He was certain the avatar would strike him at any moment. He tried to stand, skidded over again and finally dragged himself onto an island. Gasping for breath, he spun round, flicking water from his sodden tunic. He held his hand out, desperately tried to recall the Lightning yantra and prepared to voice the command to activate the power. Only the avatar wasn’t there. He’d expected to find the contorted mass of iron towering over him, but instead he saw the reeds and ponds of the marshes, all veiled by tendrils of mist. He was panting heavily, but he was catching his breath. He looked around him in every direction. And then he saw it. The avatar had only made it a few yards out of the forest. It was so heavy it had sunk into the marsh up to the bottom of its abdomen. It stood still for a moment, smoke wafting about it, but then it screeched and thrashed its legs. It tried to haul itself out of the mud, but that only served to make it sink further. The water hissed, bubbled and steamed as it touched the creature’s hot metal carapace.
