Now, while Dayanidhi dreamt of going into enchanted forests, this was not one of them. Her one was filled with flowers and flowing rivers, and the biggest statue of Narayan and Narayani you could imagine, so that she could pray there every morning.
This one was entirely opposite. It was dark, gloomy, with little to no leaves, and long dark barks of comically long trees. There was not a single ray of sunshine which could penetrate. Before she could ask, Bal tore up a tree and moved it to a side to make way for us to move.
" Bal! You harmed nature again. Do you not remember your promise? "
" It's not nature if it is dead Jyeshtha. The tree is dead. " He said, running away to hide behind his mata.
" You-"
But before she could scold him, the tree, the 'dead' tree moved back to it's own spot. Meanwhile, Vasuni, Rujut and Dharmjeet were sharing a smile.
" Why are you three smiling? " Bal asked them reproachfully.
" Bal. This is a Mayavi forest. We've entered the Kamaky forest. " Dharmjeet told him, calmly.
" This is why I forgot which way we came in from. " Ashwa thoughtfully added.
" If this is a mayavi forest, then it has to be inhabitted by someone." Dayanidhi supplied
" Yathart, Kumari. It is. It's occupied by rakshas Hidimb. It's their forest. " Vasuni answered.
" Hmm. But now what should we do? " Gopal asked innocently.
" Now we sleep. " Rujut said, and it seemed he was quite serious.
" Rujut. You want to sleep? How dumb are you? It is a mayavi forest. We can only leave once we defeat the rakshas. So what are you waiting for. Him to come to us? "
"Exactly that bhrata Bal." Rujut added, barely controlling his laughter
" I don't understand. " He replied confused.
" These rakshas are narbhakshi Bal! They will come to us on their own. " Dharmjeet clarified.
" Just like you can sniff out your favourite foods, they can find us. We are their food. " Vasuni told him.
" Isiliye bhrata Bal, go sleep. We'll all sleep. " Rujut said, jumping onto a stray hay bed.
" Uchit hai putron. Putri. Come we'll sleep. "
Unbeknownst to them, the rakshas Hidimb and rakshasi Hidimba were right there, watching these manushy.
" Hidimba! The big one wants to kill me. Your brother. I want you to trap them, and bring them to the main city. We'll sacrifice him to Bhagwan Vrikodar . " He said as he smiled at her.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Rujut and Dayanidhi were startled awake by the someone crying. They looked at each other, nodding in agreement, and moved towards the sound.
" Rujut. Here she is. " Dayanidhi said. " Pranipat. My name is Dayanidhi. This is my anuj , Rujut. Who are you? " She asked softly so as to not startle the woman.
" My-my name is Sunaina. I got lost in this van with my family. The rakshas, Hidimb, he killed everyone in my family. I was somehow able to escape while he was asleep. Now I am all alone-"
" You managed to escape, from Hidimb? " Rujut asked sceptical.
" Maun Rujut. We should not interrupt someone like this. " She scolded sternly.
"Kshama devi. " He apologized to Sunaina.
" You speak . What happened next."
" After that, I have been moving around trying to find the exit, but I was unsuccessful. He - he killed all of my family-" She broke down on Dayanidhi, whose heart melted at her tears, while her brother stood there, still trying to judge the situation.
" Rujut, come we'll take her to mata. "
" Ji Jyeshtha. " He reluctantly agreed.
When Priyamvada saw them, she ran towards her son and daughter, who were accompanied by an unknown woman.
"Putri ? Where had you gone off to? Who is she? "
" Mata, she's Sunaina. Her family was killed by Hidimb, and she somehow managed to escape. We brought her under your protection. She'll stay with us till we can leave the forest. Sunaina, this is my family. My Mata, Priyamvada, my Jyeshth Vasuni, and my anuj brothers, Dharmjeet, Bal, Ashwanath and Gopal. "
"Pranipat devi. " They all said.
" Putri. You are right. It is not nice for a female to be alone in such a dark forest. Putri Sunaina, you are welcome here. All of my children will protect you. " She said, hugging the woman.
Meanwhile, the brothers other than Bal looked at each other, wondering how to break the news to their sister and mother. Bal on the other hand.....
" Devi, are you hungry? Should we get something to eat for you? He asked, mesmerized by her beauty.
The others stared at Bal, even their mother, as if someone had told them that the sun rose from the other side. Bal. Taking an interest in a woman? He was thinking about something other than food and fighting? What?
" Ji nahi. I am fine. "
" Alright then. We will move towards paschim for sometime, and then we'll rest while Daya and Gopal look for food. " Vasuni declared.
" Paschim nahi. We should move towards the poorav direction. " Sunaina said.
" Why? " He countered.
" Wo. It's just that. The fruit trees are towards poorav. So we should move that way. " She added meekly.
" How would you know? " Ashwa asked.
" Ashwa, stop trying to doubt the poor girl. She's already worried. You are acaring her. She has been in the forest longer than us. Of course she would know
better. " Bal said sternly.
" Ji bhrata. Kshama Devi. " Now they all hid their smiles behind their hands.
" It's alright Kumar."
" Now, if you all are done, shall we move? " Bal said hurriedly.
While Vasuni, mata and Sunaina and Bal moved ahead, the rest of them, huddled behind and were snickering like crazy , save for Dharmjeet, who did not want to make fun of his brother.
" Bal is being so attentive towards Sunaina. I think I'll be leaving this place with a bhabhi to adore. " Daya said gigglimg silently.
