by Kevin Missal
“Sure, I understand.” Kali just clapped his hands.
Manav soldiers appeared from the corner with their spears pointing at Arjan and Vikram.
“If you don’t, feel free to drop dead,” Kali proclaimed.
Lady Durukti stood up to protest but Kali gave her a look, as if daring her to speak. She sat down, her eyes downcast. Kali turned to Arjan again.
“Arjan,” a familiar voice spoke from the back.
Arjan turned to see Vikram, who was not weeping but had a determined look on his face. “Let’s do it.” He leaned forward and stuck his upper body in the wrong posture. Even Arjan, who didn’t know much about wrestling, knew it was the wrong way to stand. “Otherwise they will kill ya. My time is done here and I would rather die by your hands.”
“But I don’t want—”
The spears came forward, almost poking Arjan.
“It’s all about making choices, fella. I know you are . . . you are confused. But it’s about doing the right thing.”
“How is killing you the right thing, Vikram?”
“Because you’ll be putting me out of my misery and you’ll be living another day. My purpose was . . . done when I came to this prison, but I know your purpose is greater than this. I know ya will do wonders. So, let’s do it.”
Arjan nodded, getting ready. The crowd cheered. Vikram dashed in the front and Arjan grabbed him by the neck as he plummeted into him with full force. Though Vikram was fat, he had good strength and he would have toppled Arjan if Arjan hadn’t maintained his balance on the ground. Then with a quick snap, he turned to his back, his hands grabbing Vikram’s torso, and with a slight shift he tossed him, throwing Vikram’s body up in the air. Vikram was difficult to lift, but Arjan used all his strength.
The red dust swirled around them and Vikram lay there, not even fighting anymore, but panting.
“Do it,” he whispered.
Arjan grabbed him by the neck, tears almost trickling down his eyes, his breath steadying. He put Vikram’s neck in a headlock as Vikram protested. Arjan closed his eyes as he heard the final words being whispered to him by Vikram, “It was . . . nice . . . knowing . . . ya . . . fella.”
And with a sharp twist to the throat, Arjan lost his only good friend, his life ebbing away in gratefulness.
No one clapped for the fight had been short and one-sided. Arjan stood up wiping the red sand from his knees. He glanced at Vikram’s corpse as it laid there peacefully with a slight smile over his chubby face.
“It was great knowing you too, friend.”
I know ya will do wonders.
Oh, I will. I will not let your death be in vain.
He turned to glare at Kali. Arjan had never felt angrier in his life.
I am tired of him playing with me.
“You got what you wanted. I won the battle.” Arjan was feeling a lot of things right now. He recalled how Vikram had sobbed in the morning. It just wrecked him to think that he had killed his friend with his own hands. “And now I want something.”
“You are in no position—”
“I CHALLENGE YOU, KALI!” Arjan yelled.
At that moment everyone in the crowd gasped, even Durukti stood up from her seat. Kali, for a moment, was confused. Arjan saw a hint of nervousness in him before that same, confident smile appeared.
“I can break you in so many parts, you have no idea.” Kali laughed. “No, I’m glad. I accept the challenge.” His smile faded with a feverish look in his eye. “We will do it two days from now. RIGHT HERE!”
Arjan nodded, walking back as he looked at Rudra who just ignored his glance.
I might just have agreed to my death.
Arjan knew that Kali had ingested the Soma. The only person who might be strong enough to beat Kali was none other than Kalki, and Kalki was either dead or was out there in the hills, perhaps learning about his true powers.
Arjan had no idea about how Kali should be tackled.
While going back, Rudra had commented, “You had saved your ass but you had to mess with him.” Grunting his disappointment, he had left for his cell.
Arjan shook his head, rubbing his palms together as he sat in his cell, looking at the ceiling. And he slept after a while. The next morning, he went for practice and he kept wondering how he would be able to defeat Kali. Rudra didn’t know what to teach him for everyone knew how powerful he was. Rumours had started flying around.
