'I suggest we should take the diamond and run' sidharth said tapping his foot against the floor excitedly
'and what would you do with it?' aditya said his eyebrows raised 'even if we steal it, which is quite dangerous in itself, I don't think we'll be able to sell it anywhere!'
sidharth flushed 'well..'
'we can hand it over to our government, I think we'll still get at least 10% of it' rajveer suggested. 'and as far I can remember this was our first mission! to do a discovery to be famous and all, I mean when we didn't know about mantrik'
'yeah maybe but..' Aditya started to protest
'but this is not right?' Rajveer cut in 'this is not what we are here for?'
'well yeah!' Aditya said imprudently. he certainly didn't had a argument prepared for this, which was quite a new experience for Rajveer since Aditya hardly ran out of arguments.
'rajveer I think he's right' pakhi told him 'maybe this is our test. we shouldn't be greedy'
rajveer wasn't sure if this would be their test, yeah a part of it maybe but not whole, but he nodded anyways. 'I know I was just.. sharing my thoughts'
then he sighed, calming himself.
'I think we should first focus on our primary goal, getting the amulet, after that we'll talk about the diamond' rajveer said gathering all the authority in his voice he could gather 'we have to deal with this Mantrik, if we backed off, he would find someone else and we knew what happened with those boys vishal and sanjay. Since we get this far, I have a feeling we are the only ones who can get it, anyone else will die trying. we can't be distracted, we don't know how much at steak but still I don't think this money worth even a single life. pakhi is right we can not let our greed win' he said all that in a burst but now after saying all that rajveer was feeling as if he was laying, laying to himself. just a moment ago he was thinking the opposite, he wanted to take the diamond and flee and now he was pretending as if there was no one with better morality than him. but then this is the thing, we all feel greed, selfishness, its build in our nature. we think about ourselves before anyone else but it's the decisions what matters and he knows he made a right one.
everyone nodded, their postures relaxed, Rajveer could guess that his friends too were facing the same kind of mishmash of emotions. however now with Rajveer's vote of confidence their sense of morality finally defeated their acquisitiveness.
'okay then we should work on the riddle now' aditya said again started to recite the riddle 'stone altered state reveals the gate, okay we got a stone which cannot be it's altered state so it's not the answer. then we have sand, which are many altered stones but riddle says only stone, singular, so it's not the answer either. then finally we have a diamond which is basically a stone but so much heated and conpressed that it become crystalized. well, this was easy. diamond will open the gate'
'should I go and place it then?' sidharth asked
'NO' rajveer replied 'what about the rest of it?'
'well there isn't much in rest' Aditya replied 'only one key you may choose, that means one of the objects which we chosen, a diamond, then life in error means if we choose wrong we can die.'
'because of what we should not hurry' rajveer chided
'come on, I didn't told him' Aditya protested 'I am thinking the same thing, this is too easy to be right'
'and the last line?' rajveer asked determined to be more couscous this time, he didn't want to repeat his mistakes again. only he knows how much afraid he was when pakhi disappeared. he didn't want to lose her again, he didn't want to lose any of his friends, he pressed pakhi's hand, she replied in the same gesture.
'hold strong or forever will it close, aa.. perhaps once it opens we have to keep it open or it will be closed forever' Aditya speculated
'well, look at the size of it' sidharth said nervously 'if it wants to close I doubt we'll be able to stop it'
'fair point' rajveer nodded 'but still Aditya are you sure this riddle can not mean something else?'
'I am quite sure its diamond unless you count the door as a key itself, it's too an altered state of stone'
and it clicked
'no it's not diamond' rajveer said smiling slightly, he stepped towards the door
'what do you mean?' aditya asked bewildered
'wait a minute' he continued toward the door. passing the objects. he reached the door, crouched and tried to feel any gap under it but find none. disappointed a bit he stood up and started searching the wall on the right side, for anything odd. he was reaching the end of the room now, again feeling disappointment. he was pretty confident about it, alas he was wrong perhaps. he turned from the corner to go back thinking whether or not he should even be bother to check the other side. he caught his friends sight and felt himself squirming under their gaze, he tried to give them an apologetic smile but before he could, he stumbled upon something. but why would he stumble? the ground inside the room was perfectly plain. he looked back to see the reason and was compelled to give some of his characteristics short laughs. he knelt down and started cleaning the dust from a ditch close to the wall, his friends came over. inside the ditch was a small slab sprouting out of the wall.
