Chaturmukha (a Rajini Rewritten Trilogy)

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Heavy is The Head That Wears The Crown - Anonymous
[William Shakespeare used it in his play, King Henry IV - Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown)

Day Zero Seven - Sacred Battle (2/3)
(Rated-R)

Rolling Heads

Deva Vyuha versus Asura Vyuha
Devine Formation versus Demon Formation
Sena's Defense versus Vettaiyan's attack

Asura Vyuha is formed by shaping a huge head of a demon with military units on the battlefield. The quick shifts made by the units in Demon Formation makes it look like a head rolling on the battleground. Animal cavalry constitutes to the two horns. Spearmen crowd around the face resembling to thick facial hair. Heavy built warriors, carrying armours and long swords, group together as lips, nose and ears. The big eyes are opened by special units with broad shields. During a threat, the eyes are shut to shelter the soldiers inside an umbrella of metal. Chariot archers draw the chin lines and the outline of the demon face is guarded by the infantry. A third eye is mounted on the forehead, where eight captains facing each direction governed the Asura Vyuha by commanding their respective unit. The deadliest part of the Asura Vyuha is the tongue. A secret unit is concealed within the heavy warriors forming the nose. At a strategic point in the battle, the secret unit walk through the philtrum and enter the upper lips. Slowly the lips part and the secret units roll out as the tongue taking down the enemies by surprise.

Deva Vyuha is another face like formation which is not as aggressive as Asura Vyuha. Primarily a defence formation, its main purpose is to spread equal in size and subdue the Demon Formation. Particular dissimilarities between the two Vyuhas are - Devine formation does not carry tongue, horns and third eye. Instead, the horns are replaced by a crown. The captains spread all over the face, taking full control on the units they command. The advantage of Devine Formation is that the units can split from their main group and strike the enemy in the form of a lightening. Such small attacks inflict damage to the opponents and the lightening units reunite back to its group. Several lines of defence are constructed within the face, allowing it to change as the battle progresses.

The General stood at the centre of the Third Eye and supervised the Asura Vyuha himself. Angered by deception, The General ordered his army to involve in an aggressive attack. He issued them all the will to kill and announced rewards for the special soldiers who took down the Ayus. One Eye with a team of archers and Naga with his group of Immortals governed the Demon Formations. Asura Vyuha started to roll on Karmegha.

Samapada rode into the battlefield holiding a yellow flag with a crown embedded on it. The commanders quickly reacted to the sign and formed Deva Vyuha. Sena controlled the units as the crown of Devine Formation forming the first line of defence. Gudakesha led his men to settle as the thick eyebrows on the face of the Devine Formation establishing the second line of defence. Rana governed the chariot units assembled as the nose at the centre, the only attack unit of Deva Vyuha. Kalai controlled the swordsmen around the lips performing a dual role – lower lips stood as the thrid line of defence, while the upper lips break into lightening units incharge to assist groups taking heavy damage within the Deva Vyuha. Sultan and Kacha formed the ears to block the enemies from entering the Deva Vyuha from the sides. The Ayus defended as the chin creating the fourth and last line of defence; directly behind them was the Nations United campsite.

As the two heads collided with each other head-on, a fierce battle took place on Karmegha.

The General constantly kept an eye over the zone where the secret unit was put on standby. Asura Vyuha stuck hard on the crown of Deva Vyuha. Sena found it difficult to resist the heavy attack. The crown tumbled under the ambush of The General's military. Sena ordered his men to retreat collapsing the crown of the Devine head. The enemies advanced through the fractured defence rapidly.

The Asura Vyuha was halted by its captains when The General saw rows of enemy warriors standing with long whips in their hand. Gudakesha held on to the handle of a lengthy lash in each hand and allowed the thong to sleep behind him. Six soldiers, three occupying each lash, knelt beside the thong. Tiny metal pike balls were fastened to the whip attached to minute metal clips. A piece of thin metal thread ran from each clip to the butt knot of the whip which Gudakesha held tightly inside his palm.

Gudakesha lifted his right hand and started to swing the whip above his head. The pike balls hanging to the whips turned in small circles around their respective clip. His hair elevated in the air when the lash above his head spun in a circular motion. He loosened his palm and released the grip on the butt knot of his whip and activated a simple mechanism. The metal threads cracked the clips and they opened freeing the metal spheres. The pike balls ejected from the lash and dashed into the air towards the enemies. The orbs found their victims and landed hard on their face; some broke the nose, several tore the forehead and many got stuck replacing the eyes. Gudakesha dropped the lash to the ground behind him and the three soldiers worked on fixing the pike balls in the empty clips. He lifted the whip in his left hand and launched another attack at the enemies, thus creating a cycle of charge and discharge of deadly metal balls at the enemies. His trained men vigorously used the whip to drive away the enemies.

One Eye consulted with Naga and then, gave instructions to his captains. They rode fast to every direction of Asura Vyuha carrying the order of their Major General. Instantly, chariot swordsmen raced towards Gudakesha's men dodging the metal spheres. Men dressed in black uniforms jumped out from the chariots carrying kalazdu, claws and yari. Khan, Valli and Pati took full control of the battle zone and washed away the eyebrows of the Deva Vyuha permitting the halted infantry to advance further into the Devine formation.

Gudakesha's regiment defended bravely but they were not trained in combat to handle different attack moves at the same time. The Immortals went on a killing spree carrying three different weapons destabilising the second line of defence of Nations United. Sena rode into the battle zone which had completely fallen into the enemy's hand and ordered Gudakesha to retreat with his men. Sena noted the presence of the skilled fighters Khan, Valli and Pati before falling back with Gudakesha.

Padayappa watched the Asura Vyuha crashing onto Deva Vyuha. All the strategies he worked on the sand table were not materialising. His inability to predict the enemy's secret unit took him over completely. He noted that the horns of Asura Vyuha played as a gateway. Soldiers from the enemy barracks entered into the Demon formation through the horns to replace the falled ones. The Asura's head was growing larger and bigger on the battlefield crushing the Devine face.

Spearmen joined the Immortals and rushed to either side and invaded the two ears of the Devine Formation. Sultan and Kacha gave the enemies a tough fight, but as the sun scorched over the sky, they were quickly outnumbered. Kalai noticed the units to the sides being hit heavily. He sent out a lightening squad to assist them, but the squad never returned.

Khan flanked from the left and Valli attacked the right. Pati retreated with his men and joined with the units assembling near the nose of the Demon Formation. Khan's Immortals surrounded Sultan's unit. He stood before Sultan and identified him as the one who fought with Sena the other day. He judged him guilty of Ratna's death. He raised his kalazdun and brought it heavily on Sultan who blocked the huge axe with his two sided spear. Each blow from Khan sent streams of shock onto Sultan's shoulders. He managed to block the strike but was not quick enough to react to Khan's kick on his chest. Sultan flew backwards and landed hard on the ground.

Kacha was unable to tackle the speed attacks of Valli. Her claws moved fast cutting the air without giving Kacha enough time to regain. He managed to move backwards but lost his balance and fell down on his back. Valli's claws buried itself between his legs. He quickly pushed himself backwards while Valli walked towards him looking at him with her menacing eyes. Kalai saw Kacha struggling on the ground. He ran towards the right hoping not to be late to rescue Kacha from the deadly claws.

Sultan stood on his feet. He patted the dust from his armour and pointed the spear at Khan. He gradually spun it before his eyes provoking Khan to attack him. Khan, once again, came down hard at Sultan with heavy blows from kalazdun. Sultan elegantly blocked them by pushing his weight on to his knees. Sultan's resistance angered Kahn. He took a deep breath and lifted his weapon above his head. Sultan was knelt under the exposed torso of Khan. He quickly drew his meqleh hidden under his hip belt and inserted it into the chest under the left arm of Khan. He held it inside and twisted it to break the rib bones. He pushed it hard further inside and punctured his heart. He pulled back his meqleh. Blood poured out of the tiny hole. Khan died instantly and the weight of kalazdun held above his head pulled him backwards to the ground.

Kalai enterend between Kacha and Valli and took the fight to his sword. Kacha witnessed Kalai challenging Valli. He elegantly used his sword smashing Valli's rapid slashes. Couple of metal fingers broke and Valli madly rushed at Kalai. Moving to his right he caught her hand and stopped her acceleration. He pulled her forcibly towards him and his sword. The sharp blades tore the flesh around her pelvic area and exited breaking her spinal. Valli rested dead on Kalai's shoulder.

Padayappa observed the enemies shattering the third line of defence. The units on either side had fallen too. The commanders were withdrawing their units from battle. Rana pulled back the chariots to group them with the final line of defence formed by the Ayus. The battle scene looked chaotic. He closely watched the units of archers gathering around the nose of Asura Vyuha. Rana's retreating chariot units were tore down by their arrow, while the enemy swordsmen forming the nose built a thick defence wall and created a philtrum joining it with the upper lip.

Padayappa knew that the time had arrived for the secret enemy units to enter the battle field. The Battalion from Heaven had fallen and the secret unit will take care of washing out the retreating soldiers. He immediately ordered Sampada to carry the black flag and instruct the commanders to exit the battlefield. He took his conch and sent out another alert.

The assembly of warriors at the centre of Asura Vyuha grew thicker as the thumping drums echoed louder around Karmegha. The archers and the swordsmen moved from their defensive stance and paved way for the mouth of the demon to open. Through the cave of the mouth, the secret unit of The General emerged onto Karmegha.

Sena halted Nameless and saw a large group of women gracefully walking out of Asura Vyuha. Watching the damsels, he felt dizzy when a long buried burden emptied from his chest. Looking at the Kanyas dressed in white tunic roaming on Karmegha, his vision blurred.

Sena closed his eyes as he had finally solved the Cradle Mystery on Karmegha. Cry of babies started to ring inside his ears. His head pounded and his chest felt stiff. Sena blacked out. He fell off from Nameless and hit himself hard on the ground over the same spot where Rana had fallen unconscious during the Fifth Moon.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

'Live or die, but don't poison everything' - Anne Sexton

Day Zero Seven - Sacred Battle (3/3)
(Rated-R)

Angels of Death

The female newborn infants were raised on a carefully crafted diet of poison and antidote by applying a peculiar practise developed by The Vaithiyar Kreesnama Muni after consulting the 'fat book with no cover'. The Vaithiyar followed the instructions illustrated in the unnamed manual to create Vishakanya.

Right from the childhood, the girl's body was tied tightly with ropes at strategy places to nullify the flow of blood. Poison was injected in the strained parts into the red cramped flesh between the firmly bound strands. The girls were in a state of great suffering, both of body and of mind causing them an endless pain. They were under constant observation and were examined personally by The Vaithiyar.

Dumped together inside a small room, the girls crawled over one another in hunger. Without food and water, they were left to starve in the darkness. Poison was all that they were fed with. The internal body system failed due to restricted diet leading to the death of many female children. Unable to tolerate the physical suffering, their bodies revolted against the beating heart persuading it to stop.

The Vaithiyar's experiment was cruel and the torturous treatment started to yield results. Few of the girls survived. His method brought a great physical change in them. When the test subjects attained young age, they developed an immunity towards poison. Gradually the dosage of poison was increased along with a diet change. The teenagers were provided with limited meals, mostly fluid rich Food.

At this stage, the girls started to walk around normally. Their skin became pale and bright that gave them an alluring attraction. Their body started to respond to the intake of food with poison, and gradually they stabilised and started to behave like normal human beings. No more torturous process was necessary for their body system to keep the poison within. Slowly, their system started to produce poison just like digestive fluid – The complete birth of the Vishakanya.

The Art of seduction were taught to them - from clothing to dancing. They were kept isolated inside a secured cage and the tutors taught them from a distance, carefully positioned behind from the metal bars. The young women spent the entire day and night inside the prison cells and showed involvement in the trainings. They were intelligent and their senses were sharp.

When they attained womanhood, they had already become a deadly walking weapon and could stop a beating heart without even needing a needle to kill their victims.

Vishakanyas became assassins, who were sent to murder high profile targets. With their glamorous appeal, they can walk through closed doors and murder their targets either by poisoning food with a drop of their blood; or giving a passionate kiss on the lips; or through love bites; or by scratching the victims with their nails; and in few rare cases, seducing and taking their traget to bed with them - One doesn't wakes up after sleeping with a Vishakanya.

The Vishakanya was sometimes sent to war to perform mass murder. Made of poisonous body fluids, the Vishakanya brought death instantly.

Even though Vishakanya was considered a myth, few rare ones who have seen a Vishakanya and lived to talk about it, alerted the others through their song :

She grew licking venom mixed with honey,
She lost to become a woman of dignity.
She knew the pain which was not so funny.
She comes to take you to your final destiny.

Beware everyone when you see one,
Whose tongue tastes like bourbon,
Trapped inside the web she had spun,
Alas, nothing can be undone.

The men who have seen her come,
Issue a warning with a drum.
Listen carefully to their hum,
They say: Stay away from the scum.

Ay Ay Ay, you die
She sees, you die.
She touches, you die.
She spits, you die.
She bleeds, you die.
She kisses, you die.
And bed her ... my friend,
Ay Ay Ay, you die

Pointing their long finger nails to the ground, Vishakanyas walked on Karmegha holding a gracious smile on their face. Their white tunic swayed rhythmically with their elegant hip movement. The soldiers who were retreating were stunned by their beautiful faces and pale white skin.

The Angels of Death seduced the enemies with their facial movements. A fragrant odour lingered under the nose of the awe stuck warriors. Unable to control their lust, the soldiers halted on the battleground and allowed the Vishakanyas to approach him.

A pretty young woman caressed his cheek. A beauty full lady kissed him on his lips. An attractive dame held on to his eyes. Suddenly the three soldiers felt a burning sensation all over their body and fell dead on Karmegha.

Watching their fallen comrades, three warrior ran towards the closest Vishakanya with their swords raised. They stood before her and the one in front her raised his sword and slashed her chest. Droplets of blood sprinkled in the air and landed on their faces, entering uninvited inside their nostrils, lip cracks, eyes and ears. Their heart pounded mercilessly before giving up. All three lay dead beside the Vishakanya whom they had chopped. White foam drooled between their lips. Few Vishkanyas mourned around their fallen sister and with anger concealed inside their attractive eyes, they charged at the retreating enemies.

Nameless stood guard over his unconscious master. The horse protected Sena from the Vishkanyas. It reared fiercely on its back legs and neighed at the Angels of Death aggressively. The damsels were scared to approach the maddened horse. An Ayus jumped between Nameless and Vishakanyas. It punched them away, while Nameless bent its neck to lock its rein around Sena's left foot. After several tries, Nameless successfully attached the rein to Sena's foot. The horse galloped pulling its master along with it.

The Armor covering Sena’s body secured him while he was being pulled on the rugged land. The Ayus fighting the Vishakanyas felt dizzy. His vision blurred. Five Vishakanyas circled the Ayus and bite him until they could sit over his motionless body. With blood oozing out of their lip and stained on their white tunic, they started to chase Nameless.

Sultan, Kalai and Kacha saw their units toppling like dominos. They could not understand the instant death brought by the women dressed in white. They urgently ordered their units not to approach the women and along with the rest of their squads, they raced back towards the defensive wall guarding the barracks of Nations United.

Yesodha Putran saw Sena being pulled by his horse. He immediately turned his chariot towards Nameless. Rana saw a huge number of damsels following Sena whose body was waving in a transverse motion over the floor behind Nameless. Making a wide turn, Yesodha Putran controlled his horses to run parallel with Nameless. Rana jumped of the chariot ignoring the pack white wolves pursuing him. Holding to wooden joints, he accelerated along with the chariot to gain momentum. Once he was close to Nameless, he let go his hands and raced with Sena's horse. He caught its mane and pulled its neck towards him. The scared animal neighed and halted. Rana quickly unwound the rein from Sena's foot. He quickly carried him and placed him on the back of Nameless. He slapped its flank and Nameless galloped towards the campsite carrying its unconscious master on its saddle.

When Rana got down of the chariot, Yesodha Putran did not stop but carried on towards the campsite. He reduced the chariot’s speed to give a great chance for Rana to mount back in. He saw Nameless carrying Sena fly past him. He turned and saw Rana running towards the chariot. He called out for Rana who paced on the battlefield to be a step ahead of the Angels Of Death following him.

A Vishakanya raced faster and suddenly appeared by his side. Running parallel with Rana, the Vishakanya threw her arm at him to catch a glimpse of his flesh with her nails. Rana bent on his back while skidding on his knees. He quickly rolled on the floor and was back on his feet. He managed to dodge Vishakanya's fatal attack in one elegant acrobatics without reducing his acceleration.

As he neared the chariot, the Vishakanyas were too close to him throwing their arms at him from behind. Rana held on to the chariot and leaped back inside. He flicked Inesh from the floor of the chariot with his foot and the bow rose in the air and landed on his left hand.

A Vishakanya managed to hold onto the chariot’s back. A single arrow from Inesh pushed the damsel away from the moving vehicle. It rolled over Karmegha and quickly got back to its feet and started to chase the chariot with the other Vishakanyas. Yesodha Putran galloped his horses to maximum speed, while Rana neutralised the Vishakanyas with Inesh, every dart from the Devine bow met the Angels of Death between their eyes. Unable to cope up with the chariot, the Vishakanyas stopped following Rana, and halted on the Battlefield to catch breath. They screamed at their own state, a cry that trembled Karmegha.

The General looked towards the west. Pleased with the sun still digging itself behind the hills, he smiled behind his mask. He watched the Angels of Death walk fearlessly on the empty battleground towards the enemy camp.

The large number of venomous women halted before a single line of soldiers guarding the entrance of their camp. Rana, Kalai, Kacha & Sultan stood in the middle and a chain of soldiers continued to their either sides holding scutums before them. The Vishakanyas laughed looking at each other when they noticed the enemies carrying shields as a defensive weapon to stop them. They slowly walked towards the last line of defence of Nations United.

When they neared, the four commanders moved to their sides, exposing a quiver of archers positioned behind them. Kanakavalli, upon the instructions from Padayappa, and with the assistance of Sampada, had assembled three units of archers. The bowmen were knelt on one leg and a row of foot soldiers stood holding the darts behind each of the archer. A burning torch was standing beside them.

Kanakavalli drew her arrow and Swathi who was beside her lighted the dart. The fire bolt flew in the air and found its victim. The Vishakanya let out a deep cry when the poison inside her encouraged the fire to alight her rapidly. She burnt brightly over the grey atmosphere on Karmegha, emitting orange coloured flames. She was turned into ashes and flew around her sisters.

Struck with immense anger, the Vishakanya raced towards the bowmen screaming. The soldiers standing behind the archers took an arrow and lighted its head in the burning torch. They placed the ignited arrow on the right palm of the archer, which he had held open on his shoulder. The foot soldiers handed the fire dart to the archers who took it without turning back. It rained fire arrows on Karmegha. Once an arrow was fired, the soldiers handed the next dart. They worked together maintaining a pattern to create a mechanism to ignite, draw and fire lighted bolts at the Vishakanyas. Few damsels managed to close in, but the line of soldiers hid themselves completely behind their scutum and pushed the damsels using the broad shield, taking much care not to come in contact with the Vishakanyas.

As and when the fire arrows hit them, the Vishakanyas burnt inside the orange flames and the soft wind carried their ashes around Karmegha. Each fire dart liberated the tormented soul living inside a pained body.

Seeing the orange sparks on the battlefield, The General kicked his foot inside the stirrup and the sun buried itself behind the mountains.

... to be continued ...

Footnote :

The dramatisation of Vishakanya in the above chapter (esp. the Cruel Experiment) is imaginary, written for fiction. No such poem exists, nor, details of siteing a Vishakanya in Ancient India (as per the knowledge of the Author).

Vishakanya is a myth, rather a folklore from Kalki Purana - a Vishakanya named Sulokchana (a very interesting story).

The only mention of Vishakanya (Visha = Posion; Kanya = Girl) can be found in Arthashastra, a statecraft written by Acharya Chanakya during the reign of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

The eye--it cannot choose but see;
We cannot bid the ear be still;
Our bodies feel, where'er they be,
Against or with our will.”
- Lyrical Ballads (1798) by William Wordsworth

Feeling of Life

Rana entered the Tent of the Queen. Swathi and Swetha who were sitting by the entrance saluted the chief of army and silently walked out of the tent. Rana moved inside and found the bed empty. He looked around the space and saw Vadhana standing near the window and staring at Karmegha. With a heavy heart Rana walked towards his wife.

Hearing his footsteps, Vadhana Devi, the queen of Kottaipattinam, turned and welcomed her husband with a pleasant smile. Instantly, she noticed the sorrow in Rana's face.

"How is your arm ?", Rana asked with sadness in his voice.

"Waiting to take you inside them, my love", replied Vadhana.

She gentely pulled him by his arm and took him to the bed. She caressed his hair while looking into the anguish in her eyes.

"What is troubling you, dear ?" she asked. "Is it war stress ?"

Rana broke down in tears. He spoke softly, "Small children ..."; he made a gesture of holding a baby in his arm in front of his chest; "kidnapped...tortured ... killed ..." He took both his palms in front of his face and starred at them; "... murdered ...". Dropping his arms to his sides, he turned his head away from Vadhana, unable to explain her about the irony of war.

"Sena ...", he spoke softly after a while, "I want him to be the Emperor. I want him to be an uncle. But he wishes to be none. He talks like a lunatic." Rana wept again, "Yamuna, you, Sena are all that I have ... I believe I will lose you all."

Vadhana gently pulled his left arm and placed his palm over her pelvic area. Rana felt a slight movement tickling his palms. He turned and with tears in his eyes, he smiled joyfully at Vadhana. He wanted to speak, but she stopped him by placing her finger on his lips. She mildly pulled his neck towards her laps and pressed his ears on her stomach. Rana heard the sound of silence. He relaxed himself over the laps of his wife.

