SYAMANTAKA: THE LOST GEM

CHAPTER-18

The round sun is slowly getting covered by the moon. The atmosphere turns from light blue to dark in nature. The rain falls from the thick clouds which come together. The birds hid in their nests and the other animals in their habitat. Street dogs were barking loudly as they saw the sun's rays going out. In minutes, the whole city remains in eerie silence. Only the street lines remained switched on. The waves were violently flowing over the beach. Luther was sitting on the rocks at Dwarka's shore. Gajendra Baba was tied to a chair next to Luther while Subbu and Luz were in their diving gear along with the Oxygen cylinders behind. The strong winds were throwing the coconut trees off their roots. "Better be ready, Both of you. It's going to be an adventure."

"You aren't understanding. You could schedule it for tomorrow. During the solar eclipse, the tides go violent. It's too tough to swim with that force over us." Luz pleads to Luther.

" I know what I am supposed to do. I have decided this with the help of your very own Gajendra Baba."Luther grins. Luz looks back at Gajendra Baba. She sees the same calm face at this crisis. The winds were roaring violently at them yet they had no choice. "Don't worry. I am coming with you in my suit." 

4 men carry a metal robotic suit with controls and a glass helmet. It looked like an astronaut's costume when he went to space but in metal. As he puts his legs in, it automatically closes. Luther then holds them with his hands and jumps into the ocean. All three of them were floating in the ocean. A wave hit the 3 of them so hard. Luz was terrified at the power of the wave. The next wave which was being formed was getting bigger. Luther held both of them and took them under the water. They could still feel the force of the wave push them hard. All three of them started to swim together towards the base of the ocean. Luther was checking the proximity meter in his suit. He was sure this time since Gajendra Baba revealed that the only path to it was through an underwater passageway. Luz and Subbu were looking at each other with cautiousness. The Indian Ocean is a dangerous place filled with sea monsters. She could not understand the reason for his insanity to take such a step.

They were swimming deeper and deeper. The force on them was a little tough for Luz to handle for her light body. Subbu caught her hand and helped her to adjust herself. Luther goes ahead without bothering about them. 

"What did Gajendra Baba tell him, Subbu?"  Luz asked. 

"I don't know, Luz but don't worry. He won't tell us anything that would harm us. He might have set a trap for him." Subbu answered assuringly.

"But... Why does he have to keep hiding things from us? I feel there is something I need to know. Who is Nitya?" Luz asks. Subbu turns his head towards Luther to see how far I went. "I just know that she is our saviour. I don't know anything more than that. Come fast. We have to catch up."

Luther swims around the base of the cave looking from the digital proximity meter on his suit. He was getting closer and closer to it. Luz and Subbu were looking at the beautiful coral at the bottom of the island. It felt like a floating iceberg. They would have had a better view if they had gone in the morning. Now, the complete sea was empty due to the tides except for a few sharks escaping. Luther started to get elated as there was only a 15m difference. As he got closer, the proximity meter told him he was right at the point. To his surprise, All he could see were 5 patterned rocks with drawings over them. He couldn't understand the riddle. There were 4 rocks in a circle with one rock at the centre. The rock in the middle had a puzzle while the other four rocks had pictures of the sun, moon, earth and wind around it.  Below the middle rock, an inscription was written in a weird language. Luther who knew 17 languages was confused at the disctinctivity of the language. Subbu pushes Luther aside to get a closer look at the language.

"Oh, I know this. It's written in Dwarkan. It's a very rare language used in rare scriptures. It's used mainly to write on various rocks and statues from Dwarka. Gajendra Baba taught it to me."

"How does Gajendra Baba know about the Dwarkan language?" Luz asks. 

"He is well-versed in the Hindu scriptures, Luz. He might have got to know when he found one." Subbu replies. "The stone reads that be ready to get around the obstacles between you and the gem. Only the truly worthy ones shall pass the challenge to discover a new path." 

"First, open this. Otherwise, we will get killed by some sharks." Luther shouts. Luz notices that the gem is tilted to the southwest. It sees all the stones around the main stone again. She tilts the tip of the gem in the direction of the sun. The rock pops out and slowly moves to the side. 

"The gem should always face towards the sun because the sun god was the sole owner of the Syamantaka gem," Luz explains. "Keep your knowledge for a better time. NOW ENTER FAST!!" Luther shouts.

As they enter, the rock behind them closes. Suddenly, The whole tunnel has different corals emitting light in different light colours around the rocks. 

"Wow" Luz exclaims.

"Come fast. We don't have time for this" Luther replies in an ignorant attitude. 

******

The violent tides of the Indian Ocean were flooding parts of the island like it had been possessed by a ghost seeking revenge. All of Luther's men ran into the forest leaving Gajendra Baba tied to the chair over the loose sand. 

"Jai Shri Krishna. Jai Shri Krishna." Gajendra chanted calmly.

They were surprised to see Gajendra Baba's nonchalant expression as the tides were getting violent. One of the men gets a call.

"Sir, the tides are getting very violent here."

"Fine, leave with your men. I don't want to lose people unwantedly" Kurtin replies from the phone.

"Sir but we left Gajendra Baba on the shore. He might die with those large tides."

"Leave him. Let destiny decide his fate." Kurtin replies with his cold laugh.