Amongst the Living - "A Tale of Men, Beasts and Time"

 

Amongst the Living

A Tale of Men, Beasts and Time

1. The Stranger of Sengaaravan

Deep within the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, hidden beneath a vast stretch of dense forest, lay a small tribal village known as Sengaaravan. The village stood far from the noise of towns and cities, surrounded on all sides by towering trees, thick undergrowth, rocky slopes, and winding forest paths that disappeared into the wilderness. Mist often settled between the trees during the early hours of the morning, while the sounds of birds, insects, and distant animals formed the natural rhythm of life.

The people of Sengaaravan had lived peacefully within the forest for generations. Their lives were closely tied to the land around them. They gathered firewood, collected forest produce, and travelled through familiar paths beneath the trees to carry out their daily work. The forest was not merely the place where they lived; it was a part of their lives, and they knew its paths, sounds, and dangers better than anyone from outside ever could.

But something unfamiliar had begun moving through the forest.

Two men from the village, Perumal and Dass, happened to encounter a stranger wandering among the trees not far from Sengaaravan. There was something unsettling about him. His body was rough and heavily built, his skin darkened by years of exposure to the elements, and his appearance was unlike anyone the villagers knew. He wore nothing but a simple piece of cloth around his lower body and carried no belongings that suggested where he had come from.

The stranger never entered the village. No matter whether the forest was scorched beneath the summer heat, drenched by heavy rain, or covered in cold mist, he remained within the wilderness. He appeared to have made the forest his home, moving through the trees alone and keeping himself far from the villagers.

At first, Perumal and Dass believed that the man was simply a wandering outsider who had somehow become lost in the forest. That belief disappeared the day they witnessed something that neither of them could forget.

Deep among the trees, they saw the stranger crouched over a freshly killed deer.

He was eating it alive.

The forest floor around him was stained with blood. The animal struggled weakly beneath him as the stranger tore into its flesh with a terrifying lack of hesitation. The sight left the two villagers frozen with fear. They had seen wild animals hunt before, but there was something deeply disturbing about witnessing a human being behave in such a manner.

Perumal and Dass hurried back to Sengaaravan and informed the police about what they had witnessed. The news spread quickly through the village, turning the once-familiar forest into a place of fear. The police assured the villagers that they would attempt to locate and apprehend the stranger and urged everyone to remain cautious and avoid unnecessary travel into the deeper parts of the forest.

From then on, the people of Sengaaravan began to move through the forest with unease. Those who normally ventured into the trees to collect firewood or carry out their daily work became increasingly frightened. Every distant movement among the branches, every unfamiliar sound, and every sudden rustle in the undergrowth became a possible sign of the stranger.

No one dared to approach him.

And somewhere beyond the familiar paths of Sengaaravan, the stranger continued to roam alone through the forest.

2. The Maaran Who Came From Another Age

Far from Sengaaravan, and in a time separated from the present by countless generations, a Maaran named Maaran was fleeing through a forest on horseback. He had just survived the defeat of his army in a brutal battle. The battlefield had been left far behind, but the sounds of steel, shouting men, and the cries of wounded soldiers still followed him in his memory. His body was exhausted, his clothes were torn and stained with the remnants of battle, and the weight of his weapons pulled heavily against him as he struggled to keep his horse moving.

He did not know where he was going. He only knew that he had to escape.

The forest around him grew increasingly unfamiliar. The trees seemed to close in from every direction, and the path beneath his horse's hooves became narrower and more difficult to follow. In his desperation, Maaran continued deeper into the wilderness, unaware that he was approaching something far stranger than the battlefield he had left behind.

Then, without warning, something inexplicable happened.

The forest around Maaran seemed to disappear into a strange distortion. The passage of time itself appeared to bend around him, carrying the Maaran and his horse away from the world he knew. In a moment that he could neither understand nor explain, Maaran was torn from his own age and brought into another.

When he emerged from the forest, everything around him was different.

The land was still covered in trees, yet the world beyond them no longer resembled the one he had known. The weapons, clothing, sounds, and objects of this unfamiliar age were completely foreign to him. Even the forest itself seemed changed by the passage of centuries.

Not far away, Maaran encountered Perumal and Dass, the same two villagers who had witnessed the mysterious stranger in the forest. They were initially startled by the sight of the heavily armed Maaran and his horse, but their fear gradually gave way to curiosity. Maaran, equally confused by the two men and their unfamiliar appearance, could not understand what had happened to the world around him.

The three men eventually began trying to understand one another. What began as confusion slowly turned into a strange friendship. Through gestures, expressions, fragments of language, and long attempts at communication, Perumal and Dass gradually realized that Maaran was not simply a man from a distant village or another part of the country.

He belonged to another age.

Maaran spoke in the ancient form of Tamil that had once been spoken by the people of his time, while Perumal and Dass spoke the modern Tamil of their own generation. Their languages had changed across the centuries, yet beneath those changes remained enough similarities for the three men to understand one another with patience and effort.

As they learned more about Maaran, the impossible truth became clear. He had somehow travelled through time and had arrived in their world centuries after the age in which he had been born.

The villagers could not allow the entire village to know that a Maaran from ancient India had suddenly appeared in their forest. Such a revelation would have created panic and attracted unwanted attention. Instead, Perumal and Dass introduced Maaran to the people of Sengaaravan as their cousin who had come from a distant place.

The explanation was simple enough for the villagers to accept.

Maaran was given a place among them and was eventually given work collecting firewood from the surrounding forest. It was a task suited to his physical strength and one that allowed him to remain close to the wilderness without raising too many questions.

For Maaran, Sengaaravan became his new home.

Yet he had no idea that the forest surrounding his new village already held another mystery—one far more dangerous than the strange force that had carried him across time.

3. The Ruins of a Forgotten Kingdom

As the days passed, the deaths of wild animals throughout the forest continued to increase. Deer, wild boars, and other creatures were found dead in different parts of the wilderness, making the villagers increasingly fearful of what might be hiding among the trees. The police began taking the matter more seriously and started conducting larger searches through the forest, believing that the mysterious stranger seen by Perumal and Dass could be responsible.

Police teams moved through the dense vegetation, examining animal remains, following tracks, and searching the deeper parts of the forest. At times, villagers accompanied them, helping the officers navigate paths that were familiar to them. Yet despite their efforts, the stranger remained impossible to find.

Meanwhile, Perumal, Dass, and Maaran began exploring the forest together.

Maaran was fascinated by the land around Sengaaravan. He claimed that the forest held the remains of an ancient kingdom that had once been his home, and he began searching for the places he remembered from his past. Perumal and Dass, curious about the Maaran and the world he came from, followed him deeper into the wilderness.

They travelled through thick forests, crossed narrow streams, climbed rocky slopes, and followed faint paths hidden beneath layers of vegetation. As they moved deeper into the wilderness, Maaran began recognizing places from his memories.

