I am in the woods of eternity.

Trying to find my way

Looking for the dreams that I have lost

My forgotten yesterday

 

I am in the woods of eternity,

Walking on the path I find,

Wondering if what I’m searching for

Lies in front of me, or behind….

 

I was having that dream again….

I was alone, utterly alone. Powerless, helpless. I was hearing voices.

“What are you doing? You don’t belong here! This is our world.” Sameer and Jia, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, were jeering at me.

“Why did we ever have you? You good for nothing fool! We would have been better off childless!” my parents called out, scorn and disgust written on their faces.

And another voice, unknown, but none the less distinct, “in the beginning, they were two siblings, the caster and the hunter. And two siblings they will be again.”

A shadowy figure, beckoning me. Pulling me farther and farther away from my family, and the world which did not accept me…

 

I woke up, in cold sweat.

 

It was early morning; the sun had just begun to rise. I had been travelling with the spellcasters for several months now. But our relations had not changed. Jia ad I still talked very little to each other. I had not seen my parents, or normal people, for several months. We were moving from place to place, trying to avoid the spellhunters, sometimes getting into small fights, but nothing serious. Jia was shaping into a very good leader. For the past month, I had been having the feeling that someone was watching me, following me constantly. And I was having nightmares, like this one.  

I was going crazy. I needed to talk to someone. But who could I confide in? nobody would take me seriously.

And there was another problem I was trying to handle. Sameer. For about a month now, I had realised that I was in love with him. But I had no idea what his feelings were. He was friendly, but I had no idea, if there was anything more than that. What if he was in love with Jia? I was behaving like a teenage drama queen, what was wrong with me?

There was a river near our camp. It was small, but turbulent, and could easily carry away a person. I normally avoided it, as I was a very bad swimmer. But today I felt like I needed some cold water. I had ben sitting near the riverbank for sometime when I heard voices. Jia’s and Sameer’s. they were discussing something important, in the distance. Unnoticed, I crept closer to them.

‘are you sure?” Jia was asking.

“more sure than anything else in my life.” Sameer replied. “I have never felt this way about any other girl. My mother gave me a ring, to give to the person I want to spend my life with, when I find her. And I think I have found her.”

They were standing close to each other, heads touching. Sameer put his hand in his pocket, and pulled out a ring. Jia took it. I couldn’t bear it. Jia had taken away another thing that I loved. She had won, again.

Tears welling up in my eyes, I took a step back. And fell into the river.

…………………..

 

I woke up to find an unknown boy standing over me. A handsome boy, with brilliant blue eyes, and black hair. A boy who looked strangely like Sameer.

“Are you okay, Anita?” the boy said, pulling me to my feet. “We thought you were dead. Why did you go near the river when you can’t swim? Were you trying to kill yourself?”

How did this boy know my name? And there was something very familiar about him, like I had met him somewhere before.

“Who- who are you?” I asked. I looked around. I was in a camp of some sort, but not the spell caster’s camp.

“Don’t you remember me?’ he asked with a lopsided smile. “We spent such lovely weeks together!”

and in a flash I realised who he was. “You’re the disguise master!”

he smiled again. “I’m glad you recognise me even without my disguise. Though I must admit, dressing like spell caster Sameer was not hard, especially as we look something alike.”

I stared. This must be the spell hunter’s camp, I realised. I hadn’t seen it properly the last time I had been caught. But strangely, this time, nobody had bound me in ropes, or tried to hurt me in any way. What was going on?

The disguise master must have understood what I was thinking.

‘the last time, you were our prisioner.” He said. “this time, you are our guest.’

 I didn’t understand. Why was he being so nice? What did he want?

“you must be tired.” He said. “we have prepared some food for you, and a place where you can rest. After you are refreshed, we can talk.”

He called some other spellhunters, women in thick fireproof cloaks, who led me away.

They must be taking me to some prision, I thought. But they didn’t. the put me an a plain elegant tent, with clean and comfortable bedding on the ground, and food laid out. There were no guards outside it. I ate the food, it was not drugged, and then, after sitting thinking for sometime, went to sleep. But my dreams were not peaceful.

Jia and Sameer kept invading them, hand in hand. After tossing and turning for sometime, I got up and went outside.

The hunter’s camp was a lot like the caster’s camp. Lots of people, young ,old working, talking, eating, fighting. The only difference was that these people did not have powers. They were like ordinary humans, out for a picnic. About noon, I wet back to the tent, to find the disguisemaster waiting for me. Lunch was laid out.

“how did you like our camp?” he asked. When I didn’t reply, he said, “as you must have realised, I and my friends have been following you for some days. Today, one of us saw you fall into the river, and rescued you and brought you here. You were taken care of, and now you are well again. All that remains to be discussed is what you will do next. Something tells me that you don’t want to go back to the spell casters. What I suggest, is that you join us.”

So that was why they had been treating me so nicely. But I didn’t understand what they thought they could get from me. Did they want me to spy on the spell casters?

“I am not spying for you!” I told him.

“loyalty.” He smiled. “It is a quality we spell hunters value. perhaps more than your sister and her tribe. You are a woman of great possibilities, Anita. Something that your family obviously cannot see. Now, we see it. We don’t want you to spy for us, we want you to work with us, as a spell hunter. You could be great. Think about it, do you want to spend the whole of your life in your sister’s shadow?”

 

I listened to him. Inspite of myself, I listened. It wa true, the spell casters would never accept me. And I could not go back to them. Now that Jia and Sameer were-together- I could not live with them.

“give me some time to think” I told him.

“all the time that you want, Anita.” He said. “I shall be waiting for your reply.”

He left.

I spent he whole day thinking, fighting with myself. I knew that it would be disloyal to side against the spell casters.

“but when have the spell casters ever appreciated your loyalty?” a part of me said.

I knew that the hunters were just using me.

“but they don’t even want you to spy for them! they obviously see your talents. And it would be nice to show Jia for once that you are not helpless” a part of me said.

But what about my parents?

