The creature screeched resoundingly as if to wake the country from a glum state and knock them all over with a tornado of Shashi's wrath. It shot off in an aggressive arc towards the dark sky, brandishing its wings and, with its master sat on its back, making his commands heard. The gust of wind rumbled terrifyingly on its launch, tearing through bushes and the dried trees beyond.
In short, to make Nazira deprived of the part of her magic that needed oration of spells and to be able to use Pruthvi's Formation in full swing was Shashi's plan. He meant to separate me and Nazira and himself from Rawat's palace. I had no time to contemplate the choices and strategies - if Shashi slipped away from my grasp, that meant losing Pruthvi also, which was unacceptable and unperceivable. I went with the flow, disregarding Tyrell's call and marshaling my power of concentration on my stone, no matter how small it was at the moment.
Hardik swopped upfront from behind the clump of bushes and drove towards me. I pushed myself, leaping into the air, and landed on my flying friend, allowing it to read my nerves and mine only. It soared up at once, whizzing like never before and staying aligned in the same direction Shashi took.
The freezing breeze hit my wounds, giving me cold shivers.
With me getting away, Nazira would lose only half of her magic; I wondered if Shashi was aware of that. She could still perform the Fabrication. It got to be her, I thought, when the darkened sky lit up ablaze with the brilliance of light, granting me the sense to locate Shashi riding the creature as clear as noonday The ground below where the Rawat's village had been destroyed and reduced to the wretched conditions of the slums, was altered into a field of crops, trees, and snow, enough for me and Pruthvi to get a feel of cushioning the impact if any.
Shashi kept going high in the air unhampered by Pruthvi's fear of heights. Anxiety eclipsed my thoughts. He had to be luring me further away from my friends, letting the sense of vulnerability embrace me. He reached the clouds, and the momentum of the creature began to change, from slowing down to hovering slightly below the puffy cloud. The creature then menacingly turned around, flapping its wings back and forth, Shashi ceaselessly watching me approach with an unfamiliar sneer.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, he flung his hands out and let out a mind-staggering scream. The sound of an explosion from somewhere below jarred my nerves. It was all crops and snow from up here, but the sound led my imagination to run wild - the streets in the middle of the village were shattered into broken, jagged piles of rubble. Followed by the sound of the mangled huts breaking into further thousand pieces, shattering and collapsing to the ground like a pack of cards. It was perhaps Pruthvi's most devastating Formation ever, and Shashi was ostentatiously displaying the terrifying deranged version of Pruthvi to me.
The mild headache began to pulse behind my eyes. Before I could command my stone, I thought for a moment about a plan to stop Shashi without hurting my friend. Was it even possible? Or did Shashi want me to hurt Pruthvi? It was the first time that Pruthvi and I were going to have a match till death, pity that it had to be this way. Distressed, I ran his hand through his unruly hair, absently smearing blood all over my forehead. My stone did not feel too snug in my pocket. Instead, it was searing hot, almost burning me. I didn't know what else to do. I was going to hurt Pruthvi despite all my efforts. The panic bubbled in his chest, ready to consume me.
Another devastating blow came from the ground below, startling me out of my stupor. I had to stop him anyhow, and with no other choice, I commanded my stone. Nazira appeared.
Fire engulfed Pruthvi from all sides, making the creature screech crazily, throwing its both faces upwards and taking sudden nose dive. Hardik descended as well, folding itself from all sides around me to help me keep my balance. I did not let my fire go and poured down torrents of flames until Shashi receded.
He didn't.
My headache intensified. I gasped and gritted my teeth, feeling a prickly sensation all over my wounds. But no matter how Shashi tried to weaken me, I kept my Formation intact. Firing at him from all sides that didn't allow him to escape from my sight.
A vast boulder catapulted towards me. Hardik took a sudden dip, escaping from the impact at the last second. It went and crashed against a tower of the palace. More boulders came hurling, and I punched them all with my flames shaped like fists. The entire sky was shaken by thunder of eruption and aglare with lightning. The balls of nerves in my brain detected fear. The booming sounds like violent firecrackers must have stimulated the anticipation and unbridled terror of the unknown among the people.
Another ominous rumble echoed in the sky, and the creature swept up towards me bellowing out fire from both of its mouths. Gushes of fire instantly escaped my hands and I blocked the fierceness from the opposition. Grunts and screams escaped my throat with the increase of the pressure, even an inch of wrong movement threatened to have me scorched. And I was struck. Muscles in my jaw tensed when a boulder came from my left-hand side and hit me square on my bad shoulder. I screamed when the impact pushed me off the carpet, dropping me inclined and plummeting me towards the crops.
