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14.

With a sigh, I turned off the radio and grabbed my back-pack, some cans of food, and my knives. "I have to go to the campsite." I ran back to Bacchus' den to fetch my clothes. The chubby wolf was sleeping with Lala and Maki's cubs and woke up when I crawled inside. "Hello you!", he smiled with a yawn. "You're here for a snooze?" "I wish I was, Bacchus. One of those police humans is at the old camp-site and has spotted Shere-Khan's paw-prints. That's way too close to here for comfort", I said while getting in my clothes and putting my boots on. The brown-white furred wolf looked at me worried. "You're going to fight Shere-Khan again?" I exhaled. "Please be careful", he said softly. I crawled to Bacchus and embraced him. "I will try."

"Why are you going there?", Bagheera asked agitated. "It's five hours walking. If one of those men saw fresh paw-prints of Shere-Khan, it's far too dangerous, and you'll be too late to make a difference. Why do you think they're worth risking your life for?" "Bawa has helped me out, and thanks to Chadha, I'm not rotting away in some filthy prison somewhere." Bagheera sighed. "You just want another confrontation with Shere-Khan, admit it." I remained silent and clipped the machete and bowie-knife to my belt. Bagheera looked at Luri, who stared to the ground with a sad expression on her face. "It's his choice, Bagheera." The white she-wolf looked at me. "As the alpha of this pack, I can forbid you to go. But you would go anyway, without us to protect you." "I do not want any protection. I will go alone. This will be my fight. There will be no intervention. I have kept to the Law of the Jungle by not bringing firearms with me, even not when I was offered. Now I am asking you to respect the Law on my behalf." The black panther shook his head. Mowgli lay his hand on my left shoulder. "Revenge won't bring father or Tabaqui back. You're acting on your human emotions. Please stay with us here where you're safe." I embraced him. "Sorry, but I just want to put an end to my rages and nightmares." The wolves watched in silence as I walked away.

The hours went by and I gradually grew more wary as I approached the camp-site in the early evening. I carefully walked into the clearance. Two jeeps were parked on the trail. I wandered around the area to find either Bawa or Chadha, but there was no trace of the men. The jeep parked in front had the doors unlocked, the key in the ignition, and the HF radio set that was mounted on the dashboard still turned on. A black blanket on the ground in between the two vehicles caught my attention. Curious, I lifted one of the corners up to see what is was covering up. I saw Bawa's head, which was the only recognizable body part of the carnage on the ground in front of me. Quickly, I draped the blanket back down and held on to the back of the jeep to keep myself from falling over, while gagging. "We can only hope he met his end swiftly, without too much pain." Chadha and the same hunter that I had seen the last time walked towards me.

"I'm very sorry", I said. "I heard him calling you on the radio. He shouldn't have gone out alone, I've told him to let me deal with that tiger." Chadha sighed while wiping away his tears. "You against that tiger, alone? Are you delirious, mister de Berg? How much better can you do compared to us, or an expert hunter?" He shook his head. "Where is he now?", I asked. "We don't know", the hunter answered. "We scoured the area for hours. No trace of him. Like I said before, he's like a ghost." "We are going to take Bawa's remains back to Balaghat", Chadha sighed. "I have the difficult task to inform everyone there is yet another casualty, and inform Bawa's family." I helped the two men place the blanket with Bawa's remains in the back of Chadha's jeep. "Come back to Balaghat with us before that tiger rips you to shreds", Chadha said. "This is a personal thing for me. That tiger has hurt me in ways I can not say or explain to you." "What do you mean? And where will you sleep? It's dark, and tigers are nocturnal. He might get back here any time to check on his kill. I'd rather not come back here tomorrow to find your dismembered corpse as well, mister de Berg." "It won't be my corpse you'll find." Chadha scoffed bitterly. "I've warned you, but it's your own choice. Look, because I don't really want to leave you out here totally helpless and exposed, I'll leave you Bawa's jeep, so that you at least have a safe place to stay in tonight. We'll come back here tomorrow to search more. I'd appreciate your help, because I am eager to see with my own eyes if you are as good as Bawa claimed you are." While shaking his head, Chadha and the hunter got into the inspector's jeep, and drove off.

