Chapter 14 Agastya #2
“We should go inside,” I said, even though I was scared. We couldn’t see where it’d take us.
I entered first, then Eklavya followed.
One after another, we descended deeper into it. It was small, but our eyes remained wide with astonishment when we reached the lowest point.
We couldn’t see a wall. It was wide open as long as we could see through the darkness and the lamp’s light.
Eklavya grabbed my hand, and we moved further inside.
Then, suddenly, we spotted six to seven-foot-long iron tubes, or perhaps cylinders, which were not too wide but tapered from one end to the other.
“What’s this?” I asked as Eklavya touched my shoulder, poking me.
Lifting my gaze, I followed his as he asked, “What the hell is that?”
I felt shaken. My throat went dry.
My eyes widened in shock and then narrowed to improve my vision in the dim light from the torch that barely reached far. It was pitch-black, massive, and dangerous—something I’d never seen or heard of before.
“It looks dangerous,” Eklavya said nervously, and I turned to see more than one. There were many, nearly hundreds.
As I stepped closer to it, I gulped in fear and worry. It had wheels and a long tube—the same one I had seen in abundance.
I scrutinised its cylindrical design, and my mind instantly thought of the gun Rashmika gave me. It fired gunpowder, and I sensed this was precisely the same model, just the more dangerous and destructive version, as I had guessed.
“It blasts gunpowder,” I said, looking at Eklavya, who was furrowing his brows at me.
“The one you tested, right?”
I nodded. “But this one would cause major destruction; it could kill many at once,” I stated, and he asked, confused.
“How do you know about that?”
I licked my dry lips and looked at him. “Look at their size. Gunpowder is explosive; it detonates like a volcano when it comes into contact with fire. It can burn a mass of people easily at a time, and hundreds of them are here,” I explained, and he nodded, dabbing the sweat off his forehead.
He looked scared, more than I was.
“But there must be a way to get them out,” I said, raking my sight around as he furrowed his brows.
“What do you mean?” he asked, biting his lips. His cheeks had reddened; the fear was evident in his eyes.
“I mean, they definitely can’t get them out through this narrow, hidden secret passage. They’re heavy; they would need people to push them out in large numbers, and there must be a way to slide them out since they have wheels,” I verbalised the whole possibility to him.
Suddenly, he said, “Do you know how dangerous this is? This thing could blow a whole village, and I don’t know what the hell we’re doing—”
“Yes,” I interrupted him firmly.
His eyes widened in shock. “What?” he stammered, swallowing hard.
“There are things that could blow the entire kingdom away.”
“No, no, no... Agastya. It’s too dangerous, brutal, and destructive,” he said, stepping closer, and I shook my head.
“It is not. It’s our defence. We have no personal animosity towards Mehrangarh, but they’re assisting those invaders, and this is our response.
They’re considering using these in the war, and if we can destroy them, then we’ve already won half the battle,” I tried to persuade him, but he shook his head.
“You realise that this entire palace could go up in flames?” He put his hand on my shoulder, his eyes wide.
“Then what do you want? Would it be better if my brothers, my family, your family, the people of Pratapgarh and Mahabaleshgarh, all the princely states, and the entire population were at risk? Try to be sensible, Eklavya. We can’t combat these monsters with swords and spears alone.
We either need this gunpowder and these machines, or we fight until we’re all dead.
If we don’t stop them, they will capture Mehrangarh first, then move on to capture all the kingdoms individually.
So it’s better if we blow them all up before they can even strike,” I concluded, trying hard to make him understand, but he tightened his jaw and shook his head.
“There are people in Mehrangarh, too. We don’t know how dangerous they are. Maybe we’re only considering the palace, but what if a large population gets harmed, too?” he said, and I took a deep breath, acknowledging his perspective.
“Then we’ll have to wait until they take them out into an open place where we can destroy them,” I replied, and he nodded.
“Yes, that would be better, and we still need to find out where they’re hiding the explosives, like that gunpowder,” he stated, and I gulped, scanning the surroundings.
“We should walk through and see what else is here and where this place leads,” I suggested.
He nodded, but suddenly stopped me. “But, Agastya, what if this place doesn’t open nearby and leads us far away from here?” he asked, and I bit my lip, considering it.
“I don’t think so,” I replied, walking toward the nearest wall.
The temperature was colder here than outside; it wasn’t just freezing but watery cold, and there was moisture in the air.
I confirmed it by touching the damp stone wall. This cave didn’t have mud, but stone walls.
“It doesn’t seem like a man-made space. It feels more natural. Look at the stone walls, the uneven floor, and the packed mud and stones. It’s like a vast compound here, sloping upward,” I remarked, furrowing my brows, and he followed my gaze, agreeing with me.
“You’re right. What do you think then?” he asked.
“I believe it’s a groundwater channel that has now dried up.
An opening must be nearby, perhaps a large dig for a well.
They likely discovered this place because of that.
Additionally, this passage isn’t too long since labourers can’t work and push for long periods in these dark, unventilated conditions,” I explained, and he nodded.
