The Crooked Lands (Part 1)

33. A Ray Of Hope Among Darkness

Music for the Chapter: Kabira by Rekha Bharadwaj, Tochi Raina from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani

I woke up to the kind of pain that was killing me like crazy. As if every single of my limb was torn apart. The panic hit and first thing I did was check if all four of my limbs were still attached.

"What the hell? I look like a freaking mummy." I almost tried to get up but fell straight on the floor. I actually cried in pain. That pain was almost unbearable.

"I think you need to give it a break."

"Aaahhh!!!" I almost shouted as I saw a dwarf guy before me. Actually, a dwarf demon. Two large twisting horns, the worst case of fingers in desperate need of manicure. He walked towards me.

"Hey!!! Get your hands off me. Look at your fingers. They're so dirty. I'll probably catch some disease!!!" I shouted at him.

"I saved your damned life so you can take some diseases from me." He picked me up and put me back on the bed. Then opened the bandages on my knees which became red from the blood because I was stupid and fell down again. He removed the old bandage and put new ones. So many bandages were wrapped around me that I could look like a comic con's mummy. I huffed with the pain surging when he reapplied medicine and it burned the hell.

Vijaya.

I looked around the room in panic. "Did you find the bow? Tell me you got it with me."

"Oh... I didn't find any bow. All I found was this bag..."

He showed the bag. Now, this was a reason to cry. My Aphrodite seemed to echo my own state. I deserve it for getting such a precious baby to a mission like this.

"Though, all the stuff inside here is wet. There was that staff and that bow but it is still in the moat. You were drowned and out. I seriously think that you're really lucky because no one would ever survive a crocodile's death roll. The bow and that staff should be in that moat under the dust. I tried to get it but I couldn't even touch it." He explained.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"I'm Kurupa." He answered. I was a bit confused.

"What kind of name is that? Why would anyone name a child ugly? Even if they are?"

"Because she too thought I was ugly and abandoned me. I was thrown into a local Gurukul but with all the bullying, I ran away from there. A lonely life is better than an abused and bullied one."

I winced at my own rudeness. I could at least be nice to him. He had saved my life after all. My really privileged ass can sometimes be ungrateful. I smiled at him.

"I'm sorry for saying mean things. I would like to thank you for saving me."

"Well, me and him saved you."

"Who him?"

He pointed to an empty space.

"Dude, there is no one there."