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1 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 3 - The Sitting Sage & the Twelve Disciples
Episode 3 - On Route to Reality
These are called the 'Archipels of Alwars', declared the Sitting Sage. They were designed by the Alwars to shelter the sailors lost in the sea. Each tiny land that looked magically floating out of nowhere on the sea were not mirages but the hope for the sinking ships. These islands were created with abundant food resources and all around were tree species used to build rescue boats. The plants generate double the oxygen to give enough strength for the weak surviors to regain quickly. Each Alwar sacrificed themselves to build such sandy lands upon the instruction from their Master.
And the Warriors were never seen again. Yaaghavi was expelled from the kingdom. There was a small resistence around her, until the night the gaurds marched in and chopped the right thumb of the supporters as a warning. Yaaghavi was lastly seen climbing the mountains.
The eldest of the sailor asked the Sitting Sage who really was Kochadaiiyaan. The Sitting Sage explained :
Heroes are not all-powerful and immortal beings. Instead they represent the best of what it means to be human, demonstrating great strength, courage, wisdom, cleverness and devotion. They are the ones who triumph over obstacles. The Sun being symbol of Birth, the Sunlight becomes the source of Life, just like how the light falls on the buds and turn them into flowers. Then He sung to them the 'Ballad of Birth' :
O kinsfolk, the world begun as a seed,
With all what all we need,
Our dream, our deepest heed,
Where greed & rage grows like a weed.
Yet in this seed is found as well,
That HE met his gay Lady ringing the bell.
On the leaves fair and green,
Grew a new seed bright and clean.
Beats a noble heart in this seed,
Born by the reunion of good deed,
To begin a whole new creed,
To bring an end to the bleed.
A day of miracle emerged,
When the brave and the honor merged.
Here amoung the other Worlds,
The seed is part Heaven and part Earth.
Two Gods indulged in an illegal act after slaying a demon - one taking the role of the slayer and the other turning into a pretty lady. They comitted a second crime by trespassing into the Human World to hide the birth occured through their reunion. When the Demon soul that they slayed laughed at the Justice of Gods, the two Gods were answerable to the Court of Devine. It was pronounced that the descendant, now found in the Human World, will become a mortal and that his death would be seen by the other worlds. Further the Doors of the Worlds were permanantly closed, bringing an end to the Golden Age, making Kochadaiiyaan the Last Demigod to walk on Earth. His Parents thrusted twelve tasks on their Son, mainly to send back the evils and demons still circling in the Human World.
In the depths of the Bright Lands, found amoung the nature, was a new born lying over a Bed of Beli leaves, encircled around a Blue satin cloth. Concealed within was a Dragger, so cold. The local hunters found the infant but there was a Predator of the Nature, a Capitoline Wolf, standing gaurd. Looking at its size and furious eyes, the hunters camped nearby until dusk when they carried the baby away. Their greed made them sell the new born to a childless merchant. Thus, Kochadaiiyaan grew amoung the other children being the most intelligent. When he was fourteen, he realised through a dream who he actually was and left to the Bright Lands. Upon his return he was no more a student, but the Teacher of all Teachers.
The Sitting Sage then clamly answered to the younger one's question on who he himself is :
I goes by many names,
I have seen all that had left,
I have witnessed all that is roaming,
I have visioned all that was coming,
I am the Light in the Dark,
I am the Darkness within the Light,
And you can call me Time.
For the anxiety of the sailors, as to what would happen next, the Sitting Sage summerised :
Many escaped from the Sea & Lands when HE slayed their sources. They all hid in various places. They were all chased, cornered and killed with HIS Dragger. The souls sent to the Right Worlds, where they should belong. But there rose a new, an hybrid of pure evil in the human form, which is not the manifestation HE should have known, neither it was HIS task. Instead HE was put to leave behind HIS proper seed. And in the battle of three, only one will stand.
He explained to them that their presence here was triggered, so that the twelve became the Witness of Time. Saying so he gently asked the sailors to continue their journey. The sailors prepared to leave and after moving few steps futher towards the beach, they all stoped and realised that they did not thank the Sitting Sage. When they turned they found the nature had taken HIS place.
It took them 3 days to build a boat. Each one had a different thought running in their mind recollecting what the Sitting Sage had told them. They set sail towards the Horizon. There was silence through the journey as though everything seemed a massive dream and then one of them whispered in the wind :
And in the battle of three, only one will stand.
Chapter 3 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...3&d=1446047701
... to be continued ...
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1 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
http://www.filmibeat.com/fanimg/koch...ages-24281.jpg
Episode 1 - The Jewel of Kali
The shadow moving slowly under the moolight was chilling. There was a particularity in its form that looked crookedly bent. Barely audible squawky noise came out from the object the creepy silhouette was pulling. The mysterious form stopped to look-up at the only light illuminating a sort, resembling a dormer. Stopping below, the twisted figure dug out what looked like a closed cylindrical wooden container from the cart it was pulling. The crippled hands with long thin fingers and unkempt nails carried the vessel and climbed up the stairs. Its heavy breathing pierced the passing breeze. On top and from around the corner of the landing, someone else was hiding and jumped over the visitor, which took him by suprise and he let out a loud cry.
Hanchabadra was taken aback and wailed. It made the kids gathered around laugh out loud. Nodding his head in displeasure, Hanchabadra lifted the pail, and signaled with his thin long finger, indicating none would receive the candy dipped in honey. The kids put-up an apologetic face, when Sengodagan rushed past the kids and pulled Hanchabadra by his cloak. The Candy Man followed Sengodagan like a puppy which made the kids to chortle.
Sitting around a shy camp-fire, the kids were contendly brushing the hard boiled candy. Hanchabadra, sitting next to Sengodagan, was counting the tiny pearls attatched on Sengodagan's tunic. A little girl from the group, pleaded Sengodagan to narrate them a story, to which Hanchabadra clapped hysterically in accord. Sengodagan calmed the kids and pointed his finger towards the nearby Lighthouse. The kids noticed that, the phare was emitting a severe kind of brightness that blinded their eyes. Sengodagan explained to them that the source of it's brightness was from a tiny rhinestone and continued to narrate to them one of their escapades.
