Author's Note:

This chapter gets a little technical. A lot of names are introduced here which are quite hard to remember. I just want you know that you shouldn't worry too much about remembering them. These names will be revisited many times in the course of this story.

* * *

Time, like the unstoppable stream it is, flowed forward. Soon three years passed since Nagini had picked up the little boy from the forest and had given him a name of the divine serpent: Sesha.

With the passage of time and with Nagini's aid, Sesha grew up perfectly. Little Sesha, as Nagini called him, could now walk and speak.

All past these three years, the old sage had continued to meditate, never once opening his eyes. He remained at the center of the lake, as unmoving as Mount Sumeru itself.

Sesha had often asked Nagini about him,

"Who is that person?"

And Nagini had replied, "He is your master, the one who will teach you when you are of right age."

While Nagini herself, for some reason, didn't have a very good opinion of the old man but she never once berated him in front of Sesha. He was after all going to be Sesha's master. One should always have utmost revere for his master, this much she understood.

Over these three years, Sesha had been playing around with Nagini, occasionally leaving the clearing to venture in the Dark Forest. Of course, she would always accompany him. She was the princess of this forest (even if she liked to be called a king), no one dare do any mischief in front of her. With Nagini's protection, his days were peaceful and fun.

Actually, Sesha's development had been a little peculiar. Unlike most boys of his age, his physique was not weak, rather, it was too strong. He could lift and throw boulders of several kilos as if they were roadside pebbles! Not only his strength, his agility and endurance too were off the charts. One of his favorite sport was to race an adult Wind Leopard, which he could easily outrun (much to Nagini's amusement).

His astounding physical growth was not surprising though. It was due to the elixir that Nagini had been feeding him since his young age. One of the most coveted treasures in the world, the elixir of Basilisk.

He was much more mature than for a three year old. He did not cry much, he followed what Nagini said and never went outside the protection of lake on his own. He remembered words that Nagini taught and even knew how to write without much difficulty. Apart from these, he seemed to understand what Nagini said, about the forest, the outside world and the world in general. This maturity that belied his age was not due to the elixir. It was due to the fact that Sesha's "eyes of knowledge" were open. Nagini, however, couldn't tell it because she had never spent time with another human child at all. As far as she was concerned, Sesha was just a normal human boy.

Currently, Sesha was playing near the lake alone. Nagini had said that she had something to do, so he was on his own. While playing, he maintained some distance to the lake because Nagini had warned him not to go too close. To be honest, Sesha was always curious about the lake and even more curious about the old man who was meditating at the center of the forest but he never disturbed him. This was something that Nagini had been very stern about.

Sesha suddenly tensed. He felt as if a wave hit him. A feeling arose inside him which he had never felt before. It was a strange feeling that seemed to dominate him but he couldn't exactly tell what it was. As if on instinct, his eyes turned towards the old sage.

At that very moment, the old sage's eyes opened and he met Sesha's eyes. He had immersed himself in meditation and would have continued to do so, but it was time.

He descended onto the lake and walked towards Sesha. Sesha had stopped what he was doing to observe this approaching old man. The old man stood in front of him and he asked,

"Child, do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are my honored master. This Sesha greets his master."

Despite of his extraordinary eloquence for a mere three year old, the old sage was not surprised at all. It was because he had known Sesha's extraordinary constitution all along.

"You have taught him well. Hmm? What's up with you?"

He spoke to no one in particular. But from where he was looking at, a child aged no more than five emerged.

"Nothing. I just wanted to play with him so I shrunk a bit." she casually replied.

This one was clearly Nagini. Although she appeared a child, but her features were remarkably similar to her true self. The old sage knew that as an "Ikshyadhari", she possessed a great control over her appearance so she could freely alter her physique. He didn't seem to mind it.

"So, you've woken up means that it must be time right?" she inquired.

"Indeed. Although one's Muladhara can be opened from anywhere between 7-15 years, but the younger the better. And since this child's body has strengthened so much due to your clan's elixir, he is more than ready, even if he is only three years old." the old man explained.

Of the seven great chakras in one's body. The lowest seated was Muladhara. The foundation of one's spiritual energy, or Prana. Muladhara, located at the base of one's spine was the main support of one's body. To cultivate, one's Muladhara must be opened. But it wasn't easy to open it. No one could open their Muladhara on their own. Usually, a skilled master would open his disciple's Muladhara to start him on path of Tantra. This was called Initiation. Only when Initiated could one step into the world of Yogis.

