The Dark Forest is a dangerous place, the entire population of all the empires in the continent know this for a fact. To even set foot inside it would require an extra-ordinary bravery and to return outside to tell the tale would require much much more than just bravery.

It isn't just the beasts that make it so fearful. After all, even the mightiest of the beasts can be conquered by a very large number of warriors. In reality, there were other never before seen forces that play around in the Dark Forest. But no one really knew what they were because those who did encounter it, never returned to tell.

It was said that in the past there was a powerful entity. He was said to have exterminated an entire empire in his rage. He killed thousands, if not millions, in cold blood without so much as a scratch on his body. Revered as the demon himself, his name, his sect or his power, nobody knew anything of it. But all of them do agree that he was the most powerful yogi in the entire history after Shiva himself. Even he, who went to brave the Dark Forest was never seen afterwards.

Many other such lore existed about the forest like it being home to a creature who had lived for thousands of year which could take human appearances and could kill a person through a mere look. Or it being home to a powerful demon who survived the holy wars of the Heaven and Hell. Lore like these were partly to blame for such hostile reputation of the forest.

* * *

Unbeknownst to most there was a small clearing in the core of the forest where there were no thick trees and where sun shone freely with all its warmth. And in the middle of that clearing was a lake which was so clear that one could see the fishes swimming freely in the base of the lake.

And as if the existence of such a peaceful scenery in this god forsaken forest wasn't enough, there was a figure floating in the midst of the lake, completely immersed within himself. He was lean and thin and his hairs and beard were long, unkept but they did nothing to reduce his ancient aura. Such was his presence that even the fishes avoided going too close to him lest they offend him in any way. He looked as if he was meditating here for an eternity and would continue to do so until "Pralaya", the destruction of universe, descended from Shiva's third eye. But contrary to such appearance, his meditation was in fact disturbed, by someone who was familiar to him and he opened his eyes.

He spoke in a small voice which echoed throughout his surroundings,

"Did I not make myself clear previously that I did not want to be disturbed? Why did you disobey my orders?"

His voice contained arrogance and irritation. He was clearly not happy.

"Hmph !! since when did the king began obeying the words of a refugee?? Or did you perhaps forget your position old man? Have you really gone senile after all these years??"

A playful and girlish voice echoed in reply and shortly a large figure descended, an unnaturally big snake. It was ferocious but somehow very majestic and it inspired whoever confronted it to either shake with uncontrollable fear or kneel with utmost loyalty, more often the former. But the man who was now walking through the lake as if walking on land showed signs of neither fear nor servitude. As the man carefully observed the snake, he changed his expression to one of indifference and then replied with a little reprimand.

"You are just a little girl, not a king. Behave like one"

When he finished his words, what or rather who stood before him was a maiden who was no older than sixteen. She was dressed simply but graciously. Her alluring pupils were green, which added to the air of mysteriousness around her. Her roses like lips had a strange charm to them. Her beautiful brown hair flowed like waves in a gentle sea. Her skin appeared so smooth and delicate that it looked as if even a fur could scratch it. Her youthful buds, while not fully mature, were captivating nonetheless. Simple folks would no doubt end up confusing her with a celestial being because no mortal, they would argue, could be so enchanting. Perhaps she was a indeed celestial being, her presence was divine after all.

She was capable of entrancing any mortal who stood before her, completely unlike her previous fearful appearance. Yet the man before her showed no other emotion than of a minor irritation.

She stood before him, a small package wrapped gently in her arms.

"And how do little girls behave may I ask?", she questioned him.

But the man did not answer. He glanced at what she was carrying in her arms and his face filled with amusement and a little alarm.

"Little girl, just who did you steal it from??"

She was a little angry on being ignored but she suppressed her anger nonetheless and replied,

"Steal my foot!! Do you take this king to be a thief?? I just found and rescued him in the outskirts of my forest. And why do you still call me a little girl. I order you to call me a king!!"

"Yeah yeah, you are an almighty king of this god forsaken forest. Happy now? (hmph!) But I must say I am amazed, I never took you for merciful kind. Do you not hate humans and weak beings? This one happens to be both. Why haven't you killed it yet? And as if that wasn't strange enough, why did you rescue it?"

The little girl spoke in an animated voice,

"Do you take this king to be a monster? It is true that I* hate your kind but this one is just a child. Even we do not kill children. How would I* face my late father in heaven if he knew I* killed a child. As for why I* rescued him, I* found this child to be a little special. See for yourself."