Very long ago, started Sengodagan plesantly, lived a jewelsmith with his pretty daughter, Kali. While working in the mines, he came across a special stone, tiny in size, but was releasing light through its octahedral shape. The face of the jewelsmith glowed with the light from the diamond. He carefully crafted a Mukhutti for Kali, studded with the magical rock. The nose ring gave some kind of divine shine on Kali, that the people believed that she is a Goddess in human form.
One day, continued Sengodagan with anxiety, while the jewelsmith was working at a mine sight with other miners, they were attacked by demon like humans riding on buffaloes. They attacked every person on the site and dragged their bodies inside the forest. That night, when Kali came to know about the massacre, she entered the forest and slayed every rotten minded culprits, guilty of the crime against her people. Lucent beam from Kali's jewel spun between the tree gaps. And at the end, when none stood before her, Kali continued to perform the Dance of Agni, producing a fire in her furious twrils that set the Great Forest ablaze.
Far Far away, spoke Sengodagan assuringly, a group of settlers were lost and seeing the flames they walked towards that direction. When they reached their destination, the fire had changed its form, from flames to smoke. Before them, was a vast fertile land, and the settler established thier homes on the ash-grounds, and named the new found land, Karimedu, the Kingdom on which they all were sitted currently.
But wait, carried on Sengodagan. When Kali performed the Dance of Agni, her nose ring fell to the ground. Rain that followed washed away the precious jewel and made it stuck in an unknown place for years, until we found its where-abouts - Sengodagan looked proudly at Hanchabadra who smiled with pride. Following the map that had lead them past rivers, valleys & hills, they reached a cliff, over which an abondaned settlement was sitting. After a hard cliff climbing, they were suprised to reach a wave-cut platform inbetween the cliff. They mounted on to the platform and found a deep hole in the middle. And above the dark hollow, at the center, a tiny stone hung around in the magical air. On the 2 sides of the empty well, there were stairs with eighteen steps, climbing which one reached to the level of the hanging stone.
But, recounted Sengodagan enthusiastically, the stairway just allowed to reach the physical height but there was only emptiness between the top step and the dangling diamond. It was highly impossible to reach it, even by a massive jump, which is sure to land anyone see the end of the vaccant well. Standing on top, Sengodagan on one set of stairs and his friend on the other, they looked around. Hanchabadra stood on the floor. On the walls surrounding the landing, were several heads of animal's and bird's faces carved. But only two were locked with a Nath, a sort of circular nose ring. Sure that its a sort of a key, Hanchabadra was instructed to pull them towards the ground. When Hanchabadra pulled the ring under the trunk of the elephant face, a platform glided out from the stairway and it extended before Sengodagan, stopping under the pendant. And the ring under the beak of an eagle did a similar operation on the other stairway, and the second moving platform joined with the first one, making a sort of bridge across the endless well, their meeting point just under the hanging stone.
And the problem was my lads, explained Sengodagan to the open-mouthed kids, the platforms won't stay in place. Once stepped on the platform, it started to retreat by rebuilding the gap, and by each step the distance between the gem and the platform increased while the raised floor glided back into its casket behind the stairway. The weight over it triggered a mechanism that made it disappear making it impossible to reach the target by walking on it. Not knowing what to do, he looked at his friend who was preparing to run towards the center. He, also, started to run against the disappearing platform and when he reached the end of it, he used it as a pressure mount and rocketed himself towards the suspended diamond. The action had triggered another system and the platform was sucked by the stairs quickly and completely, leaving him suspended in the air, and in no time his fall would occur. Not minding the fall he held his right hand stretched to reach the Jewel of Kali.
Being close to the artifact, Sengodagan piqued the interest of his audience, he swung his palm and readied himself to cup his fingers to catch the hanging wonder. But he was short by a millimeter and could hold nothing but only the empty air. His fall started driving him quickly into the dark abyss below. On the other end, his friend had leaped and made a his body twist in the air with both his hands placed on his chest to gain the needed momentum, and when he reached the stone, he stretched his left hand and grabed the hanging stone inside his clutch, and the next moment triggered his fall too. As soon as the Jewel of Kali was removed, the inner wall of the hollow pit spitted several ropes around and formed a kind of a netted bed on which they both landed.
Even after Sengodagan had completed narrating the origin of the stone on the Lighthouse, the kids faces were still excited and lightened up. Their shine increased when they heard the screech from the door infront of them. From the interior of the cabin, the friend of Sengodagan, dressed all in blue, with dazziling crystal-stars stitched on to the chevalier vest and with hands stretched out as though hugging all the kids at once, emerged a smiling young man, Rana - The Treasure Hunter.
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...0&d=1446131509
... to be continued ...
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3 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
Trail of Time
"Who are you" - asked Rana
"I am Kacha, the son of Vrikoda" - replied the young man who brought the strong box.
Rana examined the safe box before him. It was rectagular, with carvings on it which seemed like faces attached together. He resumed more than 60 different faces, but asserted to himself to ask Hanchabadra to count them later. A serpent's coil interlocked the faces. He took the case and looked for a opening, searching for a sort of press or push button system, but found nothing. While he rotated the carton, the cravings made more sense - they were all seeming to be arranged in series and attached to a single Head on which a Trident was clipped. He followed the snake-line and his fingers reached the centre, where the Head with the Trident was present. In which ever way he circled, all the faces ended at the Master's. Curious he held it a bit futher to find the serpent's head. He smiled when he found it hidden behind the Trident.
"Press the head" - said Kacha softly.
Rana lifted his head from the box, looked at him, and then pressed the Head with the Trident. Nothing happened.
"The snake's" - Kacha said gently.
When Rana pressed the head of the snake, he heard a small click. He placed the box back on the table and followed the crack. The Head with the Trident seemed to be cut from the other heads and now could be flipped open. Rana collected the 4 objects from the Devine Box - 3 leather skin & a papyrus. He placed them carefully on the table. He closed the box, and pushed the snake head again, just to be sure if it opened. And it did. He smiled, again.
The leather skins were of 3 different shapes & sizes. The papyrus was bigger than the rest. He spread all the 4 peices on the desk. Before them were 3 sorts of maps and on the papyrus were writings.
