X - X-TREME ENCOUNTER

It had been a long journey, and the Assassin was X-hausted. He parked his ATV (all-terrain vehicle) close to the entrance of the watch-tower and stood next to it, taking time off to stare into the X-pansive horizon of the desert. After having soaked up the barren sights, he hauled up the bag of X-plosives and slung it over his shoulder. Although the weight of the bag was overwhelming, not once did he grimace; perhaps because he had never been very X-pressive. As he walked up the staircase of the watch-tower, he reminisced about the events and X-periences that had shaped up the journey thus far.

Today was going to be day all the X-periments of the past were going to reach their final logical conclusion. Indeed, today was going to the day when he would finally justify his very X-istence.

The Assassin continued his walk up the decrepit staircase; it made unnerving noises and a part of him was X-pecting something to give way anytime. The Chief had told him that there was a bigger cache of weapons which needed to be X-humed from a spot on the floor atop the watch-tower. The weapons had probably been left there by loyalists of the X-iled Master.

After he had traversed the last step on the narrow staircase, he stepped out into a fairly X-pansive courtyard. Strangely though, there was already someone up there, and as their eyes met, it became clear that neither of them were X-cited to see the other.

The Assassin slowly dropped his bag on the floor, and took X-tremely measured steps towards the unwelcome guest. He hadn't had a one-on-one duel in months now - he licked his lips in anticipation of a bright opportunity to X-ercise his demons. The trespasser, in turn, bared his X-traordinarily sharp fangs at the Assassin, bracing himself for a long and hard-drawn battle.

This was just about to become an X-cruciating fight to the finish.

P.S. - Did you know monkeys could be very dangerous, especially when frightened?

Hope you weren't put off by my excessive use of X's.

Please feel free to leave comments, whether or not you liked what you read. It's a great way to start a conversation or a dialogue. I might be pretty boring in real life, but I promise I'm a lot more fun in this avatar.

There are two images in today's post - The first one has been clicked by Yours Truly at the Karnala Fort in Panvel, Maharashtra. The other image is that of a Bonnet Macaque, clicked at the Chitradurga Fort in the state of Karnataka, India. A big thank you to 27-year old Tayyab Hassan from Bangalore, India for allowing me to use his click. Tayyab has a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication. He also holds a Dilpoma in Creative Writing. He has previously worked as a multimedia journalist with various Bangalore-based newspapers, and is currently working as a Cinematographer/Photographer with a Bangalore-based production house. He loves wildlife photography. Tayyab's Instagram URL is www.instagram.com/tayyabhassanphotography

Previous posts in the A to Z Challenge - April 2017:-

A - All Apologies (Poem)

B - Baptism (Poem)
C - Chains (Short Story)
D - Door To My House (Short Story / Sentimental / Philosophy / Wisdom)
E - Evil Eye Deliverance (Short Story)
F - Flight of the Lonely Raven (Poem)
G - Girl With The Rings (Weird Story)
H - Hills Beckon (Poem)
I - Idyllic Sky (Short Story)
J - Judging Yasmin (Short Story)
K - Kiss of Death (Poem)
L - Lady of a Perpetual Sucker (Poem)
M - Mosaic You (Poem)
N - Nevermind (Weird Story / Short Story)
O - Office-ial Stance (Short Story)

P - Pretender (Poem)

Q - Queen (Poem)

R - Ramparts (Poem)

S - Standing In The Midst Of Clouds (Short Story)
T - Tiptoe (Poem)
U - Unguarded (Poem / Sentimental / Philosophical)
V - Voila Gypsy Girl (Poem)
W - What If.. (Musings / Poem / Short Story / Sentimental / Philosophy / Wisdom)