CHAPTER 44 Lost Footprints and an Unknown Quest
Inside the secret meeting room of Nabhgadh, the air was so still that the flames on the table torch did not move at all. They looked like a painting. Soot covered the ceiling. The room smelled of old papers and ink. That smell felt heavy and thick.
Akshansh kept moving his fingers on the same spot of the large map spread on the table. That ravine. The place where a mystery saved them between black water and death. The veins on the back of his hand stood out like blue rivers about to flood.
She had to come from somewhere, Akshansh said. His voice sounded rough like someone who had been talking all night without sleep. He hit the map with his fist. The sound of his bones hitting the stone table echoed through the room. She did not fall from the sky. Aksh, did the spies see nothing? No footprint? No shadow? Tell me something.
Aksh lifted his tired neck. His eyes had red lines like someone had drawn thin lines of ink inside them. Nothing my friend. There are no marks on the soil near that ravine. No footprints. No horse hoof marks. It feels like she vanished into the air. She came from the air and went back into the air.
He stopped and pulled something from his pocket. A small piece of stone. He placed it carefully on the table. The stone was not white. It had a strange blue color like frozen dew that had trapped moonlight inside.
But there is something odd, Aksh said. He pointed his finger at the stone but did not touch it. We found this where she blocked Nirag attack. Where her sword and Nirag dark energy hit each other. This is not a normal stone. Touch it.
Kalpith picked it up carefully. The moment it touched his hand, his fingers pulled back like he had been shocked. He gasped and stepped back like he had touched hot coal.
It feels cold, he said. His voice had surprise but also a strange kind of fear. But very cold. The kind of cold that feels like burning fire.
Akshansh took the stone in his palm. For a second he stopped breathing. It was not cold. It was a memory. He saw that scene again in his mind. The ball of dark energy. Death coming toward him. And then the blue light. A shield that felt cold but had a hidden warmth beating inside it.
He looked into Kalpith eyes. We have to find her, he said. His voice was soft now but very firm. If she fights with us, Nirag void power will end for sure. I saw it in her eyes. She knows what Nirag is. She knows how to beat him.
Nirag, Akshansh said to himself. He closed his fist so tight that his nails dug into his palm. Your end is coming. I will make you pay for my parents death soon. Your blood will only wash away with my sword.
A spark of hope lit up in Akshansh eyes but that spark was sharp like a sword edge. Bitter and dangerous. Get ready. We will search every bit of the forests beyond that ravine ourselves. That woman is our last weapon. We must find her no matter what it costs.
In Pavangadh, the red sunset looked like blood on the palace walls. Anvay had just finished his training when a noise broke out in the palace courtyard. There were no loud voices. Just the sobs of an old woman. They trembled in the air like a broken flute.
The woman sat on the ground with her fingers buried in the dirt. She was not crying loudly. She just kept hitting her hands on the ground. Each hit made a soft hollow sound. Her tears did not fall. They stayed in her eyes shining like glass.
The soldier standing near her looked scared. His uniform had dust marks. His hands were shaking. Not from fear but from a deep shock that he could not put into words.
Anvay walked there quickly. The ground felt hard under his feet but he felt like he was walking on something soft that was sinking. What happened. Why is she crying like this.
The soldier bowed but kept his eyes on the ground. Maharaj, something terrible is happening, he whispered. He sounded like he was scared of his own words. Seven children have gone missing from the town in the last three days. First two. Then three. And today. He pointed at the old woman with a shaky hand like touching her would bring bad luck. Today before sunset her grandson disappeared right from the house courtyard. He was playing. His mother was inside making bread. And then silence. No footsteps. No scream. Just silence.
Anvay blood turned cold. He looked at his own hands. Yesterday they could move earth and lift stones. Today they felt useless. Missing? Without any clue? Did anyone see a wild animal? Any sound? Anything?
No Maharaj, the soldier said still whispering. This time he looked up. His eyes had a strange look. A mix of fear and wonder. But the ground where the child went missing had turned black. So black like someone had sucked all the life out of it. The grass had died. The flowers had dried up. And the soil felt like it was never alive at all.
Anvay closed his eyes slowly. A sound echoed in his ears. Nirag hollow laugh bouncing off the palace walls. Black ground. It was a sign of Nirag coming. His void power that eats everything.