Eventually, they discovered the remains of an enormous ancient castle hidden deep within the forest.

The structure had been almost completely consumed by nature. Massive stone walls were covered in moss, roots had pushed their way through cracks in the foundations, and trees had grown around sections of the ruined building. Yet the remains were still grand enough to suggest that the place had once belonged to a powerful ruler.

Maaran recognized the castle immediately.

He explained to Perumal and Dass how the place had once functioned, describing the halls, chambers, entrances, guard posts, and other parts of the ancient structure. He spoke about the king who had once ruled there, describing him as a brave and powerful ruler who commanded a mighty kingdom and whose influence had spread across the surrounding lands.

As they moved through the ruins, Maaran continued explaining the history of the place. He described how people had once lived there, how soldiers had guarded the castle, and how the kingdom had operated when it was still alive with people.

For Perumal and Dass, it was like walking through a forgotten world while having someone from that world guide them.

They continued exploring the surrounding forest, and Maaran pointed out different locations along the way. He explained where settlements had once stood, where people had travelled, where soldiers had gathered, and where important events had taken place. Places that appeared ordinary to Perumal and Dass seemed to carry memories for Maaran.

Eventually, they reached the place where a great battle had once taken place.

The forest had changed almost everything. Trees now stood where armies had once gathered, roots covered the ground where weapons had fallen, and centuries of rain had erased almost every visible trace of the conflict.

But Maaran remembered it.

He explained how the battle had unfolded, how his side had suffered defeat, and how he had escaped from the battlefield on horseback. He described the confusion of the retreat and the desperate journey through the forest that had eventually led him to the strange event that brought him into the modern world.

Perumal and Dass listened as Maaran described the ancient world he had left behind.

For the first time since arriving in their time, Maaran was surrounded by places that reminded him of the life he had once lived.

Yet the kingdom he remembered was gone.

Only its ruins remained beneath the forest.

4. The Thousand Year Cycle

One evening, the three men sat beside the river as the last light of the day disappeared behind the trees. The forest had grown quiet around them, and the sound of flowing water filled the silence. Their conversations had gradually become more personal as the days passed, and Maaran often used those moments to share stories of the ancient world he claimed to have come from.

That evening, he spoke of dragons.

According to Maaran, enormous dragons had once existed in the ancient lands, creatures so powerful that even kings and soldiers feared them. Among them was a dragon known as Vaanaravaan, a creature whose existence had been remembered through generations of ancient stories.

Maaran explained that Vaanaravaan was not an ordinary living creature. After a great period of destruction, the dragon had entered a deep sleep and disappeared from the world. It was said that the creature would remain asleep for exactly a thousand years before its next awakening.

Perumal and Dass were initially reluctant to believe such a story. Dragons belonged to legends, and nothing they had ever seen had suggested that such creatures could actually exist. But Maaran himself was proof that the impossible could happen. He was a Maaran from an age that existed centuries before their own, and his presence had already shattered their understanding of history.

Slowly, their disbelief began to fade.

Maaran then explained that the thousand-year period was not merely a legend. The ancient people had known that the time of the dragon's awakening would eventually return, and they had created a ritual connected to an enormous bell. The bell had to be rung twelve times at the appropriate time, and the ritual was believed to ensure that the dragon remained undisturbed and that the ancient protection surrounding it continued for another thousand years.

The time had now come again.

Nearly a thousand years had passed since Vaanaravaan had entered its long sleep.

Maaran explained that the ritual could no longer be delayed indefinitely. If the twelve rings were not completed when the thousand-year cycle ended, the ancient protection would weaken, and the dragon could eventually awaken on its own.

He believed this might even explain why he had somehow been brought into their time.

Perhaps his arrival was not an accident.

Perhaps something had drawn him across the centuries because the thousand-year cycle was reaching its end.

Perumal and Dass listened with growing concern. The thought that an ancient creature might awaken somewhere within the mountains surrounding their home frightened them, but Maaran's explanation gave them a sense that there was still something they could do.

The ancient bell, he explained, was enormous. Its weight and size made it impossible for a single person to operate. At least three people were required to move its great clapper and produce the twelve required rings.

Perumal and Dass would have to help him.

The three men would have to find the ancient bell and complete the ritual before the thousand-year cycle came to an end.

Somewhere deep within the ancient forest, the thousand-year mark was drawing closer.

5. The Bell of the Mountain

Slowly, the three men began to realize what the passing of time meant.

Maaran asked Perumal and Dass what year they were living in. When they told him that it was 2026, he became visibly concerned. He began calculating the years that had passed since the time he had left his own world. According to the ancient knowledge he carried, Vaanaravaan's long sleep had lasted for a thousand years.

The two villagers asked whether the dragon would awaken on a particular day once the thousand years were complete.

Maaran explained that there was no fixed date. The ancient belief was that once the thousand-year period had ended, the dragon could awaken at any time. The realization made him uneasy. If the ancient calculations were correct, the thousand years had already come to an end.

Maaran then explained what would happen when Vaanaravaan finally awakened.

After a thousand years of uninterrupted sleep, the dragon would awaken with an enormous hunger. The creature would instinctively seek out anything living around it, driven by the need to feed after centuries without food. Its first moments in the waking world would be ruled by hunger and fury, and anything that crossed its path could become its prey.

The dragon's anger, however, would not last forever. Once its hunger had been satisfied, its fury would gradually subside. As long as no one disturbed it afterward, it would eventually return to its usual existence and leave the surrounding land in peace.

The thought of such a creature awakening somewhere in the mountains frightened Perumal and Dass.

Maaran believed that the ancient ritual had to be completed before the situation became dangerous. He explained that the enormous bell was connected to the old ritual and that it needed to be rung twelve times. The three men decided that finding it should be their priority.

They began their search through the forest.

They wandered far beyond the familiar paths of Sengaaravan, moving through thick vegetation, crossing streams, climbing rocky slopes, and searching every place that seemed old enough to hold a secret from the past. They hoped to find some trace of Vaanaravaan—perhaps ancient ruins, enormous bones, markings, or anything that could prove where the creature had disappeared.

But they found nothing.

Maaran explained that they should not expect to find the remains of a dead dragon. According to the ancient beliefs he had grown up with, dragons were immortal creatures. They did not die like ordinary animals. Instead, they entered deep periods of sleep and remained hidden until the time came for them to awaken again.

After hours of searching, one of them remembered the bell.

They asked Maaran where it could be found.

The memory came back to him. He remembered the enormous bell standing behind the ancient castle, high upon the mountain. The three men immediately changed direction and began climbing toward the ruins.

The climb became steeper as they approached the mountain. Eventually, the remains of the ancient castle appeared above them, perched upon the rocky heights. Behind the ruins, the land fell away into a vast natural gap surrounded by enormous vertical rock formations.

