“You know… I have heard that ‘prince’ Jakob is a handsome man. A man of many means, riches beyond our imagination and is really strong among our generation but no matter what I never would have expected ‘you’ to be the love stricken one huhuhu” said the maid Rupali

This caused an expression of disgust to appear on Tara’s face. She asked “Love stricken for who??”

Taken aback, Rupali was just joking about being in love, but Tara instead of contesting being in love challenged the subject of her love “Hmmm… maybe I am over thinking” she thought to herself.

She the continued talking “Heh… you ofcourse! Looking over the south gate you just came through. You do realize our prince will come from the eastern gate don’t you?”

Tara just let the comment pass and continued eating the food Rupali had brought.

Rupali too stopped pestering her in the matter. After a few minutes said with a wink “You know, if you don’t want to marry him. I can help you run away right hehe?” acting all cutesy

Tara looked at her with dead fish eyes, like she had insulted her “You shouldn’t even joke about this stuff!!”

Rupali, though taken aback again by the reply for a moment quickly came to her usual cheerful self, as she asked Tara about her latest outing. How did she defeat the monster of Bhasmachal? How was Sylvie and also who was this hero of Bhasmachal, the giant they called Kush?

Tara tried to perk up her mood too as she explained everything to Rupali in detail, especially the giant axe which seemed impervious to any attack there was.

“What he didn’t have a Karmic power??? The heck is the dude made out of??? He single handedly took out the Monster just using brute force??? Oh man!!! I so want to meet this guy!!! I am sure he has a good enough parcel on him, if you know what I mean. Man… I would sure rock his world… his taut muscles, broad chin, thick neck and a hero to boot!!! What do… you…?” Rupali stopped mid-sentence sensing the menace in Tara’s eyes.

“Oh…… so that’s who we were waiting for and why the long stare at south gate” she thought to herself

After a few moments of silence Tara blinked her eyes and broke menacing stare at Rupali and continued eating. Rupali then looked out the balcony at the south gate herself as she said to herself “Making our queen fall for you, I would like to meet such a man myself”

The man wasn’t aware that he was such a hot commodity as he walked alongside Chimpu, the roaring camel, in the hot desert mid-day. He managed to pick up speed and cover a lot of distance during the dusk and the morning, roaring camel too, though unwilling kept pace with its master, speeding up when he did and slowing down with him. It had been 36 hours since he left the port and the environment was taking a tool on him. At his level food not essentially required, but the rate at which he was draining energy was difficult to keep up with without eating. Swimming for Kush was familiar and hence a lot easier than walk in the sand, but he did not give up and made his lonesome way across the desert. After another 6 hours trod in the hot desert, Kush started to feel the land become firmer as his foot which was sinking upto half his shin in the desert was now only sinking till the top of his heel. This was good news, this meant, he was nearing an oasis… and an oasis in the desert meant… people… a town… yes!!! A town… The atmosphere had cooled off meaning the refraction of air was not enough to create an illusion of an oasis meaning he had reached his first destination!!! He had reached Barmer!!!

“Woo hoo!!!” He exclaimed as he picked up his speed rushing to the nearest town, the small rustic gate surrounded by walls which had appeared in the horizon. Sans the desert storm, his mana powered vision was better than Chimpu. Though the roaring camel knew of the city’s proximity and understood the miserable man’s excitement, this was not his first rodeo. It too picked up pace and followed its master to the city’s gate.

Kush expecting a respite, a calm stay for the night was almost jogging to town, making sure he did not lose control of mana emission; he was elated when reached the gates of the town, but all his happiness died down when he saw what looked like uniformed officers standing at the only entrance to the small desolate town and barred his entry.

The security captain in a commanding voice said “Who goes there? The access to the village oasis is banned for any outsider!!”

Kush replied “Listen to me man!! I am a literally completely spent. I have made a long journey from the Eastern Kuchhy port. I will pay double for if you let me stay here”

The security guy was surprised by the statement. He did not expect a guy to travel all the way from East Kuchhy port. It was more than a 48-hour journey. If he walked atleast 6 hours a day, it would still take him more than a week (just so you know, the ridicule that Chimpu showed towards Kush were more like what Kush thought the camel was thinking about him). His heart moved for a moment there, but the condition of the village was not one where he could take things easily. He simply signalled to his subordinate on the side who went ahead and pulled at the reins of the roaring camel and pulled him inside the gates of the city. Chimpu gave Kush a snide smile (this too was something Kush thought the camel did) before entering the village. Kush was pissed, but he didn’t attack the security captain; just complained to him “Hey!!! I paid full security deposit for that camel. Give me my money back”

To which the guard captain replied “That is not my responsibility!! Take it up with the merchant team who sold you the camel”

“But they are inside!!! You are being unreasonable!!! Atleast let me go inside to get a camel for onward journey. Else how am I supposed to leave here.”

The guard captain simply ignored him and summoned a Ruby red broad sword in his hand, as if in a warning to Kush. He ignored him and continued staring into space behind Kush.

“Hmph” Kush brushed him off found a spot at the bottom of the wall to the side and sat down with his back against the wall. “Like you think this wall or any of you could stop me if I wished to enter here” he thought to himself but he remembered what his mother had said to him once “People are generally remembered for two things in this world my son… one is for what you have taken from the world and another is what you have given to it. It is up to you to take the lives of people and their freedom and be remembered as a terror in their life or you can alleviate their pain and give them happiness and be remembered as a Hero!!”

“Heh… you guys should be thank full to my mother; else you would have been minced meat by now!!” he thought to himself. This was more out of frustration than his own personal feelings. He took a bite of the dried ration he had stored on the camel and started chowing down on it. He had rationed them properly so that he did not have to worry before reaching Udaipur. When he took his first swig of water from his meat packs one of the soldiers saw him.

