"Never thought I would see you again only after a week, End Bringer." A voice from the Vimana's invisible and embedded speakers appeared loud and clear over the battlefield. "After your reckless actions got us killed in Kalpa's dimension, I found myself in the perfect spot to start over again. So thanks, I guess? Surprisingly, I don't even feel hatred towards you. Instead I've got a tonne of questions to ask. We'll talk after this alien being is taken care of."
With a sound that signified the male electronic voice clearing his throat, he started giving out instructions. "I've allocated individual duties to each and every one of you through direct messages. Stick to them. End this fast so that I can finally get some of the answers I've been looking for. Good luck to everyone. And Mr. End Bringer, you need to start preparing something which can obliterate that monstrosity all at once."
"Let's see what you've got to show. If we are to work together, I need to know how you operate. My Astra will be ready." Kali, now having recovered from the Vaidyas' healing Aksharas on the ground, exuded his dark red Kundalini that slowly started taking the form of an arrow. Its red feathers and serpentine arrow head seemed to be already drenched with the blood of its target. An evil aura emanating from the Astra forced me to step back once.
The weather seemed to be changing with the creation of such a weapon. The thunder clouds that had been summoned before to assault Kali were now swirling above us in shades of energized blue and gray, swallowing up the little hint of orange hue that could be seen before through its gaps. The little hair on my arms perked up, pulled upwards by an unknown force: signalling the arrival of a massive thunderstorm.
Blinking my eyes once, I saw the faint outline of a diamond shaped gem in Kali's other hand. A Nagamani maybe? Some kind of a spell seemed to refract the light around it, making it harder to recognise. This is the same one he had used before, in his hundred headed snake form. It seemed to be an artifact that could control weather and storms.
The Dushananta Army started moving following the orders of the strategist. One part broke away and made their way through the corpses of all the Manavas from Kuru Army and the divine beings from Chandravanshi Army, and the towering dead bodies of the huge elephants, eagles, as well as the winged horses. All the blood trickling from their bodies were pooling up in the middle of the battlefield like a sacrificial altar.
It was quite probable that rumors might spread around in the future mentioning that Dushananta army had summoned Kali using a Demonic ritual by sacrificing hundreds and thousands of lives.
The assault on the Spawn continued both from the Dhanurdhars and the Vimana. The monster didn't even care about its lost branches or roots while it kept attacking furiously at the Surakshaks who had deployed an impenetrable circle of shields surrounding it. Kali was already on standby outside the Alik barrier, with his Astra ready, waiting for the veil to dissipate and the voice's plan coming to fruition.
The Surakshaks started panicking as the Spawn spewed its acidic sap at their bodies, whittling down the metallic shields and armor to scraps. The Dhanurdhars who were bursting the fruits that rapidly grew on the Spawn's branches couldn't keep up with the rate those acidic bombs were being created. A volley of dozens of fruits came flying through the air and burst mid air, showering the soldiers with purple vile liquid. The corrosive substance ate through their skin, muscle and bones leaving the poor soldiers squirming on the ground crying out in pain.
Bodies started dissolving, leaving pools of horrendous piles of unrecognisable flesh mounds on our side. The soldiers beside the dead ones cried out in frustration, their veins popping up in anger, but they stuck to their orders without acting out of line. They knew that one mishap will lead to even more dead people around them.
"Vidisha." Somi suddenly called me. "Could we have stopped all these unnecessary deaths if we were just strong enough to destroy the fruit before it could birth such a being?"
"No use thinking about that." I patted her head twice, not maintaining my touch for more than a second. "We needed to, and have probably already realised our worth after this. I didn't have an illusion about that though. You on the other hand had an over inflated ego who flew consistently, yet kept looking down to the ground for the acknowledgement of others. That ego needed to be brought down to earth in order to start your journey anew. You're finally on the ground, humbled to the core, so start looking up again. To prepare for a day in the future from which you can look back and be grateful for what happened today."
A sudden thought created an uncomfortable sensation in my mind with this notion about future, but I kept quiet not mentioning it.
I realised that Somi was born in Alik. And me in Satya. Soon I'll follow the timeline of Satya, growing old much faster than her. There will be a time in future when she's only a few years older from now physically and I'll already be a middle aged lady. What a shitty system. Sigh...
"Something about you reminds me of someone." Somi muttered in a relaxed voice. "You've got a way with words that need to be used in the correct moment, especially with me. Blunt and practical, yet comforting."
"Perhaps my soul mate? Who knows? Introduce me to them sometime." I grinned back at her.
