![]() "I will kill him with a single shaft, before he can escape. "His head is so big, it will make a fine target," Tanus exulted, as he nocked an arrow. It spun in the air spraying a bright feather of pink blood from the severed neck. The elephant placed one forefoot on the body of the fallen charioteer and, with its trunk, plucked off his head and tossed it aloft like a child's ball. The chariot rolled over and the men were hurled from it. The maimed horse went down and dragged its teammate down with it. He struck the near-side horse across the back, just behind the withers, and broke its spine so cleanly that I heard the vertebrae shatter like a brittle potsherd. ![]() There were broken chariots scattered across the field, for Kratas out on the left had fared no better than we had. I pulled up my horses at the edge of the grove, and we stared back aghast at the carnage of our shattered squadron. "That one on the right is the biggest," squeaked Memnon. Kratas wheeled away on our left with twenty-five chariots following him in line astern, while we ran on straight at the huge grey beast that confronted us with the yellow shafts of ivory, thick as the columns of the temple of Horus, standing out from his vast grey head. So I raised my fist and gave the hand-command that split the column into two files. How could these obese animals behave differently? Even the lion runs from the hunter until he is wounded or cornered. No other game we had ever hunted had stood to receive our first charge. We both expected the huge animal to run from us as soon as he realized that we menaced him. "Hi up" I called to Patience and Blade, and they opened up into a gallop. He kicked up bursts of dust with each long flying stride, and was on us before I could get the horses under control again. ![]() He was swifter than any horse, and nimble as an angry leopard set upon by the hounds. "By Horus, look at him come" Tanus roared with astonishment, for the beast was not running from us, but directly at us, in a furious charge. "We should take him first." The pup was every bit as keen as his sire. ![]() Let Kratas have the other, it's good enough for him." "You heard the royal command," Tanus laughed. He pulled the shaft from his own flesh and threw it aside and came on after us, reaching out towards us with the blood-smeared trunk. He merely reached up with his trunk and - gripped the shaft of the arrow with the tip, as a man might do with his hand. This was no porcine sloth, but a courageous and terrible adversary that we had challenged in our arrogance and ignorance. They were not the eyes of an animal, but those of an intelligent and alert human being. I looked up at him, for he towered directly over us, reaching out with his trunk to pluck us from the cockpit of the chariot, and I could not believe the size of him, nor the fury in those eyes. They rampaged through the grove, smashing up the capsized chariots, stamping the carcasses of the horses under those massive padded feet, throwing the bodies of screaming men high in the air and trampling them as they fell back to earth. ![]() However, the wounds had not weakened them, but seemed only to have aggravated their fury. The two great bull elephants bristled with arrow-shafts, and the blood streamed down their bodies, leaving wet streaks on their dusty grey hide. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |