Was she very shy? Had Amit looked at her in a rude way?
“Why have you come here?” Ritika’s muffled voice came from the inside.
“Um, do you need firewood?” Amit said.”
“No, we don’t. You can go away.”
Now that was rude.
Such a pretty girl, and should she behave like that? Amit felt his temper rise and prepared to heave the wood back onto his back.
Wait a minute. Could it be the garlic? Ritika’s beauty had almost knocked that out of his mind.
Ritika had forgotten to bolt the door in her flight, and it was now partially open. Amit took out the garlic from his pocket. Such a pretty girl and should she be a blood-crazy vampire?
Amit took a deep breath. He held the garlic in front of him as though it were a sword. Then he entered the house, very cautiously.
Amit immediately had to admit that it was a very dark and damp atmosphere inside the house and he could almost sense something sinister was at play.
“Hey there!” he called to the occupants of the house.
“What do you want?” a lady appeared at a door that led to another room— Ruponi, Ritika’s mother. Behind her was Ritika, and she was cowering. The moment Ruponi’s eyes fell on the garlic she went pale. Both mother and daughter took a few steps backwards.
“What- what do you want from us?” Ruponi said.
“Why are you so afraid of this garlic?” Amit asked as he went closer to the pair.
Ritika and Ruponi both seemed at loss for words, their eyes fixed at the garlic with fear.
“Tell me your true identity,” Amit said. “Do you accept that you are vampires?”
“Please put that away,” Ruponi said in a helpless voice.
“Do you accept that you are vampires?” Amit repeated.
Suddenly Ritika pushed Ruponi aside and came towards Amit with her fangs out. Perplexed, Amit couldn’t move and she grabbed the garlic from him before he could react and threw it out through the door. And then Ritika immediately fell down on the floor, clutching the arm with which she had touched the garlic, her face convulsing with pain. In moments she had become unconscious.
“Ritika!” Ruponi cried and rushed to her. She took the unconscious girl on her lap and began wailing. “What have you done!” she asked Amit, her eyes blazing with hatred.
“I- I,” Amit stuttered. Would Ritika die? She had been so afraid of the garlic that she was ready to die just to get rid of it?
“I am sorry,” Amit said. Vampire or human, he hadn’t really meant any harm. He knew vampires dreaded garlic, but he hadn’t really known the extent of their dread.
“C- can I help in anyway?” Amit asked Ruponi.
“Please bring some water,” Ruponi said.
Amit rushed to the kitchen and brought some water in a cup. Ruponi sprinkled it over Ritika’s face and fanned her. After a few tense moments Ritika returned to consciousness. The skin below her eyes seemed to have darkened, but she still looked strikingly beautiful even in her weak form.
“I am sorry,” Amit said.
Ritika slowly sat up.
“My girl,” Ruponi said and kissed her forehead.
“You must understand,” Ritika said, her tone weak, “we aren’t here to harm you… we just seek help.”
“I am sorry,” Amit repeated, not knowing what to say. “I didn’t mean any harm.”
“This is not simply about war between vampires and werewolves,” Ritika said. For a brief moment Amit found himself lost in her face even as she continued speaking. “… awaken Mortugal.”
“Er, Mortugal what?” Amit asked, returning to reality. He thought about Mayesha and felt guilty for getting lost in another girl’s beauty.
“It’s the beast that dwells under the ice in the frozen lake,” Ruponi explained.
“There’s really such a thing?” Amit said. Myths were one thing and reality was another.
“The elderly here do not speak concoctions of their own minds. The frozen lake is no natural phenomenon. Only the dragon Mortugal can end the war and make peace between the vampires and the werewolves.”
“Like a real fire breathing dragon?” Amit asked. Master Mahendra had told about dragons in his lessons. They had scales so thick that no arrow or spear could give them the tiniest scratch, and with their great wings they could fly high up to the clouds. And when they were angry they could spew flames, destroying whatever lay in front of them. Mostly they dwelt far north in the snow clad mountains.
