The next morning, all three friends set out on their return journey to the Ashram along the circuitous, lesser-known route. They were making rapid headway, having been provided with a fresh pair of horses at Ashkora. The Head Lama gave them an inscrutable smile gesturing them to be very careful. His solemn vow of silence forbade him from speaking anything in words. The other monks promised to take the horses they had left near the broken bridge under their wings and take care of them.

While they were riding, Bhavani asked, "I wonder what the Head Lama was trying to tell us. Any ideas, friends?"

"May be he wanted us to be all eyes and watch our every single step on the path. Don't you think so, Narasimha?" Dilipa remarked.

"And why do you think he was making footprints all over the muddy soil? He was rummaging through his things and indicating as though he had found whatever he was searching for. What must he have intended to convey? Was it something literal or figurative", Narasimha pondered aloud musing to himself what the Head Lama could have possibly meant.

Bhavani squealed out aloud, "I think he meant that." All of them turned to look in the direction towards which her pointer finger was pointing. It had rained the previous night. As a result, imprints of whatever or whoever had crossed that path recently were being formed on the wet and loose soil. They found that all their horses had left tracks all along the path they had traversed. Just beside the tracks of their horse hooves, they espied huge and mammoth footprints on the slushy soil.

They got down their horses to investigate from where these footprints were coming and in which direction they lead across the sylvan wilderness. "The Yeti! My! My! Those feet are truly humongous. My imagination congeals at the thought of how big he must have been."

For a moment, Bhavani carefully examined the footprints before she said, "This isn't a Yeti or creature of some sort that has been down this path."

"Are you sure?" Narasimha reiterated, not sure how far or how well she knew these things.

"An animal or creature would have webbed paws with huge claws digging up mud wherever it presses its foot. Only human feet leave footprints like this one. It is a human foot, huge no doubt, but human all the same. While we lived in the jungles and forests, we often used to wear sheared tiger skin and claws to our foot to camouflage our footprints and scare off our enemies into thinking a wild creature was on the prowl. This man has been very clever. He has covered his whole body with sheared white sheep's wool. Parts of the fluffy material has fallen down here. He has disguised himself to look like the legendary Yetis. What he didn't take care about were his footprints. They are his own and completely human", Bhavani replied.

"How did you know all these intricate details?" Dilipa curiously asked. "I have been a part of several hunting expeditions but all these things did not strike even me."

Bhavani proudly said, "I've had no real home or full-fledged family I could call my own. Everything in my life including my home and family have been fractured. I've never had anything that was full and complete in my life.  Existence in those forests and rugged mountains where I spent my entire childhood taught me many things. You never noticed these things because you were hunting. It was a sport for you. But we were being hunted in those jungles. Ours was a do-or-die battle to escape."

Narasimha felt his chest momentarily get constricted. Bhavani's accidental words homed their way into his kind and compassionate heart just the way ships and maritime vessels find the path in the homing beacon light on the shore. He told himself, "Never in future will you lead this kind of nomadic and wandering existence in future. You will have a beautiful home and family to call your own. I will ensure that as your friend."

Narasimha said, "I think we should follow these footprints and see where this trail leads us."

"I am not so sure friend. He looks so huge. We should rather return with some additional help and reinforcements. Our physical strength and powers might not be sufficient to take him on", Dilipa remarked.

Narsimha replied, "If we let this opportunity go, we might never unravel this mystery. I think we should follow carefully without giving off that we are on the trail."

"I think Narasimha is right. He might leave this place if we waste any more time", said Bhavani supporting Narasimha's suggestion.

Dilipa shrugged his shoulders and reconciled himself to the proposition though he wasn't absolutely convinced, "All right! If you two say so. I wonder how God made two friends with such well-assorted madness that suits each other as you two."

"Say three, Dilipa. He made three friends with well-assorted madness that suits each other", Bhavani quipped.

"Wait until I catch you Kshathrani!" Dilipa ran after Bhavani chasing her.

"Hey! Wait, you two! I am coming", Narasimha shouted running behind his two friends. He shook his head in frustration. They were teasing and bickering with each other even in the present circumstances. These two would never change!
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There stood the Yeti, the object of their quest, towering and looming like a dark  spectre in a small clearing between the pine trees. If one went by appearance, he appeared absolutely terrifying and impenetrable.

What he was doing there loitering and pottering about in the snowy and sylvan wilderness which seemed more to belong to him than any of them was beyond their guess. If they hadn't known everything they did, they would have readily taken sides with all those simple village folk claiming that the deadly menace had returned to have his retribution.

Narasimha whispered to his two friends, "Don't make any sound that might warn him or give us off to him. We need to observe what he is up to and why."

But even before he could complete his assertion, Bhavani sneezed. Horror stuck, Narasimha asked, "What have you done? He must have heard us."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to spoil your well-laid plans. I am allergic and scared of wet mud. It gives me a feeling as though I am suffocating and darkness is closing in upon me. I tried my best to control for a long, long while but I couldn't", explained a highly repentant Bhavani catching hold of her ears with both her hands.

