by Kevin Missal
“He’s the reason behind your illness, behind everything. He is orchestrating everything, to become who he is, and to do what he wants to do.”
There were so many things Kali wanted to know, but he couldn’t understand. “You are a Vidhyadhara?”
“I’m a lot of things, but I’m an Acharya foremost, an Endowed one, who has seen Asura kings rise and fall. And I wouldn’t let the last one fall as well.” He touched Kali’s forehead. “I wanted you to be stripped down enough from your pride as a king so you’ll come with me.”
“Where?”
“Pataal.”
Kali had heard about the island. People said that Pataal was hidden in smog and mist, a small place which had been home to the Asuras—the earlier ones, before they migrated to Illavarti. It was believed that the Asuras still had their temples there, to hold their secrets, hieroglyphs, mysteries that shrouded their grand history.
“But isn’t that mythical?”
“Oh it’s real, and it will teach you about your heritage, the one I wanted you to know about.”
“Why? What is so important about my heritage? Why do we have to travel to Pataal?”
“Because the Cursed One managed to take three Shards of the Eye of Brahma.” He smiled. “But he forgot the first one. And the First Shard, it’s there in Pataal. I will show you something that will change your life forever. Will you or will you not come?”
Kali looked into the dark eyes of Shukracharya and then slowly nodded.
Perhaps the burning questions will finally be answered.
“Also, do not blame me entirely for your downfall. It was not just me who did it. I only made Urvashi capable but she made your opponent stronger.” He signalled at the door where Durukti was standing with her back to them, looking at the scenery ahead of her.
“My sister? But why?”
“All will be told in time,” Shukr whispered. A chill ran down Kali’s spine.
Arjan didn’t know what she was going to do next.
He was in his room when a soldier came and informed him that Urvashi had called a meeting with Lord Kuvera, and Arjan and Rudra’s presence was requested. Something was amiss.
Why didn’t Urvashi ask me or Rudra to fetch Lord Kuvera?
Urvashi now knew that Lord Kuvera had been responsible for her father’s death. This was going to be a big problem.
And Arjan hoped she could let bygones be bygones and find clarity in her mission. She needed Lord Kuvera more than he needed her.
“She’s just thirteen,” Rudra said. He was lying next to Arjan on the bed.
After the battle, Arjan had professed his attraction towards Rudra. And it was reciprocated, though that was no surprise. In fact, Rudra had said, “It took you so long, love.” And it was funny because Arjan was in fact a slow individual in matters of love. And a little bit embarrassed and awkward too.
Arjan sighed. “I know. And that is kind of going against her. Should we . . . tell her to step down? Perhaps Ramras can be the one to lead the city.”
“He’s a wimp!” Rudra frowned. “Believe me, he does only what his father tells him to do. He’s just a pretty face.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because he’s the nobleman I was talking about.”
“The one you were together with? Who didn’t take the fall and made you go to prison?”
Rudra nodded, rubbing his forehead. “I didn’t want to say anything to Urvashi about it . . .”
“No, don’t. Don’t tell her about us either.” Arjan pursed his lips. “It can backfire. We will let her know eventually.”
Rudra nodded. “What should we do then?”
“Convince her not to kill Lord Kuevra. She won’t do anything today in her fort. So we have some time. We just need to remind her of what he can offer her.”
“Fine, I think we should go then.” Rudra got off the bed.
Arjan did too as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Why do you ask?”
“You seem different since your fight with Kali.”
“Different? In what sense?”
Rudra smiled. “You seem confident. And that’s a trait pre-battle Arjan didn’t have. Now, I wonder what really helped you in the end.”
Arjan thought about it. Was it the Soma? Was it turning him into something he was not? No one knew how the Somas really worked. No one had tested its potential and people who had, had died years ago with their studies done and dusted.
Arjan scanned the room for his clothes. Sometimes he couldn’t believe that he was living in a fort. The room was gigantic, ornamented with tapestry and elegantly-designed carpets. Urvashi was having the entire fort renovated to her liking. The fort housed the guards, Urvashi’s loyalists, and the prisoners who had chosen to remain after the coup. Rudra had been charged with handling them.
