1 Beginning

Life of Ranveer Singh was good, one could even say it was great. He had loving parents, decent grades, and good friends. He was in the process of selecting his college to further his academics and he was excited about it. There was absolutely nothing that could make it go worse, and then it happened.

Pandemic swept through the world like a crazed rabid dog chasing the next living animal it sees, ready to bite them. It killed regardless of gender, age, race, or color, a sinister massacre that cannot be blamed on anyone. The world was under lockdown.

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Isolation never sounded so cruel until it was in effect. A precaution for the well-being of physical health was taking a toll on my mental health. The first month was decent, my parents and I had isolated ourselves in the house. Dad stockpiled food items with longer shelf life, just to be on the safe side, and was rationing from the beginning. He always tried to be on the safe side, just in case things got worse.

It helped because the lockdown kept getting extended. I started realizing that my relationships with my friends were shallow, and just like I was using them, they were also using me. It's not like I didn't know, it was just the realization, that made me feel lonely. On the other hand, the admissions for colleges were either cancelled or postponed without further notice. My so-called perfect life was falling apart, piece by piece, right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

After a few months, the ban on interstate travel was lifted. My grandmother was living alone in a different state when the country was under lockdown. Dad had no time to bring Nana to our home. She could not travel alone, and we didn't want to risk anything. It was concerning, as she was old and diabetic, so it was decided that I will take mother and stay with Nana until this Pandemic was over. Dad decided to stay because of his work. He was hesitant in the beginning but mom convinced him that I would keep them safe from infection. This was partially due to my over zealous nature to follow sanitization protocols.

This was good news for me. Even though this was a responsibility, I could not help but be excited to go out, and not just to buy groceries, but to actually go out and travel. Just the fact of going out, not for a chore, was exciting for me. We had been in isolation for few months already, and staying at home cooped up was not good for a teenager like me. In hindsight, this was just me making excuses for my excitement. The risk of infection was still high, so I would have to keep myself sanitized, avoid touching the face, wear masks, and keep the minimum required distance from other people.

Soon it was the morning of the day of their flight. The distance from Jaipur to Buldhana was around 900 kilometers, so it would take us around 2 hours of air travel.

We were about to leave when dad called me, "Listen, you're not only responsible for yourself, but also your mother. Keep a lookout, and be safe." I nodded, "You do not need to worry about us getting infected papa, just make sure you don't get infected in our absence. It's best if you stay home. We'll call you when we land, stay safe." I started loading luggage in the taxi, giving mom and dad some time to say their goodbyes. We usually didn't need to show our familial love to each other, we were men, and it was embarrassing for me, although I cant say the same for him.

We reached the airport, and as we expected, it was deserted. There were still occasional flights but they could only take half of the original capacity in order to follow the social distancing directive set by the government. The flight was uneventful, just as everyone would like at a time like this, but I was still vigilant, just to be on the safe side. Getting our luggage, we took a taxi and made our way to Nana's apartment complex.

It was relatively small apartment complex, with the only five floors. It was quite spacious though, as each floor had one unit. There was also a common terrace, I had previously used to share blunts with the kids in the complex. I visited Nana with the family almost every year for a couple of weeks so I had made friends with the kids that lived in the building. As I walked in the main gate of the complex, I saw the three lazing on a bench, sitting at an arm's length with their masks only covering their mouths.

"That bastard is back. Didn't think he'd visit the old Nana this year." Ravi muttered. Celine elbowed his fat belly in response.

"In any case, it's nice to see him again," Celine said stealing glances in my general direction. Ahmad simply stayed silent, it wasn't he didn't care, he just didn't speak that often.

Nana opened the door as soon as we rang the bell, she had been expecting us since it was decided we were coming over. She had thought that because of the lockdown, she won't be able to meet her family this year. She was ecstatic, and it was visible on her face.

"Nana!" Mom exclaimed as we bowed to touch her feet for her blessings. It was a common way of greeting the elderly and showing them due respect.

"Ah Ranveer, you've grown taller since last year. You both look good, I'm relieved." Nana said giving us her blessings.

"Go, freshen up first, I'm making lunch. We will talk then."

