The sun rose and fell, and darkness filled the city as Amara and Vihaan found no sign of life outside the eerie statues, littering every corner of the city. Even inside the building. They had just reached the golden city, as the sky turned red. Shadows danced upon the walls when Amara lifted the makeshift torch Vihaan had constructed for them.

Unlike the cities below, this one was smaller, more like a palace surrounding a garden, where you enter. Pools filled the area, and from what Amara could see, the center piece was for royalty. It was adorned with reliefs and smaller statues, all depicting familiar scenes. The two buildings on the sides were different, one seemed to be homes. It was filled with rooms and toys, almost like it was meant for children. The other seems to be a school of some sort, with scriptures made from sindosi, a processed cloth made similar to paper.

The center palace though was closed. Vihaan had tried to pry the gates open but it wouldn’t budge so we snuck into the school area, entering the library to see if we can find any information we can decipher as we settled down for the night.

“Can you read this?” asked Vihaan, frowning at some of the scriptures being too damaged to read.

“Some of it,” Amara admitted. “Some seem to be in a writing similar to the Harappan Language, not unlike the writing outside the city on the temple we found, but other texts are in Sanskrit, albeit some weird variation on it.”

“An unknown dialect?” Vihaan suggested, perusing a scripture.

“Possibly,” Amara said holding up her scripture. “This one seems to talk about the golden city, calling it Hiraṇyapura.”

“I recognize the name.”

“It is mentioned in some poems such as the Purana and Mahabharata if I remember correctly. It was a golden city said to be the homes of some Asura clans. This scripture seems to support that. It mentions several clans living in the cities below. The golden city was for the children to be raised and protected by the Kalakeyas and the Paulomas,” Amara explained.

“That would explain the dorms filled with toys and the school across the yard. What about the center building?”

“So now you speak like Asuras are completely normal.”

“Well, I’m still skeptical but you made a fair point. If a rival clan called Asuras once existed and terrorized our ancestors then it wouldn’t be completely strange for our ancestors to demonize them, making them over the years into monsters. Though I still can’t explain our sudden transportation to a city from a temple, but I will focus on the problem I can rationalize at the moment, “ Vihaan muttered. “You still didn’t answer me.”

“It calls it the home of the king of the Asuras, Mayasura,” Amara said after perusing the scripture for a while. Her smile being triumphant. “I was correct. This is most likely Tripura, the three cities Mayasura created and ruled over.”

“I’m not as sure as you that he ruled them all,” Vihaan interrupted as he scanned a scripture with a similar topic. “This one mentions the king of the silver city, Hiranyaksha, who according to this text was murdered by Vishnu, as his brother Hiranyakashipu was before him. Hiranyaksha’s son Andhaka took over, being the current king of the silver city.”

Looking over at the scripture after the one he had just read, he frowned. “This one is interesting. It is a historical documentation of Andhaka’s and the writer’s life.”

“Who was the author?” Amara asked, trying desperately to remember all the stories from the Hindi religion but it was too many and too few she had memorized for her to make a perfect recollection.”

“He names himself Prahlada,” Vihaan seemed fully engrossed in the scripture. “That is a name I recognized.”

“The loyal devotee of Vishnu who despite his father's cruelty towards him still worshipped Vishnu?” Amara asked, trying to remember the details.

“Exactly, this document seems to depict a diary of a kind. Prahlada mentions Vishnu saving him and he worshipping the deva, being called a traitor by his own kind. When Prahlada heard of his cousin, Andhaka’s coronation, he came back to guide Andhaka and his people to a better path but…”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go so well. I can recall something about Andhaka kidnapping Parvati, Shiva’s wife because he wanted the most beautiful of all women, which caused a war which in turn ensured Andhaka’s demise.”

“I cannot say, the last part of the diary seemed to have withered away,” Vihaan said. The last thing in the entrance was that Prahlada had advised against some kind of action and he had refused to listen. It doesn’t say what kind of action he had advised against or what the outcome was.”