“you haven’t seen them anyway. If you become a spellhunter, and defeat the spellcaster tribe, the war will end, and you can see them again. You won’t kill the casters, just take them hostage.” That awfully convincing part said.

After a lot more such mind wrestling, I went to the disguise master and said two words,

“I accept.”

He smiled. “perfect! I welcome you to our tribe. My name is Neer.”

…..

that evening Neer took me to a clearing in the woods. It was quiet, dark and lonely, a single bonfire burned in the centre. Neer walked to it.

“spell hunters cannot control the elements, Anita.” Neer said.

“we cannot control the wind, water, earth we cannot run faster than a storm,  cannot transform into beasts. We have only our cunning and our bravery. However, over the ages, we have also mastered one element, the element spell casters fear most.”

Neer lit a wooden torch and handed it to me. “fire.”

“and from today, I will teach you how to tame it as well.”

 

Neer taught me. He taught me how to handle flame without being burnt by it, how to shape it, how to create it from almost anything, and most importantly, how to grow it wihout  losing control of it.

It was like growing a living being. I had to be gentle, I had to be harsh, I had to be careful, and then I had to take risks. I had to understand the flame, and to fall in love with it. It was easy for me, as I had always been fascinated by fire. And again, as days went by, I realised that I had one special power that no spell caster or hunter had. I could not be burnt by the flame.

Neer was amazed when he first discovered it. He was a little scared as well, as if I was going beyond his control. But he pretended to be very excited.

‘it’s like you were born to be a spell hunter!’

I learnt fast, it became an obsession. In the flame, I could lose myself, could forget that Jia, Sameer, and all the other people who hurt me ever existed.

A curious thing I noticed was that Neer never liked talking about Sameer or Zayed. It made him almost as uncomfortable to mention them as it did me. I wondered about it for a while, but as I did not like thinking about Sameer, I didn’t make any further enquiries.

 

One day, as Neer and I were practicing with the flame, another hunter came to him with a message. Neer became very angry when he heard it. He immediately went back to the camp. I followed him.

All the hunters were gathered there. Among them, a frightened woman whom I recognised as another hunter was held captive. Neer went to her, fury showing in his eyes.

‘Is it true?” he asked the woman, his voice barely above  a whisper. “do you carry the child of a spell caster?”

The woman was terrified. Whimpering, she said, “we are in love. We will not interfere in this war. Let us be together, please.”

Neer slapped her.

“this woman has betrayed us.” He said. “she has dared to consort with a spell caster. Tomorrow, she shall be killed. If the spell caster who is her lover dares to come here to rescue her, kill him as well.”

He left. I was shocked.

“was there any reason to be so harsh?” I asked him. “all she has done is fall in love with a spell caster.”

“ALL SHE HAS DONE IS ENDANGER OUR ENTIRE TRIBE!” He screamed. “I don’t want the incident that happened twenty years ago to happen again.”

“what happened twenty years ago?” I asked.

“ twenty years ago, a spell caster fell in love with a woman from our tribe.  This woman was already married, and had a child. But when the spell caster came, she forgot them and went away with the caster. The woman’s husband went after her, and was killed. His family went to take revenge, and were killed as well. Only the child lived. It has taken us twenty years to pick up the pieces after that disaster. I don’t want to have to pick up the pieces again.”  

I was quiet. I still didn’t agree to what he said, but I saw some great emotion in his eyes when he said it, so I didn’t object to it.

 

The next day, I heard that the woman had killed herself, so that her lover wouldn’t risk his life to come rescue her. Her body was thrown in the river. It might have just been my imagination, but I think I saw a hooded figure, a spell caster, pull the body out later.

 

The next night, the spell hunter’s camp was invaded. The woman’s lover had come for revenge. He was a very powerful spellcaster named veer, and he could control the earth. He was wild with grief, for the loss of his wife and unborn child, and he was ripping the camp apart with his powers. Neer, I  and the other spell hunters went to fight him. He was killed, but not before dozens lay dead and wounded. The other spell casters had joined the fight. This was the first time I had been in a real war. Soon, I stopped wondering why I was fighting, what I was fighting for, and fought only because people were fighting back. All my goals, all those excuses I had given my self for fighting my sister disappeared. And then I saw her. Jia, in the middle of it all, fighting side by side with Sameer. But even that had ceased to matter. Sameer saw me. Eyes wide, he said,

‘I thought you were dead!’

he ran towards me, with an unnamed emotion in his face. But then Neer attacked him, hate in his eyes.

“this time, you are not getting away, brother!” he screamed.

Brother? Sameer was Neer’s brother?

“who are you calling brother?” Sameer screamed back.

“you of course! Spawn of my traitor mother and the spell caster Zayed. Or did the old man conceal from you that you were his son? That my mother, wife of the leader of the spell hunters tribe, left him when I was only a child, for Zayed? That my father, and half of our tribe, died trying to get her back?”

I could see the shock on Sameer’s face. It was probably reflected on mine. That story Neer had told me, was of his own mother.

 

“you’re lying!” Sameer screamed. But he could see that Neer wasn’t.

Neer fought like a man possessed. All the rage, bitterness he had stored in his heart for twenty years was released on Sameer. Sameer, despite being the most powerful spell caster in the tribe, collapsed. Something, a ring, fell out of his pocket.

Sameer looked at me. “read it!” he said weakly.

I picked it up. It was beautiful, old gold. On it’s inside was inscribed,

“to Anita, with my heart and life.”

 

The ring had been for me all along. I had been so wrong. I had lost enough in my life, I was not going to lose my love!

I shielded Sameer and faced Neer. “This war has gone on long enough. I’m not going to let it hurt more families.”

I hadn’t been practicing day and night for nothing. Against me, Neer never had a chance. I captured him within a matter of minutes. He looked betrayed, but I’d rather betray Neer than my family. The war was soon over. We managed to end it without killing any more people. In the end everyone stood in front of me and jia, unsure who to trust, how to react.