The old sage sat down on the ground in a lotus position and prompted Sesha to do the same. Sesha mimicked his master. Nagini was observing from the sidelines.

"Young Sesha, although you have called me your master, I am not, in fact, your master.. yet. Right now I will ask you young Sesha. Do you take me, Rudra, as your master? Remember, once you have taken me as your master, then you will forever be my disciple. You will have to show me respect forever as per the old customs. You will have to place your life itself in my hands and show no hesitation to die should I ask you to. Do you still want to be my disciple young Sesha?"

"Master. Sesha agrees to forever be respectful to you. Honestly, Sesha does not wish to die. But this Sesha also believes that you will never ask him for his life. So Sesha agrees to be your disciple."

The old sage was amused by his reply.

"Tell me, young Sesha, why do you believe that I will never ask for your life?"

"Sesha does not know himself master. But Sesha somehow knows that master will never ever ask him for his life."

At this point, the old man was smiling.

"As expected, you really have a good sense, my young disciple. Heavens being my witness, this Rudra now pronounces you, Sesha, as my disciple. Young Sesha, and agree to bestow all my knowledge to you. As per the duties of a Guru, I will now open your Muladhara chakra and initiate you into Aghor Yoga."

Rudra placed his palms on the naval of his disciple, Sesha. A visible aura surrounded his palms and transferred into Sesha's body through his naval. Inside his body, this Prana travelled through his meridian to the base of his spine and surrounded a three flowered structure and began rotating fiercely. In response to this furiously rotating Prana, something stirred in his body and the region where his master's Prana was rotating began rotating itself. His Muladhara chakra was now open. His master's Prana, after opening the Muladhara, dissipated on its own.

"My young disciple, now your Muladhara is open."

Rudra said with a satisfied smile.

"Nagini, now I will initiate this child into Aghor Yoga, leave us be for a while." he looked at Nagini. Opening of the chakra was a simple matter, but what he was now going to impart to his disciple was a secret. No one apart from his disciple was allowed to hear it.

"Understood. Little Sesha, this Nagini will be out for a while okay." saying thus, she departed into the forest.

* * *

"Listen, and listen well my young disciple. Today I impart upon you the secrets of Aghor Yoga that Lord Shiva himself bestowed upon the first one, the ancient Gorakhnath. But first, I must tell you about the very basics of yoga itself. Tell me, do you know about the Chakras?"

"Yes, master. I learned from Nagini that there are seven Chakras that govern the flow of Prana in our body. These are from bottom to top: Muladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara. "

"Indeed, you are correct. Yoga itself is the art of cultivating one's Prana to ultimately open all seven Chakras of one's body. Once these Chakras are open, the energy of the divine serpent Kundalini will travel from the base of your spine i.e. your Muladhara to the crown of your head i.e. Sahasrara, granting you freedom from your mortality and a chance to ascend into the upper realms.

"To begin travelling in the path of Yogic cultivation, one at least must open his Muladhara. This enables him to cultivate his Prana. Opening of Muladhara is something which one can't do it himself. For this, a teacher is required who would open his pupil's Muladhara to initiate him into the path of Yogic cultivation. I already opened yours earlier so you can begin cultivating. Your goal is to ultimately open all the seven Chakras of your bodies." Rudra explained.

"Master, if you can open my Muladhara, why can't you open my other Chakras?" Sesha inquired.

"There are but a few people who possess the power to open another's Muladhara. Including your master, these people can be counted on fingers. You perhaps won't comprehend how truly lucky you are to have your Muladhara opened. Ordinary mortals can only ever dream of having their foundation opened. But still, your question has some merit. In short, no mortal can ever open another's Chakras other than the Muladhara. Call it a divine rule but one has to work himself to open his remaining six Chakras. There are few herbs in existence that can speed up one's cultivation but ultimately, the work must be done by the person himself.

"Working from the base of spine to the crown of the head one usually opens his Chakras one by one. Occasionally so happens that by extreme luck, a child is born with his Muladhara already open. But the chance of that occurring is one in ten million. These special children will always end up making a name for themselves. Your own master is one such example.