And there, suspended between the rocks, was the bell.

A long iron rod stretched across the rocky gap, firmly held between the stone walls. From the centre of the rod hung an enormous ancient bell. It was darkened by age and weather, but its massive shape remained intact. It hung nearly fifty feet above the ground, far beyond the reach of any of them.

The three men stood beneath it, looking upward.

There was no staircase, ladder, or obvious way to reach the bell. The surrounding rocks were too steep to climb, and the height made it impossible for them to touch it from the ground.

Maaran examined the area and began thinking of another way.

He found a suitable piece of wood nearby and shaped it into a simple bow. He then prepared an arrow and tied a long thread to it. Standing directly beneath the bell, he carefully aimed upward and released the arrow.

It flew through the open space beneath the enormous bell and passed cleanly through the other side.

Maaran pulled the thread down and secured it so that a long section remained within their reach. By moving the thread back and forth, they would be able to make the great bell swing and produce its enormous sound from the ground.

The three men took their positions beneath it.

Above them, the ancient bell hung silently between the towering rocks, suspended from the iron rod.

It had remained silent for a thousand years.

Now, for the first time in centuries, three men stood beneath it with the means to make it ring.

6. The Stranger's Truth

Meanwhile, the search for the mysterious stranger continued deeper into the forest.

A group of police officers had moved through a particularly dense section of the wilderness, following signs they believed might lead them toward the man they had been searching for. The vegetation became thicker as they went farther from the village, with narrow paths disappearing beneath fallen leaves and tangled roots.

Then the forest erupted into chaos.

One of the officers was suddenly attacked by a cheetah.

The animal emerged from the vegetation with terrifying speed, knocking the officer to the ground before he could properly react. The other officers immediately rushed toward him, attempting to drive the animal away, but the creature fought violently and refused to retreat. The officer struggled beneath its weight as his colleagues desperately tried to reach him.

For several moments, none of them could get close enough.

Then something moved through the trees.

The very man they had been searching for appeared from the forest.

The stranger saw the attack and immediately rushed toward the animal. Without hesitation, he confronted the cheetah and fought it with extraordinary strength. The struggle was brief but violent. Eventually, the stranger managed to overpower the animal and kill it, saving the wounded officer from certain death.

The officers were stunned.

The man they had considered a dangerous threat had just saved one of their own.

But the stranger did not wait for their reaction. The moment the cheetah was no longer a threat, he turned and began disappearing into the forest.

An officer raised his weapon and fired a warning shot into a nearby tree.

The bullet struck the trunk close enough to stop the stranger in his tracks.

He slowly turned around.

The officers kept their weapons trained on him as they approached cautiously. They wanted answers. For days, the villagers had been terrified of this man. They had seen him wandering through the forest, eating raw meat, avoiding the village, and appearing whenever they least expected him. Perumal and Dass had even witnessed him feeding on a deer, leaving them convinced that something was terribly wrong with him.

Yet the same man had just risked his life to save a police officer.

The stranger finally explained why.

To him, the injured officer was simply another human being who needed help. Whatever differences existed between them, he believed that a human being had a duty to help another human being when faced with danger. He had not killed the cheetah for sport or because he wanted to frighten anyone. He had done it because the animal was attacking a person.

The officers then questioned why he had frightened the villagers if he meant no harm.

The stranger's explanation revealed that much of what had been perceived as threatening behavior was the result of his confusion.

He had only recently begun to understand that he was no longer living in his own time.

Everything around him was unfamiliar. The forest looked similar to the wilderness he had once known, but the world beyond it had changed beyond anything he could comprehend. The people, their customs, their surroundings, and even their relationship with the animals were completely different.

He believed that he had somehow been thrown forward through time.

He claimed to have lived roughly a thousand years earlier, when the land was governed by ancient kingdoms. In that world, he had been a slave who had eventually become a dragon trainer and rider. His life had been spent in forests like the one surrounding Sengaaravan, far away from ordinary settlements.

The officers exchanged stunned looks. For a moment, none of them spoke. The word "dragon" seemed almost absurd coming from a man standing in front of them in the present day.

“What do you mean… dragon?” Inspector Ravi finally asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

Stranger looked at them calmly. “There were dragons in those days,” he said. “Not creatures from stories, but living beasts. They were kept and trained by Maarans, and they were brought out only when kingdoms went to war.”

The officers stared at him, unsure whether he was speaking the truth or simply trying to confuse them.

“I was one of the men assigned to them,” stranger continued. “I was meant to train them from a young age. To understand their nature, earn their trust, feed them, care for their wounds… and eventually ride them.”

He paused for a moment, his expression turning distant, as though he could see something far beyond the forest around them.

“They were not weapons that could simply be controlled,” he said. “A dragon had to accept you. You had to know when it was angry, when it was afraid, when it was ready to fight. During war, I would ride them into battle.”

The officers remained silent.

“You expect us to believe that you rode dragons?” one of them finally asked.

Stranger looked at him.

“I don't expect you to believe me,” he said quietly. “I only told you what happened.”

He had no understanding of how he had travelled across the centuries. As far as he could remember, he had simply been living in his own time before suddenly finding himself in a world that belonged to the distant future.

His way of surviving had also frightened the villagers.

In his own time, eating the meat of wild animals was simply a part of survival. He had continued doing what he had always done after arriving in the modern forest. When the villagers discovered him eating a deer, they had seen something horrifying. To him, however, it had been nothing unusual.

The stranger then explained the reason behind the dead animals that had been found throughout the forest.

The cheetah that had attacked the officer had been responsible for much of the destruction.

The animal had been hunting repeatedly, killing deer and other creatures and leaving portions of its kills behind. The stranger had discovered the remains and survived by feeding on what the predator had left behind.

But the cheetah had become increasingly destructive.

It continued killing more and more animals, often leaving much of the meat uneaten. The stranger had eventually decided that the animal needed to be hunted down. He had placed traps throughout sections of the forest in an attempt to track and capture it.

Some of those traps had later been discovered and removed by the villagers.

The stranger had never understood why.

He had come from a time when people depended directly upon the forest for survival. The idea that humans in the modern world would actively protect wild animals, even when those animals competed with them for resources, was completely foreign to him.

He had also deliberately avoided creating fires.

He did not want the villagers to discover where he was living. Fire would have produced smoke and light that could reveal his location, so he continued eating the meat raw instead. What had been a simple attempt to remain hidden had made him appear even more frightening to the people of Sengaaravan.

The officers began to understand that the stranger had not been deliberately terrorizing the village.

He had simply been living according to the rules of a world that no longer existed.

The stranger was then surprised to learn why the police were so concerned about the animals in the forest.

The officers explained that many wild animals had become increasingly rare and that people now worked to protect them from disappearing completely. The animals were being protected so that future generations would still have them and so that entire species would not become extinct.

