones, would both make for excellent materials to upgrade my now damaged Swamp Hunter Armor. Plus, there were also the uses for the teeth, blood, and other bits that I was just now realizing could be turned into alchemical ingredients.

In the end, I wound up dragging the carcass out of the Gadah River and over toward one of the larger sections of dry ground, where a rocky promontory rose up about nine feet out of the riverbank, covered in small patches of moss and lichen. Thankfully, and I hadn't known this beforehand, I was able to climb the sheer rock as if I were Spider-Man from the Marco Manfredi memories. That hadn't been a thing that I'd realized I could do, but I could do it. At least when it came to stone. The Jury was still out on whether or not I could do it with surfaces that were slicker, like Ice or Glass.

Regardless, as I dragged the carcass of the Sarcosuchus up on top of the promontory, I realized that I had done it just in the nick of time. As it turned out, the blood in the water had filtered downstream and attracted a pack of what seemed to be curious and hungry Velociraptors, looking to steal a bite from a larger Predator's Kill. Fortunately for me, they couldn't exactly reach me, and I began to butcher the Sarcosuchus carcass right then and there. It took some time, and I wasn't satisfied with my haul until it was past four in the afternoon. However, thanks to my ability to Reforge things, I could substitute Mystic power for the proper tools to render hide into leather and so on.

In the end, I managed to completely remake my Swamp Hunter Armor using Sarcosuchus leather and bone in place of the wood and leather that had been damaged by the fight. I also managed to take some of the teeth for later use in Alchemy. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly bottle the blood or preserve the remaining eye, as I had no bottles or formaldehyde to do that with. That largely meant that I could only rely on scales and teeth as Alchemical Ingredients, though those would be good enough by themselves, as they would allow potions to enhance strength and durability. However, the more esoteric uses for Crocodile Parts would have to wait.

Fortunately, I was able to fashion a crude leather satchel out of Sarcosuchus leather using not only my Reforge Powers, but also a crafting ability I hadn't known I'd had. The materials weren't the best. I'd needed to fashion a bone needle out of the Sarcosuchus's bones, along with thread from its tendons, but I had a place to store things now. Lastly, I also had to use my ability to reforge my blade, as thrusting it through the skull of the Sarcosuchus had damaged the edge enough to concern me. That brought up another thing. Just where had that different breathing pattern come from?

The boost of power I had gained from the change in breathing pattern just before my attack had struck home clearly was something that was both interesting and new. I couldn't find a reference to it in any of the memories that I had, but those were often jumbled and fragmentary as it was. If it were a new power, it was one that was clearly useful, and I got the sense that it wasn't anywhere close to full power right now. I would have to do more thorough testing later, but for now, I donned my newly improved armor and took up my newly repaired sword, stashing my Sarcosuchus fangs and scales in the crude leather satchel at my waist, and looked out over the edge of the Promontory.

The Velociraptors were still out there, circling. Likely, the butchering I'd done of the Sarcosuchus corpse hadn't helped in diminishing their interest. It had needed to be done, but now I was at a crossroads. On the one hand, there was still plenty of the Sarcosuchus corpse left. I could simply shove the rest of it over the side and leg it in the other direction while the Velociraptors chowed down. On the other hand, of course, there was the issue of the local predators being too numerous. It might be better to simply deal with the Velociraptors now than to let them free to potentially hunt villagers just as soon as they get hungry again.

Of course, as I pondered that, the Velociraptors stopped their circling and looked up at the treeline before bolting in the opposite direction. I only had a brief moment of time to wonder what that was about before I heard a loud roar from the trees. I frowned, and the trees parted to reveal a stalking Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Beast was gigantic, easily thirty feet from snout to tail, and had to weigh around ten tons. It had red along its muzzle from a fresh kill that, looking toward the break in the tree line from where it had emerged, seemed to have come from a Triceratops that it had just slain. The armor-like scales of its hide were charcoal colored, slashed with yellow tiger stripes. Had it smelled my kill and decided it may as well claim it for itself too? It was definitely plausible, looking at the serrated, dagger-like teeth, the longest of which was at least a foot in length, I could believe it was used to getting its way.

Then it took a thunderous step forward, shaking the ground as it stomped closer to the Promontory I was sitting on. The height wouldn't protect me from it like it had from the Velociraptors, unfortunately. As it shook the ground with its footsteps, the Tyrannosaurus let out a roar that buffeted me with waves of sound and gusts of breath. I frowned, drawing my recently-repaired blade, staring down the open, blade-filled maw of the Tyrannosaurus, and prepared to fight. As I did, a thought occurred to me.

"Right. Vajradantah. Sanskrit for Thunder Fang. No guess as to what the Elder had meant by that now." I muttered.

