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 20

Southern Panchal, Dwapar Yuga

Karna POV (continues)

"No, no, no...Supriya, Supriya, open your eyes! Don't leave me like that!" I started shaking her body. Her body was becoming colder and colder with every passing moment. She was lying limp on my lap, the trace of life slowly leaving her body.

Suddenly, I felt another presence behind me. The next moment, I saw Rajkumari Devapriya coming in front of me. But she was not alone. Ashwatthama was with her, he had a big goblet filled with some liquid which smells strong. Devapriya quickly came in front of me, and in the next moment, her right hand landed on my wife's right cheek, in form of a hard slap. Then she landed another one in her left cheek.

The two hard slaps worked like magic. The closed eyelids and lips of my wife flickered a bit.

"Angraaj, turn her over. Now, we need to pull out that knife."

I slowly turned her over. Devapriya slowly grabbed the knife and with one swift pull, quickly pulled it out. Ashwatthama quickly came beside us, and slowly poured the strong smelling hot liquid on the wound. As soon as the liquid entered her body, Supriya started shaking violently.

"Grab her tightly, both of you. Forgive me Sakhi, but this pain is necessary. The medicine is fighting the poison, which results in this pain. Fight with me, Sakhi, fight."

I along with Ashwatthama grabbed her convulsing torso from both sides. Supriya was shaking, her eyes were literally bulging out, but her body was slowly becoming warm. A few moments later, she started vomiting dark green liquid.

"Jay Mahadev!" Devapriya smiled in joy, "Yam Raj, forgive me but I am not ready to be part with my Sakhi today. We did it Angraaj, but we were lucky. The poison on the knife was deadly, but slow in speed. If it was a variant which works fast, then..." she shuddered.

Slowly, Supriya opened her eyes. Rajkumari...no, Maharani Devapriya tied a bandage on her back. Then she looked at Ashwatthama.

"Thank you Brahman Devta. Without your help, I could not prepare this medicine so fast."

Ashwatthama smiled slowly, but then concern filled in his eyes, "Devi, you are also injured. Please apply some medicine on your wound too."

She smiled slowly. With each passing moment, my respect for her was increasing in a galloping speed. I crossed my hands to her.

"Thank you Maharani. Now I am indebted to both your husband and you."

"Neither my husband nor I would like the word 'indebted' coming out from your mouth. Angraaj, please leave my Sakhi here. Her body is still weak. You stay here with her, and it's your duty now to feed her lots and lots of water after every one kala passes. The water in her system will flush out the poison. But it would take at least one month or more for her to become fully healthy again."

I nodded affirmatively. She took a small box filled with yellow powder, and made a paste of it by mixing it with some water. Then she started applying the paste on her wound.

"The scar will stay with me. But now, where is Aryaputra? I need him to stitch my wounds."

Ashwatthama jumped up like a panther.

"Hey Mahadev, under this chaos we literally forget about him. I am going to check on him right now. But, don't you all think that the outside was eerie calm now?"

Now my mind was a little bit calm too. I looked at Supriya, who was lying on my lap, a feeble but beautiful smile played in her lips. Maharani just snatched her from the rope of Yam raja, which was nothing but a miracle.

"Radheya, can I have your bow please? I left mine where we were making the medicine."

I nodded affirmatively, and handed my bow and quiver to Ashwatthama. He took them and turned towards the gate of the tent, but at the same moment, a dark figure entered the tent. All of us looked at him with shock in our faces.

It was none other than Duryodhana, but he was looking like he just took a dip in a sea of blood. I knew that the blood on his body, his face, his hand, his hair, his legs and his sword was of the enemy's. But then, I looked at his eyes, and shuddered again.

His eyes were blood red, and slit like. My mind automatically went to the fight with Rakshashas in the forest when we came back after his duel with Bhargava. Slowly, I saw him open his mouth, and I saw the traces of two sharp fangs. But, in the next moment, his teeth and eyes became normal again. But then, slowly, he turned towards his wife and his gaze fell on the wound on her torso. In a second, his eyes became slit like again. They were having a hunger in them which could consume the whole universe.

"Drupad, you're dead now!"

That short sentence was enough for me to assume his state of mind. His mind was now going to erupt like a volcano. His voice became like an angry hissing of a serpent. I saw him taking out his trident locket in his hand, but before I could do or say anything, the voice of Maharani entered in my ear.

"Aryaputra, never make a promise when you are overjoyed, similarly, never make a decision when you are overwhelmed with rage."

Duryodhana stopped midway; it seemed that her words penetrated his diamond hard skull. He took a few deep breaths, and calmed down a bit.

"My wounds need stitches, Aryaputra. Will you help me?"

He turned towards his wife. I saw a thin smile playing in his lips.

"Give me a moment. I need to wash my hands."

A few moments later, I saw him stitching his wife's wound. He was doing that with ease, but I could see that Maharani was feeling a lot of pain. But she was a strong woman, who was not making a sound.

"Hush, hush, Priya, this is last. I promise." He slowly finished his work. Then he slowly turned towards Dussasan, who entered the tent a few moments ago.

"Dussasan, get us some Soma rasa."