“my sister and I are very powerful people.” I said. “together we could probably kill everyone here, destroy every leaf on every tree in these woods. The first spell caster and hunter were two siblings. So are, it seems, sameer and Neer, so are  jia and i. all of us allowed our powers to get between us. We’ve become part of a war that has lasted so long that we have forgotten what we are fighting for. Well, I say that we end it. Right here, right now. If we have to hate or love people,we shall do it because of what they do, not because of what their ancestors did, or what tribe they belonged to. You are all free to walk away right now, and start your lives all over again. But if you don’t, I assure you that we can fight, and win. We can be just as violent as we are peaceful right now.”

 There was silence, and then slowly, everyone dispersed.

“This is not the end you know.” Jia said, looking at me. “people will fight again.”

“yes, but we have delayed it for some time. And who ever else fights, we wont.” I said, hugging her.

“what! But I miss fighting with you!” she said. “over chocolates, and toys,-“

“and make up, and boys.” I said, laughing.

We held each other, smiling like we hadn’t in years. The battle was over.

 Well, not quite. When sameer (fully recovered} was going over his mother’s old things, he found a letter, addressed  “to my sons.”

He showed it to Neer, who was still our prisoner. It said,

“dear sameer and Neer,

I don’t know if both, or even either of you will ever read this letter. But if you do, I wan’t you to know that im sorry for what my life has done to you over the years. Sameer, I’m sorry for concealing the fact that zayed is your father. Neer, I want to tell you a little story. Once upon a time there was a young spell hunter. Once, during a battle, she was taken prisioner by a spell caster. The caster and the hunter fell in love. However, their worlds did not meet. So they drifted apart, and the hunter went back to her tribe. There she met a powerful young man, who would later become the tribe leader. He loved her, and understood her. They married, and had a lovely son. However, things did not stay the same between them. The man began to suspect his wife, and their life together became unbearable. So, one day, she left. She went to the one man who had loved her, the spell caster. He gave her shelter, though she never revealed her identity to the other casters. The hunter came to her, realising his mistake. She agreed to go back with him, but then, as he was mortal, he died. She had nowhere to go, but then the caster asked her to marry him. She agreed. However, other hunters came after her. They did not believe that the hunter’s death had been natural. A war ensued. After it the woman decided that it was better if her shadow did not fall on her son ever again. She lived, with the caster, happily ever after, with only one regret, that her son would never know his mother or father, or what tore them apart.

Neer, you know the characters in this story. My only hope is that one day you will realise that what I did, I did for your best, and though we have been driven apart, I have always loved you.

Forever,

Your mother”

 

    The letter helped him shed his hate, I believe. Anyway, he has not tried to hurt us again.

 

…………….

 

The other day I was getting out of the house to go to college when a very handsome boy approached me.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time but could not get the courage.” He said. “will you go out with me?”

“I’m sorry, I’m engaged.” I said, showing him the golden ring on my finger.

“oh!” he said. “may I know who the lucky boy is?” he asked.

“an obnoxious flirt named sameer.” I said. “but that does not mean we can’t be friends. What’s your name?”

“sameer.” He smiled wolfishly.

…………………………………………………

 

  

 

 

the forest was quiet. 'the world should be screaming,' jiathought dully, 'coming apart. Just like my life.'

It had been several hours since zayed had died. The
attackers had again, escaped. Jia was in a state of shock. She hadn't been able
to break the news of zayed's death to the other spellcasters. Sameer had told
them, watched the ex-pressions of disbelief, shock, pain, reflected on every
face. Zayed couldn't die. He was their leader, a father figure for all of them.
No, anybody but'. zayed.

Sameer came behind jia and put a gentle hand on her
shoulder.

'We have to leave here soon, jia. The spellhunters may
comeback soon, and the injured need to be healed. We're waiting for you.'

'why me?' jia asked faintly. 'I cant think right now.'

'jia' you are our leader now. We are waiting for you.'

Jia stared, processing the information. What had zayed said,
just a few weeks ago?

One day you might have to lead this pack

But she wasn't ready! She was too young, too confused. What
could she do?

'jia,' sameer said, tightening his grip. 'we are counting on
you. We have to move on.'

'

Jia looked at sameer. Zayed had given her this
responsibility. She had to carry it out. She turned to the rest of the pack,

'Let's go.'

'

I was sitting away from the spellcasters, watching them
prepare to leave. Sameer had told me that since the old man, zayed, was dead,
jia was now the leader of the pack. My teenaged little sister, leader.

And what was I doing here? I wasn't a spellcaster, I didn't
have any powers. The spellcaster pack didn't want me. They blamed me, I
thought, for the old man's death. Blamed me for the attack on the camp. Nobody
spoke to me, but I could read their hostile gazes well enough. Only sameer
offered me a word now and then. But even he was grim.

I didn't want to be here, damn it. I wanted to be home, with
my boring parents, and boring life, pretending that jia didn't exist. I didn't
want to be within a 100 km radius of my talented spellcaster sister, the
arrogant little brat.

'

Sameer was calling all the spellcasters to gather around
him. They were ready to leave, but how? Were they all superfast runners and
climbers like him? But then how could I go with them, I wasn't a runner. I saw
jia standing beside sameer.

They make a very good couple I thought suddenly. Why
was I jealous?

The wind started moving faster, all of a sudden.

'Of course, jia's
name was windcaster. She could control the wind.

I felt like I was being lifted up into the air. I was
flying! So was the pack. Jia was strong. Singlehandedly, she lifted up everyone
with the wind, and guided them away. We were gone, only the little mound that
was zayed's grave marked that we had ever been in the forest.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''.

'

'are you okay?' , sameer sat quietly beside me and bored his
wolfish eyes into mine.

I looked away, I didn't want him to see my tears, crying was
weak.

It was evening, I had been traveling with the pack for about
a week, and my relations with them had gone from bad to worse. It was easy to
see to see that they put up with me only for their leader's sake. If I had been
on good terms with my sister, it might have been easier for them to like me,
but since I obviously hated her guts, and hadn't spoken to her even once since
zayed had died, they had no idea how to treat me.' For the past week, they had all avoided me, except the children,
who amused themselves by making fun of me with their powers. Selfish prigs.

