“I have heard enough,” the Lord Chief said.
The whole tent was silent.
“That is a preposterous and dangerous plan,” she said. “No one would even think of attempting it.”
The generals began to protest and the Lord Chief immediately raised her fist to silence them. “But that makes the attack more surprising. Let’s do it. Good work, Kautilya.”
The generals cheered.
The Lord Chief turned to Yama. “I want this plan to be launched tonight.”
Everyone looked at Yama expectantly, hoping that he would mount at least a semblance of protest. But he did not.
“All right,” the Lord Chief said as she left. “May the gods give you strength.”
CHAPTER 47
Intrusion
“So are you all clear?” Kautilya asked.
The squad members nodded.
Kautilya looked up at the full moon. She had wanted to launch the attack on the new moon which was two weeks from tonight. The lack of light would have benefited them.
She also felt tired. She had been restless and had not slept the night before. And now here she was, about to lead a stealth mission into the very prison town she had scouted two months ago.
“Are you all right, princess?” Ādi asked.
Ādi had painted his hair black and was wearing the black dhoti that was now the uniform of Dhanush’s military. The two of them had to play the role of prison guards. That day they had managed to capture two human soldiers and retrieve their uniforms and golden pendants and horses.
She looked at Ādi’s usual confident expression and sought to take mental strength and calmness from him. After all, in the gurukul she had been taught that a leader should never show fear or it spread through her warriors.
“Of course,” Kautilya said. “Just thinking about stuff.”
As usual, she had written down and memorised every possible action the enemy might take and how she would react. But there was the possibility that the enemy could surprise her.
“Also,” Kautilya said, “wasn’t one more squad supposed to join us tonight?”
“I think that’s them coming,” Nina said, pointing to behind Kautilya.
Kautilya turned to see Yama, Druma and Angad’s squad making their way to them.
Yama raised his fist. “Minds without fear.”
The squad responded, “Heads held high.”
Yama rubbed Barong’s head and then announced, “It was too late to find a suitable squad to bolster your efforts.”
The squad groaned.
“So we decided that we will join you,” Yama said. “I hope we will not slow you down.”
Kautilya felt a surge of confidence. She was going to be joined by the best warriors in all the rebel forces.
“This is fantastic,” Kautilya said. “You already know the whole plan, don’t you?”
“Remind me,” Yama said.
The new arrivals sat around Kautilya and once again she ran through the plan. They were to infiltrate Vivila. Kautilya and Ādi would pretend to be human soldiers. Hopefully, the cover of the night would allow them to get in without suspicion.
Once in, the plan was to free all the prisoners and then use the mayhem to open the gates.
“Brilliant,” Yama said. “So let’s go.”
Soon the team was on their way. Kautilya led them on horseback and Ādi followed, also on horseback, behind the team, who acted as if they were prisoners. Yama and Druma had their heads covered in conical straw hats and their bodies covered in the traditional ape shawl to prevent any of the humans from recognising them.
“Stupid horse,” Ādi grumbled from behind the team.
“What happened?” Kautilya said bringing her horse to a halt. Kautilya had hoped that Ādi’s horse would just follow her own and there wouldn’t be any problems. However, his horse had started huffing around.
“I don’t know,” Ādi said. “The stupid thing is annoyed with me for some reason,”
“Isn’t everyone annoyed with you?” Nina said.
“Shut up,” Ādi said and his horse immediately tried to throw him off his saddle.
Kautilya began to turn her horse around but Yama began stroking its neck and it calmed down.
“I’ll lead the horse till the prison gates,” Yama said. “Once it’s in familiar surroundings it will be fine.”
Kautilya nodded and soon the party was on their way again.
After a while the prison town came into view. “Everyone,” Kautilya announced, “no movements and no noises. Let me handle this.”
Kautilya could see that the guards on top of the turrets on either side of the gates had spotted them and had immediately become alert.
As they walked up to the gate Kautilya raised her palm. In a deep voice, she said, “Hail war!”
Ādi who was behind her followed cue. The guard on top of the towers lit up torches and shone light on the party.
“Hail war!” the guards said. “What were you doing out in the forests at night?”
“We had gone to Kishkinda,” Kautilya said. “They wanted to send in some prisoners.” She pulled out a pendant and showed it to the tower guards.
“All right,” the tower guards said, apparently convinced by Kautilya’s human accent. “Open the gates.”
Slowly the metal gates began to rise. Kautilya breathed out. They were now heading into the lion’s den. The whole town was filled with military personnel. One bad move and they would be exposed and their whole mission would end in failure.
“Stay still!,” Ādi hissed from behind her. Kautilya turned to see that Ādi had totally lost control of the horse and it was galloping into the prison town.
Kautilya gasped and reached for the reins of the horse as it passed her, but she missed.
An officer grabbed the reins and the horse stopped. Kautilya’s heart beat fast.
“What are you playing at, boy?” the officer demanded.
Don’t say anything. Kautilya hoped to mentally transmit the instruction to Ādi. His accent would give away the fact that he was not a human.
