I was running my fingers along the tattoo lines of the wolf skin that we hunted. Anik was sitting beside, trimming the bones of the wolves into thin sticks, probably arrow shafts. He sharpened the teeth that were plucked from the wolves' jaws and asked for thin Kundalini rope Aksharas to tie them to the tip of the shafts.
I have been thinking for a while after I learnt that Panna, using only two snakes helped in taking down two wolves while I did the same using more than ten points of Prana. I have to use it carefully. Till now, I have been really inefficient with the things I have undertaken. Panna indirectly taught me a really important lesson.
Drill Earthworm. Thin. Elastic. Activate when ordered through Tether. Make way to the nearest organ that is moving or beating.
Each string took 1.5 points of Kundalini, 1 for the body and 0.5 for the Tether. I felt like vomiting, but kept eating meat to replenish my Prana, determined to give Anik as many ropes as I could. According to what I saw earlier during the fight is that Anik is quite accurate, but his arrows aren't deadly enough. If he can give access to my drill earthworms right into the bodies of our enemies, maybe I can take care of the rest.
"How many shafts are there?"I asked Anik.
"8 or 9 for each body. More than fifty but less than sixty." he answered.
Okay, I currently had 8 Prana out of 17 after eating the new batch of meat. My Prana to Kundalini conversion factor has also increased to 3. So 21 threads can be made right now, keeping aside one Prana for myself. I'll need 40 more.
"Can you take care of guarding them? I'll go back to the stream and create rest of the threads." I told him.
"Be careful. If you hear anything, just run."
I opened up Panna's status and added the 5 points from the recent level up to dexterity.
Panna could manage only 70 to 30 split between her and Kalpa respectively, so Kalpa's status also got a level up. I added two points to agility.
I might be regretting everything much later into the future, but these are required right now to keep myself alive. Let my future self regret, atleast he'll be alive to do it.
I strolled back to the mountain stream, its surrounding banks still filled with the stench of blood. Without wasting time, me and Panna started our dance, creating threads one after another. I could sense some wild animals nearby, but this time, I kept my Kundalini active...it got blended with the incoming Shakti from the Rekha, and made me one with its energy.
The sun which was coming up from the horizon was really small. It seemed far away, but still produced enough light to proclaim it as dawn.
I went back towards the direction I came from, still a little doubtful at the beginning, whether I was going towards the cliff, but my Space Comprehension passive gave me a better view of what was around me. I also seemed to remember individual trees on the way. Maybe it was a side-effect of Intelligence coupled with skills which usually require the use of your brain.
I was happy because I had slowly gotten a bit advanced in the Kundalini Tethering and Akshara skills. These were the skills that weren't derived from some other entity. They were totally developed by me, taking hints from existing systems. I know we will be taught some version of these eventually, but it still gives a good feeling to be a little ahead of others.
Saiyan and Dweep were awake by the time I reached. We all sat in a circle next, and tied up the wolf teeth to the arrow shafts with the threads I had created. A total of 56 arrows in number.
"Hopefully you're able to kill some this time." Dweep teased him.
"What can I even do? Dhanurdhars are pretty much useless unless we learn to summon divine weapons or have more Kundalini to use multiple shots. I have none..." Anik complained, "They should start teaching us Prana to Kundalini conversion. Or, we can just ask him." he said pointing at me.
"I have a passive skill which lets me calculate the cost of each skill. Or how much Prana a skill will consume." I explained untruthfully, "And I only use the skills which I have calculated after converting Prana. So yeah, you need to conduct some experiments."
They nodded as if they knew I was lying, with 'see, I told you he won't say anything useful' smiles.
"Are we ready?" Saiyan said after closing the arrow factory and having breakfast with the same wolf meat. It was starting to smell a bit too much. I feared for our stomachs.
"I think we should take a stroll in the jungle. I don't want to suddenly feel it coming if something goes wrong inside the fort." I suggested.
"Actually, I also wanted to say that." Dweep raised his hand.
"Okay, let's meet here in forty minutes. Let's not drink from the mountain stream in the meantime." Saiyan made sure to notify us.
