The beginning

A Chapter by Yashu

Vijay's life and his journey begins

He was running as fast as he could. The night was pitch dark and the sleek path of the forest was starting to become even sleeker. He tried changing direction but it looked like these fire-beasts were knitted on his tail. With every turn he made, they covered some gap between. They were the natives of this jungle and he definitely couldn't outrun them by rerouting. He looked if he could catch any hanging creeper and climb up but this forest didn't seem to have any. He knew he would stop soon and he definitely knew he won't be able to fight them. He wished if he had said goodbye to Naina before all this. After crossing the next three trees, he saw her behind the third one. Standing in her pink frock with her favorite ponytail girl top, looking at him. She smiled and laughed. Placed the ends of her little fingers on her pink lips to mime a flying kiss to her brother and winked.

He returned the gesture and smiled back as if to show her that he would be back in a minute. But then he had it, a sudden jolt in his middle spine. One of the wolves had caught up as he lost some pace in looking away and jumped right on his back. Vijay crashed to the ground and rolled twice in unbalance before finally hitting his head against a tree trunk. By the time he would have recovered, the wolves had circled around him. They were almost a dozen and looked at him with frightening red eyes. Their fur shining bright in the flames of red. They did not look like the usual wolves, it looked like a pack of trained assassins ready to suck away his last breath. One of the wolves looked him in the eyes. Scorching with red, Its eyes gave a tint of black. It climbed on his chest with one leg. Another one on his arm. He could feel the sharp gush of pain down his throat as the claws scratched against his chest and biceps. Streams of blood came running down as the wolf pressed more weight. It opened its mouth to shelve its teeth deep in his neck. Vijay let out a loud cry. Suddenly he heard the melody.

The sweetest scintillation ever to have entered his ears. He had never heard such music. The pain of the claws, completely erased from his head. A flute was being played in a short distance and even the wolves had stopped. And the red flames were gone. It looked as if the strong push of sound had shattered away their evil veil. He looked at one of them just to see the eyes cool and turn blue and finally, brown. It was a pack of Grey wolves now. Scared of what had just happened, the wolves ran away into the woods, leaving him alone. He got up with some effort and looked around, hoping to see his savior. There was none to be seen. The Jungle was pitch black again. But he could still hear that tune. A soothing music being played from hundreds of meters away, and the distance lessened as he walked towards the source. While he walked, there was a sudden halt. And a big tide of water had just erupted from thin air and drowned him top to bottom. It seemed to him as if a huge ocean had gulped on this tiny jungle. And very soon could he breathe no more. With a final force, he pushed himself forward to escape out and took a deep breath.

SLAP !!

“Get up you stupid jerk! Where are the two new horses?”, Aunt Marie lowered the empty pail as she screeched into his ears. He munched his eyes and rocketed up.

“I tied them here last night, don't know what happened”, he said, still lost in the crazy dream he just had.

“Did I not warn you to tie them to this dirty bunk of yours as well? You jerk !?”.

“I know, but believe me, I tied them with my bunk as well. The horses must have tried very hard to loosen the knot. I will go immediately, find them and bring them back Aunt Marie.”

“Don't call me that you little piece of Rubbish. First it was your mother and now it's you who keeps torturing me all the time."

“Forgive me Aunt Marie, and it wasn't my mother's fault. Why do you keep saying this every time ?”, a water droplet forming in his eyes.

“Just go away and bring the damn horse or you won't be sleeping here tonight.”, she finally declared.

Without another word, he collected his stick and saddle and ran out of the stable, swiping his hand over his face. “Also tell your Uncle to come back early and bring Naina along too for it's our anniversary”, she yelled as he left the house.

These were the occasional tortures in Vijay's life which sent him wondering why he was even here. Just like the rest of the kids in the village, he also knew he had a mother. Unfortunately he never got to see her. The only thing Aunt Marie had told him was that his parents had been suffering from a malignant disease and after realizing that death was near, they left him in her stable on a stormy night and disappeared, forever. But whenever he would inquire more about them, she would loudly yell at him and remind him not to ask any questions. Indeed it was his golden rule to avoid any frivolous arguments with Aunt Marie which would often leave him crying. So he quietly followed her orders.