Arjan got ready and walked down the halls with Rudra. The corridor was lit with fire lights. They walked past the charbagh . Guards had been stationed around the garden. They reached the main hall and saw Urvashi and Lord Kuvera sitting inside. That’s odd. This is where she invites the people she likes. Arjan and Rudra looked at each other, confused.
Arjan and Rudra walked inside the hall. A red carpet had been sprawled at the entrance to welcome the guest. Urvashi sat on the couch in the centre with two guards behind her. They were armed with crossbows, ready to strike if anything untoward happened. Opposite her sat Lord Kuvera with three of his Yaksha archers behind him.
You could cut the tension with a knife.
Urvashi greeted Arjan and Rudra with a warm, charming smile as she introduced them to Kuvera. “If not for them, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.” She was not in a mood to fight, it seemed.
Lord Kuvera was sipping wine. “Indeed, they look fine, my dear. And also,” he looked at Arjan, “I heard it was you, the little fighting prodigy, who defeated Kali. Didn’t you?”
Arjan nodded glumly.
“How dear! What an accomplishment. I despised that wretched creature. He had no sense how to rule or how to be just nice. ” Kuvera frowned. “But nonetheless, the dark days are gone and you are here.” He turned his attention to Urvashi who was beaming.
“You two are late. We were just discussing how Lord Kuvera will be an integral part of the kingdom of Udaiyas. I seek to do what my father didn’t—give a helping hand to the Dakshinis. That way we can all be happy.”
“We can!” Kuvera clapped.
“My lord, I have some ideas.” Urvashi leaned forward.
“Of course! I would love to hear them.” Kuvera winked. “You might not know this but your father and I were allies before Kali decided to overthrow him. He even threatened me. But now that you have taken him out, I’m in your debt.”
Urvashi looked at Arjan and gave him a genuine smile.
Arjan heaved a sigh of relief. Urvashi was being mature.
“I would love it if you can sanction some money to us so we could do enlistments in our army, grow our agrarian sectors, and sort other little issues. I need to appease the nobles—”
“To keep the crown, I know. But to give you such a huge amount . . .”
“What do you want in return?” Urvashi asked simply.
Kuvera was taken aback. He hadn’t expected her to be so blunt.
“I can give you a city to rule,” she said nonchalantly.
That’s my idea.
Arjan smiled to himself.
“Which one?”
“Varungarh.”
“You will let a Dakshini, a tribal rule a northern city? Do you believe the nobles will be okay with this?”
“They can go to hell.” She laughed and so did Lord Kuvera. Arjan and Rudra chuckled nervously. “They won’t, of course. They will have to understand that things change with time. You’ll be integral to my reign, so I would love to give it to you.”
Lord Kuvera put his palms on his cheeks and thoughtfully mused. “Seems interesting. What of Ra
ktapa? He can be a problem once he finds out that Kali isn’t ruling Indragarh anymore.”
“I plan to have a peace treaty with him as well. After all, we are working towards a single goal, right?”
“What if you lose to Ramras?”
“Not a chance. Also, I heard that you have been sending messengers outside the city.”
His face went red. “Oh well, I’m just waiting for my son to come here.”
“Son?”
“Yes. You see after Kali died, I thought you would have me killed, so I called for backup. Now I’ll just tell him when he reaches here that his journey was in vain.”
Lord Kuvera always had a backup plan to ensure his safety. And if there was a chance that he could rule, he would never hesitate to take it.
“You wanted to take the crown for yourself?” She laughed.
“No, no, it was just insurance for me to be escorted back to Alak.”
Urvashi nodded, showing him that she understood his predicament. “Don’t leave now. You are the last Tribal left in Indragarh. We need an objective eye in the council, right?”
“Yes, you do, indeed.” The fat man clapped, keeping the wine glass on the side. “Well I should leave. I will send you the scroll sanctioning the money and you in return give me the rights to Varungarh. I also would love your support in future against the Nagas,” he quietly added.
