Samsaara : Devadoot

A Crow to Pluck

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness since the Ethereal gates gave out a blinding light. A rush of putrid pungent odour made it difficult for me to breathe normally. My feet sank an inch into the wet mud. I found myself under the canopy of a giant tree. The stem was very far away, and the canopy covered the sky as far as the eye can see. Long vines hung from the trees and ended a few feet above my head. Some vines had oddly shaped pods hanging below them. There was not even the slightest breeze, just stagnant, pungent air all around.

I had no clue as to where I was. But I sensed something to be amiss. Some of the purple sky filtered through little cracks amidst the canopy. That light was enough to illuminate the vicinity. Since I did not know where I was, as per my better judgment I decided not to make a ruckus and proceed with caution. Clearly that being from my vision wanted me to find the Saurapeeth to come here. But this place reeks of menace.

A giant flash of light was followed by a loud clap of thunder. The flash and the roll of thunder was muffled by the thicket of vines. My core began to glow and twitch as I moved. Clearly it was showing me the way and I decided to follow the directions that it was prompting.

As I walked ahead I noticed the length of the vines increasing. Droplets of water dripped from the branches above and the ground was getting progressively wetter. What was once moist soil soon turned into wet mud. Another hour or so of walking and the ground had just turned into marsh lands. I was wading through a few inches of water, making sloshing sounds with every step. The vines were now just a foot or two above my head. My breath was getting heavier due to the long walk and I had no place to sit and rest. The ground had become so wet that my feet began to sink in it. With every step that I took, the vacuum between the sole of my shoe and the wet ground strained my legs further.

Just as I thought of finding a place to sit, I saw a small mound protruding above the water. I went towards the mound and sat down on it. Just as I did, the mound gave way. It sunk into the water. It was soft.

As I kept my hands on the mound to get back up, I realised the mound was squishy. I felt a familiar texture on my palms. It was cloth. When I looked down, chills ran down my spine.

I was seated on someone's back. Their hands and legs spread eagle, head sunk into ground, dead. I shot back up to get away from the disgust. My head hit a vine just above me. The strangely shaped nodule swung violently after nudging my head and hit my face. As I pushed the cold hard nodules aside, I felt threads suspended below it. It was a decapitated head suspended on the vine. I pushed it aside and darted away from it.

That feeling of being touched by a decapitated head was far more disgusting than sitting on a dead body. Perhaps being constantly surrounded by scary situations had made me numb to fear but I doubt I would ever overcome this feeling of disgust.

As I continued to step away from the head suspended like a pendulum, I came across a clearing with none but three vines.

All three had dead bodies hung on them by their necks. Two of them appeared normal. Well, as normal as a hung dead body could look. The last one made my stomach churn. The bones in its neck had snapped apart and the small piece of neck skin had stretched thin under the weight of the body. The head of the decomposing body remained intact, firmly attached to the vine it hung by.