“I agree; we should find the well or the place where they could take them outside, since it’s hidden,” he added, nodding.
“I believe they can’t get these out without the help of the soldiers of that army. If Mehrangarh’s labourers were involved, the news would’ve leaked eventually, but if that army deployed their soldiers, it could stay a secret,” I added, and he shook his head in confusion.
“But wouldn’t they recognise those people? I mean, thousands of people are in their territory, and no one would notice?” And I shook my head.
“No, if they’re wearing what we are wearing—Mehrangarh’s army uniform,” I said, and he sucked his lip, nodding thoughtfully.
Honestly, it was all overwhelming at this point. I couldn’t believe they orchestrated all this under our noses while making us feel confident about marrying their daughter, Rashmika. I could barely wrap my head around it.
Seeing its scale, I felt compelled to alert all the kingdoms to keep their armies on standby, because anything could happen.
However, notifying them too soon would’ve been unwise; they wouldn’t have understood the gravity of the situation—the extent of the destruction and the lives at stake.
We had to be strategic rather than emotional.
Eklavya and I started walking down the passage, deciding which side to take.
The air was low here, and I could feel it pressing against my chest. The oil burned as we stepped forward, slowly taking in the surroundings and the uneven ground beneath us. The temperature was gradually rising, indicating that we were nearing the surface.
I didn’t know how long we had been walking. The darkness deepened, making it increasingly difficult to see. It was a vast, hollow space, and even the slightest noise echoed around us.
Thankfully, we came here at night; otherwise, people would have caught us.
We kept walking and felt a refreshing breeze.
“The opening is near,” I said, and we both looked around. But there was no passage in sight.
I glanced upward.
“Look,” I said, catching his attention. We both stared up at the empty, round, dry well.
“So, you were right. It’s a dry well,” he said, and I nodded, swallowing hard.
“But I think there must be an opening for a dried-up groundwater river. This area is close to mountains, which typically indicates rivers. There’s a possibility they’re using that opening to remove those massive objects,” I explained, and he nodded.
“Right, I agree with you,” he said.
“And it has to be close, you know,” I said, and he took a deep breath.
“We have little time. The lamp will go out soon,” he said, and I felt a creeping fear run down my spine. We could’ve got lost forever without a light in the dark space. We did not know where we started and had marked nothing on the walls for fear of being caught.
My breathing was laboured. The cold flushed my cheeks red, and my fingers felt numb. My feet hurt, but we kept walking to find the opening in the riverbed.
Suddenly, we noticed a slope descending, accompanied by distant sounds, like rustling waves, hinting at water.
A shiver ran down my spine as I took a deep breath and looked at him.
“I believe there’s an underground river nearby,” I said, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“You know, I don’t want to die. If I did, I’d want to die in a battle, not drowned in water where no one could find my body,” he replied, and I placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Nothing will happen, trust me,” I reassured him, taking his hand and leading the way.
We quickened our pace as we descended the steep slope, but we both fell on the muddy ground.
My heart raced as I tightened my grip on his hand. We slipped, losing control of our bodies. Uncontrollable screams escaped our mouths as the lamp fell from my fingers, landing in the water ahead.
This wasn’t just a river; it resembled a vast ocean. It was terrifying.
I couldn’t think clearly. I quickly drew my dagger from its sheath and drove it into the solid ground, gripping the handle tightly. We slowed our descent and panted heavily.
We were terrified, and death seemed imminent.
“I need to go home,” Eklavya exclaimed, causing me to chuckle.
“You’re the head commander of Suryagarh’s army,” I reminded him, and he shook his head in response.
“This isn’t a battle or a training exercise.”
We both smiled at each other, calming our breaths as we leaned our backs against the sloping surface.
The sound of rushing water sent chills up my spine.
“This wouldn’t be the opening to drag those machines out. The water flow is heavy, and it doesn’t seem like its passage can be changed,” Eklavya said, and I nodded in agreement.
“You’re right,” I panted. “We should walk back to the spot where we had two choices,” I suggested, and he nodded. We slowly crawled back, our clothes caked in mud. My fingers were shaking. We had narrowly escaped death.
My lips dried out, and our lamp was out, too. However, it felt like morning; a faint brightness illuminated the place.
We continued back and selected another spot. The light grew brighter with each step, and after a long, exhausting, and perilous walk, we finally found the large opening of a dry riverbed.
Clearly, it was dry because the ground sloped upwards, unlike a flowing river, which slopes south.
Wait, a moment!
That meant a river was coming from above, which could only mean one thing: this river was flowing down from the mountains. We were close to the mountains.
This location was perfect for delivering the gunpowder and those enormous, destructive machines.
Although I didn’t know why, an idea clicked in my mind. The possibility that this river might go underground after emerging from the mountains suggested that a river flowed through the hills. It wouldn’t be surprising if the army used this river to traverse the mountains.
“Fuck!” I muttered, and Eklavya stared at me in disbelief.
“What?” he asked as we exited the dry riverbed passage.
“We should head back home,” I said gradually.
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