Despite wanting to be back with the pack, I wasn't looking forward to the hike back to the pack's grounds through the dead of night at all. So Chadha's gesture was very welcome indeed. The walk to the campsite, and the emotional strain I was under had ran me down. Not to mention that walking through the night again would mean Shere-Khan would have a big advantage over me with his eyes evolved for seeing in the dark, on top of his other superior senses. The odds of me running into him during my walk back would be too great. I opened the jeep's trunk to see what Bawa had packed. Some maps, spare clothing, and a few jerrycans filled with diesel fuel were neatly packed away and secured against the sides of the luggage compartment. A metal box with an open padlock drew my attention. Inside were a Tantal AK74, a 9 mm Browning high power pistol, and the required ammunition. It puzzled me. Why didn't Bawa carry them when he went outside? Unless they were back-ups of course. I took the rifle and pistol out of the box and held them in my hands. I was struggling with the temptation to take them with me. I had only fired firearms once in my life. I'd need to practice first if I would have any chance being able to use them to begin with, and I was less than enthusiastic about doing that here and now, in the still forest. The sound of the shots being fired would carry for miles and could draw unwanted human attention. No, I would stick to the plan. After placing the box back where I got it from, I folded the passenger seat down against the back seat and I decided to call it a night. Hopefully I would be able to get a few hours of sleep before getting up at the crack of down.

Eagerly, I took a can of steaming soup off of the fire, and dunked in a piece of toast. It was still early. The first hints of dawn were in the air. My neck and shoulders were slightly sore from sleeping in an awkward position on the passenger's seat of the jeep, but it could be worse. I looked around the familiar area once again. Despite naming this area 'the campsite', nothing was left to remind me it once was the poacher's campsite where everything started. A new chapter in my life. The trench I dug out to sleep in, and where I had that terrible nightmare still was there, but claw marks were all over it. 'Shere-Khan probably smelled I had been here', I realized. I wondered if that was why and how he got all the way to here from his territory. Or was it Bawa's scent trail? He drove to here, so he would have left little of a scent trail for the tiger to pick up on. Was it my scent then? Would that linger long, and strong enough in sufficient quantities for a tiger to pick up on? I realized that even after my extended time in this forest, and encounters with various predators, of who some I had been very close and intimate with, I knew very little about their biology and abilities. Maybe I should put some effort paying more attention.

The fire had died out and the first rays of sun-shine penetrated the forest canopy. I packed up my things, locked the car, put the keys in my backpack where my wallet and other important valuables were, and started the walk back. One step after the other. Meters, hectometers, kilometers. I wondered if I would ever be done with walking back and forth, and if Shere-Khan would ever be defeated. Alexander, Mowgli's caretaker, the four hunters, Tabaqui's clan mates, Tabaqui, and now Bawa. Who would be next? If he was so close to the pack's grounds now, it would only be a matter of time before he'd venture further and take someone of the pack. Though most certainly, that would mean all-out war. That thought alone scared me. With the entire pack up against him, his days would undoubtedly be numbered, but not without losses. Even if he was injured, he most certainly still was more than able to kill an adult wolf.

