Chapter 101: Familiars
King and Queen! Visha could never have guessed their identities. She took a second glance at the sleeping bird who looked nothing like royalty right now.
Suddenly, a thought struck in her mind. Nati didn't say they're the King and Queen, she said they're 'like'.
"Wait, what do you mean 'like'?"
Nati smiled at this. She had to admit this new little 'Master' of hers was very observant of the minute details. With every passing moment, she was liking this little one more and more.
"There's no one who can rule the Spirit Forest" she said as a matter of fact, "because there was no one with such absolute power among the beasts. Since the swans have the highest status here as they're the familiars of a very powerful God, they have been treated like the King and Queen."
"God? What does that have to do with the status here?"
"Here every creature has a position due to the Gods they are with or their own power which mostly is the same, since powerful Gods chose powerful beasts."
"Oh" Visha let the information sync in, "So, who is the God behind the swans?"
"Goddess Bhairavi!"
Goddess Bhairavi?The two words rang like thunder in Visha's ears. The thoughts just came randomly popping in her mind and created a chaos.
The most fierce demon killer in the entire realm! The only Goddess who defeated armies of demons alone! The one who collected demon heads as souvenirs!
Visha didn't know what was more shocking, that being a follower of Goddess Bhairavi she met her familiars or the fact that a goddess that bloodthirsty and ferocious liked such soft creatures. Just then Mr Feathers seemed to have been disturbed as it turned over and slept again. Visha looked again at the beautiful bundle of warmth, this time in an entirely different light. There was a sudden sense of respect and more than that was the bubbling curiosity.
She wanted to know everything about the Goddess she had worshipped ever since she was a child. Her mother used to tell her stories about the Goddess who was the bravest among all Gods and a devout wife who loved her husband, Lord Shiva more than anything.
Once, she refused to disturb her husband from his meditation and decided to fight an entire troop of demons who had come to attack them. And there was also the story about her being alone in a battlefield with thousands of demons, that she came out of as the winner. She annihilated them all by herself. They were of no match to her power and strength. This happened because whenever she was aggravated she'd turn into the Goddess of Destruction and destroy everyone and everything that stood in her path. Once she was on her killing sprees, she was unstoppable. No one in the entire world had the power or the courage to stand in front of her, to calm her down and bring her back except the one she loved the most, her husband.
The story of a woman who brought all men, women and Gods to their knees with her strength, growing up in a world patronized by men, how could a little girl not admire that?
The admiration of a little girl soon turned into worship as she grew up and understood the concept of Gods, just like her mother.
Little Visha used to run around the house refusing to eat and her mother would threaten her saying she'd never be able to become powerful like Goddess Bhairavi if she didn't finish her veggies. Visha let out a small laugh as she reminisced about the things her mother had to do in order to take care of her. She was very stubborn and naughty as a kid. Her mother had to run behind her for every little thing, all Visha ever said was 'no' to everything, may it be her meals, or tying up her hair, or studying. Her mother used to lure her in with the stories of the bravest goddess. And she'd immediately settle down to listen while her mother tied up her hair, fed her, made her do her homework.
Visha looked down as she stroked Mr Feathers and went back towards the Priests. She saw that Danish too was back by now and was preparing a fire with Lakshya for the night. Lakshya though was unusually quiet as he assembled the firewood. He turned to look at Visha as he heard snapping twigs and a faint smile appeared on his face. But it disappeared as quickly as he saw the bird in her arms. He was still reluctant to admit the bird's identity explained by Priest Dravya. After the ordeal from before, he was told about the secret behind the priesthood's establishment and their inferiority to the beasts of this forest. But for a boy who grew up knowing he was part of the most prominent priesthood in the country, inferiority was an alien concept. It'd take him a long while to wrap his head around it. Visha understood that and decided to give him space.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone