"Ugh!" Vikram exclaimed a grimace, but right after, as if he saw a light at the end of the tunnel; a glimmer of hope illuminated his eyes.
Through the haze of fear, an idea sparked in Vikram's mind. He noticed a sharp stone lying nearby, its edges jagged and promising. With renewed hope, he wriggled toward it, straining against the ropes that bound him.
Grasping the stone with trembling hands, Vikram carefully maneuvered it against the rope, using its sharp edges to slice through the bindings. Each movement was agonizing, the stone cutting into his skin as much as it cut through the rope, but he pushed through the pain, fueled by the urgency of his situation.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Vikram felt the last strand of rope give way, freeing him from his captivity. With a surge of adrenaline, he ripped the gag from his mouth and grabbed the the tracks and executed a marvelous snake-like motion just as the train thundered past, mere inches from where he had been bound.
As the train hurtled past, narrowly missing his right leg, his body careened off the tracks, tumbling into a nearby ditch with a resounding ~splash.
The rhythm of his heartbeat echoed in his ears—faster than the train in the distance.
For a moment, tears welled up in his eyes, betraying a vulnerability he had long suppressed. But the filth coating him, a repulsive amalgamation of mud, animal waste, and groundwater, obscured their presence.
This marked the lowest point in the life of the once proud and infallible General, who had united an entire continent under the Empire's banner.
Exhausted and broken, he writhed in the ditch, the stench overwhelming him, his fractured bones rendering him helpless.
Minutes dragged by, and Vikram's painful tears ceased to flow. Covered in filth from head to toe, he battled against the nauseating odor, his shattered body unable to untie his still-bound legs.
"How did I end up here?" a single thought reverberated through his mind, drowning out the distant sounds of the passing train.
**
After a long struggle that lasted couple of hours, Vikram managed to channel a little Prana—a magical life force that only select few of the Empire could use. Prana was the source of his limitless energy in war, but only few knew of its healing effects, albeit slow.
Despite his deteriorating state. Slowly, because of the nourishing effect of Prana, the flow of blood in his body stabilized, bringing a momentary relief.
Though the pain remained and half his body was still numb due to pain, he found comfort in the success of realigning his disjointed bones in the upper half of his body.
"Finally! Some relief. Ah, thank you, Goddess," Vikram exalted, his palms tightly clasped in gratitude for having being blessed with Prana.
Having gained a little strength to crawl, Vikram sprawled out of the gooey ditch, desperately trying to rid himself of the repulsive stench by dragging his body through the unnaturally tall grass. Yet, his efforts proved futile.
Slowly and painstakingly, he continued his crawl, gradually distancing himself from the ditch that served as a dumping ground for all manners of refuse.
~Huh!
As he emerged onto a dry patch of land, Vikram paused, opening his eyes to survey his surroundings. His gaze fixated on the celestial phenomenon above him, his breath caught in his throat.
"Dual Eclipse...?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes in disbelief, but the vision remained unchanged.
The two eclipses and the sparkling nebula, painting the sky with vibrant colors, captivated him. It was a sight of unparalleled beauty, unlike anything he had witnessed before.
"Am I not in the Empire?" he wondered aloud, his voice filled with awe and excitement.
However, as if scripted by an uncanny coincidence, out of nowhere, a young voice pierced through the tranquility of the moment. "V! Where are you?"
Vikram's heart skipped a beat, grappling with ambiguous familiarity with the voice. 'Why does this voice sound familiar?'
Fear overcome his curiosity as he refrained from answering the call, suspecting that his abductors had returned.
"V! If you are here, please speak up!" the voice pleaded, laced with genuine concern. It didn't bear the malice Vikram had anticipated from his abductors.
A glimmer of recognition sparked within Vikram's mind. Could it be...?
"I am here! ~cough ~cough" Vikram responded meekly, his voice weakened and tainted with blood.
However, before he could see the face of the human coming towards him, Vikram's body convulsed again, forcing him to vomit blood.
Though the parts of his body had begun to recover because of the circulating Prana, he was far from out of danger.
Whoever had abducted Vikram must have had a deep grievance for him to have left Vikram in such a beaten state.
After what seemed like an eternity, a young boy approached Vikram's motionless form and gasped in horror at the grotesque sight.
Bleeding wounds covered Vikram's body, his throat bore a sickly hue, and the putrid stench clinging to him was overpowering the wildness around him.
