I found myself at the familiar mango grove, where Panna had sprouted. When she was planted, and by whom... Was still a mystery to both us. She never said it out front, but I knew she was helplessly curious. Going by popular novel cliches that I have read in my free time, usually your ancestors have a hand in these mysteries. My grandfather should be a prime suspect following that logic.
I was surprised experiencing how mental Fortitude worked. Just a second ago I was this close to dying, and probably will, if I return back to that dimension again. I can't waste time. I was genuinely confused about how time worked in the dimensions, I have no way of knowing the difference until I go back to the Ashrama from Sutala. I knew for a fact that the dimensions of Ashrama and Panna's territory are at the same cosmic level, as I can talk with her directly in real-time instead of messages. Our messaging was not instant, and have been taking some time since I've reached Sutala.
As soon as I entered Panna's territory, Kalpa's status window started ringing with notification alerts.
Whatever backlogged messages that people had sent me, which were taking time to reach Sutala, came all at once as soon as I jumped back to the same cosmic level in the multi storied building of the Universe.
So it means that the fundamentals of how Kalpa Yaal works and my communication system with Panna were different from each other.
My heart warmed to find Apsara didi being so worried. She had already sent dozens of messages. The other sixth standard sister whose user name was her roll number, also sent some messages asking where we were.
Messages would be sent here instantly. Let's use that to my advantage.
"Currently in Sutala. Big black Snake Vritra is destroying Mahabali's Mahal. Already did actually. We were sent flying along with it when Vritra slashed its tail. Send help. SOS SOS!!! Follow the trail of debris incase you send somewhere here. We dropped out of the Mahal midway, so search accordingly." I sent Apsara.
Copy.
Paste to the sixth standard sister.
Send.
I finally reached in front of Panna after making my way through the mango orchard. She now reached upto my knees instead of the ankles. She had only two leaves at the top of her stem. One decaying leaf was right beside her roots.
"We meet again. The anomalous Shakti Rekha in the Mahal was disrupting our communication it seems. Dhruva... Let's get to work since you don't have much time. I would have liked to take time spending time and talking with you but it's not possible right now. I slowed the time of my territory by sacrificing one of my leaves. You'll hit the ground in 6 seconds back in Sutala, and 1 second there now equates to 3 hours here. Make sure to create an auxiliary chakra in the meantime. Remember the sensation from last time, it should be easier than handling Kalpa's vessels because my sap won't be fighting against you. Come... Sit right beside me, you can utilise the Shakti Rekha that flows over my body." her voice was serene and pure. Did she evolve after us reaching level 14? Her voice was no longer childish, it was teenage-like, with a hint of understanding and maturity in it. What an impressive person she is.
I remembered none of her messages had reached while we were in the Mahal, while it was still standing. Only after we were sent flying that she was able to connect with me.
Sitting right beside her gave me a wide range of emotions. There was longing, guilt, grief, admiration and affection, all crashing into me like the perturbed waves of the ocean. Always changing and dynamic. Were these emotions mine? Or hers?
"Thanks to you levelling up, I can now see bits and pieces of what happened in my previous life, leaving me confused quite a bit. I don't know if I am afraid or excited of knowing more as I grow up. Is it even the past? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it... Who am I? What am I supposed to be?" I kept hearing her monologue inside my mind as I concentrated.
"Don't worry, things will slowly get clear with time. It always does." I quoted my grandma. I am yet to experience something as profound as that, so I might just be babbling non sense. But atleast I was aware now about what I knew and what I didn't thanks to Anik.
"Next time... When you come...don't arrive like this, please... I want to spend more time with you. Directly. Make up for everything...." she mumbled, her words coming in slowly, stained with regret and guilt.
What is up with her? Is she using me as a medium, repenting for the regrets of her past life? Things she couldn't do?
"I will, Panna... Next time I will spend a whole month here!! Make sure to have enough food stocked for me okay?"
"Yes..." she gave a dry chuckle.
