The Journey Beyond Bhuloka

by Krutant Iyer

  Then it appeared. Following the contour of his slash, a fiery black line appeared in front of him. The upper portion of the door came crashing down, sliced from the mainframe as if a hot knife had passed through butter.

  Murari stood gaping at the impact of this new technique he had learned.

  As the upper portion of the door came crashing down, he could see the canopy of branches and leaves on the other side of the door.

  “What was that?” A Nisachara shouted from behind.

  The Nisacharas were taken aback by the rumble of the falling iron door.

  Murari quickly rushed towards the fallen door, and using the fallen rubble as a foothold, he jumped over the open space and landed on the other side of the room.

  Looking around, he noticed he had stepped into a jungle. It wasn’t exactly a jungle, it looked more like a wild orchard. The ground was strewn with overgrown shrubs. He could see a dim light coming from the other end of the orchard. This room wasn’t as quiet as the previous one, he could hear an unusual humming sound ricocheting off the walls. Its source was difficult to trace, but it was rhythmic and incessant.

  As Murari’s eyes adjusted to the room, he finally noticed the golden fruits hanging low from the trees.

  Vanaphala!

  The eternal fruit of Siddhi was all over the oddly laid-out orchard.

  As Murari stood gaping at the fruits, a sudden movement behind one of the trees broke his attention away. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed another movement towards his right. Someone or something was trying to get to him.

  Murari activated his Eye of Indriya. The sight that met his eyes made him freeze in his place. He did not dare move a muscle as cold sweat trickled behind his ears.

  He counted at least six of them. They were spread all over the orchard, sluggishly lashing their peculiarly long, reedy tails; they were waiting for him to make the first move. Looking at their white silhouette, Murari could tell their body was covered with fur and yet was skinny to a fault. So much so, that he could see the outline of their ribcage around their abdomen. Their long legs were tapping the ground impatiently. Even from this distance, he could make out the abnormally long claws protruding from equally large paws of the beasts. Their lowered heads and crouching posture clearly stated their intention.

  This is not going to be easy. I can’t these beasts right now. I need to get to the dungeon as soon as possible.

  Looking ahead, he noticed the orchard wasn’t too vast, but the land beyond the orchard wasn’t visible clearly. The dim light at the other end of the orchard seemed to be coming from below the ground. Since his objective was to get under the ground level anyway, he knew if he followed the light to its source he could reach the dungeon. But he was still concerned about the humming sound. What was causing it?

  Murari shook his head and made up his mind.

  Holding his scabbard in hand, Murari brought his right foot forward, as he straightened his back. He gripped his sword’s handle firmly. Scanning his eyes over the six beasts around the orchard, he calculated the angle. Once he was satisfied, he closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. Drawing a sharp breath in, he swiftly drew his sword out of the scabbard and slashed the air tenaciously, but he did not stop there. He continued slashing in a zig-zag pattern, cutting the air around him. His arm was perfectly in sync with his sword as he sent out black flames all over the orchard.

  Murari finally stopped when he heard the beasts howling loudly. Opening his eyes, he saw the destruction his attack had wrought. The slashed trees and their branches had fallen on the beasts, crushing them completely. The only beast still standing was the one towards his far right. Having already exited the cover of the orchard, it had been spared the fate of its pack.

  Even though the attack had failed to kill the beast, it had lost its will to attack a stronger being. It lowered its head and scurried into the corner.

  “Boy, I am impressed,” Nandaka said. “But, don’t overdo it. This technique puts a lot of toll on the swordsman’s body.”

  I had only shown him the basics. He ended up adding his technique to it. Nandaka wondered. This will be interesting.

  “Are you concerned for me now?” Murari chuckled.

  “Fool! I am only worried about you dying and leaving me here in the darkness.”

  Murari smiled. Even though this was the first time, he had seen a new facet of his sword. It was capable of having emotions.

  Murari made his way through the wrecked orchard. All the Vanaphalas were still intact, as they lay strewn all over the place.

