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

38.2. The Final Bargain

Hardik followed us. Without my instructions, without even reading my nerves, it kept trudging along the path Celina and I took.

The sky above was steered clear of the creatures. Silence, unearthly. The palace up ahead suddenly seemed wiser, predominant, and inviting. Perhaps it was the impact of my reversed impression of my grandfather. That alone bolstered my spirits somewhat.

I stood there for a moment, blankly staring at the entrance door of the palace and reminiscing the day Pruthvi and I first visited the place. Especially the...

"Hocus Pocus!"
"Boy, it's all bogus."
"What, you're ruining my focus!"

The nervous fluttering in his stomach continued and seemed to increase the closer I got to my destination.

Hardik took a sudden dive in front of me and went back up. Its crazy antics bewildered me a bit.

Celina gasped softly. Her trembling hand was the first sign of showcasing her flabbergast overcoming her. That's right, this must be the first time she was being headed into the great King Harsh's residence. The irony was that she was headed to...kill. "I hate you for this," she hissed, her voice subtly laced with grudge and displeasure.

The hatred wasn't unexpected though. "So many people will," I said. "But it is what it is. Just do as we planned. And from tomorrow, this country will breathe back to life again."

She shot me a death glare. "You planned. It's all you. And not to mention Hayden, you'll be known as a very stringent king for the future generations."

The similar judgment, only now coming from her, struck me as hard as a slap. I smiled woefully anyway, beginning to realize the scathing condemnation King Harsh had been subjected to all his life. Obviously, it was my turn to endure and swallow down all the criticisms and negative remarks for every step I'd be making as a king. "Let's go," I said, unable to afford to see her teary eyes.

Fear anchored in my feet as we trudged along the pathway, in silence and keeping an eye out for any unforeseen and unpleasant surprises. Shadows cast on the ground were hypnotic. An uneasy breeze blew past us. Celina walked with her usual vigor of confidence, but then and now she grasped the cuffs of her jacket showing the anxiety that her words could not express.

I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck as we stepped inside the main entrance gate apprehensively. The wind ruffled the dried-up trees slightly, but other than the droning buzz of insects and a few owl calls, nothing disturbed the peace of the surroundings. Nevertheless, I concentrated on my stone as we moved closer.

We turned around the bend in the walkway and stopped suddenly dead in my track.

Nature had reclaimed most of the land and it was overgrown with weeds and vines. Amid it all, the moments of long windy wings of the creature grabbed my attention. A low screech gave me the oddest sense of familiarity, even though Dhanunjay had mentioned it. The persistent lump in my throat grew in size when I realized what I was about to discover in the next few minutes.

Hardik swooped past me. It glid and flew on top of the creature laying on the floor without rousing it from resting mode.

"Kill it now?" Celina whispered, placing a hand over her pocket where she had hidden the Pride.

"We can come back for it," I said. "Need to save our energy for better use."

The entrance door was just a couple of feet away. Every step we took was meant to bring upon the new dawn for the country but didn't I know, that it was going to settle a deep dark dusk within the hearts of six of us? I sucked in a deep breath pushing the door away. The second I stepped inside the great hall of Rawat's palace, the most terrifying claustrophobia hit me like missiles. King Harsh's voice echoed in my head as I stepped over the threshold and fretted upon a sudden thought- how once had been his home was now turned into a battleground.