The Last Rudra

Avida 

Inside the Glass Castle

Udolf could see the doubt in Nirvano's eyes. He didn't blame the Glassian king for not believing him.As nobody ever would. What had transpired in Vasta was unheard of. 

Kritya had wept and laughed but never had she blushed like a maiden in love before. 

In the dateless annals of Mazia, there were two records of Kritya's appearance.

In the time of the suryavanshi kings a dwiza of Varta ( now known as awakener)had invoked the goddess. The reason was not clear as nearly the entire population got wiped out. 

The chroniclers  mentioned, it was the death of a suryavanshi princess that had stopped the killing spree of the sapphire blue woman.

As for the second appearance, it was a dwiza again.

  Kritya again had rampaged throughout the land of spirit-worshipers and ended the suryavanshi dynasty. 

The incident frightened the Vartains so much that they burned down the spirit shrines and killed thousands of dwizas.

As for how Kritya's second coming was stopped, it was the dwiza of Lashi (now known as Minaak), a blind priest, that had offered himself to the laughing goddess, and thus appeased her.

This selfless sacrifice of the dwiza, who had the purest soul, had made the butchers of dwizas ashamed. 

It was this incident that had taught mankind how they could ease the wrath of the blue woman. 

New kings of Varta secretly started keeping records of such pious souls in their kingdoms with the help of Nimohis. 

And to prevent the tragedy from reoccurring, the survivors of the disaster made sure none had the knowledge of invoking Kritya in future. For this, they confiscated all the scrolls of dwizas, and burned them to ashes.

So, when the wizard had seen the goddess on a killing spree last night, the first thing he did was to inform Nirvano. 

However, the Glassian king didn't respond to his call. On the other hand, he  killed his owl, making sure none got his message. 

"Udolf, the son of Hyde the great," Nirvano said after a long pause. "Glassia will always be in debt to you. What you have done for us can not be repaid.However, " 

The Glassian king swept his glance over his  courtiers,and went on, "It doesn't give you the permission to spread lies, at least not about the tragedy that has taken lives of our brothers. Of course, I won't punish you, for I know why you've forged this blatant lie."

Murmurs erupted in the hall. Udolf didn't know where the king was going. 

"You want to save the boy."  The king said, "You could have asked me directly, for Glassia is not an ungrateful land. I have sent the royal healer to cure him. You will hear the good news soon."

Udolf, who had seen countless lordlings coming and going, didn't take long to sense that something was amiss. Nirvano for some reason didn't want his people to know about the kritya.

So Udolf thanked the king for his great magnanimity, and took his seat. 

The king didn't bother him again, and busied himself in his royal work. However, the wizard could feel the uneasiness his presence was causing to the Glassian king. 

Udolf too did not want to stay here more than needed. Izidor had escaped long before he reached Vasta. The lingering magic of death worshipers was proof of it. As for what had caused him to leave before the fall of the Moriyans was still mysterious to Udolf. 

Maybe the mysterious boy, who had made the war goddess blush, had answers to this puzzle. 

"His Highness, druidess Nandni, along with the boy, wants to see you."  The usher's voice broke Udolf's stupor. 

"Haha .. escort them in. " the king chuckled. "Didn't I tell you, Udolf of Kemet ? You will hear good news soon."

"I thanked His Highness from the bottom of my heart." Udolf got up and bowed, as he saw the boy following behind the white-cloaked druidess. 

He was as vigorous as an ashwa of Aravania. 

It was hard to think that just a few hours ago the boy was just a breath away from the white-wives. 

When Kritya disappeared blushing and hiding her soul enchanting face with her hands. 

The bewildered wizard walked over to have a look at his saviour, to speak precisely, the saviour of whole Glassia. 

After examining the boy carefully, he realised the boy was alive. However, no spell or herbs he knew of could mend his dark bones, forged with Osric's tears. Nothing could supplement his fiery blood.

So he brought the boy to Avida, hoping the uncanny healing powers of white-cloaked druids might cure him. 

"Nandni, greet His Highness. She didn't let down His majesty's expectations,"

The druidess bowed slightly. She was a beautiful lady, well past forty. 

"Good! Good! May I know what our guest's soul tree is or is it an animal?" the king asked, looking extremely pleased with the royal healer. 

"This!.." Nandini hesitated,

"What? Is there any problem?" Nirvano asked, puzzled at the druidess's hesitancy. It was not that he had asked some secret.

"No, His highness. It is just..that the boy has no soulmate." 

A silence fell in the Glassian court, as every eye in the hall  moved from druidess to the boy,whose eyes were fixed at Udolf, the overseas visitor. 

Druidess's answer had surprised the visitor. Long ago, he had tried to understand the druids' magic, especially this healing art. Of course, he couldn't learn it, for it required some innate power. However, he did learn the working of the alien magic. To heal someone, a healer first had to find a soulmate. Without a soulmate, he couldn't heal the patient. 

Nirvano concealed the shock that the healer's answer had given him. He scrutinised the boy before him.  The calmness of the boy told him he was not new to the court. His innocent, but fearless eyes were a sign of his brave soul. 

Was the foreigner really telling the truth? Was it the boy who had stopped Kritya? 

"How did you heal him then?"

  Nirvano asked the question that everyone present there wanted to know. 

"Perdon this healer, His Highness. This is her secret." the druidess said, bowing her head. 

Now nothing could be done. Asking a white cloak or any other druid's secrets was taboo. So Nirvano snubbed his curiosity and his rising anger.

"May I know your name, young man?" He decided to focus on the boy. 

"Ishit, the son of Oman, from Minaak." Ishit replied. He saw the frown appear on the broad forehead of the druid king. 

That didn't surprise him. None in Varta knew about this hidden land of druids, similarly, no Glassian knew of Varta. 

Had he not seen the fowler sitting among the courtiers he wouldn't have disclosed his identity. 

Surprisingly, he was not putting on his black hood and was looking younger.

Bhadra's presence in Glassia had surprised Ishit. From the information he had gathered so far about Glassia, Ishit had reckoned the location of Glassia somewhat. It must have been somewhere beyond Okala, the land of moving mountains and Mayavan woods. 

There was no route from Varta to Glassia. Even if it was, there was no way a spirit wielder could get here. Not to speak of the dangers, the sheer distance was so large that  even a master rank wielder couldn't cross it within a month. 

"And where is this Minaak of yours?" the Glassian king asked. 

"In Garuna, the southern province of Varta" Ishit replied.

The king's face turned grim. 

"How did you get here?" demanded the king. 

***

  Udolf was shocked at the boy's answer. He hadn't heard of Minaak, but visited Garuna many times, especially Lashi, its capital. 

But the question was how the boy had reached here. As for him lying, Udolf could sense the spirit caressing him like a mother. His identity as a spirit worshiper was as clear as day. So the boy was telling the truth. 

" The boy is with me,His Highness." Udolf said, before the boy could spill anything. The king had just lost his Arch-Scarifier, and almost ten thousand warriors to an alien invasion. Then his report about Kritya's appearance and her mysterious disappearance. So it was not a good time to give him one more uncanny tale. 

Besides,the way the boy was looking at him, and his medallion on his neck, all these things made it clear that the boy knew him. As for how, that was the question he wanted to ask Ishit, the son of Oman. 

Nirvano gave Udolf a piercing look. 

"If you say so, Udolf." said the Glassian king, after a long pause. 

"However, If It doesn't trouble you, can you  tell us how you got here?

For Samudra, the lord of the Living Sea only confessed about the Moriyans. He didn't say a thing about you and the boy." 

Udolf could see the time had come that he should leave Glassia. The druid king was getting paranoid now. 

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