We had to present ourselves in the arena. It was the first time I saw all the godlings in one place. There were other new faces I hadn't seen. Our team was small compared to Issarak's. The twin brothers were the only ones who didn't join. They now sat with Malis, the tiger, waiting to cheer us on with the floating Devatas.

Kesar was inside the Main Pavilion with her fellow Kennars. They began to play the music to awake the fighter's spirit. The beats were fast and loud, causing my heart to pound harder.

Queen Indradevi whispered something to the Guru, who nodded in return. He stepped out to the front of the portico.

"On behalf of Her Majesty, I would like to announce the pairing of duelists as follow," he said in a loud clear voice. His elephant eyes squinted at us. Issarak's smirk widened.

Sambo read through a scroll of names. I held my breath, hearing my pulse beating in my ears.

"Atith, son of Surya, Dispeller of Darkness and Lord of the Sun," the Guru said. "Issarak, son of Murugan, Wielder of the Divine Spear and Commander of the Devas."

The excitement roared among the people. Issarak stepped forward with a grin. His pauldron covered one shoulder, leaving the other bare. I noticed his golden helmet had a pair of peacock tail tucked behind both ears.

"You go kick his behind for us, Atith," Vorac encouraged him.

"Make us proud," Tusita said. "Let him have a taste of defeat."

"Be careful, Atith," Tepi said, patting him on his armored shoulder. Atith nodded back and strode forward.

He went to stand on the field with an air of bravery. Waiting in the arena was our famous foe. The crowd howled along with the music and war drums.

"I will knock you flat to the ground in a heartbeat, Atith," Issarak said with a sly grin. "You won't stand a chance against my strength."

"Leave your vain words behind, Issarak, and put forth only your actions," Atith said, looking unafraid.

Issarak growled and held out his palm. A sword and a round crested shield sprang out of thin air in his hands. He swung the golden blade a few times, giving sharp whizzing sounds.

Atith drew his golden spear from the swirl of golden dust. The drums roared as the two of them ran into each other.

Then they both started deflecting each other's weapon back and forth. Atith was tough, but Issarak appeared to be more skilled in the sword fight. He dodged Atith's spear and knocked him in the chest with his shield. Atith stumbled back a few steps.

"Without the Kavach armor, you would be dead!" Issarak said. "Is that all you can do?"

Atith composed himself again and his face seemed to glow red.

"Oh you're blushing!" Issarak said with a mocking laugh. Atith yelled and crushed the blade of his spear downward as if trying to split Issarak's skull in half. Issarak parried him off with his sword and kicked Atith in the stomach. He gave another roundhouse kick across his face. Atith flipped in the air from the impact and fell rolling to the ground.

Issarak's sword now disappeared, replaced by a golden mace bigger than the size of his head. He slammed it against Atith's chest and back, sending him a few more feet away.

Issarak laughed. Then the mace in his hand turned into a long golden spear. It sparkled like a million diamonds.

"Oh no! He can't use the Vel! That's against the rules!" Vorac cried out.

"What's the Vel?" I asked.

"Another powerful astra," she said. "Lord Murugan has granted his son the gift to call upon any weapon he desires. Among them is the divine spear called the Vel. It is as destructive as Tusita's Gandiva."

"We can't summon astras of the gods for a fight like this," Samudra added, his eyes still glued to the arena. "The holy weapons are meant to fight the enemy only and not us."

Issarak swung his spear over his head then he slashed the air, sending a mass of bright energy blast through the field.

Atith gasped and jumped out of the way. The blast hit an empty chariot parking in the distance. It exploded into flames. The wreckage of the chariot was scattered all over the ground.

Atith could barely escape the immense force himself. He collapsed again and seemed to have trouble getting up this time. If it wasn't for his thick golden armor, Atith's bones would be shattered to pieces.

Issarak walked over to him.

"You can't fight me! You weakling!" Issarak snarled, kicking him on his rib cage again and again. "I bet you would wet your pants seeing the demons!"

It was still painful to watch him being beaten. My head snapped back to where the Queen and King sat. The monarchs observed the whole thing with impartial faces. I was about to run towards the Main Pavilion when Tepi caught me back.

"Nikita, no!" she said.

"Tell them to stop that stupid fight!" I yelled. "This is madness. They're killing each other!"

