Rudra continued running alongside the upstream and soon reached the cave. The cave had a massive opening comparable to a double storied building. There was a massive rock formation near the mountain and many curved paths were naturally formed inside the cave. One of the paths was glowing slightly, a faint aroma was liberated from the passage. 

Rudra continued to walk enchantingly towards the passage. The faint aroma alluring him deeper and deeper into the cave. With drool leaking from his mouth, Rudra unconsciously walked toward the aroma. After walking for a while, he soon reached the source of the aroma; a small tree with few small red berries appeared in his view.

The tree was glowing in an emerald green shade, the berries were releasing the deep fragrance which allured one’s nose and enchanted their mind. The roots of the trees were releasing a green-colored syrup in the stream which flowed nearby. Rudra walked towards the tree, he bumped on a rock protruding from the floor and fell with his face planted on the floor.

“Ugh!.... Argh!”

Rudra came out of his stupor and looked around confusingly. He was surprised at how he came to this place? A chord seemed to strike his mind as he remembered a deep fragrance released in the forest. Rudra curiously looked at the glowing tree before him which was releasing the alluring fragrance. He carefully approached the tree and touched the tree, a cooling sensation enveloped him reminding him of the lake water.

“So, this tree was responsible for the miraculous water from the stream” Rudra wondered.

He began to seriously inspect the tree as his stomach growled furiously.

“Augh!.... I am so hungry.” 

He looked at the tree and spotted berries on it. He began to ponder whether to eat the berries or not. His father once told him that many times, there were poisonous plants in the forest, and consuming them can lead to a bad stomach and worst-case scenario, death. His stomach growled again.

“How can a tree with such refreshing water bear poisonous fruits” Rudra consoled himself and began to pluck the berries. He was illiterate and didn’t know how to read and write. His father told him a way to count things by using his fingers. He counted the berries and all of the matched respectively with a single finger on both his hands. Yet, there was another blue colored berry hanging lightly on the tree. He plucked it too.

It had been a while since he had filled his belly with a complete meal. Most of their ration was reserved to contribute for the offering to the Rakshasa. Rudra always wondered how the Rakshasa which terrorized the entirety of their village looked like. Shaking his head he focused on the ten red berries and one blueberry in front of him. These berries were weird in shape, each one of them had the carving of an elephant head with small tusks protruding from their mouth while the blue one had the carving of an elephant head with big tusks and a small crown on the forehead. He picked up one of the red berries and gently placed it in his mouth and began to chew.

Sweet nectar filled his mouth as he closed his eyes in delight. These berries were so delicious, he quickly picked up another berry and placed it in his mouth. Lost in delight, he gulped down one berry after another. 

“Ah!.... So sweet!....So delicious.”

Rudra propped his eyes open and stared at the only remaining blueberry in his hand. He stared at it for a while and said,

“This berry is of a different color from another, I think it will be more delicious than the rest of them.”

He opened his mouth wide and chomped down the entire blueberry with a single bite.

“Eww!....argh!”

“It is so….it is so bitter! How can this berry be so bitter when the rest of them were so sweet and delicious.” Rudra hurriedly ran towards the stream and drank mouthful after mouthful of water. After the horrible resided a bit from his palate, he stopped drinking the water.

Rudra’s head began to spin, his body began to turn blue. His vision turned blurry and his stomach began to hurt.

“Have I eaten something poisonous?”

These were Rudra’s last thoughts as he slipped from the bank and fell into the river and lost consciousness. The stream carrying his unconscious body downstream.

------------

Meanwhile, in front of a cave, not far from the mountain with the stream, a convoy of carts with many people halted. The group of people hurriedly put down the cart and fearfully began to run towards the village. There was a small boy, sitting silently on one of the carts staring at the group of people running away from him. When the group of people was out of vision, he carefully jumped from the cart and tip-toed to a big lush bush and hid inside it. His small body was barely visible from outside of the bush.

He hid silently inside the bush and waited for the Rakshasa to appear. After an hour of wait, the ground beneath him began to tremble, the earth began to quake and shake as loud sounds of bare feet could be heard approaching towards the carts.

Raicharan's heart lurched in fear, he hurriedly hid deeper inside the bush. Soon, the footsteps calmed down and violent thrashing and crashing sound abrupted the serene atmosphere of the forest. Raicharan slowly peeked out from the bush and the sight before him terrorized him to end.

