Doctor,

Don't be mad at us for not telling you beforehand. But if we had, you would have never allowed us to go ahead with our plans. I want to inform you that we are leaving to do something very important. We will be safe and I promise that I'll keep Tyrell and Celina safe. I expect you to trust us. So please forgive us for going against your wishes.

I am very sorry but unlike you, I cannot just give up on your son or the villagers easily, not just yet. I am very well aware about what I am going to do. So please wait for our return with hope.

Please, don't worry about us or don't search for us.

Hayden

I put the pencil down, folded the piece of paper and placed it beside doctor's pillow. Celina and Tyrell were waiting for me at the main door. I looked at doctor for the last time, watching him sound asleep and hoping he would understand, I followed my friends out of the cottage.

"Did you write where we are going?" asked Tyrell closing the door very slowly.

"Of course not," said I walking along Celina, "If I did, don't you think he will chase us down and yank us by our ears back to the academy?"

"That's true!" he said, nodding, "Can you tell us at least, where we are going?"

"Were you even listening, Tyrell?" said Celina, "We are going to meet Shourya."

"Oh yeah!" he said raising his eyebrows, "I do remember him saying-Hiya guys! I live here! Do meet me."

"Okay I get it, we don't know where he lives," I said, "But we have to start from somewhere."

For a moment I wanted to laugh; after our letter to the doctor and deciding to act, we were still children who didn't know what to do next or where to go, standing in the middle of nowhere and still waiting for an adult to command us. We moved towards a hidden corner in the snow filled narrow street trying to blend within the area unobtrusively at three in the morning amidst the freshly falling snow. Tyrell and Celina huddled together as they felt the chill, for once I was really glad of my stone.

Shourya, my mind drifted towards the trickster. He always appeared when he was unwanted. He always found us whenever we wanted to escape him and now when we want to find him he is nowhere to be found. I kicked the snow on the street in frustration slowly launching itself inside me.

Right after a few minute walk, I think it was fate, that just I heard Pruthvi calling my name in my head.

"Hayden, can you hear me?" Pruthvi said. He seemed little bit tensed.

"Pruthvi!" I shouted in excitement, halting at my forthcoming step. Tyrell and Celina watched me curiously. "Pruthvi are you okay? How is Leena?"

"We are fine," he said, "We just reached Paschimgarh."

"Oh that's great..."

"Where are you guys? Leena is kind of worried for you."

"Tell her we are okay. We met doctor. Now we are going to meet Shourya."

"Shourya?" he said. "Are you crazy? After actually lecturing me not to trust him, you want to meet him?

"You see, Shourya showed up yesterday."

I paused, trying my best to frame sentences that wouldn't worry him too much.

"And?" he asked.

I sighed, "Look Pruthvi, just stay calm and listen. He said something I don't want to believe but...he said Leena is in danger."

"Yeah! from him," he said very coolly unlike me.

"It did not seem to me like that. Shourya was trying to warn us about Shashi."

"Hayden, Shourya works for Shashi."

"No you don't get it. Shourya is trying to save her. He was trying to tell us how but he got interrupted. That's why are going to search for him."

There were few seconds gap and he said, "He is in Rawat."

I gaped at nothing. Tyrell and Celina smirked at my expression.

"King Harsha's dynasty? How did you know that?"

"I can't tell you exactly, it's a long story. But somehow we reached Shashi's lair. (My mouth dropped.) He was not there, don't worry but we heard his men talking. They mentioned Shourya went to Rawat for some business."

"Did they see you? Were you in trouble?"

He wasn't answering but it didn't seem like he had disconnected.

"Pruthvi, are you there?" I asked.

"Yeah...yeah...not exactly but we ran away before they could attack us. Look Hayden, forget Leena but worry more about yourselves. Shashi ...he really can't wait to see you dead."

It was my turn to act cool. "Yeah I know that. He wants all of us dead."

"No, listen to me. You are his main priority. It seems only King Harsh knows how to kill you."

I raised my eyebrows and swallowed hard. Believe me; knowing that someone is planning your death does not make you feel anything like a hero. It sucked to the core.

"King Harsh is dead," I said, "Now don't tell me he is planning to bring him back or something."

"He is not bringing him back, but..."

He stopped there and I hated it.

"But what..."

"Hayden got to go. And I'll contact you later. Bye."

