The team started to run away from the noises with Shaurya taking the lead. Visha and Ashwin were in the middle with Priest Dravya and Laksh. Trisha was the worst when it came to physical activities and hence she was at the back. Danish decided to stay at the back so he could overlook the whole group but the slowpoke Trisha made it very difficult. Danish decided to hold her hand and tried to catch up. He"d drag her if he had to but they couldn"t risk being too far behind. They were almost about to catch up with them when Shaurya yelled, "Run!", and a loud roar sounded from ahead. They could hear trees being trampled upon by something big in the distance heading for them. The group started to run in the opposite direction this time, but the trampling noises kept on getting closer regardless of the numerous turns they made. It was following them!"Running isn"t helping." Danish said and everyone stopped. As much as they hated to admit, they wouldn"t outrun this beast. No matter how fast they had run, it kept on getting closer. "We will have to stay and fight."
"You can"t." yelled Priest Dravya. "Every creature in here is sacred and holy, we cannot harm them no matter what!"
"It"s after us. We"ll die if we don"t do it first." Aswin shouted. The entire witch group felt the same way. To h.e.l.l with some beast, their lives were far too precious. If defending themselves was a sin then so be it.
Priest Dravya could see that his companions won"t be agreeing with him. Laksh stood by his Master"s side as he clasped his hands together and started to chant something. A translucent circle appeared in front of them and Trisha being closest tried to touch it. She gasped and jumped back as a slight touch of it gave her an intense shock.
"What"s the meaning of this?" Danish asked. He was the one who always maintained his composure and kept his calm. He could see that the priest was ready to fight back even after knowing they were heavily outnumbered.
"It is our sacred duty to protect the Spirit Forest, the entire priesthood was built to do it." Priest Dravya was determined and everyone could see it.
"If we die here, then no one will be able to help the High Priest. You need to calm down and think rationally." Danish tried ro reason with him.
"If that"s G.o.d"s will, then so be it. The High Priest is doing the same as us right now, protecting the Spirit Forest even when the odds are against him." Priest Dravya had no intention to let them bring any harm to the beast, even if they die. As irrational as it was, Priest Dravya did make sense about High Priest doing the same thing but on a larger scale. No wonder he took the same step as those stubborn old men and put his life on line to protect this place. It seemed the entire priesthood qas full of stuck up old men. Before he could say anything the beast roared once again and it seemed to be just behind them. It stepped into the clearing after trampling more trees and everyone finally had a view of the magnificent elephant. It was atleast four times the size of the normal elephants and had a weird b.u.mp on its forehead.
"It"s a Gaja(elephant)! And from the looks of it, not a normal one. It"s a Spirit Gajakesari!" said Priest Dravya. It was a Gajakesari! The witches looked at each other in shock. They knew nothing about a living one, all they had heard was that b.u.mp on its forehead had a bone in it. And witches would kill to have that and use it in witchcraft. It was far too precious and rare. It was used to make charms for wealth and success too. They had only ever heard of buying it in the black market. If the bone of a normal sized Gajakesari was precious, just how much would this one be?
The Gaja roared once again before it swinged its trunk and smashed Ashwin away. He landed against a thick tree trunk and coughed up blood. Shaurya immediately started aiming flames around the beast to scare it away but it seemed to have no consciousness. It went on a rampage and tried to trample Priest Dravya beneath its foot. Thankfully, Laksh was right beside him and pulled him away. Trisha rushed towards Ashwin to heal him while Danish helped Shaurya. Priest Dravya and Laksh came back to their senses and saw right into its eyes. The Gaja had no pupils, its eyes were all white.
"There"s something wrong with it. It has no pupils." Laksh yelled.
"Then that means its under someone"s control. Its black magic." Danish yelled and started to chant a spell. Shaurya saw him and distracted the beast with Priest Dravya and Laksh, so Danish could wash away the mind control. After completing the spell, Danish pulled out a small dagger and aimed it towards the Gaja"s back. Priest Dravya saw it and rushed forward to stop him.
"Don"t you dare!" his scream attracted the beast"s attention and it began to rush towards them. It saw the dagger Danish held and madly swung its trunk around and with a swoosh smashed Priest Dravya away. Danish saw his window of opportunity and threw the dagger that pierced a few inches into its flesh at its back. As blood dripped from the wound, the beast lost its mind and rushed to trample Danish. Since, Danish was still chanting to clear its mind through the dagger he threw, he couldn"t move.