Rajiv Menon -- ThunderGod (38 page)

The sentries were unsure if they should believe the words of this peasant who claimed to be the king of the Devas, but the strength in his voice and his warrior-like demeanour convinced them that this was no ordinary peasant. They ushered him into the camp.

As they walked through the rows of campfires, Indra noticed that the Yavanas were the shortest among the northern tribes, but they were built like bulls, with enormous shoulders and arms and thick, strong legs. Unlike the other tribes, they wore their dark hair and beards short and preferred to fight on foot.

When Indra was brought into the presence of the Yavana commander, he was surprised to discover that the man was young--about the same age as he. Like Indra, he was clean-shaven and handsome. He greeted the Deva king respectfully and informed him that he and his army were at his disposal. A grateful and pleasantly surprised Indra could not but help ask the reason for this good fortune. The young commander bowed slightly as he spoke.

'It was on the last day of the harvest festival that the Oracle of the sun spoke to my father, the king. She named you as the warrior who would unite the northern clans. She instructed him to send an army to your aid. I am Yadu, crown prince of the Yavana tribe. I have a thousand spears at your service, my lord.'

***

It was nearly sundown by the time the Asura army reached the west bank of the river. A furious Hiranya was not going to wait for daylight to extract his vengeance. He ordered his men to destroy the village. As the first lot of Asura troops reached the village, flaming arrows from the Deva bows began to rain down on the huts, setting the thatch roofs on fire. The light from the fires gave Indra's archers a clear sight of their targets and soon death began to rain down on the enemy.

The Asuras' formation, to their credit, stayed firm and charged towards the archers. As they went down the narrow village street, the Yavana warriors--clad head to toe in bronze armour-- stepped forward in a tight line. The Yavana warriors were a sight to behold, their red plumes of horsehair fluttering in the evening breeze, their giant shields creating an impregnable wall of bronze. They screamed out a challenge as they advanced and as they met the Asura frontline, they brought their heavy spears to bear. The sands soon began to run red with the blood of the Asuras, as slowly but steadily they were pushed back to the river.

Hiranya could not believe his eyes as he saw his men being forced to retreat by the wall of bronze. From his elevated position on the bow of the boat, he saw that the flanks of the Yavana line were vulnerable to a surprise attack. He hastily barked orders to his men and a few boats started to head up the river while he led the other boats downstream.

Indra was quick to spot the movement along the river. He asked Atreya and Nala to take their men and neutralise the threat. He and his archers began to move forward; they picked off the enemy's central column as the Asuras floundered clumsily in the water.

The Asuras who headed upstream immediately ran into trouble. Riktim had made a couple of fireboats and launched it at the enemy. As the burning boats floated towards them, the lead boats of the enemy veered off course to save themselves, and the ones coming behind rammed straight into them and burst into flames. Atreya and his archers made use of the time Riktim bought them and secured a position on the beach from where they rained arrows at the enemy with devastating accuracy.

On the other flank, Nala and his men were not so fortunate. By the time they got there, Hiranya had already secured the beach. The Asuras charged towards Nala and his men and gave them no chance to use their bows. With no armour or shields, Nala and his men had the odds hopelessly stacked against them, but they gamely drew their swords and prepared to face the enemy.

In the burning village, Indra and the Yavana warriors had made short work of the enemy. They turned their attention to their right flank where Hiranya had decimated Nala's division. The Yavanas now broke their line and went in to finish the enemy. Indra was amazed to see how they used their shields as an offensive weapon. They put all their weight behind it, swung them at the Asuras and broke their skulls and bones. They even used the edge to decapitate fallen victims.

Indra scanned the battlefield, cutting and slashing his way through the enemy as he looked for Hiranya. He found him close to the river as he stood over a fallen Nala, poised to cut off his head. Indra screamed out a challenge even as he flew across the sand towards the giant figure of the Asura general.

As Hiranya turned, he saw Indra in full flight fire one arrow after another at him. Two arrows struck him in the chest and knocked him back a couple of paces. His mouth opened in surprise at the speed of the attack. Before he could close his mouth, Indra was upon him. He thrust the black sword into the open mouth of the Asura till it emerged from the back of his skull. Indra twisted the blade hard. Hiranya's head separated from his neck and his heavy body fell to the ground with a thud that shook the battlefield.

Indra screamed in triumph as he raised the head of the Asura general high in the air. The battle stopped, and the few of the enemy that had survived fled into the darkness beyond the village.

From his boat, Riktim screamed at them.

'Run, you dogs! Run to your master! Tell the Grey Wolf that the people of this land will not lie down and take it up the arse any more.'

***

The victors spent the next couple of days tending to the wounded and helping the villagers rebuild their burnt homes. Indra and Yadu made sure that the dead were cremated as per the rites of their respective tribes. Just as the funeral pyres were lit, Indra received news that Nala had regained consciousness; he rushed to the infirmary to meet him.

The physicians had just finished tending to the warrior when Indra arrived. Dhanavantri looked towards Indra and shook his head. Indra looked at the ashen face of his commander. Nala was in agony but he was trying to keep a brave face as he tried to sit up to greet his king. Indra pushed him back gently on to the bed.

'You look well, old friend. In much better shape than you were last night.'

Nala looked down at the gaping wound in his belly and smiled.

'Last night, I was dead if you had not got there so quickly. You moved faster than I have ever seen any man move. It is true what the men say about you then. You have bathed in the Divine Light, you are now a god.'

Indra did not know what to say. He tried to make light of the situation.

'No, I am just a king who is not doing a very good job of looking after his men.'