"On second thoughts, the two of you are nothing alike. Forget about it." She said in a cute whisper.
Ohh. I just gave her a knowing smile and scanned the battlefield again. The weird aura beside me was somewhat manageable by now.
"Intent. Vision. Commitment." Kali suddenly spoke beside me stealing my attention. "Kundalini is quite versatile. When you will first awaken your Chakra, I will task you with realizing your Intent first. Start thinking from now on what you want to do with the energy that you will soon cultivate within your body."
I nodded at his words. Intent. For now, I just want this girl beside me to be safe. I want Kali to realize his goals. The reason he needs the seven artifacts for. And... isn't my life too empty? Is it alright to think about things that will slowly fill my heart with? What if I lose it all over again?
The Spawn of Kalpa got more aggresive kicking up a dusty storm. The army within the Alik barrier was visibly struggling now. Its roots and branches suddenly stood up, wriggling and smearing themselves with its fruit juices, the corrosive fluid. Even though they started corroding, it deployed its dying appendages in a flurry of wood and twigs as if they were long whips.
More people died. The Surakshaks failed to maintain their protective line causing the damage to spill over to the Dhanurdhars and Yoddhas. The jareebooti, made from special medicinal herbs being magical in nature didn't work as intended within the constraints of the barrier. But the battle continued, irrespective of the number of people lost.
I realised my heart had already become one of stone. All these deaths didn't even move me a bit. I realised how broken and out of touch with humanity I was. Should I also try to get these humane feelings back? Or is it good that they went away, considering the path I have taken in these past couple of hours?
A golden burst of light suddenly appeared over the other end of the battlefield where the Chandravanshi Army lay dead. With a closer inspection I realized it had originated from outside the Alik barrier.
Not even two minutes later, two golden portals opened up beside us, spilling out the soldiers who had left the army and went towards the other side of the field. Something felt wrong, since the number that had returned was much lesser. They shouldn't have met anything on the way, right?
"Welcome, welcome! Esteemed Navagraha Vudha and the Bringer of Sanjeevani, Kacha. What a wonderful sight to find two brothers standing side by side like this." The speakers from Vimana started up again. "Since you know how your precious 'Divine' Prana energy has been restored, you now have to work for it. I hope it was delish."
"I understand. I intended to do so from the very beginning. I hope I can honor the lives of your friends that way. Call back your soldiers who are engaging the monster. Me and my brother will take their place instead." Vudha clenched his fist and said with a low voice.
I realised that some kind of a sacrificial ritual had happened over on that side to restore Vudha and his brother from whatever condition they were in, and Vudha was not happy about it, more like, he was angry at himself. He came to take down Kali because the Manavas had requested. Out of so many Devatas, he came. In the end, only to lose so many lives right in front of his eyes.
He could have reduced a lot of damages had he engaged Kali by himself, but there might be some constraints applied on powerful Divine beings who migrate through the Lokas. While the other lesser known Divine beings who had engaged Kali were now nowhere to be seen, being wiped out from the face of the battlefield at some point, they might have resurrected back at their abodes safely. Maybe Vudha will get more penalties if the same happened to him.
These unknown factors are often simplified and summarised as: How can we even hope to understand how the Gods think? And the discussion ends there. Unless we have all the facts, that is the best most common people can come up with.
"New instructions have been sent. Follow them properly. Now is not the time to mourn for your friends. If the rest of you want to go back home, without respawning directly there, shut your brains and do as I say." The guy up in the Vimana was getting too cocky even for me.
A few soldiers in front of me started snickering as if he said something funny. They started changing formations, scooping up fluid and rotten meat from their dead friends as samples while retreating. While the Surakshaks planted their shields on the ground, leaving them behind. A bunch of weapon chains that were responsible for dragging Kali outside the Alik barrier were now wrapped around them, going through their handles and some even over the chains themselves. Vudha and Kacha both jumped over the soldiers' heads, across the circular encirclement of the shields and landed in front of the tree monster halting it in its tracks.
"One deformed flower core has already been taken down. And another one is left." Kacha said showing off his new weapons that he had brought out from his dimensional storage before going back into the Alik barrier. It was the same sword and shield combination, but the weapons looked much deadlier than before.
"You should have brought these out against me." Vudha gave a look of disappointment at his brother and readied his own weapons. A two handed emerald warhammer and two shields.
"Glad you learnt the importance of having a good defense after getting a beating from me." Kacha tapped his brother's shoulder lightly.
