The Wrath of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 10

Maitrikavati, Salwa Kingdom, Dwapar Yuga

The royal palace of the Salwa kingdom was shining with brightly lit torches and oil-lamps in the night. But, there was an exception. A small room in that palace was dimly lit with two small lamps. King Shalva was sitting in that room, drinking wine from a golden goblet.

"That old fool Bhagadutta becomes a coward. He surrendered to the brat of the blind Dhritarashtra." Shalva's eyes were becoming red. He emptied the contents of his goblet in one sip.

"The audacity of that boy, that he not only thought, but even defeated Jarasandha and Shishupal. Even I was scared of him, because no one knows how to kill him. Shishupal, who was nearly immortal, was defeated by a Brahmin. A charioteer's son wrestled and defeated Jarasandha. How did this happen?"

King Shalva stood up. He staggered for a moment and poured some more wine in his goblet. Then he looked in front of him. A man was sitting in semi-darkness. One couldn't see his face due to the darkness, but in the soft light, the peacock feather on his crown was glowing softly. The man was fumbling with a shining, jewelled Chakra in his hand.

The man put down the Chakra, and took out the goblet full of wine placed in front of him. He drank the contents for sometimes.

"Why are you silent? Say something!" King Shalva shouted. The man sitting in front of him was still silent. But his hand moved a bit and picked up the Chakra. Then he spoke for the first time,

"Shalva, the wine is making your mind dull. Otherwise you will see the opportunity in front of us."

"Opportunity? What opportunity?"

"You fool; both of us have the opportunity to become the most powerful ruler of Aryavart. After the defeat of Jarasandha and Shishupal, there is a power vacuum in this area. To tell the truth, the strength of Jarasandha was the combination of his allies that means us. Even Duryodhana properly understood that, so he attacked very wisely at a time when none of us managed to send our armies for their aid."

"Yes, I know that. You are giving the proof of your strength on your bed, taking new maidens every night." King Shalva laughed with cruel mockery.

The man in front of him was silently watching him. Suddenly, a line of light came from his right hand, and struck the golden goblet in Shalva's hand. Shalva didn't understand for a moment what happened just now, then he looked at his hand, and his eyes became big like saucers.

The golden goblet in his hand was now swiftly cut into two pieces. Shalva looked at the broken goblet for once then looked at the shiny Chakra in the hand of the man. The man stood up, and walked toward him.

"Never, ever try to insult me. If that cowherd can have sixteen thousand women for himself, then I, the original God, can have more for myself. Now, enough of this nonsense, let's talk business now."

Shalva nodded feebly. With trembling hand, he tried to pour himself another drink, but failed. The man sitting in front of him felt pity, and took the pot of wine. He also picked up a new goblet and poured another drink. He handed the drink to Shalva, who drank it with one sip. Then he took a deep sigh.

"What do you want from me, Poundrak?"

"Shalva, say my full name."

"Poundrak Vasudev, what do you want from me?"

Poundrak looked at the wall, where a large map of Aryavart was drawn. He picked up his Chakra again, and threw it towards the wall. The sharp weapon pierced the map, drawn on the wall.

"Hastinapur, I want Hastinapur. After the fall of Magadha, the blind, incompetent ruler of Hastinapur thinking himself the centre of Aryavart. But he doesn't know that in front of my powers, they will be crushed like ants. After the fall of Hastinapur, the whole Aryavart will bow down in front of me and worship me."

Shalva sat still. The words of Poundrak were having its effect on his mind.

"Shalva, Mayasura had made a great flying machine for you, right?"

Shalva nodded for a moment.

"My Saubha Vimana is one of the finest artwork of that Asura. But I don't understand one thing. Dwarka is our common enemy, then why don't we attack Dwarka? Why we are attacking Hastinapur?"

Poundrak stood up. He was looking at the map on the wall again, which was pierced by his Chakra.

