Lo Behold - Arrival Of The Dawn Of Peace

There weren't always dragons in the valley until Anicca made her debut as a killer murdering six people on that fateful full moon night. The same night Swami got kidnapped, and Aryan started getting his eyesight back.

Anicca - the orphan, Aryan - the blind and Swami - the Iyer (Equivalent of a priest in the Hindu religion) dubbed as the Trio-trouble by the villagers, spent most of their free time in the woods. They knew the woods like the back of their hands. They would usually make their way to the cave behind the falls - camp for a night or two, smoke bhang (local organic intoxicant), race each other in the lake or hunt for berries. The trip to the woods was usually fun and relaxing for them, except for the last one.

The trip had started on an ominous note when a black cat had crossed their paths, and Aryan had wanted to turn back, stating a bad feeling in his gut. Plus, the villagers were on edge on account of the blood moon, which occurred once every fifty years.

As per the legends, their country - Aryavarta and neighbouring country Vanardweep, fought a bloody war centuries ago to prove whose bloodline was strongest. That war raged for months, killing millions. Gods had to intervene before the war decimated the entire population of both countries by creating the Great Sea - Triveni-Sangam dividing the two countries. They built a bridge between them, hoping that it would encourage them to make peace. And the bridge opened up magically for two nights when the moon was bright red - a phenomenon that happened once every fifty years. Critics argued that the gravity pull of the blood moon caused the gates to open, and others truly believed it was god's handiwork.

Since the fight between the two countries was over children and their power, it was rumoured that kids disappeared during the blood moon. Some villagers believed that this was the gods' way of punishing them until the two countries made peace. So, people usually stayed indoors and kept their kids locked until the bridge closed two days after the blood moon.

Anicca was not a believer and was convinced that people had trouble separating fact from myth after all these years. Aryan believed what Anicca believed. And Swami, despite being a cleric, had faith in only one thing - bhang. He was out of bhang, and his remaining stash was in the cave behind the falls. Given Swami's addiction, he would have gone with or without them. So, Anicca made the call to go to the woods despite Aryan's misgivings about the black cat.

And as luck would have it, the minute they reached the cave - heavy rains started. It was utterly unpredicted, and this was the monster of all storm the trio had ever seen. They could not see beyond the wall of rain in front of the cave. Thankfully, no thunder or lightning, just rain. They were stuck in the cave for three nights and two days with only berries as sustenance and very little to do. The only silver lining was bhang helped them pass the time. Anicca and Aryan always moderated themselves, but Swami was literally in heaven. Aryan had even joked - 'No wonder Swami has no interest in enlightenment when he has already achieved bhang-induced nirvana.' Anicca withdrew inwards - being in the cave seemed to bring up a lot of feelings and energy in her, which she kept buried in the outside world. She was known for her short temper, which would sometimes erupt without rhyme or reason. Aryan could sense her inner turmoil and sensibly avoided doing anything that may cause her to burst.

When the rain finally let up, tensions were running high between them. They were all wet - cold, and starving. The damp smell of the cave seems to have permeated their very beings. Anicca felt like a bomb about to explode - she had so much energy pent-up. Aryan was exhausted, having to walk on eggshells around Anicca for the past few days. Swami seemed to be doing well - half delirious with bhang and a bit crankier.

The clouds were dark and grey when they ventured into the gloomy woods. With almost no sunlight and the overcast sky, it felt like they were walking at night. The plan was to head back to the village at a brisk pace. Anicca led the way with Aryan in tow. For a while, the only thing that could be heard was their feet shuffling on the wet leaves and branches. Even the birds and animals had taken refuge during the blood moon.

Anicca swerved suddenly to avoid a clearing covered with branches and leaves. She stopped, bent down, and examined the leaves. It was as if somebody had gone to great lengths to lay down these leaves and branches as if to cover something. She shouted a warning and took the trail to the left of the clearing, and Aryan followed her. For somebody who was blind - Aryan did an excellent job managing himself with Anicca as a visual aid. They had taken a few steps when they heard Swami scream. Anicca cursed and ran towards the clearing to find Swami hanging in a net over a ditch. Her instincts were right, and the clearing was a cover for a trap. Anyone who fell into the ditch would be caught in a net and pulled up onto a tree. Swami was still in a daze to know what was happening.

Aryan asked, 'What happened?'

Anicca sighed, wrung the water out of her ponytail and said, 'Something's not right here - who would set a trap during blood moon for animals. And it has to be our rotten luck that Swami has gone and got himself trapped.'

She looked around for a way to climb up the tree and bring Swami down when they heard noises. She dragged Aryan behind a rock while covering any signs that might indicate their presence. She crossed her fingers, hoping it would be villagers coming to get their trapped prey. And then she heard heavily accented voices. She told Aryan to stay put and peeked from behind the rocks. Her eyes went wide when she saw four men wearing robes with monkeys on them - the national symbol of Vanardweep.

