The trees and thickets were being cleared in the western corner of the main island of the Malava, the Kaumodi island. Most of their settlements and plantations were on this island. As their numbers started growing, the inhabitants started making use of other islands too. But this was the largest in terms of size and also most conducive to the spice plantations that grew prolifically on these islands.

The inhabitants of the Malava islands made use of only the land they actually needed for housing, fishing, handicrafts, farming and animal husbandry. So several vast stretches of land had been unexplored and untouched even after they had been living here for thirteen years. Annapoorna and Aparaajitha were overseeing the clearing of land for the construction of the strongroom.

"This entire area has to be cleared before sunset. We will commence constructing the strongroom tomorrow", said Annapoorna.

Aparaajitha was additionally serving and passing everyone buttermilk and cooling drinks to relieve them from exhaustion and also assisting them with a few odds and ends herself, "Here.....have this! You must be tired. I will do your job for you until you are ready to resume."

Just then from the farthest corner, one of the workers shouted, "Amma......come here. There is something in here....."

For the time being, the work was stalled and everyone, including Annapoorna and Aparaajitha, went to inspect and investigate what the matter was. The flustered worker continued, "I was clearing this dense overgrowth of vines when I accidentally tugged this rope with my hand like this. A gaping hole appeared revealing a subterranean passage. When I pulled it the other way, the passage got shut and everything looks as it was before."

With bated breath, Aparaajitha tugged at the rope as Annapoorna placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder cautiously, "Careful...."

The gaping hole appeared just like the worker had told. Annapoorna instructed, "This passage leads somewhere else. Somebody has to go down to examine where it goes and what is there at the other end. It doesn't seem to have been opened in many many years. It looks very dark, dank, and musky. There is a danger that somebody who goes down this path could be asphyxiated. It wouldn't admit more than two at a time. Who is willing to go in?"

Mrithyunjay had come there hearing this whole commotion. Just like always, he volunteered to go down that underground passage all alone. But nobody else seemed willing to follow or support him. That is the way the fickle human mind worked. All these people had cheered and clapped for him as their hero and savior just yesterday. But today, when he had to go into something that was dangerous and tricky, they were not ready to support or follow. All they cared for was to keep their own skins safe.

There were many times when Mrithyunjay wondered if these people would actually be up to the challenge of fighting against Subahu and freeing their motherland, Mahishmati when the time for that came. They would probably be happy enough to be living the way they always did until something wouldn't shake them and their lethargy to the core. They wouldn't fight until their current existence was threatened in some way or the other.

Mrithyunjay shook his head at the apparent apathy of the inhabitants. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and descended into the passage all alone. He wasn't like them. He still cared. Whatever it was at the other end could be exceedingly important to them if such precautions were taken to hide its existence.

As soon as Aparaajitha saw this, the color started evading her face. Her throat choaked and her limbs started becoming numb. A wave of panic gripped her with a wild frenzy. What if she was to never see him again just like her parents after he disappeared into that gaping black hole? Witnessing the fluctuating emotions and rapid changes in her visage, Annapoorna held on to her hands rigidly. But Aparaajitha freed her hands from her mother's hold. She said in a low but determined voice audible only to Annapoorna, "Let me go today, mother......Or else, I will never be able to forgive myself.....or you for that matter."

Annapoorna involuntarily loosened her hold over Aparaajitha's hand as she rushed behind Mrithyunjay unmindful of everything else. Annapoorna looked on greatly shocked at the first signs of rebellion of her favorite daughter. She knew that she couldn't contain or keep Aparaajitha with herself forever. That instant she instinctively realized that her little girl had grown up and was desperate to break free from the cosy nest she had built for her.
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It was a small tunnel like structure. Aparaajitha walked carefully taking care not to slip or fall down. The ground and the surface of the cylindrical passage was greenish and full of overgrown and discolored moss. Algae and mushrooms of all sorts, ordinary and poisonous seemed to be flourishing throughout the passage. The odor was so prominent and overpowering that Aparaajitha had to cover herself up tightly with the hem of her half-saree and breathing occasionally only when it was absolutely imperative to prevent herself from gagging.

Light barely filtered through after she had taken barely five steps forward. It was absolutely dark and the sounds of her own breathing got so distorted that they sounded terribly monstrous and horrible. Her own footsteps were echoing and reverberating in this noiseless stillness just as Mrithyunjay's were.

This experience would have unnerved and unsettled her had it not been for the fact that the person for whom she cared the most in this world apart from her foster mother was also a few steps ahead of her in the same tunnel battling the very same issues that she was facing. This very thought gave her the strength and determination to overcome even the God of Death, Yama, should they both be unfortunate enough to face  him today.

