‘No way out,’ whispered Krittika, sword drawn.

Ganesh knew Krittika was not a trained warrior. Her maternal instincts would drive her to protect Kartik, but she probably wouldn’t be able to kill any of the cats. The soldier on the other side was shivering. He was unlikely to be much help.

Ganesh nodded towards the bleeding lioness limping towards them. ‘She’ll not last too long. I’ve cut a major vein.’

The liger was circling them while moving towards the front, as the lionesses flanked the humans. Ganesh knew it was only a matter of time. They were preparing for the charge.

‘Pull back,’ whispered Ganesh. ‘Slowly.’

There was a hollow in the main trunk of a banyan tree behind them. Ganesh intended to push Kartik in there and defend it from the lionesses.

‘We can’t last long,’ said Krittika. ‘I’ll try to distract them. You run with Kartik.’

Ganesh didn’t turn towards Krittika, staring hard at the liger. But his admiration for Veerbhadra’s wife shot up. She was willing to die for his brother.

‘That won’t work,’ said Ganesh. ‘I can’t move fast enough with Kartik. The walls are high. Help is on its way. The Mahadev is coming. We just have to hold the lions off for some time.’

Krittika and the soldier followed Ganesh’s lead as they edged slowly to the rear, pushing Kartik back. The liger and lionesses crept forward, their blind aggression from just a few moments earlier dissipating at the sight of the giant man holding a blood-stained sword.

A little while later, Kartik had been pushed into the banyan hollow, with the tree’s hanging roots tied around it to prevent him from charging out. He was safe. At least for as long as Ganesh stood.

The cats charged. Ganesh was surprised to see the limping lioness bounding forward. Krittika was covering that area.

‘Stay low!’ shouted Ganesh. He couldn’t move to support Krittika since the liger could charge through the opening to attack Kartik. ‘Stay low Krittika! She’s injured. She can’t leap high!’

Krittika had held her sword low, waiting for the wounded lioness to reach her. But to her surprise, the big cat suddenly veered left. As Krittika was about to charge after her, she heard a blood-curdling scream.

The lioness from the other side had used the distraction and crept up to the Kashi soldier. He was screaming in agony as the lioness dragged his body back, slashing at him with her claws. The soldier kept screeching, trying to push the lioness back, hitting her with weak blows from his sword. She kept biting into him, finally getting a choke hold on the convulsing soldier’s neck. Moments later he was dead.

The liger remained stationary in front of Ganesh, blocking any escape. The other lioness left the dead Kashi soldier and returned to position.

Ganesh breathed slowly. He marvelled at the intelligent, pack-hunting behaviour these animals were displaying.

‘Stay low,’ said Ganesh to Krittika. ‘I will cover the liger and this lioness. You have to focus on the injured one. I cannot see to all three. These animals hunt as a pack. Whoever gets distracted is dead.’

Krittika nodded as the injured lioness started ambling towards her. The animal was losing too much blood from her shoulder injury. She was slow in her movements. Suddenly, she charged at Krittika.

As the lioness came close, she leapt high. As high as her injured shoulder allowed. It was a weak jump. Krittika bent low, holding her sword up high, brutally stabbing it into the lioness’ heart. The beast fell on Krittika and was soon dead.

Ganesh glanced at Krittika out of the corner of his eye. Before being felled, the lioness had managed to dig her claws into Krittika and rip away a part of her shoulder. Krittika was bleeding profusely, practically immobile under the lioness’ corpse which was pinning her down. But she was alive. She had Ganesh in her line of sight.

Ganesh flipped his shield onto his back, pulled out his second shorter sword and stood close to the banyan tree. The short sword had a twin blade, which clipped together as the victim’s body moved. It was a fearsome weapon if it was stabbed deep into a body as it would cut again and again.

Ganesh waited, biding time, hoping the Mahadev would arrive before it was too late.

The liger moved to Ganesh’s right. The lioness to his left. There was enough distance between the beasts to make it difficult for Ganesh to observe both of them at the same time. Having established a good offensive position, the animals moved forward slowly, in sync.

The lioness suddenly charged. Ganesh lashed out with his left hand. But the shorter sword did not have the reach. The movement forced him to look left. The liger, taking advantage, charged into Ganesh and bit hard into his right leg, at the same spot that Ganesh had been injured in, at Icchawar.

Ganesh screamed in agony and swung hard with his right sword arm, slashing the liger across the face. The liger retreated, but not before he had bitten off a chunk of Ganesh’s thigh.

Ganesh was losing blood fast. He stepped back, leaning against the banyan tree. His kid brother was screaming behind him. Shouting to be let out so that he could battle the lions too. Ganesh did not move. And the cats charged again.

This time the liger came first. Seeing a pattern in their attack, Ganesh kept his eyes dead centre, able to now see both the liger and lioness. He held his right sword out to stop the liger from coming in too close. The liger slowed down and the lioness came in faster. Ganesh jabbed hard with his short sword, straight into the lioness’ shoulder, but not before she had bitten into Ganesh’s limb. The lioness retreated with Ganesh’s short, twin bladed sword buried in her shoulder after having left another gaping injury in Ganesh’s left arm.

Ganesh knew that he couldn’t stand on his feet much longer. He was losing too much blood. He did not want to fall sideways because Kartik would then become vulnerable. He fell back and sat against the tree, covering the hollow with his body. The animals would have to go through him to get to his brother.

Due to the severe loss of blood, Ganesh’s vision was beginning to blur. But despite that, he could see that the wound on the lioness had been telling. She was still struggling at a distance from him, trying to lick her shoulder, unable to stand straight. As she moved, the twin-blade cut further into her, hacking tissue away from bone. He saw the liger moving in from the right, edging closer. Once close enough, the liger bounded and lashed out with his paw while Ganesh slashed with his sword at the same time. The liger’s claws tore through Ganesh’s face, causing a deep gash on his long nose. Simultaneously, Ganesh’s blow gouged the liger’s left eye. The animal retreated, howling in agony.

But Kartik had seen what Ganesh hadn’t. He was trying to reach out with his wooden sword. But he couldn’t get far enough. ‘Dada! Look out!’

The lioness had used Ganesh’s distraction to crawl closer. She lunged forward and bit into Ganesh’s chest. Ganesh swung his blade, slashing her face. The lioness retreated, snarling in pain, but not before ripping out a large amount of flesh from Ganesh’s torso. The Naga’s heart, pumping blood and adrenaline through the body at a furious rate, was now working against him as the numerous wounds leaked blood alarmingly.

Ganesh knew his end was near. He couldn’t last much longer. And then he heard a loud war cry.

‘HAR HAR MAHADEV!’

A warm, comforting darkness was beckoning Ganesh. He struggled to stay awake.