Abhaya, page 29
“The group of thirty Garudas who shall breach the fort from the rear passage will leave immediately,” Vainateya replied. “Shyeni will go with them.”
“Hope Vikrama and Kadambari can cover for Shyeni’s absence there. She seems to possess an energy that we can only hope to have,” Krishna said with a smile. “Or is the source of her energy currently at Kamarupa?”
“Can I say the same applies to you too?” Vainateya chuckled and then added seriously, “We are ready, Krishna. We can march now despite the darkness.”
“We should. The rains might start anytime. But we should be able to shelter ourselves and the horses at the foothills. Can we scale the hill against the slippery rains?”
“You are talking to the lord of a mountain tribe, my friend,” Vainateya laughed. “How dare you doubt the ability of my Garudas in scaling this hill?”
“I am talking about facing a three-hundred-strong guard with barely a hundred Garudas, Vainateya. Now, of course, you will say one Garuda is equal to ten men.”
“And rightly so, Krishna. Now before you get into your minimum loss of life theory, give us the nod to march ahead.”
“Very soon,” Krishna replied.
A peculiar shift in his tone made Vainateya look at him. Lightning flashed in the skies in that instant and what he saw in Krishna’s eyes made Vainateya’s heart skip a beat.
The king of Garudas hesitated for a moment, then laid a hand on Krishna’s shoulder. “I shall call them all to be ready.”
Bhauma leaned forward as he poured wine into the bronze goblet and frowned as he emptied it down his throat.
“I hope you are convinced now,” he said.
Abhaya smiled, gripping the chains that fastened the wooden plank of the swing to the high ceiling of the hallway.
“Nobody has ever dared to put forth conditions to Bhauma. You did, and not just any condition. You demanded to become the mahayogini. Dhatri has never questioned me until now.”
“Well, I am not Dhatri.” Abhaya’s words were sharp. “For the ambition you have, I already told you that you need someone younger and wiser to run this show, Bhauma.” Her lips curved as Bhauma looked up. “You will anyway insist that I address you by name. I might as well start doing that right now.”
“There is something about your irreverence...” Bhauma said, his eyes narrowing. “But now that you are convinced…”
“Not yet.” Abhaya caught his hand that reached around her waist. “I mean, there are questions in my mind. About whom I can trust and whom I can’t. The senapati, for instance.”
“He won’t dream of harming us as long as his daughter is with us,” Bhauma replied and moved closer, clutching her arms.
It took her some effort to keep the smile on her face. “Now listen to my two pieces of information, lord of Kamarupa. You will need a better strategy to control the world now. The method of sending waves of brainwashed practitioners to exploit the dissent among the ‘oppressed’, I am afraid, might not work for long.”
Bhauma knitted his brows. “And why do you think so?”
“The powers of Arya dharma are consolidating, Bhauma,” Abhaya replied. “The fault lines that your network of Shaktas exploited all these days might not exist in a couple of years from today. It will become more and more difficult to convince people they are being victimised.” Abhaya continued to smile at his frown. “The codes defining trade and governance will be made uniform across Bharatavarsha. Regaining and retaining social equity, while ushering in a new wave of prosperity, will be the aim of the new empire. The matter of balancing religion with rationality too will enter public discourse. Do you think it will be easy to pay some imbecile to act crippled and then fake a miracle? In other words, how will you convince the aspirational citizen of Bharatavarsha that he is a victim?”
“Governance. Social equity. Prosperity. Aspirations,” Bhauma laughed. “It will be a long time before they are all achieved, Abhaya. We have a lot of ways to derail this new empire. The Supreme Goddess Kamaksha shall show us the way.” His brows rose upon seeing Abhaya’s frown. “Errr … that, I spoke out of habit with Dhatri,” he laughed and resumed. “Until now we were only sending those who preach the benevolence of Shaktism against the civilisation of the Aryas. But now we can take a different route. I know how to influence the places where the children of these Aryas go to get their education. We shall start there. We shall influence the way the younger Aryas see their ancestors. Their current faith in their civilisation is based on their glorious history where the unjust and unrighteous are always defeated. What if that premise were to be questioned?”
“You’ll need to explain what you mean, Bhauma.”
