The plains below had given way to hills. The two continued to travel deeper into the Himalayas while an endless forest carpeted the hills beneath them.

Indra continued, ‘. . . but over a decade ago, the plains reached a tipping point. The idea of us, of religion, started to enable more killing than salvation. Civil laws were no longer free from religious bias. And this faith was always meant to be accommodating of other beliefs, but that too stopped. So, as king of the gods, father of the mortals, I had to act. Get closer to our cornerstone objective and rid the world of evil. I did what had to be done. Passed a judgement to work on erasing the idea of god, of religion, from the plains, so all killing stops in our name. For those reasons, Aman, for the sake of humanity, the gods have to be forgotten. All religions need to be dissolved. We are trying to change the plains, transition to a world in which we do not exist. A new Yuga built on the concept of no divine power but collective consciousness powering and dictating society. However, there are many forces set on stopping us. Whether for the greater good or not, there are those who want to instead strengthen religion. And they know what it will take to stop us from wiping out the idea of god, of ourselves. They know that as long as the sole lying relic of Hinduism lives on, the gods can never truly fade away. So they protect it at all costs.’

Tall mountains had replaced the hills as they continued their flight. Over a pointy peak, and through thinning clouds, Aman caught sight of a towering tree vast in size and width, a thousand stars glittering in its branches.

Indra pointed to it. ‘There it is, the last remaining shard of divinity on earth. That which was once uprooted from Mount Meru. The Kalpavriksha.’

Aman had always known the tree was special, but never had he imagined that it was the last existing relic of a faith. But to be fair, he had never believed in god either, and here he was, surfing the length and breadth of his country with one.

‘That’s why, child, the Eka must not succeed. Without fresh Madhu, the Kalpavriksha will fade away, allowing the gods to dissipate from the memories of the mortals. What you do now will create ripples, irrespective of your decision.’

‘But why me? Why now after all these years of the Mahayatra?’ Aman asked.

‘Because of late, the protectors of the tree have been gathering strength. They’ve formed an alliance with outsiders who are coming into the valley to champion its magic.’

Aman knew it was the Preservers that the deity talked of. ‘Father was one of them—’

Indra was no longer there. Instead, a cloud floated away into the distance.

‘Are you with me, Aman?’ It was Fayza. He was back near the boulder, not too far from the rest of the Souls.