Hayden
The shock of cold water splashed onto my face, waking me up with a start.
I spurred and heaved with a closed mouth, my nerves jittering as if convulsed with a bolt of electricity. Water dripped down my brow, and my shirt soared wet. Taking deep breaths helped me regain my consciousness, yet everything around me was still black. I pressed my eyes shut and opened them again. Vision slowly adjusted to the gloomy, ambient, reddish glow emanating from the thin line across the horizon. Blinking through the slight pain in my head, I realized that I was in a barren wasteland somewhere in the middle of the thick snow forest. Leaves and branches ominously danced with the unheard noise in the fresh flurry of snow and slush.
Creatures screeched, flying in groups high above in the air, and that flooded my senses to full alert.
A prickling sensation crept up my arms. My hands were pulled up and shackled to the thick branch of the tree. I was hanging precariously, my legs barely straight and touching the ground. I applied pressure, wanting to burn the rope and set myself free. My heart began to thump. Nothing emerged out of my hands, not even a spark. I concentrated more having my teeth gritted. Nothing. The thumping of my heart grew faster and I gasped inwardly. My pocket was deprived of the stone. What about my friends? I felt getting knocked flat by a rush of fear. I battled with my concern at the thought that even my friends must have been stripped of their stones.
Sparing no time to orient myself, I squinted through the dimness of the forest. And there they were. A couple of feet away to my left my friends lay on the ground, on their sides and their hands tied behind their backs. They were shaking and blubbering, and they were heavily bashed, clothes wet with blood, and faces bruised and battered. The intense practice of handling myself without carrying the stone in my pocket was letting me stay put, but my friends...can they yet?
A spasm of mock-filled laughter rustled the air. About twenty men or so- short and sturdy, big and brawny, tall and skinny, walked over. They stood in a group near a scarred table, flanked by two chairs, placed a few feet away from me. Their hard faces showed a mixture of anticipation and excitement at having us captured. Musket hung from their shoulders. Only the knights used the muskets. How could they possess these weapons? Each one of them was in similar-looking clothes - full-sleeve fur jackets, black loincloths, and latex boots. It awoke an instinct of who they were and who they worked for.
Their laughter came to a dead stop. The gloominess pervaded. The wasteland suddenly turned into a cemetery with the silence drawing out. The place echoed a painful grief when a frigid wind swirled blowing away the fallen leaves and the gathered snow. The group then divided into two, providing a way for the one person who walked through. Their master, their overlord, an unscrupulous threat to the country, and the one with the ambition to become a tyrant- Shashi Thribhuvan. My insides exploded with renewed fury. Memories flashed. He looked more hideous than the last time, pieces of decayed skin tearing from his cheek and sweeping away like a feather.
He walked closer, his blue eyes on the verge of transfixing me at the depth of horror. His mouth twisted. An arrogant smirk was about to spread on his face, but it never did. Instead, there was a bitter disappointment with a flare of anger on his face. He snorted in disdain and broke the stare. I pulled my courage to deal with whatever came next. But now that he was walking towards my friends, a fit of dread bubbled in the pit of my stomach.
He crouched down in front of Leena whose spirits seemed to have dislocated from her body. He ran his hand against the softness of her cheek, she turned her head away with a grimace. Hey, get away from her, I wanted to scream but I could not find my voice. "A maiden, yet a mother," Shashi said, startling Leena. "What kind of life is that?"
"Pervy old man!" Pruthvi spat.
Shashi waved his hand and Pruthvi's neck twisted and cracked, glasses sprung away. The brute force accounted for the dark painful expression on his face. Leena gasped when he rolled swiftly aside, far away from them. His body slammed against the trunk of a tree with a bone-jarring crash. He then remained still on the ground, eyes closed, hand yet tied at the back, and legs spread out.
I shook with a fit of anger.
Tyrell grunted in pain and helplessness. He rubbed his face against his sleeve and smeared the blood further on his face, his shoulders shivering.
Celina dragged herself to a kneeling position when Shashi moved toward her, his face stiff and glaring at her all the while. She held his stare with her blood-soaked tired eyes, and not showing any sign of dread. "My master used to dream a lot about Endira," he said, and Celina grimaced. "I don't understand, how can you love anyone knowing that they will kill you one day? Makes me feel so aggrieved about it."