'Aditya go and check on the other side' he said looking up at him.
Aditya nodded and ran immediately, followed by elina.
'there is one like that' he announced excitedly after a minute.
'clear the dust but don't pick it now' rajveer instructed
'pick it up?' Aditya asked looking aghast 'it can not be picked up'
'it will' rajveer said with absolute surety 'if not, why are they here?'
'it can not, there are half dozen other tiles over this tile..'
'it will be, look closer' Rajveer smiled broadly he had just noticed the difference, there was only one tile, similar to the door just less wide and designed to look like half dozen tiles piled one upon another.
'what?....' Aditya asked baffled
but then he looked at the wall and traced his finger in the linings, he gaped for a minute then said 'how did you find it?'
'pity' Rajveer laughed 'you kept brainstorming and I solved the puzzle. "hmm.. one key you may choose"' Rajveer mimed Aditya still laughing 'it's only one tile like the door just disguised to look as many'
'hahaha,' Aditya grimaced. 'but how did you find it?'
there was a thing about Aditya, though he scarcely be wrong but when he does he does not accept it. quite stubborn, but now he was cornered he could not escape it, which rajveer was finding incredibly funny.
'well' Rajveer said clutching his stomach, laughing harder, the look on Aditya's face was priceless 'it was you who gave me the idea, you said, the door is too an altered state of stone and if it is so the walls are'
till now Ranveer was rolled over, laughing uncontrollably. soon everybody joined in even Aditya started laughing though looking rather red from ears.
when the commotion died somewhat Rajveer spoke wiping tears off his cheeks 'well, enough laughing let's be serious now' though still hardly containing his own laughter 'so, - laughs - we know how to open it now, and we know it can be opened once only, so two of us have to lift those levers and have to keep them aloft until one of us will go and get the amulet'
'right' Aditya said 'sidharth in your dream you find the amulet, so I think you should go, we will hold it open for you'
'okay' sidharth gulped 'just don't let the door close'
'you have to say it?' rajveer asked
'but Rajveer we should think about it this can be our only chance to get rid of Annoyance in our lives' Aditya whispered with fake solemnity
'not funny!' Sidharth grimaced 'please guys I am the only child of my parents' he said humorously
'just be quick it's not going to be easy, okay?' Rajveer asked him and he nodded
'take positions everyone' rajveer ordered in a low grim voice.
'but you didn't give us any positions to take' elina complained
'well, I thought it was obvious' Rajveer shrugged 'you will be on his side, supporting him and pakhi will be on my side supporting me'
'and I will be alone in a dark huge hall that has only one way out which also can get close at any minute. Just my luck' sidharth sighed 'but you guys don't worry perhaps I'll find a rat or two for the company' sidharth said tauntingly
'oh, you wouldn't be alone, the old man would be waiting for you inside, I asure you' Aditya sniggered
'come on now, don't scare the boy' Rajveer said
'I am not scared!' sidharth said defiantly
'fine!, I was supporting you' Rajveer said 'well, be ready then and if you find the old man don't waste your time fighting with him just take the book and amulet and run
'I don't fancy it' sidharth said 'let's go then' stretching as if preparing for a jog.
they settled themselves on their positions sidharth in front of the door, Rajveer on the right and Aditya on the left both crouched, holding tha slab, it was easily shoulder length wide to provide best grip, for which obviously it was made. elina and pakhi were standing behind their boyfriends. it was an awkward scene though which made rajveer remember a funny scene from Deadpool, so funny that he himself fell in awe of his tendency to laugh in situation this tight. he thought perhaps he was actually mad like his mother says. he never gets the emotions right. when he should be worried he laughs when he should feel afraid he feels even more determined, when he should be angry he became calm and walk away, he never does what he should be doing like helping his mother and does what he shouldn't, this for instance.
