The preta presently changed itself into a translucent falcon. It checked its wings and feet, satisfied with the transformation, it turned to the girl.
"No-god God!" it said fluttering its make-believe wings. "Take me under your wing, let me follow you and assist you in your mission."
Once she recovers her powers, she can release me! the preta thought. What is there to lose? Gaining the favor of a god might come in handy! Hehe.
The girl did not react. She started walking towards the forest of Dandakaranya. The preta followed closely. It had wanted to perch itself upon the girl's shoulders like how the falcon did earlier. But having not gained any favor with her yet, it decided to stay put. It could not afford to anger a god.
I will just follow her, silence is tacit agreement, it thought.
“Are the weapons in the forest, your divinity?” asked the preta after some time trying to start a conversation; it could not bear long stretches of silence.
“No,” replied the girl.
She replied! it preta felt instantly happy and came a little closer to her.
“Then, why are we going to the forest, your eminence?” asked the confused preta. “Shouldn’t we focus on getting your eminence's weapons first?”
The girl considered the question for a moment.
“What should one prioritize?” she asked. “The urgent or the important? Action or Inaction?”
The preta thought about it. “Is the urgent thing related to taking action? Or is it related to inaction?” it asked.
"Urgent inaction does not make much sense. Urgent action does. Inaction can be important depending on the situation. Action can be both urgent and important. But if we are taking action on one thing, it means we are taking not taking action on another thing. What if that other thing was important?" it continued.
The preta felt a headache while it entangled itself with the possibilities.
“Say, you have to choose between the two,” said the girl. “One, get the weapons you need because you do not have enough powers to defend against any imminent attacks. Two, investigate the source of the said imminent attacks and mitigate the risk, if possible.”
“How can you mitigate the risk if you do not have enough powers?” said the preta.
“If I do not address the issue now, it is possible that the attacks can become more dangerous both in frequency and intensity,” said the girl. “Is that an acceptable outcome?”
The preta did not know.
“So you are saying,” it tried to reason, “you are going to put yourself at risk at the moment, to avoid escalations in the future. Although, you do not really have the means to shape such events to your benefit.”
The ends of the girl’s lips curled a little. “Yes,” she said.
“Isn’t that a bit reckless?” asked the preta.
“It is,” said the girl.
The preta seemed to realize something. “You decided to check into the rakshasa affair before the monk god appeared, right?”
The girl did not reply.
“The bargain for your weapons was just a bonus, isn’t it?” the preta continued.
“You are perceptive,” the girl said.
“That I am,” said the preta in the form of the falcon patting itself on the back with its make-believe wings.
Soon, they reached the forest. The girl entered it without stopping. The preta hesitated for a moment. It had until then never dared to venture into Dandakaranya. The dark forest looked foreboding as always. It quickly gathered itself and followed the girl. A god without powers is also a god, it reminded itself.
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Prince Aryaman looked at the long dark tunnel ahead of him. The dungeon he currently entered was old and unused. It was barely lit, only the light from an opening in the high ceiling gave some visibility. Cobwebs filled the walls. The air was damp and was filled with a rotting smell. His horse was not happy with the situation. It made squeaky noises, getting anxious. Aryaman could feel the fidgeting of its hoofs.
“Shush,” he whispered gently into the horse’s ear. “It’s alright, Himmat.”
He heard noises. The royal guards must be approaching the dungeon. Holding the reins tighter, he bent towards the horse and closed his legs to the animal, squeezing it. The horse at once picked up the pace and galloped into the dark tunnel.
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The Prince was determined this time. He had to do this. He knew he was defying filial duty but he could no longer ignore his conscience. He was the crown prince, wasn't he? His mandate was to protect the kingdom.
You are the light of the kingdom, his father had told him. If anything happens to you, the kingdom will be in chaos. You have to stay safe. Your protection comes first.
What about the thousands of people of this kingdom? Aryaman had asked his father. You are their king first! You should put them first!
When you become a father, you will understand, Arya, his father had told him nonchalantly. You are my priority. If this means I have to become a wretched king, so be it. I will not be a wretched father.
Prince Aryaman by then understood he could not dissuade his father. The once benevolent ruler of Dayati had now put the safety of his son before the safety of his people. Yes, the king did put measures in place to contain the situation. Citizens were not allowed to leave the city. Protection charms were set up on the outskirts and rituals took place by priests to ward off evil spirits. But no one was going and addressing the root cause of the issue. All the kingdom’s resources were now mainly put towards keeping the royal family safe while hundreds, if not thousands of commoners lived in constant terror and misery without knowing when things would get back to normal. If anything, it was the prince who was capable of solving this crisis.
Father, the prince thought to himself. I will not let this havoc destroy our kingdom. I will not let you tarnish your name.
