(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
I would like to this ti choose a local deities.
--> Give all the nas you know. I would do research on them. Or you could share their story a little and their power and what they authority over.
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For the first ti since the massacre,
Karichathan looked away hearing the question of Goddess Varahi.
His grin beca slightly awkward.
"...."
The giant boar imdiately noticed.
The goddess had known him long enough.
That look ant trouble.
Karichathan scratched his cheek.
Then looked elsewhere.
Then whistled like he was the innocent here.
The goddess remained silent.
"...."
Waiting.
Eventually the kuttichattan sighed dramatically.
-Sigh!
"You’re no fun."
The boar snorted.
The sound carried clear disapproval.
Karichathan jumped from the tree trunk and landed lightly upon the forest floor.
-THUD.
He kicked a stone. Then another.
Then finally shrugged his shoulder.
"I may have followed sothing."
The goddess waited for the complete answer.
The silence stretched.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Karichathan coughed awkwardly.
Then looked away again.
The boar’s eyes narrowed.
"You backtracked through their ritual."
The kuttichattan imdiately froze.
"...."
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Karichathan slowly turned.
A guilty smile appeared on his face.
The goddess let out another grunt.
She had her answer.
The old practitioner’s ritual.
The dolls.
The bindings.
The pathways they had created.
Karichathan had followed them.
Using their own ritual path like a mischievous child sneaking through an unlocked door.
The kuttichattan raised both hands defensively.
"In my defense..."
"There was a very interesting sll."
The giant boar stared at him.
"A sll."
Karichathan nodded enthusiastically.
"A very interesting sll."
The goddess remained unimpressed.
The kuttichattan imdiately changed topics.
A survival tactic he had perfected over countless years.
"Anyway."
"They deserved it."
The giant boar remained silent.
Karichathan’s grin slowly faded.
For once. Only once.
A serious expression appeared.
"They were hurting the land."
His voice was quieter now.
"They were hurting the dead."
"They were hurting people who couldn’t defend themselves."
The forest beca silent.
The goddess watched him carefully.
Because beneath all the laughter.
Beneath all the gas.
Beneath all the chaos.
Karichathan possessed a very particular hatred.
He despised those who preyed upon the weak.
Especially those who likes to control others for their own benefit.
The silence lasted several monts.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Then the goddess finally relaxed.
Slightly.
Only slightly.
The chains on her legs softly rang.
The yellow glow in her eyes beca calr.
Karichathan imdiately brightened.
Then the goddess asked another question.
One that caused him to pause.
"You hold Devaratha in unusually high regard."
The kuttichattan froze hearing that question.
The forest beca quiet again.
Even the spirits lingering at the edges seed interested.
Because it was true.
Whenever Devara’s na ca up.
Whenever his actions were ntioned.
Whenever soone spoke ill of him.
Karichathan’s behavior changed.
Subtly.
But noticeably.
The goddess had observed it for years.
The kuttichattan scratched his head.
Then looked away.
Then looked at the sky.
Then at a tree.
Then at literally anything except the goddess.
"...."
The giant boar waited.
Patiently.
Karichathan finally smiled.
A much smaller smile than usual.
Almost nostalgic.
"He once did sothing."
The goddess tilted her head slightly.
"What?"
Karichathan imdiately shook his head.
"Nope."
The boar narrowed its eyes.
The kuttichattan pointed a finger.
"I am not telling."
The goddess stared at him.
Karichathan crossed his arms triumphantly.
The goddess stared harder.
The kuttichattan looked away first.
"...I’m still not telling."
The chains softly echoed through the forest.
The goddess could easily force the answer.
Yet she did not.
Because she could tell sothing.
Whatever mory Karichathan was protecting...
It mattered.
A lot.
Eventually the goddess let out a long snort.
The conversation ended there.
Karichathan imdiately looked relieved.
The giant boar slowly turned toward the direction of Trivenivrata Royal palace.
