Chapter 2 : A cry that pierced the sky

The shepherd was immersed in his thoughts when he saw the town in the distance. He shook all the thoughts and sped up. He soon arrived at the town gate. There were people all over the streets as they were coming back from their respective work . At this point, the sky was starting to get overcast.

“It’s going to pour down heavily it seems.” someone in the crowd said.

“I wonder if I have enough firewood for the night.”

“Though it’s strange. We generally don’t have rainy days in this season.”

The shepherd looked at the sky momentarily then hurried to his home while hearing all kinds of talks around town. He came across a small thatched hut and entered it. There was an elderly woman sitting next to the bed on which his wife was laying. His wife looked anxious.

“Daiji, is everything alright?” The shepherd asked the elderly woman.

The elderly woman had a stern visage as she said, ”Everything is fine. It’s just that the child seem to be oddly vigorous. Her blood pressure is high but she seems fine otherwise. It’s strange”

The shepherd looked towards his wife. She looked at him gently as well and said, ”It’s going to be alright.”

The shepherd seemed to sense something from her words and exhaled in relief. Though he remained vigilant as he thought of the hermit’s words.

Time flew by slowly. The weather was taking a turn for the worst. Everyone in the town hurried home. Soon the streets were empty. A storm was brewing.

Whoosh…. Whoosh….

Strong winds started blowing. Curtains were fluttering unceasingly. It got dark real soon.

----

Just outside the town gate someone looked at the sky and said, “What in the heavens is going on? Ishtar - Venus - is shining upon this town. Ishtar disappears in the underworld for eight days then return in the eastern sky as the Lord of the Dawn. But why is the sky acting so ominous.”

It was a tall middle-aged looking man with a handsome face. He wore a cinnamon colored priest garb and had a sacred thread tied diagonally to his torso. He was very muscular and was holding a nine feet long bamboo stick. After some consideration he entered the town and found an empty barn. He sat there cross-legged in a meditative posture and started chanting a mantra.

The shepherd was looking outside the window when he heard a painful scream from behind.

“Aarghhhh……!”

He could not see his wife behind the curtains but knew the delivery was complicated. He waited with a bated breath.

Finally the screams stopped. He rushed in and saw the elderly woman holding the baby. His footsteps stopped he kept looking at the baby. His throat felt dry and his mind went blank for a moment after which he was overjoyed and started moving again. However, at this point his gaze shifted to the elderly woman he felt something was amiss. Even his wife seemed extremely anxious and kept staring at the baby while holding her breath.

“He is not crying.”

The elderly woman muttered in a very low voice and looked pitifully at the child.

How...How can this be!

The shepherd lost all strength in his legs and fell on his knees. His head stooped down. Tears starting welling up in his eyes unceasingly and kept falling down. His heart shattered. He could not even look at his wife at this point. What would be the point anyway.

Half an hour ago. In Naagkul Palace

The whole capital was on high alert. Royal guards led group after group of people in underground bunkers within the capital itself. People were told that there might be a possible invasion from the Western Marusthal Ganrajya. At first people did not take the warning seriously as their kingdom and the western desert republic often had skirmishes but there had never been a full-scale invasion from the west so they thought of it as a hoax. But the royal guards starting making announcements in public centres to gather people.

“Those who choose not to leave can stay but the royal palace will not be held accountable for any subsequent consequences.”

This statement made people realize the gravity of the situation and almost all of the city soon joined the evacuation process. Although some ‘bravehearts’ still lingered around the city to create chaos but were soon subdued by the guards.

While this was going on in the city, in the royal palace, in a hidden chamber there were a dozen or so people who were standing in front of the king with serious expressions. They were all members of the royal family.

“Your Highness! Are we really going to do the blood sacrifice.” asked a middle-aged man. He was the son of the current king’s first uncle and was the chief of the military staff.

“Ripunjay, you possess the purest bloodline just like me. Do you not feel the changes?” asked the king instead of replying directly. Though he knew the answer but still wanted to hear it personally.

“Your Highness! I keep feeling like my whole body is burning and my bloodline keeps throbbing.” Ripunjay replied earnestly.

“Your Highness! Does this signify something?” asked Ripunjay as he did not know the mysteries of his bloodline. Only the king himself was imparted with this knowledge at the day of his ascension by the hall of elders.

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The king looked at all the people present. He exhaled heavily before speaking, “Akaal Naag is restless. He will revive soon. Our bloodline is the only thing that can calm it down. Our ancestors were the guardians tasked with protecting the seal which binds Akaal Naag and puts it in eternal slumber. Something has happened to the seal and the serpent is waking up. Our blood has the power to reinforce the seal.”

When the people present heard this they were dumbfounded for a moment.

Our ancestors were guardians!