Then the Tyrannosaurus let out another, bone-rattling roar and charged forward. It lowered its head, opening its maw, and preparing to bite down on me. I fell once again into the odd breathing pattern and braced myself for the attack, preparing to counterattack just as swiftly as I could.

And the battle with the Tyrannosaurus began in earnest. . .

XXXX

Shastri Tripathi, meanwhile, frowned as he looked over at the Mrudutalam Marsh from outside his window. He was no Asura himself, of course, nor was he a great warrior of repute. However, he had honed his senses to the best of his abilities, and they had served him well in his life among the beasts of the Mrudutalam Marsh. At this point in his life, estimating distance and threats from faint noises was a well-mastered skill for Shastri Tripathi. It was because of that mastery that Shastri Tripathi frowned now. It was faint, far enough out that it would take a hunting party more than an hour at a swift pace to reach, but that was unmistakably the roar of a Great Vajradantah.

Such beasts were rare in this part of the Mrudutalam Marsh, or at least they should have been rare. They shunned human settlement and tended to live in the deep wilderness. Solitary beasts, they tended to stake out a territory for themselves and defend it jealously, with only their mate and any children being allowed into the area. This was easily doable, as Vajradantah were a deadly threat, each as large as a building, weighing as many as twenty thousand Ser. Their hides were impossible to pierce for their hunters, and their teeth could bite one of their Hunters in half at the waist in a single bite. Not to mention their roar, which was powerful enough to cause disorientation and damage the inner workings of the ear with sheer sound.

The Great Vajradantah Beasts were feared for a reason. It was thought that it would take at least twenty Trained Warriors working together, equipped with armor and weaponry forged of the Iron that the Romaka and Yavana had brought to trade in Vipani, to truly match the power of even a single Vajradantah Beast. Either that or an Asura deciding to face the beast. Some Great Warriors working together might manage it with as few as ten of them, but they would need a proper strategy and good iron equipment. It was certainly not anything the hunters of their village could handle without aid from elsewhere. Indeed, they could send forty of their Hunters at a Vajradantah Beast, and it would still be a bloodbath, though they might manage it. And Apsadanah Village did not have forty hunters left after the deaths of the Hunting Party sent into the Mrudutalam Marsh.

This was not good. After all, if a Vajradantah Beast had chosen such a close area for its new territory, Apsadanah Village was in grave danger. Not only was it likely that such a beast would close off trade from Vipani and elsewhere coming down the Gadah River, but they would always be in danger of becoming little more than fodder for such a foe's monstrous appetite. Shastri Tripathi could only hope that the Deva that had been sent to them, Lord Trito, would be capable of dealing with such a fearsome foe. If not, then the position of Apsadanah Village would very quickly become untenable. If that happened, the Village would need to move, or they would all be in grave danger. And with a Vajradantah Beast having staked out a territory further inland, the Village's options for moving were slim indeed.

"Perhaps a prayer might be in order? Lord Trito seemed to enjoy the Mead that I offered him. Perhaps a second gourd might serve as a worthy sacrifice?" Questioned Shastri Tripathi.

"Grandfather?" Queried Amala from the kitchen, where she was preparing the evening meal.

"It is nothing, Granddaughter." Reassured Shastri Tripathi.

"Then why do you look troubled?" Asked Amala.

"I have faith that Lord Trito will solve the issue. Mind the cookpot, Grandaughter." Demured Shastri Tripathi.

"If you say so." Nodded Amala.

As Shastri Tripathi stood, he headed for the Kitchen, passing Amala and grabbing a gourd of Mead on the way out. He would offer another Sacrifice to Lord Trito on the Village Altar now, in the hopes that it would give Lord Trito the strength to vanquish the Vajradantah Beast. If not, well, Shastri Tripathi would discuss that with his Son if and when the time came to do so. Of course, he did not anticipate that it would be a very pleasant discussion if it needed to happen.

For that, and for many other reasons, Shastri Tripathi hoped that Lord Trito would prevail. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. In it, Trito runs into his first encounters with the local Swamp and Jungle Wildlife. Not only were there Velociraptors, as he'd thought, but the Vajradantah Beasts that Shastri Tripathi was talking about turned out to be Tyrannosaurus Rexes, while the Baddhahpralayah turned out to be a type of giant extinct crocodile known as a Sarcosuchus. After all, Vajradantah, as stated, means Thunder Fang, while Baddhahpralayah means binding death, which references the powerful roar of the Tyrannosaurus Rexes and the Grappling Death Roll of the Sarcosuchus, respectively.

At any rate, the next chapter will include Trito's fight with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, along with a POV from Beatz's perspective. I'll also have a few more images out before then, along with Beatz and his second in command, Kunoichi's Character Sheets, afterward as well.

Stay tuned. . .