I'd fallen off many times from heights, especially from Almourah's lighthouse, but this time the concept of freefall seemed unfamiliar. My adrenaline shot up to an indescribable level with my sensory overload. The loud rush of the cold wind in my ears triggered anxiety, and my blood rushed back and forth like the tilt of a bottle. I thought I was done for...just for a moment though.
Hardik was quick and thorough with its requirement of action. It dove down with triple the speed and caught me before I crashed down to the ground.
In the time I took to regain my balance, the creature appeared from behind and blasted off another round of fire, this time at Hardik. Instantly I created a protective ball that obstructed the natural fire to hurt the carpet. My ribs throbbed and my stomach heaved. I landed on my knees on the carpet as it went up after the creature once again. My mind thought of my stone, but the concentration levels weren't sufficient.
Somewhere from below, the sword-shaped lightning and ghastly twisters erupted skyward. It took no time to ponder -my friends had joined me in the fight against Geokinesis. Shashi with the creature twisted and turned in the air, and more earthly explosions encroached on the lightning and the winds, but my friends did not give up. Lightning flashed, thunders rolled and winds stormed from different directions. In a frenzy to protect himself from the sudden variety of Formations, Shashi seemed to have forgotten about me chasing after him.
Gritting my teeth I commanded my stone in a way I had never before. Several streaks of fire blasted off from both of my hands and raced towards the creature. A couple encircled the necks and a few dozen held the wings tight, disallowing it from flying away, my Formation free flowing all easily as per my intention and ideas framed up in my mind. The flames squeezed the necks and wings tightly, so much that the creature screeched tremendously with pain with the tongues flailing and balls of fire puffing out inside its mouths before it threatened the world.
I pulled the streaks of the fire closer with all my strength and the Shashi who was stuck amidst lightning and winds had no choice but to come closer. "So you've been learning all the Formations! BIG DEAL!" I growled against the whizz of fire and wind. "But it's not going to prove your point."
"Atleast it's making you weak," Shashi huffed, his all greasy and gnarled, his hair waving like flags and face devoid of all Pruthvi's babyish features. "Just look at you."
I simpered. "My friends will always back me up. Always. Don't you know that? Even the body you're in must be fighting against your will to help me out. You're the one who's alone and weak, Shashi. You're a nobody but a tired-out soul."
"That's cute," he said. "One long fight with a dark magic user and you barely have enough energy to keep your eyelids open. How in the world a Samagraha who is meant to be always powerful can be expected to run a dynasty? The truth is you're nothing without your stone, Hayden Mackay."
My mind raced. "A Samagraha is nothing without a stone, thanks for reminding me that!"
With fire still leaking out of my hands, I yanked the creature more forward, and instantly removed the Pride from my jeans. The color drained off Pruthvi's face, the surprise must have rendered him unable to make an intelligible move. He must have thought that I would never dare to stab a friend. Perhaps, he was right. I didn't. Instead, I went for the creature. Staying in the middle of both its neck, I hurled the Pride down with a tremendous speed and thrust the bland portion sharply deep into its skin. My fire was yet pouring out, and the creature struggled to escape. It could do nothing but succumb to my magical fire that killed all the creatures of the clan.
There was one more thing I needed to do. As the creature flailed and plummeted speedily down, I leaped from Hardik and landed on the descending creature beside Pruthvi. He slid slightly back, panic flared in his eyes. My brain burst with a headache but I didn't yield. I pulled Pruthvi up with his collar with one hand and ducked another inside his pocket. The Emerald felt as hot as my own stone, and. I yelled, "Constellia Formation."
Singh had read my mind. He appeared safely on Hardik. As soon as I tossed the Emerald to him, he disappeared within seconds, black mists dissolving in the swift current of winds.
Hadn't I been specifically taught, that a Constellia was gifted with the ability to hold onto the stone in the absence of a Samavek?
Shashi struggled to get my hand off him, and we together dropped to our knees on a whim holding onto the dead creature that was rapidly falling. I checked for more vials with water around his waist, there was none. Hardik was right beside the creature, its moment showing attentiveness.
"Get your grubby hands off me, Mackay!" Shashi was saying giving me a questionable look, but I did not really listen. For a second, I thought his eyes had turned brown before reverting to blue the very next second.
As we descendant down, the fabricated lights shut off. Darkness took over, outside and inside of me. The moments felt as though they were the last to spend with my idiotic, nerdy, insensitive best friend. Perhaps these were my final moments. The world spun momentarily before a sense of cool serenity washed over me. I felt as if I was floating - drifting slowly into the air inside a bubble, swaying haphazardly, yet staying put. My breath was shaky against my grumbling stomach and sore muscles, and I felt suddenly disassociated from everyone I loved.
