Snailesh cursed as he ran through the jungle. Well, it was the edge of the jungle and along the only road through the forest. But he was inside the treeline, and that made it seem like he was in the jungle. He did however be careful to keep an eye on the road through the gaps in the foliage. He did not want to be lost for good by going in deeper.

The twilight was rapidly giving way to the dark and the streetlights were few and far between. He used these to guide him along. He cursed himself for being late. He had traversed this road hundreds of times since he was a kid and knew well the troubles for city slickers like himself after dark. They would be hopelessly lost after dark without knowledge of the terrain or company of the locals. He had been mildly cocky going out as late as he did. He had assumed with some trepidation that he would he alright if he kept to the road after dark.

Suddenly a Betala flew low and snapped at his neck. He squealed like a frightened kid in fear as the boar like jaw snapped shut millimetres away from his jugular. He had barrel rolled without knowing it, on the jungle floor with all its detritus no less, and had not a scratch on him. “Thoo Gandu” he cursed the creature in his mind. No one had told him of these Betalas in the jungle. Maybe no one believed it, or maybe no one wanted to. Maybe they had never been seen clearly. Even he had not as yet, he had only caught glimpses. Perhaps he was the first to encounter them in a long time. After all, locals knew when and where to tread after dark, and outsiders took warnings about the darkness seriously. He needed to get away fast.

But Snailesh was feeling slow. Slow with his movements, with his thinking. He was feeling slow earlier with his Gada movements. He had been late in waking up earlier in the afternoon and late in going for his Gada practice. Goddamn it! It was like “Slow and Late” were the words of his house.

He had reached late the earlier day – driving to his family farm was always one of the great joys of his life. He had needed a break from editing, filming, gaming and planning, so much planning! He had had a systemic problem for some time now, with a lack of motivation in both work and life. He could not work out due to boredom, nor even make videos of martial training, which he loved and was quite an expert at. He had become a serial deadline killer! So, he had decided on a break; drive out to the farm in the western mountains and train the Gada. He had promised himself to make some videos of the training the Gada, and was feeling guilty at delaying the same. He wanted to get better at it in the lap of nature to the tune of birdsong, so the videos he made reflected the magic of the weapon when he wielded it for the camera.

He listened for the Betala now for he could hardly see anything. He did not know how many were out there. He gripped his Gada lightly. He felt a weird and hateful vibration deep in his chest. There was no sound, just this unsettling vibration, nothing through the ground, just a resonance in his chest. It was something he had never felt before. And then as a blur multiple Betalas came at him.

He was knocked off his feet by the wind from leathery wings. And then all was silent. He had no idea if the Betalas were playing with their food or testing his abilities. He had not been able to catch a clear view of one either. He did not even know how he knew they were to be called Betalas! Yet he knew.

He had fallen onto his back expertly, with no trace of injury. His martial skills were intact if not improved. And that made him smile involuntarily. He decided not to wait around here any longer. He decided to cross the road onto the other side to see if the creatures would follow. He intuitively felt he had to stay low as he crossed, the Betalas being creatures with flight after all.

He did a long leaping roll across the asphalt of the road, over 30 feet. His body never touched the road. As he reached the end of the diving leap, he had pivoted off into another using the mace head a as pivot on the road. He gracefully crossed the road just a few feet off its surface as Betalas raced overhead and failed to get low enough to reach him.

“Haha, take that losers!” he thought. He was a large man and had slipped his own targets at changing that recently. But now he was beginning to lose the apprehension coming from his thoughts and settled into the moment. His training was taking over and his mind quieting. And then suddenly, he let go in his mind, and sat down with his eyes closed. He became one with the jungle behind him and gave up all notion of escaping. He would let the scenario paly out, letting the Betalas move him, to their doom.

He felt the Spark in just few moments, after all that was what his real name meant. He had not felt it in his life in what seemed like an eternity, though he clearly remembered the feeling and how it had raced through his life only a few years previously.

With the Spark coming back, his eyes opened involuntarily. There was now a profusion of light all around. Several balls of flame floated all around him. The Kolli Devvas had come! These nature spirits were famed to light the path for those in dire need, provided the needy ones were one with nature and had no destructive intent. In the light of the Kolli Devvas were revealed several Betalas on the trees all around him. Snailesh no longer cared for their appearance and spent no effort on committing the same to memory. He did not even believe himself to be Snailesh anymore! Perhaps he would BE his real name soon!

The Betalas then came at him from all around. It was like a silent vision from Hell, with a surfeit of vibration but no sound. They came at him and died or fell or fled from him. He stood up, he sat, he twirled and he rolled. All the while his Gada sang with joy, it was like a living being extending from his limbs. He used it with his arms and with his legs! When he moved it was like the Gada was always in the right place at the right time.

The Betalas seemed to rush into it and smash themselves against it in a manner suicidal. It was like they were iron filings and the mace a murderous magnet. A magnet driven by the Spark in Snailesh and flowing through his fluid motions. No observer, if there had been any, would be able to discern if Snailesh used any of his five senses, or if the jungle itself moved him through some unseen divine connection. And the Betala herd thinned, slowly at first and then evaporated as if by magic.

In a matter of many long moments, the scene turned mundane, like any other night. The Betalas were gone, leaving no evidence of their attack behind, no blood, no body parts and no cries of retreat. The Kolli Devvas faded out, their purpose fulfilled. Snailesh of the Spark, slowly resumed a normal breathing and started his confident walk back to the farmhouse.

He thought as he walked, and realized he had no clear memory of the specifics of the incidents of the last half hour or so, just an acknowledgement of it. He sensed that this was why no one would ever have a clear warning of the Betalas, or believe in the existence of Kolli Devvas. Their purpose seemed as much as a parable as a flesh and blood entity. He walked back in contentment with the Spark burning silently within.

All images are generated with the WordPress AI, based on descriptions by me. The story is entirely by me, with no AI input.

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In 2020 when we were on lockdown due to the pandemic, a few friends of mine and I used to have calls once or twice a week to keep in touch. All of us were practitioners of the Bujinkan and we shared our thoughts on training by ourselves. Sometimes, we shared different works of art that each of us worked on. These included poetry, sketches, music compositions, vfx projects and videogame updates.

My personal contribution was short stories. I wrote one for each of the 6 who used to join regularly. These short stories can be called action sequences. I wrote these based on what each of them was going through in life at that time, their physical appearances and abilities and their professional lives.

I also wrote one sequence based on the oldest action sequence I had ever dreamed up, as a child of around 7 years of age. This was based on my regular visits to the Bannerghatta reptile exhibit section in the late 80s. There was one other story/sequence that was centered around Jallikattu. I am sharing these 8 stories over the coming 3 odd months. I am currently busy with a lot of things at work and in life. So, I am digging into old works to keep my posting discipline going. I will be unable to write detailed posts relating to Hindu culture, the Bujinkan and martial arts in general, for a month or two. So, I am sharing these stories instead. I will return to the regular theme as and when possible.

When I first asked the AI to generate images for this short story, it read the name “Snailesh” and created an anthropomorphic warrior Snail! 😁 This image is just for laughs. 😂