Yakshini was waiting in the wagon, she dropped the curtains and locked the door, as suggested by doctor Shon.

  "I suggest that you should stay here, considering the grand prize on your head, if anybody notices you, you will be in big trouble. I will carry out a few tests and will meet you in here within an hour. Also there is an inn two alleyways down, you can have dinner there if you are hungry", Shon had suggested earlier.

  In the inn, she made sure that a scarf should always be covering her face. As an extra precaution, she took the dinner in the wagon. She returned well before the hour ended.

  As Yakshini returned to the hospital, she saw the gatekeeper observing her with squinted eyes.

  'Did he recognize me?', Yakshini thought.

  The guard nodded at her and went back to his cabin, where he spent the rest of his time.

  An hour had long passed when Yakshini saw the doctor appearing through the front door of the building.

  Doctor Shon was hurrying down the pavement towards the gate when he saw the gatekeeper leaving.

  "Leaving early today?", Shon asked.

  "Huh? Yes, sir ... It's my son's birthday today...", the guard was clearly startled as he made up an excuse.

  "Oh is that so? enjoy your time", said Shon with a polite smile.

  The guard nodded again and started walking down the footpath. Yakshini observed him until Shon reached the wagon.

  "How is she?", Yakshini asked anxiously.

  "Well, I can't really say she is fine but she is in little better condition now. Now tell me does she know healing magic?", Shon asked the question more sternly.

  Yakshini hesitated. Then she opened her mouth again to tell the truth but her mind resisted.

  "I will assume it as a yes", Shon said after watching Yakshini struggle for few moments.

  "And it does answer most of my questions really. That girl used up most of her energy, leaving her in her current sorry state. Do you know where she could have used that much life energy? How did you find her?", urged Shon, leaning forward for some answers.

  Yakshini clasped her mouth with her palms as the fog surrounding the afternoon's memory cleared and a gasp escaped her breath. Yakshini remembered walking on a muddy path leading towards Vijaynagar in the glaring sun. She remembered the world suddenly closing in on her, she remembered the darkness. But her next memory was waking up under a tree.

  Yakshini covered her face with her palms, looking down, trying to control the sobs. She felt a sudden urge to scream and cry.

  'How did this happen? I was supposed to protect the princess, not the other way around. I failed the trust of the queen', Yakshini blamed herself. The feeling of failure was too heavy to be imprisoned within and found its way out through tears.

  Shon saw the 'wanted' woman sobbing like a helpless deer. He thought of comforting her but hesitated, thinking he should leave her alone for a moment.

  "You are a doctor right? you must be a healer then, can't you do something?", pleaded Yakshini.

  "I'm a doctor, yes, but I am not a healer myself. Healers are very rare and get their abilities by birth. We doctors, on the other hand, had to study for decades to be half as decent as a mediocre healer. Our patient isn't ill or injured so there is very little I can do to help you. Only a healer, and a good one in our case, can help us in these matters", the doctor explained as he saw the glitter of hope slowly wane from Yakshini's eyes, which were now sparkling with tears.

  "I know a few healers myself but sadly, I don't think any one of them will spend their precious life energy to help our cause. If you have sufficient money, we can convince a few of them...", suggested the doctor but Yakshini shook her head, still looking down.

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  "Maybe if you turn yourself in, we can use that money ...", Shon stopped as he felt the emerald eyes, filled with anger and annoyance, looking at him. Even in the dark, the emerald eyes were distinctively visible.

  "I'm out of options now, do you know any healer?"

  Yakshini thought for a moment ...

  'The queen herself ...'

  Shon could see the glimpses of hope returning.

  Before he could react though, a shriek of conch shells echoed through the still air of the night. Both of them looked at each other, surprised. Shon peeked through the window to get a glance and saw a band of five policemen galloping towards them.

  There was a pillion figure with the last policeman, Shon couldn't see that figure properly as he was not wearing his glasses. Yakshini saw the pillion figure and immediately identified it as the security guard.

  "Ugghh, not now. I need to go, doctor. They are after me, please take care of the girl, I will be back", Yakshini urged Shon to leave the wagon.