Bhauma brought a finger to her cheek, tracing her jawline with a fingernail. “Education, Abhaya. You will see apologetic Aryas themselves handing the land to us on a platter. You are smart enough to understand.”
“Education. The gurukulas.” It dawned on Abhaya what Bhauma was aiming to achieve. The thought left her too dazed to stop Bhauma from undoing the knot of her heaped hair. Her tresses fell over her shoulders, jerking her into consciousness.
“I wanted to ask you, Abhaya. What made you change your mind all of a sudden?”
Abhaya sighed at the sudden question. “What do you think, Bhauma? I had figured it out when you had left me alone in confinement. It helped to be away from that annoying preaching by Dhatri.” Abhaya wanted to tie her hair back, but with Bhauma dangerously close to her, she only pushed her long tresses over her shoulders. “I think it is almost dawn.”
“How does that make a difference?” Bhauma chuckled. “Even the sun does not dare disturb the lord of Kamarupa in his private moments.”
Abhaya held the edges of the plank as his arms caught her frame again. She considered taking out her weapon when footsteps caught their attention. To Bhauma’s surprise, Mura entered, followed by two uncertain guards.
“How, in the name of the Goddess, have you dared to defy my orders about not entering the inner circle!”
It was Mura’s turn to be shocked when he saw Abhaya by Bhauma’s side. But her relieved expression at his entry spoke more than he needed to know. He thrust a scroll at Bhauma. “Kamarupa is under attack, Prabho.” Abhaya thanked all the gods and goddesses above.
Bhauma opened the scroll and his frown became more intense. “Krishna Vaasudeva? That trickster who was behind the death of Jarasandha of Magadha!”
“It may be possible that he knows your designs, Prabho. It is evident from what he demands. And grant me leave from your services!”
Bhauma glowered at the jibe. He told the two guards to summon all the soldiers and archers in the inner fortress.
“I shall wait in the mahayogini’s chambers.” Abhaya rose to her feet, only to be pulled back by Bhauma.
“You, Mura, will not let anyone enter the fortress if you value the lives of your daughter and Dhatri.”
“Dhatri, too?” The horror in Mura’s eyes increased as he turned to Abhaya who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
“Yes, my dear Mura, so, your daughter has been starving with no food and water for a whole day. If you want me to feed her, go and kill that invader.”
Abhaya could barely conceal her horror.
Mura advanced upon Bhauma and caught him by the throat. “Bhauma! Let them go.”
Bhauma shoved him away and reached for his sword. “Even if you kill me, Mura, you will not find where they are concealed. Who knows what can happen to the children by the time you reach them. They can die of thirst or fear of darkness or suffocation.” Mura stepped back, still in shock. “My dearest friend, I can release them, and you too. But I will do so only if you can thwart this enemy. This invader should not escape alive! Kill him and your daughter will be free. I mean it.”
Abhaya’s blood ran cold seeing helplessness replace the rage in Mura’s eyes. She had never seen Mura in action but his frame and gait were that of a hardened warrior. Her heart dreaded to think about the result if he duelled with Krishna to save his only daughter. Mura stepped back, sheathing his sword. He shook a warning finger at Bhauma and cast a glare in her direction. She could save the situation if only she got to know where Bhauma had kept Mauri and her companion Nandini. After Mura exited, she forced a smile onto her lips and turned to Bhauma.
“Will he not turn and deceive you, Bhauma?”
In response, she saw Bhauma’s lips twitch as he chuckled. “It is not he that I am worried about.”
“But are you sure that girl is out of his reach?”
Before he could respond, guards poured in and Bhauma called the archers to step forward. “Stand by the high-rise platforms on both sides of the inner gates. Shoot at whomever enters.”
Among the guards, Abhaya sighted Vikrama and gave him a discreet signal, indicating the archers. Her dishevelled hair made his heart miss a beat. But Vikrama steadied himself, trusting her poised demeanour. Between him and Kadambari, who he knew was experienced with the sword, they had quite a bit of work to do if they had to take care of the archers as Abhaya indicated.
As the guards left, Bhauma turned to her, the smile returning to his face. “You wanted to know where Mauri is. Come with me.” Abhaya followed Bhauma as he unlocked an inconspicuous door, camouflaged by the art painted on it with dark colours. The door did not creak as he opened it and showed her in. It was a small chamber that had nothing except for a trapdoor in the floor.
