Chapter 3: Pits Of Agony

"Gosh.. why haven't you finished your food yet? Ansh, you want to get stronger, right?" A female voice said this to Rudransh, who was sitting on the dining table with a forced smile on his face. 'But I don't like it...' A conflicting thought in his head while he forced himself to eat the vegetables. 

Distressing flashbacks erupted in his head one by one "Ansh, you need to study harder!", "Ansh, you will have to grow taller, or how else will you call yourself their big brother?", "Rudransh, why aren't you smarter?", 

"Rudransh, Rudransh, Rudransh." His name being called from all directions. The little boy, disoriented, and saddened, covers his ears with his hands, falling onto his knees as he tucks his head down to hide himself. The scene gets darker and darker.

Just then, he hears his family laughing and talking to each other in a small area with some visible light. "Mama?... Papa?..." The small boy calls up to them, but the figures show no reaction. Talking and laughing amongst themselves, they soon start to walk away, leaving only Rudransh behind. 

"No..Noo.. I will be a good boy, I promise.." Rudransh gets up and starts to run towards them. Just then the figures stop, his parent's faces turning behind their backs. 

The boy's face turned pale, and his eyes opened wide as he stumbled upon the gruesome scene. His jaw trembled, and his expression twisted in shock at what lay before him.

"You will protect your siblings, right?" Rudransh lowered his head, not answering. In the next moment, the figure of his parents stood on top of him. "You will protect your siblings, right?", "Right?" The figures kept repeating the same question again and again. 

"Yes," A small murmur left the boy's lips. In an instant, the whole space turned dark.

"Why do you.. cry? Why do you weep?... Isn't this what.. you wanted?" In the dark space, these words echoed. The face of the same monster that was in Rudransh's house earlier emerged from the shadows. Its eyes filled with hate and detestation, but his face changed as soon as it caught a glance at Rudransh's face.

With a dark grin on its face, the monster looked down at him and said, "You brought us out~, You caused this and I welcome you to the… pits of agony!" 

Just as the monster said this, the whole valley, which was pitch dark until this moment, lit up. Billions of people, some dead, some half torn apart, some without heads, and some who just had their heads left, crawled through the valley. 

Their screams, cries, and painful calls filled the air as all the dead slowly crept toward him. 

Some grabbed his legs, some his arms, while others climbed on his body, "Why did you wish for this?" The dead asked, while the screams and cries of pain kept getting louder.

Rudransh jolted awake, breathing heavily. He was now on the hospital floor. As he looked around, he saw a scene straight out of a horror movie, people everywhere, injured, crying, and screaming the names of their deceased loved ones. Some fight doctors for their loved ones, and some fight amongst themselves for resources. 

Just when Rudransh fully came to his senses, he could feel that his head was wrapped in a fabric bandage. "Krishna!" He hurriedly looked around for his little brother, panic taking over his breathing. He got up from his place, his head still dizzy, legs hurting from cramps. "Krishna…noo! where are you!??" he called out.

He looked at a doctor taking care of some patients and rushed to them as quickly as he could. "Doctor!- Have you seen my little brother?! His name is Krishna." Trying to explain about his missing brother in panic. The doctor noticed him, kneeled down to take a look at his condition and started examining him "I do not have any idea about your brother, how old was he?" "Three years old, he was wearing a red shirt.".

 "Where are your mother and father?" The doctor asked, trying to ease the mood. "I..don't kno.. the monster took them..my sister..I pushed her on a big car.. hey uncle please help me… find my brother…"

Even though emotions took over the doctor's face, he nevertheless smiled warmly at him. "I am sure you will find your brother, do not worry. I have checked your condition, some rest should do the work for you." Rudransh wasn't worried about himself at this point, his mind was fixated on finding his missing brother.

Rudransh went from bed to bed, room to room, trying to find his little brother, but he failed to do so. Tired and disheartened by the realization that he may never get to see his brother again, he returned to the same place where he woke up.

Just to see his little brother looking everywhere for him, crying while holding a bottle of water in his hands. His little cheeks were covered with tears as he called out for his brother again and again.

After seeing this, Rudransh couldn't stop himself and rushed to his brother, hugging him tightly in his arms as both brothers cried their eyes out. "Big brother..! I was so scared! Don't leave me.." Krishna told Rudransh while crying, weeping, and with a shed of relief in his voice.

