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.

SMOKING IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH. IT CAUSES CANCER.

Chapter 41

Draupadi POV (continues)

I was still shocked with the effect of what I had just witnessed. Devarji was standing in front of me, with his back towards my direction. He still refused to look into my direction for once. What was the reason of his behavior?

"Am I that repulsive?" I couldn't help but asked him. He was still standing in front of me, but I could feel a small change in his posture. The man in front of me was an enigma, a mystery shrouded by darkness. But his mysterious aura was having a powerful effect on me. With each passing moment, I was becoming more and more determined to solve the mystery called Duryodhana.

"You didn't answer my question? Am I that repulsive to you that you try to avoid me with all your might?"

He didn't say anything to me and slowly sat on the grass. His back was still towards me. I saw him taking something from a wooden box on the ground. It was a cylindrical thing, most probably made with some kind of leaf, or paper, I could not understand properly in the faint light. He put that cylindrical thing into his mouth, and then took out a small, metallic thing. He pressed a part of it, and to my great astonishment, I saw a small flame of light appeared on the metallic thing. He lit the thing in his mouth with the fire and put it out. The cylindrical thing in his mouth started burning, and then he started puffing out smoke rings from his mouth!

Though I was astonished, because I had never seen anything like that, but then I inhaled the smoke a little bit and my nostrils literally burnt. The smell was so strong and so foul, that I started coughing. I quickly covered my face and nose with my cloth. He was still sitting there, puffing out that smoke, and completely ignoring the fact that I was there. Now I had enough!

I walked in front of him, and tried to look into his eyes, only to find them closed. That closed eyes infuriated me again.

"What do you think of yourself? You may be a great warrior, but you are the worst human being I have ever seen! You are continuously ignoring me and disrespecting me! It's a shame that each and everyone in this palace have such high opinions about you! They think that you are a man of honor. But, now I can see the real face of you. You are nothing but a hypocrite. Do you think I don't know what the real reason behind you avoiding me is? You are a man after all, and you are afraid that if you look at me, I could see your real face under the mask of honor? Men like you only want one thing..."

I bit my tongue, as hard as I could. What was happening to me? Why I was behaving like this? I came here to seek forgiveness from him, and now I stood before him, with those vile words coming from my mouth!

I heaved a deep sigh, and made up my mind. I had to punish myself by burning my tongue with charcoal. I slowly walked towards the burning torch. When I reached in front of it, I tried to put my right palm into the fire to pick up a hot charcoal when suddenly a dark hand literally came out of the blue and grabbed the torch. I recognized the dark figure in a moment.

Devarji.

"When did he stand up and when did he walk here?" I thought to myself, "He walks silently, just like a predator."

"You shouldn't be here alone!" He spoke in a low, but firm voice. He said something to me for the first time. He was still not facing me, but, still, it was a start.

"I came here to seek forgiveness from you. Today morning, my behavior was unacceptable. I didn't know that you were attacked on your way home. When I heard about your wife, it felt like my soul was shattered." Fresh tears came out from my eyes, and I quickly wiped them.

An eerie silence engulfed both of us. I felt that even the flow of time had stopped between us. A few moments later, the silence was broken.

"She will be alright, for the universe's sake. Otherwise, I will unleash the carnage on this universe, which will be remembered as the second 'Daksh-Yagnya'".

His voice was hard, but devoid of any emotion. It felt like the voice of a hollow shell. He was still puffing the foul smelled smoke, but this time, he was more careful not to pass the smoke towards my direction.

"Are you intoxicated? That smoke seems having an effect on you." I asked him. A part of my mind was telling me to leave him, but the other part wasn't agreeing with it. The other part was telling me to lay a hand of comfort to him, who was clearly grieving alone. A human being was suffering in front of me, and it was my moral duty to share some grief with him. The more you share love and knowledge, it would increase; the more you share sorrow and grief, it would decrease.

"Smoking is injurious to health." He took another drag and threw it on the ground and crushed it under his right shoe. After that, he took a deep breath. Again the silence engulfed us. I decided to break it this time.

"That man who was fighting with you...what was he? Was he a Rakshasha or a sorcerer? I understood that he took the disguise of you...actually I recognized the face."

"You have a sharp sense, daughter of Drupad. Yes, that was a Rakshasha, and a powerful one. But this time he came to me as a well wisher. That combat with him, well it helped me to focus my mind and body, and prevented me from doing something stupid."

"If I can do anything for you, just ask me, Devarji."

His whole body stiffened with a light jolt. Then he turned around and faced me for the first time. His intoxicated eyes met mine, and I felt something inside my head. An unfamiliar sensation passed through my body and suddenly, I felt dirty and even violated. I was fully clothed, but I could feel in my bones that some invisible hands were trying to tear up my clothes from my body! My body started shaking like a leaf and my legs were losing their strength. I thought that I would soon fall down on the ground....

"Har Har Mahadev!!!"

Devarji roared like a lion, and when his voice entered into my ear, it worked like magic. I could literally feel refreshed. It seemed that I just took a dip in the sacred water of Mata Ganga and all the vileness had been washed away from my body. Though I was still a bit shaken, but my body and mind started regaining their strength.

"If you really want to help me, then come here, let me teach you something." His eyes didn't leave my eyes. It felt like those eyes were pulling me to them, compelling to obey his commands. It took all of my willpower to regain the total control of my mind, and I broke the eye contact. I saw his right hand moving and he pulled out something from his waist.

The black, polished firearm glowed in the faint light of the torch.

"You want me to learn to use that weapon? Forgive me, but I don't understand the necessity."

He looked into my eyes again, and I again felt the dread inside my bones.

"It's for your own safety."

"My own safety! Thank you very much for that kindness, but I am under the protection of five unparalleled warriors. They can protect me from all the evil in the world."

