Dawn broke in a fiery red spectacle, lighting the scattered clouds like burning vimana, the flying craft of Kumari Kandam’s ancient mythology. Arul gazed east and imagined those legendary ships landing in clouds of fire and smoke.
That must have been something to see. If it were true.
The trio made a quick snack of leftover mangoes, leaving an untidy pile of yellow skins on the damp ground. Bright green parrots eyed the discarded skins hungrily, waiting for the teens to leave.
The friends neared the northern edge of the plantation by midday, when the white disc of the sun hung overhead. It was surprisingly warm for autumn. The plantation was overgrown with creepers winding around the trees, strangling them in slow motion. Ranks of tall grass sprouted between the trees like an invading army, purple heads nodding as one.
One day it will return to wilderness, Arul thought. Maybe in the end, nature will reclaim everything. Every trace of human life.
A faint shiver passed through his body. ‘I think it’s safe to follow the road now,’ he said.
‘If you think its ok, its fine by us,’ Keeran said.
Arul nodded. They trust me more out here than they did back in the village.
They re-joined the path which by now had become a stone road, although it was caked with mud and rarely used. There was a collapsed stone arch which once marked the northern edge of the plantation. The ruins gazed out over an expanse of green rolling hills, climbing towards the Ancient Forest in a series of gentle ridges.
Arul couldn’t read the finely chiselled script on the broken archway, but he figured that this had been an important road a long time ago. Apart from a few hunters and forest rangers, no one used the road now. He gazed over the familiar hills, his heart surging with energy.
Jaya thought differently. Warily sniffing at the hills, he seemed reluctant to continue. Arul scratched Jaya’s ears. ‘C’mon boy! A mountain wolf can’t be scared of a few hills.’
They walked the twisting road as it climbed ever higher. ‘This is incredible!’ Navira said, pointing to the hills on either side. The most vibrant mass of alpine wildflowers they had ever seen covered the slopes. Arul smiled at her then turned his face into the chill wind blowing steadily from the mountains.
‘I can breathe again!’ Shouted Keeran, opening his arms wide and twirling around. ‘The plantation was so stifling with all of that stinking fruit.’ Navira gazed at the great clusters of purple and yellow flowers surrounded them, her face full of joy.
Even in Arul’s dreams, he had never imagined a place like this. He sniffed at the faint perfume which the breeze carried in great eddies over the hills and into the dazzling blue sky. Arul knelt and touched the paving.
I’ve always felt that this place has a sad feel to it.
He waved to Keeran and Navira to follow him. ‘If we keep to this road we’ll find the entrance to the Ancient Forest.
The road cut through the green land like a brown scar, bits of stonework visible under centuries of dirt. Grass rippled like waves on an endless green sea on all sides, the wind cold and untainted. The sun was still high when they climbed a rise and saw the Ancient Forest, a canopy of emerald bordered by mountains. Ahead, the road plunged into the dark mass of giant trees and was lost to sight. Arul stared into the gloom, a cold sweat glistening on his face as dark memories of the lion attack surfaced.
At the point where the road entered the forest, a tumbledown stone arch stood guard. Navira leant close and squinted at faint words set into the weathered stone. Green moss covered everything, including stone creatures of myth so finely chiselled, it was as though they were alive.
‘What does it say?’ Navira asked Arul, running her fingers down a carved snake wrapped around one of the pillars.
‘I asked Appa the same thing. He didn’t know.’
‘Maybe Guru Pari does,’ Keeran suggested. He uneasily eyed a fierce tiger carving on a half-buried stone. Arul touched the feathery moss gently.
I should carve new words on it. This is where the sabre-tooth lion almost killed Arul, son of Ori.
Arul’s face darkened as they walked the long curving path up to the line of trees, Navira fixing his eyes with a concerned expression.
Jaya stood ahead and examined Arul with his bright eyes. Are you ready for this? You will not be the same when you leave this forest.
Arul blinked. He knew something had brushed his consciousness, but wasn’t sure what. It felt like Jaya.
‘So, this is it! The highland forest!’ Navira declared loudly. ‘I’ve never been this far from home.’ Her voice seemed to shrink a little.
‘Yeah...neither have I,’ said Keeran hesitantly. ‘And I don’t think I want to.’
‘Are you sure we’ll be safe in there? I mean…with the lions and all?’ Navira said as her gaze slid to the trees.
Dark moss covered the road, and huge tree roots had broken the pavement like smashed pottery. Scattered beams of sunlight pierced the thick canopy and struggled to illuminate the ground.
‘It’s easy,’ Arul reassured them. ‘I’ve been in here lots of times and had no problems. Well…until the last time…’ His voice trailed off.
