Suman's admiration on shravan  grew endless. ..guruji was incomprehensible. ..He didn't bathered his paining legs, he continued to stand to witness the battle. ...

   Jayasimhan on the otherside was out of control. ..His fists curl with fury. ..His each muscle twitched to witness his downfall in front of his eyes. ..He didn't have any idea what's happening inside the fort. ..the backtracked soldiers joined jayasimhan. ...

Jayasimhan  yelled in extreme rage. ..

" whoever it may be. ..I will crush them like a nut. ..I will get princess Sumantha. ..ha. ..ha. ..ha. ..."

    As there was no bridge to cross the river, they can't get in. ..Jayasimhan decided to bring them out by open challenge. ..

But, it wasn't necessary at all. ..

A wooden bridge was pulled down from the fort and the soldiers come out. ..

Jayasimhan 's anger rose. ..He ordered his men to be ready to charge. ..

  
  He was surprised to see shravan and Bhaanu in front of the soldiers. ..

His anger turned to a sarcastic laugh. ..

" who's this. ..shiv. ..? "

" jayasimha. ..nothing is there to laugh. .."

" yes. ..nothing is there to laugh. ..I had a  strong doubt that someone  smart is there inside the fort. ..but, I didn't expect you. ..I must say. ..I am lucky. ..in a single war. ..so many benefits. ..."

" princess Sumantha. ...chola dynasty. ..brutal death of two  stupid Chalukians. ..and the E. Chalukya dynasty too. ..i am luck indeed. .."

     He  was proud of his fortune. ..He drew his ' khopesh '...

(Ref :cover picture. .)

"but, remember I will kill you both...my kophesh is longing to  taste your blood. ..and you too the Chalukian tigress. .."

   He pointed Bhaanu. ..

   Shravan looked at his khopesh. ..it was dangerously sharp at every side. ..it was a freaky truth that one who's been charged would be brutally injured. ..

   " jayasimha. ..even now, I give you a chance. ..you are here to fight for an unworthy reason. You are making your soldiers to shed their blood unnecessarily. ...it's not right. .."

Shravan wanted to give him a second chance. ..

" What. .?shiv. ..war doesn't determine who's right. ..only who's left alive .."

  " shiv. ..let me give you a chance. ..even now, you are outnumbered with soldiers. ..i am damn sure that I gonna kill you. ..then, I will get princess Sumantha ..I will make her a slave in my anthapura. ...ha. ..ha...ha..."

He started mocking. ..

" stop it jayasimha. ..don't you know how dhuriyodana was punished for humiliating a woman ...stop your shameless tongue. .."

Bhaanu said completely annoyed. ..

" sister and brother. ..! hand in hand. ...! today everything would come to an end. .. god is with me. .."

He replied sarcastic. ..

" yes jayasimha. ..may god have mercy upon you ;because I won't. .."
Shravan said calmly. ..

" in the name of Lord shiva. .."

"  hara hara mahadev. .."

Shravan gestured the soldiers to engage. ..

The real war began now. ..

    As the war was getting deeper. ...Suman and guruji who were witnessing from the balcony looked worried. ..

They couldn't heard what they had conversed. ..but, they can concise that their men are low in number compared to jayasimhan 's..

   Though they had trust on shravan,it's a tiptoe situation. ..the damage as well as the success could be equal to  either side. ..

  While they were worriedly  checking out the progression. ..a wonder happened. ..as shravan and Bhaanu fighting from the front. ..Vela entered the battle field at right side with his men. ..

Those men were from the near by villages  who were believed to be  sent back to the capital at the beginning. ..

Actually, shravan made them to stay at nearby villages and forests. ..He sent vela priory  to lead them in to the battlefield at right time. ..

  Vela 's entry added an anonymous energy to the soldiers. ..they swung the weapons fiercely than ever. ..

Suman and guruji exchanged their look in soared surprise. ..

" shravan is shravan. ..no one equals him. .."

   Krithika and poorni conversed in great respect to shravan. ..

Suman smiled at their talk. ..

' Yes. ..shravan is shravan. ..'

Little while later, the wonder  happened  once again. ..

Now, Ranjith entered into the left side of the battle field with about fifty men. ...

   The soldiers with Ranjith wore a different attire. ..they had a unique symbol tied in their right arms. ..a
double headed  eagle. ..it looked like an emblem. ..

  It was a royal emblem of the E. Chalukian prince. ..none other than shiv. ..and. ..those men were the personal bodyguards of shiv. ..

(In those times, the prince of a dynasty had special emblem, insignia and force. ..He had his own personal bodyguards who were ready to sacrifice their life for the prince. ..they were like silhouette of the prince. ..in this story shravan didn't made them to be with him always as he had Ranjith and neela with him. ..)