Just as a mother soothes her child, Vadhana pacified the regret mixed with annoyance that had engulfed Rana. She pronounced to Rana through her words that Feeling of Life is felt not by guilt but only through joy - marinating in guilt will only make the feet sticky depriving them the opportunity to fly; only joy can give them wings to reach the land of peace. She softly patted his cheeks and sung to quieten his inner agitation :

துன்பம் நேர்கையில் யாழ் எடுத்து நீ
இன்பம் சேர்க்க மாட்டாயா? - எமக்
கின்பம் சேர்க்க மாட்டாயா? - நல்
அன்பிலா நெஞ்சில் தமிழில் பாடி நீ
அல்லல் நீக்க மாட்டாயா? - கண்ணே
அல்லல் நீக்க மாட்டாயா?

வன்பும் எளிமையும் சூழும் நாட்டிலே
வாழ்வின் உணர்வு சேர்க்க - எம்
வாழ்வின் உணர்வு சேர்க்க - நீ
அன்றை நற்றமிழ்க் கூத்தின் முறையினால்
ஆடிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா? கண்ணே
ஆடிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா?

அறமிதென்றும் யாம் மறமிதென்றுமே
அறிகிலாத போது - யாம்
அறிகிலாத போது - தமிழ்
இறைவனாரின் திருக்குறளிலே ஒரு சொல்
இயம்பிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா? - நீ
இயம்பிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா?

புறம் இதென்றும் நல் அகம் இதென்றுமே
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் - தமிழ்ப்
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் - நல்
திறமை காட்டி உனை ஈன்ற எம்உயிர்ச்
செல்வம் ஆகமாட்டாயா? தமிழ்ச்
செல்வம் ஆக மாட்டாயா?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YySW7SwU1UQ

Her voice travelled through the campsite delivering concern and bringing optimism to its listener. Rana fell asleep enveloped inside the tenderness of Vadhana. Her words entered the adjacent nursing tent where Sena was breathing heavily. His chest swore like a hill and came down like a dove. Baby talks and cries circled around his ears. Vadhana's vocal echoed like bells from a distant mountain in his ear holes driving his nightmare away and assisting his breath to return to normalcy.

In his deep sleep, Sena smiled.

... to be continued ...

Footnote :

Thunbam Nergayil Yazh Eduthu Nee [துன்பம் நேர்கையில் யாழ் எடுத்து நீ], a (lovely) poem by Kanakasabai Subburathinam (1891-1964), popularly known as Bharathidasan.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

La vérité d’un homme, c’est d’abord ce qu’il cache.
(Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides)
- André Malraux (French Historian, Novelist and Statesman, 1901-1976)

Unsaved Glory

Veetaiyan kept staring at The General. A while after, he spoke as though lost inside his own mind, "All of them ... like ashes blown away!"

The Emperor made heavy and slow strides around The General, "Years vanished … a work of greatest importance ... disappeared in the battleground."

Vettaiyan turned and walked angrily towards the exit. At the door he stopped for a moment on his left foot while keeping his right foot still in the air and then, continued making fast strides on the corridor. The General silently exited the Emperor's chamber and followed Vettaiyan with his head facing the floor.

The moon rolled over the ink blue sky shedding brightness over the shore of the Pirates Bay. Kali, along with his team and Videha stood on the sands watching the departing fleet. The ships sailed towards Kottaipatiam carrying the aged, women and children who were rescued from Fort Ayan. The calm sea was decorated with huge burning structures - the enemy ships which were destroyed by Empires United navy stood lighting the way across the dark sea. As the vessels faded into the vastness, Kali questioned the royal navy captain in a high pitched voice, "Where are the resources that I demanded ?"

The captain guided Kali towards the buildings facing the harbour. Kali and his men left the Pirate's Bay carrying loads of sack on their shoulders to join the army units battling at Karmegha.

Shamu jumped out of cover. Slowly several warriors who had escaped from Fort Ayan emerged from behind the barrels. Through the dark, Maveeran crept towards Shamu and stood beside him.

As soon as they allowed Aye and her bandits to dive inside the strong hold through the hole in the wall, they entered the dungeons and sealed the gap so that none can make an exit. When they saw several enemy guards dressed in black roaming over the dungeon's pathway searching for escaped salves, Shamu ordered his men to hide in the dark behind the barrels and large gaps between wall and the ceiling.

The Immortals looked around the underground until noon and satisfied with its emptiness, they departed confirming that the giant fire had consumed the betrayers.

Shamu alerted his men to stay in the shadows until dusk.

The group of men walked carefully taking the route that led to the upper floors of Vettaiyan Palace. They came across a tiled opening in the wall, which gave a view onto the well-lit enemy barracks. A kind of ritual was being held in the military base. A large group of soldiers dressed in black, identic to the ones who had searched the palace underground, were knelt before six other warriors sporting similar uniforms. The eyes of the knelt men glittered above their face mask. In unison they picked up a sharp knife found on the ground before them and silently silted their throats.

Shamu led his men further into the pathway, taking them away from the horrific scene. While moving in the dark, he kept his eyes on six men who were walking together. He keenly observed them through the small openings in the wall and noticed them joining another two members standing at the entrance of a tent. Shamu identified Aye who had her face covered with a red scarf; and beside her was the man with an eyepatch whom he had seen at the Pirate’s Bay.

"Failing to guard the Leader, The Immortals embrace death", Shamu heard the tall who seemed to be the leader of the men dressed in black uniforms address Aye and One Eye. He ignored the conversation and quickly moved further into the underground. After climbing two sets of spiral stairways, he heard another conversation from above. Quickly, he grouped his men under a huge cave like opening and settled inside without making noise. The dimly lit space before them was empty. At the center of the large room, a thick wooden log peeped from nowhere and climbed towards an inexistent roof. Darkness made it thoroughly invisible, but the conversation from above was on a floor that was supported by the wooden pillar.

"The entire army is at your disposition", Shamu heard an authoritative voice.

"The Emperor ...", Shamu exhaled silently without hiding the terror in his eyes. One of his men tried to stand up, but Shamu caught him by his wrist and pulled him down firmly. When the agitated man wanted to speak, Shamu shut him with his fierce stare.

"Yes, my Lord", came a weak reply from above.

"Yet you are unable to kill two men", The Emperor spoke with sarcasm.

Shamu listened to their conversation attentively.

"At dawn, bewilder the enemy. When they are puzzled, isolate the twins. Create a chaos in the battlefield and in that state of confusion, create an order. Jaala Vyuha. Trap the twins inside", Vettaiyan passed his orders to The General.

Shamu heard heavy footfalls above.

After a brief silence, The Emperor started to speak again, "This shall be your final odds, My General; speak about my generosity later."

Shamu heard The Emepror roar with laughter. Chillness mounted through his spine when Vettaiyan's laughter echoed in the darkness as a horrific howling.

"The Twin Arrows", Vettiayan was instructing his army general, "should take care of the Brothers. These arrows seek revenge and will not rest until retribution."

The tensed man beside Shamu looked around him and laid his eyes on the huge wooden pillar at the center of a large space. "I can climb and finish The Emepror ", he whispered to Shamu.

"No", Shamu said between his teeth, "Our mission is not to attract attention through open conflict. We stay low. Rana informed that the whole mechanism of the kingly floors of Vettaiyan Palace is operated from the underground by the enslaved. We have to find them and free them. We will build an army under the nose of the enemy and sabotage their defence system, notably, the heavy artilleries and sharp shooter towers guarding the corners of the palace. Then, we wait for the signal."

"The time is ripe Chief Dharma, I shall bring end to this war immediately", argued the man, "I will rip apart the throat of the mad man with my fingers."

"You shall not survive a second before him", Shamu replied, "Instructions from Sena is explicit - Not to challenge The Emperor."

"Then what should be done when he is at our reach", the man asked angrily.

"WE RUN", replied Shamu without hesitation.

When the footsteps above died, Maveeran questioned Shamu about the 'signal' he had mentioned a while ago.

"We will hear a cry of joy", explained Shamu, "meaning our army is nearer to the palace. We will strike from the inside. From what we heard now, our army is in great danger. We cannot abandon our mission and leave our positions to warn them. I trust our commanders. Anyway all the exits must have been sealed by now. If we have to leave, the only way is to walk out is through the main entrance of Vettaiyan Palace."

Shamu made eye contacts with the each member of the group to make sure he was intelligible.

"But above all what is important now is food. I am starving ...", Shamu stopped talking when he noticed a dim shadow starting to dance on the wall beside him. The grey silhouette grew thinner and tinier as hurried footsteps approached their hideout. Shamu waited from the right moment and threw his hand towards the intruder. He held to the mouth of a fragile man and pulled him violently towards him.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

"Knowing where the trap is — that's the first step in evading it." - Frank Herbert (Dune)

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 1/6)

Into the Mouth of Deception

"You did well yesterday, Governor Nakulan", Sena felicitated Padayappa, "It is not an easy task to handle Asura Vyuha."

Sena tapped Padayappa on his shoulders and asked, "Not many know about Vishakanya. Your decision saved the entire army registering itself as an unforgettable memory in the history of the world."

Sena admired Padayappa, "So young, yet wise. Tell me young man, who taught you to identify Vishakanya ?"

"My father, Supreme Commander", Padayappa replied with a broad smile, "He prepared me to face danger."

"I would like to meet the wise man and request him to shower few drops of knowledge on to me too", Sena requested sincerely, "Where can I find your father ?"

"He works in the ministry of military administration", Padayappa informed, "As the ..."

Before Padayappa could introduce his father, Sena reacted to the slap he received on his back. He turned to face Rana.

"As bright as a thousand suns", Rana caught Sena's shoulders with both his hands and expressed his happiness.

"Yes, I am. And I see my reflection in front of me", Sena replied with a smile.

Rana showed his respects to Padayappa by nodding at him, and gently pulled Sena towards the defence zone, leaving Padayappa alone beside the miniature sand table.

The General handed over The Twin Arrows to One Eye and said, "He says these arrows are divine. If you ask me, I would say 'I am not bothered'. Listen, these darts seem to have the name of their targets carved onto them. When fired on the marks at close range, they sure won’t miss the bullseye. These twins will automatically take care of those twins. Am I clear ?"

"I am in no need of demonic arrows", One Eye refused to take the Twin Arrows from The General, "My single handmade dart can kill both, why waste two for such a simple task. These should be inside the Emperor's locker, so that he can boost about his collection."

One Eye's refusal angered The General. He raised his voice and shouted at him, "Don't misfire your words in arrogance. I am your commander and you shall do what I ask you to do. At the first occasion you will have, you will take care of the twins."

One Eye lethargically took the killer arrows from The General and placed it inside his quiver. The General walked away breathing out his anger.

"The sun faints over the grey clouds", Sultan whispered into Nobleman's ears. "Yet another decisive day at battle." Nobleman stood attached to his belt without showing any emotion. Kanakavalli wiped his bloody flesh with a wet white cloth.

Rana led his army into the battlefield assisted by Kacha, Kalai and Sultan. Sena and Kanakavalli stood behind with the units of archers defending the campsite. Yesodha Putran continued to ride the chariot forward into Karmegha surrounded by several units of chariot cavalry and horse spears men commanded directly by Rana, while Sultan and Kalai rode with their camel and horse cavalry to either side of Rana's units respectively. Kacha fell back with his swordsmen. Gudakesha led his men along with Ayus and scattered around the lower half of Karmegha to either side of Kacha's units, ready to defend or pounce to attack.

The General smiled watching the enemy forming an attack formation without wasting time. He spoke to his army captains who took his orders to battlefield. The General watched Sena standing guard at the defensive line rather than engaging himself on the battlefront. He sent out for One Eye and Naga to report to him immediately.

"We have to provoke him and make him enter the fight", The General said to his chief and leader of Immortals.

Naga, along with Rakh and Pati, split from the army after gathering a small group of Immortals. Along with the trained archers sent by One Eye for support, they moved towards the corner of Karmegha and advanced while hidden behind the bushes towards the campsite of Empires United.

Yesodha Putran galloped his horses as soon as the instruments of war were sounded. Arrows flew from Inesh disabling the enemies and making them crawl on the ground. The chariot archers rode with Rana and their quick draws did not give the enemies a chance to stand on the battlefield. The horse spears men neutralised the dense enemies. The camel units pushed past the fallen enemies from the left, while the longsword horsemen swept Karmegha with thier blades. Gudakesha and Ayus advanced gradually stopping any enemy who had managed to get past the cavalry attacks. The animal cavalry led by Rana savaged the enemies and advanced towards Vettaiyan Palace at a fast pace.

Within few moments of the commencement of the battle, The General's army was taking heavy damage and the warriors of Empires United rode over Karmegha slaying their enemies. Padayappa calculated the rate at which the enemy territory was being captured and estimated that his army would reach the gates of Vettaiyan Palace before noon. Even though the Empires United fought bravely, the enemy formation bothered Padayappa. He wondered how could an experienced military commander like The Great General of the Emperor call for weak defence formation, when he was well aware of type of battle formation deployed by Empires Unites. Further Padayappa saw The General in a state of amusement while watching his own men being overrun.

Padayappa noticed that the rectilinear motion of the enemy units growing thicker as Rana advanced, driving his men towards Vettaiyan Palace.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks - J.R.R. Tolkien (Hobbit)

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 2/6)

Into the Mouth of the Serpent

Garuda Vyuha versus Sarpa Vyuha
Eagle Formation Vs Serpent Formation
Rana's Attack versus Vettaiyan's Defence

Garuda Vyuha is the largest attack formation deployed on the battleground to wipe the enemies out completely. Formed exclusively with animal cavalry, the tail of the bird is occupied by infantry units for defence, while the fast flying front - the head and the wings – are multiple animal cavalries launching swift attacks. The beak is formed by horse spearmen along with the chariots that ride as head with the commander of Eagle Formation placed as the eagle's vision. The wings are spread over the battlefield by two or more units of animal cavalry. The battalion inside Garuda Vyuha move in unison keeping the distance from each other intact, thus, permitting them to spread wide on the battlefield and take out the enemies effortlessly.

Sarpa Vyuha is a dense grouping of several military units. Even though the movement under Serpent Formation on the battleground is slower, this defence formation can be deadly as it merely outnumbers the attacking units. The head is formed by the archers while the long body of the serpent consists of several other units, including infantry, siege weapons and animal cavalry. The captain in charge supervises the Serpent Formation by being the eye of the serpent. The disadvantage of Serpent Formation is that it can only be deployed against few other war formations. Sarpa Vyuha is weak in tackling Garuda Vyuha.

One Eye as the Eye of Sarpa Vyuha and Rana as the Vision of the Eagle battled on Karmegha.

Sena sensed the inevitable victory as a trap. The Empires United has advanced much farther into Karmegha than they had during the past days put together. The voluntary deployment of Sarpa Vyuha against the Garuda Vyuha by The General disturbed him. He watched the advancement of the battle attentively.

Kacha noticed movements around the deserted corner of Karmegha. Before he could react, an arrow killed the soldier beside him. Suddenly, men dressed in black jumped out from the bushes and started to attack the short swordsmen. They were quickly surrounded by Immortals and a series of arrows started to hit them.

Sena reacted quickly to the surprise attack. Assembling a rescue unit, he flew on Nameless over Karmegha. Kanakavalli took charge of the defence and asked Sampada to assemble reinforcement units. Even though the pack of enemies indulged in a surprise attack was less in number, she did not want to take any risk.

Padayapa watched Sena entering Karmegha. He saw troop of second in command joining Kacha's swordsmen. He raised his scope to identify the positions of Gudakesha and Ayus. Seeing them unaware of the attack at the defensive line, he turned back his concentration onto the men dressed in black who had started to defend rather than to attack. They quickly retreated towards the battle zone inviting Sena and his men to follow them. The rain of arrows had stopped. Within a short time, Sena was decisively isolated and was put at the heart of the battle.

Kanakavalli took a unit of archers when she saw Sena moving away from his position. Kacha was surrounded by men carrying zhanmadao. In fornt of the single-bladed swordsmen were another group of enemies equipped with trident dagger and facing the campsite. Kanakavalli saw them as a potential danger and advanced to eliminate them. Rakh, the leader of Immortals carrying trident dagger charged at the archers. Kanakavalli knelt on her left knee and planted several arrows beside her. She fired arrows by elegantly picking them up from the ground and knocked out the enemies with her whistling darts. When she was out of arrows, she rolled forward and collected the bolts stuck to the dead.

Rakh fought his way through the archers. He stood before Kanakavalli whose quiver was empty. He brought his dagger down at her and she blocked it with her bow. She got to her feet and dashed towards Rakh who was ready to receive her with his dirk. Kanakavalli skidded to attack his legs, but Rakh jumped into the air avoiding any damage to his feet. He turned immediately and jumped onto to Kanakavalli who blocked his dagger again with her bow. Rakh pushed the sharp blade towards her throat. The string of the bow pressed onto her chest, while Kanakavalli resisted Rakh.

Using her knee she kicked him on his back and sent him flying behind her. She dropped her bow and stood before him. She punched the ground with her right foot and the shield attached to her back flew above her head before landing directly onto her right hand. She took a defence stance by stretching her left leg beside her and bendeing her right leg straight to the front, while holding the shield above her nose and under her eye line. She waved at Rakh with her left palm taunting him to attack her. As Rakh charged at her, Kanakavalli held to her shield firmly and once he was close, she pushed the shield towards his body and guided him to fly above her head. As soon as he was mid-air, she removed her shield and allowed him to fall to the ground. She quickly got over him and inserted the ring of the shield to the back of his neck. Rakh’s body trembled before becoming still.

When Padayappa saw Sena being put in the middle of the battle zone, he understood the play orchestrated by The General. The enemy army commander had bought himself time to pull Sena into the battle. Maybe his goal was to place Rana and Sena beside each other, he thought. Garuda Vyuha slowly turned into a trap. The Sarpa Vyuha was a hoax. Behind the thick skin of the serpent, another battle formation was hidden.

"A Vyuha within a Vyuha", he exhaled.

Naga punched Kacha on his face. He kicked him on the chest and when Kacha was on the ground, Naga pressed his feet on Kacha's throat. Unable to breathe, Kacha became inactive under the feet of his attacker. Naga got him by his neck and pulled him over the battleground. He turned a produced a crooked smile at Sena.

"Just like the old days, Baasha. Just like in the good old days", he shouted venomously looking at Sena who was watching him from a distance.

Sena got down from Nameless and angrily chased Naga on foot holding Arha tightly in his right hand but he was interrupted by several Immortals led by Pati who tried to break his path with their weapon, yari.

Sena pushed a soldier to his side; he tucked down and slipped past an attacker; he hit a warrior with the back of Arha, at the same time pushed his sword backward and inserted it into the throat of another Immortal; he blocked the long weapon with Arha and punched the assailant in his stomach.

Finally he crossed path with Pati. When Pati stuck his yari at Sena, he caught it with his left hand and held on to it strongly. He stared at Pati's eye above the face mask, and with a bit of hesitation he introduced Arha to the heart of Pati. He moved closer to Pati who left out a painful cry when the sharp blade entered further inside his chest. Sena supported Pati’s falling neck on his right shoulder. He slowly removed Arha and helped Pati to reach the ground gently.

Before Sena could get close, Naga, dragging Kacha on the ground, disappeared into the dense archer units - directly into the mouth of the serpent.

Sena stood facing One Eye. He looked around him and found himself at the centre of the battle. Close towards his right was Rana, who was unware of his brother's presence and was firing rapid arrows while standing inside his chariot. Sena hung his head down annoyed when he realised his mistake. He had taken the bait and walked directly into the trap laid by The General. He cursed under his breath, "What have I done ?"

Sena accepted to himself that Naga had outsmarted him once again. "Just like the old days", Naga's voice echoed inside Sena's ears. He recollected how Naga used to create diversion and scatter his victims. Then, he would lure and make them kneel before him, as he always suspended a bait under this foot. "Kacha", whispered Sena while nodding his head either side.

One Eye kept his sharp eye on Sena. He dug out a release aid from his hip belt and fixed it in his drawing hand. He applied white powder on the bow string to reduce vibration. He gently pushed the Twin Arrows siting inside the quiver and picked up his long arrow. He placed the single arrow inside the bow and prepared himself. He pulled the strings after cautiously calculating the wind speed and the distance from his target. His bow arm strongly maintained the draw of the string and his dominant eye fixed itself on Sena.

The Governor of Empires United looked out for his aide, Sampada, and seeing him assembling military units near the defensive line, he quickly collected the black flag and climbed on his horse. He rode towards the battle zone waving the flag above his head. Kanakavalli witnessed Padayappa flying past her holding the black flag. Sultan and Kacha were surprised by the retreat call. They were under the impression that they were driving the enemies away and at noon the victory would brightly hang over Karmegha. But an order is an order; they quickly commanded their units to retreat. While moving back to the campsite, Sultan found Sena lost and standing before the heavy units of enemy archers. He rode fast towards him. Gudakesha briefed Kalai about the minor attack at the defence line and informed him that Kacha was taken away by a man dressed in black weilding a zhanmadao. Kalai rode back into Karmegha towards Rana's chariot.

Yesodha Putran was further inside the battle zone and was unaware of the retreat signal issued by Padayappa. He looked to his left and saw Sena stranded before Sarpa Vyuha. He quickly stirred his horses towards Sena. Rana bumped on the inner wall of the chariot and while regaining himself, he saw Sena and wondered what his brother was doing close to the Serpent Formation. Yesodha Putran noticed One Eye holding his bow fully drawn at Sena. He knew he would be late to save Sena. He galloped his horses to run at their fullest power and when he reached Sena, he threw the reins at Rana and prepared himself to jump onto Sena.

At the same moment One Eye released his single arrow.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

You only live twice:
Once when you are born
And once when you look death in the face
- Ian Fleming (You Only Live Twice)

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 3/6)

Into the Mouth of Death

The dart swam in the air, advancing vigorously at its target. When the arrow shot by One Eye was about to reach Sena, Yesodha Putran fell onto Sena, pushing him to the ground. The arrow travelled past above them. The single eye of One Eye widened in bewilderment, as an arrow of One Eye always gained a victim.