"Right now, Hastinapur is facing the same problem which became the cause for the defeat of Jarasandha. Do you know the exact cause of his defeat? Jarasandha, who was seemingly invincible, was depleted of his power with time. His multiple campaigns against the Yadavas of Mathura did not cause any harm to Krishna and Balrama. But with these campaigns, he lost a huge number of his army, and we lost a huge amount of our soldiers too. Krishna killed Kalyavan with sheer trickery, thus making us lose another powerful ally. Hastinapur is facing now a problem of succession. There are two candidates for the throne...Duryodhana and Yudhisthir. Now as much as I understand the political situation, neither Bhishma nor Vidura wants a war between the two cousins. But Hastinapur has only two ways between it and both of them will bleed it from inside. A civil war or a division of kingdom...either of them results in loss of strength. Then we attack them in a suitable time. You are a powerful Maharathi, and I am the omnipotent god. Our combined power will crush Hastinapur like an elephant crush grass under its leg."

Shalva sat silent for a moment. Then he slowly spoke, "We have an old enmity with Hastinapur. Bhishma had insulted my predecessor in the swyamvar of the three daughters of the king of Kashi. The then king of Salwa loved Rajkumari Amba, the eldest of them. But Bhishma came to that ceremony uninvited, and abducted the three maidens. My predecessor was defeated at too. Then Bhishma insulted both the king and the Rajkumari by sending her to him. I will help you Poundrak, because I have to settle this score with Bhishma."

"After the defeat of Hastinapur in our hands, the power of us will be unimaginable. Even the Yadavas will fear us. Then we crush Dwarka, once and for all. Shalva, we need all the strength we can manage. Send your emissaries to Rukmi, Dantvakra and Vindha-Anuvindha. We need their forces with us. Chedi kingdom has made a matrimonial alliance with the Pandavas, so we can't expect any help from them. Neither can we expect any help from Magadha and Pragjyotishpur. I had a lot of faith on that hunter Eklavya, but his defeat at the hand of Duryodhana himself ended his value for us."

"Poundrak Vasudev, we must not forget about Duryodhana. His body is inhumanly strong, such that no weapon can pierce his body."

Poundrak glared at him, "How dare you comparing other weapons with my chakra? I will cut his body in front of your eyes, mark my words."

Same time, Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Jayant/ Duryodhana POV

I was standing in the kitchen, busy frying the potatoes in mustard oil. Beside me, there was a cook making a paste of wet poppy seeds. I was making one of my favourite dishes, the 'Aloo Posto'.

Cooking always helped my mind to focus properly. Because, in my head, there were a huge number of things were going side-by-side. So I came here, to find a little peace.

"Rajkumar, the paste is ready." The cook beside me said in a low voice. I look at the paste properly. Yes, it had the correct structure. The white coloured past had some green spots, because of a small quantity of green chilli added in it.

I took the paste and added it to the potato. I was moving the ingredients with utmost care, when I saw a guard entering the room. The guard bowed to me and said that Maharani Kunti was waiting outside. She wanted to see me.

I was shocked for a moment. What was the reason for her coming to me?

"Send her in with due respect." I quickly looked at the curry, which was started to stick in the pot. I quickly added some water in it and again started moving the contents with a large spoon. Then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned my head a little bit, and saw her entering the kitchen.

"Pranipat, Kakishri." I quickly crossed my hands to her, and then again started moving the curry. The poppy seed paste had a tendency to stick to the walls of pot very often.

"Ayushman Bhava Putra! Do you know that in my whole lifetime, I had seen only two Kshatriya males who enjoyed cooking so much? One is my Bheem, and the other is you."

I smiled a little.

"Kakishri, I don't think that you came here for the sole reason of complementing my culinary skills. But thank you for the complement. Here, taste some. "

The cook beside me quickly fetched a plate and spoon. I poured some in the plate and handed that to her. She took a small amount of the curry and poured that in her mouth. Her eyes automatically closed, and a heavenly bliss came on her face.

"Mmmm...It is really good. The spiciness of the chilli and the other spices made the taste very unique."

"If you want to enjoy the taste fully, I suggest you to eat with hot rice, with red lentils."

Kakishri nodded lightly.

"I will have to ask Draupadi to take some cooking course from you."

