One's Own Army ( Part 3 )

'You believe this boy is the prophesized last Aditya…I disagree,' he smiled and shook his head. 'The rule of gods won't end so easily in the mortal world. Besides, the Aditya clan is still going strong in the west. How can it be him, even if it is just a half?'

'You're a rootless weed. What would you know about it?"

Her voice was so gentle and sweet that nobody expected her words to be so rude. Kush thought everything was normal as usual until the man suddenly released an aura so sharp, goosebumps rose all over his skin. But in the next moment, he retracted it.

'Yes, I am a nobody,' he laughed warmly, saying, 'But don't forget it's this rootless weed that you came begging for shelter.'

Ashangi's snowy face didn't melt. She pushed Kush from the back until he stumbled and remembered his part.

'You, stop talking!' he yelled in his childish voice, brandishing a sword, 'Who's begging you for anything? I'm challenging you with my sword…If you lose, you have to give me the mercenary troop!'

'Oh, so that's what you're after…You're a greedy little guy, aren't you Kush?' he said, with mirth filled eyes.

'So what about it?' Kush shouted, unashamedly throwing a tantrum. 'I want the troop I want the troop I want the troop!'

He's been through way too much for this. With the end finally at sight, Kush couldn't control himself.

The man gave him a glare and said, 'I will break all your bones little boy.'

To which Kush replied, 'Even if you break all my bones, I will still win against you!'

The man couldn't help but go silent. Kush noticed that this person was like his teacher, but more otherworldly in a sense that he was very real. He was like a truth that did not have form nor shape before, but when it appeared as him, it was glaringly too obvious. Like the color yellow. Before, you knew it was a color. It was truth, but what is yellow really? It cannot be touched, nor felt. But then it suddenly appeared as him and you couldn't ignore it. So that's yellow…

This man was like the nothingness in the sky, he was like the wholeness of the earth. He was the wilderness of heaven and tameness of earth. In the fleeting layers of consciousness, these truths when they appear feel subtle, gentle, even inspiring. But when they suddenly appear in front of you as him, it is very threatening. Man couldn't help but feel extremely small. Kush himself felt obsolete, and it was not just because of his age.

Perhaps it was because of what that person said earlier-his true face is the void – but Kush felt like his existence was in question when he was in front of this person who was all truth and nothing but.

'I want to fight you!' Kush shouted, incensed.

'Then I won't hold back,' that person took a step forward, alarming Kush's teacher, Ashangi. Although they met this person under the ruse of a challenge, she never meant for Kush to fight him seriously! She never thought he would lift a finger on the boy. She heard he was very gentle!

Ashangi didn't hear wrong. This person was so gentle that he wouldn't shoo away even those stray dogs that come looking for food when they camp. There were actually tales that he lets those dirty things sleep in his lap. Let alone hitting a child, he will not even raise his hand on an animal. This is what Ashangi heard. But the lady still overestimated herself when it comes to understanding men. Kush has challenged and won against most of the members of this person's army. That was already tantamount to throwing a glove at him. And now the boy was shouting challenges at him personally. If he still doesn't step up, he is not a man.

Also, having deduced Ashangi's motive and identity through the part prophecy, part poem she recited, he actually did not want to get involved.

Chandra shall wane. Darkness will fall upon man.

Gods abandon, dissipation begins.

The eighth god is man. Half Moon shall reign everything.

This was a prophecy from the previous era. Actually, it existed even in the era before that, the first era ruled by the Adityas. Back then, the Adityas were not godly bloodlines, but gods themselves being born one after another on earth in a repetitive cycle. The gods would have no knowledge of who they were when they were born, but there would be ways to distinguish them through the lives that they led. Indra, the most heroic one among them, was always born as a commoner. He rose from the ground and went up step by step to the sky. This is why he was the leader of the Adityas, even if generally, he was the youngest. Surya was always born to the noblest of bloodlines. Be it Brahmans, Kshatriyas or even Vaishyas and Shudras (menial class), his parents would generally be exalted in one area or another. Varuna and Mitra would many times be born together to the same womb. They were competitive siblings who tried to get the better of each other. Agni would always appear in a battlefield for the first time, he wouldn't awaken until there is blood. Kamadeva would be a rebel at home and in society. He is the hardest one to track. Chandra would always be born alone. He would be born to a king and would almost always be next in line to the throne.

Originally, humans didn't know the lore of the Adityas. The gods didn't tell them. But cyclical appearances of these similar personalities that ruled Aryan kind opened their minds to the truth.

Generally, the Adityas are born in the same order of Varuna, Mitra, Surya, Chandra, Kamadeva, Agni, Indra and finally the one emerging from humankind, Martanda. But these gods had their own lives in Devlok and did not always keep up the same order. During the era previous to the previous era, when the final cycle was in its middle, this prophecy was revealed. Humans who almost deduced the truth about how gods ruled the earth, panicked when Chandra didn't appear at the scheduled time. In that cycle, he was born seventh in the order.

That was how the prophecy came true then. Chandra shall wane – his reign will end when he reaches the mortal limit. Gods abandon – only the first seven Adityas are gods. Dissipation begins – the systems fail when rulers leave, waiting for the next Aditya to attain divine wisdom. The eighth god is man – the eighth Aditya is born on earth as opposed to others who split their consciousness with their human form. Half Moon shall reign everything – in that era, the Martanda was of mixed race, born to Chandra and a princess from a foreign land that he fell in love with during his endless conquests. Chandra died prematurely before he could marry her, causing his conquered territories to fall apart before he could consolidate power. His bastard son who came from adversity eventually completed the task and was deified by humankind that finally saw peace through his reign.

But the story of the prophecy did not end there…It came true once again in the next cycle when Vishnu was born as the eighth Aditya. Chandra shall wane – back then, Chandra vansh was one of the strongest Kshatriya clans and it ruled a majority of the Aryan world. This refers to the beginning of the downfall of that clan. Darkness will fall upon man – the waning of the Chandra vansh threw all ruling powers to disorder, causing widespread panic and chaos. Gods abandon – this refers to the same thing as in the previous era. Dissipation begins – speaks of the general state of humankind when brothers turn against brother. The eighth god is man – Vishnu was the eighth child to fall into mother's womb back then, seven siblings turned into gods and returned to paradise, but he alone remained human. Half Moon shall reign everything – after fighting a great war, one half of the Chandra vansh killed the other and 'half moon' reigned over the united lands.