Munch! Munch!
The sounds of munching food could be heard as Rudra was wolfing down the food packed by his mother. Today was his first day at work. Early in the morning, he helped his father with the management and cattle, then he was given the job of herding the sheep and goats. It was mid-noon, he was sitting leisurely in the shade of a huge banyan tree while having his lunch. His father everything that is to be known about the work.
Rudra wanted to repay the debt of his ancestors as soon as possible and roam around the world and slay some Rakshasa. The stories of his mother about various powerful heroes motivated him to no end. But he was just a small kid in a remote village, how can he learn to fight against those evil creatures out there? This depressed him to no end.
Rudra sighed and kept on day-dreaming. His moment of leisure was interrupted by a screech. A huge man with a crooked nose, round mustache, and beady eyes appeared in his vision. The huge man had a stern expression and he bellowed,
"Brat! What do you think are you doing?"
Anger was evident on his face and he was displeased by this kid who seemed to be lazing around when they were working to their bones.
"I was eating my food since I was hungry" replied Rudra fearfully.
"Brat! Since you had your food, stop lazing around and get back to the work." The huge man said in a bossy tone.
"Very well! My work is almost done here. The sheep and goats have grazed enough. I will lead them back to the shed" Rudra whistled and began to lead the animals towards the shed.
After ensuring the animals were back safely in the shed, Rudra went to the young landlord and reported to him,
"Young landlord, I had herded the sheep and goats and returned them safely to the shed. Now, please grant me another work to complete."
Marichi nonchalantly looked at him and replied, "I need you to go to the Periphery of the forest of Death and search for some herbs."
Marichi began to explain the appearance of some of the herbs and where to find them to the Rudra. "Now go and fetch them in three hours."
Rudra picked up a basket from the corner of the hall and hurriedly walked in the direction of the forest of Death.
It took him half an hour to reach the periphery of the forest. He began to search around for the herbs and found the ones with the matching description. He plucked them and kept in the basket tied to his back.
There were rarely any animals around this area of the forest as the Rakshasa dwelled around this area. Rudra wasn't sure where the huge Rakshasa lived, but he wanted to steer clear of the Rakshasa. Filling the basket in two hours, Rudra walked back to the manor and placed the herbs in the warehouse. Then went back to the hall to report to the young landlord.
Marichi looked at the peasant in front of him and ordered,
"Since today is your first day at work, this amount of work should be enough for the day. From tomorrow onwards your real work would begin."
Saying so, he took out a small pouch the size of a fist from a box and handed it to Rudra. "This is your wage for the day. There is enough rice for you to have one meal happily since I was feeling a little generous today. Now go back, you are dismissed for the day." He waved his hand dismissively at Rudra.
Rudra hurriedly left the manor and went back to his home to play around with other kids of his age. He had a few friends of his age since most of them were offered to the Rakshasa. Previously, one of his friends with whom he had been playing with since he was a toddler was eaten by the Rakshasa. Rudra cried for many days on the loss of his friend. Fewer kids were left around his neighborhood. After playing till sunset, Rudra went back to his home and gave the pouch of rice to his mother,
"Mother, I am very hungry and tired. Cook some rice for me. I will eat and sleep. I am feeling so sleepy. Rudra yawned.
"Relax my child, Mother will soon feed you some rice."
Mandri cooked the rice and fed it to the exhausted Rudra fell asleep shortly after. She carried him to the broken cot and laid him gently on it and gently caressed his cheek and covered him with the blanket.
Mandri anxiously waited for his husband to return from work. Nearly two hours later, Adhiraman returned with an exhausted face. He entered the hut and sprawled on the bamboo carpet. Mandri gave him a glass of water to quench his thirst. He took the water, drank it slowly while eating the stale rice.
Adhiraman rubbed his brows with his fingers anxiously and couldn't bring himself to tell the matter about today's event to his wife. Mandri silently stared at the ever-changing expression on the face of his husband. She knew he was worried about some matter he was hesitant to tell her. She interrupted his train of thoughts,
"Husband, what's the matter bothering you so much? If it is alright to tell me, you can share some of your burden with me."
Adhiraman sighed and slowly spoke, "It's the matter regarding Rudra. The fat landlord had his eyes on our son. He wants to push our son in the pitfall of offering like how he did it twelve years ago."
He recited the entirety of the event of the morning to his wife. Deep worry was evident in his eyes. The complexion of Mandri became pale upon hearing the entire matter.
She roared, "No! I won't allow it. I have already sacrificed one of my sons to the fiend, I won't sacrifice another one. Never!"
Adhiraman calmed her down and said, "I am already guilt-ridden from the sacrifice of my eldest son, Raman, I won't repeat the same mistake."
He sighed again and said in a hushed tone, "The landlord doesn't seem to happy about my reply. So, I fear things will become difficult in the coming days. I also don't want my son to live in the burden of the debt, but I am simply powerless to do anything."
Mandri consoled him, "Things will become better someday. God has not forsaken us yet. He blessed us with Rudra, he will surely take care of our son during a calamity."
Both of them sighed and lovingly looked at the asleep Rudra who was mumbling gibberish in his sleep.
Days silently passed by,
Rudra repeated the same routine as the first day except a few more odd jobs added to the routine. Sometimes, he would be sent deeper inside the Forest of Death to gather medicinal herbs, but he encountered nothing dangerous yet.
The only thing different in the village was the huge carts of ration stacked at the entrance of the village. These were the offerings prepared for the Rakshasa. He heard from the village that this time, the younger son of the fat landlord would be sacrificed to the Rakshasa. He was feeling sorry for the fat landlord. Tears flowed through his eyes when his mother told him about how his elder brother was also sacrificed to the Rakshasa. He was angry at the Rakshasa for killing so many villagers. But he could do nothing to cull the threat of the Rakshasa.
Wiping away his tears, he silently stared in the depth of forest of Death where the Rakshasa lived. He promised himself if someday he got enough power, he would personally visit the Paatal lok (the underworld) where these rakshasas usually dwelled and cull the entirety of these evil creatures. For now, he needs to carry the herbs back to the manor.
Meanwhile, inside the manor, the fat landlord filled up his younger son Raicharan on the details of the plan. He also briefed his son on how to avoid the gaze of the Rakshasa by hiding in the bushes when it arrived. The Rakshasa would just pick up the ration and retreat. Since it had already consumed the human offering. According to the fat landlord, the plan was foolproof and guaranteed to success, unless the Rakshasa had the nose of a dog and was able to sniff out his son from hundreds of meters away. He hoped that wasn't the case.
Soon, the day of the offerings arrived.
The convoy of the carts would set off from the entrance of the village at mid-noon. Many workers were assigned to pull the loaded carts to the Forest of Death. These workers would leave the carts at the pre-assigned spot and would run back immediately, or the Rakshasa might munch them down as extra snacks. Raicharan, the son of the fat landlord sat on the frontmost cart silently with tears in his eyes.
The convoy finally set off for the Forest of Death.