Ankush - The Devotee of Shiva

Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Ankush who lost his parents in a freak car accident. The boy had developed a spiritual interest from a young age thanks to his parents. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and he carried out frequent prayers and meditation in the name of the Lord. Despite losing his parents, he never felt the need for help from others since he used to spend much of his time with the Lord. Fuelled by his spiritual growth, there seemed to be an aura that protected the guy from evil spirits. No matter how strong or spiritual you are, there will indeed be obstacles in life you will have to overcome.

A demon named Simbu happened to learn about the boy. He despised the Lord and had taken an oath to destroy all his ardent devotees. He chalked out a plan to lure the boy into his stronghold before killing him. The demon was assured that his modus operandi would work to perfection because he felt like wooing a boy isn't a daunting task as opposed to wooing men or women. 

One day, Ankush slipped into a deep meditation reciting the Lord's name over and over again. The Lord Shiva's idol stood opposite the boy as if to bless the devotee with eternal bliss. The sound reverberated from the cave and hit the demon's ears who frowned and closed his ears with his palm. He disguised himself as the Lord to fool the boy into his control. He gave an unsolicited entry into the cave where the hot still hadn't come out of his meditation. The demon scanned the boy who seemed to bathe in the effulgence of the almighty. 

"Hey, boy! I am pleased by your deep meditation! I have come here to grant you a boon. Please go for it," he asserted.

Ankush slowly opened his eyes and was astounded to see the demon in the guise of Lord Shiva. Without wasting a second, he prostrates before him with tears of love ejecting out of his divine-looking eyes. The demon thought the boy was foolish since he couldn't discern the ploy to be a ruse. Gripped in devotion, the boy fell into silence with only his shining face trying to strike a conversation.

"Your love for me is what keeps me going. Please ask me a boon. Before doing so, you need to come out of the cave as a token of tendering respect for me."

The demon felt it to be perilous to attack the boy inside the cave because he could sense the energy that seemed to foil his plan. By hook or by crook, he wanted the boy to be killed and there was no option to forsake the plan. His face flushed with joy the moment the boy nodded to come out of the cave. The demon longed for the boy's blood as he strode out of the cave in joy. The boy followed the demon as if he was unfastened by the spiritual energy. When he stepped out of the cave, the demon brought himself to his original avatar and broke into wicked laughter that threatened to vibrate the cave.

"I had this opinion that you were blessed by your Lord and is difficult to con but you seemed to be weak and useless. It's time for my mouth to feed upon you," he roared in delight.

His ecstasy happened to be short-lived because the boy transformed himself into a giant Lord Shiva with a halo behind his face. The stunning aura of the Lord was a spectacle perse to behold. The demon's crooked eyes embodied fear since his plan got thwarted and he needed assistance from other demons. He called for help but none of his subordinates turned up because they knew they couldn't survive against the Lord. Lord Shiva incarnated as Bhairava and used his trident as leverage to kill the demon who quickly converted himself to a man who was cursed to be a demon in his previous life thanks to his mischief with the sage. He bowed down to the Lord with tears of ecstasy dripping from his eyes. He seemed content since the Lord ended his curse to being him back as a human being. Lord Shiva asked him to work with the boy in disseminating spiritual fragrance across the world.