  Eternal Fruits, huh!

  Murari made a mental note to collect the fruits on his way back. Right now, he was pressed for time.

  As he neared the edge of the orchard, the low humming sound that was vibrating through the expanse of the strange room became more evident and louder. It sounded more like rumbling of water entering a vacuum.

  Sure enough, when he walked over to the edge of the floor, he saw water sprouting from an opening on the side of the cliff’s face.

  Murari was confounded.

  What sort of castle is this? He wondered.

  There was an orchard inside it, and although he was only one level up in the castle, the floor ended up in a cliff.

  He stooped over the edge to get a better view of what lay beneath. The light was more prominent below, but he still couldn’t see its source. The path of the waterfall took a curve where it was hitting the smooth surface of the ground below, and flowing out of view. The hollow on the ground below seemed to have been formed naturally from the incessant thrashing of water. It was only a small cavity in the giant rock formation but seemed large enough for him to pass through.

  Murari listened carefully. The path beyond the hollow didn’t seem to be too long, and wherever the water was flowing out, it was just a little distance from the bend. He hesitated a moment. Even though the cliff wasn’t too high, he didn’t know where it would lead him.

  He didn’t have a choice. This was the only way forward, or downward.

  Holding his sword firmly in his hand, Murari sat down by the edge of the cliff.

  Looking down, he took a deep breath and gently slid off the smooth edge of the sloping wall on the cliff. He used his free hand to try and control the pace of his descent but to no avail. The surface did not feel as smooth on his bottom as he had imagined and he bounced off it once before the force of gushing water engulfed him in its raging fall.

  Murari gulped in some water as he gasped for air. Holding the sword firmly, he pulled in both his hands over his chest. He felt the pressure of the water weighing on his shoulder and his head, even as his back suffered from the constant battering of the mossy surface of the rock, but remained as steady as he could.

  The flow of the waterfall led him inside the cavity in the ground. He suddenly felt claustrophobic, as the ground converged all around him, and the flow of the water changed direction and carried him horizontally.

  After what felt like an eternity, but was only a few moments, Murari flew off the surface of the water and exited the channel through an opening in the rocky wall and fell into the dark pond below.

  Murari finally relaxed his tense muscles, as his body drifted inside the pond. He was already several feet underwater, but on looking down couldn’t see the bed of the pond. He turned his gaze up and saw blurry light dancing on the water’s surface. He swam to the top but was careful not to appear on the water’s surface yet. He didn’t know where he had come or who could be waiting for him there. He carefully swam to the pond’s rocky edge and activated his Eye of Indriya.

  Nothing happened. He could see nothing. He tried to activate his Eye of Indriya again, but once again met with failure. Murari was running out of breath so he decided to go old school. Holding on to the rocky edge of the pond, he pulled himself up slowly.

  He saw a long, wide corridor that curved up ahead. The path was lit by Mashaals at equal intervals on both sides of the wall of the corridor. He wondered where
he was as he got out of the water. After wringing out water from his dhoti and the vest, he checked his sword and felt for his pouch with his hand. After making sure everything was in order, he started walking down the corridor. Though his sword was sheathed, he kept his left hand over its handle, just in case. As he kept walking around the curve, the corridor extended into an open area that was twice the size of the orchard he had destroyed only moments ago.

  Murari stood with his back against one side of the wall of the corridor, as he leaned out a little to study the environs.

  The enclosed circular area rose to a domed, rocky ceiling. Stairways had been built along the wall to access the three levels of the structure. All three floors had a systematic line up of huge iron-barred doors, that were built into the wall, equidistant from one another.

  Murari knew he had finally arrived at the dungeon.

  He scanned the surrounding with his naked eyes but noticed no movement in the clearing on the ground level.

  Did the prison guards go out to fight in the field?

  Murari knew he couldn’t lose the opportunity, but it all seemed too easy. He decided to take the chance anyway.

