After parting from Narasimha, Bhavani and the old physician started their slow trek across the woods to Nachiyar's camp. It wasn't a wise decision to venture into the woods at this time of the night. Wild animals like tigers, leopards, bears, wild boars and wolves infested these forests. The shadows had started creeping in upon them.

They were in a denser part of the forest. The clouds had hidden the moon. They carried flaming torches to keep away the wild animals. Bhavani had grown up on mountains and forests very much like this one. She was well aware of the challenges they posed. She had equipped herself with knives, a sword , bow and arrows as a precautionary measure in case they were attacked by any of these animals.

"Thatha we must walk fast. It is dangerous being outside at this time of the night", Bhavani said.

"I am not young Bhavani. My feet don't move with my brain", the old man replied. He sat down near a clump of trees panting for breath.

There was a sudden ruffling and crackling of leaves. Bhavani's instincts and training in the wild told her that a wild animal was on the prowl, a wild animal in its hunting mode. Her fears were indeed justified. As she peered into the vague and bleary outlines of the foliage, she could make out several dark and ominous outlines.

She took in a deep gulp of air to mentally prepare herself for the fight that lay ahead. A pack of wolves! Not one, but several. Just think of Heaven to bless you with plenty when you are pondering on how to deal with one. Being mangled by wolves was no cheery prospect to contemplate.

"Think strategy, Bhavani. To outwit wolves, you have to think like wolves and think better than them",  her uncle would have said.

She threw a glance at her surroundings. The old physician was a man of science but no paragon when it came to fighting. She would have to protect him apart from fighting off the wolves. The wolves were currently at bay because of the torches. But she couldn't predict for how long these tiny locks of fire would keep them off. True to her expectations, one of the wolves leapt into the air knocking the torch out of the old man's hand. It rolled and tumbled out, getting extinguished in the process.

Bhavani quickly jumped in front of the old man shielding him with her torch. The eyes of the wolf gleamed wickedly. The rest of the wolves stepped out of the shadows encircling both of them. There were five of them in total. She quickly eyed her surroundings and the best possible use she could put them to in this fight. Just then, one of the wolves took a step towards them. She quickly shoved the torch she was holding right into its eyes before falling back to their original defensive position.

The wolf gave a loud and fiery howl before buckling down on its feet and crumbling. Just then Bhavani's feet stumbled against the extinguished torch that had been knocked out of the old man's hand. She swirled around pulling the old man out of harm's way before driving one of her arrows into the head of one of the beasts with her other hand. The creature bawled and emitted the most horrid screams while kicking and flailing its legs into the air before it lay still.

Two down, three left. Bhavani smiled to herself. Now the odds weren't too bad. They were two against three. Bhavani quickly relit the torch and gave it to the old man, "Thatha, don't let this go for your life. The minute any of those creatures approach us, you mercilessly shove it into them."

The wolves seemed to be even more enraged and rattled by the fall of two among their pack. They started encircling Bhavani and the old man even faster, closing the distance between them.

Bhavani whispered, "Thatha, we can never defeat them when they are together. We have to divide them. There is a booby trap set by hunters to the left and a small grassy hillock to the right. When I signal, you will run to the left towards the trap and I will run towards the hillock. When both of us reach near the trap and the edge of the hillock, we will step aside letting these creatures fall into the booby trap and the valley below the hillock."

The old man nodded his head. Bhavani flicked his hand with her thumb before she dashed towards the right. She just hoped the old man would be able to make it to the booby trap. It was comparatively nearer to the place where they were than the small hillock. Luckily, only one of the wolves was pursuing the old man. She could hear the clang of the trap close upon the leg of the wolf.

The other two wolves that had been pursuing her momentarily paused, listening to their companion get caught in the trap. The hunters had become the hunted. Their desire to exterminate her seemed to become more rabid and urgent. Bhavani tried to run faster and faster towards the edge of the hillock. But her speed was nothing compared to these two vicious beasts.  She was almost there. A few more feet and she would be rid of them forever. Her feet suddenly tripped.

The two beasts fell upon her at the same time. She tried to fend them off with her hands but in vain. The moment she managed to kick one beast off her chest, the other one would close in upon her, clawing her. Her swords, bow and arrows had fallen down in this scuffle. The beasts seemed to be gaining an upper hand over her when she found a tall, well-built man jump into the fray pulling off both the beasts.

Rattled, the beasts left her alone pouncing upon the man. Man and beast rolled over and over in the mud. It was difficult to make out anything in that disarray. As the man rose up after laying both the beasts to waste, her eyes gleamed with disbelief. It was her own uncle, Aditya Varma who had come for her. She ran to him and hugged him as she sobbed, "I never thought I would see you again, uncle."

"Everything's going to be fine, young lady. And what the Hell were you thinking going off like that? I though you were at your Gurukul and here you turn up fighting wolves."

With her eyes upon the ground, Bhavani explained everything that had transpired to her uncle, "So where is Narasimha now? Won't you introduce your friend to me?"

"He left me and Thatha just a short while ago", Bhavani replied. The old physician had also managed to make the steep ascent up the hillock by now.  She explained to her uncle how the three of them had faked Narasimha's death to throw his assassins off scent and how Narasimha had gone behind them after that to find the mastermind behind this whole plot.

"He asked both me and Thatha to seek the help of Urumi Nachiyar till then. We were attacked by these wolves on our way to her camp." While the uncle, niece and old physician were engrossed in talking, they hadn't observed one of the wolves rise up and creep upon them.

Three darts came in quick succession and pierced the wolf's head. All of them had hit the center of its brow. They saw the silhouette of two figures on horses. As they came nearer, Bhavani recognized one of them to be Nachiyar. The other was a very beautiful young woman, probably about nineteen-years-old. She was the one who had fired the darts. The face appeared very familiar. She had seen her somewhere but it did not immediately register where she had seen her.

Nachiyar said, "We heard the noises and sounds of the scuffle and came to investigate. Thank goodness! We were in time."

It was time for introductions and explanations. After everybody was acquainted with everything that had happened and was happening, Nachiyar said, "I think we can discuss all the rest in the morning. It has been a long night already." Turning towards Aditya Varma, Bhavani and the old man, she continued, "I think it is best that you stay with Aparaajitha and her troop at their hideout." All of them acceded to her advice.
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