They lived in Kaalp, a very small village few miles south west of the Himalayas. The village was special in its own way and rested in the middle of the Huge Bhoom valley. The valley was surrounded by an incredibly high Himalayan range. The mountains were so high that the civilization of Kaalp had remained hidden and protected from any foreign intervention since centuries. As a results, the villagers called these mountains Usools or the Himalayan Guards.

Engulfing the serene valley along with its mysteries was a deep Jungle that stretched halfway up to the mountains. They called it Darkwoods. The villagers occasionally went inside the jungle for collecting fruits and herbs or to graze their cattle. The grass would smell orchids and blossoms and the trees would start gleaming marvelously as one went deeper. But none would ever go too deep. Because the most beautiful forest in the world was also doomed. If they didn't come out before sunset, they would never come out. According to the villagers, the Jungle at night would become carnivorous and turn into a maze. The village had lost many people because of this. So very very long ago, the ancestors had fenced the village parameters allowing only a single way into the forest to prevent any accidental deaths. The entrance to this path was known as the Greydoor.

To further ensure villager’s safety, a small group of trained horsemen was appointed as the Knighthood, which would watch the fencing before and after sunset. The leader of the Knighthood was an elite warrior named Sultaan who once managed to escape out of Darkwoods 30 years ago.

Kaalp was based around a small brook which would slither out of somewhere in the Darkwoods and eventually jump off the Kaalp-falls. Kaalpians watered their lands from this creek. They would collectively grow their crops and divide equally at the harvest. They grew and ate organic vegetables and drank the purest milk and water. They worshiped the sun and rain. Kaalpians were very fond of animals and had shaggy pets dogs, cats, lots of other hill species, even birds. Although the village was surrounded by snow capped mountains, it had never experienced a snowfall for the last 100 years or as far as one could remember. For such a geographic location, the villagers had had no contact with the outside world.

Uncle Vidyut was a strong man with vast love for animals. He was also Kaalp’s steed master. It was his job to prepare the best of stallions for Sultaan’s crew. As Vijay grew of 15 last year, he left Gurukul and started helping his uncle with the work. Vijay’s best friend Vishnu, son of a harvester, would usually help him with the maintenance of stable. Vishnu was a tall fat chubby lad of Vijay’s age. Naina would usually make fun of him for his belly being broader than his chest. She called him the fat Usool.

After leaving the stable, Vijay went on to Vishnu's house and laudly called out his name. Vishnu came out running and accompanied him on his mission.

To inquire of the missing horses, he needed to talk to Jeevan, the youngest member of Sultaan's crew and also his only child. Vijay and Jeevan had been good friends since the previous year when he had come to Vijay for a new stallion. Vijay trained one of the best of stallions for him and taught him the best horse riding he had learned from Uncle Vidyut. In return Jeewan taught him his favourite fighting skills which he had learned by mimicking his father's practice regime.

Vijay along with Vishnu reached the Knightmen's post. This was the storage for all the weapons and and safety equipments of the knighthood. Knights in steel rode across the courtyard as they walked in the entrance. Men had gathered around a circular mud ring where two men battled without weapons. Vishnu went on to watch the mud fight while Vijay went inside to meet his friend.

Unlike last year, now Jeewan was a tall and strong boy with golden locks and a smudgy smile. They greeted each other and strolled outside.

"So Brother! you look worried?"

"Yea, kind of. I'm confused more than worried."

"What's it ?"

"Its Horses, two of them just strolled out at night. Aunt Marie's onto me now. "

"But you look worried brother ?"

"I told you the horses have been missing"

"It has happened before, but I never saw you like that. You are almost shivering Vijay."

"Really ? I don't kn.. Maybe it's just.. my head maybe, its hurting."

"Let me see", he looked closely at Vijay's head.

"It's swelled up Vijay. Aunt marie really hits hard."

"No, she didn't. Maybe I fel.. somewhere.. I can't remember. Anyways, the horses ! Can you ask the Knights ?"

