In the past two days, I did nothing other than sleeping like a baby.

There was this drug, as per the instructions that were written on the paper, that I had to take after every meal of the day. According to Doctor, it was required to strengthen my muscles and promote energy. But swallowing it down was the toughest thing ever. It burned my throat and left a bad taste in mouth-a strong bitter flavor that wouldn't drain away even after using gallons of mouthwash.

"I am sure it's not as horrible as Uilani De Blanc," teased Nazira, after my continuous nag about its taste, which I opposed. Her mock led us to have a friendly argument that went on for a while about how Uilani was or not the best drink in the world. And every sentence she made to state her opinion reminded me of my mom. Alcohol is injurious to health...blah blah blah!

The side effects of the drink- it made me feel too drowsy and lethargic after a few minutes of the syrup slid down my throat, way worse than the aftereffects of alcohol. It was supposed to give me strength, but I felt as if it was sucking away my ability to either stand or atleast to keep my eyes open. When Nazira gave me the look, the big glaring eyes with the power to make one explode, I finally accepted her offer to switch places to sleep. Every time I opened my eyes, it always felt heavy, like those of a drug addict. And as a matter of fact, I did not even realize until Nazira told me that I have been sleeping for a day and a half at a stretch.

"My god!" I cried, scandalized, "My next challenge is tomorrow?! Man, I just had one!"

"And you wanted to walk to Florida," she jested, although innocently but it did crack me up.

Although I usually had never snored while asleep, but my awaken conscience made me aware that sometimes I do make strange sounds. I was loud and droning. And if Nazira wasn't having this disability, she would have simply run away from me and never looked back.

I was tossing and turning in a vain attempt to either to wake up completely or to atleast have a sound sleep.  In about time I heard the incessant knock on the bedroom door that startled me and gave me instant goosebumps. I finally opened my eyes and jumped out of my bed immediately, before the crazy slamming could rip the door apart.

"Whoa! Easy," I exclaimed.

It was obvious to find Nazira standing at the other side, looking back as if to check on something that might have been chasing her. She was too scared to even realize that door was already opened and was about punch hard on my chest.

"Oh, sorry!" She signaled.  

"Is everything okay?"  I asked, watching her shivering and her forehead shining with beaded sweat.

"There is someone...something outside the door." She was signaling hurriedly and her voice in my mind was wavering, every word seemed cut short by fear.

"Who?"

"I don't know," she signaled, her eyes widened and shining, "It's a huge horse with a face of a man. I don't know what it is. And it's scary!"

Then I relaxed, sighing softly. With what she described it was none other than Dhanu.

"Don't worry," I said trying to hold her by her shoulders, but I didn't, "I think my challenge is up. What were you doing outside anyway?"

"I just went out to see... to have an inspiration to paint. But then that thing..."

"Okay, I get it. There is nothing to worry about. He is just a Constellia."

She nodded like a two-year-old, dropping her shoulders and wiping her forehead.

After knowing Nazira quite well, that how faint-hearted she was, I just couldn't help but mentally taunt the people of Dakshinpur. They were nothing but the most foolish, pretty ignorant crowd ever to even believe that she could be as dangerous as Zarina Khan.  

Walking past her, I first took the jacket that had come with the basket, drank a full glass of water and went straight ahead to get on with my challenge.

"Don't hurt yourself."

I stopped at the threshold, door opened ajar and my hand on the knob when I clearly heard her voice. I looked back at her, at those watery eyes.

"I 'll see you in awhile," I said, instead of anything else that could make her suspicious of me, and wished if she could change her mind to come outside to watch me.

--------------------------------------------------

I tugged the stone inside my pocket only to feel its warmth. I wasn't sweating anymore, sure the venom in my body was driven off. But I have still underestimated the weather in this realm. This wintery chill was making me shiver a bit. There was certain dampness in the air, moistening my skin. It might be the drug in my body or the breezy cold air, I didn't care, but I felt my eyelids a little heavy. Now that was something I was worried about.

Shaking my head to stay attentive, I took a step forward when I thought I heard the galloping sound that gradually increased, indicating me his appearance. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a shadow approaching from behind the hut. And in no time, the half-human half-horse Constellia showed himself.

His strong brown hooves reduced its running pace on watching me stand a little distance away from the hut. Dark brown eyes with bushy eyebrows, big forehead, high cheekbones and stubble-roughened jaw with pointed short beard-I credited Dhanu for having one handsome face for a Constellia. His long golden hair gliding down from the sides of his ears, strong tanned bronze muscular chest heaving up and down supposedly taking long deep breaths. He stopped his momentum right in front of me, placing his hands either side of his waist.

"Yo! Hayden Mackay," he said, his hooves tapping, creating holes in the snow. "Gal's too scared, aye?!"

"Yeah, you did scare her. Big time!" I replied, smiling, surely pleased to greet him.

