Excerpt:

The stone walls of the old temple smudged out the stars glittered through the finely woven fabric of night sky. The trees whispered to each other, remembering the beginning of the battle. Only the trees knew its beginning, and only they would be present for the end. The story would travel, from leaf to leaf, carried by the gossipy south wind. Then she would waft through open windows and into the dreams of a young writer... and then the story would become legend.

The sand whispered beneath her feet as she paced the invisible circle... she knew it was there, just as the rakshasa did. They were destined to keep chasing each other – hunter and hunted. She looked into its fiery red eyes, and instinctively adjusted the rope wound around her arm. The rakshasa's feet padded on the sand, ancient and solid; as though made of chunks of flesh from Earth herself. It growled, eyes flickering from the rope to her face. Gut knotted, heart pounding, eyes gleaming, she snarled. Her teeth gleamed like a lightning flash, charging the air with its intensity. She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her head, her body straining like a wild animal on a leash. She could hear the voices screaming in her head; urging her to escape when there was still a chance. They sounded like they were coming from across a distance – as though through a bad telephone line. Made it all the more easier to ignore them. A sudden cold wind blew, sending shivers down her taunt body. She took a deep breath... today will be the day it will end. She didn't have the strength to keep fighting anymore. This would be her last fight, whatever be its result. She pulled the rope taunt between her hands, and rushed towards the hulk of dark muscle towering in front of her. The rakshasa looked at her cocking its head to one side. It had a quizzical gleam in its eye.

“That's not allowed,” it said quite matter-of-factly.

“Let's finish this!” she said through her clenched teeth. She pulled the rope into a tight loop around its neck.

“No, really. You're not allowed to actually kill me.”

She felt distinctly stupid. The rope fell limply onto the sand.

“Oh.”

This annoyed her. She did not like being made to feel stupid. The adrenaline was slowly fading from her mind, and the wind was getting a little too chilly. She made an attempt to pool together all that undirected rage.

“What's the point in the whole battle thing then?”

Her voice sounded petulant even to her own ears.

“Battle ends when you actually confront me,” the demon said shrugging. It settled on a near by rock and made a small blue fire that hovered a foot above the fine beach sand. It waved a stout hand in a vague, inviting action towards the fire. “How do you know I'm real anyhow?” it added.

“Same way I know I'm real I guess.”

“Are you?”