The idea was unfamiliar to the stranger.

In his time, the forest had been viewed differently. Animals were part of the wilderness, and people hunted when they needed food. The modern idea of protecting endangered species was something he had never encountered.

He eventually expressed regret for frightening the villagers.

He had never intended to harm them.

The forest was simply the only home he understood.

As a dragon trainer in his own time, he had been expected to live deep within the wilderness, away from ordinary settlements. Forests were where dragon trainers trained, lived, hunted, and cared for their animals. The stranger had therefore continued following the same way of life after arriving in the modern world.

That was why he had never entered Sengaaravan.

He had not been hiding there because he wanted to threaten the villagers.

He simply believed that the forest was where he belonged.

7.  The Awakening

The earth shook beneath their feet.

Maaran, Perumal, and Dass froze.

It was only a faint vibration at first, barely enough to notice. The three men looked at one another, unsure whether they had imagined it.

Then it happened again.

This time, the ground trembled hard enough to make the stones beneath their feet shift.

Maaran's expression changed.

“Keep ringing.”

The three men pulled the thread again.

CLANG!

The ancient bell thundered across the mountains.

Another tremor.

CLANG!

The sound rolled through the forest.

The three men continued.

Three.

Four.

Five.

With every strike of the bell, the enormous sound echoed through the valley. Yet beneath it came another sound—a low, distant rumble that seemed to rise from somewhere deep beneath the mountain.

Maaran stopped for a moment.

He looked down.

The ground beneath him was trembling.

“What is that?” Dass whispered.

Maaran didn't answer.

“Keep going.”

Six.

CLANG!

Seven.

CLANG!

The rumbling beneath them grew louder.

Dust began falling from the ancient rocks surrounding the bell. Small stones rolled down the mountain slope.

Eight.

Nine.

The earth suddenly gave a violent shudder.

Perumal nearly lost his balance.

“Maaran!”

“Don't stop!”

Ten.

The bell rang again.

The sound travelled through the mountains.

But beneath it came something else.

A deep, almost inaudible vibration.

It sounded like a distant growl.

Eleven.

The three men looked at each other.

One more.

Only one more.

Maaran gripped the rope tightly.

“Now.”

They pulled together.

CLANG!

The twelfth and final strike exploded across the valley.

The sound seemed to go on forever.

Then,

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The three men stood motionless.

Nothing happened.

For a few seconds, they wondered if the ritual had failed.

Then Dass felt something beneath his hand.

A vibration.

He slowly looked down.

The ground was moving.

Not shaking.

Moving.

A small crack appeared in the earth.

Then another.

The cracks spread rapidly across the ground, splitting the soil apart like veins.

Maaran's eyes widened.

“Run.”

A deafening rumble erupted from beneath the mountain.

The earth suddenly heaved upward.

The three men ran.

They barely reached a massive rock before the ground behind them exploded.

Soil, stones, and broken roots were thrown into the air.

Something enormous moved beneath the earth.

The rock itself trembled as they crouched behind it.

Perumal covered his ears.

“What is happening?”

Maaran stared at the destruction.

Then he heard it.

A deep, heavy breath.

Hhhhhhhhhhh...!

The sound came from beneath the earth.

All three men froze.

Another breath.

Louder.

Closer.

Hhhhhhhhhhh...!

Something was alive beneath them.

Something enormous.

The ground split open.

A gigantic claw slowly emerged from the darkness beneath the earth.

Its scales were blackened by centuries of soil and stone.

The claw dug into the ground.

Then another appeared.

The creature pulled itself upward.

The earth collapsed around it as an enormous head emerged from beneath the mountain.

Its eyes were still closed.

Dust poured from its ancient scales.

Slowly, one enormous eye opened.

A deep golden glow appeared in the darkness.

The dragon was awake.

It lifted its head.

The creature's wings suddenly unfolded.

The sound alone was terrifying.

The enormous membranes stretched outward, throwing dust and debris into the air. The dragon attempted to rise.

Its wings beat once.

WHUMP.

The force knocked loose stones from the surrounding cliffs.

It tried again.

WHUMP.

The dragon lifted itself several feet,

Then crashed back onto the ground.

The mountain shook.

It tried again.

This time, the creature rose higher.

Its enormous wings beat harder and harder until, with one final violent thrust, it finally broke free from the ground.

The dragon flew.

It climbed into the night sky, circling once above the ancient ruins before turning toward the distant hills.

Maaran, Perumal, and Dass watched in complete silence.

The creature landed on the highest ridge.

For several seconds, it simply stood there.

Still.

Silent.

Then the dragon slowly raised its head.

Its wings spread across the night sky.

And it roared.

The roar was enormous.

It did not sound like the cry of an animal.

It sounded like something ancient had awakened with the entire mountain behind its voice.

The sound tore through the valley.

Trees shook violently.

Birds erupted from the forest.

Animals fled in every direction.

The ground beneath the three men trembled again.

The roar continued.

It rolled across the mountains and reached Sengaaravan.

And the entire village woke.

8. The Roar Across the Valley

Deep within the forest, the stranger suddenly stopped when a tremendous roar rolled through the mountains. The sound seemed to pass through the trees around them, shaking the leaves and echoing from one distant hill to another. The police officers looked at one another in confusion, but the stranger immediately knew what he had heard. His face changed, and he slowly turned toward the direction of the mountains.

“It woke up,” he said.

Inspector Ravi looked at him. “What woke up?”

Before the stranger could answer, another roar thundered across the valley. It was louder this time, deep and powerful enough to make the ground beneath their feet seem to vibrate. The stranger stared toward the hills with an expression the officers had never seen on his face before.

“The dragon,” he said quietly.

At the same time, the roar had awakened the entire village of Sengaaravan. Doors opened throughout the settlement as people stepped outside, frightened and confused by the enormous sound that had torn through the night. Men and women gathered in the streets, calling to one another and trying to determine where the sound had come from. Children stood close to their parents as another roar echoed through the mountains.

Slowly, everyone turned toward the direction of the sound.

The hills were visible beyond the forest, dark against the night sky. At first, there appeared to be nothing unusual there. Then the villagers began to notice a shape standing on the highest ridge. It was enormous, far larger than any animal they had ever seen. Its body had the unmistakable appearance of a giant reptile, but its size was almost impossible to comprehend. Two massive wings extended from its back, and its long neck rose above the trees as it stood towering over the mountain.

The creature lifted its head and roared again.

The villagers froze.

Even from such a distance, they could feel the power of the sound. Birds fled from the surrounding forest, dogs began barking and animals disappeared into the darkness. The enormous silhouette remained on the hilltop, roaring into the night as though announcing its return to a world that had forgotten it.