There was a brief period of comfortable silence between us, reminding me of the nights at Ashrama. Shit, not now when I'm trying to concentrate. I remembered her face, bright like a full moon in a dark night, still so vivid in my mind.
How is she? Where is she? She didn't lose any lives, did she? Questions kept barraging my mind.
"Dhruva. It's ready now. Consume one of my leaves and absorb my sap. Best of luck. You have about 2 hours and 40 mins left."
I gently broke the stalk of the leaf closest to me, making sure she didn't get hurt much, and ate it up. The taste from earlier has been refined to high class tea, with a fainter scent of mango. I'm not sure if I can replicate the taste, but if you mix tea and mango, the two favourite things of the general public, it will sell a lot.
Last time I only felt her sap converging in my left hand directly, but now I could feel each and every vessel travelling within me. I didn't waste time creating the auxiliary chakra point adjacent to my Swadhisthana chakra, which was still dormant, since Panna's sap obediently followed my instructions. The part which will be most difficult is creating new threads from Kalpa's sap, rearrange them to connect my new auxiliary to different parts of my body.
There can be a few combinations now.
One, the Shakti absorption vessels will carry Shakti from outside to Muladhara only, or Swadhisthana only or both of them. Since I still don't have the second real chakra, it's better to keep as it is.
Two, from Muladhara the thin vessels can connect to both the auxiliaries, or only one of them. Essentially, I have an extra storage point, so It'll take some time to empty out my Kundalini reserves from the beginning of a fight.
My body while standing on a Shakti Rekha can now fill the two auxiliaries first, equating to 4 points and then stop after filling Muladhara with Kundalini, making it a total of 8 points.
Three, the Kundalini distribution channels can come out from only one the auxiliaries, either the first or second one. Right now, I didn't have time, so the lesser I have to handle Kalpa's vessels the better.
It wasn't too difficult to choose my combination since there were already so many constraints that checked out most combinations, leaving only a few. I decided to keep the Shakti absorption vessels between outside and Muladhara, as well as the distribution vessels that came out of the first auxiliary and spread out in different parts of my body, as they were. The only change was the end point of the thin threads that once connected Muladhara and first auxiliary before. It now connected Muladhara and the second auxiliary point.
First phase is done. Now I need to create new thin threads that will connect the second auxiliary to the first one.
'How much time is left?' I thought.
"One hour fifteen minutes." Panna said loud and clear. "The next part will be testing the Shakti absorption vessel's new tolerance, thin it and bring out newer threads."
"Yeah let's try." I said creating the invisible hands like last time. Clawing at one of the threads that went to my thigh and getting a hold of it gently, I slowly started tearing thin strips away from it. Every time I had to reattach the main vessel to the outside, check the Shakti tolerance and again repeat the process.
After pulling out 4 strips from a single main vessel it suddenly broke, unable to handle the Shakti coming in. The conductivity and durability of the absorption vessels have increased quite a bit it seems.
Got it, so three strips it is. Now let's repeat it for every other absorption channel.
I stopped after I had about 18 thin strips, taking away from six absorption vessels. Next on the agenda was attaching the thin threads from Muladhara to the second auxiliary chakra, and detach the already existing thin threads between Muladhara and first auxiliary, putting them in the space between first and second auxiliary.
Midway through the process, I felt like I was going about it in a really inefficient way, since I was in a hurry, as if one of the steps could have been omitted. I got rid of this feeling in the back of my head and continued to concentrate when Panna's voice reached me like the remnants of an echo.
"Vaa... Dhruvaaaa!!!" You got only twenty minutes left!!!!" her voice now clear, boomed inside my head.
"You need to choose one of the three, do it fast!!!" she continued.
Shit!!! I still need to connect six more strands, transfer the Kundalini filtered and stored inside Muladhara to second auxiliary...
"I'll check later!!"
Faster! Faster!! Faster!!!
With only twelve minutes left, I finally started taking in Shakti consciously. The absorption vessels were screaming and tensing, threatening to give away. Maybe I should have taken away only two strips from each. Is three also a no go??
