Author's Note: Intense Violence Alert.
Nazira
"Where is the Pride?"
Nazira squirmed. The tightness of Shashi's grip on her hair strained her scalp, giving her acute migraine. She attempted to look aside, feeling petrified with the worried nerves for the safety of the baby. Shashi's huge body blocked the view. She cursed. The image of the baby's death sneaked up on her. "He doesn't deserve this. Leena doesn't deserve this! Please let him go. He is just a child!" She cried. Nobody listened. Probably the most striking thing to remember at this point was that Haima had failed to mind-talk with mages, and now as Nazira, she had the hunch to make that as her definite goal.
Despite the throbbing headache, Nazira tried to shove herself sideward, energy flowing. For a split second, Shashi's touch sent a few desolating images into her mind. Images of a place littered with filth and pollution. Images of a few people sleeping on the stone bed, struggling for life, persevering without food and water, choking to breathe, twisting with pain and fury. Nazira saw faces. She knew them. She recognized them. Her throat went raw with realization. Then she saw plumes of smoke rising in the air, masking the faces of these people. The smoke twirled and reshaped into the wings, the two-eagle-headed face, and the paws. Nazira stared into the intense eyes of the creature. Her stomach knotted. She knew how Shashi created these creatures.
"Last warning," Shashi's said, spit spraying out of his snarling lip. "Did you or did not give it to the Samagraha?"
She banished the images and shook her head, bluntly refusing to speak the truth.
He leaned over, the whiteness of his eyes painted angry red, his putrid breath filling in the gap between them. Her stomach recoiled with disgust. "You don't understand, do you?" he said. "This willful side of yours...no, I can't hate you just yet, Nazira. Your magic is way too precious for me to give up. You and I could have become a team had your loyalties been not so defective. Perhaps a little mollycoddling might produce more sense of duty towards me."
His nails dug deep into the skin on her upper arm. A sense of fragility found its way into her bones. "You were just an empty mass of oblivion without magic," he continued. "A submissive, spineless, timid little girl. Now look at you. How strong and confident you've become, strong enough to make a deal with me! Magic has brought this change in you, had it not? What a brilliant example to me you are. Soon every normal human in this country will look to you as an example and reward me with their loyalties. All you need to do is to work at my bidding. Give me the Pride. And I'll make this country a better, more improved place to live. Every human will be equally beneficial as a mage. Become as strong as a mage. Isn't that what Haimavati Roksana ever wanted?"
Her eyes narrowed. Was he taunting her? Energy began to flow through her body. Take a step! Hayden's words of advice began to compel her once again.
Shashi pressed on. "For all the grapples and burdens I'd shouldered, I would find consolation in my ambition once I turn every human into a mage. I've successfully seized the rest of the four Third-Eyes. It's only the Pride that I need."
"What?" she signaled with one hand, an incredulous thought occurring to her, something akin to suspicion. To turn humans into mages?
"Yes." His lips moved slowly. "I've counted enough years now. Try and walk with me, Nazira. Don't be such a hurdle in my way. Transforming these normal humans into mages is the only solution to demolish this brutal impression this country has created on mages like us. And that will happen only when the High Demoness walks free from her preservation."
Nazira felt her lips parting, her heart pounding in her temples.
"That's right," Shashi continued, as though been able to read her mind. "With the help of the five Third-Eyes, I'm going to release the spirit of Lady Drishtika from the Molten Vault."
Her insides broke loose. A startled voiceless cry left her throat. She began struggling in his grip. Angry tears formed. In the midst of her struggle, she lifted her hand and slapped right across his face. A slap so hard, that Shashi let her free. He staggered back a little and remained unmoved staring down at the floor as though taken by surprise. A crack surfaced on his decomposing skin.
Haimavati had bled dry sealing the High Demoness's spirit once and for all. If there was one assessment of Lady Chandrika she'd agreed with, it was the importance of keeping the witch's spirit unscathed and undead. The animosity between Lady Chandrika and Lady Drishtika was another appalling and chilling chronicle of arrogance, complacency, and collusion. Didn't she remember how tormented and abused people had felt during the days of the Great Hunt? The transformation from human to mages, an unwarranted gift to thwart Lady Chandrika, was being circulated amongst humans against their wishes. The formidable source was none other than the spirit of Lady Drishtika. Haimavati was convinced that mass murdering these transformed people was the only solution and so she obliged.
Had not Lady Chandrika bound High Demoness's spirit with her ingenuity, this country today would have been full of mages, full of absolute omnipotence, each person defining themselves as a Deity with unlimited power. There would be no restriction, no laws of mankind, no destroying of the destruction. Madness, complete chaos of a country Paramarashtra would be, with natural balance forever endangered.
