Trixy and The Crescent Of Rana

CHAPTER 34 : SKIRMISH

Linga was in for a surprise there. He had been anticipating the Val to slice the Silamb like paper and reach her neck just like it was supposed to do before. But it was standing in front, as firm as a rock, refusing to leave way for his sword.

Maahir was, by default, an opportunist. He was perfectly aware how ill-suited his regular steel Silamb would become in a battle against a first-rate Saberwhite Val. That's why, he set on to transform his steel into Saberwhite as soon as the Crescent dollar returned from the Forensics. He did not forget it possessed a fair amount of Saberwhite and a considerable analogy to the Val's constitution.

But the transformation was as cumbersome as he expected it to be. He had zero experience and negative confidence in transformation to crystals, and Saberwhite was rather a very complex crystal to comprehend completely. Week long tireless labour only managed the transformation of a tiny length of six inches, and that too excluding a bit of the inside core.

Yet, it wasn't just luck that contrived when the Val struck his Silamb right at the portion where he had transformed. He had actually started transforming specifically on the area that came up, more or less, to one's neck, since he had known him to target the neck previously and habitually.

The surprising defence bought other members of the team enough time to recover and counteract. Fraudin, quickly analysing the situation, unplugged the fridge and hurled it down the hall. Both Maahir and Linga, on seeing him lift it up, stepped back, Maahir drawing Ezhil back along with him, and let it fly in between them. Another wall broke.

Meanwhile, Vikasa helped Dan get up. She touched the fragment of the wall on him and concentrated for a few seconds until the bricks withered into soil and Dan stood up, brushing them off. His sleeves had been ripped off and a few bruises had taken its place instead but he was fit to fight altogether.

Dev was the first to attack Linga. He quickly stepped in and swung his nun chuck at the old man. But he wasn't really confident while attacking. He was considering himself to be at a disadvantage in this fight. He won't be able to play his usual game. If he and Shri decided to deploy their usual trick in this crowd, they were sure to cause more than one casualty.

He was a Sparky (People sometimes called it the Lightning but he preferred Sparky). He was confident he could generate enough volts to electrocute the old man or at least render him useless in a fight. But Linga was unexpectedly and unbelievably cautious. Linga could not have guessed his ability. Or could he? He had seen Vikasa shattering the wall to pieces, so the prudence he showed to avoid her fists was justifiable. But Dev had not anticipated in the least to see him avoiding his nun chucks too with same fervour and efficiency. Just one strike on his skin with his chains and, he believed, he would pass enough current to swoon him over. But that one strike never happened.

Dan, Vikasa and Dev, all three, assailed simultaneously and yet Linga proved to be a challenge impossible. His Val had already drawn a couple of lines on everyone who had dared to close in but he had borne only one gash, and a burn that came free with it, from Dan's alighted sword on his left arm. But even that did nothing to slow him down.

Fraudin didn't close in because he thought the area was already packed for a three versus one and for the same reason, he stopped throwing appliances that way. He was also afraid, even if he did not admit it himself, of close-range sword fights. He reckoned he neither possessed a solid defence to hold off the strikes nor he had quick wit like Vikasa to bounce and spring back from his slashes. He contented himself to watch, just like Ezhil and Quiroshi did from the opposite end. Maahir, another spectator, stood by Ezhil and made sure Linga couldn't target her again. He did not dare join himself, for he knew he would only be a burden for the other three.

Shri was not so contented to merely spectate though. She too realized she couldn't offend like them, being a Splasher. So, she shot jets of water from her palms now and then, aimed for Linga. He attempted to dodge them initially but only until he realized they were not capable of causing any material harm, except an irritation which he would have rather not borne. But she was nevertheless determined to keep on gunning the streams, till she had been drained of her full strength, lest she would be too idle in so animated a fight.

It turned into a battle of attrition. Linga forted an impenetrable defence and the perseverance he was exhibiting, in his seventies, was downright terrific. By the time the team's attack unit had worn out, as far as their discernment went, he was not even breathing hard.

They were losing. That was an irrefutable fact. They had slowed down and as a result were perceiving him to be faster. Dan's sword had obstructed so many strikes of the Val that it was on the verge of fracturing for good. Medium grade Q-silver was no match against original Saberwhite. He tried to communicate this to the others. Dev and Vikasa soon understood his sword would not withstand more than three shots at most.

Ezhil was a good referee indeed for, even though it was the first atrial battle she had ever witnessed, she followed it up quite efficiently. It didn't take her longer than Maahir to figure they were losing.

But she decided to hold the second whistle for a few more minutes. The second whistle was supposed to let Aravind enter the scene who was waiting outside till now. Aravind, with little opposition, acquiesced to wait out while others fought conjecturing it would turn out to be a nice experience for the young members. They had not had a good fight in ages.

Fortunately, Dev found an opening before Dan's sword fractured. There was one area of attack Linga had been slighting – Shri's occasional water jets. He was only keen on dodging the close three continuously that the water jets had eventually passed out of his mind. He devised a plan to use it to their own advantage. All he needed was to wait for the perfect timing.

He got the timing he needed soon. Linga was holding off Dan with swords, at the same time dodging Vikasa while Dev positioned himself exactly at his blind spot, several feet comfortably behind. He could not have attacked from there. But he didn't plan to either. He quickly shot a glance at Shri and she, as the nine years of teamwork they had shared guided her, apprehended him spontaneously and fired the most powerful jet she could materialize on the moment, aimed for his back. Dev simply swung his nun chuck aside, dipping it into the stream that immediately ran adjacent to him and let his sparks flow to and through Linga's body.

But it wasn't perfect, as it ought to have been. He had underestimated Linga. He sent a few volts less than his max, lest he would die. But what he sent did not even faint him. It was only enough to jerk him a bit.

But lucky for them, in the jerk, he dropped down the Val. Vikasa who was the closest at the moment, swiftly picked up the sword lying beside his feet and rolled aside. Dan too, promptly seizing the serendipitous opportunity, closed in completely and squared his sword only an inch away from his neck. Linga froze.

Like the Chief had said, the men who had seen the wars and its consequences indeed operate differently. Linga was a man who would rather go down along with his opponent than get caught as a captive. He smiled. He knew it was over. He lost. But he was determined to fall with his fists raised. He knuckled up and condensed his entire S.E in his fists and sent them up to Dan's chin.

Dan did not see it coming. He never imagined Linga would strike after losing his Val. He had assured himself a victory the moment he was unarmed. And who fights after defeat is certain? Even if he had seen it coming, he did not have the stomach to gut out his opponent's pharynx. Nevertheless, Linga's fists never met its destination.

Fraudin who had been spectating from a lateral position apprehended the blow much earlier than anyone else. He dashed in immediately and before his fists had crossed half way, he had punched his face hardest, with every ounce of strength he possessed. Unlike Dev, he had not learnt the art to hold back.

Linga flew over, broke a third wall and slowly pictured the serene face of his wife before taking the last breath of his life, outside his tattered old brick cottage.