VAISHALI-1

When the stars spread their magic on the sun,

In highest of the heavens:Where the doors are decorated with strings of lusture...

On the day of the moon,

the true jowhari (jeweller) fails to notice the gem;

the vine shall seek its stalk ...from the fires of hell

the one who drank venom to save the world shall be saved ...

only to be lost in the depths of the impending doom! 

But the deed done the fate's seal shall haunt destiny...

SHAALU !!!!SHAALU!!! Oh my god Shaalu get up are you ok? Shaalu?

From the depths of darkness she tried to pry her eyes open but they would not open. Her eyelids fluttered then opened and she saw a blur! VAISHALI! Now the male voice was concerned in earnest! please kuch bolo! Please! You Ok? hey!

"TE<>>J!!! I...Uh am ok." She mumbled." Its ok!" The man called Tejas just hugged her tight. "Oh my god here i was thinking that... well just leave it. What happened! Where were you? What the hell is this? "waving his habd ta her.

Vaishali remembered that she had scratches all over her arms, feet... her sari was torn oh god!!! she groaned and looked down and blinked. She was absolutely fine. Not a scratch. She had twigs all over her long hair which was just secured at her nape by a band. That's all! THAT'S ALL? Now she was running away... Wait!!!!...she saw that AGHORA -Did she? or was she imagining things?strange!" ...and you happened to vanish so....Vaishali?" Tejas was continuing and stopped realising she was staring at herself him and around without any focus!

"What happened Teju?" she asked him.

"What ?" he exclaimed.

"Just tell me.Please!" she pleaded.

The look in her eyes made him stop anything that he was going to say. He said simply..."You were there with all of us one minute and the next I saw you going down the valley. Since i could see you and since i thought you wanted to be" ... he paused "to be alone, I just kept an eye on you and i turned for a minute to see the rest and you were gone. I came down and started walking down towards the woods and found you running towards me and fall! "

"huh?"

"Now tell me ma'am where were you. You scared the hell out of me." Tejas  said sternly.

"I am sorry!" Vaishali stuttered.

" You better be! I was about to raise an alarm! Don't you ever be irresponsible again!"

"Ok baba"

"Vaishali?"

"hun"

"You are hiding something from me is it not? when you are ok, let me know what that is!"

Vaishali made an O with her mouth as Tejas helped her to her feet and led her up the valley!

As Vaishali trailed him, SHE HAD A STRONG URGE TO LOOK BACK!!! BUT THE VOICE OF THE AGHORA ECHOED ...DO NOT LOOK BACK IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE! What rubbish! for all that she knew she might have wandered and got hurt on her head and imagined all that ... she should check her head for bumps as now everything called head hurt!She still wanted to turn back!!!but a pricking sensation on her neck made her uneasy. She trotted to Tejas and took his arm and he casually draped his arm around her and walked towards the gardens.

It was good that Vishali never turned back!!! Cause if she did she would have seen a dark shilhoute against the dipping cliff on the far side which was of a man slender as a reed holding a staff that was nothing but a twisted branch of a tree finely chisseled.

You just read a work of ...

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