"Ohhhh God! Nooooo!" shouted the messenger as he held his hands up and shook his fists at the sky.

Now, you would think that's very dramatic, and no one would actually do that today. Still, it was very common in ancient India. It was not called India then; it was Bharat. The angry, lamenting guy with a snot bubble coming out of his nose was the protagonist, Ravindra.

I am getting ahead of myself, so let me start from the beginning.

Ravindra was a guy in his early thirties who lived in the kingdom of Tejapur with his wife Savitri and a ten-year-old son Surendra in a small yet lovely home near the palace. Ravindra was tall and strong, with long hair and dark skin. He wasn't particularly handsome, but his wife thought so, and that's all that mattered. Being the court messenger, he often traveled to different places as part of the job. In those days, the outside world was very dangerous, so a messenger had to be well-versed in the arts of swordsmanship and horse riding.

Ravindra served King Tejabahu, who was short-tempered and cruel and would kill people for the slightest inconveniences they brought to him. The King was only a good person when he was in love. Every time the King fell in love, all his subjects rejoiced because those were the good times. Then, he married that person and soon fell out of love, and his subjects cowered in fear because his cruel self would rise again. It had become a cycle, which had run thirty times already, resulting in Tejapur having thirty different queens. King Tejabahu's influence had increased in several kingdoms from where his wives came.

The good cycle was going on as King Tejabahu was in love again. The potential thirty-first queen was Princess Soujanya of the neighboring kingdom Amarpur. He had seen a portrait of her from a wandering artist who had recently visited the court and couldn't take his eyes off her. He started making poems about her beauty and made his other wives listen to them until their ears bled. Unable to tolerate being separated from her, he took out his royal specially coated cloth and wrote a love letter to her in indigo-colored ink found only in the palace. He rolled the fabric, placed his royal seal on it, gave it to Ravindra, and said, "Ravi, my brave messenger, carry this letter to Amarpur and give it to Princess Soujanya. Tell her I am eagerly awaiting her response."

"As you wish, my lord," said Ravindra. After briefly bidding goodbye to his wife and son, he left for Amarpur in the chilly morning break.

Amarpur was separated from Tejapur by a group of forest hills called Chandanvan, named after the famous Chandana trees that were common there. On horseback, it would take four hours to cross this forest along the royal path built several years ago for the safe passage of travelers between the kingdoms.

Ravindra was on his beautiful black horse 'Vega' as he traversed the royal path. As his horse galloped along the white cobblestone paved road, he took in the forest's fresh air, which carried the scent of the Chandana trees from uphill to his right. Chandana trees stood tall to his right as though they were touching the sky. Only pockets of the sunlight pierced through the thick canopy of the trees, and the hill went up as though there was no end to it. It was a beautiful mixture of green and brown that calmed his mind.

On his left, the terrain was downhill, and he could see the majestic green tops of the Chandana trees as far as his eyes would go. At one point, a silver line separated the Chandana trees, and he recognized that sparkling line as the great river, 'Mayuri,' which was the drinking and irrigation source for all of Tejapur.

When Ravindra reached Amarpur, the sun was directly above his head. He entered the city and the palace using the royal seal on the letter. Placing the letter into one of the Princess's maids' hands, he told her that King Tejabahu eagerly awaited the Princess's reply. The maid went behind the curtains with the letter, where the Princess waited. Ravindra could hear the giggles of the Princess and her maids behind the curtains as they read the letter from the King.

The maid came out and asked Ravindra to have lunch on the palace grounds while the Princess finished writing her reply. Ravindra tended to his horse, then had lunch and returned to receive the Princess's letter, which had her royal seal. He thanked the Princess and the maid and left for Tejapur.

It was evening when he was back on the royal path in the forest. As he went along, the path curved like a snake; it got darker and darker in the woods. Thanks to the white paint on the cobblestone path and the stars that had begun to pop up, it wasn't pitch black. Ravindra hadn't noticed what was on the path as he gazed at the dark moonless sky to his right, but he was brought back to reality as the horse suddenly halted and almost threw him out of the seat. Looking ahead, he saw someone standing before him in the middle of the road.

It was dark, but Ravindra could see that this person was not human; his skin looked redder than normal humans'. He was big-bellied, with body hair darker than the darkness around. This hair seemed to cover his bare upper body. He wore a dark loin cloth that went down to his knees. Ravindra could see his hairy legs and sharp toenails. He had a bald head with two horns growing out of it. His eyes glowed bright yellow as it glared at Ravindra.

A fear crept up, and Ravindra's instincts told him he was unsafe. He tried to make his horse rush forward and escape this mysterious person, but the horse wouldn't move. As it shook nervously, he got down from his horse and held its lead rope to prevent it from escaping into the wild and unsheathing his sword with the other hand. Its silver color shone in the darkness and gave him some courage. Ravindra asked, "Who are you? Why are you blocking my path?"

