Letter from sukarna:-
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The royal court of Suvarna Mandali had assembled once again.
The ministers stood in their accustomed places while the scribes prepared the day's proceedings. Before the first matter could be brought before the throne, the great doors of the court opened.
A royal messenger hurried inside, carrying a sealed scroll.
He knelt before the throne.
"Your Majesty, an official letter from Gurukula."
King Karthikeya extended his hand.
The messenger carefully placed the scroll upon his palm before stepping back.
The court fell silent.
Karthikeya broke the seal and slowly began reading.
The calm expression on his face gradually disappeared.
His eyes paused over a few lines before continuing further.
Every minister noticed the change.
No one dared interrupt him.
After finishing the letter, Karthikeya folded the scroll and remained silent for a brief moment.
Minister Rajayya finally stepped forward.
"Your Majesty... has something happened?"
Karthikeya slowly lifted his eyes.
"One of the missing boys has been found."
The court instantly erupted into whispers.
"For weeks we searched without a single lead..."
"How was he found?"
"Is he alive?"
The murmurs spread across the hall before Karthikeya raised his hand.
Silence returned immediately.
"The boy is alive."
Relief quietly spread across several faces.
Karthikeya continued.
"The report states that he was rescued from captivity by a Gurukula student named Puru."
Even the ministers who had begun to lose hope looked at one another.
For the first time since the disappearances began...
There was proof.
Proof that the missing were not simply vanishing without a trace.
There was someone behind it.
Karthikeya slowly rose from his throne.
"This may only be the first step..."
His voice echoed steadily across the court.
"...but it is the first real step we have taken in this investigation."
His gaze swept across the ministers.
"If one victim has returned alive, then there is reason to believe the others may yet be found."
No one disagreed.
The despair that had quietly settled over the court during the past weeks had, at last, given way to purpose.
Karthikeya turned toward the royal messenger.
"Send word to Gurukula immediately."
"I want Sukarna to appear before this court at the earliest."
He paused for only a moment.
"And if the boy Raghu is fit to travel..."
"...bring him as well."
The messenger bowed deeply.
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Without another word, he hurried out of the court.
For the first time in many days, the kingdom no longer stood before an endless wall of uncertainty.
A small crack had appeared.
And Karthikeya intended to widen it before it disappeared once again.
CONVERSATION WITH TIMMARUSU:-
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The evening prayer had come to an end.
Devotees slowly began leaving the temple while a few priests remained busy arranging lamps and flowers for the night rituals. Beneath the vast banyan tree near the rear courtyard, Timmarusu sat in complete silence.
His eyes remained closed.
His breathing was calm.
He seemed untouched by the movement around him.
Puru instinctively took a step forward.
Before he could move any closer, Tanuj gently held his arm.
"Wait."
Puru looked at him.
"We shouldn't disturb him."
Tanuj lowered his voice.
"He never speaks while meditating."
Puru nodded.
"So... when do we meet him?"
A faint smile appeared on Tanuj's face.
"We don't decide that."
Puru looked puzzled.
Tanuj glanced toward the old priest.
"He calls those whom he wishes to speak with."
"So we wait."
Without another word, both of them stood quietly beneath the shade of the banyan tree.
The evening breeze gently rustled the leaves above them.
Temple bells echoed faintly in the distance.
Time passed in silence.
Puru expected to wait much longer.
So did Tanuj.
Then—
The old priest slowly opened his eyes.
Without turning his head, he calmly spoke.
"Come."
Tanuj blinked in surprise.
People often waited for hours before Timmarusu acknowledged them.
Yet today...
Only a few moments had passed.
Both of them immediately walked toward him.
Just as they reached the stone platform, Timmarusu slowly raised one hand.
"One at a time."
The two boys stopped.
Puru looked toward Tanuj.
Tanuj simply nodded.
"You go."
Puru folded his hands respectfully before the old priest and sat cross-legged before him.
Timmarusu looked directly into his eyes.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence itself felt like the beginning of a conversation.
Finally, the old priest asked,
"What troubles you more..."
He paused.
"...the dream..."
Another brief silence followed.
"...or what you did after waking?"
The question struck Puru unexpectedly.
He had prepared himself to explain everything.
Instead...
The old priest had asked about the one thing Puru himself had been trying to escape.
Puru lowered his head.
"The dream gave me questions."
His voice softened.
"But what I did after waking..."
He slowly looked at his own hands.
"...still follows me."
"I rescued my friend."
"I should feel relieved."