Urvashi said, “Don’t worry. I don’t like the Nagas as well.”
Urvashi and Kuvera began to shake hands. Arjan glanced at Rudra. Everything went well.
And then it happened.
It happened in a fraction of a second. Blood was spraying from Kuvera’s neck as Urvashi sliced a knife in his throat. He fell down on the ground, all red and purple. The Yakshas instantly readied their bows but before that, Urvashi’s men shot their arrows. They fell down on the ground, dead.
Arjan was horrified, stunned, frozen. His fingers were numb and his heart was racing. The King of Yakshas murdered by a little girl. Now they will have to go war with the entire Yaksha tribe.
This girl never stops surprising me.
Urvashi came to Arjan with the bloody knife in hand. Kuvera’s blood was smeared over her face, but she didn’t wipe it off. “Dispose the knife.”
“Why?’ Arjan could only muster this word in return. “Why did you give him hope if you were going to kill him?”
“Because that’s what he did to my father.”
Urvashi went outside, leaving Arjan and Rudra in the hall. They would have to deal with the corpses as well. Arjan sighed, looking at the blood-smeared carpet.
We are doomed now.
It was the next day. Kalki waited impatiently in his hut, thinking. Should he confront Kripa or should he not? Lord Bajrang had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. Even Arjan had warned him against Kripa.
It made him recall that Arjan had been an instinctive person. He knew when something was amiss.
Kalki wondered whether Arjan was dead or alive. Would I ever see him again? Or my mother? She was in fact in Lord Bajrang’s temple right now, while Kalki had spoken to Lord Bajrang yesterday. If she knew, I bet she’d smile. He decided to find his brother and meet his mother after everything was over.
He peeked at the symbol on his chest. The Vanars had been staring at it, so he had wrapped a shawl around it. You are not born an Avatar. Your deeds make you one. That’s what Lord Bajrang had told him.
He thought about his symbol as he walked down the Dandak Hills. The snow-capped hills ended at Vanarvata, a forest. Inside it was a big waterfall where seven rivers merged—crystal clear, they rammed each other. The place was breathtaking. Kara, the doctor in the camp, had told him about how the Vanar kingdom, Kishkinda, used to be in Dakshini. But the Vanars had chosen to migrate to Udaiyas to avoid the war politics of the place. Now, the kingdom was divided into two factions—Lord Taar’s and Lord Bajrang’s. Lord Taar wanted the Vanars to expand the kingdom, and wage wars if needed. But Lord Bajrang stated that they had seen enough bloodshed during their battle with Lord Dushasana.
Opposing ideologies from the same race had ended up in a rebellion which was a common thing to hear, even for Kalki. Even back in Indragarh, there had been infighting because of this. It only made him realize how the world operates and progresses—on conflicts. And if there are no conflicts, there is nothing. Every place will be peaceful, but does peace really bring about fruitful change? Seems not. Lord Taar had rebelled. Many Vanars had sided with him. And today, Lord Bajrang’s supporters were to fight and kill people of their own tribe.
Kalki walked around the Dandak Hills, amidst the scattered nomadic huts of Vanars. Deep down in the horizon where the slopes descended and the sun was brimming high, he noticed Lord Bajrang leading a dozen soldiers to the Frontier—the no man’s land where Dandak Forest and General Taar’s camp met. It was a battleground. As of now, they were at a stalemate. Both sides were losing men and both were trying to recruit more men. Unfortunately, Lord Bajrang’s forces were depleting. He had been forced to recruit older people and even kids to join his cause against General Taar.
“I have never seen him so worried,” Kara told Kalki. “Imagine being in a secluded world and then letting your entire world be destroyed by your own men. One of the reasons he has allowed outsiders to live with the Vanars is mainly because we are short on men. Especially you, Kalki. You look like you can take someone in a fight. The reason why we situated ourselves at such a place was because we wanted to avoid any contact with the rest of the world, but conflict can never be avoided it seems.”
