Chapter 16

Shocks and Surprises

The next morning dawned with a new task. Weapons were out and the weak were pitched against those chosen by Ravindran. Chandra was standing opposite his gurubhai. Devdhar had his spear out and Chandra’s double swords were in his hands. Rakt Guru was watching from a distance. The second commander had given strict instructions not to draw blood. He was watching everyone to find any flaws in their fighting style. Those who would pass would be free of his scrutiny. Chandra could not see what was happening with Jayant because Devdhar’s spear was very pointed and he was not able to take his eyes off it.

In the beginning, Devdhar’s speed was amazing. Chandra barely avoided getting disarmed. Gradually, he started watching the spear more clearly and was able to deflect it with his swords. One thing was sure. Over the years, Devdhar had perfected his moves with the spear. But Chandra had also been learning new tricks. And he was not going to get beaten a third time by his gurubhai.

Devdhar was a shade taller than him and his built was also better. So, the thrust was coming at a very fast pace. He could not reach his hands with his swords. To disarm him, he had to do something unexpected. Devdhar was moving very fast. He was both swinging and thrusting his spear. Chandra kept watching and learning his pattern. Soon he realised that after every few thrusts, he moved aside and swung hard at his arms. He got his point of attack. Twice, Devdhar thrust his spear towards Chandra’s belly and he deflected it. Devdhar then pulled his arms back and ducked, which gave him enough space and momentum to swing the spear over Chandra’s head. As he swung it, he aimed the wooden pole at Chandra’s upper arm. The swing was fierce and if it had hit, there would have been a certain bruise. But Chandra was watching. He had already started moving accordingly. As the spear came near Chandra’s left, his right sword moved with it and the pole struck the sword. Quickly, he slid the sword where the metal of the spearhead began and the sword got stuck. Chandra brought his other sword from the opposite side. Before Devdhar could pull back his spear, he caught it between his two swords and pulled it hard.

Devdhar was stunned. By the time he understood what was happening, the spear was thrown out of his hand and Chandra was back with the swords held high, completing a full circle. His swords were pointed at Devdhar. Devdhar looked around and raised his hands. A smile appeared on his lips. Chandra looked at where Rakt Guru was standing. He had already turned to look at the other men, who were still fighting. Chandra lowered his swords and put them back in their sheaths.

“Well done!” Commander Ravindran was back. “That was a good move. You learnt how your opponent was moving and used it to your advantage.” He then looked around. “Let the others finish. I will tell you what else you can do.” He then started moving around between the other fighters. Some of the weaker ones had already been disarmed.

But Jayant was still fighting. And he was in no mood to lose. For the first time, Chandra was watching his moody friend getting serious. He was swinging his heavy battle axe flawlessly. His opponent had a curved sword and a shield and he was cowering under Jayant’s blows. Soon he had no place to move or duck and he gave up. From under his shield, he shouted that he was ready to yield. Chandra was soon joined by his friend, who was smiling now, back to his original self.

“How did you do that?” Chandra asked. “That move, when you swung your axe over your head with one hand and caught it in your other with the blade still pointed away from you.”

The move had indeed been amazing. Everyone who was watching was impressed. Within a moment, Jayant had transferred his axe between his hands and attacked from the other side. This unexpected move put his opponent off balance.

Jayant smiled. “Years and years of practice, my boy. You have a lot to learn from the master.”

Chandra bowed in respect and smiled.

“We can all learn a few moves from you two,” said Devdhar, who was standing just behind them. “By the way, did you know that you were not supposed to draw blood?”

“Yes, of course,” Jayant replied confidently.

Devdhar nodded. “Good, because it looked as if you were going to cut his head off.”

Jayant whispered to Chandra as soon as Devdhar went away to meet someone else. “Really? We were not supposed to draw blood?”

“You did not know that?” Chandra asked, looking horrified.

“What? Of course, I knew that. Have you lost your mind?” Jayant started laughing. Chandra smiled and looked around.

Soon it was over. Chandra and Jayant and two more had managed to disarm their opponents. The remaining six Raktsainik were given a long and harsh lecture by the second commander. He ended his monologue by letting them know that they would be grilled every day, when they were not travelling.