Rana looked at the first Map :
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...1&d=1446220126
He then examined the second one :
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...2&d=1446220136
He analysed the final map :
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...3&d=1446220145
He re-arranged the maps by placing the smaller one in the middle. Then he went through the papyrus :
Begin where it shows the end,
Follow the end to see the bend.
Not far, but too far to walk
Comes a place where you can dock.
On the drunkman's route,
Be sure nothing sticks to the boot.
Walk on the oxbow,
And into the other don't go.
Listen to me well and good,
you have come so far as it could.
If you are brave and ready to hook,
Fight the snails which can't look.
The energy sits not so tall,
Don't look atall but just on the wall.
But should look down if you are wise,
To be aware of the sixsixsix.
Pass the path of the moving rope,
where there is no light of hope.
Below is nothing to note,
But look twice before you boat.
Farther than it looks,
Sits the lake of Ghosts.
Not a sacrifice of blood,
Prove your worth to cross the flood.
On the sands you stand,
Taking the pebbles in your hand.
None of the sand is a friend,
Your fate the peables can mend.
Hatchet in hand bows, the fists take a vow.
Right, turns the bow, left for the dove.
The kneeled watch eachother,
Now, look below to enter another.
If you have come for gold,
The reward will be cold.
Rests inside is a great soul,
And what you seek is in the bowl.
Rana exclaimed "We need to consult the Wise Brothers".
... to be continued ...
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Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
The Wise Brothers
'It all makes sense now', Youngman talked to himself, after examining the items brought by Rana & team. From the back of the tiny room, Hanchabadra exclaimed 'sixty-four'.
While crossing the streams & jungles to reach the Cabin of Wise Borthers, Sengodagan went into a non-stop talking mode. Siting beside Rana over a horse-drawn caravan pulled by couple of dark stallions and bright mares, he registered to Rana that none of the items made any sense. River Gihan was found nowhere, as he knew all the corner of the five Kingdom. Moreover, the map is crooked and looking at the indication of the landscape, a gulf of a sort, he was sure the mentioned place do not exsit, atleast during their time. He was curious about the Chamber of Seven Fathers, but sure that it had something to do with Rana's Father. And he expressed his horror over the tiny map with unicode arrows that were pointed at every direction. Rana patiently listened to Sengodagan and from behind, inside the caravan, Hanchabadra cried out in a rejected tone 'sixty-eight'. A moment later Rana spoke to himself -'Silence is fortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage, while birds without speech fly freely about'. Listening to what Rana uttered, and not willing to join Kacha and Hanchabadra inside the caravan, Sengodagan made sure that the rest of their journey was travelled peacefully.
Rana, Sengodagan & Kacha were standing around a table at the centre of the room watching the Wise Brothers through the dimly lit lamp. The Wise Brothers were not actually blood brothers, and they go by funny names - Tallman, Youngman & Shortman. The Shortman was the tallest while the Youngman was the oldest and the Tallman was the shortest amoung them. No one knew their real names, neither how they got along together. Different in looks & age, these three often argued with each other. None accepted what the other said, but still they stuck together for all these years.
Praise the Master, said Shortman
Praise the Gods, said Youngman
Paise me, said Tallman
River Gihan, started the Wise Brothers taking turns, to explain the origins and the whereabouts explained on the Map. River Gihan flowed over the lands several centuries ago. The very first settlements were on the fertile lands along River Gihan. The source of the River was from the Great Gardens, the Garden of Gods. Nature's phase changed leading the greenry around the stream submerge within the sand-bed of the River, creating an immense desert. Evoloution happened when the sea met the land, creating cliffs & mountains. And during all the Nature's Alteration, River Gihan flowed peacefully.
'If you can't see it, it doesn't mean non-existent.', declared Tallman. Hanchabadra shouted 'seventy four'.
The history of River Gihan can be divided into a series of aeons. Flowing over the land, River Gihan expanded, as well as gained great momentum during centurial time scales. Its force washed away the dense growth, and later started to consume the earth itself. The decayed vegetation formed a sort of chemical that mixed with the water and helped it to slice through the solid ground. At a point in time, River Gihan crossed its path over a massive cavern, collapsing it, and thus completely entering the ground under. This phenomena provoked a dryness around, later occupied by desert. The swift climatic changes provoked another phase of Life around the dry bed of the River and presently the Kingdom is just above the swiftly flowing River Gihan.
"Begin where it shows the end", read out the Wise Brothers together - the exact location where the River ended its journey over the land, to take its new flow under the ground. Its opening is found at the Northern Cliff, under the first gulf which was formed, the Gulf of Bhairavi.
Shortman looked at Rana and spoke to him - "Your Father is a Noble Man. Eventhough you do not know much about him, he has given you an opurtunity to explore it yourself. The rest of the guide are for you to realise. Go North, you won't miss the Pit of Bharavi, follow its enterance to reach the Chamber of Seven Fathers."
Hanchabadra concluded "Seventy", indicating his accuracy on finding seventy different faces on the Devine Box from the Master. Rana turned and looking at Hanchabadra, nodded his head in agreement.
... to be continued ...
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Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
The Pit of Bairavi
The Treasure Hunter finished arranging the things needed for the expedition. Sengodagan looked unconvinced, Kacha maintained his silence and Hanchabadra was force feeding the horses. The Wise Brothers, each carrying tiny luggage bags approached the mobile home. They were still arguing over the size of their baggage even after reaching the caravan. Rana waited out and when they finished, Shortman informed Rana that he would be needing them too. 'Just like your Father was assisted by the Warriors, you need Six to enter the Master's Sanctury', and the announcement made Sengodagan facepalm so hard. Rana explained to them the unknown dangers and the diffiuclties during the route under ground, but the Wise Brothers stood firm with their decisions.
The journey towards the North took several days, but was plesant as the wheather was cooperative. The group camped during the nights and Hanchabadra collected twigs to make fire, the Wise Brothers cooked three different dishes each day, Sengodagan ate and slept, while Rana chatted with Kacha about the Devine Box.