Kalki was in the middle of this conversation when he saw Ratna walking up towards him. He was sitting on a stony slab near Vanarvata—their cherry blossom forest that was at some distance from the Frontier on which General Taar’s camp was stationed. One had to cross Vanarvata to reach there and one could even go by the bridge, which Lord Bajrang had used to travel a while ago. The Vanarvata on the outer edges had been barricaded from the Frontier’s end to prevent infiltration.
“What have you been up to?” Ratna asked.
“Thinking.”
“About what?”
She sat down next to Kalki and began to sharpen her sword.
“What are you?” Kalki asked, frowning. Ratna suppressed a laugh. “No, seriously. I mean you seem like a Manav . . .”
“I was once a Manav before I was shipped off to be an Apsara. Apsaras, as you know, are prescribed Tribals. You are not born an Apsara, you can become one if you pass certain examinations.”
“And you passed them?”
She nodded, her bald head bobbing. Kalki had a hard time believing this.
“You think I don’t look like an Apsara, but . . .”
Kalki nodded in affirmation to her statement.
“Indeed, I don’t.” She announced proudly. “Because I don’t plan to put Apsaras into a certain criteria of beauty standards. I don’t want them to be whoring around. I want them to be women of power, of valour, and of hope. Women, before the Breaking, were powerful individuals, more so than men. Now look at us. We are forced into prostitution. What a waste!”
“And you cut your hair to make a statement?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t like them. I couldn’t fight properly because of them.”
“What does an Apsara fight for?” Like many others, he had the same pre-conceived notions about Apsaras. They existed only for pleasuring men, and sometimes women. Just like Rakshas were supposed to be evil, Nagas elitists, and Manavs normal.
“To free other Apsaras. The Apsara that the Pisach killed . . . she was a free woman, and I had aided in her escape.”
“I’m sorry for what happened.”
“That’s all right. She died a free woman. I am proud of that.”
Ratna was a tough individual and Kalki liked that about her.
“So why are you here? You told me you were the one who brought us here. Why?”
Ratna sighed, looking at Vanarvata. “I had heard that Taar was h
olding Apsaras for his pleasure. I want to free them. He has an entire harem to himself.” She glanced at Kalki. “Why are you worried?”
“I am thinking whether I should confront someone about my feelings.”
“You should tell her you like her.”
Kalki arched his brows. “Who her?”
“Padma. You fancy her, don’t you?” She slapped him on the shoulder.
Kalki nervously chuckled. “Oh no, please.”
“Stop it. I see the way you look at each other.”
“How do we look at each other?” Kalki was puzzled.
“Like you believe in each other.” She smiled. “I used to look at someone like that.”
“What happened?”
She put the sword on the ground. “He died, what else?”
“How?”
She gave him a look. “You ask too many questions. All I can say is life is a journey with a lot of tripping in between. Just admit to the fact that you have to keep standing up and going forward.”
“That’s what you did after he died?”
She glumly nodded. “And that’s what you should do about the person you want to confront. Don’t wait.” And with that, she left.
Kalki nodded, thinking she was right. He looked up and saw Kripa walking towards Vanarvata with Padma by his side.
And he decided to follow them.
Vanarvata was the prettiest of all in the entire Dandak—a vast, canvassing, beautiful canopy of cherry trees engulfed in snow. The path was partially clear. The flakes were melting on the ground so Kalki felt like he was stepping on something wet. The branches were thick and wide, the trunks were long, and the trees were almost fifteen feet tall. An exotic smell permeated the air in the forest as Kalki walked behind them.
“Vanarvata is what they say is built on the ashes of Lord Raghav. His ashes led to the growth of such wide variety, colourful flowers and shrubs and trees, lass.” Kripa explained, no more in the sluggish, drunkard manner. He had sobered up.
“This is amazing.”
“Oh yeah, it is.”
“Also, Kripa, I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am you made those astras for me back in Indragarh. But weren’t you worried that I might blow up the city with them?”