By the time it was all over, it was lunch time. Chandra and Jayant were hungry. Today, because of the practice, someone else had prepared the lunch and people were not enjoying it.

“Who has prepared the food today?” someone asked.

A hand in the second line went up and everyone started scolding him. Then someone said, “Jayant cooked better.”

There was a murmur of general agreement.

“Both the boys passed the commander’s test too,” another voice stated.

“Yes. They should cook from now on,” said another.

The one who had been beaten by Jayant said, “Yes, the boys seem capable of making good food.”

“The boys seem capable of many things,” the second commander chipped in. “You are a living example of that.”

Many people laughed. Finally, when the laughter died, Rakt Guru ended the discussion, which brought a frown on Jayant’s face. It was decided that Chandra and Jayant would be free from daily practice if they agreed to cook the food.

After lunch, Rakt Guru divided the group into lookouts. It was suggested that the movement of the Anandmath army would take time. Waiting was a good option but not for long. Two two-men teams were chosen for lookout. They were asked to check for the arrival of friends from the north. Three more teams were made to guard the periphery. The rest were supposed to train. Rakt Guru emphasised again and again how important their mission was. After that, he left with a few of his men to track Mrityusena.

Jayant and Chandra were left to themselves. They took stock of the situation. Their food supplies were still surplus. They had brought enough food for a week. And it was in good condition. The problem was water.

“Why can’t we use the pond water?” Jayant asked.

“Dead bodies had been lying everywhere in the village. We have no way of knowing whether the water is contaminated by some animal that fed on them,” Chandra replied.

“Now what do we do?” Jayant asked.

“You can fetch water from the stream,” said Balram. He was only a few years elder than the duo and seemed a bit reserved. This was probably the first time he was talking to them.

“What stream?” Chandra asked.

“Didn’t you hear the sound of running water when we left the forest road and turned towards the village?”

“No. We did not,” said Jayant, looking at Chandra.

“You should learn to concentrate on sounds too. Hearing can help you see what is beyond your vision,” said Balram and looked around. He picked up broken tree branch. “Wait, I will show you where you can find the stream.”

Balram started drawing on the ground. Jayant looked at Chandra and made an expression that suggested that Balram had lost it.

Chandra glared at him and mouthed, “I hate you.”

Meanwhile, Balram was busy making a complex picture on the ground. After it was done, he started giving them directions—where they were, where he suspected the stream would be and how they could find it. After his class was over, he looked at Chandra and Jayant, appearing quite content with himself.

Jayant said sincerely. “That is amazing! How come you are here and not with the team tracking Mrityusena?”

Balram looked crestfallen. He murmured something and got up to leave.

“What did he say?” Jayant asked.

Chandra shook his said and thanked Balram.

“How much water do we have now?” asked Chandra.

“I think it will last for tonight. We will have to go tomorrow morning,” Jayant informed him.

“So be it. We will go early morning,” said Chandra. Jayant looked relieved.

“Let us go and watch the others train. Maybe they will let us join them,” said Jayant and pulled Chandra towards the training area.

***

The old man came out of the temple angrier than he had ever been. When he had entered the temple, he first searched the place where he knew he would find it. When he could not find it there, he searched the other rooms in the temple. The temple was a labyrinth and it had been a long time. So, he racked his mind to remember where it had been hidden. He searched the temple again but he still could not find it. He sat on the temple steps and took deep breaths to calm himself down. It was the time to think about a solution to the problem rather than fret over what had already happened. There were only three people alive who knew where it was, including him. Now that it was gone and he had not taken it, it meant only two things: the other two men had taken it or someone who did not know what it was had taken it by mistake. The first option was unlikely. They would have known better to remove it from its place of safety. So, someone had removed it by mistake. But the question was who.

Fortunately, over the years, he had made very good contacts in all the kingdoms. It was time to make use of them. He stood up, climbed down the stairs, went to his horse and patted it on the back. The animal turned its head towards him. He pulled his drinking vessel and poured some water into the animal’s mouth. The horse lapped it up happily. Then he drank some water himself. He climbed the horse after they had both had their fill. He then pulled its reins and directed it towards his first destination—the capital of Suryagarh.