“I hear he can raise the dead.”
“He can kill a person with just his finger.”
They were outlandish claims but then this was prison and not many had the time to really ponder over the truth to such claims.
After a while, Arjan realized he couldn’t kill Kali. Challenging Kali had seemed the right thing to do at the time, but he could see now that he had been hasty.
As the practice got over and he felt numb going back to his cell, he was approached by a soldier.
“Lady Durukti demands your presence.”
Ugh. Now what?
Though Arjan had hated Durukti in the beginning when she had wrecked Shambala, Kalki had later on explained that Durukti was not completely bad. It was Martanja’s men who had ensured the destruction ensued. Still, she was the person who had led the forces and Arjan didn’t like her.
What does she want now?
The soldier took Arjan to the farthest corners and into a room, just opposite to his cell block. It was not yet another cell, but an empty room where Durukti was standing in a beautiful dress. If she hadn’t led an attack on my village, would we have been friends? Arjan recalled how he had taught Padma about forgiveness. Perhaps it was time to practice what he preached.
“I’m sorry for what happened.” Durukti lowered her eyes.
“It’s not your fault.” Arjan had a metal clasp that tied his hands while a soldier stood in the back.
Durukti dismissed the soldier who walked away into the darkness. There was little light in the room.
“No, about Shambala. I shouldn’t have done that. Soma has practically turned my brother into a monster. You should know that I am collecting funds and will be devoting them to Shambala’s reconstruction.”
An apology? And she is planning to help in the reconstruction?
Arjan nodded. “I can’t say I forgive you for what you did, but at least you regret it. You called me here for this?”
“I . . . uh . . .” she paused. “I was afraid of meeting you but when I saw you yesterday, I had to. You are going to fight Kali tomorrow and I . . . I don’t know what to do. Can I help in some way?”
Help? Is this one of Kali’s tricks?
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because Kalki did.”
Arjan clenched his jaw. “Yes, he did. He did, of course.” He repeated the words, mulling over them. “I need your help in releasing the prisoners who are tied up here.”
“But they are criminals.”
“They are good people. I know. I have seen them and they are all tied up here for the wrong reasons. Lord Vedanta was an unjust ruler. Just because a king feels a rule is broken, doesn’t mean the rule is actually broken. In fact, did the rule ever exist on logical terms or did the king create it to frame them?” Arjan made her understand the philosophy of it all.
“I will think about it.” Durukti was still confused.
“That’s one of my demands. And I also want one more thing.”
“Yes?”
Arjan sighed. “I want the Soma.”
“Soma?” Her eyes widened in shock. “No, no, please!”
“I need to have it. That’s the only way I will survive tomorrow’s match.”
“But you burnt it all.”
“You are Kali’s sister. You know him more than anyone. And you know he would always keep a backup for himself. He might be having some of it. Find it and give it to me by tonight or tomorrow morning.”
Durukti’s eyes shimmered. “What if . . . what if you go mad after taking it, just like him?”
Arjan had no answer for this. Kripa had made him understand that Soma might lead a man to do some wacky things and one must have it in the right dosage, otherwise they could be corrupted. Only the Dharm and Adharm shall be strengthened and they shall be able to use the effects of Soma the way they are supposed to and not let Soma control them.
“I would only require a small dosage, something to charge me up.”
“You are basically telling me you will kill my brother if you get as strong as him.”
Arjan shook his head. “I am not like your brother. I would surely imprison him, but not kill him. I do not needlessly kill people.”
Durukti nodded. “I promise to try—for you, for my redemption, and for Kalki.”
Arjan smiled at her and she returned it. As he turned around to leave, she asked from behind, “Is he all right?”
“Who?”
“Kalki.”
“I don’t know. I’m in the dark as much as you are.”
There was a sliver of worry over her face. “I hope he returns soon.”
“If he does return, he will.”
“Yes, I hope so too.” And she left the room.
Durukti was hesitating. She didn’t want to enter Kali’s room.
