The King of Beasts 

As the palace celebrated Shakuni's death with ringing crystal bells and victorious cries Vritra slithered back to his home at the bottom of the world. He wasn't fond of excess and parties. He preferred solitude. It was better for thinking. The gold and jewels of Narasimha's city were too much for him. 

 

 

Narasimha, on the other hand, celebrated with the rest of his beasts. He roared loudly and thumped his chest with his great arms. Shakuni was left for dead and his great city, his beasts, and the knowledge of the world was safe once again. He felt confident of Shakuni's death so the King of Beasts let his guard down and celebrated with his subjects. 

 

 

On her way to the great celebration at Narasimha's glimmering palace, Garuda, the heavenly eagle, soared through the sky taking in the sights of Narasimha's jungle. A rustling in the trees caught her eye and she honed in on the point of origin. She hadn't eaten since she set out for the party and it couldn't hurt to catch a quick snack on the way. She folded her wings tight against her sides, angled her beak toward the rustling, and dove. Descending at great speed she rolled to the left to find the thinnest spot in the canopy of trees so that she could break through with ease. She broke through the canopy, snapping branches with her bulk and showering leaves onto the jungle floor. 

 

 

A cry of surprise came from below and Garuda slowed her descent. She flapped her great wings slightly and landed softly on a branch. The rustling she had heard was not from a deer as she had hoped, but from men. A legion of men had been marching through the jungle following a commander on horseback who dragged another man on a pallet of sticks behind him. The man on the pallet looked small and frail and she could smell strong herbs wafting from his chest. She also smelled blood, yet his heart still beat.

 

 

The caravan started moving once again after they determined that the noise had come from some jungle creature and was not a threat. They had not seen Garuda land. The legion was only a few yards from the palace walls behind which the beasts reveled in their victory. Garuda must warn the beasts and their king.

 

 

She leapt from the branch on which she perched and flapped her great wings gaining altitude and speed. She was careful to stay low enough to miss branches but also high enough to be out of sight. She glided over the legion of men and their greedy leader who stank of blood. The man on the stretcher could only be the man Vritra had slain, returned from the dead or who had not truly died.

Garuda soared over the palace walls and landed with a thud in the middle of the celebration. Shouts of victory turned to shouts of surprise. Even Narasimha roared. 

 

 

"Narasimha! Narasimha!" she shouted to get the attention of the king. "Shakuni is not dead. His men will be here in minutes. We must prepare."

Narasimha blinked confusedly, his mind clouded from the revelry. Garuda shouted her warning again but explosions and shouts from the palace walls interrupted her speech. 

 

 

Shakuni's men were bombarding the gates with exploding powder. Narasimha snapped out of his confusion and started bellowing commands. 

"Garuda, fetch Vritra. We will need his help. Go, fly swiftly!" he ordered.

 

 

Garuda did not hesitate and leapt into the sky, her great wings flapping in the wind. 

 

 

In the place at the bottom of the world where he slumbered, Vritra stirred and awakened to Garuda's calls. 

 

 

"The palace is under siege again. Shakuni still lives. Vritra, we need your help!" she cried.

 

 

Vritra uncoiled his great body and snapped his enormous jaws. He could still taste Shakuni's blood on his fangs. His forked tongue darted out of his mouth in anger as he slithered out of his home. Vritra would face Shakuni yet again and this time he would not leave until he was sure that the fiend was dead. With Garuda and Narasimha by his side, Vritra would bring peace to the jungle and preserve the knowledge of the world. This he pledged to himself. 

 

 

From the depths at the bottom of the world, a hero arose... 

 

Author's Note: I wanted to use at least one more cool creature from Hindu mythology in my last project story. The Garuda is a super cool heavenly bird associated with Vishnu. Garuda is a legendary bird usually represented as an eagle and often referred to as the king of birds and a fierce opponent to serpents. You may recognize Garuda form the battle of Lanka in the Ramayana. Garuda aids Rama in his fight against the demon-king Ravana. I wanted to twist my Garuda into a new character that, instead of being the enemy of snakes, fought alongside a serpentine creature.  The Garuda is usually represented as an anthropomorphized eagle with both bird and human-like characteristics. More about the Garuda here: Garuda Wiki. Since most of my story focused on Narasimha and Vritra I wanted to bring in another equally powerful animal-like creature for the end (or just the beginning...) of my story.  I also thought it would be pretty cool to include Garuda because I already had a mammalian creature in a position of power and a reptilian protagonist, so why not add a strong, female creature from the avian family. In my story, I gender-flipped Garuda and made her female. I wanted a strong female character to fight alongside the two males Narasimha and Vritra.  I also wanted to end my story on a cliffhanger because I think "happy endings" that wrap up all the loose ends are boring. The first time Vritra fought Shakuni, he lived. Will Vritra be successful in his second attempt?  

 

I may very well keep this website up and running and add more stories. I like the world and character's I've created and I might want to play with them some more. I said that last semester about my other project site for Myth & Folklore and although I haven't added any new stories to the sight I have been adding to the mythology of that world and making detailed character profiles so that I can adapt the project into a novel. So who knows what potential this storybook holds...