“Yes, exactly like the ones you might have heard of in legends,” said Ruponi.
“But how do you know all this? What connection does Mortugal have with the war between vampires and werewolves?”
“We found an ancient scroll,” said Ritika. “We couldn’t decipher the entire text since it was written in an ancient tongue, but we know that only Mortugal can stop the war for once and for all. Mother, why don’t you show him the scroll?”
“Yes, just wait a moment,” said Ruponi and went to the next room.
Amit felt rather odd being alone with Ritika, who was still sitting on the floor.
“Erm, that garlic,” he began awkwardly.
“No, it’s okay,” Ritika said with a smile.
“I met another vampire today,” Amit said.
“Who?”
“Mitral. He killed Uncle Mada’s pig, so I was angry and wanted to find out if there were other vampires in our village.”
“Mitral maybe a vampire but we aren’t with him. He fled his land, but we came here seeking for help. He visited our house many times when we first came here. Mother doesn’t like him, he’s a weakling. He cannot control his thirst for blood at all.”
“Do you, er, drink blood as well?” Amit asked.
“Sometimes,” Ritika replied. “But we haven’t after we came here.”
Ruponi returned with a very delicate and ancient scroll. She placed it on a table and helped Ritika to stand up, and then the three of them gathered around the scroll. It was written in a script that had many pointy letters.
“It’s written in ancient Vampree,” Ruponi explained.
“Where did you find it?” Amit asked, curious.
“In our garden, believe it or not,” Ritika said.
“You mean in our village?” Amit said. Finding an ancient Vampree text in a land where vampires hadn’t dwelt for centuries would be an interesting affair.
“No, back in our own kingdom,” Ritika said. “One day mother was gardening and she found a chest, which contained this scroll.”
“See this sentence?” Ruponi said, placing her finger on a particular line of the pointy letters.
“What does it say?” Amit asked.
“From what I gather, it says that only a human would be capable of awakening Mortugal.”
“Why would that be so?”
“Because humans are the only uncursed race,” Ruponi said.
“But you aren’t cursed either,” Amit said, then realised his words had probably sounded hollow— the vampires were cursed with their thirst for blood. And the werewolves were cursed to keep shifting between the dual forms of human and wolf. It wasn’t like humans didn’t have their own faults, but those faults weren’t exactly curses because even the gods had them if one would believe mythology.
“But we are,” said Ruponi. “It forms the reason why everyone hates our kind.”
Amit nodded and said,
“So, do you want me to talk to the other villagers about awakening Mortugal?”
Mother and daughter exchanged looks.
“You think they would want to help us?” Ruponi said. “Yes, we did come here with the sole purpose of convincing your people to help us but… Whenever I talk about vampires to any villager they seem to get angry. They say it’s bad luck even to mention vampires.”
“But you do need the help, don’t you?” Amit said.
“If whatever is written in the scroll is true,” said Ritika, “then even a single human is enough t
o help us.”
As it dawned upon Amit what she meant, a voice inside his head told him to be cautious. They were vampires after all.
“You want me to help you?”
“Yes,” said Ritika, with a look at Ruponi.
Amit pursed his lips. Should he believe the two vampires? What if he helped them awaken the dragon and then it began attacking humans? He would be responsible for everything. At the same time he could not see any reason why Ritika and Ruponi would risk lying to him, since it would ultimately result in bringing the vampires into even poorer light. Besides, he was just unable to answer ‘no’ to Ritika. Her eyes were so hopeful.
“What will I have to do?”
A look of great relief passed over the faces of Ritika and Ruponi.
“There was this big nail that I found along with the scroll in the chest,” said Ruponi. “We'll draw two concentric circles in the middle of the lake for you, and you must bury the nail at the centre of the circles.”
“Can we do it today and be done?” Amit asked.
“No, the morning is already gone," said Ruponi. "It has to be done in the early hours of morning. We can do it tomorrow if you agree.”