Far away....
Beyond forests. Beyond rivers.
Beyond mountains.
A young king slept peacefully within his palace.
Completely unaware that a divine guardian and a mischievous kuttichattan were currently discussing him in the middle of the night.
Karichathan followed her gaze.
A strange smile appeared on his face.
"...."
One filled with respect.
And perhaps sothing else.
Sothing older.
Sothing no one else knew.
The reason remained hidden.
Known only to Karichathan himself.
And he intended to keep it that way.
A week passed...
Deep within the vast forest that connected the territories of the five allied kingdoms, the hidden settlents of the tantra clans were bustling with activity.
The atmosphere was noticeably different from before.
There was excitent.
Expectation.
Anticipation.
The surviving clan leaders had received ssages carried by trained owls from the infiltrators they had secretly sent into Trivenivrata weeks ago.
According to the reports, the first phase of their operation had been completed successfully.
The tantra dolls had been buried.
The ritual anchors had been established.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Or so they believed.
Now they were preparing for the second phase.
A much larger ritual.
One that required cooperation from both sides.
The practitioners hidden inside Trivenivrata would activate the influence of the buried dolls.
At the sa ti, the main ritual would be perford here, far from the kingdom’s borders.
When combined, the two workings would supposedly create a bridge powerful enough to affect the entire land.
At least, that was the theory.
As a result, the forest settlent had beco unusually lively.
Practitioners moved between huts carrying ritual materials.
Others prepared herbs, powders, bones, and offerings.
Large circles were being drawn upon the earth.
Protective wards were renewed.
Assistants hurried from place to place carrying instructions from their elders.
Everyone was focused on the coming ritual.
No one noticed the approaching figure.
Not at first.
Near the edge of the settlent, a woman from one of the clans was gathering fruits from a tall forest tree.
Her woven basket was nearly full.
She humd quietly while selecting the ripest fruits.
Then movent caught her eye.
"...."
She paused.
At first she assud it was a hunter returning from the forest.
But sothing felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The figure was staggering.
Barely walking.
The woman narrowed her eyes.
Slowly, the person erged from between the trees.
A young man.
His clothes were torn.
His body was covered in dried blood and dirt.
Each step looked painful.
The woman’s eyes widened.
She recognized him imdiately.
One of the infiltrators.
One of the five practitioners who had been sent into Trivenivrata.
For a mont, relief flashed across her face.
Then she noticed the rest.
Her relief vanished.
One of his arms was missing.
His left eye was gone.
Deep wounds covered his body.
He looked less like a returning practitioner and more like a man who had sohow crawled out of death itself.
The woman nearly dropped her basket.
The young man finally noticed her.
For a brief mont, hope appeared in his remaining eye.
His cracked lips moved.
"...."
As though he wanted to say sothing.
Wanted to warn them.
Wanted to tell them what had happened.
Then his legs gave out.
His body collapsed onto the forest floor.
The basket fell from the woman’s hands.
Fruits scattered everywhere.
Without hesitation, she placed two fingers in her mouth and released a sharp whistle.
A specific pattern.
Three short notes.
One long note.
Then another short note.
The signal echoed throughout the settlent.
Every clan mber imdiately recognized it.
Ergency.
Soone needed help.
Several practitioners instantly stopped what they were doing.
The nearest clan ns rushed toward the source.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Others followed monts later.
Within seconds, dozens of people had gathered near the unconscious man.
The crowd imdiately fell silent.
Shock spread across their faces.
"That’s one of the infiltrators."
"What happened to him?"
"Where are the others?"
"Who did this?"
The questions ca one after another.
None received an answer.
Because the young man remained unconscious.
One of the elders quickly knelt beside him.
His expression darkened imdiately.
The wounds weren’t fresh.
They were several days old.
Yet sohow the man had survived.
That alone felt unnatural.
The elder placed two fingers against the practitioner’s neck.
