The Dark Lord

by Nihar Sharma

  Aaditya nodded and turned back at darker side also but there was no escaping. Both the sides were getting darker and darkness was engulfing the brightness, the hissings of poisonous snakes had horrified them already and it was getting louder and harsher.

  Aaditya held Vikram’s hand tighter “Run…” screamed.

  “Just keep running, we need to get there before the darkness takes us” Vikram motivated his friend with the warmth of hope.

  The dark lord threw his dices and soon they would be in his world but his game had turned around, the agents had been watching baba for long time and they had sent their white angels to rescue those souls to that portal. Baba had made a stupid mistake and that was he kept the portal opened for quite long time to catch the both souls. And white angels had entered with them into the portal. The guardian of the portal, the snakes deployed by Nagraj now would like to kill all as they had been given an order, nothing should pass through this door.

  They ran to the dead end of the door. And darkness touched them, the sign of brightness disappeared and then they could see those red big eyes and the long poisonous tongues of snakes. Vikram was completely blank and Aaditya hid behind him in fear.

  The heart beat hiked and both of them smell the foul breath of snakes. They had surrounded them and ready to strike them down. The fear had taken over their souls, dead would die once again.

  Then some white angels stormed into the trap and stood between snakes and them. The battle between them started without any intimation. The snakes were so powerful they started eating those shadows and the leader of the white angels was trapped into the mouth of the big snake.

  In few moments of fight the darkness had triumphed over light. Those angels were killed by those mighty devil snakes. This was very clear that portal was under dark lord’s control and Nagraj’s best soldiers were guarding them.

  A snake that had just killed the last angel looked at them and grinned with big and sharp canines. Both had screamed and closed their eyes.

  Then there was nothing they could feel, no smell, no sound of hissings. They opened their eyes and found in a desert. The portal opened through the gate of snake’s intestine.

  Vikram was silent and sat tiredly on the sand. They had no idea what was happening to them. These two souls were now out of everyone’s radar but dark lord.

  ------------------------x------------------------

  The Huge desert with no sign of life except the lizards crawling on sands, surrounding them, they were souls now, spirits never feel pain, never breathe, eat and sleep. But in this trap every single soul had to pay like a mortal.

  A reptile bit Vikram suddenly and he flinched in pain. Aaditya heed attention “What happened? Why have you flinched?” Vikram looked at his friend and grinned like a baby “it hurts.”

  Aadi laughed out loudly “What a non sense, we are spirits, not mortals to feel pain….” Now Aaditya too screamed and jumped off and Vikram couldn’t stop laughing out of his sudden dance out of reptile’s bites. Then their laughing stocks turned into a horror scenario. There were thousands of lizards approaching to them and every single bite was hurting them, they started bleeding too.

  Now they had to run for shelter, a place where they could hide safely from these crawling monsters. There was nothing as far as their eyes could see. There were only sands and lizards, and then Aaditya screamed “Vik!” Vikram turned around and looked at his friend, a light smile on his face glowed.

  Aaditya pointed a wrecked hut at little distance with his finger. A gentle touch of relief made them happier and feeling safe from those lizards. They ran hard to that hut with lizards behind them, they were exhausted, thirsty and hungry. But they needed to reach there.

  The hut was dilapidated and wracked, the roof was half broken, the black sky without moon and stars could be seen through it, the window had no shutters and door was broken, a complete picture of ramshackle. The floor was covered with lizards shit, bones and rotten dead bodies. Vikram looked at Aaditya and held his hand tight in fear, and provided consolation to his friend with a hope “don’t fear, we will just stay here for a night and then we will leave in the morning.”

  Aaditya was busy in glaring at those lizards and shivering in cold and fear. “leave for where” Aaditya asked, and it was clear they couldn’t go back to their human world which was already not theirs anymore and their new world was dreadful filled with lizards, so they again would die like other died in that hut and their bones and flesh would rot here forever.

  They took shelter there to pass that night, but that night seemed too long, the whole land was full with crawling lizards and they were trying to eat them. There was something still trying to protect them from those creatures, otherwise those would have eaten them.

  Both were awake but drowsy. They were just like mortals; Aaditya had lot of things running in his mind to ask Vikram but silence deemed the best option that time. They hadn’t seen these kinds of lizards in their whole life and unable to believe that there were so many types of lizards could exist.

  Both were tired and drained out of energy, this place had made them feel mortal again.

  Vikram giggled suddenly and whispered to his friend “I feel alive again.” First time both were in unknown dangerous world away from their own home and family. Aaditya wanted to say something to boost up his friend’s motivation but he kept silent.

  Slowly they fell into deep sleep but after few moments, in the middle of the night, sound of growling awoke them, both looked at each other’s with big widened eyes and looked puzzled. Vikram felt bigger thing was coming for them; it was near, outside the hut. All the lizards started moving and spread away from them. The wracked door was pushed gently by something. Both were staring at the door but it didn’t come inside yet. There was total silence like lizards had taken either order from someone or they fear something which was the most dreadful to them.

  “There is something written on wall” Vikram informed Aaditya. “The cursed can command the cursed soul eaters” Vikram read.

