I was standing in the middle of the great hall, at the only dump-free area I could spot. Gold and pale sunlight now filled in the silent hall with a sensation of warmth. My mouth was slightly open and I was breathing heavily. I looked down at both of my hands. They were shivering profoundly. The thought of losing my friend was creeping me out. It wasn't my fault that he made himself disappear or may be he blindly followed the path that map had shown him and got himself stuck. Either way, I lost him and I had no idea when I was going to see him again.

Suddenly there was a shrill loud sound, a whistle.

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my head towards the peculiar sound. It was coming from the direction of the passageway. My heart began to beat frantically. Hoping to find Pruthvi, that seemed the only possibility right now, I ran with all the pace I could pick up, keeping myself from slipping and tumbling over the debris.

I dashed inside the passageway looking everywhere for my friend. Then I was forced to stop when a womanly but child-like scream surfaced from the hall, tearing through me like a shards of glass. I tried to ignore it but my conscience didn't accept. I had to make a decision between the womanly scream that could be from troubled Nazira Khan and my friend who was somewhere within these passageways.

The scream came again, desperate and terrified of something...or someone. I pressed my eyes shut and made my mind up. Pruthvi was strong enough to keep himself safe. He might not be needing me but Nazira Khan who was seemingly close to me, did. Trusting on my decision, I ran back to the great hall in attempt to save my friend's sister.

I reached the hall, looking here and there for a trace of a girl. But it was same as I had seen a few minutes ago. Dead silent, not even the screams were penetrating that lured me out of the passageways. I waited for few more minutes, not even trying to hear my own breathe for I didn't want to lose any possible audible hints.

My heart dropped to my knee when a giggling sound reverberated passing from corner to corner of the great hall. I turned back and looked up to follow the voice. I found myself gaping at the upper story of the hall, at the banisters that were supported by few large pillars. I was still staring up quite keenly when a long and sharp nailed fingers of an old wrinkled hand appeared, firmly resting on a wooden banister. I shrunk my eyes. My mind raced to think if there was someone else living in the palace. And then face of the person appeared gazing down at me. Her long silvery white flowing down from either side of her crooked face, a malicious smile broadening from ear to ear and cold, emotionless eyes that paralyzed me instantly.

"Fire of Vengeance!" Zarina Khan said menacingly. "I so await your death."

"Hayden! Hayden! Can you hear me?"

Waking up was no longer a pleasure, especially now that I was having the nightmares of that woman whose wrong prediction made me parentless. I was scared out of my wits and looked around for something to recognize. My palms were sweaty and I rubbed them trying to calm my hammering heart as I slowly tried to divert my mind to present.

First it was Pruthvi that I thought of. I still didn't know where he was. I had tried to contact him many times but in vain. I had then decided to wait  hoping for him to find me here at the entrance door for I didn't want myself to get lost in this humongous palace. As the time had passed and feeling a little tired, unknowingly, I went on to take a long nap.

"Hayden!"

Now was the voice that thankfully woke me up. I did recognize the voice ringing in mind but because of this disorientation I was having, I needed to take a minute to clear my mind and find my own voice.

"Leena?" I answered finally, "Yes, I can hear you."

"Thank goodness," she said, "Where the hell is Pruthvi? He isn't answering me."

He isn't answering me too, was the instant reply but I gulped it down.

"He...he is right beside me." I lied, rubbing the back of my neck. "Is everything okay there? How is Tyrell?"

There was a low sniffing sound from her side that began to give me hints. "No, nothing is okay."

"Wha..what?" I stammered sitting straight.

"We went to a party and were having a nice time, until..."

I waited for her to continue but her silence bothered me to the core.

"Until?" I asked but she didn't reply. Then I understood our connection was broken. I got frustrated. We had this privilege to talk to each other mentally, but when it has to break on important things, what was the use of it at all?

Leena was worried about Tyrell. He was already in such a poor condition when we came here for our job and now hearing her tensed voice, I was sure, something unusual must have happened to him again.

I tried to ignore about Tyrell for now. Leena and Doctor were enough to worry about him. All I cared about was Pruthvi and his safety. Even though I knew Pruthvi was strong enough to face any obstacles that might come in his way, I just wished for once to hear his voice to know he was atleast alive.

I fidgeted for a while, running my hand over my hair, sitting in the same spot for more than half an hour. I was getting impatient of doing nothing. I tried to contact him, once, twice, thrice but yet no answer from him.

That's it!

I didn't care if I got lost, I didn't care if I bumped into someone I shouldn't. I made up my mind to go around the palace and do my best to track my friend down. I took a long breathe and stood upright, holding the scroll firm in my hand.