Padayappa galloped his horse holding the black flag in a hurry to inform the retreat to the last batch of soldiers still battling on Karmegha, which included the units of Rana. He was just behind Sena when he witnessed Yesodha Putran race across the battlefield driving his chariot towards Sena. He saw him jump from his chariot and extend his hand towards Sena. Suddenly Padayappa felt warm and his body started to burn as though he was enveloped inside a hot oven. He experienced a pain that he never knew before. He lost his grip on the rein and his horse stopped galloping and started to walk on the battlefield.

Padayappa felt something alien stuck to his chest. He started to lose the sense of touch when he tried to search around his upper torso with both his hands. He slowly brought his palms before his eyes and saw his own blood. His vision blurred when he pulled his head down. He noticed an arrow stuck to his chest. He tried to pull it out, but the arrow of One Eye that had missed Sena pinned itself strong into him. He raised his head and looked in front of him. His ears no more picked up sound. His nostrils widened in search of breathe. Tears of pain flooded down his eyes.

Padayappa felt he was inside a bubble which was being lifted by a force from above. He saw Yesodha Putran lying over Sena and looking at him. He noticed him yelling at him.

Padayappa cried softly, "... f a t h e r ..."

Sena looked at Padayappa falling from his horse. He heard Yesodha Putran's loud outcry, "My son ... Nakulan ..."

Sena's eyes immediately filled with sadness.

Rana halted his chariot a few distance away from Sena. He heard Yesodha Putran shout loudly and he looked at Padayappa who was falling off from his horse holding a black flag in his hand. Rana could not grasp the situation - notably the black flag in the hands of Padayappa. He looked around and found his units retreating. His attention was diverted when he heard the enemy units cheering. It was then he noticed Naga dragging Kacha into a dense army of soldiers. Without hesitation he jumped out of the chariot. He threw Inesh across his shoulders and drawing Vjarastra in his left hand, Rana set out to rescue Kacha.

When Sena saw Rana running into the crowd of enemy units, he screamed, "N O", but his brother turned a deaf ear to his warning.

Sena saw Yesodha Putran crawling on the ground desperate to reach his fallen son. He quickly got back to his feet and sprinted behind Rana being well aware that he is entering into the mouth of death.

The General watched the drama unfolding before him in amusement. He observed the Brothers walking straight into trap he had laid for them since the battle had begun.

"The elephants are finally captured", he thought.

As and when the Brothers advanced into the enemy layer, a group of soldiers blocked their rear and started to seal them inside a human net. They built a series of layers perpendicular to each other. Another set of soldiers sealed the gap by joining with the standing layers. They started to encircle the brothers while knotting themselves at regular intervals to make sure there was no space in between the layer of soldiers. Slowly Sarpa Vyuha was dismanteled to form a circular net like formation around Rana and Sena with neither an entry nor an exit. The chain of warriors knitted together seemed to have no start, end or middle, but stood like a continuous and progressive series of humans laced to each other. In between the looped infantry units, several siege weapons took position, which were not visible from the exterior.

The Emperor's voice echoed inside The General's ears :

"If I had made out of the Chakra Vyuha, there is a possibility that someone else with a similar training can find the exit too, isn't it My General."

"Tell me, my General, how we hunt elephants?"

"When the mother elephant comes to rescue her baby, she will be in her most violent form. Her defense shall be her attack. None can approach her, as she will gain the force to befall an entire army."

"One is a calf, other is an elephant. To catch them both we need a net."

Jaala Vyuha, a new war formation devised by The Emperor himself, which was woven by giant layers of military units trapped Rana and Sena at its center, along with unconscious Kacha.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

"I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am" - Arthur Rimbaud

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 4/6)

Into the Mouth of Hell

Sultan and Kalai crushed themselves with guilt for arriving late. Sultan quickly took the wheels and taking Kalai inside, he rode on Rana's chariot trying to penetrate the enemy soldiers standing attached to each other. They found it difficult to predict the units, as the attacks launched at them were diverse - arrows, spears and swords. They also heard animal noises rising from the middle of the formation. They made a full circle around the enemy formation, but could neither find an entry nor were able to penetrate its defensive wall. When they arrived at the point from where they started, several units led by Kanakavalli were launching their attacks at the wall of warrior. Mostly every arrow was blocked by defensive shields. Suddenly, several huge stone flew from the middle of Jaala Vyuha and rolled on Karmegha sweeping the warriors of Empires United of the ground. The commanders had no other choice but to halt their attacks and move their units into the safe zone.

Rana and Sena stood with their backs to each other guarding Kacha who was lying on the ground beside them. The sun was right above their head allowing the grey clouds to pass in the front. Naga, Bali, Kul and Charya, the four remaining Immortals, stood along with the respective warriors forming the inner perimeter of Jaala Vyuha.

A group of swordsmen attacked the Brothers. Sena held to Arha firmly. Rana disabled the advancing soldiers from distance with Inesh. When he was out of arrows, he pulled out Vajrastra. Together, they slew their attackers with their weapons. They blocked the shower of arrows by deflecting them with their swords. After defeating several waves of heavy attacks, they were drawn into physical pain and tiredness.

Kacha regained his conscious. He was shocked to find himself with Rana and Sena inside a cage held strongly by a circular human wall.

Outside the Jaala Vyuha, the leader of Ayus led his men to dash on the enemy soldiers. But the compactness of Jaala Vyuha resisted their strong attacks. Several long fire arrows and blazing stones were launched at the group of giants making them flee from battle.

Kanakavalli sat beside Nakulan’s breathless body laid beside the sand table. It shocked her to learn that he was the only son of Yesodha Putran. Not minding the death of his son, the strategist worked on the sand table. He replicated the Vyuha that had trapped his commanders inside. He started his briefing, "This formation looks like a hybrid to Chakra Vyuha. None can enter from the outside. I am not sure if the ones held inside can make out while staying alive."

Vadhana Devi stood courageously beside Yesodha Putran. Swathi and Swetha were present with her.

"Can't we hit them with all we have got ?", asked the Queen of Kottaipattinam.

"What you see spreading as a net over Karmegha is the real face of the Emperor's army. Not only are we outnumbered, it’s impossible to penetrate this webbed Vyuha. This is the first time I am witnessing such a formation and I don't have any strategies to destabilise it. Maybe, the right thought should be - rather than looking at ways to take them head on, we have to see if there is a possibility to rescue our commanders who are been held inside."

Kali entered the Pavillion, along with Videha, without notification. He held the surprise on his face as to why the war had been halted. He quickly understood that the situation of the battle when he saw Padayappa lying dead on the floor. He growled, "Where is Baasha ? Where is Chief ?"

"Can't we just wait till dusk", Gudakesha questioned. Kali neared each one who spoke and held his ears close to their mouth.

"They will stop the attack, but our commanders will be held inside ...," Yesodha Putran hesitated and then continued, "... if our warriors are still standing. At dawn, they will continue to try and kill them. They are completely at advantage here."

Vadhana Devi closed her eyes tightly. She took an erect posture while reopening her eyes. The Leader of Empires United declared, "The demise of three commanders - first, second and sixth in command - is not the end of war. New commanders will replace them and as long as our spirits stand tall, this war is far from ending today."

Kanakavalli wiped a stream of tear flowing down her right cheek. The pavilion fell silent.

"Merchant", Kali shouted at Sultan disturbing the calmness, "Lady", he called out at Kanakavalli not convinced with Vadhana's delaraction, "Follow me", he simply said before walking out of the pavillion.

Kalai and Gudekesha followed Sultan. Vadhana Devi ordered Swathi and Swetha with her eyes to head out with Kali. She gently took Yesodha Putran's hand and guided him towards Nakulan. The others present inside the pavilion exited and took position outside the tent to provide the needed space for Yesodha Putran to spend the final moments with his son.

Yesodha Putran moaned before his son. He closed his eyes and tears flooded down his face. He whispered softly, "I saved Your sons. This is how You repay me by snatching my son from me. Truth can also be cruel ... ", the lonely father weeped.

One Eye looked at The General. The eyes behind the mask of The General signalled his chief of archers to carry out his order. One Eye picked the Twin Arrows and armed them together in his bow. He aimed at the Brothers and released the deadly darts. The Twin arrows flew past towards the unaware Brothers. They spun around each other while cutting through the wind. The General noticed that the two arrow heads glittered red and blue respectively. At midway they split and the red one marked itself on Sena while the blue one advanced towards Rana.

The Brothers noticed a sudden calmness around them. The attacks had stopped. Sena pulled Kacha behind him wondering what was going to hit them next. Even though he was unable to anticipate, he was sure about what came next could be fatal - after a calm comes a storm.

Rana and Sena heard a buzzing noise approaching their way. They turned and stood together watching two arrows with glowing tips approaching them at a fast pace. The Twin Arrows was too close that it was too late for the Brothers to either block or evade. Kacha saw the two arrows piercing through the air bringing the breeze of death along with them. He felt he was put right inside the mouth of hell to witness the death of Rana and Sena.

The sky turned dark when rain clouds gathered around Karmegha extinguishing the sun with their dampness.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. - Mahatma Gandhi

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 5/6)

Into the Mouth of Terror

The previous moon inside Vettaiyan Palace ...

"You said you were hungry", Shamu looked with gladness mixed with astonishment at Littleman, when the King's clerk spoke to him as soon as Shamu released his hand from the record keeper's mouth.

Shamu had pulled an intruder towards him while hiding inside a cave in the basement of Vettaiyan Palace. He was surprised to see Littleman falling onto him. Littleman went missing after he had climbed into the shaft to steal Vrishis, a deadly bomb, from the Emperor's Solar.

"We thought you were ... how ... !", Shamu blabbered not knowing what to say. He was overwhelmed with joy seeing Littleman alive.

"Follow me", Littleman said with a smile and walked into the huge space under the wooden pillar. Seeing that no one followed him, he assured them, "This place is safe. You can walk, talk and run. Trust me. This has been my home for several moons."

When Shamu stepped out of the hiding hole, he found a huge blade circling above his head around the wooden pillar.

"That's the one which had cut my security rope", Littleman pointed out.

They walked into a small opening across the large room and at its landing there was a heap of food lying on the ground.

"Dropped from above; directly from the King's kitchen", announced Littleman.

Shamu and his men served themselves a kingly meal. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the delicious pie as sweetness melted in his tongue and flowed down through his throat. Maveeran asked Shamu who the littleman was.

"Agastya, the tiny seed of knowledge that grows into a mighty tree wisdom", Shamu replied.

Littleman was flattered and his eyes shinned with happiness.

"He is the advisory of Kottaipattinam", Shamu continued, "He had accompanied Rana in an expedition to find and neutralise a deadly weapon in the possession of The Emperor. If it was not for him, we wouldn't be standing here. Our world survived, thanks to Littleman."

Shamu bowed before Littleman and the rest of the men showed their respects by kneeling before Agastya.

"Tell me my little friend", Maveeran, who looked like a giant before Littleman, asked, "We heard that there are others enslaved here. Do you know there whereabouts ?"

"Nope", replied Littleman, "I have seen a group come here and collect food. I hide and watch them every passing day. It's about time for them to show up. We have to hide, quickly."

"And how did you navigate in this dimness. It’s almost dark in here", Shamu asked Littleman.

Littleman led them back to the wide area and pointed his finger up in the air, "There, you see, right below the ceiling! Light enters through those eight squared holes that mark the eight directions. It illuminates the treasure room above with both the rays of the sun and the light of the moon. Brightness leaks down here too, thus, this area is gloomy during the day and sombre during the night."

Littleman dug out an object from his pocket. He raised the tiny white cylindrical crystal above his head so that everyone around him could catch its wonder. The crystal casted a powerful illumination and completely wiped out darkness from its path. Steadily it projected a spectrum of colour.

"This stone is a wonder. At dawn it casts a multi-coloured shadow of a dancing form. Pure beauty. Even though I don't know what it is, the crystal permitted me to find my path when I was lost in deep darkness."

Shamu tapped Littleman on his shoulder while he pocketed the treasure, the white cylindrical crystal that had fallen into his palms when Rana fought with the guardians of the King's Solar just before Littleman entered into the shaft.

"And what do you know about Twin Arrows," Shamu questioned Littleman.

Littleman took his time before replying, "I heard the conversation too."

He paused to take a deep breathe before continuing :

"Right from my childhood I was fascinated by Astras, the supernatural weapons of war. Elders and scholars mocked me saying that such items exist only in fiction, but I did not stop to believe in my dream. At the house of the Wise Brothers, while looking for Vimana records, I came across many astonishing details confirming the existence of such amazing weapons : Brahmaastra - the epic weapon that could counter any Astra; Pashupatastra - the most powerful weapon of them all, Angaraparna - a blazing unstoppable chariot; Vijaya - the destroyer’s bow; and Agneyastra - it’s the flaming arrow; to name a few.

Sudarshana Chakra is a legendary discus that fixes on its target. Another Astra with similar property is Teen Ban – the three infallible arrows is a kind of radar tracking device. The first arrow marks the kill; the second arrow marks the ones to be saved; and the third one to kill everything marked by the first arrow.

The Twin Arrows belong to the same family.

The Twin Arrows is the invention born through the marriage of astronomy and astrology. Using planetary combinations and doing a calculation of astrology chart, the heartbeat, body temperature and other inner system functions of Rana and Sena were determined. The arrow heads are devices which are programmed to track and kill their respective targets. The Twin Arrows is broken into three parts – the head, the shaft and the nock. They are assembled together using screw type fasteners. Each part has a specific role to play, where the head holds the important task of tracking its target.

This deadly Astra has two disadvantages. One, it can work only in unison and should be fired at the same time. Two, the targets, Rana and Sena, should be close to each other and the distance between them and the Astra cannot be more than ten times the height of the targets put together. Fired within that range, the Twin Arrows mark their targets. And if the victims try to run away, the shaft of the arrow has the ability to follow them by acquiring the energy from the victims itself. The Twin Arrows are unstoppable when fired rightly.

I heard the engineers talk about it. They visit the Astra regularly for maintenance. In the quest of finding an escape route from this dungeon, I took the courage to climb this pillar by dodging the blade circling above. I made it to the top and through another air shaft I entered the area where the Twin Arrows are kept.

When the engineers left, I tried to destroy the arrows. But they were too strong and heavy for me. The nock is installed with a security device that glows in red when the arrows are separated. The red light is then captured through several mirrors placed strategically opposite to each other and they carry the red signal upto the gaurd room, where special forces supervise the Twin Arrows. Within a split second after being alerted, the cabin will be flooded with armed gaurds. I was almost caught, but I managed to climb down without raising any suspicion.

I was scared. I watched the dancing form every morning since then to bring my heart beat back to normal. One day, I saw a slight variation in the colourful spectrum projected by the white cylindrical crystal. Three human eye like shapes appeared on the part that resembled the head of the dancing form. The right eye was red in colour; the left was blue, while the vertical one in between the red and blue eye glowed yellow. Suddenly, the two eyes exchanged their places. The red moved over the blue and took its place, while the blue reappeared taking the place of the red. Then, the yellow eye brightened, before all the three eyes vanished into bright white.

It was then it stuck to me. I decided to climb back …

At the Wise Brother's house I informed Sena that I had been a spectator and I am of no use in this battle as I am neither brave nor I can wield weapons. Sena replied to me softly : 'My Gaint, in this tale of Good versus Evil written by the Creator who Knows the Unknown, we all have important roles to play. You have got the highest responsibility. Whether the brothers stand in the battlefield, entirely depends on the deed you are yet to perform. When the moment arrives, you will exercise your duty. Failure is not for you to choose, as, you fail we fall. Your action will direct us towards the end and victorious if we are, you will be the crown shiner while sitting over the shoulders of the ruler.'

It did not make sense to me at that time. But that day when I saw the colourful eyes of the dancing form, I realised my duty. I stood before the Twin Arrows and carefully unscrewed the arrow heads. I exchanged their places without moving the arrows from their positions."

Inside Jaala Vyuha ...

Rana and Sena were terrorised. They helplessly watched the killer arrows approaching them. Kacha thought he saw two vipers with long and hinged fangs shooting themselves into the air flying towards Rana and Sena. The Brothers knew that death was inevitable, as they can neither hide nor fight nor run - there is no escape from the Twin Serpents. They realised that were standing before the Twin Arrows about which Nobleman had spoken to them - 'After slaying Kundalini, Kochadaiiyaan burnt down the nesting ground of the giant snakes in and around the volcanos and caves of Karimedai. Apparently, a snake egg snatched and twin baby serpents came out. The mother snake tried to save the snakelets from the fire aroused by Kochadaiiyaan, but the inferno killed her. The hatchling snakes took a vow of revenge and jumped into the flames of their burning mother. These baby snakes were reborn as the Twin Arrows and their only duty is to seek vengeance for the cruel, unnatural or unjust death of their mother. The Twin Serpents are aimed to kill the Sons of the Murderer.'

The Twin Vipers with pair of eyes glowing red and blue respectively closed towards their targets. When the Twin Arrows were about to hit the Brothers, the arrows suddenly changed their path resulting in colliding with each other. The red dotted arrow moved towards Rana, while the blue one headed hissing furiously towards Sena. A tiny explosion occurred when the two arrow heads met with each other. Their collision destroyed the Twin Arrows and the two shafts fell burning to the ground under the feet of Rana and Sena.

Kacha saw the burning vipers making tiny jumping in pain. They coiled round and round as though the curls could put out the flames. Their red and blue eyes flickered inside the fire while the stink of death rose in the air. They made weird hissing noise while the smell of their burning flesh mingled with the breeze. After struggling hard to stay alive, the Twin Serpents laid motionless like two burnt twigs.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Fire tests gold, suffering tests brave men. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Day Zero Eight - Net of Human (part 6/6)

Into the Mouth on Fire

"Ashta Gajah !", Yesodha Putran suddenly lifted his head exclaiming. Vadhana tried to hold him down by placing her hand on his shoulder, but Yesodha Putran quickly got up from the ground and ran towards the exit.

The General’s eyes widened behind his mask. The Twin Arrows have failed. There was nothing devine in them, but just couple of sticks lying burnt on the ground. He starred at them trying to collect words inside his mind to explain the incident to the Emperor. Not finding any excuse, he looked at Naga and pushed his head vigorously towards the Brothers.

Bali, Charya and Kul stepped forward. After passing a direct order to their respective team of warriors to stand their ground, the three Immortals advanced towards the trapped enemies holding their special weapons - recong, jiu jie bian and hammer.

Bali removed his metal handled L-shaped knife from the wooden scabbard while running fiercely to minimise the distance between him and Sena. He brought his recong forward and tore the space in between them. His weapon hit hard on Arha.

Charya circled around Bali and launched his nine section metal chain whip at Rana, who moved to his side while dodging the metal dart from reaching his face with Vajrastra.

Kul sprinted forward past his brothers in battle and brought the heavily brutal metal head of his hammer at Kacha forcing him to fall to the ground.

Rana saw Kacha struggling to escape the blows from the hammer. He quickly rolled to the ground and reached Kacha while Sena fenced with Bali. He helped Kacha to regain himself, when Charya launched jiu jie bain at him for the second time. Rana put his right palm on Kacha's chest and pressed him to bend backwards while curving his own body. They escaped the deadly swing of the metal chain which travelled close to their throats. Without giving them time to get back straight, Kul swore high up in the air holding his hammer above his head. Rana and Kacha fell down in unison and rolled together towards their right. Rana got back on his right knee, while Kacha quickly moved to Rana's side. Using Rana's lap as a platform to catapult in the air, Kacha rose like a smoke on top of Kul who was in the process of lifting his hammer. Kacha's short sword pierced the back of Kul's neck and exited through his throat. He landed behind Kul and pulled back his sword. Blood poured over the hammer before Kul hit face down on his own weapon.

Charya swung his whip above his head furiously when he saw Kul biting his hammar. Rana quickly got up and sprinted towards Charya. When Charya released the metal whip, Rana fell on his knees and skid under the jiu jie bian that floated above him. As he appraoched Charya on his knee, he brought Vajratra before him and slashed the pelvic area of the Immortal. Charya dropped his weapon and staggered backwards holding his stomach. He dropped to his knees and fell on his side with his eyes staring at Rana.

Bali blocked Arha with his wooded scabbard and swept recong in front of Sena’s chest. The sharp blade tore the metal armour of Sena scratching Sena's skin. Sena pushed Bali away from him and stood curved before him holding his broken armour leaking blood. He opened and closed his eyes slowly as pain started to mount to his head. Bali turned and looked at his fallen brothers. He noticed Rana and Kacha far away from Sena. He walked brutally with clenched teeth pulling the recong to his side. He raised his weapon and stuck hard on Sena. The recong entered flat on Sena's right shoulder and after cutting the flesh the sharp blade stuck in place when it hit the shoulder bone. Sena left out a heavy cry of pain while falling on both his knees. Bali struggled to remove his blade that had fixed itself tight on Sena’s upper torso. Sena lifted his head looked at Bali directly in his eyes. Their eye were glued to each other. Bali's eyes widened when Sena buried his sword into his chest.

Both Sena and Bali fell to the ground at the same time and stayed down motionless. Rana got up and started to run towards Sena while Kacha quickly moved into the same direction. Kacha arrived to the side of Sena and felt the short knife sticking on Sena’s shoulders with his fingers. He was scared to remove it. Seeing Sena seriously wounded and lying unconscious due to loss of blood, Rana sat flat on the ground and took Sena inside his arms. Holding Sena's head on his laps, Rana looked at the sky. The sun was still finding its way towards the hills. He closed his eyes in despair.

"Eight Elephants", Yesodha Putran explained to Sultan while Kali listened to him attentively. They were all inside the main barrack equipping them for the final battle.

