(Book 6) Hayden Mackay and The Third-Eye of the Pancharatna

21.2 Creature Smackdown

An antsy Leena waded through the tunnel.

The air was thick with dread. She felt a rush of emotions with the anticipation of finding out what she might encounter in these gigantic-sized tunnels.

The straight path ended moments ago. Now it curved occasionally forming numerous S-shaped serpentine loops. The roof and the walls continued to be transparent and refracting the bright various colors. She walked and trotted and then walked again, occasionally turning back to make sure any intrusions were not secretly following her. She still walked, her insides tightening with frustration. The other end of the tunnel did not seem to exist. Her mind conjured the sickening images of her son deceased and gone, and that rankled her. A sort of bubbling sound of the water streaming somewhere throbbed her ears. It intensified as she walked further in but the source never approached. There was no sign of another human, let alone her kid. I must go back, she thought, and explore another tunnel.

Then, a breezy snoring noise came through, startling her. She then guided herself to speed up her stride. Soon she spotted a bright glow coming from about a hundred paces ahead. She ran for it, ignoring the air tuning warm and sultry. The hope to see anything worthwhile had her regain strength to the utmost.

The end was similar to an opening of a doorway. The incessant snoring hovered overhead. The sound was as though a buzz saw going over the microphone. She watched her step and held the wall to slow down her momentum. She peeked inside, anticipation being too much to endure.

It wasn't just an open area but a vast chamber, a deep cellar, about the size of an entire single mountain. Thin beams of intense, orange light striped the otherwise shadowy walls of the chamber. The stream was there, as expected, but not as typical as she had pictured. There were many torrents of paths, flowing from where-she-knew-not and traveling to god-knew-where, racing and hopping amidst the icicles and ice rocks. The ground was covered with ice mounds and slightly tilted at the top letting the water easily stream down. Stoned pillars towered from place to place, holding the roof up. This certainly seemed to be a man-made chamber.

What is this place? And am I alone in here?

She let out a pretend cough. Muffled though it was, her voice reverberated out loud anyhow.

Then came a sudden sound of beating drums - Dam! Dam! Dam! The sound was as if the announcement of someone with tremendous importance living in the area. She jerked and stepped aside, pressing her back against the wall. Her heart pumped double time. The sound then drifted away, leaving her to listen to the murmur of the flowing water.

She frowned, sensing the strong aroma inside. It was hard to detect, and her nerves were getting out of hand. She waited for a second or two. At this point, she came to realize that someone was hiding in there and playing the game of bluffing and intimidation with her. There could be a vast danger lying in wait. Perhaps, Shashi himself. Lucky for her that the place was surrounded by an incredible amount of water. Whatever danger came by, she prepared to defend herself.

Gearing herself up, she went in. The chamber brimmed with energy but at times, brooding. Her eyes squinted. Concentrating hard on her stone, she quickly scoured through the area and noticed there were many tunnel mouths. Had she taken any other tunnel, this very chamber would have been her destination anyway.

The drumming sound came again from somewhere beyond the elevated ground. She fearlessly stepped up the ice mounds and strode up chancing her way toward the weird sound. "Hello?" she called out raising her voice.

Then there was a shift with a loud scratching sound, reminding Leena of an enormously heavy iron cover being slid off a dark pit. She had not been expecting the response to her voice to be that overwhelming. "Wha..!"