  "I am afraid she doesn't have much time left, meet me at the back door, we will take her to your healer friend", Shon said abruptly and jumped out of wagon, giving Yakshini no time to think. As Yakshini seated herself on the driver's seat, she saw Shon running into the hospital. She pulled the reins as the two horses neighed and started pulling the wagon.

  She jerked the reins, ordering the horses to increase their speed. The horses galloped down the road, Yakshini saw an alleyway getting in reach. She pulled the reins to slow down the horses a little and pulled the right rein harder. The wagon suddenly turned right, skidding gently on the muddy alleyway. The alleyway was narrow, but fortunately it was wide enough to fit a wagon.

  The wagon raced through the alleyway. Yakshini looked back and saw the first line of policemen riding into the alleyway. She pulled the right rein again without slowing down. The wagon took the turn, its right wheel raised a little above the ground. Yakshini shifted her weight to the right and the wheel landed on the ground with a thud.

  Yakshini jerked the reins again to speed up the wagon. She saw the doctor standing on the footpath a few meters away. He was accompanied by a nurse who was pulling the stretcher out on the footpath. She pulled the reins and the wagon stopped in front of the doctor who hurried his way in. The nurse helped the doctor to get Devsena seated and ran inside.

  Yakshini heard the conch as she jerked the reins again.

  The wagon was running down the road, which was almost empty at this late hour. Yakshini looked back and saw the policemen closing the distance between them.

  The wagon soon reached a square with posts stating the destinations of each of the roads. Yakshini turned and rode along the road that stated 'Highway'. As she turned, an arrow went whistling by and disappeared into the night.

  Yakshini looked towards its origin, surprised. She saw one of the policemen mounting an arrow.

  The policemen were too close to just be beaten by speed alone. Yakshini jerked the rein and tied it to her leg. Then she took out her bow and stood up on the driver's seat, facing backwards. Over the wagon, she saw the policemen closing in on arm's distance. She took out two arrows and targeted the two policemen in the front. Each missile left the bow swiftly and buried itself in its intended target. The policemen dropped and the others pulled their rein to prevent their comrades getting stepped on.

  Yakshini smirked and sat down, taking the rein in her hands again.

  The wagon rushed down the highway, which had little traffic. Yakshini was overtaking one wagon after another, directing the horses swiftly, the cold breeze of night was brushing through her hair. The band of policemen was not in sight but she knew they could catch up with her at any given time.

  "How do we reach Dandak forest, doctor?", asked Yakshini through a small slit attached to the wagon.

  "Why? We have to cross the border for that", Shon said as he poured some liquid down Devsena's mouth. Yakshini noticed that Devsena was looking better than she was few hours ago. She was still weak but the glitter in her eyes was back. She looked at Yakshini and smiled weakly.

  "We are crossing the border doctor", Yakshini said as she ordered the horses to speed up again.

  "Good lord, what I have gotten myself into", said Shon with mournful voice.

  "Fine, roughly after a kilometer you will see a huge square with Lord Ravan's statue surrounded by fountains. Take left from there and ride till you see the border gates"

  "Thanks, doctor", said Yakshini and closed the slit.

  They reached the square sooner than Yakshini anticipated. The band of police was still not in sight, neither did she heard any bellowing conch.

  Yakshini sighed with relief as the wagon reached the square.

  The square had the statue, as tall as three-story building, of the king Ravan. The statue was surrounded by huge fountains from which thousands of water streams danced.

  Just like previous square, each turn was labelled with a sign which depicted its destination. She took the turn on road which has sign stating 'Dandak Forest'.

  As the wagon turned, a shrill passed through Yakshini's spine as she heard many conch shells bellowing simultaneously. She looked back at the source of the sound.

  At some distance, Yakshini saw Dhumraksh galloping towards the wagon, closing down the distance with every passing moment, with a platoon of ten or more policemen following him.

  Thank you for reading 'Adventures of Yakshini', I hope you enjoyed your time with the story.

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  New chapters every Friday.