From my novel Tokoloshe.
His
low growl; barely audible, just a rumble deep inside his broad chest,
he was hungry... starving he understood. Yet
despite the tightness and pain he felt in his stomach he was wary,
beyond wary, he was afraid.
This
was a prey that he had never dared to stalk before, and
his
instincts told him to run, every one of his kind had a natural fear
of the clumsy and noisy creature that he watched now through deep and
intense yellow eyes. Yet
it was not hunger alone that forced him to begin the stealthy stalk,
one cautious step at a time, deliberate and poised, no sound of
stirring leaf would come from his experienced paws. There
was another force, invisible yet consuming that drove the leopard
forward.
It
wasn't a force that registered on a conscious level, it was more a
compulsion, an urging inside his mind,
true, he was afraid but his will grew stronger as he began to
salivate in anticipation of the meal to come. The pain in his old
joints surfaced as he froze, one paw hovering above the deep humus
and dry leaves that formed a thick bed under the trees. His
prey; wary, disturbed, he saw the creature pause, staring around with
wide eyes, the same look of alertness that he had seen in the eyes of
countless other animals, time would tell he knew, wait patiently,
move not one whisker, ignore the pain that increased with age. Some
would flee, bounding away with startling speed, those he would forget
instantly and renew his search, but others would relax, he would see
the tension leave their bodies, they would continue to feed. Those
were the prey he would savour, his hunger satiated on their warm
flesh. This creature returned to its wandering. So
noisy, it's lack of stealth unnerved him, only a creature without
fear would signal its location to predators so carelessly, yet the
will that drove him sharpened his focus and drove away the
trepidation.
Almost
as a being carved in stone he waited motionless, his breathing less
than a whisper, his eyes narrowed, focussed, intense. One step closer
it came, he caught the scent again, his primal alarms sounded and for
a second his body screamed flee, yet the will held him firm and
resolute, his fear dissolving
as
he rumbled softly, a sound that came from deep in his belly rippling
up to escape as a vicious snarl as he pounced.
The
creature screamed, a high pitched sound that assaulted his sensitive
ears, yet it was pathetically slow, it turned as he sprung from the
cover of the bushes but within one of it's bounds
he had borne it to the forest floor. It's
struggle; feeble, why had he held it in his nightmares for so long?
Even
more helpless than the docile cattle and goats that he had taken so
often since his age had slowed his tired body.
His
own instincts controlled him now, the strange influence had
disappeared, now he acted as he had countless times before, he felt
the fragile windpipe begin to collapse under the crushing power of
his jaws as he frantically raked the ragged claws on his hind paws
repeatedly down the soft stomach, the screams dwindled to a strained
gurgling, the creatures fluids seeped from the rents that he had
created, again he bit down on the neck, squeezing the breath and the
life from the weakening prey, he felt the shudder, the last tortured
gasp... it was done.
Cautiously
he paused panting softly from his exertions and listened, now was his
greatest risk, lion or hyena, they would rob him of his prize.
Swiftly
he grabbed the neck again and with monumental strength dragged the
lifeless body to the foot of a tall tree, biting down hard he heard
the bones breaking and with all of his power heaved the dead weight
up, again and again he struggled to drag his meal to safety, his
claws digging deep into the bark as he heaved and scrambled and
climbed, urgently seeking a branch to hold his meal high above the
heads of the robbers he anticipated would arrive quickly drawn by the
scent of blood and ruptured bowel.
Finally
he was safe, and panting heavily he dropped the limp body into the
crook formed by a solid branch where it grew out from the trunk, he
scented the forbidden creature before rasping a rough tongue across
the dark brown skin, tasting the salt of sweat mixed with the sweet
copper tang of fresh blood, secure and confident... he began to feed.
In
the shadows a cold malice also feasted, it feasted on emotions, the
deep satisfaction that it sensed inside the big cat.
“It
has tasted man now,” it chuckled, “It knows how fragile and
helpless they truly are, it has replaced fear and respect with hunger
and desire.”
The
Tokoloshe chuckled and delighted in his own ingenuity, this would be
a perfect way to clear a path to the female that Douglas so deeply
desired.
No comments:
Post a Comment