The Shakti vessels tore away one after another giving birth to an uncomfortable dread inside my stomach. The amount of Shakti being absorbed passively was much less than when absorbed actively. Not again...not after coming this far. Hold on for a bit...please...
As more and more vessels tore away, I joined them together and created a thick strand joining it to my skin from the inside at the solar plexus, as a form of damage control. Just absorb as much as you can. As fast as you can...
Currently I have two usable points of Prana, giving about 7 points of Kundalini when converted. And out of my new capacity of 8, the same as seventh graders, only 5 points were filled up.
"Five minutes." Panna's worried voice increased my nervousness. If I am still unable to change our destined fate of turning into unrecognisable goo, upon our impact with the ground below, just because of not being able to fill up the new storage point that I had created so painstakingly , I'll regret it all my life!!! Now only the solar plexus absorption vessel and another one were holding on. Keep doing your job, good vessels!!
Now let's see what Panna wanted me to choose.
1. Vessel Manipulation
2. Skill Transfer
3. Kundalini Vibration
What is this? It's just a realisation of the things I should be able to do given time and practice.
I can already manipulate my own vessels, after some practice I should be able to do it to others...
"Quantification and Realisation is really important. I also don't want to give you any more skills which are totally dependent upon me. I want you to cultivate your own strengths instead of borrowing it from someone else. Because at the end of it all, you will only have yourself." Panna explained, her usual cheery voice now just a thing of the past.
What memories did she get back? That made her like this?
Coming back to the topic, Skill Transfer will be an extension of field of protection, with time and increasing expertise I can influence the Kundalini that I'll be providing others, to take whatever form of I want.
And finally Kundalini vibration will be an extension of Aksharas, like the Akshara animals that can move on my command, I need to precisely and perfectly manipulate to make them vibrate properly in their natural frequencies. I already have a vague theory in mind about these, from whatever little knowledge of chanting and spell casting that have been exposed to me in some way or the other. Until I learn chanting properly from the beginning, there's no use taking the last skill. If I take skill sharing then my Kundalini reserves will burn away much faster. For vessel manipulation, it will help only if someone's body part is utterly destroyed and needs to be regenerated anew.
Right now I need something that would cushion our fall, and not rattle our organs inside causing either instant death or severe internal haemorrhaging.
"I'll take Skill Share for now."
"Okay, Dhruva. Only a few seconds left now. Best of luck. Sorry, I wanted to give you more time but I can't sacrifice my last leaf."
"It's okay Panna. You gave me a fighting chance. My brain had almost stopped working being driven into a corner. Hopefully the plan I've come up with works. 6 stored plus 7 converted Kundalini. I can only hope that it is enough... Thanks. I know you can already read my memories and my feelings, but I wanted to say this directly. I'm truly grateful for what you've done for me. I'm glad to have the honour of being bounded to you. Your memories might have changed you a little bit, but I hope you can still be like you used to be. I'll be waiting until you make up your mind and come to terms with them." I said, gently touching her final leaf. She was shuddering a bit.
"I know... You've always b..."
My two auxiliaries started burning, signalling the dimensional jump procedure. My vision had already started spinning before Panna could start responding, and now cutting her words mid way. This seems to be happening a lot recently.
Status!! Panna! 7 Level ups, 35 points.
25 points into agility, 10 points to dexterity!!
Status! Kalpa! 3 Level ups, 6 points. All into Agility.
Finally, It's time. 4 to 5 seconds before impact. A chance provided by Panna, to change our destinies.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In a flash of green lightning, I left and arrived back at Sutala in a second. Dweep who was deactivating the shield, squinted his eyes like the sole counter terrorist holding B site against an incoming rush of terrorists who were using flashbangs willy nilly. I grabbed his shield and stabbed it into my leg, renewing it, but with my ankle and foot outside it.
ONE!
Sponge!! Spread! Head and Chest! It was hard to concentrate in the pain but only having the choices of pain and losing a life on two sides, pain was much better.
My hands went invisible, kneading Kundalini chest plates and helmets using my increased Dexterity and Agility.