'You know an, you are a lot like your sister.' Sameer
remarked, smiling. 'both of you love each other more than anything else in the
world, and both of you are such idiots that you cant even talk to each other.
You are constantly looking out for each other, but when it comes to saying
something, little old me has to pass your messages to eachother. Honestly, you
two make me tired.'

'I do not care a thing about that selfish brat.' I said
angrily.

'oh really?' sameer looked at me, smiling. 'Then why did I
see you go to her the first night we were here and kiss her forehead while she
was sleeping?'

I turned red. I hadn't known that anybody had seen me. Curse
sameer with his overkeen senses.

'That was nothing.' I mumbled.

Sameer gave me a knowing look that made me want to slap him.

'anyway,' sameer said.'what I wanted to talk to you about
was something totally different. Jia needs someone to go to the city nearby and
do some shopping. Would you like to come with me? We could make a date of it.'

I looked at him. A date with sameer? The obnoxious flirt?
Did I like the idea? I did, strangely.

'fine.' I said.

'

I enjoyed the shopping. We bought essentials, like
medicines, cloth, string, salt. It was raining slightly, and we took shelter in
a little roadside teashop, and drank sweet, milky tea. I hadn't drunk tea for a
long while. Ma made it at home, but I had grown out of the habit of spending
time with my parents.

'Tell me something about yourself.', I asked sameer lazily.

'Me?' sameer looked surprised. 'There's nothing to tell'

'Oh come on,' I nudged him. 'Were you born in the
spellcaster tribe? Or did you get adopted, like ji-' I couldn't say her name.

'my father was a spellcaster. Mother wasn't. I don't think
she knew that he was a spellcaster when they were married. Anyway, father was
killed, in a fight with the spell hunters, before I was born. Mother found out,
and came to zayed. He adopted her into the tribe, and raised me. Mother died a
few years ago.'

He said it in such a matter of fact way that I stared. This
was 'nothing to tell'?

'now tell me about you.' Sameer said. 'Jia has never told me
her story.'

I told him most of it, upto the part of jia leaving with the
spellcaster tribe, with everyone thinking that she was dead. He was easy to
talk to, and listened carefully, without being judgemental. I was just thinking
how good a guy he was when he let out a wolf whistle.

'that is the most pathetic story I have ever heard.' He said
rolling his eyes. 'girls can be so weird,'
though rather attractive.' He paused to wink at a goodlooking,
miniskirted girl who passed us. She smiled back. I felt a stab of annoyance.

'well you asked for it.' I said, and got up to leave.

'hey wait!' sameer came after me. 'I think I know what's
wrong with you. You're jealous.'

'WHAT?' I said annoyed. 'Jealous about what?'

sameer looked at me. 'You believed in magic, didn't you?
Even before you found out that jia had powers?'

'What? Yes, what does that have to do with it?'

'sameer explained. 'I think you wanted to be a spellcaster.
You wanted powers, but jia got them. It's just sour grapes. You were jealous of
her.'

'Shut up.' I said, quietly. 'You know nothing about it.'

'I think I do.' He said, with that annoying superiority.

I lost my temper. 'No you don't!' I screamed.

'you don't know what it's like. Jia was always prettier,
smarter, and more talented than me. I put up with it, because I cared about her.
But magic, that was my world. I loved stories of witches, wizards, magic. Kept
dreaming about how it would be to have magical powers. And then jia invaded
that world too. She got powers, and I, I was just plain and ordinary. No matter
what I did, jia was always better. I lost my sister, and my dreams. But you
won't understand. You're just like her. You don't understand anything.' I broke
off, sobbing.

'

'All right, I don't understand.' Sameer said, gently. 'but
jia isn't living in all that wonderful a world either. It's not easy to be the
leader of the spell caster tribe, especially if you are only fifteen. When jia
got powers, she lost the most important things in her life. Her family and the
love of the most important person in her world: you. She's had to make tough
decisions, face a lot of challenges. She's lost her childhood. She's a child,
but she has the responsibility of the whole tribe thrust upon her. It's her job
to fight this war, and to look for a solution. She's lovely, and she's lonely.
She needs you.'

'I looked at sameer.
Irritating, irresponsible, sameer. But he knew so much about me and jia. He
understood me, understood all my faults, but still cared.

I didn't know what he felt, but at that moment I realized
that I was in love.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''..

'

we walked back to the camp slowly that evening. We talked,
friendly, lighthearted talk.

'sameer, why do the spell hunters hate the spell casters so
much?' I asked him suddenly.

'the spell hunters?' sameer smiled. 'That story goes back a
long way. Well, I don't know if it's true, but it is said that the rivalry
started when, a long time ago, a spell caster was born in a normal, non spell
casting family. The family was rich, and very orthodox. The spell caster's
elder brother was the head of the family, and he feared his younger brother's
power. He was afraid that the younger brother would try to usurp his money, and
so arranged for him to be killed. Now, in that land was a beautiful girl, who
both brothers wished to marry. The girl did not know of the spell caster's
powers, but she loved him, and married him anyway. They had one son, but then
the spell caster was killed by his brother. After the spell caster's death, the
elder brother asked the girl to marry him. She had no idea that he had killed
her husband, and she married him. They too, had a child, a daughter. But then
one day, the woman found out that her second husband had killed her first. Wild
with grief, she murdered her second husband. Then she killed herself. Her son and
daughter were both grown, but though the son had powers, the daughter had not.
When they realized the causes of their parents' death, they blamed each other,
and thus the rivalry began. The daughter was a talented woman, and she was the
first spellhunter.'

'

Two siblings, I thought. Just like me and jia.

But not like us, jia and I loved each other. We would
never hurt each other, no matter how far apart our destinies drove us. I would
talk to her. I wouldn't let anything come between us again.

'

We reached the camp. Jia came to meet us. 'thank goodness
you're here!' she said, hugging sameer. 'I was getting worried.'

'

A pang of jealousy shot through me again.

