“How are you so sure, sire?” asked Idaa

  “Because I know far more than you can ever imagine,” The lord shouted at him.

  “Forgive me, sire, I shouldn’t have interrupted.”

  “You did anyway…” said the lord, "the thing is I’m quite familiar with his thirst for vengeance, and I also know that he has a grudge against me, so he would have escaped hell to get his revenge on me, and for doing that he will need a body.”

  “If this is the reason he has escaped hell for…” said Idaa, “then he would have taken the body of a grown man because to be reborn, he has to take the body of a baby, which will take several years to grow.”

  “Hmm… gather up your best soldiers and search for the person whom Ivaan could have possessed to gain vengeance upon me, although I doubt it, but still.”

  Idaa bowed to him and walked off.

  Ivaan, wherever you are, I’m gonna find you, and I’m going to torture you worse than hell does for the betrayal which could have destroyed me.

  “You’re still sleeping”, said the man to his wife lying on the bed with his child, “I told you that we will be leaving in the morning, let’s go, wake up.”

  The wife got up and started tying their clothes and food in a cloth, she took the baby and stood beside the door waiting for her husband to come back. Her husband came back sneaking and entered the house.

  “Everyone in the village is sleeping”, said the man, “this is the best time to sneak out without anyone knowing.”

  Both of them came out of the house and started moving out of the village. The whole place was covered with fog. After a few steps, a man appeared from the fog. He stood in front of them, wearing a cloak and hood covering his face.

  “Why are you obstructing our path?” said the man to him, “Move, let us go.”

  “Do you think that I will let my only friend go away that easily?” said the man standing in front of them while removing his hood.

  “Earon… please let me go”, said the man to his friend, “the whole village thinks that my son is cursed by the demon, they will try to kill him. I have to go… to save my son.”

  “What about me, Haan?” said the man, “You know I’m an orphan, and you are the only family I have.”

  “I know”, said Haan, “that is why we will keep visiting you here, you see, we will always be with you.”

  “We both know what you mean. Once you go out of this village, you’ll never come back,” said Earon

  “If you know so much, friend,” said Haan, “what do you think will happen to my son if he stays here? He’ll be butchered by the people of the village; all of them have started to look at my family with disdain. You still want us to stay here?”

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  “What do you consider more important?” asked Earon, “your friends or the opinions of the village people?”

  “Of course, you”, said the man with a smile.

  “Then please stay, I beg you,” said the friend by grabbing his shoulder.

  “What of my son’s safety?” said Vaanya, “what will happen to my son doesn’t matter to you.”

  “My friend is my family, so are you and your son”, said Earon, “I promise you that I will protect your son as my own, I’ll always be with him like a shadow, guiding and protecting him.”

  Haan looked at his wife,

  “But what about the villagers?” asked Vaanya, “They will keep bothering us because of our son.”

  “If you agree”, said Earon, “then I would suggest that you should shift your house just at the corner of the village, near mine. It will help me to keep an eye on your house. If I found or sensed any danger, I’ll be there to protect you.”

  A guard was dumping bodies in the ground while the lord of Krimisha was enjoying the sight.

  “I hope your arrival brings good news”, said the lord, “as I am afraid that the count of my trusted followers has become very short and I don’t want to make it shorter anymore”

  “Sorry to disappoint, sire…,” said Idaa

  The lord turned back in frustration, “Do you think I was joking?”

  “No, sire, you were not”, said the follower, “my life is already yours, sire, if you want to kill me…”

  “Oh, please”, said the lord, “if that had been my intention, then you wouldn’t have been speaking anymore, and the thing about your life is that it is worthless to me. I want Ivaan!!!”

  “One thing has become sure, sire, that Ivaan does not possess any other grown body; he has taken rebirth because of which we are not able to find him,” said Idaa, the guard came to the lord.

  “You’re lying… just to save yourself,” said the lord while signaling the guard to leave, “how did you come up with this?”

  “We sent one of the souls who works under you to hell to find out what’s happening there as per your command.” Said Idaa, “And we have found that Ivaan has taken rebirth because of which lord Yama has ordered everyone to keep their hands away from him until he dies in this life.”

  “If this is true…” said the lord with a pause, “then they all will come after me”

  “Yes, sire…but you are safe,” said Idaa, “you yourself said that no yamaduta can enter this place where we are residing.”

  “Yes, I did”, he said, “but my plan was something else…anyway, I’ll soon make them run away, and they will not dare to try to capture me again.”

  “Indeed, sire”, said the follower, “What do we have to do about Ivaan, as for now he will be a baby, and I’ve also heard that after rebirth, the soul doesn’t remember what happened in past life, so should we leave Ivaan as it is?”

  “It’s true that after rebirth the soul doesn’t remember anything and he is no longer a threat to us…” said the lord, “but still we can’t take any chances, there have been many instances where a soul remembers small fragments of memories about what happened before birth. We cannot take any risk now.”

  “But, sire, what can a baby do to us?” said Idaa with a smirk

  “What did I say… we cannot take any chances”, he said, “right now the threat is small, so it is easier for us to eliminate it. Take your men and search the whole earth and try to find which of the newborn is Ivaan.”

  Earon was sharpening his sword when he heard a knock on his door in the middle of the night. Fire was burning in the chimney beside him; it was winter. Earon held the sword in his hand firmly and moved towards the door. As he opened the door, he found Yaan’s mother standing at the doorstep.

  “Vaanya? You’re here, in the middle of the night”, he said, “Is everything alright?”

  “No, it’s not”, she said with teary eyes.

  “First, come inside”, he said and made her sit inside; he gave her a cup of warm water.

  “Now tell, what happened?” asked Earon

  “Yaan”, she said

  “What about Yaan?”

  “he’s not been back home for hours”, she said

  “And you got panicked?” he said, “he’ll come back soon, I’ve told you before that now he’s older, so you don’t need to worry about him much, he can protect himself.”

  “He did say to me that he would return home in an hour, but he didn’t”, she said, “I’m feeling that something is wrong, please find Yaan and bring him back to me.”

  “I know where he might be right now”, said Earon, “don’t worry, I’ll bring him back” he put on his coat, put the sword in the sheath, tied it around his waist, and went outside.