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1. The hours went by. The morning turned into afternoon, which turned into evening. My legs and feet ached. Blisters that had formed on the soles of my feet and heels constantly reminded me about how I wasn't used to walking this much any more. A minor physical nuisance compared to the aching I felt inside though. I decided to take a short break, and I tiredly sat down on a rock. With a grunt, I took off my boots and socks, exposing my sore feet. With the little first aid kit I had packed in my backpack, I tried to disinfect and treat the little wounds and blisters as good as I could. I decided not to put any bandages on them, because that would only make it hurt more. By now, I should be close to Shere-Khan's territory. I had followed the same route back as I had taken initially, parallel to the road. To my annoyance, I discovered that I was running out of food and water. I grabbed and ate the last of the MRE's that I had bought. After discarding the package, I stuffed my sore feet back in my boots, got up, and pushed on. The long walk provided me with time to think about everything. Again, I cursed myself for panicking when Sura threatened me. I should have known better, read his body language. Hell, I've lived with the pack for long enough to be able to read them blindly. But those years back in the human world has caused me to loose my edge. I would have to re-learn. I wou...

Three striped hyenas blocked my path. "Our master wants you, human", one of them said. The two others walked towards me and each grabbed one of my wrists. A low roar thundered through the forest. A huge tiger sat in the far distance, facing me. Too far away for me to see his eyes, but I could feel he was staring right at me. He got up and started to walk towards me. His eyes... The most evil, threatening glare sent shivers down my spine. He kept on staring at me while he got closer and closer, until he was right in front of me. He looked menacing. Huge. Scars all over his face and body gave him a battle-hardened look. He curled up his lips. "I thought I was rid of you humans when that man cub Mowgli went away years ago. But apparently I was mistaken. The deal that I made with those wolves was not to have any more humans in my forest. Those wolves have broken that truce by taking you in, and now it's time for them, the man cub, and you to pay for that." "How do you even know who I am?", I asked. "Oh, I know you. I rule this forest. That means I know everything. For what I don't see or hear myself, I have my spies everywhere acting as my eyes and ears. Let me show you something." The two hyenas pulled me along and the third walked behind me, following Shere-Khan. A little while later, we walked up a low mound and stopped.

The tiger looked at me and toothily grinned, before pointing his nose to a canine skeleton that was on the ground, partially hidden in between blades of long grass and fallen leafs. "I like to come here so every now and then to look at my trophy. The big and mighty Alexander, who defied me for all those years and thought to get away with it unpunished. Well, there's not much left of him now, is there?" "N-No...", I inaudibly stuttered. I dropped on my hands and knees, and touched, almost caressed the dirty, sandy bones that lay there. "He should have known better than to walk right through here, together with that coward Bagheera. He said I had no business knowing what they were doing. Everything that happens here is my business! I know the man-cub moved to the human town not far from here. They both denied they were going there. But what other reason could they have to be so far from out of their territory? Of course I now know it was you they were looking for. It were that wolf's last words before I broke his neck. That panther escaped, for now. He ran away with his tail tucked between his legs when he realized he would be next. But it won't be long before I'll crush that cat's skull between my jaws", the tiger ominously said. I looked up to the tiger, shaking from emotion and anger. "Oh dear", Shere-Khan mocked, "You want to have a go at me? You fool. You're an insect, a weak ape. A little pest that I can crush whenever I want. But do not worry. You can be close to your beloved father and rot right next to his remains soon", the tiger threatened. "But not yet. I have use of you." "And what if you kill me. What do you think will happen? Do you know that you unleashed the inevitable when you killed those people? There will be retaliation. You'll be hunted down, killed, your skin shown off as a trophy", I hissed, doing my best to keep my voice under control. "So they'll send another group of four?", he chuckled. "Yeah, so terrifying! Let them all come for me! I'll rip them to shreds." I balled my fists. "You dumb cat. Haven't you seen what humans are capable of?" "Enough of that nonsense. You're mine! And I have a job for you. You will go to the human town, find Mowgli and bring him to me. My clan will escort you to the edge of the forest and wait for your return. If you aren't back with that man cub in two days, I will make sure to hunt down and kill every single wolf in this entire forest. And after I am done with that, I will come for you." He paused for a few moments to intimidate me by staring me in my eyes, and while doing so, he slapped against Alexander's skull with one of his big claws, causing it to roll a few meters over the ground.

This nasty, foul act of disrespect burned through to the core of my body. I could not contain my burning rage any longer. The hyenas that were supposed to restrain me and had let go when I fell on my knees were too late to grab me. I jumped up and kicked the tiger against his ribs as hard as I could. I unsheathed my knife and the machete and jumped onto him, my arms raised up high to lash out with all my strength and then bury both blades under the big feline's shoulder blades. But Shere-Khan was too fast. As if he did not even feel my kick, he turned to me, grabbed my torso between his jaws, and threw me against a rock. All went black.