 Sameer had been feeling strange for the past few days.  In a few hours, he and Anita would reach the spellcaster's camp, but his thoughts were not on the mission he had been given. He had rescued jia's sister, made sure that she didn't run away, and was going to deliver her safe and sound to zayed and jia. But he was worried. About Anita.

When sameer had first seen Anita, he had recognized her immediately, because she was extremely like her sister. She didn't look like jia. Jia was bubbly, beautiful and fun, with large, brown, mischevious eyes. Anita was slow, serious and cynical, with smaller, darker eyes. But the ex-pression in Anita's eyes, the unhappiness, and the strength, was one that sameer recognized. Jia's eyes held the same ex-pression sometimes. And the first day after sameer had rescued Anita, he had noticed many more points of resemblance. Anita raised her eyebrows in surprise, exclaimed in irritation, and ran her hand through her hair when she was worried, in exactly the same way as jia did.

'Anita's long, thick, wavy hair.' Sameer thought suddenly. He remembered strangely, the way it had smelt when he had carried her that first day. Like fresh dew, and sweet smelling sweat.

But she was different now. Ever since he had left her alone in the city for a few hours she had changed, very subtly. She looked the same, but she acted differently. She was more friendly, more attractive. The haunting ex-pression was gone from her eyes. Sameer didn't understand it.

Sameer had very good hearing, like a wolf's. As he was sitting worriedly, he heard a distant scream. It was jia's.

the fight in the spellcaster's camp had continued for several days. The spell hunters, as the spell casters' enemies were called, had somehow found their camp, and had attacked with all their strength. Zayed, jia and the other powerful spellcasters had managed to defend the camp, but there were many casualties on each side. Now, as jia fought what looked like a losing battle, she desperately wished that sameer was there. A spell hunter suddenly got close enough to her to set her clothes on fire. Jia was exhausted, she couldn't defend herself, she screamed and fell unconscious. 

'Jia! ' Sameer rescued jia from the spellcasters just in time. She was alive, but unconscious. Sameer wondered where zayed was. He wondered how the spell hunters had found the camp. Zayed would have been sure to cover their tracks.

 

In the distance, zayed saw sameer arrive. He was relieved, until he saw two figures following him. Two spell hunters, one of whom looked exactly like sameer .

 

Zayed  ran up to the two new spell hunters.

"so it's you." Zayed looked at the spell hunter who looked like sameer with some dislike. "I should have known that this attack was planned by you, disguise master."

 

The disguise master smiled. "disguising myself as your most talented spellcaster had it's uses. I traced your camp through the messages sameer sent. And it was interesting to meet windcaster's sister. She would have made a good spellhunter, with some training."

 

'you know where Anita is?' sameer came beside zayed, holding jia in his arms. Zayed thought he heard fear in sameer's voice.

'oh I left her lost in the woods.' The disguise master said, indifferently. 'but it's not her life you have to worry about, it's your own.' With that, he attacked them.

.

the fight was over, for the present. With sameer's help, the spellcasters had been able to drive away the spell hunters. But many had died, and the disguise master had escaped.

Sameer, jia and zayed went to look for Anita.

*********

The first thing I saw when I woke up, were two wolfish, dark worried eyes, sameer's eyes. He was holding me up, splashing water on my face. Beside him was jia, looking equally worried. I was going to say something to reassure her, when I saw something behind them. With a split second's thought, I grabbed jia, and shielded her from the firebullet about to hit her. Zayed was faster, and came infront of me. It hit him. Infront of my eyes, the great man shuddered, fell and died.

to be continued.,please comment

{ author’s note:i
grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of
droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are
the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i
know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

 

 

I have always been a good liar. Even when I was a child, I could act like the devil and look like an angel. And my mother and father hardly ever found out. It wasn't very hard pretending that I didn't know the truth. This sameer didn't know me, so he didn't notice that I was more friendly than usual. I wondered how I could run away from this man. He was really not like sameer, more suave, superficial and deceitful. Too much like me. I had to contact the real sameer before he gave away too much information to the enemy.

After two more days, the fake sameer told me, "we'll be there by evening."

I was startled. I hadn't expected to reach the camp so quickly. I still hadn't been able to contact the real sameer.

I realized that I would see jia again in a few hours. I didn't know how I felt at the thought.

The fake Sameer left me again soon after lunch. We were in some very dense woods, and the sun set early at that time of the year. The woods would be completely dark in an hour. I decided that this was my last chance to find sameer. When a bear wants honey, it follows the bees. I decided that the only way to find the real sameer was to follow the fake one. It would be risky, but I had to take chances.

It wasn't so hard; the fake sameer was not a spell caster, he couldn't move much faster than me. After following him unobserved for almost an hour and half, I suddenly lost sight of him. I panicked. I didn't know my way in these woods, I didn't know how to get back to where we had eaten. What would I do? Then I saw a neat letter on the ground. I picked it up and read,

"My lovely Anita,

Did you really think that you could follow me unobserved? I am much more powerful than you could ever imagine. So you found my secret. I had had my suspicions before, but when you pitifully attempted to follow me, I became sure. I was tempted to kill you, but I didn't want to waste my energy. Besides, you are not a spell caster. So I am leaving you deep inside these woods. You might be able to find your way out eventually, but by that time my work will be done, the spellcasters will be finished.

I truly enjoyed your company,

Your 'sameer'"

I don't know what I did then. Screamed, shouted, swore probably. I wandered desperately in the woods, until I fell down exhausted. So this is how Anita dies, I thought dully. It was all jia's fault, I told myself. I wished that I could have seen her before I died. I would have killed her, or hugged her very, very tightly.

to be continued.,please comment { author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}
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Zayed found Jia sitting in one corner of the spell casters camp. She had been distracted lately; personal problems had started interfering with her work. It had been a week since sameer had been sent to rescue her sister. And she was worried.

Zayed himself wasn't very worried about sameer or jia's sister. He trusted sameer's magical capabilities. And even though he had met jia's sister, Anita, only twice, he could tell that she was a strong woman.  But still, sameer hadn't contacted them yet. Zayed wondered what was taking them so long.

