13

Friend or Foe?

The Lidog sprang out,
Eager to kill.
It was not at all easy to stop it,
And required the power of will.

Instinctively, Neel took a step back,
And I found myself under the lidog’s intimidating stare.
It’s eyes bore into mine as if asking me,
“How did you even dare?”

As I saw the lidog moving towards us,
I suddenly caught my breath.
A mistake from here,
Was an invitation to death.

Neel was still standing behind my back,
As I got ready with my sword.
It seemed as if he was scared of the massive creature,
And I was forced to act alone.

The lidog jumped in my direction,
But I was unable to return the attack.
Instead, I found myself lying on the ground,
Since, Neel had pushed me down from the back.

For a moment,
I felt the world swinging around me.
Had Neel betrayed my trust,
And my enemy was what he ever wanted to be?

As I opened my eyes,
I realised the actual situation.
Seeing what I saw, all of the sheer imagination faded away,
And I wanted to kick myself, out of frustration.

But the time was less,
And I needed to act.
Neel was obviously, always on my side,
A never-changing fact.

He was down,
With the lidog on his top.
His chest had been wounded badly,
By it’s strong claws.

As Neel saw me rise,
He screamed, “From behind!”
I took the signal at once,
And didn’t need my brain to rewind.

I leaped towards the gigantic animal,
With the tip of my sword aimed at it’s back.
The weapon had already sunk in before the lidog could make any kind of movement,
The fight was over as it had no trace of strength left.

I was grateful to Neel,
For his brilliant plan.
He protected me from all the damage,
And faced the terrible blow himself like a man.

Neel didn’t tell me of his strategy,
Earlier, before the fight.
Cause he knew, I wouldn’t have let him face all the scars alone,
This course of action could have never rung me right.

We stepped out of the battlefield,
As winners.
Neel was immediately taken in to receive medication and the emperor called out the next name,
Supposed to be the lidog’s dinner.

To be continued…