Darshan's phone was ringing loudly in his ear , he woke up with difficulty , with drowsy eyes , when he looked outside , he was surprised to see the pitch black sky . He took his phone to check who the caller was at such time of night . But he was shocked to see the time , it was 4 o'clock in the morning , dawn was about to break . Seeing the date he realised that it was the last day of the dark fortnight and more importantly it was the soul purifying day .
He picked up the call and with a hoarse voice said "morning , maa ."
"Morning, dear . You're up already ?"
"Your call woke up me . Are you afraid ?"
"Yes , I'm . Can you do this ?"
"I've to try . Don't worry , I'll be careful ."
"It's not too late yet , think again . If you need me , I still can be there within two hours ."
"Maa , I'm not a child anymore . Will you let me do this on my own ?"
"Okay , okay . You can do this . But you've to inform me everything . And don't forget to lie down after getting out of the water . Okay ?"
"Copy that , Mrs. Sinha ."
"Darshan !"
"Okay , okay ."
"I'll send your doctor uncle to check on you . Okay ?"
"Hmmm . I need to go now or I'll be late . Bye ."
"Bye . Take care ."
Darshan sighed loudly after hanging up the phone , he was thinking about his past experiences of that particular day . In all those past years he could never survive the bathing ritual of the soul purifying day , he stayed unconscious for hours and then felt like his whole energy had been extracted from him . All these years his mom was always beside him to stabilise him and take care of him , but this year he was all alone to handle everything . He didn't have much time to waste , so he got up and after freshing up himself , he stuffed a pair of good clothes in his bag and left the hostel to go to the Martaksha Sarobar .
Martaksha lake was just beside the Garh Forest , which was counted as the end of Utkalgarh . Darshan had taken a taxi to reach there . When he reached there , the south coast was already occupied with hustling crowd , people were scattered here and there , some were in the water , bathing , some were in the changing rooms and some were waiting outside of the rooms , a few temporary shops were arranged there for food , water and tea . Darshan was nervous to even step in the water as he knew his faintness wasn't a normal problem , had been happening physically but for his soul's weakness .
The large searchlights were still on , though those could only cover a particular area of the south coast where the bathing rituals were taking place . This portion of the lake wasn't that deep as compared to the north coast or the east coast . It was believed that the lake had numerous layers which extended to the depth of Naarook itself ; whether it was true or not, nobody knew . But the lake had a queer habitation in it ; people used to think that those species which couldn't survive under the human gaze , made their shelter into the lake . Darshan knew there were numerous rumours of seeing strange creatures around the lake and it was his first visit to that lake .
He was standing into chest deep water , his eyes were unintentionally searching the opposite coast . The Garh forest , on the other bank , seemed to be an alluring place at that moment as if the forest had something precious , waiting for him . Suddenly his eyes fell on a girl , sitting on the opposite coast , watching him only . The lake was enough wide for not seeing anything on the other side , moreover despite of the faint light , he could clearly make out the figure . He looked around him and realised that others were not seeing anything , so he thought the girl as a ghost .
Facing the east , Darshan prayed and offered a flower as his offering to the Lords and dead ones and then he shrank into the water . Once under the water , he knew he shouldn't have opened his eyes as what he was seeing was beyond his expectations . There were two humans , a little short in height , standing just few steps away from him , they bowed shortly , and then they swam away just like torpedoes .
For Darshan they looked like human but he could not make out more as the familiar dizziness was consuming his senses , he started to see dark blotches which ended up with whole darkness . Darshan did not know how long he was under water , he had to drag himself out of water , but not seeing was not helping him , he was regretting his decision to come there all alone .
Suddenly he felt that someone's hands were holding him firmly , that someone gave him a tight hug and then cradling him into those firm hands , started to go upward and Darshan fainted into those familiar hands .
Yash did not care how many people were staring at him , running as smoothly as he could , he kept his eyes only on Darshan's paper white face whose body felt cold and light on his strong hands . Frantically mumbling , when he reached the emergency service's camp , it was empty . Not caring for calling the doctor , he already put off Darshan's vest and turning his body downward , started rubbing and pressing on Darshan's back ; so that the water could get out from the body . When the water was finally extracted , Yash laid down Darshan straight , but there was no sign of his waking and in that mean time , the nurse had come back who was glued on one place , horrified .
Still keeping his eyes on Darshan , Yash yelled at the nurse "what are you looking at ? Do whatever is necessary , but save him ."
Then lowering his voice , looking at the nurse he added "he's very important to me , please ."
The nurse , somehow collecting all his courage , checked the pulse of Darshan . He was internally praying for his life , at least after seeing the tall , handsome man's all water dripping condition with those helplessly pleading eyes , he didn't want the other young man to die .
Taking a breath of relief , he said
"don't worry , he's alive . He is just knocked out . Nothing is serious . Maybe the morning fast caused low sugar level in his blood . His pulse is very slow but it's not dead , okay . If you're still worried , you can take him to the hospital , he needs a saline solution ."
Hearing that , Yash , as if becoming a normal person again , hastily thanked the nurse and went to arrange for the leave . After getting a call from him , Manohar came there with Darshan's bagpack from the changing rooms . When he reached there , he was shocked to see his senior's expression .
After handing over the bag to the nurse , still panting , he asked
"sir , is everything okay ? Is Mr. Sinha alright ? Your expression isn't........"
"Manohar , I need to take him to the hospital . Will you handle everything here for me ?"
Yash's voice was distant as if he was in many places in one moment .
Manohar confidently answered
"you can rely on me in that case . Please take care of him first ."
Looking intensely into Manohar's eyes , Yash ordered once more
"don't let any human take lodge in the guest house complex of the forest . It's not safe for today ."
"You can rest assured , sir . That's not going to happen ."
The nurse had already changed Darshan's clothes into the dry one , Yash , cradling Darshan's body in his hands , got into the ambulance . When Manohar stuffed a pair of dry cloth with Yash , they left the lakeside . And with that a cold , hazy morning broke , indicating the upcoming catastrophes , that was awaiting to change a lot in a lot of people's lives .
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Hey, Readers,
Hope you liked that........
It's really long since they've met, but this time it's going to be a progress, right ? !!!!!! 😉😉😉😉😉
What does Yash know about the upcoming catastrophes or how does he know ?!!!!!!! 😲😲😲😲😲
What is waiting for these two in their future. ..........
Let's find out in the upcoming chapters. ........... 😊😊😊😊😊😊
Till then stay safe, stay healthy, and enjoy reading 😊 😊
Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE 👍 ✒ 👉 🙏
.................Anasuya Raj
3rd August, 2020
أنت تقرأ
THE LORDS OF JUSTICE
الخيال (فانتازيا)●WON ☆3rd place☆ in FANTASY genre of ■THE STARLIGHT AWARDS 2020■ -------------------------- The Lords and Ladies, the Divine beings of the planet Jag-Ath became desperate to gain one of their lost divine powers, which was taken away from them becaus...