  Scary lizards and sand storm outside had isolated them from all hopes of escape. They needed to have a plan to survive, situation left them an option, die again. Aaditya looked at Vikram staring at the portrait on the wall and he didn’t want to be stonewalled in his farther journey, that couldn’t be the end, not like this. Vikram stepped away from the portrait and stood next to Aaditya but he didn’t want to stand like a statue so he dared walking near to that portrait and saw what Vikram couldn’t.

  Actually the portrait was protecting them from the huge lizard at the door. The one who could see the portrait closely could travel through the portal. It was the only way that they could travel to another world away from these dangerous soul eaters.

  Aaditya saw something moving in the portrait and heard some sounds coming out from it. He informed Vikram about the portrait but Vikram was too afraid to try something new to get out of this place. Aaditya looked carefully ‘an ancient soldier is offering his blood and flesh to the fire and a monster was emerging out of it.’

  Vikram was unable to move, frozen in fear, the door was about to break and the portal already started opening, Aaditya was calling him repeatedly but nothing could soothe his fear. Aaditya was desperate to know what was it all about and he touched it.

  He just disappeared into the portrait and Vikram was stunned and he ran to that portrait but it was too late and gate closed. Vikram screamed his friend’s name and fell down on his knees on the ground. His heart broke in grief for the loss of his only friend.

  Then he heard the sounds of footsteps. He got up and hut was completely a different place. No lizards and the sand storm stopped. He looked at the portrait but there was nothing in that except the frame hanging on the wall. That was the portal and Aaditya got through this.

  Then a man with goatee broke into the wracked hut and looked at Vikram and sniffed, “My lord has summoned you”.

  Vikram asked back “Who is your Lord?”

  “Th
e one who own us”

  “I cannot go with you; I am waiting for my friend Aaditya. Go and tell your lord.”

  “My lord doesn’t love disobey, he wants you to come with me, whether you like it or not” voice sounded rush and angrier.

  “If I say no then, will you kill me? And then go ahead I am already dead.”

  Man chuckled “In his empire souls are not dead; they can feel pain and grief, that’s why it is called HELL, you decide how do you want go with me?” and drew his whip edged with sharp blades.

  Vik smelt danger and ran away from that man outside the hut; he cursed “shit.” There were his guards’ half men half pigs with sharp weapons waiting for him to take. One guard came forward and hit on his head. They tied him by legs and hands and started dragging him with them…

  AADI IN THE LOST WORLD

  Aaditya was being watched by every single agents and souls who were near to their masters, because he was of the weakest mind; he was vulnerable to dark forces, but lethal due to his anger.

  When Aadi was parceled via the portrait, he landed in heaven’s garden because of the loophole of that portal, but he was unaware of the fact. Hidden from everyone’s watch he reached to the most beautiful place in the universe made for gods and angels.

  Aaditya never ever saw such beauty in his whole life, full of glittering gold and gems, light had covered the whole place. No sign of dark spot and not even a shadow of his own. He was stunned with the brightness, with gold and gems, clean, silence and peaceful. He muttered “Vikram” his friend’s name and looked around but except him there was no one.

  He was alone and lost, he was with his friend who used to help him, accompany him and support him with all his morals. He had to go back to find his friend, those gems and gold nothing but useless to him now.

  He kept walking in the street and then found a huge iron gate decorated with gold and gems, and there was a small cataract flowing from atop, continuous fall of water made that spot eye-catching and chilled touch of water droplets on face was heart-touching.

  Aaditya reached near that waterlog. The huge gate’s gigantic picturesque made a spot for divine tourism. He started feeling love, and romance for something that he had no idea, a tickling in his heart. It was designed such way that no one in this universe could resist to fall in love.

  There was a spot left uncovered and by which a dark shadow could pass through. There was a small hole where a diamond was studded but that diamond dropped. When the gate was built labors were hired from the netherworld so that heaven soldiers could get the work done in time by torturing them. The dark lord had disguised in a worker and he worked on that hole, created a world behind the gate. That hole opened to another world, behind the gate there was a monster in its protection born out of flesh and blood of dark lord.

  Souls those who had their punishment completed in dark world and bound to get freedom and travel to heaven, the monster stood between them and their redemption. That hole on gate was opening to this small unknown and unnamed world. But that was one way gateway, only one could pass through from heaven to this world.

  This was the one of the finest trap the dark lord had created so far to keep gods away from his world; he created his army, world and surviving under gods’ nose.

  Gods deployed their wizards and angels for watching over their wealth from being stolen. Since thousands of thousand years no god not even any kind of spirit had dared to steal a single stone from there, so the wizards had gone almost obsolete.

  Aaditya tried to open that gate and sat near the water log out of thirst and tiredness. He scooped water in his palm and splashed on his face, it was heaven’s relief. He drank water from the reservoir but unnoticed by him, an angel had found him. She flew near to him and looked at him, she knew from his face it didn’t belong to them.

  Statues, which used to be wizards, opened their eyes. They were not statues; they were guarding the treasure of the heaven in disguises.

