What Happens In The Battle Between The Humans And The Demons

 Angels of Kailash by Shubirsa Prasad is the second book of the trilogy of the battle between the humans and the demons. The first book is titled The Demons of Jaitraya. An excerpt:

When the party of four reached this border of the desert, Aishani through Maa Shakumbhari set to work immediately.

Copious amounts of water began flowing from her body; she targeted the empty bhungas first because that was where the desert demons would be hiding, waiting for unsuspecting travelers.

Aishani positioned herself in such a way that her back was to the desert, and she was facing those huts where the desert demons were lurking. So great were her powers that the first few huts were flooded with water. The water flowing out of her body could have just flowed down and got sucked by the dry Earth, but it cascaded over the bhungas, giving the demons no choice but to rush howling and screaming out of the huts. Some of them had already begun dissolving and dribbling on the ground. They were not like what a traditional demon would look like with horns and tails and talons and red eyes hissing fire. They were thick gusts of sand held together loosely. Adheesh and Guruji with their experience could make out the face and body of the demon while the head priest when he was not swooning with shock and wonder, could just see sandstorms flying out of the bhungas.

As soon as the water touched these demons, they began disintegrating. Some of them did hold themselves for a few seconds, screaming and beseeching the entity to spare them. But the goddess was in no mood for mercy. Enough leeway had been given to them with the clear understanding that they would never cross their territory, that is, the middle of the desert. They had broken the pact, disrupted the harmony of nature. Hence, they would have to pay the price. Soon after flooding the first few huts and destroying the demons there, Aishani went towards the other huts andbegan flooding them too. Another miraculously bizarre thing which was happening was that instant thick dense vegetation was sprouting and spreading at an astonishing speed and was speedily covering the earlier bhungas, thus sealing the fate of the desert demons. There was no way they could go back into these huts even if one of them survived. The whole operation went on till late afternoon by which all the desert demons had been annihilated.

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An additional surprising phenomenon was that after the destruction of the desert demon of each hut, the water would naturally dry up so that only greenery was left. By evening, this part of the desert was free of the demons. Mata Shakambhari slowed down and ultimately stopped. She made as if to go back but she waited for a sign from the head priest, who was still looking goggle-eyed at the proceedings. Guruji gave him a gentle nudge. He woke with a start, realising where he was. He folded his hands in supplication to the deity and led them back to the temple through the same secret passageway.

Aishani was still dripping water; she was still green with small, soft tendrils coming out of her body. Adheesh was anxious and very worried now. He knew how sick Aishani was going to be once the deity left her body and she became a normal human being. From past experience, Adheesh also knew that even though her mind may not remember anything, her body would take a long time to forget, recuperate and adjust to normal shape. One relieving factor was that now she could be admitted in his father’s hospital for recuperation, with roundthe-clock care and the best treatment.

Back in the room, Guruji gestured to the head priest toleave, which he did expeditiously. He was the most respected and experienced head priest, but he knew when he was beaten. Today’s happenings were beyond his comprehension. Before he left the room, Guruji asked him to arrange a car for them. He would have done anything for this exalted group. Apart from the miracles which he had just witnessed, what had occurred was a tremendous gift for mankind. The desert would stop growing and people would begin living on its fringes again.

 Extract carried with due permission from the author and the Publisher (Vitasta Publishing).

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