  Suddenly, zayed heard a scream. Within seconds flames erupted everywhere. Jia came running. "What happened?"

Rolling up his sleeves and gathering everyone around him, zayed said quietly, "We're under attack."

                                                                    ***

 

"A toothbrush!"

I hurried towards a chemist's shop eagerly. It had been almost a fortnight since I had brushed properly, and I could almost kill for a washbasin with running water, a toothbrush and toothpaste. It's amazing how we take little things for granted.

 Sameer had brought me to the city to pick up supplies. After buying food and other essentials, we had separated, he to send a message to Zayed, me to find a proper toilet to relieve myself. We were supposed to meet again at a little roadside teashop for lunch at twelve.

When Sameer had suggested that we split up for a while, I had been surprised.

I hadn't expected him to let me go on my own so easily.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll run away?" I asked him.

'I really don't care.' He said. "If you can be so stupid as to go alone in an unknown city, with no money, and nothing valuable to sell then that's your problem."

'I do have money' I said, reaching for the wallet in my pocket. It wasn't there.

Sameer watched me with a smile, holding my wallet.

"As you may have noticed,' he said grinning, "I'm very fast. I think I'll borrow this for a while. I've left about twenty rupees in your other pocket; in case you want to buy anything, but it wont get you far. I've also taken your cellphone. See you at twelve."

And he left. I hated him. And wondered why I felt so attracted to him.

 

At the chemist's shop, I had an idea. "Give me some cheap sleeping pills and a box of matchsticks please."

                                                                  *

When I met Sameer, he looked worried.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"I can't contact Zayed. There's been some kind of problem. I have to help him as soon as possible."

"What?"

In spite of me, I felt worried about Jia.

"I'm afraid that I don't have the time to take you to the hiding place. We'll go directly to the spell caster's camp."

I sensed something different in his voice. He was probably worried, I thought.

                                                                       *

 the next few days sameer was unusually quiet. He talked to me only when nessecary, and made no irritating remarks. He disappeared for hours on end without telling me, as I discovered one night when I woke up and found him gone. When he returned at dawn, I asked him where he had gone.

"I had work to do," he said curtly. His silence irritated me much more than his talkativeness had.

I was already angry at sameer when I discovered that he had lost my cellphone. He said that he had left it on a bench and it had disappeared. I was furious, but he didn't seem to care. I wondered what had gotten into him.

 

We were mainly traveling by public transport, like buses. I told myself that I was glad that he wasn't carrying me like a sack of potatoes, but I kept remembering odd things, like the feel of his hand on my back when he had carried me. And his wild, not unpleasant, body odour. What had gotten into me?

 

One day we got near a city again. I had still not forgotten my cell phone, and decided to call it and see if I could trace it. I sneaked away from sameer as soon as I could, and placed a call from a public booth. It rang for sometime before someone picked up.

"hello?" said a voice, which was strangely like my own.

In the background I heard a wolf call. And then another person saying,

"anita, why did you pick up the phone? Our enemies could trace the call through you. We'll be leaving soon, heading north."

The person abruptly hung up, but not without giving me lots to think about. I had recognized the voice, it was sameer's. Who was this person who had my phone and who sameer was calling anita? And why had sameer told me that the phone was lost?

 

When I met sameer later, I did not mention this incident to him. If he were keeping secrets from me, I would keep some from him. I asked him where we would go next.

"I don't know yet" sameer said. He had sounded so confident on the phone. "I'll have to check some things out."

In the evening he left me for half an hour and returned to tell me that we were going north. He sounded like he had just found it out. But I had already heard him telling that to the other anita. I wondered.

"I'm sure you'll see windcaster soon." Sameer told me. "I'm sure  you'll be looking forward to seeing her and zayed"

he had called jia windcaster. That was strange, he had always called her jia before. And he knew how much I hated jia and zayed. Then why did he think that I'd be looking forward to seeing them? And then I realized the truth.

This person was not the sameer who had rescued me. Sameer and I had both been tricked.

                                               *

                           

to be continued.,please comment

{ author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

  

I have always been a little afraid of flying. Heights, high buildings, towers, airplanes, make me feel claustrophobic. Even getting into an elevator has been a trial to me. So, when I found my self being carried through the trees by a boy I hardly knew, at such a fast speed that we seemed to be flying, I was dead scared. I had been imprisioned a week when this boy came. It was pitch dark, midnight. My captors, who ever they were, seemed to have thought that I was jia, and imprisioned me to get information about her tribe. They seemed to be humans, like me, with no special powers. But they hated jia and her kind.

Not that I blamed them.

Anyway, I hadn't told them that I wasn't jia. As much as I hated her, if they caught her tribe, my parents would be in trouble too. Or at least that was what I told myself. My captors had tried blackmailing me, hitting me, and scaring me with fire. Luckily, I had never been afraid of fire. That night, they had left me alone, frustrated, in an iron cage surrounded by a ring of fire. They really seemed to depend on fire, and knew many ways of manipulating it, like people in a circus.

I was getting a little drowsy when I heard a slight noise outside my ring of fire. I felt a gust of wind, and silently, my two guards dropped to the ground in front of me. A boy, about my age, stood in front of me outside the ring of fire.

'don't worry, they're not dead, just unconscious.' He grinned at me, showing sharp, rather wolflike teeth. His eyes were very dark, like black tunnels.

'you must be anita, jia's sister. Jia sent me to get you. I'm Sameer '

I stared. So jia had bothered to send someone to rescue me. I had wondered whether she would. Maybe she had been scared that I would leak info to her enemies if she didn't.

Sameer seemed curiously shy of the ring of fire. He couldn't get close to it.

"why aren't you coming closer?" I asked. "are you scared of fire?"

"fire is a spellcaster's deadly enemy" sameer said. "It saps spellcasters of their strength and might even kill them. Haven't you heard of medieval witch burnings?"

Great. So the hero who was supposed to rescue me was scared of fire. "Oh well", I thought, "I guess I'll have to rescue myself."