"The emotional self of the elephant always finds the path of virtue. At the time in war, when everything seemed lost, Ashta Gajah will open the miraculous path. We may still have a chance to save our commanders held inside the unbreakable Vyuha, if we follow the trail created by Ashta Gajah. We must concentrate our attack at that specific area, rather than trying to take down the massive army assembled by the Emperor."

Karmegha turned grey. Tiny lightning flickered over the western horizon.

The warriors guarding the outer wall of Jaala Vuyha looked at each other when they heard the stampede of elephants. Within a short time, they were attacked by a herd of eight elephants. The riders of Ashta Gajah pushed their way through the defence of Jaala Vyuha. The elephants lifted the enemy soldiers with their massive tusks and threw them into the air. Spears men pierced the thick armours of the giant animals. The aggrieved elephants knocked anyone closer to them with their turnks. Several guards were crushed in the stampede. The soldiers fell apart as though a plantain farm destroyed by wild elephants. Ashta Gajah moved straight breaking the defence of Net formation. The seven elephants followed their leader widening the gap and creating a path towards the center of Jala Vyuha where Rana was surrounded by long swordsmen.

Rana picked up Arha from the ground. With Inesh across his shoulders armouring his back from surprise attacks; holding Arha in his right hand as a powerful shield; wielding Vajratra in his left hand; Rana fought with the heavily armoured long swordsmen of The General, while Kacha stayed beside Sena, just like Vrikoda, the father of Kacha, gaurded the body of Kochadaiiyaan while his soul parted on a visit to the Celestial Temple.

The siege wepons hidden inside the Jaala Vyuha were activated. Huge stones were launched at Ashta Gajha. One by one, the elephants hit the ground before they could make it to the centre of Net Formation. The valliant riders died with their faithful animals after creating a visible path through Jaala Vyuha.

When the animal rampage ended, the standing enemy warriors cheered. They joy was short lived when they saw a smog blanketing before the invaded area. They tried to reassemble quickly to strengthen the weak defence, but a series of arrows showered over them through the white smoke, disabling them from reforming the broken wall.

Soon after the rain of arrows, tiny bags flew into the air landing hard on them. The pouches burst upon contact dampening its target with lamp oil. The wet soldiers watched the white smoke in shock, when they witnessed three pairs of tiny red circles glowing inside. The red dots moved towards them while being suspended in the air. The ghostly images terrorised the enemy soldiers.

During the attack carried out by Ashta Gajah, Kali threw several smoke bombs in front of the marked area to disrupt the visibility of the enemies. When the elephant attack terminated, the archer units assembled by Kanakavalli behind the smoke disabled the regrouping of enemy soldiers by firing arrows blindly at the strike zone. Immediately after the archers attack, Gudakehsa and his men replaced the tiny metal spheres from their whips with tiny pouches filled with lamp oil and launched them into the fragile zone of Jaala Vyuha.

Kali emerged out of the smoke and walked brutishly towards the startled enemies. He held a tiny non-combustible twig between his teeth; the two ends were glowing red, where the heat provided was by powdered charcoal. Several huge sacks hung down from his hip. Behind him, on either side, Sultan and Kalai walked savagely with rage lightened in their eyes and a carrying a wooden stick glowing in their mouth.

Kali dug inside his sacks and took out two bundles of explosives rolled into tiny sticks; attached together with combustible cables. He took the respective fuse and struck them with fire by introducing the fuse to the either side of the burning dot of the stick he held in his mouth. The threads sparked up and destroyed themselves while running down carry the flames to the explosive sticks. Kali calmly threw both the explosives at the group of stranded enemy soldiers. Sultan and Kalai followed a similar technic and six bundles of explosives reached the weakened wall of Jaala Vyuha at the same time.

Kali prepared the bombs using the items that he had carried from Pirate's Bay. Sena's instructions were to build heavy damage explosives to be used during battle. With time being his prime enemy, he quickly prepared bombs inside the barrack that could produce only lesser effects. When the bombs blasted, it created mild impact but with the assistance from the lamp oil, the fire spread like scuttling mice. Most of the enemies ran around ablaze. Kalai's short swordsmen and Sultan's spearmen took over the burning scene and neutralised the affected enemies. A handful of Ayus entered the broken Jaala Vyuha and concentrated their attacks on taking down the siege weapons. Swathi and Swetha led their archers and sword carriers of the Queen’s woman military force to counteract The General’s animal cavalry assembled near the overblown area.

Gradually, the hole widened on the human wall of Jaala Vyuha permitting the commanders and captains of Empires United to fight their way thorough and reach the centre where Rana tiredly fought with an entrie unit of The General’s long swordsmen singlehandedly.

Seeing the reinforcement unit’s arrival, Rana dropped himself to the ground beside Sena. His eyes fixed onto the sky above. Rana blacked out.

Sultan, Kali and Kalai dropped all their sack at the center of Jaala Vyuha. Kali lifted and placed Sena on his shoulder, while Sultan carried Rana. Kalai helped Kacha to climb back to his feet and supported him to walk. Swathi, Swetha, Kanakavalli, Gudakesha along with their respective units and a group of Ayus formed a circle of protection around the men carrying their wounded comrades.

The Immortals who were raged by losing their leaders attacked them. One of them holding a rencong managed to break the circle and stabbed Kali on his hip. Kali held to the handle of the sharp knife and to the surprise of his attacker, he broke the weapon. With the sharp blade still stuck in his flesh, he kicked his attacker who was holding just the handle of his weapon. He angrily shouted, "I am from the same school you dirty filthy pigs. I am an Immortal and I shall walk on the corpse of you pigs."

Naga watched screaming Kali, at the same time Kalai took a burning piece of wood from the ground and threw it behind him at the sack of explosives. A huge explosion occurred pushing the enemies from attacking them. Naga covered his face with his hands. The fire from the explosion reflected in his eyes.

The group advanced rapidly out of the net formation, while The General was issuing orders furiously. The enemies failed to stop the warriors of Empires United. As soon as they exited Jaala Vyuha and stepped onto Karmegha, the sun hid its face behind the hills.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

There are many faiths, but the spirit is one — in me, and in you, and in him. So that if everyone believes himself, all will be united; everyone be himself and all will be as one.
- Leo Tolstoy (From Resurrection (1899), the last novel of Tolstoy).

Beyond the Ordinary

"Future will recollect the three who fought three hundred inside the spectacular Vyuha", Sultan narrated the incidents of the day's battle to Nobleman, "And the rescue team entered right into the mouth of fire and picked them up. Day Zero Eight is an illustration of valliance and miracle joining hands."

A flicker of smile cracked around the corner of Nobleman's dry lips.

"Arrangements are being made to cremate the only son of Yesodha Putran who died in the battle along with the Ashta Gajha, who were instrumental in breaking an unboreable Vyuha."

Sadness filled the awake eye of Nobleman.

Ayus entered Karmegha pulling huge carts. Even though it was a sad task, the Ayus were glad to pull the carts without any chains attached to them or whipped to force them to do an activity. They felt free and wished to shower their respects to those who had shown them the path of freedom.

After collecting the bodies of eight elephants and their riders, Ayus transported Ashta Gajah to the campsite where a grand podium was raised to cremate the casualties of war. Nakulan's body rested on the centre of the podium, surrounded by the eight elephants and the riders.

Vadhana addressed the army of Empires United, "Nakulan, the youngest governor and a sharp strategist of our military has given his life because of what he believed. He believed in you. He believed in us. He believed in himself. Without a weapon, he bravely entered the battlefield holding a flag. And he saved us all from the venomous military formation deployed by the enemy general. He shed his blood to protect us from death. He is our Hero. He is a Star. It just takes one single star to pierce an universe of darkness. Nakulan arises to demolish the darkness that has engulfed us. We take an oath at the foundation of this war memorial that we will garland our saviours, who had let go their life for the sake of saving the warrior beside, with victory."

There was silence when Yesodha Putran carried a torch in his hand and walked among the battalions assembled before the podium. He was accompanied by the commanders of Empires United. When they reach the podium, the commanders dropped to their knees and held their heads and swords pointed to the ground. The Battalion from Heaven bowed in silence when Yesodha Putran dropped the troch on the podium.

Fire started to spread circularly, igniting the Ashta Gajha one after the other before reaching Nakulan. The black smoke raised high in the air and joined with the darkness above. Rana walked to Yesodha Putran and aided him to walk back to the pavillion.

Vettaiyan stood by his window watching the nine cremations performed at the opposite camp. It reminded him of the funerals he had arranged for his nine brothers. A shiver ran down his spine. He walked uncomfortably to his desk. Slowly he started to pound his fist on the table. The thuds vibrated around the ears of The General. Aye, Naga and One Eye, the last of The General’s captains, stood beside the closed door with their heads facing the floor.

"A man with your experience can never be at mercy with a failure", Vettaiyan addressed The General. "I would rather count you when you are dead rather than depend on you when you are alive. I am ashamed of you as I believe in you no more. Doubt is a seed of distrust, My General."

Vettaiyan walked unsteadily as if he was about to fall. Myil was controlling him, and The General knew not to defend himself when the Emperor was under the influence Myil.

The three captains paved way for their Emperor when he reached the doors.

The Emperor looked straight at Naga and whispered, "Pigs. He called you pigs."

Naga could not put a word to the shame he felt inside.

"On my return, this war should be over. Leave the twins to me and bring the head of the Queen. If you fail, don't bother to visit me again. Bury yourselves elsewhere, as the battlefield is for the brave."

The Emperor furiously kicked the door open and disappeared into the corridor. At the juncture he was met by Vaithiyar and together they walked down several stairs to reach the King's stable. Vettaiyan stood holding the neck of his horse while Vaithiayar covered him with a black blanket. Throwing the blanket across his face, Vettaiyan mounted his horse. The hounds from hell jogged inside the stable. The footsteps of the horse mingled with the howl of the hounds.

Shamu lent his ears attentively to the barks of dogs. He turned towards the dimly lit path when he heard a high-pitched sound. He saw a lad whistling, while hopping towards the heap of food. The lad sat down and started to check the food items lying on the ground. Maveeran moved out of his hiding spot. His sudden movement startled the kid. He got up and stared at Maveeran with fear glowing in his eyes. He quickly turned and ran away without looking back over his shoulder. Maveeran could not understand why the kid was so scared to see him.

"A huge man in the Emperor's military uniform jumps before a kid who had come in search of food and expects him to glitter with smiles !", Littleman spoke ironically. "By the by where did you guys get the uniform ?"

Shamu explained briefly the plan, the escape and the fire at Fort Ayan, while they followed the running kid.

"Do not be afraid", Maveeran tried to assure the bunch of salves.

"Have you come to take us to The Maze ?", one of the frightened woman asked.

"The Maze exists no more. We have destroyed it", Littleman informed.

"Believe in us, we are here to take you away from this miserable place", Maveeran reassured.

"We are not born to be free", one of slaves spoke up, "It’s difficult to explain ..."

Before the man could finish what he was saying, Shamu hopped on one leg and announced, "The legend is true. I am Dharma. And the time has come to leave this rathole."

The salves bowed before Shamu. Littleman raised his head and passed a weird look at Shamu. He received a wink from the Prince of Shambala.

Shamu and Maveeran executed a similar strategy to rescue the slaves of Vettaiyan Palace. They grouped the aged and children and kept them hidden safely in the basement. They took the men and woman motivated to fight along with them. With their assistance, they discovered several dens and liberated every single lost and abandoned souls trapped under the feet of the Emperor.

The army of Dharma steadily grew in number and strength.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day Zero Nine - The Four Face (part 1/5)

"We think too much and feel too little" - Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator)

Victims of the System

Vadhana Devi watched the giant army of the Emperor assembled on Karmegha. She could not hide her fear and shock to witness the massive military force in front of her. The foot soldiers were equipped with sophisticated weaponry - sharp broad blades, wide shields, armours covering head to toe, long bows and sharpened arrows. The animal cavalry sported superficial protection that shined over the horizon. The elephants were dressed to resemble a monster. Four tusks protruded on either side of the trunks and the legs carried huge rings embedded with sharp spikes. The chariots driven by single, double and quadruple horses looked like blazing high speed machines. The siege weapons of all types and sizes accompanied by indefinite ammunitions set their scary eyes over the campsite.

The calmness surrounding the greatest army on the face of the earth was chilling.

"Finally, his army is standing in front of us", Yesodha Putran informed Vadhana Devi. "The moment has arrived. He has decided to end the war."

"Are we capable of facing such a great force? I feel like a worm invaded by ants!", Vadhana registered her concern. "I am lost, Wisest of All. I sense that we still have time to stop this war. Empires United stands as a dwarf before the Emperor's army."

"It’s my head they want, I shall lay it before them myself," Vadhana Devi announced sincerely.

"Fear of failure halts progress. It stops success behaving as a significant danger to betterment of others", Yesodha Putran assured the Queen who found the situation undesirable. "Have faith in our commanders. Allow the wings of hope to carry your burden. It’s not the head count that matters but how strong each one is made of. Collective we advance."

Vadhana Devi let out a heavy breathe when she saw Rana walking before the Battalion from Heaven. Rana looked at the puzzled faces of the soldiers. He understood how much the warriors were trying to stop themselves from falling into the pit of fright.

Rana installed faith:

My soldiers, we are outnumbered.

But that only means the foe is scared to come at us fairly. They are worthless than the dirt beneath our toenail.

Remember this - Their number does not bring fear. We'll just have to kill them quicker, that's all.

Remember this - Every one of you is better than they. Take the uncertainty from your heart and place it as courage on your sword. United, we are greater warriors than them all and we fear no man living or dead.

Remember this - The coward dies a thousand times, a brave only once. And you will not notice Death when he comes for you.

And remember this - Don't hesitate to fall back. No, that is not cowardice, not at all. It is prudence, the handmaiden of victory. Show them your back to reclaim their chests.

My loyal warriors, as the True Men at War, we are going into battle to slaughter the enemy. Beware! The enemy will be merciless. And you show them No Mercy!

We are not just a group of brave soldiers going to war. We are not just a camp of warriors grabbing our swords. WE ARE AN EMPIRE. And when we return, this battleground should be heaped with heads of the enemy. We push the wheels of garbage and collect all the dirt that once stormed in front of us. With all the dirt wiped out, this world will glitter under the shine of Freedom.

This day is all that is left in this war. God does not exist. He will not save you this day. Belief does not exist. It will not keep you alive this day.

My soldiers, The Future exists. And today we lay the path on this battlefield for the future to walk truly, freely and we liberate our fate from the clutches of evil.

My soldiers, Strength and honour to you all!

The Battalion from heaven cheered. The soldiers drummed their amours and shields in unison creating a vibration that kicked away fear. Under the rhythmic beats, Sena walked calmly before the warrior units. His right hand was supported by an arm sling and was suspended from his neck. Slow chants started to raise and the entire Battalion from Heaven roared - All Hail The Emperor.

The unhurried chants gained momentum and turned into a massive choral - All Hail The Emperor.

Vadhana Devi stood watching the soldiers choose their future leader. Rana walked proudly beside Sena. Yesodha Putran looked at the singing soldiers brimming with hope in their eyes. Kalai, Kacha and Kali joined with the warriors and celebrated their new emperor. Kanakavalli followed Sena who walked in silence. The freed slaves danced with their hands raised high above their head and moving together in tiny circles. Ayus growled loudly.

Prince Shamu and Maveeran hidden inside Vettiayan Palace heard the song for the new Emperor. So did The General and his men.

Sultan whispered into Nobleman's ears, "The People’s Emperor has been chosen unanimously."

Sena halted and raised his head. His eyes were sore and he looked tired. The chants started to drop down steadily and silence ushered itself on the battlefield. Even the war animals became quiet.

Rana whispered softly to Sena, "Speak."

"I can't", Sena replied.

"You must. It's our only Hope."

Sena looked around him and then, spoke softly:

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - remove the social class system that is determined by birth. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The very nature of inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. My voice shall reach millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers, don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel. Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate. Only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers, don’t fight for slavery. Fight for liberty.

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "The Kingdom of God is within man" - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men. In you. You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness. You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie. They do not fulfil that promise. They never will.

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance.

Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Silence lingered long after Sena finished his discourse. He stood before the Battalion from Heaven while his words still echoed inside their ears. Slowly the silence was broken by the sounds of metal meeting metal, when the entire military of Empires United along with their commanded bowed before Rana and Sena.

Sena, along with brother, walked through the thick walls of soldiers who were laying their weapons to their chest when the Brothers of Faith and Hope, walked among them. Sena mounted the platform. He stopped in front of Vadhana Devi. A single stream of tear flowed down her left eye. Her lips shivered when she forced them to smile. Sena fixed his eyes on her. He turned his left hand making his thumb face the ground and he gently placed it on her stomach.

"I promise you Victory", Sena confirmed.

The voices of the warriors erupted pushing the sun up into the sky.

... to be continued ...

Author's Note:

Speak ... It's our only Hope / I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor ...

Taken from the Final speech in the film The Great Dictator (1940); Chaplin’s first film with dialogue. (My homage to my Master Chaplin).

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day Zero Nine - The Four Face (part 2/5)

I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things - Mother Teresa

Moving Mountains

Huge lightning bolt stuck close to the dome of Vettaiyan Palace as soon as Sena finished his discourse.

"That's our signal", Shamu whispered to Maveeran, "The thunder of joy from our comrades. Our mission here has started to walk on its final leg. Be discreet and takeout as many palace guards as possible. We have enough man power to climb to the top and take the artillery weapons under our control."

The General looked behind him at the hollow spiral upper half of Vettaiyan Palace. He calmly rode before his monstrous army. He spoke authoritatively:

"That lightning bolt has blessed us with thunderous victory. We are soon to see the supernatural phenomenon of Karmegha.

For men like you who are trained to fight on any tracts - forests, valleys, desert or plains; Who can plunge into ditches and overcome any heights both during day or night; Who can roam over stones and thorns; Who can cross marshy lands, lakes, mountains and rivers riding on horses and elephants; Who can operate on any ground suitable to battle; Who can handle every armament of war.

For men like you who know the theatricals of war arising out of vicissitudes of battle, the task at hand is simple - This land has to be secured.

They don't believe in what we believe. We believe in identity. We believe in power. We believe in control. We are superior to them. We have the courage to drive them away. We have the resource to rule them forever.

We believe in our Great Emperor, our Beloved Leader who has always shielded this formidable land from invasions. The way we chase the enemies will stand as a warning in the history of humans for those who even think to invade our Great Nation.

We battle for our King who has kept our families safe from marauders. We bring glory to our Ruler who has made the rest of the world to bow before us. We give back to our Majesty glory as a token of our respect for all his guidance he had showered upon us. We will restore fame to the Lord of the Jungle by polishing his throne for him to reign as the Greatest Emperor the human civilisation has ever witnessed. We fight with the Prince of the Future to put an end to independent states and crush them under our feet.

And this day we shall bring rain to the heart of our Glorious Motherland, Karmegha, flooding the entire battlefield with blood; upon which, breathless enemies shall float and be carried away in the strong flow of our bravery.

My men. It’s here. It’s now. We repay our Deity who roams among us with Victory."

The giant army of the Emperor growled in unison erupting as the thunder following the huge lightning bolt.

The two armies faced each other on the battlefield when the war instruments were blown. The ground trembled as the battling groups advanced towards each other.

"The dark building breathing out black smoke shall be our turning point", Rana explained to his four commanders - Kacha, Kali, Kalai & Sena - pointing at Fort Ayan.

"Beyond this landmark, our battalions will be postioned", he continued, "The distance between each swordsmen should be 14 angulas; the chariots stand 42 angulas apart and the horses a 162 angulas from each other - together they form the wings. The successive lines of archers, spearsmen and elephant cavalry should be spaced 160, 360 and 600 angulas respectively - they are the flank division."

"And the seperation of respective military units must be 600 angulas. The gap should ensure the interspace between the wings from flanks. The length, breath, depth, width and extent of deployment of forces must correspond to this ideal distance to create enough space for movement within the area. The rest of the units will be stationed near the camp and that shall mark the Point of No Return."

"Commanders Kanakavalli with horse archers and Sultan with chariot cavalry, along with the 19th regiment led by Gudakesha, are setting things in motion on the battlefield as we speak", Rana informed, "I will join them on my chariot shortly."

The Chief of the Empires United made eye contacts with the commanders and announced, "Our troops must be ready to receive our guests by noon. Minute mistake will lead us all to doom. Remember that it is quicker to destroy than build, being careful is critical."

Rana looked at Yesodha Putran, "The rest is in your hands, Wise of All. Let courage rise with danger and strength to strength oppose."

"You absolutely need a charioteer", Yesodha Putran informed Rana while they were exiting the pavillion.

"I can manage", Rana replied.

"No, you cannot. You are a warrior and you have to live past this day to become the end ..."

"If you can manage to ride the horses with a foot", Sena cut off Yesodha Putran abruptly, "I think I can drive the chariot with an arm"

"But we cannot risk to put you two together ...", Yesodha Putran tried to argue and it was Rana who barged in, "Here is my charioteer, Wise of All. Now, I have got seven horses pulling me towards victory", Rana winked at Yesodha Putran to shut down his worry.

Yesodha Putran stood watching the Brothers walking away with the commanders of Empires United. The four chiefs met with the respective captains of different military units and briefed them about regroupment of the Battalion from Heaven and the rules to be respected while deploying the forces on Karmegha at the south side of Fort Ayan.

Rana and Sena rode together on the chariot towards the battle zone.