With the army around us moving and taking new positions, the two brothers charged toward the enemy side by side, their war cry echoing across the battlefield.
A fierce battle ensued from the very beginning between the two Devatas and the Spawn of Kalpa. The branches which smacked Vudha on his sides bounced away harmlessly, unable to weather away his emerald like skin, hardened by his trait. Each of the Navagrahas have a gemstone associated with them, and witnessing it first hand on how they are using the gem's properties made me quite envious.
I kept watching. How the two Divine beings dodged nimbly, jumped, ducked and sidestepped as if dancing to an imperceptible tune flowing through their ears. Kacha's sword cleaved away branch after branch, as if he was pruning an overgrown bush in his garden.
Vudha stayed by his brother's side, taking direct hits whenever the acidic liquid was involved. The liquid that spilled and sloshed whenever the infected branches swiped at the Gods was successfully defended against, by the corrosion resistant skin of Vudha who acted as a body shield for Kacha.
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Is this the strategy they came up with after going through their first defeat?
It made me wonder, how did they even lose the first time? Was the skill set of the enemy too unfamiliar for them to respond? Or was there something more to this monstrous being? Or were they too tired after fighting against each other? Or were they actually not good at fighting at all?
Vudha had mentioned that Kacha specialised in spells that he had learnt from Shukracharya. And Vudha himself told that he presided over art and performances. What I knew from my knowledge about the Navagrahas is that his position at one's time of birth determines the communication and social skills of a person. He is quite fond of art and culture as well as activities that involved all these skills, from trading to artistic professions. Maybe, they inherently weren't cut out for war.
The Spawn wriggled back and bent down, it's flowery head now pointing towards the two Divinities. Is this gonna be a good old acid blast attack?
"It's coming! Now!" The voice from the Vimana shouted, as the army formation which had made a crescent shape around the reduced battlefield broke at the middle and moved in opposite directions. One clockwise and the other anti clockwise. They were tightly clutching the weapon chains that went through the handles at the back of the shields. The chains seemed to be twisted through the shields in such a way that instead of coming apart from one point of the circumference, they moved over one another, interlocking and constricting around the plant in a couple of seconds.
The plant lost its balance and fell down as its roots and branches jumbled together in a mesh of shields, chains, weapons and wood.
"Meet the Constrictor Knot!! Good job Virendra and Arnav!!! On following the orders perfectly! It is all yours now, Kacha and Vudha." The electronic voice rejoiced as his plan unfolded.
Was this all? Isn't he getting too excited over a knot?
Kacha jumped over in an instant and pulled out the flower from its bulbous stem, but a stalk kept being attached to it no matter how far he pulled the two apart. The two brothers started pummeling the flower, one smacked the petals with his warhammer, and the other kept slicing at the thick stalk that served as the connection between the core and main body.
After a few seconds of hacking and slashing, as we watched in silent anticipation, the flower finally detached and withered away being battered into plant paste. Vudha raised his warhammer in victory as the Alik barrier slowly disintegrated, flooding the space which was once devoid of any divinity with all the energies it was lacking.
"Move." A voice which seemed like a tiger growl vibrated across the field, as Vudha and Kacha retreated with a swift motion, looking up at the sky.
Red lightning snakes which were crawling over the clouds before, sending flashes of shadows against the gray backdrop, came tumbling down like a huge bloody and twisted waterfall lighting up the whole area. The shockwave from the sound that erupted from the impact point rattled my ribcage, threatening to halt my heart for good. We were unfortunately a little too late to cover our ears, allowing them to start ringing with a chiming sound deep within my brain. I was not sure where the sound was registering anymore. Was it reflecting off my ear drums? Or was it vibrating inside my brain itself??
I ignored the hot liquid trickling down my jawline from my ears and looked straight at the after math of the lightning strike. Ash gray remains of the plant stood there like a dead tree, with sharp ends of which were now falling apart into sandy granules, being carried away by the wind.
"Again!" Kali shouted out as another red tendril fell from the sky making me relive through all the sensations over again. This time I couldn't take it and crouched on the ground, pressing my palms to my ears as hard as I could have at that moment.
"Whatever you have left on this battlefield, may burn away. Even though an experiment, you still had an Atman within. I hope that next time, you will be reborn under normal circumstances. May you attain Moksha." Kali whispered and released his red arrow, that was hovering over his head after the first lightning strike.
The arrow whistled over the heads of the soldiers and struck at the meagre remains of the ash tree, sending red snakes crawling across its while body. They moved around for a while, eating away at its crumbling body and finally went inside the ground following the rest of its body... which we didn't anticipate taking into account the movement speed of the Spawn.