   Guruji raised his hands in disbelief. ..

  " wonderful. ..wonderful. .."

He shouted unknowingly.

  ..the war field looked like a huge dusty ball, as everyone focused on the reckless charge. ..

Now, jayasimhan was surrounded in four directions. ..His soldiers were already weak in lack of adequate food and water. ..they started to give up slowly. ..

    The prime goal of jayasimhan was to kill shravan. .He forgot suman. .more than that, he hated shravan. ..His outrage grew larger. .He lost his  patience. ..He was puffing and panting. ..He held his kophesh tightly. ..

   As he was cornered, shravan, Bhaanu ,Ranjith and vela stood at the four directions. ..

" shravan. ..let me take the chance to kill him. .."

Ranjith asked. ..

" no papa. ..it's my chance "  Bhaanu interupted. ..

Shravan smiled. ..

" no Bhaanu. ..it's the direct deal between us. ..stay away. .."

 
The face to face ,one on one war began which was going to be a game changer. ..

    They both got down from their horses. ..

   Jayasimhan laughed loud as he wanted this to happen. ..He removed all his shields and stood steadily. ..

Shravan take his position, by holding his double sided scimitar and sword. ..

   Jayasimhan attacked shravan with fierce blows. ..shravan backtracked necessarily and protected himself  by missing his blows. ..

   Shravan identified that jayasimhan was out of patience and charging recklessly. ..

He swung his sword and scimitar simultaneously to him that was more than enough to produce cuts over his face and chest. ..

This made jayasimhan even more furious. ..

He slashed Shravan's chest without any pause. ..though, he blocked ,it wasn't enough. ..Shravan's chest was deeply cut by the hungry kophesh. ..

Shravan flinched from pain. ..He managed to get up and stood ready for the duel. ..

It was really a long and hard duel that resembled mammoths fighting...

 
   As time grew, Suman's  worry about shravan peaked. ..

  At one point, both were out of energy. .

Shravan had some superficial cuts and deep cuts too. ..He stood leaning with the help of his sword. ..He was bleeding heavily. ..

Jayasimhan too lost his energy. ..but his revenge on shravan made him to stand still to some extent. ..

    All of a sudden, jayasimhan stepped on the corpse of the soldiers to reach height. ..He jumped on the air and raised his kophesh high to strike shravan directly at his head. ..

   "Aaah. ..shravan. .."

Suman shouted in fear. ..everyone froze at the moment except shravan. ..

" neela. .."  shravan called neela. ..she rushed towards him like a hawk. ..momentarily, he got on neela and lashed out the 'urumi ' from his hip which was coiled like a hip belt. ..

    
   The lashed out urumi 's sinuous end  twisted  around jayasimhan ' s neck and ripped off his head. ..

  Jayasimhan ' s  lifeless body fell down the earth. ..

Everyone cheered Shravan's  victory. .. ..

  Suman sighed in relief. ..guruji was beyond the world ...He forgot everything. ..and shouted. ..

" bravo. ..bravo. ..shiv. .. shiv Pandav Vikramadhitya. ...long live your fame. ..long live. ..shiv Pandav Vikramadhitya. .."

He was out of his control. ..

" What ..?shiv Pandav Vikramadhitya. .?Shravan. .?"

Suman  looked  quizzically. ..

Krithika and poorni looked helpless. ...

Suman couldn't digest the truth. ..Sofar, she had been  cheated. ..her heart wept in despair. ..

  By the time, everyone returned to the front yard from the Warfield. ..

Suman reached there lifeless. ..she saw Shravan's glistening face because of the success though he was bleeding around. ..

Suman   took the aarthi plate from krithika. ..she did ceremonial rounds and put thilak on his forehead. ..

Shravan was expecting her heartfelt smile and he was disappointed as he saw her stiffened face. ..

" suman. .."

He called her...and stepped towards her. . ..she showed her hands to stop him  there. ..

His face  grimaced an obsolute confusion. ..

" vela. ..arrest him. ..arrest. ..shiv Pandav Vikramadhitya. ..it's your princess's order. .."

Not only shravan but everyone couldn't believe what they had heard. ...

-----------------------------------------------------

about the kophesh, it's an egyptian  sword. ..not in use currently. ..

Urumi. ..is widely used in South India. ..it's an ancient sword which is used even now....those blades would be too thin to coil like a belt. ..

And the emblem. ..it's a factual royal emblem of Chalukian dynasty. ..

What else. ..

Have a happy read guys. ..and do comment if possible. ...

Does suman really mean it. .?let me know your views. ..

Love,
Arulpirai. .