Abhaya sighed. “So that is where they are.”
In the dim light, she could see Bhauma nod but his expression was not clear to her. When she turned back to exit the chamber, his hand wound around her waist, hauling her back into the room.
“You really thought you could fool me, didn’t you?”
“What? What are you talking about?” Abhaya protested only to be shoved towards the wall.
Bhauma laughed, closing the door behind him. “Let me first thank you for ridding me of Dhatri’s burden. You were right—she was slowing my plans down.” His eyes narrowed. “Your abrupt change of mind, your driving that wedge between Dhatri and me and this attack now. Do you take me for a fool?”
Abhaya was not unprepared for this. Something in his manner had kept her defences up. She breathed in and responded with an aimed kick at his groin. Bhauma, though, was prepared for resistance and caught her leg midway. Her fists landed on his side and he stepped back. Abhaya too took a few steps to stay out of his reach and took out her scimitar. She saw him move towards the door and sneer. “Keep the kids engaged.”
The very moment she realised that she was on the trapdoor, it gave way!
Chapter Forty-Eight
Krishna looked up at the fortress wall and the towering figure of the commander of Kamarupa.
“A temple town with three layers of fortification and an army too. I wonder how the kings of neighbouring kingdoms did not smell foul play.”
Vainateya nodded but his attention was elsewhere. He was estimating the gap between what looked like niches on the wall. Formed because of an occasional brick or a stone falling due to a natural impact, they were irregular.
“Unless the neighbouring kings of Pundra, Pragjyotisha and Shonita also see a benefit in letting this Bhauma carry on with his activities,” Krishna concluded. “Vainateya, do you see what I see?”
The king of Garudas caught Krishna’s shoulder, pointing to a bushy growth from the gaps in the walls of the fortress. “If we can get there … but the gap between the lower niche and the growth is way too…” When Krishna turned to him nodding, he saw Vainateya’s face clear. “Krishna, didn’t you adopt the symbol of our divine eagle Suparna as your war banner? For that mark of friendship, you will have the privilege of riding on an ‘eagle’ too today.” He dug his hands into the sack that hung from his shoulder and took out two metallic claws. The claws were a Garuda invention, driven by their passion for mountaineering.
Krishna gave the signal to those on his right and at the wave of his hand, huge balls of an inflammable mixture were lighted with flaming torches and hurled at the gates. The guards of Kamarupa rallied in two lines, one behind Mura on the fortress wall, pointing their javelins at the advancing Garudas, and the other behind the outer wall, steady with their shields. About twenty Garudas advanced with clubs, roaring, braving the javelins and the impact was felt on the gates of Kamarupa. The inflammable balls burnt and gave them a smoky cover, blinding the defending guards above. Vainateya and Krishna sprinted towards the left side of the fortress, followed by ten more Garudas. Judging the momentum, Vainateya lifted Krishna by his waist and let him balance his knees over his shoulders before he placed his foot over the first niche. The metallic claws helped him find a grip over the next niche even as his frame shook under Krishna’s weight.
“For Suparna! For Mahavishnu! For the sustenance of the universe!” Vainateya shouted the Garuda slogan and lifted himself over the niches.
“Higher, Vainateya!” Krishna shouted, rising and balancing his feet over Vainateya’s shoulders. Vainateya obliged and shouted back that he had come to the last niche he could spot. Krishna hauled himself to the thick bushy growth. He saw the relieved Garuda king claw into another gap, vigorously carving a new niche. Krishna’s foot balanced over the shrub and his right hand reached up to the edge of the bastion wall. He held his sword in his teeth to hold the edge with his left hand as well. A foot stamped on his right hand. Krishna’s jaw clenched at the pain. A javelin then cut into his hand. He looked up and met Mura’s piercing gaze.
Mura saw Krishna gasp as he twisted the javelin that had pierced his right hand. But, instead of pain, he saw defiance that glared back through Krishna’s eyes even as blood oozed out of his hands. Even with the sword clenched between his teeth, Krishna’s lips curved in a smile that tugged at Mura’s conscience and, before he knew what he was doing, Mura had pulled him up over the fort wall. “Who do you seek here? Flee from here if you value your life … Vaasudeva, is that your name?”