"I have not seen my father", informed Kacha to Rana. His mother, Valanthara, was 8 months pregnant when the Fall of Kochadaiiyaan caught the Kingdoms as a wildfire. That rainy night, Vrikoda visited his wife. He spent the night designing a mid-ground cellar inside the house and finished by placing a structured hole, the size of a coin, at the cellar's eastern corner. He then placed the chest he had brought with him in the centre of the vault. Before leaving, he instructed his wife to find and handover the Devine Box to Rana when the light falls on the casket. Vrikoda did not return after that night. The trunk lied in the dark for several years, and just a week before Kacha met Rana, a beam of Sunlight lightened the Face of the Master carved on the Devine Box.
The Super Seven entered into the thick sands at the North shore of Karimedai. The monstrous dark sea hit the rocks creating furious splashes. Sengodagan and Hanchabadra unloaded the caravan while Rana and Kacha discussed with the Wise Brothers facing the sea. Sengodagan walked behind them and without any one's permission shooted his question on the location of the 'pit', stressing hard on his last word. The discussing team turned and looked at him. He shrugged his shoulder. The team resumed their discussion. After a while, Shortman looked at Sengodagan and replied that the route to the 'pit', stressing the word similarly, will releive by itself. Sengodagan putting a long face, gazed at Rana who started to walk towards the waves with Kacha.
When it was about to fall dark, the moment the Sun & Moon were present together over the yellow sky, the tides occured. It looked asthough the blue carpet of the gushing water was pulled back by a tremendrous force. A moment before there was sea, then, replaced by flat surface of land. Such rise and fall of the sea level is provoked by Nature, through the combined effects of gravitational forces exerted by the Moon, Sun, and rotation of the Earth. Before them was a vast piece of new born land and the Super Seven marched over the sands into the unexplored land.
To everyone's suprise, somewhere in the middle of the dry sea-bed, sitting before them was a huge opening to a spacious sea-cave, formed by the wave action of the sea itself. Excited, the explorators entered into the Pit of Bairavi, while the tides slowly started to rise behind them.
... to be continued ...
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1 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
Finding the Bend
The light from the Moon gracefully shined into the Pit, making the floor of the empty well visible. At the mouth of the pit, the Wise Brothers were indulged in a deep conversation to decide the depth of the hollow. The rest four rested beside the sledge they were pulling. Sengodagan thoughtfully reached Rana and looking at the Wise Brothers, murmured that it would have been wise to have brought along a couple mercenaries, and they would come in handy if one of the Brothers fell. Rana looked at him, his eyes sharper than a razor-sharp blade. 'Whether its the brother or a friend, missing one is always a troublesome'. Saying so, he walked away towards the pit, leaving Sengodagan in the darkness.
Rana quickly attached a rope-ladder on the solid rock formation and threw its other end into the well. He then took out a sort of a clip with a long rope tail and fixed it between the rock and the ladder. Rana tossed the loose cord hanging from the clip into the pit. The cord spinned down, swung for a while and then rested beside the rope-ladder. And Rana did all this ignoring completely the argument between the Wise Brothers above his head. Once the route down was in place, Rana announced to the group that there was no time to waste and prepared himslef to descent.
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...4&d=1446733896
From behind, Sengodagan gently gestured Rana to move and climbed down the rope-ladder and droped into the Pit to make sure its out of danger. As a acknowledgement to the 'danger-free' hand signal from Sengodagan, who had reached the floor of the pit, Rana sent the Wise brothers & Hanchabadra one after the other down the ladder. Kancha, in the mean time, made hitch knots over the baggages, fastening them to the rope. He then fixed a pulley on a rigid rock, and allowed the load to reach Sengodagan, who collected them by the time Hanchabadra came to his assitance. Leaving the sledges and just carrying the the rest of the ropes and the accessories, Kancha went before Rana. Rana looked the Shining Moon and with a smile descended into the pit. On reaching the bottom, Rana pulled the cord of the clip fixed to the top of the rope ladder. The ladder and the cord gained a free fall as the clip jumped upwards detaching the ladder from the lock of the rock above. Hanchabadra quickly collected the fallen items and packed them into the gear bags.
The bed of the Pit was still wet. Youngone diagonised that the tides have not only pulled the sea water, but the water from the pit too. He looked around in exclamation to find the outlets through which the water gets pumped in and out during the tides. Rana disturbed the analyst, stating that they don't have much time to take a tour but act fastly to quit the pit before getting drowned. At the very moment, the Super Seven realised that the tides have increased their pace as water started to leak around the wall of the well. Also, they felt a gush of air riding down the opening vent above - waves were fast approaching.
"Follow the end to see the bend" - but it was an oval pit, there was bend everywhere and they were already at its end - thought Rana. He quickly surveyed his surrounding with his eyes, not knowing exactly what he was looking for. A Rock, a color different from the other, caught his eyes and a beam of white light was sitting over it. Rana approached the rock to note that it looked like a lever, curving itself towards the ground. He pulled the bent up and a small shaft opened adjacent to him. With a glad face, he ordered the Super Six to get inside the tunnel quickly.
The leakage through the wall grew intense. The gushing air from above started to emitte noise too, the sound of the fast approaching waves. Desperately the team entered into the 'half-man-sized' escape shaft. After a few meters crawling, the vent had lead them out over a flat rock. Rana was the last to join the others, and once he laid his foot over the landing on the other side, the shaft closed, covering itslef with a cut-rock sliding down. The team heard parrallel thuds.
It was dark on this side, compared to the Moon Lit Pit. And relatively clam too. No noise, except dripping water sound admist the clatter of something flowing. Rana lit up a fire torch. Right from the moment the desent began, until crossing to the other side of the Pit of Bairavi, Rana did not speak with Sengodagan. When others took deep breathes and started to settle down, Rana approached Sengodagan and explained to him that the shaft worked on some kind of mass pressure plate system. When initial weight from one end, reaches its opposite side, ie. the start point of the small tunnel, crossing the huge side wall of the Pit, ends at the rock platform, a virtual counter is incremented. When the counter reached 7, the shaft door shuts automatically, meaning no one else could make it in or out, but get trapped inside the tunnel or drowned in the Pit. Rana infered that only seven members were authorised to pass through, and without waiting for a reply from Sengodagan, he walked away to check on others, leaving Sangodagan with his guilt.