"Tell'er I'm sorry, would yeh?"

"Of course," I said and took a long deep breath, "So what's the challenge?"

Dhanu was too tall and bulky and in addition to his personality, his strong stance did not allow me to notice the thing he was carrying all this time-a bow with an arrow, hung loosely from his shoulder. He scrutinized it from all the sides before he handed it over to me, bending over a little down.

I gave a quick glance at the weapon, now that I was holding it firm in my hand. Bow, made of a strip of flexible wood with an intricate design in between, and an attached cord linking the two ends of the strip. Unlike the sword, I might have seen weapons like these before, but have I used it? Nada! Surprisingly the arrow was stuck to the strip and stayed rigid. It was sharp and twinkling at one of the corner and stiff double feathered at the other end.

"What do I have to do?" I asked, touching the tip of the arrow only to see how sharp it was.

"Yeh gotta hit de bullseye. Easy eh?"

"Depends on what the target it?"  I asked although I should have known the answer already.

"I'm." He said, shrugging, " Hit me anywhere, from head to hooves while I'm in motion, yeh win!"  

I blinked and sighed softly. Again, the challenge sounded simple and effortless, and it always had just been sounding that way until the main part was kept forth- the catch.

"Yeh gotta remember," he continued, "Arrow comes back to its bow automatically after every hit and once I star' running, I ain't gonna stop over any hurdles."

"That's fine," I said, swallowing, "But there is another problem. I have never used bow and arrow before. So do you think it fair to..."

"Notta worry, Hayden Mackay. Jus' pull de arrow, release it and...schaawff!" He said, making an apt flying sound with his mouth that made me laugh, "A little concentration on the target is required, which I'm sure yeh cayn manage."

"If you say so," I said, unconvincingly, and feeling excitable, "So let's begin. The sooner we start the sooner we finish."

"Not so fas'," said Dhanu immediately and quite seriously, pointing his finger to the sky, "Dis is a challenge with two conditions."

There you go.... Wait a second, two conditions? Double catch!?

"And those are?" I asked, trying not to wince.

"One," he said, looking aside, "See de Vrindahina trees? Do not let de arrow touch' em. Dis is a repetitive challenge, so if yeh hit de tree, challenge stops and begins t'morrow."

"Tomorrow!?"

"Aye. Everytime yeh hit de tree, the number of the dais yeh waste," he said, stressing on his words, "Understand mah poin'?"

I involuntarily turned my head to glance at about fifty trees standing close to one another, their branches almost entwined, covered with snow all around and over them. My mind began to race, as I watched them intently. The challenge with Vrischika had taught me how tricky Constellia can sometimes be. Dhanu's warning gave me a hint of his possible attempts of deception. He would purposefully run around the trees to make this challenge more strenuous and time-consuming.

The possibility of my physical damage was slim, but now the main concern was the limited days I was left with. I might have spent only a week here and was under the impression that there were enough days left to get through the rest of my challenges, including the time I need to demolish Shaytan Rup. But now that impression seemed to be altering. I have only twenty-one days to cover eight of my remaining challenges. And if I keep repeating the one with Dhanu, I definitely will not be able to finish this job by the end of this month.

Now, I winced.

"What is the second catch?" I asked, pressuring myself to snap out of my negative thoughts.

"Arrow mus' be on magical fire," said Dhanu, "If yeh forge' the fire and yet be successful to hit me, then I' m sorry, it's unacceptable and Gates will not open."

I nodded. "Atleast I am allowed to just continue, right? I mean, if under any care I forget to fire the arrow..."

"Aye!" he interrupted, "Yeh jus' repeat."

"Great!" I said, lifting the bow up, "Let's begin."

Words had not left my mouth yet, and Dhanu at once vanished, fully out of my sight. He ran in the speed of a jet, towards the tree as I had expected. The galloping resounded and powdery snow beneath his hooves shot up and drifting frantically down.

I was having all my attention on him, watching the centaur advancing far away from the hit, but I had my mind fixed to get an understanding of the weather. There was slow pleasant wind, that when on amalgamation with my fire might just help to increase the intensity- Celina had taught me how to use her air manipulations for my betterment and that was why she and I always have made an excellent team. But then I was concerned about the humidity present in the air. Now, this evaluation immediately became a cause to revise my thought. Leave it to get intensified, I was worried if the moisture might atleast allow my fire to stay put on the arrow. Now that was the reason I preferred to keep a distance from Leena.

I slowly walked upfront to study Dhanu's momentum. He was now sprinting back and forth, horizontally, in parallel to the grove. My eyes slightly strained on continuously watching him, the drug in my body was doing a better duty than me. I sighed heavily, raising and dropping down the bow unable to decide when to use it.  How in the world will I ever get him if he stayed too close to the trees?

