King Vedanta sat in his chariot, flanked by two soldiers who had long swords. Not that he needed them to protect him; but it was nice being in the protection of your own men.
Vedanta could see how the plans from the ancient scriptures worked. Legendary strategists used this method and now he was using it too. Vedanta promised himself he would return to his kingdom and write long passages about his bravery and fight against injustice.
“That Kali has been ravaging the land of Illavarti with his stupid and casteless outcasts! They think they can destroy the son of Indra,” he proclaimed to his soldiers proudly.
“Son of Lord Indra?” One of the soldiers meekly asked. “Are we protecting a God’s son, your highness?”
“Yes!” he frowned.
“Where is he?”
“Right in front of you!”
“You are a son of God?” The same soldier blurted out.
“Not literally! As in Lord Indra was spiritually my father, the one I worshipped.”
“Oh all right.” The soldier was disappointed.
“Shut your trap and worry about the battle,” he murmured. “No use in talking to illiterates like you.”
The soldier kept his silence.
Vedanta didn’t notice anything until his chariot rocked and finally halted. He stuck his head out of the chariot to see what was wrong, cursing the driver.
“What is wrong?”
“The army has stopped, my lord.”
“Stopped?” Vedanta jumped from the carriage and his soldiers hurriedly followed him.
He walked to his Senapati since he couldn’t see through the layers properly. “What’s with the hold up, eh?”
The Senapati leapt down from his horse to the ground and handed Vedanta the spyglass. He swallowed a huge lump as he spoke, before Vedanta could look. “Kali is not playing fair.” He then instructed his army to make way and let Vedanta have a look at what was coming for them.
Vedanta moved forward, even as he adjusted the spyglass.
“Fair? Fair? He’s a bloody mess, that Mleccha! He’s no good. Why would you expect him to play fair? We are more in numbers. His men…” he continued until he paused to see through the spyglass, to look at the deranged sight of horror in front of him. “In the name of Lord Indra, what in seven heavens is that?” His feet were frozen to the dusty grounds.
“Those, your highness, are the bulls.”
“I can see that.” He looked away from the spyglass and to his general. “But why do th… they have fire on their heads?”