"Nikita, don't intervene," Tusita tried to hush me. "Atith shall be fine. He's not a quitter."

The royals looked at me.

Amarisa's face was ashen with emotions. It seemed like she couldn't bear to witness the fight anymore.

"This is part of the training," the Guru said from the pavilion. "The war shall be far worse. They must fight by the gods' will."

"Oh, damn the gods!" I growled in frustration, causing a few of them to gasp. "This is not training! This is killing each other before the demons could even get to us!"

The Guru looked at me with those small elephant eyes that seemed to sparkle. For a moment, I thought he was smiling at me. I thought if he wasn't too far away, his trunk would be in a bow knot by now.

Then we heard another cry from the field. I turned around to look back at the arena. Atith was trying to get up, but Issarak stomped his foot hard on his back, pressing his chest down to the ground again.

"Atith!" I cried. "Do something! I know you can beat him!"

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Then he managed to push Issarak off his back and rolled away before staggering to his feet again. We saw a glow of what looked like a symbol of crooked square cross burst from his forehead.

"What is that?" I asked Tepi.

"It's a Swastika, the symbol of the Sun God," she told me.

Issarak stood in a crouching position, ready to attack, but he froze when he saw Atith's face glowed in an unusual light. It was as if melting lava was stirring underneath his shimmering skin.

When Issarak ran towards him, Atith's entire body burst into a massive bright light. His armors glowed red. His eyes burned like two miniature suns, and even the color of his hair turned gold with brilliant rays. Atith was as radiant as the sun god. I realized it was his avatar's true form, a replica of the god that inspired them.

Issarak crumbled to the ground, covering his eyes with a pained expression. With a growl of fury, he tried to charge at Atith again. Our friend put his palms together. The radiant light intensified and erupted into a blast of shockwave, knocking Issarak into the air. His body skidded across the field. Everyone around the arena was also hurled backward by the sudden brilliancy. The golden light continued to blind us for a moment before it dimmed down again.

Atith drew his spear from the ground. His body was still ignited in golden rays. He walked to Issarak, who lay gasping on the ground. Atith slammed the spear against Issarak's shield. They both were in a deadlock with each other.

"Yield!" Atith cried.

"No!" Issarak said stubbornly. "I won't yield to you!"

But the son of Murugan had trouble opening his eyes from the burning glow. His face reddened by the heat.

Atith parried Issarak's shield off, leaving him defenseless. Then he pierced his golden spear into the ground and clapped his hands together again. The light shining through his skin reached its ultimate brightness. Everyone turned their faces away. No one could even look at the field anymore. I, too, had to shield my face away. Even the monarchs were protected by numerous sunshades. The blushing sun-like ray stung through my eyelids.

We heard Issarak screamed like a dying pig.

"Aaaghhh...stop!" he cried. "I surrender! I surrender!"

Then the brightness slowly ceased, and everything went back to normal. We all opened our eyes again. Issarak was lying on his back, panting. His hands still covered his tearful face. The crowd began to cheer, but some groaned in disappointment. The twins, Romany and Romanir, had their fists in the air, laughing. I glanced at the pavilion. The King looked at his wife with an impressed smile.

"My young avatars, you are strong and brave," Queen Indradevi spoke from the pavilion. "But always remember, the thing that might fail you is your very own pride."

Issarak was helped up the soldiers. He looked drained and ashamed. The twin brothers waved to the rescue team to escort him to the Aswin House.

"Atith!" Vorac was the first to run to our friend. We followed her.

"Well done!" Tusita said.

Tepi and I smiled in relief. Atith gave us a weak grin back. His golden hair and light-drenched body had returned to their normal state.

"You fought well, brother!" Samudra said and slapped Atith on the back. He reeled and waved his hand.

"Thanks, but now I think I need a very long nap," he said, grinning weakly. "Then a big pot of rice and a cup of Soma."

We noticed he could hardly stand still and let him rest. Whatever power he had summoned to defeat Issarak also cost him great power.

The conchs were blown again and a bronze gong was struck, signaling another duel.

Sambo then announced the next duelists.

"Morokot, daughter of the Fire God, Messenger of the Devas, Acceptor of the holy sacrifices," the Guru bellowed for the crowd to hear. "And Tusita, daughter of the Dragon Slayer, Wielder of the Lightning Bolt, and Lord of the Sky!"