The blood tax
The sky was dark, the moon had risen up to its maximum glory and the stars were shining like a heavenly carpet in the sky. It was night.
But apparently not for the villagers of Matsyapuri on the Northern tip of Lanka. For their night had been invaded by a demonic force. The Raja's tax collecter Kamalapida had arrived with 8 well armed guards to collect the dues and was causing a loud commotion. The villagers had quickly assembled outside their homes.
Kamalapida was standing on the 9th step of the Shiva temple so that all could see him. He cleared his throat and then started speaking.
"Oh peasants of this paltry village, you who sell their honours for a day's pay. How did you muster up the courage to defy your Raja by not paying your monthly tax ?"
The villagers looked on in awe and anger but remained silent. Kamalapida continued.
"But our Raja showed his generosity and graciousness by forgiving you for the first two months, but not anymore, now you will pay all your dues" .
Kamalapida was interrupted by the headman of the village
"But my Lord, the recent storms have depleted the fish, we are barely able to catch enough to eat once a day ourselves, please spare us" .
This seemed to anger Kamalapida even more. For a moment he was silent. Then suddenly he barked an angry order . It was as if Yama(The god of death) himself had spoken.
"Guards, ransack their houses, take whatever you can and capture their livestock, burn the rest, let them pay their dues in kind but spare their lives for now".
The villagers began to wail and beg for mercy. But Kamalapida only laughed.
The guards obeyed his orders to the last word. They ransacked homes, looted everything of value, threw utensils here and there and then after all the looting had been done, they rounded up the livestock and started preparing logs of wood to burn the village down.
Some villagers tried to resist. But the result was the same. They found themselves at the wrong end of the guard's sharp swords or pointy spears.
Meanwhile, Kamalapida got down from his high position. His eyes went to what the nearest guard was carrying. In his hand was a pot full of water. The thirsty Kamalapida quickly took the pot from the soldier's hand and began to drink.
Halfway through his drink he heard a strange whizzing sound. He stopped and looked back. To his horror, his two muscled bodyguards lay dead in a pool of blood. Victims of swift arrows from the dark forest beyond the palisade wall of the village.
Kamalapida quickly felt an adrenalin rush and took cover behind a wall, his guards did the same. As he did so, a third guard was shot down.
Mustering up courage Kamalapida shouted "Who is it, who is daring enough to attack me like this?".
Then he saw them, to his amazement, the entire forest around the wall of the village was lit up. They were at least 40 men. And they had surrounded the town.
Then one of them shouted a war cry. Kamalapida knew that he and his remaining men stood np chance against such numbers. But surrendering was not an option as the villagers whom he had wronged so much would kill him anyway. So he chose to order his guards to hold their position and himself run in the opposite direction.
He had barely made it a few steps away when a large man appeared out of the woods. He looked noble and demonic at the same time. He must surely be their leader, thought Kamalapida. His body felt paralysed by the man's sudden appearance and he instinctively threw his sword down.
The man quickly came towards Kamalapida and picked him up by the neck. Then the man spoke "Oh vain Kamalapida, you who get paid in blood, you who burn villages and destroy livelihoods, today you will pay for all your crimes in blood".
Kamalapida answered back immediately in a feared voice "Eh, I was just following the order of the Raja Martanta, please forgive me."
"Oh yes, I know, Raja Martanta is not a ruler, he is a slaver, he cares nothing of his own subjects, I will remove him from power soon, but you made the mistake of following his devilish orders, and for that you must die" spike the man.
"But who are you ?" asked Kamalapida.
"I am the ten headed one, one who can think from 10 different perspectives, one who is adept at all 10 Shastras and one who can fight with the ferocity of 10 men. I am......Ravana !"
Then the man brought his dagger to Kamalapida'a throat and slit it. The man released the body. A minute later the vain Kamalapida was no more.