I slipped my hand through the bars of the cage. " take a long stick or something and give me the keys of the cage." I told sameer. "they should be hanging on the belt of one of the guards."

Sameer quickly found the keys and broke a long branch off a tree. He passed the keys to me and I opened the lock and stepped outside. Around the cage, the ring of fire rose. It seemed that opening the door somehow fed the flames. A clever way to imprision a spellcaster. But I wasn't a spellcaster.

Wrapping my hands around my face, I stepped through the eightfoot high wall of flames.

My clothes caught fire, but I had no time to think about that. I ran towards sameer and then flung myself on the ground.

"DAMN!" I thought. The ground had been soaked with kerosene. When I rolled on it, the flames around my body burned even more strongly.

'get a blanket!' I screamed at sameer. The shout alerted my captors. They came running, with old fashioned fire torches. Then I noticed how thick their cloaks were. Unable to speak, I pointed at the cloak of the nearest captor. Sameer understood at once. Quick as a cheetah, he ran to the captor and snatched away the cloak.

"I'll be borrowing this," he grinned at the furious man and handed the cloak to me.

I wrapped it around myself, and rolled again. This time, the flames slowly extinguished. But we were still trapped.

Then suddenly sameer wrapped his arms around me, almost like a lover.

'what the'- before I could protest, he had pulled me up on the branch of a tall tree. He could really climb fast. In a few minutes we were flying from tree to tree, and had left our captors far behind.

***

it was daylight before we stopped. I was feeling drowsy, and hungry. My back was stiff from being carried like a sack of potatoes in sameer's arms. Sameer didn't seem to be tired. He watched me amusedly while I plucked out stray twigs and leaves from my thick hair.

"you weaklings are really amusing sometimes." He remarked.

"shut up." I said, irritated. This boy was really getting on my nerves.

"my, what a temper.', he chuckled. "no wonder jia was always worrying about what you would do if you ever met her again, when she first joined the tribe. Are you always this bossy?"

I threw a rock at him. "are you going to sit here taunting me for all eternity, or are we actually going somewhere?"

"let's see- ,sameer grinned. "I was supposed to take you directly to where your parents are kept, and then get back to the tribe. But before that, I have to contact zayed and tell him that we are okay. We'll start at about midday. The journey should take two or three days. There's a city close by, we could buy food there, if you have any money. Otherwise, we could always steal."

"I've got cash." I said. "But if there's a city close by, you could leave me there. I'd find my own hiding place."

"oh no, you wont." He said, quite seriously. "if you hide alone, you could get caught again. And our tribe really has better things to do than rescuing stupid, stubborn girls like you. You'll hide where I tell you to. And stay hiding."

'not if I can help it." I thought. Aloud I said, quite obediently. "Fine."

to be continued.,please comment

{ author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

Zayed was the leader of Jia's tribe. He was a 200 year old muslim sanyasi, who, like jia, had left home when he was very young after discovering his special abilities. He had formed their pack, traveling the whole of south Asia in search of people like him. Ever since Jia had left home, Zayed had been like a father, or maybe a grandfather to her. He had taught her how to use her powers, and more importantly, how to let go of the past. Zayed had taught Jia how to be a Sanyasi.

In features, Zayed was not much to look at. Potbellied, and balding, he looked a lot more like an Indian Santa Claus than a powerful spell caster. But when Jia told him the news, he frowned like no Santa Claus would.

'your sister! This will upset our plans greatly.' Zayed looked at jia. He could always tell when she had been crying. "little one,' he said gently, touching a tear track on her cheek, 'you have to be strong. We'll send someone to find her. She'll be all right."

"If they keep her alive till we find her.' Jia said, her head down. "Didi already hated me. What will she feel now?"

"Jia, when you joined us, you promised to give up your ties to your family. I understand that it is hard, but you have to learn how to let go. Child, if you are not strong, then how will you lead others? One day you may have to lead this pack. How will you relieve others of their troubles if you cannot handle your own?"

"me- but I thought sameer was your heir." Jia stared at zayed.

Zayed laughed. "sameer! That irresponsible idiot lead our tribe! Jia, sameer may be the most powerful spellcaster in our tribe, but he has neither the wisdom, nor the sense of responsibility to lead. But speaking of sameer, maybe we should send him to find your sibling. It will teach him how to use his wits, more than his magic."

"Maybe.' Jia looked worried. 'I'll send for him."

Sameer was the most powerful spellcaster in zayed's pack. Hardly twenty one years old, he could already defeat everyone in the tribe except Zayed with his powers. He had been trained since he had been a baby. His parents were also in the tribe. Irresponsible, irritating, and extremely handsome, sameer's hobby was stealing the hearts of all the girls in the places where the tribe stayed. Jia had never been able to see why others thought he was so attractive. Sameer had trained her, and she could never see him as anything apart from a brother and a friend.

When sameer arrived, Zayed told him what to do. He was to go to jia's house, and follow the trail of her sister's captors. He was to find her, rescue her, and take her to where jia's parents were hidden. Then he was to rejoin the tribe.

'DON'T SPEND TIME FLIRTING WITH GIRLS ON YOUR JOURNEY!' Zayed warned him. 'And don't try to play with the feelings of the girl you are trying to rescue. We want you back as soon as possible.'

"Yes boss." Sameer winked mischievously at Jia. 'jia, don't worry, your sister won't be suffering any broken hearts due to me.'

'It will take more than a flirt like you to break didi's stone heart.' Jia replied, a little bitterly.

"really?" sameer's face broke into a wicked grin. "I'll have to see."

And before jia could say anything else, sameer had left.

*******************************************************

to be continued. please comment

{ author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

I don't know what I did after I left the house. Everything was a blur, my whole world was crashing around me. I had some cash, I think I went to a bar. All I know is, when I arrived home,drunk, seven hours later, everyone was gone. Ma and baba had left, with most of their valuable belongings, credit cards, cheque books, jewellery, etc. they had left me money, and a note saying that if I changed my mind, I was to go to the place where jia's life had been saved. Someone would come to take me.

