For a moment, Aksha considered her choices. She knew she must win the trust of Sage Parasu and his entourage. "You think too highly of us, Naga Rathi. I have seen your men fight. Adityas would think twice before attacking us," she said, decidedly.
Parasu slowly lifted his watery, gray eyes to meet Aksha's and cleared the hoarseness out of his scratchy voice. "But if they do fight, we will drag two powerful kingdoms into an unnecessary battle. Are you certain you want to assist us?" he remarked ponderously. He had finished his grinding and was now adding the mixture into a cup with a medicinal tonic.
Naga Rathi bobbed his head, his dark curls sweeping against his shoulder. "That too for a mere pupil. Unacceptable, to say the least," he grumbled. His agitation was plain suspicious.
Last Aksha paid a visit to the boy, Sachi, he was laying still, peaceful on a bed as if he was in a deep slumber. But Askha could feel the struggle that was inside the boy, him defiantly fending off the spell. That slender thread of Tantra flowing through his body was certainly putting up a brave fight. There was something about that audacity that tugged at Aksha's heart.
She knew of the legend of Pond of Eternal Sentience. The name implied that the water lets you become forever conscious, but it was rather a cure-all. It came from Kalki the deathless. Young Kalki performed severe penance to please Lord Shiva. The great Lord Shiva pleased at the devotion promised Kalki a boon. Greed seized Kalki's heart in a moment of foolishness and they asked for eternal life.
Lord Shiva could not take back his words and granted Kalki's wish. Mortals were not made for eternal life. Young Kalki witnessed loved ones perish, kingdoms rise and fall, and the world turn from a beautiful sanctuary to a purgatory of sins.
Full of anguish and despair, Kalki opened up their own neck with a knife, spilling their blood to the ground, hoping for a sweet, certain death. But immortal Kalki did not die. The blood that had pooled on the earth turned to a watery nectar, the Pond of Eternal Sentience, the cure to all ailments.
Seeing the sorrowful Kalki trying to end themselves, Lord Shiva immediately appeared. He explained that his blessing of eternal life was unchangeable, but in the end, he could not reject Kalki's pleading. To grant their death wish, Lord Shiva spurred the apocalypse, the first Great Dissolution of the Universe. He made Kalki the overseer of the tragic event that would wipe out the entire creation, including Kalki, before the Universe would be borne again.
The clinking of glass pulled Aksha back into the stuffy room. Lord Parasu was stirring the cup with an wooden spoon, that looked like a child's toy in his long, bony fingers. Beside him, Naga Rathi looked like a petulant teenage boy, staring at the medicine cup sourly with his arms folded.
Sage Parasu was right. The only way to undo the spell was the water from the pond, and Aksha could not deny the boy his right to live.
"The boy deserves to live as much as any of us," she said from across the apothecary table. There was no doubt in Aksha's voice.
Sage Parasu nodded. "Then, we leave at dawn tomorrow."
Naga Rathi's face darkened. He crept up to the sage threateningly. "You cannot solely decide what course our convoy will take," the serpent man claimed, full of anger. "Prince Bali would never follow you on a fool's errand, and neither would he let his men march into the south."
Parasu turned towards Rathi, with a look of icy disdain. "I would not want him and his men to break a sweat on matters that do not concern the kingdom or the realm. I would welcome his decision if he returns to the capital. And I believe you, too, would have more use there in the court than to us on the road." If it was not for his thick silvery beard, Aksha imagined she would see his mouth set with a grim line.
Rathi's slit, gold eyes flashed at the insult. He flapped the left end of his stole, spun around, and left the apothecary, fuming, without so much as a parting glance at Aksha.
"I thought serpent people were not poisonous," Aksha sighed, "that was certainly venom."
"No more poisonous than most," Parasu said dismissively, "Scheming and plotting becomes your nature if you spend as much time as he did in a royal court."
Sage Parasu went over to fetch his sack from the wooden cabinet.
"I believe the two of us leave tomorrow for the South?" asked Aksha, "It would take us days to reach Trisurajya, even if we ride at full speed."
The Sun region of the south was ruled by three prominent kingdoms, of which the Adityas reigned over the largest territory, Trisurajya, with its capital in Kanchi. It shared its western borders with Kishkindha, the Monkey land, and the Malaya kingdom, run by humans. In the east, Trisurajya faced the Great Ocean of Milk, Swarganga. It was called the ocean of milk for its white foamy waves.
"Only if you promise to take us to the Pond." Parasu's frankness startled Aksha, and he did not stop there. "I must be a fool to bring along a charlatan with me. I am still blind to your intentions. But, we need your powers."
Aksha walked around the table to quickly present herself in front of the sage. "I never believed you would buy my pretense for one moment. But once the mission ends, you must allow me to remain by your side for the rest of your journey. There are real dangers in your path; you cannot deny that, Sage Parasu. And there are enemies after you, and possibly, after your pupil."
Sage Parasu considered her words for a moment as he caressed his beard. "How do I know you are not the enemy?"
"Because if I were, your pupil would not be fighting for his life. He would be dead by now."