Ghost Monkey, стр. 16

"It is. We know it. She knows it. You seem the only one who doesn’t know it."

"There's nothing to fight. Should we spar? We train in the morning and night. Patrols are sent out regularly. What more should I do?"

Aavu piped up, "There are bandits nearby."

"Shush, Aavu. That is not their problem." Ishku slapped his arm. "That is our problem, and we will deal with it."

"No. They want to walk their path. The monkey’s path leads to killing these bandits." He turned back to the monkey. "They demand payment every season. Payment is usually food. Sometimes they borrow our women and send them back beaten if at all. I tried avenging them."

"A tiger janaav who cannot take care of his own," Bagheer scoffed. "Mibtha is truly forsaken by the Ashtadash. Why haven't you dealt with the bandits?"

Ishku said, "Pahto, an elephant janaav, leads them. He is always in his janaav form and swings around a stone stele from the ruins they live in. He killed several visiting warriors, along with hot-blooded men who thought they could solve this issue on their own. Aavu was given two broken legs. They recruit from children in Jaya, Mibtha, and other villages in the area."

Sugriva said, "It is our dharma. Bajjo will welcome a reprieve from the mundane."

"I'LL LET A DEMON BITE me before I help outcastes," Bajjo hollered. "A coward seduced our monkey, and now she wants us to take out the trash? They can do it. I want nothing to do with this." The badger crossed his arms and snarled.

"That settles that," Bagheer said. "I suppose it will be Sugriva and myself."

Labda shrugged. "I'll go. Why not? I get bored of watching these barbarians. I miss battle."

"I will go, too," Falak said. "I can watch the skies and remove snipers, but I will not fight an elephant. My bones are hollow and Pahto will be fat."

Aavu waited for them on the outskirts. "I'm going, too. I need blood for what he did to my legs."

"Come watch what warriors can do when they remain on their path," Bagheer said.

The trees were thick, and as they closed in on the ruins, the jungle did not thin. The bandits were careful to obscure any paths they used. Gnarled roots lumped up as if small hills, choking out the underbrush. Prey hid in the cracks of the growth, while snakes and great cats watched from above. Many of the creatures eyed Labda as a meal, but Bagheer and Falak gave off the aura of a predator which deterred hunts.

Bandits fell out of the trees. Bows, chakrams, and boomerangs fell beside them as they thumped into the roots. Snakes consumed the easy meals. The trees gave way to squared rocky outcroppings. The ruins were toppled, the large stones fallen from their once lofty heights. Pillars half sunk into the earth noted a building which had at least one story hidden under the soil.

Then they reached a slanted walkway, half-buried. The path led to a staircase that went up several floors until it reached the pinnacle, with a small stone hut on top. Three elephant statues perched on the roof, gazing down and judging those ascending the pathway. It was a place likely built by Ashtadash when they were well-known in the world. A sacred place.

Bagheer and Labda touched their lips and muttered a prayer to the elephant.

Several warriors appeared. Falak perched on a column nearby. Arrows fled his bow, piercing the bandits as they appeared. When Falak's quiver was empty, he flew back to Mibtha, his obligation fulfilled. Sugriva thrust his staff into a bandit's throat, jarring the Adam's apple, so he couldn't breathe. With a cry of mockery, Sugriva thwacked another man between the legs and made him crumple in pain. Bagheer slit the bandit's throat for good measure.

The panther growled. "Do not play with your foe, Sugriva. Put them down."

Three quick thrusts to a man's chest caused him to topple, gasping for air. Sugriva laughed. "If they can't defend childish attacks, why would I fight them like men?"

Just then, Bajjo broke the two out of their conversation as he charged out of the forest. In screaming glory he jumped on a man. Claws splashed blood across stone. Sugriva, Bagheer, and Labda looked at the badger, confused. Bajjo grunted, "What? Mibtha is really boring."

Bagheer sighed. "Sugriva plays with his opponent. Bajjo leaves them unrecognizable when judged for reincarnation. Now that man must start his journey anew."

Aavu laughed, thrusting his paw into a gut and sending the man to the ground. "If the Asthadash could recognize him, he'd come back as blades of grass in a flood plain where he’ll be drowned again and again."

"Will you fair better when the Ashtadash judge your soul?" Bagheer asked. "You proudly display the sins you live with. Sugriva becomes a disciple to your heresy, eager to learn more. You did not just fall off the path, but you drag others with you. If these bandits are drowning blades of grass, you will be a tree which is the scratching post of other animals, left there for centuries to be marred and pissed on."

The tiger growled but said nothing.

Four statues to the Ashtadash were at the top of the stairs. A waterfall pulled itself up and slid down stones, rocks floated around each other, a small twister kept twigs and leaves aloft, and a fire elevated above its pillar. The elephants had sapphire eyes and diamond tusks. Inside, jade monkeys hung from the ceiling. Swords smoldered, some with burning glyphs etched into their sides. No doubt they were the work of Yuvin, a Jayan smith who enchanted weapons centuries ago.

There was a staircase leading down deeper into the half-buried complex. At the bottom of the stairs there was a large chamber. Light came through high windows and holes in the roof. There were two fresh water pools on either side of the walkway up to the throne at the