The Wanderings of Rahul - 2. The Rejoice

Upon the golden gleam of the setting sun, Rahul saw with his acute vision his village far beyond the barren lands. The  Village of Azroul. The only village, the only abode still lively and uncorrupted. He still being on the foggy hills , realizes the fine line between the dense forest he fell asleep and the barren lands in front of him. The setting sun made him remember his past, how he and his brother ended as rats in a science experiment and how the nuclear war plagued his entire world. A moment of pity he had for himself.

The sun was almost down. Rahul decided that it’s time to leave. He wandered around the edge trying to find a way down the hill, but only at the last sight of the crimson sun he realized that it was a cliff he was standing upon. “Ah,…” as he grinned a smile.

In the dark, he took his staff and held it high, unknown tongue he whispered. The staff with an amethyst crystal at the top with utmost purity, emitted violet radiant orbs. Like lost souls, the orbs floated away in a chaotic uneven manner. With enough orbs radiated, the wizard tapped the ground once with the staff. A flushing, shrieking sound was heard, when all the orbs started swirling in circle breaking the very aspect of the planar nature of the materialistic plane. Tearing away the dimensional space, opening a portal to the village of Azroul with the slight cost of his life force. But what he gave, HE WILL TAKE.

The Village of Azroul

A beautiful, lush green forest clothed over the ruins of Azroul. With fresh breeze from the seashore and an endless supply of radioactive sea food, Azroul was quite phenomenal. A village abandoned centuries before.  Well, the Nuclear winter was a big threat then. Nuclear winter, nuclear war, nuclear plague, they called it many names. Like one catastrophe after another, humans could do nothing but suffer. They lived as tribes to survive, foraging for anything and everything to help them live another day. There weren’t any modern delicacy. Earth was devoid of the human creations, the plague set upon the earth was destroyed. Countries were crushed to villages here and there as the land allowed. Earth was getting into balance again, just when the nuclear power was re-emphasized. There was nothing much left to do. Humans and animals had to starve to death or adapt to survive. Living, surviving was the only option people had. It was all that mattered then, to live.

The Night of Rejoice

Rahul made his way to Azroul from the cliff. But, by mistake he made the portal a bit smaller than him. “Great, now I have to push myself through somehow” as Rahul squeezed himself in, to get out to the other side. “Phew”. It has been years since Rahul was back here, and no one knows what vicious things may have happened on these lands. As his patched boots kissed the damped ground, two predators moved swiftly on to his front. An hydra, Ular and a white barn owl, Veirun. The pets face hugged him with euphoria, “Good to be back”. “Ular”. “Veirun”  “Hmm (with joy in his face), can u two fetch me some firewood please”. It was true, that Rahul’s telepathy was awed upon, to command even the predators. Rahul went on to gather some forest berries, just some radiation affected forest berries alongside the edge of the barren lands. The myth goes as on the center of these barren lands actually had a Headquarters of the CPC, which supposedly contained a mini re-emphasized nuclear plant. Due to its destruction only, that the grassy plains got devastated into the barren lands now. Maybe that is why, Rahul preferred to eat the affected berries, leaving the good ones on the seashore side for the unaffected humans. It is that he could actually feel the radiation, as he too had his fair share with the nuclear energy. Rahul was so immersed in his thoughts, as he was foraging for wild berries. It was a nasty thing. Not only are the wild animals that got mutated, but even the surviving forests too had to suffer the same fate. By the time Rahul got back, it got completely dark. When the pets arrived with firewood they gathered, the campfire was set. Fire wasn’t a problem with our wizard.

The night went on as these three almost sleepy heads gazed upon the infinite stars. There were too many stars. Maybe, mother earth claimed her first child, the wind back. The air was unpolluted with any solid particles. It was like the sky was too bright, but the lands still dark. The three kept talking all night, got the rest they needed. Love. As Rahul spoke, the other two growled and hooted in return, the gauntly night with the howling winds went on.

“Return soon, brother. There’s a lot to be done”, he whispered.

Sunil Kumar, 26, Male, Writes Cosmic Horror, Magical Realism, Sci-fi, fiction and Non-fiction. Lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.