Suddenly, the kidnapping stories did not feel like fiction. Anicca's mind reeled with all the nightmarish stories. About how raiders from Vanadweep captured kids to sell them to smugglers or use them as a sacrifice to appease the angry gods. Or, worse, sell them as slaves. And if they managed to take Swami to the other side of the bridge - they would never see him again. Her knees gave way, and she sank next to Aryan. She put her fingers on his lips, indicating that he should remain silent.

The raiders were an efficient bunch. They did not waste any time in chit-chat. Anicca could hear one of them scrambling up the tree, the sound of a knife cutting the rope, and she heard Swami cry. One of the raiders must have hit him as they heard nothing from him after that. She heard one of them say, 'Let's hurry - we only have tonight before the bridge closes. The high priestess would be happy that we captured a young kid - Iyer judging by his shaven head.' Aryan heard footsteps receding.

Anicca gave them a few moments to get some lead. She soon picked up the trail they were leaving on the wet forest floor. Aryan deftly kept pace with her. Anicca had long stopped wondering how Aryan managed to do everything despite being blind when he was around her.

The raiders led them to a little valley close to the Triveni-Sangam and bridge. Somebody had lit a fire next to a wagon. The wagon had markings of the neighbouring country Vanardweep on it - it must have come through the bridge recently. If they did not rescue Swami, then he would be gone forever. Aryan nudged Anicca and whispered, 'I do not hear any horses - how did they get here?' Anicca looked around and said, 'Good point - maybe they use magic - who knows what goes on the other side of the Triveni Sangam?' Aryan asked, 'What do we do next?'. Anicca mopped the sweat from her brow and said, 'Look for an opportunity to free Swami.' Aryan could feel her heart beating loudly next to him.

Anicca spotted six robed men, including the four who had captured Swami, going about various tasks. They all had beards with silver rings around them. They all had different numbers of rings - maybe it indicated some hierarchy. A couple of them hauled Swami out of the net. Swami was knocked out cold. They poured something over him from a brass pot. One of them kneeled and put ash on Swami's forehead, and another put a garland of flowers around Swami's neck. They dragged him next to the fire and stood around him. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen fast, as they didn't even bother to tie Swami's hands. One of them knocked at the wagon and came back to the fire. They pulled robes over their heads and looked down at the ground. As if afraid to face what or who came out of the wagon.

Aryan grabbed Anicca's hand to stop her from trembling. They had known each other since they were little kids. Aryan was fostered by gypsies who had found him abandoned in the forest when he was a baby. He had met Anicca at the village market ten years ago when they were around four, and nobody had been able to separate them since then. And they had protected Swami from being bullied by his affluent classmates at the Iyer training camp. It had always been them three versus the world. He could not imagine a world where the three were not together.

Anicca gasped when a beautiful lady stepped down from the wagon. She had long black hair, which was falling in waves behind her. She had the same monkey robe, except hers was laced with gold and was more intricately designed. Anicca assumed this was the priestess she had heard the men talk about who was carrying a curved sword in her hand. The blood moon was at its peak and reflecting off the polished blade. She knew that the butcher in her village used that kind of a curved knife to make a clean cut. The priestess made her way towards Swami - the men stepped back to give her space. All the pent up energy in Anicca seemed to overwhelm her. Aryan tensed up beside her feeling the change.

And things happened really fast. Just as the priestess raised her sword above Swami's head - Aryan heard Anicca give a guttural war cry and jump out from the overlook into the camp.

The priestess jumped back in surprise but held the sword steady. She stood there for a few moments, watching them with a steely gaze in a menacing stance. Anicca felt the priestess's powerful aura ignite the spark inside her. She felt her fingers tingle as the priestess came and stared into her eyes. The priestess stepped back and said, 'so much raw and untrained power. Have the elders in your community forgotten about old powers, child?' She shifted her gaze to Aryan and sniffed him, 'You are hidden. Somebody went to great lengths to hide your true identity. I need some time to know who you truly are.'

Anicca found the strength to speak up, 'Release our friend.' The priestess laughed and said, 'Oh! he will find release soon enough, and maybe you and your not so blind friend will too!' The rest of the robed men snickered. Aryan could feel Anicca's anger at their ridicule.

Anicca looked at Swami kneeling like an animal to be sacrificed and felt furious. Swami was a part of her pack - without him, there would be no trouble trio. Anicca felt the familiar surge inside her - it was like a few other times in the past, but this time it felt stronger as if it would overpower her. And this time, she decided not to rein it back. The hairs on her neck stood up as well. Anicca felt her eyes roll back into her head, and she unleashed the pent up energy from the last few days out through her very being. The ground trembled beneath her. She felt strong winds around her, felt the heat on her face, and she vaguely remembered using her hands to tear up the ground and the branches around her to hurl at the raiders who were going to kill Swami. She wanted them to die and burn right where they were standing.