"I don't think so Kakishri. After all, the divine-born people had way greater skills than the normal, common humans."

A deep sadness covered her face.

"Why, Putra? Why you are always keen on antagonising with my sons? I haven't been truly happy in either my father's home or my in-laws home. This lonely widow was having a cursed life from her childhood. I am holding my life with just one thing that is the happiness of all my sons."

"Four sons or five sons, Kakishri?"

"I had loved the twins as my own son. I never discriminated them. I have five..." She stopped for a moment, her eyes became moist.

"I have five sons. I do not want to see them under constant cloud of conspiracies."

I directly looked at her eyes.

"Kakishri, to tell you the truth, I am not after the life of those half-devtas, because I know that will be futile. But that doesn't mean I will renounce my claim from the throne. I am the eldest son of maharaja Dhritarashtra. It is harsh for me to say, but when maharaja Pandu renounced his throne and went to forest, from that day, your sons have no right on that throne. I don't care what the social norm says. But Kakishri, I am assuring you that I am not after the lives of them. I love Sahdeva the same as I love Dussasan or Karna."

Kakishri nodded feebly. Her eyes became moist. I swiftly took out a handkerchief, and cleaned her tears.

"Do you know, Kakishri, I once knew an ill-fated man. He was an orphan while having both his biological parents."

"I don't understand? How can one be orphan while having both his parents?"Kakishri Kunti asked me, her voice full of astonishment.

"Fate, Kakishri, all is a game of fate. He had both his parents, but they do not have time to look after him. He became self-sufficient from a very tender age."

Kakishri heaved a deep sigh. Her face became softer.

"What type of mother has no time for her son?"

I slowly nodded then ordered the cook to pour the 'Aloo Posto' in eight pots, one large than the other seven. Kakishri Kunti smiled at me after looking at the pots.

"I can't understand you, Putra." She smiled. I smiled too.

"Remember; eat with hot rice and red lentils."

Kakishri smiled again, and then she remembered something.

"I almost forgot. Putri Karenumati wanted to meet her father. So Nakul took her there. But the guards and your brothers stationed there did not allow her to meet. Putra Upchitra was there, he told Nakul to get permission from you."

I nodded affirmatively.

"Okay Kakishri, tomorrow morning I will personally escort her. But to tell you the truth, this marriage alliance created a problem for a lot of my plans."

"This is politics, Putra. In politics, you can't always have everything as per your wish."

"I will totally agree with you in this matter. But still, Mahadev helps those who have the courage to keep moving forward. If he closes one way, then he will open another way for me."

Kakishri nodded affirmatively. Then she walked away, followed by the cook with hot 'Aloo Posto'. But while walking, she stopped for a moment, and told the cook to go to his sons with the food. After the cook walked away, she turned and faced myself again.

"You know, Putra, if there were no kingdom, no throne and no politics then I could imagine myself sitting with Jiji Gandhari and watching the one hundred and five of you playing and growing up together. But fate was cruel on me in this matter too. Curse that throne that created a wall between brothers."

Then she turned and hurriedly left.

"Don't curse the throne, Kakishri. Curse the fate; after all, it was fate who manipulated you to welcome the nemesis of Kshatriya kings as your daughter-in-law. I am standing in front of that fate, and I will hold it with the last amount of power that I have.", I thought to myself.

I looked out the window of the kitchen, and then suddenly, a sound of flapping wings came into my ear. I looked at it, and saw a huge bat flying outside. The bat came in front of me, and then flew away. I looked at the flying bat curiously then suddenly, an idea flashed into my mind like lightening.

Then I saw the shadow of a tall man, with a peacock feather tied on his crown!

So, this is chapter 10.

The Salwa Kingdom situated in the Western India, near the Alwar region of Rajasthan. His Saubha Vimana was a flying machine made by Mayasura himself. At the time when Pandavas were playing that infamous game of dice, King Shalva attacked Dwarka with his Saubha, and started bombing large stones from the sky. After a fierce fight with the Yadavas, Sri Krishna managed to kill Shalva with his Sudarshan Chakra. The Chakra cut both the king and his Vimana in two halves.

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