"Even more rare are those who have any higher Chakra innately open. I for one, had never met any such individual in my entire life. But that was until I met you."

Saying these words, Rudra beamed at his disciple.

"Master, do you mean that I have another of my Chakra open along with Muladhara?" the child inquired with an innocent expression.

His master couldn't contain his excitement upon revealing the extraordinary fact about him,

"Yes! Believe it or not, But you have your sixth Chakra, Ajna, innately open. When Nagini found you in the forest, she noticed this fact about you. That is precisely the reason that she took an interest in you.

"Do you realise child? The thing which countless practitioners work so hard to achieve is already bestowed upon you by the heavens. This is truly an astonishing fact!"

The child couldn't really comprehend the weight behind his master's word. He continued to gaze at his master with an innocent expression.

The excitement that Rudra had gradually subsided and he continued.

"There is one and only one art of Ajna in Aghor Yoga but you can not practice it right now. You will have to first consolidate your cultivation by opening the lower Chakras, only then will I tell you about it!

"But even if you do not have any arts of the Ajna, the benefits of a open Ajna Chakra is extremely huge! Know this young Sesha, Ajna is the eye of knowledge, it will naturally speed up your cultivation and help you learn things faster. Ajna is the defense of your mind, as long as it is open, you will never fall victim to any illusions or other mental arts. Even your mental maturity is also due to your Ajna being open. And this is also the reason that I have decided to teach you from an early age."

A smile was visible on Rudra's face when he proclaimed these words. On the contrary, Sesha was only listening intently with no excitement at all. He clearly didn't understand the importance behind his master's word but Rudra didn't seem to mind it. He understood that his disciple was still a child.

"Okay then child, these are the basics of Yoga, now let me teach you the basics of Aghor Yoga."

* * *

Both master and disciple were seated on lotus position facing each other. The master, Rudra, looked to Sesha and spoke

"Aghor Yoga comes from the embodiment of death and destruction, Kaal Bhairava himself. He is the one who bestows death to the creations of the great Brahman. He keeps balance in the eternal circle of life and death. This yoga of his allows us to tap into his power of destruction.

"To be honest with you, the path of Aghor Yoga is extremely harsh.. I have lived for thousands of year and only by some miraculous stroke of luck did I manage to open up six of my seven chakras. If I had been cultivating any other paths then with my talents, I would have ascended in a mere thousand years. But I have high hopes for you my disciple.

"Let's start with the most fundamental chant of Aghor Yoga. This will not only be your first exercise after opening your Muladhara, but it will also strengthen your meridians. Now repeat after me."

Rudra chanted a long incantation. Sesha followed his chant. Although he was yet a child, he followed the chants accurately.

Once he started the chant, he could feel something moving in his body. Originating through the Muladhara at the base of the spine and like a river, flowing and bending through the meridians of his body ultimately returning back to the Muladhara. The flow was so subtle that one had to be extremely concentrated to feel it in his body. Sesha was chanting with his eyes closed, concentrating on the flow of Prana.

Once Rudra finished, he asked Sesha to repeat it. Although the mantra was long and complex, Sesha nevertheless, repeated it impeccably. And when he repeated it, he could again feel the same flow of Prana, originating in Muladhara, travelling through the same Nadis and ending in Muladhara.

After he finished his chant, Rudra asked, "Child, did you feel it? The movement of your life force in your meridian?"

"Yes master, I could clearly feel it. At first it was a little weak, but at the second time, it became more pronounced."

At his disciple's reply, he was visibly satisfied.

Cultivators who were at Sesha's stage could never sense the flow of Prana in their body. This was due to several factors. First, their meridians were naturally obstructed by impurities so their Prana never flowed as fluidly as Sesha's did. Second, their perception was not as keen as Sesha's.

Sesha's body was extremely pure due to the cleansing of all impurities by the elixir of Basilisk. His meridians were clean and without any obstructions. The elixir had thoroughly removed any impurities from his meridians. As a result of this, the flow of Prana in his body was extremely pronounced. This, added with his keen senses due to his eyes of knowledge being open gave him this huge benefits over other cultivators at his stage.