Five kilometers into the hike, I stopped for a drink, and set my backpack on the ground to take out some water. The salty soup had left me thirsty, and I drank most of the bottle's contents in one go. With force, I cracked out a loud belch, and listened to how the sound got distorted by the rocks and trees reflecting the sound waves. I had never done that while among the wolves. They would probably be horrified. The mental image of their reaction made me chuckle. Just after I had re-packed the empty bottle, and was standing with the backpack in my hands, an orange shape appeared in the far distance. Immediately, I dropped the backpack back on the ground and unsheathed my knives. With squinted eyes, I peered in the distance and confirmed it was Shere-Khan. The tiger staggered and limped closer. My eyes opened wider after he got close enough for us to see each other. The tiger stopped after our eyes met. Shere-Khan's right flank had a huge bleeding open gash. Almost as if something had taken a large chunk out of his side. His right ear was torn off, his left eye was taken out, leaving the left side of his face covered in crusted blood. Only about half a meter of his tail was left, a strip of bloody skin with a few fibers of flesh dangled off of the end. The wound on his right front paw had gotten infected and had puss dripping out. He hacked up a blob of bloody slime before looking at me with his good eye. "I killed that pitiful human with one blow from my paw, runt", he snarled, while ropes of bloody saliva dripped out of the corners of his maw. "I saw you walking yesterday, and you didn't even see me, dumb ape. How does your species even survive? I could've attacked you. But after having tried that, I realized there are more effective ways of hurting you, and oh, I want to hurt you. So I went on a little adventure." "I can see that went very well for you", I scoffed. "You don't have the guts to attack me again because I am too strong for you, you damn coward. Come one, try me again. You'll loose more than just the few teeth I knocked out of your jaw the last time. You are weak and injured. You're even less of a match for me than when you were before."

Despite his injuries, the tiger jumped up towards me. Though he misjudged the distance and landed right in front of me. I leaped up in the air and landed up top of his back, kicking my boots down against his spine as hard as I could. The tiger growled out in pain and threw me off. I rolled over the ground and lashed out at the feline's face, leaving a deep cut across his left cheek and part of his lip. As fast as I could, I got back on my feet, ready to lash out again, but a powerful whack of the tiger's left claw against my right knee threw me back on the ground. The feline tried to throw himself on me, but pushed his rear legs down harder to jump over me after seeing my machete. However, he didn't use enough force to clear me entirely, and the tip of the blade sliced into his underbelly and loins. Cringing in pain, the tiger stopped. After a malicious stare, he turned around and limped away, leaving a trail of blood behind. "Don't run from this fight!", I angrily yelled while walking after him. The tiger stepped up his pace. A white wolf suddenly ran by me and jumped onto the tiger's back. "Stand and fight!", she snarled and dug her fangs into his spine. While crying out in agony, Shere-Khan threw her off of his back. The she-wolf landed on her paws and turned around with her fangs bared, facing the tiger with a demonic stare, threateningly taking a step in his direction. "Dare to attack me, you malformed beast! I will finish what I started!." While growling lowly, he stepped back. "Come at me, you filthy bitch!" "This isn't my fight." The she-wolf looked me in my eyes. "Finish it", she coldy said. My eyes met the tiger's again. The ominous, vicious stare he had before was gone. His eyes expressed agony, pain. And yes, fear. Slowly, I walked towards him. Luri backed away, giving me the space I needed to maneuver.

The tiger stepped back more before he quickly braced himself and, with extended claws, leaped at me again. I rolled backwards onto the ground, and used the momentum to push him off of me with my legs. The feline rolled over on the ground before struggling to get up again, but he slipped and fell back down halfway. I sheathed my knives and crouched in front of Shere-Khan, looking him in his eye. "You know, I'd prefer to just leave you here to die an agonizing and slow death. That is what you had in mind for me wasn't it? It's what you deserve. But unfortunately, I'll have to stick to the Law, and give you a merciful, and quick death." The tiger suddenly reached out to my neck with his maw wide open, but I punched him on his nose with my left fist before slamming his head onto the rocky ground with my body. With a swift move, I unsheathed my bowie knife and drove it in between his shoulder blades. He cried out in pain. I leaned over him and whispered "Your demise", in the bloody hole where his right ear used to be. I got up, unsheathed the machete, and let myself fall onto his back with my full weight, slamming the blade into the tiger's body next to the bowie knife, straight through his spine and heart. I felt the life ebbing away from the tiger's body. I exhaled.

Luri stood by me and soothingly licked my shoulders. The fury that had taken her had ebbed away, the fiery look in her eyes gone. Vermillion, Bagheera, Sura and Akru stood a small distance away. "Bacchus", she softly sighed with a sad tone in her voice. "He had taken the cubs out to play beyond the treeline when Shere-Khan attacked him. He had no chance. I was just in time to save the cubs." I had to support myself with both hands to prevent myself from falling over. Tear drops mixed in with the tiger's blood on the rocky ground. Bacchus was so innocent, so defenseless. I clenched my jaws and punched the tiger's corpse in anger. "Shhhh", Luri shushed while gently taking my wrist in her mouth. "Let it go. He's gone." "Look! Humans", Akru called. "I'll deal with them", I said while wiping my tears away.

