One moment there had been the open road, the distant sounds of pursuit ,hooves, war drums, the rage of men who had tasted victory and wanted more. And then the trees closed in, and the world outside ceased to exist.
It was not the kind of forest that welcomed. The canopy above was so thick it choked the moonlight into thin, silver threads that barely reached the ground. Ancient roots curled out of the earth as if they are protecting something buried sacred, a deity . The air was wet and heavy, thick with the smell of moss ,the wet soil,and petrichor , indescribable that had no name in any language, he and his men spoke.
Vines hung from the branches like curtains between worlds. Somewhere deep inside, an animal called out once ,the birds sitting in their shelter silently flew at once startled by the loud noise.
His soldiers moved through it like silent but resilient .No matter what they went through their warrior blood still called for revenge ,for justice ,their hearts silently grieving for the brothers they lost
They had been proud men, once. Warriors whose names made other men step aside ,not in heart but in reverence for their dedication ,to protect,to help and to safeguard, keeping their lives in the line of danger.
Now they limped. They bled quietly. They held their wounds with one hand and their weapons with the other, because old habit do not die even when the body begs to. No one spoke. The forest seemed to press the words back into their throats.
Rudra walked at the front, as he always did.
His face was impassive ,no one could have guessed the brutality he had handled by looking at him. But his clenched fist, the silent twitch of his eyebrows,dried blood thathad darkened the edge of his jaw gave a glimpse of the brutality that he had handled,the lives he had lost.
He did not acknowledge it. He acknowledged nothing. His eyes moved, over the trees, the shadows, the ground , reading, calculating, never resting. His face was carved stone. Whatever was happening inside him stayed there, locked behind something cold and practiced and absolute.
He had not spoken in two hours.
His men had stopped waiting for him to.The hopes that they had built in armor quietly chipping away but by bit.
They heard the river before they saw it. It brought silent sighs of relief in midst of pain.
A low, constant murmur weaving through the silence ,gentle, indifferent, unbothered by wars and fleeing men.
When they broke through a curtain of hanging roots and found it, some of the soldiers simply dropped to their knees at the bank. They drank with their hands cupped , quenched their thirst with the rivers streams.
He stood apart from them, at the edge of the bank, watching the far tree line guarding them while they were vulnerable silently thanking Mahadev for the much needed relief.
It was one of the younger soldiers ,barely old enough to have earned his place in the regiment - who noticed it first. He had straightened up from drinking, water dripping from his chin, and looked upstream along the bend in the river. Then he went still.
"Senapati."
He turned.
Through the trees, set back from the river on a small rise of earth as if the land itself had lifted it up in offering ,they saw it- a temple.
Everyone was alerted of its presence,a shelter for the soldiers in the tender situation would be a blessing from God.
They moved towards it with silent hope .
It was not large. It had not been grand, perhaps, even in its time. The stone was black with age, with lichen and the creep of moss.
Carved figures lined the outer walls they were gods and guardians worn smooth by rain and the passage of time. A single flame burned somewhere inside. You could see its glow through the narrow entrance, amber and warm and utterly out of place in all this darkness.
He stared at it.
And a feeling that he could not name moved in his chest. Like a door he had sealed long ago, rattling faintly in its frame.
He did not move toward it.
His second-in-command came to stand beside him. Looked at the temple. Looked at him. Said nothing for a moment, which was a kindness.
Then, quietly "The men cannot go further tonight Rudra,they need rest and something to eat let's see if we could get something there".
He was aware of the possibility but a feeling stopped,kept his feet from moving ,he felt like something is going to change.
A long moment passed.
"Waha Jo bhi rehta usse koi haani nahi pohochni chahiye .Apne shastra tab tak mat uthana jab tak tumpe koi hamla na ho ". He ordered his men.
He exhaled once, slow and controlled, through his nose. Then he turned from the river and walked toward the temple, and his men followed.
The carvings on the entrance pillars were dense and intricate, twisting figures of serpents and lotuses and various carvings of gods and goddesses indicating their presence in the sacred place .Oil lamps lined the inner corridor in small stone alcoves, their flames absolutely, impossibly still in a night full of wind.
His men slowed without being told to. Something about this place made you quieter. Made you smaller. Not in a way that frightened bht in a way that reminded you that you were not, in fact, the largest thing in the world.
He walked ahead of them, into the main sanctum.
The idol at the center was of Lord Krishna in his divine form- Banke Bihari stood in his eternal three-fold sway, dark as a rain cloud, crowned with a peacock feather, a flute resting loosely in his hands. Fresh marigolds garlanded his neck. A single deepak burned at his feet, and in its light the idol seemed to breathe , to shift, almost, between stillness and movement, the way Krishna always does. That half-smile on his lips. That downward gaze that somehow still found you.
Rudra stood before it for a moment.
Then, without a word, without looking back at his men ,he bent. One knee to the cold stone and lowered himself in reverence ,asking the idol for his permission and blessing.
He felt it a breath before it happened.
A shift in the air. A presence, the way you sense a flame before you see its light.
He turned.
She stood at the far edge of the sanctum, near a side passage, a small clay lamp in her hand. She was beautiful,no words could describe the kind of beauty and peace she radiated ,her dark glowy eyes that could make anyone's breath hitch but it also had an air of gentleness like of a newborn that had all the innocent and peace of the world.
Their eyes met with a recognition that couldn't be explained in the mortal sense.
Thei silent stare was broken by the temple's priest who stood behind her.
"Aap yaha kya kar raho beta. Kahi bhatak gaye ho kya". He asked gently without commenting on the evidence of the war he carried with himself.
"Panditji, hum keval do raat ke liye aasra maang rahe hain. Mere log ghayel hain, thake hue hain. Subah ki pehli roshni mein hum nikal jayenge." He folded his hand together and looked downwards with silent respect.He didn't elaborate, didn't mention the war or the urgency of the moment.His unprotected kingdom that needed his help, the women and the children waiting for their father,husband,brother or friend.
He had walked into rooms full of men who feared him and felt nothing.
He did not know what he felt now.But his soldiers needed this and he could anything for his family ,even lower his head.
She looked at the men behind him. At their wounds. At their hollow, hungry faces.
Then she looked back at him.
And she spoke first.
"Aap log yaha reh sakte hai.Yeh unka ghar hai ,aap logo ko hamse aagya magne ki koi jarurat nahi hai " she looked at the idol and then at her father and questioned.
"Haina baba?"
"Meri beti bilkul sahi keh rahi aap log vishram kije.Aap hamare athiti hai aap jab tak rehna chahe yaha reh sakte hai" he gently answered.
"Dhanyawaad" he answered.
Ok I know it's still incomplete at some places, meko abhi bhi storyline itna clear nahi hai dimaag mein I am just going with the flow .Jaise jaise story aage badhegi i will make some important changes aage k chapters mein bhi. Famous hone ka koi expectations nahi hai isliye I am just going with the flow.Aur pehle hi bata rahi shayad aage k max 5 chapter paid rakhungi baaki sab free hi hoga aur paid chapters bhi khatam hone k time aayenge.Abhi exams chal rahe isliye irregular updates.
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