Author's Notes:

I appear to have been added to the Longest Stories comms by Shay Guy, apparently reaching a criterion of 800k words. (Jesus). I've managed to shorten the original plot down to around thirty chapters I thinks, putting end of the story around November. Then, there'll be a few filler shorts at the end for after story happenings. With RaK out of the way, I'll be on a fifty-fifty between BYA and my upcoming Gate fanfic with working title: God of Cookery. Resting assured these two won't even be written with a long plot in mind. Twenty each, maybe less for Beyond Yearning & Ambition.


The long enduring peace the forest had enjoyed for centuries had been disturbed by unfamiliar trundling through the thickets. A pair of boots belonging to Ajay kicked up the dirt from where he ran, close by was a shadow trailing him that did not leave footprints where it moved gracefully through the forest like it was part of it, and leaving the surrounding in a frostbitten state. The ground beneath his feet began to freeze up and mire him with a gradual increase in snow that was never there to begin with.

His breath from panting in his constant sprint could be seen from the sudden unnatural drop in temperature. The animals scattered as they sensed the force pursuing him, but Ajay remained calm and consistently checked a compass to ensure that the right path was taken. What awaited at the end of his destination was the means of dealing with this thing chasing him for his Prana. A kind of internal ki or lifeforce energy which could be employed to power talismans, cast spells and empower items like weapons. These were the more practical applications of Prana, an art and alternative to the modern technology now proliferating the globe. An art lost in time and the disappearance of the more powerful beings that wielded them to full effect.

[Do not run, warrriiooor! Saave Mee!]

A clearing came up ahead and Ajay was presented with a very clear endangerment to himself in the form of a deadend. A cliff lay just between him and the other side of the mountains. He turned around to assess if a re-routing was still possible. A ghostly figure came to a halt in front of him gazing at him with two glistening orbs. This figure bore the resemblance of a beautiful woman combined with a ghastly pale appearance. Giving him a familiar feeling of a certain horror flick. The figure chuckled with an eerie womanly voice as if it found chasing him like a game.

[My lord…. How I long for company….. embrace meeee!] It spoke in a long-forgotten Sanskrit dialect, but Ajay could understand thanks to a perculiar translating talisman Darshan handed to him. So convenient, these talismans were it almost made technology seem very backward. To think it was magic arts perfected over a thousand of years ago.

Between him and what Darshan called a Bhoot was a vast cleared out space of flat ground unhindered by trees. That spirit was one of the more formidable common ones capable of devouring souls off witless mortals, especially those that wandered the forests alone. They're drawn by negative emotions but fed off the lifeforce of the unsuspecting, leading to the demise of many trekkers and travelling Sherpa without traceable symptoms to their deaths. Nothing but shrivelled corpses remained, giving the impression they starved to death to passing search parties. But that was clearly not the case.

Ajay shouldn't have been able to see it like any ordinary person, unless they believed in its existence. But Ajay's ties to the supernatural were deep rooted with the essence of Yalung within him. It was the "smell" of that vitality which lured the spirit to him despite the presence of the last rites talisman to repel it. Weighing the energies he held with the risk of banishment to be worth it, the spirit gave a relentless chase.

Where these entities would've once kept a fair distance because of a killing intent that manifested from his bloodshed and malice into his bodily aura, it was now sealed by Darshan. As Ajay came to understand the fear and intimidation over his captured enemies was this heavy stench of bloodshed he amassed and not because he was sharp tongued or frightening in visage. How was Saras able to bypass this he wondered, how was anyone he was closely acquainted to maintain calm emotions over this suffocating aura?

The spirit floated closer and closer towards him after seeing he made no attempt to escape. The deceivingly gentle expression remained throughout the entirely of its pursuit of Ajay, even when wanting to devour him.

[Finally…. Let me console you, young master….] It cooed like it did to lure a more unsuspecting victim, or perhaps this was all it could really comprehend in a limit as a renegade spirit in deterioration.

"No, thanks." He replied back not caring if it understood, he struck a beam sticking out of the dirt causing a hidden trap to reveal itself and enclosed the bhoot in a circle of chains linked with talismans hanging from them.

[RRRRRREEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIII- AAAAHHHHHHHHH!]

