Demons of Chitrakut
Ashok Banker
 The story picks off where it left in Siege of Mithila. Rama and Lakshmana have collectively annihilated Ravana's massive invasion force with the most powerful divine weapon in history, the Brahmastra. The entire army, reduced to dust, is washed away with the waters of the holy Ganga, replaced by a beautiful flowering forest, with no trace of the invasion left for human history. Rama and Sita are married, as are Lakshmana and Urmila. Their brothers, Bharat and Shatrughna, are married to Sita's cousins Mandavi and Shrutakirti respectively. Following the ceremony, Vishwamitra takes his leave of the two boys and leaves Rama with an important piece of advice: to follow his dharma at all costs, as it will help him prepare for the trials ahead that he has foreseen. While the wedding party of Ayodhya travels home with the princes and their new brides, they are interrupted by Parashurama, the warrior known as Rama of the Axe, who, upon hearing the destruction of Shiva's bow by Rama, has erupted in a rage from his meditation to slaughter him. However, upon realizing that Rama is the one responsible, he becomes skeptical, and believes Rama is lying to him about having destroyed Ravana's army. He gives Rama the Bow of Vishnu, the exact brother to the Bow of Shiva which Rama split in two and challenges him to single combat. Rama single-handedly defeats Parashurama and, upon his request, destroys the fruit of all of Parashurama's penances with a single celestial arrow. Parashurama comes to a conclusion about Rama which remains largely unrevealed, and he gifts Rama with the Bow, claiming that it "always belonged to him". The wedding party arrives back in Ayodhya amidst great pomp and celebration, aided by a light show orchestrated by Vashishta. Manthara, who had previously been put under house arrest, kills the guard confining her and escapes with the help of Ravana's mayavic power. It is revealed here that Ravana is alive, although incapacitated, and can still bestow his followers with evil powers. During the grand welcome back to Ayodhya, a woman identified as Kaikeyi attempts to run into the paths of the elephants, crying out to Rama in order to warn him about something. She is taken away by royal guards, but not before Kausalya sees her. They are subsequently very surprised when Kaikeyi turns up, fully groomed, to greet the new bride upon her arrival, despite the fact that they saw her bloodied and dirty upon the streets only seconds earlier. Sumitra accuses Kaikeyi of employing witchcraft, to which Kaikeyi angrily replies that she is innocent of any crime, and stalks off to her chambers. Dasaratha once again begins to fall ill. The princes celebrate their suhaag raats (nuptials) upon returning home, after performing the necessary rituals. Dasharatha announces that Rama's coronation as Crown Prince will occur the following morning. Dasaratha, feeling ill once more, lies in his bed and tells Kaikeyi that he is ashamed of the wrong things he has done or indirectly caused, and is more than proud of his eldest son. Manthara then enters and tells Dasaratha that Kaikeyi has taken a vow to fast unto death in the palace kosaghar. Dasaratha, upset by this news, agrees to go to the kosaghar to see what she needs. Meanwhile, Kausalya, Sumitra and a number of handmaidens discover that the woman seen upon the streets with Kaikeyi's voice was in fact one of Manthara's handmaidens, who has been witness to the fact that Manthara is a devil-worshipper and has performed human sacrifices to the Dark Lord, Ravana. Kaikeyi projected her consciousness through the girl's body when it was forced out of her own body at one point. In the presence of Vashishta and Kausalya, she reveals that an act of great evil is soon to occur but it is not of her doing, and asks Kausalya to "save Rama". Kausalya and Vashishta confront Kaikeyi in the kosaghar, where Dasaratha lies motionless in a coma-like state. They discover to their horror that Kaikeyi is in fact Dasaratha's first wife, and that they married at a small shrine off the battle plains of the Asura Wars following Dasaratha being near-mortally wounded. Along with their marriage, Dasaratha promised Kaikeyi two boons which she was allowed to call back later on, and using that to her advantage, she has called for Rama to go south into exile for fourteen years and for Bharata to be crowned King. Due to the events which transpired in the kosaghar while granting the boons, Dasaratha is now dying and there is no way to save him this time. Vashishta then reveals that Manthara, the "green witch" as she is now called, has used sorcery to possess and drug Kaikeyi. Manthara reveals her true colors and threatens to kill Dasaratha, but Vashishta reveals to her that the Dark Lord's promises to her are entirely false, and that she was shaped while in her mother's womb into the deformed crone that she is. Manthara refuses to believe this revelation and flees. Rama, after receiving instructions to leave Ayodhya and its borders by the following dusk, returns to his chambers only to find Sita tearfully pleading to let her go with him. He relents, and while attempting to leave with her, is stopped by a crowd at the gates of Ayodhya led by General Dheeraj Kumar. He tells Rama that Kaikeyi was being manipulated and that he should not honor the boons, but Rama refuses, saying that regardless of the circumstances, he is dharma-bound to honor his father. Realizing that Rama will not change his decision, Lakshmana makes the decision to come with him. In the palace, Kausalya confronts Kaikeyi, who has assumed regentship of Kosala. She utters a mantra to release Kaikeyi of her curse, and she realizes with horror what she has done. Manthara appears again and threatens to kill Kausalya. She injures her but before she can deliver a killing blow, she is distracted by Bharata, who has returned. With the help of Vashishta, he overheard the entire conversation and decides to execute Manthara. Kausalya asks him to show mercy, and she flees, having lost her powers. Dasaratha, in his final moments, is visited by Kaikeyi. However, before she is able to explain her actions, Dasaratha divorces her by royal decree. In his final moments, Kausalya states that she will return Rama home, and he passes away quietly. Following the Battle of Mithila, Ravana's brother Vibhishana had rescued him and the only survivor of the battle - Jatayu with the aid of the Pushpak Vimana, the royal divine chariot and taken him back to Lanka. The entire city was in shambles, with the few remaining rakshasas catapulted to leaders overnight, belligerently rebellious. Jatayu believes that Ravana is now dead, but Vibhishana knows better... Ravana is briefly revived when Vibhishana is forced to call him and deal with the squabbling chiefs, who all appear to believe that he is dead. He is able to speak to Vibhishana but is unable to do anything because of the energy prison he is trapped in. Vibhishana promises to release him if he swears to forgo any further invasion of the mortal world. Reluctantly, Ravana agrees, but begins to lose his power once again. Vibhishana decides to use the energy of the Narak-portal to destroy the cage around Ravana, but the act closes up the portal for good. Meanwhile, Jatayu, somewhat elated that Ravana is dead, begins to think about performing penance for his misdeeds. He sees a black flag declaring Ravana's death, and follows it, intrigued. He wanders by accident into Kumbhakarna's chambers, and....