Chapter 28 Agastya #3
A loud, earth-shattering sound erupted through the mountain ranges as we fired the first cannon, targeting the boat and killing around fifty soldiers at a time.
Eklavya managed the army from the other side of the mountains, and I watched the invaders jump into the water, trying to emerge from the river.
“Give me the bow,” I asked the soldier. Tugging the arrow on the bow, I lit its oiled tip and pointed at the river’s shore, where the vast dried grass stood tall.
It was covered with the burning oil.
I loosened my fingers, and within a fraction of a moment, the grassy beach was blazing with fire.
Eklavya did the same from the other side, and soldiers boosted the cannon attacks.
But the invaders also spotted us and took out their bows and arrows.
Lowering my arrow, I fired a shot from my gun to signal the soldiers to step up the cannon attacks. Our soldiers, camouflaged by the trees, began their archery assault.
The noise of cannons echoed through the mountain ranges, shaking the vast stones with earth-shattering tremors. A cataclysmic roar threatened to destroy everything in its path.
The sky filled with dark clouds, a mixture of smoke from the gunpowder and the burning grass.
I coughed and watched the enemy soldiers burning as they jumped into the river, becoming a feast for crocodiles, if there were any, in the water.
It was satisfying to treat them as they had treated others. How could they even think about burning our kingdom, our region?
I didn’t want to leave a single one of them alive. They were struggling. They bled. One got shot into his head; his head burst open, satisfying me for some strange reason.
I wanted to see them bleed with pain. They had enraged me.
Their cries blurred under the cannon’s attacks. A round shot landed right over a big ship. It cracked in two on the spot. The explosion burned the soldiers. They threw their hands, shredded clothes, jumped into the water, but our archers fucked them, piercing their hearts.
The boats behind the sunken one turned around and fastened onto us. And I immediately fired three gunshots, pinning the soldiers’ attention on them.
Archers mounted their horses and took down the invaders.
I climbed on my horse, armed with my gun, bow, arrows, and sword, and gripped the reins with my trembling fingers.
“Come on, Ashwait. I need to fuck them down,” I told my horse, bouncing on his back as he raced faster through the steep mountain in a crisscross pattern, avoiding the trees.
I looked at the invading soldier lifting his bow at me at the riverbank.
Quickly, I grabbed my bow and arrow to shoot right into his mouth, hollowing his head.
He fell back.
Ashwait raced even faster to reach the riverbank, which was lined with small, finely shaped stones. I patted Ashwait’s back to slow him down, attacking the invaders alone.
I hastened, shooting arrows one after another at them. Even the cannons were inching closer, and finally, a troop of soldiers arrived, loading the guns into the boats and running after them.
I yanked Ashwait’s reins to stop him and climbed down. Sprinting toward the river, I plunged into the water, swimming toward the ship.
The soldiers helped me climb it.
“Give me that!” I exclaimed, snatching the ball from the soldier’s hand. After putting it in the hole, I told another soldier to light the tail with the torch when I signalled. I aimed it at the running ship. The water chilled my fingers and soaked my clothes.
But the blood in my veins boiled with anger, hatred, and countless emotions I couldn’t comprehend at that moment.
“Light it,” I yelled.
My gaze, intense at the tail, sparkled before burning down. I tightened my fist on the cannon’s handle, aiming at the giant boat.
Boom!
It visibly shook me to the core.
The projectile’s release was so forceful that my entire body shook from the impact.
I watched closely as it soared before landing directly on the ship’s bow, splitting it in two.
The soldiers caught fire and leapt high into the air from the blast, and I raised my hand slightly to signal the archers to aim at them.
I didn’t want any of them alive.
A rain of arrows followed my command, killing almost all the invaders.
“One more,” I ordered, turning back to the soldiers. They put on another cannonball.
“Speed up the ship!” I yelled at the soldiers, and we began pursuing the enemy ships as they attempted to escape.
“Light it,” I commanded.
I aimed at the other boat, and boom.
It broke into pieces, and all the soldiers drowned in the river.
Motherfuckers!
“More,” I said, and we sailed after them, but my heart stopped instantly when I saw a massive boat, twice our size, speeding toward us.
And, suddenly, I noticed something else as well.
“Give me the binoculars!” My fingers trembled as I took them from a soldier.
I screamed when I held it up to my eyes and saw a massive cannon and a few soldiers on that giant ship.