"I'll help you with it. Ranveer, take my luggage in my room as well" Mom replied.

It had been a long morning, even though there were not many physical activities during traveling, I was still exhausted. After unpacking, I laid down on the bed and started scrolling through social media, eventually dozing off.

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A soldier on the city walls spotted a rider making its way towards the city at an alarming pace. The soldier immediately called the captain of the guards. The captain took out his monocular and looked at the figure making his way to the city. Figure was of a man with light armor, clearly wounded as there was an arrow stuck in his leg.

"Open the gates!" The captain of the guards ordered. "And you, get the lord and a doctor immediately" pointing to the guard next to him. The captain made his way to the gate accompanied by ten soldiers, waiting for the rider to reach the city.

The rider reaching the city gates tried to dismount but fell instead. His face had gone pale and was perspiring heavily. The captain recognized the insignia he wore on his leather armor. He was a messenger from a neighboring city. The soldiers helped him up, made him sit on the steps of the guardhouse, and offered him water.

Two more people made their way to the gates from inside the city. The captain bowed in respect and said, "Lord, this man here is a messenger from Sao city. He's wounded, I fear there might be some bad news." Hearing this, the lord's face turned grim.

"Tell me, what news do you bring?" The lord questioned the messenger who was quenching his thirst.

"Lord!" The messenger tried getting up from the steps where he had been sitting, clearly in discomfort as blood seeped out from his wound dripping on the floor as bowed to the city lord, "Sao city was attacked by an army of Asura's. They broke our defenses easily." The messenger replied. One could see the strained look on his face as he was barely able to keep himself conscious because of the blood loss. Breathing ruggedly, he tried his best explaining the situation to the lord in front of him. Although it was a small role of just delivering a message, the message itself was a rather big news.

"We also saw heads of two other city lords on the pikes carried by their army's bannermen. The Lord asked me, to escape while they had their attention on him, to deliver this message to you so that you are not caught unawares." the messenger said shivering as he recalled the assault. "It was a slaughter, my lord. We had no chance against them."

"How can this be?!" exclaimed the city lord. Asura's were physically stronger but humans could easily outwit them. They were also easy to defend against if you had sturdy city walls. Also, it made no sense, as multiple Asura tribes would need to join forces to defeat a human city's forces, which was unlikely as those tribes never trusted each other.

"They were being led by a Daitya, my lord" the messenger replied in a grim tone. Daitya's were enhanced Asura's. They were powerful enough to knock down walls and gates with few punches. If an army of Asura's was really being led by a Daitya, then this was a serious matter. The existence of mankind was in danger. No human can fight against a Daitya, not even an army.

"Quickly, tell pandit-ji in the temple to arrange a havan. We must seek aid from Lord Vishnu." signalling to the soldier to his right. Pandits were the priests who communed with the Deva's. They usually only prayed to them, but under certain circumstances they could ask for their blessings or even a direct aid from them. But everything had a price, if the Deva did not like the reason behind asking them for blessing or the aid, they would kill the pandit and the person who had asked them to arrange the havan.

"What else did you witness?" This was indeed a piece of grave news. One of the worst he has received since he has become a city lord after his father, the former city lord, had passed away. He was responsible for the lives of all the humans in his city, and this threat was enough to wipe them out.

"Sire, they made the wives and daughters of the city lord slaves, and passed them around, while the sons were bound to a pole and disembowelled. City lord was made to watch as Asura's took turns raping the slaves and his sons cried in agony as their organs were exposed and bleeding, not giving them the mercy of a painless death, and then they beheaded the lord."

"I have never seen such wanton brutality, no one deserves this." messenger slumped down on the steps again as he completed his duty and started crying as he remembered the slaughter and his risky near-death escape from the city.

"You have done well; you risked your life to bring us this crucial information. Rest up, eat and drink your fill, the doctor here will heal your wounds, and prepare for battle, for we have to avenge the fallen!" The city lord turned to the captain of the guards and ordered, "Increase the guards on the walls and patrols, also send some scouts out in the forests and evacuate the villages. Prepare the defenses and ready the men for battle. Conscript all able-bodied men in the city. It's not a battle to decide who rules this territory, but it's a battle for our survival, and we will need everyone."

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