Pop!

I took a step turning around on hearing a popping sound. There were ripples in the water, forming delicate encircling waves. That kind of sound, I had heard last night too, only I didn't care less about it as much as of now. I took one more step and popping sound came out stronger this time. I stood startled. Even though I didn't want to check it out, my curiosity began to take over my body.

Gritting my teeth, I walked down the steps. Water ripples were enlarging as if someone threw a rock into the dirty water. I frowned and looked around if anyone did that on purpose. I walked upfront to have a proper view hoping to find my friend.

"Pruthvi? Are you here?" I called out, scanning all around.

When he didn't respond I was disappointed. But the water ripples were making my heart beat faster. There was a thin slimy pavement around the bank of the water body filled with pebbles that allowed me to walk over it. I looked down finding my own shadow eerily shaking with the ripples. I slowly sat on my knees and leaned down to watch it carefully.

Something was definitely down there beneath my shadow. It was dark, only in that particular area where everything else surrounding it seemed different. I looked closer, leaning down and shrinking my eyes. Out of nowhere two manly eyes flashed opened.

I gasped aloud and fell backward on the pebbles that slightly pricked my skin. I pulled up lot of courage deciding to peek back down into the water again.  There was no sign of eyes anywhere now, but whatever was down there began to swim, darkness sliding with it. If it was a man, he was probably six feet tall. But the way the man was swimming, it didn't seem normal to me.

My curiosity hit me again. I wanted to know what that thing was. What if it had anything to do with Pruthvi? I swallowed hard, on deciding to follow whatever it was. I ran over the pavement watching the course of the water and trying to catch up the swimmer's speed.

I realized I was running for a long time now. I stopped on my tracks when the swimmer suddenly got disappeared. I was panting heavily. I bent over to hold my knees and looked back to find out that I had already crossed the palace.   

The water body was now divided into two. One course surrounded the palace beside which was the huge barren land with few trees and snow sprinkled here and there. The other was leading deep into the forest that I had just noticed. The swimmer has taken the one leading to the forest, where course line had narrowed up into a thin stream of water and then artificially constructed for the water to travel beneath the ground.

I was looking at the forest now, at the huge trees that almost blocked the sunrays. I remembered the Sharad's forest that had trapped me and Tyrell and so I was having my second thoughts of going anywhere deep inside it alone. 

Wait a second, I am never actually alone.

I decided to bring him out. Only he can help me now. Only he can have the capability to save from any of the dangers ahead. We have never trained together. I never ever saw him doing a single formation. May be now was the time to get him to do things for me.

Piling up a lot of hope, I commanded my stone, "Constellia Formation!"

Dust on the ground swirled up in the air with the jet black smoke erupting with it.

"What?" he cried, standing so close to me, with all the black smoke slowly vanishing around him, "You are lucky I was just about to go sleep, kid. You better have a good reason to call me out."

"Hello to you too," I said, taking a step back and standing with my hands on my hips, "Stop calling me kid, I am nineteen years old."

"And I am thousand and nineteen years old. So believe me, calling you kid is far more better than what I have in my mind right now."

I didn't have time to argue with him. Time was precious now. I needed to know what that thing was and if it had anything to do with Pruthvi.

"Okay listen," I said, "I just want to go inside the forest and..."

"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" he interrupted, his voice louder than ever, his tail swishing and swinging rapidly to keep insects out of his way, "Since when have you started giving me orders?"

"I am not ordering. It's just a request. Please do it for me."

"Are you in trouble?" he asked.

"I will be if you don't help me."

"What kind of help?"

"Just go inside the forest and see what is in there."

He gaped at me for a few seconds, then turned his heavy head to look at the forest and then back to me.

"Don't wanna!"

"What...but why?" I asked, "It just a simple task. You have to go, see what is in there, come back and tell me. That's all."

"I said I don't want to."

"Okay now you have to give me a good reason why you don't want to do it."

"You want to send me to parallel universe? No, thank you. I can go to it right from here."

I frowned and glanced at the forest peeking through his mane. I still didn't find it any different from the one of the Sharad's.

"Parallel universe?" I asked, trying to be smart, "It's a forest."

Singh paused, gaping at me with his shrewd eyes and I was pretty much sure he was thinking of a line to insult me. "I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you never use it."

"What?" I shrieked, totally confused. Hey I was a topper in my class.

"This is the forest where the portal to enter parallel universe exists. There, now you know. Goodbye."

Singh disappeared immediately even before I could understand what he had just said. I decided to take the chance and called him again.

"Constellia Formation!"

-x-