Write to Survive
3rd Round
Prompt: you are a guardian of a treasure
***

The Yaksha guard the treasure. They are neither demons nor gods. They aren't paranormal, they're abnormal....

"I don't believe it!" the leader said chewing on his ice cubes.

I sipped my soda and scanned the hunting party of four. A local inn offering an open bar was very uncommon for this region of West Bengal.

"What in Yakshas, but you believe in the treasure!" I said twisting my glass on the coaster.

"Treasure is tangible! I've been hunting game long before you took bribes to let us!" the leader laughed turning to his group, swinging his bottle of whiskey, "wild things are alive, they're guarded because they're the ones doing it, fighting back...!"

"This is Kali yug, the era where sin takes precedence" I said while adjusting my forest ranger badge, "all great forms of power are non living. Currency and bullets. Anyone can use it, all it takes to be a good person, is to possess the courage not to..."

"So, Yakshas!" said the second member of the hunting party, "what they're agents of balance? Guardians of a forbidden treasure!? Creatures defying the divine and natural orders, holding onto a treasure they don't want to be used for eternity? That, my friend, is an unnatural aspiration...!"

"Well, you're in Siria, East Medinipur!", I replied smiling at the group, "the only desert forest I know of, lot of things are unnatural here!"

"Oh, how badly I want to talk about our adventure!" said the third member of the party, "you just may...."

"Wait! You went out there!?" I removed my hand from the glass and turned around.

"Why do you think I don't believe in Yakshas?" the leader spoke again.

"Tell me!" I replied.

"The boy has some buzz after all!" said the third member as all the party cheered in response.

"So you know Medinipur has the most dense green cover among all the areas in lower Damodar valley...." the third person began.

"But the river also deposits a huge amount of sand with its seasonal floods. The extensive sand cover almost makes the ground desert like, hence the name desert forest," added the last person of the group apparently forgetting that I passed the forest ranger prelims.

They went on with the story, the same one I've heard countless times. Subarnarekha, a tributary to the titular Damodar river, often carried with it a rare sand with golden hues. This particular sand had little use beyond its appearance, it glittered but it was not gold. So, ancient people of this land, buried their gold here. No story ever tells how the ancients came to possess that much of riches, only that searching for real gold among glitters was indeed a foolish endeavour. They were so self serving that they had the audacity to pray to gods to protect their wealth, when they didn't even spent any for worship. The gods punished them by sending Yakshas to guard the gold. Yakshas, who protected the gold from the people themselves.

"...It has been years since the Damodar valley corporation have affected the course of Subarnarekha," the second among the hunting party said, "so we venture to the forbidden areas of the forest to search for that treasure!"

"Weren't you afraid!?" I asked with interest, "I'm sure there were instances where you could turn, walk towards other fates. Where you had to choose to go forward with the treasure hunt....!"

"I usually toss a coin when in doubt," the leader said still chewing on the ice cube, "because when the coin flips in air, you suddenly know what you want the outcome to be!"

"So you can imagine our disappointment," the third person spoke again, "when we tried for days, unearthed a archaeological site! Had these tree designs on them...!"

"The Soroshi Panchvati," I said with a smirk, "holy place to the ancient tribes. A collection of six trees that grow in these sands...!"

"Yeah those!" the leader picked up the pace, "I hired scientists and a lot of experts. They confirmed it. It was a temple, and at some point of time, a lot of gold coins was buried beneath the altar...!"

"So you see kid!" said the last person, "No Yakshas! Just people fearing to go looking for treasure and someone crazy enough to not have it. They must've dug it out long before us..."

"So here we are!" said the second person, "drowning our sorrows in this inn! What do you say...!?"

"Me?" I stood up from my chair, "I say there is a third option," I walk around the party to the other side, pulling out a coin from my pocket.

"That Yakshas do exist. That some people who went looking for that treasure had the good sense to turn to a different path. But their intentions were too vile to be forgiven by the cosmos. They could neither condemned to hell nor they could attain heaven. Haunting with their desires was not on the table, so..."

I tossed the coin into air. The metal sharply reflected a golden hue.

"So, they were cursed to become Yakshas. Guardians of a treasure they can't possess...!"

The leader stood up and so did the members. The hunters were not too keen on being the hunted.

"We didn't find the treasure...!" said the second person fiddling with his rifle.

"A Yaksha's purpose is to end the story. I can't let you tell the world about what you haven't found here!" I unbuckled my holster, "I am the guardian! I must keep it safe........!"