“24 hours?”
“What will he do?”
“I think he’s gone crazy”
“Yes, he’s just blabbering rubbish now”
“Your curse…I’ll solve it.” Arav’s words silenced the entire town, as all of their gazes turned towards the old man. The old man sighed and nodded his head, not finding another way of responding to their hopeful gazes.
[TAK..TAK..TAK]
Without speaking any further, Arav climbed down the podium and began walking away from the town.
“Can we really trust him?..”
“He’s a human after all”
“Hundreds of elves have already died by the curse, what change can a mere human bring?”
“He’s from the race of filths, he’ll never try to help up”
The crowd began voicing their thoughts, much to the old man’s displeasure.
“Tch…SILENCE!” His loud voice resounded throughout the town, all present got stunned;
“You all are pathetic, do you really consider yourself more knowledgeable than the elderly?” The old man spoke with his heart burning with rage, while his sharp eyes threatened to devour them alive.
***
{Few minutes later, inside the forest}
“Hmm…It seems they found out” Arav whispered, with a smirk, while his eyes stared at the dry blood on the ground. He turned his head, and saw dozens of wolves dead. He reached one of them and placed his hand above the wound, and pressed, causing the wound to expand.
“A sword…single slash…mantra was used…a professional.” He thought while tilting his head, and staring at the bleeding wound.
[GRRR]
His ears caught a faint growling in his back. He swiftly turned, and found a pup growling at him, while lying on the ground.
“Oh?..You survived?” Arav said while moving towards the pup,
“GRRRRR” The pup raised his voice, but Arav stayed unaffected, finally reaching it. He found the pup’s legs broken, with a deep wound in his abdomen.
“You are quite resilient,...” Arav placed his hand on the pup’s head,
“GRRR” It shook its head, rejecting Arav’s pat.
“And angry…I hate to break it to you, but you will die here,...without doing anything against those who killed your parents..” Arav said while taking his hand away, and staring at the pup with a calm expression. The pup went silent, as if understanding his words.
“I might be somewhat responsible for this massacre,..and It seems you are the last of this pack…My goal is to kill that man who did this, probably his family included…”
“......” The pup stared at him, with his body shivering due to intense pain.
“Hmm…You should've died…” Arav said as he saw a patch of blood around the pup, constantly increasing as the pup kept bleeding.
“I’ll propose a deal,..How about killing that man alongside me?” Arav asked with a bright expression, exactly opposite of that of the pup.
“[WHINE]” The pup’s eyes shivered as it stopped its movements.
“You seem to understand” Arav picked a stone right beside him, and placed his palm on the ground.
[THUD…DRIP…DRIP]
He struck his smallest finger, causing blood to flow out instantly.
“Ugh…Even brahmastra didn’t hurt this much..” Arav moved his bleeding hand towards the pup and opened its mouth, without any resistance from it.
“You seem oddly calm..” Arav said with his blood dripping inside the pup’s mouth.
“It…seems…to wor…”
[THUD]
Arav’s vision went dark, as he fell on the ground with his eyes closing.
{Three hours later}
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
[SLURP…SLURP]
“Ugh…Worked like a charm” Arav opened his eyes and found the pup licking his cheek, without any wound or sign of weakness.
“Hooh…You seem happy..” Arav got up and stretched his hands,
“Are you aware of any clean water source around here?..” He asked while his eyes stared at the night sky;
[GRR]
“Huh?..You know?..” He said while following the pup, as it ran towards the north. Within minutes, they both arrived in front of a large river, with nothing but dense trees on its both sides.
“Humans..” He noticed marks of human steps on the ground.
“This might be risky…but oh well..” Arav entered the river, feeling the cold water flowing around his lower body..
“This still feels weird..”
“FORMATION” His voice vibrated, with ripples appearing in the water..
“Tch…More energy..FORMATION…” Arav spoke again, with his eyes closed;
[WOOOSH]
A small amount of water began moving up, creating a woman’s form in front of Arav. The water kept shining, as if it had turned into countless gems, illuminating the entire area with a brilliant white light.
A strange energy engulfed the forest, causing every animal present to instantly get attracted towards the source..
“After so many years,..you have returned finally…” A woman’s voice emerged from the water, as it turned into a young woman with white hair. Her white eyes glowed, while a smile stretched her lips, as she saw Arav standing in front.
“It work..”
[SPLASH]
{Moments later}
“Haah…Damn it…I keep passing out..” Arav woke up with a sharp pain in his head, he found himself lying by the river bank, with darkness still covering the surrounding;
“You seem to have found another pet…” The woman spoke with the pup standing in front of her while wagging its tail.
“Summoning you is as annoying as ever..” Arav stood up and slowly walked towards the river,
“I wonder why you summoned me...You look…fine…” The woman replied while her white eyes stared at Arav, who washed his face.
“I need you to treat a curse, and tell me its origin…” Arav said while staring at the moon’s reflection.