Tyrell grappled with the rope tied around his hands and Leena fell back on the floor, worn down to the beatings.
"Nobody expects you to understand," Celina retorted. "For your information, the word love sounds like evil burlesque music coming from your mouth."
Shashi's parched lips split into a humorless smile. "Confident and refreshingly brasher than the last I saw you. Your stone's not with you at the moment. So, let me just..." He leaned closer as though wanting to take a whiff of her leaking blood.
"Stop it! Stop!" Tyrell implored hatefully.
"Calm down," Shashi said, turning towards him, his voice strong. "You had your chance to speak, my boy," he said, and Tyrell breathed heavily. "But don't worry. I'm not done with you yet. You and I are going to make the stupendous team. Your magic...is going to be of so much use to me. But for now, I'm interested to have a conversation with someone else."
He stood up with the speed of light, removing two sharp filleting knives from his robes, and took a step towards me. "Didn't I say the next time we meet it will be your end?" he said, saliva spitting out and air turning into an unimaginably foul smell.
He swung a knife, the force of which cut the ropes. I plummeted down to my feet, writhing and containing the pain in my arms, my stomach heaving, muscles throbbing. I tasted the saltiness of my blood and sweat in my mouth. The burnout sent a jolt up my veins, disabling exhaustion similar to battle fatigue. Before I could look back up, Shashi held me by my collar and hauled me away from my friends. My head swirled with swiftness as I landed on the chair.
The chair slipped backward with the impact. Two men, seemingly twins, short and chubby, hurriedly approached and forced me to sit back straight. Each one of them held my hand and harshly placed them on the table, palms down.
Shashi walked around holding the knives. He lifted those weapons up, and with a swift motion, he plunged them down. The knives slid through my palms like they were bricks of butter.
A loud piercing scream tore through me. Black dots formed; my vision darkened. I kicked my legs against the ground, wanting the pain to go away. The pain wasn't new or the intensity of it any surprise, thanks to the fights with Almourah. I was used to such excruciating pains, but it was still the pain knowing no limit. "Hayden! Hayden!" my friends called, getting scared out of their wits. I frantically shook my head, tears spilling down, blood oozing out. I couldn't wipe either of those. The knives were dug deep into my palms, sharp tips of which tore the skin on the other side and bored down into the table. It made me vulnerable and sensitive to the pressure.
"Shh!" Shashi ran his cold fingers across my cheek. He wiped my tears and smoothed the front of my hair. "You know what they say about quicksand- the more you struggle, the faster you sink. Relax, my dear grandnephew. Do not aggravate the pain."
I shook my head again, this time to hurl his hand away. His touch was an irritating crawl of a mite against my skin. The leak of blood flooding the table felt uncomfortable. A grunt escaped my throat -a low, guttural sound. I gasped to breathe through my mouth and that eventually helped me cope with the pain.
Shashi scoffed. "I'm sorry."
"So are the people you killed," I said, and looked up at him, desperate. "So are all the people you left alive to watch their families getting killed."
"If you are referring to you and your parents...wait a second, it was an accident, wasn't it?"
"Wish the Pride was here," I said. "I'd love to make you meet with another accident."
"So uppity. So full of fire. It would be glorious to see you burn and crackle."
"How old are you? Sixty? Seventy? Shouldn't your only desire be to die in peace?"
A smile spread on his face. "All those witty comebacks. What a way to hide how terrified you really are."
"You sound surprised. Perhaps I must be doing a great job at pretending."
Shashi stared, delighted now, His blue eyes sparkled. I stayed put, the pain making my vision progressively fuzzier. The mask of courage that I pitched up was going to crumble anytime now.
"You intrigue me," he said.
"Really? Everyone keeps telling me that I'm uninteresting."
"Certainly not to me. Seeing how easily you trudged along the path I paved for you."
My breaths quivered. I wanted to clench my fist hard. "Have you now?"
