20: Ancestor

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"Ahhhh" Devika shrieked as a man suddenly appeared in front of her. Her hands flew to cover her mouth and she took a couple of steps back.

The man was semi transparent and floating in the air in the room. His clothes were that of royalty but their design and structure was of ancient times.

"Eh? Why are you screaming little one? Shouldn't you be greeting your elders? Is this what your family taught you?" the man asked her in a stern tone.

Devika felt fearful for a minute and then she felt that she was being silly. This was most definitely a dream, afterall she was sleeping in her own bed before this. Thinking so far, she simply pinched her left forearm.

"Ahh.." Devika shrieked again.

"Why do you keep screaming? It's bad manners, you know?" the man spoke again.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Devika asked cautiously.

The man sighed and said, "I am Nala, your ancestor and the founder of Nala Kingdom. Essentially I am your great great great great great grandfather." Devika's eyes widened at his explanation.

"You found the divine yantra, didn't you?" Nala asked her.

"Divine yantra... You mean this metal ornament?" Devika asked.

"Ornament? You insolent little girl. This is a divine object bestowed on me by Lord Kaal Bhairava himself. He had been pleased by my governance of my subjects and had given it to me as a boon. How can you call this divine yantra as an ornament?" Nala scolded Devika.

"I am sorry, Grandfather. Please forgive this ignorant granddaughter of yours." Devika spoke in a coaxing tone.

"Hmph. It is good that you recognise your ignorance. I will guide you how to use this yantra for the betterment of our family and our kingdom." Nala commented, his anger waning at her. He was very pleased to have met one of his descendants who was so cute and smart as well.

"This granddaughter thanks grandfather for his benevolence and his guidance. Grandfather, can you tell me where we presently are?" Devika spoke to him in a formal speech.

"This room was created when the yantra accepted you as it's rightful owner. Right now the room is small, as this is the extent of the merger of your mind and the divine yantra. As you and the yantra continue to merge, the size of this room will increase. I guess you can say that we are inside your mind?" Nala explained to her.

"What does this divine yantra do?" she asked curiously.

"Right now this yantra doesn't have much power but as you continue to merge with it, the power of this yantra will grow and it can perform many tasks. This yantra can allow you to store things that you want to keep hidden. When you enter this yantra the time you spend here is not equal to the time outside. 1 day spent here is equivalent to 1 second outside." Nala explained patiently.

"That is not much." Devika said pouting.

"First you need to grow up little one. By the time you are fully grown up, this yantra would grow up as well." Nala said.

"Grandfather, why are you transparent? Is your soul trapped here?" Devika asked.

"Let me tell you a story. In the time when I was born, Nala Kingdom didn't exist. This place was just dense forest and hills and with dense forests came dacoits. The dacoits looted the nearby villages for grains, gold and women. My father was a simple foot soldier stationed in a village of Gauda Kingdom. My family consisted on him, my mother, my younger sister and me. He and his team always tried to thwart the dacoits from robbing their village. One year there was a severe drought and the village was not able to produce enough grains to feed themselves. They were worried about how they could manage to survive the year and on top of it they had to face dacoits as well.

Things were seriously complicated and my father presented a bold solution. He knew that dacoits are well versed with the forest and battling them in the forest would be difficult. He proposed luring the dacoits to one village and when they attacked, the hidden soldiers will retaliate against them and end their lives. Everyone supported this idea. Even the villagers came forward to help the soldiers and pooled together the resources to create traps for dacoits.

But no one knew that amongst them there was a mole hidden who reported everything to the dacoits. When the attack happened the dacoits successfully looted the village and many soldiers were killed. Everyone blamed my father for this and the royal decree came to execute my father and exile the family. At that time even the people who originally wanted to help my father had to remain silent.

On the day of execution, people in the village pelted my father with stones and rotten vegetables until he was hanged. Our family was sent for exile. We took shelter in the forest. At that time I was around 10 years or so. I used to help my mother by getting firewood and my sister used to forage for wild vegetables. I had also learnt to fish and set traps for small animals. We used to get by on those things.

One day a wild dog got caught in the trap. Although I was hungry, my father had been a staunch believer of Lord Kaal Bhairava and hence I let go of the wild dog, as dogs are considered to be Lord's vahan. Imagine my surprise when the dog's owner, an old man, approached me. The old man was a teacher who taught me how to fight and the war strategy.

Years later, I was ready to fight against the dacoits because of whom my father was killed. I fought against the dacoits and won. I returned to our village and threw the body of the dacoit leader in the main street of the village. When the villagers found my identity they were regretful of their actions. I also informed the nearby villages that they were free from dacoits. I returned to the old man. He asked me why I didn't hurt the villagers who had pelted stones at my father. I replied that the villagers were merely instruments in the entire scheme. The real culprits were only the dacoits.

At that time, he gave me the divine yantra and told me that I was worthy of using it as I cared for people. I later established the Nala Kingdom with the people who wanted to follow me. Many people soon heard of my valor and the new opportunities available in the new kingdom and they joined us as well. The old man had told me before leaving that this yantra should be given to someone with right mindset, who was brave and who could use it for helping people at the end of my life.

I had been waiting for so many years  for someone who could become the rightful owner of this yantra. When I reached old age, I embedded my soul into this yantra and had it placed in a temple of Lord Kaal Bhairava. All this was done so that only a person worthy of this could find it. I have finally found you little one. My time to leave is here." Nala said with a sigh of relief.

"You are leaving already grandfather? Please don't go. Please grandfather." Devika pleaded.

"Do not stop me now child. I have waited for so many years to join my family in heaven." Nala said. He patted her head before disappearing in front of her eyes.

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Devika slowly opened her eyes. She had tears flowing on her face. She felt as if she had again lost a family member. She sat up in the bed and cradled the divine yantra in her palms.

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* Yantra's literal translation would mean a machine.

*Vahan literally translates into a vehicle.

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