A weak pulse greeted him.
Still alive.
Barely.
"Move him."
The order ca instantly.
"Now."
Several clan mbers carefully lifted the injured man.
The crowd parted as they carried him through the settlent.
Whispers followed them everywhere.
Everyone could see the missing arm.
Everyone could see the empty eye socket.
Everyone could see the terror frozen upon his face even while unconscious.
It wasn’t the face of a man defeated in battle.
It was the face of soone who had witnessed sothing that shattered his understanding of the world.
The healer’s hut stood near the center of the settlent.
Its doors were thrown open imdiately.
The wounded practitioner was carried inside and laid upon a woven mat.
The healers quickly began their work.
dicinal herbs.
Sacred oils.
Protective chants.
Everything available was brought forward.
Outside, the settlent gradually fell silent.
The excitent surrounding the upcoming ritual had disappeared.
An uneasy feeling settled over the clans.
Because only one infiltrator had returned.
And the fear etched onto his face suggested a terrible possibility.
The mission inside Trivenivrata had not gone according to plan.
Far away, hidden beneath the shade of the forest canopy, an owl watched the settlent quietly from a branch.
Its golden eyes never blinked.
"...."
For a mont, it almost seed to be observing the healers’ hut.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then it spread its wings and disappeared into the forest.
anwhile...
The young man was running.
Branches tore at his clothes.
Roots reached for his feet.
His lungs burned.
His remaining eye was filled with terror.
Behind him echoed the sound he had co to fear more than death itself.
Laughter.
Childish laughter.
Playful laughter.
The laughter of Karichathan.
"RUN!"
"RUN!"
"RUN FASTER!"
The voice echoed from every direction.
The young man stumbled.
The forest around him turned red.
Blood began falling from the sky once more.
The trees twisted. The shadows stretched.
Then he saw them. His dead companions.
Standing among the trees.
Watching him.
Their torn bodies stared silently.
The elder stood among them.
Or what remained of him.
His hollow eyes fixed themselves upon the fleeing practitioner.
The young man’s heart nearly stopped.
"No..."
He stumbled backward.
"No!"
Then sothing landed upon his shoulder.
A small hand.
A child’s hand.
The young man slowly turned.
And found himself staring into the golden eyes of Karichathan.
"...."
"...."
The kuttichattan’s grin stretched impossibly wide.
-Grin!
"Found you."
The creature lunged.
The young man scread.
His eyes flew open.
A terrified shout escaped his throat.
He sat upright so suddenly that the blankets tangled around him.
Sweat drenched his entire body.
"...."
His chest rose and fell violently.
For several monts he simply stared into space.
Breathing.
Trying to understand. Trying to rember.
Trying to convince himself.
The blood rain was gone.
The forest was gone.
Karichathan was gone.
It had been a dream.
A nightmare. Only a nightmare.
Slowly his surroundings ca into focus.
Wooden walls.
dicinal herbs hanging from the ceiling.
Clay lamps.
The scent of healing ointnts.
The healer’s hut.
He was back.
Back among his people.
The realization should have comforted him.
Instead, it made him feel worse.
Because he rembered.
Every single thing.
The massacre.
The spirits.
The giant boar.
A creature who introduced himself as Karichathan.
None of it had been a dream.
The nightmare was only a mory.
The hut’s entrance suddenly opened.
One figure entered.
Then another. Then another.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Soon all five clan leaders stood inside.
Their expressions ranged from concern to irritation.
The young man recognized each of them imdiately.
They were the one who he needs to warn of what lays there.
The leaders of the five clans.
*******************************
(Author note:)
I hope you guys give your opinion and idea’s.
-->
New Template:
But it will manifest little later into the story.
I would like to this ti choose a local deities.
--> Give all the nas you know. I would do research on them. Or you could share their story a little and their power and what they authority over.
Don’t forget to review guys...
Guys I have a new fic which nad: Karuppan: King of Openings.
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