A piercing shriek shook the valley as the spirit wailed in agony to the paper talismans that hung around on the ropes that encircled it. The sound was extremely disorientating and almost caused him to blackout, he managed to maintain focus and get ready to complete his final task of this trial.

"Now or never."

Ajay waved the sequence required to exorcist the spirit and banish it on its way to hell and prepared the chant. He'd spent nearly five days on understanding the theory behind the lore of magic, Prana, and different rites performed by all of the races that once lived in this valley. Along with some basic knowledge on each of them. The last four days, he went with little sleep applying the most basic craft that Darshan taught him which he divided into three groups for ease of reference and tracking.

These three were Spiritual Sense, Talisman crafting, and Rites of Exorcism (Author's Remarks: Exorcism skill tree)

Darshan was barely able to cramp useful skills into his short training camp with him for practicality sake, there was a war still going on. Darshan took years to master all of the inheritance that was passed on to him as the successor of the Demon Banishers. But Ajay would only have a few months at most, he had to constantly spend time learning and practicing on the go. Darshan had left in his possession a few things, and a copy of an original manual among other things to set him upon this exorcist path, a thangka with pictures and inscriptions cut into the lines of the intricate drawings. As far as Ajay was concerned, giving him these items was as good a sign of trust Darshan was willing to indulge onto Ajay.

An index finger pointed to his third eye and another to his navel region where his Prana was centred. Ajay began the recital to his first banishment of a spirit with excitement.

"Mera Iccha Parvato Jesa Mazboot He! Mera Karma hi Mantra Hai! Is Paapt Srish-pfftttt!" (zzzzzzzz) A painful current passed through his body as punishment for his interruption, breaking his concentration entirely.

Failure.

With a tongue, uncommon to the native language. It was the only possible explanation why he stumbled during the chant. Ajay coughed out blood from the backlash, but this was now the least of his problems.

The Bhoot had shedded its earthly figure for a more horrifying look with prehensile hairs floating and a jaw that looked like it could devour his head in one bite. Its true strength had also been revealed as it pummelled the talisman barrier that kept it from escaping, everytime the chains rattled and the talisman papers corroded a bit with each hit.

(crunch) (crunch) The stakes that held the chains were being uplifted.

Ajay gritted his teeth at the worsening odds. This was something akin to a final examination through the basics of combating demonic entities.

He had no other weapons available to kill this thing as Darshan confiscated them, he used only the talismans he spent the days crafting tirelessly which had all been used to draw out and capture this spirit manifested into reality by his own presence and the items.

The Bhoot looked towards him with evened fury, it couldn't wait to claw him to death before devouring him.

Ajay sighed. This wasn't the first time he'd had a backlash from incorrect nunciation.

-Words from the mouth doesn't manifest strength. Might comes from drawing upon your Prana directly.- An inner voice said to him.

-Y-You-…..-

It was as his inner demon had stated, it was the lifeforced used to power the hex, not the words he used. The chant was simply there to create an absolute focus of drawing upon that Prana through his inner Nadi (channels).

Ajay placed his fingers towards his Third Eye region upon his forehead and onto his navel where his Central Chakra was.

"My will is the mountains….." His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet the wind carried it with a power that nearly all living beings nearby heard it as if it were a whisper to their ears.

"My karma is the mantra…" This included the Bhoot spirit who sensed a dangerous presence grow from its meal.

"….. Banish all creation against nature!" A rising pulse of energy was drawn out of his Chakra centre through his spiritual veins into the fingers at his forehead and his navel. He pointed the one at his navel towards the Bhoot just as it had broken free and hesitated between fleeing and attacking.

"8th Demon Banishing Hex!" It choose to flee as it zipped into the forest quicker than the eye could see. Strangely, Ajay could still see and sense it from the effects of the magic. His Third eye was given clear vision to where it was running with all the speed that it could muster from non-existence.

His index finger aligned with the spirit and he spoke the word that would complete the casting.

"Seal!"

And like a lightning bolt fired from his hand, no matter if there were objects in the direct line of sight, or the distance he was from it. The bolt flew true to its mark and struck the Bhoot.

[NAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!]

It wailed with an immense cry of pain as the demon banishing magic caught and corroded its existence.

"Immolate!" Said a nearby voice to the spirit and the Bhoot caught fire to an immaterial azure flame. The flame quickened the complete destruction of the renegade spirit and continued to burn in midair for a brief time that allowed Ajay to arrive to see it. A bright pure blue flame that seemingly didn't harm the dense forest growth nor feel intense.

