Inner Demons

Once upon a time there was a king. He was a nice person, a bit self obsessed though, with a benevolent heart. His image was great in the public. And he always emphasized on keeping it that way.

So this one time, a small village within the state had a very big lake, it was so deep that even the professional divers couldn't find the bottom. It was the source of income for all the villagers.

A giant monster with big horns had appeared at this lake from nowhere. He had destroyed many fishing boats, taken captured fishes, vandalized people. So villagers decided to approach the king, regarding this matter.

Once they told the king about this, a little afraid king(inside), said he'll handle the monster himself. Cause he needed to maintain his greatness. His ego was too big before the fear.

Next day, the king went to the lake, alone, to fight the monster. The monster and the king had a great battle. At a decisive moment, the king hit the monster very hard, but as a reaction, fell to ground on his head, and got unconscious.

After two days, people came looking for the king, and took him to the palace. The monster was nowhere to be found. People thought, king drowned him. And celebrations started everywhere.

After another day, king woke up, and to his surprise, everyone was praising him for killing the monster. But he could not remember killing him or drowning him either, cause he didn't. But the attention and praising was too much to ignore, so he narrated the story the way people wanted to listen. After all the monster was gone anyways, according to the people. So what's wrong in having a glorious story in his cap.

But somewhere in a jungle, next to the lake, the injured monster was fueling with rage. And it had made a decision to have revenge. But this time the smarter way.

Few weeks passed, both, the king and the monster had recovered. And now it was time, for the monster to make it's first move.

One night, the monster entered the village, silently, and took one of the villagers and disappeared in the jungle. Next morning people started wondering, and at the end, approached the king. Filled with over pride, the king dismissed the possibility of the monster, after all how could he betray his own story. But within his heart, a tiny bug of doubt started to make noise. But again, he was the great king, his ego killed that bug, before it could make any sense.

Slowly, more people started to disappear, but no one could tell what was happening. Nobody saw the monster, and the king wasn't ready to accept that the monster was alive.

But again, the king wasn't a bad guy, so he decided to look out for the reason behind this mystery. One morning he got on his horse and went to the place where he had the battle. He started to wander around the battleground. He remembered the exact place where he got unconscious, there he found the big rock. On the rock, he saw written,engraved, " Pick me up."

The confused king lifted the heavy thing, and found a map with a note on it.

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Battle doesn't end till swords sheath,

Don't celebrate till your enemies breathe,

But a mistake's been made,

Now it's time, the price to be paid,

Come my dear king and don't be late,

Cause in these woods, your demon awaits

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Baffled king understood that the monster was never dead. And now he was back, and he had no option but to face him. And that's what he did. He followed the map, and entered the jungle. after a couple of hours, he reached to a clearing. The view was devastating.

The monster had tied hundreds of people, he had captured, to the trees nearby. And all of them look hungry and tired and with no hope of survival. And then he saw the monster, sitting on a giant rock. He smiled with a wide grin.

Then the monster said, 'Welcome my king. I knew, someday, you will find that map. Our past is where our minds take us, when we are fumbling around.'

Then he just stood there silently, and took a gaze at the king. King was still looking at his fellow villagers in pain. A guilt was clearly visible in his eyes.

Then again the monster said, 'I know you want these people rescued. So let me make it easy for you. You have two choices. First is we fight again, and if you could win, then they are free, but if I win, I will kill each and everyone of them in front of you and then I'll kill you as well. And then there is second option, you become my slave for rest of your life, and all of these people walk free, right now.'

At this point of story, Betaal stopped, and asked King Vikramaditya, 'My friend, before the climax of the story, you have to tell me the logical decision of the king with reason.'

He continued, 'Remember, that the people captured, were the fruit of the lie king had believed and glorified. If he had taken actions in advance or if he had just accepted the fact that the monster could be alive, so many lives wouldn't be at the risk. And then again he could not be sure of winning over the monster.'

'But then again, could he survive the life of a prisoner?, his image would be damaged forever, once people know about the decision he made, and the lie he celebrated. And for him his greatness was everything. So what should he do my dear friend?'

'And as always, if you cannot solve the riddle, you can take me. But if you know the answer and stay quiet, then your head shall burst into thousand pieces', and then he waited for the response of the King Vikramaditya.

Vikramaditya said, 'The king has no option but to fight. and not just for his greatness but for the his own people as well. If he decides to accept the second choice, the people captured might get to live the day, but there would be no guarantee that he wouldn't hurt anybody else later on.'

'But it's more than just about the people or his greatness. There is a bigger picture here. Everybody makes mistakes, and often decides to ignore them. And that's what he did. But our world is so small, that these mistakes always come back to haunt us. These are the inner demons, we cannot avoid. The demon in this story isn't the monster. It's the lie the king had lived, and ignored. And now he just cannot ignore it anymore. He has to make amends to face this demon of his. He may live or he may die, but that fight with the monster is necessary to kill his inner demon'

'But is it worth the lives of all those people, what was their fault?', Betaal questioned.

'That is the hardest decision the king has to make in his life. But for greater good the great people have to take toughest calls. And rather those lives would be the highest motivation for the king to fight. He'll fight till the moment where his last of senses are active. This battle will be either won by the king or he'll die fighting. At the end, a conscience at peace is what he'll get, in one way or other'

A smiling Betaal said, 'You are correct my friend. They fought hard, and king killed the monster this time. and after the battle, the damaged king left his empire. Cause he did't need his greatness anymore. He had killed his demon'

With these last words Betaal escaped the grasp of King Vikramaditya, and returned to his age old Tree.