He knitted his brows together and gripped the handle of his sword harder. Himmat galloped forward into the seemingly never-ending tunnel. The prince heard the royal guards coming after him on their horses. He pressed his horse gently to increase the pace.
“Prince Aryaman!” the head of the royal guards shouted from afar. “Please stop! Please stop!”
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The girl stood before the cave observing it. It looked ominous, covered in darkness dissipating from deep within it. This was the portal to Patala-loka. The rakshasa and the corpses must have come out of this. Ideally, the portal should be made invisible by the protective barrier. The barrier also ensured rogue demons and creatures do not enter Bhu-loka on their own and cause destruction. These dissipating dark clouds circling the cave were also unusual. The girl stood there for some time trying to understand how the breach happened. Ordinary demons were not capable of such a feat. Her brows puckered in a frown. She knew of very few entities in the entire three worlds who could accomplish something like this.
“Do you hear it?” asked the girl shifting her attention to the forest
The preta strained itself to pick up any sounds.
“I don’t hear anything,” it said.
“Yes,” said the girl. “It's the silence. Strange, don't you think? A forest this dense ideally would be populated with animals and birds. It should be anything but silent.”
The girl looked up and saw thick canopies of trees blocking sunlight from reaching the forest floor. She narrowed her eyes and got to work.
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The tunnel was built as a secret way out of the palace in times of emergencies. It ran for a couple of yojanas under a hill beginning from the palace dungeons. Of the multiple ways, the prince had planned for getting out of the palace and the kingdom, this was the quickest and would lead to a minimum number of casualties, if any. He would just have to deal with a few royal guards. He could outrun an entire army if needed but this was not the time for optics. He needed to save his energy to fight the real enemies. Moreover, he did not want the kingdom to be thrown into additional panic and chaos.
This will work, he thought. Himmat, despite being timid, was a powerhouse and held steady in times of need. The prince’s keen eyes spotted a metal lever on the wall to his right as he rode past it.
“Prince! I beg you!” the chief of the royal guards shouted, his voice sounding nearer than before.
The prince did not respond and kept his focus on the opening of the tunnel, which was now visible at a distance. He heard the lever being pulled down from behind him. The tunnel started to tremble. Above it, from the hilltop, large boulders started rolling down towards the entrance.
As the prince got closer to the entrance, the boulders began to fall down.
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The girl pulled out her trusted ribbons. She twirled them into the air and they soon formed into a net covering the cave. She sprung from the ground, in the air and made a quick formation with her hands. Her cosmic mandala appeared. This time, it was much smaller than before. It looked more like a chakra as it spun faster. She directed the mandala towards the sky and it pierced through the dense canopies until it reached the other end. Sunlight fell through the newly opened column among the canopies and onto the cave. The preta watched on in wonder but from a safe distance unable to form any thoughts, completely transfixed.
The ribbons began to glow. They tried to contain the darkness from escaping the cave. The mandala now appeared in front of the levitating girl, in its usual size, twice as big as the girl. She pushed the energy of the mandala towards the ribbons. The dark energy of the cave pushed back, resisting the attempt to be contained. This struggle continued for a while, neither side getting the upper hand - the more the girl tried to contain the dark energy, the more it resisted her.
She tried to gauge the spiritual energy needed to hold her ribbons as the barrier. With one hand she held the mandala in place as it tried to hold the barrier; she made a mudra with her other hand opening her palm towards her chest as if trying to extract something. A moment later, a golden orb radiating pure spiritual energy came out of her body. She directed it towards her mandala. As the orb passed through the mandala, it became brighter.
Cold sweat broke out on her face as her body tried to endure the sudden loss of spiritual energy. She closed her eyes and summoned the last reserves of her depleted spiritual energy. The mandala spun faster and the orb entered the cave and restrained the dark energy from inside. The ribbon barrier now was able to stabilize itself. The girl transferred some more energy towards it amplified through her mandala. The barrier became steady and a moment later turned invisible. Her mandala vanished and she fell to the ground unconscious.
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“Himmat, now!” shouted Aryaman.
The horse leapt into the air narrowly missing a falling boulder and landed on the other side. It turned around to face the tunnel. The Prince saw the chief’s distressed and angry face.
“Come back Prince!” the chief shouted.
A moment later, the entrance to the tunnel was blocked completely by a barrage of boulders falling from the hilltop. Aryaman heard several curses uttered by the chief, resounding in the tunnel. He swiftly guided his horse towards the forest of Dandakaranya.
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Patala-loka - netherworld/underworld
Bhu-loka - Earth
rakshasa - demon
yojana – a unit of distance in ancient India, here it is taken as 12km or 8 miles
mudra – here, a gesture made to invoke spiritual or celestial powers
chakra – a type of weapon – it is a circular disc with serrated edges