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 16

Rajapura, Kalinga Kingdom, Dwapar Yuga

Jayant/ Duryodhana POV (continues)

Rukmi charged at me like a raging bull, mace in hand. I was ready for him, remembering a vital lesion.

"Use your anger as you wish, but don't let the anger consumes you totally."

The two maces clanked, sparks flowed from them. Rukmi started attacking, whereas I was defending myself as usual, searching for a gap. But this time, my opponent was fighting cautiously. He saw my previous fight, so, he made some calculations. That meant I had to change my plans. It was time to make some improvisations.

Our maces contacted again, but this time, I was in attack mode. I started hurling blow after blow on him. He was startled for a moment, probably not ready for my changed strategy. But he was also an experienced warrior too, and a disciple of Druma and Parashurama. We were both fighting, but I understood that it will be time and energy consuming. So, I decided to lay a trap for him.

"I recently met Sri Krishna. He told me that he is enjoying a very happy married life with Devi Rukmini."

Those apparently simple words did the work of petrol in a burning fire. Rukmi got angry; his eyes started burning with hatred. With a loud roar, he threw his mace to me. I ducked and avoided the flying mace. But my opponent's anger did not vanish. He charged at me, his empty hands became fists now. I dropped my mace on the ground, and in the next second, a hammer-like uppercut landed on his face. Then I grabbed him with my two hands, and dropped him on the ground with a swift takedown.

"Winner, Duryodhana." Shrutayudha shouted.

Rukmi looked at me from the ground. His anger now suppressed by astonishment. I looked at the other kings present in the ground. All of them were watching me with shock. But Maharaja Shalya had a small smile on his lips. I looked at Rukmi again; his crown fell down on the ground, showing his bald head. I took it from the ground.

"May I, Rajkumar? It suits on your head." He was shocked, but before he could do or say anything, I placed the crown on his head, and extended my right hand to him. He looked at me, and then looked at my hand. He took it, and stood up.

"You are a cunning man, Kaurava."

"Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed...that is my motto."

"Yes, that cowherd made a good influence on you, it seems. But, to tell you the truth, Kaurava, you are really talented in mace. That drunkard..." he looked at my eyes, which were automatically hard, "Ok...Haldhar Balrama trained you well."

The next contest was between Jayadrath and Somdutt. The match was short. Somdutt was way older than Jayadrath, and his old age became a disadvantage for him. He quickly got tired in front of Jayadrath, and got defeated. The fight between Shalya and Dantavakra took some time, but at the end Shalya defeated his opponent. The fight between Brihadvala and Bhoorishravas took some more time, because both of them became very defensive. Still, at the end, a heavy blow from Brihadvala knocked out the mace from his opponent's hand.

That meant, there were only four warriors now, Shalya, Jayadrath, Brihadvala and myself. I looked at Rajkumari, no, the queen of my heart, Devapriya. Our eyes met again. I felt my blood flowing in my veins with supersonic speed. Her red lips were so beautiful, her smile was so pure, so mesmerizing...

"Focus you idiot! Otherwise you will lose her! You still have to fight, and judging by the situation, the main problem is Mamashri Shalya."

The next match was between Jayadrath and Shalya. From the starting, both of them were fighting aggressively. But Jayadrath was easily overpowered by Shalya, who knocked him on the ground with one blow. That means I had to face Brihadvala now.

I walked out from the arena, and I saw my opponent, who was sipping some water. Then he took his mace, and walked to the stairs. But while walking the stairs, suddenly his right leg slipped, and he fall down on the arena. His mace and crown dropped on the ground.

The whole arena started laughing. The defeated kings along with the common people, all started laughing and ridiculing him. Brihadvala hung his head in shame. He tried to stand up, but then he again sat down, holding his right ankle. He probably sprained his ankle.

I quickly walked towards him, and looked at his leg. The people accompanied him were sat in shocked silence, and probably a bit of shame was there. But when I took his right leg on my hands after sitting beside him on the ground, the whole arena was silent. Even Brihadvala himself was so shocked, that he started stammering.

"Wha...wha...what are you...OUCH!"

His loud cry engulfed the whole arena. I already saw his dislocated ankle, so, I swiftly put it back on its place. He looked at me with popped eyes. I took his crown, and placed it on his head. Then I again held my hand to him. He took it, and stood up on the ground.

Then I looked at the present kings, who were sitting in shocked silence.

"You all are Maharajas, ruler of the people. It is not an ideal behaviour to laugh at another Maharaja. People always look at you with hope, with love and with respect. So, as the ruler of them, it is our duty to make an example with our behaviour. The Dharma of a ruler is not only ruling, but to guiding his subjects to the right path. Your subjects will behave the same way you behave. So please, for the sake of not only your kingdoms, but for Aryavart, change your manners."

There was literally 'pin drop silence' on the ground. All the kings, and the people were silently watching us. I looked at the Maharaja standing beside me.

"Can you fight? Then let's start."

Brihadvala looked at me.

"Rajkumar, today, you saved my dignity. Tell me, what can I do for you?"

I looked at him, "Just your friendship I need."

He nodded affirmatively, "I, Brihadvala, ruler of Koshala, today, announcing in front of all the Kings and taking my forefathers as witness, I present my loyality to Rajkumar Duryodhana of Hastinapur. If you need my assistance, just send me a message, and Koshala kingdom will stand with you with all his might."

Then he looked at Maharaja Chitrangad, who was sitting like a statue, probably thinking that what the hell was happening, said, "My one leg is injured, but I can still fight. But today, I was this close from losing my dignity, but the Kuru Rajkumar saved me. So, as a small token of respect, I forfeit this fight."

