Chapter 12: First fight

Prashant was sleeping soundly till someone knocked on his bedroom door. Usually, the ghost sisters don't bother with such courtesy. They don't even believe in the scientifically proven fact that waking someone up from sweet dreams reduces your lifespan!

"Who's it? The door's open. Come in, I'm wearing proper clothes."

The person who came was totally unexpected; he was the waiter from the milk shop.

"Child, why are you here at midnight? Did someone specifically send you here?" Prashant asked unhurriedly but was on guard for an assassination attempt.

"Elder brother, one of your friends came and sent a message through me. The one called Navin. Here's the message." The child answered, and he too seemed nervous. Who knows what reward he got for running around at night?

"Thank you, here's something for your trouble." Prashant sent him off and opened the chit under the lamp.

'Prince, do you know how elephants are captured?' This was the only sentence.

"Why send only this cryptic message?

Elephants don't like to give birth in captivity. So all of the elephants in society were captured when they were young. Elephants are remarkably social creatures. The female leader of the pack will protect everyone in the wild. But all male elephants are supposed to leave the pack when they get mature. Whether it is naivety, accident, or hubris, some young elephants stray further from their pack. And humans are precisely waiting for this opportunity.

They will surround the baby elephant while driving away the rest of the pack. They will use loud drums, fire and weapons to temporarily entangle the group while specialised handlers will come to the baby and capture him. Then humans evacuate, and the pack mourns the loss." Prashant was aware of this dark fact. Humans will use whatever methods they can to achieve their goals. The bravery of the young elephant will cost him his freedom, no matter how kind people treat him later. The fact remains that he is stuck in captivity.

"Wait.....

A. Young, brave and foolish child. I'm jumping around in the town for a week.

B. Strayed away from the protection of the group. Rajput uncle and his 1000 Rajputs are not in the town. He went to survey the surroundings. Jayendra was stationed at the bridge sites. And a few went to Dongarwadi ahead of Navin. 

C. Humans will set up a long snare trap. I'm sure right at this moment, all of them are entangled with some killers. Their target is not to kill Rajputs but to keep them busy. Away from the prized child. Me.

D. Specialist will come to capture the child. Well, in my case, they might simply kill me."

Prashant showed a rare, serious face. "Navin did mention one of his friends died in an unjust duel. That fate loves to trick people and deliver a devastating blow at the most inopportune moment. Hehe (sad chuckle)." Prashant was now suspecting everyone he met since coming to this town. The funny thing, only two ghost sisters are the people he can trust now. 

"Ghost sisters, how many are here to honour me?"

[M: 1000, much better trained than the last batch.]

Chandramukhi too appeared without knocking, "Do you need my help? It's nothing much for me."

"Na, didn't I tell you? There will be a day when I'll have to fight like a hero in films in heavy rain? With my stupidly high investment in the constitution, I might survive this beautifully." Prashant was now visibly relieved. Maybe calling them sisters for so long has paid off. 

"Don't worry, sisters. You know just how much of a scaredy cat I am. Remember the first day I was told about ghosts. I slept beneath the bed. I won't do anything that doesn't give me an advantage." 

[M: Plan?]

"I prepared the plan, script and drama days ago. I'll stage a public performance in front of the temple. A good man was yearning for his goddess, and some villain came to disturb his prayers. Plus, they think I don't have any Rajputs left. I kept 500 in the dark on a whim. If things go hairy, they'll back me up. I'll be back after a quick walk in the dark. Watch me act." Prashant smiled and walked away. But when no one was watching, his face twitched slightly. He knows that to convince everyone about his Dharmic victory against unstoppable foes, he needs to bleed. Well, he is not a masochist; after all, he has a cheat. 

He came quickly to the temple. The town had many lamps brightening the darkness. Indians have an obsession with the diya (small earthen lamp used extensively in rituals). Like any true Indian film star, he sat down on the stairs outside the temple, waiting for the rain to set the mood. Only Chanakya music would make everything perfect.

Soon, shadows start to gather. Maybe the hunters are here. But they don't know that Prashant was the scriptwriter all along. On cue, heavy rain started pouring in. One can't even hear 10 feet away, so both sides skipped the usual dialoguebazi (exchange of dialogues). Prashant had no idea how trained, capable or who they were. He understands only one thing. Constitution of 23 + Strength of 8 = one charging bull. And that's how things went. Prashant rushed in without caring for things like weapons, formation or poisons. What ensued was a typical gully fighter trampling a group of trained warriors. 

Prashant is not fighting to win; he is only fighting to show all the eyes in the dark that he was there alone, fighting bravely against ridiculous odds. Soon, nearly 50 men fell, but the rest continued to fight in a spread-out formation. They would come in for a quick stab and retreat before Prashant could respond. His entire upper body was riddled with wounds.

His higher constitution had an unintentional effect. His wound would soon heal, but they were constantly attacking, which made the ground exceptionally bloody. The rainwater ran red. Soon, arrows started flying in. "Which idiot is shooting in this chaos? Buddy, are you not worried about hitting your own?" Prashant cracked a joke, which got a response with even more arrows. 

It seemed like it was going to be a long fight. Prashant doesn't care about his injuries, and the other side doesn't care about their members. Just at this moment, an exceptionally loud roar was heard, and the ground started shaking. Before anyone could understand, a giant bull charged in. He started trampling people without a care. Prashant recognised the bell around his neck.

He is Virat, the bull belonging to the Dongarwadi convoy when he first came. In mere minutes, he made a mess of everything. Less than 100 on the other side were standing. "It seems Virat remembers me feeding him sweets, the land does remember good deeds.

I was told that my power ranks third in that village, and Virat was the champion. But I thought it meant hauling capacity, not mauling power. Anyway, the show is about to end, before the rest of the guys do something stupid to survive, I'll have my guards round them up." 

Prashant made a broken whistle sound, and his guards came in to snap the stragglers. They had everyone tied up, checked the condition of those injured and started treating them.

"Sister, thank you for the Virat," Prashant said to an empty corner. 

Chandramukhi simply nodded. But Prashant still poked, "So you were keeping an eye on me, even before we met? My interaction with Virat was not known to anyone in town."

She simply said hmm and gazed towards the night. 

[M: Two-faced. Well, you wanted a scene, so we thought of giving it a symbolic closure. But you really went deep for the performance. Look at the blood, they'll have to work hard to get it off.]

"That was the intention. I have got a cheat, my winning is not a surprise. But the public wants blood, tears, sweat and poison. All the rasas in a natya (ingredients of performance). Tonight's affair will surely satisfy them."

[M: What's next?]

"Spare these guys tomorrow morning, to give a happy ending to the story. While contingents of Rajputs attack nearby forts. Win tactically and seize initiative on a strategic level; this has always been my mantra. I'll keep all nobles in the region guessing about my next move, while they can't commit fully because of the monsoon."

[M: Got it, Chanakya.]

With that, Prashant walked home. The fight, noise and chaos woke up many people. The rain has stopped, and now everyone is nervous. And the guy who caused this all? He is going to sleep with no care about the suffering of others. While returning, he heard a faint melody, which sounded like a flute. Someone was trying to imitate a tune, but it seemed unfinished. Well, Prashant can't understand a thing. It would have been much better if that background music had swelled during the fight. The feel would have been epic.