The flame extinguished almost instantaneously, as the matter which fuelled it had finally dissipated. But it did leave something behind from the flame that dropped to the floor, Ajay couldn't quite see it as Darshan moved in to pick it up.

"…." No words of "well done" or "that'll do, pig" Not that he wanted it from Darshan, but at least he could've affirmed that Ajay had made progress. Only Vajra came over to congratulate Ajay, but expected pets as a reward.

"What's that?" He asked as the older man came over with the thing he picked up.

Darshan wasn't actually concealing it so he caught a glimpse of a very small object that had a glossy finish or pink or something fleshy coloured.

"Are you feeling any urges of nausea, weakness or puking out blood?" He asked Ajay instead.

"No. And that last one is really worrying!"

"…." Darshan remained silent as it presented that it was not the case for Ajay and so wasn't a danger.

"What's going on?" He found his silence to be a bit unsettling.

"You shouldn't have been able to seal the Bhoot so easily." He said with a finger to the chin.

"Excuse me?... Didn't you put me up against it because it was the easiest?" Darshan closed his eyes to absorb his thoughts and think about the situation.

"It couldn't be anything else…. I see…." He monologued to himself.

"Hellooo…. Darshan, don't leave me out of loop." Darshan snapped back into reality and turned to face him with his diagnosis.

"Normally, mortals shouldn't be able to defeat entities with greater volume of Prana in their Chakra than themselves. That can be applied for the process of banishing, which is applying one's Prana to forcefully subjugate the other. This is because of their racial physical limits in Chakra, there are some few exceptions in mortals as there are with the other entities. In short, no ordinary mortal could take down something like an Asura, Yaksha or even a Rakshasa for that matter."

If anything, Ajay wanted to shout at him why he forced him to undertake this test if he knew this fundamental. Another thought also occurred to him.

"Hold on… Then how were you able to take down greater Rakshasas like Bhaskar as Vasu said you did, and don't tell me that his clone wasn't powerful enough it couldn't suppress you." Darshan shook his head to indicate that it wasn't he case.

"While my inner Prana can't possibly compare to even the lowliest of the Rakshasa ranks, that doesn't mean I can't find other ways to supply the necessary Prana to fuel the Banishing Hex."

"Other means?"

"Mediums that substitute my lack of Prana, one such source of Prana sufficient for the job to be done is this." Darshan held out the object he picked up from the spirit's remains.

"A ruby?" Although he said that, he felt that it didn't quite have the texture of one. It was reddish-pink and had a clouded exterior of an uncut crystal. This crystal gave him a feeling of nostalgia as well, it looked too much like the rare and expensive variant of precious stone found in Kyrat.

A Blood Ruby.

"This… is lifeforce synthesized into crystal form. What my archives call a soul stone."

-Synthesized magic crystals?- Did the Demon Banisher records teach him a method of synthesizing the lifeforce of his defeated foes into crystals to use against more power foes? It explained why Darshan had always never seemed at home and was out all the time. He wasn't almighty with magic, his human physique was what limited him and yet he was a presence the Rakshasa dared not ignore.

"The only possible explanation for your apparent ease and undepleted reserves of Prana is because you aren't using your own. You're using the fragment of Yalung's Prana instead."

-So that's where it came from.- Ajay shuddered to think how powerful Yalung really was if this was all a mere fragment contained.

Darshan passed to him the crystal to his outreached hand, dropping it into his palm. After a brief examination, his suspicions were cleared.

"Its unmistakable, these resemble arctic Blood Rubies." From what Darshan gathered from that, he'd probably chanced upon it before.

"There is no such thing as Blood Rubies, what you saw was probably this." Darshan took it back and stowed it away in a bag full of similar crystals rubies but in larger size.

"It's not uncommon to find them in caves where spirits and other entities reach the end of their longevity." Or so he says.

Ajay could only fathom what kind of creature left a Blood Ruby in those dimensions, and what kind of resources did Darshan commit to defeating it for these power crystals he called soul stones.

And then, a thought occurred to him.

"Darshan, what's the biggest size Ruby you've collected over the years?" It concerned a particular specimen he'd seen before.