The whole arena now started applauding him, and me. I looked at Mamashri Shalya, who was smirking at me. He took his mace, and literally jumped into the arena.

"Ok, nephew, it seems that there are only two of us left. Don't waste more time, come on!"

The whole ground was bursting with excitement now. "Jay Maharaja Shalya" and "Jay Duryodhana" sounds were literally piercing my eardrums. All the people were literally excited now.

"Today's, and the last match of the swyamvar, between Rajkumar Duryodhana of Hastinapur and the Maharaja of Madra, Maharaja Shalya. My sister, Rajkumari Devapriya will marry the winner. Fight!"

The two of us stood in front of each other, trying to anticipate each other's strategy. Then Shalya charged at me, our mace clanked. Shalya was a famous wrestler too. I felt the power of his body. This fight would be tough. We were both in a deadlock position with our maces, when I suddenly heard his taunting voice.

"Are you tired, nephew? Sad, very sad indeed, because I thought that you are a match for me. But you seemed like a doll made of butter."

Oh hell no! He was doing exactly what he did with Karna in Kurukshetra. He was playing with my mind, taunting me to lose my focus. He was the most ancient example of psychological warfare.

Our maces clanked again.

"Tsk..tsk..you disappointed me. I thought that you are the brother of Bheem, so you have at least one tenth of his strength. But you are feeble, feeble like a grass. Oh...I forgot one thing. You came out from a pot, right? So sad, that you probably left your strength on that pot."

I felt anger rising in my mind, even Shalya understood that too. He laughed loudly then suddenly lunge a heavy blow. I somehow countered it, but the force behind the blow managed to startle my legs. Shalya noticed that too, and laughed again.

"Your legs are trembling! What are you, a bed-ridden old man? Even Gangaputra Bhishma's legs hadn't trembled once in his whole lifetime!"

I understood by now that his words were having the necessary effects on me. I could feel the control on my focus slipping out. I somehow mastered all my will force and tied a leash on my mind. My strategy was simple to think, but very complex to implement.

With lightning speed, I started hurling blow after blow on him. My mind became focused. My goal was to keep him busy in fighting, so that he didn't get a chance to open his mouth. He was strong, but not fast as me. I started dodging his blows, then hitting him with light blows, just to irritate him. But I was still focused at his lips. When I saw the slightest movement there, I started hitting him. Now, he was losing his focus bit by bit. He was getting angry with the passing time. With an angry roar, he charged at me, his mace ready to crush my head, but I ducked again, and landed another blow on his torso. Shalya tried to turn at me, but the time he needed to turn was enough for me to land two heavy blows in his body. Shalya became that mad elephant who was attacked by thousands of bees. I ducked another heavy blow landed by him, and landed another hit on his body. Both of us were fighting like madmen. Time started flowing bye, and my opponent was becoming restless now. I could see that in his eyes. With a loud roar, he charged at me, and his mace landed in my chest. The blow was hard, and I was not having my divine protection, just wearing my steel armour. It felt like a running car contacted with my chest. I felt the metallic taste of blood in my mouth and the heavy pain in my chest. Probably, he broke my rib. Still, I was standing on the ground, mace in my hand. Shalya looked at my bleeding mouth, a triumphant smile in his lips. He again charged at me, and tried to land a heavy blow, hoping to end the fight with it.

But the flowing adrenaline in my body saved me in the last moment. I jumped to my right side and evaded that blow. Shalya probably put all his strength behind that blow, so when it missed me, I saw his legs trembled a bit, and he slightly lost his balance. There was my only chance. With a swift motion, my mace landed on his body, and he fell down on the ground. His mace fell on the ground.

"Winner, Duryodhana!", I heard Shrutayudha's voice.

I looked at Shalya, who somehow sat on the ground, looking at me. His eyes were angry and frustrated at first, but in a moment, those emotions changed into respect and awe. I went to him, and somehow touched his feet. My chest was hurting a lot. My lips and tongue were dry like desert.

Shalya stood up, and smiled at me.

"You have defeated me, Kuru Kumar, but to tell the truth, I have enjoyed the fight. But I am still angry with you. You have to make it up for me."

I looked at him, curiously.

"I still remembered the Khichdi and cabbage curry."

We both started laughing. Then I turned and looked at the stage, where the Rajkumari was standing now, the wedding garland ready in her hands. I slowly walked towards her.

She looked into my eyes.

"Rajkumari, I have fulfilled the condition of the swyamvar. Now if you find me eligible for that garland in your hands..."

Before I could finish my line, she came in front of me and put the garland around my neck. Her soft smile looked so pure and beautiful, that I wanted to lose myself in her. I looked beside me, and saw Karna walking towards us. He took out a beautiful pearl necklace and gave that to me. I tied the necklace around my queen's neck. Then I didn't know what came to me. I quickly took out a small knife, and slashed my thumb. Blood started flowing from the cut, and I made a small tilak on her forehead with my blood. I was literally behaving like the hero of some trashy romantic novel, but who cared! Then she tried to touch my feet, but I stopped her, and held her in a tight embrace. Maharishi Vyasa told me that I needed someone to complete me. I didn't felt like that then, but now, hugging her with my chest, I felt completed for the first time.

My eyes automatically went to the sky.

"Seema, if you can see us, then remember, I missed you the most today."

The wind was flowing calmly. It felt like a soft hand rubbing my head comfortably, similar to my little sister in my previous life.

So this is chapter 16. Our hero, or anti hero, whatever you say, finally tied the knot.

What is the future of the couple? Read, vote andcomment to find out.