🔥 Perfect. Now we continue with **Chapter 11 – A Child of Curse or Blessing**, directly connected to **Chapter 10 (Hidden Potential)**.
This chapter will :
* The **village council** summoning to debate Ratan's strange powers.
* Elders torn between **fear of a curse** and **hope for a blessing**.
* Some clan members want Ratan expelled, while others argue he could be the village's savior.
* Mahadev fiercely defends his son, showing the first signs of his **unyielding strength**.
* Ratan overhears parts of the debate, learning that his path will never be ordinary.
* **Snake Spirit warns**: "If mortals fear you now, what will they do when you touch the heavens?"
* Chapter ends with the village leaving the matter unresolved, but Ratan's reputation as either curse or blessing **cemented**.
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# **Chapter 11 – A Child of Curse or Blessing**
The sun dipped low beyond the horizon, casting Prithvi Gaon in a dim, golden haze. Smoke rose from thatched roofs, the scent of barley porridge drifting faintly on the evening air. Children played in the distance, but their laughter faltered whenever Ratan passed. Mothers pulled their little ones closer, whispering warnings that carried sharper than knives.
"Don't go near him. He carries the serpent's shadow."
"Hush! Speak softly. His father will hear."
"Blessing or curse, it matters little. His presence alone unsettles the soil."
Ratan heard them all. Words cut deeper than stones.
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### **Summoning to the Council**
That night, Mahadev was summoned. A messenger came—an older boy with hurried steps.
"The elders request your presence at the council hall," he said, avoiding Mahadev's eyes. "They say… it concerns your son."
Mahadev's brows furrowed, but he nodded. "Tell them I'll come."
Ratan clutched at his father's tunic. "They're talking about me again, aren't they?"
Mahadev placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Stay with your mother. Whatever they say, whatever they do—you remember this: you are mine, and that is enough."
But curiosity gnawed at Ratan's young heart. And so, while Suhani prepared supper, he slipped quietly into the night, his bare feet whispering against the cold earth.
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### **The Council Hall**
The council hall of Prithvi Gaon was nothing more than a wide hut of timber beams, lit by oil lamps that sputtered with smoke. Inside, the village's elders sat cross-legged on woven mats. Lines of age cut their faces, but their eyes still burned with sharp judgment.
Ratan hid behind the wooden slats, peering in through a crack.
"Mahadev," Elder Govind began, his beard long and white as frost, "your son has caused unrest in the village. Twice now, he has killed beasts no child should face. Twice now, strange powers have stirred around him."
A murmur rippled through the hall.
"It is unnatural," one elder spat. "The stones moved. I saw it with my own eyes!"
Another countered, "Unnatural, or divine? The Serpent Spirit does not stir without reason."
"Reason?" a third barked. "Do you not recall the old tale? When a child is born under a starless sky, ruin follows. Famine. War. Pestilence. We cannot gamble the village's fate on this boy."
The air grew heavy.
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### **The Clash of Voices**
Mahadev sat rigid, his broad shoulders casting a shadow that seemed larger than the walls themselves. His voice, when it came, was low but steady.
"My son saved lives. Twice. Would you call that ruin?"
"He saved some, yes," Govind admitted, "but the fear he awakens in others cannot be ignored. Already, whispers spread. Fear divides a village faster than blades."
Another elder nodded. "If he is truly blessed, then let him prove it by leaving. Let him seek destiny beyond our borders. If he is cursed, then his absence will spare us."
Mahadev's hand clenched into a fist. "He is seven years old. You would cast out a child?"
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### **The Old Proverb**
Elder Shanta, the only woman among them, raised her voice. Her tone was softer, yet it cut through the noise.
"There is a proverb," she said. "The seed that grows crooked may still bear sweet fruit. Or it may poison the soil. Who among us can say which way this child will grow? Perhaps he is neither curse nor blessing, but both."
The council fell silent.
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### **The Hidden Listener**
Outside, Ratan pressed his ear against the wood. His small body trembled, not from the cold, but from the weight of their words.
*Curse.*
*Blessing.*
*Cast him out.*
Each phrase etched itself into his mind. He wanted to burst in, to scream that he was neither curse nor blessing, only Ratan—but the words would not come.
Instead, deep within him, the Root Chakra pulsed. *Endure,* it whispered. *Listen. Do not break.*
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### **Mahadev's Stand**
At last, Mahadev rose to his feet. His presence filled the hall like a storm.
"My son will not be cast out," he said. His voice rumbled with such conviction that the oil lamps flickered. "If fate has chosen him, then it has chosen us as well. Prithvi Gaon is no stranger to hardship. Better we raise him as our own than drive him into the arms of the wild."
The elders exchanged uneasy glances.
"Very well," Govind said finally. "We will not cast him out—not yet. But know this, Mahadev: if his power brings calamity, it will not be only your burden. It will be ours."
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### **The Snake Spirit's Warning**
That night, when Ratan returned home, the Snake Spirit coiled into his dreams. Its scales shimmered with starlight that no sky could offer.
"They fear you," it hissed softly. "They will always fear you. If mortals tremble now, what will they do when you awaken the heavens themselves?"
Ratan swallowed, his small fists clenching. "Then I will grow strong enough that their fear will turn into respect."
The serpent's tongue flicked. "Respect? Or worship? Or hatred? Choose carefully, child. For the stronger you grow, the sharper the knife at your back."
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### **Unresolved Verdict**
The council gave no final verdict. The village remained divided—some whispering of a savior, others of a curse. But one truth had taken root:
Ratan was no ordinary boy.
And whether blessing or curse, he could no longer walk unseen.
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## **Chapter Highlights**
1. **Village Debate:** Elders weigh Ratan's deeds—heroism against monsters versus unnatural powers.
2. **Fear vs Hope:** Villagers split; some see him as savior, others as danger.
3. **Mahadev's Defiance:** Refuses to let his son be cast out; declares he will bear responsibility.
4. **Snake Spirit's Lesson:** Fear will always follow strength; Ratan must decide how to wield it.
5. **Unresolved Fate:** Village leaves the question hanging—curse or blessing?—cementing Ratan's legend.
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