"Indeed, I have," he said, "What would you even be if it wasn't for me, Hayden Mackay? You would have never known about the Maiden's Cup, let alone about the abilities. About Shaatrumani. Your friend Pruthvi Krishna would have never mastered the second kinetic power if I hadn't given the orders to put his life in peril. And let's not forget about the Pride. I allowed you to do whatever you wanted. Did I ever intrude? No. Did I ever stop Doctor and your tiny little friend there from fetching the Pride? No. You should be actually thanking me for what I did. Not to mention, sparing your life is one of them. How easy it is to kill a Samagraha. Look at you, struggling even to breathe. What even are you without a stone in your pocket? And that bitch says a Samagraha is always powerful. Such a terrible misconception from a High Priestess."
At first, the pep talk was disturbing, and then my nerves felt tickling. "Okay, you can kill me now. Because that speech of yours was unnecessarily hurtful." My voice came out slurred.
He leaned forward. "I was like you once, naïve and anxious, and to please everyone was my only everyday activity. I tried too hard to prove myself as a perfect brother to the one who was a perfect son to his perfect father. I used to lick his boots, did you know that? My father made me his servant. I followed his orders. I did everything he asked me to. And I believed that he loved me, only until he found out that I have magic. Because possessing magic proved me more powerful than him. I am more powerful, Hayden Mackay, and always have been. Was it so wrong for my mother to wish to see me as a King?" He gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw. "But he'd beat me, and torture me. He slit my tongue away and so a part of my magic. I still forgave him. Only for what, to have his friend take away my mother's life?"
I drew my gaze down, pity and anger tugging at equal measure. Perhaps I'd agree with him on a fact we were alike, alike in the sense the way we have complaints against King Harsh. But then...hell no. My heart slammed against my ribcage remembering everything he had done to the people of this country. Making me feel pity for him was an insult and I mustered strength to insult him back.
"Oh, boohoo!" I said and leaned forward staring his head on. "Mommy and daddy weren't able to hug you enough, is that why you've harbored a grudge against King Harsh? Against your own country? What a load of crap. Go! Go, get a life for yourself instead of riding onto every coattail of mine."
He sniggered. "The heartbroken lover boy has come out of shells, hasn't he? Thought that bitch had willingly chosen to be on my side. But no. She fooled me, fooled me big time. She has no voice but possesses an oily tongue. That bitch uses her mind well enough then I could have ever imagined."
"That bitch is my queen, have some respect!" I yelled. "You got anything to say, just say it directly to my face."
"Hand me over the Pride this instant," he hissed.
She doesn't want anyone to know the location of the dagger.
"I don't have it," I quickly uttered.
He slammed his hand against the table. "Liar! Are you both playing with me? Don't forget, your little games may prove fatal to this country."
"You could have used your clan way earlier if you really wanted to. But what will be left to rule if you demolish the country? Don't I understand that?"
"That pretty little number," he gritted his teeth, eyes a threat of horrific anger. "She found a convenient diversion to stop me from striking. It has certainly distracted me, temporarily for that matter. She thought this country would be safe by upping the ante. But not anymore. You and your friends will now suffer because of her mistake. Where is the Pride?"
My mind reeled. How could I make him say what was the deal that Nazira had struck with him? Her plan, whatever it may be, seemed to be a brilliant and non-negotiable one. The entire country was breathing with her decision to turn herself in. By putting our relationship on the line and erasing everyone's memories. Brilliant and yet...careless. Why? Why wouldn't discuss it with me first? However, it was far from my understanding why Shashi was dead set on the dagger. To destroy it? Tyrell had mentioned that the Pride contained plenty of functions besides getting rid of the second heart, could it be one of those? But right now, at the given moment, what should I do?
"I stand by my statement," I said. "I don't have it. Nazira ran off with it that night."
"And she returned it to you. How arrogant of you to think I'd believe in anything otherwise."
"She did not. Nazira has always been her own person. She excels at following the footsteps of that King we both dislike. Trust me or not, but she is on neither of our sides."
Shashi remained quiet and stared deeply into my eyes. He stared and stared for a few seconds. Unblinking. How well I knew that stare. Before he forced answers out of me, I dropped my gaze down. "Look at me," Almourah's voice rang in my mind. That ostensibly couldn't be Shashi's style. According to Tyrell, Shashi was far more advanced and an adventurous mage.