Aryan was knocked off to the side by the force of Anicca's anger. It was like being in the midst of a storm. He had to bring his arms in front of his face to protect him. All the while, he could feel the anger rolling from Anicca in waves. And whether it lasted a few seconds or hours, he could not tell. At some point, he must have passed out. He felt somebody slapping his face and woke up with a start. 'Thank god, you are awake', said Swami crying. Aryan could smell smoke next to him and started coughing. Swami patted his back. Aryan felt for Anicca and could not sense anything. 'Is Anicca ok?' he asked Swami. 'Yes - she is still breathing, but she is not waking up.', replied Swami. After all the mayhem, it was really quiet. He even heard the twittering of birds and scampering of the squirrels.

They both crawled towards where Anicca was lying on the ground. Aryan asked Swami - 'Where are your captors? What did you see? I passed out while Anicca was having one of her anger bursts.' Swami gave a hollow laugh and said, 'This was definitely more than one of her temper tantrums. I woke up to see Anicca in the middle of what looked like a horrible storm. Her eyes were back in her head, and she was orchestrating the winds, fire and water around her as if she was going to destroy everything.'

And then he paused and said, 'What do you mean, my captors?' Aryan filled him in on how the raiders had captured him while he was still under the influence of the bhang. And how the priestess would have sacrificed him if Anicca had not fought back.'

Swami looked around and said, 'That would explain why everything is burnt and covered with ash. It looks like a forest fire, only it is confined to a circle. And there is absolutely no sign of any wagons or robed human beings. If it weren't for the dried blood on my forehead and burnt garland around my neck, I would have thought you were making it up.'

Aryan tensed up and said, 'Do you hear that?' They could hear some sizzling noises. Swami looked around and saw something wiggling in the ashes ahead of him. And then, to his surprise, he saw a baby reptile emerge from the ashes. It had tiny black scales. It shook itself, and the leftover ashes dropped off. It was surprisingly ugly and beautiful at the same time. The reptile stretched its wings and shook itself a few times. It had intelligent eyes, and once it spotted Anicca, it cried with delight.

Swami narrated all of this to Aryan as the reptile hopped to Anicca. It came over to her, licked her face a few times, making crooning noises. To Swami's surprise, Anicca woke up as if energized by the hatchling's touch.

Anicca looked around and asked in a small voice, 'Did I kill them all?' Swami chipped in immediately, 'But, you saved me.' Anicca ignored him and continued to look in the ashes. The reptile followed her around. If Anicca had burnt them all - there were no signs for sure. They all stood there silently until Aryan finally said, 'Maybe they just disappeared.' Anicca said, stomping her foot, 'Disappeared my foot. Next, you will be telling me this ugly reptile is a dragon.' Swami tried to say something, but Aryan put a hand on his shoulder - aware that Anicca was not in a listening mood.

Anicca was still drained from her outburst and just slumped down next to a rock and dozed off, unable to keep her eyes open. The reptile curled up next to her. It seemed to have grown in the last few moments.

Swami said, 'You know she is right.'

Aryan snapped at him, 'There is no way Anicca burned six people and a wagon into ashes.'

'No, not that - the reptile being a dragon,' replied Swami pointing at the snoring reptile.

Aryan looked thoughtful and said, 'Tell me more.'

Swami took on his pedantic pose when he repeated what he had learnt in his classroom and said, 'Dragons disappeared during the great war. There were no sightings of them in either Aryavarta or Vanardweep after the bridge was built. Scholars believe that Gods took away the dragons as the lands were not pure enough for them after the war. Soon, they faded away as legends. But, one legend had managed to survive that dragons will emerge again when the time is ripe for the peace between both countries. And they will befriend those who can bring peace to both countries.' He paused for a breath.

Aryan asked him, 'And how did you conclude that this reptile is the dragon that legends speak of?'

Swami pointed at the little smoke tendrils coming from the reptile's nostrils as it snored.

Aryan said, 'Yes, I see the smoke.' Swami was about to provide more information on dragons when he stopped and said, 'As in - you can see, like really see the smoke?' Aryan nodded and said, 'Yes, it is very hazy, but I can see. Maybe some of my eyesight is coming back.'

Swami shook his head in disbelief and said, 'Bloody ashes. I will be damned. Maybe gods do exist. Anicca magically disappeared or killed six people. Your eyesight and my faith might be coming back. And we have a dragon amongst us.'

The dragon opened its eyes and smiled to itself, hearing their conversation. And thought to itself, 'And just like that, there are dragons in the valley.'