The fact that it had roots going underground all the while moving around like an octopus was unprecedented. The ground glitched away in front of us revealing long tracks and snaky trails following the path that the Spawn has followed till now.
"Kalpa got one over us. Never liked that Maya shit." Kali muttered in frustration and looked up at the Vimana with an expression of dread. A huge Kundalini ray got launched from the hovering machine which also had a view of the path the Spawn had dug up in the process of fighting. The energy ray struck the places where thousands and thousands of dead bodies were piled up, sending billowing mushroom clouds all across the landscape.
What was even happening? What were these people seeing that we couldn't understand? The annihilation of the battleground continued for minutes as smoke rising up from the ground and the thunderclouds above became one. It truly looked like Naraka right now. I wonder how long will Devi Dharti take to recover this piece of land from the aftermath of this destructive process.
The soldiers all around us sat down on the ground looking up at the murky sky which was now darkening with the incoming night.
"I have to go back and take my place among stars in Bhuvar Loka for the night. I can only hope the Chandravanshi Army has resurrected back at Swarga. About the Manavas, I'll try to contact Yama regarding their souls, incase they do not resurrect where they were supposed to be. Please take care of the rest, Brother." Vudha asked Kacha and left the scene in a spark of gold.
"Dushananta Army, please cremate your brothers and sisters as soon as possible. We can't take any chances." Kacha didn't glance twice at the vanishing body of his brother and turned toward us to give orders.
"Sir Kacha. We can take care of the rest. Please leave." The voice from above said with a tone of warning.
Kacha looked up with a weird expression but didn't argue any longer.
"Kalpa is getting crazier by the day. The forces against her in Swarga are too passive. I think we will meet again soon, Kali. Until then, let us proceed in a way we see fit. Hope you are able to fulfill your duty." Kacha said in a straight voice, his expressions not giving any hint on how he was feeling.
In another gold flash, he too left.
The Dushananta Army continued working, as me and Somi lazed around. We saw Chandrima and her team captain moving around, carrying bodies quite a number of times, and everytime, the look on her face was evident enough of the pain she was feeling inside. Kali had boarded the Vimana long ago and hadn't come out yet.
At the very beginning, the bodies were being placed in rank and file order on the ground, but at some point, with frustrated look in their faces, the soldiers started piling up the bodies one above another.
Chandrima suddenly came and sat beside us. "I was given instructions to babysit you two for the time being after I started arguing. I know the person who calls himself Kaksith is quite reliable, but his utter disregard of human moralities makes me quite afraid to be honest. Can't pick and choose when I have started to walk this path though." She expressed her helpless situation.
"So what happened?" Somi asked, staring at the bodies with a weird expression. I can only hope Chandrima doesn't take offense to that.
"All the bodies have a hole in their cranium. We had decided to give them a proper cremation as soon as possible, but Kali and Kaakshith seem to have a different proposition. Something about a process using the remnant energy in this land to conjure up a massive barrier spell to earn time or something as they said." Chandrima recalled it to the best of her ability.
But from the description I knew what she was talking about. It was the very same idea I had proposed. Better not mention it. I might lose my head to this woman.
"Step back. It's starting." Chandrima pulled us up as a barrier the same size as that of the Alik barrier rose over the field. This time, the ground was crumbling and breaking apart with the increasing humming frequency of the Vimana above us.
Everything within the dome... No, within a whole sphere was getting constricted to a singularity as it got smaller and smaller contracting to a very small football shaped sphere. The huge battlefield was now the site of a meteor crater, its surface as smooth as glass.
The red dense ball in the night looked like a Demonic eye hovering above the ground.
Black Aksharas appeared like orbits around the ball spinning faster and faster, breaking the sphere into four smaller pieces. The orbits got copied over and started accompanying its new masters. Finally the balls morphed into a cylindrical shape with symbols crawling over it like thousands of ants. They shot up into the sky like four red arrows, disappearing into the night sky cast with gray shadows.
What looked like a mystical event, appeared over the sky, like an illusion made of Maya. The numbers 6 and 9. My ears went red at the lewd references the sky was making. I have consumed enough Alik materials from the forbidden zone in our library to know what they meant, in the institution which was fond of gathering knowledge from both the Marta dimensions.
Chandrima smacked my head when she realised what I was thinking.
