“How much water do we have left?” asked Vihaan, grunting as he sat down, rubbing his aching feet.

Glancing over at their supplies, Amara grimaced, ”Not enough.”

“I’m not too worried. Whoever built this place did put in a lot of pools. We should find water soon enough, maybe we can also find some fruit trees along the way,” Silas said, leaning back against the wall in front of the giant gate at the end of the long hallway they had found.

All of them were tired, and they decided to rest after spending a couple of hours trying to figure out the puzzle on the golden gate. There was no keyhole and the pattern on the gate seem to suggest that it can be open if you solve the puzzle, but none of them has succeeded.

“Let’s sleep on it, try again tomorrow. If that doesn’t work we will need to head back,” Vihaan said. “Our old base has fruit, fish, and water so we can restock our supplies if needed.”

“I can also go back alone and get the supplies while you try and solve the puzzle. I won’t be any help here,” Silas suggested, closing his eyes while his face was littered with fatigue.

“What about the shadows?” asked Amara, looking back into the dark hallway.

“They seem to be tied to the eclipse and eclipses only lasts a few minutes at most,” Vihaan replied, absolutely sure on this.

Silas just patted his gun, ”And if they are still around, this seems to keep them at bay.”

“Maybe but I would have preferred if you saved your bullets,” Vihaan muttered.

“So do I. Another reason to go back and see if I can find some bullets littered on the ground. They might come in handy if that fire demon shows up again.”

“Yes, I did wonder what she had gone. Didn’t she hunt your men?”

“True, but maybe that man, Andhaka wasted her. He seemed rather furious at her making a ruckus."

"Maybe," Vihaan said, staring at the flickering oil lamp he had set up. It would likely run out soon. “But we still need to be careful.”

“If she shows up, leave her to me. I handle it,” Silas mumbled, not opening his eyes.

Vihaan frowned at him, fidgeting a while before he cleared his throat. “Yes, I… thought I should ask. Have you… Eh, killed someone before? If that thing shows up you would most likely need to shoot to kill so-“

That made Silas open his eyes, smirking he glanced at Vihaan who looked more and more uncomfortable. “Do I look like someone who has killed before?”

“Yes,” Amara replied without hesitation.

His eyes met Amaras, seconds went by, before he broke eye contact and looked into the darkness. “Well, I have so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Dare I ask if they deserved it?” muttered Vihaan. Amara had expected Silas to smirk and tell them that they had but he just looked grim, almost guilty.

“No one deserves to die that way.”

“Why did they die?” Amara asked carefully, not sure if she wanted to know.

“He stole my bread,” Silas said quietly.

“Your bread?” Vihaan asked incredulously before his eyes went wide. “How old were you?”

“I’m not sure. I was abandoned at birth so I grew up in an orphanage before I was thrown out. I think I was around seven, maybe eight. I, along with many other kids, were beggars. Sometimes we stole some bread, and most often that bread was stolen by other kids. I was often given bread by foreigners, maybe they saw my eyes and knew what I was, but the other children saw me as a target and often stole from me.”

Both Amara and Vihaan didn’t say a word, they just waited patiently for Silas to continue. His eyes shifting with emotion. “One of the boys noticed me getting a piece of bread from a British lady. My food had been stolen for days, making me starve. So when he beat me down to take my food I… I picked up a brick and just… hit him. Repeatedly. The other children were watching, their frightened eyes glistening in the dark corners of the street.”

“I’m not sure how long I hit the boy. I just know that when I came out of it, the boy was dead. His head caved in, and I got the food I was so willing to kill for,” Silas gave us a smirk more akin to a grimace.”The damn thing tasted like ash. I could never feel any taste other than ash from food after that.”

“I’m sorry,” Amara said, not knowing what else to say.

“For what. It is my, not your, sin to carry. I’m the one who should be sorry,” Silas said, once again closing his eyes.

“Should?”

