Author's note: To bookloverng, the day we talked about your favourite characters in the story, I then and there decided that this chapter shall be dedicated to you. You deserve it.
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"Please! Come fast! They are fighting!
Leena's shrill voice kept ringing in my ears, all the way running across the forest. Heart pounding, heavy breathing and stomach hurting, yet nothing could beat the anxiety of seeing my friends after all this time. However she seemed crying and extremely terrified that my insides began to churn with fear. The air was slightly cooler but that didn't stop a cold sweat from stinging my eyes and dripping down my temples.
Ashwant Veer was running ahead of me. He had mentioned Doctor visiting him a few hours ago to tell him about the Will and then had hurriedly left with an intuition of something terrible happening at the Rawat's palace. On informing that Leena was crying, he couldn't stop himself and offered to accompany me. Being leaner and healthier than I currently was, he ran faster than I did. In the matter of time, we both quickly bolted out of the forest, following the tail of the waterbody leading to the humongous Rawat palace.
The palace that stood blocking the sun's rays, its shadow ominously flat on the ground defining the painful memories I had with it. Pruthvi's narrow escape from death was one of them. My chest constricted as I followed Ashwant hurriedly running towards the entrance, half opened and unwelcoming, with bright lights flickering inside it. It must definitely be the Gates, I was so used to it that I admittedly would recognise it from any distance and probably even from my coffin.
The smooth and glassy marble staircase did not reduce the speed of our scurry. Ashwant still being in front of me burst the door completely open. Both of us, one after the other, dashed inside into the great hall of the palace. We were fast but it was evident that we were still late. We came in only to face the least expected tragic horror in our lives.
The day was supposed to bring all of us together in a happy, emotional reunion. Simple idea, simple plans of merriment, everything slipped away and getting overshadowed by the abundance of dejections. My eyes unable to believe the scene...
I forcefully stopped my momentum noticing the Gate being closed, although I imagined if I heard a familiar cluster of beads clunking sound.
"Father!" Ashwanth shouted.
His shriek sent an electrifying shock throughout my body, giving me a mental seizure. Pruthvi, all bruised and damp with sweat, was lying down on his knees, crying, his apologetic eyes fixed with mine. The debris beside him, in front of the arched entrance of the corridor, got scattered, splitting away to give a proper way to my other friend Leena who hurriedly jumped out of it.
"No!" She screamed as soon as her gaze fell on the bleeding body lying inactive on the ground. She collapsed beside Pruthvi and looked blamefully at him.
"Father, please wake up!" Ashwant cried, holding Doctor face his hands.
Fighting through the icy numbness, I ran towards Doctor and dropped beside him. He was unconscious, just unconscious- I protested against my mind sending me the signals of what must have happened here. Gazing with widening eyes at the knife stung in his heart, I lifted my shivering hand, held it firm within both of my palms and slowly pulled it out of his body. I threw the knife away watching the blood gushing out. Ashwant's fell on the lifeless body and cried harder. I looked up at my friends-at Leena. her face covered with her hands and head placed on Pruthvi's shoulder. Pruthvi, as I caught his eye, was gazing at me while crying, his shocked expression clearly stating a twinge of regret.
"Shou....Shourya," I said, my voice breaking in a tremulous waver, lips and chin trembling. The words came out through a heavy lump forming in my throat. "C...call Shourya."
Pruthvi removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. Slowly and in a pitiful way, he shook his head.
I slumped my shoulders down and casted my mournful gaze down at the deceased face, wanting to hear the old man's voice filled with proud of my accomplishment, or atleast to reprimand me out of habit, for anything I had not done and eventually revoking an argument. When neither of those happened, the first tear broke out of my eyes, giving a freeway to the unchecked stream that finally burst down my cheeks. I watched further down at his wrinkled pale hand, took them in my hands and placed it against my forehead as I wailed, the magnitude of the loss sweeping through me.
I abhorred the place I was in. I loathed the idea of breathing this palace's air that carried nothing but the bereavement or tragic maiming of some near and dear. The idea of accepting the throne and living in this palace now seemed completely rolling away to a distant horizon.
Pruthvi, Leena and I were still trying to catch up for breath, when Ashwant suddenly began to cough. It came thick and fast, that slowly turned into rugged gag escaping through his mouth. I watched him when his cough become uncontrollable, he held his neck with both of his palms and retched, gasping for some air. The sound of our cries died down, only sounds of Ashwant's loud gags filled in the air.
"A..ashwant, what's the...?" I asked, but couldn't finish it.
Ashwant stood up and took a step back from his fallen father, having his hands wrapped around his throat. His tearful face beginning to turn into a sickening colour, eyes wide with fear. There was one last loud gag, and then he spat a shining oval-shaped stone out of his mouth landing straight into his joint palms.
Time stood still like never before. The three of us stopped crying and staring silently at Ashwant as if he was not the one we have been seeing once in every month, as the one who joined us partying in the academy. I felt my pupils dilating as I instinctively rose to my feet, my heart sinking. Ashwant stayed unmoved, his body frozen staring down at the Diamond in his hand.
"This cannot be happening!" It was Leena yelling, standing between me and Pruthvi who remained seated down on the floor. "Doctor adopted him, he doesn't carry his blood. Ashwant Veer cannot be the next Master of the Diamond!"
Ashwant's body twitched only because Leena's voice broke the silence. The next Master of the Diamond? Did she really say that? He opened his mouth, perhaps to give some kind of explanations but no words came out. He gulped and tried again. His voice now sounded too hoarse when he said, "I'm not...!"
The whole palace at once erupted with continuous sounds of blasts. Jet black puffs of smoke spiralled towards the roof and turning into a froth that forced me to survey through my narrowed eyes. The smoke slowly began to fade away revealing the arrival of the twelve Constellia, standing around us in a semicircle.
"Master!" said Naag, who appeared last and right beside Ashwant, "I am sorry for your loss. Your father was a great man. He shall always live in our hearts. But the legacy must move on. Please accept the Diamond and my services."
The snake hissed when Naag sat down on his single knee and bowed. Following his lead, the twelve Constellia, and the one I specifically watched was Singh, leaned down on his forelimbs bending his head down.
Today was the end of the Fest. There were still a few more hours left for the stars to completely cross their paths. The month-full of this test of endurance, fighting against each Constellia and killing the Shaytan Rup had paid off. The tradition followed by these Constellia to greet their the new master of their leader would have been too fascinating to watch, only if the fallen wasn't the one who had not strived hard to make the five us stronger and sharper.
-x-
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(Book 4) Hayden Mackay and The Fest of Vrindahina
Fantasy"One final question." I said. "Do I have to find out by myself about why I am called the Fire of Vengeance?" "Hayden..." "Now please don't tell me, that you don't know anything about it. Because I know, that you know." "And how did you know may I as...
