Bali wheeled in his air sword but missed his opponent by a hair.
"Focus!" His opponent goaded him and waited for the next attack.
The young asura thrusted the sword, quick as a whip, but his opponent was quicker, darting back a step to evade the plunge. Twenty lanterns were sending light to the training area, but it was still too dark to see the creature Bali was practicing with.
Uncle Bhringi was a bhringasura, a bee demon, with a bee's head, a skinny skeletal body, and an extra leg. It made him incredibly swift and thin, beyond the easy reach of any weapon.
"For too long you have practiced with me, Prince Bali. I say you must guess my next moves, by now," Uncle Bhringi called out a challenge that earned him a slash from the wrong side cutting his quilted practice armor.
But his bony limbs were still a good way off. Bali grunted with frustration and stepped forward with another attack and then another until his sword was a blur. But Bhringi caught each blow on his steel with the same swiftness and expertly swept them away. Bali suddenly surprised him with a low cut, aiming for his legs.
The bee demon leapt high, helped by his wings, and as he was coming down, Bali lunged forward and brought down his sword. In a flash, Bhringi's defensive forearm cracked from the elbow and went flying along with the sword that was clutched in his hand.
"Good foresight," the bee demon offered, rolling his big black eyes to spy at the tip of the air sword that was scratching the junction of his insect head and skeletal neck. One of the two antennas dipped and pushed the sword away. He then walked over to where his steel lay on the packed mud training ground.
The conjured weapon in Bali's hand melted away into thin air. "You are right, Uncle. I have been practicing with you for far too long," he said with a slight tease, walking over to the bamboo fence of the training area where the bee demon stood, changing his torn quilt armor to his usual yellow and black striped tunic. "Perhaps it is time to find another opponent who can last more than ten minutes against me."
Uncle Bhringi turned to him with his thin slit of a mouth curled into a smile. "Ten minutes to smash a bee is far too long, I say, child," Bhringi handed Bali his teasing back with the gentlest brutality.
Bali could not help but crack a short laugh. Uncle Bhringi had been looking after him since he understood words. He was his bodyguard, his teacher, and advisor for a long time now, a constant shadow that watched over him. Uncle Bhringi did not have a family of his own, neither did he have a clan. He was the last of the bhringasuras and was a sentry in the old heaven. Eons later, he became a commander in Asura Puru's army, and now he watched over Bali.
Bali sat on the bench by the boundary, and began to strip his own armor and pull the white cotton stole over his shoulders. The gatekeeper who looked after the training yard came to snuff out the lanterns one by one. He exchanged a greeting with Bali and Bhringi, and went about his job.
Since Bali had begun attending his father's court a year ago, evenings were the only times he could swing by the training yard and trade some blows with other martial trainees. And lately, he had frequently been absent from the capital for months on one quest or another under his father's orders. All this made him value any moment he could snatch to practice his martial skills.
Evening was pesky timing with no one around, but luckily, Uncle Bhringi was ready to help. And an easy opponent, he was not. He may be a bee demon, but Bhringi could hold his ground against any of his father's military commanders.
"What do you think of Sage Parasu's words in the court today? Should we pay any regard to them?" Bali asked casually, doing his best to hide the idle curiosity in his tone.
Uncle Bhringi had the practice sword across his lap, whetting it with a diamond. For a second, he paused and furrowed the soft, yellow flesh between his dark, oval eyes.
"His meaning was well," Bhringi remarked curtly and then returned to his whetting.
"He wanted to find the book for the sake of the realm."
"Indeed," the bee demon replied, without looking up, turning over the sword and scrapping the other side with the jewel.
Bali wished the bee demon had more to offer on the matter than a single, hard word. The bee's silence spurred Bali's eagerness further. A while ago, during one of his quests, Bali got his hands on a tome that speculated on the location of the Book Of Asura.
There were old legends about the book's contents, passed down for generations, most of whom either lost or altered by people's words. But one such legend said that anyone who owned the Book also controlled the army of the afflicted, legions of the sickened souls that….
Uncle Bhringi was a creature from the olden days when the old heaven still existed. It was in the Satya Yuga, the very first Yuga of this cycle and the same time when the Book came to life, as the legends said. Bali knew it would be futile to ask the creature a straight question about his knowledge of the book; Uncle Bhringi guarded his tongue the way he guarded Bali. The best bet would be to keep prying and wait for the bee demon to let something slip.
"There was always little hope with the medicine; mother was gone before that." Bali truly believed that, no matter how hard it was to accept. He never held Sage Parasu responsible for his mother's passing. She was gone the moment the afflicted touched her.
Bhringi sighed and raised his dark, round eyes to find Bali. "Your mother passed in peace, I must say. It will comfort you to know she was not in pain."
"Regards, my prince," a young voice interrupted the solemn moment. Bali turned, and it was a servant from his father's office. "The king has asked you for an audience," the young godling announced.
Bali took his leave from Uncle Bhringi and followed the servant godling back to the palace, all the way up to his father's council chamber. He hated audiences with his father in that room since it always meant cold, hard business.
"You wanted to see me, father?" Bali asked with as much respect as he could muster. Old Goddess Vinapani was there too. When she saw the young asura enter, they exchanged quick pleasantries before she bade them farewell.
"When did you return from your hunt?" King Digvi asked, not looking up from the documents he was studying, not even offering a chair to Bali. "You are to inform me of your presence in the capital the moment you arrive. I do not want to enter my court and be surprised to see your face there."
"Yes, father." Bali could already feel a tightness in his throat. He wanted to leave, but he is not to leave until the king permits him to. So, he stood there with his hands held behind his back.
King Digvi sent his son a sharp glance before shifting it back to the paper laid out in front of him. "Did you exterminate the Pishachas?"
Bali hesitated for a moment and then replied, "I did."
"Then why do I hear otherwise?" King Digvi asked with a stern look, regarding Bali at length, this time. This stare of his father always made it impossible for Bali to lie.
"We captured the Pishachas at first, but then we had to let them go."
"And why is that?" King Digvi demanded to know.
Bali wished he could at least sit when he was interrogated that way by his father. He rubbed his hands together behind his back. "Because the people in that town decided to build another Shiva temple in that land, instead of a temple for you or me," he blurted out, the bitterness hard to keep away from his words. "We lost three asura men in the expedition, fighting those Pishachas. And all the townspeople had to offer us were a few empty consolations and praises. An entire realm with seven regions and thousands of cities, but why we can't have one temple to ourselves?" Bali spat out. The thought boiled his blood. "So, I became annoyed and decided to free the Pishachas, let them roam those grounds again. That will teach those thankless beggars a lesson."
For a moment, Bali was fuming, but the anger left him as soon as he saw his father's cold stare. The king raised himself wordlessly and then walked around the table to where Bali stood frozen.
The next thing Bali felt was the sting of a huge palm on his left cheek. He was too terrified to even hold up his hand and rub the place where it throbbed like a thousand pins.
"Next time you disobey me, I will make sure you are not seen in this kingdom for next ten thousand years," King Digvi declared icily.
But, Bali did not hear half of those words. He whirled around and made a hasty exit. He dashed down the corridor and up and down several flights of stairs and did not stop until he reached his bedchamber and slammed the door behind him. He padded across the dark room to where he knew the windows were and threw them open. A cool breeze floated in and caressed his left cheek that was still throbbing.
"The Book Of Asura," Bali muttered to himself with a tremble in his voice, "once I have it, no one would ever dare to slap me."