"It's 96 years." Chandrima explained with a sigh, "About 35 thousand days. This is the time Kali bought us. Until this time ends, nothing and no one will be able to enter the four temples to gain its treasures. This is the only way we can slow down the process that Kalpa is accelerating."
Somi seemed to be counting something. "It's 35 thousand hours in Alik then. Roughly four years. Considering the Rakshaks of Ashrama can stay in Satya for only seven hours per Alik day, we will have a lot more time to train than them. Let's get stronger and steal the artifacts from right under their noses. I hope I don't have to fight them head on though. But again, after 96 years, will I even remember anyone of them?"
"It's okay even if you don't. You will find a new home and people to call yours here. Me and Chandrima are just the first ones. You might forget the people from your past, but remember the lessons you've learnt from them. The next time you meet them will be as either rivals or enemies, so I hope you can prepare accordingly." I gave her the regular dosage of truth. "You told me about a girl who keeps competing with you for no reason right? You can finally show her where she stands after this timer ends. And also, I feel jealous that you'll only be in your teens while I'll be an old lady. People in Satya live for more than one hundred and fifty years minimum, so I won't be a granny atleast."
Somi smiled awkwardly. "Don't worry, this time will go away in an instant. Once you train your chakras, you'll be able to hold onto your younger appearance. Incase you're too sensitive about looks."
Now this girl was trying to console me.
"Are you also from Alik, Chandrima?" I asked her.
"Yeah. I'm an Ashrama graduate. I will be often absent for years in the future since I also have a life there. I come here to convert my meagre vacations to longer ones." She answered nonchalantly.
Both Somi and I snickered.
We sat together and gossiped about Alik for a while until Kali returned from the Vimana.
"I talked a bit with Kaksith and have come up with a rough plan that we might need to follow. The problem is with the Kingdoms in Satya who seem to have a weird secret agenda. We'll need to devise a huge infiltration undertaking to get information from the deepest levels of the Royal Families." Kali said looking at us, "There's new instructions for everyone. Lots of things to do... yet so little time."
"Umm, isn't this too much time? 96 years is no joke." I asked, looking bewildered.
"Are you joking right now?" He stared at me with a 'listen to this naive girl' expression, "If we have only a hundred years to prepare, how long will the Asuras get? I'm not going into calculations, but it will be around thousands of years on their side. It gets worse as you go down. So don't complain and give your best from the very beginning. I have made it so that only two people from each of the factions available at that time can enter a temple. If I restricted the number of factions others might enter and not give us a chance. Hopefully it works properly."
"Where does Kalki, my brother fit into all of this?" Somi suddenly asked. "The very reason I said yes to this is him. Are you sure you will find him before the countdown runs out? Or will you deliberately pretend to look for him while using me to fulfill your goals?"
Kali gave her a stern expression. "I will look for him. I promise. The two of you will meet someday, and I guarantee it. But if you stay as you are, you will be of no help to him. He's a person who shoulders the fate of this world. You can't support him with half assed measures."
Somi became quiet and turned away, signalling the end of this conversation.
"The next few years will be quiet hectic, so prepare yourselves. If I find you two lacking, I'll discard you and look for new people to train, so keep that in mind." Kali stated and got stopped by Chandrima's team leader just as he was starting to move away from us.
"Kali. Allow me to express my gratitude and thanks for saving us back at Sutala." The moustached man bowed at Kali with his hands joined.
Kali looked confused. "Everybody keeps saying that they saw me creating trouble at Sutala. I spawned at Rakshas Taal after arriving in this Brahmand. About four or five days ago. I've been travelling all this time to reach the institution as soon as possible to save Somi. I never got the chance to take any detours." He explained.
"Naveen, who was it that we saw that time then?" Chandrima asked, also confused.
"What about the Mani that you've been using? Isn't this what you acquired after killing Vritra?" Naveen, who was the team leader countered with another question.
Vritra? That dragon like being on the artifact list has already been killed?
"This?" Kali laughed after bringing out the gem that he had used twice in this battle. "This is Indra's heart from my dimension. A lot of things happened back there you know."
All of us stared at the literal heart of a God with blank expressions and open mouths. That was the heart of the King of Devatas. Right in his hands.
"Then..." Naveen started started saying something but couldn't form the words properly. "Is there two of you in this world then?"
"Ofcourse there's two. But the me of this world should still be a little child in the Ashrama right now. A lonely kid, who just wanted some companionship, some friends. Not an expert dragon slayer like you're describing." Kali gave a sad nostalgic look for a while, until a smile emerged gradually on his lips. "It's seems like things will get even more interesting in the future."
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