"Good. The process of Yogic cultivation is more or less similar at every stage. First comes the chants. When chanting with correct intonations, the Prana inside the body moves through various meridians and the way it moves decides one's cultivation. Although it is possible to move the Prana in whatever way one desires, but that would not be beneficial for cultivation and can instead destroy the meridians or the Chakras which can cause one's death. So one must not practice any random mantra that one comes across. Always remember this child."

Rudra explained and warned his disciple. In the path of Yogic cultivation, a master's word truly were the guiding beacon. Without a master's guidance, one could never progress in cultivation.

"Master, does it mean that Mantra has no other use than guiding the Prana in the meridians? Can't I simply do this?"

Sesha proceeded to close his eyes and move his Prana. A large torrent of energy originated from the Muladhara, travelled through the meridians in the exact same way that the previous incantation had caused it to. Only, this time the flow was both faster and smoother than before and the prana was in large quantity which filled his meridians completely. Sesha did this without chanting anything at all.

When his disciple had first pulled Prana from his Muladhara, Rudra was skeptic. When he began moving it, Rudra's expression was one of a surprise and panic. He was surprised of the fact that his disciple could move the Prana through his will and also panicked because now that Sesha was moving his Prana without the guidance of a chant, any erroneous movement could harm him. But his panic subsided as he saw that Sesha's Prana was moving in the exact same way as it moved with the chant's guidance. His face now bore an expression of happiness.

"You can already move your Prana at will? And with full control too! Child, both your memory and aptitude are outstanding. As you said, mantra only guides the Prana in a set way. If one can guide it with his will alone, then there is no need of any chants at all. This will greatly speed up one's cultivation."

His master's words were one of praise but in reality, he also felt a little jealousy towards this disciple of his. The opening of Ajna Chakra had really a divine effect on a practitioner's cultivation. This child really was extremely lucky!

* * *

After his first lesson, old sage Rudra ordered his disciple to go through closed door training. The small child obliged and with a patience that belied his age, went through his cultivation as per his master's instructions.

This process continued for some time. His master would teach him a mantra and Sesha, after having memorized the incantations would move his life force around his meridians as per the edicts of the mantra. Once he remembered the flow of the Prana, he would no longer require the incantation and would instead willingly move around his Prana through the correct paths as if he were moving around his hands and fingers.

Under his master's tutelage and with his outstanding aptitude, thanks to his chakra of knowledge already open, his cultivation increased by leaps and bounds.

During his training, Nagini would not visit him except for when the old sage allowed. Two years had already passed since his initiation and Nagini had visited him only four or five times. This had truly made her unhappy.

Currently, she was confronting Rudra and venting her anger at the old sage,

"No No NO!! This would absolutely not do. This king demands to see him!! At this rate, Nagini is worried that she really would be forgotten by little Sesha. Old sage, why must you have him work so hard? He is but a child!!"

"Nagini, you sufficiently know that the initial years of cultivation are way too important for him. You should not distract him!"

He warned her sternly.

"So what! Are you saying that I* am not to see him at all?" [1]

"I never said that, but for the time being, you should leave him alone.."

When Rudra finished, it looked like Nagini was going to argue with him further but she was interrupted by the door to the hut opening and Sesha coming out.

"Little Sesha!!" she squeaked.

"Master, Sesha pays his respect."

First Sesha walked towards his master and lightly bowed, afterwards he turned towards Nagini and inquired,

"Nagini, why are you here?"

Due to Nagini always taking an appearance of a child similar to Sesha in age, Sesha had always treated her as a friend. He never used any honorifics while talking to her.

"What's with that? I am here to see you of course!" she pouted.

Sesha gently smiled at her and faced his master.

"Master, I already completed what you asked me for. My Ida, Pingala and Sushumna meridians are all strengthened as per the exercise. After that, I directed all my Prana towards my second Chakra in order to open it."

He reported. After hearing his progress, Rudra frowned and ask,

"Little Sesha, I ordered you to spend two months to clean your meridians and next three years to open your Swadhisthana, it has only been five months. Why did you come out? Was it that you detected Nagini's presence and decided to come out to play?"

His inquiry contained a hint of reprimand. Disciples must do what their master says because it is the best for them. But Sesha was still a child. It may have been possible that three years of closed door training was too much to ask of him.

"No master, after I refined my meridians through the breathing techniques you taught me, I began gathering Prana as per the incantations that you gave me. Only, I felt that it was not efficient. So I changed the breathing a bit. This increased the rate at which I gathered Prana. I .."

