"My charming ornaments are made from garlands of human skulls." says the Kāpālika, "I dwell in the cremation ground and eat my food from a human skull. I view the world alternately as ointment of yoga... We (Kāpālikas) offer oblations of human flesh mixed with brains, entrails and marrow. We break our separate from God (Īśvara) and one with Him, through the eyes that are made clear with the fast by drinking liquor (surā) from the skull of a Brahmin. At that time the god Mahābhairava should be worshipped with offerings of awe-inspiring human sacrifices from whose severed throats blood flows in currents.

- from prabodhacandrodaya  by krishna misra

When visha saw dhumketu fall, the girls had started traversing on the castle wall. Abhaya and Aadhya put their grips to good use. The grips were actually "S" shaped hooks which could be hooked in to the hidden clamps, forming paths all around the castle. The clamps themselves were hidden and their position known only to select few and had to be memorized blindfolded even though they had always used it in the dark.

They had used this path since they turned three; they swung from clamp to clamp hooking their hooks, their ropes shifting from one hook to other with ease using thief knot. The girls made it in good time. They took 4 shanams to reach their father's western balcony. The closer they had gotten to the landing the worse the stench. As they landed, the stench intensified so much that Aadhya couldn't help herself that she vomited and Abhaya was not far behind.

It was a mixture of drying feces, urine, blood and rotting flesh. The girls held their nose tightly, breathing through their mouth.

Abhaya had travelled through the underground drains; even they did not stink so badly. It was really dark and where the hell were the guards?

Aadhya disoriented with the stench stepped on something, unable to hold their breadth any longer the girls gagged.

"O my God! Light a wall torch Abhaya"

Abhaya used her tinder box in her pouch to light one wall torch and then a few more along the corridor. After all they weren't here for a stealth attack; they were here to kill anyone in sight.

With the light, the sisters could see corpses littered everywhere. The guards weren't going anywhere; they all hung from hooks in the wall well dead.

Most of the fresh female corpses had signs of mutilation. Aadhya looked down to see Abhaya to find her staring at a corpse; "What is it Abhaya?" she whispered.

"They have been eaten; and not by animals. The teeth marks are human. " said Aabhya

"All of them are missing parts and mainly the breasts and thighs. That corpse there is missing its buttock. They have been systematically eaten; the cuts are even and not gnawing of animals."

The stench had become so bad with the moving of the corpses, some bloated releasing decaying fluid and maggots that they dry heaved again.

"Aadhya, what has our father become? He might have killed these people, but even in his madness I don't think he ate them. He is a different kind of monster that we have to put down"

"Abhaya, I think we are dealing with a Kapalika. They are easy to spot in a group; but we did not receive any intelligence about a group movement; so there is just one or two. It is easy to hide as the maimed and all of kapalikas are in some way disfigured, but very strong; it also explains the cannibalism"

"The maid! Suneethi's maid Adani; the stupid one she is called. Built like a bull with a pronounced hunch and crooked jaw line. God! We do not know how much of the disfigurement is true. Mother cautioned us about her Aadhya; remember?"

They kept moving cautiously, the whole place was silent as a tomb. Had they abandoned it? Where in 28 hells were everyone?

 They made their way across the long corridor and turned to enter the chamber. Sudden screams erupted from inside. The screams were blood curdling; "Nooooo.... Please" one voice begged.

 Abhaya lifted a spear and hit it on a nearby summoning gong.

BOOM!!!!!!!! The sound reverberated all over.

Silence; the voices had stopped and the sudden silence was like a shrouding ghost.

Suddenly, there were sounds of crashing object and something moving fast; the girls took a step back and ran towards the columns where the walls didn't meet the ceiling; the space was left open for aeration in the internal chambers. Aadhya bent down with fingers linked to give Abhaya a lift, as she propelled her sister up. Abhaya, then propelled herself up with a leap as she stepped on her sister's hand to gain height and then on top one of the unlit wall torches to reach the beam edge. She then hauled herself up.

"Hurry, Abhaya! That thing comes" shouted Aadhya. Adani was moving too quickly for a hunchback and she was hunched. For a moment the sisters froze in fear, for the kapalikas were the horror stories told to keep the naughty children in. They were the boogeyman in reality.