We dispersed like a fan, our destination somewhere near the stream. We all returned after an hour as it was too hard with the meat being so fibrous.
"It feels a bit uncomfortable when you only use water." Anik kept shaking his hands. Everybody had their own style and It was mandatory to keep it a secret.
"Let's go now." Saiyan said with a serious voice.
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It took a while to manifest our Kundalini, enough to cover our whole bodies like the Asuras did. We walked up to the entrance of the bridge confidently as if we were Asuras ourselves. It gave me a feeling of entering a metropolitan city for the first time, which I had once visited in a different state for my eye checkup.
"Guys, something is wrong." Dweep whispered.
"Makes sense why we could even reach till here..." Anik agreed.
Asuras looking just like us were walking around. They acted totally normal, even after seeing us, as if we were already a part of their community.
All my preconceptions and theories broke down at the sight before me.
"What is this??" Saiyan was the one who got shocked much more than us. "What have I been doing? Who are they? Why are humans here???"
"Shit. Something's wrong." I muttered as I witnessed Saiyan breaking down. We don't know his circumstances properly to understand what was happening with him right now.
"Dweep, pick him up!" I asked him and we retreated away from the bridge. Thank God we hadn't crossed it before this happened.
Saiyan calmed down all by himself after a few minutes, which he spent staring at the horizon intently.
"Would you tell us what happened there?" Anik asked.
"Mr. Mysterious here has a lot of things he can say, but probably won't." Dweep inserted his comment. I stayed quiet, not sure what kind of secret things they were talking about. If I came out and said Saiyan got two females fighting for him, and that happened to be totally new information over what they already suspected, Saiyan might strangle me under the guise of staying guard at night.
"You're not curious about it?" Anik turned around and asked me.
Why do you need to drag me into this? I felt like crying.
"Everybody's got things they can't go around telling other people. We can try to respect that..." I tried defending him.
"Not if it directly concerns the well being of our team and all the other people at the Ashrama." Dweep raised his voice trying to make a point.
"What's this about? Is it some skill that you could've used to wipe out the wolves much before, but didn't?" I asked genuinely concerned.
Saiyan stayed quiet.
My intuition was jumping about, sending tremors through my stomach.
"Fine, let me tell you, my faithful teammates, what kind of a glass canon we have amongst ourselves." Dweep announced sarcastically as if a King himself was arriving in his court. "This fucker died once, but it was me who lost a life."
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"How is this even possible??" Anik stammered, his voice breaking apart with tension. "What happens if this occurs again? Any one of us three will again lose a life?"
We three gathered together a little further away from Saiyan, who had walked a few meters away by himself to give us some space.
"Sorry guys, if I had stayed awake, I could have stopped this. Sorry Dweep..." I apologized.
We had absolutely no idea that such a thing happened after we went down.
"Saiyan took down the tattooed wolf in return for losing his head. The scene was terrifying to witness. It must have been painful too, but he resurrected right there and I got the notification instead, stating that I had lost a life. What the hell is this system?" Dweep explained yesterday's events.
"Without your shield and the snakes at the end, I would have lost two lives yesterday. So don't apologize to me. I am not sure who to ask for the apology anymore. But it's not you. This guy can atleast ask for forgiveness for being utterly useless yesterday. Shooting toothpicks at a huge beast. What were you expecting to happen??" Dweep was on a roll accusing the sacrificial lamb Anik, out of nowhere.
"Not that again." Anik complained, "Give me a break now. No one is more disappointed in myself other than me. I am trying to think of more ways. Hopefully his idea works this time."
D: "It's still his idea. What did 'you' do?"
A: " I gave him inspiration by creating the shafts. It's a difficult job to be honest." Anik defended him desperately.
"Guys, we're going off topic again, let's return. I know I should not say this since it wasn't my life that got sacrificed but still, one life lost is better than four." I tried to project a better perspective into this conversation calling up the age old tactics of discussing the worst case scenario.
"I know that, bro, it is the only reason I have been trying to calm myself down throughout the night. I had expected him to talk about this himself, but he just doesn't seem to do it." Dweep finally told us what's been going through his mind since yesterday.
