Kunal followed the suited man into the shadows of the great cave. The air was colder here—still, ancient. The outside world faded behind him. This place didn't just echo with age; it pulsed with something older than history.
The man stopped near the center. No torches. No glow. Yet somehow, Kunal could still see him, outlined faintly, like the cave itself shifted to reveal this meeting.
"This place is sealed," the man said, voice smooth, unnervingly calm. A faint smile touched his lips.
"In fact, the entire space of this island is sealed. Everything you brought — gear, weapons, devices — all are useless here. Consider this as your first lesson: never look down on the unknown, never walk towards unknown thinking that your preparation is sufficient. Always keep contingency plans ready. But I'll give you this — you've got good friends. Keep them close."
Kunal stayed silent, tense. If answers were coming, he'd listen. If not, he'd walk. He didn't come here to get schooled about choosing friends. All of his friends are loyal to him and he is loyal towards them too.
"Go ahead," the man murmured. "Ask what's eating your mind."
Kunal's breath quickened, but he forced it steady. Finally he can get his answers.
"Who are you people? Why have you started interfering in my life like you own it? Why not leave me the hell alone? I was fine with my mediocrity. I was doing well in my life without you lot."
A flicker of a smile crossed the man's face.
"We never meant to invade your life. Our duty was only to watch. To keep you away from this world. You wouldn't have come to know about us if things were going right."
Kunal frowned, heart hammering.
"Who's 'our' and what world are you talking about? And after that little show outside, you expect me to believe you're a normal human? Why are you watching me? Who sent you? What's this duty?"
He continued in a single breath.
"Let me make this clear to you I am not interested in magic tricks or whatever cult you are a part of. Thank you but I am happy with whatever I have been doing in my life."
The man laughed out loud. You have quite an imagination here.
"By 'our,' I mean the Devas. You know who are Devas, don't you? You're a Brahmin in this life, after all. So I won't explain about that here."
The word Deva hit like a punch. Kunal's stomach clenched.
"And the duty," the man continued with a hidden rage like whatever he is going to talk about he doesn't like it, "comes from an ancient pact. With someone who cared about you, someone very important to this world. Who that was… you'll have to discover on your own. We aren't your nannies. We're here to protect you only from things beyond your reach. So that you don't get crushed like a bug which you are. So be thankful that even I am here explaining all this to you."
He paused, eyes sharp.
"But that protection ends in twenty months. Until then, you need to prove yourself. Strengthen yourself. Become strong enough to protect what's yours — or you'll lose it. Again. And our whole time will get wasted. Your soul will have to pay for that then."
With a snap of his fingers, a burst of flame erupted — silent, sudden. A burning trishul hovered in the air, fierce and unreal. The fire flickered, then vanished.
The man's voice softened.
"We don't expect belief. We expect action."
He circled Kunal slowly.
"You remember enough. Kunala. Son of Ashoka. Betrayed heir. Blind ascetic prince. But still a force that crushed armies when cornered. And now… reborn."
Kunal clenched his fists.
"The woman and the monk I saw — are they with you too?"
"Yes," the man answered smoothly.
"And the hooded whisperer?"
There — a flicker of hesitation.
"Yes," the man said lightly. "Everyone has their role."
Kunal noticed that hesitation but didn't comment on it. He can't risk angering this guy by hurting his ego. God knows what he will do to him.
"Kunal, the Rakshasas are moving," the man continued. "They're hunting anyone with divine spark. And you, reborn, shine brighter than most. You are there one of the biggest target. We couldn't hide you much longer without getting involved directly but we don't have that much time. They have already started keeping an eye on you but they couldn't confirm anything about you."
Kunal's blood ran cold. So they were the ones who hacked his digital footprints.
The man turned toward the far wall. The stone rippled, bending like liquid, until an archway shimmered open.
Before stepping through, the man looked back, a faint smirk on his face.
"That idea of yours - start up. Is really unique and I am sure you can make something grand following your plan of using Vedic Sanskrit and mathematics with Panini's Sanskrit."
And then, just as he stepped into the archway, his voice dropped — low, rhythmic, humming through the cave.
---
"ऋतं च सत्यं चाभीद्धात्तपसोऽध्यजायत।
ततो रात्र्यजायत ततः समुद्रो अर्णवः॥
समुद्रादर्णवादधि संवत्सरो अजायत।
अहोरात्राणि विदधद्विश्वस्य मिषतो वशी॥
सूर्याचन्द्रमसौ धाता यथापूर्वमकल्पयत्।
दिवं च पृथिवीं चान्तरिक्षमथो स्वः॥"
"ṛtaṃ ca satyaṃ cābhīddhāttapaso'dhyajāyata,
tato rātryajāyata tataḥ samudro arṇavaḥ.
samudrād arṇavād adhi saṃvatsaro ajāyata,
ahorātrāṇi vidadhad viśvasya miṣato vaśī.
sūryācandramasau dhātā yathāpūrvamakalpayat,
divaṃ ca pṛthivīṃ cāntarikṣam atho svaḥ."
Translation:
"From heat were born truth and cosmic order.
From them, night. And from night, the rolling ocean.
From the ocean, the year.
The year divided day and night,
and ruled over all that moves.
The sun and moon were set in place,
and the heavens, the earth, and the space between."
---
The moment the chant filled the air, the cave changed.
The air thickened. It pressed against Kunal's chest, skull, shoulders — heavy, suffocating. His knees buckled. Not weakness.
Pressure. Like standing in the presence of something too vast to name.
He collapsed forward head down, breath ripping out of his lungs. With difficulty he lifted his head to see what's happening suddenly.
Has this always been a trap to begin with? But then then all that drama?
But then suddenly.
The great stone face of Shiva across the chamber — it moved.
Or so it seemed. However it scared the shit out of him. He had goosebumps standing all over his body like he has been electrocuted.
For one staggering second, Kunal swore the third eye glowed. His forehead seared, his eyes burned, it became so unbearable that he couldn't control himself from shouting his lungs out and then the world turned white-hot.
Then the blackness.
And then the silence.
When Kunal's senses returned, the archway was gone. The man was gone. The cave was still, ancient, watching. The whole cave felt more divine now with that huge energy everywhere around him.
He exhaled shakily. He decided to sit down there for some time with his eyes closed like doing meditation but he was just gathering his thoughts.
After some time he opened his eyes. He got surprised when he was able to see everything clearly in the dark cave without even his flashlight.
He brushed it on the Deva thinking that he was trying to show off here.
However this wasn't over.
This was just the beginning.
---
On the boat back towards Mumbai shore.
The boat rocked gently as Mumbai's skyline glittered ahead.
Kunal dialed the burner.
"Abhi. Annie. It's done. I'm safe. On my way back."
Their voices cracked through — urgent, panicked. He gave them the short version.
"Right now I will only say that we've been blind to this world. Thinking that we know everything about it and our surroundings. We couldn't have been more wrong. We were living in darkness, oblivious to our own world."
He paused for a moment taking a deep breath stopping himself to blabber out everything right away which he couldn't afford to do that in the open. As he knows the stakes are too high now to do that.
He continued, "We were frogs of the well living in our own little world," he murmured. "I'll explain everything when I'm back."
Pause.
Abhishek's dry voice:
"Okay. I'm coming to get you. Don't go anywhere else. Keep yourself out of sight while I get there."
Kunal smiled faintly, his face sharp in the moonlight.
The fire inside hadn't dimmed. It had been fed new fuel.
It was burning brighter than ever — ready to burn his enemies to the ground.
Only page one was written.
The real story was just beginning.
To be continued...