The Holy Mother Of All Rivers, Ganga had powerful waters. She washed away all the sins. With her roaring waters, She could wash away the entire being. She started her journey through the three realms from the Devlok. She travelled to the Prithvilok and then into the Yamlok. 

None of the Rakshaks knew where She went after that but Her waters were beautiful.

She was as tender as any mother, taking away all the souls back to the Devlok where they belonged. No one in the Yamlok had ever seen Her materialize into a womanly body but they were told that She was gorgeous. 

Anamika liked to imagine Her as a tall woman clothed in a blue fabric that merged with the waters. She imagined the goddess to be adorned with earrings of beautiful white flowers. She thought that jasmine would suit the goddess very well. Her black tresses flowing down Her back like a waterfall. Her doe eyes smiling with love.

Anamika had never seen anyone lay in the holy waters. If someone went there, they never came back. When their time had run out, they would go to the river and surrender themselves to the Mother who guided them to where they belonged.

Their only weakness was the water from this River. Their weapons did no harm to them.

If there was anything Anamika feared, it was losing Laksh. She feared one day she would come to know that he had surrendered himself to the Mother. She would be alone. Laksh had assured her that his time had not yet come.

It was something she found odd. They knew when they had to give themselves back. They knew what they had done to be there, and knew exactly when they would leave but they were forbidden to speak about it. It was a crime to talk about one's past life, the life on the Prithvilok. 

So even her brother-in-arms, the closest to her, was a mystery to her. 

Laksh had told her not to worry about it because it would do no good. 'There wasn't much anyway,' he would say staring at the walls of the fort- but she knew it was the other way around. Too much had happened to Laksh, so much that he wanted to forget it. Anamika never asked him about it ever again but she couldn't help thinking about the same.

They didn't eat, they didn't drink. They were just pure energy, urja but that did not mean that they didn't need rest. 

Their urja was channelled from the Great Divine, the Paramaatma. 

Each and every soul, no matter which lok they resided in, sustained on this energy. It was the energy that kept the sun in its place and the planets around it. It was the reason the cosmos was so perfectly timed and settled.

In all the realms except the Prithvilok, the souls were able to draw energy from the soil they stood on. Only souls in Prithvilok could float. That's why the beings there needed a shell to keep them functioning and anchored.

That gave the dead some advantage. They were fast and virtually unstoppable, but they were not the only ones with that advantage.

'You know the way one can really exist is not exist at all?' Laksh pulled her out of her thoughts. When they weren't hunting or at each other's necks, they talked about all kind of things. It was mostly him, Anamika just liked to listen.

'You dedicate yourself to the Paramaatma and you exist. Infinitely. Indefinitely.'

Anamika was confused. The state of being 'infinite' was explained by him a long time ago when she had just arrived. Honestly, she found it rather puzzling. He had told her that it was a state where one saw everything, but nothing; where one heard everything, but nothing; one who understood everything, but nothing. She had asked him about it. He had simply told her that a time would come when she would learn about it herself.

'It is hard to do that in the Bhrama world, the Prithvilok, where there is a shell connecting the soul to the material world that doesn't matter.'

She got the idea of what he was talking about but never completely understood it. According to him, it was very easy to be distracted when your soul was trapped in a body. It was because the soul could not communicate with the body, but the body could. 

That's why the soul could never forget.

That hurt Anamika, maybe Laksh realized it... maybe he didn't. 

If the soul, the aatma, never forgot, why did she not know anything? Why was she so lost? What was she missing?

'There you are!' Gomedha's tender voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The gentle and soft-spoken Gomedha. Anamika felt herself being devoured by a foreign feeling. The aatma wasn't supposed to feel this. Jealousy and passion were only reserved for the body. Yet, she felt this way.

'A Yamdhut has come for you.'

If Anamika could breathe, she would've let out a deep sigh. It was usual for Rohini to call a Yamdhut from time to time to assess her. Rohini believed that there couldn't be anyone who cannot remember their life on the Prithvilok. She simply considered it to be impossible- her implication being that Anamika was lying.

Anamika didn't protest. It only made her feel worthless but that was okay. Rohini needed to be satisfied.

She knew that this Yamdhut wouldn't be any special. The result of the study would be nothing- like it always had been.

***

While Keval trained, the Daanavraj took time out of his busy schedule and watched him. The boy didn't want to disappoint. 

Keval had never felt so powerful. The other daanavs kept their distance. The tough demons whispered whenever they saw him. Keval knew from the moment he was taken under the Daanavraj's wing that he was special.

It didn't take him much time to master the talwar. He called it Sakhi, his friend. He mastered the art of throwing knives. For him, it was simple. His accurate estimation of the distance between him and his target was brilliant. 

The Daanavraj was pleased with him. 

Keval gave it his all- every time there was a trial, a joust- he was merciless. He channelled the hatred and pain he had felt and felt his entire being erupt with energy. 

