Chapter 24 - Let's Make A Deal

The atmosphere was tense,

The massive serpent and the bull-headed man were starring at Shiva like seeing through his soul, while Shiva and Kapali were cautiously examining them to see if it is possible to run.

two minutes were gone just like that without either side moving and after staying there for so long the serpent moved, coiled around itself as it slowly transformed into a human, it's human form was a handsome man, well what can I say his beauty was heaven-defying and his skin was smoother than most of the women. He looked at Shiva as he slowly opened his mouth,

"Hello, It's nice to meet you. I am Vasuki, a lowly pet of my lord"

He introduced himself like a professional, while he slightly bowed and this time the bull opened its mouth,

"Nice to meet you, I am Nandi"

His voice unlike his appearance was smooth and he was not even looking at Shiva as if looking at his eyes made him shy,

Shiva was confused at the development and looked towards Kapali for help, but for some reason, his mouth was wide open and his sword was slowly falling towards the ground, he was even more confused now, not knowing what to do, he also just introduced himself but he was still on his guard as the skeletons still stood in front of him,

"I....I am.....Sh...Rudra, I am Rudra"

He thought about it and decided that there was no need to answer honestly to them, He decided to play it safe and said that his name was Rudra, hiding his real name.

The Serpent in human form raised an eyebrow as he said,

"Seems like you are not trusting us, well it's fine, it's not like we are here to chit-chat, I will cut the chase, we want to make a deal with you"

This time it was Shiva who raised an eyebrow,

"A deal, what kind of a deal can you make with someone like me?"

Nandi came forward as he placed the young calf in his hand in front of Shiva as he said,

"We know that you have a skill, something like Resurrection or revive, we want you to use that skill on this child here"

Shiva searched his brain thinking if he has something like that and he realized that it was his "Rise from the Dead" skill

Shiva politely bowed towards them as he said,

"I indeed have a Skill like that, but it is not a resurrection skill but an Undead summon skill and I don't know if it could bring back a person to life, it may result in summoning of just a skeleton-like Kapali or it may lead to cases like Virupa, where he retained his appearance, as you may know, I am not experienced enough and yet to understand the skill completely, so I have to decline your offer"

of course, he would refuse, why would he accept the request of some person he just met and lay waste upon his last skill slot.

The Serpent and bullhead thought about it carefully and answered,

"It's ok, we will not hold you responsible for it, you may proceed"

Shiva looked at them calmly as he asked,

"Proceed? I think you are didn't understood what I said, You said let's make a deal, A deal will not be made if both sides don't offer something of equal value"

The crazy Shiva was out now, he smiled creepily as he asked.

The serpent looked at him and said,

"We know that that's why I bought him here"

The serpent looked towards Virupa's body as he said,

"As long as you can revive the calf, you can take him"

Shiva looked calm as he answered,

"I think you are misunderstanding something here,"

He lifted his head looking directly at serpents eyes as he said,

"A deal is made with equal terms, my skill can only revive 3 persons currently, I already used it on Virupa and Kapali and has only one chance left, what made you think that I will choose this calf to revive, and then again, I was going to reclaim Virupa's body anyway even if it took me some time, I don't think I am getting something out of this deal"

He said with confidence, to be honest, he was being shameless now, he was just thinking of reaping as much as benefits possible from the serpent and was just testing waters,

"Interesting,"

Said the serpent as he started laughing,

"A mere ant dare to refuse me?? this is the first time I am rejected like this"

He release his aura and instantly all the skeletons surrounding shiva turned into powder except Kapali and both of them are now on the ground kneeling in front of the bullhead and serpent.

Kapali finally got out of his trance as looked at the situation, gritted his teeth. He was zoning out when his master who he swore to protect was facing two such monsters, it was a shame for him as a knight, he calmed his head down and said,

"Don't go too far, Vasuki"

The Serpent got instantly surprised and retracted his aura and looked at Kapali as he was a prey to be swallowed,

"Don't you think it will End up good for you if "that person" here about his two trusted followers bullying the weak"

The serpent instantly froze as he asked,

"How did you know? wait a minute...Who are you?"

Said the serpent with a shaky voice,

"I don't think that is what you should be asking now?"

Hearing Kapali, the serpent instantly moved Shiva up with his mana as he said,

"I am sorry, I lost control of my emotions, as for the reward for reviving the calf, you can ask anything within our limit"

Shiva was feeling like he was suffocated and was trying hard to control himself, while Kapali opened his mouth,

"Now that's some extent you are going to fulfill his revival, now I am interested in knowing who this Child is?"

He asked looking at the calf,

"That's something you don't need to know"

"Ok then, as for the reward, My master is a necromancer, what good reward for a necromancer than a corpse"

"A corpse?"

"Yes, a corpse, to be more specific Corpse of a Dragon" Kapali revealed a creepy smile as he said,

everyone including shiva's eye went wide hearing Kapali,

"Presumptuous, Don't go too far" the serpent roared angrily as Shiva thought to himself,

'it is all over, my bright future is being torn away by my own servant'

"Well you can go away if you don't like the deal"

but the replay was not what excepted,

".......Ok, you will get it," said the serpent gritting his teeth,

"You know you have to be more sincere than this"

Shiva was inwardly cursing Kapali as he thought ' are you trying to kill me?'

The serpent gritted its teeth harder as it said,

"Nandi go to 'Patal' and retrieve the Black dragon's body"

"and one more thing, don't try anything funny with my master, if anything happens to him after he was done reviving it, things will not end up good for the calf too"

Kapali knew that they valued the calf and he made sure to take good advantage of that,

Shiva was giving double thumbs up inside for Kapali for making sure he was safe,

'At least you still remember your master's safety, you bastard'

******