The Cursed Princess of Suryagarh: Book 1

31. The darkness within

Shreya shivered when she felt the temperatures drop significantly in the middle of the summers. Radha and Jagdish were still engaged in muttering chants and spells under their breaths with their eyes closed and palms linked while towering over the flames of the Holy Fire. The necklace was imbued with the bright beams from the moon, and it glimmered despite its age and state.

She could not hear any more explosives going off in the vicinity nor could she smell the effluvium of gunpowder as sharply as earlier. But she could surely hear the sirens of emergency vehicles wailing frequently. Perhaps the situation was under control, and half her heart yearned to hurl the necklace into the fire before rushing off to check if Aarush was indeed fine.

Jagdish's eyes snapped open. "The power of the moon now resides in the necklace. It hangs between the chasm of dark magic and the ocean of clean energy." He glanced at Adya. "Princess, your blood."

Adya hummed in response before marching to the altar, a strange confidence evident in her gait, and she picked up a fresh blade from the bronze plate near the fire before slicing the skin on her thumb and drawing warm blood.

Shreya hissed. "Ouch, that looks traumatic."

Aryan gulped and his hold on Shreya's arm tightened. "She didn't even flinch," he whispered while his eyes widened. "The princess didn't even flinch."

Adya allowed the droplets of her blood to seep into the crevices of the necklace.

Jagdish closed his eyes again. The chants grew in decibels and intensity as Radha and Jagdish yelled incomprehensible words in Sanskrit and permitted the environment to charge up. Electricity seemed to course through every air molecule, and the distinct zipping was perceptible over the sirens of the police vehicles.

Shreya brushed her palms against the length of her arms, regretting the choice of not wearing a shrug over the sleeveless kurti, and glimpsed around herself. The same sensations returned to the fore—the one where she could tell she was getting watched. However, much to her displeasure, she could again spot no one, but she was cautioned when she saw a shadow flit across the length of the porch leading up to the stone stairs of the main edifice. She was about to tell Jagdish about the same, but he beat her to it.

"Hurl the necklace into the fire."

Her voice died in her throat, and she managed to nod. But the more she tried to edge towards the altar, the heavier the air and her feet felt. She could not step ahead without having to coerce herself and expend a lot of energy in due process. The weight was settling down, forming a knot in the pit of her stomach, and she staggered on her feet, lurching, stumbling. Until she could no longer slide an inch ahead due to the rigidity of the air around, almost as if it were not a fluid but a rock-solid impenetrable object. She groaned under her breath and strived to increase her pace, her lips rolling inward and beads of perspiration appearing on her forehead.

Watching her struggle, Radha's frown lines cleared. "He is here." Panic was evident in her intonation as her gaze darted back and forth, up and down, searching for the presence of the immortal in every nook and cranny. "He is inside Agni Bhawan. He is—"

She couldn't finish her sentence as a loud explosion reverberated deep from within the very crux of the town, and its vibrations propagated to the surface. The sonic boom hit them before the physical jolting, and all of them were thrown back from their spots. Radha hit the ground with a thud, her stout and plump body resting against the stone stair in a semi-supine position while Jagdish's white hair was perceptible as he landed on his stomach. Both were knocked out instantly. Aryan's forehead collided with the rock that had the necklace, and he was rendered unconscious too after he struggled to keep his eyes open for a few moments. The ancient piece of jewellery slid behind the rock, falling into a shallow pit while Adya fell on her knees and attempted to crawl to the gorge to extricate the relic. However, she lost sentience too when another explosion emanated from deep within Suryagarh's very foundations, and she hit her head against the same rock owing to the unceremonious jolts and jerks.