The Jewels of Mahendrapura

Chapter 1 A Giant makes Sambar for my death

Mahendrapura has its secrets.

The first thing I knew, I was lying in its magical and whimsical garden. The trees sang music that could make your head feel cool. The grass felt as soft as petals. The insects and birds gleamed as they were made of gemstones. For a moment, everything felt ethereal, the gentle breeze lulling me to sleep.

And then something tugged at me.

A portal.

Blue and yellow rays tried to swallow me, searing heat burning my skin. Then I got sucked into the darkness. Falling and falling endlessly. I landed with a big thud, and my head hurt as it harshly hit the hard floor.

I tried to get up, but my legs failed me, I fell again. My heartbeat was fast, and my ears throbbed. I wanted to lie down again, but I forced myself to stand up. I blinked. I was in a large cavern that was so big, I felt tiny. There was a chasm that streamed in the middle, bright yellow, orange, and red lights emitting from it. It felt unknown, unlike the pleasant garden I was in before, nothing felt right in here.

A sort of coldness crept in my back. I quickly turned to look behind. A smile, a smile of a man so dreadful it gave me chills.

'Why hullo Priya,' he said. The grin stretched slyly to one side.

Then out of nowhere someone from the back hit me with a huge thwack in my head, my eyes rolled back, and the feeling of nausea flooded through me.

And then the world turned black.

___________________________

Waking up to find that it was the king and the minister of Mahendrapura who was the one who brought me here is probably the worst thing to wake up to from your unconsciousness.

I was still groggy from what had happened, my glasses were dirty, I was doused in sweat, my long dark hair and the huge bump in the back of my head were itchy.

Worst of all, I was dangling from the ceiling of the cavern by a rope, tied to it like a spider cocoon, and a large Giant was under my feet.

Worst day ever.

"That hooman's got an owie- sambar won't taste that good!" the Giant pouted to the Raja. Only then did I realize there was a big pot of sambhar which the Giant was stirring. Welp.

"Mmmm! The sambhar smells sooo good," said the minister delightedly. All I smelt was the oily nest of hair of the Giant.

She was the first female minister of Mahendrapura. I could only make out a speck of her green and pink hair from up here.

"Well, that must have hurt, Priya," I heard a quiet voice beside me.

I turned so fast, I sprained my neck.

"Ow! Ajay? What the heck are you doing here?!"

Ajay is my best friend. He tends to stay quiet for so long and scare me when he speaks so suddenly. There was a leaf stuck to his tousled black hair and dirt was spat in his chestnut brown face. He had big brown puppy dog eyes, and he always seemed comfortable in a cotton collared jacket no matter how humid the weather was. We both were the same age, 15. And of course, he was tied to the rope like a cocoon the way I was.

"Um, I came to search for you in the magic garden, and then I stumbled into the wrong path of the forest and got kidnapped by that guy," he gestured to the Raja with his head. " I have contacted Madhav and Maya with my phone - they would come to rescue us any time now."

"Oh thank goodness! That's great! We might need your phone later too."

If I use my powers of destruction right now it would be too dangerous - I could fall into the boiling pot of sambhar. Ajay's power is love, and that would be of no use at all during quests. But of course, he would disagree with me.

Ajay started," You know, I'm starting to think Gobi Manchurian is better-

" Seriously? we're about to die in a few minutes and this is what you choose to talk about."

Ajay dared to continue our last conversation about how Potato Curry is better than Gobi Manchurian.

"Dude, we are literally tied to the ceiling by a rope, and any moment now the King's Giant is going to cut it, making us inevitably hurtle towards our death, fall into the big pot of Sambhar, and turn us into monster-food. This is what you want to talk about right now?! Shouldn't we be confessing our secrets to each other as they do in movies before they die?"

"I don't know! Sorry, If I'm trying to calm us down from this terrifying situation," he said rolling his eyes, and eyebrows moving up and down, a way of non-verbal communication when your hands are tied to your body.

"I think we need to come up with a plan and stop depending on our friends now."

"Mhm!" he agreed with a voice crack and nodding his head hard, making the leaf fall, passing it on to the Giant's hair.

"Where did the leaf come from?"

I kept quiet.

I craned my neck- the bump in my head ached, to see the Raja and the minister conversing near the chasm. They looked tiny, but I could make out the traditional Indian Royalty clothes of the Raja, and the modern tank top, faded jeans, and the glint of her dagger of the minister.

The minister said, "Why didn't you do the killing yourself, your majesty? You have-"

"Yeah yeah, I know I'm powerful and all, but this is way more fun! Plus, I didn't know what to do with the Giant in my palace. Using my powers is way too easy and boring."

The minister was still looking doubtful. "But this is such a waste of ti-"

"I'M THE KING AND THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO, NOW SHUT YOUR TRAP AND LISTEN TO MY COMMAND! GO GET BOBBY THE INGREDIENTS HE WANTS AND DO AS I SAY, OR ELSE I'LL REPLACE YOU!!!!!!"

"Yes your-"

"GO!"

Sick of getting interrupted and scolded, she stormed off.

I gulped. Bobby the Giant was throwing scorpions to the sambhar, and any moment now I would be dead meat. I should quickly come up with a plan, but my mind is as blank as a piece of paper.

All of a sudden Bobby started humming a famous Ghatotkacha song which boomed across the cavern and small rocks and dust started falling on my head.

"BOBBY, STOP HUMMING!" yelled the Raja.

The Giant turned and scowled. Looking at his face I was trying not to recoil. It was horribly misshapen and disgusting. There were numerous pimples and oil was dripping off his nose. I couldn't imagine the horrors the King had to face just by looking at him. But he acted like such a sweet, deadly baby.

"Hmph."

A flap of wings echoed in the cavern. I turned to look, and a huge Hawk was sitting at the ledge of the entrance of the cave. My eyebrows furrowed. Was that...?

"Ow! You dimwit! You stepped on my face!" yelled somebody from the outside of the entrance.

"Oh no..." Ajay and I both said in unison.

" Well then, get your face off my foot!" the other yelled back.

"WHO WAS THAT?!" shouted the Raja.

The twins.