“Very convenient,” Amara snorted, stretching out on the blankets she had laid out on the floor. “Anything else interesting?”

“Yes and no. There is too much information, such as the kingly lines, Asura clans, and other mentions and how they are related, but some of them make no sense. At least not now,” Vihaan replied, not looking up from the scriptures.

“Any mentions of Kali who stood by the entrance?”

“Yes, and no. The only reference I found was a Kalika, who was a daughter of Mayasura. She sought Shiva as she claimed to be the reincarnation of his former wife Sati. The last thing mentioned of her is that she got married to Shiva, Mayasura hoped that it would bring peace between the Devas and the Asuras. “

“They speak of Devas and Asuras like they were people from different countries,” Amara muttered.

“My mother would slap me if she heard me saying this but if we assume that they were then some of the information given makes sense. Two rival cities fighting for dominion over the lands are not unheard of in Indian history, not to mention arranged marriages for peace. Marrying of a princess to the rival king would make sense.”

“Still avoiding the strangeness of the city.”

“So are you.”

“Guilty as charged,” Amara grinned, “Aren’t you going to rest?”

“Soon, I will stay on guard first in case something plans on sneaking up on us. You can take the second shift.”

Amara was about to argue but as a strange howl echoed in a distance, she ensured herself that it was for the better or they might end up being eaten in the middle of the night and she would rather not wake up with a missing limb.

*****

Rustling at the loud bang, Amara threw herself up. Her eyes darted around in the dark, panicking as she couldn’t see anything. “Vihaan?”

A hushing sound came out from the darkness, “Quiet down, and don’t panic.”

“What is happening?” she whispered and quietly as she could muster.

“I heard movement from the outside and extinguished all the lights so we wouldn’t be discovered. There seem to be people outside by the entrance of the center building.”

Amara’s eyes adjusted and she saw Vihaan by a window, with the gun in his hands, looking out at the yard. Sneaking over quietly, Amara peeked out at the scene. Seven men stood by the entrance, some holding torches while others were holding guns, scanning the area.

At the center stood a man, with back slicked short hair, in typical British fashion, but his skin was slightly darker, his hair was black and his facial features looked like that of a handsome Indian man. The only thing that made Amara convinced that he was mixed was the light grey eyes, contrasting against his darker features. By how the men were standing, he seemed to be the leader.

“What are they doing?” muttered Amara with a frown.

“The explosion you heard was their leader. He touched the entrance and the heavy golden doors swung open,” Vihaan explained.

“How? We couldn’t open it?”

“I don’t know, I started to watch them when the entrance was already opened. Maybe he used some kind of key?”

Watching the area one last time, the men entered the building, while Vihaan and Amara stood there, uncertain on what to do next as silence and darkness laid in their wake. The air seemed heavy with tension making it hard to think.

“Should we go after the raiders?”

“Are you insane? They have weapons and are clearly hostile,” Vihaan almost hissed but was interrupted by the sound of a gentle gong, followed by a soothing and clear mantra repeating again and again.

“Om Shri Vishnave Namaha.”

Amara’s eyes went to the sight before her, and Vihaan followed her gaze, frowning into the darkness. A boy, no more than fifteen walked slowly towards the entrance. He was beautiful, with white skin, a red bindi on his forehead, wearing a white dhoti, his full lips barely moving as he sang the mantra as clear as day. His raven hair was tied up with gold adorning his neck, arms, and ears in expensive jewelry.

The boy was glowing, flowers blooming as he walked over to the entrance. Slowly he turned toward where Amara and Vihaan were hiding, a gentle smile on his lips as he sang the mantra, seemingly to clear the air. Amara felt lightheaded for a second before her mind became clear as she faced those dark eyes.

The boy continued on into the open entrance, his mantra slowly fading, and Amara giving chase without even a second thought. She didn’t look around for she already knew that Vihaan ran after her. She could hear his footsteps close as they rushed into the temple, just in time before the door closed behind them, leaving only silence behind.