She was about to do something against Kali. Till now, she had been internally protesting against him, but now she was about to act on it. And if she was successful and Arjan defeated Kali in combat, Kali would be in jail. And Durukti would finally get time to teach Kali where he was going wrong—forcing people to do things was not the way to do it.
But then, she flustered. Hadn’t she done the same when she had attacked Shambala?
Durukti saw Kali doing some paperwork as her eyes scanned the room. It was precise, ordinary, little bits scattered here and there with papers and folders—otherwise everything was set up well. He looked worried as he scribbled with his quill, dropping the ink in the process.
“Ah, my dear sister,” he called out of her. “To what do I owe this generous pleasure?” Even though his voice was warm, he was busy writing and did not even look at her.
“How did you know it was me?”
“I’m your brother. I know when you are around.”
At that her heart sank. Does he know about Symrin? God, I hope not.
“How is everything?” Kali asked.
“I just came here because so much has happened.”
“Oh yes—the city needs to be fixed. We have a good amount of army which we clearly don’t need but we don’t have enough food supplies.” He looked up, chewing the end of his quill. “What was that place you attacked a few months back?”
“Shambala.”
“Oh yes.” He wrote it down. “These small villages are revolting. The city folk are all right with the changes but the villagers, oh no, they want to fight.” He kept mumbling.
“I was talking about how you beheaded their last king in public and how you accepted a challenge for a wrestling match with a commoner.”
Kali stopped scribbling and when he looked up, his golden eyes glinted sharply. There was something in them, a manic energy, when Kali pulled up the corners of his lips. “How’s Urvashi?”
Durukti’s heartbeat rose though her expression didn’t change.
“Uh . . . how would I know?”
“Well, since we ransacked Vedanta’s house and we found no one but his maidservants . . . I wonder where Urvashi ran off to. Have you seen her?”
Durukti shook her head. She clearly wasn’t going to tell Kali that she had hidden the daughter of the last king in her room, making her sleep under the bed at night. Durukti had no choice. If Urvashi was found, she will be mutilated. Urvashi often complained about having to stay in her father’s killer’s palace, and Durukti knew that a few days more and Urvashi will escape.
“I have enlisted Vedanta’s maidservants at our service. We needed them to clean the place. Check up on them, all right?”
“Why did you pick a fight with a commoner?”
“Arjan? Ah . . .” He furrowed his brows. “Well, you seem interested. Surely, he’s not a commoner for you.” His voice got wheezy as he stood up from his chair. “His brother was your lover, wasn’t he?”
“No, he wasn’t.” Durukti sighed. “I have told you so many times . . .”
“Just because you two didn’t do anything, doesn’t mean you didn’t want to.” Kali smiled. “And it’s all right. He’s dead, after all. It doesn’t matter.”
Durukti nodded, realizing that she hadn’t told Arjan about the fact that Kalki may have been killed in a fire that Kali had caused. She wanted to believe he was still out there, hoping he would return one day. But if he didn’t, Arjan was the only one who could stop Kali.
“Arjan is a toy I love to play with, like a whining baby who can’t do anything, but you could do a lot of things to him. I love to exercise my power over him, break his beliefs, bring his morals down, break his soul. It’s like . . .” his smile vanished, “something inside me tells me to do all of this, sister. They want me to hurt him but not kill him, to change him but not stab him. Is it too confusing?”
“You hear voices?”
“Ever since I drank that bloody Soma,” he patted his belt at that moment and Durukti realized why.
The Soma is there.
“It’s making me think too much. Making me . . . ugh . . .” He scratched his bald head. “Anyway, I shouldn’t bore you with the details.”
Durukti walked to him and knelt next to his chair, looking up in his eyes. They had the same iris colour. “No, my dear brother, please let me know your pain. We need to fight this together.”
There was a genuine look on his face, the same look he used to have before he had had Soma, when he used to have compassion. “I . . . uh . . . these voices, they tell me to embrace my heritage, but what is my heritage?”