Devarji just stared at me for a moment, and then I saw a smirk in his lips. The smirk was cold and cruel, and I felt a pang of fear in my heart. He held up his right hand to me, which was holding the weapon.

"Take it and have a feel of it."

Slowly, with trembling hands, I took the weapon. The cold, hard metal felt a bit uneasy at first. Devarji then took it back and started explaining all the details. I listened with complete attention.

"You understand everything?" he asked me, and I couldn't help myself but nodded affirmatively.

"Good, now load it.", he handed me the weapon. I followed his instruction properly, careful not to touch the trigger. I opened the safety lock, then with a bit force, pulled up the upper part of it. I heard a metallic sound, and the weapon was ready to spit out fire and metal.

"There is your target." he pointed towards some concentric circles in the wall. I took a deep breath, and pointed the firearm to the circles.

"Your hand is too stiff. The firearm gives a force backwards. Your hand and grip must be strong but flexible."

I felt that hard, stone like fingers touched my right arm. The hand was cold, and I shivered a bit. He corrected my grip and my hand position."

"Close your left eye and look at the target from the sight. Empty your mind. There will be nothing inside there, except the target. Concentrate. You have all the time you need."

I took a deep breath again, and pointed the firearm at the target.

"Fire!"

My index finger pressed the trigger, and the firearm gave a back push in my hand with a loud bang. I look at the target, and saw a small hole inside the outermost circle.

"Focus! In front of you, there is a man standing. He is looking at you with lusty eyes. His hands are itching to defile you, to maim you, to impure you! This time, his hands are grabbing your clothes. He will tear them apart..."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I spotted the three holes into the second inner circle. My mind was burning in rage. How dare a man's hand touch my clothes! How dare a man would live after even the thoughts of defiling me crossed his mind!

"Contain the anger in your heart, Agnisuta! Your head must be cold like the Himalayas. Fire!"

Bang!

"Well done, well done indeed!"

I said nothing, just looked at the hole at the centre.

"Remember, your safety is your responsibility. Never depend on others to save you. Your safety is in your hands."

"Thanks for the new name, Devarji. I like it.", I tried to return him the firearm but he stopped me with a gesture of his hand.

"Accept this as a gift, and remember this lesson. May Mahadev always keep your hair safe."

I nodded dumbly. I knew that he gave me a blessing, which was odd itself, but my hair, seriously? Will I lose my hair in future and became bald? I looked at him again, trying to find any sign of jest, but found nothing. His face was hard like stone. Slowly, I held out my both hands and accepted the weapon, and touched it in my forehead.

"Who among the five loves you the most, according to you?" the question came out of the blue, and startled me a bit. He was talking about my husbands.

"I am sorry, but that is private information." I replied to him. He looked at me, and nodded slowly.

"It is the second one. As much as it pains to admit, it is him who loves you unconditionally. You just need to bat your eyelashes and give him a smile, and he will even kill under your command. Don't just turn him into your errand boy or enforcer. Give him the love that he deserves from you. He loves you more than the one who pierced the eye of the fish."

I was shocked after hearing his words. Each and every word spoken by him was true. But the most astonishing thing was why he spoke those words to me, given that Aryaputra Bheem and Devarji Duryodhana were the bitterest enemies? It seemed that today, due to his intoxication, he opened his mind a bit. He gave me a lot to think about.

"What can I give you as Guru-Dakshina?" I asked him in a soft voice, after crossing my palms. The firearm was resting in my waist now, covered under my cloth.

"What can you give me?"

"I will give you anything except my virtue."

He laughed softly then gestured me to sit. Both of us sat on the soft grass.

"Let me tell you a story. Once, there was a married woman. She was wise, virtuous and powerful. So, three sages came to test her. They came to her and told her that they were having a special fast, and to break the fast, she must serve them food in nude. What should she do now?"

I was shocked to hear that. If the woman accepted that, she would lose her virtue. But if she refused them, the sages might curse her. This was truly a tough situation.

"It's truly the horns of a dilemma. How did she escape the situation?"

"She used her brain, obviously." He took a pause, and I was annoyed. He spotted the annoyance in my face and smirked.

"She used her Yogic powers and turned the three sages into babies. Then..."

"Then she nursed them." I nodded slowly, "she outwitted the sages."

"Not just any sages, they were the Tridev in disguise. The woman was none other than Mata Anusuya, the wife of Maharishi Atri. Now tell me, what do you learn from this story?"

"I learn that in front of a tough situation, one must think calmly. A calm mind is the key of overcoming all the barriers."

"You are right. Now, I made a blunder today by teaching you these things, and when I become sober tomorrow, I will surely regret it. But it's nice to have this chat with you, Agnisuta."

"Why?" to tell the truth, I was a bit hurt.

"Well, your husbands are the thorns in my way to the throne, that's why."

"You men and your politics are the root cause of all the troubles of the world."

"Well, don't you dare pretend that you have nothing to say in politics? A king rules the kingdom, whereas the queen rules the king."

We both laughed. I was happy, that I gave him a little comfort, and learned a lot of new things from him. He was a unique personality, I ought to give him that. But there was still another question, that the Rakshasha called him with some other name, what was it?

Jayant.

I thought to ask him about Jayant, but something in my heart told me to leave it for this moment because it would become crossing the boundary. I slowly stood up, bid him farewell, and took my leave. While walking, I could smell the smoke again. The hard, cold touch of the firearm in my waist was a new feeling, but I would become accustomed to it.

I walked inside my room and saw Aryaputra Yudhisthir and Aryaputra Bheem. Both of them greeted me with a smile. But then Aryaputra Yudhisthir suddenly crunched his nose.

"Pardon me, Panchali, but why the smell of blood is coming from your hair?"

So, this is chapter 41. Please read, vote and comment.