When Nayok woke up, with quite a headache, he was not in the city anymore. He was lying in a clearing in what seemed to be a forest. He knew that the closest forest was about half a day away since they had crossed a bit of it on their way to the city at the start of winter. That would also explain the sun being rather low in the sky. As he tried to get up, he found his movements restricted by something tied around his arms and feet. At the same time as he became aware of his restrictions, he also noticed that he wasn’t alone. There were a fair number of people moving around the clearing setting up some things all around. He called to the nearest guy, “Hey uncle, please help me. I can’t move my hands and legs.”. A few people close to him stopped and looked at him, but there was no response from anyone. They immediately resumed whatever that they were doing after their momentary surprise. As Nayok started to struggle more vigorously and call out again, some people finally walked over to where he was bound.
There were three people who came up to him, two of whom he recognized. Rishi and Malini had changed their clothing but Rishi still smiled like a kindly uncle while Malini looked at Nayok like she was smelling dung. However, they quickly faded into the background as the man walking ahead of them grabbed Nayok’s attention. He was a giant of a man, dressed in a plain white kurta – a long tunic up to the knees along with loose dark trousers. His unremarkable clothing contrasted sharply with the weapon in his hand because that was certainly a Pranastra. It was in the form of a large, curved sabre called a talwar. Nearly 4 feet long and with a dark blue-green colored blade, it would have been quite conspicuous had it been a regular weapon. But then you looked closer, and there was a more than physical solidity. It drew your eye whether you wanted to look at it or not and there was an aura which threatened to drown you if you looked too long. This man was undoubtedly a high-level expert in Urja use, at least Arambh and perhaps Prachand. He was also quite obviously the leader among the three and the thought of interacting with such a man terrified Nayok.
The leader walked up to Nayok and just stood there looming over him for a while. Nayok noticed his eyes – intensely black with a spot of blue green at the center same as his Pranastra, and after a minute of looking he asked, “What is your name, child?”.
“Nayok, sir. Can I go home?”
The giant sighed, apparently saddened by the question. “No, you can’t Nayok. We need you to complete an extremely important task. You are going to help us save the human race. You would like that wouldn’t you?”
He might as well have asked Nayok what he thought of the moon being round.
“I don’t know anything about that sir. You have the wrong person. Please sir, I just want to go home.”
“That is not possible, unfortunately. We can’t find someone else with your particular attunements in the time left. Is there anything else I can do for you? My name is Sisupal, and when I am overlord of the Swadesh continent, I will fulfill whatever you ask for. You may not be around to see it, but I am a man of my word.”
“I just wish to see my mother now…”
“This isn’t going well, is it? Let’s see if I can make this clear. Child, I need you for a ritual to summon one of the lords of the Daivi spirits. It is a being of water and earth, a creature unparalleled in power and ferocity called Kaliya. The sacrifice of your life and more importantly your untouched Urja with its matching attunements will be the keystone of this ritual. Once the ritual is done, I will have consumed the power of a Daivi lord and thus become an Avatar. You may have heard of the only other to attain such a state, Buddha? With this power I will be able to control not just our Swadesh continent but also the Mahalanka continent of the Nagas and the Giri continent of the Pakshi people. Us humans will not have to suffer the depredations of those animals ever again. Instead, I will usher in a new world where those beasts serve us as is the proper order of things. Now isn’t that a worthy cause?”
“You are going to kill me, aren’t you?”
“I suppose from your perspective that is the key point. Yes, you are going to die. But it is in the greatest cause possible, for when I have the power…”
Stolen novel; please report.
At this point Nayok lost it. These people were crazy, and they wanted to kill him. He started to struggle wildly against his bonds and scream for help. Some of the people working around paused to look at the sudden noise but swiftly moved along once they met Malini’s glaring eyes.