" Yathart, Jyeshtha. How is this happening. Truly, this forest is Mayavi if it managed to make bhrata Bal care about a parayi kanya. " (Unknown or strange woman) Ashwa added.
They laughed, all the way till finally, Vasuni announced, " We'll rest here. Daya, Gopal, go look for food. I can smell some
fruits. "
" Ji Jyeshth. "
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
" Jyeshtha, I know you told us not to doubt, but do you truly not see how unusual the situation is. The minute we talked about killing Hidimb, someone showed up? "
" It is unusual, of course it is. But we are no one to jude the situation. I wouldn't bear it either . Imagine if I would have die-"
" JYESHTHA! Never say this again. We can't imagine you dead. " He told her, suddenly very scared. Being the youngest meant that he received most of her affection, from protecting him against his brothers while they would joke around, or when she comforted him like a mother after his mother died. She meant more to him and his brothers than she knew. It was why they were so sceptical of the Yuvraj of Vajji. But he saw her heart break through her eyes when mata had told them all to live in agyatvas post Varnavart. He saw her trying to be strong for them all, by hiding her pain behind her care. It is true, she was sakshat Devi Lakshmi for them.
" Jyeshtha, before anyone touches your honor or tries to kill you, we'll kill him. It's my promise to you. "
She carressed his cheek like his mother would, and it made him relaise just how much they all loved her.
" That's fine. Anyways, we found the fruits. Come let take the fruits. " She gathered them in her odhini, and he gathered them in his angavastr.
" Food is served. " She said, cheerfully, serving everyone, and keeping some in the middle for her priy anuj who ate as much as all of them combined.
After Sunaina had finished her part, she looked at Bal's food, and was caught by the man himself.
" If you are still hungry, you may take from here. We can share. " He told her.
This time, Daya could not control her laughter, and in an attempt to be polite, choked on the fruit.
" Putri! "
Jyeshtha! What did you do. Wait." Ashwa said, and slapped his hand on her back, which made her throw out the seed.
" Dha-dhanyawad Jyeshth. " She said coughing, while suddenly she saw, that her dear anuj fell too deep in love, when she saw him staring at Sunaina, who was really concerned for her health.
They began competing with each other on who could fit more fruits in their mouth, and eventually, surprisingly, or unsurprisingly at this point, Sunaina won, and let out a big burp.
Watching all this, the brothers had now confirmed. This woman was not a human. No human could beat their Vrikodar in a match for food other than their cousin Balram.
" We shall start moving again. We need to quickly move towards Hidimb's main city, and fight him to leave. "
" Al- alright" Sunaina said, worried about her plan being exposed.
" Don't worry putri. My children will protect you. " Mata told her, assuming her stuttering to being due to fear.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
They reached the entry to the city of the rakshasas but before they could enter, Sunaina suddenly screamed " Wait. Please don't go inside. You will all die. What will happen to me then. Please stop. "
" Devi, nothing will happen to us. We are all strong, we will fight Hidimb, kill him, and leave here." Bal told her.
" Please don't go. He'll kill you all." She implored.
" Sunaina, we'll be fine. Why do you worry so much? " Daya reassured her.
" Arre Devi. If you've brought us this far, then why stop us now. You've done your part, you brought us here. Why do you fear. Your brother will be killed by Bal." Dharmjeet told her.
" Brought us here? What do you mean Dharmjeet? " Daya asked him.
" Jyeshtha, she is not some ordinary human. She is
Hidimba. " Rujut told her.
" What? Why are you saying that Rujut? You are doubting her again. " Bal warned them.
" Bhrata Bal, if you do not trust what we are saying, ask her yourself. Devi, aapko Bhrata Bal ki kasam. Tell us who you really are. " Gopal told them.
" Is this true? " Bal asked in a small voice. " Are my brothers telling the truth? Are you Hidimba? ANSWER ME! " He asked, one lone tear escaping his eye.
" Yes. They are right. I am rakshasi Hidimba. I am Hidimb's sister. I was asked by him to bring him to you, so that he may kill all of you. But now living with you all i dont want to do that. He is a cruel person. He threatened to hurt me if I refused. Please believe me. Don't go inside. "
" You lied to me?" Daya asked, and the brothers suddenly realized the real problem. Their sister was an empathetic woman, and she trusted people very reluctantly. She trusted this woman, as she was hurt. This would harm both Bal and Daya more than any of them had anticipated.
Hidimba changed her form, and became a rakshasi again, with her intricately designed hair, tribal marks on her hands and face, and dark kajal lining her eyes.
" Ji. Please forgive-"
" This is not the time for forgiveness Devi Hidimba. We are going to kill your brother and leave this place. If you fear his life and oppose us, you are also our enemy and will find yourself dead too, whether it be by my hand or my brothers. Otherwise, you may stay back and witness his death. We will leave either way. " Daya told her sternly, wiping her tears.
" Aao Bal. You have been challenged. Show him who you are. " Vasuni told them.
" Ji Jyeshth. "
The family entered the cave, and what they saw shook them to the core .
________________________________
What could it be? Although we all know what happens next, our dear Bheem defeats Hidimb, marries Hidimba and we have Ghatotkach. But now.. Kahani mein twist.
Any guesses?
This chapter is compensation probably not posting tomorrow. I have my farewell.
I hope you enjoy. And I am sincerely grateful for more than 100 votes. Your love is motivation to work harder. Let's reach 200 soon.
And we are also almost at 2000 reads.
Do comment your opinion.
All my respect.
Radhekrishn❤