In the forest of Ayodhya:
Niyathi charged at the asur who was close to her and tried to maim his chest area but he was prepared and defended her attack by a sword of his own.
Niyathi quickly bend down and took another dagger and slashed his chest area. The asur groaned in pain as the blood rapidly oozed down his abdomen.
In retaliation he slashed his sword against the arm of an unsuspecting Niyathi which resulted her getting a gash on her left arm.
She cursed the asur in her mind and kicked the asur in the injured area.
She then turned towards the remaining three asurs. The leader and his two sidekicks.
He seemed to be astonished seeing Niyathi's duel with his fellow asurs. He didn't think she was capable of debating an trained asur let alone kill one.
After astonishment came fear. Fear what if he failed in his task? His master will have his head if he didn't come with his beloved.
After fear came anger. Anger at the girl infront of him who had killed his fellow comrades. Anger at himself for underestimating the girl.
He then ordered the standing two asurs to attack Niyathi simultaneously. Maybe she can't handle two trained asurs at a same time.
Oh how wrong he was.
The daughter Agni quickly grasped the asurs plan and strategically planned her next move.
She thanked the stars that she is ambidextrous. And she was grateful to her sister Shikandini for giving her hard training for making her an ambidextrous.
Being an ambidextrous is an advantage to her but for the asurs? Not so much.
They didn't expect her to be ambidextrous and that was their mistake.
Underestimating the daughter of Agni proved to be fateful for them.
Guess they didn't learnt the lesson.
After successfully killing the two asurs, she turned towards the leader who was looking at her blankly.
The leader looked at his fallen friends with a slight sorrow and looked at the murderer of his comrades.
Even with the gashes and cuts, Niyathi stood straight not once showing her weakness infront of her enemy.
The blood of the asurs she massacred mercilessly dripped down her sword.
The crazed look in her eyes and the smirk playing on her lips, her clothes splashed with his comrade's blood was enough to scare him to the core.
In short she looked like death.
Goddess of Death.
The leader of the now fallen group braced himself for the fight. It was either him or her. He don't think he will see the next sunrise.
He can see that his time is gonna end soon. He can visualize the Lord of Death standing near him to take his wretched soul with him to hell.
Either he will die in the hands of the girl infront of him. Even if he manages to leave alive out of this fight, he will be beheaded by his master. There is a slim chance that he may win this fight and bring Niyathi with him.
Even if there is a possibility for him to win, he will take that chance and win.
Niyathi pouted at him mockingly and provoked his anger by saying, "Scared to die by my hands just like your friends?"
He glared at Niyathi with hatred, he knew what to do. He had some tricks up his sleeve.
He charged at Niyathi with anger and hatred.
Niyathi was struggling to fight the leader. One she was tired and she was loosing blood quickly. Two the asur was lot stronger than his friends and had more energy than her. It was difficult for her to handle the duel.
No matter she used all her skills to fend him off.
She prayed in her mind, 'Just a single mistake. Single error. That's all I need. Please Mahadev, just one mistake.'
How can he not grant her wish?
He left his chest unprotected while defending her attacks for a second. Niyathi used that time swiftly to lodge a dagger in his chest missing his heart by an inch.
The asur fell on the floor, clutching his chest. But he didn't show his pain to Niyathi. Niyathi kneeled next to him and observed the blood oozing out of his wound where her dagger was lodged.
As she saw the blood flowing out, she was lost in her thoughts. She killed nearly 5 asurs. Does that make her a bad person? Does that make her cruel? She didn't want to be a cold blooded murderer who killed everyone in her path. She justified her act as self defense and pacified herself.
She came out of her thought and looked at the leader of the group who was groaning in pain. She then decided to end his misery. She held the dagger which was embedded in his heart and as she was about to push it into his heart, she heard the leader making weird noise.
She was startled by the sound and was momentarily distracted.
There the daughter of Agni forgot the important rule in the battlefield. Never ever be distracted in a war zone. And that costed her dearly.
A BANG! Someone had hit her head hardly from behind with something.
She groaned in pain and fell next to the bleeding leader who was relived that his plan is going to work.
He said he had tricks up his sleeve.
As she tried to stand up, using her sword for support. She was hit again on her head by someone.
The pain was unbearable and this time she screamed out load.
She fell flat on her stomach and Aryani, the goddess of forest embraced her wounded body. The blood from her wound washed the feet of Devi Aryani who was helpless seeing her state.
The cold floor of the forest, the gentle breeze provided her solace amidst the unbearable pain.
She can barely breath through her nose. She gulped as much air as she could through her mouth. The sand from the ground made her choke on her breath.
For a few minutes it was tortuous. Her head was pounding badly. She was loosing blood quickly, in a minute or so she'll be unconscious or worse she'll die of blood loss.
And Niyathi didn't want to die. She fought against the darkness which tried to pull her in and swallow her whole.
As the one who attacked Niyathi out of nowhere is about to hit her again, the leader shouted, "Stop it! We need her to be alive else you the know the consequences."
The one who attacked Niyathi was none other than a fellow asur of the leader.
When the leader saw his companions being mercilessly being killed by the daughter of Agni, he sent a message to his friend who was stationed near the edge of the forest to come over and attack Niyathi. His friend was not well versed in weaponary but was excellent an spy. Thats why he was stationed near the edge of the forest. His role was to ensure their safe travel to Rasatala.
But desperate times called desperate measures. So he signaled his friend by making noises to attack Niyathi from behind. The noise distracted Niyathi and gave his friend to attack her. It was win-win situation to him.
Quite a plan wasn't it?
The new member came and pulled out the dagger from the leader and put pressure against the wound to decrease the blood loss.
The leader pushed him away and asked him to check Niyathi.
Niyathi was going in and out of her consciousness. She saw a figure approaching her and observing her pathetic state.
She heard voices then, "She had already lost a lot of blood. She need to be treated to immediately or she will die."
Then she heard the voice of the leader she despised, "No we can't let that happen. If she dies then he will have our head. We need to go to Rastala fast!"
The friend nodded. As she was about to lift Niyathi, an arrow came out of nowhere and lodged in his heart, killing him in a few seconds.
The leader was shocked. Who attacked his friend? Then again out of nowhere arrows came. One after another surrounded Niyathi amd formed a barrier around her.
Someone was protecting the girl infront of him. But who?
Then he heard the footsteps closer to him and turned to see the savior of Niyathi.
He shouted in shock, "You!? You can't interfere! It's against the rules!"
The mystery savior smirked and said, "Can't I? You are in my territory, trying to kidnap a defenseless woman. I think I have all rights to interfere and end this cat and mouse game."
Without waiting for his reply, he shooed multiple arrows on him and killing him permantly.
Niyathi saw the blurring image of man approaching her. He kneeled next her and observed her wound carefully.
She was about to give in to the darkness but she needed answers.
He saved her but why? Who was he? She didn't know that. She desperately seeked answers.
She whimpered in pain and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"
The man peered at her carefully and said, "I am---"
Before she could hear his name she succumbed into darkness completely.
--
So guys another chapter!
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Ramsri
xx