Shaurya had already given his approval to Visha"s suggestion and that had further fanned the rage in Trisha"s heart. But she knew it was best for her to keep quiet for now. Hence, she reluctantly shook her head and let things progress on their own. Shaurya took out a small piece of cloth from his pocket and bent down. Visha peeked from behind the others and saw him soak a corner of the cloth in blood. She had just read about these spells until now and had never seen it in action. This would be her first time seeing someone other than Dhira perform a spell and she was extremely excited. Her eyes twinkled seeing Shaurya chant holding the b.l.o.o.d.y cloth. A flame erupted out of nowhere at the corner of the cloth and she let out a loud gasp. Seeing all this happen in front of her eyes was proof that her dream had finally come true. She was now officially part of the witch life she had always wanted.Shaurya dropped the cloth to let it burn and quietly stood up. In just mere moments, it was completely burnt off leaving no ashes behind, just a small green flame! Visha"s expression changed to that of a child full of wonder and curiosity as she saw the flame float and exit the Treasure room. The disciple was too stunned to move and stood their with his eyes widened. Everyone else hurriedly followed it in the long corridor, up the stairs and into the lush green lawn outside the House of Priests. But the green flame showed no intentions of stopping as it rushed towards the riverbank. Shaurya and Danish were the only ones who could keep up with its speed. Visha and Ashwin had ran out of their breaths following them but didn"t stop as they couldn"t afford to lose sight of their only lead. They stopped to catch their breaths only after they saw Danish and Shaurya standing at the river bank. They didn"t move and stood there like statues.
"What happened? Where"s the Tracker?" Visha asked. She couldn"t help but imagine they had lost it"s sight. If that happened they won"t have much to carry the investigation further.
Shaurya turned back with a lost face and didn"t reply to her as he dropped down to catch his breath with his eyes closed. He looked tired and frustrated as he repeatedly punched the ground beneath him. Visha then turned to Danish who was still staring into the horizon. He hadn"t budged from his spot either. She held onto his arm to get his attention. Danish looked at her for a brief moment before pointing towards the dense forest at the other side of the river.
"It went in there and vanished."
The words struck like thunder as it dawned on the others standing behind her. In there? Wasn"t that the Forbidden Forest that disciple told them about!
***
The team had already grown accustomed to following their quiet guides who didn"t interact and just followed their mentors" instructions dutifully. The disciple this time was a bit older, and looked to be in his mid twenties. He even had a different uniform than the ones from before. But they were fl.u.s.tered enough and couldn"t bother with different uniforms. It was the least of their worries. They had been walking along the river bank for a while till they saw an all white house. It looked even more peaceful than the priesthood as it was quite a distance away from there. Its white gates had two golden swans as door handles. The swans had been intricately carved with even the most minute details taken care of with extreme precision. The disciple walked up the steps and opened the door revealing its beautiful interior, which was also white. The only other colour in the room was golden. The white couch in the middle had a golden lining with some other golden swan shaped antiques on display across the room to contrast the white. Seems like he likes swans a lot. Visha thought as she stared at the different swan antiques. The disciple then told them to wait there and left.
They had gone back as soon as they saw the green flame disappear into the Forbidden forest. Shaurya had requested the disciple that had guided them to the Treasure room for an audience with one of the Elder Priests so they could seek permission and some pointers before heading into the forest. He was the leader who was responsible for their lives and hence didn"t want to rush into any situation blindly. They didn"t know anything about that forest or the reason why it was forbidden. The only Elder who agreed to see them was the High Priest Vishva himself. So one of the disciples had been asked to guide them to his residence. Shaurya was aware that none of the other priests liked the idea of involving witches but he had never imagined they wouldn"t even cooperate for the stone. Just how deep-rooted was their hatred for witches?