Journey to the Old Era (Drisana's Mahabharat #1)

Chapter 53

Drisana fell into soft earth and debris that helped in not cracking her bones. She groaned and sat up, looking around in the dark. The stifled air felt suffocating and the pitch black darkness made it impossible to see anything. She saw the torch laying a little far away almost at the verge of extinguishing. She got hold of it and maneuvered it to stop the lightening from going out.

As she stood and looked around, she started to call out for Nakul and Dridhaksh. But no one replied back. She was in some sort of a long cave, she guessed as it was impossible to see far. Fear started to drip slowly into her as there was no sign of her brother or Nakul in close proximity. Drisana contemplated either to stand there only or move forward to find them and if so, in which direction to move. This torch wasn't going to support for long too. So she decided to move to find them.

Drisana was treading carefully through the cave. The torch in her hand provided little light in this pitch black dark. She gulped in fear. Sweat was trickling down her face. Where was Nakul and Dridhaksh? If something happened to them, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. No. Nothing could happen to them. They must be around somewhere. She just needed to find. Drisana never had claustrophobia. But at this moment, confined in this dark cave, she felt fear unlike anything. She tried to calm herself as she proceeded further into the cave.
Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. She turned slowly to find no one. But the feeling continued, like someone was standing right beside her. Thinking it was just an illusion of her freaked out mind, she continued walking.

After walking for a while and continuously calling out for Dridhaksh and Nakul, she narrowed her eyes as she saw something moving towards her. As it came closer Drisana's eyes widened seeing a snake flying towards her and she stumbled at the left side to avoid it. But the torch fell from her hands. It went completely dark. Drisana didn't dare to move. The snake must be around somewhere. She hated snakes. Her fear froze her in place. The air was heavy with rotting smell now. And it was getting heavier with every passing moment. Drisana heard closely for any sounds, to get an idea of the snake's position. But there was a stillness in the air that was only broken by her heavy breathing. After what seemed like forever, she decided to move. But she couldn't decide in which direction she should go. Feeling the cave wall for support she moved carefully in one direction.

The smell of rotting flesh got stronger. After a while she saw something. Something red. Glowing in the dark. A pair of eyes. Drisana's heart caught in her throat. One, two, three and many. The eyes were fixed on her. Coming closer to her. Hunger and anger two deadly combination mixed on those gazes. As the eyes got closer to her, she felt something wrapping around her legs and sliding upwards. Her mind screamed what it was as it got upwards in front of her face. Two glowing eyes of the snake stared at her with open mouth ready to bite her while squeezing her tightly.

"Nakulllllllll!!!"

"Vrisha, I love your Kundals (earrings). Where have you gotten these?" Subhadra asked. They were on their way to the temple. They found the Palanquin and horses of Drisana's troupe with some guards at a distance from the temple. They left theirs too and was walking the rest of the way.

"Nowhere. These have been with me forever." Karna replied.

"But someone must have gotten these for you. Your parents?" Subhadra asked confusingly.

"No. My Kavach and Kundal (armour and earrings) has always been with me since birth." Karna said.

"Since birth? Strange. Wait. Which Kavach are you talking about?" Subhadra asked.

"It appears only when I'm in danger." Karna replied with a sigh. He was trying to stay away from Subhadra since the first day. But every time their path crossed somehow.