"Sure, let me see if we found any last night."

After confirming from his crewmen, Jeevan denied of spotting any loose horses the previous night.

"They must've escaped through the Greydoor when someone might be dozing.", shouted Jeewan looking at the knight who guarded the Greydoor last night.

"You know how I doze off ? I do new boys like you and then sleep my a*s tight", he shouted from a distance.

"A*****e!", Jeewan commented to vijay.

"All right mate! I'll check out the grasslands. Maybe I could find them."

"I'll come too. I heard there are flesh eaters in Woods. We found a consumed musk deer yesterday"

"We'll be fine Jeewan. I've gotta try your training sometime, you know."

"Heh yea. It'll do, maybe.", he threw a Talwar towards Vijay."Take this, it might help"

"Thanks buddy"

"See you later Vijay"

"Later, Jeewan"

Along the brook after crossing the sun-church and the farmlands, they eventually reached the Greydoor. Instead of just entering the Darkwoods like the rest of the people, Vijay would usually stop a few meters away from the greydoor and keep staring at it for a while. Two broad brown stalks that arched high above in leaves, barks and flowers gave a look of green shimmering sky with colourful stars and constellations. Usually, he'd keep watching above while walking very slowly across the greydoor. Something about its sight seemed so adhering to his eyes.

Sometimes Aunt Marie would beat him and make him sleep outside the stable. On some nights he'd cry. On some nights he'd just sob and look above and try to find the brightest star. Because in his gurukul classes, guruji told them that after death, people become stars.

This walk through the Greydoor reminded him of one of those nights. While walking across the greydoor it was the closest he felt to her. But that day he hurried. He had so much going on in his head that day.

After searching the woods for hours, they finally found the horses in the Grasslands. The brown stallion was mating with a white mare and the black one was maybe just waiting for his turn. So they waited until both were exhausted. Vijay silently got up and ready.

"Looks like they're done. You go for the brownie Motu!", he said to Vishnu.

They approached silently and quickly attached the saddles and jumped on. The stallions raced very fast and threw them off. This went on for a while.

Before dusktime, the horses were completely exhausted, and walked silently under their master's command. But before reaching the greydoor, unexpectedly, Vijay's horse threw him off again and strode inside the woods. As he fell on the ground, two black cobras came running towards him. With his stick, he threw them aside and ran after the horse. He was running extremely fast and thought he would catch the horse anytime. And then he remembered the vivid dream. The forest started turning into a different one. Just like he saw in the dream. The path becoming sleeker as he ran inside. Something along the bushes was approaching from behind but he didn't want to look at it. He just wanted to catch the horse and take it home. So he ran faster.

Just a metre away from the horse, he hit his stick hard on the horse' leg. The horse slowed down but kept on running. Mistakenly, he hit a proproot but managed to keep balance. Another one hit and he lost it. He crashed on his elbow and rolled thrice before hitting a very big banyan tree. Just as he sat up against the tree, he saw a huge grey wolf running upfront. He reached for the talwar. But it wasn't there. He thought he must've dropped it while running. As the wolf neared, it jumped very high up to pounce on him. And just before its landing, the wolf gave a loud cry.

The wolf did jump off but didn't land. It hung right above his head on a long black spear which was plunged deep inside the tree. As he slid away the wolf's body he saw the enigmatic fleet of black stallions stop right in front of him. A tall figure got down from one of the horses and took out the spear from the tree above his head.

"You alive son?", asked Sultaan with a heavy voice and called a man to take away the animal.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you sir knight."

"You crashed hard enough."

"Just my elbow scratched a bit, sir knight. "

"You're a strong lad I must say. We might have you join the Knighs next year"

"It'll be my honor sir knight, but I don't know."

"I knew your mother, the bravest woman I have ever seen. She would've loved to see you as a Knight, boy"

"But its Uncle VIdyut I must serve for now, together we must give you best horses."

"Ahh even the harvester's son can do that. You are special, Vijay."

"Ohh Vishnu !! Where is he sir knight ? We must find him."