Chadha and the hunter stopped dead in their tracks when confronted with the scene in front of them. Before them on the ground lay Shere-Khan's body with the handles of my two knives sticking out of his back. I stood behind, with Luri next to me. The other wolves and Bagheera sat behind us. Chadha eyes moved between the dead tiger, me, Luri, and the others. his mouth open and an expression of disbelieve in his eyes. Silence. The hunter slowly reached for his rifle, but Chadha quickly gestured him not to. I nodded to Chadha. "As promised", I said while pointing to Shere-Khan. "His remains are yours. Please take them away. I'm sick and tired of seeing that tiger here. And so are my friends." "Your friends?", the hunter smirked. "What is this? Jungle Book?", Chadha scoffed while looking at the wolves and Bagheera. Bagheera walked passed by us and sat down in front of the dead tiger, facing Chadha and the hunter, who cautiously stepped back a few paces. "Do not fear. We have no intention to harm you if you do not harm us", Bagheera said. "W... what the hell!?", Chadha exclaimed. "Yes. You're not dreaming. You're listening to me speaking to you. Please ignore your brains telling you that this is not possible and listen to what I have to say. What lies here behind me are the remains of Shere-Khan. A tiger who has reaped havoc in this forest for years. He has taken loved ones from us, and our pack, including from our human pack mate", the panther said while gesturing to me with his head. "Please take his remains with you and leave us in peace." Chadha looked at me. "Pack mate? You... You are living with those animals?", he asked in disbelieve. "Ever since I crashed that car, and again since I got back here. Bagheera, the black panther here, was captured by poachers and was to be killed and his skin sold off on the black market. He's the one that I saved. Sorry for lying to you and Bawa about him running away as soon a he got out of the cage. I would probably be locked away in a mental institution now if I would have told you the truth. He brought me to the wolf pack that took me in as one of their own, and nurtured me back to good health." "Unbelievable", Chadha stammered. "I could not believe the story that kid told after he emerged out of the forest years back. He was talking about living with wolves, a panther and a bear all the time. We thought he was delusional." "Oh, Mowgli. He is where our dens are", Bagheera nodded. "He has returned to our pack as well." I grabbed the handles of my knives, pulled them out of Shere-Khans remains and cleaned them using the tiger's fur. "Do you need help with carrying him to your jeep?", I asked. "Oh, uh. Yes. If you would, please."

With effort, the three of us placed the tiger's remains in the back of Chadha's jeep. "I still can't believe this. It will be one hell of a story to tell everyone", Chadha sighed, while looking at Bagheera, who had accompanied us on the walk back to the campsite. "But thank you, mister de Berg. You have ridden us of this danger, and we all can work towards closure. Now, we can arrange a commission for your work." "That won't be needed", I answered. "I only want to ask you for three things. To keep what you two saw here to yourselves, not speak to a living soul about it, and to leave us in peace. and I'd like to keep Bawa's jeep. I miss the convenience of a vehicle to get to town easily if I am in need of something." "Very well", Chadha said after some short contemplating, and we shook hands. "Thank you." Bagheera and me watched Chadha's jeep disappear in between the trees. I sat down on the tree trunk. The panther leaped up and sat down next to me. He raised his left paw, and I shoved over and leaned against him. I pointed to the pile of rusted bars. "Here is where it all started. This place surely has gained a big importance in my life. How fitting to close a chapter here as well." The panther rubbed his cheeks against mine and gently mouthed my nose and lips. "Do you feel better now Shere-Khan is no more?", I asked. "Yes. It does justice to those he has taken." "I just feel raw and hurt." "Because of Bacchus?" "Yes. And all the others." "Now you have the opportunity to mourn and give them a place in your heart. We all have", the panther said while he leaped off of the trunk. "Come, let's walk back."