"I am sorry, I am sorry." I will never leave you alone again.. I promise!" Rudransh replied to his brother while he hugged him closely. After a while, they both relaxed, and as they settled down, they took turns drinking the water.

A kind nurse took notice of them and gave them a packet of bread. Rudransh took out two bread pieces from the pack as he took one for himself, and handed Krishna the other piece. 

Krishna smiled innocently at his brother and with his small hands, he offered Rudransh his piece of bread after eating a few bites "You are hurt… brother, you need to eat! I am not hungry.. I am strong!" Krishna tried to puff up his small arms.

"Pfft- I am far stronger than you," Rudransh replied while smiling down at Krishna while patting his head. "One day..I will be strong!" Krishna nodded as both of them finished their bread. It was already well past midnight, so they tried to get some sleep. Both held each other's hands, refusing to let go even in their sleep.

Meanwhile, at this exact time, we get to see some mysterious individuals at different locations all over the world. We could say that these were no ordinary humans; their aura and presence even challenged the glory of some gods. Their bodies were well built, and their minds were set on a mission that would soon define the path for humanity in this dark dawn. 

The locations that they set out for were Kashi (India), Kyoto (Japan), Uluru (Australia), Big Horn National park (USA), Lake Titicaca (South Americas), Grand Bassin (Mauritius, Africa), and Helgafell (Iceland). 

"Has everyone reached their designated locations?" A deep, authoritative voice spoke this, as we saw a man in his forties on a boat in river Ganga. Fair skinned, with a full bushy white beard, talking.

"Ah! Wait a second, old man! You know how much I hate cold places and yet you sent me here! Gosh, give me a break, I will be in Helgafell in a minute or two." A young man spoke these words, his speech had a hint of goofiness, passion and fearlessness.

"I never would have thought that we would get to fight this battle this soon." Yet another middle aged man can be seen climbing the stairs of a shirne in Kyoto, Japan. He was very rich, and it was evident from his expensive chiso,'montsuki''.

"The long-awaited moment has at last dawned upon us. Indeed, I have at last reached Uluru.." The elderly man in saffron robe spoke in an archaic manner, using phrases and expressions that seemed out of place in modern conversation. .

"Are you sure that you will be able to pull this off, old sage? I am genuinely worried about your health." While making his way towards the Bighorn monument, another man interjected. He was dressed in a finely tailored suit, clutching a walking stick adorned with a golden lion motif on its handle.

"This is the first time I have left Bharat on your call, Sir Bhargava. But nevertheless, I am pleased as i can finally worship this beautiful Mahadev's idol." The 6th man spoke up, bowing his head at the feet of the idols situated on the banks of Lake Grand Bassin in Mauritius.

"I hope this will be my final redemption, that I can finally be of use…" The last of them finally responded, a young, handsome man. Some pieces of cloth wrapped around his head, and his face was not fully visible. His speech was full of pain and agony "Yes, I have arrived at the lake (Titicaca)." 

Bhargva, the leader of these men, the one who spoke at first, speaks up once more "Such is our solemn obligation in this epoch: warriors, fear not. If fate decrees, we shall cross paths once more in the near future. Commence the awakening!" He ordered.

All the men started chanting ancient Sanskrit mantras as their bodies lit up in bright golden hues. It felt as if 7 different suns were lit up in the earth's atmosphere, one by one their bodies dissolved into the form of mantras, which fell on the surface.

The ground trembled, it was as if someone had awakened the whole earth. One by one, enormous pillars of pure energy emerged at the respective locations of these men. Soon after, there were seven huge tridents. They towered the sky, reaching up to the stratosphere, their roots embedded all the way deep into the tectonic plates. 

The tridents felt as if they were throbbing, the ancient texts that they were covered with started to illuminate a divine energy. As the tridents fully activated, their tips released transparent energy that dispersed in all directions in the shape of a dome.

Back in the hospital, both the brothers were sleeping peacefully. Just then, huge tremors hit the place, and the sounds of alarms and sirens woke everyone up. Rudransh quickly got up and started to put everything that they had, bread, water—in a piece of cloth that he wrapped around his waist. Then he proceeded to grab Krishna in his arms and tightly grasp a pillar with his other hand.

Even though it was a terrible earthquake, people were afraid to go out because of the monsters, and demons. Although the military set a perimeter around the area, something else kept the monsters at bay. 