"He is just where you should be right now. Its about time we all must leave", he pointed towards the setting sun.

"I need the horse sir knight. It ran away."

"Not today kid. We're going home.", declared Sultaan.

He signaled the knight to take him. Vijay picked up his stick before the knight got down and placed him on his stallion. Vijay resisted but finally accepted the circumstances.

Hopelessly, he walked out of the greydoor and bade a final salute to the Knightmen for saving his life. That time he didn't look above, just kept his head down. Everything looked stupid and boring after a failure. All he could see was the angry face of Aunt Marie. And then he remembered Naina.

Naina was his cousin sister and the only child to Vidyut and Aunt Marie. Though 5 years younger than Vijay , she was very smart for her age. God knew why, but Naina had a deep grudge against the status quo. Every now and then, she would return home with her Guruji pulling her ears to complain about a new mess or brawl she created to avoid lessons.

After her Guruji would be gone, she would simply raise her eyebrows and complain how stupid her Gurujis were and couldn't answer even one of her questions. For a 9 year old, she would usually ask complicated things from Gurujis, like “Why can't we breath in water ? Why is there all fog below the Kaalpfalls ? Or Why can't we go in the Darkwoods ? Or How can I climb the tallest Usool ? Once she asked the strangest question “Why can't men have babies ?”. Sometimes all the students used to keep wondering at her questions for months, thus disturbing the flow of the Gurukul. But Vijay really loved his sister no matter how ridiculous she would seem to others. He used to bring her flowers and rabbits when Uncle Vidyut would send him to train the horses. Apart from being a loving brother, he was also her best friend. But apart from being her best friend, he was also the most frequent client to her funny little feuds. She would break a rule every now and then and often frame him for things he didn't do. Suddenly he remembered that Naina had to be taken home early today.

He ran back towards the school, went inside and looked around. Herds of kids were strolling here and there after their Gurus and some sat on the ground listening to their Gurus. He searched across the faces hoping to find a familiar one. And there she was! Sitting quietly on her desk under the huge Banyan tree. Her white and golden hair shining brighter than her gold robe in the brim daylight of the Sun god. One of her hands strangling her locks and another one holding a white mouse close to her right eye. It was cycling fast in air, trying hard to get away. While inspecting it closely, she spoke up with a sweet sugary voice.

"If everyone got to escape out of their lives, who would stay ? Huh Vijay ?".

"Yes, aacharyaa, absolutely", Vijay spoke instantly as she suddenly looked into his eyes.

"You should ask permission before nearing me Vijay, or you might see thing you shouldn't see."

"Forgive me Aacharya. Aunt Marie wanted Naina home early today, its their anniversary today. And its already about sunset."

"Well, had it not been their anniversary, Naina would've stayed even longer. She's in the calculations lesson, hurry up"

"Thank you aacharya"

"And take this", she plucked the mouse's tail and handed it to him

"Show it to Guruji if he hesitates"

"He ran fast towards the calculations field."

He ran a quick search among the students and spotted his sister, standing on one side of the class with both hands held high. The Guruji sat on the headstone taking revisions from the minions. As he approached the class, she saw him too. Her eyes shone bright with joy on seeing her brother. By the time he reached the door, she byplayed a neat look of agony on her face to show Vijay her apparent pain. Vijay understood her feelings and asked Gurujiji why had he punished her.

"She must stand all day for today's wreck. This evil girl brawled with this child today and bit on his shoulder. Look at the poor boy, he is bleeding !!“, he pointed his finger at a clumsy boy suffering in pain in the front row. His shirt smudged with blood stains.

“But he called me a Eunuch, why do you always find my fault !!”, Naina's eyes thinned as she spoke in both pain and anger.

“Shut up or you will stand this entire week." Guruji shut her up.

Vijay approached the moaning boy and said,”Sorry dear but why did you call her that bad word ?”

“I didn’t, she challenged me to.” , he answered with a trembling voice.

Vijay glared towards Naina and they talked telepathically.

