Hunt for Survival

Upcoming Troubles

Shaurya

I opened my eyes and saw the stone dome above me. I remembered everything and sat back and felt a little pain in my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I heard a familiar voice and looked at my side and saw Prashant.

“Am I not dead? You can still see me?” I asked him and I saw him rolling his eyes.

“What were you doing outside when you weren’t healed at all?” He asked and I ignored it and looked for my knife and it was there.

“Was I outside?” I asked him and he nodded. “Was everything good outside?”

“What are you saying?” Was it all a dream? I asked myself. I felt the pain in my shoulder and in my leg, but when he saw no one and I was alright, then it should have been a dream, but the pain was saying otherwise. “What is wrong with you?”

“Was there no one around me when you saw me? Wasn’t the cave shut down with the iron rod?” I asked and he looked at me with the expression that said, ‘What the hell are you saying?’

“Are you still in your dreams? You must have fainted because you were too weak but you are making stories.”

“I am not making stories.” I said to him and put my other hand on my shoulder and felt the pain and I hissed a bit. I clearly remember that I was so exhausted and his blow was so heavy that it could have taken away my life, but I am all alright. How can this be possible? This pain is life-taking but I am not dead and I am also way too weak to respond to any situation right now.

“What is wrong with you?” I could hear care in his voice and I looked in his direction. He slid on my shirt. “What is this?” His voice was full of shock.

“What is it?”

“How can you have got such a big wound?” I couldn’t understand his words at all. “What have you done behind my back that you have fallen into such a danger.” By listening to his voice, I guess the wound was really big that he couldn’t take in. I felt a curiousness and folded my pants up and saw the wound over there. “What the heck is going on? How did you get injured so much?” I looked at him and now it is all making me wonder if that was really real or a dream? “Will you speak anything or not?” He is literally behaving like a lady of the house.

“I…...” I didn’t know what to say or how to start. “After you left, I came out and saw that it was all normal and was about to go back, but when I saw that the scene changed and it was a cheery blossom outside. I came out and there I met with a dwarf giant who was attacking me and, when I wanted to go inside the cave, but suddenly, the cave shut down with the iron rods and I couldn’t get in. And I started to dodge his attacks as long as as much as I could, but in the end, it made me so exhausted that I couldn’t doge further and at the last second, strike, he attacked my leg and after that, I was really exhausted to dodge and let him made his last strike that could have took away my life and that hit was on my shoulder.”

“Are you telling me a fairytale?” He asked and I sighed.

“I knew that you wouldn’t believe me and I am also not able to understand if this is a dream or not.”

“But this really looks like someone had hit you with some heavy weapon.”

“Then you should believe me.”

“That is utterly nonsense.” I rolled my eyes.

“You should really believe me.”

“Then do you really have the proof?” I sighed.

“I know I don’t have.” Then I remembered something. Could this be one of the illusions which I had encountered? Was this one of the king’s traps? I know that illusions can be made, but can one illusion hurt someone like this? I asked myself but the answer was none.

“Now what are you thinking?”

“Forget what I was thinking, it is nothing that you can think about.”

“Then get your wound treated on your own.” He said and left everything and went near the fire. I looked outside and saw that it was already night.

“For how long have I been unconscious?”

“More than five hours.”

“I guess it must be that much only.” I started to stand up.

“Why are you standing up and you didn’t even treat your wound?” He said to me and I stumbled back and was again on the ground.

“How long do I have to be like this?”

“You have to rest well so that you can recover.”

“We don’t have so much time to spend over here.”

“I know that, but can you fight further? We have to be well enough before we can start again.”

“What is there to start? Everything started at the time we were over here. We are over here for so many days and I don’t think that we have even completed a few percent of our mission.”

“Why are you so aggressive about this situation? Why can’t you listen to me one time?”

“And why are you trying to be a lady of the house?” I asked him.

“Are you arguing over your health?”

“I am not on a mission.”

“Then you should make yourself good with your health so that you can complete this mission.” I sat down properly and started to treat my wound.

“You are really impossible.”

“That I am,” I said.

******

It was already morning and the pain which I had received yesterday was all well and I didn’t feel the pain at all. I tried to look at the wound and it was there with a mark and whenever I touched it, I couldn’t feel the pain.

“What do you think you are doing?” I heard his voice roaring.

“I know what I am doing and it is not paining me at all.” I said to him and he squatted down beside me and poked my wound, but it didn’t really hurt me.

“Can you stop it now?”

“Why? Is it paining now?” I shook my head.

“It is not but I am feeling irritated.” I stood up and was all right when I was standing and nothing was paining at all.

“I guess I am all right now. I can walk now.” I said with excitement.

“But how can this happen? You were all wounded and weak yesterday and today you are all right and are also moving freely without any pain. This is so suspicious.”

“I know that but I am glad that I am all well,” I said, even though his words were making a commotion in my mind. I am also able to understand how I got so well or whether there is something else which is hidden beneath this attack as well, which I am unable to understand at all.

“Are you really okay?” He asked me and I nodded.

“Want to see how I am doing with my fighting skills?” I said while taking my fighting position. He shook his head and stood up and I was back to normal and was about to speak something when he stuffed something in my mouth. “Just eat and in a few minutes we will take our leave here.” I looked at him and he sat down and was having his food.

These fruits may be nothing precious and none of us can really rely on them for forever, but this is what we have to survive on till we get a way to getting out of here. I know that this mission won’t be completed and we can’t find our way back home until and unless we find that king and execute him. Maybe after that we can only find our way back home.

“What? you don’t want you to eat it?” I shook my head before munching on the fruit. The fruit is delicious over here. They are juicy and just makes one person want to have them more, but it won’t be a good idea if someone really sees us taking so much of it, then they might try to execute us only us.

“Prashant, do you have any idea what would happen if one died over here?” He looked at me for a while and then looked away to the outside.

“I don’t think that I really know about this at all. After all, it is also the first time over here with you. But if I really give it a thought, then I think that once you die, then there is no way you can revive and get back your life once again.” His words terrified me.

“So do we have to assume that our life is a single one and we have to save it at any cost?”

“After all, this is not a game where you have lives and once you die then you can revive again. We are inside a dead trap where we know nothing but only one thing, and that is to survive anyhow and get out of here as soon as possible. You know what? There is one rule that I have to understand now and that is to SURVIVE and, for survival, we even have to hunt down many of the dangerous, so that we can make it to the end.” I sighed.

“Where was I enjoying all my good days by playing games and seeing where I was? In a trap.” I sighed.

“Maybe you will be getting the experience of how to survive on your own.” He said to me and I looked at him and he was having mixed emotions inside him. I couldn’t really understand him when he talked with so much hidden meaning behind them.

“Maybe,” I said causally, as I am not at all interested in listening to his back story and for that I have two reasons. First it could be either painful for him to say or it must be good, and the second one, that I don’t really care, because I think we have only a few days when we can be together in this mission and end this and maybe in future we will never meet each other, that is why I am not at all interested in learning his backstory and I have my own problems with which I am dealing with and he has his own and until he feels comfortable in telling me till then neither he has to push himself nor do I have to.

“Now we should move forward.” He said while standing up and we were ready to leave. “New troubles are ahead.”

“But we are ready to face them.” I fastened the belt around my belt and smiled in his way. He didn’t say anything but nodded and went away outside the cave and I also went outside and the sunlight hit my body and that made me feel all good and fresh. It was like it was long since I had last tasted it.

Now we are really ready to move forward and this time I will be careful and never to make myself at the edge of death so that we again stop in the mid. I want to finish this as soon as possible and I am ready for that. I am totally looking forward to the upcoming problems with determination inside me.