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

34. For Better or Worse

The iron gates opened once again and a dozen frantic knights rushed out creating a stampede-like motion, triggered by panic as they saw two Samagraha committing the unlawful act of abducting their minister. They pointed their guns and muskets at me. Before the firing began, I did my own firing. I commanded my stone and a giant ball of fire encircled the throng of knights trapping them thoroughly inside, and making sure my fire wasn't fiery so much as to scratch their skin. However, the deplorable weather was screwing me over. Damn it! The intensity of my fire gradually decreased. "Celina, we need to get out."

She did not respond to my yell. As I ran back towards her, I watched her cover his eyes and tie his hands with a black cloth, despite the dwarfed minister screaming and writhing on the ground to get away from her hold. Then Celina took a vial of Chandrika power out of her pocket and quickly opened the Gates. I promptly placed firm grips and pulled the Minister onto my shoulder, who weighed not more than a ten-year-old. The knights arrayed themselves and began to rain down a hail of bullets. Before either of us could get caught, without worrying that a Sergeant might have been mingled in the battalion of knights, Celina and I jumped out of the Gates and escaped the crime scene. The high-pitched whine of the bullets faded off into the distance.

Geez! Things I do in the name of cleansing this country...

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"Release me this instant! Release me now, Hayden Mackay, or prepare to kiss your position in the Panchayat goodbye forever!"

The entire village where the Clan of Matsyasvi resided had been victimized by the creatures' attacks, but the underground basement of Ashwant's hut was still intact. I remembered how I had kidnapped an Almourah beast, and physically tortured it to figure out the clan's cause that would lead me to their way of death. Today, yet again I was going to apply a similar approach, nevertheless by keeping things 'funny and light'.

Chief Minister, Yai Henba was sitting in front of me, yelling, squirming, and convulsing in his chair. Sitting comfortably, I must say. I was now unqualified to say that I respected his boundaries, because well, I kidnapped an elite, but I was treating him better than he deserved. Only his hands were tied to the chair arms, and, his eyes and ears were camouflaged. Besides that, I could swear on my honor that there was no intention of laying a hand on him let alone torture him to death, which I wanted to. All the minister had to do was to accept my demands willingly otherwise...to hell with my honor.

"Release me! Where have you brought me? What is that smell?"

That was right, the air was misty and the strong smell of charred wood and fish permeated the room. Tyrell had replaced Celina and joined Pruthvi and me in this mischievous illegal stunt. The entire room was lit by my fire burning a log that I'd placed on the table amidst the minister and the three of us standing in the opposite direction.

"Tyrell, Pruthvi, y'all know the drill, right?" I asked then as I took a step forward towards the table.

"Of course," they said together. "Keep our mouths shut and let you do all the talking."

"Perfect."

"If this doesn't work," said Tyrell. "All our planning and hard work will go down the drain. Not to mention Celina and you'll be in so much trouble in the Panchayat."

"Too late to fret on it now," I said. "And trust me, I'll never take a drastic step without having further plans in mind." I extended my arm and removed the camouflage from his eyes.

The minister inhaled and expelled heavily. He batted his eyes several times, aghast, until he got used to the lighting of the room. Then he slowly looked up at me and his face contorted into an animalistic snarl. "How dare you? What in the world does this supposed to mean?"