"Why did u do that ?" He slickened his eyebrows inquiringly. She smiled and was about to laugh when she quickly controlled herself. "Please do something now.", her eyes urgeed him.

Sulkily, Vijay walked towards the headstone. Carrying an expression of unimaginable guilt, he apologized from the Guruji and asked him to send her home as Aunt Marie had called her. As expected, he declined his request and asked him to meet the aachaarya. Vijay took out the tail and handed it over. Guruji gasped and examined the tail. After a few moments, he let them leave.

"Bhai, you should stop doing that" she told him as they walked out of the Gurukul,"It was between me and mukul. He always makes fun of me behind my back. Why don't you take my side ?"

"He was crying and bleeding Naina, do you want to kill him now?"

"He called me a eunuch and you still support him"

"He knows his mistake now, forget him. Besides, I saved you the pain of standing all day, you should show me some courtesy"

" Huh ?! You saved him. I was planning on punching his stomach after lessons."

They walked towards home.

"You remember the forest dreams I used to have sometimes Naina ?", He asked her.

"Big forest, tall trees, smoke" she sounded bored.

"Yes but today there was something more. There were wolves."

"Oh !? Really ? Wolves ? ", her interest suddenly rose.

"There were around 10 of them Naina. Their skins were burning red. And they were chasing me like mad dogs."

Her eyes opened up in amazement and surprise as she heard of the burning wolves.

"Yes, Naina they were so ferocious. But I ran so fast that I once thought I left them behind."

"Then? Bhai ?"

"Then I saw you hiding behind a tree."

"I was there ? What happened then ?"

"Nothing happened to you. But one of the wolves jumped on my back. I fell hard on the ground and they captured me."

"Did they eat you?", her excitement rose to the highest.

"No, Naina. But I felt they will. Suddenly someone played a magical flute. When the wolves heard it, it changed them."

"Whoa ! They would’ve killed you if not for the flutist,” she spoke sharply.

He flushed his teeth and laughed heavily,"Who would dare to kill Naina’s brother? After what she did in Gurukul today! ”

She shied away and kept walking.

After a few steps, she spoke up,”Did you see the flutist?”.

"Nah! Before I could reach him, Aunt marie woke me up.”

“Arggghh !!! She never lets us finish our dreams!”, she sighed.

“ C’mon let's get Home”, he said, hiding his silent agreement on her last remarks and raising his hand to end the discussion.

“What happened to you Bhai?", she said while spotting his arm.

"Nothing, I fell off while catching the missing horses."

"What Are the horses missing ?”

"Yes, one. Why do you care ?"

“Because I tied them to your bunk last night.”, her shiny eyes were concerned this time.

"You did what ? How could you ? You’ve never handled a horse before !"

"Yes but I did, Last night. Okay let me tell you.", she stopped him from speaking and continued.

“You know bhai, dad never let me ride horses. But I always want to.”

He nodded inquiringly.

“So I waited till he was asleep and entered the stable. I tried to wake you up so you’d teach me. But you didn’t. So I untied the knot and ran outside with the horses. I couldn't get on its back so we went for a walk. After some time, I brought them back. I was about to tie them to your bunk when you suddenly moved and I thought you'd get up. So I just circled the rope around your bunk and went to my bedroom.”

He saw her confident round face and wondered at what she had just said. It was hard to imagine a 9 year old girl do all that she confessed to. But then he remembered an incident from the previous year. An agitated horse whom he had been struggling to tame for several days calmed down just when she touched his forehead. Also the time when a mad dog had bitten all kids in her class except for her. He didn't knew why but surely Naina had a special relation with animals. It was sort of magical, hypnotic.

"And I thought you said you tied the horses." He walked away.

“I’ll come too. Wait !”, she ran after him.

As they walked towards the stable, he remembered how Naina and Uncle Vidyut had been so soothing for him during his entire life and what would have happened had they not been there.

As expected Aunt Marie slapped Vijay's face just when he stepped inside, giving no time to anyone to say a word.

"Here comes the most useless boy on earth. Even the harvester's boy managed to bring the horse back. !!

