The vines were whipping around his legs as he ran, but they were not holding Zaw back. He moved so fast his feet were almost skimming over the surface of the forest floor, which had been flattened by the beast he was chasing. When he had arrived back to the camp he had seen the smashed wood and the slightly sheepish expression of the men who shrugged their shoulders when he asked them which way the elephant had gone.

He knew Pinkwetha well, and on a normal day could have tracked the young elephant based on footprints alone, but as he passed the crushed hedges and saplings bent at unnatural angles, it was clear where the young elephant was going. Even the elder, larger trees had wounds to their bark, bleeding with sap where Pinkwetha had scraped past them on his rampage. His heart filled with dread each time the trail turned, as it seemed like a cruel chance that Pinkwetha was charging towards the one place in this whole wide forest Zaw didn’t want him to: the grove by the apple tree, where he knew Jin Bu would be collecting gourd leaves.

He reached the grove just as Pinkwetha smashed himself into the base of the apple tree’s base. Jin Bu was above, clinging to a higher branch. Pinkwetha must have seen her and was now trying to bring the whole tree down. He’d seen elephants this size bring down ones much bigger.

Pinkwetha turned and trotted back to the far side of the grove. Zaw ran to the tree, knowing that the elephant was preparing to charge again. The young elephant did not have any grudge against Jin Bu in particular. But in the state that he was in, still furious and humiliated about the attempt to sit on his back, he was directing his anger and revenge against any human he could find.

“Zaw!” shouted Jin Bu.

Pinkwetha was across the grove and was turning.

“Hold on! He’s coming back”. Zaw waved his hands as the young elephant prepared its charge, stomping its feet and snorting steam from its nostrils. “Hey big butt! Come on I’m here!” he shouted, hoping the elephant would follow him. But he finally had to jump out the way as the young bull ignored him and smashed into the tree again with a deep boom. There was a cracking sound as the base began to cleave. Jin Bu felt the world stumble as the branch she was wrapped around tilted and began to swing,

It would only take one more hit before it fell and sent Jin Bu falling to the ground. Pinkwetha had sauntered back through the grove and let out an ear drenching battle wail as he turned around again. Zaw ran again, this time directly at the elephant, shouting and jumping, trying to make his body wide. This time Pinkwetha saw him. Zaw caught the lightning flash in his eyes and ran, the elephant had turned and was now bounding behind him.

“Run away!” he shouted to Jin Bu without looking back. He ran through the forest jumping over roots and looping around trees. Zaw could not beat the elephant in a straight race, but he could try to use his relative nimbleness to make it difficult for the beast to catch up. Zaw ran out of the apple tree grove and the elephant followed. Zaw was running for his life, but the further he ran, the more certain he was that Jin Bu would be safe. Giant feet were thumping like drums behind him and an awful wail pierced his ears. He reached a thicket of bamboo and weaved through the thick grass but the young elephant simply put his head down and smashed a direct path to Zaw.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The elephant’s head rammed into his back, and then he felt the shock of split muscle as one of the stubby sharp tusks pierced and tore into his legs. The elephant shook his head and Zaw felt the bones in his leg break as if they were sticks of bamboo in a poorly built fence. Pinkwetha knew Zaw, and any other day he would have counted him among his favourite men of the camp, but anger had captured his senses and he only saw prey. He screamed a victory wail and a horrible note of death hung in the air as he lifted his leg over Zaw’s prone body.

“HEY!”

A shape like wildfire burst out of the trees. Pinkwetha turned his head to see where the sound was coming from, his right leg still hovering in the air above Zaw.

“MOVE!” said the figure and Zaw, understanding that this was a command to him rather than the elephant, gritted his teeth in pain as he rolled away from under the foot. The shape came into view above him.

It was a girl. Zaw saw she was around the same age as him and so was surprised not to recognise her. With dark skin the colour of upturned earth, and hair like embers she was like a flaming torch as she jumped from tree to tree with a gliding, spinning grace. With a twist and a flip she landed on her feet in front of the elephant. “COME ON!”

Zaw, who could barely stand, let alone walk, was about to respond that he could barely stand, let alone walk when he realised that the girl was addressing the elephant. Pinkwetha looked at the girl and then down to see the empty ground where Zaw had been and let out another rage filled cry, and bounded towards the girl, who did not seem worried at all.

She jumped back and grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree with both hands and swung her body around it to the other side. Zaw watched, and wondered if he was dreaming as she bent her knees, and bringing her feet up to the trunk, pushed off with a kick that brought the entire tree crashing down on the enraged elephant who then collapsed with a grunt under its weight.

The girl immediately ran to the elephant, who was now lying defeated but calm under the broken tree. She stroked the thick hide of his head and whispered something in his ears. Pinkwetha was already asleep as she stood up, the anger had subsided and the muscles in his face had loosened. Zaw had been in unfeeling shock but pain surged through his leg and back as his body remembered he had just been run over by an elephant. He groaned and the girl looked back at him as if she had forgotten he was there.

She scampered over and ripped his shirt so she could tie a bandage around his bleeding leg. She worked with careful, measured determination. By the time she had finished tying the wound shut, Zaw’s eyes had already closed.

Seng Nu looked at the unconscious body and watched the boy’s bare chest rising and falling with ragged uneven breaths. She caught herself staring too long and blushed, though the forest was the only witness. Then she scolded herself for wasting time. The boy was not safe yet and needed to be taken to the camp.

As she lifted the body she spoke to him, confident that he would not reply. “He got you in the leg pretty bad, so I’m going to take you back to the camp now.”

They were the first words she had spoken to another human for six years.