"What the h.e.l.l was that?" asked Ashwin as he heard the rumblings in the distance."The forest is full of mysterious beings. From the noise, it seems to be quite big. We must steer clear of it. We don"t want to disturb even the smallest ones hear, let alone the big ones." Priest said.
When he saw the group of witches standing outside the priesthood he was shocked. They were supposed to return three days ago but had decided to stay.
After Visha called them weak, one of his disciples wanted to get in a fight with them but before he could even touch her she threw a powder on all of them and they couldn"t move. It was as if they had been frozen at the spot. Visha then explained everything to them that had happened from the beginning. The Priest was shocked to hear that the Hall of Priests planned to lose their lives in this battle. After hearing how the witches had helped the priesthood and even decided to stay back to help, they felt ashamed. They were cursing and insulting their benefactors. That"s when Visha told them that if they really felt guilty then they should help them find their way to the forest. They had known the vast forest on the other side of the river as the Forbidden Forest. No one had ever been there how could they know their way in. But the words "Spirit Forest" made them jump up. The Spirit Forest was a mythical place they had all read about. It was an abode to a lot of mythical beasts and sacred beings and spirits. They could never have imagined the Forbidden Forest to be the same Spirit Forest they had always read about. It was hidden in plain sight! On their way Priest Dravya apologised for his disciple"s rudeness back then. Shaurya immediately brushed it off as he wouldn"t hold a grudge on such a small matter. The teams followed their lead and familiarised themselves with each other. The kid with the loose mouth had an extreme change in his behavior towards the witches. He came to them on his own and introduced himself, Laksh, and his teammates, Kashyap and Vinay with the youngest one being Dhruv. Dhruv was hardly seven or eight years old and had a carefree and innocent smile whenever he spoke. Strangely he stuck to Visha and followed her like a cute tail. She liked the cheeky brat and hence didn"t mind chaperoning him while others talked.
Shaurya asked Priest Dravya if he knew anything regarding a person who may have survived in the forest. From the way First Priests had talked, it seemed to be someone originally from the priesthood itself. And that must also had been the reason Priest Vishva asked them to leave, as he may not have wanted to bring that matter to light in front of outsiders. Priest Dravya thought for a while and suddenly remembered something.
"There have been a handful of people who vanished in the Forbidden area every year. You know, kids can be quite difficult to tame. But there was one man about eight years ago, I was a senior disciple then. He was a direct disciple of the then First Priest, Daksha and the brother disciple of Priest Dharma. His name was Drona. He was one of the most elite and also the youngest one to climb up that fast. One day, the First Priest caught him doing dark magic in his room. He was a warlock that had infiltrated the priesthood, G.o.d knows why. Priest Daksha disowned him in front of the entire priesthood and even issued a death sentence. But he murdered his master and escaped into the woods. No one can live in there so everyone a.s.sumed he was dead."
"Dark Magic? What would a dark warlock need a Philosopher"s Stone for?" Shaurya asked. Priest Dravya shrugged his shoulders as he didn"t know much about the wiccan world.
"If it is a dark warlock behind all this then I"m glad we stayed. The Hall of Priests are powerful, without a doubt, but they don"t know much about witchcraft. So we will go their as well, you should stay hear and guard the fort."
Priest Dravya jumped up to stop Shaurya, "I"m very thankful to all of you for this offer but I won"t stay behind to guard mere walls. This is a matter of the Priesthood and we shall go with you."
Shaurya pointed towards little Dhruv who was walking ahead with Visha. Out of mischief, he let go of her hand and started to run away. Visha too followed as she tried to catch him. His high pitched childish giggles could be heard from there as he escaped from her grasp. Priest Dravya immediately understood what Shaurya meant. After that he left Dhruv back at the priesthood with Vinay and Kashyap while he and Laksh came with them. As the witches may not know about mythical beings as much as them, Priest Dravya would not let Shaurya and others to go by themselves. They crossed the river with the help of a bridge Ashwin and Shaurya conjured out. Just as they set foot on the forest grounds, they heard loud rumbling voices from within the forest.