Invincible Naga

Chapter 9 First Attack

The unpleasant growling of the mowing machine could be heard from beyond the hedges and bamboo groves that marked the 700-acre boundary. When Senan met Pakirappa at the road junction in the morning, Pakirappa had told him that he had to clear the 700-acre ground with the mowing machine. So, Senan was sure that it would be Pakirappa.

'Pakirappa, save me,' shouted Senan, 'A cobra after me.'

The screeching and stone-throwing of the mowing machine were too loud and deafening for Pakirappa to hear Senan. While running ahead, as Senan's feet caught in the vines, he fell face down and screamed scared.

Amidst these, the sound of the machine dropped for a while. Senan cried aloud, for which Pakirappa made a feeble reply from far, 'Where are you, Chenna?'

'Save me, Pakirappa,' Senan cried.

'Chenna, come on, fast.' Leaving behind the mowing machine, Pakirappa rushed to him. His innumerable queries became more audible to Senan.

'It has reached me, Pakirappa. Save me, please,' Senan again screamed.

As soon as Pakirappa reached Senan, he saw a giant cobra a few feet away, standing furiously with an unzipped hood. It stood with more than half of its body raised from the ground and was higher than the huge lemon-grass blades, sharper to bleed them to death.

Pakirappa turned motionless, folded his hands before the snake, and mumbled to Senan, 'Chenna, do like this. It won't attack us. If we flee, it'd pursue us to our death,' Pakirappa explained in a shivering voice. No rock, river, vine, tree, or ditch could impede its speed. To escape an infuriated charging snake in a forest would be impossible even for a Malakudiya.

The cobra stayed still and stared at them as well. A surge of hatred and anger stood out from its stance. Since Senan had turned its enemy, it would not simply abandon him.

Senan drew his rifle, carefully raised it, and pointed it at the cobra. 'Don't do anything so. You can't kill it. It'll pass,' Pakirappa mumbled in a trembling voice.

'Don't worry. I'll finish it off right now,' Senan said and decided to take his aim at the cobra.

He could hear Pakirappa muttering some mantra at high speed. Although Senan could not make it out, he heard the word 'Nagam' intermittently in Pakirappa's chanting.

Senan aimed the long barrels of the rifle at the cobra. Since he closed and opened his eyes one by one, he could see it in two alignments. The next moment, he determined to use his dominant left eye for a better shot. Meanwhile, the cobra flicked out its split tongue two or three times and hissed at them. Senan sharply looked at it, aiming its hood with his fingers on the trigger, he could only hear its hissing mixed with Pakirappa's chanting far inside his head than in his ears. The prevailing river's roar in the ambiance was not heard. He felt no more ears. However, many audible vibrations from the surroundings crept into his body from the ground. The trigger trembled. His heart rate began to increase. But, he had no time to spare. Amassing up all his courage, he fired the bullet. At the same time, Senan felt a heavy blast in his head and felt as slithered into thousands of pieces. With a vehement, sharp shriek, he fell back, dropping the rifle on the earth.

The snake's hood was shattered, and it held its body upright for a time before succumbing. The other cobra following it stared at them from further afar. It zipped its hood, dropped to the ground, retrieved to the hedges, and disappeared.

Pakirappa screamed in awe and made queer sounds and expressions to the unconscious Senan. Whimpering and muttering mantras of Naga all the while, he brought some water from the river, splashed it on Senan's face, jerked his body calling out to him continuously, and feared Senan would die at any instance.

Gradually, Senan regained his senses and found Pakirappa close by. Senan touched his head, shook it a few times, rubbed his eyes to look around, and endeavored to convince himself that he had been alive.

Meanwhile, Pakirappa sat on his haunches beside him, and asked desperately, 'What happened to you, Chenna? You shouldn't have killed it.'

Senan found bloodshed, the shattered hood, death, and the dead body of the cobra. He held his head in his hands, bent down, and recollected everything that happened since he aimed at the cobra, but did not reveal anything to Pakirappa. When he insisted, Senan said, 'I don't know. But, for sure, I fainted then.'

Pakirappa said furiously, 'You've no right to live in a forest.'

'Can't you see it following me?' Senan tried to justify his act.

'It's an awful sin. Who knows what awaits you?' Pakirappa was panting and still mourning the death of the cobra.

'What do you mean? Will the snake's ghost haunt me?' Senan asked sarcastically.

'We should not forget that reptiles are the true heirs of the earth. Moreover, it's forest, their home and we're intruders here,' Pakirappa said. After a while, he asked miserably, 'Do you think the escaped snake will spare you? '

A deep silence prevailed not only amidst them but also in the whole ambiance. For a long time, they sat on the earth, deep in irrevocable silence. This time, Pakirappa abandoned his squat pose, but sat flat on the earth, unable to balance himself on his heels.

'What are you going to do with its body?' Pakirappa asked.

Either dig up a grave and bury it or cremate it. Senan thought. Unfortunately, the surrounding ground was too rock-solid for Senan to dig a grave there.

'The earth is too firm. I can't dig it,' Senan said, and Pakirappa hummed.

If he could find a diggable land, Senan would have to drag it along to bury it, which would be as hard as hauling a huge log. Pakirappa would be unwilling to carry it along, as he hated to get involved in the sin Senan committed.

Senan decided to give it a funeral pyre. The intermittent rain of the past few days had left the dry, fallen leaves damp. It could not be ignited easily. Senan thought about the diesel can in the farmhouse.

He asked Pakirappa, 'Will you stay here for a while?'

'What are you going to do with it? Are you leaving it here?' Pakirappa, who was agitated, shouted at Senan. 

(to be continued...)