Ram was led into a separate room, his footsteps heavy with unease. The dimly lit hallway stretched before him, amplifying his growing sense of apprehension. He cast a quick glance back and noticed that Rajeev was being guided into a different room, accompanied by another officer, Jignesh.
A sharp wave of worry surged through him. "You can examine both of us at the same time, right?" Ram questioned the officer beside him, his voice laced with suspicion. "Why are you taking him to a separate room?"
The cop's expression remained neutral, professional. "Sir, we're just following protocol," he responded curtly. "Please cooperate with us. We just need to ask a few questions."
Ram clenched his fists, unwilling to let go of his concern for Rajeev. Just as his frustration was about to boil over, Abhi appeared, his presence offering a flicker of reassurance. "There's no reason to worry, Ram. This is just a matter of routine. No accusations, no serious inquiries—just protocol."
Ram wasn't so easily convinced. His eyes flickered toward the room where Rajeev was being held, unease tightening in his chest. He tried to peer through the small glass window on the door, desperate to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside. Was Rajeev alright?
Abhi seemed to sense his concern, placing a reassuring hand on Ram's shoulder. "Ram," Abhi said softly, his voice steady, "Trust me. I've got your back. If anything happens, I'll make sure nothing spirals out of control."
Ram exhaled slowly, trying to calm the storm of thoughts racing through his mind. He gave a reluctant nod and, after one last glance toward Rajeev's door, followed the officer into the room.
Inside, the tension lingered like an invisible weight in the air. The sterile, cold surroundings of the interrogation room only amplified the feeling of being out of control. Ram sat down, taking another deep breath, preparing himself for the questions he knew were coming.
But his mind was still with Rajeev, hoping that his friend was safe and that the questions asked of them would lead to nothing more than just another hurdle in their already complex journey.
Sashi turned to face Abhi and said, "What transpired, Abhi? Why are these officers asking inquiries regarding Rajeev and Ram?"
"I've heard that the law enforcement agencies have discovered several deceased wolves in the forest, so I believe that they will look into the matter further."
Recalling the wound on Ram's shoulder, Sashi asked him how he was harmed. He said that a wolf was attacking him in the forest, but he didn't elaborate.
"Are you implying that the ram murdered them?"
"I'm not even certain since these idiots failed to inform me anything about what happened in the middle of the woods."
Rajeev only stated that the three of them were assaulted by several wolves and that they eventually barely made it to the river when abhi inquired about what happened in the hinterland.
...
"Okay, so you guys slaughtered those wolves" , Jignesh questioned Rajeev.
"Yes, sir, in order to safeguard ourselves as well, we had to take the necessary steps.
"In a cave, we also discovered a small number of wolves. We discovered that a portion of them were slaughtered by an unidentified creature that was probably tougher than wolves; we believe this to be a tiger.
'Yes,' Rajeev murmured to himself that 'we actually encountered them in the cave, and Vyaaghra slaughtered all the wolves.'
"When you connected the wolves, did any of your notice any triggers" .
Rajeev pondered, 'What do I do? as if he alerted the law enforcement regarding Vyaaghra, they may look into Gowthami's history and Rajeev's as well as the secret tunnel and that society.'
Jignesh persisted in his inquiries, saying, "Can you clarify the events that occurred in the wilderness? I learned that the wolves also hurt the ram."
Upon their return, they saw Gowthami asleep and a bandage on the shoulder of a ram. Nobody is certain what transpired in the jungle or how they ended up by the Dharmagiri River.
Since the settlement is between the river and the forest, the Dharmagiri River is really opposite the region of jungle. This means that if someone gets lost in the forest, they cannot appear close to the river.
Anyone may see the lost person if they pass through the hamlet, but no one spotted them stroll through the hamlet if they were lost in the forest and had to trek to Dharmagiri and the river.
Many issues have been raised, such as how they got to the river from the lost area of the bush. Why are they invisible to the inhabitants if they have made their way from the forest to the river?
Nobody had slept well in the community when Rajeev got lost in the bush, so everyone was looking for them everywhere.
When they became lost in the bush, Jignesh was likewise extremely perplexed as to how they had made it to the river's edge.
Rajeev stated, "Indeed, we just traveled all over the jungle to get to the river; because it was dark, we had no idea where we were going."
"You guys traveled the whole length of the forest in a single day" . Jignesh was completely perplexed.
The Dharmagiri is completely surrounded by a forest, which was rather huge.
Rajeev may need at least a few days to go from the location where he lost his way through the forest to the river, but they just took one day to complete the task.
Jignesh was interested in learning about everything, "so Rajeev, could you elaborate on to me where you lost and how you got to the river?"
"Actually, sir, we were merely traveling through the Southside to gather some herbs when I misplaced my book and we came across some wolves.
Ram killed those wolves to rescue himself, although ram was wounded in the fight.
Afterwards, we discovered a couple horses that were loose in the forest, and with their assistance, we made our way through the forest and eventually came to the river. Actually, we just lost track of our route while traveling."
"Oh, where are the wild horses?"
"We just left them behind in the woods."
Jignesh has additionally been informed about the horses that reside in the Dharmagiri Forest and how swift they are while running. Jignesh has also been informed that riding in them might be rather challenging.
"You guys were in charge of really riding the horses."
"I have been to the bush and have encountered those horses several times. I have also healed the injuries they sustained, so they are helping me this time", Rajeev replied.
Jignesh questioned, "What regarding the pack of wolves that perished in the cave?"
Rajeev said, "I have no idea about that, sir."
Jignesh removed a second cover that had a bullet in it.
"Rajeev, what are your thoughts on this? You know that was your bullet, right?"