We almost landed down on the quake-ravaged street, a mile away from the Rawat's palace. My friends were standing in the middle watching us descend with their panic-stricken eyes. I could see Nazira taking a few steps forward but stopping midway, and Tyrell was cradling Celina's broken body. Their gaze was intense but I felt no desire to keep looking at them. I wasn't entirely certain that I could.
Apart from them, people, known and unknown, had surrounded the palace. High King, Ashwant with Naag and his hissing serpent, and Yuvan with his entire hoard of knights with their muskets and bow with arrows pointed at Pruthvi. Villagers of the Rawat Dynasty, of course, both men and women, held lanterns that provided enough light and were hurling angry curses. To me, however, it was not a chant of hatred or revenge but one of solidarity, fellowship, and of concern.
The creature landed catastrophically onto the floor, lifting off a huge pile of dust and broken rubble from the streets. Shashi and I slid, rolled off, and landed on the ground on our sides.
A loud hissing sound startled me, and Shashi let out a frightened bawl when Naag's snake twisted around Shashi's wrists and fastened itself like handcuffs. The hood of the snake rose detrimentally up and spitted its forklike tongue against Shashi's face.
My head once again ripped open with agonizing pain and a crushing sensation overwhelmed me, dizzying and disorienting me. My insides felt like tearing apart but I did not let my hand go off Pruthvi's collar of the jacket.
The snake hissed more and more, twisting its body and tightening its grip.
Singh emerged next to me and roared angrily, grudingly at Shashi. The pain in my head lessened.
I pulled Pruthvi closer, both of us squatting down onto our knees, and made him look at me straight into my eye. "Game over, Shashi," I growled, through my pain. "Look around you. There is absolutely no one here who wants you as their King. They want you dead, you hear me? Dead!"
Memories, feelings, and emotions swirled, making me feel sick to my stomach. An unbearable cold consumed me as Shashi stopped struggling, and looked sideways at the snake, and then at me, breathing heavily.
"But my offer still stands," I said, slowly letting one of my hands go off his collar and removing the Pride from my jeans. I pointed the bland side at him and menacingly leaned forward. My eyes prickled with moisture as I did so. "It's your last chance to live. Do whatever you must and take me. Let my friend go." I stopped to take a deep breath. "Do as I say. I promise you'll at least live."
The snake slithered around his wrist, muscles coiled and uncoiled as it moved, its neck protruding further as though threatening to bite anytime now.
Ashwant folded his hands as Naag took a step up front, ready to have another round of fight if necessary.
Singh grunted, taking a step closer, his menace apparent and daring Shashi to try and go beyond his current situation.
Shashi was surrounded by unlimited power from all sides. His powers were diminutive in comparison. Pruthvi's body felt lighter. There was no strain to escape, and no vigor to perform magic. He looked dejected and said nothing for a long time, showing the tendency of dropping his guard. He lifted his head, and his eyes were yet intense as though in a deep contemplation. He flicked his eyes and looked around, read and scrutinized the people standing around him, the people he wanted to rule but also whose friends and families he had killed in abundance. Finally, his eyes stopped moving and got stuck on Nazira.
She stood unblinking, desperately crying from hopelessness, covering her mouth with her hands. Her anticipation and terror of seeing her brother this way was riding heaven-high. Shashi stared at her and kept staring as though he waited for her magic to make this decision easy for him.
No voice rang in my brain, though. Nazira stayed put without using her magic. Who could she choose anyway? Her brother, the last of her family? Or me, the last of the Thribhuvan family given the gift to pour new life into the Rawat dynasty?
The wind howled in an unearthly scream when Shashi slowly looked back at me, eyes misty and dripping hatred. "If I can't win," he whispered. "Then neither can you."
I was the one with my guard dropped to an unimaginable level. I was the one who showed no strain to prolong the fight anymore. Without having lost the battle, I lost the war against the universe when Shashi hurled himself closer towards me, moving faster than I could apprehend, rending me speechless and hugging me tight. The feeling of the bland portion slithering deep into his guts blew me out of the water and knocked me senseless.
The snake hissed loudly, uncoiled, and got away from Shashi.
One second and two...the wind howled... and the near-dead silence was obliterated when Nazira wailed, mortified, and dropped down on her knees.
Shashi whimpered and shivered, clutching my jacket at the back of my neck with a tight fist. "You killed your best friend for shame, Hayden Mackay!" he whispered into my ears. "Guilt shall be your only worst enemy from this day forth. See you on the flip side."
-----------------------------
Nine minutes later, Pruthvi woke up.