The Pit of Bairavi, started to fill-up with sea water. The group waited a bit until the water hammer subdued. There was an chilling quiteness after that. Collecting their back-bags, they started to advance holding fire torches to show them the way. Just after a few strides, the rock platform ended, and got replaced by a floor of water. The Treasure Hunter had discovered the Mother River from the Great Gardens, now flowing as an underground stream - River Gihan.
... to be continued ...
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2 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
On an Infinite River
"Purity" cried Tallman.
"Raindrops" yelled Shortman at Tallman's face, kneeling down.
Looking at the excited Wise Brothers, Rana thought what were those dripping drops of waters continuously falling down from everywhere. "Raindrops on Roses", anounced Youngman to his audience. "Just as a soul's purpose is to join its creator, so is the motive of these Raindrops to combine with their Mother, the Source. They get into a cycle of vaporation and condensation, until they are able to come down as drops. In a more scientific approach, its the basic principle of reservoir theory. The rain sinks into the soil and through numerous crevices take the path between the rocks to reach their destination. In this process, only few drops manage to reach their Mata, the rest get into the cycle yet another time, and thus, it rains again."
Hanchabadra caught a falling drop and spoke softly to the dew sitting fat on his wrinkled palm, "Raindrops on Roses". He moved carefully over the platform to reach River Gihan. He then allowed the water droplet to fall and reunite with its Mother. The tiny splash made the others to turn around and the light from their fire torch captured the horrible form of Hanchabadra.
http://www.mayyam.com/talk/attachmen...7&d=1447076478
[Quasimodo, played by Lon Chaney in the silent movie 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923)]
Several years before, when Rana and Sengodagan were in their teens, they came across a thick dark blancket rolled and lying beside a rock along the pathway. Curious the friends approached the rug and were taken aback when it moved. Sengodagan threw a stone at it, and the sheet left out a painful cry. Rana, stopping Sengodagan from further actions, walked towards the crippled blanket and opened it, which exposed a completely deformed and wounded man. They took him to their caravan and treated him. When Hanchabadra regained, he started to assist his new friends in their Treasure Hunts. Sometimes, he used to tell them that he was the chief in the army and fought with the enemies single handedly, and the wounds were the marks of bavery. The other day, he informed that he served as a gauridan of a village and had to fight with a Bengal Tiger, the size of an elepahnt, with only his fists, and the injuries were signs of courage. Recently, he revealed that he worked in a temple during after dark. One night, when he carried on cleaning, he heard someone weeping, a sound that felt honey to his ears. Going in search of the source of the voice, he found a pretty girl lost inside the dim lighted temple - the security have shut the doors from outside with him and her inside. As no one wished to see him in the daylight, he worked only during the night inside closed doors. So, he was scared to expose himself to the pretty girl. Instead he called out to her, guiding her with his voice, the way towards the locked main door. He assured her that early next day, the priest would open the doors and she was safe there until then. To impress the girl, he climbed the pillars to reach the ceilings, so that he could light up the temple lamps. While hanging onto the iron rods, holding a bag of oil, he tripped and fell down splashing the oil all over. The accident not only made noise, but also spread fire at faster rate. He had ran towards the girl to save her from the flames. The temple fire got vigourous as he carried the girl upto the bell tower. He started to ring the bell to caution fire. When the villagers came to know about the incident, they threw stones at him and drove him out of the village. And from then he never spoke about his past, neither about the pretty girl he saw in the temple.
Not far, but too far to walk, Comes a place where you can dock.
"We have to move on", ordered Rana, at the same time signaling Hanchabadra to get the needed travel materials out of the gearbags. Hanchabadra digged into the bags and took out 4 cylindrical items and placed them over the platform. Rana, picked one of the thick round circular canvas, and walked towards River Gihan. He then pulled the two ends of the canvas which formed a boro, the right side of the boat. He then enlarged the canvas by pulling its longitudinal frames, which opened the port, the left side of the boat. He placed the canvas boat on the platform and started to work on making it rigid. The parts and the frames - keel, stem, stern post, gunwale, frames - were made of rock elm, a strong wood strip that was light in weight and allowed to be bended. The canvas was coated with a waterproof dressing. He attached the oars made of pitch pine. When the boat was extended, the other parts worked automatically, which were binded together with iron threads, notably the thwarts-the seat. The whilst of the longitudinal frames, which looked broad and flat, were jointed together at the top, enabling elasticity for the boat, making its mount and descend easily done without folding it each time. Rana pushed the portable subterranean canvas waterboat into River Gihan which fell without much of a splash and stayed afloat.
The Treasure Hunter called them 'Knot So Fast' and when the 4 rowboats were ready, he asked the team to pairup and enter the vessel - Tallman embarked first with Kacha, followed by Shortman who got on with Sengodagan. Hanchabadra loaded his boat with the baggages and Rana mounted with Youngman, tailing his crew. Each took turns to row while the other held the fire torch following the flow of River Gihan. Rana had installed a pole on Hanchabadra's boat and fixed the fire torch within.
The group worked their way slowly over the River Gihan admiring the speleothems (deposits formed within underground caverns). Youngman's voice echoed, 'Rocks of Calcite'. The stalactite (the icicle-shaped formation hanging from the ceiling), and the stalagmite (upward-growing mound on the ground and walls), were mineral deposits and limestone drips brought in by the Raindrops. "They grew" and he exclaimed, "Look there, the stalactite and the stalagmite have finally met." He pointed to a coloumn just further to them and when they corssed the Pillar of Calcite, everyone touched to feel its cold and hard surface. The mineral deposites around them glittered in various colours reflecting the light from the fire torch. The crew then rowed under a curved formation of a limestone, its mouth just big enough to allow them to enter.
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On the drunkman's route, Be sure nothing sticks to the boot.
The tranquility in their journey took a turn, when the River suddenly got into an agitated flow. The meander, the bends in its sinuous watercourse, was sloppy and the stream took a vigorous run. The roof was lower along certain turns, that the crew had to be vigilant and duck their heads down to avoind clash with the stalactites. There was no need of rowing as the boats were travelling on a considerable speed. While getting past the final bend, the huge curve wobbled the boats, and Youngman lost his control. His body was oscilalting his legs, while he gripped the sides of the boat with both his hands to avoid falling. It was all happening so quickly that Rana could only watch. Youngman's dancing legs, at a point, hit a hard on a speleothem, breaking it from its support. He let out a loud cry of pain when the broken piece pierced into his flesh. The rest of the journey, Youngman travelled with the sharp head sticking to his boot, turning the canvas boat red from inside.