"C'mon Marie, Vishnu is heavy, he tires the horses just by sitting on them.", interrupted uncle Vidyut. The smallest gesture of sympathy from Uncle Vidyut made Vijay emotional. But he tried to control it.

"First he loses them, then he wastes an entire day looking for them, and after he finds them, fortunately, he loses it again"

"Aunt marie it was because of wo...", Vijay tried to complete the story when aunt marie slapped him again.

"You dare speak after all this !!"

And that was it. His deep sea of emotions erupted as the huge slap baffled his sincerity.

" Curse you !! You are a mad woman aunt marie. I do not even want to look at your face."

He threw his stick at the shaggy bulldog they had and scootied away. Naina ran after her brother but couldn't catch up and stopped after a while. He kept running endlessly across the pebbled streets, over the numerous woodbridges over the tiny brooks and when his lungs were voided of any air, he collapsed to the sediments near a brook. He gasped for air and cried loudly that night lying down on the bank of that brook, just across the woods fencing. Then and there, when he had no energy left, he fell asleep.

***********************

A few days ago in Adi-Yal, the underworld . . . .

As the huge courtroom of dwarves was busy in the administrative work, a green portal flashed right in front of the throne. Two dwarves who were facing the portal stopped and gasped at the green universe. Suddenly they saw something coming and tried to jump aside. But unsuccessful, they found themselves buried under a huge bearded man who lay relaxingly over them.

"Rubal ! the boy li. . . . " the fat man with heavy armour was interrupted in between because of the crash.

He sat up to face the throne and the bilats below groaned in agony.

"Why don't you shout something before you enter here. The last one you fell on is still recovering", shouted the irritated dwarf king.

"Oh sorry guys !! It happens so fast, I just don't remember" his voice thundered the courtroom as he tried to lift himself up from the handicapped dwarves.

"Rubal! The boy lives. He is alive !!"he spoke after bashing soil off his big buttocks.

"Impossible, the noorins are dead !!", shouted the dwarf Bilat king with a loud clap on his face.

"I saw him and the sister. They live Rubal ! We must rise.", answered the excited heavy guard.

"Be gone bilats!!", Rubal clapped his hands to dismiss the courtroom.

An escalated line of concern deepened into the Bilat king's forehead as he watched the sharp witted dwarfs leave. He walked out of the throne and approached the big man down the thronestairs.

"There is a sister, Helo ? Lila never told about her. Tell me more Hugo. Is she like her ?" Rubal hushed into the fat man's ears.

"Yes, looks the same to me. She has a daughter too and Lila's child. They live with the Kaalpians."

"Amazing !! Amazing !! We shall rise Helo. You must bypass the dreydoor. The boy must know. But before that there is something I must do." the bilat king winked at Helo.

Helo turned away to look at the signalled direction. Then he suddenly stopped, sensing something unusual.

The bilat king raised his small hand and waved it in air quickly. A big circle of blue light formed above his hand. A chakra formed from the blue zone and sat in his tiny hand. He threw the chakra just inches away from Helo towards the last dwarf exiting out of the court, splitting his head off the body. The chakra evanesced into the air and reapproached from behind the dwarf at full speed.

"An informer amongst the Bilats !! shame shame shame!!",exclaimed Rubal with a jump after collecting his chakra back into the blue cloud.

"How did you know ?" helo looked surprized.

"The first one to rise and the last one to leave !! The dwarves never waste their time in walking, unless something concerns them."

"Or if it concerns someone they are working for."said Helo.

"Hmm.. We must be cautious my big friend, ever since the fall of the Silverhand, the Bilatia's integrity is short of trust."

They walked upto one of the minister's trunkseat.

"The darkwoods will be accessible. But the village still remains prohibited."

"I will take care of that my friend."

"All right then. Here you go, my big friend ! "

The Bilat-king skimmed his hand over the armrest. Suddenly the trunkseat transformed into a glowing red portal. A voice screeched out of the portal.

" The Silverhand shuttle at your service." screeched the blue portal with a shine.

" The Bilat king demands access to Darkwoods."