Matsya Vyuha versus Acala Vyuha
Horned Fish Formation versus Mountain Formation
Rana's Attack versus Vettaiyan's Defense

Depending on the motive of the attack, Matsya Vyuha is formed either by grouping all the units into a shape of a single huge fish, or splitting the army into several smaller units like shoaling of fish. In both cases, the intelligence of a fish is reciprocated in the battle strategy. The horned fish formation has two captains controlling the respective sides of the military array placing themselves as each horn of the longhorn fish. This strategy of attack gives an advantage over the enemy formation as navigation is quicker on the battlefield. The military units move around like shoal of fish and attack the enemies. They slip past the enemy troops diverting them and taunting them towards a trap. The tiny units move briskly bringing out a confusion effect over the enemy. Instead of just two eyes of the huge horned fish formation, the shoal of fish has several eyes, as each unit operate individually with their respective team leaders. In case of taking heavy damage, the military units dilute themselves and move away jointly from the attack. Mostly cavalry units are used to form Matya Vyuha. The speed of each running unit determines the attack-retreat strategy. Sometimes, physically stronger foot soldiers with spears or swords are concealed at the centre to strengthen the unit's aggressivity.

Acala means immovable. The Mountain Formation is a huge assembly of different military units. Chained together, they become an indestructible defence force. Standing as a single mountain, it can manage enemy attack, as well as reply heavily to the enemies from all side. Such formation needs a huge army, where the units are layered over one another. While covering a large area of defence, Acala Vyuha stands as a chain of smaller mountains. Getting past the chain of mountains is near to impossible.

Shoals of chariots circled around the heap of enemy soldiers over Karmegha. The cavalry units of Empires United battled inside Matysa Vyuha against the huge army of the Emperor fighting strongly together inside Acala Vyuha.

The General stood on top of the single mountain formation as the eye of the mountain. The three layers below him facing the enemy were commanded by Aye, One Eye and Naga. Sena rode Rana's chariot along with eight chariots - two on each side - around him. Sultan managed a bigger group that split and regrouped often before Acala Vyuha. Kanakavalli rode on Nameless with the horse cavalry split into eight and repeated her path around Acala Vyuha hitting the enemies with arrows and spears.
Scattered inbetween the cavalry units were the nineteenth regiment led by Gudakesha. The foot soldiers weakened the base of the Mountain formation.

Shamu reached the thrid floor of Vettaiyan Palace. After several moons, Shamu saw day light. Since he mingled as a slave inside the dungeons of Fort Ayan, until the present moment, he had not got out into the open. He watched the Brothers battling bravely against the Emperor's army. Rana was firing arrows like a machine without giving enough time between draw and fire. His raid arrows circled over the head of the enemies like a cast of hawks above a group of rabbits. Watching Sena drive the chariot on Karmegha, Shamu was reminded of the race event where he had lost one of his leg. A flicker of smile escaped his lip - he still admired Sena for his mastery in horse riding. A similar thought ran inside Kanakavalli when she saw Sena dodge the enemy chariots and crush them under the wheels. She recollected the devotion that crawled in her mind when she saw Sena on Nameless for the first time, when he participated in the "Sport of Kings". Shamu and Kanakavalli stopped with time to admire the valiance of Sena on the battlefield.

Maveeran witnessed war for the first time after being born as a salve. He admired the organised manner in which the soldiers were battling with each other. His eyes widened when he captured the reality behind the war. He was not able to translate what he spotted on Karmegha. A single blue drop raised towards the grey sky from the soldiers killed during battle.

"Once the collection of Liberated Souls become heavy for the clouds, it shall rain over Karmegha", Maveeran heard a voice from behind him.

Suddenly shadowy cats with red eyes started to run around Karmegha. They climbed out of the fallen soldiers from whom the single blue drop failed to raise. They ran awry on the battleground. They rushed towards Vettaiyan Palace and crawled over the walls and gates to get themselves inside desperately.

"The Lost souls. May they find rest at a future time", Maveeran heard the voice again.

A dark cat jumped through the hole through which Maveeran was watching the battlefield. Scared, at the same time, startled by the smoky cat, Maveeran fell down on his back. He looked at the corridor and saw the cat skiding and bumping onto the wall. It got back to its feet and ran inside into one of the closed chamber through the locked doors.

"Get yourself together", Maveeran turned to his side and stared at the speaker. "There is too much death around here", Littleman said. "Don't get carried away by the horrors are war."

Videha and Sampada stood breathing in anxiety beside Yesodha Putran while watching the fierce battle before them.

"Easy. Easy", Yesodhan Putran said, "just follow my instructions, and everything shall become right", he adviced his assistants who would carry the flag into the battlefield.

Yesodha Putran noticed a heavy shift in the Mountain Formation. He analysed that the enemy general was satisfied with the grouping of enemies near his Acala Vyuha and that he was ready to launch a massive attack. The Empires United was ciricling around the enemy defence trying to weaken its base. Looking at the size of the Mountain Formation, Yesodha Putran knew that no army in the entire world could escape from the massacre being face to face with it.

The strategist gently placed a tiny shark model over the sand table beside him.

Videha and Sampada immediately rode fast into battlefield carrying a black flag. They flanked Karmegha while waving the flag high above their head.

Exceptionally, the black flag that signalled retreat had an emblem of a shark embedded on it.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day Zero Nine - The Four Face (part 3/5)

Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home - Sun Tzu

Shark Bait

The General and Yesodha Putran watched each other under their respective telescopes. The General noted that the enemy strategist had picked up the insignificant change he had brought inside Acala Vyuha. He looked ahead and observed the retreating enemy. He yelled, "Chase them to their camp and slaughter them all". His order was progressively passed down the chain of command and Acala Vyuha was quickly disassembled. The entire army of the Emperor ran behind the fleeing troops of Empires United.

Maveeran got back to him feet. He was shocked to see the sudden change in the battle. He could not understand why Shamu's army who were fighting valiantly were now running away. He heard Shamu alerting them to move forward. As he crept over the corridor, Maveeran watched the chariot with the two warriors dressed in blue and red armour respectively falling behind the retreating soldiers. Sena was driving the horse driven vehicle, and Rana was facing the chasing enemies shooting rapid fire arrows. Uncountable number of soldiers were trying to catch up with the retreating army. Maveeran moved further into the palace.

Makara Vyuha versus Pamsukrta Vyuha
Shark Formation vs Dust Formation
Sena's Defense versus Vettaiyan's attack

The Makara Vyuha delivers hefty attack, where units of spears men and archers pierce through the enemy troops like the sharp teeth of a shark. The body of the deadly fish is formed by cavalry units, mostly carrying similar long distance weapon. The Makara Vyuha upsets stability of the enemy units from a distance, and the swordsmen fighting as the fins and tail, rage over the fallen enemies. The tail part of Makara Vyuha keeps the formation advance forward. Chariot archers and spears men stir themselves to either side over the battlefield throwing the enemies to the ground. The tail unit is vital, as it increases the momentum of the units inside the array, at the same time permits the head of the shark to dash into the crowd of enemies.

Pamsukrta Vyuha maintains no order among the units. The military troops advance towards their enemy in an unorganised manner covering the entire side of the battlefield. It is mostly deployed against weaker enemies and its main purpose is to outnumber them. Known also as Sand Strom Formation, the troops are randomly positioned and almost the whole army spreads over the battlefield like sand particles driven by a storm. They fall on the enemies and coat them as the dust from the wind. Pamsukrta Vyuha is a powerful formation which gives no chance for the enemies to be present on the battlefield alive. The command the units obey is "Kill them All".

Yesodha Putran observed Makara Vyuha being quickly formed by the Empires United. He recollected the discussion with Rana while devising the new strategy to uproot the giant army of the Emperor from the battlefield. Rana's words echoed inside his ears:

"The only change, where I will put in place my strategy, shall occur once the enemies defence is penetrated during Makara Vyuha, the shark formation, on the ninth day. According to Putran, this heavy attack will decide the fate of the war. When we come to this point in the battle, we shall not charge, but retreat. Our soldiers will fight their way back, running away from the enemies to create an illusion of being weakened. Makara Vyuha's tail will be strengthened by archers, and not by the pikes men, who shall defend our retreating soldiers while moving along with them on foot and firing rapidly. They will dismiss or try to slow down the mounted troops from approaching our warriors inside the shark formation. The enemy will quickly decode our retreat as their strength and send battalions to ram us over the battlefield. We will hold the enemy at the centre of Karmegha and slowly dismantle Makara Vyuha. Seeing the formation completely destroyed, the enemy will send more forces that will come crawling like ants. We will welcome them all, this time inside the new Vyuha which shall be formed discreetly on the battle field during the battle."

'Rana's plan to use the deadly attack formation as the escape array to divert The General's army was working', Yesodha Putran thought, 'The bait is taken by the shark. Now it shall pull them to its dwelling place.'

During the planning days, Yesodha Putran, along with Rana, predictied that they would be chased by The General's units, but they never knew at that time that the entire army of the Emperor would accept to fall into their trap. He moved his telescope and looked at the Fort Ayan, the landmark that the warriors who were running together inside Shark Formation should cross before gaining the support from the stationed Battalion from Heaven. He zoomed to the rear end of Makara Vyuha and watched Rana's Chariot running as the tail of the shark. It was under a massive attack from the enemies.

'From where they are positioned, the distance to Fort Ayan was too far from reaching', Yesodha Putran calculated mentally, 'Pamsukrta Vyuha shall fall over Makara Vyuha like a huge wave of dust and suffocate the entire army to death.'

The General's horse cavalry led by One Eye quickly got up with Rana's chariot. Yesodha Putran stuck his vision at One Eye and followed his every moment on the battlefield.

Aye, Naga and One Eye led the massive army behind the fleeing enemy. The General fell back with a proud smile on his face. One Eye's archer and Naga's immortals riding on horses and chariots ran parallel with Rana's chariot. Rana's powered arrows exiting from Inesh could not stop the circling enemies. Sena stirred the six horses efficiently escaping the enemy attacks. When the enemy chariots hit Rana's vehicle, Sena briskly shifted his chariot's motion sending the enemy vehicles flying into the air. As they fell back to the ground, it looked as though it rained chariots on Karmegha. Even though the supporting chariots around Sena resisted with thier fullest to the enemy's massive attack , on the midway to the marked destination, Rana's chariot was the only vehicle that remained as the tail of Makara Vyuha.

Gudakesha reacted quickly to the fall of the tail end. Guiding his men safely inside Makara Vyuha and protected by horse archers of Sultan and Kanakavalli, he turned to go to the rescue of Rana and Sena. Sultan immediately shouted out his order. He commanded everyone to keep running forward, irrespective to whatever happened behind them. He turned his horse and rode single towards the tail end. He fought with Naga's men who were posing a threat to Rana's chariot. He battled with Aye's bandits and fell them off their horses permitting Sena to leap his chariot over the battlefield towards Fort Ayan.

One Eye steadied his moving horse. He aimed and shot a single arrow. The dart pierced the neck of Sena's lead horse. The wounded animal refused to slow down but galloped commanding the other five to run in a straight line. An axe stuck itself to one of its knee. Sena pitied for the animal. The lead horse of the chariot continued to show bravery by not stopping out of pain. The final blow from a zhanmadao discouraged the white horse. Sena slowly started to lose his control on the chariot when the other five horses showed signs of stress and started to pull each other in every direction. Sena tried to put them back on line, but the limping lead horse could not influence the other five horses with its strides. Rana found it hard to aim and fire from inside the dancing chariot. Sena looked at the eye of his lead horse, and at the moment he knew that the horse was going to give in completely.

Sena knew that the chariot will crash to the ground and if he, along with Rana, would survive the fall, they would be facing the entire army of The General. He turned and directly met with Rana's eyes. The pair of eyes was filmed with the same question:

What's life, when loss is inevitable?

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day Zero Nine - The Four Face (part 4/5)

In the divine Scriptures, there are shallows and there are deeps; shallows where the lamb may wade, and deeps where the elephant may swim - John Owen

Lambs and Angels

The three men watched Sena struggling to keep the chariot running on the battlefield from the corridors of Vettaiyan Palace. Littleman held to the white crystal tightly inside his pocket. From the raised platform outside the pavillion, Yesodha Putran noticed Rana's chariot falling back from the Makara Vyuha and its distance from Fort Ayan increased in every full spin of the wheels. Sultan was unable to reach the Brothers as he had to handle the flood of enemy soldiers. He watched desperately at the damage Rana's chariot was taking while struggling to run straight.

Sena turned and saw surprised to see Kanakavalli trying to catch up with his chariot. She neared the wounded lead horse and rode parallel with it while galloping Nameless to gain the needed momentum. Griping the nose band and brow band of the lead horse with her respective hands, Kanakavalli bent towards the injured horse which refused to give up after the pain it had to take. With one elegant swing she threw herself over the tired white horse and quickly slipped to her side to land on the shaft. She firmly held on to the reins of Nameless while she performed the acrobatic across the running horses. Nameless started to rebuild the missed beats of footsteps - a natural communication it tried to establish with the scared team of horses. The other five horses slowly regained confidence when Nameless produced regular strides with its hind foot. Kanakavalli made a lip trill and pulled the reins to guide Nameless enter and share the yoke with the wounded lead horse.

Rana turned and witnessed the horse exchange happening in front of his chariot. He reached the crossbar and watched the lady on the shaft attentively. Sultan held his position to the left of Rana's chariot. Rana quickly positioned himself to provide defensive cover to Kanakavalli by eliminating the enemies trying to catch up from the right. Inesh protected the brave damsel who was trying to regain herself on the fast moving chariot amidst the rain of arrows and spears.

Once Nameless was in position, Kanakavalli used her knife to release the cheek piece of the wounded lead horse. At the same time, when the lead horse was liberated and stumbled on the ground, she quickly jumped on to Nameless holding to the reins around its neck which supported the yoke of the chariot presently. Nameless replaced the fearless lead horse which was run down by chariot that it protected until its last breathe. Sena elegantly controlled the woggle when the chariot wheels ran over the fallen lead horse. Rana turned and saw his lead horse being mowed by the enemy troops.

Kanakavalli quickly buckled Nameless and checked the connecting bands with the other horse sharing the yoke with it. Satisfied with her tacking, she checked whether the four other horses were trailed behind the lead correctly.

The five white horses accepted to follow the black lead horse. Rana's chariot was back into perfect motion racing through Karmegha.

The Princess of Karimedai turned over Nameless to face Sena. She got on her feet and rigorously jumped on the horse behind Nameless. Balancing herself on the second horse, she jumped onto the third one before landing on the carriage where Sena was stirring the chariot to regain control. She slipped and fell down to the right side of Sena.

With his right arm bandaged, Sena was unable to lend her his hand and rescue her. Instead, he shouted her name in distress. Sena calling out for Kanakavalli echoed in her ears. She smiled while falling from the chariot with both her hands stretched towards Sena. She imagined to embrace Sena inside her arms for the last time. The fast moving ground prepared itself to accept Kanakavalli, while the wheels of the chariots were spinnig fast to receive her.

Suddenly, when her head was close to the ground, she found her hand griping onto a rigid material in mid-air. It was neither wood nor metal. She found herself holding onto Inesh. Bending over the crossbar and clutching his bow to support Kanakavalli, Rana lent his right hand to the falling princess, while holding her left foot firmly with his knee. He pulled her up back onto the chariot.

Under the direct instructions from Sena, his rebelious horse, Nameless, pulled the chariot along with its team of five horses like a wild fire on Karmegha. Sultan managed to pass a bow to Kanakavalli. Standing close to each other and facing the opposite directions, Kanakavalli and Rana danced with thier bows and arrows. The darts flew out of the chariot neutralising anything that tried to close in with the flying chariot.

The four anxious men saw Rana's chariot rejoining Makara Vyuha. Even though the distance apart, they shared a sigh of relief. Shamu and Maveeran, along with Littleman, disappeared into the unlit parts of the palace, while Yesodha Putran fixed his telescope on One Eye.

The Shark Formation elegantly fought its way while retreating. As soon as they crossed Fort Ayan, several explosions occurred over Karmegha. Makara Vyuha was completely taken apart by the explosion. Scared horses ran to every direction. The captains of The General found it as an oppurtunity to ram down the enemies.

Eventhough the smoke from the blast reduced their visibility, the army of the Emperor advanced towards the thick whiteness, into which Rana's chariot had disappeared.

As soon as they entered the white screen of smoke, they noticed calmness and military units assembled in an organised manner. One Eye saw several chariots scattered inside the small area. Aye looked to her sides and noticed the stationed dense elephant cavalry. Naga watched in front of him at several units of archers standing in a layered formation aiming thier bows directly at them. Beyond the archers was the campsite which looked deserted. Vadhana Devi and her two bodygaurds were the only members standing at its entrance. The captains of the Emperor's army commanded their respective units to charge forwards ignoring the elephant cavalry which were blocking the sides. They ordered to attack the weak archer defense and claim the Queen's life. The entrie army of the Emperor marched between the wall of elephants to capture the Queen of the Alied Forces.

Thus, they totally landed at the center of Rana's secret Vyuha.

Yesodha Putran blew his conch and activated Nihzreni Vyuha, the ladder formation devised by Rana by uniting the four army types into a single array of destruction. The unbeatable four Anikini, Gaja-Ratha-Turanga-Padati, were deploied at their fullest form around the enemy soldier.

Yesodha Putran watched Nihzreni Vyuha being installed flawlessly on Karmegha. As Rana had predicted, Ladder Formation filled the minds of the enemies with false fears.
They skipped the elephant cavalry and walked straight into the trap. From the highest position in the battlefield, the strategist looked over Karmegha and identified the six Gana flanking both sides. He turned and looked further towards the camp site at the Point of No Return where the enemies shall be assembled by Vahini and Pratana before the stationed Camu. Yesodha Putran admired the Battalion from Heaven for the orderliness and felt proud of his commanders who effortlessly guided the warriors of Empires United to fight inside the layered Vyuha by forming multiple arrays within an array.

One after another varied types of military units launched continuous attacks at the massive army of the Emperor:

- Siddhi Stupa (The Pillars of Success)
- Duddhara (The Rope of Strength)
- Svargasa Gkrama (The Bridge to Heaven)
- Groups of Three Patti
- Ksamavarta (Whirlpool of Calmness)
- Avarsjati (Thunderbolt)

And as the sun dipped in the sky, the array of Empires United military units pushed the clueless enemies into the Point of No Return.

Rana was right, thought Yesodha Putran. The panicking enemy troops stood before the mercy of their Creator.

The commanders fought like the angels. Kalai commanded the The Pillars of Success with the Katrupuzha infantry. Kali controlled the elephant cavalry. He was responsible for the tiny explosions that occured inside the battle zone that surprised the enemies and channeled them as lambs running towards the slaughter house. Kacha formed the The Rope of Strength with his swordsmen. Rana led the Bridge to Heaven. Sultan savaged the enemies controlling the Whirlpool of Calmness. As they pushed the enemies further towards the campsite, the three Pillars of Success closed one after the other trapping the army of the Emperor between the Point of No Return and The Rope of Strength.

The troops led by the commanders sealed the exit completely when the enemy soldiers reached the campsite. Sena lifted Arha above his head with his left hand and brought down the Avarsjati over Karmegha. The entire foot soldiers and the group of Ayus under the direct command of Kanakavalli rolled over the enemies.

Queen Vadhana witnessed the totality of horrific massacre.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day Zero Nine - The Four Face (part 5/5)

The Divine Light is always in man, presenting itself to the senses and to the comprehension, but man rejects it - Giordano Bruno

Devine Disc
(Rated-R)

Naga and the immortals were completely surrounded by Sultan's men. Naga, guarded by his faithful warriors, tried to hide and dodge the enemies aggressive charges but could move only in circles as the exit was walled by three thick lines of elephant cavalry. The straight path ahead towards the mountains was where the demons partied.

Sultan chased Naga inside the battle zone. He kicked him on his back and Naga fell face down on the ground. He turned to face Sultan who was in mid-air above him. Placing Naga in between his spread legs, the merchant tore his flesh and left him to die bleeding. None of the immortals were able to near their leader who suffered in pain. Naga swam over his own blood. His heart finally stopped his agony. The Immortals threw their weapons to the ground. Some were killed by Sultan's men, and the rest slit their own throat and died along with Immortal Leader.

Kacha ran beside a running horse and pulled the rider to the ground. Aye was surprised by the fall, but quickly got up on her feet facing Kacha. Her red bandanna covering her face was soaked in blood that belonged to the men she had slayed with her twin axe. She gripped her weapon and threw the one she held in her right hand at Kacha. She missed. Fear twisted her aim. Kacha had enough time to move to his right and dodge the flying axe. Aye picked up a sword lying on the ground and charged at Kacha. With the short sword held with his powerful arm, Kacha blocked her attacks. He looked for an opening and when Aye gave him one, he struck his sword hard breaking the rapier she held in her right hand.

The son of Vrkoda kept punching his nemesis on her face until she fell back on the ground. He sat over her stomach and held her right arm with his left leg. He pushed her left arm that held the axe with his right hand. Fixing his sword between his lips, he moved his left hand to remove the bandana that masked her face. He stopped midway and closed his eyes. He decided to grant Aye a warrior’s death and not inflict insult by unmasking her. Instead of reaching her face, he reached for her axe. With a strong blow, he planted Aye's axe on her forehead. Aye's lifeless eyes above the red bandanna stared at Kacha as he got up and walked into the fierce battle zone.

Yesodha Putran kept his eye on the archer. He slowly got down from the platform and walked into the grim area. He did not mind the enemy soldiers running towards him raising their swords. His eyes were fixed at the archer dressed in white uniform wearing a red eye patch. Each time an enemy tried to near him the attacker was either shot by an arrow or brought down with a spear. Yesodha Putran walked unhindered amidst the violent and controlled battle happening on Karmegha. He stopped at the heart of the battle; his eyes fixed on One Eye.

Yesodha Putran took out four sections resembling coned metal objects that were hidden under his belt. He removed the first piece that was ducked beside the belt buckle; the second directly behind above the tail of his spine; the remaining two chunks from either of his side near his hips. He placed the four metal slices over his left palm. The segments started to tremble in togetherness. They attracted themselves towards each other and formed a saw tooth disc blade.

