Prithvi decided to follow Chayan, leaving the battle site. He sped on ahead, and Prithvi followed the sound of his footsteps. She could hardly see anything.

Chayan and Prithvi strayed further from the others. A few minutes later, next to a rare winterberry tree in the snow-laden land, Prithvi heard the footsteps slow down.

The next thing she knew, a flash of red was dancing close to her face. She fired her arrow into the void, which seemed to have found no target, and then quickly drew her bow again. Her quiver was running low on arrows.

Chayan, in a swift motion, lunged at Prithvi’s legs. She fell on him. He crawled out from under her and pinned her down, his hand clamping down on her mouth. Prithvi struggled and fired her arrow in desperation, ripping out Chayan’s ear as it shot up towards the stars.

‘Arghh!’ Chayan bawled. He grabbed Prithvi’s wrist, and she writhed in pain.

Chayan dragged her to the winterberry tree. He pulled out a small rope from somewhere on his body and tied her hands to the tree.

‘Why are you tying me up?’ Prithvi struggled to get free.

Chayan circled the tree, laughing. The noise of grunting kirtimukhas and screaming Souls had become faint in the background. ‘To return the favour. I’ll make sure you bleed to death, like so many of my men did in the past,’ he said.

Prithvi felt helpless without her bow. When Chayan brushed his long beard aside, she saw an assortment of deadly weapons tied to his waist. Gasping for breath, she said, ‘Barbarians indeed. Stopping at nothing to butcher all that step into these lands.’ She summoned the little energy she could and spat towards him.

‘Hah,’ Chayan guffawed. ‘Curse him! Sanaka’s lies see no bounds—teaching his people that the kirtimukhas, the ancient Mountain Pishachus, are barbaric? It’s a pity, child, that the truth can no longer spare your life.’

‘Oh, shut it!’ Prithvi shouted at the top of her lungs. She tried to rub her wrists against each other in the hope of chafing the rope and breaking free, but her hands were firmly tied. ‘It was upon your orders that a kirtimukha abducted me from Pataan only a few months ago.’

Chayan stomped forward and slapped her. He shook his head. ‘Vanyasis are fools. You’re all Sanaka’s puppets. Last decade’s Souls believed that their Adwaita was a way to protect them from me, the man who was waiting outside Vanyasa with his army. But I’ve never known Atmayog. And the kirtimukhas have always remained up in these mountains. No order or kirtimukha of mine led to your abduction, of that I’m certain.’

‘Quit your act! You’re not alone. We know! We already know that Sanaka’s been lying to the valley about Madhu and hiding it.’

‘Mindless girl! I am not talking about that. What Sanaka has done in the past to the divine kirtimukhas—that is the greatest sacrilege. Kirtimukhas are called glorious faces because they’re guardians, temple guardians in the southern plains, and guardians of something far more valuable here in the mountains. They’re messengers of the gods, trying to keep alive the Himalayan bees and Madhu. And they fight with such passion because they fight for god.’