Ādi did not respond.
“Why are your eyes closed?” the officer asked again.
“Something went into his eyes on the way,” Kautilya said. “That’s why he lost control of the horse.”
“Are you both stupid?” the officer said. “Get off the horse, fool.” Ādi leapt down and the officer whacked him on his head. “Do you want to get killed? Riding a horse blind!”
He then turned to Kautilya. “Lead these men away before I kick your tail back to training.”
Kautilya nodded. She rode the horse forward and grabbed Ādi’s horse by its reins. Then she led the whole party towards the prisoner registry camp that they had scouted in the preceding weeks.
Behind her she heard the metal gates go down.
“Good job, keeping your cool,” Kautilya whispered to Ādi when they were out of earshot.
“I am going to take care of that guy when this goes down,” Ādi said.
“Halt,” the officer’s voice said from behind. “What’s this on my hand? Have you painted your hair?”
“Oh no,” Kautilya said. They continued to trudge on.
“Halt!” the officer repeated.
Kautilya looked at Yama. Yama looked back at Druma. Druma shrugged.
He threw away his straw hat and his shawl and roared. The whole camp shook.
“Start running,” Yama said. “We have to free the prisoners.”
Kautilya nodded and gestured at the rest of the squad. They began to race towards the prison registry where the keys were kept. Meanwhile Druma, Yama and the apes covered their backs and fought off all incoming human attackers.
“What do we do now?” Nina asked as she ran towards the prison cells. “How are w
e going to free the prisoners?”
Kautilya pulled an arrow from her quiver. “Agnyastra!”
Then she launched the arrow. Immediately the prison wall exploded, creating a huge hole. Ape prisoners poured out and came to the team’s aid.
Saira looked at the hole and gasped. “Good job, Kautilya.”
“Riot!” Nina screamed and turned on the prison guards who had started coming out of their quarters.
Kautilya saw a large cauldron of flaming oil that was lighting up the whole prison town. This gave Kautilya an idea.
“Ring formation!” Kautilya screamed. Nobody heard her.
“Ring formation!” Nina thundered and the whole squad formed a circle around Kautilya. She pulled out an arrow and launched it at the cauldron. The cauldron did not budge.
Ādi grabbed a soldier and flung him at the cauldron. The cauldron tilted and immediately everything around it caught fire.
“Squad,” Kautilya said, “create as much confusion as you can.”
“We’re experts at that, princess.” Ādi laughed maniacally. He leapt out of the ring formation, jumped into a squad of prison guards and began taking them down one by one.
There was an explosion and the camp was briefly lit up. Kautilya looked up and saw that one of the guards had launched a flare arrow that burst in the sky. Reinforcements would arrive soon.
Meanwhile, the fire had started spreading properly through the prison.
“Saira, we need to get the gates open,” she shouted.
Saira nodded. “What do I have to do?”
Kautilya gestured to her to fly towards the tower. Saira called out, “Ādi, we need the gates open.”
Kautilya snapped the reins and they raced towards the prison gates. Ādi heard and began running after the horse.
“So what’s the plan?” Saira asked. She flew along with Kautilya to block the arrows that were being shot at them. “Are you going to launch some more exploding arrows?”
“The gates and walls are resistant to astras,” Kautilya said.
“Any other tricks up your sleeve?” Saira asked Kautilya.
“We’ll just have to get to the gate mechanism,” Kautilya said.
Saira laughed. “Back to the basics?”
“Yes,” Kautilya said. “You and Ādi should be able to take care of it, right?”
A roar erupted through the prison. Kautilya saw that piles of guards had fallen on all sides of Druma and Yama. Almost fifty guards had formed a circle around them, but the humans kept their distance.
“Yeah,” Saira said. “The guards have scarier things to worry about.”
Kautilya looked around to see complete chaos. Prisoners ran about fighting guards. Some had managed to get weapons from the fallen guards while others fought bare-handed. The fire had spread now, with a significant part of the east wall on alight, and some of the outposts as well.
“See you later,” Ādi said as he finally overtook the galloping horse. He reached the tower that housed the gate’s control mechanism and began pulling at the door.
“Watch out!” Saira screamed at Ādi. Kautilya looked up at the gate tower and saw that two guards were about to pour boiling oil down the tower wall to prevent Ādi from entering.
Kautilya pulled out another arrow and shot one of the guards. He fell down the tower. The other guard was not able to handle the cauldron of boiling oil on his own and it tilted towards him.
Kautilya turned her face away. She pulled the horse to a stop and Saira leapt off. Ādi had not managed to open the guard tower door yet.
“Cursed iron bars,” Ādi said, panting. “There’s no way we’re getting that gate open.”
Kautilya jumped off the horse. She pulled a hair out and with a Kadgāstra she turned it into a steel wire. Then she unlocked the gate.
“Let’s go,” Kautilya said.
“Show-off,” Ādi said and began to run up the staircase. Kautilya followed him. Saira flew up.
When Kautilya reached the top Ādi was in a stand-off with a giant guard who Kautilya recognised as one of the most feared warriors in the human army.