  Aaditya felt little fresh and better, he regained his strength. There was some magic in heaven’s water; it had given him some kind of divine strength. He sat relaxed near that small pond and looked at the gate. There was a something hitting his face, a cold foul air. She was watching over his action where the wizards also had started waking up one after one, and gathered to the center of the garden.

  He saw a script at top of the gate but he was unable to read it but it was mirrored reversed on water. The script said ‘One, who can dare to see the unseen, can travel to me.’

  Aaditya looked puzzled, he interpreted the same in his fourth trial and he now was enthusiastic to find the way to cross that gate. He picked up the stone, called diamond of heaven and put it into that small hole from where he could sense a foul breeze on the gate. She alarmed the others and wizards had stood before him. Aaditya dropped that stone on the ground but the spell had worked out, a dark shadow dragged him inside through that whole. Wizards couldn’t stop him, they tried but failed. Before they could sense that he fled.

  She followed him to that place behind the gate, Aaditya couldn’t see her, he looked back and found that glittering gate with gold and gems now rusting and broken. Water of cataract smelt foul and the streets were dirty with sewage and bones; the garden didn’t look like a garden. That was just flip side of the previous one. Aaditya tried to search a way for returning but in bold in the middle of the gate it was written “No turning back”.

  Aaditya screamed “Oh god” and cried louder in pain. He kept punching on the huge gate and finally got tired of and sat on the ground on his knees, head down and crying for redemption. Then he heard a girl, he turned back. A lady in white dress groaning in pain, she fell down from the up as she couldn’t fly anymore in this world where her power ended.

  Aaditya went to her help and asked “Who are you and what are you doing here? Can you help me getting out of here?”

  She had screamed at him “are you crazy?” then both heard sounds of footsteps marching towards them and then the massive number of souls appeared before them with swords and spears.

  She was recognized by the other souls that she was from heaven. They had taken them and threw them into prisons.

  Aaditya now had reached closer to netherworld, Aaditya could see outside through the hole in the wall, the world was so shinny and it seemed like here the sun never set. Dry allover and red sun was over the head all time. He was sweating, tired and thirsty; he again felt mortal in this prison.

  After sometime Aaditya heard the clanging sound of steel, he got up on his feet and saw few soldiers had come to take him, he was worried and his legs and hands were trembling in fear. “Are they going to kill him” muttered but fear had made him almost to forget that he was dead already.

  They open the door and Aaditya wanted to run away in fear but trial failed, a guard caught him with his net and hit him with the edge of spear to unconscious. Then he was taken to the open place before the cave where the monster lived, that monster lived on souls. Leader of that world was trying to kill this monster to pass through the cave and get their ultimate redemption.

  Aaditya was left outside of the entrance of the cave. The leader set every soul who used to be new to their clan, to the monster in belief that he or she would kill that monster and they could get their way to heaven. This time they had two souls, meant dual chance and they had to put their both trials. She was also taken to fight against the Monster. She decided to dance because she was a great dancer and she knew how to seduce a man with dance, even the animals could get hypnotized by dances.

  She flinched when she was pushed by a bad face. Aaditya looked at her and sniffed in fear, she also looked at him. She was an angel, not a soul and she wanted to go to her world but cave was the only way to heaven but monster was the biggest barrier holding several souls since several long years.

  A roaring came from the cave, and foul air with that, all kept their hands on their noses. The leader stood on his feet and clanged his hammer on the gate. Aaditya looked at
the cave’s entrance with big eyes and then a huge shadow appeared near his feet, and he started trembling in fear.

  Then the gate opened and one soul came and pushed her forward, and gate was closed. Aaditya looked at her and turned around to the giant monster, two canines coming outside, one big green brown horn on his forehead and claws were as sharp as blades. Its throat was covered with thorns and double layered green skin worked as a shield. Its tongue was like a long poisonous snake living inside its mouth, and a foul smell came out when it opened its mouth.

  Aaditya ran to her and held her hand; she shot him with a strange look in anger. Aaditya muttered “Vikram, where are you brother? This monster will eat me today.” She was still looking at him with pity eyes. She walked forward and suggested Aaditya to stay back.

  Aaditya screamed “Have you gone mad?” She pushed him back and stood just before the monster. The giant roared at her. “Uff, please give him some water to…” Aaditya spoke in disgusting mood. She busted out in laughing and advised “Don’t worry, you can stay here and watch the drama.”

  “Drama?” Aaditya frowned “Really she has gone mad seeing death in front.”

  The giant shifted itself towards the left side of the cave and leaned back, ready to strike with its jaws. She shifted accordingly to her left side and put her left leg up and folded on right knee. A majestic vision appeared when she started dancing and monster sat on his legs quite, it happened after a millennia.

  The leader and all got stunned when they saw her dancing before that monster. She was trying to seduce the monster with her dance. All started laughing at her.

  “Thank god” Aaditya thanked god for monster keeping its mouth close. In the history nothing happened before like this. She could control that monster, amazing. She knew that dance could hypnotize the monster too. She had this one under her full control.

  A broad smile blossomed on Aaditya’s face and joy tickled his heart as he got out of danger. After few moments of her dance the monster was feeling drowsy and it walked back inside the cave again.