Nala winced in pain as he laughed; the wound in his belly began to bleed again.

'That may be true. But it has been an honour to serve under you, my lord. Please, help me up.'

Indra helped him up to an upright position. Nala gasped as he tried to shut out the pain.

'Do it now, my king.'

Indra put one arm around his shoulder and held him in a tight embrace.

'You honour me, old friend. I will miss the trueness of your aim in the battlefield.'

He placed his forehead against Nala's and plunged the dagger he held in his other hand into the heart of the dying warrior. He then laid the body gently back on the bed and walked away.

Indra fought back his tears with difficulty. Although it was common practice among the northern tribes for a mortally wounded warrior to ask a trusted friend to end his life, Indra had never had to do it before and he prayed he would never have to do it again.

Outside the infirmary, an anxious Riktim waited to meet him.

'I have news from Aranya. I'm afraid it is not good. Sargon's son Naraka has arrived at the head of a huge army. He blames the Adityas for your escape. He has vowed to chop down every tree in the forest till he finds Aranyapura and destroys it.'

'We must go back and save them. Ask your man to leave word with Aryaman to wait for me under the giant oak tree where we met the first time. You organise a fast boat that can carry about twenty men to leave now. The rest of them can follow later.'

Riktim rushed off to do his bidding. Soma, who had just arrived, turned to his friend in disbelief.

'Twenty men! Naraka has over seven thousand men under his command. I hope you have a plan.'

'No, but I'll think up one along the way. Pick the men and meet me at the wharf.'

By noon Riktim had procured the boat and they were off. The smaller boat meant that they could use the narrow channels in the delta, which made the return to Aranya much quicker. When Indra arrived at the rendezvous, Aryaman was already there. From the north, they could hear the crashing sound of trees being felled. Indra quickly outlined their plan of action and the part that the Adityas would have to play in it.

***

Naraka, son of Sargon, stood on a small hillock and watched the destruction of Aranya with a smug smile. Below him, seven thousand Asuras armed with axes were clearing the forest at a rapid rate. Like all sons who lived under the shadow of a famous father, Naraka was constantly in search of ways to prove himself a worthy son. He had forced his father to send him on this mission. He had hoped to kill Indra, the demon whose victories against them had granted him the status of a folk hero in Sumer; he had in fact just received news of the defeat and death of Hiranya. What better way to prove to the people that he was the worthy son of a great father? Unfortunately, the Deva king had slipped out of his reach.

Naraka decided then that the Adityas would bear the brunt of his wrath. He would wipe out the men. Their beautiful women would be forced to bear the Asura seed. The Adityas as a tribe would no longer exist. Even as his mind was occupied with the horrors he planned to inflict on Aranyapura, his commander informed him that one of the river pirates had arrived with the most heartening piece of news. Indra had returned to the forests of Aranya to help the Adityas. The man told a delighted Naraka that Indra was on the river in a small boat with twenty warriors and he could lead them to him. All he wanted as reward for delivering the Deva king to them was the return of his captured boats and amnesty for his clan.

Naraka readily agreed to his terms. He asked the man how many boats he had at his disposal. The river pirate informed him that he had three medium-sized boats that could accommodate about a hundred Asuras. Naraka smiled triumphantly. A hundred warriors would be more than enough. He hoped he would be able to take Indra alive. He wanted to personally cut his body into several parts and nail it to the walls of every city in Sumer as a lesson to those who would dare rebel against the Asuras.

The Asura boats took to the water and set off in search of the elusive demon. As they rounded a bend in the river, they saw a boat docked on the far bank. The captain of the boat saw the Asuras arrive and panicked. He screamed at the Deva soldiers who were boarding her to hurry. Naraka's eyes lit up as he saw the handsome man with golden hair at the bow of the boat. It was Indra. He egged his rowers on, promising to cover them with gold if they caught their elusive quarry today.

A chase ensued through the waterways and wetlands of Aranya. The Asura boats were faster and soon started to narrow the gap between them. Riktim, who knew these waters like no other, steered the boat between the trees of the submerged forest. The Asura arrows and javelins began to land uncomfortably close to the boat. Naraka heard the anxious cries of the Devas and urged the boats to go faster. As the Asuras pushed forward, Riktim glanced back anxiously. Two of the boats in pursuit swept out in a wide arc--Naraka planned to surround them and take them down.

At the bow, Indra spotted a narrow channel and shouted to Riktim to steer towards it. The Asuras were forced back into single file again as they manoeuvred their bigger boats carefully into the narrow channel. Soon Naraka's boat started to close in again. The Devas watched in alarm as the Asura archers notched arrows to bows.

Before Naraka could give the order, a dead branch dropped from the trees into the water in front of them. The captain of Naraka's boat was quick to spot the danger and steered the vessel to one side, narrowly avoiding the log. The boats that came up behind him did not stand a chance: the second one crashed into the log and capsized. The third struck the second and deposited its occupants in the water. The Asuras with their heavy armour and weapons struggled to stay afloat. Then things got a lot worse for them. Even as they struggled out of their armour, arrows began to rain down on them from the trees.

Aryaman and his archers were deadly accurate, perched high on the trees as they picked off the enemy. The river pirate guiding the Asuras, his role in Indra's plan complete, leapt into the water and swam to Riktim's boat. In a matter of moments, Naraka was the only one left on his boat. The blood and the thrashing about of bodies in the water brought the big crocodiles in to feast. The Asura crown prince watched in horror as the giant reptiles played tug-of-war with the bodies of his warriors. He shut his eyes and clamped his ears shut with his hands, but he could not drown out the screams of his men as their limbs were torn from their bodies.