“Ādi,” Kautilya said, “you should keep your distance.”
Ādi raised his hand. “I can handle this.”
“But...” Kautilya began.
Ādi charged into the human guard with his mudras ready. The guard punched Ādi in the face, disorienting him.
“Ādi, you have to use your speed,” Kautilya said.
But Ādi would not listen. He charged in and grabbed the guard by his arms. They were now in a lock.
Kautilya shook her head. Ādi could solve this much quicker if he used his speed instead of just his strength.
Suddenly Ādi rammed his head into the guard’s face. The guard screamed in pain. Ādi took the opportunity to shove him into the keep that controlled the tower.
The two warriors crashed in and the wall collapsed on top of them.
“What’s going on?” Saira asked as she flew up to her.
There was a sudden movement in the collapsed walls and Ādi burst out of the rubble. He grinned in satisfaction. “See, I got him. You think way too much, Kautilya.”
Kautilya gave Ādi a dark look. “Oh yeah? How do we enter the tower now?”
Ādi looked around. The collapsed wall was blocking their entrance. He looked at Kautilya like a cat that had spilled milk.
“Wait, I can handle this,” Ādi said. He began punching at the collapsed wall.
“Ādi, no!” Kautilya screamed.
The wall broke into two. A giant piece slid off and fell into the melee below. Kautilya looked over, expecting the worst. Fortunately, no one had been crushed by the debris.
When she looked up, Ādi was already in the tower turning the crank that opened the gate.
The gates to the prison town began sliding up.
“Problem solved,” Ādi said.
“Ādi,” Kautilya said, “you cannot punch your way out of every problem.”
Ādi shrugged. “It’s worked great for me so far.”
Suddenly there were loud screams as hundreds of apes poured into the town.
The reinforcements had arrived. The Lord Chief and her troops had been waiting in the forest, and there was no way the humans could fight so many apes.
“Victory!” Ādi screamed.
Druma’s ears had picked up the sound. He roared again and mauled the remaining guards that were opposing him. Yama followed behind him.
Kautilya, Ādi and Saira helped the invading apes. Soon the whole town was in their control.
Nina and the ape squad were waiting for them outside.
“Is it time to scoot?” Nina asked.
Kautilya nodded.
“So what was our plan now?” Nina asked.
Suddenly a battle-conch sounded in the distance. Kautilya knew the flare had been seen by human reinforcements.
Kautilya sighed. “Start praying to your favourite god.”
CHAPTER 48
Battle For The Hills
The Lord Chief watched over the battlefield from the ramparts of the newly captured Vivila. She was amazed at the precision with which her forces now operated.
This was the biggest force that had fought for the cause yet. Three times the size of the army of the last battle.
“Always on time,” she said to Yama as he walked in through the tower.
“Earlier, usually,” Yama said. “You’re here very early too. Excited?”
“I don’t know, Yama,” the Lord Chief said. She was certainly nervous. The last time she had been in battle it had been a nightmare.
Suddenly drums started beating across the battlefield. The Lord Chief knew what this meant. All the apes were in position.
The shield-carrying infantry was right at the front. Behind them was
the spear-wielding infantry. The archers were lined up right behind the spearmen.
“Minds without fear,” Kautilya said as she arrived. She carried a giant drum with her.
“Heads held high,” the Lord Chief said. “So: ready for battle, Kautilya?”
Kautilya nodded. She scanned the battlefield and narrowed her eyes. “They are here.”
Lord Chief turned and, sure enough, she saw that the enemy forces had arrived. An impressive array of cavalry stood on the other side of the battlefield. The soldiers were dressed in black and they had black banners fluttering above them. Though she could not see it from that distance she knew that the black banners had a white eagle head, the emblem of the new Shyama Dynasty.
Their army was not as big as the army that the apes commanded but the Lord Chief knew that meant nothing. The forces assembled before them were the elites of the human army. Each one was equivalent to five of their regular soldiers.
“It’s a pity that the first enemies our newly structured forces will face are led by the Seahawk,” Lord Chief said. “I wish they had some easier enemies to cut their teeth on.”
“These are definitely not the toughest our army will face, Lord Chief,” Yama said. “That will be when the Eagle arrives.”
Suddenly conches blew from the other side of the battlefield, signalling the end of the enemy assembly. This was followed by silence. Only the sound of crickets and birds singing filled the air.
A single voice emanated from the enemy. It screamed something that the Lord Chief could not decipher. This was followed by the thundering chants. The horrible noise made her hair stand on end.
“What are they saying?” she asked.
“They’re chanting their battle cry, ‘Hail war!’” Yama said.
“Hail war?” the Lord Chief said. “What kind of creature takes pleasure in war?”
“They worship the War God,” Yama said. “For them, war is a sacred rite and killing is the truest form of worship.”
The Lord Chief shook her head. Then she looked at Kautilya who was carefully observing the battlefield. She was so meek and so gentle, it was hard to think she would hurt a fly. Yet she too was a human.
The Epic of Kautilya : Born To Be King Page 22