DEADLY DEVATA
[Then Trinavarta reached the kingdom of Gokul where I as Krishna was living. He came with all his power, and with taking the form of a tornado. People feared and ran away to see the tornado approaching, but only one, only a boy stood in his way. The boy had no sign of fear on his face. Instead, the boy was smiling, and he was ready for a battle. Trinavarta held the boy in his hand and reached the sky, unaware that the boy was no one but I, Lord Vishnu as Krishna Avatar.]
I don’t know if I’m dead or alive, but I can feel like I’m sleeping. I’m unable to open my eyes but aware that I’m in a battleground. But the scene inside my eyes is off somewhere else. I’m seeing a dream – like a memory-dream.
I’m fifty. Half of my hair is white and a half is black, wrinkles have covered my face. I’m in plain black trousers and a white shirt, made of shining cloth.
I’m standing in front of a man. He’s also old – older than me – almost of sixty.
And a woman whom I don’t know is there.
“I’ need to protect the tower,” the old man says, “Pralaya will take all sense away from the people and they will be killing each other. We need to protect all the political leaders in the tower so we can establish a democratic order again.”
“I have a plan,” I say, my voice shaking like an old man, “I’ve found the secret of ancient architecture. I’ll build a maze around the tower which will be a modern model of Charkavyuha from Mahabharata.”
“Will it be impossible to penetrate?” the woman asks. She is as old as I am in the dream but her voice isn’t shaking like me.
“If a thousand soldiers will enter inside the maze none of them will make for the second section,” I say, “I’ve planned the biggest cities of India for last thirty years; I’ve studied ancient text after our scientists have found signs of the coming Pralaya. I can do it.”
“Thanks, brother,” she hugs me; “you know how many people want my husband dead if you secure the tower you will secure my family.”
“You are my sister,” I wipe tears from her eyes, “and I will do everything to secure your family.”
The old man standing there is my brother in law. He does nothing but wipes away some tears from his eyes.
The old man rushes forward and pulls me into an embrace. He is sobbing, “Now future of India is in your hand,” he says and soon I realize that I’m also crying.
“I’ve to go now,” I say, “I need minimum six months to build it if we use all our strength.”
“I know,” the old man says, “it’s going to work.”
“It’s all going to work,” I assure him.
Then I open a door and go out it and suddenly the eye pain-ing lights enter my eyes.
*
“Samrat.”
In my dream, someone says my name.
I open my eyes to the words, “wake up Samrat,” someone is shaking me. “We have won the war.”
I awake, blink, wiped my eyes and see chaos around me. My people are crying, shouting, some are fallen on the ground, and Troop of Tarun’s father is helping my people.
I’m out of memory-dream and the pain is a constant throb in my heard and cheek and ribs. I’m unable to move.
Tarun, Teena and some of Trainees are standing around me. Their bodies sink in blood, Blood dropping from the wound over their bodies. Tarun has a deep cut over his face, starting from his left eyes and ending at his upper lip. Pavan’s face is wounded at the corner of his mouth, but he seems otherwise unharmed.
I’ve last memory of seeing my people being killed and then what happened I don’t know.
I wake after the victory.
“Samrat,” I see my father coming near me and I pull myself up. I’m half- stood on the ground, all wounded.
“What happened?” I ask.
“We won?” he said, “We kill them all.”
“I am sorry,” I say, “I lost consciousness. I can’t fight more.”
“You have done everything,” Tarun comes and sits near me, “you have killed more than we all have. You have gone mad.”
“Really?” I try to smile and my mouth aches.
“Yes,” he says, “I’ve counted seventeen when I killed the last enemy.”
“And I’ve fifteen.” Teena sits near me.
“And I have?” I ask.
“More than we both have,” Tarun says.
“You were doing Tandava,” Teena adds, “it was good you fainted otherwise there wasn’t any way to interrupt your Tandava.”
“What’s Tandava?” I ask.
“It’s the battle dance of Avatar,” Tarun’s father comes near me, he doesn’t sit, “said is that no one can stop Avatar when he is performing Tandava.”
“So I was doing…”
A throat- scorching cry cut me off.
“What’s that?” I ask, standing from the ground in a split second.
“Oh! No!” Tarun’s father shouts, “that was why we can’t help you in battle.”
I understand the scream has come from the train.
“We have imprisoned a Devata inside the last car while we get control over half of the train.” He says, “I’ve managed one of our man inside the driver’s car to give the signal to warn you.”
“Now what happened?” Tarun’s voice is in fear.
“Someone has released the devata from his car.” Tarun’s father says, “That’s why we are fighting near the last car. We are stopping Nirbhaya troop to get inside the car.”
“Then who release him?” Teena asks.
“Perhaps someone has acted like a dead man and now when we have lost attention he released devata.” He says, “We can’t fight him that’s why we have tricked and imprisoned him before we rebel in the train.”
We all look at the car. Not making any sound. Then we hear footsteps on the metal of the car and a body is hurled out of the last door.
“It’s a Sunya.” My father shouts, “Maybe he has opened it hearing the sound inside and mistaking the sound as other Sunyas.”
“He would have mistaken him as one of us,” Pavan says, “He is one of the trainees.”
I look at the body and identify him – he is Kirit. His father was gone beyond the wall so he was checking the cars to find his father’s body as soon as the battle ended.
Suddenly, we hear crunching and grinding noise and the last car’s side panel burst, the glass of it scattered in million pieces and the metal wall of the car has a huge gape as if something has split it open.
All eyes turn to that gap. With a loud cracking noise, the gap grows and a human frame is visible through the gap. It’s a Devata. He hurls himself out the car, through the gap and lands on the ground steady, without losing footing.
We see him and he sees us, for a moment. There is something menacing with him. His body isn’t looking strong but the eyes are like Rakshasha, crisscrossed with red veins and his face is webbed with green veins. The numbers of veins are too much as he isn’t young.
“Oh, Jagpati. You’ve done a terrible thing!” he looks directly at Tarun’s father, “My dear, you’ve thought a boy from the Sunya can change the world and you’re fighting for him. You did treachery with the god but you’ve forgotten no one can win us.”
“I don’t think I’ve done anything terrible,” Tarun’s father looks at him. All the Snuyas and Nirbhaya step aside so they can see each other.
“You tricked me imprisoned and rebel in the train.” Devata said, “Isn’t this terrible thing?”
“Yes, this is terrible if we have no Avatar with us but we have.” With Tarun’s father’s words, a loud cheer rises from my people and Nirbhaya troop.
“I’ll kill this Avatar and then it’ll be terrible for you,” Devata says, his face has a mischievous smile, “then you will feel the weight of the temple.”
“Devata,” I interrupted them, “yes, you are right,” I say, “to fight you is all I want. Come, you Rakshasha.”
He looks at me, his eyes full of anger, his hand reaches to his waistband and he takes a metal object out from there.
“Magical weapon,” a Nirbhaya shouts.
“It’s not a magical weapon,” I say. I’ve seen that object in my last dream. It was at the waistband of my brother in law and in the dream, I don’t know how but I knew it was a gun.
“It’s not any magic,” I continue, “its technology which they have hidden from everyone. This thing is a gun and it has six bullets. He can kill only six of us not more than six.”
My words grow courage in my people. They again cheer as they get firm belief I’m Avatar otherwise how can I know all this.
“Don’t you dare a hand to hand fight with our Avatar?” Tarun’s father says, “Or you will use magic like a coward?”
“I’ll fight him,” Devata throws the gun on the ground; “I don’t want to kill him with magic. I’ll bite him in a fight and then you have to kill him with your own hands or he will kill you all.” he gives an evil grin.
*
To be continue