  He recalled Vajra’s teachings – a person with awakened Siddhi can be easily identified using the Eye of Indriya as their energy burns brighter than the rest. He tried to activate his ocular power, but once again met with failure.

  What’s happening? Why am I not able to activate it?

  Nandaka’s words from earlier rang in his ears. Had he exerted too much toll on his internal energy?

  He stepped out of the corridor but kept close to the wall. Scanning the area once again, he doubly made sure no one was around, before moving towards the nearest stairway leading to the first level. He knew that once he stepped onto the stairway, there would be nowhere to hide. The prison had an open design, wherein one could look in all directions, no matter where a person stood.

  Murari climbed two steps at a time and was soon standing on the first level of the prison. The iron-barred, betel leaf shaped prison doors, lined up in a circle. Most of the cells were lit by an iron Mashaal hanging on the wall. Murari ran to the cell closest to him, peering inside he saw several portly Asuras sleeping at the far end of the wall. He moved to the next cell and saw more Asuras inside it. He kept going from one cell to another but found only Asuras in all of them. Some of them were conscious, and when they saw the nimble silhouette of a boy running past their cells, they cowered with fear.

  Murari looked up towards the second level and decided to try his luck there. As he made his way up the stairs to the second level, he sensed a movement on the ground level. Someone was coming.

  Have I been found already? Murari wondered.

  He stepped away from the protective iron railing along the stairway and pressed his back against the concrete wall on the second level of the prison so that whoever was coming, would not notice his presence. The footsteps got louder and clearer with each passing moment. Two Nisacharas emerged from the shadows of a corridor that opened on the other end of the ground level.

  “Who would have thought such a day would come?” one of the Nisacharas spoke.

  “And here I was thinking the King was being too cautious.” Said another in response.

  “Those wily Rakshasas do not stand a chance against the Commander.”

  “I am not sure. Did you see that other guy? He is a Siddha from Balaloka.”

  “Yeah, he seems to be quite powerful. Also, I heard that a boy managed to slip past the Commander and is possibly heading here.”

  “He is only a little boy. The fool will get himself killed before he reaches here.” The Nisachara laughed.

  Just then, another Nisachara guard came running from behind them.

  “Listen up – The orchard has been destroyed. The beasts protecting the eternal fruits are also dead. Stay alert! That boy can show up here anytime now. The warden has asked you two to not let your guard down.”

  Murari tensed upon hearing this. The messenger turned back and ran down the corridor.

  “Huh, what a fool! How does he think the boy will get here? There’s only one way to enter the dungeon and we just came through it.” One of the Nisacharas chuckled. “The only other way would be –”

  Suddenly the guard stopped speaking.

  “What happened? What’s with the face?” The other guard asked.

  “Look over there.”

  As the guards walked hurriedly, Murari wondered what they may have spotted.

  As if in answer to his question, one of the guards said, “Water! Where did this come from?”

  Murari looked down and realized that even though he had managed to wring the water off his dhoti and vest, he had forgotten about his sword’s scabbard and his pouch. He looked in the direction he had come from and saw a trail of drops of water leading directly to him.

  “Let’s follow it.” Murari heard one of the Nisachara guards speak again, followed by footsteps on the stairway.

  There was nowhere to go now.

  I will not fail after getting so close. Where are they? Murari wondered.

  “There he is!” One of the Nisachara guards spotted him.

  As they rushed towards the second level, Murari decided it was time to shed subtlety. He ran up the staircase leading to the uppermost level of the prison.

  As he reached the level, he noticed there were lesser cells here, but the doors of the cell were narrower, just enough for one person to get in or out at a time.

  He counted six cells. There was no time to waste, the guards were now on the second level and quickly making their way up.

  He dashed to the first cell, and peered through the bars, but couldn’t see anyone in the darkness. The Mashaal wasn’t burning in this one. Moving onto the next one, he saw a bunch of middle-aged Nisacharas sitting on the cold floor, leaning against the wall. Their eyes didn’t show any emotion upon seeing him. He got away from the cell and moved to the next one.