Back in the forest, the police officers stared toward the same hills. They had heard the stranger speak about dragons earlier, and although they had listened to his story, some part of them had still struggled to accept it. Dragons belonged to another age, to stories and legends. Yet now, standing before them in the darkness, was something that made every word he had spoken suddenly real.

Ravi turned toward the stranger.

“You knew this would happen?”

The stranger shook his head. “I knew it could happen.”

He kept his eyes fixed on the creature. “I told you about dragons, this is the sleeping dragon. They awaken only when they hear the sound of the war bell. Someone has rung it.”

“The war bell?” one of the officers asked.

“All twelve bells,” the stranger replied. “That is what woke it.”

Another roar came from the mountain.

The stranger's expression became more serious. “After sleeping for so long, it will be hungry. Very hungry. It will also be angry and arrogant when it first wakes. It will not understand this world around it, and it will not care what stands in its way. If it comes down from those hills, the village could be in serious danger.”

Hundreds of villagers were now gathered outside their homes, many of them staring helplessly toward the dragon. Fear was spreading through the settlement.

“We need to get them somewhere safe,” the stranger said. “Before it comes looking for food.”

The officers remained silent for a moment. Their weapons were still in their hands, but their attention was no longer on the stranger. They were watching the creature on the hill.

Everything he had told them was true.

The ancient world he had described existed. Dragons had existed. The war bells had existed. And now one of those creatures had awakened after a thousand years of sleep.

Inspector Ravi slowly lowered his weapon.

The other officers followed.

They had come into the forest searching for the stranger because they believed he was dangerous. They had questioned him, chased him and tried to capture him. But now they understood that the man standing before them was not their greatest threat. He was the only person among them who had actually lived in a world where dragons were real.

Ravi looked at him.

“You know these creatures,” he said. “You know how they behave.”

The stranger nodded.

“Then we need you.”

The stranger looked at them and then back toward the dragon.

“We need to move quickly,” he said.

Ravi turned toward the other officers. There was no longer any hesitation in his voice.

“We work with him. Whatever happens, our first priority is getting the villagers to safety.”

The officers agreed.

For the first time, they stood beside the stranger not as police officers and a man they had been hunting, but as reluctant allies facing something that had awakened from an age long forgotten.

High above them, on the distant hilltop, the dragon spread its enormous wings once again.

And Sengaaravan waited beneath it in fear.

9. When Hunger Becomes Fury

By the time the stranger and the police officers returned to Sengaaravan, the entire village was already trembling with fear. The enormous silhouette on the hills had become impossible to ignore, and the distant roars had left everyone convinced that something far beyond their understanding had entered their world. The stranger gathered the villagers and, with the officers beside him, explained what they were facing. He warned them that the creature was not an ordinary animal and that trying to fight it would be useless. No one was to approach it, throw anything at it, or attempt to attack it. Their only chance was to remain hidden until the dragon had moved away.

The villagers scattered into the surrounding forest. Some crawled deep into narrow caves hidden among the rocks, while others concealed themselves beneath thick bushes, behind enormous boulders, and beneath the dense vegetation that covered the mountain slopes. Several families remained inside their houses, hiding in small underground storage spaces and makeshift bunker-like rooms beneath the buildings. They sat in darkness, barely breathing, listening for every movement outside and praying that the creature would pass without finding them.

For a while, the village was completely silent.

Then the dragon entered.

It came down from the hills and slowly made its way into Sengaaravan. Its enormous body moved between the houses with an eerie calmness. It did not roar. It did not attack. It simply walked through the deserted streets, its heavy footsteps pressing into the earth as it examined the unfamiliar surroundings.

Inside one of the houses, several villagers crouched together in darkness. Nobody dared to speak. They could hear the creature moving outside. Every slow footstep seemed to shake the walls around them. Someone covered a child's mouth to keep the child from making a sound.

The dragon stopped.

For several terrifying seconds, it stood outside the house.

The people inside froze completely.

Then the creature moved on.

Its footsteps gradually disappeared, and the villagers remained where they were, too frightened to move.

Outside, the dragon eventually left the village and entered the forest.

The people hiding among the rocks and bushes watched silently as the enormous creature passed through the trees. Its movements were strangely quiet for something so massive. Branches broke beneath its weight, leaves rustled around its body, and the ground trembled faintly with every step, but the dragon itself remained strangely calm as it searched the wilderness.

Then it found a deer.

The animal barely had time to react.

The dragon lunged forward and seized it, killing it almost instantly. It tore into the carcass and devoured the deer with enormous hunger, consuming the animal far more quickly than any ordinary predator could have done.

But the meal was nowhere near enough.

After finishing the deer, the dragon continued deeper into the forest until it reached the river that flowed through the mountains. It lowered its enormous head toward the water and began drinking.

It drank for a long time.

The dragon swallowed enormous amounts of water, again and again, until the river itself seemed insignificant beneath the size of the creature. Water splashed around its jaws as it continued drinking, seemingly trying to satisfy a thirst that had accumulated over a thousand years of sleep.

When it finally raised its head, water streamed from its mouth and down its scales.

Then it continued its search.

The dragon moved through the forest, looking for more food. It searched beneath trees, along the riverbank and between the rocks. It found nothing substantial. The forest had plenty of life, but not enough to satisfy a creature of its enormous size and appetite.

There were no herds of animals waiting for it.

No large prey.

Even the smaller creatures seemed to have disappeared, fleeing deeper into the forest to escape the ancient predator.

The dragon continued searching.

It found nothing.

Not enough deer.

Not enough wild boar.

Not enough animals of any kind.

Even the squirrels and smaller creatures that normally moved through the trees had vanished into hiding.

Deep inside a narrow cave, the stranger watched the dragon moving through the forest.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

His expression changed.

He remembered something from his time as a dragon trainer—something he had almost forgotten.

“If it doesn't get enough food...” he whispered.

The police officers hiding beside him looked at him.

“What happens?”

The stranger stared through the opening of the cave toward the distant dragon.

“It will start burning everything around it.”

The officers looked at him in alarm.

“What do you mean?”

“Fire,” the stranger said. “When a dragon cannot satisfy its hunger, its anger grows. Eventually, it will stop searching for food and begin destroying everything around it.”

He looked toward the forest.

“And once it begins breathing fire, nothing here will be safe.”

The officers exchanged frightened glances.

The stranger's concern was no longer only for the villagers. He looked toward the endless forest surrounding them, thinking about the enormous amount of vegetation stretching across the mountains.

“If this forest catches fire...” one of the officers began.

“It won't stop easily,” another finished.

They all understood the danger.

The Western Ghats stretched far beyond Sengaaravan. The forest around them was enormous, dense and filled with dry vegetation, trees and thick undergrowth. A fire started by a creature capable of breathing flames could spread from one mountain to another before anyone could control it.

The stranger looked toward the village.

He imagined the families hiding inside their homes.

Then he looked toward the forest.