His jaws dropped at the giant gulp of water the person took in. For some reason he felt wronged by the sight and grit his teeth in anger and then he tried to do something he shouldn’t have if he valued his arms and legs.

“Hey you!!” this shout captured attention of all his guard mates

“Where did you get that water from?” Now every one noticed the luxurious swigs Kush was making with the water.

Kush was ticked at the guards as it is he simply said “Fuck off” in a low sound

“What did you say, you street rat??” screamed the guard as he took out his Sapphire yellow mace and came with a menacing look in his eyes.

Kush raised an eyebrow at this gesture and simply said with a cool deadpan stare “If you value your life don’t continue what you just started”

The guard and everybody knew Kush had paid for all the luggage the camel carried on it, so the luggage where the sacks of water came from were obviously his. But for some reason they were instigating him to fork them over. It wouldn’t matter to Kush if they took all of the food and water for themselves, in fact if they had asked politely Kush would have handed it over without a complain. At his cultivation level food and water were more like appeasement of the self than sustenance of self, but these people were asking for it!

The guard ignored Kush’s warning and continued forward swinging his yellow mace in air with intent to hurt Kush, the guard leader thought that he should stop his subordinate for a minute, but decided against it. A third party traveller is not worth his men’s needs. Worst case scenario he will take of care of shushing the traveller permanently. Thinking so he looked the other way, as if he wasn’t aware what was going on.

The guard and couple of his friends joined him “If you want this to hurt less, hand over the food and water, else we will make you wish you made the right decision”

It was getting dark and a person with light related Karmic powers stood atop a wall and pressed his hands in a jig and exerted his power. This caused all the windows in the city’s wall to light up.

Kush said “My father usually says that to bully a person is a crime, but to bear bullying is an even bigger crime”.

The three guards came swinging down with their karmic weapons on Kush. Kush picked up his axe and let it swing between his fingers. The guard captain was alarmed by the weight behind that casual swing of Kush but he knew he was too late to react. As for the three idiots who attacked Kush, they did not realize that they were on a collision course to death. But just as the axe with a dull blade was about to split the intruders in half, Kush closed his eyes and let a “Tch” slip his mouth, as if he was annoyed by flies. He re-gripped his axe and changed its direction mid-way as it came crashing down on the solid ground where the city was made.

“BOOM”

As a large crater about 50 m long was formed starting from the location where the axe had landed moving away from the city walls. The tremor in the ground made the three fools lose their footing as they slipped and dropped on their butts. Every one of the 50 guards saw the crater caused by the traveller and each and every one of them saw the ease with which he swung the axe. All of them including the captain became alert, taking out their karmic powers ready to attack the stranger, but internally they were all aware that this cloaked traveller was unstoppable.

“Shhh” Sand started filling the crater he created trying to fill the crater, it was like even the land was ashamed of not being able to take the weight of his blow.

“Gulp” came the noise the when the guard who accused Kush of thievery, swallowed his saliva. He was dragging his feet in the sand as he used his four limbs to crawl behind the guards’ formation.

The captain realised that Kush still didn’t have any hostilities, but just for security he conjured his red broadsword and kept it ready to attack. He approached Kush and with a tone few degrees milder than before as he said “Please forgive, my subordinate’s mistake. We here at Barmer are not criminals, we are facing a really tough time right now, my subordinate’s actions were driven by such plight.”

Kush’s eyes were still closed, he really wasn’t in the mood for discussion right now, so he simply gave a curt nod and let go of grip on the axe and went back to nodding off, his head resting on the city wall.

Later on the guard, who was the perpetrator of this scuffle, came to apologize as well. Kush wasn’t really interested in his apology, cause he knew the only reason food was still with him was cause of his strength. But the succeeding line grabbed Kush’s interest

“I was not ‘taking’ from you for myself. With my cultivation, I can survive, though barely, without food and water for a couple of months, but my son will not survive this month. Please don’t think of me as a beggar. I have plenty of gold on me, being the guard of the city, I get paid well from the state treasury, but there is no food to buy. There is no water to collect. Please…”

“DAMI!!!” screamed the guard captain.

Kush still had an apathetic expression on his face. They could have moved from the city if the situation was so bad, but his heart melted when he heard about the children… desperation can push even the strongest of men to do deeds they don’t want to.

Without a second thought and without uttering a single word Kush grabbed his huge rucksack and threw it at the guard. The weight of the rucksack caused the guard to lose balance for a moment. It was a huge bag and could feed all present guards’ family for a week to a sumptuous meal and more if rationed properly.

All the guards did not move from their place, but everybody wanted a share of that rucksack, until Kush said “I don’t need it, you can all share it among yourselves, however you like”

The guard captain lost his composure for a moment as well. His wife was ok since she too was a cultivator, but his children still needed the food to survive. Even though the guards all left their posts to grab their share of the food and water, the captain did not move. Then Dami, the guard who attacked Kush, came with a share of the food and water for the captain as well and offered him some. The captain still maintained a stoic expression and didn’t jump at it eagerly and but after a couple of seconds, he took the share of food and water from Dami and kept it. He then walked over to Kush who was still sitting there and said with running his hand through his head full of hair “I apologise for the error in our ways. You do not realize how much you have helped us with this bag”

Kush was surprised. He knew food in the desert must be different, but people adapt to the situations accordingly. This sort of gratitude for such a small thing was a bit unnatural.

“It is a rule by our mayor which bars any outsider from entering the town premises temporarily, but I will ask him to make an…”

Before the guard captain could complete his sentence, it happened…

The ground started to cave again, a sink hole the diameter of 20 m started to form a bit further away from them and behind it a huge sand mountain the length of 100 m started to emerge.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Came the ear shattering scream of a being from nightmares…