Saptsindhu
Trying to ignore the pain, Shaurya quickly untied the cloth around his waist and used it to throw a lasso around one of the rocks next to him, which was jutting out of the steep drop. It was the only option which he could think of, at this juncture.
Meanwhile, the guy had started to climb up from Shaurya's foot to his legs now, using the sword to pull him up. The intent was clear in his eyes. But he was startled when Shaurya shifted from standing in that nook to stretch and go hang by the rock. Now both the bodies were dangling in the air, precariously.
Shaurya ignored the other guy's panicking reaction and focused his energy in drawing himself securely to the rock. It was a more stable position than standing in the narrow crevice with someone pulling you down and nothing to stop the imbalance from happening because he was now dependent upon his own strength.
The guy became jittery and clung to Shaurya's lower body even more fiercely. By now, Shaurya could feel the sword penetrating almost to the sole of his foot but he knew that the cotton cloth won't be able to bear the weight of the two of them for long. Time was of utmost essence. Wrapping one of his arms around the rock securely, he saw the guy holding onto his thighs with both his arms, now. Shaurya's muscles in the forearm bunched up as he tightened his grip around the jagged rock.
He used his free hand to pull out a small knife from the strap tied on his other arm. Hiding it in his palm, he waited for a few precious seconds as the guy crawled upto his waist. Shaurya used this time to regularize his breath and make himself calm. As soon as the guy wrapped his hands around his midriff, Shaurya bent forward slightly and gouged the guy's eyes out, one after another. He didn't hesitate nor did he hold back the force.
The man shrieked in pain and tried to stop Shaurya with one hand. Quickly, Shaurya slashed the vein of his wrist which was still wrapped around his waist, making it go weak. A stream of blood spurted out from that wound. The guy was still shrieking when he felt the coppery, cold metal slither into his mouth. He started thrashing his head but couldn't escape it. With the knife embedded deep into his mouth, he finally let go off Shaurya's waist and his body went into a free fall.
All of this happened under a minute but it was a long, painful one for both of them. Drawing deep breaths, Shaurya surveyed the damage to his foot and decided that till the time he didn't find solid ground, it was better to let the sword stay embedded inside. The wound at his waist was not as deep but it was hurting him a lot.
He had slipped far enough from the top of the cliff to not being able to hear any voices. But it also meant that he had been successful in avoiding capture.
Now, all that he needed to do was make it to his intended destination somehow.
He surveyed the place where he was currently at. During the practice of slipping down and reaching the crevice, he hadn't considered a bleeding stomach and a sword in his foot. As a result, he wasn't nimble enough to jump from one crevice to another. Thankfully, due to his unexpected fall with the guy, he had come down much further along the cliff. There were trees right below him which would help him descend to the bottom.
Three hours later
"Oh my god! Just hang on for a bit," Shaurya heard the voice of the courtesan who was supposed to be waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff.
Was he hallucinating? There was still a long way to the bottom.
After arriving in Saptsindhu, Shaurya had delayed the meeting with Ratansingh's handler on one pretext or another because he wanted to find the right place for their encounter. When he had first heard about the Valley of Vultures, he was fascinated and had wanted to explore the option of using it. By using Prithvi's alternate network in the area, he got to know about the sheer depth and other details of the valley but his source also told him about the reclusive tribe who lived there.
Shaurya had questioned his source about the movement of those people. It wasn't possible for them to survive only upon what was available in that valley. They would have needed to come to the main civilization for some resources. The guy didn't know how they travelled but he and many others had seen those tribal people around the market at various times.
They were peaceful people and kept to their own. Most of the times, they exchanged their fine craftmanship for the basic essentials from the market. Their specialty was making exquisite yet sturdy pouches and bags. There was a rumour that the material used by them was actually the dead skin of everything in that valley, including humans, animals, and birds.
For his plan to work, Shaurya needed to meet and convince these tribal people to let him know the entry and exit point from the bottom of that cliff. Else, he would have to use another ploy. As days passed, he had been almost ready to give up on this plan when the source came through and introduced him to the two tribal women who came to the market that day.
Shaurya had sat across them after offering bags full of rice, wheat and jaggery. They had accepted the same with a smile but now a big issue now faced them. These women didn't know any of the spoken languages!!!