Makhadeva didn’t ask further questions, and Chandra was grateful for it; although, she suspected he already knew thetruth. After all, he knew about her and Veer’s history before she even told him.
She surreptitiously wiped her tears that had appeared out of nowhere. “You don’t”—she sniffed—“happen to know my brother’s whereabouts, do you?”
Makhadeva put a hand to cover his left eye. “Ah…I don’t see him, Princess.”
“Does that mean he’s dead?” she asked, alarmed.
“No, my reach sometimes doesn’t extend that far. And if I don’t have an idea of where I am looking, I may not see what I wish to see.” He hesitated. “I’ve to go now, Princess. I hope you can find something to pass the time here, where you’ll be safe.”
“Wait! Take me with you. I want to see him.”
“That’s dangerous, Princess.”
“You’re there to protect me, right? I’m sure I’ll be okay. Please, take me with you.”
Makhadeva seemed to ponder her words. “Perhaps there’s a way you can be useful if something fails. It seems only fair. All right, I’ll take you.”
He waved his hand, and the mirrors dissolved into the air, leaving one behind. The being went toward it, and the mirror lowered itself, hovering closer to the ground. He turned to Chandra and bowed with his hand outstretched. “After you, Princess,” he said, indicating that she should step into the mirror.
Chandra stared with trepidation and took a deep breath before placing a foot on the mirrored surface. It was like plunging into a pool of water. She lost her balance and stumbled through, and for a few seconds, it felt as if she were thrown into a pool. She swam toward the surface and when she broke through, she found herself upright on the ground, dry.
She turned back and saw the yaksha emerging from the mirror’s surface. Once he was standing beside her, the mirror evaporated out of existence.
Chandra took stock of her surroundings. They were back in the dense forest. She heard a distant roar and the fall of a tree, followed by the sudden flight of birds.
Makhadeva set off in that direction and she followed suit.
“The central arena,” he said, looking around. “I should’ve known. For some reason, all the fell creatures seem to gravitate to that cursed place.”
The dense trees suddenly gave way to a huge central clearing. Something horrible had to have happened here, something so bad even the grass refused to sprout from the ground, which was still a charred mess of dead twigs.
Over in the distance, she spied a figure battling three large animals. She recognized Veer’s beast form.
“We need to hide you, so we don’t alert him to your presence,” said Makhadeva as he intoned something.
Chandra felt his spell wash over her. She lifted her hand and watched it go transparent and then disappear. She was now invisible.
“You have to lift his curse,” said Chandra, once again appealing to the yaksha. “The way he is going, he’ll kill a large number of the forest’s inhabitants.”
“Do you think, Princess, that if it were a simple matter of lifting it, I would’ve done so? No. The curse came into being because of his bestial nature. It’ll nullify itself, but only if he shows he has some human nature left. And don’t you worry about the animals here. Everything that dies here will return,” he said enigmatically.
“But you’re telling me the more he kills, the deeper the curse goes. Maybe if you wait a bit more, there is some opportunity he’ll regret his actions.”
“I’ve waited,” said Makhadeva, the frenetic buzzing of the bees showed his agitation. “I’ve given him long enough to repent his actions. I can wait no longer. Not for the good of Dandakaranya. This forest is not just a place of exile. It’s also a refuge, of beings that are no longer welcome in the outside world. I can’t have someone like him disrupt the balance in this place. Nor do I want him to wake up things that are much worse. I have to neutralize him.”
Makhadeva seemed to see her crestfallen face, despite her invisibility, and his voice softened. “As for your quest, he’s of no importance to it. Other than providing you with security, he can hardly do anything on his own. If your choice is to still prevent the explosion on Meru, you can continue finding the key components. I’d be happy to tell you what I know.”
Chandra watched as Makhadeva got busy. The ground at the beast’s feet turned bright silver. Veer paused in his fight. The other animals quickly backed away from him. He pawed at the ground on all fours, seemingly curious.
A pale, transparent rod rose from the ground. Veer batted at it but jumped away with a howl when his paw brushed against it. Cradling his right hand to his chest, Veer suddenly glanced in their direction, although they were invisible.
Several more rods rose from the ground at different heights all around Veer, in a rough circle, a few feet in diameter. Some turned midway, perpendicular to each other, in different directions.
The rods were still separate, not yet touching each other. But as they moved closer, surrounding Veer on all sides, Chandra realized that they would form a cubed grid type of prison. And Veer wouldn’t be able to touch it without experiencing excruciating pain.
Chandra watched Makhadeva, who was absorbed in making sure his spell worked, paying her no attention. It was useless to plead with him anymore for help.
She thought back to the yaksha’s words about how to break the curse. That would happen only if Veer showed he had any humanity left in him. Humanity? Pity? Empathy for others?