"We can't let him fight and die alone. We can't let him out of our sights either. Dhruva, make sure he stays alive, even with only his head and torso left for his body." Anik suggested.
"Saiyan join us. We need to make some important rules, since our lives are at stake here. You 'have' to follow it." Dweep called out for him.
He joined us with a solemn look.
"I'm sorry..." Saiyan simply muttered. What can he even do?
"Tell us honestly, did you know about this before hand? About this failsafe plan Kalpa had in store for you?" I asked him revealing just enough for the question to make sense.
"No! Believe me. I did NOT know about this before. I was feeling so guilty after the incident, I was this close to causing harm to you guys again, indirectly." Saiyan said looking down.
"Arghhh, what is this??" Anik released a really long sigh. "Don't act like this anymore. Be responsible. Your lives are not yours anymore. Literally. Think ten times before deciding to sacrifice yourself or act rashly. Make a promise right here and right now." Anik said placing his hands on Saiyan's shoulders.
"I promise. I won't let you guys lose your lives again. It doesn't matter whether it is from me or you." Saiyan said with a newfound determination.
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"And what about the Asuras? You okay about them?" Anik made sure to check once with Saiyan.
"Yeah, I've made up my mind. If anything threatens you three, I won't hesitate, it doesn't matter what species it is." Saiyan said. "That's the least I can do."
We crossed the bridge confidently and got stuck at the guard posts. Not that it was unprecedented.
"Didn't we ask the young cubs not to go out for some weeks? You little naughty children, when will you listen to us??" The guards patted our head playfully and let us in.
We strolled inside, half smiling thinking about how easy it was, across gold plated heavy wooden doors, marvelling at the massive stone works all around us. The house were three to four stories in height, created out of red, pink or yellow stones, their walls dotted with the sculptures of various kinds of big moustached entities with round protruding eyes and teeth sticking out like elephants, burly hands and big pot bellies. That was the Asuran representation that the people of Marta knew.
We came across a bazaar, where people were milling about, negotiating prices for the items in loud voices. Children ran around holding toys or bubble sticks, the elderly carefully picking up vegetables using their years of experience. Various familiar sights eased our minds with nostalgia.
"Judging from what the guards said, we speak the same language and can understand each other." I noted. "One problem is taken care of."
"Now we have to collect information. Make sure not to get split up in the crowd. Me and Dweep in the front, Dhruva in middle and finally Anik." Saiyan said, making me wondering how he came up with this formation. Me being in the middle makes sense, but Dweep must have taken the back.
The people here were wearing luxurious dresses, even the common people, their necks adorned with diamond necklaces and hands filled with Ruby bangles. The men had muscular arms and figures, bare-chested with a cloth going over their sides and down their shoulders. They were wearing flowy dhotis made of clothes embroidered with threads of gold, shining brightly reflecting the sunlight. The women were regal and beautiful, with soft bronze skin, their hair tied in a multitude of ways, adorned with white scented flowers or silver
net like jewellery. They left behind a trail of chham-chham noises as the little bells tied to luxurious golden chains around their ankles kept oscillating at regular intervals.
"Oh kids, coming to the bazaar for a walk? You got some Kubers?"
"What's that?" Dweep whispered beside us.
"You can conclude that it is the currency here after hearing its name. Kubera is the god of wealth incase you forgot." Anik pursed his lips with a smile that said 'are you even using your brain?' getting back at Dweep for all the teasing since yesterday.
"No, we were just window shopping. If we find something we like, we'll definitely come back later. I hope you don't mind." Saiyan answered.
"Quite the polite cubs we've got here." The shopkeeper who was selling breads said, sharing with us a long loaf of bread. "Divide it equally. I'll be angry if you fight amongst yourselves for that."
We waved goodbyes and moved forward.
"Should we just go and ask for a hitch hike to our dimension? Aren't they a little too carefree and innocent?" I said as we walked, glancing at the food exhibited in the stalls around the area which had the most crowd.
"Should we move towards the castle?" Dweep suggested.
"And get beheaded for trespassing while we are at it, right?" Anik predicted, his vendetta against Dweep still continuing.
