The Weeping Stars

Finding the Way

The cold water rushed in from all directions to cut his breath and vision. Luckily e had his oxygen  tube firmly latched to his mouth. The lack of visibility, however, was a problem. The murky depths of the well was too dense for his overhead light to illuminate. He blindly followed the rope to reach the duo. The three  then teamed up to push on a giant square on the wall. It was years ago that this rock was discovered bu his dad and the last time they had entered it was 10 years ago. Back in those days, Indra spent most of his college holidays exploring the hidden secrets of the land that only a few generations ago belonged them. But those explorations had none of the urgency he felt now.

After much effort the stone creaked inwards. After pushing inwards enough gap was created for them to squeeze in. Upon entering they quickly slammed the door close. The chamber was tiny and climbed steadily upwards. Javid lead the way with Indra in the middle. Like snakes the trio climbed upwards.

Isha P.O.V

Isha had never seen, or rather felt, such slippery floors before. 'This is what being a rat feels like', thought Isha. They had crouched into a bigger hole which was more or less wide. But the walls were dripping and the water level of the floor was steadily rising. Biju was leading the way. Isha took care not to touch the walls. Last time she leaned on it, she felt something scuttle across her hand. Now, her whole concentration centered on keeping away from the walls. She could barely see beyond Biju's shoulders. But in the faint torch light, it seemed that the roof was getting closer and closer.  Their laboured progress was occasionally stopped by muffled sounds coming from the chamber they had left behind. There was no way to know what's going on, but the overwhelming feeling of helplessness was slowing beginning to grip Isha.

Suddenly Isha noticed that they were climbing up. The path was taking them upwards. The going became more arduous. Gripping the wall, and tripping frequently, they slowly inched upwards. The passage was now a narrow slit in the wall. Wether it was meant to be like this or the passage of time had made it like this is hard to say. 

Finally they stopped. Biju was looking for something in the wall. A narrow slit, or a crude handle. Both Biju and Raghu had to push together. But nothing happened. Isha began wondering if she would have to join in as well. As it is, the small hole in the wall could barely hold the three of them. Suddenly, the door gave way and crashed down. Biju took out a rope and secured it against an exposed tree root on the wall. 

'We need to climb down.' Raghu sounded a bit apologetic.

Isha suddenly felt grateful for these two souls. They weren't much company. But they were there. She nodded and watched Biju disappear beyound the edge. The rope had knots. Isha gingerly place her weight on the knots and clumsily climbed down. She might have climbed down a few feet when a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her in. Biju was standing on what looked like a landing, a narrow ledge that ran along the wall. He signaled her to move out of the way as Raghu swung down. Below the could hear the silent lapping of water.

'This used to be a jetty I think. But now the river has broken the banks and submerged much off the room. We need to take another path. It is narrow and unknown. Last time we had explored till this point.'  

'I wish they did not tell me that' Isha groaned mentally. The surrounding darkness, the lapping water a few metres below, and the narrow ledge did little to soothe her nerves. It's a miracle that she did not break into hysterics. 

She quietly slid down to gingerly sit on the ledge while the two carried on exploring. It seemed they were looking for a similar door they had come in through. 

'How can you be so sure there is one' Isha asked quietly. 

Raghu did not answer her. His silence confirmed her suspicions. Maybe there was no door and they are going to be trapped here for ever. 

With that depressing thought Isha let out the silent tears that were begging to come out for the last couple of days. So much seemed to have happed in such a short time.

Indra P.O.V.

Time was not on their side. This is the thought that kept nagging him. The narrow chamber had lead them to a small room. Luckily they had torches, and had no difficulty in finding or opening the next door. The door opened into another narrow passage. In olden days, these structures were joined together by a labyrinth of passages winding underground, forming a maze. Only someone who knew the way could get out alive, the rest would go round and round, never seeing the light of days. These chambers were also used to torture or hide enemies or traitors. The smell of death was imprinted on these walls. 

Now most of the passages were closed by growing tree roots and the encroaching river. There only hope was to find the way they had explored ten years back unblocked. 

For the hundredth time, Indra cursed himself for dragging Isha into this mess. He should have cleared it up before tagging her along. His only excuse, was that he could not bear to be far from her. But this location was a mistake.

He was not one who would dwell on mistakes. He believes in correcting them. Even if he dies in the processi.