His eyes bulged out. Eyeballs amber. He coughed and gagged, his expression somewhere close to vomiting, then he coughed again. I pulled him up on my lap and caressed at his temples, trying to make him relax. My heart burned. How was I supposed to tell him that he was back only to embrace the harsh reality? Did he know that Shashi was lying inside of him, being dormant and powerless? As he became more alert and began to look around in earnest, the pounding of my heart increased, and the panicky adrenaline rush became tenfold.
The High King was standing at a distance, but Ashwant and his Constellia stood by my side, gazing down mournfully and compassionately at Pruthvi. Knights and the villagers were surrounding us, some crying silently, some whispering, and others appearing downright miserable.
Tyrell and Celina sat opposite me, side by side, their faces rigid with terror. They didn't want to show their panic, but Pruthvi scrutinized each one of our expressions. He was confused at first and stared up at us in silence, his expression screaming for an explanation. Then he gasped with sudden pain, and a wave of panic rose in my chest when he looked down at his abdomen. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he shrieked, settling his head down back and resting his upper body in my arms. His face contorted, and tears burst out. A great, silent cry came from him, ascending in pitch until it became almost unbearable. Tyrell held Pruthvi's hand and placed it over his forehead in a sincere apologetic gesture. His shoulder shook tremendously.
"Pruthvi," I said, pulling him closer and holding his face. He wouldn't meet my eye, and tears flooded down my cheeks in deep regret. "Listen to me," I said, my voice croaking. "Shashi...he got you to get to me and Nazira. And..."
"Are you giving me an explanation?" he asked, tears falling, voice hard. He still wouldn't look at me.
"Am I allowed to?"
He paused and sniffed. "He is still alive, isn't he?"
"I'm not sure what'll happen once the dagger is pulled out."
He then turned his head and finally met my eyes. He was flustered for a moment and resumed his stare at what appeared to be the clouds. "You are not planning to leave him loose, are you?"
No word came out of my mouth. The agony was unspeakable, and a searing spasm ran up my nerves from foot to jaw. I squeezed my watering eyes tight shut and clamped my right hand over my mouth so hard that the knuckles clicked. Then I looked aside pointedly and he followed my sight. Together, we watched Nazira sitting alone at the corner of the street, with her hands around her knees and her head laying low.
Pruthvi sniggered. "She is just doing what a sister is supposed to do. Don't worry about her."
I gaped down at him, confused.
He patted me on my chest. "Worry about yourself. You're supposed to be a great king loyal to his own laws."
"What are you trying to say?" I whispered.
"One cannot cheat death, again and again, Hayden. No matter a Samagraha." He said, taking a moment, drawing his brows closer. He pulled his hand conjoined with Tyrell's and placed them over his heart. "Allow me to take Shashi with me, Your Majesty."
"No!" I gasped softly and let my tears drib. I cried, pulling him up, almost in an embrace like a parent embraces a child. I wept with shame and disappointment and the tugging sense of irrational guilt. "You don't deserve this."
"Don't be selfish, Hayden," he said. "You can't think of letting me live holding this creepy retard inside me just for the sake of your happiness. Letting me live will be the bigger punishment to all of us, to this country. We gotta end this tonight."
"I'm being selfish?" I asked. "I just...wanted to protect you. All of you. It wasn't supposed to happen this way."
"Hayden Mackay," he said with a stern voice. "You better do it with love for me instead of hatred for Shashi. If you do not let me go, I will pull the dagger out myself."
"It's not easy as you say it is," I said, through my gritted teeth.
"To say goodbye?" he chuckled. "That's right. It's time for me to say goodbye. But before that...there is something I never told you, Hayden. I kept a secret from you. I...oh god, this is difficult to say, but I once read your diary. On a dare. Tyrell made me do it. I'm so sorry." He chuckled, gasping with pain, and looked aside at Tyrell and Celina who were weeping uncontrollably.
The guilt that sat on my chest was tremendously heavy, so much so that I thought I could never be able to make amends for all the secrets I had been keeping from him. This guilt was going to haunt me, forever. I was his culprit and always will be.
"Come closer," he said.
I did and leaned down with my ear against his mouth.
"Marry my sister, and treat my son as your own. Do something about the clan of Pradhans, would you? They need you. And tell Leena I love her." He remained quiet for a moment, then took another deep breath. "So, I guess... I guess this is..." He didn't want to say goodbye, instead, he spoke of the obvious, "All hail Paramarashtra."
With my utmost deepest darkest regret, I nodded at my friends.
Tyrell held the Shaatrumani Stone.
Celina clutched the Pride.
I pulled Pruthvi closer into an embrace. Together we counted his last breath.
And Paramarashtra let out a sigh of relief.
-x-