Upon hearing such reply, the man grew sceptic. He drew near to the child and touched his hands. As soon as he touched it, he murmured gravely,

"Impossible!!"

The little girl beamed at his reply, as if satisfied. She joked playfully,

"See, I* told you didn't I*? To think that a newborn has that which you worked for a thousand years to achieve, isn't it ironic?"

The man sighed, "Heavens truly is unfair."

He then continued, "So little girl, tell me, why have you brought it here to me?"

She replied casually, "Why else. I* want you to take care of it."

"Little girl", he said in a heavy voice, "do you take me for some kind of nanny? I refuse."

"You are not allowed to refuse. I* order you to take care of it. I* have taken a fancy to it. I* think having a human as a pet is really interesting.", she rebuked him.

Other than a little surprise at finding the extraordinary condition of the child, the man had remained calm throughout but at her words he became annoyed. A thick and suffocating aura seeped through his body and surrounded the girl. She began to tremble. Her steps became heavy and she dropped to her knees. The man approached her and said in a voice which could shake the soul of those who listened.

"Little girl, do not take me for your servant. I am respectful to you only because of your late father whom I respected. As for this child, I do not want it. It is too bothersome. If you do not bear to abandon it or kill it then go to a nearby village and drop it off in an orphanage. That would be much better for this child."

The girl was sweating profusely. Outsiders couldn't tell, but she was extremely scared of this entity before her. The last time he behaved in this way was countless years before so she had forgotten how truly dangerous this man really was. Just when she was no longer able to handle the aura he gave off, it subsided. She took a huge breath of relief. She was nearly dead. But whether due to the man's will or because of something else, the aura didn't affect the little child, he was sleeping as calmly as before. No, it had to be because of the man himself. Otherwise there was no way the child could have endured what drove her mighty existence to knees.

The man began to walk towards the center of the lake, where he was before he was disturbed by this girl. He was confident that she would heed his threat. Actually, it really wasn't a threat, it was a good advice. The Dark Forest was no place for a child to grow up in. He knew that. He just thought that the girl was being unreasonable so he displayed a little force to jerk the girl to her senses. But he was wrong. When walking towards his place, a voice stopped him, the girl was shouting..

"Wait I said!! Wait!!"

* * *

"Wait!! "

The girl shouted frantically. She was in mortal peril just now. She fully knew that. He had been merciful with her. She was a being of thousand years. She knew full well that what he said was correct, the forest is no place for a child. But she just couldn't let go. She had to keep him because something inside her was urging her to. She herself didn't understand what it was but it didn't matter. She had to keep him but she couldn't do it alone. She knew nothing about a human child, she needed help of this fearful man. Fortunately, she knew how.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"Old freak, tell me how long is your time remaining in this earth? Isn't it less than twenty years? Didn't you said so yourself last time."

"Yes, it is indeed less than two decades. What of it?"

Seeing that she was successful to draw his attention to her once more, she visibly relaxed and said,

"So,, didn't you said yourself what you were most worried about? Tell me again what was it."

Seeing her in such relaxed manner, he was perplexed at first but now he understood what she was trying to say. The little girl, saw it for herself that the old freak had understood her intentions. She hurriedly gave a voice to her proposal,

"Weren't you worried that you were leaving the mortal world soon and yet you didn't have any disciples who would succeed you."

The old man stood there silent, pondering on her words. Seeing that he didn't outright scold her or reject her like before, she concluded her intention,

"Tell me old freak, what better disciple than the one who already has his eyes of knowledge open. Won't he be perfect to inherit your secrets? Isn't it the will of the heavens itself that led this child to you? Think about it."

The little girl didn't realize the magnitude of her words. While it was true that her words made sense, even to her but they were eye-opening for the old man who was standing on the lake. He was indeed worried, in fact he was facing a moral dilemma on this very issue. On one hand, his time was near so he had to make most of it so he couldn't leave his cultivation. On the other hand, the legacy of his masters, the most feared amongst the yogas, would have no successor and would be forever lost.

Now that he thought about it, this child truly was a god-send. Born with such heavenly gift, he would absorb every single bit of knowledge imparted to him so if he could really initiate him into his yoga. Could he really do so? Could he expose this child to the cruel and inhuman path of murder and destruction? Would the child be able to endure? These were natural questions that should have bothered him but he didn't gave it much thought. It was not because he was selfish, it was because he knew, that the child was extraordinary.

Earlier when he willed his aura to suppress the girl, he touched the child with a miniscule amount, just to wake him up. He did it not out of malice but just because he wanted to wake up the child and make him cry. He thought that the effect of the child crying would add on his words and convince the girl but contrary to his expectations, the child didn't wake up, let alone cry. He dare not increase his tyrannical presence on the child any further, but it was clearly evident that it was no ordinary child.