And now thousand years later Shashi wanted to set her free? A genius mage he was, but equal parts mad. Gah! This man wasn't satisfied that he'd already put the country in peril by unleashing the creatures. He was nowhere near attaining satisfaction with that. He seemed to have vowed to retch up the situation even more. Ritual, that's right. Nazira now fully grasped the kind of ritual he was intending to perform. This ritual would cause damage on a scope one could only imagine, and the first of those drowning in their own rivers of suffering would be Samagraha and the Constellia.
Did Hayden and others have a clue regarding this? What if they didn't? Can Tyrell fill them up? But what good that could bring? How would they even progress without her assistance? She had to meet them, Hayden especially, one last time, and together they have to settle the matter before this fatal catastrophe struck the country.
The two men, who had been playing with the kid, stood stunned watching the encounter between Nazira and Shashi.
Shashi shifted. His face contorted with fury. He took one great stride ahead, held her by a firm grasp of her dress against her waist, and lifted her up off the frozen ground, harming the joint. With the force of gusty wind, he hurled her down, smashing her body hard against the floor.
The force of the collision, the devastating impact made her feel a twitch in painful spasms. The chains broke into pieces, and a part of it stayed around her wrists. The floor cracked beneath her. Dust lifted. Her veil flew away. The flame in the lantern put off. The shoulder seams of her dress tore, the cloth splitting apart and exposing her pale greasy skin. Her teeth rattled. Vision darkened feeling the brutal breakage in her spine. Pain spread out blazing hot all over her body. And salty blood rushed into her mouth.
Shashi crouched beside her, seething, having his jaw grounded. He placed his knee on her chest and a hand around her throat. His lips moved, but Nazira couldn't pull up the strength to concentrate on them. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. The salty taste, the slippery moisture, and the smell from Shashi's breath made it even more difficult to maintain consciousness. Before he could get a hold of her, Nazira sprung up and caught his hand. And before the pain sapped nearly all of her strength, she surged her powers.
Fire. Lots of it. Wild and demonic flames exploded in Shashi's mind, her magic ripping across his vision. She watched his jaw drop. His eyes pressed shut. He writhed and wriggled under the infliction, enduring the pain that struck right at the soul. The attack was a fabrication but the intensity of the pain...so darn real. It seared through his veins like a branding iron. She felt his pain. She could see him getting tortured. Her magic was as powerful as the Formation itself.
Rocks sped towards. Shashi jerked. Apprehension was clear on his face. Nothing was coming his way, it was just a plain clear view of the prison, yet he responded by sliding away on his knees, and not risking being bludgeoned. He writhed and cringed. Nazira had fabricated the tumbling rocks masterfully.
Behind Shashi, one of the men was gazing at her with a serious expression while the other held Viraj up as though a lantern. He was threatening her, she presumed, by keeping Viraj in a detrimental position. Then the man pointed at the water. The indication was clear. If you don't leave Shashi, I'll drop this kid in the water.
Adrenaline coursed through her system. The baby's life was in danger. She thought of Leena and felt something hardening in her. Leena would be completely broken if anything bad happened to her baby. No! Get up! She told herself. Save the baby and get the hell out of here.
Her bones gave a mild crack as she lifted herself. A grunt escaped. Pain stung her like thousand nails. Sweat trickling. Blood leaking down her chin. Rips and tears were beginning to form on the left side of the arm of her dress. She surged her powers. Energy flowed. That refilled her with some strength.
She steadied herself to make a run.
As soon as she released Shashi's hand...she screamed, cried with anguish, and fell back to her knees. Violent pain pierced through her skull. Her head felt splitting into thousand pieces. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Shashi's hand rushing toward her. Her heart skipped a beat when he held her up by her neck and dragged her, twirling her around and brutally hitting her head against the wall.
Her eyes were wide open but all she saw was wedges of darkness, pitch black view. Then, what she had been afraid of did happen. The calamity struck. Shashi feasted on her shoulder, digging her teeth and sucking the blood out. He was driven so mad with hunger and rage. Nazira's pain was indescribable. At the given moment, all she could think of was Queen Premila and Celina, who had endured the heinousness that straightly damaged their soul.
Unconsciousness had not swallowed her yet but she was reaching her weakest point. She was about to give up when Shashi released his fangs off her skin and dragged her with him. She shook her head, trying to clear her sight, eyes filled with tears and blood dripped from her forehead into her lids and from her shoulder down to her chest. She was such a bloody mess.