The strategist of the Empires Unites raised his right index finger and inserted it inside the hole at the centre of the disc. He carried it balancing it on the tip of his finger while mildly rotating it to install momentum. Once the metal saucer was at his side beside his temple, his eyes sharpened to bestow a single straight vision at the man concealed inside his eyes.

Yesodha Putran stamped the ground of Karmegha with his right foot. Sand particles raised above his feet and stayed suspended in the mid-air. A mild thunder reacted from above. The warriors inside the battle zone froze. The nearest warrior had almost brought his sword to the neck of his enemy. They both stood motionless starring at each other; with fear in the enemy’s eyes and rage in the soldier’s eyes.

Except One Eye and Yesodha Putran, none were active on the battlefield. They were momentarily turned into human statues.

One Eye looked around him and his stare fell on Yesodha Puthran. He aimed and fired his arrow at the mysterious man on the battlefield. Yesodha Putran released his saw tooth disc blade at the same time.

The circular weapon flew towards One Eye and on its way it met with the arrow shot by the archer. The Devine Disc sliced the dart into two and carried itself forward by spinning vigorously towards One Eye. The disc separated the head of One Eye from his body. The detached head remained floating beside the severed neck which had turned into a fountain of blood. The two pieces of the arrow flew past beside the ears of Yesodha Putran.

The Devine Disc returned back to its Master. As soon as Yesodha Putran caught his weapon; disassembled it into four segments; and tucked them into position around his belt, the sand particles above his feet fell back to the ground. Battle resumed. The soldier beside Yesodha Putran brought his sword hard around the enemy's neck.

Blood sprinkled on Yesodha Putran's face when the head of One Eye fell to the ground before his body had hit the floor.

The Father of the Innocent silently walked back to the pavilion.

The visibility of The General was disrupted due to the dust sporting out from the ground when the feet of the warriors danced over Karmegha. The tormented cries raising from the battle zone defended his ears. The last movement that he made out was the herd of elephants from either side joined together at the centre. After the third set of combat elephants were positioned in a semi-cirle sealing the campsite, the General had no clue about whatever was taking place inside the circular wall of elephants. He watched the sun sinking towards the west impatiently.

The mahouts applied good use of the prodigious size and strength of their elephants. The large mammals killed the enemy by trampling them under their feet and crushing the victim's armour along with their bones. They inflicted a terrible death by lifting the enemies aloft with their trunks, which they twisted round their bodies and then dashed them down with great violence to the ground. They dashed on the enemies and gored them through and through with their tusks.

The panic among the enemy soldiers increased as they fought their way towards the Empires United campsite. Each step they made, a tiny unit of chariot cavalry attacked them. Before they could react, the horse cavalry quickly changed its positions. Not following the real strategy behind the attack and retreat, The General’s men dived forward in frustration. As they leaped towards their target, thick shadow fell over them. They were surprised to notice the elephant cavalry were moved in to seal their exit.

When all their captains were slayed in front of them, they ran in unorderly circles demonstrating the lack of guidance. They were trapped inside Nihzreni Vyuha and found themselves to be at the mercy of the enemy commander Sena who controlled a mammoth order of foot soldiers. Before them and beyond Sena was the chain of mountains. Behind them was the wall of elephants. Neither were proper routes to escape.

The foot soldiers of Empires United grouped into small units of eight and went on a killing spree. They murdered the enemies with swords and spears, and at times with their shields that dashed and smashed the jaws of the clueless enemies. They failed to show mercy to the ones who fell on thier knees.

Gudakesha and his men showed them ruthlessness. Ayus crushed them under their feet. They picked them up and tore them into two halves. Each time when they were bathed with enemy's blood, they found deliverance. Swathi fired her arrows at random, and Swetha made sure none could answer to her sword. Kanakavalli’s archers sprayed arrows from their bows. The showering darts nailed its victims firmly to the ground.

Rana and Sena walked among the enemies introducing their swords to the few last walking military men of the Emperor. They fought together creating a deadly mechanism between their sword play. Rana blocked with Vajrastra, and Sena punctured the heart. Sena pushed the enemy to the ground, and Rana inserted his sword into the fallen enemy’s throat. Together they brought terror over Karmegha which was scarier than death.

Blue drops rapidly rose towards the sky. Few shadowy cats ran under the elephants and escaped through their huge feet towards Vettaiyan Palace.

The sound of metal dashing with metal fainted as the sun buried itself behind the hill. A dim darkness took over Karmegha when the instruments of war were engaged by both warring groups.

It took a moment for the dust to completely settle down and The General saw a handful men running out of the enemy camp when the array of elephant cavalry was deconstructed. Few other followed shouldering the wounded. The General's eyes widened when he realised what was left of his giant army. He turned back and saw all the abandoned artilery weapons standing tall on the empty battlefield near Vettaiyan Palace.

The General's attention was brought back to the campsite when several wooden torches were lighted. His head spun in confusion when he witnessed the ground coated with dead bodies. His men were lying motionless as the settled dust over the floor of Karmegha. The pungent death brought a scary calmness around him and in that silence he heard someone approaching him.

Rana's shoe buckles clattered producing a chilling sound effect as he walked over the floor of dead. His armour was covered with blood. Dazzling red under the light of the torches and glittering blue from the shine produced by the stars embedded in his military suit, Rana walked towards the General holding his sword in his left pointed towards the ground.

Watching the bloody chief's sword still dripping blood, the tiny unit guarding The General backed off terrorised. The General's horse reared up throwing its master to the ground when it got the glimpse of the original Chief. It let out a stressful neigh when the heavy strides echoed inside its ears. It leaped and picked up towards the vaccant battleground.

Rana stood before The General who looked up at him from the ground. His eyes behind the mask flamed in fury. Driven by the sudden change of events, The General silently stared at Rana.

Rana raised his left hand and pointed his sword at The General. He closed in and wiped the blood sticking to Vajrastra over the right shoulder of The General. He flicked the sword up in the air and Vajrastra found its way back to the scabbard hanging down from Rana's right hip belt. Rana made a crooked smile at The General. He placed his right hand on the handle of his sword and his left hand on his hip. His legs stood straight with a minor distance between his feet.

Rana looked at The General and making a serious face he summarised:

"The dirt and dust which have accumulated within have now faded away in my Creation - Chaturmukha."

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Unmasking the Mysteries (Part 1/2)

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly - Richard Bach

The Beautiful Blue Butterfly

Vettaiyan reached Malliga Mountains just as the darkness fell as a blanket upon the forest. He got down his horse and pushed his hand to the ground. The four hounds from hell that accompanied him through the deadly jungle laid on the ground. Vettaiyan briskly entered Deadly Caves alone. He recollected the day he had put the end to his fears and entered into the same darkness with Antha, his one eyed dog. Since then it was believed by everyone in his kingdom that the King had passed the passage where a mysterious monster slept on the path. Vettaiyan smiled in the dark. He breathed in the silence when he entered the Iravigraha, the pit at the centre of the Deadly Caves.
He neared the swamp of still blue water and the memories of his brothers flooded inside him while he approached Thelivapara. The voice of his sixth brother resonated inside the pit. He looked around the dimness capturing the tortures and torments that coated the slippery walls of the Deadly Caves.

'A mysterious cave under a mysterious mountain found inside a mysterious jungle which is accounted for many mysterious deaths and where a mysterious monster was put to sleep by a mysterious man from the sea' - Vettaiyan smiled again while knelling beside the pond of blue water.

"Who shall unmask the mysteries!", The Emperor chuckled to himself.

Vettaiyan saw his reflection in the still blue waters. He admired himself.

A tiny rain drop from the rock above fell onto the water creating a ripple. Vettaiyan saw his reflection dancing with the broad ripples of time. It slowly was replaced by a younger version of himself, and Vettaiyan stared back at Dashakantha. The ripples moved uniformly outwards and joined the waves that formed the principle background of a sea shore behind Dashakantha:

The tenth son of King Sama Suyodhana hid behind a tree watching the docks. He was anxious to see the man whom everyone called The Hunter from the Sea. His father who was the king of the independent state had sent out a word to the Saviour through his messenger seeking assistance to wash away the danger prevailing in and around the Deadly Caves of Malliga Mountains. Rumours spread like wild fire that The Hunter from the Sea had blessed their land with his foot prints and shall slay the monster that had plagued the jungle.

Monster stories interested the young prince. He watched the majestic vessel Anagha anchoring at the port and a dazzling man with shiny skin and a divine countenance walked on the sands along with his six heavily armed escorts. The kid noticed all the peculiar jewels - from finger rings to neck chains to leg bangles - decorating the charismatic personality. After a brief discussion with the King, the Savious walked past the Port's corridors. Suddenly, The Hunter from the Sea turned towards the tree, behind which Dashakantha was hiding. Their eyes stuck on each other and after a brief moment Kochadaiiyaan smiled at the kid and walked away.

The following evening, the prince hid inside a supply wagon. He watched the entrance of the Deadly Caves through the hole in the canvas. The Hunter from the Sea walked inside the cave alone whose entrance was guarded by his protectors. At the mouth of the entrance he stopped briefly and spoke to a short man who held on to his wood-cutter axe.

The kid slipped into the darkness following Kochadaiiyaan. He roamed aimlessly inside and stopped beside a pit which had a sparkling blue water source at its opening. Thin rays of moonlight creeped through the hole in the rocks above. The blue water glittered in the shine of the moonlight. Dashakantha walked further into the pit and arrived at a spot that glowed under a single burning mud lamp. The prince had had never witnessed such a peculiar brightness - the lower part of the pit was still dark, while the upper half was shining brilliantly. He fell onto his back frightened when he saw the mysterious man suspended in the mid-air above the dark area. He stood on his right leg, while the left foot was placed over his right knee. He held his left hand high above his head and his left hand was pressed towards the darkness. His eyes were firmly closed and he was holing a glowing object inside his right palm.

The Hanging Man opened his eyes and stared at the nothingness before him. Looking at the eyes blazing red, the kid took off on foot and ran away searching for the exit. He reached the pond and greedily drank water from it. He was panted heavily while water dripped out of his mouth wetting his white cloak. Dashakantha promised to himself that he would never set his foot again inside the Deadly Caves. He wished the moment to be just a nightmare and that he would wake up soon, when he felt a warm palm gently touching his right shoulders. Startled, he turned back and the Mysterious Man was standing above him under the ray of light holding a generous smile on his scarlet lips.

Dashakantha quickly moved backwards crawling on his rump. He wept and cried out, "I didn't intend to follow you Mister. I didn't disobey my father."

Taking a deep breathe he confessed, "My apologies to you Mister, I didn't expect to be detected either. I am guilty and I accept whatever you thrust upon me, provided it is carried out inside this cave. I beg to you my father is never informed."

"Do you like to hear a story, Child?" the shining man replied. The words, the articulation, the voice slipping out of the huge form with its hair bundled over its head, calmed and soothed Dashakantha. He nodded his head mildly while blinking at the brightness before him. The Mysterious Man narrated a tale to the scared prince:

An infant noticed a glitter on the grass while he was playing alone in the forest. He approached the shine and saw himself looking at a golden caterpillar moving on the grass. He befriended the caterpillar as it was the only one that showed affection towards him.

"You are the most magical creature in the world", said the golden caterpillar, "I shall have two just like you - a red and a blue."

The kid's eyes brightened when he heard to the kind words his new friend had to say about him.

"You three are born under the same solar, lunar, and planetary positions. I admire the striking similarities you three share."

"How shall I find them?" the kid questioned.

"While working in the forest you shall play with the Twins", the golden caterpillar replied.

Few days later, the kid forgot about his friend in the forest when four goblins landed on his laps. He started to spend more time with his new pets forgetting about the meeting a caterpillar.

One day, while sleeping he heard the golden caterpillar whispering in his ears. It asked him, "Are you dreaming?"

The kid opened his eyes and found himself inside the forest. He saw a golden butterfly flapping its wings in front of him sprinkling golden dust on his face. The child giggled and started to chase the golden butterfly but soon got lost. He reached a dark cave and noticed a glittering object at a distance. He ran and reached the spot. His heart felt heavy when he found the golden butterfly lying dead on the floor beside a pond of blue water. He carefully placed his forest mate on his palm. His eyes sunk into deep sorrow when he found its wings tampered. He rose his left foot and checked the sole marks. They matched to the ones imprinted on the golden butterfly’s right wing. He left out a cry of agony. He had marched over his forest friend while pursuing it. He threw the golden insect to his side. It fell on to the blue water and remained floating on the top.

Pierced with sadness, the kid ran out of the cave shouting, "I hate this forest, nothing makes sense here."

He tripped and fell down as he did not bother where he was stepping into. A raging red butterfly shared the grass with him and above them a beautiful blue butterfly was flapping its wings. The rays of the sun escaped through its flaps.

The child remembered what his forest friend, the golden caterpillar, had informed him, "I shall have two just like you - a red and a blue."

Choice, the biggest task of life presented itself before the kid. The lad should either save the red one by killing the blue one, or stay with the blue one and let the red one die.

The mysterious man stopped abruptly and questioned Dashakantha, "What shall it be, Child?"

Dashakantha whispered, "The Beautiful Blue Butterfly."

"And should you give a name to the kid who ran over the wings of his forest friend, what shall you call him?"

Dhashakantha thought for a while and then said out loud, "Vettaiyan."

The mysterious man smiled and walked towards the exit. Dashakantha stopped him and asked his curiously, "What happened to the Twin butterflies, Mister?"

"It is for you to find out, Child."

The Hunter from the Sea bent down and whispered into the ears of Dashakantha. Leaving the prince in the dark, the Mysterious Man walked out of the cave.

... to be continued …

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Unmasking the Mysteries (Part 2/2)

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato

The Light of all Lights

Vettaiyan saw his reflection in the still blue waters. He admired himself.

A thick dark mist started to coat over the blue water making his reflection to disappear. He cleared the mist by waving his left hand above the pond and the dark cloud paved way making Vettaiyan face to to face with Dashakantha once again. The dark mist above the blue water pond diluted into grey fog that surrounded the young prince who stood facing the lustreless forest.

The wooden torch light held by the soldier casted their yellow shodow on the face of the young prince. His father shot an arrow which pierced through the left eye of an hare. The rabbit ran away and in the process of crossing a bush, the arrow fell, plucking its eye off. Leaving traces of blood and agony cries, the bloody little animal disappeared into the woods. The father instructed his son to find and bring back the wounded animal. Dashakantha, afraid of the dark, looked at his father, who waited for his son to move forward. Slowly creeping inside the woods, scared of anything moved by the wind, even his own shadow, Dashakantha reached the wounded animal. It did not move, but was still breathing. He approached the bunny and could see a red hole in the place of an eye. When he was quite close, the hare turned its head towards him, its nose gasping rapidly for air. In the moon light their eyes met, one filled with terror and the others with horror.

"Don't be scared, my Child", the one eyed rabbit spoke to Dashakantha.

"I don't know. It’s dark and I don’t like to be in the darkness. And a rabbit is speaking to me. How can I be not scared?", asked the prince.

"Seek what you want. I shall grant them all", the hare turned the scary suituation with its sweet proposition.

"I don't know what I want", the young prince replied in a relaxed but dejected voice, "I was never given an opputunity to be what I am."

"Then, let me help you. Does ruling this world interest you? Do you seek retribution? How about not being afraid of the dark? Can you handle the immense power of Light? Not just light, the light of all lights?" asked the rabbit.

"I am weak and my brothers won't allow me to be the King. I don't have vengeance in my heart. I know nothing about light", Dashakantha replied with sincerity.

"Life is a race. The winner sees the rest. You will become the Emperor and rule the earth", declared the rabbit.

Dashakantha opened his eyes wide in surprise.

"Love you have for your mother is eternal. Vengeance will be served", assured the rabbit.

Dashakantha blinked in confusion.

"And my child, I shall speak about the light", the rabbit continued, "Not long ago I was at the stairs begging to the one who calls himself the Creator. I was cheated by them, but I know the way to acquire the Light which can make your fears disappear forever."

Dashakantha had no clue of what he heard and that he understood. He stood frozen in the darkness.

"Sign a deal with me", taunted the rabbit, "Once you become the Emperor and have bathed yourself with the blood of the nasty people who brought injustice upon you, who treated you like a moth, then, we shall work together. I will guide you and show you the Path of the Light. Fetch it for me. Thou shall be free."

Dashakantha nodded his head in agreement without being aware of his action. The Voice of the One Eyed Hare was convincing during the darkest times.

"Wise of you my Child. There is an important duty at hand, the task of removing the Twin Thorn that protects the Flower. Destroy the flower; the thorns shall wither in guilt of not protecting their master."

The speaking rabbit led Dashakantha deep into the forest, narrating to him the Tales of Darkness.

The prince was no more afraid of the dark. He had completely embraced the darkness. He felt light inside the deep dark forest.

King Sama Suyodhana slapped the dreaded Dashakantha, as his father was not happy with his pawn returning empty handed. He roared at Dashakantha - 'If one hunts, he wins the prey'.

His father's footsteps echoed around him. Through the gap of door he witnessed the cruel murder of the only person whom he ever loved. His face reddened. A palm hung over his shoulders and whispered, "As You Think, So You Become."

Vettaiyan saw his reflection in the still blue waters. He admired himself.

A whirlpool formed at the centre of the pond disturbing his mirrored image. Vettaiyan saw his own reflection turned away from him. It got up and walked into the mouth of the whirlpool that converted into the entrance of the Deadly Caves.

Young Prince Dashakantha climbed the steps of power, yet, Deadly Caves still remained a mystry to him. After slaying all his traitors, he still did not find courage to enter the jungles surrounding Malliga Mountains. The golden butterfly and the one eyed rabbit haunted him in his sleep. Finally he decided to break the fright and reached the blue water water source inside the Deadly Caves. He noticed a golden butterfly floating in the water. When he reached to pick the insect from the water, it drowned itself inside Thelivapara. Dhashakantha pushed his hands into the water and when his entire arms were completely dipped inside; his fingers came in contact with something cold and rigid. He gripped it and lifted what his fingers had found out of the water.

Dashakantha was staring at a fabulous sword with serrated blade siting over his palms.

The same evening Dhashakantha graduated from the secret university called Pachonthi Guild. When asked to choose a pseudonym, an important custom practiced at the Assassin's University, Dashakantha whispered Vettaiyan three times before the sacred fire of oath. The flames transformed into the crown on Vettaiyan's head, and he was pronounced the Emperor of the five Kingdoms. He got up from the throne and got down the stairs. At midway, he started to sprint down the stairs. Just before reaching the final step, he was already running inside the jungle in his sparkling white dress. His guards failed to protect him from the attackers. Vettaiyan was forced to hide inside the Malliga Mountains. He spent the night there, as none dared to enter the cave. Legend states that the Hunter from the Sea had subdued a monster that slept inside.

Vettaiyan laughed to himself in solitude. Myths about Monsters amused him. He laughed loudly as he never came across one during all these years when he used the Deadly Caves to carry out his murders. A snort threw his loud laughter into the pit of silence. Vettaiyan slowly walked towards the source of sound. He reached a large area where the Mysterious Man was suspended in mid-air over the half lit environment. He observed the rock in front of him. He was taken aback when the stone hinted traces of mild movements. He stared at the breathing rock. He neared the huge structure and felt it with his palms. It was warm and not cold as a rock should be inside the dimly lit cave. It was slippery and thick slime attached to his palms. He shook his wrist to remove the slippery substance that was glued to his palms. The fast rhythmic movement of his wrists made him remember the verses that The Hunter from the Sea had whispered in his ears. As soon as he recited them, three pairs of curved eyes - green, red and yellow - glittered in the darkness above him.

The ripples vanished and the blue water returned placid. Vettaiyan saw his reflection in the water. He admired himself. He got up and walked further into the pit. He sat beside the breathing rock. He carrased the rock and whispered:

"My Clown, rise to run around, knuckling everyone down."

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration - Nikola Tesla

The Awakening of the Clown

Vettaiyan stood up and walked to the center of the pit. He slowly removed the band that attached his hair together. He let his hair flowing down freely over his shoulders. He shut his eyes to adapt to the dimness present inside Iravigraha. The single ray of the moonlight reflecting from the blue water fell upon his white full dress, making it glow bright in the darkness. He took a deep breath and held it tightly inside his lungs. He brought his palms together and placed them before his chest. He pressed them together and slowly started to manipulate his fingers. He joined his thumb and pushed them towards the floor of the pit. His index fingers were bent inwards so that the knuckles touched each other. Together, the index fingers and the thumbs formed the shape of the heart. The tips of his middle fingers were erect and touched each other at the tip. The other fingers were bent to make their knuckles meet.

Once Vettaiyan established the Ajna Mudra, he slowly raised his hands towards his face. He guided the erect fingers straight up his septal cartilage. When the tip of his middle fingers crossed the nasal bone and his joined thumps curved around his chin, Vettaiyan halted moving them further. With the tip of his middle fingers stuck between his eye brows, Vettaiyan breathed out through his mouth forming a oval shape by seperating his lips. A vibrant sound emitted through his throat.

He, then, started to dance around the breathing rock reciting the verses that the Hunter from the Sea had whispered in his ears :

AUM ...