“Fall back!!”
The cannon was not the same as the one we had.
I yelled to all the boats, “I said, turn around,” and exclaimed again, “Fucking get out of here!” My voice faded amidst the cannon fire, and suddenly, that enormous ship set to launch an assault.
I quickly drew my gun and aimed it at them. But, because of the distance and the waves rocking the boat, I couldn’t keep my aim steady. Still, I clenched my fists tightly, and suddenly, a roar erupted from the cannon.
My gaze sharpened at the cannonball flying in the air, and before it could reach any closer to me, I aimed hard with my gun, diffusing it mid-air. A dense cloud of smoke erupted.
My heart raced wildly, watching the person leading the charge from the enemy side, and before I could understand anything, he shot another fierce cannonball.
It hit our ship, cracking it into pieces. The soldiers fell into the river.
My jaw tightened as half of the boat behind my back was gone.
“Light it up,” I ordered the soldier, still holding ground with me. We faced imminent drowning.
This was the only chance I had.
Clenching my fists on the cannon’s handle, “Fucking light it up,” I roared.
Though his hands trembled uncontrollably, he carried on.
I aimed at the bottom of their boat, but he fired along.
His cannonball clashed with ours. Everything went dark. I was too stunned to react. My ears were unresponsive, and my eyes saw nothing. Only a ringing sound enveloped me, and I couldn’t hear.
I drowned deep, and when my breath hit my chest, I tried to swim to the surface.
Facing out, I panted hard, adjusting my vision of their ship’s broken base and the water getting in.
Some harm was done.
A smile lingered, but I gritted my teeth angrily as they attacked our other boats.
But it wasn’t enough.
I swam to the ship.
They cannot run alive.
Grabbing the rope, I climbed the ship with much difficulty. My hands ached. The cuts bled, but I tried faster.
The moment I stepped onto their boat, I looked at the tall, well–built soldiers looking at me.
Surprise!
They immediately raised their swords, and I nodded, looking at them, trying to catch my breath.
Raking my eyes, I counted their number over fifty and took my sword out.
Tilting my head sideways, I paced back and looked at the men in deep grey attire. I bit my lip to remind myself that my family awaited me. That my Bhai-sa would kill me if anything happened to me.
My absence would deprive Rudraja of a glorious upbringing and devastate my bhabhi-sas.
I gritted my teeth and remembered the person I wished to forget. Yet, if anything were to happen to me, she would also be heartbroken. She wouldn’t forgive herself and thought it had happened because of her.
Soldiers ran toward me, and I moved my sword through the flesh and beheaded the first one. His head flew out of the boat. The blood splashed over my face before I grabbed the neck of another one in my hand.
They had pissed me off.
How could they kill our soldiers?
First, they try to enter our land and then kill our people. Nah, not done.
“Not done”! I clicked my tongue, pressing harder into his neck. He choked, and another one attacked me. I plunged my sword into his stomach, in and out at a thundering speed, before slicing another’s head.
My other hand dragged the man along. His body struggled to be freed, to breathe, but I didn’t stop, deepening my fingers into the side of his neck to pull his nerves out.
He died, earning a soft chuckle from me.
Suddenly, a soldier cut through my arm, and I lifted my gaze to look at him.
Amazing!
His eyes widened.
The water dripped down my face and ears as I shook my head slowly.
“Bas ye nahi karna tha,”
(You shouldn’t have done this.) I muttered, shifting the sword from my left to my right hand, and confused him by lifting it high in the air, but swirled it around his chest, slicing him in two.
His intestines pooled out, blood dissolving into the water, and I might have noticed his crap.
It disgusted me, so I moved to the other ones.
The ship was sinking, death awaited, but I kept killing them one after the other. They could live only over my dead body.
I got cut as well. But when you have the right intention, even the devil kneels before you.
And they had to.
The death lord must wait!
After killing those fifty men, I marched closer to the cannon, attacking my people, and noticed a seven-foot-tall man with hip-length hair and deep red eyes.
“What the hell do you eat?” I gritted my teeth angrily as he laughed, looking at me.
I bit my lip and tasted the blood. Some dripped down my forehead as well.
“Who are you?” I asked, and he did something that pissed me off beyond measure.
He aimed the cannon directly at me.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
His face fell looking at me, and I laughed even louder.
