The Secrets of the Elements

Chapter 14: Decoding Things

"The... book... is with... them," stammered Daksh as he stood before Azazel.

Azazel's long black robes swept the floor as he walked towards Daksh.

They stood in the dungeons; Azazel's hiding place where he lived with his men and some werewolves.

"You are telling me, that, you let them go," said Azazel in a low voice. "You let the reversal spell happen Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

you let them do it."

"I've seen their faces," said Daksh; his throat went dry. Azazel leaned towards Daksh; Daksh could feel

his hot breath on his face, he shut his eyes, his heart pounded.

"Let them learn and earn the powers," he whispered. Daksh opened his eyes, perplexed. "Yes," said

Azazel and took a step behind. He smirked. "Keep an eye on them, let them learn, and once they've

become all-powerful, then I will take away their powers and kill them."

Won't be that easy, Daksh thought.

"Go, follow them, and keep me updated," commanded Azazel.

Daksh bowed and left the dungeon.

~~~~~~~

"Why do I feel like we're being followed?" wondered Advika as she stepped out of the car. "Relax,

Advika," said Zarna and put her arm around her shoulders. Maya checked the device she was carrying.

"Why are you carrying the ghost detector? In daylight?" questioned Ray. "Well, for safety, can't take any

risk," she replied.

"It's 12," said Zarna glancing at her wristwatch. "Why isn't the forest appearing?"

"Maybe it senses danger too," said Advika and leaned on the car. " Here," said Tej and handed her a

black clip. "Thanks," said Advika and gathered her hair to tie them. "Let it be," said Tej. Advika looked

at him, perplexed. The words just slipped out of his tongue. "Ah... I mean..."

"I think we should leave," said Ray and kept his hand on Tej's shoulder. Advika looked at Ray and

nodded. "I agree."

"Zarna, Maya," called Advika and sat in the car.

"Saved you mate," said Ray and winked. Tej suppressed his smile. Idiot, he thought.

"But we just arrived, Tej, let us drive to the centre of the land and see, we might teleport to the beach

again," said Maya. "Okay," said Tej.

Tej drove to the centre of the land and stopped. Advika, sitting in the backseat, was lost in thoughts.

Zarna nudged her. She smiled and nodded her head. There's something with Tej, she thought and

glanced at him.

They waited there for quite a long time.

"It's half past 12," said Advika as she looked at her phone. "Maybe we should go someplace else,"

suggested Tej. "Where?" asked Maya. "My home, maybe," he replied and turned the steering.

~~~~~~~~

"These books," said Rutuja as she sat beside Rishi. "I know," he said turning the pages.

They sat on the floor of the library's second floor. The books lay hither tither. A large steel ring-like

structure was placed against the wall.

"No use," said Rishi and closed the book. "All our efforts are..."

"Can't we do anything?" questioned Rutuja. "Everything will happen as per the book's wish," said Rishi.

"Then, why were we trained, Rishi? Why?"

Rishi turned towards her and held her hand. "So that we can help people who aren't aware of these

things," he said. "By that, I remember," she said and got up dusting her jeans. "You and I both have

been asked to train kids, as in, give martial arts training to children."

"Master Indra?" said Rishi. "Yes, we are going to teach in his academy," replied Rutuja and smiled.

"Secret academy," added Rishi. "What happened?"

"Nothing, let's go," said Rutuja and took a step towards the door. Rishi held her hand. "Thinking about

Daksh?" he questioned. Rutuja swivelled. "I wish he was on the good side," she said. "He is, he's just

different, not like you and me," said Rishi. "No, Rishi, I doubt he's with..."

"Azazel? Are you kidding me?" said Rishi. "You don't know him," she said and looked at the ground.

"Okay, he's a bad boy, I agree, but he isn't that bad," said Rishi. "He's been rude to you, always," said

Rutuja. "Then why, Rishi? Why defend him?"

"I'm not defending him," clarified Rishi. "I'm just saying, that if the time comes, he will choose us over

anything."

~~~~~~~

"It's hard to decipher what the book wants," said Advika and sat on the bed with a pillow kept on her

lap. "We can't proceed without the book's instructions," added Maya and sat on the bean bag. Tej

glanced at Advika from the corner of his eyes and picked one of his books from the bookshelf.

"New bookshelf?" asked Zarna and stood behind him with her hands on her hips. Tej nodded his head

and smiled. "Thought of organizing things for a change," he said. "Well, a lot of things are changing,"

said Ray and winked. "As in?" asked Maya.

"Us," said Ray. "We've changed."

"I don't think so," said Maya. "Improved maybe."

"Where are you lost?" said Zarna as she sat next to Advika. "Aa... nowhere, just thinking about the

book," she said, fidgeting with her hair. Ray walked towards Tej and leaned towards him. "Maybe you

should talk to her," he whispered.

There was a knock on the door. It was Tej's mom, Mrs Swarna Patel. "Hi, kids," she said as she walked

into the room with a tray in her hands.

Advika quickly went to help her with the coffee mugs. Ray nudged Tej and smiled. "Oh hello, long time

no see," said Zarna and hugged her. "You guys didn't come home for so long," said Swarna and

smiled. "Thanks for the green tea and snacks, aunty," said Maya and picked a cup. "Your coffee," said

Swarna as she handed Advika a cute cup that had a teddy bear handle. Tej smiled.

"How is your health?" asked Advika. "Never felt better," replied Swarna and turned to look at Ray.

"How's everyone at home?" she asked. "Perfectly fine, as usual," he said and picked up one of the

three coffee mugs. "It's pouring outside, so no stepping out of the house guys," she said. "I'm

downstairs if at all you guys need anything, wait till it stops raining. Don't go home if the weather is bad.

I'll talk to your parents."

"I don't mind staying," said Ray and stuffed his mouth with the chips. Maya picked up the sandwich and

took a bite. "Maybe you should stay, you all should," said Swarna. Advika opened her mouth to say

something but Swarna stopped her. "I'll talk to your mom, don't worry," she said and kept her hand on

Advika's shoulder. "Yours too, girls," she said looking at Zarna and Maya. "Thanks, aunty," said the girls

and smiled exchanging a glance. "You guys have fun, I'll prepare something special for dinner tonight,"

she said. "Should I help?" asked Ray. "Sure," she said. "Advika is a great cook too," said Ray and took

a handful of chips from the glass bowl. "No, not really," said Advika. "We'll see that," she said and with

a last look to Tej, left the room, heading downstairs towards the kitchen.

"I think we should try summoning the book," said Advika all of a sudden. "How? Is that possible?"

asked Maya. Advika took a sip of the coffee and closed her eyes for a brief moment. "Connecting our

powers," she said. "Connecting to each other, you mean?" quizzed Zarna. "Yes, I'd read in a book, you

could connect to some other person's energy."

"Let's do that then," said Ray. "Why wait?"

"Ain't that easy," said Maya. "We have to enter into a thoughtlessness state of mind."

"Let's meditate first, calm ourselves, then try," added Tej. "Right," said Advika.