Chapter 146 144. Epiphany



"Who are you and why are you standing here like this?"

The little Ashwatthama approached the figure and as he got closer, he saw it was a boy which should be around his age in the commoners dress, He was looking at the direction with worry. There was a complicated look in his eyes.

There was also deviation, He looked like he wanted to leave and go towards his eyes were locked but he refused to move as if someone invisible chains bound him in this place.

Seeing this Ashwatthama became even more curious, He did not understand what the commoner was doing in this part of the royal garden, and mostly why he was standing here.

So he approached him and asked, Thinking the boy being commoner he was relaxed, If the figure wearing the royal figure, Ashwattham dare not to approach them as his own insecurities.

"...."

Eklavya did not answer him, his eyes just locked towards the direction with anxiousness and worry, His upper body tried to move but his legs as if attached to the ground refused to yield, They did not budge at all.

He did not even notice there was someone standing next to him asking him questions as he is lost in his thoughts. He saw Karna fall and wanted to go and help him but the words of Karna stopped him.

His Guru literally told him not to move unless he told so, So he followed the words like a divine decree. He knew Karna might get here anytime soon as he collapsed but logic did not work against the determination of devotion towards whom he held sacred.

"Hey!! Are you listening to me? Do you need help?"

Ashwatthama actually became worried seeing that Eklavaya did not reply to him and was just staring at that direction with that same look.

This made Ashwatthama believe that there is something wrong with Eklavya, Maybe he is trapped in the Maya (illusion) of some dark force. He saw it happen before.

So he quickly approached Eklavya and stood before him cutting Eklvaya's sight off, And then he made the gem on his forehead excited and active, Which started to glow in bright red hue.

All Eklvaya saw that some dark figure appeared before him and cut of his sight but before he could react he saw the very bright light almost blinding him, To protect himself he put of instinct hold his makeshift now before him which only lower the intensity of light but it was still hard to look at it.

*Buzzz*

But suddenly Eklavya stopped his struggle. He felt the very warm sensation wash over him. He felt very relaxed. His mind, which is always thinking of one thing or another, also becomes silent.

There was total tranquillity in his mind, body and soul, He was experiencing something he never before, Peace.

In this silence was only he and his bow which was made by his father, The only thing he has of his father, Or at least his aunt told him that is the case.

And because of this first time of silence he finally notice the voice that was always there, the cry for attention that was always lost in the out sounds of the world. But now he can finally hear it.

He looked down in his hand and tried to hear the voice, Yeah the voice was coming from the bow he always held dearly and now it's giving him a weird feeling.

"So its you, What do you want to say?.....Huh!? I am not insecure, Yeah but they are royals and high-born, they have strong bloodlines and lineage, How can I forest dweller compete with that?

What do you mean I am a coward? I don't fear anything ... .Yeah I am afraid of offending royals but because of my family ... .What do you mean how can I protect them? I can't even protect myself yet."

Eklavaya started to speak to himself, or it seems as the bow itself was communicating with him but not with words but in the fundamental level one can have with each other, His soul.

The bow resonated with the Eklvaya's soul making him talk to it without any words at all, He also not understand how can a bow have deep intelligence to have an conversation.

It then he remembered the story that some weapons may develop the weapon spirit, The higher the weapon the higher the power and it's spirit intelligence and conciseness.

In some extreme case some weapons even form their own bodies and soul, Though that is extremely rare but it does happen.

The mighty Sudarshana of Lord Vishnu is such a case. That armament not only has its own spirit and will but also its own body, And free will, So his bow talking to him was unexpected but totally possible.

Right now both he and his bow were having a deep conversation building the bond which was always there but he never noticed it and now it was getting deeper and deeper.

Unknown to Eklavaya he did not realise the meaning of these events, He right now is in a state of getting epiphany, A state others try their best to get to but could not able get it.

Only the one who has very very high talent and so is their fate can ever dream of getting this or apparently if you are a student of man with the broken luck can do it.

....

"Wait!? What is happening? Why do I feel so cold?"

Ashwathama is just like Eklavaya, so feeling the weird situation. This never happened but right now he can't move his body at all, he was standing still in the place unknown to him.

But that did not matter that much as it was plain white, There was nothing to be identified other than the fact that it was pure white, This panicked little Aswatthama, He never experienced such a thing.

Until now, other than a little bullying from his peers, He never experienced bad things. Anywhere he goes each and every being and thing in the place cater for him. Fruits fall on their own when he feel hungry.

Even the vicious animals in others eyes do not harm him, but now he felt like he was being attacked.

Because as soon as he realised he was in the white space it changed and became chaotic. There was no white closure anymore, rather it was filled with an infinite range of colours.

And unlike Eklavya he was not even feeling calm and silent, it was chaos, there were various cries of creatures he didn't know, The sound he was unheard of, there were also visuals of very violent things going past his eyes.

This makes him more and more afraid and terrified of where he is. He first thought this was a Maya and got caught in it but then remembered he was immune to Maya.

No illusion from the dwellers in the dark affected him, And he had never heard of the illusion which us this strange, he did not even understand the motive behind it. There were offensive things in this illusion but just disturbing vision and sounds.

Ashwatthama waited patiently thinking it would end soon, He just worried about the boy he was trying to help, thinking if he was alright or not then worrying about his being.

But that slowly changed as time passed on. He does not know how much time has passed but it was not short for sure, it was definitely at least a few hours has been passed.

And so now he panicked. He had an appointment with Karna which now he definitely missed. Yeah he still does not worry about his being as he sure he will be fine, The gem always protects him.

And even if gem failed to do so, He was sure his father would come and save him, And for him he was sure his father would not fail.

And yet what he imagined does not happen, time flowed like an unrestricted river, Each moment he spent here was torture to him now.

The vision and sound did not bother him before started to dig too deep in his mind, He closed his eyes, tried to ignore the sounds that were always there but nothing helped.

Even when he closed his eyes, the vision was still there, His body was feeling very very cold now and for the first time he feared that he might die here, For the first time he doubted his invincibility.

This thought terrified him, Gave him an existential crisis, he was sure nothing can kill him, It was announced by the heavens but and he was sure he will die here, he was sure of it.n0veLUsB.c0m

And the moment he started to think like that he for the first time paid stagnation to what was happening in the vision in front of him. It was visions of war, the vision of people killing each other with sharp swords and fast arrows.

He seeing how the once mighty warrior who held their heads high, thinking no one could kill or stop them from lying down their mortal lives.

The voice he was hearing was not from some unknown creature but the grief-stricken wails of childless mothers, widow wives and orphan children.

Knowing this Ashwatthama was taken aback and other than rejecting and ignoring the vision started paying attention to them, Learning and understanding the things only can be experienced with time and age.

(A/N : Like always thank you for reading and have a good day ????.)