Darshan squinted as he tried to discern the meaning behind his words but retrieved one the size of a golfball. Ajay thought about what kind of creature yet again yielded that.

"And how much Prana could that yield?" Ajay asked sensibly.

"Enough to keep my fighting her for at least an hour with power to spare in sealing her. Unfortunately, she won't make it so easy for me. Her clones will take the hit in place of her and her spatial magic distorted my last attempt. I need to beat her to an inch of her life before I can cast the Hex. But this soul stone can do all of that…. Provided I'm alone against her."

-That powerful!?-

"Have you seen one of this size before?" Darshan was no fool to his inquiries.

"Yeah…. But a lot bigger." These words left Darshan without a moment to recover his expression.

"What?!" It was the first time Darshan showed surprise.

"How big?!" He demanded as he reached out and grasped Ajay's shoulders tightly.

"Jeez, calm down."

"How Big?!" He insisted. The fact that his biggest was actually his trump card in the final confrontation meant that if he even had another of the one he had, his odds wouldn't be so against him.

"(sigh)….. I dunno, its currently in fragments with the smallest about the size of a child's head, maybe." Now Ajay wasn't entirely sure if the Blood Rubies he liberated from Yuma's snow guards upon their icy mountain excavation was in fact not a jewel but a soul stone that Darshan talked about. But he was willing to wager that if he could bring it forwards, their fight against the unparallel Rakshasa might not be a last stand after all.

It was at this moment after Darshan recovered from his daze from hearing those words did a grin like never before escaped from his mouth unconsciously.

"It looks like our options have increased yet again, Ajay Ghale."


Han Feng read the newspapers at eight o' clock every morning in his workplace behind the family home in the backyard shed. A full eight days had passed since their resettlement into what was called the Lakeside Housing Estates, or what the folks called Little Shangri-La. A small haven with a vantage to the nearby forests and just beside Jalendu Lake, the feng shui was impressive here. It had been eleven days since what became the Canton Rebellion, there was no escaping what they did. Yet, no one was in the mood to be bothered by a defeated group or seek revenge for some past grudge. The looming festival for the Victory Parade was about to arrive soon in a few days, there was only good thoughts circulating the City.

He flipped the page as he placed the coffee mug to his lips.

"King reports resounding Victory to Committee." He announced the headlines to his cousin who was working on a furniture piece currently in progress.

As Han Feng had said, Pagan had indeed travelled to the Papir Capital to answer a board of enquiry hosted by the Himavana member states at Garud Durbar Palace. The one holding the torch for the alliance activities, Dhir of Papir was the Secretary-General appointed to open the enquiry.

They were naturally worried for the state of Kyrat on the account that it footed much of the ground work that defined this alliance. The protection which there airforce gave to their skies and the Military procurements they had placed with the Arsenals in the efforts to modernize their armed forces. Yinke heavily depended on Kyrati Air Superiority if they were ever invaded by their Superpower neighbour.

Pagan answered all that was asked of him and did not argue back, and so he had the support of many of the committee members like Ambassador Jagriti Tenzin and Crown Prince Manendra. One of the biggest questions was the presence of Russian and Indian Military forces assembled in Sagarmatha and other transit airfields to Kyrat. Pagan revealed a Military Division-Scale Mountain Warfare exercise which Kyrat had the honour of hosting this joint event.

He didn't specify the details of why he didn't inform the other members only that he'd suffered a concussion injury from the attempted assassination on his life during the Rebellion. Again, stating that he'd punished all responsible and ensured that it would not happen again.

This provided him enough of an alibi to get out of the frying pan. But the three states requested to join the wargames for learning purposes and he had no choice but to grant them that right. And so, Pagan came home with the notice that the Yinkian, Kumsan and Republican Army would be sending a few companies each to observe and partake in the live-fire exercise.

Han Feng read it aloud to his cousin working on one of the chairs ordered by a customer.

"Man, our country is really getting busy, ain't it." His cousin commented.

