The Story So Far: The battle is not always fought in the battlefield. The mind matters. Should you be strong and unbending? Or just let go?
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I was given a hero's welcome by the soldiers resting in the camp set up in the palace grounds. The Rajguru rushed forward and embraced me with warmth and love. "Remarkable!" he mumbled. "You have really given us a shot in the arm. Your parents are anxious. Meet them first and then we will visit the sanctum sanctorum. There is something you can do which will end this menace forever," he whispered.
My parents were all over me in relief. After reassuring themselves that I was safe and sound, my mother asked, "Why did you go back? What have you done to that boy?"
"That boy!" I reacted angrily. "Anything I do cannot be enough! Look at what he has done to Ajat."
"Terrible things. And in a war, I wouldn't ask you to be restrained. But not when your enemy is weak and incapable of defending himself," she replied calmly.
I stared at her, my anger still clouding my mind but managed to say, "I relieved him of his distress."
She hugged me and whispered, "I am very proud of you."
"What about Prince Ajat and the king? And Amit?" I asked anxiously.
Just then a lady walked in. Her regal bearing left me in no doubt that she was the queen. I had never seen her before and so I waited to be introduced. "Shakti, I am indebted to you for bringing my son back," Queen Dhatri said with quiet dignity and without formalities.
"How is he doing, Dhatri?" my mother asked with a familiarity that surprised me.
The queen looked sad. "We will have to lose him, but he will heal enough to help me in my work to heal humans."
Mother and she embraced quickly and then the queen said, addressing all the soldiers, "I speak in the name of the king. Though he has suffered terrible wounds, he will recover. He may even join the battle tomorrow." A cheer went up. "Shakti has restored the Sacred Shell to its rightful place and this brings us hope of a bright future. I beg Shakti Devi to do the needful and sanctify the Shell to restore prosperity and peace on earth." The soldiers clapped. "May we also have better relations with the Daits." There was silence and she didn't miss the implication. "Vengeance begets vengeance. Even as we wage a war, let us think of a time when peace can reign."
"How is the prince?" someone asked.
"The prince suffers but he can be healed," the Queen said frankly. "He is devoid of all powers," she said and her voice broke. But she recovered immediately and said, "He will become a mortal being and we must accept that as his destiny." I admired her calm acceptance. She was either a very good actress or had truly mastered her passions. "I envisage a greater role for him in the betterment of mankind. As the Prabhas find peace there will be much we will have to undo in the human world." The men clapped again.
She turned to me and bowed with her hands joined together with respect. I felt overwhelmed and reciprocated. The cheering made it feel as if we had won the battle.
Just then, I felt a piercing pain. I was lost to the world and the only thing I could feel was the anger that the Dait king unleashed on me as he gripped my mind and squeezed it. I tried to chant but even the mantra was beyond my reach.
I felt violated and that angered me. I tried to fight him, resist him, overpower him, but in vain. Realising the futility of struggling, I let go and drifted. I found myself staring at the Dait prince writhing in pain. I reached for my powers and in a second, I could destroy him, at the speed of lightning. I succeeded in holding on to that image, of my power over the Dait's son. The Dait screamed, his agony reverberating around me, magnified manifold. I clutched my head and swooned as he sped away.
The queen and the Rajguru revived me in no time, but I was weak and trembling. "I am fine," I managed to mumble in a voice that reassured no one.
There was again a disturbance and the Red Lord was amidst us, in physical form this time. The soldiers picked up their arms, ready to kill him. But he walked towards me with calm assurance, "Probably I judged you hastily. You are brave, no doubt. You got to my son not once but twice." His red eyes focused on me with chilling coldness. "Maybe I will not kill you when we meet on the battlefield tomorrow for relieving my son of his distress. By sparing you now, I have repaid you for sparing my son's life. I am no longer indebted to you. Once the war is over and when the Daits rule this realm, if you are still alive, then I promise I will make it up to you. But for putting him through that pain..." He shook his head and walked away.
"Sparing me now is no favour, O King," I managed to say. He paused and looked over his shoulder. "This is not the battlefield and we are not fighting. But you took over my mind by surprise rather than in a fair war."
He turned to look at me and said in a voice filled with irony, "Nothing, my dear, is fair in love or war. I was overconfident thinking I understood the Prabhas well and lost the hard-won Golden Egg as well as my son. You let your defenses down and here you are, my captive. I can unleash my army now and your soldiers won't be able to move a muscle. Even during the war, I can paralyze them and you can only watch with your eyes wide open as the Daits destroy the Prabhas effortlessly and without suffering any losses. Not doing so is as fair I can be," he said, swept around and vanished.
The chamber came alive and I was shocked to realise that the Dait king had dominated the minds of every person in the room and frozen them into inaction -- even the Rajguru and the queen.
As the others fussed over me, not aware of what had just happened, maybe their memories of the Dait king's second visit erased, I realised the foe was formidable beyond anything I had imagined. I wondered if he would in the battlefield tomorrow. How could we counter it?
I looked up at the Rajguru, who was hastening me to follow him.
Continued here
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