章節 83: Rescued

The pond seemed so clean like a mirror reflecting everything clearly. It was surrounded by lush green trees that made it appear like a Heavenly Spring. She saw another swan at the lake swimming towards Mr Feathers. It was evident by its quick pace that it was glad to see its partner. But due to its injury, Mr Feathers was having a difficulty swimming and was way slower than the other one. Visha felt bad for the poor bird as she had gone through hell to save that one so she jumped into the lake to help without giving it a second thought. She went in till the water reached her waist and pulled Mr Feathers out of the lake. It struggled to get away but Visha was adamant and nothing could persuade her otherwise. She pulled Mr. Feathers out and started to look at the plants nearby. She remembered reading some books about herbs in Dhira's library. After plucking what she felt was useful, she started to crush it with her hands and rubbed its essence on the wound. Mr. Feathers let out a few whimpers of pain during the process but it was clear he was holding back. The wound looked like a bite mark, must have probably been from the Shunis earlier. She ripped off one of her sleeves and tied it neatly on the wound. Mr Feathers had its beak clutched tight and refused to show any sign of pain as Visha tightened the knot on the bandage. A warm smile appeared on her face as she gently stroked the brave swan.

"Good Mr Feathers. Brave Mr Feathers." The swan immediately puffed up with pride hearing its praises. Visha let it down with a distant smile, she had grown slightly attached to it. Mr Feathers swiftly ran into the lake and started to swim towards the other swan. That must be Mrs Feathers, Visha thought and chuckled. She too cleaned up her scratches from before and quenched her thirst as she prepared to get back to her quest. The priests still had to be found and her teammates too. The journey was far from over.

She heard Mr Feathers voice again and looked up to see the swans rubbing their necks together showing their love. This lovely reunion was breathtakingly beautiful and warm. But a sudden realization struck Visha. The scene was all too familiar. This was just like the scenery from the High Priest's place! Could there also be a palace here just like in the carving?

***

Priest Dharma was running through the woods with bite marks all over him. He could barely suppress his pain anymore as blood oozed out of his wounds. After seeing his last hope collapse in front of him, he had no other choice but to make a run for it. He lead the pack away from where his brothers were headed and was more than happy to serve as a distraction. Priest Dharma had felt very guilty and was determined to do anything to redeem himself. So determined that he'd readily give up his life in the process. He only had one goal in mind, to give his brothers as much time he could.

The howls of Shunis echoed around the forest as they hungrily followed behind Priest Dharma. Their eyes had become all white and lost the glimmer of their souls. But one could easily sense the madness just by looking at them as they crazed around following Priest Dharma's scent. He had managed to climb up a tall tree as he watched the beasts hungrily sniffed around. He knew his body needed some rest if he planned to keep them engaged any longer. It was getting more and more difficult, as one or two Shunis managed to bite off a part of his flesh every now and then. He had been struggling to keep a distance between him and them. Their occasional catch ups to him made him weaker every second as blood continued to drip out of his wounds. But he was determined to give his brothers as much time as possible. Suddenly, he heard a snap and looked at his side to see a crack on the branch he was sitting on. It won't hold him, so he tried to grab the thicker branch above but he was just a second late. Before he could garb it, the lower one snapped and he fell down with a loud thud. Priest Dharma looked up to see his demise closer than ever as the mad beasts growled at him. He breathed heavily and watched death grow closer by the second. He could see the beasts getting ready to pounce at him, but there was no regret on his face. He had successfully given the priests a headstart of more than two hours. Feeling proud of his achievement, he closed his eyes and surrendered to his fate.

But the unimaginable, neverending pain, he had expected just didn't happen. No Shunis attacked him. He opened his eyes and saw them attacking an invisible wall. He turned around and saw Shaurya standing there with a knotted up vine in his hands. From behind the Shunis came Ashwin and Trisha, both holding up a ring of knotted vines. His surprise knew no bounds to seeing the witches in here. The same witches he had opposed with all his heart, the ones that were told to leave days ago, what were they doing here? The answer to his question came from behind Ashwin-Priest Dravya!