While Mahishi was busy in thoughts, the soldier stationed near her room entered. "Your Highness, Guru Vaayakaal is seeking his permission to meet you."

She looked at him surprised. She gave a curt nod. In a few moments, a man wearing red dhoti and red angavastra like most of the asuras entered. "Namaste, Guruji," she bowed down, touching his feet. His face broke into a smile as he blessed her, "Ayushman bhav."

A man of average build, tanned body and white beard and moustache made him look like an ordinary Asura. But he wasn't one, he was the teacher of Mahishasura and Mahishi. He was Guru Vaayakaal, a rakshasa.

He beamed, "I am able to see your resolve towards your goal, Queen. From getting your boon granted to killing Anjan, I can sense the fire in you."

She smiled.

"But there is a problem, my child," he worried.

"What's that, Guruji?"

"Unification of the banished asuras," he stated.

"Unification? But Guruji my father had already unified them, didn't he?

"Yes, King Rambha had unified them. This empire is the result of that unification. But when we conquer Devloka, there will be a civil war."

She frowned, "How will that lead to civil war?"

He explained, "Pardon me, Your Highness, you must have heard this from King Mahishasura numerous times, but please bear with me. When your father married your mother, who was not from the Asura tribe, he was banished for bringing upon shame to the tribe. He then started the unification process for all the banished tribes of daityas, danavas, sarpas, rakshasas and nagas. They were promised to be given important posts in the newly founded kingdom. Later, King Mahishasura was handed over a unified Asura tribe to rule.

When he had conquered Devloka, there was a situation similar to civil war. Your brother had tackled it using force. But we cannot use the same trick again. Our rules and laws are strict, we cannot let them act the way the other tribes want.

Whilst we were busy dealing with these problems, Devas won over their kingdom back. This time we cannot give them another chance to throw us out. Unifying them by rules and regulations won't work this time. We have to think of a way to unify ourselves."

Mahishi pondered for a while. An idea struck her. "We will unify them under one force. That will be a force of similar thoughts and ideology. You must be knowing this. We will call it Aikyam."

"Aikyam?" Vaayakaal asked, surprised.

Mahishi nodded. "I have heard my father, Rambha and Mahishasura talking about it. It was introduced by the Asura Guru, Shukracharya. This time I will use it to strengthen the banished Asura race."

"We should be very careful. Aikyam is a very difficult topic to understand. Only Guru Shukracharya and his immediate disciples understood it as they were the ones who thought of this. Maybe, we should think of some other way?" He proposed.

She shook her head. "No Guruji. I have decided. I will make sure it will be implemented in the correct way. I will take your leave, Guruji. I have to divide the army and assign sub-in-charges so that no more time is wasted for the war preparations."

Vaayakaal nodded. This is why sometimes boons shouldn't be granted. Mahishi has started to ignore the counsel of her well-wishers. This is exactly what King Rambha and Mahishasura did.

A soldier entered her room with a scrolled roll of paper. "Your Highness, we have received word from the spies stationed in areas surrounding Pandalam."

She took the report from the soldier and dismissed him. She started reading the contents of the report.

We have confirmed that asura Bhasmasura was found dead near backwaters of Ashtamudi Lake, Desinganadu.

King Rajashekara of Pandyan Dynasty has adopted a boy, Prince Manikandan. Rumors say that he was found in a basket made of coconut fronds, drifting from river Pamba, with a golden bell tied to his neck. We have heard that someone placed this basket near Pulachimalai hill. A sage appeared from nowhere when the King found this basket. He instructed the King to adopt him and he will get a proof of the child's divinity when he turns twelve. After instructing, the sage disappeared.

King Rajashekara's wife, Bala and other ministers have received the news positively. Except for the diwan in their Pandalam court, Chakrabani. There might be assassination attempts against the Prince.

"Guruji, please read this," she said with a frown. He quickly scanned the contents and sighed. "So now that we have a successor for the Pandalam kingdom, we won't be able to overtake it soon."

"That's not the issue, Guruji. We were not planning to capture Pandalam in near future. Who knows, by the time we get Devloka, Diwan Chakrabani might have assassinated the Prince, making our task much easier.

