Week 5 Story: Abyssal Struggle

NOTICE: This story has been updated in my portfolio, and can be found here.





Sand flew behind Hanuman as he ran along the thin beach. For an hour now, he had been running as fast as he could with the tide creeping slowly higher on the sandbar. The next island in the chain was in sight, but he still had a fair distance to cover. Just a little faster, he thought to himself. Putting in a little extra, his pace picked up and his breathing deepened. He had done this for the past few days, going from island to island between the tides on the natural sandbars that formed between them.

The sun danced on the edge of the horizon, casting long shadows from the shells strewn about, and playing tricks with his eyes. He put his foot down hard on a mostly buried conch and yowled in pain, stumbling forward and crashing into the ground. Spitting sand and picking himself up, Hanuman chanced a glimpse of a shadow moving in the deep. Fleeting and faint, but definite movement. He started his run once more, albeit slightly slower. He had less than an hour to get to the island before the bar was entirely submerged. Whatever he had seen posed him no trouble if he stayed out of the water.

Closer now. Much closer. Hanuman couldn't see it, but he could hear it now. The sun had set, and he was only a few hundred feet from the island, but the tide had caught him. He splashed through ankle deep water, striving for land. The watery shadow kept pace, just out of sight. The slight wisp of scales breaking the surface and gliding through the salty water. The quiet splash of a tail maybe, propelling it alongside him as it waited for the sandbar to submerge. He could feel it's eyes on him. Could feel it's hunger; deep and insatiable, mindless in its intensity.

A chill ran down Hanuman's spine; silence had fallen so suddenly, he felt its impact in the core of his being. The quiet lap of the waves on the shore in the distance cut off, almost as though the ocean itself knew what was to happen.

Hanuman dove forward just as the creature lunged. The sea parted before it, spraying high into the air. Its speed was blinding, and it turned mid charge to catch his leg before he even landed. A jagged tooth punched through the meat of his calf, an agonizing scream tore from his mouth. Fiery pain lanced through his body as the beast thrashed with his leg firmly held in its jaws. Pulling his sword, Hanuman swung blind behind him, screaming and yelling at the monstrosity that held him.

His sword connected and the sea around him lit up with a warm yellow glow. The creatures blood emitted a warm orange light, much like a dying campfires’ last licks of flame. Releasing his leg, the creature reared back and he got his first look of the horror from below. Closely resembling an eel, the beast had teeth like iron spikes, now red with his own blood. Its skin was a pasty brown with grey mottling, and a light sheen of mucus. He had gashed its leathery hide from the fin to the gills, and fiery blood mixed into the water, swirling in the tumult caused by it’s violent movements.

Sea Demon

Getting hold of himself, Hanuman readied his blade as the creature turned back towards him, rage mingling with its hunger now. It tensed and darted forward once more. Hanuman thrust his sword forward, grim determination painted on his face. The sword pierced the creature, but deflected against its skull, slicing to the side, but causing another fit of thrashing.

Hanuman sprang for the bloodied monstrosity, sword held before him. His sword bit deep into its neck, orange blood spraying his face. Yelling his triumph, he severed its head with a mighty stroke, and fell to his knees in the sea water.

Hanuman collapsed on the shore. Soaked with blood and sea water, he was left exhausted. Roughly bandaged, his leg throbbed and stung from the salt. With each throb, he felt the terror of his struggle once more. Laying back into the sand, he took in the sights of this new island: the glistening white beach, the gently swaying trees, and the twinkling lights far off in the distance. He would rest, then he would find Sita.

Authors Note:

This story I wrote by drawing from the very skimpy details put forward in one of the Ramayana versions. The story talked of Hanuman being assailed by a sea demon as he attempted to cross the sea to Lanka. The story has him kill it and move on, but that's not very satisfying, so I decided to just spruce that up a bit. There wasn't much information given, so I had some fun with it and added the time element of the tide just to add a bit more tension to the story.

Bibliography

Title: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Ramayana
Author: Sister Nivedita
Year: 1914

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