"You know." Suman sized up the boulder. "I think that there's a magic word that opens this cave."

"Magic word?" Savitri scoffed. "Suman, that only happens in storybooks that they create for children! This doesn't happen in real life."

"And yet the gods have magical powers," Suman said dryly. He stepped away from the entrance. "But if you are so smart, why don't you try to open it."

"We just woke up!" Savitri rubbed her eyes. "Don't you want breakfast first?"

"I already ate while you slept," Suman said. Then, under his breath: "And snored."

"What was that?"

"I'm positive that you heard me regardless of how soft or how loudly I talk," he said. "But if I were you, I wouldn't want to waste any time in getting this cave open. Besides, what if somebody sees us?"

"We're a quarter way up Mt. Kailash! How would anybody get up here that quickly? And why?"

"Maybe they're going to see Dharmaraj like us? Or they could just be going on a pilgrimage, you know?"

"I don't, but I doubt that anybody would come up here. Especially this early in the morning."

"Then how do you explain the markings on the wall?" Suman was truly too awake to have complained to not sleep well the past night. "Or the pictures? Savitri, somebody must have been up here. And either they went back down or they got inside!"

"We could always try moving the boulder?" Savitri suggested. "It can't be that heavy, can it?"

"It's a boulder, not a rock," Suman said. "And we aren't gifted with supernatural strength, unfortunately." He tapped his chin. "We're going to have to find another way inside."

"Let's try pushing it anyway," Savitri insisted. "You never know. It could just be a fake."

"A fake boulder?" Suman scoffed. "I don't think that the gods are very open to play like that."

"I certainly am." Savitri walked past the gasping fire pit and placed her hands on one side of the boulder. Her hands slipped a little from the collection of dust that laid a thick sheet over the sturdy rock, but she readjusted her arms and flexed her shoulders. "Are you going to help?"

"We're going to break our bones," Suman grumbled and trudged over to Savitri. He leaned beside her and bent his elbows. "Push on how many?"

"What?"

"We push on how many numbers?" Suman repeated impatiently. "What are we counting on before we push? You know, so I can gather my strength?"

"Five, I guess?" Savitri moved her feet. "Okay, ready?"

"Ready."

"One, two, three, four, five!"

With as much force as they could muster, Suman and Savitri let out a collective groan when the timer went off. Their arms strained and tugged every muscle in their bodies into action, but just as Suman had predicted, the boulder remained in its spot, unmoved by the combined effort that they displayed.

"Good, see." Suman panted. "It didn't work, just like I told you."

"You don't need to brag about it," Savitri snapped. She bent and put her weight on her knees and arms, holding her body down like a spring. Her tongue ran over her lips, providing some moisture to the dry, chapped skin.

"I rarely brag." Suman tousled his hair. "Alright, we've done your idea. Let's try mine."

"Chanting nursery songs?"

"Yes!" Suman helped Savitri straighten her sore back (and she was sure that she had pulled a muscle with all the effort that she put into pushing the boulder) and they made their way to the front of the boulder. "When I was younger, I remember I used to hear stories about how you could say a magical word and the doors would open! Maybe it'll be the same for this boulder!"

"What doors?"

"I don't know. They varied depending on the story."

"So, they were fake?"

"No! They were just...altered." Suman folded his hands and crouched so that he was shorter than Savitri. "Please Savitri!" He begged, even going as far as to make a little pout, as if that would help his case. "You want to get inside, don't you? We have to try whatever it takes, then!"

"And you think two, non-powerful beings can open a supposedly magical door by saying nonsensical rhymes?"

"Hey, you managed to get three boons from Dharmaraj!" Suman put his hands on her shoulder and rose up. "If you can do that, who knows? Maybe you do have magic."

"Or just more determination than you."

"...That's mean." He sniffled, but grinned foolishly. He knew he had convinced her.

Savitri rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's try it."

"Great!" Suman jumped up giddily. "Oh...what are we supposed to say?"

"I don't know." Savitri smirked mirthfully. "This was your idea. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Um...okay." Suman took a deep breath. "Ah...Dharmaraj enters!"

The boulder didn't move.

Savitri tried to hold back her snicker. "That was very...strong," she said between giggles.

Suman scowled. "Okay, okay, let me try again. Um...Death awakens!"

Still, the boulder didn't move.

"Can you please open?" Suman tried one last time, but, differing greatly from his dramatic vision, the cave was silent.

"It's fine." Savitri put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We can always try using a different method. Do we have any celestial arrows?"

"Apart from Takshaka's, which we used when fighting Jamrat? No."

"Oh...are there any other weapons?" She tried to stay positive, but when Suman shook his head again, her heart dropped back into the chasm of gloom and despair that it had been rotting in for days. Unsure how to release her warring emotions, Savitri left Suman to clean up the rest of their shelter and wandered over to the side of the cave closest to where he stood. She caressed the drawings, gazing sadly at the detailed pictures as she passed them (simultaneously clearing the dirt from the wall) but paused when she came across one certain picture.

It was crudely drawn, like the person drawing it was in a rush, but from what she could make out between the cracks, dust, and crooked red lines, it seemed to be a picture of Dharmaraj in front of the boulder with a woman on his shoulders. He had his hand outstretched towards the boulder and there were small, cross-like shapes floating around his hands - sort of like when one was able to look at the sunlight reflecting off the water at a close distance.

The boulder...the woman...Dharmaraj...an idea clicked in Savitri's mind.