He was gone and I was so irritated. But I was satisfied that at least I got to know Shourya's whereabouts.

"So?" said Tyrell, curiously, "What did he say?"

I caught his stare and said, "We have to go Rawat Dynasty."

"Did he tell you that?" Celina asked frowning, "How did he know?"

"I'll tell you on our way," I said, "Let's get out of here before doctor wakes up and comes after us."

Walking swiftly and discussing about the information Pruthvi had just given me, we reached King Aghasthya's court. Sun hadn't risen yet, and for the first time I watched the court in the dark with all the lanterns lit. Watching the court, I thought about Princess Lithika. If doctor's son was in the verge of death, Lithika surely couldn't be any better. My heart was heavy with the thought of it. Celina put her hands on my shoulder urging me to walk on leaving all these thoughts behind. I always liked the way she always assured me.

We were now walking across the court when suddenly a woman draped in a red sari carrying a water pot walked out of the gate. She glanced at us sideways but didn't stop walking. Here was a chance to ask someone to help us out, but we didn't know how to approach her without spooking her out.

"Hello," said Celina; and I was really glad she was there; this needed a woman's touch. The woman might be wary of us but would pause at the presence of Celina.

The woman who seemed much older chanced to look at her. She held her pot up settling in a comfortable position.

"Hi, do you work in the court?" she asked sounding very different but rather comforting.

"Yes," she said looking suspiciously at three of us, "I am Princess Lithika's maid. How can I help you?"

"Oh that's great," Celina said, "Umm...we are actually lost. We want to go to Rawat dynasty. But I think we are stuck in Sharad. Can you show us the way?"

Tyrell and I thanked the so called deities that we had Celina with us, for surely if the maid had seen only the two boys, one well built and tall, and the other mysterious looking but talking all hysterically, she would have bolted away. Celina's presence kept her standing though warily.

"You want to go to Rawat?" the maid asked shocked as if we had asked her way to hell. "Why would you want to go there?"

"We are actually writing a book about the Dakshinpur..."

"You will find nothing there," she said, "It is turned into a cemetery."

"Oh I thought it was where King Harsh used to live."

"Yes," she said quickly, "As you said-he used to live. He is dead twenty years ago and after his demise all the villagers migrated."

"Oh, sorry I..."

"Don't you know?" she asked watching our weird expressions, "Dakshinpur is living under Shashi's terror?"

"Yeah, but people do live in here right?"

"Yes, in Sharad, yes, because King Aghasthya is still alive and he can still look after his people whereas in Rawat, nobody's there to take care of. So you better stay away from that place."

Celina looked at me for help and I said, "We really need to go there. There must be some way to travel."

"No," she said holding her pot still, "You can walk if you want but that is next to impossible."

"We could actually try. Can show us the way?"

She sighed loudly giving up on our uncompromising nature. "Follow the street, you will enter into the forest, go deep and follow the river trail and you will find a huge abandoned land and then a long chain of hills. The other side of the hills is Rawat dynasty, but let's me warm you it might take many hours to reach."

"That's okay. Thank you very much. It's really a great help"

First a forest, a river, an abandoned land and then hills-this is going to be an awesome journey in an unusual way. The maid then held her pot up again and walked away. I watched her go as I caught Tyrell's eyes upon me.

"You seriously are considering walking?" he asked, his voice filled with an hard edge, "Because she gave a hell lot of list to pass through and we really don't know if it's really the right way."

"What choice do we have?" I said.

"Let's start walking," said Celina, "We shouldn't waste any time. The far we get from doctor, the better."

We turned around and started walking in the way the maid showed us. Tyrell was the only one who did not like the idea. But he knew he had to do this for Leena. Celina on the other hand was completely into it; she walked ahead of us filled with hope and energy.

We passed king Aghasthya's court and then in no time the village almost came to an end. Not far away from us I was able to see the forest that we were about to enter next. This forest made me remember our first visit to Dakshinpur two months ago. I looked at Tyrell and he was having the same expression as I was.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" I asked.

"I am thinking if I could find something to eat in the forest," he said, stifling a yawn, "What are you thinking?"

I sighed aloud at his amazing absence of reality.

"Tyrell I think this is the same forest where Shourya trapped us, remember?"

"Oh yeah!!" he said loudly, "and the river by the side, of course."

I laughed at his sing song tone.

