The Tragedy of Dharini

Once upon a time, Dharini had been chosen to marry the next king of the kingdom of Elaressi, Johan Singh. It is said her beauty was extraordinary and no one’s compared to her. With her olive skin and long black hair, it was no wonder she got Prince Johan’s attention quickly. She was gifted the power to wield the world's rocks and dirt. It was rare for someone to be given this gift from the goddess Fotheea. Upon hearing of her gift, Johan’s father, Kamal, proposed a marriage between the two. Therefore, uniting the land of Elaressi and the civilians of the Wandering Forest, where Dharini once lived.

One day, Dharini went out to the gardens of the Hara Palace, the capital of Elaressi. She wanted to know more about the kingdom she would rule over once she became the prince’s wife. She had already fallen in love with the plants and flowers the land had been offering.

Various flower bushes surrounded a field of grass. A single ornamental piece stands to the right, intricately designed, and a rare sight too. The rows of flowers formed a miniature world of their own, full of mysteries and wonder; they’re full of hidden potential. The flower bushes stood proud and tall as if they were reaching for the sky above. A path was marked with a short stone walkway, beckoning people to explore the garden and showing them the best sights it had to offer. Plants, grass, and roots slightly disrupted the pristine look as they hungrily searched for more pieces of land to expand to.

Dharini had not seen anything as beautiful as the Garden of Hara. She didn’t know a serpent was lurking nearby—waiting for his first victim to cross his path.

A green rose sat in the center of the garden’s bushes. Dharini gasped as she came upon it. As she got closer, she felt the sense of someone watching her. Her eyes scan every tree, branch, and flower around her. That’s when she hears the hissing noise coming behind her.

Dharini turned and found herself face to face with a dark brown cobra. Emerald stripes lined its body from its tail to its throat. Its eyes glowed red as it raised closer to her. It had to be if she was tall.

“Aren’t you a beauty?” It hissed as it slithered closer.

“Who are you?” Dharini asked, out of breath and eyes wide open. She recalled a conversation with Johan before coming out to the garden. He had warned her about a cobra that lurked around the greens. He explained to her how dangerous it was.

“When you come upon it, make sure to kill it,” Johan told her.

“Are you sure?” She asked. “Is it not special to the garden?”

“Of course not, love. Why would I lie to you?” Johan smiled.

“I go by the name of Baka,” the cobra hissed as he slithered around her. “Why is it that I haven’t seen you around here?”

“I am the betrothed of Prince Johan,” she answered, her head held high.

“Ah, the prince,” Baka chuckled. “The same prince who’s had three fiancés before you, my dear?”

“Three?” Dharini asked. It was the first time she had heard of Johan’s previous conquests.

“Oh yes, the prince has had three beautiful fiancés before you, my dear.”

“Do you know where they are?” She asked, taking a step back from the sinister cobra.

“Let’s just say they are taking a deep slumber in the earth’s dirt,” he hissed. “The prince sent them my way when they were getting too annoying for him.”

“You lie,” Dharini gasped. Her Johan wasn’t like that. There was no way. The cobra had to be lying for his sake. Johan loved her. He told her every day since they became engaged.

“What is it you want from me?”

“Just a…simple…taste,” Baka whispered, slithering closer and closer to her.

Dharini began to feel her heartbeat faster, and her palms began to sweat.

“I’m sorry, but I must take my leave now,” she turned swiftly away from Bakarta and began to walk back to the palace.

“Not so fast, my dear,” she heard him hiss angrily.

Dharini turned to look at Baka when she noticed him pulling himself back, his head raised, and his mouth slowly opened, venom foaming. She caught sight of a nearby rock and went to reach for it.

“No!” Dharini screamed as Baka lunged his body toward her. She reached for the rock beside her and, just in time, smacked it on the side of Baka’s head. Dharini did it again and again until she felt the snake become limp. She threw the rock as far away as she could from her and couldn’t believe what she had done. Dharini did what Johan told her to do.

The earth began to rumble as Dharini struggled to get up. She had only seen the ground rumble this way once back in her hometown in the Wandering Forest. Her eyes widen when she realizes why it did.

The goddess Aritri was making an appearance.

