Chapter 103

                                    

                                          
The wind picked up, swirling dust and dried leaves from the ground while Kairavi wept like a willow. 
Her injuries stung, but there was nothing compared to the mighty guilt of not being able to save her husband. 
                          
The meadow was reduced to silence once more, with her sobs being the only antagonists to the engulfing emptiness. 
It seemed like the whole air, waves and the woods stopped to listen. 
Maybe this was the exact thing her intuition was warning her against, but she mistook it for being a threat to Sahadev's life. 
                          
"Had I paid attention to my settings; my husband wouldn't have had to lose his life. I'm a disgrace to your knowledge, Arya." 
She picked up her sword and tossed it away in disgust. 
                          
"If it costs losing someone for the sake of mere victory, then I shall not lay my hands over any weapon again." Her nostrils flared in rage, a deep agony that was slowly eating her up from the inside. 
She wanted to decapitate every single member of the tribe, but the woman in her didn't have the strength to avenge her loss anymore. 
                          
She had given everything to the combat; and the last shreds of hope smoldered into a fruitless travail.
















                          
At that moment, the sky seemed to smile at her. Anagh's corpse began to glow, making Kairavi jolt in surprise. 
She shot a look of complete bewilderment to the tribesmen and found them advancing towards the same fate. 
Golden particles, radiating even brighter light were ascending towards the celestial sea. 
                          
The specks from the chieftain's body accumulated in the air and formed a silhouette of what seemed like a deity. 
Kairavi slowly scooted towards Nakul, shielding her eyes from the blinding fluorescence, and placed a hand over his stone-cold chest, as if protecting him from being taken away. 
                          
No fear, no struggle, and no emotions were left in her soul at that point. 
If it was an invocation from death itself; she was ready to abandon her mortality. 
                          
Four arms stretched out of the outline, and the bodies of the other men evanesced into a scimitar, a club, and a shield respectively. 
As if abiding by a summon, they floated towards the deity and rested in its three hands while the fourth one molded into the abhay mudra. 
                          
The principal subordinate dematerialized into an orb, and quickly flew past the couple to manifest into its true form. 
It had a cat-like graceful body, but the head of a lion with tusks of an elephant, and the tail of a serpent.
















                          
A gasp escaped Arni's mouth as the realization dawned over her. She rose to her feet and joined her hands in reverence as the creature bellowed, shaking the ground with its majestic voice. 
It was none other than Yali, the protector of nakshatras; and mounted on him, was her half brother, Lord Budh. 
                          
Chandreya froze to the spot, unable to move. 
Her breath tightened in her lungs, shivers of awareness ran down her spine as the ruler of planet Mercury descended from the sky, beaming with pride at his sister.
                          
"That would be a shame since you qualified the trickiest test on your training, my beloved anuja." He stood up from the lion's back and walked towards her. 
Kairavi was already seeing spots dancing before her vision. It was too much to record in her brain, with her heart almost giving up its impulse to pump blood into her veins. Her hands fell to her sides.















                          
"Why such a test, o venerated one?" She cried, her cheeks were salt and wet. 
He smiled with infinite earnestness, the corners of his eyes wrinkling into creases of delight. 
                          
"Anyone can be great under rosy circumstances, but the true test of character is measured by how well a person makes decisions under difficult situations."