“Then tomorrow morning it shall be,” Amit said. Then a thought came to him. “But…”
“But?” asked Ritika.
“I will help only on one occasion?”
“What occasion?” the new tension was clear in Ritika’s voice.
“You must leave our kingdom after Mortugal is awakened. It’s not that I don’t trust you or anything, but I would like my kingdom to remain peaceful.”
“We understand,” said Ruponi, her face crestfallen. “We will leave once Mortugal is awakened.”
After Amit had sold all his firewood, he returned to his house. He kept thinking about the day’s events even as he cooked lunch. First Mitral, and then Ritika and her mother. Had he made a mistake by trying to find out if the newcomers were vampires? Even on the occasion that Ritika and Ruponi were speaking the truth, he could not ignore the fact they had themselves accepted their inability to decipher the entire scroll. What if the dragon made matters worse instead of fixing them?
Forget boasting about seeing the beast under the lake. Amit would be remembered as the one who messed up the war between the vampires and the werewolves.
Amit sighed as he served himself lunch. He had given his word already and he wasn’t turning back now. All he could do was wait for the events to unfold.
***
Feeling something soft rub against his face, Amit opened his eyes. Once the blur faded, he saw that it was none other than Mayesha’s pigeon, Ritu, a letter tied to its leg. Amit sat up and held the bird to untie the letter. He read it.
Amit,
I have arrived at your village. We are staying at a hill top just near the frozen lake. Come along please, maybe we can have a glimpse of each other.
Mayesha
Amit looked out through the window. The sun had yet to rise and it was still relatively dark outside. Mayesha had said yesterday that she would send him a letter before she left from home. But apparently she had already reached. All Amit wanted to do was fall back into the world of dreams under the blanket’s warmth. But of course that was out of question now. Pleasing a girl sometimes involved doing without some sleep. Besides, he really wanted to lay his eyes on her again after two months.
Amit jumped out of the bed, put Ritu in the cage, flung a cloak around himself and went out into the cold. Mist was thick outside and the frozen lake in the distance was not visible at all. But he put one foot in front of the other and went along in the lake’s direction. Despite the deerskin cloak, the cold bit his skin and he caught a chill. He increased his pace, hoping to generate some heat with the exertion.
Chilly as it was, Amit couldn’t help but admire the twilight. He was used to waking up early, but this was even better. Some might feel spooked, but Amit enjoyed the quietness. By the time he reached the Frozen Lake, the sun peeped out of the hills in the far east, and Amit marvelled at the delightful sight.
Then Amit waited, looking around.
There were three hills near the frozen lake. So which one?
Then, just near the peak of the hill at the foot of which he often cut wood, he saw a figure waving at him. It was a woman no doubt, clad in white. Although he couldn’t clearly see her face, light from the newly risen sun bathed her and she looked simply majestic.
Mayesha.
Amit began his climb of the hill. He wondered why Mayesha and whoever was with her were staying at the hill top. The path that people from outside mostly took to come to their village was actually near Amit’s house and few ever came through passes in the hills. But all that was secondary. What mattered was that he was going to see Mayesha.
It took him almost half-an-hour to reach the peak. Mayesha wasn’t there.
Is she playing games on me?
“Hey, where are you?” he called. “This is what, a hide-and-seek game? I can’t wait any longer.”
Amit expected to hear some giggles and see Mayesha reveal herself from behind some tree. Nothing such happened.
“Hey Mayesha!” he called again, getting desperate. “Where are you?”
The silence puzzled him. Then fear crept up his spine. Had something happened to Mayesha?
Getting worried, Amit decided to search for her on the other side of the hill. He climbed around the peak and went to the other side, battling the fauna and the steep hill face. At the foot of the hill on the other side he saw smoke rising. The mist was lightening by now and it wasn’t hard to distinguish the smoke.