"Skill Transfer! Wood Flesh, Chest and Head."
TWO!!
Chest plates! Chest Plates! Wood Flesh on myself!!
THREE!!!
Dweep equipped himself and Saiyan with the chestplates and helmets that I churned out. They were not aesthetic at all. I can only hope that they worked as intended. My Aksharas started covering their bodies creating a sponge layer over them.
FOUR!!!!
We are not gonna make it... shit!!! 9 Kundalini out of 13 have already been used up. 4 left...
Skill Transfer...Why do it to my allies? What happens if I want to do it to my surroundings?
Skill Transfer! Field of Protection! Sponge! Sphere!!
My last 4 Kundalini were used up as a muddy earth like substance materialized out of my hand and spread along the inner surface of Dweep's Kavach.
FIVE!!!!!
Before I could finish the counting, my face slammed against the soft layer of Kundalini, bending it unnaturally. Pain shot through my spine, travelling downwards and then vanishing.
I lost feeling of my legs, as if something heavy was there, but not now anymore. I cried out in pain and despair.
Dweep who was holding Anik and Saiyan in place keeping them from jumping and bouncing inside the shield, had broken bones sticking out like thorns right through the flesh of his hands. His shoulders were sticking up unnaturally as the reaction force had travelled up his arm, dislocating it.
I saw him gritting his teeth, enduring the pain and stopped myself from crying out any longer.
The two coverings around us dissipated away slowly, leaving us sprawled on the ground.
I crawled over to them, my legs a useless mess behind, leaving a trail across the grassy landscape.
Saiyan and Anik were not waking up.
"Panna" I sent her a message, "Check out only the health bars of these two."
Her reply came after a while.
"15 for Saiyan and 4 for Anik. Both bars are decreasing slowly. Their insides have been torn apart. Sorry... even after all that... it ended up like this." she apologized with a very soft voice.
"Take Anik as far away as you can from Saiyan. Fast." I ordered Dweep, preparing myself. My legs weren't working, and Dweep's hands weren't.
I lifted the pale and sickly Anik from my sitting position and placed him over Dweep's shoulder.
He started running, bending his neck to somehow hold Anik in place. Being awake, me and Dweep could somehow mitigate the strain on our body by transferring it to expendable areas, but that wasn't possible for the unconscious folks.
Could I have saved them if all my storage points were filled up? With only 2 extra points of Kundalini?
Fucking useless...all of this for absolutely nothing! I'll also lose a life soon. It's probably only the second or third day at Gurukul, and we three have already lost one of our lives.
I watched as Saiyan's body shone with the glimmer of Sanjeevani activation. How the resurrection spell worked was still a mystery. It seemed different for Asuras, Manavas and the Devatas because of the involvement of Amrita. Rakshak Manavas had a diluted version. Devatas had the original version. And the Asuras had nothing. Every race must have modified the processes accordingly.
[You've lost a life. Remaining 2]
A notification arrived in my vision, forcing my frustration to burn like a wild fire. I finally understood how helpless Dweep felt when this notification struck him out of nowhere. It gave me a panic attack even when I was expecting it. When you resurrect you're also supposed to get a healthy new body. But I stayed crippled as I was, only to see Saiyan get healthier, getting back the colors on his face. I didn't feel relieved to see him get better. I was surprised to find a hidden anger that was slowly being born inside me. It was not right to blame Saiyan. I knew that, but he was a relatively easier target for my spite. I knew nothing would come out of hating Kalpa so I was just looking for someone among the people closest to me. I felt ashamed of myself, wishing the worst for others, just so I could feel a little better.
I realised that all the killing and chopping up that I had done previously were slowly eating me from inside.
I don't have Kundalini, I don't have Prana ..How am I supposed to heal myself and Dweep?
I just gave up and lied on the ground, looking up at the sky.
Vritra. Who can even stand up to those monstrous beings? What are we even training for if our final level still can't hold a candle to them? We need knowledge of divine missiles. We need more items, artifacts and special skills to counter these monsters. How do I learn them? Do they even teach these in the Ashrama?