"V!" the boy of seventeen cried out, a mix of disbelief and distress in his voice. "Oh my God, how can they do this to you?"
Fading in and out of consciousness, Vikram barely registered the commotion.
"Who..." Weary and battered, he succumbed to the overwhelming shock from blood loss, slipping into unconsciousness without receiving an answer to his whispered question.
*****
{ 24 Hours Later | Outer Area, Zone Y }
~choo ~choo The sound of a moving train jolted Vikram awake, causing him to spring up from his bed. Instinctively, he reached for a weapon at his waist, his mind still clouded with confusion.
"Huh?" he muttered, realizing that he was no longer in the open field, instead, he was surrounded by a vacant room made of concrete. The missing blade on his waist didn't make it easier for him to make sense of his surroundings either.
"Did someone save me? Ugh! Why can't I remember anything?" Vikram questioned, his mind racing to make sense of his current predicament. Pain hitting his head as soon as he tried to recall what had happened.
"Is it someone from the rebel forces? This room looks like I'm in some noble's faraway estate though?"
'That's not important right now!', He quickly dismissed the thought, realizing that there were more pressing matters at hand. 'I need to run away from here!'
"Wait! it was real", through a broken glass window, his eyes saw the miraculous sky of vibrant colors and a painful memory from last night returned in flashes. His voice filled with awe and disbelief. The celestial spectacle from last night still lingered in his mind, a vivid memory amidst yesterday's stint with death.
Recalling the excruciating pain he had experienced not long ago, Vikram scanned his chest and neck, half-expecting to find visible wounds. To his surprise, there was no trace of injury.
~bang
"V, you woke up!!!" a familiar voice exclaimed, breaking the silence as well as the only door into the room.
~whoosh Reacting swiftly, Vikram dodged the incoming figure that lunged at him from few meters away.
"Ugh! What was that for?" The boy, landing face-first on the hard concrete wall, cried out in pain, holding his red nose.
Vikram's gaze shifted to the boy, his expression a mix of shock and uncertainty. The resemblance of this seventeen year old boy struck him deeply, reminding him of someone dear who had sacrificed their life years ago to save him.
"Casper?" Vikram questioned, laced with a hint of fear and ecstasy. He wondered if he had entered the afterlife. He questioned everything, even suspected his own death. "did I possibly die due to excessive drinking"
"Oi, why are you using my full name? What happened to using nicknames in the field?" Casper retorted, interrupting Vikram's thoughts.
"Casper, you're... alive?" Vikram stammered, his emotions overcoming him. Tears welled up in his eyes. Contradicting his stoic demeanor, Vikram jumped to hug the seventeen-year-old boy in front of him.
"Come on, man! You're embarrassing me!" Casper teased, patting Vikram's back to signal him to back off.
Still trying to grasp the situation, Vikram reluctantly distanced himself from the embrace. He thought a little and found that he couldn't understand anything anymore, his analytical gaze fixated on Casper.
'Although alive, Casper should have been over 30 years old by now,' Vikram had more questions again, but he new that the boy in front of him was really Casper. He couldn't forget the voice and that chubby face ever in his life.
Especially Casper's last heroic moment where the same face smiled amidst a burning canvas of a royal palace and gave his final goodbyes to Vikram and Veera.
"How..."
"Stop! I know what you're going to say."
Vikram looked puzzled, his confusion mounting.
"Yeah, and I'm really sorry I used the recovery potion awarded by the School," Casper confessed, unapologetic. "But I couldn't let you die. I would do the same thing again."
"What... What are you talking about?" Vikram questioned, his perplexity growing. School? Reward? 'As if those uncles of him would spend a penny on their niece and nephews!'
'Is he still the Casper I know?' Vikram wondered. 'When did we I ever see him talking so confidently?'
"Don't you remember what happened last night?" Casper's gaze held a mix of concern and curiosity as he looked at perplexed Vikram, who shook his head in ignorance.
"...You were attacked by Bat and his lackeys. They wanted to steal your rewards, but thanks to your foresight, they had no idea that you had hid your rewards with me," Casper explained with bright eyes.
Vikram found himself surprised by the mention of unfamiliar names and events, yet he sensed the truth in Casper's words.
"Rewards?" Vikram inquired, seeking clarification.
"Yes, anyway, enough of that. Here, wear your Dais watch," Casper said, "We are running late. This is the most important life of our day and we can't miss it."