Dharini had heard tales of the goddess from her mother. Among the four goddesses of Aragon, Aritri had the worst temper. She punished those who betrayed her by turning them into animals. One time, a man had tried to deceive her into giving him a fortune, but the goddess had turned him into a skunk because of his smelly schemes.

Goddess Aritri had only one lover; his name was Bakarta. Bakarta wasn’t loyal to Aritri. Bakarta had numerous lovers across the land of Elaressi. Every time he was caught, Aritri would punish him by turning him into a cobra. Similar to the one Dharini had just killed.

Aritri had deep olive skin, bright green eyes, and hair as black as night stood before her. She scanned the garden around them until she caught sight of Bakarta. A gut-wrenching gasp escaped her lips as tears formed in her eyes. Slowly, she moved her gaze toward Dharini. Her eyes darkened as she saw the despicable woman in front of her with hands covered with blood.

“How dare you?” Aritri screeched at the poor woman.

“I..I,” Dharini stuttered, backing away from the angry goddess.

“You killed the soul I love with your hate and fear. You must pay the consequences of such a brutal act!”

“He was going to kill me!” Dharini tries to explain, but the goddess has heard enough.

“Do you know what you have just done?” Aritri roared.

With a wave of her fingers, Aritri’s punishment began to unfold.

“Please, don’t do this,” Dharini cried as she fell to her knees. This couldn’t be happening, she thought.

Dharini felt her body become smaller and thinner. She has never felt something like this before. She could feel the crushing of her bones as her body began to transform. Bursts of tearing pain pulse through her head. Her head began to feel heavy, and she could feel dizziness starting to kick in.

Surely this pain would stop soon, she thought. Indeed there’s an end to this.

Her mouth snaps open to let out a curdling scream, but her tongue isn’t human anymore. It has been transformed into the tongue of a cobra. Her eyes go from deep brown eyes turn to green. Her body grew long as Bakarta’s with the garden coloring surrounding her.

Aritri’s punishment is to transform her into the exact cobra she killed.

What have you done to me? Dharini tried to say, but she could not speak, only hiss.

“You have met your punishment, sweetheart,” Aritri smiled. “But there is only one last thing you must go through for it to be complete.”

The goddess reached for the green rose Dharini had been amazed by before. She watched as Aritri crushed the rose in her hands. Slowly, she opened her hands, and in place of the rose, an emerald stone sat on the palm of her hand.

“For your final punishment, you will be caged into this stone until someone lets you free. The only way to set you free is by a person proving an act of true love to their soulmate, just as Bakarta was to me.”

Before thinking about what the goddess had just said, Dharini felt her body get sucked into the stone. She tried to slither away, but the force of the stone was too strong.

Johan, find me!

And just like a snap, Dharini was gone.

Aritri clutched the stone in her hands. She felt him approach her before he stepped out of the bushes.

“Do we have a deal?” Aritri asked the prince.

“We do,” Johan answered.

“Your descendants will have the power this child was gifted,” she replied to him.

“And you will have all Elaressi worshipping you as their true Goddess,” Johan smirked.

“Excellent,” Aritri smiled before she turned and disappeared, leaving behind the stone.

Sure enough, King Kamal had built the goddess a temple as tall as the tallest tree of Elaressi to worship her. She gifted the kingdom of Elaressi forests and plants unlike no other. People built homemade and natural shrines to give thanks to the Aritri.

Now, Prince Johan gazed out at the trees of the Forbidden Forest. The forest was so dangerous that no traveler would dare step into it unless they feared death. Johan didn’t need to see what had happened to Dharini. He planned it all along. He didn’t want to marry a woman from the Wandering Forest. It was beneath him. Dharini would bring him down.

He kneeled on the forest floor and placed the emerald stone down.

“Sorry, it had to be this way, Dharini. Rest now, Dharini. It would take a while before you are ever found,” Johan whispered before waving his hand over the stone, covering it with the dirt and grass of Eppon.

The legend says the only way for Dharini to escape the stone is for a traveler to prove their true love, unlike Johan's false love. Only some things seem what they seem. It is unsaid when she would be free. It may be soon enough.