The door of the infirmary was locked from the outside. Yakshini took out her lock picking tool.

  "I don't think we have time for the formalities, lady, now if you can excuse my brother", said the shorter guy, urging Yakshini to move aside. The bigger guy grabbed the lock and yanked it out along with the latch. The door opened ajar. The room was well lit.

  Yakshini removed the blindfold from Devsena's eyes. Devsena was relieved to see Yakshini again.

  "Oh, you two, I remember you, the shorter one is Rahu and the other one is Ketu, right?", said Devsena, squinting her eyes to see the companions clearly.

  "I am glad you remembered us, princess", said the shorter guy bowing in respect, his brother followed his actions.

  "Find anything that can be a tunnel or that can open a tunnel", ordered Yakshini.

  The group started searching the office. Yakshini saw Rahu lingering near a painting with a wooden frame. The bank of Kaveri river was painted on it. Rahu broke the glass protecting the painting and pressed the button hidden behind the painting. The marble floor soon started moving and a tunnel mouth opened.

  "After you, lady", said Rahu.

  Yakshini took the lamp on doctor's table and descended into tunnel, Rahu and Ketu descended after her, Devsena followed.

  After a few minutes, the tunnel's mouth closed again.

  Meanwhile, in the jailor's office, the doctor was attending Dhumraksh. Although the injury itself was not very threatening, it was causing great discomfort. Jailor completed his letter, then stamped it with the Asur stamp and handed it to the messenger. Jailor ordered the messenger to deliver this message to the police chief. The messenger nodded and left the room.

  The fire had waned. Messenger was finding his way out through a pile of dead guards, victims of the poisonous smoke. A thick white foam was coming out of their mouth and their eyes rolled inside their heads.

  The lantern carried by Yakshini was the only source of light in the tunnel. It was not a very spacious, Ketu was almost crawling. Yakshini was leading the group. They kept moving forward.

  The tunnel was getting narrow with every step, soon everybody started crawling.

  "So, how many people know about this tunnel?", asked Yakshini.

  "None, in my knowledge at least", answered Rahu.

  "Not even Dhumraksh?", questioned Yakshini.

  "I guess not, he is a lot dumber than he gives himself credit for", remarked Rahu.

  "Then how do you know?", questioned Yakshini again.

  "Well, my uncle was chief architect of the fort. By the way, it was a fortress before they turned it into a prison a few years back. The governor of the fort requested him to build a tunnel in case of emergency. The room which is currently serving as the infirmary was once governor's office", told Rahu. He was panting heavily now.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "May I ask, how do YOU know about this tunnel?", questioned Rahu.

  "I did my homework", answered Yakshini, slyly.

  "When will this tunnel end?", complained Devsena. She stopped for a moment to catch a breath. Ketu, who was tailing the group, tumbled upon her. He realized his mistake and crawled back a few feet. Devsena was expecting an apology but Ketu just nodded, Devsena gave him an offended look and started crawling again.

  "If we consider the direction and distance, I think this tunnel is taking us to the other side of the river. I think we are currently below the Kaveri river itself", explained Rahu.

  Devsena gasped in terror, stopping for a moment.

  The tunnel widened briefly before ending and they came into clearing once again.

  After a short walk, the group could now see a wooden door attached to the roof of the tunnel.

  Yakshini tried to open it but the door was jammed. Ketu gave it a try and after many powerful blows, he opened the door. Yakshini peeked first, they were in the basement of an old hut.

  The group climbed up and walked out of the hut. They were on the other side of the river and could see the prison far away towards the south.

  "We must part our ways now, guards must be looking for us by now", said Rahu.

  "Yeah, right", mumbled Yakshini.

  "And thank you, lady. We have a hideout not far from here, you can stay there for the night", requested Rahu.

  "No, thanks, I have other plans. Let's go princess", answered Yakshini as she started to walk away.

  Devsena followed.

  Rahu and Ketu started their journey towards their hideout.

  "The big guy didn't talk much, did he?", said Devsena. The couple was now walking in the jungle on the northern bank of Kaveri river, the prison was still in their sight.

  "He is mute, I observed", Yakshini answered.

  "Shouldn't we be walking towards the north?", questioned Devsena. They were walking for half an hour across the river bank.

  "In these clothes? we will get caught in no time", answered Yakshini pointing towards Devsena's dress. Although it was not a prison uniform, prison's crest was knitted on it.

  The couple soon entered a clearing in the woods. Devsena saw a fireplace in front of a tent. Then she looked up and saw a platform built on the tree, facing the prison. Two saddled horses were tied to the tree.

  Yakshini went inside the tent and soon came out with a set of clothes. She handed one set to Devsena and started changing her clothes with the ones in hand. Devsena found it weird, a young lady changing clothes in open. She hesitated for a moment.

  "Can I use that tent?", asked Devsena hesitantly.

  "Yeah sure, just do not touch anything", answered Yakshini as she started preparing the horses.

  Devsena entered the tent and saw glass tubes full of liquids with varying colors, a jar full of those 'marbles' Yakshini used, a jar full of other 'marbles' of lighter shade, a quiver full of arrows, a wooden box full of arrowheads with varying shapes. All things got their own place in this little tent.

  Devsena came out the tent wearing the pair of clothes Yakshini handed her. It was a commoner's dress, Devsena could feel the itch from the fabric. The dress was little loose for her. She tied her hair in a bun as she reached Yakshini.

  "Let me pack up some essentials, then we can leave", said Yakshini as she entered the tent. Yakshini came out few moments later. The quiver was tied to her waist. Her pocket contained handful of smoke marbles in case of emergency. Her bow rested on her back along with a sack.

  Yakshini helped Devsena to climb on the saddle then she mounted herself on the other horse. Horses started galloping down the jungle in steady speed. They crossed the jungle as the sun started rising on the horizon.

  Horses climbed the hilltop and Yakshini got a clear view of the surrounding area. She pulled out her monocular and watched the surrounding. A village was visible in distance.

  The couple started their journey towards the distant village.

  When they reached the road, Devsena pulled her horse closer to Yakshini.

  "Hey, umm, I'm sorry. The way Dhumraksh treated you last night, I should have done something to stop him. He was so nice to me. That behavior of his caught me off guard", said Devsena in low tone.

  "Oh, it's fine, that guy is an infamous asshole. I shouldn't have let the anger get better of me", replied Yakshini, looking the princess in the eyes with a smile.

  Devsena found the emerald eyes comforting.

  The couple crossed the border of village named Hubli.

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

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  New chapters every Friday.