Thousands of trees.

Animals.

The river.

Everything that had survived here for centuries.

His face became tense.

He had spent his life among creatures like the dragon. He knew what they were capable of when they were hungry, frightened or enraged.

And now one of them was wandering through the forest with an appetite large enough to consume everything around it.

“We have to stop it from reaching that point,” the stranger said.

The officers looked at him.

“How?”

The stranger had no immediate answer.

Outside the cave, the forest had fallen silent again.

Then, from somewhere beyond the trees, came the deep sound of the dragon's roar.

The officers looked at one another.

The stranger stared into the darkness.

The dragon was still hungry.

10. The Enemy's Land

Meanwhile, Maaran, Perumal, and Dass moved quickly through the forest, following the distant sounds of the dragon as they tried to catch a glimpse of the enormous creature somewhere beyond the trees. Perumal and Dass hurried after Maaran, but neither of them understood what was happening anymore. Their minds were filled with questions, and with every step they took, the doubts grew stronger. Maaran, however, seemed strangely calm. In fact, there was a faint smile on his face.

He knew exactly what he had done.

From the moment Maaran had arrived in the modern world, he had not simply accepted his surroundings. He had begun studying them. He explored the forest whenever he could, memorizing its paths, rivers, valleys, rocky slopes, and hidden ruins. He even began drawing a rough map of the region, using everything he saw to understand where he had been transported.

Eventually, the map gave him the answer he had been looking for.

The land surrounding Sengaaravan was not the territory of his own kingdom.

It was the land of his enemy.

The discovery had become certain when he found the ancient castle hidden deep within the forest. Maaran recognized its architecture, its location, and the remains of the kingdom that had once stood there. He realized that the ruins belonged to the Chola kingdom—the very kingdom against which his army had fought before his mysterious journey through time.

The realization had changed everything.

The village of Sengaaravan stood on land that had once belonged to his enemies. The people living there were descendants of the kingdom that had defeated his army. The forest through which he now walked had once been enemy territory.

But Maaran never revealed this truth to Perumal and Dass.

Instead, he carefully constructed a story.

Whenever he took them through the forest and showed them the ruins, he pretended that he was simply remembering his old home. He described the castle, the settlements, the roads, and the places where soldiers had once gathered, making Perumal and Dass believe that he was showing them the remains of the kingdom he had belonged to.

In reality, he was using them.

He questioned them about the modern landscape and quietly compared their answers with the knowledge he already possessed. He learned about Sengaaravan, the surrounding mountains, the rivers, the paths through the forest, and the animals that lived there. Every piece of information helped him understand the land better.

And one thing became particularly important to him.

There were not enough animals in the forest.

The wilderness was enormous, but compared with the forests of his own time, it contained surprisingly little prey. There were deer, wild boars, smaller animals, and other creatures, but nowhere near enough to satisfy a creature as enormous as Vaanaravaan.

Maaran understood what that meant.

If the dragon were ever awakened, it would eventually become hungry.

And a hungry dragon would not stop simply because there was no food.

It would search.

It would move farther.

And eventually, it would reach the village.

Maaran had also learned something else about the dragon, something he had never told Perumal and Dass.

There was no thousand year awakening cycle.

The ancient people had never believed that Vaanaravaan automatically woke after a thousand years. That had been a lie created by Maaran himself.

The dragon remained asleep unless it was disturbed.

And the only thing capable of awakening it was the ancient war bell.

Twelve rings.

That was all it required.

Maaran had known this from the beginning.

He had deliberately told Perumal and Dass that the thousand-year cycle was coming to an end and that they needed to ring the ancient bell twelve times to complete a ritual. He made them believe that they were performing some ancient act of protection, when in reality he was leading them directly toward the thing that would awaken the dragon.

And now they understood.

As they ran through the forest behind him, Perumal and Dass began looking at each other with growing confusion.

They remembered everything Maaran had told them.

The thousand-year cycle.

The ritual.

The bell.

The warning that the dragon would awaken if they failed to complete it.

But now the dragon was awake.

And the more they thought about Maaran's story, the more it stopped making sense.

They had been deceived.

They had rung the bells because they trusted him.

And they had unknowingly awakened the dragon themselves.

Neither of them knew what Maaran was planning now. They simply followed him through the forest, partly because they were confused and partly because they needed answers. Their trust in him had begun to crack, but they were not yet certain enough to confront him.

Maaran noticed their uncertainty.

He said nothing.

Instead, he continued running through the trees, following the distant sounds of the dragon.

A faint smile remained on his face.

Because everything had happened exactly as he intended.

A thousand years ago, his army had been defeated by the kingdom that stood upon this land. He had fled the battlefield, believing that his life and his kingdom were finished.

Then, by some impossible force, he had been thrown into the future.

And now he had discovered that the descendants of his enemies were still living on the very land where his army had once been defeated.

He no longer had an army.

He no longer had weapons.

He no longer had a kingdom to reclaim.

But he had something else.

Knowledge.

He knew about the dragon.

He knew the bell.

And he knew the forest could never provide enough food for the creature he had awakened.

The dragon would become hungry.

Its hunger would turn into anger.

Its anger would eventually turn into destruction.

And the village would suffer.

Perhaps even the entire forest would burn.

Maaran looked ahead through the trees, his expression calm as another distant roar echoed through the mountains.

He had not awakened Vaanaravaan by accident.

He had done it deliberately.

He had not been trying to protect Sengaaravan.

He had been waiting for an opportunity to strike at the descendants of the people who had once defeated him.

A thousand years had passed since that ancient battle.

But Maaran had never forgotten.

And now, without drawing a sword, he had begun a new war.

11.  The Fire Within

Maaran's plan was beginning to work exactly as he had intended.

The dragon had now been wandering through the forest for a long time, searching desperately for food. It had devoured the deer it had found, but the meal had done little to satisfy the enormous hunger that had built within it after a thousand years of sleep. It searched beneath trees, along the riverbanks and across the rocky slopes, but there was simply not enough prey in the forest to satisfy a creature of its size.

Eventually, the dragon stopped.

It lowered its enormous head and stood motionless among the trees. Its breathing had become heavy and restless. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then it coughed.

A deep, guttural sound came from its throat.

It coughed again.

The people hiding nearby froze.

Several villagers were concealed behind thick bushes, while others were crouched inside narrow caves and behind rocks, watching the creature through tiny gaps in the vegetation. Nobody dared to move. Nobody dared to make a sound.

Then the dragon coughed a third time.

A tiny spark suddenly burst from its mouth.

It disappeared almost immediately.

But everyone had seen it.

The villagers stared in horror.

A faint orange glow had flickered between the dragon's teeth before vanishing into the darkness.

The stranger's warning suddenly became real.

Inside one of the caves, the police officers watched the creature with growing fear. The stranger remained beside them, his eyes fixed on the dragon.

