The King's Shield

Chapter 45 - The Known Stranger

Cold water, like a thousand daggers pierced his skin. The surface of the water hit his back like bedrock, flat and hard. He was determined, whatever fate threw at him, he would endure it for her because she had faced death for him, she had taken an arrow for him.

He wrapped one of his hands around her neck to protect and support her spine. The other hand held her closer so that when they hit the river below they would enter as one single entity. His back would hit the surface first and take in all the impact.

Rapids were ferocious, the river with its mighty force had managed to separate Shiva from Adhiveer. When they had fallen into the river the water had swept them away from the bridge within minutes. Adhiveer swam with great strength and tried to reach Shiva as she was floating away from him rapidly. He tried to grab hold of her hand many times. Every time he got close, the river would thrash them in separate directions. Finding her was a great difficulty. The water rolled him around, white foam blocking his vision. He swallowed gulps of water multiple times as if the river was force feeding him some type of medicine. The heavy tides thrashed him, his strength was failing him but his determination was as strong as a mountain.

The cold water felt like claws of cats scratching the skin, stinging and stiffening. Adhiveer tried one more time to reach out and grab her and finally succeeded.
He held her on his side and swam with one hand to the riverbank. He pulled himself onto a rock and then pulled Shiva. She was unconscious, and he pressed on her diaphragm and got all of the water out of her. She coughed and threw up most of the water. He could see the puncture wound on her left side, just below her collarbone, the arrow had caused a deep gash. The fall had probably broken the arrow but he was surprised that the arrowhead was also missing. He didn't want to think about anything right now, her revival was his priority. He tapped on her cheeks and called out her name but she didn't respond. He tried again to press on her stomach in case the water was not completely out of her system but that didn't seem to be the case. She looked like she had lost her strength.

In her hazy state, she muttered something. When he asked her to repeat what she'd said she didn't respond, he tapped her cheeks again. She slowly lifted her hand and pointed towards the forest then her hand fell to her side and she was unconscious again.
At first, he didn't understand what she was trying to tell him but then he remembered what she had said before losing consciousness.
" Towards the south, besides the river, three knocks and one whistle,"

So, he lifted her and started towards the direction she had pointed. The river had taken away what energy he had left in him after the fight with King Vishwa’s army. Still, he walked carrying her like a child in his arms.

Bal had destroyed everything, he had taken away everything that was the most precious to him. Uncle Bhairava, his army, his kingdom, his family. She was the only dear one who was left with him. He had to save her.

He stopped to check the directions then started walking into the forest. He found a small brook, and when he saw along its bank he spotted a small hut. He walked towards it. He placed Shiva at the doorstep.

He knocked three times and tried to blow a whistle but felt short of air and no noise came out. He tried again but produced only a weak sound. So, he knocked three times again, took a long breath and finally blew a whistle.

He heard a faint sound from the other side of the door. So, he picked Shiva up again and stood a little away from it. He didn't know who or what was on the other side of the door. The noise from the other side was so faint it seemed like someone very delicate and fragile was on the other side.
Finally, the door opened and he saw an old woman standing in front of him.

" It's been a long time," she said. Her voice was gruff and deep.
" What do you want now?"  She asked.

She frowned and took a whiff.
" There are two of you. I thought it was just her," she said.