Isn’t Akaal Naag our guardian deity?

What in the heavens is going on!

All sort of thoughts started coming to their minds. After all, they worshipped Akaal Naag as their guardian deity. They could not accept the fact that they were the serpent’s natural nemesis. At this point someone said aloud.

“Then why have we been worshipping Akaal Naag for generations. Are we not its descendants?”

This was what everyone present wanted to know too. They looked at the king as if desperately waiting for the answer.

The king felt very conflicted at that moment but continued regardless, “The seal works only when Akaal Naag is offered prayers of worship. It feels itself to be above everything and everyone and has the natural instincts of a ruler. It massacred everywhere it went when it first got sentience thus incurring wrath of our ancestor who sealed it after a bloody battle,” the king paused for a moment before saying, “Our ancestor put a blood seal on it and thus his blood was necessary to reinforce the seal if it ever managed to recover its strength again. So our ancestor established this city to offer the serpent prayers for generations to come and left some of his descendants as guardians of the seal after which he left. It is our sole mission and our duty to restrict this bloodthirsty entity to ever wreak havoc on this land again.”

No one knew what to think of anymore. They just stared at each other. Suddenly the ground started shaking. People were unable to find proper footing.

“This is bad!” The king was aghast. Everybody was shaken and started panicking.

The king shouted, “Everyone come with me immediately!”

He ordered while running towards the altar in the middle of the chamber.

The altar was in the shape of a coiling serpent which was biting its own tail and there were eighteen vines protruding out from all over the altar which were stuck in the serpents body.

“Everyone fill the vines with your blood. Hurry!” the king commanded everyone as he stepped forward and put his hands on the thickest vine there was. The vine wrapped itself around his arms and pierced through his veins and started sucking his blood.

When others saw this they were terrified. No one stepped forward. The king turned his head and was taken aback when he saw this.

“What are you people waiting for! If Akaal Naag revives no one will be able to live anyway. Do you think he will spare those who kept it on a leash for thousands of years. So what if you lost a little bit of blood!”

Everyone was shaken inside and immediately stepped forward.

But suddenly the earth stopped shaking!

“Huhh..”

Everything quieted down.

One could hear sounds of breathing distinctly.

No one talked.

Suddenly.

BOOOOM….

With a huge bang the earth beneath the capital started cracking. The palace walls crumbled to dust. The nine headed serpent which housed the palace came back to life. Surprisingly the majestic palace itself was the serpent’s body. All the royals could feel the whole ground beat.

Thump…

Thump…

It was a heartbeat!

The king’s face became deathly pale. He shouted again, “Everybody listen to me! It is still very weak and cannot stay awake for a long time. We might still make it. Pour your blood in the vines quickly!”

The king bellowed at his fellow clansmen.

Ripunjay was the first one to move and grabbed a vine. Soon all the royals did the same.

The serpent was a thousand metres long. It opened its eyes one by one on each of its heads. They were dark green and gave people a gloomy feeling.

Hissss….

The serpent hissed once and rose up in the sky. Its body kept coming out of the ground. Suddenly it looked in the northeast and dragged its gigantic body in that direction. Its huge body was extremely fast as it left fissures in the ground and razed everything in its path.

The king was surprised at this turn of events. However, he felt a little relieved and told the others, “Keep pouring your blood. I don’t know why it went away instead of stopping us but this is our chance. Once the seal is reinforced its soul will be dragged back into the altar! And then It will have no choice but to come guard its soul again.”

----

In the distance people of some cities reported sighting of a massive moving mountain. They were baffled by the rumours. The serpent looked like a moving mountain as it sped along.

Soon it appeared in the northeastern province. Suddenly it stopped and hissed.

Hisss….

Its green eyes glowed with an ominous glint.

The shepherd was still kneeling on the ground. The storm had completely covered the sky and it was raining heavily.

The priest was still in the barn chanting mantras. He suddenly stopped chanting and opened his eyes abruptly and looked in the sky.

A light column pierced through the storm from the sky and entered a small hut. After that, the priest heard a shrill cry from the hut.

This cry felt like it rang through the heavens itself!

Time itself stopped for a moment and the world around lost all colour before returning to normal.

Everybody in the town felt their souls tremble!

They looked out of there houses in the direction of the hut. They did not know what was happening but the cry made their souls shake!

They were scared!

The priest was astonished and stood up suddenly.

In the distance the serpent also saw the light column and heard the cry.

The cry made it terrified after which its gloomy green eyes exuded murderous intent and it sped in the direction of the cry.

In the hut, the shepherd felt his soul shake and looked at the baby unblinkingly who had started crying.

His wife and the elderly woman both were shaken by the cry too.

The baby kept crying. Its cry made the storm disappear slowly.

Soon sunlight pierced through the sky.