Dussasan ran outside and a few moments later, came back with a silver pot and a few glasses. He poured a glass to his Jyesth, who took it then handed it over to his wife.

"Extreme time needs extreme measures."

Maharani slowly took that glass, and took a small sip. Her facial expression became funny. Duryodhana took the next glass, and for the first time, I saw him drinking Soma. I took another glass and Ashwatthama politely refused.

"Dussasan, give me the casualty report."

"The enemy were at least a hundred and twenty in number. All of them are dead, thanks to you, Jyesth. If you didn't sound the alarm, then they would probably succeed in their mission. But we lost thirty five soldiers too."

"What about the men from Kalinga? Oh, where were they staying?"

"They were staying half kosh afar from us. But still, they ran for help when one of our soldiers ran to them. But they have nothing to do, because when they came, they saw you massacring the enemy single handily. Your sword and mace, they were literally became the embodiment of death tonight."

I saw him closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths again.

"Drupad will pay. I will make sure to turn Kampilya into cremation ground. I will make sure that after I am done with Kampilya, all the deceased kings of Panchal will tremble in fear in heaven."

Then he looked at Ashwatthama, "What is the distance of Northern Panchal from here?"

"Three yojanas from here."

"Ok, now, our first priority is to get Priya and Supriya to safe zone that means your kingdom. I am tying a chariot on my ride."

"Ok, you take Radheya with you. I along with Dussasan am staying here, just for the time to manage everything. We will quickly gather everything and start our journey too." Ashwatthama stood up.

Duryodhana smiled.

"I have one hundred and three arms. What would I do without you?"

"Not hundred and three, Aryaputra. Now you have one hundred and five arms, including me and my Sakhi." I heard Maharani saying. Her voice was a bit slurred, probably the side effect of the Soma.

I slowly turned towards my wife, who was now smiling feebly. She slowly, nodded affirmatively.

Suddenly, we heard loud shouting outside. It was like someone crying and begging for mercy. The next moment, some soldiers entered into the tent. They had another man with them. The man was a middle aged hunter, judging by his dress and feathers in his head. His hands were tightly bound behind his back.

The leader of the soldier nodded and mentioned that they saw that man hiding in the forest and watching us from there. So they assumed that he was a spy for the attackers, and caught him.

"Have mercy on me! I am no spy and I do not have anything to do with those attackers. I am a common hunter. Have mercy on my family!" the hunter was now on his knees and begging. His eyes were on me, but then he looked at Duryodhana. His face became pale with fear, and his voice literally chocked. His lips started trembling,

"Pisacha!"

The word came from his lips then he fell down on the ground, unconscious. Duryodhana ordered a soldier to get some water. The old man gained his sense back after my Mitra splashed some water on his face. He opened his eyes, and when he saw Duryodhana in front of him, he became pale again.

"Here, drink some water. You will feel good. Soldier, untie him."

The man looked at my Mitra then looked at his extended hand with the pot of water and then he again looked at him. Slowly, he took the pot and drank some water.

"You look hungry. Dussasan, can you please arrange some food for him?"

The man's eyes were now becoming big like saucers. He looked at all of us with a shocked expression. Dussasan exited from the tent, and a few moments later he came back again. In his hand, there was a platter with dough of Sattu, with some pickle.

"Jyesth, I could only manage this right now. The soldiers have Sattu with them, so I got it from them."

Duryodhana made a gesture with his hand. Dussasan handed the platter to the old man. The hunter was still looking strangely at all of us. But then, he started eating hungrily. He completed the dough in a moment then drank some water again.

"Now start speaking. You are a hunter, which means you have a keen knowledge about the forest. I think, no, I surely know that you have seen the attackers. Can you give us any information about them?"

"I was searching the forest for a good hunt, but today was not my lucky day. So, after sunset, I slept under a tree. But I am a very light sleeper. So, I woke up after hearing the sound of footsteps, and saw them. All of them were covering their faces."

Then he stopped for a moment. His gaze fell on the poisoned knife.

"I saw one of them dripping that knife in some liquid. After they attacked on your camp, I checked that liquid. It was indeed a powerful poison. But this poison isn't native of this area."

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Yes, I am sure about. This poison is extracted from a thorny tree that can only be found in desert area."

"That doesn't prove anything. A king can order poison from desert area." Ashwatthama said slowly.

A strange silence engulfed all of us. None of us were speaking a thing. But the unbearable silence was broken by the sound of coins. Duryodhana took a handful of gold coins and handed them to the man.

"I want you to do something for me. You're free to go. I want you to go to Drupad, and tell him to count his days, because I am going to burn down his kingdom to ashes. Kampilya has committed their final mistake by shading my wife's blood. Now I will drown the whole city in blood."

The hunter nodded fearfully then he bowed to all of us. But before he could turn around, Duryodhana spoke again.

"What is your name, hunter?"

The man crossed his hands, "My name is Jara."

Duryodhana looked at him then he started laughing. The laughter was similar to a madman's. A few moments later, he somehow controlled himself. The hunter was looking at him with a puzzled face, but then he bowed and left. I saw him walking away from us, with the first ray of Surya Narayana coming out.

So, this is chapter 20.

"Jara".....does the name ring any bell to anyone's mind?

Please, read, vote and especially comment.