Sisupal sighed heavily and motioned at Rishi “Shut him up, make sure he remains unhurt.”. Rishi motioned with his hand and the earth rose around Nayok’s head to form a like a half-mask over the lower part of his face. Additional bands of hard earth encased his arms and legs and restricted his movement completely. All he could do was make muffled noises and sort of shudder, looking for all the world like a very life like malfunctioning doll laid out on a table for examination.
Sisupal turned around and addressed the other two “This is it then. Karna’s early return was a bit of a nasty surprise, but since that is also why we found our surprisingly suitable young friend here I can’t complain. Malini, I hope you have the incantation and the dagger ready since you will be assisting me with the ritual. Rishi, you are on overwatch to make sure nothing disturbs us once we begin. I would suggest you start keeping a lookout right now…”
Malini interrupted him at this point, rolling her eyes “Sisu, you are my little brother and I love you, but this is starting to get really repetitive. We know what we are supposed to do.”
The giant grinned “Sorry, I can’t help it. We are about to change the world. None of these people care right now, but in a week, they will worship us as gods. How are you two not more excited?”
“Some of us had to traipse all the way up to the city and back you know. Don’t blame me if I pass out at some point” Rishi yawned.
“All right, I wouldn’t want my apotheosis to interrupt your sleep cycle. Let us run our last checks and we will begin at sundown.”
During all this Nayok was still struggling with all his might, but it would have been hard to notice even if there were there any interested observer about. Of course, none of the people around cared in the slightest and soon he quieted down out of sheer exhaustion and terror. As the sun started to go over the horizon and the sky was lit up in vivid shades of saffron and orange, his three tormentors returned. They were looking carefully at the ground as they walked up and instructing the workers to move some things around. Once they got close to Nayok, the giant leader asked him “If we take the gag off, is there any possibility of you being silent?”. Immediately, Nayok renewed his struggles and attempts to shout.
“Well, that answers that question I suppose. It looks like young Nayok is going to go to his death in some discomfort. Is there anything else before we begin?”
As if in answer to this question, there was a sudden commotion at the periphery of the clearing. Rishi went to check out the reason and came back with someone in tow. The man who he was dragging along with bound hands was on first and every glance thereafter, unquestionably a vagabond. He was dressed in a mix of rags and what appeared to be some sort of poorly tanned animal skin. The hair was matted into some filthy dreadlocks and he was sporting a quite scruffy beard. Last but certainly not the least, he reeked of marijuana and the bloodshot eyes indicated that he was probably stoned out of his mind.
“What the hell is this? Where did this thing come from?” Sisupal shouted, visibly exasperated, “Rishi, I thought you were checking our surroundings for the last hour?!”
“I was, I have no idea how this guy just appeared out of nowhere.”
“Well, we have him now. Let us ask him. You, fellow, who are you?”
At first, there was no indication that the vagabond could even hear or understand. After a few slaps from Rishi, he seemed to gain some connection with reality and started to hum:
“Aankh teesri jab yeh khole, Hile dhara aur swarg bhi dole,
Goonj uthe har disha kshitij mein, Naam usi ka bam bam Bhole”
This response did not please Sisupal. He punched the stoner in the mouth and sent him sprawling onto his back. He then had him lifted and put his blade at the man’s neck. When this did not seem to have the desired effect, he pricked the man lightly to draw blood and shouted, “Are you here to spy on us? Are you from the Queen’s court?”
The violence seemed to get through, but only for a brief moment. Then the man slid back into a haze and kept murmuring his strange song.
“Jata mein Ganga chaand mukut hai, Somya kabhi kabhi bada vikat hai,
Tandav hai aur dhyan bhi woh hai, Agyani ka gyan bhi woh hai”
Malini interrupted at this point, “The auspicious time is not far off now. We cannot afford to waste any more time with this idiot. Honestly, I don’t think he has enough brain cells left to actually talk with other people. Tie him to a tree and let us get started.”
“Why not just kill him? No need to take chances” asked Rishi.
The response came from Sisupal “Because we have no idea what effect the residue of his death will have on the ritual site this close to the invocation. Ok, I agree, let’s secure him and get started.”