(Book 6) Hayden Mackay and The Third-Eye of the Pancharatna

20. Lost and Found

Not nearly enough of a trap though.

Pain shot up my arm, as much as Shashi's knives had hours ago. A grunt escaped my throat and I fell to my knees. The creature chomped down and clamped its fangs around my forearm. Blood spilled from the corners of its mouth as though slavering. I resisted letting go of my fire. Gritting my teeth, I increased the intensity- more and more- inside its mouth. Pressure alleviated and the creature began to shake violently from side to side.

Heat increased. The creature let out a loud agonizing screech that reverberated in the air, making my head spin. Pressure built up, and the body of the creature began to swell. I felt the release of its fangs off my flesh. In a brief second, I noticed its eyes had been stabbed with something typically sharp before the force of my Formation literally exploded the creature into pieces. My ears rang. Chest rumbled. The solid pieces replaced by thick smoke blasted off inside the pond. The water oozed out, and the sudden heavy gust of wind funneled and whipped the wet hair across my face.

I clambered backward, holding my bruised arm and pushing myself on the watery ground. My ears strained from the unbearable sound. Everything happened so quickly, in a matter of seconds that I barely absorbed what I'd encountered and how my Formation worked to kill the creature of dark magic.

"Hayden!" Shourya crouched beside me and gaped at my bleeding arm. "Oh hell..."

"Nazira. Go get her," I said, breathing heavily.

"She's not here," he said in a low voice. "I checked."

"What do you mean she's not here?"

"There are Shashi's men trying to pull themselves together. I...don't know why. Maybe Shashi was here a few minutes ago. I can still sense his scent." He paused. "Don't look at me like that, I'm telling you the truth. I brought you to the right place."

Shourya had always been on a different scale of honesty and morality. Everyone believed in him even when Shashi had impelled him. There were days when he could have easily manipulated us for his own good. But the fact that his honesty could be challenged made me nervous. On noticing deeply, there was uncertainty in his eyes. This was Shourya who I'd chosen as my partner on my primary mission to take Nazira back. What if he was impelled again and been keeping his trap shut?

I shook my head in dismay. "We're not going back empty-handed. You'll guide me to wherever you think Shashi could have taken her. Okay?"

"There are a million hideouts in the basement."

"We're checking them all."

"They are Shashi's secret rooms," he said, dread in his tone discernible. "No one is allowed to sneak around so freely."

"Shashi is not the boss of me," I said, growing more impatient and seething with pain. "If not Nazira, or the kid, or any of the Third-Eye, I would at least like to find something that would help me take Shashi to hell."

He licked his lips, indecision crossing his face. "Can you walk?"

"My arm's hurt. My legs are okay," I said, standing up, feeling the tingles of the healing process and thinking of calming the pain, easing on them until they were abated and gone. "Let's go."

After another few seconds of the hurried walk, we reached a shadowed place. It was a walkway across the water body showing the way toward a prison. The gate of the prison was wide open. The blood marks on the wall and the shattered ground were visible. Not to mention the pink bloodied veil was fallen on the ground.

Shourya scurried past the few men who were tugging, plunging, and side-stepping as though struggling to find their footing on a platform orbiting on a repeat loop. Their yells were muffled and their faces contorted. It was no brainer to comprehend that these people were under the Fabrication spell. Nazira had indeed escaped or rather taken away, but it seemed she'd left her magic behind. On noticing my approach, a couple of them made a vain attempt to flee. I immediately commanded my stone and the fire encircled the entire area, caging the distressing men inside it. I'll have to come back and deal with you later.