The people under the trees slept on, unaware of their surroundings.
A being deep in the forest observed them through the very human eyes of the owl-kite.
Chapter 33: The Monster Within
A scream woke Veer from sleep as abruptly as if he had been doused with ice-cold water. He looked around wildly, his sword unsheathed.
“What! Where’s the danger? Why did you scream?”
Chandra had her short knife drawn, pointing at something on her pallet.
A tiny caterpillar was making its steady, ponderous way along the edge of her blanket.
Veer looked at her, and then toward the worm, confused. “Is that why you screamed?” he asked incredulously.
“That thing was crawling near me, tickling my ear.” She visibly shuddered.
“Such a big knife to kill one measly caterpillar. Don’t you think it’s a bit of an overkill?” he said, half irritated and half amused, bending down to allow the critter to crawl into his palm. “It’s not going to harm you, you know.”
Her wary gaze followed him as he set the caterpillar on a nearby plant.
“I didn’t think you would be the kind of female to be squeamish around insects,” he said, just to rub salt into the wound and watch the deep blush steal across her cheeks.
“Who said I was afraid? I just like to keep my distance from them, and all I ask is they do the same.”
Veer noted the tight grip she had around her knife and raised an eyebrow. She caught his look and forced herself to relax her fingers and sheath the knife.
Amused now, he watched as she raised her chin and, ignoring him, got up and gave the blanket a thorough shaking.
Shaking his head, he observed their surroundings and immediately went on alert. “Where are we?” he asked quietly.
“Huh?” Chandra, who had been washing her face with water in a small earthen pot, looked up. “What do you mean?”
Even as she asked that question, she tilted her head, her eyes widening as she took in the unexplainable the changes in the grove. The pot in her hand slipped to the ground, spilling water.
Veer noted how the sun shone cheerfully through the greenery above. The forest, which was usually redolent with the sounds of birds and beasts, was silent. The very air was still, as if frozen in time.
The banyan tree was the same, large as life. But nothing lived in its branches anymore.
Where were their friends? The rest of the people that came with them?
They were in the same place, but it looked different. Pillars had magically appeared where before there were mere boulders.
“Shota! Billadev?” Veer’s voice was swallowed by the surrounding trees, with no response. Veer went a short distance into the forest. Not even the call of the bird answered him. The silence of the woods caused disquiet to crawl up his spine. He had the weird sensation that he was being observed.
More unnervingly, he couldn’t feel his kite, Vihari. He couldn’t feel any of the innumerable animals in the forest.
He returned to the clearing by the banyan tree. Chandra had already packed their belongings. She seemed to be taking stock of their food supply when he came upon her.
She glanced up, a question in her eyes.
“They disappeared. I can’t find them,” he answered, puzzled. This had never happened to him, that he was cut off from his powers, as if a net were cast over him.
“Come see what I found,” she said, beckoning. Veer crouched on the ground and peered into the gunnysack she held open.
Blue-colored acorns were interspersed among the food items in the bag.
Veer took out a handful and inspected them closely.
