An Unwelcome Return

I sat cross-legged at the top of Mount Kailash, deep in meditation. The cool snow beneath me helped me focus, its sterile scent mingling with the smell of wet soil carried from a rushing stream somewhere in the distance. Around me, snow stretched across the mountains, untouched except for the occasional movement of wind across its surface. I could hear it whispering against the rocks before disappearing into the valley below. Vasuki’s smooth scales felt like warm metal resting against my neck, his body curled comfortably around my shoulders as it had been for longer than either of us cared to remember.

My stillness kept the balance of the world. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense the movements of mortals, the rise and fall of the oceans, the forests growing and burning, and the countless little lives moving across the Earth. There was nothing unusual. Nothing that demanded my attention. I inhaled deeply, letting the familiar scents of snow and wet soil settle my mind, and sank further into my meditation.

Until Vasuki hissed. His body tightened around my shoulders and his breath brushed against my ear. I jolted slightly, dragged out of my stillness by the unusual urgency of his warning. Vasuki rarely interrupted my meditation without good reason. I opened one eye.

“What is it?” I asked.

He hissed again, but before he could answer, I felt it. Something was disturbing Swarga’s peace. The familiar balance of the heavens had shifted, and a strange darkness crept into my awareness. I opened both eyes, trying to sense if anything was out of place in my immediate surroundings. Nothing of Mount Kailash had changed, yet the disturbance below grew stronger. I rose to my feet, the beads around my neck shifting as I turned towards Swarga.

The golden light of heaven flickered at the edge of my vision.

I opened my eyes to the throne room below. The sight that greeted me was nothing short of chaos. The wide hall, usually illuminated by a brilliant golden glow had been swallowed by darkness, as though someone had sucked every trace of light out of the room. The doors stood thrown open, and destruction lay scattered across the floor. At the center of it all stood a figure I had hoped never to see again.

Ravana’s dark skin seemed to absorb what little light remained, while his ten hands surveyed the room with burning red eyes. A sword rested in one hand and a spear in the other. He looked almost exactly as I remembered him.

For a moment, I could only stare. Ravana had been banished to Naragam millennia ago. We had defeated him. We’d already cast him out of Swarga, ensuring that he would never threaten the heavens again. he wasn’t supposed to be here.

My gaze shifted to my throne. A massive dent marred its golden surface, and the entire structure leaned dangerously to one side, threatening to collapse. Whatever had happened before my arrival, Ravana had made sure that his return wouldn’t go unnoticed.

I tightened my grip on my damru and struck it hard. The sound thundered through the throne room, reverberated against the walls and carrying across Swarga to alert the other gods.