"Under normal circumstances, we would come across an important personnel of this city, solve their troubles and get some favours from them in return." I surmised.
"We don't have money to eat, or to stay the night at the some hotel. Shall we try the temple?" Saiyan suggested as we started moving towards the cluster of sculpted pyramids with flat tops that could be seen from the distance. The tops of the temples were refracting the sunlight, into the colors of a rainbow, profusely embedded with precious stones.
"Panna. We are at an impasse right now. Got no idea what to do. Can you help us?" I sent her a message but she didn't reply. She's already on it probably, considering her character, and is hopefully busy browsing through the Kalpa Yaal.
Reaching the entry steps of the temple we awed at its marvelous architecture. We recognised the Vishnu Avatars sculpted into the walls and pillars of the temple. There were three pyramids, the middle one was huge, its pillars created out of solid gold. The walls were made out of a shiny and smooth black granite, making us wonder whether it was even possible for a black surface to have those characteristics. Red stone Elephants, four times my height stood on both sides of the path towards the main sanctum, where a huge crowd gathered. The ceilings were filled with Murals, depicting the primary exploits of the Avatars of Vishnu, from holding up a mountain as a tortoise to holding up the world as a boar. All his Avatars were there except the one where he incarnated as a Dwarf.
"I think we were lucky." Anik said looking at the drawing on the walls and ceilings of the temple.
"If what I'm thinking is correct, we have arrived at the abode of one of the immortals, who is the mentor of the ninth standards and a generous Asuran King."
We reached the inner sanctum and laid our eyes on the majestic statue of a King, his body covered to the brim with jewellery. But still, he was on his knees, his head bowed down in respect towards a dwarf who had his feet planted right on the King's head.
It was the story of Mahabali, the once powerful King whose power threatened even the Gods residing in Swarga Loka.
He was too generous to a fault, giving away whatever possessions his subjects wanted of him. His story teaches us not to give others the right to walk over you, and set boundaries on the kind of favours you can grant while making sure the people close to you are not troubled, including yourself.
In a great ritual, The King Mahabali who was giving away his possessions as a part of the ritual's sacrifice, came across a Dwarf, who only wanted whatever land he could cover in just three steps. King Mahabali who was amused at such a request, didn't think twice before granting it. While others were demanding such extravagant riches, this little dwarf only wanted to take land worth his three small insignificant steps. Having his wish granted, Lord Vishnu manifested his cosmic form, covering the whole Universe in just two steps. The third step, he placed on Mahabali's head, claiming all his wealth and casting him to Sutala, the third Netherworld below when counted from the Marta Loka. It was because of the insecurity and jealousy of Indra, the King of the Gods, that Mahabali had to suffer this fate. Thinking Mahabali was getting too strong, the Devatas as usual had went to Vishnu for counselling, who came down in front of Mahabali who was conducting the sacrificial ritual. If he could satisfy everybody with his generosity, he would in return become that much powerful. He never knew this ritual would be the end of him, considering what he was doing was for his own followers only. His followers knew that, and never asked for anything more than what Mahabali could afford. A king's strength protected all his subjects, the more stronger he is, the better. If a King was weak, his kingdom will be the one to suffer by the continuous attacks of conquerors who are always on the prowl for subjugating more areas for their own greed. With nothing left to his name, Mahabali, for the sake of balance was made to be the future Ruler of Sutala, if he decided to stay neutral in the war between Devatas and Asuras. He complied I guess, considering that he is now a mentor of the young Rakshaks. I realised that all the immortals have some kind of background where they went through their own redemption. Ashwatthama was spiteful, and had made revenge his goal. But he came around to use that drive, preventing further massive scale wars between human warriors essentially becoming a Guru, following the footsteps of his late father Dronacharya. Mahabali was generous to a fault, and learnt to be mindful of his assets, he started again from the bottom after being casted out, and albeit with some help from the Devatas, managed to unite Sutala Loka, eventually becoming its King and creating this magnificent capital. Their stories were important lessons for us, keeping us immune from making the same mistakes they did, and learn the future consequences of our fatal flaws as humans.
