"How easily we love ourselves above all others, yet we put more stock in the opinions of others than in our own estimation of self..."

I rubbed my sweaty palm on my trousers, as I couldn't contain my interest to find out what's inside the box as we wait eagerly for the craftsman to open it, in his tiny antique shop.

I felt a warm hand, engulfing my cold ones in them. I turned towards Adi to see his concerned look.

"Don't be anxious, he will open it. He is the best craftsman here", he squeezed my hands reassuringly as his golden hues tried to penetrate my soul.

My heart skipped a beat seeing his handsome face so close to me and the fact that he was holding my hands was also not helping for my silly heart to slow down its race.

Take your hands off me, can't you see the effects you have on my poor organ.

My mind raced back to the conversation we had yesterday in his mansion.

The fact that, Adi knew me even before we met in my embarrassing bicycle mishap was shocking to me. And I was
perplexed knowing that I handed him one of the locket, that I was hysterically searching for.

I couldn't still comprehend the turn of events but it strengthened my hunch to search for the third locket that was in the sketch.

"It's finally opened Sir", the man huffed out relieved to open the box after an hour long of hardwork. Adi thanked him, while we came out of the mini shop.

"You were right", his eyes twinkled seeing the object inside."There is a locket inside it".

"Yes!!!!", I beamed wrapping my arms around his neck tightly, which caused his body to freeze for a moment.

I gasped, my eyes widening as I realized my instinct actions. I stepped back in a lightening pace as my eyes refused to meet his.

"I.....I....I'm sorry", I stammered fiddling with my hair strands that escaped from the tie.

"Are you blushing Ms. Kulkarni", I heard an amused tone.

"No", I instantly shook my head little too fast making his grin to widen.

"Yeah why will you? this is not the first time we are hugging, right?" he smirked tucking his hands in his pockets and continuing to walk as if he didn't utter anything.

"W......wh...what?"

"Did you really said that out, you bastard!!!!", I marched towards him ready to attack before he caught my wrist in his tight grip.

He laughed softly, as he pulled me towards his chest.

"Why so harsh..... sweetheart?"

I nearly chocked with his words as my cheeks reddened. I tried to wiggle out of his hold but he pulled me near such that our faces were inch apart.

"Adi... what are you doing?", I gritted
"We are in the middle of the streets".

"So?"

The nerve of this man. I'm sure he is possessed by an evil witch. He is acting weird now. Hard to believe he is the same stone-faced man whom I met.

"Ok fine!!", he let my hands unwillingly
huffing like a child denied of candies and started to take long strides leaving me behind.

Oh!! He is really possessed.

Crazy child.

"Adi..... will you stop, Ouch!!!!", a sudden pain erupted from my back as I tried to catch up with him.

"Hey, are you ok", he quickly came by my side holding my shoulders.

"Yeah, it's fine. Just that I tried...."

"I'm really sorry for that", he said genuinely worried.

"No worries, Adi. I'm fine it was just a twitch".

"I told you to rest for another two days", he said not satisfied with my excuse.

"We have already wasted 12 days now Adi. We can't afford to lose any more now".

He took a large breath understanding my concerns. "I know, so what is our next step now".

"What do you think these three lockets are for?", I asked staring at him.

His eyes furrowed in confusion trying to think of all possibilities before they darted widely at me finally realizing.

"Are you implying what I'm thinking now?", he asked baffled.

"Yes".

"But we can't step a foot near temple during day as it's flooded by devotees all the time", he voiced out uncertainly.

"Then we are going during the night, when nobody will be around"

"As you wish my queen", he said smugly clearly knowing the effects his words had on me.

"What's wrong?", I asked, seeing Adi clenching his phone in his hand angrily.

"The bastard is refusing to open his bloody mouth. He is repeating the same thing from two days", he said as his eyes held the fire in them.

My breathing quickened remembering the incident. "Maybe he is telling the truth", I whispered.

He scoffed at that shooking his head. "He is telling he doesn't know the person who paid him. I'm sure he is afraid to speak the truth"

"Ok, now calm down. Let's wait for him to trust us", I said trying to calm him.

"By the way, tell me whether anyone saw you when you were coming here except your friends", he asked narrowing his eyes.

"No. Eveyone were gone for the temple", I said reminiscising that day when I left to see Adi.

"Oh! wait a second. Darsh was there", I said remembering the conversation I had with that annoying brat.

I looked at Adi to see his eyes had turned stormy like a blazing night ready to strike my poor cousin. I huffed at his foolish thoughts.

"Before you conclude anything let me tell you this", I said gazing at his fury eyes. "he is a coward who knows only barking and moreover he can't think of hurting me even in his dreams".

That was true. Darsh was like a street dog who barks, bug not bite kind of person.

He snorted loudly muttering something under his breath like this.

As if I will allow you to enter his dreams.

"This is the same temple plan, but it's complex we cannot understand anything based on this", he said keeping aside dad's sketch.

"Yes", I agreed with him showing him other sketches I got from dad's room .

"Ow, it looks so real and similar to the one we saw in grandpa's book", he said staring at the golden-white sketch of a serpent.

"It would have been much easier if we knew this bloody language", he said exasperated trying to analyze the writings on the inscriptions.

"I'm sure we can get some clues, if we visit the temple today. We can atleast try to search for those other gateways with these lockets", I said.

"Are they already dead", I whispered seeing the two temple guards sleeping like logs on the chairs.

"Not yet", Adi smirked at them.

"Hey, don't tell me you did something to them", I whisper yelled at him.

"Nah, I told my guards to gift them a strong bottle of.......... you know......", he hesitated.

"You sly man..., what if they tell your grandpa", I raised my eyebrows at him.

"They received the gift on my oldman's behalf" ,he smirked.

This cunning fox. Treating the poor workers with wine.

"Ok, common now", he dragged me towards the now lighted temple.

"It's creepy over here at this time",I whispered lighting my torch as we came towards northwards of the temple.

"Give me the lockets", Adi said opening them.

"Now, if our intuition is right, atleast one of them should slightly move", he said holding them towards north.

We started walking outside the wide corridors of the temple,sculpted with huge pillars intricately.

"No, this is not working", I said after almost fifteen minutes of examining the north hallway, but the hands of the compass didn't even move slightly.

"Then what's the use of these", Adi huffed pinching his nose.

"Let's not loose our hope so easily. We still have two other directons to verify", I said dragging him away from there.

"It's highly impossible to mark the other two boundaries, Ira. Nobody has passed through the west and south boundaries
before this", he said.

"It would have been best if we had the clear blueprint of this place, it looks like a maze which can only be entered without exit", I said trying to pass through the broken pillars which were overgrown by creepers and bushes making it look like a small jungle.

The temple's sanctorum(garbagriha) is facing the east and is open to all the devotees. Even the north side is also clear and one can pass through it easily.

But the opposite direction of the opening of sanctorum ie.....west is completely a destroyed site, with crumbles of large boulders and pillars fallen on the ground with bushes and creepers grown around them.

It's rumored that some foreign invaders
tried to destroy the architecture of the temple and they couldn't do it entirely other than destroying some parts of it.

It's also believed that, they eyed to destroy the sanctorum of the temple and couldn't do it from the main entrance, so they decided to enter from the opposite side ie....west.

So, the entire western and some part of south sculptures of the temple is destroyed.

Well, it's all the rumors. We don't know the exact truth.

"Ira, What is that glinting figure? "I glance towards the direction he is pointing out.

The same shimmering light, that is now very much familiar to me was glinting
there amidst the ruins not far from where we stood. Radiating a divine beam.

"That's her".