Sakradeva's face broke into a grin as he embraced Akileshwar, who was still in shock. After all these years, he had finally showed up.

'How.. ?' He whispered as they pulled back. Sakradeva held him by the shoulders, still not able to comprehend the fact that his best friend had returned.

'I'll tell you later' He winked at him as he beckoned for him to follow them onto their ship.

As Akileshwar and the rest of the group walked onto their ship, Sakradeva signaled for the guards accompanying them to leave them alone. They did as they were told as Sakradeva led them into a room like area in the center of the dock.

'So, Akil, why are you in the Mahanadi?'

Akileshwar glanced around, unsure of whether to share his voyage's information with Sakradeva, but he owed him his life. Plus, he was his best friend. 

'Sakra, I don't know how to explain this to you, but we are on our way to Naraka, hell' He summed up.

'Why? Tell me' He beckoned. 

And so Akileshwar did. From the top to bottom, not missing a single detail. Sakradeva listened intently, not making a single sound as Akileshwar continued. 

'-And you saved us' Finished Akileshwar as Sakradeva nodded, deep in thought. 

He glanced at Kali and scanned her. For some reason, Sakradeva felt like he couldn't trust her. She gave bad vibes. But if what Akileshwar had said was true, then he couldn't hold a grudge against her. Especially if he was planning to join their voyage.

'So, why do you have the girl and the rishi and the American with you?' He asked.

'Athreya is the leader of the Lingamputras, the tribe that helps the incarnation of Shiva. He is the one with the most knowledge and information about this quest. Tanvi, well she asked to come and I accepted. Besides, we have mistakes in the past that were left uncorrected' He glanced unsurely at Tanvi, who returned the look.

'-And David, well.. ' Akileshwar dint know how to explain that David was on this quest just because he threatened them. And if he did, it was a guarantee that Sakradeva would throw him out and the threat would become real.

Sakradeva stared at David intently, studying him. David stared right back.

'Well, I'm here for a tour of India and I just happened to catch these people. I asked to join their voyage and they accepted!' Said David while Kali, Athreya, Tanvi and Akileshwar scowled at him.

'And those three?' Sakradeva pointed at Satya and the two other people from the ship. They were standing as they had not received any invitation to sit. And Sakradeva did exactly that.

'My lord, my name is Satyaram. I am, was, the captain of the ship where Akileshwar was. This is my two mates. Divodas and Davadutt'

Sakradeva nodded. He turned to Akileshwar. He took a deep breath before asking the queestion he had most dreaded. 'May I join this voyage?'

Akileshwar was about to answer no, but then stopped. Sakradeva could prove a great ally. With his army and forces and weapons. 

He thought about it for what seemed like an hour. He glanced around at Tanvi and the rest. Each of them were looking at him, waiting for his decision. It seemed that after Akileshwar had been recognized as the Asuraksha, they looked up to him and considered him their leader. Even Athreya, and he was the leader of the Lingamputras.

'Fine' He sighed. Sakradeva inwardly rejoiced.

A ring of the bell was heard from the outside and the group walked to the front deck to see that they had just docked.

'Now what's the plan?' Asked Sakradeva.

Akileshwar let out a sigh.

'Now, we walk to the Narmada'

▪

Akileshwar panted as he walked across the mountains between the Narmada and the Mahanadi. It had only been 3 days and the whole army was very tired. They had brought all the resources stored in the ship, but they had been used up in a day's time due to the cold and tiredness of walking.

'Halt!' All of a sudden Sakradeva shouted. Immediately the army went into defense positions despite being very tired. If this was not a dangerous situation, Akileshwar would've fallen to the ground then and there.

He stood shoulder to shoulder with Sakradeva, who had his shield in one hand and his sword in another. He wore the legendary armor of the Hiranyathratri. The shield had an image of the Hiranyathrathri helmet on it.

It was silent for the count of ten. Then, the sound of a rock being rolled somewhere was heard in front of them. Alerting everyone that there was something in present in front of them.

Akileshwar squinted as he drew his sword from it's scabbard.

Sakradeva squinted in the fog to see what was making the sound, and where it came from. He signaled for one of the troops to do a scout ahead. Akileshwar thought he would recoil in fear. But instead, he nodded confidently and started forward into the mist.

A few minutes later, a shout was heard, and a growl. Unfortunately, he recognized it.

'Tigers' He said as the army readied themselves. But he knew these were not just normal tigers, only mountain tigers were there in mountains.

A streak of tigers walked out of the fog, each of them snarling at the army. They had white fur with black stripes on them. Sakradeva signaled for the troops to lower the spears towards them, and their shields forward.

'No!' Shouted Akileshwar, surprising everyone.

