Bali's giant Asura form inhaled a coarse, noisy breath readying himself for the next volley of attack when a stray arrow caught him in the shoulder. He let out a closed-mouthed grunt before plucking it out. His red glow immediately vanished, and his enormous asura form was gone too within seconds.
Without losing a second, Aksha moved behind him and sliced through the back of his cotton tunic with her dagger, deep enough to cut his skin. He spun around with a baffled look, a hint of wince around his eyes.
"In case you die," was all Aksha offered. Bali bent over, weak all of a sudden, while Aksha turned to face her enemies, who were fast approaching them in all directions. There was small chance that they would escape their assailants, but at least she had made sure neither of them died in this attack.
Aksha saw the searing light before anyone else. By the time the gang of Immortal Hunters realized what the light was, it was too late. Aksha stood frozen as she saw waves upon waves of bright yellow and red hellfire blaze everything in its path, the men, the grass, the trees, and even rocks. The screams of the hunters got lost in that field of fire. Dread seized Aksha's chest; she had never seen anything quite like this before, a fire so strong it decimated the entire army of man. Thankfully, it was a quick death for them, the heat turning them into charred remains within seconds.
The wave of hellfire leapt towards Aksha, and she closed her eyes, her feet too heavy to move. It was Bali who yanked Aksha to the ground, out of the flame's way, wrapping his arms around her. They remained that way for several minutes, Aksha safe in his protective embrace with her face pressed against his chest, waiting for the deadly dance of the hellfire to be over. It felt like days, but it was only moments before the roar of the fire began to die down.
When they broke apart, it was nothing but smoke and ash floating in the air.
"They are all dead, it seems," Aksha observed, with a calming breath, waving the burnt air away with her hand.
"There is another agni asura amongst us," Bali said between coughs.
Sure enough, when the dust settled, there was no man standing, except a solitary figure in the distance, mounted on a horse, slowly trotting its way towards the two of them.
Aksha squinted her eyes, her hand still clutching her dagger with Bali's blood on its tip. "Or perhaps someone who knows Agni Tantra," she surmised.
Bali caught the drift in her voice and took a few steps forward to see for himself. The lone silhouette was stalking closer to where the two of them stood amid blackened soil and the smell of burned grasses, red hot cinders still crackling around them. When the figure drew close enough, at last, to be seen clearly, Aksha was surprised. It was the very old man who was scrutinizing her earlier that day at the town market. There was no mistaking that shoulder-length hair and the cold, piercing eyes.
When the old man halted his mount before them, Aksha mustered all her politeness to greet him. "Have you been following us?" She knew accusing the man who just saved you from certain torture was no wisdom, but the man seemed too shrewd to care for flattery. She had to be frank.
The man scratched his bristly beard as he studied the two of them, eyes giving away nothing. "You should be fortunate I was, or else you would be food to them. I suspect you know about their taste for immortals."
"I believe you are one of us, too?" Bali asked, gripping his left shoulder where the arrow had hit him. Aksha saw the dark wetness of blood coming out of the wound and moved to heal the arm, only to remember that the Tantra in her was curbed by the vile poison of the Immortal Hunters. She tore a loose end of her sari and pressed it against the injured area.
The young prince let out a labored groan, letting her nurse the wound. "You have our gratitude," he remembered to thank the man, even in pain.
The old man snorted with disdain before swinging off the back of his horse and treading up to where the Bali and Aksha stood reeling from what had happened earlier. The man snatched Bali's hand from Aksha before unwrapping the piece of makeshift bandage and tossing it away. He then placed his hard, wrinkled hands on Bali's arm and uttered a soundless chant. Bali's face immediately mellowed in relief.
When the old man was done, he huffed in satisfaction and then answered Bali's original question, "I was one of you. Now, I am an ordinary sage who happens to know your purpose and the path to fulfill it." The man sounded tactful, saying all he needed to say yet giving nothing away.
Aksha looked at Bali. His eyes had the same doubt that Aksha felt.
"As much as we are thankful for this encounter, we know our way," Bali said simply.
"You mean the path that the townful of humans claimed led to the Bhrigus?" The old man guffawed loudly. "The Bhrigus are not fools to tell every commoner the way to their valley. And I believe you are not fools either to believe those lousy tongues."
Aksha did not like the arrogance in the man, but she could not deny the fact in his words. "And I presume it was not out of charity that you came after us to show us the right path? What is it that you want of us?" She could count with one hand how many times someone had shown true kindness in all the years she had lived.
The old man nodded, accepting her thinly veiled allegation. "The only favor I ask is that you do not forget my charity when the time comes."