𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 || ArDi ||

51. Zenith.

~BAD BLOOD~
Band-aids don't fix bullet holes. 
You say sorry just for show, you live like that, you live with ghosts.

If you love like that blood runs cold. 

Takshak stumbled back, his heart thundered in his chest as he witnessed an ansh of Lord Mahakal himself descending onto the Earth. 

I must win. I must survive. I must win. 

Was the mantra Takshak chanted as his hand desperately clinged onto the necklace in his neck. It was a weird one to see nevertheless.

A large emerald, claimed by the Romans to be a symbol of Goddess Venus, had been cleanly cut into a semi-circle, surrounded by a thin ring of lapis lazuli and malachite. The right end of the large gem, where the gold which embedded the lapis lazuli and malachite, had flared into a glorious wing of an eagle, decked with the wealth the Egyptians had in store for him. 

" Nagraj Vasuki!" Hissed Takshak at the snake with had seemed to find the love of his life in the man before him, "Do something! Call you army!"

"How can I?" He whispered a little low, his eyes fixed upon the silhouette of Arjun. His eyes sparkled with devotion, "How dare I commit the crime of weilding a weapon against the one who is an ansh of My Lord, of Devadhi Dev Mahadev!" Vasuki's voice trembled and his eyes glistened with moisture, his heart felt heavy as he dropped to his knees and abandoned his weapons- Surrendering to his lord with all that he had. 

Takshak gaped at Vasuki, he could feel the Naga radiating all the love that an adherent devote had reserved for Mahadev. Having no other option, Takshak opened his arms towards the sky, the door of heaven as he bellowed, "O' Sakra! The Lord of Amravati, The Ruler of Swarga, Devraj Indra!" He summoned his only source of light, " I, Takshak, request your presence in this battle field!" 

Then, with great blinding light, the blood stained floor was graced by the feel of Airavat, the four-tusked abra-matanga, on which was seated the King of Gods, Devraj Indra. "Takshak."

"My Lord!" Cried the Naga as he fell before the Airavat, "Your son attempts to commit the grave sin of breaking his vow, My Lord, I beseech you to save me from the mahāpāpī." 

Devraj's eyes did not show an ounce of the anger which bubbled underneath his skin, "Takshak, your fate has caught you upon its hip, and none but Niyati can alter it. I cannot deny the course of it, and that Yagyaseni's death must be avenged." Takshak face turned a shade that was deathly pale as Devraj continued, "However, O'Naga, I give you a second chance." 

Takshak's eyes lit up. 

Devraj silently looked at Arjun who had not uttered a word. He knew what was coming.  

"Takshak, combine your form with your sister's, and defeat my son in the Indra's net!" The thunderous voice of the King of Thunder was met with the sharp strike of lightning which marked the boundaries of the field; the thunder, the voice of an angry god, filled the saturated air with its loud rumble and the Earth quaked beneath their feet. 

Takshak's eyes widened. 

In simple words, the Atharva Veda adopted Indra's Net as a metaphor for the manner in which each thing that exists is dependent for both its existence and its identity upon every other thing that exists.

And to end the enmity, one of the foes must die. 

"My Lord--"

His feeble attempt to protest was cut off by Indra.