Will a Brahmastra, like the one used by Ashwatthama even scratch Vritra? Looking back at it now, Ahara seemed to be little kitten compared to Vritra. That fear and pressure was unlike anything I had felt before. Also, who were those people who summoned Vritra? What were their affiliations? Where did they come from?
I'm tired. Right on the first day... I still have to endure things like this for the next 8 years in the Gurukul? And many more years in the Ashrama??
There was perfectly well city here in Sutala...why was Ahara even saying that there were no food here? Did Mahabali only provide for the people living in the capital and abandoned all those who were not part of this fort to struggle by themselves? Or is it just Sutala that is fertile like this?
Why was the world created like this? With us in between these two races? Why don't you just keep us away from it? Just fight amongst yourselves...Just...Leave us Alone...I could see the remains of the fort and the debris from the Mahal leaving a trail towards the horizon as it broke down on its way somewhere beyond.
The soldiers who were infront of us had fell out of the castle much earlier than us too. Flattened and dismembered bodies of people from the Mahal were lying all around, crushed under either the debris or because of gravity.
"Panna, a Shakti Rekha..." I messaged, waiting for her reply. I also used to wait before for her messages, but why did it feel like an eternity between each one of them??
"I can feel one in the jungles far away, after the grass land that we are on ends.To your current right." It finally came.
I slapped Saiyan, with a bit of my frustration mixed in, as he opened his eyes and looked at me.
He took a glance at his own body after mine and covered his face in shame.
I said nothing. Words weren't forming inside my brain anymore as a weird pressure from all the anger and helplessness numbed it.
"Send them a message to return. Hopefully Kalpa Yaal works as it should within the same dimension." I asked him, my voice cold.
Poking around in the air for a while he looked at me, opening his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Disappointed in himself, he looked down inspecting my legs.
We waited in silence for ten minutes until the other duo arrived. Their faces were dark too. Anik was now supporting Dweep, making sure his hands doesnt move much.
Saiyan lifted me up on his shoulder and started walking.
"Towards that jungle. Keep moving." I pointed with my finger to our right.
"I can't see anything there." Anik noted, his hand over his eyes, covering the light of the setting sun falling on his face. Night was finally coming.
"I said it's there. So it is there." My voice was a wreck already, trying to keep back my overflowing emotions.
We slowly walked towards the direction I had pointed. Perpendicular to the line of travel of the flying Mahal. The trail of debris itself took some time to be crossed. We nudged some bodies to see if they were alive only to get disappointed.
Saiyan kept looking for survivors, maybe as some kind of a penance, for taking our lives unfairly.
We looked and looked until night fell.
It was then that we heard some muffled cries of a child.
Putting me and Dweep down gently, the other two guys started working. Digging out bricks and furnitures from a mound of building materials. Finally they pulled out a mass of spongy flesh, which seemed to be enclosing the child inside, in a similar way I had used the muddy Kundalini sphere. Rakshashas were shapeshifters, and I didn't know if the Asura was a mother of father, but with their ultimate sacrifice, converting themselves into a protective covering for their child, their next generation can now probably live on. Parents were the same everywhere...for every species.
The moon lit up our surroundings, as we cut open the egg of flesh, knowing it was the child's parent. Anik and Saiyan got flashbacks of their operation back at the intact Mahal and started choking and vomiting while running away to a distance making sure the scent didn't reach us.
Their gloomy faces showed how conflicted they were inside, as they finally relaxed, knowing that all the evidences were now erased and we were in no future danger anymore.
Back then we just shut off our brains and did what was necessary, but the mental consequences were now hitting us like a truck.
A child who has seen her father only five times.
The three guards who might have had a family back home... who might also have been killed by Vritra.
Mahabali's kingdom is no more. Wiped out from the face of Sutala. I don't know about his wife, but probably, she's gone too...
Anik put his hands inside the fleshy sac, pulling out a small child of between one or three years from inside. The sac collapsed, leaving a sticky slime like fluid right afterwards.