"…." Han Feng knew it was a lot more complicated than what the ignorant thought. As Gary had indulged him on the current events, the Russian and Indian forces where here to race against the Americans to find lost nuclear weapons of American-origin, codenamed Broken Arrow. A silent war was going to be waged behind everyone's backs, both sides determined to achieve their objectives. Oblivious to a fourth party who has been in this area longer than anyone. He had a brief meeting with Vasu who unveiled onto him highly sensitive intel that Ajay had drafted a plan to have the Rakshasa and Golden Path bump into the US expeditionary force. Either kill them all or absorb them, and they were going to pincer the US forces while the Golden Path attacked from the other side. The Russians and Indians were to station by the borders near Pakistan to cut off their escape and reinforcements from their reserves trying to cross the border. Russian wargame theorists suspected a force of five to ten thousand troops coming with reserves up to twelve thousand. They weren't sending any larger to avoid suspicious activity from the other western powers and media criticism. The Marshal had planned for the whole Jatayu Force to return. 1st Hussars would rotare with 2nd Hussars in tour duty at the Sino-Yinkian border. Having them away from Kyrat for a time would do them some good, Han Feng thought about his fellow soldiers.

"What do you have to say about all this?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He used the cliché spy phrase to make it seem like a friendly refute. His cousin laughed and also yelped from earning himself a virgin nick from clumsy and unattentive handling of sharpened tools.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful with the wood shaver?" He chuckled at his cousin's expense. His cousin laughed too.

Such a change in their relation, for many years their relationship was that of acknowledging one anothers existence with barely any interaction. Now they were coworkers and best of friends. Han Feng's interest in wood working was exactly perculiar to his family as several generations back to their earliest ancestor who arrived in Hong Kong from Guang Zhou was also from a carpentry lineage, somewhere along the family line an elder Sun told his descendants not to continue the trade of crafting as it had little prospects in the rapidly modernizing world. They took his words to heart and went about seeking other trades, among the most prominent was triad business which led all the way to Sun Kwan's generation. So it was ingrained in the household that undertaking carpentry in particular was generally looked upon with disdain.

Who would have thought that returning to their roots would be their saving grace, and who to lead them other than Elder son, Han Feng. A scorned trait turned into a gift, another of this his cousins named Cheon-Fan happened to bring examples of his work to sell at the market while she was applying to be an accountant at the National trust. She was very street-smart so dealing with a borrowed lorry, she had them throw the lot of furniture he crafted in excess from building house furnishings for the rest of the neighbourhood. She left with fifteen examples one time and returned with cash for each of the pieces. All of his furniture were made from high quality Himalayan Cedar he chopped from the forest, his earnings had kept the family from being in the red on outstanding upkeep.

"Han Geng, ngo mun zing zoi cam zaau jat go haak jan. (We have a visitor asking for you.)" His elderly uncle called for him who was inside the shed working with his cousin on the next order.

"Hai! Mn goi, Kauh fu!" He answered his Uncle who returned to the warmth of the house to play his chess with another old relative after delivering the message.

"I'll leave you to it then." He threw his gloves off along with his working apron.

"Han Geng, come on man! Don't leave me hanging with this!" His studious cousin complained to his new work life.

"You'll manage. Just make sure you treat that cut as well or it'll swell. Then you'll be in deep shit when we're forced to amputate." His cousin expressed a frantic look as he rushed to the nearby faucet to wash his hand. It only served to amuse Han Feng with his joke taken too seriously.

"College boys….." His younger cousin was one of the few out of country at the time before returning to this mess. His studies had been put on hold till he could support himself to return and finish his term, or would he, after returning to this life seemingly more difficult than his peaceful study environment in Quebec he might just give up.

"Coming!"

He hurried out to the front door of the large home his family had the privilege of staying in. He wipped as much of the sawdust as possible and wore his business smile.

"Good morning, how may help-…." He had expected a client, but instead he was staring down at the most unlikely person he had ever had the opportunity of meeting now.

Standing at his front porch in the military uniform of the para commandos was Jeevan. A silence brewed between their encounter, then Jeevan was the first to speak.

"Vasu sent me, I'm here to collect you."


He wasn't sure if it was a good thing, but for a change there was a good vibe coming from Darshan ever since they'd left the camp site. He'd already come this far in a full eight-day course in combating the supernatural. Ajay had just informed him of a possibility of acquiring the most powerful soul stone in the region, but after a short debate he told Ajay to let him acquire it.

He had the domestic affairs to handle now that he'd been exposed to demon hunting tactics and arts. Out of the training course, Darshan had given him a wooden sword, the Demon Banisher manual and Vedic scriptures, along with templates for specialized talismans which Darshan had developed himself for better efficiency or optimisation to a dedicated task than those in the thangka scroll.