Navira and Keeran stood where the road plunged into the leafy gloom. Arul glanced at them.
It’s as if they’re afraid that they’ll wake the forest.
Arul whispered to Jaya and pointed into the trees. The wolf knew what to do and sped off into the forest like a ghost, dappled shadows flashing over his ebony fur.
The teens sat by the path and waited for Jaya to return. A damp earthy scent drifted on the air, mingling with the smell of living things. The forest echoed with sound. Keeran stared into the forest, as though looking harder might reveal something more of the strange place.
It was well past lunch, so they snacked on pieces of jackfruit from the plantation. The yellow fruit had a peculiar flavour-a sweet mix of banana and mango. It helped fill their growling bellies, at least for the time being.
A small shrine dedicated to Ganesha the elephant god stood to one side of the entrance. Arul gaze settled on its blackened stone, weathered to near shapelessness over the centuries. Ganesha was stained with traces of faded yellow paste, daubed by travellers long ago. Arul glanced sideways at Navira as she looked curiously at the elephant.
‘I wonder how long this Ganesha has been standing here?’ Navira said. The boys shook their heads. As they stood before it and said their silent prayers, Arul felt that they were going to need Ganesha’s help in the forest. Ganesha was after all, the remover of obstacles.
‘After Jaya returns from scouting, we’ll follow the road for about two days to reach the end of the valley. Then we’ll come out into the Brown Hills. Another day or two from there and we should reach the high mountain passes. We’ll find some kind of answers, I hope,’ Arul said.
He rummaged around his bag and pulled out a small piece of folded tan leather. Spreading it on the grass, he called the others to look at it. It was a crude map of the highlands, drawn in black ink.
‘Where did you get this from?’ Keeran asked in amazement.
‘I…the thing is…’ Arul mumbled, ‘I stole it from Appa.’
Keeran gave a soft whistle.
‘So I know where I’m going!’ Arul proudly said, jabbing his finger on the map.
‘But Arul, you haven’t actually been past the forest. You said so yourself,’ Navira said.
‘I know what I said!’ Arul shot back. ‘And you don’t have to come with me, you know!’ Immediately, he regretted what he had said. Navira had volunteered to accompany him despite the danger. Stomping off, he searched for branches suitable for spears, whittling them with his aruval, smoothing the sides and sharpening the ends. Soon he had a pair of crude but effective weapons.
‘Here!’ He gave Navira and Keeran a spear each. ‘Practise with these while we wait for Jaya. They could be quite useful in there.’ It was his way of apologising for his outburst.
Navira felt her spear’s weight and tested it out. Keeran simply stared, his face drawn. Scared. Arul took both his friends off the road and instructed them on how to use spears. To stand with a good wide stance, one foot forward of the other.
‘So…will these spears actually kill animals?’ Keeran said. Arul’s look confirmed Keeran’s fear. ‘But I can’t kill living creatures! It’s not proper for a Pirāmanar!’ Keeran protested.
Navira leaned on her spear and eyed her cousin with narrowed eyes. ‘And what will you do with your religious vows when a leopard comes for you? Pray?’
‘Keeran, you’re not in Sailem anymore. You’re in the wild. Trust me. Learn to use the spear.’ Arul said. Keeran slowly nodded, his shoulders slumped.
The final technique Arul taught them was how to plant the butt of the spear in the ground while kneeling, so that a leaping predator would hopefully impale itself. Even hunters found that terrifying. Arul figured that throwing spears would have to come later. It was hard to do well.
After an hour of practice they collapsed on the soft grass, the shade of a giant branch cooling them. Arul stared up at the mottled bark, gnarled and lichen covered. He had a feeling that these trees did not recognise time and were very ancient. Old long before his ancestors first stood on the shores of Kumari Kandam.
He listened to the rustling leaves and felt they were talking to him in some secret language. It didn’t make sense in his head, but to another deeper part of him, he knew it to be true.
Appa often said to use my feelings and instincts out here. There’s more here than I see.
The afternoon sun had long begun its westward march when Jaya trotted out of the forest. He looked at the three teens lying on the grass, wagging his tail and rubbing up against Arul.
Good, he’s relaxed. No threat ahead. At least not yet.
Jaya tilted his head and stared at the forest intently. Arul looked at him thoughtfully.
Can he understand the language of the trees?
According to Guru Pari’s teachings, the God, Suryan drove the sun like a chariot. Midday had passed and Suryan drove the sun towards the western horizon, as he had since the beginning of the world. Flecks of gold lit up the underside of ragged clouds, and swept along by a rising wind, they fled west towards the sea.
It was time to enter the forest.