Anik got excited at the possibility of getting help from Mahabali directly and meet him in the process of returning to either the Ashrama or Gurukul. Following the crowd we finally came close enough to touch the feet of the idol of Lord Vishnu, which we did, following it up with running the same hand over our heads, following the other Asuran devotees. It's called 'getting the holy dust from the feet of divine beings', it might lead to good luck in the future if what everyone said turns out to be true. Getting teleported to the realm ruled by Mahabali was indeed lucky to be honest. I shuddered thinking about where else everyone from the Ashrama had been teleported to... What if they lost their first lives not even a day after arriving at the Gurukul?
Let's just hope everybody is safe for now. No time to think about others.
As the crowd we were with dispersed, another group of devotees appeared from behind pushing us towards the exit door. Anik got hold of a young priest who was bringing some flower garlands to be worn around the idol's neck and stopped him in his tracks grabbing his dhoti.
Where is he getting this much courage from? Did he drop his guard thinking they were humans?
"Whoa! Who Are YOU?" the young priest transferred all the garlands to one hand, and grabbed his clothes with the other, fearing it would fall off.
"We are students of the King of this realm. Please let us meet him!!!" Anik pleaded.
"Why in Naraka are you here then, go to the mahal!! You can meet someone related to him there, since he isn't here." the young priest said. His tikki seemed to move by itself as he talked with us. He was clearly agitated. Tikki is a hairstyle that Brahmacharis often wear, looking like a ponytail, but with rest of the head bald. It is a sign of purity, celibacy and the renouncement of material and 'physical' needs, with this stage of life being twelve years long, where they study intensively under a Guru and stay focused on their goal. Technically we also have embarked on the life of a brahmachari with only the study and discipline part. We were not worthy of being called one though.
"Where is he?" Saiyan asked lying through his teeth, "Do you know about it? We had some important lessons scheduled today."
"You are his students and don't even know it? We heard some of his future students were thrown across the Brahmand to fend for themselves. You must be his current students to be alive and well."
"Umm...!" Dweep said, "Sorry for the statement before!! We are one of them. The ones who went missing. We found ourselves in the outskirts of this fort suddenly. If you know about the Ashrama can you tell us how to go back?"
Isn't this going too well? My intuition didn't get worked up either. Was it supposed to be this easy?
The Brahmachari clad in white thought for a while and pointed to the castle a few miles away. Its golden domes glistening in the distance reflecting off the sunlight. You'll find King Mahabali's heir in the castle. They'll probably be able to help you. Any kind of ascension or descension between the Lokas is taken care of by the people of the Mahal."
"Thank you very much!!!" Anik said and shook hands vigorously with the Brahmachari who was left flustered. We all came out of the temple in a hurry and made way though the crowds toward the Mahal in the distance. The heir of Mahabali...How will he be? Generous like his father? Or totally the opposite?
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"You have to leave your weapons here. Whoa, arrows made from Kaalbheriya teeth? Have you been hunting outside? In this situation?" One of the guards who blocked us from entering the Mahal premises inspected our weapons. "Interesting weapons. Is that raw Kundalini? Children are getting too creative these days but that's expected of the disciples of our Great King. But still, there are rules to follow. If something happens and you're responsible, I might lose this job... I've got a family to feed you see."
"No worries, we can leave them here. But if we could make this once, can't we make it again?" Anik tried to be a smartass. Who are you even trying to impress here?
"That's a valid point. But by the time you could squeeze out enough Kundalini to make these, all of you would be emptied of what you have, twice. So just go in without creating a fuss. And here I was, trying to make a friendly conversation."
We left our weapons back at the entrance and got tokens for reclaiming them later. It reminded me of how we leave shoes in racks with numbers, when we visit temples and get a token in exchange. But the thing is, we weren't even wearing shoes this whole time. They took being non materialistic to the extremes at the Ashrama. But the feeling of grass under your feet was refreshing back there. As if we were becoming one with the nature. Not like how my skill dictates, but in a more profound way. If you can already touch grass with your hands, why not use your legs too?
As we entered the Mahal, our eyes almost went blind from the brightness inside. Huge golden statues of elephants and horses dotted the landscape inside. It was fair to call it a landscape. The inner space was so huge you could hardly see the ends of the entry hall. Beautiful human like Asuras were doing their own thing, their Kundalini cloaks much stronger than the common folk outside. I could sense three layers inside them. One was stagnant, which was being sandwiched between two oppositely spinning layers. I wondered how such a combination fared in practical uses. If only I could throw a stone and see what happened, making sure to apologise after the experiment is done.
My fleeting thoughts vanished as I saw various drawings on the walls. My head bowed in respect to the artist who had drawn such beautiful pictures. Here, the pictures were random sceneries, many of which I couldn't recognise. Most of them captured incredible scenic sights, with mountains and rivers, of lush green meadows and foggy forests. The kinds you often find in a photography exhibition. But I could see the brush strokes that were left in the wake of the steps followed for the inception of this wonderful creation. I was nowhere close to this level. Nor did I feel like I could ever match this expertise.
We were guided through various halls and open air theatres in the Mahal, slowly climbing towards the upper floors. We were treated with quite the care being Rakshaks, an indirect symbol of the agreement between Mahabali and the Devatas. Being neutral, I theorised, he has to take care of humans in the Ashrama if he has to continue being the protector of the Asuras here in the capital of Sutala.
We finally arrived in front of an important looking room, the handles of the door looking like snakes with their hoods open and with the head of a lion in the middle, looking like it will break down from the middle if you open the door.
"You can go inside." the soldier wearing golden Armor who was escorting us, finally opened his mouth for the first time since we first met.
He hurried off as if this was an unnecessary chore he had to complete as fast as he could and return to where he was supposed to be.
Anik was really excited to visit a Mahal for the first time in the outer dimensions, imagining his palace in the future will be something like this. He went inside without even knocking on the door.
A raven haired woman in her early twenties looked up from the desk she was sitting on stacked with paperworks. The violet strands at the lower end of her hair were scarcely distributed, but still stood out in the brightly lit room.
"Who are you?" She asked, her face a mixture of surprise and annoyance. She must have been doing something really important.
"I'm Anik. Rakshak Anik." the person with us who was the first to enter the room stammered, possibly awestruck by the woman's otherworldly beauty.
Anik's answer made her dumbfounded.
"This imbecile. Guards, I told you to put them into house arrest. Why did you bring them to me!!!?" she shouted, as three guards comically came inside right from the door through which we had entered. I'm sure there wasn't anybody guarding the door when we entered.
"You only asked for my name. Why are you angry now that I've answered you??" Anik was offended it seemed. Dweep couldn't help but show his teeth at the recent events. He turned around and met my eyes, forcing a smile out of me too. Anik's stupidity knew no bounds.
Fucker, don't look at me like that. Your face itself is funny.
Finding us smiling the woman lost her cool.
"Take them away. Now." she ordered the guards in a low cold tone. She had enough of us already.
Did the golden armoured soldier knew this was supposed to happen if he directly brought us to the woman? Sly fox. He must be laughing at us from behind the scenes right now.
"Ma'am please don't be like this." Saiyan tried to reason with her. "My friends here have been at the end of their wits, fending off against beasts in the forest and coming this close to dying. Please don't get offended at their actions. We just want to go back to our home. Our parents are really worried."
"Uhh!" Dweep raised a hand, "Technically me and him already died once. Just so you know."
"These guys just keep going..." She rolled her eyes and looked back at Saiyan, "Ohh, only you have a relation with your parents right? We Asuras must be savages, having no bond within ourselves, right? You first trick my father, force him into subordination, keep him away from home for years on end and still have the gall to come here and tell me that your parents are worried? Despite being alive for a couple of hundred years, the instances where I have met my father can be counted with only one hand. How do you think I've felt? I'm here getting taken care of by unknown people while he's somewhere far away doing things for children that are not even his. And now this teleportation incident happened and he went to Bhuvar Loka hunting for Rahu. Who knows how long will it take for him to return this time. Do I not feel worried for my own father? Who have been slaving away for the sake of others? You punished him for being too generous? You are fine as long as he's generous only towards you!!!"