... to be continued ...
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Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
Hanging On The Rocks
Hari did not have memory, but only knowledge. He almost had forgotten that he was an orphan and never had bothered to look for his parents. He was never put in an orphanage, but dwelled on the streets eating on the remains of apples and oranges, when Eradosth, the Librarian, took Hari in for assistance at the Great Library, and it was here Hari re-discovered himself. He slept and ate reading books. He quickly became the roaming index of the Great Library. When Hari was an young man, the invasions started. He tried his best to save as many literary works, and the other which he couldn't, he made sure to memorise them all. The invaders made sure that the head of the Scholars failed to sit on their bodies. Looking at young Hari, they spared him not knowing he was already the Scholar of Scholars. Before taking over the new Kingdom, the attackers burnt the Great Library and along with it, a whole dynasty turned to ashes. But every detail now sits inside the head of Hari. He speaks not as a reply but what he utters becomes the reponse. Hari stayed young in his head, suspended in time like a stuck clock and was addressed as Youngman amoung the Wise Brothers.
Walk on the oxbow, And into the other don't go.
Calmness regained. The crew were floating on placid waters. They arrived before an elevation standing on top of another platform where they docked. It was the land formed from the deposits of the oxbow lake, a body of water that forms when a wide meander is cut off from its main stream which takes a distinctive curved shape. Rana and Sengodagan carried and placed Youngman on the floor. The tiny spear had entirely damaged his foot. Rana touched it gently. There was no reaction from Youngman as his lower body had been completely been paralised. The pain will return, and Rana pitied Youngman. Hunchabadra, the Medicine Man, came with the kit that he had been looking for inside the bags. The other Wise Brothers were murmuring to themselves. Using the medical items, Rana removed the pike and exposed the hole it had made. He stuffed medicine and bandaged the wound, all the while Youngman did not move, his eyes looked sunk and lost deep inside the caves.
Rana climbed the elevation first, and droped the ropes to which the boats were attached and to be pulled up. He then made a sort of a baby cradle with a blanket and attached its corners knots with ropes. When the craddle reached the bottom, Sengodagan made Youngman sit comfortablly inside it. Rana pulled up the craddle, and somewhere in the middle of the craddle's journey, Youngman left out a loud cry of agony. Rana found Youngman unconsious when he lifted him out of the cloth transport. Looking at the current state of affairs, Rana decided to camp there for a while.
Rana and Sengodagan, took a brief walk around. Not knowing which way to go, and as Youngman is unconsious and the rest Wise Brothers have not stopped chanting, its upto them to look for a route. Further down, there was another oxbow lake. Rana consulted the map. The second oxbow was opposite to where they were standing, meaning, that was supposed to be the way they had come in. Rana turned around and looked around him. He immediately took out the second map, the tiny one with arrows. He analysed the ceiling. It matched the markings. He inferred to Sengodagan that they cannot go vers the other oxbow lake, neither travel through beneath, but try to reach River Gihan which should take its bend further south of where they were camped, and they had to pass via the rocks above - If you are brave and ready to hook !
Rana started to work on building the equipements needed for rock climbing. He made several security belts with ropes, different in size and utility, notably to go around the waist and over the shoulders. He handed over the harnesses to Kacha and asked him to dress up the two Wise Brothers. Hanchabadra was curios to know what was beneath those rocks, lifting his eyes towards the dark abyss, for which Sengodagan placed a roll of rope on his shoulders. Hanchabadra grinned. Rana instructed Sengodagan to check on the wodden quickdraws and asked him to start preparing the ropes. Rana then took out four small light chimneys which were held inside a semi-circular wood strap. The chimney were not touching the wooden band. A small recevoir of oil with a thread was under the chimney. The recevoir was connected to small drum with a tube and the tiny barrel where the oil is stocked had a pump system. The drum can be placed around the hip, and when the chimney goes dim due to insufficient oil, the lubricant could be pumped inside without replacing it from the forehed to which it was attached. The forhead lamp gave Rana and Sengodagan clear vision which nailing the rocks to attatch the chords.
Suited up, Rana asked Kacha to stay at the camp, while he and Sengodagan prepared the rope route. Hanchabadra slowly lossened the rope from its roll while the duo climbed clinging to the gaps on the wall and started to make their way towards the other side. Rana fixed the quickdraws to the nails hammered to the rocks. He consulted the map to take a note of the indications as to where the hooks have to be placed. He used the forms of the rocks to identify the positions as mentioned in the map. Inbetween, Sengodagan placed a pulleys. At a point during their travel across the rocks, they were completely upside down and Sengodagan asked Rana if he would catch him when he fell, to which Rana smiled. They completely disappeared from into the darkness, only a tiny glow, the light emitted from the forehead lamps was seen by Kacha. The rock climbers finally reached the otherside.
Rana shouted to make sure Kacha could hear him. He got a "loud & clear" voice signal from Kacha. First, they received the bags, they came dancing while riding over the rope pulley. Following the kit, the two Wise Brothers made to way to join Rana and Sengodagan. Hanchabadra prepared the craddle, and Kacha hooked it to the rope. Youngman reached the otherside, still unconcious. Hanchadra flighted off and Kacha prepared for his journey.
While the members crossed and the goods delivered, the nails on the rocks started to get fragile. The rocking movemnt had made the hole around the rivet largen weakening they hold. Rana signaled the fragility to Kacha, who became aware of the risk. He slowly advanced making sure his next pull was solid. Somewhere in the middle, Kacha felt a jerk as though the ropes were giving away, and a moment later, the nails from the far end started to pull off taking the chords with them. And during the descend, they took Kacha along towards the abyss below. As the other half of the fixation were holding, Kacha was left hanging few meters below. From the centre of nowhere, he assured the crew by crying out that he was fine. Rana looked into the depth. He found Kacha still oscillating and the light from his forehead lamp shined against the rocks. There was something weird about it, thought Rana. He looked closely and was taken aback when he noticed that the rocks around Kacha were moving.