That must be where Mayesha is, Amit thought. Somebody, maybe her father, might have called her and so she had to go. Amit considered making his way down. He imagined Mayesha’s father— Amit hadn’t really seen the man before— a foul-mouthed grey-haired man. Amit’s mind contrasted the man with Mayesha in every way possible since beautiful girls often had hot-headed fathers who were ready to rip out the eyes of any man who dared to look toward their daughters. Amit had no intention of losing his eyes, plus he was sure Mayesha would only be happy if he spared her any awkward scene. He instead returned to the side of the hill that faced the frozen lake. He sat down on a stone there and hoped Mayesha would eventually come after sometime.
He had a good view of the valley and rather enjoyed the scenery from high up.
Almost an hour passed. Mayesha didn’t come.
His spirits lowered. He had lost his sleep and he had lost his chance of meeting Mayesha. He had even forgotten to bring his chopper along in the excitement of seeing Mayesha. So he would have to go all the way back to his house if he wanted to cut and sell any firewood today.
Suddenly, Amit realised that a black dot was moving over the white frozen lake. A person. He frowned hard.
It was Ritika. It just had to be her.
Amit had forgotten all about his promise to the two vampires! After sometime another black dot joined Ritika— Ruponi. Amit imagined the two of them going to his house, only to find it empty. Maybe they expected him to come near the lake for cutting firewood as usual. A tight knot developed in Amit’s stomach like he wanted to shit. That always happened to him whenever he was torn between two options. Should he wait for Mayesha or should he go down to the vampires?
The former option was what he was inclined to, but he knew it was the latter that he had to choose. Before he could make up his mind, more black dots appeared at the edge of the lake— five men who seemed to be carrying weapons. They sped towards Ritika and her mother.
Now what exactly was happening?
Amit threw away his cloak, broke a lower branch off a tree, and ran down the hill. By the time he reached the foot, Amit saw that the five men were chasing Ritika and Ruponi, but hadn’t yet managed to catch them. The vampires were too fast for the men. Every time they tried to encircle the duo, Ritika and Ruponi would slip out from some gap. Then the two of them spotted Amit and ran towards him, the men at their heels.
When they were close enough, Ritika threw him a very big nail that he caught.
“Bury it at the centre of the lake,” she shouted, “we have already made the circles. Don’t worry for us.”
Seeing that Amit now had the nail, two of the men came towards him. They were short and very ugly with big noses that looked odd on their relatively small heads. Both were wielding daggers and snarling. Amit hit one on the arm as the man lunged at him, and he dodged the other’s attack and fled towards the lake’s centre.
He took a glance back mid-way and saw that the two men were still in hot pursuit, while the other three had caught Ritika and Ruponi. He saw one man slap Ritika and his temper flared. But he told himself the nail was more important since the two vampires had tried to protect it with life and limb, and increased his pace.
There were two concentric circles etched on the ice at the very centre of the lake, the bigger one about a metre in diameter. Amit skidded his way to the circles and fell down on his knees. The nail had intricate designs along its length and was no doubt a magical artefact. Amit hammered the nail into the centre of the smaller circle with his branch.
Just as he finished, the two men caught up with him. Amit hit one as hard as he could on the head with the branch and the man fell down, unconscious. His companion scowled at Amit, wielding his dagger threateningly. As the fallen man began to stir, a deep rumble sounded all about the place.
It was the ice. Cracks appeared on it, all beginning from the place where Amit had buried the nail.
Amit sprang up and ran.
By the time he reached the safety of solid ground, he turned back and saw that cracks had appeared on the entire ice sheet covering the lake. The man whom Amit had knocked cold was still trying to get to his feet, while his companion fled to the place where the other men held Ritika and Ruponi captive. The rumbling noise was still in the air and it had gotten louder. Then suddenly, the noise reached its peak and right at the centre of the lake something large surfaced tearing the ice, sending waves all about the lake. The man who had been unsuccessful in fleeing fell into the water and that was the last of him.
The large ‘something’ turned out to be a great beast. Only half of it had emerged so far and already its height surpassed seven or eight metres.
The Dragon Awakens (A Dragon With Fur Book 1) Page 2