But the same question stayed. What would Nirag do with children. Was he offering some sacrifice. Was he making himself more powerful. Or something else. Was he building an army. An army as empty and void as himself.
He looked toward the fire chamber. Outside the window, the evening fog was turning black like a giant ink stain spreading across the sky.
Soldier, Anvay voice became clear and strong like the edge of a sharp sword. Light torches outside every house. Double the lights. No triple them. Double the guards too. On every street corner. On every roof. I will go on patrol myself tonight. And he stopped and looked at the old woman. She was now quiet staring at the ground like her grandson was buried there. Take this mother to the palace. Give her food. Give her rest. And promise her we will find her child.
The soldier nodded and gently helped the woman up. She did not fight. She just stood up and looked at Anvay. There were no tears in her eyes. Just emptiness. Like someone had squeezed her soul dry.
Far away between the borders of Pavangadh and Nabhgadh, there was a cave. People said that a Gyanidata had done tapasya there centuries ago and his curse had made the place cursed. Vines covered the cave mouth so thick that no one could see it. Like nature had hidden it on purpose.
Inside the cave, blue water slowly dripped from the walls. Drop by drop. Each drop hit the stone making a musical tap tap sound. The air had a strange sweetness to it. Like the smell of earth after rain. But there was also a sharpness like mint leaves.
On a smooth stone slab, that masked woman sat. She had not taken off her mask. Layers of black cloth covered her face. Only two blue dots peeked through the eye slits. In front of her was a small clay pot. Inside it was the same black ash that was once part of the fire. The ash left from the battle of Veera Ghati.
She drew symbols on the ash with her fingers. Old symbols. Not Sanskrit. Not Prakrit. Something else. A language that maybe belonged to stones and rivers. Her fingers shook a little each time she drew a symbol. Like she was remembering an old pain.
Then she stopped.
She lifted her head like she was hearing a far away sound. Her blue eyes went wide. She put her hand on the ash pot and the ash became warm. A faint glow came from it.
Far away in Pavangadh, the echo of Anvay order and the silent sobs of that old woman. Everything reached her like messages floating through the air.
She touched the ash gently and hummed something very slow and sweet. It was not a chant. It was a song. A mother song putting her child to sleep.
Akshansh, Kalpith and Aksh rode their horses toward the forest beyond the ravine. The sound of the horse hooves echoed in the quiet forest. The air smelled of wet soil and rotting leaves.
Kalpith stopped his horse. Something feels wrong here, he said.
What is it, Aksh asked. His eyes moved everywhere.
The sounds, Kalpith said. His voice had a strange softness. No birds. No insects. Everything is quiet. Too quiet.
Akshansh put his hand on his sword handle. Silence always means danger. Keep moving.
After going a little further they saw the cave. And outside the cave a child lay sleeping.
The child looked about five years old. His clothes were clean. His hair was combed. He lay on a bed of leaves. His face had an innocent smile. The kind of smile that only comes when someone is in a deep peaceful sleep. His chest rose and fell slowly. His lips had a small smile like he was having a nice dream.
Kalpith looked at Akshansh with wide eyes. How did this child get here. And he is sleeping so deeply that our horses did not even wake him up.
Aksh slowly tried to get down and go near the child but Akshansh grabbed his hand.
Wait, Akshansh said. His eyes stayed on the dark cave mouth. First check this. Is this the child stolen from Pavangadh.
Kalpith looked closely at the child. Yes Akshansh. We heard that children were being stolen from Pavangadh. Someone comes at night and takes them away.
Akshansh felt a shock. His breathing got faster. Nirag. Is Nirag stealing children. But why. For what.
He looked at the child. His sleep. His smile. Then he looked at the cave. The darkness from which the tap tap sound of blue water came.
Just then the woman came out.
She walked out without a sound. Her steps made no noise. Her black clothes waved in the air. Her blue eyes met straight with Akshansh.
Akshansh stood frozen. He looked at her. Then at the child. The child still slept. Safe. Peaceful.
Was this woman saving this child or using him.
The question hung in the air. A mystery that kept getting deeper and scarier. Inside the cave darkness, the blue water drops kept falling. In a rhythm. Like an ancient clock ticking.
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