A Crocodile's Journey

Chapter 22

It didn't take long before it started to rain. At first it started as raindrops caressing the land, but soon it turned into a heavy downpour. At least he had this to his advantage; if he was right, the human wouldn't be able to move easily with the slippery terrain, something crocodiles could do better.

Still, he better hurry. He knew this canyon often got flooded when it rained like this, forming a raging river that could carry any animals straight to their deaths. Even crocodiles, who thrived in water, had little chances in a flash flood.

Even though he knew the man wouldn't understand anything he said, Makuu called out. "ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO KILL, BEAST?! HERE I AM! COME AND GET ME!"

He wasn't sure if the human heard him 'roaring', or his senses were so inferior to that of animals' that he wouldn't have thanks to the rain. However, the sound of the gun firing and a bullet hitting the ground a few feet away a few seconds later let him know he had. In fact, he noticed the human had somehow come to the bottom of the canyon and was running towards him, but stopped and started to reload his weapon.

Taking advantage of it, Makuu galloped forward and knocked him down; this sent the poacher flying a few feet back, but he didn't wait to give them a chance to recover and he lunged at the human: his jaws would have closed on the human if he hadn't taken his gun and held it out to block the bite.

Makuu had to give the human credit, he was stronger than he looked like. He felt the taste of the metal for the first time; it was cold and bitter.

The human cried out in anger. But he sounded tired; after all, it wasn't easy to get a 300-pound crocodile off.

The terrain was so muddy, however, the poacher took advantage of to slip out from underneath Makuu's weight, but since his weapon was still unloaded and wouldn't risk reloading ammunition with the crocodile so close; he quickly looked around for a higher place to load, and spotted a rock the croc wouldn't be able to climb.

Makuu ran after the human, but he climbed on top of a slippery rock; he stopped in his tracks, realizing what he was going to do. Looking around frantically, he spotted another big rock a few feet away, but instead of climbing on top of it like the human, Makuu rushed to hide behind it just a another bullet flew through the air, barely missing its target.

The poacher stood there, his sharp gaze scanning the area around the rock in case he spotted a speck of green he could shoot at, like a hawk stalking its prey before striking down.

It took him a great effort not to lunge at the man; he was in disadvantage as soon as that human had his weapon. If only he could bring him down somehow.

Makuu narrowly tucked his head back behind the rock when he tried to take a peek, his heart racing. At this rate, he'd be stuck here until the place flooded! He had to think of a distraction of some sort if he wanted to get that human off that rock.

Before he could think of anything, he heard the human yelling and cursing out of sudden. Confused, he managed to take a peek from behind the rock without exposing too much of it, an his heart nearly stopped when he saw what was distracting him.

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A few minutes after Makuu was gone, the animals rushed out of the cave and towards the smooth rock path that led up the canyon, but the rain and the mud resulting from it made it difficult for Julisha and Jafari. Eventually, they managed to get to the top of the canyon, and like Makuu said, the way into the Pride Lands was just up ahead.

Kitwana stopped in his tracks when he heard a gunshot in the distance, turning back in fright. What if Makuu had gotten hurt?

"Kitwana, what are you waiting for?!" Kalere cried out to him. "Let's go!"