  Finally!

  He saw the captain of the pirates first. He was sitting by the door, while the rest of his crew were lying on the floor not far behind.

  They looked drained of energy. It seemed like Kirmira had not provided them with food ever since they had been captured. Ballu, Raaka, and Mitra had it even worse. Their bloodied bodies lay on the floor. Some of the deeper cuts had become septic and had blackened around the edges on Raaka’s arms. Ballu’s eyes were swollen, seemingly from receiving repeated pounding, while one of Mitra’s hand had been roughly bandaged with a dirty cloth.

  The pirate crew were relatively unharmed but looked severely dehydrated and famished.

  The captain of the pirate seemed to be in a daze. He continued staring blankly even with Murari standing at the door.

  Murari was consumed with rage on seeing the miserable state his friends were reduced to.

  At the same time, the two Nisachara prison guards reached the floor and stepped onto the passageway.

  They saw Murari standing in front of the prisoners’ cell and yelled, “STOP! Don’t move.”

  Murari tore his eyes off his friends and glared at the guards.

  The advancing Nisacharas stopped in their tracks.

  The look in Murari’s eyes was that of an infuriated demon. Even though they towered over him by several feet and could easily toss him like a sack of rubble, the aura emanating from him was so dark and pressurizing that they stood rooted to the spot.

  Murari grabbed the handle of his sword.

  “Don’t be a fool!” Nandaka spoke out.

  “Oi Nandaka – See what they have done to my friends. I am going to kill them all.” Murari struggled to bottle his rage as he responded, but his expression betrayed his intentions.

  “Don’t get carried away in your fury, or you will end up getting everyone here killed instead. Take a look around you. See where you are.” Nandaka said, unperturbed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You are under the ground, surrounded by earth. If y
ou attack recklessly, the falling debris will pulverize you and your friends along with everyone else.”

  Murari realized that Nandaka spoke the truth and grunted in frustration as he loosened his grip over the handle.

  “What was that just now? Where did that voice come from?” One of the guards looked around, stupefied.

  “Forget that – Look at this Rat. Who does he think he is? I don’t like the look in his eyes. Let’s capture him and take him to the warden.”

  The guards gripped their spears tighter as they dashed towards Murari.

  Murari briefly looked at his friends in the cell before turning around and dashing in the opposite direction.

  Murari knew he had to take care of the two guards chasing him before trying to free his friends, or the situation could spiral out of control.

  He ran to the end of the passageway and turned around as the path was cut off by the mossy wall of the underground stony edifice.

  “Kid! You cannot run away from them. Your only chance is to fight back.”

  A voice came from deep within an unlit prison cell. This cell was isolated from the others by a good distance. Murari had originally not noticed it as it lay in the darkest corner of the floor and instead of the regular iron-barred doors, this cell was secured by a thick iron door, with only a small opening at the bottom, just enough to pass a tray of food.

  Murari did not have time to react as the Nisacharas were closing in on him. He unsheathed his sword and got ready to fight.

  The guards slowed down as they neared his position.

  “Where will you run now Boy?”

  All the prisoners were now alerted of his presence. While the prisoners of level one didn’t care much, the level two prisoners were banging the iron bars, while hooting loudly. The prisoners on the third level remained calm, but many of them had walked up to the iron-barred door of their cells, to witness the outcome of this odd matchup.

  One of the guards moved towards Murari with his spear held in front of him. Murari crouched with his sword held out, ready to meet the advancing Nisachara’s attack. The guard suddenly thrust the pointed end of the spear at him, but Murari was prepared. He deflected it sideways, and quickly taking two steps forward, kicked the stooped Nisachara in the groin. The Nisachara went down writhing with pain as he let go of the spear. Before Murari could attack the fallen Nisachara, his comrade lunged forward and shoved his spear at Murari.