... to be continued ...
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1 Attachment(s)
Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
Slow and Deadly
Ali, addressed as Tiger amoung his pirates crew, grew up listening to the story about an Hunter from the Sea. Born to a poor farmer family, teen Ali was motivated in all wrong ways to quickly get attracted to 'Take & Give' policy of Haider, the most terrorising marauder. Ali abondoned his family to follow Haider in his plunders and Ali's tall physique mixed with braveness made him a trusted Henchman of Haider. Along the course, Ali sensed the diverse agony in his mentor's actions. Slowly Ali was exposed to Haider's cruelties. Ali raised his voice against Haider, the Deadly Pirate Captain of the Five Seas. His uprising against the Pirates Politics converted him to a Sea Outlaw, a judgement straight from the Pirates Base. Thus, Ali formed his own crew and became a fugitive, running away from the Black Flag as well as the sentery ships. He traveled a lot, looted shipments and distributed them amoung the needy, and in return gained immense knowledge over various cultural and historical details shared to him by the tribes and villagers. He naturally learnt life while hiding and surviving, when Haider attacked the settlement Ali was sheltering. Ali managed to escape, and from top of the sail, watched the houses and huts burning. Suddenly, heavy shots from Haider's ship landed on Ali's vessel. He witnessed the gore of his own crew suffering before him. Ali was the only survior and when he reached the Land of Priests, he fell on his feet over the sand and cried. The Priests named him Shortman, seeing a tall stranger weeping on his knees. He spent several years under their guidence, before becoming a nomad, and he met Youngman. The alighted crew men lines swinging still haunted Ali.
Shortman saw Kacha swinging desperately across the dark rock wall, the swinging head light reminding him the flames that killed his crew. He noticed the moving rocks too. He stopped chanting and whipered, 'Snails'. Youngman opened his eyes. Tallman cried out load "Snails that can't see". - Fight the snails which can't look.
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Knight vs Snail from Manuscript - Li livres dou tresor (Treasure Books) by Brunetto Latini (1264)
[“Like a snail that melteth away into slime, they shall be taken away; like a dead-born child, they shall not see the sun.” - Psalm 58.
Medieval Knights fighting snails in the 13th and 14th century English texts has always been a mystery. "Sometimes the knight is mounted, sometimes not. Sometimes the snail is monstrous, sometimes tiny. Sometimes the snail is all the way across the page, sometimes right under the knight’s foot. Usually, the knight is drawn so that he looks worried, stunned, or shocked by his tiny foe. But the ubiquity of these depictions doesn’t make them any less strange" - The British Library.]
Rana turned towards the Wise Brothers, not knowing what they were shouting at, he took the fire torch from Hanchabradra, sprayed a the tin of kerosene over the moving rocks and threw the fire torch over it. What became visible in the fire sent chillness across his spine, and Kacha was hanging not having a clue what was surrounding him.
It was not the rock which was moving, but the dark skinned snails crawling over one another trying to reach an object that their four sensory antennas have received. The snail group started somewhere in the middle of the rock wall and were crawling towards Kacha with their toothless mouths open in the mid air. Rana alerted Kacha to increase his momentum. He guided him to carefully calculate the radius of his swing considering where he places his foot and the distance to reach the platform upon which the rest of them were standing. He warned him that his footfall may become slipery when they land over the Slime of the Snails. Rana remided Kacha to keep a check on the grip while wall running. The hungry snails battling each other slowly creeped towards the top.
Kacha obeyed Rana's instruction. He followed Rana's signal and started to ossilate to gain momentum which would able him run close towards the platform. During his 3rd sway, he was already in line with the top of the platform, but the seperating distance was unfriendly. Eventhough his reflex made him leap jump twice, the thrid time he failed to hang in the air, but landed his legs over the army of snails. He felt his leg placed on something soft and sliperry that made him loose his balance which started his free fall.
Managing to hold on to the rope, he glided until he griped the tail end of the cord. His hands started to ache, his body unable to climb up. His current position allowed him to see closely his nemesis, and he shouted in horror. The boneless slugs were different in size, ranging from rat sized to some even bigger than cat. Suprisingly they had 4 antenas moving in each directions and they stood rigid when they sensed an alien Kacha. The top of the tentecles had a white dots, replacing the organ of sight. None had a shell and their mouth was wide and looked elastic. At the exact moment, a bigger snail just swallowed a smaller one in front of it, to make way and reach Kacha. Its speed was chilling and wuite faster than the snail that Kacha had played with during his childhood. With enough courage, he started to swing from his 'deadly snailed' position, and after few attempts he finally saw Rana stading at the edge of the platform.
Rana saw it as the perfect oppurtunity to grab Kacha. He noticed Kacha loosing his strength and would take a fall at any moment. When Kacha was at an angle direct to the platform, Rana cried out to Kacha to part with the rope. Kacha let go the chord and the force of the oscillation flew him towards the platform, but not enough to make him land over. Rana looked at Sengodagan and they both nodded. Rana sprinted quickly across the short platform to gain accelaration, closely followed by Sengodagan. When Rana reached the end of the platform, he placed his left leg at its extremity and reached out for Kacha, at the same time stretching his right hand towards the rear. Sengodagan, from his back, quickly caught his hand and breaked to a stop, when Kacha managed to grab Rana's left hand.
The hold of Kacha pulled Rana which made him bend towards the pit. His leg started to give away from the edge, when Sengodagan tried hard to pull him back. When all three were dragging eachother avoiding the fall, something heavy caught Sengodagan's legs whose force was tranmited over the human chain and their bodies stood still - with Kacha hanging over the platform, Sengodagan's firm grip, Rana balancing the weight with his legs - demonstrating the conservation of momentum and energy via Hanchabadra holding Sengodagan's legs.
All four were suspended in their position for a brief moment, while Tallman and Shortman huged lying Youngman providing protection as it was the same moment when the Army of Slugs mounted over the platform.
... to be continued ...
