After that, we hurried, taking some more meat with us and walking carefully through the dark forest. I could only hear the roars of monsters and other creatures. After walking for a while, I somehow managed to reach the cave safely, avoiding any visible threats along the way.
After searching around the cave, I lay down on the ground. Sleeping in the Forest of Absolute was nothing like normal sleep , it was more of a tactical surrender to exhaustion and the ever-present danger of monsters.
I positioned myself deep inside the cave, my back against the most solid wall, my blade within immediate reach. The rock formation created a natural defense limited entry points, multiple sight lines. Jaipa remained vigilant, guarding the entrance, scanning the surroundings in the pitch-black darkness. I still didn't know if he could actually see in the dark or not
"I'll watch. You can rest," Jaipa muttered. "Not that you'd notice if something tried to eat you."
My response was a low, controlled breath. Sleep wasn't about comfort not in a place like this, Here, it was all about survival.
The forest outside never truly went silent. Creatures skittered. Roots whispered. Something that might have been wind or something else entirely brushed against the cave's moss-covered entrance.
When I was about to fall asleep then I suddenly heard a voice. I snapped out of whatever shallow rest I had managed
It was Jaipa's voice.
Not his usual playful tone... but a different one. A serious tone. The only other time I had heard this voice was when he spoke about himself.
"Do you know the myths about Orizari?"
I looked at him. I couldn't see his face in the darkness, but I could tell just from his voice that it was serious.
At first, I nodded... then replied, "No, I don't."
Then he continued, his voice distant, yet I could hear it clearly.
"In the myths, there was once a human among the gods. His name was Orizari a name bestowed upon him by the gods themselves as a gift for single-handedly slaying entire kind of evil god's .
But after that… what the myths tell is a completely different story."
I remained silent, staring into the darkness as he continued.
"Afterward, Orizari tried to leave the realm of the gods, saying he wished to return to his family. Some gods denied his request, while others supported it. But the majority ruled against him, and so the gods decided not to let him leave
Even then, refusing gods will he tried to escape
To deny the will of the gods, to attempt to live among humans with power far greater than theirs... The Goddess of War associated with fate and prophecy cursed him, binding him to fate itself. His destiny was sealed if he tried to live among humans, he would be forced to destroy them."
Jaipa's voice held an odd weight as he asked, "What do you think, Rudra? Which side was right, and which was wrong?"
I stared into the darkness and replied,
"Aren't you asking a difficult question to a nine-year-old kid who doesn't even understand emotions?"
Laughter ringed in the cave.
"Now do you think you're just a nine-year old haa ?"
A silence stretched between us before I answered.
"If I were in his place, I would still resist , I couldn't stand being enslaved, no matter what. Even if I had to burn the world... even if I had to slaughter my way through life... I would still try to break the chains that bind me."
"That's what he did," Jaipa said. "But not in the way you think, you stupid brat."
He went on.
"He left the realm of the gods, believing the goddess had cursed him believing that he had lost all his strength.
And when he finally returned to the human realm, the first thing he saw…was his family.
Becoming pile of corpses in front of his eyes"
I remained silent jaipa continued
"In his rage, he attacked the gods themselves."
"...And?" My voice slipped out, barely above a whisper.
"That's it ! " Jaipa said
"What?"
"There's no conclusion. No story about his death. No tale of his revenge."
"The myth just... ends here?"
"People say he fought back."
"So did he win?" I asked
Jaipa's tone was unreadable. "If people choose to believe Orizari shattered the gods' will, even though the story never confirms it... it speaks to humanity's need for hope in the face of oppression, The ambiguity forces us to ask
Is victory defined by the outcome, or by the act of resistance itself?
Can a myth inspire change even if its hero ultimately fails?"
I asked, my voice flat and low, "How was that a failure?"
Jaipa remained silent for a while before speaking.
"Don't you think you need to understand humans better? No… what you need is emotions to understand it . Only then can you understand how orizari had felt when he had lose someone precious to him
What was his motive? All he wanted was to be with his family.
Even if ? he can live among humans now…if he can never be with those he fought for….
Even if he came vectors
Do you call that victory?
Do you call that freedom?"
I remained silent. I couldn't force my thoughts onto someone else
"...Why now?" I finally asked. "Why tell me this now?"
"I was just helping you fall asleep with my boring stories," he said, his tone shifting again.
But my thoughts remained on the story of Orizari, revolving endlessly around it
Orizari became a symbol not of triumph, but of the audacity to question. His unresolved fate mirrored humanity's their struggles humans may never know if our defiance matters, but the act of resistance itself is necessary even when one knows there are nothing but a shell
Slowly, my thoughts faded
My last conscious thought before surrendering to sleep was simple
"I can't die..... not yet not like this...