“Asura?”
“I don’t want to go back to that dead island.” He rolled his eyes.
“Perhaps facing those fears can help you fight these voices.”
“And leave the city to the god of riches, Kuvera? Oh no. He’ll burn down every last hint of my existence from this city. The only reason I’ve tied him to the leash is because I’ve promised him to get Naagpuri, but honestly between you and me, I’m more inclined towards the Suparns, for they have an abundance of Somalata plants that we can use. But it is said that only if the Suparns allow can one enter their city, otherwise it’s impossible to do so. And I don’t want to kill this city by going to the Dakshinis. It’s almost stupid to think the Suparns don’t use the Somas to make themselves strong but use it to fly. Bah! They have always been the secluded bunch, quarrelling with the Nagas all the time.”
“They must have figured it out that Soma isn’t good for your mental health and should be used on an object rather than on a person.”
“What are you implying, my dear sister?” He paused, laughing. “I’m just messing around. All of this information, I learnt it from Vasuki’s diary,” he pointed at a brown-coloured notebook. “He wrote extensively about Suparns and their system and the civil war between Nagas and Suparns.”
She shrugged. Durukti spoke comforting words to him as her hand slipped towards his belt where she saw a lopsided pouch and she was this close to touching the fabric of it when someone knocked. She pulled her hand back and stood up along with Kali.
“Come in.”
Koko and Vikoko opened the doors from outside, letting a strange, short man enter. He had a bulbous nose, a thick upper mouth, and long ears with frizzy hair that he hid a little with his turban. He also wore a shawl that covered half of his body and on his lower half, he was wearing a strange dhoti.
“Yes?” Kali narrowed his gaze.
“I’m Captain Aruna,” he bowed, “from General Taar’s camp.”
“Taar? Who the hell is he?” Kali paused. “Hold on, I know you. You are a Vanar.”
Aruna looked similar to Kali and Durukti. But then his bulbous face, with a thick tuft of hair a
round it which one would say looked like a beard, was a dead giveaway to his race. But they didn’t have moustaches. They worshipped the monkeys and believed they were the superior beings of Illavarti since the Vanars had fought with Lord Raghav against Lord Dushasan.
“I’m surprised.” Kali sat back on his chair. “A Vanar has come and when I had come to Lord Bajrang, he was very adamant he wouldn’t join my campaign. He even called me . . . well . . . mad to do such a thing.”
Aruna didn’t smile. He sat on the chair and said, “I’m not here from the court of Bajrang, the infidel. I’m here from General Taar’s camp, a revolutionary in spirit.”
“I do not understand your monkey politics, my dear friend.” Kali laughed.
“It’s a long story of betrayals and fighting and what-not. But we have a strong leader and we have a strong cause. And we want to join forces with you.” Aruna looked up at Durukti. “Can we speak in private though?”
Durukti began to move when Kali caught her hand.
“No, I would love it if she stays here. She’s my sister.”
“Ah, my apologies then.” Aruna had a refined way of speaking, almost aristocratic. “I have travelled from the outskirts of Dandak to meet you. General Taar sends his regards.” From under the shawl, he pulled out a sheathed sword. “A token of friendship.”
Kali was impressed. Durukti noticed this as he picked up the sword and studied the inscriptions over it. “What does it say?”
“Fate favours the brave.”
He sheathed it back. “You have my attention now. How can I be of service?”
Aruna was glad, almost pulling up a little smile. “My lord, we want to join forces with you and become a part of your campaign, as I have said. And we also know you had a fallout with the Nagas. You need a powerful—”
“Yeah, it doesn’t matter.” Kali waved his hand nonchalantly. “What matters is that Lord Bajrang apparently has a hold on you.”
“We want you to help us get rid of him from the throne.”
“Just so you could join me?” he coughed, laughing loudly. “Let me get this straight. You are ready to join forces with me if I send my men to the borders of Dandak to fight your little battles with Bajrang?”