Sunderbans...

"I had told you not to underestimate Mahishi. Why can't you listen to the advice that Guru Brihaspati and I give?" Sachi complained to Indra. Her feet were aching as they had to cover a good amount of distance walking in the Sunderbans. They were hiding on a small habitable island covered with many wild plants. Temporary tents made of cloth were laid.

"Honestly, I never thought she could come up with such strategies," he admitted.

"That's not the issue. You clearly underestimated her!"

"You're right, I shall seek Lord Vishnu's help."

She winced. "Again? Indra, you're the commander of the Deva army. Tridev chose you for a reason. How can you go and ask for help without even trying once?"

"How can you say I did not try once? I fought, didn't I?" he argued.

"Yes Indra, you did fight her. However, you didn't fight with her on fair terms. You fought underestimating her. This time you will fight her with proper strategies and without any grand gestures. At least try once, then think of going to Lord Vishnu."

He sighed. "Let me heed your advice this time then."

"I know we won't have to go to Lord Vishnu because you'll win this battle," she added.

Indra nodded and smiled weakly.

Devloka...

"Your Highness, our spies stationed in the South have sent their reports," Kaal said, handing over the document. Mahishi skimmed through the documents which had not much information on Mysore and nearby areas. She found the pages for Pandalam kingdom and started reading it.

Prince Manikandan is starting his gurukul life under the tutelage of Sri Gurunathan. His gurukul is his house that is spread over ten yojanas. It is surrounded by the Achankovil River and forest. It is said that the Prince will stay here for another eight years. King Rajashekaran and Queen Bala's son, Rajaraja, was still not old enough to go to Gurukul.

Some of the villagers near Achankovil area have been saying that the noble Prince saved the Gurunathan's daughter and other kids from a pregnant tigress by lighting a stick with fire. The area near the attack had some burnt twigs, two stones that could have been used for starting a fire. The villagers are discussing that scaring the tigress with fire was a smart move as she would definitely protect her unborn kids. There was no risk of forest fire as it was the rainy season.

She smiled. The King of Pandalam must have paid a hefty price for the storytellers to spread a convincing story of the presence of mind of a child. She continued reading.

Gurunathan and King Rajashekaran have also requested Cheerappanchira Panikkar's daughter Maalikapurathamma to train Prince Manikandan in Kalaripayattu.

A group of merchants had also taken refuge in the same Gurukul. They were attacked by a group of pirates led by Vavar. Their gold and other valuables were looted. They were on their way to the royal court of Pandalam to discuss their concerns and ask for help.

Closing the report, she sighed. If the royal court of Pandalam takes care of the problem with Vavar, we can launch a small-scale attack on them. Then we can claim the land that one of our previous Asuras, Mahabali, had to handover to those Deva supporters. In that way I won't face any problem when travelling to Agastya Malai.

"Commander-in-chief Kaal, please ask Minister Sumali to come with tax related files. I want to check what taxes Devas have to pay annually."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Ah yes, Kaal!" she called. He turned around surprised as she had never addressed him with only his name. "Minister Sumali wanted us to hire his nephew in the royal court. Can you set up a few spies to tail him and get his details? All I know is that he has a mercenary army. If he is useful, we can keep his army along with the Asura army in case Devas try to attack us again."

He understood that this was not a royal order because had it been then it would have meant doubting Minister Sumali. This could cause internal strife in a situation where Mahishi's hold on Devas was not completely established. "Yes, Your Highness. In case that person is not useful, how can we win over the Deva lords to provide their standing army?"

"That's why I need records on the taxes," she replied, with a smirk.

Hours later, Sumali and Mahishi spent time understanding different types of taxes levied on the citizens, merchants and the lords governing the Deva empire. The Deva empire was roughly divided into ten sub-regions which were managed by a lord. The lord was supposed to maintain an army large enough to defend itself. They were supposed to collect taxes from its citizens and submit it. A portion of these taxes were given back to them to maintain their lordship.

"We need to give these lords a chance to make money for themselves," she pondered.

"Your Majesty, we can fix a portion of these taxes given to the lords. From what I have observed, it's around ten to fifteen percent. We can fix it to may be twenty - five percent -"

She cut him, "We will not give them. Instead, we will ask them to submit just seventy percent of taxes. They can keep the rest of it."

"Your Majesty, that would give them a chance to not declare the correct amount. There will be higher chances of corruption and common people will suffer. This is against the principles of Guru Shukracharya," he fumed.

"There are chances of corruption even with the current system. I do understand that, but we need to give these lords a chance to make money for themselves. We cannot win over them quickly by doing anything, we are Asuras. This is just a temporary measure until our Asura army is strengthened."

"That's exactly why I have asked my nephew to join forces with us."

"What if Devas attack us again? I am sure Indra and Sachi are planning another attack. The Devloka will be attacked soon. We need a good portion of the army here to defend ourselves. I am sure they won't wait for your nephew's army to join us."

"It seems that you don't trust my nephew. I am sorry Your Highness, I am not sure how to prove my loyalty to you. I have already lost my other nephew and niece in the wars that you and your brother fought."

