Free Shambhala by Brian E. Miller Page B

avoid being noticed. A pack of six striped hyena tear apart the remains of a corpse they have excavated from a poorly dug grave. Standing stout and dog-like, with striped coats and long moustaches like cats, they gargle and growl as they tug of war the body, pulling it in either direction, their muscles flexing as they tear bone and flesh. Their forelegs are longer than the hind, affording them good leverage for ripping apart their prey. Bahi stares out at the beasts, noticing their dark manes, which run all the way down their necks and backs, ending at a their bushy, short, tails. Bahi’s heart flutters in his chest. His entire body tenses, but he knows this is the only way to the Baba. Looking over at a large tree behind him, off to the left of the trail, he decides to crouch and stay there until they finish eating and go away. Slowly he backsteps, and without notice steps on a stick, which echoes out a loud cracking sound.
    The hyenas all look up in unison. Their dark eyes catch Bahi as he freezes in terror. Kamini floats up into the tree, “Bahi, climb up here!” she shouts.
    Still frozen, the animals slowly advance, coming so close he can see their coarse, rough, coats dull gray, with black stripes that shadow vertically on their bodies. Their eyes look ravenous as their blunt teeth flex inside their bloodstained mouths. Bahi grips the staff, realizing he can’t climb the tree and that to run would be futile. He envisions a scenario quickly through his survival mind: I will aim a firm blow to the leader’s head and keep on until I hit all six . His legs tremble. Butterflies well up in his stomach as sweat beads his face. He remembers the berries and quickly rips them from his pocket, almost dropping them. He shoves them into his mouth, dissolving the sweet taste he thinks may be his last. One hyena is so ravenous as he crouches and moves slowly in for the kill, that his mouth stutters and drools as he growls. Kamini is speechless. She wants to yell and scream, but nothing will come out. Her little heart beats so fast that she thinks it will beat right out of her.
    Eyes fixed on the predators, trembling hands firmly gripping his walking stick, he raises the wooden staff in front of himself like a samurai sword, ready to make the first blow. Adrenaline rushes his body. His eyes widen and instincts sharpen. The world falls away, and all he can see is six ravenous beasts ready for a fight. The leader lunges forward, attacking, and Bahi screams out, ready to strike. There is a sudden halt. Screeching forward in the dirt with their claws, all six crouch down, looking ready to retreat. Bahi feels the presence of something behind him, and as he turns to look, a giant cobra stands tall above his head. He falls to the ground in fear of such an enormous creature and scurries to huddle against the tree in a fetus position, holding his stick tight. The cobra jolts forward with a loud hiss directed at the hyenas. They swiftly turn and run. One tries to grab a final piece of the corpse, but the cobra lunges again with a commanding hiss, sending him crying and yelping closely behind the others, his bushy tail bobbing up and down as they retreat into the pitch-black trail ahead.
    Retracting his hood-like head, his long, thick, scaly body gracefully slithers forward, making a U-turn back toward Bahi, who is still curled up in fear next to the large tree. The cobra’s black head, decorated with yellow-speckled marks, shoots in front of Bahi, staring at him with beady eyes. The snake hisses as he moves his forked tongue in and out, rapidly sensing this clump of human terror. Bahi notices the snake’s fearsome beauty. Refusing to look the snake in the eyes, he trembles, hoping it will just slither away. Never has he seen a cobra, or any snake of such grandeur. I must be dreaming , he thinks, as he tightly closes his eyes and opens them, in the hopes that he’d been in bed dreaming, far from this nightmare. Yet, there he is, still face