"But I cannot forget the man I struck."
"He had already fallen."
"I still kept using my sword."
"I don't know why."
For the first time since Puru had approached him, Timmarusu smiled.
It was neither pride nor amusement.
It was understanding.
"Good."
Puru looked up in confusion.
"Good?"
The old priest nodded gently.
"A man who fears becoming cruel..."
"...is less likely to become one."
The words settled deep within Puru.
For the first time since the rescue, he felt that someone had understood the burden he had been carrying.
After a long silence, Timmarusu spoke again.
"Now..."
"Tell me about your dream."
This time Puru held nothing back.
He described the endless darkness.
The glowing woman.
Her calm voice.
The responsibility she had entrusted to him.
And the final words that had remained in his heart ever since.
*"I know your true shade."*
The old priest listened without interrupting.
Not once.
When Puru finished, Timmarusu slowly closed his eyes.
The evening breeze carried the fragrance of incense through the courtyard.
Several moments passed before he opened them again.
"Did she ask you to worship her?"
Puru shook his head.
"No."
"Did she ask you to fear her?"
"No."
"Did she ask you to obey her?"
Again...
"No."
A faint smile appeared upon the old priest's face.
"Then she did not ask for devotion."
"She asked for understanding."
Puru remained silent.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
"Master..."
"I came here hoping to understand black magic."
Timmarusu smiled gently.
"Black magic?"
He slowly shook his head.
"That is merely the name people give to what they fear."
Puru listened carefully.
"What people call black magic..."
"...is, in truth, a collection of **Tantras**."
The unfamiliar word settled in Puru's mind.
"Tatras?" he asked softly.
"Tantras," Timmarusu corrected with a warm smile.
"A Tantra is not born evil."
"It is a path."
"A discipline."
"A method through which hidden forces of nature are understood and directed."
He looked toward the sanctum where Kariamma's idol stood illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun.
"There are countless Tantras."
"Some heal the wounded."
"Some protect the innocent."
"Some reveal what ordinary eyes cannot see."
His expression slowly grew serious.
"And some..."
"...bring unbearable suffering when they fall into the wrong hands."
"The world remembers only those."
"And so..."
"...people began calling them black magic."
Puru remained completely absorbed in every word.
Timmarusu slowly reached beside him and lifted an old cloth-wrapped book.
Its pages had turned yellow with age.
Several loose papers rested between them.
The leather binding had nearly worn away.
He carefully placed it into Puru's hands.
Puru looked at it with curiosity.
"What is this?"
"My lifetime."
Puru looked up.
The old priest smiled softly.
"Not my life."
"My observations."
"I have spent decades listening to travellers, studying forgotten manuscripts, witnessing rituals and recording what little I understood."
He gently rested his hand upon the old book.
"These are not sacred scriptures."
"They are simply the notes of an old man."
"I have written only what my eyes have seen and my mind could understand."
He looked toward the horizon.
"And even then..."
"...I know it is only a handful of water drawn from an endless sea."
Puru carefully opened the first page.
Ancient symbols.
Handwritten sketches.
Notes written, corrected and rewritten over many years.
Some pages ended halfway.
Others contained questions with no answers.
Timmarusu continued.
"This book contains only a few Tantras."
"A lifetime is too short to understand them all."
"But perhaps..."
"...it will help you understand the responsibility that has found you."
Puru slowly closed the book.
He held it silently for a long time.
Finally, he looked toward the old priest.
"Master..."
"I am only fifteen."
"My sword has only begun to understand this world."
"I have more questions than answers."
"If she truly knows everything..."
"...why would she entrust such a responsibility to someone like me?"
Timmarusu looked quietly toward the idol of Kariamma.
Then he asked,
"Do you believe she sees farther than either of us?"
Without hesitation, Puru nodded.
"I do."
The old priest smiled.
"Then why do you doubt the one thing she chose?"
Puru lowered his eyes.
He found no answer.
Timmarusu's voice became even softer.
"You believe you are questioning yourself."
"But listen carefully to your own words."
He looked directly into Puru's eyes.
"Are you truly doubting yourself..."
"...or are you doubting her judgment?"
The question echoed within Puru's heart.
For the first time since he had arrived at Kariamma Temple...
Silence itself became his answer.
Timmarusu gently pushed the old book toward him.
"Do not read these pages to seek power."
He paused.
"Read them to understand responsibility."
Puru carefully accepted the book with both hands.
Its worn pages carried little weight.
But the responsibility placed upon them felt heavier than anything he had ever held before.