Sakhi and he were unstoppable.

He found refuge in his blade. Every time he felt unnerved, he felt for Sakhi's hilt. Her presence made him feel at peace.

The Daanavraj often invited him to sit with him. It was an honour to the boy. It was such a meet that he was given a glimpse of the feat he would have to accomplish.

'You have trained yourself well,' the Daanavraj spoke. His back was turned toward him. All this time with the daanavas, Keval had realized that they weren't as glorious as he thought they were. It made him question a lot of things but he longed for his freedom. He wanted the Daanavraj to know that he was focussed, that the luxury of servants and their fear hadn't veered him away from his ultimate goal.

Freedom.

'Thank you, Your Highness,' Keval fell on his knees to show his respect for the King.

Purpose.

'I am very impressed, Keval. Watching you train leads me to believe that I was not wrong.'

'I am at your service, Your Highness.'

'But,' the Daanavraj turned to him and Keval lowered his gaze. 'I want you to train harder. You must inflitrate the ranks of the Rakshak quickly and effortlessly. You will work with them and help me ruin them, understood?'

Keval touched his forehead to the floor, 'Yes, Your Highness.'

'You may leave now.'

He got up and left. 

He headed for the training grounds- aiming to be the best. 

He knew who the Rakshaks were. 

They were the guardians of the Prithvilok. They were the ones that stood between the Daanavraj and his desire to rule the three realms. Keval knew it will be easy to infiltrate their ranks. His skills would surpass everyone else's. He would make sure of that.

He would make sure the Daanavraj got what he wanted.

***

Laksh, Dhurya and Gomedha were outside, in the courtyard. 

Laksh was anxious and to counter it, he sharpened the tips of his arrows with a stone he had picked from the Prithvilok. Dhurya was training his love and they were attacking each other with their swords.

'Has Anamika told you anything about her past?' Dhurya asked as he tried to thrust his talwar into Gomedha. 

She avoided his blow. 

Laksh rolled his eyes. He ignored the other soul who was constantly nagging him. Laksh never understood why Rohini was so interested in Anamika's life on the Prithvilok. Why couldn't they be satisfied? They weren't supposed to speak of it anyway. But they kept torturing her. He could see the hurt on her face whenever they would call a Yamdhut to check her for memories.

'Don't ignore me, Laksh,' Dhurya warned as he parried her blade. Gomedha blocked his blade just in time.

Laksh frowned. He asked himself why had he let Dhurya be the leader. It was a strange time when he had given up his position as a leader to Dhurya. But that time was long gone, so he shrugged, 'We're forbidden to talk about it, Dhurya. You know it.' He got back to sharpening his arrows.

'But don't you ever wonder what heinous crime she committed that she doesn't remember anything?' Gomedha asked, innocently as she kicked Dhurya and spun to attack him with her blade.

Laksh was offended. Anamika was not capable of 'heinous' crimes. And even if she was, how did they justify their presence in the Yamlok? 

He tried not to say such unkind words. He picked his words very carefully, 'She didn't do anything and it is not our business.'

Dhurya grunted and Gomedha seemed unsatisfied but continued to do what they were doing. They clearly didn't like Laksh's answers but he could care less. He wanted to move to other stations but Rohini kept them here. Also, he had to be there for Anamika. He couldn't wait for a joint hunt. Someone up the ranks should notice them and take them in.

'Why do you care about her?' Dhurya asked.

Laksh noticed that they had stopped fighting and their entire attention was focused on him. He was losing his patience. 'It is my duty to take care of her.' He felt another question coming at him. He put his arrow back in his quiver and picked his tabar, Vegaghana, up. He held it out at Dhurya, 'Mind helping me train?' He asked.

'Sure,' Dhurya got to his feet, taking his gada. 'But this conversation isn't over.'

Laksh bit back his retort. He let his axe do the talking.

He didn't attack first. He never did that when he was training. He spent his first few moments carefully sizing up his opponent, studying the movements. He would rather play defensive till he figured the weak spot and take them down in one neat blow. Though he had trained with Dhurya for as long as he could remember, he kept the practice of observation.

Dhurya, on the other hand, was too eager. It didn't come as a surprise when Dhurya swung his mace at Laksh hoping to catch him by off guard.

***

Anamika was upset. She had hated every moment of the conversation. All she wanted was to run away. She wanted to know what all of this was for. The Yamdhut was sitting in front of her, staring at her. She waited for him to say something. She knew he would wait. He would wait for her to speak, say something that would start the line of questioning.

She didn't give in. 

She wanted to yell at Rohini, who sat behind them. She wanted to ask the old woman why she was so persistent in knowing about her life in the other realm. 

She was restless. Looking through the door, she could see Laksh and Dhurya sparring.

She wanted to go and join them.