I was still walking upfront, slowly, hearing the snow beneath my feet making crunching sounds. My hands were tied to act as per my will. One careless attempt and I might lose a day. I took my time, brainstormed for any strategy I could come up with. It took me a while to notice- but for every step I took, Dhanu, even though running in parallel to the line course of the trees, was maintaining the same distance from me, in turn gradually reducing the distance between him and the trees. It was as if he was threatening me to walk any closer.

I shrunk my eyes. An idea immediately popped into my head and so an instant smile across my lips. But first I had to test if my assessment was right.

Keeping a steady focus on Dhanu's movements, I turned to my right to start walking obliquely, in an indirect way towards the grove. I couldn't quite comprehend if Dhanu was watching me, but there was definitely a change in his direction of galloping. I did not stop strolling yet and watched Dhanu systematically maintaining the same distance from me. He and I both moving in an anticlockwise direction. In about a minute or two, I sidetracked Dhanu, further away from the trees.

My smile broadened. I could have never guessed that accomplishing in getting through one of the catches might actually sound so comforting. Any chance of not finishing this challenge in a day was now obviated. I was patient and composed, firmly holding the bow within my palm. I kept on striding towards the trees, watching Dhanu changing his direction with me only in anticlockwise. It took me several minutes to completely divert Dhanu, his back and forth movement sometimes throwing me the dilemma if he was returning back to run around the trees. Finally, I reached the spot where I could stand with my back facing the trees and found Dhanu running in front of the hut.

I sighed heavily. There was no more reason left to prolong this delay. Dhanu seemed to be running in the same direction that helped me overcome my dilemma and my hand itched to use the bow and arrow ever since. Having my eyes fixed on Dhanu, I lifted my bow up, steadily pulling the arrow back with my fingers, muscles in my arm throbbed a little that I couldn't care less. For the very first attempt, I decided to release the arrow without firing it up, only to assess my level of energy and speed of the arrow. I stared through the peep sight, pulling the arrow thoroughly, hearing its creaking sound, and then I released the force. Arrow shot off the bow immediately, traveling at a greater speed than I had expected, and it flew straight in the air to chase its target.

For once I thought if the arrow was going to hit him already. But gravity bet me, Dhanu was missed by a few inches and the arrow hit right before the hut of the door.

I was having no intention to get surprised noticing the arrow returning to the bow, strung between the cord. And now that my mind has made all its calculations, I decided to go for it.

"Flame Formation!" I commanded.

She appeared in my mind and left within a snap as the fire emerged out of my fingers and quickly advanced all through the arrow. My own fire has never bothered me, except the slight heat, there was never a burning sensation. I was watching Dhanu keenly through the peep sight. His speed was consistent and accurately deciding the time I let the fired up arrow travel with the same speed as earlier. At first, my fire stayed put, flickering with the slow breeze. But I noticed it began to gradually dwindle in its midway and as if someone had poured water on it, the flames quickly put out. The flameless arrow hit the wall of the hut and fell down on the snow.

I took a step back, slumping my shoulders down. That was what I was afraid of. There was too much humidity present in the air and my flames weren't able to handle it. I tried it again and again, arrow kept coming back without any accomplishments. Every time I tried, fire failed to be in intact with the arrow. My aim was getting perfect after every trial. Once or twice, I was even successful in hitting Dhanu on his hocks and knees, but my own fire was letting me down.

I had to change my plan, this definitely wasn't working. My immediate instinct demanded me to run closer to Dhanu and aim from a minimal distance. It looked like an obvious plan but it also carried a high risk of it- now if I made an attempt to step away from the trees, it might only give Dhanu a possible opportunity to run around the trees again. I mentally shook my head, it wasn't worth it.

I licked my lips and raced my mind without taking my eyes off him. I deliberated with myself to think of any formation command that was more suitable in this situation. If I used my fierce commands, fire might just come in way and I might not be able to concentrate on my target. Such commands were out of scope.

I blinked as it quickly occurred to me, the one command Doctor had taught me but I never used it well, for it lesser space consuming quality. I positioned myself again, my heart drumming for I pinned all my hopes on this very command. Deciding the right time, I pulled my arrow back and commanded my stone.

"Spiral-Ablaze Formation!"

A single strip of sparkling fire zoomed out my palms and writhed around the arrow. Nazira yet again showed herself in my mind and disappeared at once. I immediately let go my arrow to make it possible to travel with my command.

I fidgeted standing right at the spot.

"Come on," I whispered, watching it go.

An uncontrollable grin spread across my face when the fire did not vanish, it stayed put all through its journey. I felt extremely contended for choosing the right command at the right time. I was devoid of all the problems now and have managed to deal with the conditions given to me. The only constraint was left for me to emphasize more on the timing.

