Flame To Fire : A Journey Of Love

Chapter 8 : Fire

The air of the Shiva Temple thickened with the acrid scent of smoke, and the peaceful ambiance of the temple slowly turned into chaos. Panic ensued among the worshippers as they rushed to evacuate the place, their prayers turning into fearful cries.

Apparently, the camphor lamps lit up by devotees were handled carelessly, and with their slightest touch, a lac pillar began to spark a fire. Gradually, the flames, fueled by unknown forces, began to spread over the temple roof.

Understanding the situation with just a glance of smoke, and after experiencing the Lakshagriha fire, Arjun, now very wary, led the people out of the temple, safe from the fire.

Within moments, the holy temple that was flooded with devotees seconds ago was completely empty, but still standing proud in the fire.

Amidst the chaos, Arjun's eyes searched for a pair of brown eyes. She, the worser fact that he didn't even get to know her name, was missing. His eyes wished to catch her sight just once, just to make sure she was fine.

"Hey Bhagvan!" The temple priest yelled. "Anarth ho gaya is madir mein. Yeh bhagvan ka ghar hai. Mere Shiv Ji ki griha aise sarvanaash ho gaya."

"Chodiye Natha, kam se kam Shiv Ji ne yeh dekhbhaal kar li ki koyi praan toh nahi li na. Sab bahar aa gaye, sab surakshit hai." His wife cajoled him.

He sighed peacefully, hearing that everyone where safe, so she must be safe too.

While a part of him did say to stay still he saw her once, it was already late evening, and if he didn't leave now, it would be late night to reach Hastinapur.

While people were running around fetching water to put off the fire, he went outside the temple premises, reaching out to his loyal mare, Saibya, sparing a last glance at the burning temple.

"Are you fine, my dear?" He asked it, softly caressing the white-furred horse, to which it purred loudly in response.

"Great, shall we leave?"

The horse stood still, unlikely of its usual enthusiasm to travel along with Arjun.

"What happened?" He asked.

It walked towards the direction of the temple, as if trying to convey something to him.

"I understand, we can't leave just like that. But it was a natural disaster, there is nothing we can do about it." He said.

"Since when did you become like Subhi, getting sad at small things?" He said jokingly.

"Well, if you are not feeling better, we will just walk ahead for some distance. What do you say? Come, let's go."

Saibya looked at him with glistening eyes, before heeding to its master's words and walking forward.

The silhouette of Arjun along with Saibya was visible from far, under the setting sun.

Arjun wasn't even halfway to the exterior of Panchal when he heard the galloping of a horse behind him.

As he turned back, he found a velvet-black horse running to him from afar. Looking at it keenly, it took him a few moments to realize the horse was familiar to him.

"Raja..." He called out, to confirm his assumptions, and the horse responded to its call, running closer to him.

Once it was just in front of him, it looked at him with glistening eyes, tears streaming down its eyes through its fur.

"What happened? Are you fine?" He asked, a horse shedding tears was an unusual sight.

Then it clicked him.