(Book 5) Hayden Mackay and The Pride of Haima-Endira

27.2 Beyond the Wildest Dreams

The sudden seizure of pain took over my brain.

I spluttered and coughed in my full wakefulness. I had my face contorted with the sort of burning sensation that I never remembered enduring as such before. My unmovable fractured hand was plastered, and so was my chest and forehead. There were gauze and bandages everywhere. My shirt soaked with blood and seemed intentionally torn. I tried to sit up, but the throb in my head gave me a sudden flash of vertigo. I grunted and fell back completely down on the floor of the cave.

"Hayden!" Ashwant's voice barely reached my ears, but there was an edge of concern and fear in it.

I moaned, trying to open my eyes again. They were heavy, so heavy that it seemed to carry the weight of the mountain.

"You are still weak," Ashwant said, "Go back to sleep."

I didn't, thoughts and emotions pouring out instead of having them bottled up. Despite the pain, my mind bent in contemplation. How badly I had failed in my first attempt. The failure had lead to my instant death. Just like how it had to Doctor. Reminiscing about him, and his father like approach towards us made me spill the tears out. The tears that I had been holding up, now seemed to be reluctant to stay put. I turned my head aside and let flow my despair. There was guilt, a lot of it that I just needed to drain away. I pressed my eyes shut, and pleaded for calmness during this original aftermath of my death. It was me and I knew me. This was the only way I'd be able to resume the last lap of the journey.

It took an hour or two to regain my composure. The blurry images were still there, but I gained enough energy to pull myself up in a seated position. The wall of the cave felt cool and clammy, but leaning against it gave me an effect of massaging my sore muscles. Ashwant nursed me well and being a Samagraha I sensed a weird tingling sensation underneath my skin. My injuries were beginning to heal. Continuous intake of fruits and hot chocolate helped me energize a little bit more.

For a brief moment, a flicker of a shadow, tall and ghastly, walked past the cave. Being in a state of pathetic vulnerability, I gasped finding my voice and jerked back in trepidation.

"What is it?" Ashwant asked, frightened, kneeling beside me.

"Almourah!" I said, watching the shadow walking away. "Is he not?"

"Wha...don't worry, it's alright," he said, trying to calm me down. He followed my gaze and attempted to find someone outside but in vain. "I created the seal. We are safe here."

I relaxed the shoulder down, mentally thanking him for being successfully mastering the magic, and silently watched the figure walking away. But then I pondered. Was it was really the seal stopping him from even trying to attack? Dark thoughts inhabited me. Almourah seemed to be creating an impression of showing mercy and letting me stay here in his realm. Nazira was right, he was too proud and smug about his superior personality.

After spending another hour of nerves, and healing a little bit more, I started to feel settled and apprehensiveness draining away. "For h...how long was I dead?" I asked. What a weird question to ask.

"Nine minutes, Hayden," Ashwant replied, going through the boxes of medicines I didn't know he had brought with him. "A Samagraha goes through a natural death only for nine minutes."

Slightly dazed, I looked outside the cave once again, and then realized that the rays of sunlight were filtering through a thick seal. Last I remembered dealing with Almourah in his chamber was in the fading light of dusk.

"It's morning," I asked, astonished.

"Noon, to be precise," he said and ran his hand through his hair, "You started breathing again in nine minutes. But then you kept sleeping and moaning....perhaps dreaming. You were way too burned out. I didn't want to wake you up."