Rudra's POV
The Goddess Ganga looked at me silently, Their gaze filled with a quiet, liquid curiosity. It wasn't the piercing heat of a flame, but the deep, crushing pressure of an ocean trench.
They then turned their eyes toward Nandi Ji, an unspoken question hanging in the silver mist between them; an inquiry into whether he was truly the one the stars had whispered about. Nandi Ji responded with a slight, respectful nod of their massive head.
Intrigued by the mortal standing on the threshold of the divine, the Goddess decided to speak, wishing to judge my nature for themselves. They spread their hands slightly, and as they did, the water of the lake seemed to rise and fall in rhythm with their breath.
"So, human child," They asked, "What do you think of the beautiful environment around you?"
Their voice was soothing, like the sound of a mountain stream over smooth pebbles, yet it carried a cold, crystalline distance. It was unlike anyone I had ever spoken to. It felt as though they were speaking to me simply because it was for humour, as it wasn't as if people, and more so mortals, come to Kailash, and also because of the courtesy extended to a guest.
I looked around, momentarily forgetting the intimidating and beautiful presence of the Goddess. The scale of the place was impossible. Five massive waterfalls poured endlessly into the lake from heights so great the tops were lost in the celestial clouds. It looked as if the heavens themselves were weeping joy into this basin.
Towering trees, ancient and wise, surrounded the area, dwarfing even Nandi Ji, who stood nearly eight feet tall. Lush foliage, vibrant with colours that don't exist in a prism, covered the land, and flowers lined the lake's edge, glowing with a soft, bioluminescent hum.
I wondered if this was the original 'Paradise' that every myth on Earth had tried, and failed, to describe.
I pulled myself out of the daze and answered with the only thing I had: honesty.
"Yes, Goddess. I truly appreciate the beauty of nature. It is soothing to the eyes, but more than that... it feels like it's soothing every corner and edge of my soul."
The Goddess Ganga smiled faintly, a ripple of light crossing their face.
"Indeed. Such beauty cannot be experienced in the mortal world, where the air is thick with the dust of ambition. I understand why you were mesmerised," They said,
then added with a playful, teasing glint in their eyes,
"But you should pay more attention to your immediate surroundings. There is, after all, a Goddess standing before you. Am I not beautiful and charming enough to draw your focus away from mere scenery?"
I was momentarily stunned. The shift from cold distance to playful wit caught me completely off guard. I felt my face heat up.
Shaking my head lightly to clear the fog of my own embarrassment, I looked at the shimmering, divine form of the River Mother.
"No, Ma'am," I replied, the words coming from a place of sudden clarity.
"But if you think about it, aren't you and this lake the same? By being awestruck by the scenery, I was simply being awestruck by another reflection of Your beauty."
At my response, both the Goddess and Nandi Ji went momentarily speechless. The silence of Kailash stretched, heavy and profound. Then, a sound like breaking ice and rushing water rang out.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The Goddess laughed openly, the sound echoing off the mountain peaks. They stepped out of the water, their feet touching the shore without leaving a single wet footprint. For the first time, they examined me seriously, their gaze moving over my ordinary T-shirt and cargo pants as if searching for the hidden gears of my spirit. Then, they placed a hand upon my head. The touch was cool, like a dip in a mountain spring on a midsummer day.
"You are interesting, child," They said, their voice now stripped of its distance.
"Not only are you the first human to visit the inner sanctum of Kailash in millennia, but your answer was something I did not account for. You gave quite an answer there. One can rarely find the right response to that situation and in the presence of the divine at that."
I felt a surge of flattery that I tried hard to suppress. Just then, a familiar, warm voice spoke from the shadows of the copper-leaved trees behind me.
"Sister, what did I say? Is he not a curious soul? That is why we decided to train him for his upcoming journey," another voice added, walking forward with a grace that made the flowers bow in their wake.
"What do you say, Ganga? Are you in?" Mata Parvati smiled and asked them.
"Yes,"
"You can count me in as well. Let us help this child in whatever way we can, for the road ahead of him is paved with the shadows of the beginning." Goddess Ganga said.
I turned and saw Goddess Parvati. Both Nandi Ji and I bowed deeply in synchronised respect. Mata Parvati nodded gently and walked toward their sister, Goddess Ganga.
Seeing that the Great Mothers had business to discuss, Nandi Ji placed a massive, reassuring hand on my shoulder and guided me away, back toward the forest path.
Third Person POV
"So, what do you think?" Goddess Parvati asked softly, their eyes watching the boy's retreat.
"Do you like his character enough to give him the gift we had considered granting through you?"
Goddess Ganga looked sideways, their gaze drifting toward the emerald curtain of the forest where the mortal had disappeared. After a moment of silence, they spoke, their voice as steady as a deep current.
"Hmm… I think it is acceptable if it is him. He carries a purity of observation that is rare in those born of the iron age. He will not misuse the gift, at least as long as he maintains the behaviour he has shown so far."
Goddess Parvati smiled faintly, a secret joy dancing in their eyes.
"Yes… I feel it as well. He carries a destiny capable of shifting the very workings of the world and opening a new path for the masses. And" Mata Parvati whispered to Themselves, a maternal warmth flooding.
Their heart, "I have a personal reason for which I want to train him wholeheartedly… It's really something else, isn't it? One writes the story, and another lives within it. An artist immersed in his own art."
"True," Ganga Ji replied, their form shimmering.
"But it is also a mystery of the world, that the perspective of a single believer can shape such wonders. At least the one who is writing his own destiny will show us something worth watching."
They both lifted their gaze toward the sky, piercing the mystical veil of the universe, seeing far beyond the snowy peaks of the present.
Rudra's POV
Nandi Ji and I moved past the lake and entered the forest beyond. If the lake was a place of light, this forest was a place of "life." It was so dense with vitality that I felt like I was breathing in liquid emeralds. Every leaf seemed to pulse with a heartbeat.
As we walked, my gaze was drawn toward a massive tree visible even from this distance. Its crown didn't just reach the sky; it was the sky. Its branches stretched out like the veins of the world, disappearing into the farthest reaches of the heavens.
In my mind, I wondered just how enormous it would appear up close. If it dominated the horizon from kilometres away, what would it be like to stand beneath its shadow?
At the edge of the deepest thicket, Nandi Ji suddenly tensed. I felt it too; a wave of aura, heavy and ancient, passing through the land like a physical weight. It felt like being submerged in warm honey. The presence was focused entirely on me.
A voice reached Nandi Ji's mind, and though Rudra couldn't hear the words, he could see the surprise flash across their noble features.
"Oh, great Nandi, devoted follower of the Great God. Come to my abode with the child in tow. I have a gift prepared for him."
Nandi Ji raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on their lips. They had expected the entity to merely observe, but an invitation was something else entirely. They turned to me, the golden bell on their ankle chiming with a sudden, excited clarity.
"Kid, let us go," they said, their voice booming in the quiet forest.
"There is someone, an existence who wishes to meet you and offer you a gift."
I agreed without hesitation, my curiosity burning through my fatigue. As we moved deeper, the air changed. It became thick with the scent of wet earth and ancient sap. The trees grew broader, their bark looking like iron armour. The canopy became so dense that the light of Kailash filtered through in sharp, golden needles. Something ancient, something that had watched the world be born, was waiting for me in the dark.