Threads of Vengeance

Part 2 Chapter 6

Tunnels underneath Syral

A roaring wave of pain crashed through Kanth’s skull, waking him up from blissful unconsciousness to a world of pain. Clangs of metal on metal, shouts of anger and bloodlust, and cries of triumph and anguish reverberated loudly through his skull. His eyes fluttered open to darkness. A moment or two later, they slowly adjusted, revealing a chaotic scene of fighting going on.

He looked around and observed that he was in a long, poorly lit tunnel with brown, terribly smelling liquid flowing through it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, pieces of memories slowly assembled themselves and he realised he was in the tunnel where he had chased the monster earlier.

Kanth pulled himself to his feet with the help of a nearby wall. His reached inside his clothing, to pull out his Aara from around his waist, only to find out that it was missing.He groaned and leaned back to the wall, observing the scene before him.

He couldn’t really fight even if he had his weapons, being exhausted and wounded, but having the weapons with him gave him a sense of comfort. He reached for the knife in his right boot, ignoring the agonising pain from all over. The knife was still there, secure in it’s hiding place.

He smiled lightly, at least he wasn’t weaponless completely. The battle in front of him was nearly over. A one-eyed woman killed one man after another, relentless in her slaughter. The flowing water at their feet turned into ice spikes and back as she swung her battle axe. He recalled walls of ice springing up around him when he fought the monster. She was the cause, he guessed.

 He wondered what happened to that monster. A small flame of anger sparked towards her. She had prevented him from reaching the one thing that he had found that was connected to his lost memories. He spotted Keto, foot over a man’s head, drowing the poor sod in filth.  The battle was over swiftly. The one-eyed woman with the axe was one of those standing.  Keto also stood among those that won which meant they were were not foe. At least not yet.

“What in Yama’s name is going on?” he asked out loud.

All gazes turned to him. Nobody replied. He surveyed the scene, trying to make sense of what happened. The one-eyed woman spoke something in a low pitch and collapsed into the arms of a lean, rugged man. He lifted her gently and put her on his back. Kanth felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Keto grinning at him.

“You’re up! How’s the shoulder? ” asked Keto, gesturing to his shoulder.

As though responding to him, a bolt of pain shot through from his shoulder. Kanth glanced at it. The hole there had been wrapped up by strips of cloth. He touched it gingerly. Ahead of them, the men started walking ahead of them, along the tunnel.

“Come on,” said Keto.

Kanth took a step forward and wobbled precariously. Keto caught his arm and steadied him. Keto himself had a large wound  from hip to shoulder. Kanth inspected it closely. The wounds were caused by a whip like object.

“Did I do that?” he whispered.

“It happened in the darkness, don’t worry.” Keto pulled out Kanth’s Aara and held it out.

“Here,”

“Thank you.” A warm feeling of joy flooded through Kanth at being reunited with his weapons.

Together, they limped after the people ahead.

“It really was a monster wasn’t it?” asked Keto after a while.

“Yes.”

“They don’t believe me.” Keto pointed at the men ahead of them.

“Do you really think anybody will believe that monsters exist?”

“I guess not.” Keto sighed. “So, why did you chase it anyway?”

Kanth gazed ahead spoke slowly. “The first thing I remember is my master finding me. I don’t remember anything from before that.”

“Absolutely nothing?” Keto stared at him.

 “Only my name. When I saw that pishacha, for the first time I remembered something else. I remembered that I hated it. I hated it with every fibre of my body.”

“...Oh,” Keto stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I never believed in monsters too, till I saw that. To think that you’ve actually remember seeing them before...Did fighting it bring back any memories?”

Kanth put his mind back to the fight. The name that he had remembered during the fight passed through his mind and brushed past his lips, softly.

“Meil,”

“What?” asked Keto.

“Nothing, I remembered nothing during the fight.”

“Pity. Guess you have to keep searching.”

Kanth nodded lightly. Meil. He repeated the word in his head. He somehow knew it was a name, but whose and how that person related to his past was yet to be seen. He smiled in the dimly lit tunnel. After nearly five years, he was finally a step closer. [Unedited]