Samsaara : Malakh-ul-maut

3. Fists Of Furry

I reached close to the warehouse and waited for a while. Suddenly the whole area went dark because of a power cut and this was the chance that I was looking for. One of the thieves came out of the warehouse and walked towards the circuit breaker panel on the side wall of the warehouse. He tried a couple of times to start the power and then called out to his colleague.

Before his colleague could come out. I lunged at the person from behind and covered his mouth until he fell unconscious. Then I ran and hid behind the warehouse door waiting for his colleague to step out. When his colleague stepped out, I lunged at him from behind as well and covered his mouth and nose till he fell unconscious. Once they were both knocked out, I restrained them and hid them under the ambulance.

The rest of the four who were inside probably wondered why the other two were taking so long. One person on the inside told the rest to check on them. I would not want to fight three people at once so I climbed up, above the ambulance and waited for them to step out. Once they were at the door, I snuck in through the window where I spied on the thieves earlier.

The last one remained hidden in the dark. I had to find the person and take him down before the others returned. This would require some quick action. As I walked, I stepped on a patch of loose gravel and the person inside was made aware of my presence.

"Rajesh? Viral? Is it you?," he asked, "Are you guys there?"

I responded in a rough voice to spook him. With a flash of light from his phone his position was revealed and again I snuck up to him from behind as I had done for the other two and tried to choke him unconscious. This time it didn't work as effectively and a sharp punch to the chin did the job. The sound of the punch and falling made the three outside rush back inside. Before they could, I tried my best to restrain the one I punched but I was unable to hide the body. In the dark and the smog, I hid myself from the three who just came back inside.

"I think the fire has spread inside," one said.

The other one replied, "Boss! Mukesh has fallen on the ground."

"What?" he asked.

"His mouth was taped shut, and he is unconscious," one replied.

"Untie him immediately, there is someone else inside. Be alert," the boss said.

I unfurled Cherry and decided to float well above their heads to avoid being seen while looking at them to get the best chance to attack. Once I was above them I willed the smog to dissipate to get a better view.

"Mukesh?" one asked.

"Yes, I can see you all now. The fire must have dissipated. But we still need to find the bastard who knocked our friend out," one of them spoke in a deep authoritative voice.

That was when the heavy-set person with the deep voice got a phone call.

"Hello? Haan, we have left from here, the vehicle is still in trouble but we will get the consignment there. Don't worry, tonight we will reach — no — I assure you — hope you have our money ready — yes —"

As the people were distracted, I decided this was time for me to act. I pulled out the stone core and extended it into a long wooden staff. I swooped down and struck the one standing furthest with the staff and again flew up to hide. The person hollered in pain. The leader on the phone call tried to pacify the person on the other side and hung up. Now two of the men were fallen to the ground while the last two were looking for me.

The one who appeared to be the leader was who I would strike next. I hovered silently above him and swooped down to strike him with minimal force.

My plan back-fired. The leader of the gang sensed my movement and swerved to his right allowing him to be struck on his shoulders instead of the head. With the little force that I struck him, he was not incapacitated. He fell to the floor grabbing his shoulders hard and looked me square in the eyes. I was discovered. Cherry folded herself discreetly behind my back and flew into my finger unseen and now I was in more trouble than I would have liked to be in. But this was not all. The one who was punched unconscious was awake and waking the other one who I struck with the staff. The leader of the gang stood up as well and tried to size me up. Within the next minute all four stood up and got ready to attack. There of them removed the makeshift weapons that they hid in their clothes while one reached into the the dark and smashed something on the floor. I had assumed that my attire and actions would lead them to be paralysed in fear but I overestimated myself. They slowly stepped around me like a well choreographed troop, each knowing exactly where they were supposed to be positioned. Clearly this was not their first brawl.