Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Thirty-Six

The next morning at the Ashram,
Sukruthi was absolutely furious to learn from Sister Arundhathi about Narasimha's, Bhavani's and Dilipa's escapade from the Ashram. She wrung her hands and blew her nose as she colorfully narrated with choice expletives and exclamations thrown in here and there about how the children had decamped during the night, "Hey Giridhar Gopal.....These children will be my death! One moment my back is turned and they are up to mischief. These little imps!"

"Can you please cut off the frills and explain when they were last in the Ashram and when they must have gone missing?" An anxious Sukruthi asked. "Did you question their friends? They must be knowing something."

"Nand ke Laala Giridhar Gopal.....Those three are thick as thieves. Anything they do, they always do together. Hey Gopal....please take away my life before my intentions and dedication to the Gurukul are doubted", Arundhathi again plunging deep into her melodramatic stance.

"I wasn't doubting your sincerity, Sister. I was just making a few inquiries. The menace of the Yeti is really grim and those children are missing now. All of them must be just twelve or thirteen years old. It is imperative that those children are traced back. If only I had an idea where they went....."

"Nand ke Laala......These Vanars (These monkeys).....forever scampering here and there....Boo...Ho....Hooo...", Arundhathi continued paying no attention to Sukruthi's exasperation.

Jayanth ventured to suggest, "I observed Narasimha acting differently ever since he heard about the story of the Yeti from Sister Arundhathi. Then he was asking pointed questions about the exact location of the Buddhist Monastery of Ashkora. It is my guess that the three of them went to the monastery."

"Even then they would hardly have know how to reach a place so far off. It takes three full days of trekking across the mountains and villages to go there and come back. These children have never been outside this Ashram. They don't know the paths and routes", Sukruthi reasoned, more to convince himself than to convince the others.

Lohith exclaimed, "Narasimha goes outside the Ashram pretty often assisting Guru Dharmagupta whenever he is summoned to treat somebody in the nearby villages. He must be familiar with the routes."

Sukruthi shook his head, "No....All the neighboring villages are to one side and the path that leads to the Buddhist Monastery is to the other side. There is no chance that the children can make it on their own to the Monastery. We have to discover them before nightfall. Otherwise they will die en route out of cold and starvation. Jayanth, can you run down to the village and inform them that a search party of Sherpas immediately needs to set out after Narasimha, Bhavani and Dilipa and track them down?"

"Of course, Upadhyayji!" Jayanth replied.
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Sukruthi was pacing up and down Guru Dharmagupta's chamber when he noticed something amiss. The Chest of the Ancient Masters was missing. He angrily shouted at the top of his voice, "Somebody has been meddling here in Guru Dharmagupta's chamber during my absence. The Chest of the Ancient Masters is missing. Who took it?" He point towards the vacant corner of the room at the 'Eshanyam Mula', that part of the chamber where Lord Shiva is said to reside according to the Vaasthu Shastra.

"Was there actually a chest in that place?" A shocked Arundhathi asked. "I've been into this room a number of times to clean it. I've never seen anything."

"That's because The Chest of the Ancient Masters is a potent magical object containing esoteric spells, occult artifacts and divine weapons belonging to an illustrious line of masters. It is invisible to ordinary mortal eyes. It never reveals itself to anybody of ordinary caliber. It would be there in the same place, people might even walk through it without any hindrance or sensing its presence", Sukruthi said. "I have the capability of merely seeing it. I do not have the power of touching it. It is a literal minefield of powers. Its disappearance spells doom. In the wrong pair of hands, The Chest of the Ancient Masters has the capability to destroy this whole universe."
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On the way to the Monastery,
"It is a good thing though that you brought this map along with you", Dilipa remarked as he trudged on behind Narasimha huffing and puffing for breath. "How much distance more do we have to traverse?"

"It takes three full days to make a to and fro trip from the Ashram to the Buddhist Monastery." Dilipa literally collapsed on hearing this, "You aren't joking, are you?"

"I am serious."

Bhavani tugged at Narasimha's sleeve asking, "Show me the map. Even I want to see. May be you are miscalculating."

Narasimha opened the brown carved chest he was carrying and handed over the map to Bhavani. Her mouth opened wide as she glimpsed at the piece of parchment. Narasimha asked, "What happened?" He pointed his finger towards the lines and routes he was apparently seeing and explained, "First, we cross this river. Then, we have to cross this stretch of grassland before we come to this steep incline. This bridge is the only path connecting these two mountains."

"I don't see any of it", a confused Bhavani said as she accidentally dropped the parchment from her hands. "As a matter of fact, I am seeing something entirely different. I am seeing the mountains of the Udayagiri and the routes and passes across them."

"What?" Dilipa picked up the parchment to double check for himself. "Both of you are wrong. I see the map of my kingdom, Gandhar."

"Impossible! How can three of us see three different things?" The confused children exclaimed aloud.

Suddenly realization dawned upon Narasimha that each of them was seeing a map of what they actually wanted to see. Bhavani was seeing a map of the Udayagiri Mountain Range in border of Mahishmati because that was where her heart and soul were. Dilipa was seeing a map of Gandhar because his heart and soul were aligned to his own kingdom. He was seeing the map to the Buddhist Monastery of Ashkora because his whole energies and concentration were diverted towards that place at the present moment.

Narasimha said after a long pause, "That parchment is magical. It shows a map of what we want to see."

"Where did you get this?" Bhavani asked with curiosity.

"I didn't get it. I stole that along with this chest from Guru Dharmagupta's chamber", Narasimha whispered as though ashamed of what he was saying himself.

"You simply rifled it out of our Guru's chamber and walked out?" His incredulous friends exclaimed as they clutched their foreheads and sat down.

"I DID!"
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Teaser:
Dilipa screamed, "The Yeti took Bhavani. It's all your fault."
Narasimha did not say anything in his defense. His young face set in a resolute mould, "Both you and I know the Yeti is a falsehood. Whatever it was, it isn't the Yeti."
"How are we going to save her?" Dilipa questioned.
Narasimha said gritting his teeth, "I got her into this situation. I will get her out of it too!"
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Author's Note: I haven't proof-read this chapter. So there may be a few typos or grammatical errors. I will edit them in a day or two. If you come across any, please let me know.

Did any of you anticipate this new twist? There will be a few fantasy elements from now on but mostly the story will be realistic. How did you find this update? If you liked what you read, please vote and comment.