The violent trembling stopped after a few minutes, but they were soon followed by spine chilling roars and screams. Everyone in the hospital, including the two brothers, got extremely frightened, their heads filled with the thought that maybe this was the second wave of monsters. 

However, in reality, these monsters were actually running away from the divine light that illuminated the plains. Just then the power grids and electronics started working again, adults rushed to switch on the televisions and mobile devices. 

At first, the gadgets displayed no signal, but soon the emergency broadcast started on all possible devices. A familiar face, a famous TV anchor ready to present the whole country with its first report after the calamity.

"Hello everyone.." The anchor started with a disheartened voice, horror and uncertainty plastered on his face. "I..I would first like to start this broadcast.. uhm.. by addressing what's happening around us. Th-this catastrophe seems to be happening everywhere." Visuals of different places on the globe were displayed one by one. 

Terrifying clips of huge monsters with scary faces could be seen wreaking havoc in what appeared to be Tokyo.

Next, we see towering monsters with what appeared to be speakers instead of faces (taller than the Statue of Liberty) walking towards the coast of New York. 

Followed by a visual of enormous reptilian monsters running rampant in what seems to be the deserts of Australia. "These are only some of the footage that we could get our hands on, but this is happening all around the world." The anchor followed with a disheartened voice.

Rudransh tried to hide Krishna's face from the horrors displayed on the screen. The atmosphere is getting suffused with a sense of terror, thick and palpable. However, the gloom faded as quickly as it approached.

The footage of the trident in Kashi and in different parts of the world was displayed on the TV screens next. "We have.. confirmed that these tridents are emanating? some kind of energy that is driving the monsters back into the country shores and into the dark oceans." The TV gets updated about something on his earpiece "We have also received reports that these monsters cannot enter some sacred temples. So if you are near a temple- or a sacred place- please take shelter there.."

He checked his earpiece again "I have just received the word that the prime minister is live." The TV screen switched to a scene in which the current prime minister could be seen sitting on his seat. It appeared to be footage from an airplane, evident from the windows behind him and the cramped ceiling.

"My brothers and sisters, I am sure everyone tonight has lost something, but all hope is not lost. This is indeed a grave time for our country. I do not know why this is happening or what has triggered it." The man in his 50s said this while gripping his hands together, however, his tone remained vigilant, not expressing a shred of fear. 

"We have deployed the military for the projection of civilians as our, navy, and air force are working restlessly to drive these monstrosities towards the ocean. I request that you take shelter in safe places." 

With a serious face, he continued, "I have spoken to the leaders around the globe, and this seems to be a global event. But do not be afraid, Mahadev is with us! His tridents are here to protect us!" The broadcast lost its signal, and the news studio was shown to us again.

"That was our prime minister, As requested, every civilian is advised to take shelter at safe locations." A more experienced female reporter was present this time around on the screen. 

"Next, I have with me 'Professor Karan'; he is a renowned nuclear physicist and a pioneer in the research of clean energy'. Professor, what can you tell us about these anomalies?" The young professor took his seat in a hurry, and in a frenzied manner, he started explaining, 

"We have never seen… something like this in the modern world, I cannot say for certain what these creatures are... But… they look like monsters from our mythology.". He said this while placing his hand on his head, his lips shaking, trying not to believe in his own words.

A colleague barged into his room, and Karan turned around quickly. "Oh my God," he said, placing his hands on his chest.

"Yukihiro! Some of these days you will give me a heart attack"

Yukihiro's hands kept shaking as he handed Karan some papers, "The energy graphs..they are ready" 

One by one, Karan looked through them, frantically looking through them all. His face going through a rollercoaster of emotions "Are... are these readings right?" He asked his Yukihiro 

"Yes, they are... I have checked them thrice" The other scientist said this before exiting his room.

Karan sat down on his seat slowly, his lips trembling, his mind trying to pick out the right words to put in front of the audience that was watching him. "The.. the trident appears to.. be some sort of cold reactor... more like a battery.. and from what I can understand right now. These monsters are like.. like pit of negative energy…" he took a pause, trying to collect his thoughts once again.

"Maybe... just maybe, this is how we will survive. I don't know if I should be disclosing this information here." He grabbed his mouth with his hand, and sweat covered his forehead.

"These tridents will really be the beacon of hope... A light for all the humanity in these dire times." He looked straight into the camera, his face expressionless for a moment "and save us from the 'pits of agony'."