"I don't doubt your loyalty, Minister Sumali and I am truly sorry for your loss. But their sacrifices are not in vain."

"Apologies for my misdirected anger, Your Majesty. This is your empire, please feel free to do what is necessary," he apologised and left the room. It's a good thing that he is not capable of planning a coup to overthrow me. Otherwise he would've been another headache.

The next day, in the court, Mahishi announced her taxation plan. There was no resistance from other courtiers on this. The same message was written in ten different scrolls with her royal seal to all the lords. Then she asked only the ten Asura ministers to stay back in the court and the rest were asked to leave.

She made another announcement, "I will be going towards the South for an important thing. I'll be travelling alone and other than that I cannot reveal any other secrets. In my absence, Commander-in-chief Kaal and Guru Vaayakaal will take care of the empire."

Sumali asked, "I believe Your Highness said that we can expect another attack from Devas soon. Yet we have no idea where you'll be going. What if something happens to our Queen?"

"Nothing will happen to me. I have announced this only amongst my ten most trusted ministers. By the time Dahan, Indra or Sachi gets this information, I'll be back."

After a lot of persuasion, the courtiers agreed. They did know that Mahishi had gone somewhere just before their recently fought war so they gave up after a few words of concern. Yet Vaayakaal was worried about the timing of her departure amidst her enemies planning to launch an attack. She left the empire at dusk on her horse.

*

On the banks of the Thamirabarani river

After five days of horse riding with a six to seven hour break to reach her destination. Travelling incognito was a huge risk along with the route that crossed a small portion of Dahan's Asura empire and was situated in the Pandya empire.

She stood at the right bank of the Thamirabarani river as it lapped gently. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the source of the river, Agastya Malai. Standing tall, it had a good amount of vegetation at the lower elevations. But the higher elevations and peak looked barren for the onlookers. Mahishi knew that it was to deceive people.

Riding towards a nearby tree, she got down from the horse and tied it to it. Hoping that it would stay till she came back, she trekked up to the source of the river. This took around half a day.

Everyone in Bharat knew that this was the spot for rare and medicinal plants. But there was a secret passed down from Rambha, Mahishasura and now Mahishi. It was passed to her when in the war between Goddess Durga and her brother, Ministers Durdhara, Durmukha and other soldiers had suffered grave injuries. She had to get the extract of a herb that grew here.

This is the most sacred herb for Asuras, a herb that was a gift from Lord Shiva to Guru Shukracharya. This extract would give second life to many other asura who were on the verge of death. Yet there was a catch to it. This herb could bring life to the ones whose all body parts were intact. Even if one body part was missing, chances of their survival were bleak.

Panting, she reached the source of the river. A few metres to the left was an entrance to the cave that hid the sacred herb, Sanjeevani herb. This was the same herb that was the prime reason for many wars waged to procure it, a few centuries ago. The herb was to protect Asuras yet the Devas wanted this for themselves. After Shukracharya's death, one of his disciples planted the only two plants, the rest were uprooted and destroyed. One spot was in the north while the other was in the south.

While the spot in the north, amidst the chilly Himalayas, was found after Prince Lakshman of Ayodhya came out from the mouth of death. Before anyone could visit the place to get a cutting of the plant, the same disciple destroyed the plant. Many search parties were funded by both the Devas and the Asuras to get hold of the plant in the South. When they couldn't find its location, it was dismissed as a rumour. It was Rambha who accidentally discovered it.

No sooner did she reached the cave than she started chanting first two lines of Mritasanjeevani Stotram,

"Evamaradhy Gauishan Devan Mrityungjayameshvaran;
Mritasangjivanan Namna Kavachan Prjapet Sada."

Shukracharya also received the mantra from Lord Shiva as a shield to protect asuras from untimely death. But as people may have believed, merely chanting this mantra was not enough. Only a few wise people understood the connection between both the boons.

On chanting this mantra, the Sanjeevani plant produces very faint bioluminescent light. After a few moments, her trained eye caught the plant. She removed a small rock mortar and pestle from her white cloth sling bag. Plucking a few leaves from the bottom portion of the plant, she started grinding them into a coarse mixture. Then she took out some other herbs from the bag and gave it a final round of grind.

Her mind took her back to the day when she had reached the battlefield. Asuras Madhu, Kaitabha, Chanda, Munda, Shumbha, Nishumbha, Dhumralochan, Rakhtabija and Mahishasura, none of them could be saved. All of them had their heads severed. She was late, her horse was probably stolen. Then she had to walk to steal a horse. It was not exactly stealing as she had left enough money for the villager to buy at least five horses.

Mahishi transferred the ground mixture into a glass bottle. Just in case, Indra attacks again, this will be enough to save the lives of at least a thousand asuras.

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Note: While the original folklore has a tiger attacking the kids; Manikandan scares the tiger with a single blow on its head with a bamboo stick, I have chosen a pregnant tigress.

This was the longest chapter I wrote, breaking my previous record in Chapter 6. *wipes sweat off her forehead*

Thank you for reading.