Suddenly, Rohini got up from her seat. Anamika noticed that she looked worried. Rohini walked out of the room, leaving her alone with the Yamdhut.

The Yamdhut spoke as soon as the old woman walked out fo the door. 'I'd been waiting for that,' He gave her a kind smile. Anamika was immediately reminded of Yoshanhara. She tried to smile back but she found it difficult to do so. 

'My name is Kasa,' He joined his palms to greet her. She mirrored his actions but didn't say a word. The nice talk could be a tact to deceive her. She didn't want to risk anything till she was assured that he didn't have any ulterior motives.

'Rohini asked me to check if you had regained your memories,' He explained the nature of his visit. He tilted his head and studied her, 'I don't think you have.'

When their eyes connected, it felt like a jab in Anamika's core. She tried not to cry out in pain. This was the part she hated. This was their area of expertise. No secrets hid from them. But she had no secrets, so why the pain? What had she done wrong? Some of the Yamdhut that visited her, they were sadists. They enjoyed the pain. They enjoyed themselves while she withered away.

Was he like them?

Kasa looked away, 'I'm sorry but I had to verify.' He looked genuinely upset. Anamika didn't reply. He joined his palms again, 'I understand that this is painful, Anamika but you are special. I have come across many Rakshaks and none of them suffers this memory loss. The soul never forgets. I think you might be aware of that.' He paused. 'That's why Rohini is so interested. She wants to know what makes you so special.'

Anamika didn't want to be special. She wanted to be like the others. 

She wanted to know.

'You may go now.'

She pursed her lips and got to her feet. When she was near the doorway, Kasa spoke again, 'I would say goodbye, Anamika, but I have a feeling we'll see each other again. Maybe then, we shall see what makes you so special.'

Even though he was nice, she didn't want to meet him ever again. She bit her tongue and shuffled away.

***

Rohini was terrified when she got the news. Through the vara, a message from the Astha station had arrived. They had just witnessed the end of a soul. Rohini didn't know what to make of it. The odd message scared her. She was worried about her station. The thought of losing anyone was unbearable. 

She sat on the ground studying the scroll.

The Rakshak Guru of the Astha station, Falit had lost one of his Rakshaks. He narrated the happenings as seen by his other pupils. It was a usual assignment. He had sent his Rakshak to destroy a swarm of pishach that seemed to be consuming the life around it rapidly. His pupils had slain the vampires there but before they could return, they were attacked by daanavas.

It is practically impossible to hurt a Rakshak.

They were pure energies.

But that's what made them dangerous. The daanavas had found a way to absorb their urja and use it for themselves.

Rohini tried to keep calm. She wondered if she should tell her pupils that. Could she keep it a secret? That poor soul would never seek redemption. That soul was lost to them. It was a piece of grim news. 

She had to inform her pupils about the attack. It would at least give them a chance. 

She knew this news would strike terror into their cores but she had to tell them. 

They should be prepared.

She spotted Gomedha and Anamika fighting. Rohini wondered if Anamika had brought all of this along with her. In her entire time as a Rakshak Guru, she had never met a soul who was unaware of their past. Rohini's quest to find out about it exhausted most of the favours that were owed to her. 

She was well aware that it was a painful process for Anamika but she couldn't help it.

She had to know.

Anamika was an impressive warrior. Her spirit was powerful.

Before Kasa met Anamika, he had instructed that he wanted to be alone with Anamika. Rohini was surprised by the strange request but complied. Soon as she exited the room, she went to the vara chamber where the scroll came in. Before she could reach for it, Kasa walked in. She was surprised to see him out so soon, 'What did you find out?' she asked.

He shook his head, 'Nothing. She knows nothing.'

She narrowed her eyes and studied him, 'But you do.'

He didn't address her statement. Instead, he looked at her and spoke, 'Why do you want to know about Anamika? If Lord Chitragupt took her memories, then it must be for a reason. You must satisfy yourself with that belief. You are acting like a mortal!'

Lord Chitragupt was the God of Judgement. He kept the records of the actions of the living, punishing or rewarding for the same. 

Rohini was shocked. No Yamdhut had ever spoken to her that way. Feeling ashamed, she looked away. 'So you know something about her.'

Kasa's face softened. He nodded, 'I do but that doesn't interest you.'

'I am her Rakshak Guru. It is in my interest.'

He joined his palms. He bowed his head as a sign of respect, politely indicating the end of the conversation, 'If you'll excuse me, devi.'

She gave up and mirrored his gesture.

He gave her a small smile and turned the vartula on his ring finger. The vara awoke radiating a strong blue light from its core. Soon, Yamdhut Kasa was gone.

Then Rohini opened the scroll and read the horrid news.

She walked to the huge courtyard where her pupils were sparring. They stopped when they noticed her walking toward them.

'I bear ill tidings.'

***