“What if I do not?” Krishna replied, taking the sword in his right hand. “What if the value of my life is based on how I respond to the cry I hear out of this fortress?”
“That smile of yours can lure any other girl into your arms. Why would you be foolish enough to walk to your death for someone here?”
“So that I can retain that smile,” Krishna quipped. “Now that you are engaging me in a dialogue, why do you defend the peddlers of untruth, Senapati? You look too honourable for that.”
“None of your business!” Mura snapped. “I spared your life hoping to make you see the foolishness in challenging the seat of the Supreme Goddess!”
“I am not challenging the seat of the Supreme Goddess. I only want to knock some sense into those siding with untruth in her name. If you are one doing so, it is perfectly my business, Senapati.” The blood dripped from Krishna’s hand and Mura saw his unaffected smile. “Leave the side of untruth and dishonest religiosity, and come over to my side, Senapati.”
“All that Senapati Mura can give you, given your refusal to leave, is an honourable death.” Mura gritted his teeth and pointed his javelin at Krishna.
Krishna placed his sword in its way and winked. “Let us see which one of us has the smile to lure the maiden of death.” His sword rose, shining against the rising sun and Krishna launched his attack. Mura’s javelin locked the sword as Krishna grinned. “And who among us can convince her to return some other day.”
Mura drove his javelin towards Krishna’s neck. Krishna ducked, arching his back and, catching the weapon midway with his left hand, he drove his blade towards Mura’s side. Mura drew back the javelin to defend the move. The impact was harder than he had expected and the weapon broke, hit by the sharper edge of the sword.
Five guards came to Mura’s aid. From the corner of his eye, Krishna saw Vainateya climb up the fortress wall and engage Mura. Two more Garudas followed Vainateya and three more guards came to Mura’s defence. In the fight that followed, the Garudas, though outnumbered, managed to get the upper hand. Another guard launched himself at Krishna, driving his javelin into his shoulder. Withstanding the excruciating pain, Krishna kicked at the guard, simultaneously driving his sword into the guard’s belly. Two more guards charged at him as he rose to his feet and pinned him against the wall. Krishna ducked in a swift move, cutting through a guard’s leg and pulled the other guard to the ground.
Mura charged at one of the Garudas with renewed fury, pushing him off the fortress and turned towards Krishna. “Call off the fight, Vaasudeva, if you don’t want to see more of your men fall.” Before Krishna could reply, Vainateya smashed a guard’s head with the club he had snatched from him and roared, hitting another guard fatally on the back. The gates then gave in with a crash, catching everyone’s attention.
Mura sneered in response. “A bare fifty against two hundred. What do you hope to achieve other than give us some scavenging trouble and a feast for vultures?”
“Six to one!” Vainateya shouted in response, slamming the third guard’s head against a wall.
“Scavenge your conscience instead, Mura,” Krishna responded, his eyes gathering a fury that made Mura step back. Conscience was not one of the things he could afford on this day, despite his heart not being in the fight. But the words landed on his ears as hard as the blows of a club.
“Enough!” Mura shouted, looking at Krishna and then at the Garudas. “This will be a fight to the death just between the both of us!”
Krishna exchanged a glance with Vainateya and turned to Mura. “So be it.”
Throwing away the broken javelin, Mura drew out his double-edged sword, the same length as Krishna’s but wider. The metal of their swords clashed in rapid succession, each attack parried or met by the other. The sun rose in the eastern sky and the intensity of the duel grew. Blood dripped from the wounds of both and neither showed signs of fatigue. Mura withdrew his blade and charged again, this time aiming directly for Krishna’s chest. Krishna nimbly turned aside and the weapon grazed the skin of his arm. Krishna aimed the next blow at Mura’s sword in a swift move, partially upsetting the latter’s grip. Mura caught Krishna’s sword with his bare left hand and, with sheer brute strength, parried the blow while retrieving his weapon from the ground. While holding back Krishna’s sword, he cut his weapon across Krishna’s legs, making him jump to escape the blow. Krishna landed on the ground, dangerously close to the edge of the fortress wall.