The person, who was most likely a Rakshasa, a wild spirit, didn't reply; he bared his sharp white teeth and gave a loud shrill shriek that almost made Ravindra lose hold of his horse as it jumped out of fear and tried to escape. The shrill sound reverberated in the woods, birds flew away from all the surrounding trees, and Ravindra's hair stood on the back of his head. The Rakshasa rushed towards him without warning, and Ravindra had no option but to leave his horse and defend himself.

Ravindra had to act quickly if he wanted to survive. Tightening his hold on the sword with both hands, he slashed at the Rakshasa as he came close. On any other day, this would have perfectly cut off the head of the Rakshasa, but Ravindra seemed to have forgotten his sword skills that night. The Rakshasa gave another loud shriek as he was cut right across the face, and blood redder than his face oozed out of the cut. Ravindra's horse ran into the woods out of fear from the shriek.

The Rakshasa seemed even more furious than before and attacked Ravindra again. The shriek had made Ravindra weak in his knees, and he barely slid away when the Rakshasa slashed at him with sharp fingernails. Every slip made the Rakshasa even more furious; he continued wildly throwing his arms at Ravindra, attempting to get hold of him or slash him. Ravindra barely saved himself from all of it. He waited for a momentary opening, for the Rakshasa to get tired or lose his rhythm. When it came, he took it, swung his sword with all his might, and cut the Rakshasa's head. The Rakshasa's shriek was cut short as the head rolled down on the white cobblestone. The thick blood sprayed on Ravindra's face and his tunic.

Ravindra took a few minutes to catch his breath as the Rakshasa's lifeless body lay on the ground, still oozing out blood from the headless shoulder. Ravindra ensured the letter was still safe on his toolbelt, took a few sips from the water pouch, and went uphill until he found his horse, brought it back to the cobblestone road, and continued back to Tejapur.

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When he reached his kingdom, it was past supper. After cleaning himself, he gave the letter to the King, who was so eager to learn its contents that he immediately read it.

"Thank you, Ravindra! As usual, you do amazing work. Come back tomorrow morning, and I have a job for you," said the King.

Ravindra's family welcomed him with bright smiles. He enjoyed his wife's food, played with his son, and slept well. When the morning came, he had forgotten all about the encounter with the Rakshasa and almost forgot that he had to return to the court as ordered by the King.

Ravindra was flustered when he reached the court and found himself holding another love letter for Princess Soujanya. The King was all smiles when he said, "Give this to the Princess who has stolen my heart."

Ravindra was thankful the King didn't hang him for being a few seconds late and prepared to return to Amarpur again. Bidding goodbye to his wife and son, he took Vega on to the white cobblestone path of Chandanvan.

As he reached where he had fought the Rakshasa, he was surprised to see that only the dried blood from the Rakshasa could be seen on the ground. The body and the head were nowhere to be seen. Looking around, he wondered if someone had taken away the body, but there was no one around. He had no clue how to start looking for this person, so he continued on his path, deciding to forget about the incident. He pushed the horse to go even faster as he wanted to return to his home as soon as possible.

It was afternoon when he reached Amarpur and entered the palace again. The missing corpse of the Rakshasa was nagging in the back of his mind; he began to wonder if the Rakshasa was alive or if another person was helping this Rakshasa. With all these thoughts racing in his mind, he didn't notice the maid's outstretched hand. The maid had to call out to him twice before he snapped back to the moment and placed the letter in her hand.

It went on just like the last time; the Princess was behind the curtains, and as the maid went behind the curtains, he heard a bunch of giggles from them. The maid came back and asked him to have lunch and wait for the Princess to give her reply back to him. After doing as requested, he found himself holding the Princess's letter; the maid said, "Princess Soujanya is leaving for a pilgrimage to the Goddess on the hill this evening. She will be gone for a while but is eager to hear more from the King once she returns."

Ravindra had fed, watered, and allowed the horse to rest well while waiting for the Princess's reply. The horse had enough stamina to go as fast as it could, so he pushed it even further to get out of Chandanvan before it was too dark.

Almost two hours had passed, Ravindra had made his horse go as fast as possible, and they were still in Chandanvan. Vega was getting slower after running for a long time. Soon, it got dark, with the glow of the royal path and the stars from the night sky being the only two light sources. Ravindra's heart began to beat faster in anticipation of impending doom. The negative thought that he would face something sinister had crawled up his mind and deeply rooted itself, and he couldn't ward it off.

He was forced out of his thoughts as the horse halted suddenly. Before him was the same dark creature that stood there yesterday, the Rakshasa. He was whole again. The Rakshasa moved his head up to show his head was back on his shoulders. Ravindra could see a sort of line over his neck, indicating that, in some way, his head was sown back to his shoulder.