He gritted his teeth, and I rubbed my mouth with my cuff.
“Who are you?” he asked, his eyes showing a tint of fear now.
“Just a soldier,”
He gritted his teeth.
“Who is the fucking king?” he roared in a loud, rattling voice, and I took a step ahead, dragging my sword along. It screeched along the ship’s wet wooden floor.
“Humaare raja tum jaisoan ko muh nahi lagaate,”
(Our king doesn’t spare even a glance at the likes of you.) I stated.
He inhaled deeply and walked behind the cannon.
Growling, I sprinted ahead. Jumping over and climbing lightly onto the cannon, I grabbed and pushed him beneath me.
I landed a solid punch to his face, yet he found it amusing.
My rage exploded, and I hit him again, right in the face. Another burst of laughter from him fueled my anger; I hit him harder. The boat tossed and turned, buffeted by the turbulent waves created by the cannonades.
Out of nowhere, he seized my clothes, pushed me down, and delivered a powerful punch directly to my face. I coughed up blood.
He landed another punch before I opened my eyes, tearing my lips.
I groaned in pain, gritted my teeth, and held his fist to stop him from punching me again. Staring into his eyes, I shook my head with a soft chuckle.
“Hum nahi… to aage kataar lagi hui hai, bachke to nahi jaa paaoge,”
“If not me, then there is an entire line; you won’t be able to escape.” My voice was hoarse, deep, and slightly raspy.
He punched me in the face with his other hand. He grabbed my collar and jerked me, lifting my face off the floor. I felt a rush of dizziness.
“Who the hell are you?” he yelled with his filthy mouth stinking like a gutter, and I chuckled slightly.
“I told you, just a soldier,” I said, then punched him in the eyes. He jerked back and pressed his hand to his eye, letting out a loud cry.
“Argh, bastard!”
I bit my lip, caressed the torn area, and shook my head.
“How will I kiss her now?” I muttered, sat up, held his collar, and pushed him back with all my strength.
His head banged into the metal of the cannon, and he started bleeding. He cried out louder, and I banged his head again on the cannon. Again and again.
“Kya socha tha… sab moorkh hai yahaan, bikau hai, ghaas charte hain hum?”
“What did you think? That we’re a bunch of fools, easily traded, and that we eat trash?” I lost it and clenched my fist to punch him again.
But that bastard moved, and my fist slammed into the cannon’s wheel, making my knuckles bleed.
Fuck. It hurt like hell.
He laughed. “You’d never know,” he sputtered and held my collar to put me down under. He punched my face harder, one after the other.
My head spun with dizziness.
I looked at him through my bleeding, blurry eyes.
He picked up his sword from the ground and raised it high. He stumbled, blood flowing from his head.
Everything stopped. More than half of the ship sank. My head was right beneath the surface of the water.
“Will gift your body to your king,” he screamed louder.
I couldn’t stop laughing, moving my hand over my chest and midriff and taking my dagger out.
And before he could slice my head, I aimed my dagger right into his left eye.
An excruciating cry left him, and he stumbled back.
I shook my head and muttered. “Aaj tak koi humaara baal bhi baaka nahi kar paaya. Humaari Maa rehti hai humaare saath. Tum kis khet ki mooli ho,” “No one has ever done any fucking thing to me. My mother is with me. Who do you think you are?” I said, carrying myself straight.
He cried out in pain and lifted the sword again. I grasped the sword and took it from him, kicking at his chest.
He fell back and growled in pain.
I knelt beside his chest, seized his neck, and glared into his bleeding eyes. The dagger was deep in the handle.
“I don’t want to hurt you more, you know, but I need this dagger back… my wife enjoys it better,” I muttered and grabbed its hilt. Slowly, very slowly, I pulled it out.
He screamed in pain, and I rose to my feet. The boat had gone under the water, and I could feel the world spinning around me.
I could die at any moment. Putting the dagger back in the sheath and into my pocket, I lifted my sword.
“You know what,” he muttered slowly, and I stepped back. “Even I am a soldier,” he said, and the anger rushed into my body.
I bit my lip before slicing his head off his body.
Fucking Motherfucker!
His body trembled for a moment until he gave up.
I nodded my head with a slight smile.
“Koi baat nahi, tumhare baap ko bhi dekh lenge,”
“Don’t worry, will see your king as well.”
And I fell, drowning in the river.
Chasing the end.
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