Chapter 4

When they had reached the bank, Anshul took a quick cautious look to check whether there were algae floating. Stepping into the river quickly, he nearly lost his balance because of the water’s rapids.

Casting a glance back, he saw that the tiger had picked up its pace a bit and was licking its chops, anticipation gleaming in its very human-eyes. Better hurry, was all the boy thought before looking towards the opposite bank again.

“The water is treacherous. There are rocks too. It’s difficult to move anyway and if I slip, we might hit our heads on the rocks and if that doesn’t kill us, it’ll at least knock us out and the river will carry us away and we’ll most likely drown too. So, try not to move at all, okay?” Anshul told the girl as he threaded his way through the sandy-and-rocky riverbed.

“I know that. I’m not stupid,” Nia returned. “Also, that tiger is getting closer; do you want Nia to be eaten by that big creature?”

I have a feeling that she is making big eyes that are supposed to make elders go all “Aww’ over her while she’s smirking mentally. How could such a young girl be such a...smarty-pants?! I feel like I’ve known her for a while but I can’t remember anything at all.

Even as he monologued in his mind, he kept muttering to himself, “I can figure that out later. Focus on crossing the river, focus on crossing the river.”

“What are you whispering? Have you gone mad? Or are casting a spell so that the tiger goes away? Are you some kind of curse-giver?”

This kid...!

Anshul rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything back.

He was too busy navigating the river to muster the strength to reply. The water was up to his calves and it was flowing so forcefully that it was difficult to take a step.

The riverbed is so slippery, it’s difficult enough to cross this, it’s lucky that I didn’t try to jump onto the rocks.

There were rocks all over the river and he had thought about jumping from one to the next to cross and not be bombarded with the river’s force. But he had rejected that course of action because if he jumped with a young girl on his back, there was a high probability of losing his balance. Also, those rocks would be very slippery due to the continuous water flowing over and around them and if they fell into the river, it would mean the end.

He kept moving through the rapids but the going was slow. It seemed as if the river was trying to pull him back and sometimes as if pushing him to the side. He managed to grab onto the rocks with his left hand while tightly keeping a hold on Nia with his right.

“How far is the tiger?” he asked.

“It’s nearly reached the riverbank,”

“Alright. We have almost made it. Hold on tightly, I’m going to get out of the river now.”

And that’s when, as he was reestablishing a tight grip on Nia after she finished adjusting, he lost his concentration for a moment and the river very nearly dragged him away. He managed to grab onto a nearby boulder but in the process, his left leg banged hard against it and he skinned his knee deeply too.

He had no idea how deep the wound was but the sudden pain and then the ice-cold water on it caught him by surprise and he yelled, “Gaaaaah!! It hurts!”

Quickly recovering his breath, he tightly clasped the boulder and climbed onto it. Surveying the nearby bank, he chose a spot and putting as much strength into his uninjured leg as he could, he pushed off from the boulder and landed on the sand. But the impact was too much for the wounded left leg and he went down on his knees.

I seem to be spending a lot of time on my knees today.

“Put me down. Let me take a look at your leg.” The girl’s voice sounded from his shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Anshul pushed himself and somehow managed to stand, though the pain and blood loss were making him dizzy. “No, we need to get far away and you can’t walk fast enough on those short legs of yours.”

“That leg of yours will slow us down too. If I’m on the ground, it’ll be easier for you. Put me down!” Nia beat Anshul’s back with her tiny fists which annoyed the boy more than it hurt him.

“Not happening,” Anshul said.

This is a forest. No way am I letting go of her right now. Firstly, she’ll tire easily and secondly, I don’t think that I can lift her up again if I put her down.

He turned back to look at the tiger, stumbling due to the injury. He saw the big cat draw in its forelegs close to its hind legs, hunch down and eye a rock.

“What is that damn creature trying to do?! Is it what I think it is? I hope it falls.” These words just rolled off his tongue.

“It’s going to jump,” Nia stated simply.

Anshul looked to the side and saw that the young girl was craning her neck as much as possible to look at the predator.

Just before he could say anything, the tiger jumped...and landed safely on a boulder. Taking a second to gather its balance and choose another rock, it jumped again...landing without a problem.