Chapter 10- For good

"So what are you planning on doing next?"

Aryan questioned his brother who was clutching his brown bag as if his life depended on it. Well technically it somewhat did but Aryan did not want to think about it now. They had already learned too much today. By the time they bid goodbye to Raghu kaka, the cart driver was fuming with anger and was already ready to leave without them. It took them so much effort to convince him without mentioning the obvious reason. But needless to say, Darpan had it worse right now.

His brother wasn't one who could just outright refuse anything and being burdened with such a huge task of protecting and delivering the item that is possibly the most sought after in the world is no walk in the park.

This definitely described his brothers behaviour currently,- eyes alert, sitting in a crouched position with the brown bag between his legs and torso and hands wrapped around it so tight you couldn't begin to try to pull it away from him , jumping along the jerks of the vehicle.

" Well ,I don't really know but what I want right now is to wrap things up as a fast as possible and head home"

Darpan said eyeing the stuff in front of him. His hand subconsciously feeling for the thick manual -book inside of it. He still couldn't believe he was touching it right now. It felt so unreal having something of so much value entrusted to you when you weren't even sure of its existence. He wondered if his lack of knowledge about it could be of any harm to the safety of the manual in the future.

" Shouldn't you be hurrying back home in this situation though? I mean wouldn't that be easier than going through this long trip being worried about the-" Ashmit suddenly cleared his throat." -book?"

" I did think about it honestly, but if I go back now wouldn't the money and the time be wasted? And I do not have the guts to go back alone. And I certainly can't ask any single one of you to go ahead and get the supplies while I have someone to escort me. That would be unfair to the other."

Darpan said explaining his distress at the moment.

" So I need to tag along with you two"

He finished .

" Hmm, well you don't need to be so on guard bhaiyya. If you keep acting like that bag is the most precious thing in the world it's gonna be a problem." Aryan tried to loosen his brother's hands from the bag.

" But it is! What am I supposed to do then? If I take this with me so nonchalantly wouldn't that be purely irresponsible on my part!?"

Darpan tightened his hold on the already crumpled small bag. If it were a person, the hold Darpan had over it could have long choked and killed him.

Aryan chuckled slightly. For being an older brother, Darpan was surely missing a few screws up there but he never dared tell it to his face. However he was not in the mood to deal with any whining from his dear older brother in the future and Ashmit of course doesn't know any better. He needed to solve this for now as the sole person with a functioning brain within this trio.

" Bhaiyya, you know that doing that will only attract attention right? If you do ,in fact treat it as a precious item, it will make others believe it is a precious item. Wouldn't they just try to go after it more then?

So why don't you try to loosen up a bit? I mean of course let's all be alert and keep an eye on the surroundings but let's just avoid gaining anyone's attention. Treat it like how you would treat a normal bag filled with belongings."

Aryan tried to reason with his still very much unconvinced brother.

" But isn't that just as precious then? It's basically the same thing?"

Ashmit who had gotten hungry midway through the conversation was currently stuffing his face with the third Paratha in a row. A piece of the flakey flatbread hanging from the corners of his mouth as he spoke.

" Eww, Ashmit! At least don't talk when you are chewing food and take that piece back in your mouth." While Darpan was disgusted with Ashmit's lack of table manners, Aryan lazily stared at Ashmit's chewing with a totally done look on his face.

" And second of all! It's not the same! Ashmit, how can you even compare the -" he stopped abruptly when he realized he had been practically yelling and immediately changing to a whisper said-

" the most sought after,the greatest weapon of destruction of all the times, the origin of all evil ...*sigh* to a bag of mere mortal belongings?"

He had the most confused looking face when he finished but that surely didn't stop Ashmit from reaching in his third tiffin to feel around for more parathas.

Quietly shaking his head at his friends behaviour, Aryan simply closed the tiffin and took it from Ashmit's grabby hands; placing it right beside him somewhere not accessible for his short hands.

" If you do know the difference, then why don't you put to use what I said?"

" It's easier said than done, Aryan. However I know what you said is true so I will definitely try to not be so obvious about it . Keyword - I said 'try'. "

Darpan looked around and hesitantly let go of the murderous clutch he had on the poor bag. Setting it down on the cart floor beside him and being proud of his decision as if he just overcame an unhealthy obsession through separation.

" Kaka! , How far are we from Chandranagar? Will it take till today evening?"

Aryan asked now feeling a bit overwhelmed by today's events. He could feel the sleep overtaking him.

" Well since my dear passengers were so on time today, we should have reached the borders until midnight but seems like it wouldn't be any sooner than tomorrow early morning."

The driver calmly replied but not before giving them a really disgusting look .

They did deserve it to be honest, no one they could blame now.

And soon the three boys fell asleep awaiting the early arrival in Chandranagar by sunrise. Their journey with the newfound item was surely going to be an adventurous one.

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" Chatur! "

A voice sounded in the open forest of Tarangvan.

A soldier clad in black jumps off the trees in sight before landing right behind the owner of the booming voice straight on his knees.

" Yes, Sardaar! How may I be of use?"

Slightly turning his head towards the kneeling figure on the ground, he said-

" I remember having told you to prepare for the trip to Raghu's house . Have the preparations been made? "

His maroon robes were plain but carried an aura of dominance and elegance which was ironic considering the position of the man as a Sardaar.

" Yes, Sardaar. The preparations have been completed. The horse is ready, the supplies you'll need are strapped to the saddle, the map is cleaned and placed within the supply bag and we'll be sending goru* to keep watch of the situation ahead."