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Chaturmukha - Part 2 - Trimurti Katha
Chapter 4 - Sons of Kochadaiiyaan
Rana
Episode 2 - Gulf of Bairavi
Creatures of Underground
With one strong action, Rana pulled Kacha over to the platform. Immediately, Rana liberated himself from the grip of Sengodagan and searched for the others around him. Sengodagan stood motionless, Hanchabadra started to crawl in search of an inexistant safe spot and Kacha played dead over the floor. The snails crawled slowly but sharply with thier mouths wide open. The gushing noise of emptiness was frightening under the soundless atmosphere. The Wise brothers were quickly surrounded by the slugs marching on the tracks of their own slime.
Lacking weapons, Rana broke the sharp cones hanging from the ceiling and launched himself against the attacking sluggards. Sengodagan followed Rana, and Hanchabadra reached the wall near him and broke a tiny sharp rock, and used it to menance the slugs surrounding him with his new found weapon. Rana took out couple of snails and kicked the smaller ones back into the pit. It needed an immense force to detach them from the floor. His sharp weapon sliced the tentacles that made them cock into a sphere which replied well to the strike with the foot. But the countless snails approaching steadily exhausted the fighting crew..
All of a sudden, the attacking army stood unmoving. They started to retreat towards the walls and the well below. Their locomotion increased over their own pathway of saliva. Taking everyone by suprise, a tall snail with bird limbs and a slugish body covered by a shell emerged from the dark hallow. It looked like a half bird-half snail, with the lower and back parts resembling a bird (legs, rump and tail); the upper, bottom and front parts held the characteristics of a snail (shell, mouth, gland and muscular base). Its long neck supported the radula mouth which was constantly grinding. Looking to the either side, the monster climbed over the platform. It neither had antenas nor any hint of eyes, a face smooth like a marble with a sticky texture. It was drolling slime and when Rana moved a step back, it quickly fixed its body towards his direction, its sensory body working to the fullest. With a wide opened mouth, it leaped over Rana, taking him under its clawless feet in with one forceful gesture. Clutching its prey safely, it looked around as a warning to anyone's approach. It then lifted its head, widened the gap between its fat lips and dived deeply to grab the head of Rana with its sinewy mouth.
Sengodagan is the Prince of Kottaipattinam. During his childhood, he ran into conflicts with his father, King Rishikodagan. Unable to control his own son, Rishikodagan sent away Sengodagan to other lands claiming it to be for educational purpose. When Sengodagan was learning under the Vathiyar Paramaguru near the river side at Karimedu, he raised an alarm, signaling something mysterious afloating in the water. Vathiyar leaped into the water without any further delay and rescued an young boy from the fast flowing stream. For several days, the child displayed symptoms of shock as though violence had collided with his infancy. The kid refused to speak or cooperate but looked lost in the void. Vathiyar noted the disturbed sleep of the little one, a cause explained only when caught inside a turbulent mind. Sengodagan accompanied his new friend, sharing anything that he thought was worth, and felt sad for his speechless mate. Once when the group of kids played around the jungle, they were surrounded by hyneas. During their escape, Sengodagan fell to the ground hurting his knees making himself unable to move any further. None of the students returned even after noticing fallen Sengodagan, except his comrade from the river. The warrior child took a broken branch and stood gaurd over Sengodagan from the menancing predators. The cunning beasts did not advance but circled the duo, waiting for an opputunity to pounce on them. They teased the valliant kid with the stick, but he was way too smart and quick for them that several blows landed on the attaking hyneas. Somewhere during the defensive stance, elders rushed it and chased the animals back into the jungle. After dressing up the wound, Sengodagan hopped towards his saviour stranger. He thanked him whole heartedly by placing his hand over his rescuer's shoulders. He then asked him his name. 'Rana', came the reply. From then on, Rana and Sengodagan stood together during different times, every time, that when Sengodagan grew up, he completely abandoned his kingdom and accompanied Rana to embrace friendship.
At the Gulf of Bairavi, Sengodagan was a spectateur of the passing event - the moment the monster climbed up until the moment it held Rana captive under its feet. He also noticed that a rogue snail had split away from the retreating army and was dragging Youngman by his wounded foot. Shortman and Tallman looked scared. It was an easy decision to make for Sengodagan, as he knew well that Rana can escape any suituation, Sengodagan quickly rushed to escape Youngman from the pulling slug.
Rana struggled by holding the creature's leg, which was sticky wet. The snail came down at him with its open mouth, at the same time Rana firmed his grip over the stone weapon he held in his left hand and brought it up with full force aiming at the snail's head.
On the other side, Sengodagan struck the rogue snail several times, which finally let go Youngman. Sengodagan assisted Youngman sit up, and for the first time since he was wounded during the boat ride, Youngman yelled 'No'.
Rana understood the warning from Youngman, and somewhere in the midway while lifting his stone dragger, he fliped his weapon in the air. The sharp item vigourously spinned twice before Rana caught it, this time the blunt side facing the head of the Snail. The charge of the blunt cone made a hude impact on its target and shocked the snail. It moved its head quickly and came down again at Rana. Rana reverted its attack with four more quick blows to its boneless skull. Repeatedly beaten made the monster snail to loose its balance and it fell beside Rana. It did not move, but was still breathing heavily. Rana, getting to his feet, dragged the birdy-snail by its leg and threw it back from where it came. The retreating army of snails were moving far away into the darkness trying to camouflage as rocks again.
'Mother Pearl', lectured Youngman. "Life above begins from below. The Mother Pearl is the parent of many species. Deep inside, evolution gave it wings to fly out. From flesh to feathers, that is what is Nature. Here at this very dark place, many types breath & breed, some known to man, several don't give a chance. No light, no sight, hail Mother Nature. Visionless with nerves of sense. A world where worms and prawns sing together.
Your Father is a wise man, Rana. He allowed you to find your path. Snails are gentle beings, but they do represent negativity - Refusal to think, just like a curling snail inside its own shell. The slothful nature symbolises the Slow Death."
Youngman then prophesied, "You, Rana, have fought your own slow death. This closes down the options leading you into a path where your Death will be Quick."
Saying so Youngman lied back in the arms of Sengodagan. No one spoke after that. Packing up, they started to move deep into the cave like structure watching for danger markers with their hand held fire torch lights. The group moved in a creepy silence into the unknown.
... to be continued ...