Shashi then stirred. He held one of the knives in his grip and exerted pressure, pushing it further down. More of my nerves and flesh was torn. Blood flooded out. The unbearable pain gave me heartache-the sickening, squelching irreparable heartache, and the humiliation amid the laughing men was ten times worse. My friends sobbed and wailed. They were helpless, physically weak, and powerless.
"Enjoying getting tortured must be a common trait," Shashi said, taking away his hand from the knife. "You, your friends, and that girl. A precious Samagraha you are, yet so pathetic like normal humans."
I looked up through my tears. "You tortured her?"
He smirked leaning closer. "Her blood does contain the tastiest essence one could ever imagine."
"You son of a..."
"Hurting your friends heats you up, doesn't it? Thanks for the tip." Shashi looked aside at the chubby man and gave a single nod. "Take away the pretty one."
My heart tightened. What was he going to do? I sat, feeling shaky and my mind spinning. I noticed from the corner of my eyes that twins were heading towards my friends. They were already beaten up pretty badly and I did not want to think about how many times they must have died already.
It has been a while. They should come now. Please come now.
"Get off me!" The shrill voice that belonged to Leena now sounded like a soft moan. There was a flick, a terrible crack of a whip, and Leena's cries of anguish ruptured my being. Flicks and more flicks. Leena screamed and kept screaming. I grunted, frustrations building up. Leena was getting dragged away by the man, towards the clump of trees and behind it. Darkness got the best of me, and I lost sight of her. Sounds of whiplashes came from behind. My other friends began to scream again. They were caught in the throes of yet another round of chaotic activity.
"Stop!" I cried. "Please, stop! "
"Tell me where the Pride is?" Shashi asked, with an amused satisfaction in his tone.
The constant throbbing in my palms forcibly made me hear Leena's incessant screams and my friends' cries. The sounds of hitting, slapping, slugging, whipping, and torturing. It was too much. The pressure in my gut bubbled like acid. I clenched my jaw, feeling my lips tremble with the truth ready to spill out. Please come, for heaven's sake.
And then my insides started filling up with energy.
Roaaaar!
A belligerent angry roar rumbled throughout the forest and the ground shook hundreds of times worse than in an earthquake. Shashi and I jerked our heads aside. The large lion, engulfed in fire came at full gallop. His appearance alone- majestic and powerful. Hundreds of pounds of teeth and claws charging with one intent in mind. Before Shashi stood up, Singh leaped up high in the air and threw Shashi down to the floor with him, a device around his paw blinking on and off. The raw murderous rage was clear in his eyes. His front paws were on top of Shashi's shoulder, pressing him down.
The commotion began. Singh's appearance triggered a panicked stampede. Someone was sending a shooting pain in my head and my vision got progressively weirder. There were mages amidst these men, yet they scurried hither and thither. Yells and screams rippling around the forest. A booming sound, the igniting of a low puff barrel gave me a shudder. With a chorus of screams, the men all plunged into crazed fear and they began to tumble forward on the ground one after the other. These men were being shot with arrows and bullets on their legs and shoulders.
The pain in my head vanished. I sighed with relief.
"Let's go! Catch as many as you can!" Yuvan's voice was a squeak amidst the growing commotion. The archer in him downed a target, nocked the arrow, and released the weapon. He was one among the knights of Rawat and Sharad entering the premise. They swept the area with their tremendous display of gallantry.
The creatures above flew unperturbed. And down on the ground, Shashi refused to be taken hostage by a Constellia. As soon as Singh pressed him against the floor, Shashi melted himself and reappeared a few feet away from him.
"Behind you!" I yelled, trying to be his second set of eyes and tightening my bloody palms in raising spirits to fight myself. Singh turned and emitted a voracious amount of fire from his mouth. Shashi crisscrossed his hands against his face, partially melting himself. Fire extinguished with a pop. Seeking the moment, he waved a hand and Singh's paws slipped, and his heavy body rolled off the ground.