Yam Yam Yam Yaksha Roopam Dash Dishi Viditam Bhoomi Kampaayamaanam,
Sam Sam Samhaara Moortim Shira Mukuta Jataa Shekharam Chandra Bimbam,
Dam Dam Dam Deergha Kaayam Vikrita Nakha Mukham Jordhvaromam Karaalam,
Pam Pam Pam Paap Naasham Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Ram Ram Ram Rakta Varnam Katikatitatanum Teekshna Danstra Karalam,
Gham Gham Gham Ghosha Ghosham Gha Gha Gha Gha Ghatitam Gharghaaram Ghoora Naadham,
Kam Kam Kam Kaala Paasam Dhruka Dhruka Dhri Kritam Jwalitam Kaamadeham,
Tam Tam Tam Divya Deham Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Lam Lam Lam Lam Vadantam la-la-la-la Lalitam Dheergha Jehvaah Karalam,
Dhum Dhum Dhum Dhumra Varnam Spoota Vekata Mukham Bhaskaram Bheemaroopam,
Rhum Rhum Rhum Rhumdamalam Ravitanum Neyatam Tamra Netram Karalam,
Nam Nam Nam Nagnabhoosham Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Vam Vam Vam Vaayuvegam Natajana Sadayam Brahma Saaram Param Tam,
Kham Kham Kham Khadga Hastam Tribhuvana Vilayam Bhaskaram Bheema Roopam,
Cham Cham Cham Chalitva Chala Chala Chalita Chaalitam Bhoomi Chakram,
Mum Mum Mum Maayi Roopam Pranamata Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Sham Sham Sham Shankha Hastam Sashi Kara Dhavalam Mooksha Sampoorna Tejam,
Mum Mum Mum Mumahantam Kula Macula Kulam Mantra Guptam Sunityam,
Yam Yam Yam Bhootanadham Kili Kili Kalitam Baalakeli Pradhanam,
Aam Aam Aam Aantariksham Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Kham Kham Kham Khadga Bhedam Visha Mamruta Mayam Kaala Kaalam Karalam.
Ksham Ksham Ksham Kshepra Vegam, Daha Daha Dhanam Tapta Sandeepya Maanam,
Houm Houm HoumKaara Nadam Prakatita Gahanam Garjitai Bhoomi Kampam,
Vam Vam Vam Vaala Leelam Prana Matam Satatam, Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Sam Sam Sam Siddhi Yogam Sakala Guna Makham Deva Devam Prasannam,
Pam Pam Pam Padmanabham HariHara Mayam Chandra SuryaAgni Netram,
Aim Aim Aishwarya Nadham Sata Ta Bhaya Haram Poorvadeva Swaroopam,
Roum Roum Roum Roudra Roopam Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

Ham Ham Ham Hamsayaanam Hapitakala Hakam Muktayogaatta Haasam,
Dham Dham Dham Netra Roopam Seramukuta Jatabandha Bandhaagra Hastam,
Tam Tam Taamkaa Nadham Trida Salata La Tam Kaama Garvaapa Haram,
Bhrum Bhrum Bhrum Bhootanadham Prana Matam Satatam Bhairavam Kshetra Paalam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SylE7uRLvQk

Vettiayan stimulated regeneration and creativity, a dance exactly opposite to the one performed by Kochadaiiyaan to subdue the monster. The Hunter from the Sea used the same Mudras to deactivate the energy of the evil being, thus, allowing it to be in the state of eternal sleep. Vettaiyan reversed the steps to awaken the Clown.

Vettaiayan opened both his eyes wide while emitting the vibrant sound AUM. His eyes sparkled as bright pearls as the mystical third eye was activated. Reciting the verses, he lifted his right leg high and forced it to fall onto the floor of the pit. He did the same with the other leg. He created a rhythm by stamping his foot into a rise and fall movement. Once the continous pulse was established, he started to twirl around the breathing rock. He brought his hand down from his face. During the vibrant chants, he altered the Mudra with respect to the Mantra his mouth pronounced.

Vettaiyan whirled around the sleeping monster and when he was exactly at the back of the breathing rock, he coupled his fingers and extended only his middle finger outwards. His thumb and the index fingers were interlaced to form two rings around each other by allowing the respecive tips to touch. Vettaiyan energetically inserted his pointed middle fingers of Muladhara Mudra to the bottom of the breathing rock to energize Muladhara, the root base.

The Dancing Emperor rushed to the front while locking his thumb inside the bent index and middle fingers, while the ring fingers and the small fingers pushed outwards and touching their respective tips. When he was before the center of the breathing rock, he dashed the knuckles of Shakti Mudra directly at Svadhisthana, the sacral vertebrae.

Vettaiayan gradually changed the pattern and tempo of the thumping sound he made with his feet. He moved backwards, busily making Rudra Mudra by touching the tips of his thumb, index and ring fingers together and straightening the small and middle fingers. He rushed towards the sleeping monster and punched the Manipura, solar plexus with Rudra Mudra.

Vettaiyan moved around jumping on both of his legs. The distance between the floor and his body grew as he vigorously pushed his legs to both sides. Each time he moved high in the air, he reassembled his fingers. He joined his palms and pushed the fingers outward. He gradually pulled the small and the thumb fingers to touch each other. During the fall of his final jump, he hit the Anahata, the heart of the breathing rock with Padma Mudra.

Vettaiyan started to climb the breathing rock. He danced over the tube like path and halted at the center. He bent his legs and sat on his feet toes. He squatted on one leg and kicked the other in front og him. He continued changing legs while reuniting his fingers into Granthita Mudra. He interlaced the small, ring and middle fingers tightly. He interlocked his index fingers and made the respective tip connect to the center of other finger. He roped the thumb fingers over each other. He collided Granthita Mudra onto Vishuddha, the throat.

The dance movements became violent as Vettaiyan climbed further over the breathing rock. He hair floated by his side not finding time to settle back on his shoulders as Vettiayan forcefully shook his whole body. He reached the top to the exact spot where Kochadaiiyan stood on one leg with his right hand raised. Vettaiyan positioned himself into Vrikshasana, the tree pose. He pressed his right foot evenly on the Sahasrara, the Crown, while placing his left foot on the inner thigh of his right leg. His hips were even under his flat chest when he raised both his hands and joined the palms above his head.

While Kochadaiiyaan, held his left hand grounded to shutdown the Crown, Vettaiyan performed an opposite action. He separated his palms and made the Mudra of A Thousand Petals. He spread his fingers and brought his palms forward. He slowly allowed the tip of index and thumb fingers to touch each other respectively forming a pyramid shape. He bent his body and released his left foot. At the same time he pushed his right leg to the side.

Vettaiyan landed the Mudra of A Thousand Petals on the Crown of the Clown.

The Emperor got back to his feet and placed both his hands on his hips over his flashing white dress. He hair was blown by a heavy wind. The loose strands rushed to hit his face and run back again like dark waves. Vettaiyan slowly started to rise towards the roof.

... to be continued ...

Footnote:

1/ LAM, VAM, RAM, YAM, HAM, AUM, ANG are Vija (also pronounced as Bija) Mantras. Vija means seed, as it is the starting point of siddhi (fruit of enlightenment). Hring, Shring, Kring, Hung, Aing, Phat are the other monosyllables included in Vija Mantras, mostly involving both nasal and throat congestion. When uttered in certain order, these vibratory sounds kindle the network system of the body called the Nerves (Nadi). Each mantra, when recited, has the spiritual power to purify the body (mukha-shodhana, jihva-shodhana, ashaucha-bhanga, kulluka, nirvvana, setu, nidra-bhanga,mantra-chaitanya) as well as, assit in developing the Image of Divinity within (as I like to describe it as The Devine Dancer) => Mantrarthabhavana.

2/ The Vija Mantras, along with the respective Mudras, aide in cleansing impurities and help towards eliminating unnecessary emotions. As described in the above chapter, the Vija Mantra is associated with a Mudra which are directly related to the seven Chakras, the principle energy source spots inside a body:

Chakra - Mudra - Vija Mantra

Muladhara (Base of the Spine) - Muladhara Mudra - LAM
Svadhishthana (Hips) - Shakti Mudra - VAM
Manipura (Naval) - Rudra Mudra - RAM
Anahata (Heart) - Padma Mudra - YAM
Vishuddha (Throat) - Granthita Mudra - HAM
Ajna (Mystical Third Eye) - Ajna Mudra - AUM
Sahasrara (The Crown) - Mudra of A Thousand Petals - ANG

3/ The above verses are from 'Teekshana Danstra Kalabhairava Asthakam'. It talks about Kaal Bhairav (an important phenomenon for the Title Chaturmukha). The descriptions are about a Supreme Power transforming into another equal force. The Supreme Power which is the purpose of Beginning and End; garlanded by a serpent; the twisted hair locks bundled as the crown upon which a crescent moon shines. This unlimited power source forms into its own guardian, Kaal Bhairav, to protect the Universe. The planets shake when the Supreme power turns reds, growing tall and fierce with a face as ferocious as a lion. In its fullest developed form, it reveals its teeth that push out of the lips as the deadly teeth of a wild tiger.

Author's Note: The elements in spirituality were used for fictional purpose only. The verses depict the transformation of power into energy, which was applied in the story to demonstrate the action of an evil awakening a bigger evil, purely on the basis of imagination. Mistakes in descriptions are mine.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

All things are ready, if our minds be so - William Shakespeare (Henry V - Act 4, Scene 3)

The Palace of a Thousand Balls

"How much do we know about our Father?" Sena asked to himself. Kali removed the bandage soaked in blood and cleaned Sena's wound around his right shoulder. He gently started to dress it with a clean white cloth.

"Don't start ..." Rana replied crudely while packing his military gear. The three men were the only occupants of the infirmary.

"Several decades ago, Our Father had visited Central Kingdom. He could have possibly met the Emperor who was a scared lad at that time."

Rana made a curious face, "You have my entire attention, Baasha", Rana winked at Sena.

Disregarding the witticism, Sena pursued his detection, "The prince was found unconscious inside a cave shortly after our Father had visited the place. If my predictions are right, it was the same period when Our Father forsakened his title 'The Hunter from the Sea' and abandoned his majestic multi-functional ship Anagha; the whereabouts of the vessel, its crew members and the treasures are still unknown. I can't pronounce the reasons behind his decision, but I am certain that it was the same stretch in time he had met our mother and started to raise a family. Upon the request of late King Rishikodagan, he became the military advisor for Kottaipatinam."

"What makes you wonder about it now?", Rana inquired.

"What happened inside that cave?" Sena exclaimed and continued, "Soon after they rescued the scared prince, his father king Sama Sayodhana was ashamed of his eldest son, the heir to the throne. He pulled the frightened kid and forced him to participate in a hunting expedition during nightfall. He sent his son alone into the dark forest to bring back the hare that he had shot with his arrow. The prince returned empty handed."

"It was dark, which did not permit him to find the prey!" Rana stated firmly.

"The prince was afraid of the dark. How did he make it back alone through the darkness without getting wandered away?" Sena wondered.

"Just after the hunting episode", Sena looked at Rana to see whether he was following him, "the queen Dasa Radha died in mysterious way. This incident initiated the construction of a staircase to power. One by one the nine princes died in mysterious ways too. Natural deaths, but an act of murder cannot be ruled out. The remaining One claimed the throne overthrowing his father, king Sama Sayodhana. He annexed all the forestry and created his own realm. His empire grew multiple times when all the jungles were included with Central Kingdom. With such an enormous landscape that created a natural defence for his kingdom, he started to build his military strength. Most of the soldiers were thieves and barbarians put under control through a generous offer of perks - wine and woman. Thus, he terrorised the other states compelling them to obey him. He brought all the thirteen tribes under his control. Those who refused or resisted disappeared permanently in the forest. The four independent states were forced to accept him as their Emperor. Vettaiyan started to rule the world."

"His cruelty knocks the doors of hell and the demons refuse to open them - The Rise of an Emperor. What shocks you about this known event in the history of the five nations?" Rana pumped out his frustration.

"Someone else is supporting him", Sena replied, "abling him to become whatever he wishes to be. A single man with just the help of handful think tanks cannot achieve such greater heights in short time and reign undisputed over the throne for such a long time. Not a person, maybe by a force, which is providing him the power."

"A wizard from the sorcessor's club ...", Rana laughed dismissing the theories his brother fabricated.

Sena ignored the ignorance of his brother and thought loudly, "What price would he have paid for such a collaboration?"

Rana collected his military accessories and left the infirmary nodding his head in disagreement to Sena’s absurd speculations.

"I am done here", Kali shouted beside Sena's right ear. Sena shut his eyes to clear the continuous rings drumming inside his ears. He turned and looked at Kali.

Sena smiled.

"There is nothing much to be done either", Yesodha Putran briefed the military men around him inside the pavilion. He pointed at the miniature of Vettaiyan Palace on the sand table and said, "We will be facing a small resistance at dawn, but we should not under estimate the defence system of Vettaiyan Palace. The palace was designed by a chief architect who is known for cunningly concealing fatality within his creations. When he remodelled the stately home for the Emperor, he gave it a tagline 'The Palace of a Thousand Balls', jovially punching a threatening message to the invaders."

"After going through few documents that were obtained from the architect's locker, I presume that a six nosed multi-cannon might have been camouflaged as the dome of the Palace. Of course, a classic setup of smaller artillery weapons surrounds the top of the building and they can be taken down from the ground using our siege weapons. The main problem with the multi-cannon is that, it is directly rooted with the palace, meaning, a part of the building should be demolished to take the heavy artillery down. We all know that it is not going to happen. As long as the six cannons are firing, we don't stand a chance to even near the shadow of the gates."

"Is there a solution", someone asked from the crowd of captains.

"There is always a solution for every problem, else, we would not be standing here facing each other being what we are", Yesodha Putran replied calmly. "The multi-cannon is operated from inside the doom. A small shaft permits a single person to enter into the control room. The ammunitions are preloaded and the multi-cannon can fire a thousand cannonballs without interruption. Destroying it is not the solution, but capturing it could turn events to our favour. But ..."

"But ... What? Be clear Wise of All?" another voice shouted in anxiety.

"To capture the multi-cannon, we should have someone who is already inside the palace and is currently in a position to take control of the cannon room."

The room went silent. Yesodha Putran smiled and said, "There is always a solution of the highest good."


Littleman whispered, "This is the Emperor's Chamber." He peeped through the crack in the double door and said, "Its empty."

The group of warrior led by Shamu climbed the stairs discreetly to reach terrace of Vettaiyan Palace. When they reached the top, they scattered around the large plateau hiding themselves in the shadow of the palace doom. They went around neutralising the night guards. Stealing the military uniforms from the dead soldiers, they hid the bodies in the corners. They disguised as the Emperor's army men and positioned behind the single cannons lined around the small protective wall on the top of Vettaiyan Palace.

Maveeran joined Littleman who was looking at the huge fire rising to the sky from the bed of the mountains behind the campsite.

"You witnessed the cruelty of war. You experienced the horrors of war. Now, get the scent of war", Littleman pronounced the ugliness of war to Maveeran. The bulky man along with the little master watched the heap of burning dead bodies. The pungent smell brought sadness in the air. Whoever were the dead, they fought to save their motherland - some led by true leaders who wish to polish the future, others ditched by their cruel bosses who wanted to be always in power. The raising black smoke settled under the dark clouds above Karmegha.

Shamu checked the captured terrace of the palace. He moved from cannon to cannon and assured that there were no suspicious details left behind by mistake. The General or someone higher in authority might visit the palace defence at dawn and he wanted to be prepared to meet them. Shamu walked around the dome. He examined the vertical lines rising from the bottom and joining together at the top of the rounded vault roof of Vettaiyan Palace. With his finger, he traced the uniform cracks which were cutting the doom into six equal halves. Shamu's eyes widened when he found the answer to his own doubt. He turned and checked on Littleman who was watching the campsite along with Maveeran. Shamu limped hurriedly towards them.


"Thus, our Chief led us to a tremendous victory that shall resonate throughout the history of mankind", Sultan spoke into the ears of Nobleman who was lying on the cot inside the private tent. Kanakavalli sat on the other side near the cot wiping the fluid flowing from the wounded man's eye.

Nobleman made the first gesture since he had been paralysed by pain. He brought his chin down towards his neck. Sultan captured the sign and quickly brought his ears near to Nobleman's lips. After holding his ears attentively, he came back to his sitting position beside the cot. He looked at Kanakavalli who watched him with a curious face. She tilted her head as though waiting for Sultan to tell her what Nobleman whispered in his ears.

Sultan smiled and said, "At dusk, Karmegha will be wet."

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Working Class Hero

https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/995351WorkingClassHero.jpg

Where : Hindoo Road Carpark

Year : 2017

PHOTO: MOHAMED FIRDAUS AL-AMIN

Working Class Hero is a tribute to migrant workers and reminds them, in the form of Rajinikanth, that success does not depends on your background.

Fans of Indian cinema may well recognise the shades of Rajinikanth, one of its biggest stars. The artist, Mr Mohamed Zulkarnaen, intended the mural to be a tribute to the migrant workers who frequent Little India (Singapore). Rajinikanth, who rose from a humble background, is seen as an inspiration to many, and that includes the artist.

Mr Zulkarnaen, a Lasalle alumnus, said: "I grew up watching Rajinikanth movies and he has an immense fan following within the South Indian Community. I want to remind everyone that it is possible to be successful despite your background."

Cult Cutout

https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/789920Manidhan.jpg
(Manithan, 1987)

https://img4.hostingpics.net/pics/274160Thalapathi.jpg
(Thalapathi, 1991)

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 1/6)

Eyes of the Crocodile

Yesodha Putran ordered Kanakavalli to assemble eight units of archers to guard the campsite facing Vettaiyan Palace. He positioned the animal cavalry under the command of Sultan in front of the archer units - chariots, horse archers and camel spears men - to provide quick backup for the three attack units advancing towards the enemy territory. He instructed Kalai to fall back as the third attack unit with the foot solders of Karimedai. He placed the first and second in command, Rana and Sena, along with units of short swords men commanded by Kacha as the second line of attack. He allowed them to follow the siege weapons pulled by Ayus under the leadership of Kali. Gudekesha accompanied Kali providing protection to the siege weapons.

The war strategist of the Empires united deployed the Battalion from Heaven as a flight of endless staircase over Karmegha and authorised them to attack Vettaiyan Palace. The military array advanced over Karmegha with an assurance from a large reinforcement units. Ayus pulled the mobile assault towers with drawbridges carrying soldiers protected inside towards the walls of the besieged palace. The warriors following the assault tower burnt the abandoned siege weapons left by the enemies on battlefield. Several onagers, carroballistas and battering rams were pulled across the enemy line by the first line of attack of Empires United army.

Rana, Kacha and Sena stood watching the ballistic devices rolling forward. Rana looked at the facade of the palace. A defensive wall fortified the stately home and spread wide on either side, rising to the height of the palace building. Wall towers on top of the segment of the wall extended outwards and were equipped with arrow slits and ballistae. A defensive ditch was dug in front of the walls and the moat was filled with water. Two great towers stood beside the closed metal gate that served as the only entrance and exit to Vettaiyan Palace. Huge chains held the draw bridge raised, not permitting army of Empires United to cross the ditch that separated Karmegha and the defensive wall of Vettaiyan Palace. A long line of soldiers stood over the wall guarding the palace.

"An army of countless soldiers", Kacha wondered loudly, "Emperor's men keep swarming the battlefield like the bees out of a stoned hive. After the heavy blow they had taken the previous moon, alas, their defensive size resembles to yet another tiny army."

"When you get the chance to visit the two level basement of the palace and the area occupied by the monstrous building", Rana replied with a pleasant smile, "you will realise that Vettaiyan Palace is a large city operating within a confined structure. It is the most secured palace in the world, a protection provided by the nature itself - two sides covered by the thick jungles and the rear by the burnt mountains with black rocks – that make any attack from the three sides unthinkable. We are facing the only way in and way out. We have to cross the ditch and bring the draw bridge down while being attentive to the sentry guard tower’s ceaseless arrows. Charging the gate is entirely a different strive. That metal door was initially a giant wooden one that failed to stop Kali. As it was the only path that grants entry and that permits an exit, we had disguised ourselves as gardeners to enter the Maze. Kali ran the wooden gate down by throwing a burning chariot wagon right at it. Unfortunately, the destroyed wooden barrier has been replaced with a more rigid material."

"Getting inside the Palace would take more than just few days", Rana lifted his left hand pointed at the top of the palace and continued, "Those cannons surrounding the palace terrace will make the task even more difficult than imagined. Even if we quickly bring the draw bridge down, it will not soften the defence but swords will be replaced by cannonballs. In the rain of fiery shots, we must drill the metal door. And that’s the reason Yesodha Putran has distanced each unit, so that the damage is distributed and we could advance during the reload event of the artillery weapons. We will take it up slowly and steadily, like an army of ants, across the fallen bridge until the metal door gives away. We are here to stay from several more moons, my friend."

Rana turned and winked at Kacha, "And I have no clue about what is waiting for us behind that gate."

Sena surveyed the top of Vettaiyan Palace. It had its own separate set of wall towers equipped with single cannons. He noticed several enemy soldiers preparing an attack by charging the cannons.

The sun shot itself over the sleepy grey sky from the east. When the horns and conches declared the battle for the tenth time during the War of Karmegha, Ayus pulled the assault towers fast towards the defensive area of Vettaiyan Palace. Engineers installed and operated the trebuchets. The swinging arms launched huge pouches into the air and threw sand over archers surrounding the wall of Vettaiyan Palace. The sand disrupted their vision and disabled them from using their arrows. Catapults were halted near the moat and collectively they fired stones at the two gate towers. Ballista fired larger stones at the towers lining the top of the stronghold. They were destined to hit the single cannons at top of Vettaiyan palace. The soldiers hiding inside the assault towers attacked the wall towers with arrow darts. Light ballistae, the two-handed ranged weapon that used javelins as ammunition, were drawn with a heavy metal arrow attached to a rope. When the rope dart was fired directly at the wall, the metal arrow flew over the ditch carrying the cord along with it. The metal head drilled the wall and stuck rigidly to its surface. Once the rope dart was fixed to the rampart, the other end of the rope was attached to the huge nail planted to the ground near the border of the ditch. Several brave soldiers led by Gudakesha started their journey across the moat using the rope line. They hugged themselves to the rope by coupling it with their hands and legs. Hanging upside down, they pushed their way over the water towards the wall of Vettaiyan Palace.

