BOOM! A thunderous sound reverberated around them, instantly followed by a strong gush of wind that rattled the hut.

Rishi Ajan and Avi rushed in.

‘What was that?’ Jagrav asked.

‘Something divine,’ Rishi Ajan was quick to point out. And then he lowered his volume significantly. ‘The sound emerged from the south . . . Vanyasa,’ Rishi Ajan said.

Before long, Avi, Ajan and the five remaining Souls were on their way to the valley. Their pace was quick, and Ajan led the way despite his reservations about returning to the land from where he was banished. He hoped that accompanying victorious Souls coming back from the Mahayatra would grant him a warm welcome.

As they walked, the trunks of the trees around them grew thicker. Aarti mentally rehearsed her plan to iron out the specifics. Idhika looked forward to correcting the wrongs that had plagued her home. When Avi tied his long hair into a ponytail behind him, revealing previously hidden parts of his face, Rishi Ajan tried to lighten his spirits. ‘You haven’t aged a day, my friend, since you went into Atmayog thirteen years ago.’

‘You look just like Aman,’ Jagrav said, oblivious to the painful reminder he’d sent Avi’s way. ‘Only a couple of years older.’

‘Sanaka did this, didn’t he?’ Avi said to Rishi Ajan in a fit of rage. ‘Aman was brought to Vanyasa to draw me out of hiding.’

‘I’ve been thinking, Avi . . . One cannot just recruit a boy to bring to Vanyasa,’ Rishi Ajan said. ‘Is it possible you became an inadvertent Tapasvi? You did spend long hours every night under the Kalpavriksha. Sanaka must have realized this—and that your child would automatically make a Soul of Samsara.’

‘Aman mentioned that Sanaka had visited him and his mother, and only after that did she let go of her son,’ Idhika said. ‘But how could you be a Tapasvi, Avi? Only residents of Vanyasa can be.’

‘Avi has spent a great deal of time under the Kalpavriksha,’ Rishi Ajan said. ‘It was Sanaka himself who allowed Avi and his men to practise Atmayog under the divine tree at night. You see . . . thirteen years ago, a few years after I’d returned from the Mahayatra as a Soul of Samsara without Shakuntala, I started having my suspicions about Sanaka, and in desperate search for Madhu, I ventured into Aranyala at night. I found an intruder; Avi was alone foraging for fruits to take back to his hiding place up in Sarp-poonch. With the help of a fallen log’—Avi rolled his eyes—‘I knocked him unconscious. I tied him up and brought him to my hut.’

Ajan took a sip of neer from his kamandalu. Miles ahead, the dark green ring of the mountains of Vanyasa could now be seen, and with thick clouds surrounding the peaks, the Seven Hills looked like an enormous palace in the heavens. Ajan continued speaking as the group veered east and headed towards the gate above Mount Kalanag. ‘Avi stayed tied for days and I wanted to confide in the Sabha and Samiti, but couldn’t trust anyone. So I questioned him relentlessly. When I learnt of his identity as a Preserver, and that Sanaka had granted him and a few others entry into the valley, I went to the plains as a sparrow in search of their headquarters, as Avi had described it. After a week of searching, I finally found it. And then every day I went to New Delhi. It was during one of those visits that I heard a conversation between Avi’s superiors. “Avi is no longer of any use to us. After leading the men into the valley, he had successfully negotiated terms with their leader for time under their tree. But for some reason, he has gone missing recently.” To which his manager replied, “Get the others to find him, and kill him. He knows too much about the larger plan. And once we have confirmation on that, kill his wife and son, so no questions are raised.”’