"Fire bullets and never stop attacking," I commanded. Singh listened. Hail of bullets volleyed out his paws and mouth.
The knights gave him space, hurling themselves aside. The area seemed to enlarge and the force of firing bullets hurling in the air seemed like a bombardment of fireflies. He stepped forward, pushing the bullets more and more. Shashi stepped back and melted himself in the spot. I gritted my teeth. Just like Doctor used to say, mages were bad at fighting but their unparalleled magic was tough to even scrape through.
There were sudden flashes in the sky and big bright lightning descended down in the area.
Shashi appeared right next to Singh. My heart dropped and I yelled. "Fire explosion! Right away!" Singh, without turning around, created a blastoff. Boom! Deadly fire ravaged him. Shashi was getting engulfed. Ground shook, rocking the table hard. However, suddenly an intense pain nagged through my body, my legs feeling crippled and that unbearable muscle cramps. I screamed my lungs out. Singh was weakening too. He was stepping back and crumbling down onto the ground. A melting Shashi had his hand pointed at him.
And the aid came from the other side. There was another blast and the force of the fire explosion doubled, creating the most humongous flames I had ever seen -red and orange and dangerous. The tops of flames licked the sky, releasing heavy bouts of smoke.
Singh managed to catch his bearing. He stood back up, roared, and began hurling bullets of fire. From behind the growing flames, a profile of the tall bull-like woman appeared. Vrishabha. She had her hands spread out. The gust of air amalgamated with Singh's fire and increased the intensity more and more. Warmth escalated. Snow melted. The wind blew, rattling the table and I hated not being able to move from the place.
A scream tore through the flames. It was Shashi. He was burning. Burning like a firecracker. Good, let him burn. Then the scream slowly petered off, eventually vanquishing. Shashi's outline was nowhere to be seen. I squinted around, heart and mind refusing to believe that Shashi had finally retreated.
"Vrishabha, let go!" Celina yelled. She and Tyrell appeared next to me, limping and slightly bent down. Tyrell had his hand around her bloodied shoulders, helping her stand straight. Their eyes were yet on the fire that was slowly dissipating away.
Vrishabha and Singh neared us, and we gave one another confused looks, finally coming to an understanding that Shashi had indeed disappeared.
The commotion had subdued also. The showers of arrows and bullets abated, and the knights had gotten busy dragging away the bad guys. The night, as strange, murky, and shady as it can be, was now plagued with indistinctive noises and conversations. The nebulous corners were clearing away and from amidst the smoke and the dust, it was then I noticed, that Kanya had been helping the knights in catching the Shashi's minions. She flew down on Tyrell's call.
"Kid," Singh said, voice a bit rugged. "Your planned worked."
"I know," I said, panting and feeling my eyes heavy. "But you're late. Didn't I say to monitor my whereabouts every two hours?"
"Yuvan had trouble finding my location. I could not open the Samavek until he came. Next time teach the boy better how to use the buzzer indicators."
"Right," I wheezed. "Where was the Samavek hidden, by the way?"
"I don't recognize the place," he said, his eyes flicking up and down watching the knives stuck in my palms. "Somewhere in the underground human realms, perhaps."
I nodded. "Thanks, Singh. You can go now. Just be vigilant."
Singh released the steaming breath before he turned around, and my eyes streamed when the black smoke filled the gap between me and my disappearing Constellia.
Celina and Tyrell slid closer to the table and gasped at my wound. "Leena must be behind that clump of trees," I said to Celina. "Please go check on her."
"Alright," she breathed, blood and tears leaking down her cheek. "And I'll leave for Sharad's palace after that. Find me there?"
I nodded, recalling our destroyed apartment and the thoughts of Ira Zutshi made me feel the deepest despair.
Tyrell scratched his head, still glaring down at my wounds. "Pruthvi did not receive his stone."
"What about Makara?" I asked and stared questioningly at Vrishabha who shook her head, face expressionless.
"Absent," he said. "Hayden, you may need Ashwant's sedatives before we pull out these knives."
"No time for that. Pruthvi's son is in danger," I said, trying to manage the nausea sweeping over me. "Let's just get this over with. Pull them out."
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