EPILOGUE

The ashram and its surroundings had been completely cleaned. Rakt Guru and twenty-five of his soldiers were stationed there on Shwet Guru’s orders. Acharya Ramashisht and Shishya had settled in their home again after the carnage that had happened there, at the hands of the Demon. The rest of the Raktsena, along with Pradyuman, Shwet Guru, Chandra and others, had departed for Gurukul.

Acharya was sitting in his room poring over a battered old manuscript when Shishya and Rakt Guru entered. He looked up and sighed.

“This is incomplete,” he said as he pointed to the manuscript. It was the same manuscript that Kaalkesh had showed him in his treasure chamber. He had thought that it was the key to the past. He was only half right.

“What do you mean, Acharya ji?” asked Shishya.

“There are more parts to it,” Acharya explained. “Some part is missing between two lines. It is as if someone started a story on this page, continued it another page and so on, eventually coming to this page to write another line.”

“Why would someone do that? It’s tedious work,” said Rakt Guru.

“To hide the whole story?” suggested Shishya.

“But if you want to hide it, why write it in the first place,” Rakt Guru stated.

Both of them went silent as Acharya Ramashisht ignored their discussion and continued to go through the document.

Rakt Guru pored over it too. He said, “It seems a similar manuscript was stolen from the Gurukul library.”

Acharya turned to look at him. “When?” he asked.

Rakt Guru told him everything about the attack on the castle in detail.

“It was Chandra who saw the whole thing and told us about the manuscript. I was preparing to track down the Suryagarh hunters who attacked us when this Mrityusena affair attracted our attention,” he said.

Acharya smiled as he said, “It seems our young prince has been caught in this storm by sheer fate.”

Then a thought came to him. “Mrityusena’s involvement in all this distracted you. But someone should have concentrated on finding that manuscript.”

“I sent my best trackers behind those attackers. I am sure they will bring some news,” said Rakt Guru.

Rakt Guru seemed confident. So, Acharya turned back to the manuscript. He kept turning its pages as he read it again and again.

“It seems there are two more parts to this manuscript,” he finally said, after some time.

“But what is it?” asked Shishya.

“This is an account written by three people. About what happened two centuries ago in Suryagarh,” Acharya said calmly. Rakt Guru and Shishya looked amazed.

“It seems this,” he said and pointed a finger at the manuscript, “is behind all that is happening right now.”

He stood up. “This is one-third of the account of what happened at the battle of the four princes.”

“Battle of the four princes!” exclaimed Shishya.

“I thought it was a myth,” Rakt Guru said with astonishment.

For the first time, Acharya Ramashisht looked worried.

“We all did. Some of us even wished it. But as far as I understand from this, it is not a myth. It is as real as Mahaguru Shandilya’s history. There was no written account of that battle; so, people forgot about it. Those who knew something propagated half truths and lies. The real story, it seems, was lost in time and it became a myth. And now that myth has come back to haunt us all.”

“What do you mean, Acharyaji?” asked Shishya.

“I mean someone knew about this and he used this knowledge to bring back the evil power that was defeated at the battle of the four princes. He used Prince Chandra to lure Raghavendra into a trap and brought that power back. And now that power is bent on destroying our world,” said Acharya.

“What is that power?” Rakt Guru asked, his voice shaking with a sense of foreboding.

“This manuscript is written by three people. And the battle was between four princes. There is one line written here that says ‘we killed our younger brother and imprisoned his soul under Gurudev’s directions.’ I think it is that younger brother who is this power. That night, when Chandra was taken to the temple, this younger brother was awakened by those who plotted everything.”

“So, he was the youngest of the four princes. Is he the one who is ruling Suryagarh?” Shishya asked.

“So, it seems,” Acharya answered.

“But how did he come back from the dead?” Rakt Guru asked. “Is it even possible?”

“It doesn’t matter how he came back?” Shishya asked, looking at Rakt Guru intently. “How do we stop him?”

Acharya shook his head. “Everything matters here, my child. All these questions need to be answered,” he said and looked towards Rakt Guru.

“We need to find the other two parts of this manuscript. Without them, it is impossible to know the whole story and how to stop the evil. We also need to find those who planned the events that changed Chandra’s life. Only then we will be able to help Chandra destroy the evil that seeks to destroy us.”