***

The night passed without any significant event. Rakt Guru came back with his team of trackers and informed the men that the tracks on any army leaving the village had disappeared, as if no army had ever come to this place.

“They are good at covering their tracks,” Chandra said, to a fully-fed and contented Jayant, who was sitting beside him looking at the stars.

“Hmmm,” Jayant replied, looking dreamy.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Chandra.

Jayant looked at him. “Nothing,” he said. “Did you give it a thought? About what Rakt Guru said?”

Chandra was still suspicious. He said, “I did, as a matter of fact.”

“So, any bright ideas?” Jayant asked.

“They came here with the usual plan. Killing, looting and capturing. They were planning to stay, without a doubt. I saw wooden stakes buried in the ground, as if they were going to build tents, just beyond the pond in the fields. But they did not stay.”

Jayant sat up straight. “That’s the question, isn’t it? Why?”

“Well, there can be many reasons. But there is only one reason that seems plausible.”

“What?”

“They had to go somewhere else. Urgently. They did everything here. They took all the trouble to kill and capture. If they had left for where they were meant to, they would not have burnt down those cages. They would have taken them along. But they had a change of plans. That too suddenly. And they had already captured them. So, they killed them rather than let them live and risk exposure,” said Chandra, looking confident of this reasoning.

“That seems likely,” Jayant stated.

“But the question still remains why?” Chandra asked this more to himself, rather than to Jayant.

Chandra slid on his bed and tried to sleep. The forest became alive as soon as he closed his eyes. The last thing that he remembered before he fell asleep was the distant cry of crows. Maybe they had found another pile of dead bodies in some distant village.

***

“I will kill him!” Jayant was furious the next morning. “Now I know why he wasn’t with Rakt Guru. The idiot!”

Chandra was also looking grim. They had woken up early morning to look for the stream and fetch some water. They had taken the way that Balram had showed them and now they were lost. It looked like they had walked for hours, with their horses walking behind them. The water utensils and weapons were tied to them. They had left the camp while it was dark and now the sun was clearly seen in the east.

“Rakt Guru will be furious if we are late,” Jayant said. “If he thinks we are lost, he will have to send men to look for us.”

“Maybe they will leave us to our fate,” Chandra tried to joke.

“Humour. Really? This is what you come up with at this time!?” Jayant shouted.

“Okay! Okay! I am sorry,” said Chandra and brought out a piece of cloth from his robe and looked at it. “Look.” He showed it to Jayant.

“We left from here. We had to go north and northeast. What if we had taken some wrong turn somewhere?” He looked around towards the sun and tried to find the direction in which they were going.

“You try to find the direction, I will try it the old-fashioned way,” said Jayant.

“How?” Chandra asked.

“I will climb a tree and try to see all around. With any luck, I will hear something, beyond my vision,” Jayant said, imitating Balram, “or better, I will see birds flying around some pond.”

Chandra watched, as his friend climbed up a nearby tree. He started drawing on the ground. After he completed a rough sketch, he stood where he thought he was now. And he knew what they had done wrong. In the forest, they had lost the direction sense due to the darkness. Instead of northeast, they had gone towards northwest.

“Jayant,” Chandra shouted. “Come down! I know what went wrong.”

“Wait,” Jayant said, “I am seeing something.”

“What?” Chandra asked.

“On our left. Beyond the tree line. There are some people.”

“That’s great. They might help us find our way.”

“Yes. That’s what I was thinking. Wait! Wait! Something is wrong.”

“What?”

“It seems one man is running from the others.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure. Who do you think I am, Balram?”

“How far are they?”

“Not very far. The man just entered the tree line.”

Jayant started climbing down. He pointed to a direction west of them. “They are coming from that direction. Straight for us.”

Seeing his urgency, Chandra quickly pulled the horses and tied them to a tree. By the time he was done, Jayant was back on the ground. He came down and they pulled their weapons.

“I think we will have to save that man,” Jayant said.

Chandra was thinking beyond that. “Why is a man being chased by a few men out in the wild? Is it just luck that has brought us in their crosshairs?” he wondered.

Chandra held his double swords by his side as he and Jayant took positions behind two trees. He had trained for fighting all his life but he had never looked for a fight till now. Somehow, it was the fight that seemed to find him wherever he went.