Adani was moving very fast in a peculiar animal like gait; there was no time. "Abhaya, go and save the girls inside; I will deal with her."

"I am sorry sister. We are no match for either of them alone. Whoever is in need of saving will have to wait; for together, we have a chance to hold till mother arrives" Abhaya jumped down, removing her swords and they ran to meet the kapalika.

Aadhya met the kapalika head on, while Abhaya leapt on a nearby column sideways to Adani, to give her speed, whirled over to cut her head; she missed as the kapalika bent and raised her hand to protect her neck. The sword cut through adani's fingers and sailed past her head catching a piece of scalp, as she landed on the floor.

Aadhya had come too close; the kapalika blocked one sword with her right arm; but couldn't stop Aadhya's second sword with her freshly lost stubs. So she turned, allowing the second sword to pass through her shoulder, and delivered a powerful punch to Aadhya's stomach, that she was thrown away. Aadhya had let go her swords and clutched her abdomen. She couldn't breathe with the immense pain. She had thought that she had trained with fiercest of warriors who gave no quarter, but now she knew they were no match for a kapalika's strength, or imperviousness to pain.

Abhaya, learning from her sister's mistake danced at the edge never coming close to the kapalika. She was nimble delivering cuts along the huge body. She slashed at the calves, on the back and she scored every time she made contact with skin; but they weren't enough; she wasn't slowing it down. She didn't know when her maddened father would join the melee. She had to finish this fast. Adani with a growl rushed her towards a wall; Abhaya knew that without space to move she was mincemeat. But she couldn't do anything about it as the kapalika bleeding in several places kept on advancing.

Aadhya got up and helped herself to the spear of the dead guard who hung from the wall still holding it. "Down!" shouted Aadhya as she rammed a spear into the kapalika from behind. It ploughed straight through her heart fixing her to the wall.

"Do you think this will stop me?" said Adani.

"I think this will." Said Abhaya as she drove her sword into her abdomen and walked calmly past the pinned kapalika. Aadhya collected her fallen swords and girls stepped into their father's chamber.

Their father sat naked on his throne. Just at his foot lay an equally naked suneethi, her head turned in an unnatural angle. She was dead; one traitor slain without raising a finger. Where was the child?

There were many more corpses here and all women. They now knew who killed the most; it had been him. All the kapalika had done was to feed on the rotting corpses; he was so much worse than any kapalika. Two girls huddled together shackled in one corner looked at them. One sported a huge bruise on her face. They were the only ones alive. suneethi had been ferrying young girls in to satisfy the blood craving of this bastard. So many people brutally murdered with such a little value for life.

Whatever agenda the kapalika had, she had provided their father with hallucinogens which would make him even more aggressive. He was supposed to be intelligent; there was no sign of that now. They could see only madness. The girls were transfixed.

Agni parahan began to laugh.

HA HAHAHA...... I missed you both. The concubine and the princess; looking at Aadhya he said "come warrior, your face has healed; let me slice it open ear to ear as I did once and see you scream in agony". "And you, didn't you beg for her life as I broke your leg?" he said to Abhaya. "Come let me hear your screams"

He had confused them with their mothers. The bear of a man stood up and with all these years of wasting he was huge. They couldn't even imagine him in his peak form. He would have been formidable.

With a giant leap he jumped from his throne and shouted "BOO" the girls in the corner, let out a short scream. Aadhya and Abhaya in haste widened the distance between them and him. They stood ready with their swords in hand.

The door to the chamber from the palace was kicked open

"PARAHAN" said sunanda. She stood with blood soaked attire, her serpent swords bloody, like a handmaiden of goddess kali. "Come feel my wrath. Our account ends today"

With a bellow, parahan obliged and the titans clashed.

Hi all......

Another chapter over yay. Your comments are precious to me. It makes me improve and rejuvenates me. So if you like it vote, comment and share.

28 hells – according to devi bhagavatam and bhagavata purana, yamaloka or hell has 28 divisions.

Kapalika – were people punished and sent in to exile for 12 years for the offence of killing a Brahmin. Slowly they became a sect themselves and took in the misshapen and disfigured. They gave human sacrifices and were involved in power struggle in India as they became embroiled with tantrics Buddhism. They are attributed to have immunity to venom by taking it in small doses.