He quietly looked up to his Sardaar's face,

" Anything more you'll be needing Sardaar?"

" No. You've done good. Goru still lingers around huh? Didn't expect a bird to be loyal to that extent. Whatever works for the best I guess. "

He replied looking up to the bright skies as if searching for goru- that eagle.

Quietly studying his facial expressions, the man could not help but notice a small look of excitement on his Sardaar's face.

" Sardaar, if I may dare ask, why do you wish to leave a day before than you planned? Do you think there's something brewing there?"

" Hmn,not really. I just have this feeling that something good is awaiting me there. It has been nudging at my soul for a while. I need to know what it is. All the more reason for me to go there personally."

He replied still looking at the cloudless bright blue sky with a small smile on his lips.

" If all the preparations had been made, then why didn't you come tell me sooner yourself, Chatur?"

He asked finally tearing his gaze from the blindingly bright vast blueness.

" Oh , I'm sorry Sardaar. I couldn't tell you before but I sent Goru to look over the area before you set off. He must be returning anytime now. "

Chatur replied, slightly worried since it had been a long time since goru left.

Before the man dressed in maroon robes could question him any further, a sharp cry was heard in the sky.

Along with it , came heavy footsteps of a few soldiers yelling and calling for Chatur.

" Senapati! Senapati Chatur! You need to see this!"

The soldiers seemingly carrying a dead body rushed to the scene and fell flat to their feet in front of the leader.

" Sardaar, Sardaar! Greetings to you!"

The young Sardaar was still eyeing the covered up corpse when the eagle named Goru landed right on his shoulder.

Giving the small head of the eagle a stroke and patting his feathers as a reward for the work of the bird, he finally sat down.

" Good work, Goru!"

" So, is this who I think it is?"

The man with the deep voice asked. His brown eyes boring into the white cloth covering the frail corpse. His expression completely changed then what it was when patting the bird. The stoicness on his face made the soldiers shiver in their boots.

" Y-yes Sardaar! He was found dead at the banks of Yadu* river a few hours ago. Although we suspected he died of natural causes, there seems to be some sort of internal injury."

A brave soul spoke up from the few lot.

The young Sardaar slowly circled the body and stopped at the head. He knew what was coming and yet he didn't.

Slowly reaching out ,he pulled the covers from the corpse's face and it was as he expected.

Raghu lied there , face devoid of any colour, lashes filled with dirt, sunken cheeks and eyes with cold skin , no meat on the bones and a frail body structure. Even though as he laid in the darkness of death, his face had the expression of utter peace, pure enlightenment and no pain .

The Sardaar closed his eyes for a bit , muttering an internal prayer for the peace of the soul, before putting the covering back in place.

" Another death, and we are still getting nowhere! Those evil people surely plan on using Raghu's death as a means of plotting point against us. It's no wonder who he was killed by at all! "

He turned towards the kneeling figures on ground. Send the body to Vaidya*Arvind for investigation. He will be able to tell the true cause of his death.

As soon as the words came out his mouth, three soldiers in utmost speed, ran along properly carrying the corpse of the old man.

" And you, weren't you observing Raghu's hideout? If he's dead, then where is the manual? Something tells me he couldn't have just given it away to the assailants,did he?"

He pointed to the soldier he was sure was doing his job.

" I'm sorry Sardaar! I assure you I was observing his house today and was about to report to you too but - I just took a break for lunch and this happened."

He did not dare meet the Sardaar's eyes. he wasn't slacking off but he sure couldn't prevent a death and was very disappointed in himself.

" Then what happened? What were your reports?"

He damanded to know.

" I saw three men get into the cottage today early morning. They only talked for a few hours and then left so I assumed it was no harm - but afterwards when I searched his house the manual was nowhere to be found."

The soldier spoke up in despair.

" What do you wish to imply here brother?

Do you mean the three unknown men took away the manual? But how is that possible?? We all know how Raghu is; he wouldn't just give that important of a tool to any random people!"

Chatur argued against the possibility of the manual being taken away from under their noses.

" Then there's only one possible explanation - they weren't any random people! If Raghu did in fact trust them with the manual it's safe to assume they're no threat. However we can't be sure if they did in fact leave with it."

The Sardaar now paced back and forth , his robes hanging off a bit loose and sweeping in the sand.

" Chatur! You go and look for it in nearby areas and make sure to turn over the place of you need to buy look for it everywhere and report to me on time!"

Not a word more was needed before Chatur took off, vanishing into thin air.

Turning his gaze towards the still kneeling informant, he asked

" Where were they last seen? Do you know where they were heading too?"

His gaze made the soldier feel he would not live to see another day. Somehow gathering up his courage, he managed to stutter out the answer.

" Ch-Chan-Chandranagar! Sardaar. Although I'm not sure , the direction they to-took was towards Chandranagar!"

He slumped to the ground the moment those brown eyes averted their gaze from him.

" Chandranagar..... Seems like there is something quite useful waiting for me there afterall."

The man stared into the green nothingness as the wind blew in his hair and his eyes shone with excitement and interest.

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Goru- The name of the cute eagle pet. I made it myself and yes you'll see more of him.

Yadu- The name of the river that flows from start of the Somnagar till Tarangvan.

Vaidya- the ancient term for a doctor or a person skilled and practising herbal medicine. In this case, he practises both herbal and magical operations.