“It is beginning,” he said.

Ravi looked at him. “What is beginning?”

“The fire.”

The officers turned toward him.

The stranger explained that a dragon could endure hunger for only so long. When its body could no longer sustain itself, the hunger would turn into rage, and that rage would eventually awaken the fire within it. The coughing was the first sign. The sparks would become flames, and once the dragon began breathing fire, it would stop caring about what stood in its way.

“It will burn the forest,” the stranger said. “Trees, animals, houses... anything around it. And if the fire spreads, the entire mountain could catch.”

The officers exchanged frightened looks.

They had already understood how dangerous a forest fire could be. But this was different. There was no ordinary fire brigade capable of approaching a creature that could produce flames from its mouth. The forest was enormous, the vegetation was dense, and the wind could carry the fire across the mountains.

The villagers hiding nearby listened in silence, their fear turning into desperation.

Ravi looked back toward the dragon.

“We need to know who rang that bell,” he said.

The stranger remained silent for a moment before turning toward the officers.

“I don't know who rang it,” he said, “but whoever did knew exactly how many times the bell had to be struck to awaken the dragon.”

The officers looked at him.

“Twelve times,” he continued. “Not eleven. Not thirteen. Twelve. Whoever rang it knew that.”

His expression hardened.

“If they knew that, they are your enemy. Find them. Capture them before they do anything else.”

Ravi immediately shook his head.

“Who could possibly know that? Nobody here knew about the dragon. Nobody knew about the bell.”

The stranger stared at him.

Then something came back to his memory.

“There was someone.”

The officers turned toward him.

“When I first came here,” the stranger continued, “I saw a man riding through the village on a horse. He looked different from everyone else. The way he dressed, the way he carried himself... even the way he spoke.”

One of the officers suddenly looked at Ravi.

“Wait.”

Ravi looked at him.

“You remember him too?”

The officer nodded. “Yes. We met him. He speaks Tamil differently. His words are strange... old-fashioned.”

The stranger's expression changed.

“Old-fashioned?”

“Yes.”

The stranger slowly looked toward the forest.

“He may be from my time.”

The officers stared at him.

“If he is from my time,” the stranger continued, “then he may know about the bell. He may know about the dragon. And he may be the reason it woke up.”

The implication settled over them.

The stranger had already told them that Maaran was a Maaran from another age. They had accepted that story because they had already seen enough impossible things to believe it.

But now another man from that same ancient world might be responsible for everything that was happening.

“Find him,” the stranger said. “He may be the one who awakened the dragon.”

Ravi nodded.

But before he could say anything else, another faint spark appeared inside the dragon's mouth.

Everyone went silent.

The stranger watched it carefully.

“There is only one way to stop this.”

The officers turned toward him.

“How?”

The stranger looked at the enormous creature standing beyond the trees.

“You cannot kill it.”

Ravi frowned. “Then what do we do?”

The stranger's eyes remained fixed on the dragon.

“We tame it.”

The officers stared at him.

The stranger continued calmly.

“The only way to control a dragon like that is to ride and tame it.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

“You mean... ride that?” one of the officers asked, pointing toward the enormous creature.

The stranger nodded.

“I am a dragon rider and trainer.”

The words left the officers completely stunned.

They had spent their lives believing that they were the protectors of Sengaaravan. They had been assigned to the forest because of its dangerous wildlife. They knew how to track animals, protect the villagers, deal with predators and respond to threats in the wilderness. They had always considered themselves the people standing between the forest and those who lived beside it.

But now they were hiding inside a cave from a creature that had existed long before their world.

And the man standing beside them was calmly saying that he intended to ride it.

The officers looked at one another.

Until that moment, they had thought of the stranger as a frightening, primitive man who had somehow survived in their forest. Now they were beginning to understand the difference between their world and his.

To them, the dragon was an impossible monster.

To him, it was something he had been trained to understand.

The stranger slowly stood up.

Outside, another spark flickered from the dragon's mouth.

He watched it without fear.

“I have dealt with dragons before. I have ridden them and tamed them.” he said. “If there is still a part of that creature that remembers being trained, I can reach it.”

The officers remained speechless.

For the first time, they truly understood how far removed their world was from the age this man had come from.

They were trained to protect a village from wild animals.

He had been trained to ride the creatures that ruled the skies.

And now, while an ancient dragon stood on the verge of setting the entire forest ablaze, the only person willing to face it was a Maaran who had come from a thousand years ago.

12. The Rider of the Ancient Sky

The stranger knew there was no time left to hesitate. The faint sparks escaping from the dragon's mouth had already warned him that its hunger was reaching a dangerous point. If the creature began breathing fire, Sengaaravan and the forest surrounding it could be destroyed within minutes. He broke away from the police officers and ran toward the village, disappearing between the houses as the officers watched in confusion.

He stopped beside one of the houses and quickly searched around the side of it until he found what he was looking for—a long, strong rope tied around a wooden post. He tore it loose and pulled it free. Nearby, he spotted a long spear that had been kept against the wall. He picked it up and examined it for a moment before tying one end of the rope firmly around the shaft.

The police officers realized what he was preparing to do.

“Wait!” Ravi shouted. “What are you doing?”

But the stranger was already running toward the forest.

He knew there was no other way.

The dragon was standing among the trees, restless and starving. Its enormous body moved from one place to another as it searched for something—anything—that could satisfy its hunger. Its breathing had become heavier, and every few moments a faint glow appeared inside its mouth.

The stranger approached carefully, keeping himself low as he moved between the trees. The dragon noticed him.

Its enormous head turned.

For a moment, the creature simply stared at him.

Then it roared.

The force of the sound shook the leaves around him, but the stranger did not retreat. He had seen dragons before. He knew that fear could make them more dangerous, and he also knew that hesitation could get a trainer killed.

He tightened his grip on the spear and continued forward.

The dragon lunged.

The stranger barely escaped its jaws, rolling across the ground as the creature's enormous head crashed into the earth where he had been standing. He immediately got back on his feet and ran around it, trying to find the right position. The dragon swung its head toward him again, its jaws opening wide.

He jumped aside.

The creature's claws tore through the soil.

The stranger waited for the right moment.

Then he threw the rope.

The loop flew through the air and dropped over the dragon's neck.

The creature immediately reacted.

It reared violently, roaring as it tried to shake the rope loose. The stranger was pulled off his feet and dragged several metres across the ground. He tightened his grip and refused to let go.

The dragon swung its head from side to side.

The rope tightened.

The stranger was lifted from the ground.

For a moment, he was completely at the mercy of the creature.

Then he used the movement to his advantage.

As the dragon lowered its neck, he grabbed hold of its scales and pulled himself upward. He climbed onto its back, gripping the rough surface with both hands.

The dragon reacted instantly.

It spread its enormous wings.

