The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Snake Bound-Part 2

"What is your name sir?" Ram asked. "Well, whatever it is, Mr. Eagle, we thank you greatly for reviving us and removing the poison from our bodies. We are forever indebted." He quickly gestured for Lakshman to join together his hands and kneel before the giant bird, who had cocked his head thoughtfully at the both of them. In unison, the two princes bowed their heads in gratitude.

"My name is Garud." Some of the monkeys jumped back in alarm, but Ram didn't even move a muscle as the eagle spoke. Lakshman just figured that if monkeys could speak, there was no reason eagles couldn't. "My name is Garud and I know you from another life, Shri Ram. I am glad to have been able to aid you. It is, I feel, my purpose to aid you." With a bow of his own mighty head, the bird lifted off of the ground again, drawing up clouds of dust as he did.

"Lanka must be celebrating," Vibhishan murmured, pointing into the distance where yellow lights were lit. "They think that if you passed, Shri Ram, as well as your brother, that we'll all perish, following you in your journey. But the truth is, neither you nor your brother have passed, and none of us have any wish on our thali list to perish all of a sudden. We should do something to notify them, shouldn't we?"

Ram nodded. "Yes! Instruct the vanar sena to start celebrating! Partying like they've never had before! Bring the food, bring the lights, bring the lanterns!" Ram turned around and smirked at the golden dome palace that seemed to shine a little brighter that night.

------O------

"Oh! There's still a snake wrapped around your arm, Lakshman!" Ram noticed, peering as he saw that the green thing wrapped around his brother's bicep was not an armlet (which Lakshman hadn't even brought in the first place, but Ram didn't judge). "Maybe you should remove that and send it back to Lanka. Better yet, kill it. We shouldn't take any risks, now should we?" he shrugged.

Lakshman turned around and stumbled, as another snake magnetically wrapped around his leg again. "I'M GOING TO KILL INDRAJIT-" Ram shook his head disappointedly as Angad dropped a cup, Neel fainted, Nal caught him, and Hanuman's jaw dropped. Lakshman was back to normal.

-----O-----

Ravan laughed raucously, his wine sloshing in his goblet as he raised it in drunkenness. Just then, a messenger, cowering with fright, stumbled in. These messengers always amused Ravan, with their fright. They were scared of him, Ravan, King of Lanka, as they rightfully should have been. "Yes, yes." he began, his voice sluggish and sloppy. "Do tell me, before getting your useless rump out of this room! Do tell what's happened? Have-" he leaned in, his eyes suddenly excited by a new prospect he seemed to have just thought of. "Tell me, have the monkeys perished so quickly?"

The messenger shook his head, and Ravan's face became dull again as he settled back again, amid the disappointed murmurs in his room. He raised an eyebrow impatiently. "The monkeys are c-c-celebrating, sire." the messenger murmured. "Some of our viewers have reported that they have seen Ram and Lakshman pacing around, very much alive, and that the snakes that once bound them are rushing back to Lanka."

Ravan dropped his goblet, his face immediately twisting into a menacing growl. "I shall see this for myself! My viewers must have lost their minds." he snorted. "A dead man alive. What shall we see next? A hermit defeating my sons,and the other defeating me?" the room burst in laughter and Ravan grinned, his mood appeased and his ego flattered. Still stumbling like his own drunk generals, he walked over to the viewing balcony.

Grasping the viewing scope (a very similar one to the one in Ayodhya's palace), he peered in thoughtfully, twisting the queer cylinder around. Finally, he reached a spot, and with a shrill gasp, he stepped back. Then he grabbed it again, a hand on his heart, before stepping back once more, his eyes the size of dinner plates. "It can't be," he growled in his bristly voice. "Indrajit had sworn that they were dead."