Danger 2

Walking all night had took a toll on all of them. They were tired and on the verge of giving in but Mr Feathers refused to quiet down. It would start squawking angrily as soon as they slowed down. Laksh couldn't help as the hatred for that bird became deeper. He felt like a slave being thrown around by that damned bird! But he calmed himself down. He had no other choice. If even his teacher and the First Priest Dharma were afraid of him, what could a mere disciple like him do? Other than gulping down his anger, obviously. He kept his head low and tried to ignore its annoying squawks.

Visha looked at the tired faces of everyone and couldn't help but pity them. Mr Feathers could be quite stubborn when he wanted. She still remembered how he had stayed quiet as she had stumbled around that lake for three days, despite knowing the way out. Even though his intentions were to keep her safe in return for healing him, he was aware of the reason she was wandering around for and still chose to keep shut. And the next time was when he jumped at her last night and stubbornly refused to let them wait and get rest. She had no other way but to comply to his wishes.

What she couldn't understand was the reason behind this sudden urgency. Just what could have riled up the most powerful spirit of the forest to this extent?

Visha was still wondering about it when several small thuds echoed all around them. Everyone was immediately alert as they glanced around themselves. Mr Feathers started to squawk even louder as it flapped its wings and pointed forward. Nati yelled, "He's telling to run. Hurry up!"

Visha dashed towards the cart and gave it a large shove pushing it from behind. Priest Dravya and Laksh were the ones at front right now. They immediately picked up the gesture and pulled with all their strength and might. Danish started pushing even harder beside Visha and the cart soon gained speed as it stumbled upon the rocky path. The forest wasn't plain anywhere, they were grateful it wasn't too dense and atleast they could pull a cart through it. Priest Dharma tightened his hold on the cart in the fear of falling from it. The sudden speed had made the journey get much more rockier than before. They had certainly gained speed as they kept dashing forward. Beads of sweat started to form and drip down slowly from the bodies of the four of them. They were gasping for air but didn't dare slow down, they knew that whatever the swan had sensed was powerful and from what they had heard also quite many in number. Mr Feathers squawked again and flapped its wings in happiness. Priest Dharma gladly announced the good news, "The end of this chamber is straight ahead. Just a little more."

A wave of joy surged among them. Danish let out a scream as he put his all in the end sprint. Priest Dravya and Laksh followed suit as they let out cries exerting their all in it. Visha too felt relieved as they saw an end to this vigorous journey. But it was too early for their joy.

Loud gallops were heard right behind them and before they could turn to look, a shadow leaped above their heads and landed right in front of them.

Priest Dravya and Laksh almost fell on their faces to bring the cart to halt all of a sudden. Danish too tried to pull it back so they won't bear all the force of the heavy thing. His hands were calloused from the rough vines in trying to do so. The inertia of this had almost made Priest Dharma fall off but thankfully he had tightened his grips beforehand.

Everyone looked up as they gave into their bubbling curiosity. Even though the swan's reaction had sowed a seed of fear inside them the curiosity won over it. They lifted their gazes to see a black hairy tail swinging as the creature turned back to face them. Their eyes widened in shock as they stared at that magnificent body of a half-horse, half-human creature. It's beautiful black wings neatly folded on the sides as it feathers seemed to shine in sunlight. Its gorgeous horse back with perfect curves. The light bouncing off of the sharp tip of a spear he held instantly caught their attention. They stared at the man's handsome and finely toned upper body that could make ladies swoon all over it. One could say the human part of it was more than just handsome, it was oddly charming as it let out a chilly dominating aura.

Visha stared at the mysterious creature that had brazenly stood in their way. It was a Gandharva. A race of warrior creatures that had the honor to fight alongside the Gods in the wars against demons. This was back when demons lived and walked among humans on this earth. Then they became outwardly brazen enough to come out of the dark attacking and even taking over human kingdoms forcing them to become slaves for demons. The usually aloof Realm of the Gods had to step in due to the chaos. There were countless wars before Gods successfully pushed them back into the Demon world. And Gandharvas had served as cavalry in their armies. They were a haughty, prideful warrior race that no one would want to go against. Their battle skills were something humans could never match. Even the weakest among them would be able to fight away a troop of atleast a hundred soldiers with ease.