‘The Eka and I have discussed matters, and for once it seems Vanyasa has chosen to act rationally,’ Chayan spoke. ‘The valley dwellers, whatever is left of them, will be spared and given a kamandalu of Madhu. In exchange, they will abandon all attempts to gather more and instantly leave these lands.’

It was a difficult choice. The Souls could never have won against Chayan. But not continuing with the Mahayatra and returning with only a small kamandalu of Madhu was equally unthinkable. They would be punished and denied a place with the immortals of the valley.

At that moment, Ujal had only one purpose: killing Chayan. He considered shooting an arrow towards him, but just before he could put this plan into action, he saw Chayan display an emotion he did not think possible: fear. He was looking out towards the west, from where a large queen wasp—almost as big as a sparrow—had burst in.

The queen wasp was yellow and had a pointy red sting. It darted across and landed on one of the kirtimukhas, who recoiled, trying to swat it away.

Instantly, a large colony of wasps followed their queen and landed on the kirtimukha. After tolerating a quick burst of stings, like a high-voltage shock, the kirtimukha fainted and fell on the ground.

All the remaining kirtimukhas and Souls ran to take cover. But the wasp queen stayed away from the Souls. ‘It’s Aman, isn’t it, as the queen?’ Jagrav asked Fayza.

It happened all too fast—the queen jumped, with the swarm following, from one kirtimukha to another, until they started to fall like flies. Ujal spotted Chayan, now one of the few standing in his army, making a run for it before the wasps reached him. Ujal’s sore eyes followed the fleeing leader of the kirtimukhas. That was when he realized he would rather die than let Chayan get away. The image of his sister’s lifeless body was forever burnt into his brain. She had been his responsibility.

‘UJAALLL!’ Idhika shouted as Ujal ran after Chayan into the dark. She didn’t want him to go. But the chaos and confusion around her meant she couldn’t lose her focus. Eventually, when all the kirtimukhas lay fallen, the colony of wasps left the trench. The Souls examined each of the unconscious kirtimukhas, and despite the fact that killing them would make the rest of the Mahayatra easier, they could never harm them after what Vanyasa had already done to their kind. Perhaps these are the last of the kirtimukhas alive, Idhika thought. She knew they had maybe a couple of hours until the kirtimukhas regained consciousness. That was how long they had to get as far away as possible.

Savitri shrieked when the wound on her leg was cleansed. Others’ injuries were tended to as well. The Souls gathered the little water and fruits that remained. Aman returned with his head held high by the time the remaining firewood was put together to cremate Yuvan, Prithvi and Dhara.