He followed Darshan to his hut in the Pravyadh Village of hunters. Darshan came out of of his accommodation with a pack of his own things for a long journey and Ajay's weapons which he made him leave behind.

The slayer was rested in Ajay's hands giving him a renewed self assurance, as he looked at the vedic scriptures engraved onto the weapon he now had a feeling her understood them better. They were basically a circuit for channeling Prana into the weapon and in turn the bullets that delivered a potent anti-demon killing weapon. As Darshan stated, every living being has Prana just in different amounts. His theory was that through the wielder's desire to kill the target he/she pointed the weapon at would unconsciously channel the necessary Prana to inflict better damage through the Vedic scripture circuit to the Rakshasa than a normal weapon would. He had given a similar template for the talisman to the Arsenal a week back to engrave onto the weapons. Thought, they didn't require the kind of power that the slayer demanded and therefore had different statistics and characteristics. It was still a start in allowing the Kyrati soldiers to have a fighting chance.

Ajay passed him a sketch of the coordinates to the last know position of the Blood Ruby that he could recall along with a NAVIC receiver to easily navigate towards the final location. A satellite phone was handed for further contact.

"I'd recommend heading back to Lakshman first, hire a Sherpa at their associations' teahouse, they could save you some time getting up there." Darshan nodded.

"I'll do just that, here." He held out an object to place into Ajay's hands. When the object covered by his backhand came into contact with Ajay-.

.

Ten Vedic Talismans

Ten Sacred Guardians

Seal As-

..

Ajay shrugged his head as the ancient medallion passed those familiar phrases into his head, they cancelled out as he focused on the reality in front of him.

"That's an unsavoury feeling, take it back."

"Hold on to it, it'll do you more good than it would to me."

"What's it for?"

"Protection."

"From her?"

"Or yourself." Darshan added with a wry smile before making his way towards the exit of the Village. As they passed the inhabitance, the villagers bowed with a hand to their chest. The kind of seniority and respect he held in this village was beyond any they ever gave to foreigners. Perhaps this made Ajay feel more at ease that whatever Darshan did, it would still not be so cruel as to subject the inhabitants of Kyrat to whatever fate he had planned against the Rakshasas efforts.

"I'll return in four days, then I'll let you in on what I plan to do in keeping Kyrat safe from this invasion and her ultimate motives." Ajay nodded in agreement and watched him leave the village.

Now, Ajay had "graduated" from the hellish training that Darshan had put him through, there was much to research on regarding the more advance demon banishing techniques that he had yet to unlock but he was getting the hang of it and was able to apply it now.

He wasn't sure about what had happened when he banished the spirit. It was both a first time he'd done so and complete the entire sequence for the hex. Even now, he could still feel residual power flowing through his spiritual veins as if lightning was coursing through it but not harming him. Such power, no wonder ancient mortal man could stand on the same footing as demi-gods like the Rakshasa.

Vajra picked up his bag with its mouth and awaited his instructions.

"Thanks, buddy." Ajay couldn't help but find it cute and rewarded the initiative with some pets.

He looked to the gate out of the Village where he should leave to meet with the rest on organising the Armies.

"Lord Badala?"

"Yes?" One of the hunters approached and saluted to him.

"The Matriarch would like to share her wisdom with your grace, would you allow her to keep you from leaving just a short while?" A few other hunters accompanied him, like they wanted to add to his presence in Ajay's eyes or he wouldn't be taken seriously.

"Alright, please take me to her." Ajay followed the hunter cadre to a large longhouse that served both as the residence of the Huntress Matriarch and the seat of power for the Hunter elders and senior-ranked warriors

As far as he knew about the Pravyadh tribe was that they were rainforest dwellers and at some point Pagan had saved them from an epidemic outbreak with his already low medical resources. He earned their eternal gratitude and their service as the most feared fighting force of Kyrat. Trained from young in hunting, fighting and killing, like the Spartans Hoplites. They had an edge over ordinary soldiers who signed up at the legal age of seventeen. Whom before had not known the act of taking another's life and lived the simple life of a farmer or tradesman. Even the former Royal Guard with its criteria of being of Warrior lineage, their families had generations who trained their descendants at an early age. Their mindset was already prepared for whatever training at the Royal Academy there was.