'okay on 3' Aditya called 'one, two, three' both of them put on their whole strength in lifting it but the supposed levers didn't budge, at first however. then after a -tug- sound, it started to lift with the predictable sound of grating stone. With the too slabs rose the door. again as Rajveer had expected lifting the door even to their waist was torture, his body was already shaking with the stress. as soon the door lifted sidharth nodded to them, ducked and disappeared behind it.
ohh how deeply he wanted to stop him from going behind it but now he had no choice he would have to keep it aloft no matter what but simultaneously he was wondering how long will he and Aditya be able to carry it on before eventually their muscles give up. but now he could only wish sidharth return soon enough.
sidharth sprinted toward the enormous statue sat in the center of the large hall, the only sound he could hear was his own footsteps and rattling breaths. he felt as if he had again entered the same dream he had that day, just with more realisation. this time he knew what was happening and where he was, also what to expect. soon he reached the small stair case above which statue of Lord Buddha sat proudly, the workmanship was so awesome Buddha might as well open his eyes and stood up any moment. sidharth took few large breaths then climbed the stairs in 3 long leaps. he knew his friends would not be able to hold the door open for long no matter how much devotion they show, this was completely on him now if he want to live, he would had to do his part as fast as possible.
he just picked up the book without bothering to bow or anything. he didn't even opened the book least he got caught up in the amulet's charm, like he got in his dream, he didn't had any time for that. he clasped the book with his chest tightly so the amulet wouldn't slip from within it. he was sure it was inside It, he could feel a lump in the middle of the book, he quickly hurried of the steps and started running. he could see some light on the other side which means his friends were still holding their ground.
he felt his chest swelling from inside which had nothing to do with running at fast pace, he recognized the feeling, a very rare thing to feel of ones friend, pride. he ran, he could see the door about 50 meters from him, thirty, ten now.
barely five minutes had passed since they were lifting those slabs or perhaps even less, but even when elina was supporting him, Aditya was regretting his decision to send sidharth for retrieving the amulet. why didn't he went himself? what was taking him so long? he just had to pick a book and return. didn't he understand how heavy these tiles were?
'Rajveer..' Aditya said through greeted teeths, his fingers num, body shaking and knees wobbling, threatening to give up any moment, it's... too heavy, am loosing my grip'
'No! he would be coming any moment' rajveer said weezing 'be strong, just few more moments' Aditya couldn't help but admire his friend courage, the man was himself shaking but the amount of determination in his voice was commendable, he doubted Rajveer would lower the slab before Sidharth return, unless of course if his limbs finally get ripped off from his torso with pressure. this also fueled his own strength even if only a bit.
right just few more second he thought and straightened a bit.
that's when he heard the footsteps and his spirits rose. sidharth was coming back. finally. now he wouldn't have to live with the guilt that he wasn't strong enough to save his friend. he did it, they did it. but then the sound of approaching footsteps died, very abruptly and sidharth voice came
'hey...' a trembling voice shouted 'get.. get out of my way. ge...'
And then came a gagging noise. then a book flue out of the door and fell on the floor with a soft tug. he glanced at rajveer and could see the same fear in his eyes that he himself was feeling.
he didn't had any idea what to do. they could not leave those slabs but neither could they stand there while their friend was fighting for his life. thankfully rajveer spoke
'pakhi go and help elina, Aditya you go and check what is happening'
'but.. they can not hold it.. it's. too heavy!' Aditya protested
pakhi came and griped the slab form the right side.
'I know that.. they will just help me as much they can I will be lifting most of the weight so don't worry.. go, you can take them as well with you if you want I can hold it for few minutes alone...' rajveer panted 'just go, quick!'
they had no other choice besides if Ranveer was saying he could, he could. he left the slab and as soon he left it lurched downward a few inches taking the girls with it but then it stopped.
rajveer growled like a beast and with a jerk lifted the slab to his chest like a weight lifter doing clean & jerk. now the tile was resting on his upper chest and hands, in a way he was now pushing it rather than lifting it both girls copied his position after coming out of their awe.
amazed himself but satisfied too all the same Aditya ran for Sidharth's aid.