"Wow, nice reminiscence both of you," Celina commented.

We walked silently for few more minutes. The forest began with a towering birch tree. We trudged scrutinizing its giant height as we stepped into few damp mosses while entering the forest. It took us a few minutes for our eyes to adjust as it turned much darker inside. Snow was lesser in here comparatively and upon the bare trees with nearing zero leaves.

All my life I have been in warm climate and there was no question of snow. Although I had visited the colder places, this seemed completely new to me. For the first time I was seeing the snow filled forest and it looked striking in its own way. I looked back to realize how far we were away from the village. It seemed we were in the middle of the forest but I still wasn't able to see the river through which we entered last time.

From the corner of my eyes I spotted a tree which was so frosted with ice that it had icicles hanging from it. Tyrell broke one of the icicles poked Celina on her neck trying to irritate her. I laughed watching her hitting Tyrell hard on his shoulder. But that died when we heard a shrill creaking sound of the crickets.

Noticing the sound, I wondered if there were any animals in the forest. But I didn't want to encounter any wild animals as I didn't want to hurt them. I was framed as a criminal in the case of killing a dog mysteriously; I didn't wish to kill anymore. On the other hand I was glad we weren't completely defenseless; even if we encountered any wild animals, my fire would be a great deterrent.

"Hey, can you hear that?" said Celina, blinking innocently "I think it's the river."

We increased our pace as Celina raised our hopes on reaching the river. I felt a change in the air as it turned crisper and I hoped she was right. Once or twice I wondered if we were going in the right direction. But putting our faith in Celina's superior listening abilities, we followed her in the direction she was taking.

"There," said Tyrell, vehemently "Look, you guys, we reached the water body."

We ran simultaneously, racing to reach the river. Finally, on reaching the supposed destination, we halted and laughed looking one another's expression while panting heavily.

"Let's rest for a while," I said looking at Celina who wasn't still breathing normally. She removed her shoes and sat on the floor letting her feet touch the water.

"Ooh!" she shrieked pulling her legs up, "It's freezing!"

I looked into the water remembering our trip through it. I still wished doctor hadn't sealed the route and removed all the magic of not getting wet otherwise who knew, I and Tyrell could have visited the academy quickly and came back with some food. I smiled faintly with the idea.

"Why are you smiling?" Tyrell asked suddenly.

"I wasn't smiling," I said sitting straight.

"Hmm...who is she?" he asked suddenly.

"She, who?"

At once my mind drifted towards her-the girl I always pictured whenever I used my stone. I haven't told anyone about her. Of course I was uncomfortable in hiding her, but I just couldn't tell anyone about her and not to mention make a fool out of me.

"The girl from your dreams," he asked. Celina looked at me frowning.

"There is no one," I lied, "You are so delusional."

Tyrell raised his single brow trying to taunt me.

"Really?" he asked, "There is no one?"

"Hayden," said Celina, "Are you hiding something from us?"

I can't believe she was taking his side.

"Come on you two..."

"I have caught you so many times and you know that," said Tyrell, "for the past so many days, you have been thinking about someone. You should see your face when..."

"I told you there is no one..."

"Haven't you ever dated anyone Hayden?" asked Celina, "I mean before you came to the academy. Didn't you meet anyone?"

"No I did not. Of course, there was a girl named Maddie Stewart, but it didn't materialize."

Tyrell snorted.

"Why not?" Celina asked.

"Do you know my mom," I said, "The only thing I hated about her was her traditions. She was so strict in dating matters."

"Hmm," she said, not interested in my mother, "So tell me about Maddie Stewart."

"No, I think we should start walking..."

"Come on," said Tyrell holding my hand and pulling me back to sit, "This is more interesting than Shourya."

"Leena," said Celina suddenly looking at the water, "Is everything okay?"

Both of us looked at her when she uttered Leena's name. Everything about the girl and my ex drained away.

"Okay," said Celina with a concern after Leena was done, "Take care of him. Be careful."

Celina disconnected and turned to us. "It was Leena."

"What did she say?" I asked as Tyrell looked at her closely.

"Celina," I called out, impatiently, "Come on, what did she say?"

"It's Pruthvi," she said.

"Is he alright?" Tyrell asked instantly.

"He is but only physically."

What the heck was she talking about?

And then she looked into my eyes before she said, "He talked to his father...his dead father."