'I'm not going nowhere with that bi**h or her friends.' I screamed drunkenly after reading the note, and tore it into pieces. Then I fell asleep on the floor.

 

When I woke up, it was nighttime. Almost twenty-four hours had passed since ma and baba had left. Sober, and with a throbbing headache due to excessive alcohol consumption, I was beginning to feel lonely and worried. My little sister jia. Why had we drifted apart? It was all my fault, I knew that. My fault that the silky haired little child, who had meant more to me than anything else in the world, had grown into a girl whom I hardly knew, and who could not even look at me without hate being reflected in her eyes. My fault that my mother and father had buried all their hopes and expectations, and had left me alone at a moment's notice. My fault

I heard something. The next moment, two people in dark robes surrounded me.

'wind caster, we face each other at last!'

and then I felt something hit me, and everything went dark.

 

in another place, someone reported to a girl in saffron salwar, "wind caster, they have caught your sister. I think they mistook her for you. What do we do?"

jia turned, shed a tear, and said, "we move on."

After the messenger had gone, jia went to consult her leader.

                                                                          to be continued.,please comment

{ author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

I tried to be calm. 'what are you doing here?' I asked again.

Jia turned away from me. She didn't want to even look at me, I thought.

"Ma, baba, she said looking at our parents, 'five years ago, I realized that I was changing. I realized that I could change shape, turn into another animal, and influence nature. I didn't know how, then, but I have learnt a little more now-" she stopped, obviously not understanding how to explain.

"anyway, when I first realized that I was different from others, I was afraid. I thought that I was a monster, I was afraid to tell you. I was confused, scared, so I confided in noone, except the person I loved and trusted most, I told didi." All three glanced at me for a second.

"didi didn't understand what was going on. She was scared, I think. She started behaving strangely, and tried to stop me from using my powers. She made me afraid of myself. I felt even worse than before."

"and then they came. People like me. People who could change form, who could influence nature. They understood what I was going through, and had answers to the questions that were worrying me. They made me feel worthwhile again, made me feel like I wasn't a freak."

Ma put a hand around her, comforting her, and trying to comfort herself.

"then one day they asked me to go with them. They could teach me things I had never learnt before, make me one of them, one of their pack. But didi did not let me go. She said that they were monsters, monsters that would corrupt me and destroy me. She tried to stop them from talking to me. I was a kid, I didn't know what to do. Then one day, I almost got runover by a bus. Didi couldn't save me, but the leader of the pack did. I expected that that would finally convince didi that the pack was good. It didn't. didi slapped our leader and said that she'd rather see me dead than as a monster like them.

She told me that she hated me." Jia smiled bitterly.

"I realized that didi would never change her mind. So the next day, while the rest of my class were eating on the ferry, I ran away."

'why didn't you tell us? Didn't you trust us?" baba asked unhappily.

"did told me that she hated me. I didn't know if you would hate me too. And I knew you wouldn't let me leave." Jia paused, there were tears in her eyes.

"but that was long ago. I left with my pack, and am now a very accomplished spell caster. I didn't think that I would ever come to see you again, though I missed you guys terribly but now, circumstances have forced me to tell you everything. Ma, baba, our tribe is at war. We are leaving, all of us. I came here to tell you that that you have to leave here too. If our enemies find out that I am related to you, they will take you hostage, they might even kill you. So my pack has arranged for a safe hiding place for you, a place where you can live until this war ends."

"and what made you think that we would go with your tribe?" I broke in dangerously.

Jia turned slowly to me. "didi,' she said quietly 'I don't know why you hate me so much, but if you think that I will let your stubbornness endanger our parents' lives, you're just plain wrong. If ma and baba agree to come with us, I will not allow anything to stop them." Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"If ma and baba agree to come with you.' Will they?'

from the sofa, ma and baba spoke quietly. "Yes we will."

I lost control. "then go to hell!", I screamed and left the house, slamming the door behind me.

The stars watched quietly from above.

to be continued.,please comment

{ author’s note:i grew up reading the chronicles of narnia, harry potter, the secrets of droon, inheritance cycle….etc. my current most favourite series are the twilight series. this is my first rendezvous into fantasy, and i know it’s not very good. but please comment..so i can improve my style.}

It was past midnight when I entered the flat where I lived with my parents. Ma and Baba had probably gone to bed, tired of waiting for their wayward elder daughter, who always came home late nowadays. Ma never scolded me for coming home late, smelling of stale cigarettes and coffee, without any excuse about where I had been, or what I had been doing. She had given up since my nineteenth birthday, not wanting to lose her only living daughter, or so she thought.

My sister Jia had disappeared when she was eleven, five years ago. She had gone for a school field trip, on a ferry on river Ganga. It had been assumed that she had fallen from the boat, and drowned. Her body had never been found.

But when I entered the living room, I saw that my mother and father were sitting on the sofa, their faces in shadow. I could sense the tension in the atmosphere, but didn't understand it.

'what happened?'

Then I saw the person sitting on the other sofa. A teenage girl, in a long saffron salwar, with a rosary in her hand, her hair loose upon her shoulders. A person who would have been completely unknown to me, had it not been for her large brown familiar eyes.

My sister, Jia.

'You!' I shouted pointing at her. I had never hoped or expected to see her again, though I alone had known that she was still alive.

"So you recognize me, didi. I wondered if you would." Jia spoke softly, but I could sense wariness in her voice. Her voice had changed since I had last seen her five years ago. It was the rich voice of a young woman. She had grown into a very beautiful young lady.

But I still hated the sight of her.

'what are you doing here, you monster? Did those beasts you live with throw you out?'

"You- you knew that Jia was alive?" My father rose from the sofa and looked at me.

"why didn't you tell us?"

"all those years- you let us believe that your sister was dead. All those years-"

mother broke off, crying.

'what sister? That monster is no sister of mine! My sister was dead for me five years ago, when she decided to go with those dogs.'

"my pack are not dogs. They are human beings, just like you, but perhaps a little better." My sister broke off with a bitter, sarcastic smile.

to be continued.. please comment