I was also ready to fight. I told Rishabha,
"You look around nearby for a safe place and land there."
Rishabha had been flying for a long time, and on top of that, both of us were riding on him. He must have been tired. Thinking this, I said,
"Rishabha, my friend, find a place where there are no soldiers and land there."
Rishabha did as I said. He began searching in the dense forest for a safe place and soon spotted a small pond nearby.
He landed there and went to drink water from the pond, because we had been chasing the demon's soldiers for a long time. We were both hungry and thirsty, but we were so lost in our talk that we hadn't mentioned it.
"Let's eat something first," we both said to Rishabha.
"You stay here, Rishabha. We'll go into the forest and see if there's a fruit tree nearby," we said, and then we headed off into the jungle.
Rishabha was also hungry, so he began eating the fresh green grass there. Seeing that he liked the grass, I felt happy. Then Shivam and I moved deeper into the forest to look for some fruit.
We soon found a mango tree, but there were no mangoes on it—it was completely bare. Surprised, we walked a little further and saw another mango tree. This one was full of mangoes, but all the mangoes were very high up, as if someone had stretched the tree taller.
I climbed the tree to pick some mangoes, but the higher I climbed, the taller the tree seemed to grow. We were starving, yet I kept climbing, plucking mangoes and throwing them down while Shivam collected them.
We both took the mangoes back to the pond and ate them together with Rishabha. After eating, we bathed a little in the pond, which felt refreshing. Then we sat down to make a plan on how to fight the demon.
I was thinking for a while, "What should we do? How can we find out where those stone statues of humans are being taken? We have no information."
Then I called Rishabha and said,
"Friend, go up and watch from above where the demon's soldiers are taking those stone-like humans. Make sure they are being taken to the same cave we saw from above. Then come back and tell us. And go in such a way that no one can see you."
Shivam said, "We have to stop this demon somehow from sacrificing all these humans."
"You're right, Abhishek," I said. "But how? Where do we start?"
"Let's do one thing," Shivam suggested.
"What?" I asked.
"We will move slowly through the jungle without making a sound. We will take those who have turned into stone away from there and place them in a safe location. Any soldiers we encounter, we will kill silently—so silently that not even a cry escapes their lips."
"Shall we go then?"
"Yes, let's go," I replied.
"We'll split up," Shivam said, "so we can kill more soldiers and save more people. But remember, don't lose control in your excitement. We must fight calmly because the demon is far stronger than us. If he finds out we're here, not only we but also the innocent villagers around will be killed. So think carefully before you act. And whatever soldiers we kill, the news must not reach the demon. Otherwise he may speed up his plans, and we might fail to stop him. We have to do everything quietly."
"Alright then. Let's go," I agreed.
"Check your powers," Shivam reminded me. "Remember which power to use at what time. Don't panic when facing danger. If you stay calm, the solution will come to you."
"Okay."
We were just about to head out when the girl returned. She said,
"Don't go yet. When you see blue smoke rising in the sky, I will send you a signal. Then you can go. And here—take this pill. Eat it only when the blue smoke appears."
"What will happen if we eat it?" I asked.
"You will turn into stone for a short time. That way you both can enter the cave."
Shivam asked, "Is it necessary to become like stone to enter the cave?"
The girl replied, "Yes. Only the demon, his soldiers, and those who are like stone can enter that cave. No one else can. That's how the demon has created the entrance."
"Alright," I said, "but will anything bad happen to us after eating it?"
"No, no," she reassured us. "You've come to save us. How could I harm you?"
"Fine," I said. "Then when we see the blue smoke, we'll eat the pill. But after eating it, we won't go anywhere else. The demon's soldiers will take us into the main gate of the cave themselves. Once you've crossed the first gate, you can do whatever you want inside."
"Remember," she warned, "inside the cave the demon's power is unlimited. You cannot kill him there. You'll have to bring him outside the cave to defeat him. If you must kill him inside, there is one way—at the center of the cave there is a statue of a princess made of stone, very beautiful. Do not get enchanted by it. Control yourselves."
"Alright," we said.
"I'll go now," she said. "You both stay ready."
After she left, Shivam said, "Let's wait for the blue smoke. We don't need to go anywhere else. We'll do exactly as she told us."
"But brother Shivam," I said, "I feel suspicious. What if she's trying to trap us?"
"Then let's make our clones," I suggested. "We'll use our powers to make them appear like real humans for a while."
"Alright," Shivam agreed. "Let's do that quickly. We don't have much time."
We began creating our clones using our powers, making them look human. After some time, when we saw the blue smoke rising in the sky, we turned our clones into stone-like figures. They looked exactly like real statues.
We climbed a nearby tree and hid, waiting for soldiers to come and take our clones. Soon we saw four soldiers. They spotted our clones and carried them away. We followed silently behind them until we reached the cave.
At the main gate of the cave, the soldiers took our clones inside. From a distance, I was watching carefully. There seemed to be some kind of scanning device at the gate.
I kept my focus on what the soldiers were doing. Just as they took our clones inside, suddenly I sneezed—
"Aachoo! Aachoo!"
A leaf had brushed against my nose, making me sneeze. The soldiers stopped and turned around, but we quickly hid behind the tree. They couldn't see us and went inside.
We quietly crept towards the gate. As the gate was about to close, we used our speed to slip inside. Something at the gate made the demon sense that someone had entered without permission, but I quickly placed a small stone there to calm his suspicion, and he sat back down.
Now we too had transformed ourselves to look like statues. No one could tell that two living humans were standing among these stone figures.
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