Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

In fact, in the past couple of minutes, Mriga had wondered if it would be easier to call Abhirath to help her than struggle endlessly. She was fighting to get a hold of something so that she could reach her leg with the help of it. But now that she heard his unmistakable voice, a renewed sense of urgency filled inside, injecting a dose of adrenaline into her body.     

Without wasting time, she started swinging her body side to side. Fortunately for her, only one foot had been snared and the other one was free. Building momentum slowly, she managed to touch and then push the trunk of the tree with her free foot. That galvanised her further and she bent and twisted her body sideways to extend her arm and try to catch one of the lower branches of the tree.     

After a few attempts, her waist muscles were starting to protest and she could feel sweat trickle down her body. But she was almost there, her finger tips had brushed past one of the branches in the last attempt.     

"C'mmon Mriga, Abhirath needs you," she pepped herself up and swung one more time towards the tree trunk.     

Voila!     

The branch had been finally caught by her slippery, desperate hands and she wasn't letting it go. Testing it for strength, she kept her hold on it with one hand while she searched for a sturdier one with the other palm. She tugged the one next to it with all her might and decided that she will have to put her faith in its strength and her quick movements. Pulling herself on to the branch, she sat on it and the world straightened eventually. She brought the foot which had the thick rope around it, to her fingers.     

It felt like a tight knot and Mriga was frustrated at the complete lack of light in here. Still, she willed her galloping heart to calm down and ran her fingers one by one on the knotted area. She was seeking a small gap through which she could insert her finger to pry it open.     

"Damn, I should have tucked the khukri in my kurta than hold it in my hand," she berated herself viciously.     

After a few excruciating seconds, her nimble fingers finally managed to find that gap. Pumping the free hand in the air on her victory, she nearly lost her balance in the excitement.     

Removing the rope from her foot, she jumped down to retrieve her knife before intending to climb back up.     

"I am not going to use the land to travel in here. Just wait for a little bit longer, hedgehog, monkey is coming to your rescue," she grinned and swung back on the tree.     

She cooed her response to Abhirath, seeking his voice one more time to understand the direction in which he was.     

"Hello, is someone there? Can you help me please? I am badly stuck and my partner is lost somewhere," a voice stopped Mriga as she was about to move away.     

Mriga couldn't stop herself and quickly moved towards the other side of the tree where a girl was stuck in the same position as she had been, a few seconds ago. She must have been the one who had been muttering earlier.     

She cut the thick rope with her knife but didn't wait for the girl to say anything and took off from there.     

Vaishali who had been stunned by the sudden fall, stood up and brushed the mud off her head.     

By the time Mriga reached Abhirath, four quick succession of gongs had gone off already. There were only five more people left to qualify from this group. But Mriga was not thinking about that for now.     

Few metres away, Abhirath couldn't feel his legs anymore. The quicksand had reached upto his waist by now and he was focussing all his energy on trying to stay as still as possible. Suddenly, he heard whispered cooing near him.     

"Don't come any closer," he raised his voice.     

It didn't matter if the others heard him or not at this stage but it was critical that Mriga was aware of the danger.     

"Shhhh, how noisy can you be? Are you playing for my team or others?" her annoyed whisper reached him.     

She was close enough now.     

"I am stuck in a pool of quicksand. Sit down on your knees and extend your arms to feel the edge of the surface. When you touch wet mud, that's the place beyond which you can't extend yourself. Be careful," he barked instructions at her.     

Mriga followed him obediently and told him that she had reached the edge.     

"With your knife, cut a long branch quickly and throw it as accurately as you can, in the direction of my voice. Before you throw it, do a countdown," he said.     

Mriga's tired arm muscles protested as she tried to pull a branch off from a nearby tree. Throughout this period, her arms had been tested to the maximum already. Nonetheless, she pushed her limit and finally managed to cut away a branch which she hoped was long enough to reach him. Thankfully, she had both the ripped cloth strips which had been used earlier to wrap her hands. She quickly made a makeshift rope with them and tied one edge to the tree and the other around her waist before throwing the branch towards Abhirath.     

By now, two more sets of gongs had gone off.     

Abhirath was frustrated and a part of him wanted to urge Mriga to hurry up but he knew that she was the one doing the work while he stood in complete inaction. His reminder won't help their situation as of now. He was just so angry with himself for letting them be in this situation.     

Thwack! The branch landed right across his face, jolting him into action. He whispered at her urgently to be ready to pull and tugged at the branch with all his might.