Wait... Why didn't I think of this? If I created a water like substance instead of a muddy one...maybe...Let's just stop thinking...No!
How will I learn from this if I just stop thinking about it?
I touched the slimy gel and tried to assess it's density and elasticity. I wanted to make excuses that only 3 points of Kundalini might not have been able to make this. How will I make such a material if I haven't even touched it once...Just shut up...
"What are we gonna feed this guy? Ask Dweep to produce some with his man boobs." Anik snickered oscillating his hands, trying to stop the crying baby.
"Stupid Fucker. It is still more probable than some cow producing cottage cheese directly. I get you're trying to lighten up the mood but it isn't working!" Dweep answered as soon as the insult was hurled.
I laughed at Dweep's answer, hearing which the crying baby also stopped and looked at us curiously.
"See, it worked. Only Dhroo gets my superior jokes. You guys are far below our wavelengths." Anik raised his arms and shook his head in a sarcastically condescending manner.
"It's a girl, not a guy. Look at those long eyelashes." Dweep closely inspected the child. A regular human baby, except for the bright red eyes reminiscent of vampires from western stories.
"Who has a little brother or sister?" I asked.
"I have a brother." Saiyan said, his voice devoid of confidence.
"I have a sister, but with these hands, I might hurt her." Dweep shook his arms, the bones were comically going in and out like Wolverine claws, but from his elbows and length of the arms.
"That will take some time. Even for me. Let's go to the Shakti Rekha in the jungle first. Hopefully my legs are still in a recoverable condition." I said.
Anik was given the right to hold the little child for now, since we doubted whether he could carry me or not. So I left my crippled body to Saiyan who again gently lifted my up and started carrying me.
It was a long silent walk, the gentle rocking motion gradually put the little baby to sleep.
We entered the creepy jungle hours after the sun had set.
"How did dying feel, Anik?" I asked as he was the only one who went through the 'normal process'. Shit... We are finding different ways to die too. I was half expecting him to vanish from this dimension and respawn back at the Ashrama, but unfortunately it didn't happen.
"It was weird to be honest. At first it felt like my soul was ripped apart to a thousand pieces, but they all had a string attached, connected with my body. My soul pieces just followed the strings soon after, as if someone back at my body was hooking a fish using a fishing rod. After all the pieces were back at their place, I simply knew it was time to open my eyes." he was actually able to explain it in detail, making us surprised.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not that uneducated, okay? I just knew what they were teaching us was not useful for me." Anik defended himself.
"Yeah, we got it long ago. This is the nth time you're talking about this." the three of us agreed with a smile.
"Stop moping around." I said. "We still need to find a way back. Without losing any more lives. Right after we heal ourselves up. So be alert, our safety in here is totally dependent on you." looking right at gloomy Saiyan.
"I'm also thinking..."Dweep suddenly said, "The soldiers back at the Mahal were total amateurs. Taking into account that they have been alive for hundreds of years, the amount of experience they gave was too small. No wonder they couldn't hold off the assault of the wild demonic beasts. They might have gotten lazier, knowing that they had the backing of the Gods or something. Leaving our fate to higher beings doesn't look like a decent approach anymore."
This forest was different than the hilly ones we found ourselves on when we arrived here in Sutala. That part might be mountainous, middle part was plains, where the capital was, and this was a swampy region. There might be a river that often overflows right in front of us.
"Panna... Don't tell me the Rekha lies over the river..."
We kept walking until her reply arrived. "3 more kilometres."
We struggled through the swamp that was sinking our feet till our shins. Well, it didn't matter to me since I was being carried.
"How far?" Anik asked like a child waiting for a journey to end.
"A little more than 2 kilometres probs." I answered his impatient query.
Saiyan suddenly stopped, inspecting our surroundings. Dweep and Anik followed.
"We're in trouble." he mumbled following something up in the trees.
Things were crawling above us.
The leaves of the trees in front of us suddenly rustled, as I sensed something jump from one tree to another, scurrying like an insect.