“The world has changed….” The woman said as she walked behind Arva, and placed her hand on his shoulder;
“You have not changed…Are you still blaming yourself?” She asked as her worried eyes stared at Arav;
“We..should get going..” He quickly got up and moved away from her, forwarding towards the south. The woman began following him, while staring worriedly.
“I have reincarnated in this human boy’s body, still trying to find the cause.”
“Anything about the dragons?”
“Not a single word…”
“Why did you not go there yet?”
“I’m a few corpses short for that journey”
“.......And the curse?”
“See for yourself…” Arav stopped after appearing out of the forest, as a small town, filled with wooden houses with a hill on the back appeared. The woman forwarded and stopped right beside Arav, who sat down and picked the pup in his hand.
“This town….It’s sad….and hungry…for blood..” The woman muttered as her white eyes shivered.
“They are…the dragonian elves?...” Suddenly her tone changed to surprise, she quickly turned towards Arav, who began walking without saying a word. They both entered the town and walked on the dirt path, with people staring curiously at both of them.
The old man saw them forwarding towards the podium, and quickly moved towards them.
“Where were you?..We have been waiting for hours” He said with a worried expression,
“I brought a doctor,...and a companion,” Arav responded. The old man turned towards the woman, and his eyes suddenly widened;
“Devi!…Who are you?...You seem to be a goddess…” The old man spoke while surprised at the pupil-less eyes of the woman.
{DEVI:- A respectful way to address a woman in ancient India}
“My name is Ambu..” The woman replied while bowing down;
“O..ooh..We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts,..” The old man spoke again, while trying to hold back his tears. He did not question the woman’s Identity once, as he felt a familiar energy radiating from her. His heart raced with hope, screaming that the curse will finally get removed.
“Examine her..” Arav said, with his finger pointing at a middle aged woman standing behind the man, turning the attention of all present towards her.
Ambu walked and arrived in front of the woman, and saw her dark eyes and pale skin. Her eyes flinched, and she quickly covered her mouth, while taking a few steps away from her. She slowly turned towards Arav, and looked at him nervously. His expression darkened the moments he saw her gaze;
“Treat them..”
The old man looked at Arav while confused, sharing the same expression with others present, as they all saw Arav moving away towards the hill, without looking back a single time.
***
Vijay took hasty steps inside the room, with a worried expression he stopped right next to a golden throne, while his restless eyes stared at the person sitting;
“Mother…the soldiers are dead…” He said in a low voice, while keeping his head down and eyes closed;
“.....” Usha got up and forwarded towards Vijay, who unconsciously moved back.
“Son,..do you know how many people I have killed for this throne?” She said, while continuing her slow paced movement down the stairs;
“N..no..”
“You weren’t even born, when I began this journey…and I’m this…this close to my goal” Usha stopped just a small distance away and raised her hands forward, with her thumb and and a finger pressed together,
Vijay slightly glanced towards her, his eyes widened with his body freezing. Usha’s forehead veins had turned purple and crawled like worms. trying to reach her eyes.
“If your stupidness causes it all to go downhill, I don’t think my hands will shake while killing another prince.” Usha said while her dark eyes pierced inside Vijay’s soul.
“I’m…sorry mother…” Vijay managed to only mutter an apology, as his mind kept getting blank every passing moment.
“What did you find?” Usha turned back and moved towards the throne;
“I found two of them burnt in his shed, and the last one is missing..”
“Find him, before he opens his mouth, and don’t even think of leaving him alive..kill him along with all three soldiers's entire family..” Usha replied in a calm tone. Causing a wave of relief to wash over Vijay’s entire body.
“I will..” Vijay turned as he spoke;
“Wait…” Usha’s words halted his steps, he hesitantly turned back;
“Digvijay sent a message, he asked for more elves…apparently the south market has a new merchant’s arrival.” Usha while lifting a glass filled with red liquid at from her left table;
“I..will look into it..”
“Don’t look, move your limbs and provide him with new stock..” Usha responded instantly;
“Sure” Vijay answered while gritting his teeth, as he stepped outside the room.
***
{Exactly 24 hours later since Arav’s declaration}
Arav sat under the banyan tree while meditating. His eyes opened, as he heard footsteps nearing him from the front.
“Hooh....” Ambu arrived while sighing, her white eyes had lost some of their glow, with her face slightly pale.
“It seems you did quite the work” Arav said while standing up.
“Work?..No, not at all, I just treated around 70 people’s curse, that’s not a big deal..” Ambu spoke in an annoyed tone as she stopped right next to Arav. Then, her expression suddenly went serious;
“Your heart is troubled…But you keep denying it.” She said while her white eyes empathetically gazed at Arav.
“What is the current condition of the elves?” Arav said while turning his eyes away from Ambu. She looked at the ground, disappointed by his response.
“[SIGH]...They will be fine, just require time to recover their strength. The worst condition of them all was the old woman you asked to examine.”
“I wonder what’s the reason…”
“Reason?..for what?”
“Why did the dragons curse them?”
[Chapter 5: END]