"Be still, human", I heard close by. The pain of the bite wounds where Shere-Khan grabbed me, and a huge bruised spot on the left side of my flank where my body hit the rock made me come to. I opened my eyes and stared in the darkness. Night had fallen. "You are lucky our master needs you alive. He has ordered us to watch over you until he gets back." I moaned in agony when I felt a tongue lapping over my wounds. Thick clouds that were blocking the moon eventually moved away, allowing me to see a bit better. The shapes of the three hyenas laying next to me formed dark silhouettes against the moon lit forest. I raised my head to look to the hyena that spoke. "We will not take you to the edge of the forest and you will not go to find the man cub. We've been slaving for Shere-Khan for long enough now. We no longer want part in this. His actions will spell disaster for the jungle and every creature living in it. I've seen what humans can do when they're angered. It has to stop. Sorry for this." With a grunt, I worked myself up into a seated position with my arms and snapped: "Save your apologies. I don't want them. You're also responsible for what lies there on that mound!" "Yes. There was nothing we could do to prevent it. We also helped killing those other humans that came and tried to capture Shere-Khan. He insisted that we took part in dismembering the bodies." "You cowards", I snarled. "Your sorrow is too little too late. Nothing you could do to prevent it? You're with three. He's one tiger." The striped hyena sighed, "We're no fighters, unlike our spotted cousins. We're no match for him. If we would as much as give him a wrong look, he'd slaughter us. My clan used to be of seven. Years ago, Shere Khan cowardly attacked a man and his female man-cub who were out in the forest not too far from here. We were disgusted and outraged. We tried to subdue him, chase him away. He killed four of my mates in retaliation."

The little girl and the nurse who were walking in the road and who I drove to the hospital in Balaghat, while on my mission to find antibiotics for Sura. I fell quiet when the memories hit me. Visions of Sura laying there in the den in agony. The high fever burning him up. The poisoned blood running through his veins that formed a ticking time-bomb. The worrying, but also the feeling of bliss when Sura recovered. That night with him and Akru, Lala, Alexander and Luri when I was finally able to mentally become a wolf, in the safe embrace of my adoptive family. The hyena broke the silence that had fallen, "Can you walk?" "I will", I answered and grabbed a thick branch to hoist myself up. I grunted in agony when straightening myself and flinging my backpack over my back. "Come, then. Shere-Khan won't be long, and if he finds us, it won't be good." The two other hyenas grabbed my wrists again, and tugged me along.

After a good twenty minutes, we stopped. The striped hyena turned to his two clan mates. "Hurry and go as far away from here as you can. I will stay with him, and come after you when I can." The two licked the hyena's nose. "Good luck, Tabaqui", one of them said, "Until we meet again". "Be strong, human", the other said. They turned around and ran away. "We have to go", Tabaqui gestured. We walked deeper into the forest for another hour in a different direction than either Balaghat, or the pack's territory, to make sure not to leave a scent mark in any of those directions, until I just could not go any further.

"I need to rest. My body is killing me." "We should be far enough to take a break, I think", Tabaqui said, sniffing the air. A shock went through me when a distinct, distant, deep and loud roar resonated through the forest. "Shere Khan has killed", the hyena sighed with a look of defeat on his face. "Does this mea..." "It means he has found my clan mates." I couldn't help but to start feel sympathetic for the hyena. Surely he had blood on his hands, or muzzle, or whatever. But he had helped me, and his clan-mates now paid the ultimate price for that. "We have to go further, human", he decisively said. The striped hyena lead the way, and as best as I could, I followed in his steps. While walking, the pain subsided a bit. My wounds were still bleeding, which was good. It would at least wash out the dirt. I would see if I could sort something out later on.

In a flash, a shim flew by and turned around in front of us. "Tabaqui", the silhouette snarled, and stepped closer, "Finally I can have my revenge on you." "Bagheera?", I asked, after I recognized the voice. "Yes. It's me", he answered. "It seems you've grown bored with the comforts of your human existence and came back to where you think you belong?", he somewhat bitterly asked. "And what are you doing alongside this useless waste of life?" Tabaqui had backed off a few steps. Bagheera wanted to close the gap between himself and the hyena, but I stepped in between. "What do you think you are doing?", the black panther angrily asked. "I have a score to settle with him. This is not your fight, stay out of it!" "If you hurt him, it will be", I snapped, my left hand grabbing the handle of the machete on my right thigh. The black panther raised his head astonished, before giving me a hard and sinister stare. "You defend that filthy coward? I can't believe my ears and eyes. Do you know what happened after you disappeared? Do you know what he and is clan-mates are responsible for?" "Yes... I do. Shere-Khan captured me when I came through here on my way from the pack's territory. He showed me Alexander's remains." "So you know", the panther softly said. "This hyena here is on of his minions, and thus bears responsibility. He and his clan were huge pests and a menace for the jungle in the time that Mowgli still lived with the pack. They intimidated and pestered in Shere-Khan's name." Tabaqui looked down to the ground. "Yeah, feel ashamed, you useless sack of meat and bones", Bagheera snarled and turned back to me, "Why do you even tolerate him anywhere near you after what he has done? Why is he even still alive? He's no match for you." I took a step towards Bagheera so he could more clearly see me. "Oh...", he stuttered. "After showing me Alexander's bones, Shere-Khan disgraced his remains. I lost control over myself and went for him, but he was too fast and too strong." "How did you even survive that?", Bagheera asked while shaking his head. "He needed me alive for bringing him Mowgli. He already went to the human town and killed Mowgli's guardian a while back. People will retaliate and invade the forest to hunt Shere-Khan down. So now he can't come even close to the edge of the forest. He grabbed me and flung me against a rock. He left me there and went away. Tabaqui and his clan-mates were told to watch over me until he got back. But they took me away to safety."

Bagheera stared at Tabaqui for a while, "And where are your mates now?" "The hyena lowered his ears - "They're dead. We parted ways, and they probably ran into Shere-Khan when he returned." "How do you know they're dead?" "When you live with a tiger for as long as I have, you learn things. We heard him roar in a way he only does after having made a kill." The panther sank in thoughts for while and sighed. "Come with me, you two. We have a lot to talk about. But not here. We need to hide. Shere-Khan won't be likely to rest before he has his jaws around our necks."