Beneath The Ashes (ARDI Story)

Chapter 6

A lone shadowed figure emerged from the smoke, his silhouette barely visible in the blaze of fire that tore through the forest.

The orange glow flickered across his face as he reached Draupadi's crumpled form, his arms wrapping around her just as her eyes rolled back.

Blood flowed freely from the gash on the back of her head, soaking into her dark hair.

Arjun's jaw tightened as he pulled her closer to his chest, his muscles rigid with fury.

His heart pounded in his chest, his breaths ragged as he looked down at her unnaturally pale, unconscious face.

And for a moment his world halted. It had been years since he had seen her. There were a thousand unwanted scenarios that had often ran through his mind about how he would meet her again.

But not in his wildest dreams he had anticipated to meet her like this.

Bleeding and deadly pale.

Fury thrummed in his veins, like a wave of tsunami that was rising to destroy everything.

He hated her. There was no doubt about that. But the fact that somebody else except him had dared touch her made him see red.

Arjun had always been possessive of her. It was no secret. Since their childhood if there was one thing that he had known was that Draupadi was always meant to be his.

And his alone.

Only know she was meant to be only his enemy. Nobody has a right to hurt her except him.

Her once innocent features of young girl were now matured to that of a beautiful woman, her playful expression, that he was used to seeing all those years ago, was now replaced by an unnatural stillness that chilled his bones.

Wrath swelled within him like a raging inferno, matching the flames devouring the trees around them.

Fire blazed through the forest, wild and furious, but it was nothing compared to the bloodlust stirring in his veins.

He scooped her up in his arms, her warm body fit perfectly against his, she was light.

He frowned, did Panchaal didn't feed her or something?

He carried her, her limp body cradled against his powerful frame. As screams filled the skies around him.

His warriors had broken through the foliage, and were now tearing down the assassins.

For now he couldn't think about anything, except the girl in his arms.

For the first time in years, his dead heart thrummed making it's presence known. He almost froze in surprise, but than again why was he surprised?

Draupadi had always had a vice around his heart. Only now he knew better than to trust her with the organ in his chest.

She had shredded it once, and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Walking toward an old oak tree, he gently laid her down, like she was a precious cargo and not his enemy, her back resting against the rough bark.

Arjun's gaze swept over Draupadi's unconscious form as she lay slumped against the tree, the bark rough against her delicate back.

Blood trickled from a gash on her forehead, staining her dark hair and trailing down the side of her face like crimson tears.

Her breathing was shallow, her chest rising and falling beneath the torn fabric of her attire, her form marred by cuts and bruises. Yet even in this state, there was a haunting beauty to her-an ethereal quality that seemed to linger despite the violence she had endured.