The stranger barely had time to secure himself before the creature launched into the air.

The ground disappeared beneath them.

The stranger's stomach dropped as the dragon climbed rapidly upward. Trees became smaller. The houses of Sengaaravan shrank beneath them. The mountains stretched across the horizon as the creature gained more and more altitude.

Wind slammed against the stranger's body.

His clothes whipped violently behind him as he struggled to maintain his position.

The dragon was still furious.

It twisted sharply to one side.

The stranger nearly fell.

He grabbed the rope with one hand and pressed himself against the dragon's neck. The creature climbed higher before suddenly diving downward.

The forest rushed toward them.

At the last moment, the dragon pulled its wings back and shot upward again.

The stranger fought to control its movements, pulling the rope in different directions and using the techniques he had learned long ago. He understood that brute force would never work. A dragon could not simply be dragged into obedience. He had to make it understand that he was not a threat.

The dragon resisted again and again.

It climbed.

It dived.

It twisted through the air.

It beat its enormous wings with such force that the air itself seemed to tremble around them.

Several times, the stranger nearly lost his grip.

But he stayed on.

He spoke to the creature in the ancient language he had once used with dragons. His voice remained calm even as the wind screamed around him.

Slowly, the dragon began responding.

Its movements became less violent.

The sharp turns became wider.

The desperate attempts to throw him from its back began to stop.

The stranger pulled the rope gently.

The dragon turned.

He pulled again.

The creature changed direction.

The stranger realized that the dragon was finally listening.

A smile spread across his face.

He had done it.

After a thousand years of sleep, after waking hungry and enraged, the ancient creature had finally accepted the presence of its rider.

The stranger raised one arm into the air and released a strange, powerful cry in the ancient language of his time.

The sound disappeared into the wind.

The dragon responded with a tremendous roar and climbed higher.

Together they flew over the mountains.

The stranger could hardly contain his happiness. He had not ridden a dragon in centuries—or, more accurately, not since the world he had once belonged to had disappeared. Yet now he was once again sitting upon the back of one of the creatures he had spent his life caring for.

But he knew the dragon was still hungry.

Controlling it was only half the problem.

He needed to feed it.

As they crossed the mountains, he looked toward the distant landscape and noticed something unusual. Beyond the ridges, on the other side of the mountains, the land was covered by enormous stretches of cultivated green.

A plantation.

The stranger guided the dragon toward it.

They crossed over the mountain range and entered the neighbouring land of Kerala. Below them stretched a vast banana plantation, row after row of banana plants extending across the fields.

The stranger looked down.

For the first time since the dragon had awakened, he smiled with relief.

There was food.

He guided the creature downward and allowed it to land near the plantation.

The dragon immediately began eating.

It tore entire banana plants from the ground, consuming the fruit, leaves and stalks with enormous bites. One plant disappeared after another. The creature moved through the plantation like a living force of nature, devouring everything in its path.

The plantation was enormous, but the dragon was enormous too.

Its body was many times larger than any elephant, and after a thousand years without food, its appetite was almost impossible to satisfy. It ate dozens of banana plants in moments, then hundreds more. The stranger remained on its back, watching carefully as the creature continued feeding.

Within minutes, huge sections of the plantation had disappeared.

The dragon kept eating until finally its movements slowed.

Its breathing became calmer.

It stopped.

For the first time since awakening, the creature seemed satisfied.

The stranger gently pulled the rope.

The dragon raised its head.

“Good,” he said quietly.

He guided it back toward Sengaaravan.

The return journey was far calmer. The dragon flew steadily across the mountains, no longer twisting violently or fighting against its rider. The stranger remained seated confidently upon its neck, guiding it through the sky as though he had never stopped riding dragons.

When they finally approached Sengaaravan, the villagers saw the enormous creature descending from the sky.

Panic immediately spread through the village.

People who had been hiding began retreating behind houses and rocks. The police officers raised their weapons instinctively, unsure whether the stranger had succeeded or whether the dragon had simply chosen to bring him back as its next meal.

The dragon landed in the village.

Its enormous feet struck the ground with a heavy impact.

Dust rose around it.

But the creature did not roar.

It simply stood there calmly.

The stranger climbed down from its neck.

“Don't be afraid,” he told the villagers. “I have tamed it.”

Nobody moved.

“It was hungry,” he continued. “I found food for it on the other side of the mountains. It has eaten enough now. It won't attack anyone.”

The villagers stared at the dragon.

The enormous creature remained perfectly still beside him.

For the first time since it had awakened, Sengaaravan was completely silent.

Then, from somewhere beyond the trees, Maaran, Perumal and Dass emerged.

Before Maaran could say anything, the police officers moved toward him.

Ravi immediately placed him under arrest.

Maaran did not resist.

The officers had already begun to understand what had happened, but they needed the truth from the man himself.

“Why did you wake the dragon?” Ravi demanded.

Maaran looked toward the creature standing peacefully in the village.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he finally revealed everything.

He told them about the ancient kingdom, the battle, the enemy kingdom that had defeated his army, and how he had discovered that Sengaaravan now stood upon that very land. He admitted that the story about the thousand-year cycle had been a lie. The dragon had not awakened because the thousand years were complete. It had awakened because Maaran had deliberately led Perumal and Dass to the bell.

He had known that twelve rings would wake it.

He had known the forest did not contain enough food.

And he had known exactly what would happen once the dragon became hungry.

He had awakened Vaanaravaan deliberately.

Not to protect the village.

But to destroy the land that had once belonged to his enemies.

The truth left Perumal and Dass speechless.

They finally understood why Maaran had guided them to the bell, why he had lied about the ancient ritual, and why he had seemed strangely calm while the dragon was awakening.

The entire disaster had been his plan from the beginning.

13.  Amongst the Living

The stranger walked toward Maaran and stood before him. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he looked toward the forest and spoke quietly.

“A city may give a man a place to dwell, but the forest teaches him how to live. Live with nature. Understand it, and you will understand yourself. A man who forgets his bond with the living world will eventually lose himself to hatred.”

Maaran remained silent.

The police officers took him into custody and escorted him toward the village.

Later, the stranger led the dragon deep into the forest and secured it in a safe place where it could remain undisturbed. As the days passed, the villagers slowly stopped fearing the creature. The stranger began using the dragon's strength to help them with their daily work—moving heavy objects, carrying timber, clearing difficult paths, and assisting with tasks that would otherwise require many people.

Slowly, fear gave way to familiarity.

The people of Sengaaravan began to accept the dragon as a part of their lives.

Yet beyond the mountains, the outside world knew nothing.

Hidden within the vast Western Ghats, deep in the Merku Thodarchi Malai, an ancient dragon had returned to the world after centuries of silence. A creature from another age now lived among the mountains, carrying with it a mystery that no one beyond Sengaaravan would ever know.

                                                              The End.