Sesha was speaking when suddenly the old sage interrupted. He was angry. Whether it was intentional or not, but a murderous aura originated from him.

"When I gave you the breathing technique, I told you to practice it without making any mistakes. And yet you changed it? Child are you so foolish as to not know what malpractice does to your cultivation? Tell me, haven't I told you to not cultivate in haphazard manner?"

He was not shouting but his tone was as heavy as if the words alone could crush and pulverize a being. Even though the aura was not targeted towards her but Nagini was trembling uncontrollably. Sesha on the other hand was unfazed. He took a few steps in front and bowed before his master,

"This one has erred master. Sesha apologizes."

He spoke as naturally as if he was speaking about weather. Although it was odd how he could remain unfazed while Nagini at his side was clearly disturbed, it seemed to have a calming effect on the old sage.

"Sigh! It was my fault for not stressing it enough. Show me what changes did you make to the breathing techniques child?"

Perhaps Rudra remembered that the one who was directing his rage towards was still a child or perhaps it was Sesha's calm demeanor he somehow calmed and retracted his aura. Nagini stopped trembling at once. Although she was angry at his "tantrum", she was still shaken by previous incident so she didn't speak anything.

Upon his master's order, Sesha performed a sixteen step breathing technique. His breathing was calm and it flowed like a fluid. His every action, whether it was inhaling or exhaling or his manipulation of the sun and moon apertures of his nose, were extremely rhythmic. When he did the breathing technique, it stirred the atmosphere. Prana from atmosphere gathered towards Sesha and entered into his body through his nostrils. With each breath, he would gather the Prana from the atmosphere into his own body.

Rudra watched intently as his disciple performed the breathing technique. He was worried for his little disciple. In reality, Rudra was right to be angry. One should not do any cultivation, whether it be a breathing technique or any chants, without his master's approval. Who knows what damage would be done to one's body if one cultivated randomly. This was why the master disciple system existed. The master would guide his disciple and show him the correct path so that his disciple won't do something foolish.

As Sesha performed his exercise, Rudra could see that it was modified not in one, two or three steps, Sesha had changed half the steps of the exercise. It was a sixteen step breathing technique, the most basic one to cultivate Prana. His disciple changed eight of them!! And he was doing this for three months!! And not only that, he was doing *that* technique!! His face was one of a horror. But watching Sesha complete the exercise, he slowly gathered his calm. His face changed from horror to surprise.

"Little Sesha, you really scared your master. Changing half of the steps, truly outrageous. On top of that, you are doing a fourth level exercise!! Tell me child, how did you do it? Didn't your meridians hurt? You are only at the first chakra, doing a second level breathing exercise should give you incomparable pain as your meridians would hurt due to excessive Prana being drawn from surrounding. You should be absolutely incapable of doing a fourth level exercise!"

Now Rudra was not angry anymore, instead, he was curious.

"Master, at first when I started on the breathing technique, I felt as if the Prana that I was drawing was insufficient. I could see that the breathing exercise was only drawing a small portion of Prana so I started changing it to draw more. After I arrived at the fourth level as you said, I just felt that I shouldn't draw anymore so I settled at this technique."

Sesha replied respectfully.

"Still, that doesn't explain why your meridians can take so much Prana at your level." Rudra said to himself.

"As to that old master, I think I know the answer."

This time the one who spoke was Nagini and in her hands were a bowl with a sparkling liquid.

"Here Sesha, now that I've already taken it out, be a good boy and drink it up!" She passed the bowl to Sesha and he drank it.

"Your elixir huh. To think that it would have such an effect. It's a pity I couldn't get my hands on it in my younger days." Rudra sighed and continued, "If you can sustain this breathing technique of the fourth level, I think that you can achieve a breakthrough in next three or four months instead of three years."

"About that master, the reason I came outside was because I've already completed it." Sesha replied as a matter of fact.

"I have already opened my second chakra, Swadhisthana."

* * *

I have read many novels but this is the first one that I am writing, so please go easy on me. Also, I welcome all advice/criticisms regarding the story or my writing style.

[1] When Nagini refers to herself as "I*", it is her referring to herself with high respect. Unfortunately, there is no way to convey this in English so for now I am sticking with "I*".