"Suman! Suman!" She rushed back to the startled boy, who had jumped to his feet when he heard Savitri yelling his name.

"What is it?" He was frantic. "What did you see? Is there something coming?" He gripped her elbows and his eyes bore into her in a deathly stare. "Did you see Dharmaraj?"

"What? No!" Savitri pulled his hand and dragged him to the picture that she saw. "Look! I think this is showing how to get inside the cave!"

"By...holding our hand out?"

"No!" Savitri squeezed his hands excitedly. "Only Dharmaraj can get in! See the soul on his shoulders. The only reason he'd be going to Naraka is to bring them there!"

"Or to sleep." Suman muttered. "I would think that he lives there. Then again, where does he live? And do gods sleep?'

"Oh, Suman, you're missing the point!" Savitri jumped up and down, bouncing on her toes. "All we have to do is create a fake, dead body and trick Dharmaraj into opening the boulder for us!"

"Um..." Suman hesitated. A part of him didn't want to ruin the good mood that Savitri had been abruptly tossed into, especially considering that they were going to confront her dead husband, but another part of him, the usually dormant logical side, pressured him to contradict her. "It's a good idea, in theory."

"What do you mean, 'in theory'?" Savitri stopped jumping and frowned.

Suman's body turned cold. "I mean, Dharmaraj could come at any time, or at no time at all."

"Matlab?"

"Meaning that it could take days, maybe months before he comes to deposit the souls!" Suman clarified. "What if he waits until he reaches a certain number before returning? Or what if he uses a different entrance?"

"The markings on the wall clearly indicate otherwise," Savitri said.

"Yes, but we don't know how old they are." Suman insisted. "These drawings could be from ages ago! We cannot just go by them!"

"I see what you're saying." Savitri let go of his hands. "But people are dying every second we spend talking! If he does go by a certain number, then it should be enough to come by in a few moments."

"But-!"

"And nobody stopped us from coming here," she continued. "Neither Lord Indra, Lord Agni, nor Lord Hanuman. This has to be the right spot. How many other entrances to Naraka can there be?"

"We don't know that, so I'll give you a point." Suman acquiesced. "But even still. Dharmaraj takes on many forms in many parts of the world. We don't know how long it would take for him to come here!"

"Well, it's worth a shot to try," Savitri said. "Please Suman, just trust me? We did your plan, now let's try mine."

"Alright," Suman agreed without the argument that Savitri was expecting him to put up. "But how are we even going to make a fake dead body? We're not going to..." his eyes shifted between the small gap their bodies made.

"No, Suman," Savitri sighed. "We're going to use an animal body instead." She pulled the leopard's skin that Nandini had given her from her pants and laid it on the ground. Suman watched her with unbidden curiosity over her shoulder as she spread the skin over a few smooth, medium sized boulders and sprinkled the black dots with a few discarded petals that Suman had left in a pile by the pit that was once crackling with fire.

"That doesn't look very convincing, does it?" She stepped back to survey her work.

"It looks...nice?" Suman said sheepishly. "But it doesn't exactly strike me as a dead leopard."

"Hm, you're right." Savitri crouched down by her handiwork and leaned her chin on her bow, rocking back and forth as she studied her masterpiece. "Maybe we need a new plan?"

"Maybe."

Savitri sighed. So much for getting into Naraka today, she thought. She tucked her feet underneath her to sit properly and used the tip of her bow to fix one of the flower petals that looked dangerously close to falling from the rounded side that the boulder made.

Just like in the picture, a large, bright white cross sprinted from the tip of the bow and made a watered down crackle. Savitri jumped up and almost barreled into Suman's chest.

"What in the world?!" An amalgamation of horror and surprise rocked her voice.

The sparkles multiplied and washed over the leopard statue like a tidal wave, blinding both onlookers. When the brightness finally subsided, Savitri and Suman were surprised, if not, slightly terrified to see a real, dead leopard's body on the ground reeking of a scent that could only be described as compost and rotting meat with a pinch of garlic.

"Oh, that is...ugh!" Suman pinched his nose. "I am not sticking around for that. How in the world did you do that?"

"Shh!" Savitri looked around slowly. The earth seemed to have tilted, for the trees swayed sideways and the wind rapidly picked up. A whirlwind started in the middle of the burned out fire pit, collecting the leaves and twigs that were captured by its presence. The earth split slightly, revealing a dark chasm that drained the whirlwind and turned its color pitch black.

"We need to hide!" Savitri began to push Suman behind the cave.

"Hide? Hide from what?"

But Savitri didn't need to answer him. She had just barely managed to pull him away from view as Dharmaraj appeared from the storm, a load of writhing souls moaning on his shoulder, craning for a chance to look at earth one last time.

If she had time to think, Savitri would have pulled up the memory of Satyavan being taken - how he had hardly moved at all - but Dharmaraj was quick. Without looking at the leopard, he tapped its belly with his mace and pulled out its soul, only unlike the humans, it was a deep green color, like the grass and plants.

Like the earth, Savitri thought.

Dharmaraj turned to the cave and tapped the boulder right at the center. With a low groan, the boulder slid to the side, allowing a big enough hole for Dharmaraj to enter.

"Let's go! Now!" Savitri pushed Suman quickly towards the entrance while minding her footsteps so that they wouldn't accidentally step on a conveniently crunchy leaf. If Dharmaraj noticed them, he definitely didn't acknowledge it, and just as they had pulled themselves inside, the boulder slammed shut, descending them into darkness.