A giant Rakshasa with a height equivalent to ten average humans stacked together on top of each other was munching on a goat. The pitiful cries of sheep, cattle, and goats filled the surroundings. The Rakshasa had burning red skin like lava, he had two giant horns on each end of his forehead right above his ears. The Rakshasa had a bald head with a small ugly stump in the middle of the head, the remains of what seemed like a broken horn. His eyes were as big as doors of a house and long ugly hairs hung from his nose like a scythe. His mouth, when opened, was wide enough to swallow an elephant whole. His teeth were black and sharp like swords. His legs were as wide as a banyan tree and his waist was as huge as a house. His breath was shaking the nearby tree ferociously and his huge stomach was rumbling like thunder. He ate and laughed voraciously.  

“Crunch!... Crunch!”

Crunching sounds could be heard as he chewed the bones of the animals. He gulped down the bones and lifted a cart with his right hand and poured down its content in his mouth and began to chew again. After an hour of endless munching the food, the Rakshasa confusingly searched around for its sweet dessert. The Rakshasa like the sweet, tender, and juicy meat of human children. He always ate it in the end to sweeten his palate. But this time there doesn’t seem to be a human child for the offering. Have the humans, forgotten his terror, his majestic power which could annihilate them with a swipe of his hand.

Terror arose in the heart of Raicharan as he witnessed the Rakshasa completing his meal and looking around seemingly searching for something. ‘Had the peasant not met the Rakshasa? Did the peasant run away from the Rakshasa? Or did the peasant wasn’t enough to satisfy this Rakshasa’ numerous questions erupted in his heart. Raicharan panicked and gritted his teeth and as he about to step out.

The Rakshasa stood up and began to walk towards the mountain with a stream flowing its mouth. Raicharan sighed in relief and calmed his fast-beating heart for a while and waited for the Rakshasa to disappear from his vision. He quickly jumped out of the bush and began to dash towards the village like a rabbit.

Meanwhile a few moments ago,

The huge Rakshasa became furious upon seeing the absence of an offering. As he was about to lash and smash those puny humans to meat paste, his nose picked up a delicious aroma. He looked around for the source and his gaze fell on the cave with a stream flowing out from its mouth. He suddenly recalled something and stood up and began to swagger towards the cave with a stream flowing from its mouth.

Hundred years, it had been a hundred years since he came running up to this place and hid in this forest to save his life. About a hundred years, unrest grew among the Rakshasa. Many Rakshasas were dissatisfied with the meager amount of food and resources available to them. In the past hundred years a very powerful human warrior ‘Bhisma’ appeared. He relentlessly slaughtered many Rakshasa tribes and conquered most of the land for humans to rule for a full hundred years. This angered their Rakshasa Raj to no end. So, in a desperate struggle to gain back their prestige and honor, they declared full-blown war on humans a hundred years ago. Rakshasas were in high morals and launched devastating attacks on the humans reclaiming most of the lands. They were ready to deal a decisive blow to the humans.

But that man arrived again, he summoned thunder and lightning with just the twang of his bow. ‘Bhisma’ challenged the Raksha Raj to a duel and after exchanging a hundred rounds, he summoned one of the most destructive Divya Astra Brahamãstra.

Brahamãstra is a weapon that is said to be able to destroy the world, capable of destroying creation and vanquishing all beings. It is one of the most destructive, powerful, and irresistible Divya Astra. When it was summoned it created a fierce fireball, blazing up with terrible flames and countless horrendous thunder flashes. When it was discharged, all nature including trees, oceans, and animals trembled, and the sky was surrounded by flame, glaciers melted and mountains shattered with copious noise all around.

When it struck, it destroyed every demon in that area, not a single demon was left unscathed. The Rakshasa Raj who was in the direct line of impact was instantly obliterated to oblivion and the rest of Rakshasa weren’t spared too. He was on the edge of the battlefield, the impact caused him to be decapacitated. He lost one of his horn and his power was reduced by ninety percent. It would take centuries for him to recover to his prime.

But fortunately, while he was fleeing from that monster ‘Bhisma’ he came across this forest and managed to encounter a still budding ‘Sahastra Gajbala’ tree about to bear fruit in a century. Its fruit was capable of recovering his injuries and even strengthen him to a certain extent in just a few years. After consuming those fruits, he would destroy that pesky little village and return to the Underworld.