But it's that child. . . I have a strange feeling. What if he is the son of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu?"

"How is that possible?"

"Because Lord Brahma was not surprised when he heard my wish."

"You are thinking a lot, my child. I understand there are numerous responsibilities for you."

She nodded. Probably, Guruji is right. But somewhere in her mind, this news had an ominous tone to it.

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As the sun was rising, the asura army had started gathering in the training ground. This training ground was used for training the asura army in various warfare techniques.

Mahishi, draped in red saree with yellow border, wore minimal jewellery. She stood on the temporarily constructed dias. Taking a deep breath, she announced in a speaker which was made with a truncated cone to which a handle was fixed. "Today, we have gathered here to discuss our faith. The faith which unites us. The faith that was preached by the greatest asura teacher, Guru Shukracharya."

The whole army gasped as they heard the name of their revered Guru, Shukracharya. Vaayakaal nodded with a smile. Though he was against using this, he knew that Mahishi had a knack for capturing the audience's attention.

"Guru Shukracharya had said that the Aikyam is the supreme as well as the ultimate self from which the whole cosmos is formed. This formless attribute is said to be defined from the human point of view.

All the other manifestations of Aikyam are false, leading us into the maya, the illusion. Aikyam is the only true God, the only Reality, so to speak."

Sumali, an important member of the Asura ministry and a scholar, frowned. He had immense knowledge regarding teachings of Shukracharya. Why is Her Highness changing the whole concept of Aikyam?

"Those who follow Aikyam are equal to us," said Mahishi.

Sumali looked with fear. Guru Shukracharya had never said that those who follow Aikyam are equal.

"Devas do not follow Aikyam, so they are not equal to us," she stated.

He was shocked. This is what Guru Shukracharya had feared. His worst fear was this misunderstanding of his teachings. That's what is happening.

The whole asura army was slowly absorbing the news. There were intense discussions amongst themselves. They didn't know that their revered Guru Shukracharya had said this. They were, in fact, thankful for their Queen to have shared it with them. Now, they started believing that they are superior to Devas. They had only one mission. To remove the inferior race. To destroy the Devas.

She saw a new fire in their eyes. The army dispersed into groups and started training vigorously. Having succeeded in her mission, she quickly exited from the training ground. Meanwhile, grief stricken Sumali was still trying to process everything their Queen had said when Minister Nilakukshi tapped his shoulder gently.

Vaayakal noticed that Sumali and Nilakukshi were discussing. He quickly followed Mahishi and when they were further away, he called, "Your Highness!"

She was surprised to find her Guru panting for breath. He whispered, "We need to talk."

Nodding, she led him to her chamber. He described Sumali's reaction towards her announcements. Massaging her temples, she groaned, "How could I forget him! How do I convince him?"

"You knew about this, Your Highness?" Sumali's voice boomed in her chamber.

She glared at him. "Minister Sumali, I hope you haven't forgotten the courtesy to ask my permission before entering my chamber?"

"Your Highness, the matter I want to speak with you is of utmost urgency."

"No matter how important the matter is, protocol has to be followed under any circumstances. Have I made myself clear, Minister?"

Sumali nodded. Before he could speak, Mahishi spoke again, "I know what you wish to speak with me. Answer to your previously asked question is yes."

"Your Highness, then you must be knowing that the consequences of this deviated concept would be highly disastrous."

"No," she shook her head. "It won't. I have planned everything. Didn't you notice the fire in my army? I don't want my army to fight an internal battle when we are taking our revenge against Devas. I want the entire army to have that spirit while fighting."

He looked at her in despair. "Even if you introduce it this way then history is bound to repeat itself. That history where Asuras lost the battle to Devas"

Again, Mahishi shook her head and raised her palm. "Enough discussions on this. Those were just an Asura army. Ours is a banished Asura army where we are fighting to establish their own existence as a unified Asura race. Minister Sumali, you may leave."

Sumali left the room with a disappointed face. That's when he heard someone calling his name.

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Thank you for reading.