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

23.1. Caged, Cursed and Consumed

Pruthvi

So Pruthvi just stood, open-mouthed, floundering, desperately trying to think up a reasonable excuse to stop Leena from walking away from him. Separating at this time and this place was the riskiest thing to do. Perhaps it was a poor lack of judgment but he willed to place confidence in their decision. Desperate times, desperate measures. Their son was in danger. 

Leena chose the nearest tunnel first. She looked here and there, sagged her shoulders down as if coming out of a reverie, and trudged up the pathway, slowly disappearing into the deepness of the tunnel.

Pruthvi's mind whirred with thoughts. Despite wanting to head over to the tunnels next to hers, he decided to take a chance on the great expanse of this cave. It was indeed a very complex structure. Ranging in brightness and full of multi-layer stacked ice. The remarkable beauty of this cave bothered Pruthvi's pragmatic side of his mind. This was Shashi's lair, Pruthvi thought, it was his home and this defined his taste. It was easy enough to pick up the sense of magic in the cave. But why? Why use magic? There was water everywhere and water was Shashi's cheapest-slash-fastest means of transportation. In retrospect, they had entered the cave without any need for permission, which meant no supplements were being used. What had Shashi been trying to achieve with the use of such magic in the cave?

Out of this sense of inquiry came an urge to blast the ice and walls and the roof. Just to blast everything until the impact caused an effect and gave him a subtle hint of...

A sudden flapping sound made him jump. Kumbh, who was walking in the distance, leaving a couple of tall columns of stalagmites in between, looked above searching for a source of the sound. The cave was empty, but the flap of the wings stated otherwise. It was surreal.

His adrenaline buzzed. His breath rasped painfully in his throat forcing him to stagger. He doubted if extreme tiredness was amalgamating in his brain causing stress. He slumped and reached out for the nearby stalagmite, but immediately retracted his hand losing his grip on the icy cold water surface.

"Master Pruthvi!"

"Keep walking," he wheezed, lifting his hand at Kumbh. "Find anything worthwhile. Time's valuable."

Kumbh bowed a little, droplets of water falling off his pot. Pruthvi watched him strolling away and around the empty footpath across the ice formations. If he was on a pursuit to detect the magic and its source, he better be quick at it, Pruthvi thought. 

About a half-hour passed when Pruthvi's legs made their first spasmodic movements. His stomach began to growl, and he stumbled to his feet and rocked giddily. He gritted his teeth, trying to fend off his growing hunger and also the rising fury in his chest. From time to time, he filled his stomach with water from Kumbh's pot which helped ease up the gnawing pain. Clutching his stomach, he slowly followed Kumbh with limber agility. His feet would slip on icy pathways often, pitching him sideways. His lashes were getting too heavy to keep them open.

When Pruthvi had no clue about the passage of time, Kumbh suddenly sped up and hastened towards the tunnel too far away from the ones Leena had taken. Pruthvi sprinted after him, clutching his stomach and twitching with impatience.

The ground suddenly shook. Pruthvi could feel the vibrations rumbling through his body. Then there was a loud screeching sound. A creature! Inside the cave? Pruthvi wanted to go back and check on Leena but Kumbh gave him no choice. He didn't stop whisking out of the way for nothing. Pruthvi ran after him. Deeper inside they went, snaking their way through the tunnel.

The smell began to stink to high heaven when Pruthvi and Kumbh entered a scene full of carnage and devastation. Pruthvi gasped, placing both his palms against his nose, and collapsed on his knees. There were dead people and dead animals. Icy ground glistened with frozen blood and gore splattered at every corner of this place. It was a bloody battlefield.