We looked at each other after listening to her rant.
Let's just go to house arrest, we all agreed.
"Don't let them out until father returns." she said, "Let them get a taste of what it feels like, not being able to see your loved ones."
"Ma'am, we weren't the ones who did this to your father. We are also victims just like you." Anik kept muttering in a whisper as we followed the guards obediently to the room we were allocated to. Hope we get some good food atleast.
"You guys were impressive to have survived in the jungle despite being so young. All my son does is play around blowing bubbles with his friends. I tried to give him some sword fighting lessons but he doesn't seem interested. Back in our time...." The new escort was going on and on about what happened back when he was a kid and how irresponsible the young Asuras currently were. Parents are the same everywhere it seems.
We entered an empty room this time, with two big beds, one huge wardrobe, a French window covered with curtains, a bit from both ends, and a door on the right for the washroom. I've never been fortunate enough to see how the rooms in high class hotels were, but it might be close to what this was.
"Thanks Sir for escorting us." Dweep indirectly thanked him for finally shutting up and ending the torturous journey. The soldier got genuinely happy without getting that it was raw sarcasm.
"What about our weapons?" Anik asked.
"They are in good hands for now. It only makes sense that we analyse your technology considering you've been siphoning the knowledge of our great King for years." he answered.
"Whoa whoa whoa!! It not 'our' technology! It's mine!!" I cried out. "The days of those sentiments are already long gone!! You better return them, or my arrows will be wreaking havoc soon. This is not a threat. It's a warning, considering how they've been designed. You'll be the first to hang me if something happens despite me letting you know before hand."
"We'll be able to handle it, don't worry." the soldier said and closed the door. The metallic sound of chains being wrapped and a lock being activated followed after that from outside marking the start of our house arrest.
Accepting my fate, I was just going to lie down on the bed as a vibration rocked the whole Mahal, leaving the vases and small statues shattered from the immense sonic waves, as if a fighter plane reached mach speed right outside our window. Luckily it was still intact. We peeked outside and found a huge army of demonic beasts consisting of black elephants, rhinos, oxes, buffaloes, tigers and jackals flooding into the residential areas through a caved in section of the fort wall. All the assailants had gathered right infront of the broken section which seemed to be furthest from the two nearest watch towers. Whoever did this clearly had insider info. We watched as gold armoured soldiers rushed to meet the incoming enemy. Another part of the defending army broke off and went into different houses, bringing out people on their shoulders, away from the wild beasts. Why do shit keep happening whenever we are there?
I turned to look back at the crowd below when my left eye started acting up. It felt like someone was clawing at from inside my cranium. The scenes around me kept changing, like I was the only one standing at one place while the other things were happening at breakneck speed. My surroundings got engulfed in fire, the windows shattered, the walls crumbled down. Sections of the outside wall collapsed falling outwards, as if they were blown apart.
What is this? Premonition? Future sight? My insides constricted causing me to vomit the meat from breakfast. I checked my status and found my Prana standing at 1, keeping in mind it had increased recently to 19 from 17. Whatever skill that was, it had consumed about 18 points in an instant. I felt dread rising up to my throat from my chest. I was useless right now. Only 4 Kundalini will be nothing considering how costly my skills were.
"I'm sure when things like these happen, we are positively going to be involved." I said wiping my mouth, while the others tried not to look at the remnants of my digestive system that came out of the hole meant for ingestion and not excretion.
The others nodded, worry tainting their eyes.
"There a bad news. My Prana dropped to 1 right now. I may not be much helpful in this fight. Whatever Kundalini I have left will only be able to activate about 30 or 40 arrows through the Tethers. I'm barely keeping them connected to me. Try to find snacks or something to eat in this room. I'll be fucked if there's nothing."
The sound of several conches marked the start of the siege, as we heard people running wildly outside our room. But no one bothered to look back and open our door, leaving us stranded.
"Right now, the only problems we have is this door getting breached and the whole building blowing up. So let's prepare accordingly." Saiyan said as we readied ourselves for whatever that was going to come.