Perhaps it could really be done. Perhaps it was the heaven's will. After his first disciple was snatched from him, he had given up on taking a disciple and came here to cultivate in seclusion but now it seemed that heaven wanted him to take another disciple. He decided. He would teach this child, the secrets among the secrets. The most feared yoga in the entire world, Aghor yoga.

* * *

"All right little girl, I see that this child has enamored you. Fine, I agree to take him as my disciple. For your sake."

The girl sneered inwardly on his words. "For your sake", what an act! She could clearly see excitement on his face as plain as the sun that shines on the sky. But she didn't give voice to her thoughts. What she wanted was already accomplished after all. She was extremely happy and began talking to the child who was still sleeping.

"See little child, you can live together with this Nagini in this forest now. Aren't you happy?"

She couldn't contain her excitement.

"Hey, before that, where do you plan to keep him? You are a basilisk who lives beneath the ground, but it is too damp and cold so you can't take him to your lair you know."

"Really? Is it no good?" she asked.

"Nope", he replied.

"Hmm.. Oh I know!" she thought of something. With a simple wave of her hands, the ground shook. Small mounds began to originate from the ground and before long, transformed into a small but sturdy hut.

"That takes care of the problem then.", she stated offhandedly.

Just then, the child awoke from his sleep and began crying again.

She looked alarmingly at the man and asked,

"Old man, he was crying when I took him up. While carrying him here, he slept in midway but he is crying again. Tell me, why is he crying?"

He sighed, "What do you expect? He is a child, they cry for no reason at all. But this time, I think he is probably hungry"

A look of comprehension flashed in her face,

"Yes! that must be it! He must be hungry. Say, what does he eat?"

"He isn't even a year old, probably breast milk is best for him"

"Breast milk? Hmm, how do I give him breast milk?", she thought out aloud and as if deciding on something, reached out to undress.

"Oye!! The fuck are you trying to do!!", he jumped out screaming. The girl was clearly trying to breast feed the child. Too dangerous, this girl was too ignorant to the point of being dangerous.

"Why? Just now you said he needed breast milk so I was going to give him some." She replied solemnly, as if wronged in some way.

"Are you an idiot? That won't do! That absolutely won't do."

"Why?"

"Don't ask useless questions. I said it won't do then it won't do."

It was too bothersome to explain to the girl in detail so he chose to reject it vehemently. Fortunately for him, she didn't inquire further.

"What else should I give him then?" she thought out loud.

"Say old man, can he feed on this??", she excitedly waved her hand again and out of nowhere a bowl full with sparkling liquid.

The old man was appalled at what just happened. This girl actually took it out. The most coveted treasure of this forest, "The elixir of Basilisk". This was too much. Millions of people in this continent could only dream of it. He himself set out to this forest in its search but couldn't get his hands on it. He clearly remembered when he asked the girl's father, who had been the real ruler of the forest, for the elixir. The late king had nearly blown his head off for even asking about him bellowing about outsiders and family treasure and whatnot. But this girl had, without a second thought, taken out the forest's most sacred treasure to bestow upon this child. This was just unbelievable.

His surprise lasted but for a moment and he regained his usual calm. In a offhanded manner, he said,

"Certainly he can feed on this. But are you sure little girl? Isn't this elixir extremely precious to your clan?"

She did not answer the old sage. Instead, she brought the bowl closer to the child and spoon fed him carefully.

"The elixir truly is precious to our clan, or rather it was. But our clan is no more and I am the sole one remaining. If he can feed on it, then I don't mind giving it to him."

Nagini's reply had a hint of sadness in it but it didn't last long. Seeing the child happy while drinking the elixir swept any and all negative feelings from within her. She was instead smiling happily.

The child drank the last of the elixir with satisfaction and after completing it, went back to sleep again.

Once the child slept, Nagini had a really satisfied expression on her face. Her happiness was plainly written on her face. If one were to see her now, one would never believe that this girl with such endearing expression on her face is in fact one of the most vicious existence in the entire planet. The old man couldn't help but think about this bizarre turn of event. He then asked the girl,

"Little girl, have you decided what to call this child?"

"Hmm, a name. It must be both cute and heroic.."

"Cute and heroic don't go together you know.", he reminded her.

Ignoring his words, she thought for a while and as if deciding on something, exclaimed.

"Got it! I've decided, his name will be Sesha."