The Garud Prophecies Sitara's Story by Gauri Sinh

Author:Gauri Sinh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd
Published: 2015-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Padmini

Chapter 20

Exodus I

We are leaving in the rain, but I know I am right to leave so soon. “The Koi rises with the full moon, two weeks from now,” the Garud had conveyed, and it is the fourth day since his visit. There is no sense in waiting for the Koi to rise, we must make as much headway as possible. The parting has taking much out of me, out of us all, leaving everything we know behind in a matter of days. Yet I cannot falter now, nor let the grieving reach that place inside where everything breaks. I must be strong, make sure the girls are high up the mountain, safe from what will come. Then I will be able to think of all this, grieve for the loss of dearest ma-papa and our home…

And then there is Leila’s discovery of the existence of the mountain people. The twins – Vayu and Waman, as if from nowhere. All these years we never knew people existed further up than us – nor did the settlements, Astara was supposed to be the highest settlement this side of the Binodaris. Then where have the twins come from? And how did they get so very high, higher that we ever knew it was possible to go…? They are not from any of the settlements we know, nor like the city dwellers who come all the way from the big city two days journey out, to try and climb up the Binodaris, and then mostly give up because the cliffs are so sheer at points. They are not up there for sport, they are settlement people, I gleaned this much from Leila’s mind. And they have a home somewhere up there. Where?

It is fortunate we learned of them at this exact time, when we so need guidance up the mountains. And it is as I believed, Sitara, my little Taru who will communicate with them, learn how to climb up, up to where they are, in this rain and wind and mist. She is doing well for all her youth, she is quick and her love for us, deep.

Time is of the essence, not just to beat the Koi – Vayu needs to be helped. And we have ropes and horses, not just Badal, all the horses, so we can help pull him out. But how many days of climbing to reach him? And how much will the weather slow us down? No one is addressing those questions. As Aum is fond of saying, “It is what it is…” It’ll take what it takes.

Already the weather is worsening, huge gusts of wind as we ride through Astara, past the roads we’ve known since childhood, some hugging the cliffs here, to the plains and farms beyond. The cliffs this side are prone to landslides and not high enough. Climbing them would not help us. We need to reach the Binodari flatlands before nightfall, crossing all outer settlements of Astara. Climbing up the foothills is easier from there.

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