But there remained no time either for reproaches or explanations. The looming white apparition scooped down and picked a screaming Bhavani who flung about her arms this way and that trying to evade the slimy grasp of the creature. She dug her dainty and pinkish nails deep into his skin and bit him hard near the shoulder flap over which he had flung her like a rag doll.

Narasimha and Dilipa stood in his path trying to prevent him from taking away their friend. They threw sticks, stones and boulders at him. But he simply evaded and flicked them off with his hands. None of this seemed to bother him in the very least. Narasimha and Dilipa tried to stop him from advancing by holding him back with their hands.

He twisted their hands backwards and flung both of them into the air. Both of them unceremoniously landed in a heap on either sides of his path. However, undeterred by this, Narasimha launched at his feet trying to trip him and prevent him from taking away Bhavani. This action angered him even more.

He furiously assaulted Narasimha under his feet crushing his last signs of resistance. Bhavani's disheveled face, bloodshot eyes, hot tears and bleeding hands were the disturbing images that flashed in his line of vision before everything seemed to black out and darkness closed in.

Within the innermost recesses of Narasimha's subconscious mind, a brilliant white light and voice called out to him, "Rise Narasimha! Rise!"

His eyes flickered and his limbs moved slightly.

It was his Guru calling out to him. "Nuvvu janminchinadhi ila maraninchadaaniki kaadu, Narasimha. Ee Mahaasenaku kaaboye Mahaasenaanivi nuvvu! (You weren't born to die in this ignominious fashion, Narasimha. You are destined to be the great leader of this great army) This is who you are. This is your true lineage. Listen carefully. Realize! Rise!"

His Guru's voice gradually transformed itself into yet another unknown voice. Narasimha had never heard it before even in his dreams. But it seemed more familiar than his own mother's voice.

"Maranam.....Mahasenaa ....yedhi maranam....Mana gundadhairyam kanna shatru balagam pedhadhi anukovadam maranam.....Ranarangamlo chaavukanna pirikithanamtho bathikiundadam maranam.....Naa thallini nelani yeh neechudu nikkrushtudu thakaledani rommu chilchi nethru thagi cheppadanniki velthunnaanu.....Naa tho vachedhi yavaru?.....Na tho chachchedevaru?......A maranaanini dhati naa tho gelichedevaru?......Jai Mahishmati!.....(What is death?......Oh warrior, what is death?.....To think that the enemy's strength is greater than our mental strength is death.....To be alive on the battlefield in cowardice is worse than death.....I will cut off the tongue and rend the heart of anyone who casts an evil eye on my land and my mother with his filthy hands......Who will come with me?.......Who will die along my side?.......Who will win that death and win along with me?........Glory be to Mahishmati!........)

Narasimha took in a deep and heavy breath of air. He suddenly woke up with a start saying, "Nenu!.....(Me!) Jai Mahishmati."

He could feel goosebumps running all over him. He felt as though something had turned within him upside down. Feelings of patriotism, bravery and courage were running within his veins like a flooded river that could break its bounds any moment. It seemed as though the strength of a thousand elephants was powering his muscles. Who was that man? What connection did he share with him?

"Thank goodness! You're alright. I thought it was the end", exclaimed a highly relieved Dilipa crying tears of happiness over his friend. He had almost given up all his hopes when he could not detect the pulse for a single moment.

"Bhavani........", Narasimha feebly asked after a pause.

Dilipa sadly shook his head, "The Yeti took Bhavani.......I saw him going towards that dilapidated crypt. I didn't know what to do.....Here you.....and there Bhavani.....I am sorry. I failed both of you."

Narasimha held Dilipa's hand, "Hush! If anybody needs to apologize, it's me for putting both of you in danger."

Dilipa asked, "What are we going to do to save her from the Yeti?"

Narasimha's young face set in a resolute mould, "Both you and I know the Yeti is a falsehood. Whatever it was, it isn't the Yeti." Gritting his teeth, he continued, "I got her into this situation. I will get her out of it too! I will try my best to stop him for some while. Our horses must still be in the clearing where we left them. Go and get some help here as fast as possible."

"Are you sure you can manage? Can you take him on single-handedly?" Dilipa asked with his eyes full of concern.

"There is no other choice", Narasimha smiled. There was only firm determination and resolution in his expressions.
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Author's Note:

I've updated three back to back chapters. I actually wanted to complete this book. But I have been terribly exhausted and tired. So signing off till next week. Just one more chapter for the end of Book Six and the start of Book Seven: The Daughter of Mahishmati Returns. It will be time once again to pick up the story from where we left Aparaajitha and the rest. Thank you for staying with me and this story till now. The support, encouragement and motivation I get from my readers keeps me going. If you liked what you read, please vote, comment and support this story.