Ajay was brought to a smoking room, a scent of herbs was brewed by some old women in a cauldron at the centre of the room. But the person he was supposed to see was behind this large obstruction, smoking away at a pipe with her eyes closed.

The scent reached his nostrils and he caught a waifer of it, a pleasant scent of acorn and creamy cinnamon bark.

"Those Cameroon Oscuros do give off a nice whiff, at the cost of an ulcer if you smoke more than three a day." The Matriarch's eyes opened as she retrieved the slender cigar from her mouth stylishly, Ajay wondered what she looked like in her youth with that same sort of refine grace.

"Are you a habitual smoker yourself?"

"Can't say that I am, but around the big boys in the theatre of operation it hardly becomes choice to not breath in some of that local blend."

"Breathing in and from one directly and from the surroundings are two entirely different things, boy." She chuckled as she waved the hunters to leave.

"Even I know that at the very least. I knew a woman like you."

"Like me?"

"Figurative. She was akin to the Lord of the ghetto blocks, one of her favorite pass times was puffing away at the precious few Cohibas she had in her possession. So much so that the folks bought her cigars as presents, although they never did know which was her favourite." Ajay walked around the cauldron to face her properly.

"Still, she couldn't turn down a good cigar even if it had a different blend or flavour. So she enjoyed the variety over the years. Being that I was under the smoking age and to get caught by mom was terrible but by her?... well, it was a whole different affair that I won't go into. But if you send all that time whiffing it in, eventually you'll be able to tell what its composition is." She chuckled at the stage this short story ended up in.

"Like the one you're having is a Cameroon filled with a Tobacco grown in Khyber." She applauded as she chuckled away.

"Impressive, son of Mohan. Impressive." The fact that she knew of his origin didn't phase Ajay at all. She was after all a confidant to Pagan like Gary was.

"Although this woman, what was she to you in that regard?" It was a subtle inquiry, that he brought up her similarity to this woman he described. Then it was stating his impression of her and his stance.

"She was my neighbour and a good friend of my mother and I. She treated my mother like her younger sister and I called her Mama out of love and respect."

The matriarch took another puff as she faced the outside window.

"…. Love… and respect, eh? I see what Maya meant, whether consciously or unconsciously. You're a rather cunning womaniser if I ever saw one. Whether born out of habit or a desire to be loved in kind it is none of my concern."

Ajay raised an eyebrow at her analysis of him. Womaniser? Who was she talking about?

'But if you want to call me…. Mama. Then a certain amount of relation must be established with us long term." Ajay had a feeling like she was a pretty competent in politics despite their villages isolation from the outside world.

"In regards to that, I know next to nothing about you or the tribe for that matter. So you'll forgive me for denying your assumptions."

She laughed as she shook her head.

"Huntress Matriarch Jayama at your service, Lord Ghale." She formally introduced herself.

"Ajay Ghale, and Badala is the one holding the title of Duke not me." Jayama nodded and tapped the mat opposite her to indicate for him to sit on it which he did.

Ajay stared into her eyes for a moment as did she. Her appearance was weathered by age but her eyes still burned with vitality. Jayama was seeing something different in Ajay, she saw orbs of destruction but kept her composure.

"Maya mentioned something about you wanting the flute."

"That I did." She admitted. "She also said the transaction you made was for the son of Khati. On that, I cannot fault you."

-Like I offended you.- Was what Ajay thought but didn't say.

"What value does it hold to you?"

"Do you know why the Pravyadh can sing to the beast and call upon them to aid us?" She addressed a link between them and the flute.

"Our forefathers, blessed be their names. Carved their respective guardians into each hole to provide a tune to draw the kin of their guardians. That flute….. is none other than the same one lost for over millenia."

"I don't want to spoil the setting you made but I found it in a junk store." Thought her face failed to show it again, she was both shocked and saddened by the state of their most treasured item.

"Although, I'm interested to know how after being lost for thousands upon thousands of years you still remember that you had it."

"We have our ways, Ajay Ghale."

"Fair enough. But I don't think even I can get it back from the perso-… that monster I gave it to."

"Oh? The demon calling another a demon?... That's not something you hear everytime. I hope you can enlighten me on what it is that opposes you and in turn His Royal Highness that the Pravyadh tribe may do its part to show our ferocity."