A dimensional crack opened beside Saiyan as he brought out a sword, the same one he had used to cut bodies up back at the Mahal.
"What the..? Where did you get that from?" I complained.
"Gift from Kalpa on reaching level 20." he said.
"You should have packed some food too ... what were you doing if you had this??"
"Only supports weapons." he said pulling out Anik's bow and handing it to him.
Saiyan readied his sword, his eyes still tracking the unknown assailants.
"There was food at the door of the heir's room." I remembered, "I ate some of it, where's the rest?"
"Uhh...I ate it when they were doing post mortems..." Dweep admitted.
"What about the arrows?" I asked.
"After your Kundalini depleted, the strings with their Tethers broken, are scrambling inside my space, rending the arrows useless. They can't come out until I will it." he explained.
Saiyan's sword that he had borrowed from one of the guards caught fire, lighting up our surroundings. It started burning fiercely as the fire changed into a yellowish hue of Manipura chakra.
Well that makes sense. That's how the strings have been programmed.
But what will Anik do without them?
"How many can you shoot in your prime? Being totally filled with Kundalini currently?" I asked Anik genuinely worried.
"I'll properly count it this time." he let me know.
Wow...
I asked Saiyan while he was gently putting me down, assuming battle stance. "You still got the sword I gave you?"
"Yeah." he handed it over, summoning the dimensional crack again.
I only remember Flexibility being one of the intentions I had while making Saiyan's sword.
If it is still flexible, I should be able to change its shape...
Dweep stood over me, like that time in the stream with Anik, as I tried to knead the Kundalini Sword, but in vain.
I should add Can be Modified later as a parameter from the next time. So rigid!!! All these rules.
I held the sword in my hands, with no idea what a proper method of holding it was.
The rustling in the trees above intensified as Saiyan traced his fiery sword through the air in different patterns.
"Manav?? Manav?? Flesshhh? Flesshhh???" I heard chilling whispers from above.
The light from Saiyan's fire didn't miss some of the creatures that were jumping about above us.
The bodies were humanoid, but also insect like... closer to a grasshopper. It was deathly pale with wrinkled skin that seemed to be wrapped over its body in a lazy manner.
The barks of the trees around us were filled with claw marks.
Saiyan was now waving his sword like a torch as if he was scaring local roadside dogs.
Anik gently nestled the sleeping baby in my arms and created a Kundalini arrow, placing it between the bow handle and the string.
"One." he said, starting the process of assessing his capacity.
The creatures sensed our willingness to fight and seemed to get more excited.
"What are they? How do we counter them?" Dweep asked, fear encroaching his words.
"Pishachas. Corpse Devourers. Nasty beings carrying lots of diseases." Saiyan explained.
"Are they waiting for us to die? Can they not attack living bodies? What's their caveat?" I asked, trying to get information for coming up with strategies.
"Sharp claws, low defense, deadly sneak attacks. Anik's arrows might just be helpful for the first time." Saiyan added.
"Seriously? Who took out the guards? Did you guys already forget?" Anik pointed out.
"It was Dhruva." Saiyan and Dweep said simultaneously.
"Okay. I'll steal the show this time. Leave everything to me!!" Anik said, assuming responsibility for everything that'll follow next.
"Saiyan, let's just leave this guy as a decoy and run to the Rekha..." I suggested.
"Let's focus now. No more jokes..." Saiyan tried to sound stern but it didn't come out convincing. Is he afraid to put out his opinions in front of us? Thinking that he's currently a burden?
His yellow fire increased in heat and intensity as he cut a beautiful arc through the air, that sent a fire wave travelling across the air, which slammed into the trunk of a tree in front of us, leaving it smoldering and dropping a burning body from above to the ground.
The body shrieked and writhed, as it turned into ashes within seconds.
"One down. Numerous left..." Saiyan whispered to himself and again readied his sword, his eyes darting around in his sockets, trying to pick his next victim.
The first blood has been drawn. It was now time for a prolonged battle.