He took her out of the cell. A sudden spinning sensation washed over her, her dizzying brain taking a toll on her. Then, Shashi tossed her into the air. The weight of the chains around her wrists made her land quickly. The terrific crash at once woke her up to the extreme gravity of the situation. She started to feel the watery sensation soaking her up. She was sinking, and struggling to extricate herself. The currents of water took her over. Many years ago, her teacher had described how painless and easy to death drowning was. It certainly did not feel that way.
The exertion was a serious waste of breath. Nazira coughed and it felt like choking up the lung.
Magic gave her magical powers, but not the ability to naturally float in the water. Nazira Khan did not know how to swim.
She sank faster, her heart hammering against her chest. No fabrication was going to save her now. The ice-cold water rushed inside and the pressure on the chest began to develop. She was unable to find leverage. She scrambled for something to hold. Nothing. Just the water and its raging wave. Blood ominously swirled out from the wounds on her forehead and shoulder. It mixed with the water and so did the aroma.
She struggled. Time felt suspended. With an increased effort of expiration and inspiration, she began hitting her hand and legs into the water, pushing herself to keep her head above the water. Baby is in trouble. I have to save him. Leena's happiness is on the line. She pushed herself more and more. The thoughts of Leena and her happiness gave her the powerful influence to put actual efforts to stay alive and mindful.
A sudden huge splash sunk her further down. Water bubbled and frothed, the monstrous silvery whiteness devouring her. A current of waves thrashed against her with a forceful grasp. She was thrown aside. From within the bubbles and with lightning speed she noticed a huge snout with sharp conical teeth jolting towards her.
Something grabbed her shoulder and dug deep into her skin and flesh. A scream escaped ripping the cords in her throat. The blinding pain of swords and knives piercing her flesh shot through her. She could hardly see anything, but she knew it was the water creature's jaw crushing her shoulder bone.
The creature pulled her down in a death roll, swimming swiftly cutting through the water. It rolled with tremendous force and rolled and rolled. Nazira rolled with it, sweeping away in engulfing despair. Being its prey now, she was getting subdued by its attack.
Blood gushed turning the water red. Blinded by the pain, Nazira could no longer muster the courage to surge her powers. She attempted to battle by hitting and punching the creature. Aim for the eyes, she told herself. But she couldn't find the right spot. Nothing helped. The surface of the creature was too stony to make it feel like a prick of her attack. The creature released its grip, just for a second thought, then latched onto her shoulder. Nazira cried out. The creature was chewing on her flesh.
At some point, she thought to cut off her shoulder and escape from its clawing. The men must have already taken the baby away.
Take a step! Determined to survive and save the baby, she forcefully opened her eyes and noticed the creature taking her toward the water bed. She looked for anything, something to garb and use it as a weapon. With her other hand, she rummaged around and felt the presence of the loose grains of sand, stones, and stick. She reached further down and finally caught an unpleasantly jagged rock.
She hit the damn creature with the rock. Twice and thrice. Then she felt a slight release from the snout's grab. That was the moment, she pushed herself further up and attempted to figure out the right location. She stared at its impressive eyes. With one swift action, she hit right into its eyes. Again, and again and again. The creature, at last, released her. Bubbles of water and blood rushed out of its mouth.
To avoid further bites and to get away from its threatening tail, Nazira didn't lose the chance and pierced its underbelly with the pointy side of the rock. She grunted, surging her powers and making the creature get the feel of burning in fire. The creature zigged and zagged, and that made her understand that her magic worked. The creature kept stirring her into the depths with a malevolent force. She stayed there, enduring pain and occasionally shaking her head from falling unconscious. Patiently, she kept a lookout. And when she assumed that the creature had almost reached the other side of the ground pavement, she released her grip over the rock, quickly held the firm texture of the ground, and pulled herself up.
The moment she pulled her leg up, the snout of the creature emerged, splashing water around. She gasped and scuttled quickly back, shaking and shivering like a fish out of water. She didn't let the rock go. When the creature didn't revert to the water, she gritted her teeth watching the dark blood leaking from its eyes. Anger mounting, she firmly held the rock up and thrust one last blow to its other eyes. Blood spurted up from its hole. She jerked. And the creature slowly slid back into the water.
Nazira sighed and looked down at the ghastly bruise on her shoulder. She let out a sob, holding her arm trying to stem the blood flow. Acknowledging the pain felt worse, as though someone was squeezing her shoulder with tongs and pricks. Her body was on fire, her brain buzzing. The hushed agony was too much to endure. She was completely soaked with water and blood. She surged her powers and was forced to bring her senses into sharp focus. It took a moment to realize that she had gotten away from a deadly attack and saved herself from sacrificing a limb. She shuddered at the thought.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a few men hurryingly rushing towards her. She might have gotten past one hurdle. But her battle to save the baby and escape from Shashi's captivity had just started.