Chapter 11

After a few moments, he regained consciousness. He slowly opened one eye and saw that he was lying where he had been knocked down.

The soldiers in armor had surrounded him in a circle. No one was speaking, as if everyone was waiting for him to get up. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up with the help of his hands. All the soldiers became alert. The arrow in his thigh had been removed and some medicine had been applied to heal the wound. He turned his neck and saw outside of the circle.

He saw a strange dwarf standing with that mighty warrior. It seemed as if the dwarf was wearing a white bear's skin from top to bottom and a monkey-like mask on his face. His waist belt and sword hilt were studded with gold.

Vidhan tried to get up. Then a soldier, whose dress was slightly different from the other soldiers, came forward and started helping him to get up. Taking the support of that soldier, Vidhan stood up and started looking at everyone with suspicious eyes. Understanding his doubt, that soldier introduced himself.

"Mr. Vidhan! Do not be afraid, we are your friends. My name is Rupak... I am the commander of the fifth corps of Arthala's army... This is Mahavira, the commander and protector of Arthala (pointing towards the mighty warrior) and this one (pointing towards that strange dwarf) is Anuj, the son of the Yeti emperor of the Himalayas and the prince of the Shwetkhand kingdom... We have come to request you on the orders of the Arthala kingdom to accompany us to Arthala."

'Mahavira', this name flashed in Vidhan's mind, he is Guru Kaan's childhood friend. He used to talk about him sometimes. Vidhan looked at Mahavira carefully. Tall height, round shoulders, body so strong as if he had started exercising right after birth, thick, dense mustache that met the hair at the temples and hung down a little to cover the cheeks as well, strong broad jaw, large eyes and facial expressions so calm as if he was lost in meditation.

The soldier is saying that they have come to request him to come with them to Arthala, but why?

Their feelings and behavior are friendly, but their words seem strange. Then he remembered his house, whether the archers had harmed Mayur and Ruby in anger while returning. They may have set the house on fire as well. He looked sideways in the direction of the house.

He could not see the house from such a distance, but he could see the smoke in the sky, his apprehension was correct.

Pointing towards the rising smoke he said to Roopak, "If you are my friend, please come to my house, I fear that my family members are in trouble."

Rupak looked at Mahavira, he signaled them to move immediately. All the soldiers sat on their horses. Rupak wanted to give his horse to Vidhan, but he refused.

The horses were running at full speed. Vidhan would run for some distance and then jump off. Jumping, he went far ahead of the troop and after a few moments he reached home. The scene there was fiery. Those archers set fire to all the huts.

Ruby had an arrow in her stomach, she was lying on the ground unconscious, and her shaking head showed that she was still alive. Mayur was disturbed by the fire and was trying to free himself from his bonds. A hut was about to burn completely to ashes. He tried to extinguish the fire with the water from the pitchers kept in the courtyard, but that much water was not enough. Just then the army contingent also arrived.

The dwarf Prince Anuj came running down from his horse. He took out some powder from the small bags in his gold-studded waist belt placed it in the middle of the courtyard and poured water from the pitcher on it. Thick yellow smoke came out of the powder and within a few moments, it engulfed the entire fire. After a few moments when the smoke cleared, the entire fire had been extinguished.

This was surprising for Vidhan. He got worried about Ruby. He patted Anuj's waistband and pointed towards Ruby.

Then he himself went and untied the bonds of Mayur. As soon as the bonds were untied, Mayur ran away from the courtyard.

Vidhan saw that Anuj pulled out the arrow from Ruby's abdomen. As soon as the arrow came out, blood started gushing out. Anuj put some powder on the wound. The powder emitted light smoke and Ruby started screaming with a severe burning sensation.

But in the next few moments, the bleeding stopped. The white dwarf looked around as if he was searching for something. Then his eyes stopped on the Tulsi plant in the middle of the courtyard. He plucked some Tulsi leaves, crushed them, mixed some other powder and water and then applied it to the wound. The expression in Ruby's eyes showed that she was getting some relief.