A maze built beneath the roof- Doctor's depictions of Rawat's palace rang in my ears. The specialness of the palace had been designed to ensure that people acknowledged it as such. The light in the palace faded fast, like the mid-evenings in a wintry forest. Every wall felt colder and, despite the wreckage, debris, the smell of stagnant water, and stale air, the palace exuded class and a sense of protection and safety to the dwellers.
No matter how classy it was, the conflicting impression I had of the place eventually sunk me into a murky mire of sickening sentimentality, leaving me feeling nauseous. How many deaths of my loved ones had it witnessed? Memories flashed- fast and furious - and I struggled to keep at bay the piercing chill of the night Doctor died. Still feeling the saltiness in my mouth and the painful spasm of my sore muscles, I willed my body to relax, commanding my stone to generate warmth for the fast healing process and set my mind on the upcoming crucial battle.
I walked in, keeping my eyes peeled, my breath coming in laborious gasps.
The corridor was as dark as asphalt black and offered silent treatment, circulating the smell of dust and decay. Flames shot out of my hands, a beautiful image of Nazira's smiling face came and gone which gave me an extra boost, the brilliancy of my fire spread as far as it could. My stone burned and the warmth stayed cemented, the attention I needed was forever there.
I strolled ahead, making my way around the curved pathways. The echo of my footsteps would already have given Shashi an indication of my presence. But where was he? Shashi liked to ambush in style, he must be hiding and creeping somewhere around, I thought. The cobwebs, the molds, and dust bunnies, everything lurked at the sides of the pathway as if they had been deliberately pushed aside by the swift momentum of a person's gait.
A few moments later, as I went deeper into the central ward of the palace, an intense unexplained unearthly feeling buzzed through the pores of my skin. I cursed under my breath when the realization struck me. It was the similar dark magic that I'd lived with for months in the Almourah's territory. Shashi was using more of the same old technique to muddle up my brain. Funny, how well I'd gotten accustomed to it though. The dark magic may not be causing a detrimental impact on me, but a great deal of the droning buzz merging with the echo of my footsteps threw my concentration into disarray.
The magic gradually weakened me in my struggle to stay alert, making me go deeper into paranoia and disorientation. A bout of nausea churned my stomach, nearly causing me to gag when a sobering sight recreated in my mind. I stood picturing the thousands of bodies of humans and animals lying everywhere. They were sprawled over the rock island, and scorching aimlessly underneath thick rays of sun. They were just that, however — bodies — no sign of animation remained, grey dull wilderness suffering from drought conditions, altered landscaped and many such somber images flashing continuously in my mind. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and shook my head to clear the pessimism that clouded it. Shashi's slow-burning menace was now proving to have a vigorous effect. I ducked my hand inside my pocket and felt my stone's warmth, pulling energy from it and taking long breaths to hide the agitated beats of my thudding heart.
I entered another dark corridor. At once the location rolled in gales of laughter. I turned back on a whim and sprinted in an attempt to get closer to the source of the laughter. It was indeed Shashi, he was trying to confuse me. The laughter then died down as I reached the door leaving a slow lamenting sound floating up on the far side of the corridor. He knew my exact location in this huge palace. He was controlling the sounds with pinpoint accuracy, also being careful not to make me aware of his whereabouts. This could be an aberration on my part to admit that Shashi's magic was of exceptionally high quality and he would hate to have it all gone.
YOU ARE READING
(Book 6) Hayden Mackay and The Third-Eye of the Pancharatna
Fantasy"Mrs. Zutshi, how different was Zarina Khan from you? She was a clairvoyant, that makes her a witch too, right?" "Mages have their own history, Hayden. They have categories too. Since the time of Lady Chandrika's authority over the sections of the p...