He was supposed to be returning as quickly as he could to manage what little time he had before Operation Mímisbrunnr commenced, where the Russians and Indian forces moved to set a perimeter. This rat race decided the fate of Kyrat's future as it did turn the tide in an already brittle peace the world order held. But world peace was on no concern to Ajay or Kyrat, they wouldn't be sacrificial lambs to keep this distorted hubris going.

"Um….." Ajay stopped in his tracks as he stood face to face with the younger brother of one of his mortal enemies. Hesistant on what to ask of Ajay, knowing the status he held and the relation he had with Daisy.

"Take me to Daisy, now." He said in a stern voice, Riley didn't hesistate to rush to where the rest of his friends were.

He passed through the many densely packed houses and huts to one charming one by the river the villagers used for washing.

There, he saw all five of them. Noticing his arrival, a cheerfulness was in their actions. But his expression was anything but cheerful, and Daisy was the first to see that as she stepped forward to explain.

"Ajay, I-..eiihh! (bang)" Ajay lifted her by the collar and forced her against the brick wall of the house.

Everyone was so surprised they couldn't break from that stupor. In Ajay's eyes brewed anger, because Daisy had done something beyond foolish.

"You think this is some sort of game?... Play as many times and hope to bring back a fool that let himself get possessed?"

"Ajay, you know I can't just-…"

"Just what? Walk away from all of this? This isn't some test of courage or some adventure story filled with group camaraderie and fellowship. This is-… WAR!" He let go of her. Before he had left for training, he informed Riley of the predicament they'd entered and would be granted safe asylum by the NSA through a deal he made with Ahab, he even arranged the escorts to the airport and on transit. They were all to ship out when he began training. But here they were over a stupid fool's errand.

"And what are they still doing here? If this was something of your own voalition then why involve them?!" He pointed to the rest of the group.

"W-We stayed because we-."

"Riley, all of you. Shut up!" Daisy told him to hush as his words would do no good in convincing Ajay otherwise.

"Ajay…. I don't even know what to say to convince you." She shrugged her shoulders. "I've got nothing. But I know that if I leave here now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

"Regret for the rest of your life? Grow up! Understand that regret is inevitable in life!"

Oliver moved in to defend Daisy by intervening.

"Hey buddy, you need to calm-."

"Finish that sentence and I'll rip those arms off its sockets." Ajay intimidated him into backing off which he did reluctant and scared.

Ajay placed the slayers rifle butt on the ground and leaned on the barrel.

"So tell me. What's the genius plan you have in bringing back Jason Fucking Brody from that Hispanic psychopath!?" He announced in a sarcastic voice. His question was met with silence.

"Really, just a small hint is enough. I'm listening." He continued to Daisy's inability to answer.

"You hear that, fellas?... Nothing." He said to her friends. As he got off the leaning and walked towards Daisy.

"I knew a girl who was damn hell stubborn, but on the things to be stubborn about were all reasonable and within her grasp. Who would've thought that over the years she turned into this fool!" (pak)

And what followed was within Ajay's expectations. It was a weak slap but he felt the emotion behind it.

"Damn you, Ajay Ghale." She said half-tearing and glaring at him. Ajay was not phased as he stood inches from her face with his.

"It was enough that you troubled me on keeping you and your friends save in this hellhole. But you endangered the lives of my friends not once but twice." Her expression faltered as if she was trying to recall something.

"Hurk may be an idiot. But that doesn't mean I'll allow you to take advantage of him! He nearly-…." As Ajay was about to finish his sentence a short sharp pain rendered him speechless and grasping his head in pain. A rush of fragmented memories in the fight to rescue Daisy appeared within his mind. But it seemed jumbled up for some reason and he was having gaps in his memory as well he was having trouble remembering the final bit before his eyes shut.

Daisy reached out to grab him from his unstable footing, but he pushed those hands aside. And westled with the pain.

He wasn't sure why he felt this, but the haunting reply that Daisy gave to him shook his reality to a measure that a new kind of despair was to take root in his thoughts for the maelstrom to come.

"Ajay… Who's-…. Hurk?" Daisy's expression showed an uneasy trouble as she seemed to be in a similar state as Ajay. Struggling to remember something that should've been hard to forget.

The memory of the people he cherished were being wiped from not just him.


Author's Thoughts:

"Nothing to do with all your strength."

- Joker, The Dark Knight