Ravindra came down from his horse and took his sword out. His horse went into the woods out of fear; he didn't stop it this time. Seeing the Rakshasa alive again was shocking, but a strange courage overtook him. There was a feeling that he could defeat the Rakshasa again. Holding the sword in both hands, he pointed it at the Rakshasa.

The Rakshasa gave a loud shriek and rushed at him. Being better prepared, Ravindra took the Rakshasa head-on. In one swift moment, he cut down the right hand of the Rakshasa that tried to grab him. The Rakshasa shouted even louder. In another quick movement, he thrust the sword into the Rakshasa's heart. The shriek went silent, and his body went limp. Rakshasa's body thudded on the ground as the brave messenger took his bloody sword out, creating a pool of blood on the ground.

Being sprayed by the Rakshasa's blood over his face and upper body, he turned and walked towards the wood to get his horse back. He hadn't taken two steps before he felt something coming towards him. When he turned back, the shriek hit him first and then the Rakshasa's fist over his face. Ravindra lost his balance and hit the ground with the Rakshasa over him. The sword left his hands as he struggled to reach it again, but the Rakshasa forcefully bit into his grasping hand. Ravindra screamed as his thumb was torn from his right hand as the Rakshasa yanked it with his sharp teeth.

The Rakshasa's loud shriek drowned out Ravindra's scream. The messenger couldn't move as the Rakshasa placed all his weight on the stomach. Unable to escape from the wild spirit's clutch and constantly being hit in the face led the messenger to the verge of losing consciousness. The sad faces of his wife and son in the morning when they heard he had to leave again passed through his mind's eye. The wanting to light up their faces by returning wouldn't be possible if he lost consciousness; it took all his strength as he reached forward for his sword and somehow caught the grip. He swung it with as much strength as he could muster and beheaded the Rakshasa again.

Rakshasa's limp body fell over him and filled his entire face with thick blood. Pushing the Rakshasa away, he spat out the thick blood that had gotten into his mouth. Everything was blurry when he moved the blood away from his eyes. Standing up slowly, he felt his head turning. His whole face was in pain, and he knew that it probably had multiple swells. He held the sword tightly despite the pain from his severed right thumb and sat down again, closed his eyes, and hoped for the pain to go away.

Tearing the ends of his tunic, he stopped the bleeding from his severed thumb. After a while, the vision got better. As he drank from the water pouch and poured some of it over his face, he realized that a lot of blood had seeped into the hair and would have to be washed in the river. That's when he remembered the letter that was rolled and kept on his belt. His heart fell as he saw the letter covered with the blood of the Rakshasa.

Ravindra was devastated, and his hands began to shake as he realized the gravity of the situation. His mind passed through all the scenarios.

He could not beg for a fresh letter from the Princess because she was on a pilgrimage, and there was no way of knowing when she would return. Any delay in getting the letter was a death sentence to him, as his King was short-tempered.

If Ravindra had gone with the bloody letter to the King, there was no imagining the torture that he would go through. The King was not known for his kindness.

He must live as a fugitive in another kingdom without returning the letter, never being able to see his family again, or worse, the King would punish them in his absence.

He cannot escape with his family because it would be dangerous for his son and wife to live as fugitives. With thirty wives, the King had too much influence in all the surrounding kingdoms, so it was very likely that his family would be caught as fugitives; in that case, the worst punishment waited for them.

As all the repercussions and scenarios traversed through his mind, Ravindra's heart filled with despair. He cursed the limp, lifeless body of the Rakshasa. Something had to be done, so he stood up to look for the horse, and that's when the shining river caught his eyes.

The river Mayuri shone from the star's light, and slight hope blossomed in Ravindra's heart. After postponing the search for his horse, he went downhill to the river. It was challenging to go down the thicket of the Chandana trees, under darkness amidst a maze of roots and rocks on the path, but not long after, he reached the river bank.

He washed his face and hair to get all the dried blood out. As anticipated, his face had multiple swells, and half of his face was unrecognizable, but proper tending to his wounds had to be done later; there was another essential thing to do. He tore the ends of his tunic and dipped it in water, took the letter out, and slowly rubbed off the blood spots with the wet tunic. Careful not to remove the Princess's seal that kept the letter in a roll, he continued to wipe the stains. His spirits lifted as the blood spots slowly disappeared, but the hope didn't stay for long as he lost the grip on the letter due to his severed thumb, and it fell into the water, swept away by the current.

Ravindra was good at many things, but swimming was not one of them, and he knew that there was no way he could retrieve that letter anymore. He was devastated, looked up at the sky, and shouted, "Ohhhh God! Nooooo!" as he held his hands in the air and shook his fists with frustration.