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Chapter 15 - The Stonebound Princess

I am a small child and someone has brought me here to show me magic.

I was happy to see all this, but when I saw the princess Hey, you are so beautiful brother, I am very impressed.

Brother, which princess did you like?

I was lost in the moment, drifting through a dream where everything felt unreal. Somehow I had reached the princess—still only in my dream—and we were talking when she suddenly asked, "Who are you? How did you come here? Where did that demon go? Who are you two?"

It seemed the princess had no memory of her past; at least that's what it looked like to me, though I could not be sure. She called out for someone. "Tara, where are you? How did you both arrive here? Who are these great warriors?" she asked. I was baffled—uncertain whom she was summoning.

I kept looking at the princess and I found myself smiling inwardly. Then she called again, "Tara, Tara—where are you?" At that moment the same girl who had once asked us for help appeared.

I said, "How did you get here? Your name is Tara, isn't it?" The princess answered, "Tara, do you know these two warriors? Tara, this is the queen — no, these are the very warriors who saved your lives and rescued ten thousand innocent people. They even defeated the demon."

"Is it really them?" the princess asked, eyes wide with gratitude. "You saved our village, the neighboring villages, and this sacred forest. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you both." She folded her hands and bowed. "We owe you so much."

I replied modestly, "There's no need for thanks. It was our duty. Tara came to us in a dream begging for help, and we fulfilled it. When we arrived in this forest, we were ordinary people. This wilderness taught us much—we learned that every task must be done with thought and patience, and that is how we find success."

"When we first entered the jungle, it was deserted. No people, no ordinary animals—those we encountered seemed strange. We fought them and, by defeating them, gained certain powers. It was thanks to those powers that we were able to save you."

The princess looked puzzled for a moment, then asked, "When I slept near you that night, you appeared to be a statue under the moonlight and then took your true form. Why did you walk into the cave toward the demon?"

"No—no, that wasn't me," Tara protested. "You must have seen someone else. I have been turned to stone for months. You must be remembering a different princess. Can you describe what she looked like?"

The princess described the night she had seen the other woman. "She seemed beautiful and composed," she said. "There is a place deep in the jungle where, on the new moon, the moon itself seems to descend and rest on the earth. I was exhausted and fell asleep there. When I opened my eyes, I followed that princess and watched her go into the cave. Outside, soldiers stood guard. I couldn't understand what was happening, so I slipped away and stayed near the gate, pretending I wasn't going to enter. But I crept inside and saw her standing before the demon, bound in chains by his soldiers. Villagers cried out for help. She looked at everyone with compassion, as if she could not bear their suffering."

She continued, voice trembling, "Then I sneezed—and the demon realized someone was there. He sent his soldiers after me. I ran and ran, circling the forest until I found a tree and climbed, hiding among its branches. They couldn't find me."

"She was small and gentle," the princess said, lowering her eyes. "You looked very… alluring." She blushed, embarrassed by her own words.

I smiled awkwardly at the compliment and said, "Thank you, but I feared she might be my younger sister. When the demon threatened our village, I tried to drive him away. I think he might have turned her to stone and bewitched her; she is now under his control."

"Don't worry," I promised. "If she is your sister, I will rescue her. I give you my word: within one week I will bring your sister back here." I turned to my companion and added, "If you both bring your sister to us, we will—" I hesitated, then laughed, "—we will both marry you, princess. That is my vow." The princess smiled through tears.

She asked our names. I said, "My name is Abhishek, and this is my friend Shivam. We both aspire to be great warriors of this world. Let us go together and save your sister."

Shivam nodded. He remembered how I had escaped from beneath a rock after being thrown aside by the soldiers. "As far as I remember," he said, "that cave is about fifteen to twenty kilometers from here."

"Shall we leave now?" I asked. "If we go quickly, we can reach her in time."

"Brother, come on—I'll go too," Shivam said. He dashed forward with incredible speed, like a storm unleashed. I focused and let my mind's power carry me: in an instant I had closed the distance and stood about two hundred meters from the cave.

Thus we set out—two hundrad metre young men bound by a promise, determined to fight the darkness and reclaim what was lost.

Shivam reached there 2 hours after I reached there, by then I was looking around the place to see if I could spot any soldier there but I did not see any soldier there.Till Shivam came, I was waiting for him outside the cave so that both of us could go inside together but I was not able to wait, so I went inside the cave alone. When I went there, I saw that there was no one inside the entire cave The singer is empty, there is no one, neither any devil nor any of his soldiers The entire cave was quiet, there was no one there and I came out and sat waiting for Shivam. If Shivam comes, tell him and we will look somewhere else around here.But we did not see anyone around there, so both of us moved ahead from there and were looking very carefully in the forest, while looking like this, it became evening and both of us were under this stomach Go and sit under the same tree where we were sitting when we came and I saw that princess. As soon as night fell, there was a cool breeze and different lights started glowing in the trees, as I had seen here earlier in my dreams, okay, a similar scene was there here in reality now.Seeing all this, I remembered my earlier dream and I told Shivam Hey brother, I had seen the same thing in my dream earlier and told you about it. You did not believe me. Look, my dream has come true.

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