Patches and parts of the roof of the tunnel kept falling off occasionally. She only prayed that the tottering and half-damaged structure would hold up until they reached the other end of the tunnel. And how in the heavens were they actually going to make their way back after investigating. She would rather not think about that now. She would concentrate only on the present moment.

Both Aparaajitha and Mrithyunjay took care to duck and avoid them as they proceeded forward. Mrithyunjay was ten or fifteen steps ahead of Aparaajitha in the tunnel. His face brightened up for a fraction of a second when he saw who had followed him. His eyes and quickening heartbeats spoke what his voice refused to assert in words, "Thank you for being here with me!"

Aparaajitha's face too brightened up with gratitude for a second as she said to herself, "I know you can face anything for me and our people including hell fire. But how could you have thought I would let you face all this alone?" An age had passed when neither of them spoke anything. Each knew why the other was here and why. It was because they both cared for each other the way they did for no other mortal being.

This yearning, this longing, this desperation to be with each other and die for the other seemed to belong only to both of them. They hardly knew why they felt so but they only knew that so it was. They held each other's gaze fixedly without breaking it even for a tiny instant. After each of them had finished drinking into each other souls without speaking a single word, they resumed their journey across the tunnel.

After a long pause, Mrithyunjay remarked, "Looking at the way this tunnel was built, I assume it wasn't built to accommodate adults of normal height, weight and build. Maybe a child...."

"Or dwarfs could have.....", Aparaajitha chipped in stuck by this sudden thought.

Mrithyunjay nodded, "You are right. They could have employed dwarfs to hide whatever has been hidden here. Looking at the care whoever has taken to hide it, it must have been very important."

"But if it was so important, why didn't anybody come in these long years we were here to get it?" Aparaajitha asked.

"No idea. Unless we find out what treasure exists at the other end of this tunnel, we cannot come to a definite conclusion", replied Mrithyunjay.

After this short exchange of conversation, they had not proceeded for more than two minutes when a portion of the roof of the tunnel just caved in collapsing over where Mrithyunjay was standing in a huge heap. Aparaajitha who had luckily been behind him by many steps escaped being hurt. However, the dust and the dry mud that got ruffled due to this disaster took a minute or two to settle down.

Aparaajitha's eyes were temporarily put out of action by the dislodged mud getting into them. A violent fit of coughing ensued as her respiratory system tried to evade the onslaught of dry mud, dust, and green moss from overpowering her completely. She desperately clawed against the walls of the tunnel for support as she fought to retain consciousness.

She told herself, "Stay awake! Stay awake!......If your own condition is bad, Mrithyunjay's must be worse because the tunnel collapsed over him. Fight back!.......You have to fight for both of you."

The atmosphere within the tunnel had settled down. No more patches or parts of the ceiling were in danger of collapsing. Aparaajitha gingerly fingered the walls of the tunnel to test the strength of the structure. She heaved a sigh of relief inwardly, "This will hold!"

But the supply of air inside the narrow tunnel was rapidly decreasing. She had to be quick if she had to save herself and Mrithyunjay. She couldn't afford to go back to seek help from outside because there was a possibility that the entire structure would collapse leaving Mrithyunjay trapped within forever.

She removed the debris with her hands, little by little, taking care not to damage the already dilapidated structure. She occasionally used the knife tucked within her bodice to do this job. She prayed to God that Mrithyunjay would hold out till then. It had been the curse of her life that she had helplessly watched as all her loved ones perished before her own eyes, her father, mother, and brother. She couldn't lose Mrithyunjay now.

Her eyes started overflowing with tears that refused to stop flowing. At last, she beheld a vague form entrapped within the debris. She pushed and heaved aside the debris that had fallen over Mrithyunjay. She tugged and pulled at him as she lovingly wiped his face with the hem of her half-saree, "Mrithyunjay wake up......Are you alright?"

He wasn't responding to her cries. He seemed to have passed out. She took his wrist in her hand to feel the pulse. She couldn't detect anything. For a slight second, she quivered. Maybe she was panicking. This time she placed her ear against his heart to sense his heartbeat. She felt a very mild and slow strum reverberating against his chest. Her own heart came alive this very instant.

Aparaajitha heaved a sigh of relief. She placed her lips against his as she breathed a puff of air into his lungs. She did it two more times before he began coughing. She modestly drew back before he regained consciousness. After regaining consciousness, he looked into her eyes for an entire instant with uncomprehending eyes. All past, present and future seemed immaterial. Who she was, who he was, who he used to be were all drowned in complete oblivion. What seemed to matter was that they both were together this moment, this instant.
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Author's Note: Sorry dear friends and readers for the late update. I wasn't well the whole of last week. So I couldn't write anything good and substantial. I am feeling much better now. Hope all of you like this update. If you really liked what you read, please vote, comment and support this story.