'Tigers pounce. They will attack from the top. Place your shields above you!' The army did as they were told and the tigers recoiled slightly, but continued to snarl.

They started forward as Akileshwar and Sukradeva readied their swords. In the center, Tanvi, Athreya, Kali, David Cross, Satya, Divodas and Davedutt were walking. Being unexperienced in sword fighting, they required the most protection.

The closest tiger was coming from the left. Once in pouncing distance, it leaped onto the army, who expected this.

Once connecting with the shields, the poor soldiers who were it's victims, got knocked back by the force. They did not expect the tiger's large size to push them to the ground.

Instinctively, the shields were lowered in fear, confusion and other emotions. The tigers then went in for the kill.

Akileshwar was distracted by the one tiger destroying the entire army that he did not notice another one leap onto him. He turned around and the tiger crashed into him. Caught off guard, he swung the sword and it surprisingly, hit it's target. The sword drove right threw it's abdomen and it fell to the ground, howling in pain. He turned to his side to see Sakradeva just kill one more tiger.

Seeing the leaders' strength, the tigers left the nearly destroyed army. Tanvi, Athreya and the rest had fled to the bottom of the mountain. Akileshwar could only hope they had survived. 

The tigers all growled from all sides, deciding that if they finished the leader, the rest would prevail and lunch would be served.

'These tigers are not like normal tigers. There much more agile' Said Sakradeva. Akileshwar nodded in response. Seeing the tiger's battle hardened skills, he knew there was no way out of this.

The tigers all circled Akileshwar and Sakradeva, blocking any means of escape. This was the end.

Just then, a conch shell went off, and dozen arrows rained upon them.

▪

'My lord! What are those tigers?! They are much more powerful than original tigers' Cried out Indra's servant. He sat in the legendary throne in Aakashprasadh. Indra's palace. A mirage like image floated in front of him of Akileshwar, Sakradeva being cornered by the tigers. He was currently sipping a goblet of wine.

'Those, my dear Shashvabodh, are Uddhatavyagra. Enhanced tigers. The Mandalayu can create things, am I right?'

Shashvabodh gulped. If this was of the Mandalayu's doing, he could not bare to see what other creatures it could create. He also remembered that after his lord returning to the Aakashprasadh after visiting Dyavaprithvi, the king of the gods had been beyond angry. He suspected it had had something to do with the doings that had happened there. But he remembered the lord had acted an awful like then after his visits of the Mandalayu. He suspected it had something to do with his sudden turn to the dark side.

'Yes, my lord' Bowed Shashvabodh. As much as he wanted to voice his thoughts, he would not defy the great king of the gods. Especially not in his current state.

▪

Akileshwar and Sakradeva both took one glance at each other, and rolled to their respective sides. Thankfully, the arrows were directed onto the circle of tigers and not to the sides. So, they were safe from it's reach. One by one, a tiger fell. Few were injured, but then killed by a second volley launched. Volley by volley was launched until it was confirmed the tigers were dead.

Once Akileshwar and Sakradeva felt it was all clear and the tigers had perished, they glanced around, hoping for a glance at their saviors, but no one was noticed.. Distant shouts were heard but Akileshwar could not make out what was being said.

Akileshwar then remembered the rest of their group. Hopefully they were still around. But the fog was so thick that he could not make out anything.

'Tanvi!' Called Akileshwar. Slowly, glimpses of Tanvi and the rest of the group along with the army appeared in their vision. When they were fully in vision, Akileshwar saw that Tanvi and their group were untouched. But the remaining soldiers were only 3000 in numbers.

Suddenly, a shout rang throughout the whole army. Each of them, despite being severely injured, raised their bows and arrows and pointed it at a mountain that was present in front of them. The mountain was higher than the one which they stood on, so they had to look up. Akileshwar too drew his bow and pointed at the mountain top.

Slowly, a figure popped out from the top of the mountain. It was a woman. She had fair skin and brown hair that was tied in a bun. She wore a sari that was yellow that had a cloth draped over it in red. She had a fierce look on her face, a Danda in one hand. Another man popped up, holding a Trishul. He wore a red Angavastram and white dhoti.

The woman whispered something into the man's ear and he nodded. 'Put your weapons down' He ordered. 

Sakradeva scowled at the two, not lowering his weapon. Akilehswar followed his example.

The woman shouted something Akileshwar could not understand. He frowned in confusion as everyone else mirrored his look.

'You must  forgive Adhishtavikth, she is not familiar with English. She was brought up learning Prakrit, the first language'

Adhishtavikth glared at the man and shouted something in Prakrit. The man calmly replied back in the same tongue. After a lot of conversing, they turned to Akileshwar, a proud smile on the man's face.

'Akileshwar, I am Narada, leader of the Brahmabalaks'