My continuous streaks of attack went on for a while. Dhanu, unlike Vrischika, was neither stopping nor getting tired. He just kept running in front of the hut. When I released the fire coiled up arrow, I took a step forward when my intuition stated that it was going to be my last trial. High hopes flaring within my heart when the arrow was almost there to get him.. I began breathing heavily, wishing it to be done already.

Baaaaam!

My mouth fell open. No doubt, that the arrow yet again failed to hit Dhanu. But unfortunately, something else became its target- the mesh curtain of the window beside the door of the hut.

It blazed up with fire, slight black smoke rising in the air. I was worried if the intensity might increase and devour the whole hut. Walls made of stones and pebbles slightly reduced my stress to see anything of such happening. But little did I knew that it could lead to worse.

My heart skipped a beat when the door opened and Nazira rushed out of the hut, turned around gazing at the fire on the window.

"Oh damn!" I groaned.

Dhanu made a u-turn and was now running towards the hut...towards her. I wished him to not take her into consideration as a hurdle and reduce his speed but he seemed not to have any such idea.

Nervousness piled up on me and I broke down into a cold sweat. I wished her to look at me for I might just have to sign at her to watch out. But she still didn't, neither at me nor at Dhanu. I had no other choice. Her safety was the main priority. Dhanu could come over and run around the trees, wasting a day did not seem to be a big problem now.

I kicked my heels and ran towards her, holding the bow and the arrow in one hand and waving the other as a gesture to find me. Thankfully she turned around and spotted me frowning over.

"Get back!" I shouted, even though I knew it was useless.

Dhanu was only a little distance away from her. She must have noticed something was approaching her when she shifted her focus towards the Constellia that had scared her once already. I was still running watching her getting scared and frantically taking steps back.

I was unable to wrap my mind around something that was going to happen- Dhanu was about to hurt her.

And I was sensing my personal transformation. My blood boiled and my skin began to heat up. The monster that I had felt before aroused deep within my heart and it roared similar to the time when Jyran had intended to hurt her. Dhanu was heading towards someone who belonged to me, someone who was mine, someone who was precious than my own life.

"Spiral Ablaze Formation!" I shouted unknowingly, curling my fire over the arrow directed at Dhanu, while we both were running towards her. My voice had come out so elevated and gravelly that I even doubted if it was me who commanded.

I didn't know if I aimed right, I didn't know if my timing was right, but I just went ahead with my intuition, or the monster in me forcing me to just do it. I released the arrow and it traveled with much higher speed than it had before.

All my focus was frozen up on Nazira, that didn't even shift on a thunderous scream that suddenly reverberated. It shook my ears and then my mind acknowledged that it was Dhanu who cried out, getting caught on fire. Writhing, he slipped and fell over the snow but his speedy momentum did not let him remain unmoved. Nazira had to hop a little more back when the half-man, half-horse skid over pushing the snow aside and finally halting down near her feet.

"Are you okay?" I cried when I finally got close to her. She didn't notice me but was looking down at the roasted Constellia with her panic-stricken eyes.

The fire on Dhanu slowly began to extinguish over his ashen body. I knew my fire should not harm him being a Constellia but I couldn't deny, watching him burn let my anger down and reverted me to my normal self. I was panting heavily when the blackness around his body slowly began to disappear. Then he stirred and lifted his heavy body to stand up.

Nazira and I glanced at each other. Noticing a thin sheen of sweat over her forehead broke me down into a gentle smile.

"Hayden Mackay," Dhanu said grabbing my attention, and having his hand in between the opened Gates, "Did I scare the gal again?"

"Yes, of course, you did," I said, irked, when Nazira folded her shivering hands, "But I don't get it. You could have stopped running. What if she's hurt?"

"Des challenges are designed dat way," said Dhanu, "The rules were set up, that nothin' can change dem. Once I start running, I cannot stop until defeated."

"So nonsensical," I commented, slightly irritated, "But whatever, I think I just have to deal with it. Will the hut be okay?"

"Hut travels wid you, so it should be back to normal in the next realm," he assured and then smiled, "Congratulations. Yeh're really faster and smarter dan da firs' two."

I nodded, trying to feel nice about myself on hearing the note of appreciation I received.

Turning towards Nazira and before I could tell her that we were supposed to go, she signaled hurriedly, "Did I come in your way? I am so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I said, "It happened for the best."

Her eyes twinkled. Smiling fondly, I gazed at her face brightened with the brilliant light falling on her. She walked upfront, understanding all by herself that we were needed to go.

"Hayden Mackay," said Dhanu unexpectedly, stopping me before I jumped through Gates, "Yeh've done well so far. Bu' beware, be careful. Nex' realm is from where de Second Cornelian user never moved on."

I frowned. "Wh...what do you mean?"

"Second Cornelian Samagraha died in the Realm of Makara-Pruthvi Krishna's Constellia."

-x-