The Last Rudra

As Onish looked into the eyes of the snowy white horse, he felt as if he was looking into a deep blue ocean. 

Then came the beast's awareness brushing his. 

Onish didn't oppose it as it merged like it was just an abandoned part of him. 

Bhadra had explained in detail on their way to the meadow. How Ashvas could share their awareness with their riders while avoiding being their pets. 

Unlike spirit birds or other beasts, these spirits had a unique ability to merge their awareness with humans, making them able to listen to the rider's thoughts. 

And this was the reason they didn't need reins or aids like mortal horses. 

The white horse neighed as Onish awareness swept its body. 

"Boy, you could take a ride. But remember your emotions will be shared by the horse. So don't get too excited. Now let's have a good ride."

Feeling exhilarating already, Onish rode on the horse gripping his neck.

With his thought, the ashvas trotted off. 

The fresh morning breeze caressed his beaming face. They took a round, in the long stretch of green.

  The experience left him intoxicated. He felt as though it was not the horse but he was racing across the dew-wet meadow. 

It didn't take long when Onish felt one with the spirit horse. Its desire to race against the wind flooded him. 

If Bhadra was not keeping an eye on him, Onish was sure he couldn't stop his desire to gallop beyond the horizon. 

"Boy, let me warn you."  As if noticing his grinning face, Bhadra called out to him, "Rein your emotion well… if you don't want to be a slave of the spirit beast.  Only hossler could contain the ashav's rebellious will. So, stop letting it influence your mind. "

Listening to him, Onish grin faded. How could he be so foolish not to notice it.

"Did you get it now why I had teased Manda? " Bhadra trotted beside him on his brown horse, as they proceeded to the hillock ahead.

"The old fool has clearly lost his mind to the spirit horses, but he is too dumb to realize it. Your love for your breasts is one thing, but there is no need to fight over their honor."

Onish recalled the enraged face of the hossler, as if he had been possessed. 

"Does this happen to every hossler or falconer?" He asked, recalling his sister and his only friend Guha were also falconers. Would they also end up like Manda? 

"I don't know.. " Bhadra said as he made his horse walk ahead, "I think you have got the hang of riding, so we can finally go into the woods. " He called out as his horse galloped away. 

Onish didn't believe him.  The fowler was hiding something. 

***

They rode quietly through the woods, avoiding creepers, ember bees. Listening to the whispering of trees. 

Soon they were at the bank of a creek. Bhadra got down from his horse, leaving the beast to its design, so did Onish.

"Boy, As you have forged your spirit body. Now you should learn  the  basic skills to manipulate it." Bhadra spoke when they had washed their faces, and rested a bit. 

"Though the spirit is thinner than air, a spirit wilder could solidify it to form a shield or to take a leap in the air."  Bhadra folded his hand and a simmering shield materialised around him. "Throw that boulder at me." he pointed to the nearby rock.

  It was not the same shield that Bhadra had formed during the birds' assault.  Onish activated his spirit eyes and saw the simmering blue shield forged with pure spirit. 

He picked up the large boulder and hauled it at the hooded man, with his full strength. 

The rock rammed into the blue bubble and shattered into pieces, leaving nothing as much as a dent in the shield. 

With a flick of the fowler's hand, the shield disappeared into thin air. 

"See, how strong a spirit shield could be! it depends on your understanding of the spirit and the world around you." Bhadra explained, 

"The spirit projects your vision, your courage when you face your opponent. So, my first lesson to you is -Never doubt your ability."

Bhadra continued, telling Onish how he could form such a shield by himself. 

The process was not too difficult as Onish had imagined. One just had to visualise the type of shield One wanted to form. And commanded the spirit. But the crucial part was to remain calm and serene during the fight. As the slightest mistake could weaken your shield and could be fatal in a real battle. The other thing which a spirit wielder had to take care of was the consumption of spirit. 

It was true a spirit wielder had an unlimited supply of the spirit, but could their absorption rate match with that of consumption? 

No. It was why One had to wisely use the condensed energy of one's spirit pearl. 

One more thing Bhadra revealed about the spirit wielder was that not every spirit wielder had an equal amount of spirit in them. 

It depended upon your level whether you were a beginner, apprentice, master, or beyond. 

As for Onish, according to the fowler, he was at the apprentice level. And it was all because of the hellish torture he had gone through in the night. Osric's tears had clearly given him an edge over his peers. 

Since the condensation of the spirit pearls only took place when one learned advanced spirit paths during their apprenticeship. 

Bhadra took out some scrolls from his spatial pouch. The scrolls contained hundreds of diagrams of shield, levitation techniques, and other manipulating techniques. 

Onish had to practice all of them until he got an understanding of shields, and techniques deep enough to form his own. 

Of course, Bhadra would guide him on the way.

Onish started out with basic shields, one that even the gust of wind could shatter. But it didn't dampen his curiosity, he continued under the watch of his hooded mentor, forming shields one by one.  And he soon noticed a pattern in all of them. In basic scrolls, it was not so clear, but as he moved to intermediate level, the subtle pattern was as clear as day. 

Under the fine net of lines,  the Maruti yantra was emerging. If Onish  had not seen it before, there was no way he could have noticed it in the jumble of the lines. 

To check if he was right, he envisioned the protection yantra of Maruti. And commanded the spirit. 

The spirit rushed out like a tsunami wave.  Before Onish could make out the seriousness of his endeavour, his mind went blank, his leg turned jelly. He felt as if someone had sucked him dry as he collapsed on the spot. 

Around him,  a golden shield flashed and vanished as if it was just an illusion. 

The crushing pressure sent Bhadra flying. The nearby rocks turned into dust.  Onish lay unconscious with blood gushing out of ears, and mouth. 

***

It took a while for Bhadra to conceive what had transpired. He swept his spiritual sense around. The torrent of spirit had shaken the nearby trees. 

Ashvas had fled off deep into the woods. 

He found no one except frightened birds and drones of ember bees for a mile. 

The fowler ignored throbbing in his head as he flew towards the bleeding lad. 

His glowing blue eyes scanned Onish's body. The boy's body had no trace of spirit left. The newly forged spirit pearl cracked up. 

The boy had drained himself. Relief swept over my worried face. 

But how?  No intermediate shield was so powerful. The pressure he had experienced was no weaker than a peak apprentice's shield. 

Bhadra pondered as he pulled back his hood and squatted down beside Onish. 

He could hear the feeble breadth of the boy. The lad was really a trouble. 

Bhadra placed his hand over the lad's forehead. The dense spirit gushed into Onish. 

But surprisingly the spirit energy of the fowler was dark as a moonless night. 

Bhadra kept powering the dark spirit into Onish's dry body. The feeble breath grew stronger, and soon the still eyes moved. 

Bhadra stopped and took out a pill glowing blue and put it into Onish's mouth. 

It took a while for the lad to come around. 

He stood up and looked into the direction in which the two Ashvas had fled off. 

The fowler could sense them deep into the woods, but his connection with them had long severed. There was no way he could summon them back, at least not without using his power. 

He sighed as whispered to the wind. Manda would go mad again. 

The sun was in the west. It was about time they started back. But it had to wait till the boy came around. He had no intention to face Oman or worse, Lady Padma with the lad like this. 

But he couldn't stay here any longer. The flow of spirit must have been noticed by the spirit birds. 

He flicked his hand and all the scrolls flew in his spatial bags.  He picked up the boy, and dashed off, leaving behind the gurgling creek, and crushed boulders. 

However, as soon as the fowler disappeared into the woods, a figure rose out of the water. The humanoid figure was made of stone.. Its stone eyes stared into the direction in which Bhadra had left.