Silas didn’t reply, he just fell asleep. His breaths becoming slow and deep. Leaning back, Amara stared up at the gate, wondering what lies beyond.

*****

Staring at the door, Amara could feel her eyes itch. “This is just ridiculous, how hard can a puzzle from ancient times be?!”

She was ready to throw a tantrum, while Vihaan stood stoicly staring at the gate while rubbing his unshaved face. His mother would throw a tantrum along side her if she saw the state of he son. “It is rather weirdly constructed. Why is there a scale blocking our path and what are these smaller figures?”

“You noticed,” Amara groaned, rubbing her temple. The gate was locked by a scaling weight. It was tilted to the left as it had a small figure of Parvati on it. “Are we suppose to put Shiva on the other side since they are husband and wife?”

“But the figurines are divided by the doors. On the right side there is seem to be devas mixed with Asuras. While on the left side only devas are present. Shiva is on the left alongside Parvati. It should make sense that the figurines on the right should go on the right side of the scale.”

Amara looked over the figurines. “What about Sati, Parvati is the reincarnation of Shiva’s first wife Sati.”

“She is not here,” Vihaan said after a while.

Biting her lip, Amara pulled the small figurine of Kali to the right side of the scale.

“What are you doing? What if there is some punishment for answering wrong?”

“It was the only deva or devi who had any relationship with Parvati on the right side of the-“ A rumbled echoed, and then the two figurines glowed and melted away into the door. A loud click sounded and Amara tried to pull on the door but nothing happened. “It’s still locked.”

“Maybe we are suppose to pair up all the figurines,” Vihaan suggested, pulling down Shiva.

Glancing over the right side, Amara frowned at the terrifying figurines. “Any idea what Shiva is associated with.”

“Try Rudra,” Vihaan suggested.

“Which one is that?”

“Your lack of basic understanding of the gods despite having read the ancient texts are astounding. How can you remember the Asuras and legends without-“

“Stop nagging and tell me which one it is!”

Vihaan pulled down the treeheaded man with a trishula and a terrifying expression with mad eyes. The figurines started to once again glow and just like with Parvati and Kali they melted away and a click sounded.

“I’m starting to figure it out,” Vihaan said. “The previous two are the same god but the different sides of the god. One is kind and belevolent, the one on the left, and the one of the right is the violent one.”

“I didn’t know Kali was the other aspect of Parvati.”

“She often isn’t, but then again. This puzzle were created thousands of year ago. Who knows what they believed.”

“Then we better take those we are sure of first.”

Vihaan peered over all the figurines and pulled down Vishnu and and pointed at rather strange creature, looking like a combination between a man, fish, turtle, boar and a lion. “Vishnu has nine to ten avatars. That seem to be a combination of them all.”

Amara pulled it down and they successfully opened another lock.

“Any other.”

“I think the goddess Shakti and Durga might be put together.”

“I wouldn’t say that Durga is considered evil.”

“Well is the goddess of war and is often seen fighting evil. Maybe violence qualifies.”

“I trust you,” Amara said and followed his lead, to unlock another lock.

“Now we will have to guess. I think Kartikeya, the son of Shiva, is suppose to be along side  Agni, the Asura of Fire. They are often depicted with eachother,” Vihaan said, frowning in consentration.

“Then I guess Lakshmi must be paired with this one,” Amara said and pulled down a four armed lady with a tall crown, a mace and claws ready to rip people to pieces. “Whoever she is.”

“She could be Vaishnavi but the details don’t really fit. This one looks more like a Asura than a Devi,” Vihaan muttered and stepped back as the door finally swung open.

“That took way to long for-“ Amara silenced as the door swung open to a giant white bull, adorned with golden necklaces and fierce red eyes. Both Amara and Vihaan stood there, frozen in place.

The bull snorted, lowering its enormous head and starting to scratch the ground with its right hoov. Amara and Vihaan let out a piercing scream as the bull rushed them, leaving only one choice left for them to do. Run.