The reply from the Emperor's defence was strong. Arrow flew from every direction from ballistae that fired hundreds of bolts in a single draw. The archers dipped their faces inside a small basin to remove the sand particles from their eyes. They quickly regained and aimed at the enemy soldiers who were crossing the moat using the rope line. The arrows injured the enemies who were suspended mid-air and made them fall into the ditch of water. The fallen soldiers tried to swim back out of the moat desperately.

A soldiers floating in the water of the ditch felt his legs been pulled by a maw. The jaws of a voracious animal dragged him into the water. The one next to him watched blood bubbling out of the water with wide eyes. Suddenly, several lurking eyes started to float over the water as though waiting to ambush them. The crocodiles stayed hidden under the water by just keeping their head floating higher above their body. The fully grown reptiles swam quickly towards their prey and crushed them between their sharp teeth. A group of crocodiles fought over a single prey. Each pulled the screaming victim in opposite directions and satisfied with the piece they had won, they dipped back into the water. The moat slowly started to turn red.

Gudekesha temporarily halted the cross over. Looking at the horror ditch, he ordered his men to launch spears at the deadly reptiles crawling beneath. The javelins could not stop the massacre, and everyone who fell inside the moats were merely turned into pieces of human flesh coating the surface of the red waters. Gudekesha immediately turned his attention towards the archers on the wall of Vettaiyan Palace. He prepared his metal whip and started launching metal spiked spirals at the wall towers, trying hard to save the rest of his men heading back to Karmegha, hanging to a rope over hungry reptiles.

Two captains of the General's army rushed to the top of the palace. An armoured unit of foot soldiers followed them to the centre of the terrace. Standing before the dome, one of the captain picked up two random soldiers who were loading the cannons. The guards ran briskly towards the commanding captain. He handed over a sleeve swing bow crank wrench to each and directed them to release the dome. The two soldiers looked at each other holding the wrench in their hands.

"You morons", shouted the other captain while moving towards the dome, "There is no time to waste." He pointed at the two holes punctured on the wall either side of the dome and shouted, "Fix them here and here. Quick."

The soldiers hurried to the either side of the dome and fixed the bow wrench to the bearings installed on the wall. They started to rotate the sleeve wrench to release the deceptive outward appearance of the dome. The six portions joined to form a semi-circular upper part of Vettaiyan Palace, separated from each other and stared to fall outwards exposing a six barrel multi cannon climbing up towards the sky. A small circular opening, the size of a man hole, spread out at the bottom of multi cannon over the floor of the terrace as the soldiers slowing rotated their wrench.

Sena watched the dome of Vettaiyan Palace open like a blooming bud. The metal petals twinkled converting the shy rays of sunlight into a dazzling brightness over Karmegha. The soldiers over Karmegha brought their fingers before their eyes to block the brilliance. The multi cannon stood erect facing the army of Empire's United, who witnessed the mounting horror through the gaps of their fingers in fear.

"The fireworks have begun", Sena said softly.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 2/6)

Eyes Behind the Mask

The captains on the roof of Vettaiyan Palace watched the two soldiers working with the wrench. As soon the shaft to enter the control room of the multi cannon opened, one of the captains ordered another soldier nearby to enter the hole on the floor. The captain's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the palace guard limping quickly towards the shaft. All the General's men were fit; selected after a rigorous assessment to meet the required purpose. Any disability - both physical and mental - gains no place in the Emperor's army. The captain lifted his head and looked at the other guards scattered all over the terrace. He noticed that none had worn their uniforms correctly. Tidiness is orderliness was the primary rule of the Great army of Central Kingdom. It then occurred to him that nobody had saluted him when he appeared on the terrace. Lack of respect to higher officials was a punishable offence; a crime sentenced to the pillory. He realised that it was not due to disrespect, but the men dressed in Emperor's military uniform did not know how to salute.

The Captain's eyes widened when words poured out his lips, "I will not let you play your dirty games under my authority. Report immediately who ... "

Before the captain could begin his enquiry, the other captain standing next to him fell to the floor. Streams of blood claimed the cracks in the flooring and serpented beneath the legs of the frightened captain. He turned and found all his men lying over the terrace - all dead. He turned to face a rigid face.

"We are messengers", Maveeran announced coldly at the face of the terrorised captain, "and we are here to deliver you back to the lowest hell. "

Maveeran inserted his knife to the side of the captain's neck. He fell to the floor with his mouth wide open.

Shamu prepared himself to enter into the control room. He attached his hip with a rope and handed the other end of the chord to Maveeran.

A large stone landed beside Littleman. Several boulders showered over the terrace. The escaped slaves found it difficult to shelter from the hard solid materials falling from the sky. Littleman ran quickly towards the wall facing the battlefield, avoiding himself from being killed by the boulders launched by his own brothers. He rolled on the floor thinking of ways to signal Rana or Sena or whoever was in charge on the battlefield to stop their attack, and to signal them that the terrace including the multi cannon was fully under the control of Empire's United.

The General wondered over the delay in firing the multi cannon. Neither the single ones from the wall tower nor the rotary multiple barrel firearm were discharged. He sat curious on his horse, along with the three units of foot soldiers, behind the huge metal gate. He looked to his either side and noticed the secret service of the Emperor hidden all around the palace grounds. He lifted his head and looked at the dome of the palace. Immediately, six cannonballs rocketed above him over the sky. His eyes behind his mask brimmed with satisfaction. A second series of six shots brought gladness to his lips and stretched them behind his mask. As soon as he turned and faced the metal gate, a third set of six cannonballs flew right above his head and landed hard on the metal gate. Its noise shocked him and his horse reared up in fear. His men nervously jumped to either side seeking refuge behind bushes and statues.

After skidding over the cold metal tube, Shamu landed on a flat surface. He noticed an armless metal seat at the centre of the room with a long lever on either side. Behind the chair, there were two pipes crawling up over the inner wall of the dome. The huge pipe was cold and the narrow one next to it was scorching. He took the chair at the centre and gripped the levers. The long bars were attached firmly to the floor and could be moved in several directions to control the movement of the multi cannon above. Below the metal seat Shamu found a pair of foot-operated levers. When he pressed the left pedal, he heard metal rolling over metal from the huge pipe behind him. The mechanism loaded cannonballs into the firearm, Shamu deduced. When he pressed the other pedal, the control room shivered and the vibration stopped soon after the multi cannon was engaged.

Shamu was surprised by the activation of the heavy artillery gun without his knowledge. The right pedal had triggered a sort of ignition through the hot narrow pipe which had fired the shots. He watched through the instrument for observation positioned above the control room seat. The periscope allowed him to see where the shots had landed. He turned the omniscope and fixed it at the entrance on the metal gate. He manipulated the levers to move the firearm towards the entrance gate, but he was unable to move the multi barrel cannon downwards. He operated the foot levers and six more cannonballs ejected towards Karmegha.

Shamu cursed under his breath. He desperately rowed the levers forwards and backward, but the multi cannon siting as the dome of Vettaiyan Palace refused to point itself at the entrance gate. Shamu slapped the right side lever in frustration. The long handle moved back and locked itself. Shamu's eyes glittered with theoretical comprehension. He operated the same lever several times to release it and then lock it back. Keeping it in locked position, Shamu manipulated the other lever upwards. The cannon started to descend its nose. He carefully targeted the entrance of Vettaiyan Palace and when all the six barrels were fixed on the metal gate, Shamu released the right side lever, pressed the right pedal and then, kicked his left foot.

The army of Empire's United assembled on Karmegha panicked when six huge cannonballs lands on the battlefield destroying couple of assault towers and siege weapons. They were surprised to see the second set of shots flying awry and falling on the empty left wing of the battleground. After a brief moment of silence, the Battalion from Heaven heard six heavy knocks on the fortified gate of Vettaiyan Palace.

Littelman snatched the red ribbon from the dead captain and collected a spear while rolling on the floor of the terrace. He ran towards the wall facing Karmegha. He climbed over the defensive enclosure and after attaching the red ribbon to the spear, he started to wave the flag above his head, as high as he could.

Sena looked at the tiny form climbing over the protective wall on the top of Vettaiyan Palace. After steadying itself, the little human form waved a red flag signalling to halt the attack on the dome. Sena identified the brave soldier. Sena smiled.

Yesodha Putran keenly watched the damage the multi barrel cannon invited on Karmegha. He desperately looked at the sum of all his fears squatting on top of Vettaiyan Palace. He shifted his vision towards the front of the attack zone when he noticed the entrance gate and the adjacent two towers trembling. He lifted his scope in curiosity and observed the dome. He whispered with a smile, "Miracle Littleman ... "

"... he is alive", Rana shouted and ran over Karmegha towards the siege weapons unable to control his delight. He reached Kali and pointed Littleman to him. Kali let out a loud cry and fell on his knees. He had been living with the guilt of not been able to save Littleman inside the King's Solar. The culpability had been maddening him since he escaped the Maze with Rana. He lifted a huge boulder and dumped it into the ditch. The sinking stone took a group of crocodiles along with it to the bottom of the moat. Gudakesha halted the boulder attack. Soldiers exited the assault towers and pushed the empty wooden carriers into the ditch. The floating wooden structures formed a dancing bridge over the water between Karmegha and the wall of Vettaiyan Palace. The warriors jumped onto the fallen wooden towers and crossed the moat. They reached the wall and started running towards the entrance gate.

Shamu continued targeting the front side of the palace. His cannons had already destroyed the right gate tower. The chains of the draw bridge were hanging loose. He continuously hit the metal gate, and finally a shot found its way through the metal door. The joints of the gate were weakened when the left gate tower fell down. The draw bridge laid itself over the ditch and touching battleground with its tip.

The General retreated his men from the cannon fire. He was not able to understand what was going on at the top of the palace. He ordered a unit to check on the operations of the multi cannon. It has been a while and the unit had not yet reported back to him. He saw the towers being demolished by heavy shots. When the metal gate was destroyed and the draw bridge fell, The General prepared his men for an ambush.

Kacha and his short swordsmen along with Rana and a group of Ayus ran over the metal bridge. A fierce battle happened over the ditch on the drawn bridge. Kali stood on the gate bridge and battled with the enemies bare handed. He caught his victim by their neck and dumped them into the moat. The feasting crocodiles crowded under Kali feet below the bridge.

As soon as Sultan saw the metal bridge hitting the ground, he ordered his cavalry to advance towards Vettaiyan Palace. The enemy retaliation was weak, permitting the cavalry units to fly over Karmegha and storm the entrance of Vettaiyan palace.

Shamu stopped firing the multi cannon when he noticed the army of the Empire's United reaching the enemy gates. He climbed out of the control room. He saw an entire unit of enemy soldiers lying on the floor of the terrace. Maveeran and his men walked over the bodies of dead soldiers. He watched Littleman standing tall on the wall. He signalled Maveeran to join him and Littleman. The three men watched the battle that raged at the entrance of Vettaiyan Palace.

"I promised you that I will walk you and your men out of the Emperor's palace through that gate", Shamu told Maveeran while pointing at the fallen metal gate.

"Dharma could never be or go wrong", replied Maveeran replied with a respectful smile. The three men waved at the soldier in red armour who was standing at the tip of the draw bridge.

Sena stayed on the Karmegha watching the three men waving at him. He diverted his vision towards the entrance when he noticed commotion near the broken gate.

Through the pack of battling soldiers, The General rode towards Sena dashing his horse forward over the draw bridge and slashing anyone on his way. When he reached Sena on the other side of the bridge, he halted his horse brutally that made the war animal rear up before Sena. The forelegs of the beast moved close in front of Sena's eyes, but he stood like a rock before the angry beast.

When the horse set its feet on the ground, Sena kept staring the eyes behind the mask of the General. Without hesitation, Sena griped Arha inside his left palm and jumped high in the air. Using the force of his descent, he landed Arha on the neck of the beast. The headless horse fell to the ground as Sena set his feet on Karmegha. The General took the fall like a specialist by rolling away from his dead horse quickly.

Sena rushed towards fallen general and slammed Arha onto his armour repeatedly not allowing his to reach for his weapon. With a bandaged right shoulder, Sena spun around himself to gain force to his left hand and each time he faced The General he brought Arha hard on the masked man. The General interrupted Sena's blows with his gauntlets. Sparks fired up into the air as and when Arha slashed the hard metal. Sena suddenly stopped turning and kicked The General on his face.

The iron face mask implanted itself onto The General's Skull making him let out a loud cry of pain. The strap belt attaching the mask to the back of The General's head withered. The eyes behind the mask turned blood red due to the pressure applied by the impact. He managed to roll to his left side, but Sena launched his spin and blow technique once again making The General crawl on his back.

Blood started leaked out of his torn armour. Only pieces of metal strands were hanging from his body. He raised his hand between him and Arha, a gest seeking Sena to halt. Arha mercilessly stuck the gauntlet breaking the bones it tried to protect. The General let out another loud cry of agony while trying to get back on his feet.

As soon as The General looked up, Arha came swirling towards him and slapped him on his face. The face mask ejected and floated in the air before falling on the mud beside the ditch. Sena turned around himself for the final time, and when his back was at The General, he pivoted the handle of his sword, so that the blade was pointed towards his back.

Sena forced Arha into The General's stomach. He released his sword and turned to face The General of the Emperor.

The General fell on his knees; his face hung to the ground. He had both his palms trying to stop the leak around his pelvic area. He lifted his head and looked up at Sena.

Arha slipped from Sena's left hand. Sena left out a silent cry of misery when he saw the face of the man knelt before him. Sena's eyes burnt with anger.

Mentor Manickam stared back at Sena with his bloodshot eyes.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 3/6)

Confessions of a Chameleon
(Rated-R)

"Why ...?", Sena asked through gritted teeth.

Mentor Manickam was unable to look at Sena. He searched for words on the battleground. 'What you seek is also seeking you, General' - Vettaiyan's warning echoed inside his ears. A weak smile rushed to the corners of his lips as he thought, 'The hate that sought me!'

"Baasha, of them all, you know I won't apologise", Mentor Manickam spoke softly being knelt before Sena, "I don't regret, as I fought for what I believed. Every thorn in the path has to be removed, Baasha, to sow the trusted idea and grow a better future."

Mentor Manickam's knees ached. He heard the faint beating of his heart. During the last few moments of his life that was at the mercy of Sena, Mentor Manickam opened up for the first time about the difficult journey he had taken before settling on Karmegha below the eyes of his pupil:

"I come from a settler's family. My father worked for the Suyodhana dynasty. The grandfather of Vettaiyan was a visionary. He wished to expand his empire. He sent several of his faithful men to look for lands that were fertile and acquire the space for the kingdom's expansion. My father was a good hearted man. Instead of accumulating land by destroying forest, he gathered the tribes together. He negotiated with them and annexed their lands with the Central Kingdom. He was regularly appreciated by the king for his noble effort. We travelled to far lands as a family and never had a fixed home. At a very young age I was exposed to various culture and their languages. Being the only son and the brother of four sisters, I swam in the flood of love."

"My father discovered a land abundant in natural resources. He studied the surrounding and wrote a letter to the King explaining about sustainable agriculture in rainforests including rice terrace fields as absolution to deforestation of tropical rainforests. That night we were attacked by the tribes who claimed that the land belonged to them and the spirits of their forefathers ruled the forestry. All the simplifications of growing together in a healthy way were ignored by the arrogant men. My father's clarifications turned to pleas when my family was arrested. He received slaps on his face before his own children. My parents and my sisters were tortured and killed in a gruesome manner in front of my eyes. My last sister managed to save me. We ran into the jungle, but before our tiny feet could take us far from the hunting animals, my sister was recaptured. She hid me inside a thick vegetation. A group of men did ugly things to her. My sister took all their cruelty in silence. All night long she spoke to me with her eyes wide open, guarding the bush inside which I stayed. At dawn they burnt her alive and I was scared, weak, helpless and unable to save my screaming sister."

"I ran back to our farmhouse and sat beside my father shaking him to wake up. I heard footsteps and a group of men entered our land. I was quick to dodge them, and stood cornered inside the hen pen. One of them carried me on his shoulders not minding my kicks on his chest. I sat with the strangers who cremated my family members. I was accepted in the brotherhood of thieves. I was taught in various combats."

"Trees shedded their leaves and new leaves started to appear all over them. It was like a magic. One day, King Sama Sayodhana, the father of Vettaiyan, was attacked by the rebellions when he had come into the forest for hunting. As a young man, I fought with my band of brothers to save the king from the assassination attempt. After I slayed the last attacker, I was the only one standing before King Sama Sayodhana. My brothers and the kings men were all killed in the battle. When the king came to know about my father, he offered me a post in his army. I was promoted as the military trainer. I put in use all the skills I had learned and sharpened the army of Central Kingdom."

The General's neck started to pull towards his back. He managed to keep it steady.

"A decade after the King had dectuplets, The Politician Narendhira Verma paid me a visit during new moon. He offered me a membership in his secret society. He introduced to me The Architect Vitara and The Vaithiyar Kreesnama Muni. The Minster explained about creating a New World. Reluctant to accept his offer, the design of a New World interested me - a world of free will, where every citizen accepts to be organised and follows principles, working towards a common goal."

"The Minister, then, exposed his plan of training Dashakantha, the heir to the throne. I was excited when The Architect spoke about a secret Academy where the nameless from the streets will be trained along with the prince and later promoted to be his personal bodyguard. The Vaithiyar briefed about various techniques and medicines to boost the training. Thus, Panchothi Academy was found under the moonless sky and I was appointed as The Mentor."

"Several infants were brought to the Academy along with the prince and after years of vigorous training only two managed to graduate - Vettaiyan and The Poet."

"When Vettaiyan took over the throne, he proposed me to lead his army. I refused his offer, but accepted to continue training special soldiers, spies and assassins. And then he planted 'the idea' inside me. He described it as 'Freedom from Freedom'. It was fascinating to listen to Vettaiyan talking about control and power. Before giving me time to re-think, Vettaiyan disclosed the location of the tribe that massacred my family and asked me if I was prepared to punish them for their crimes as The General of Vettaiyan Kingdom; an offer that I could not refuse anymore."

"I formed a team, who were also the professors and trainers in the academy, and hunted down the very last one in the tribe that killed my family. They exist no more, no, not even in the history books."

"Central Kingdom expanded as we started to acquire the forest lands either by force or through corruption. The glorious period froze when The Minister turned against us. We learnt that his vision of making Central Kingdom powerful was a drama, as he only wished to avenge King Sama Soyadhana for the murder of his sister, Queen Dasa Radha. He had gone rogue and conspired against Vettaiyan for a silly little whore. Moon Flower was her name and she happens to be his daughter too. I was the one who trained her and he tricked us all to recruit her as a spy working for the Empire. When Vettaiyan burnt her alive, Narendhira Verma planned to take down Vettaiyan just as he had done to throw his father from power."

Mentor Manickam coughed blood. He wiped his mouth with his wrist.

"Vettaiyan wished to conquer Kottaipattinam and make it the capital city of Central Kingdom. But King Rishikodagan resisted, even though he accepted Vettaiyan as the Emperor, he wanted to remain as an independent state which paid taxes regularly. He refused to annex it with Central Kingdom. We planted a spy among his men - the minister of Rishikodagan. We used him to corrupt the King's mind. We made Rishkidagan strave for more power and we fed him with threats and danger to his throne. Rishikodagan became sensitive over the popularity of Kochadaiiyaan, your Father. After several years, the ploy yielded its purpose. Our initial scheme was to make Kochadaiiyaan to take over Rishikodagan, but your Father surrendered. We waited for the right moment, and when Rana returned to Kottaipatinam, he did what your Father refused to do. He beheaded Rishikodagan and stained his hands with innocent blood. I was sure that your father was aware of our political ploy. So, he asked you to guard the kingdom before walking to the pillory."

Mentor Manickam lifted his hands and looked at his own blood coating his palms.

"I have no repentance for what had happened. When The Poet brought you to me, I perceived seeing Vettaiyan when he was guided to me - the same anger, but unaware of where to channelize it. I trained you keeping in mind that you will replace me as The Mentor as well as The General. Vettaiyan closely followed your growth as an assassin. Each mission you had taken had political motives that benefited Vettaiyan's regime - halt growth, sabotage advancement, create chaos, eliminate perils, install corruption and capture rebellions. Vettaiyan told me that with you by his side, threats fall as garlands around his neck. You made me feel proud."

The General's eyes were heavy. He started to fall asleep, but he shook his head to stay alive.

"Every nation or an organisation follows a set of rules. Certain crimes are acceptable, certain actions are punishable. No law is clear in what it states but bent or adopted to suit the set of circumstances. Pachonthi had its own law. And none can escape judgement. Your decision to quit is unpardonable. You were clever, and it took us eight years to locate you. You were a demon who went underground and surfaced with an angel on your shoulders. You should have stayed hidden Baasha."

"I will refuse to accept that I authorised the murders, but my silence favoured Vettaiyan's plan. I wanted you back more than Vettaiyan and see my three best students - Vettaiyan, The Poet and Baasha - united as an unstoppable force. They made you kill your dear ones as a punishment as well as a warning to others in Panchothi Academy; at the same time, as everyone who attended the festival will not be alive, you will be left wondering about the murderer. Finding no clues, you will reach our door steps seeking assistance with the same rage that you had carried when you reached us the first time as a lost kid. You willingly shall become like one of us."

"But you had taken the other path. You met up with Dhavoma, who had an illicit relationship with your Father. She found a soft corner for you, and her challenge was a test. As a winning prize, she presented you with the Demon Eye. You brought the ultlmate end to the Pachonthi Academy."

"I don't believe in myths and folklores. That was until I met Dhavoma. I supervised the scene and witnessed the effect of the Demon Eye."

Mentor Maickam found it difficult to oblige to the demand of his lungs. His air intake grew lesser, while blood dropped out his nose when he tried to send out the empty air.

"But Baasha, when it comes to what one fights for, he is motivated by those whom he is fighting for. And that leads me to confess to you. Vettaiyan must be stopped."

"As a general I have failed. I accepted defeat when the metal gate was shattered into pieces. I have let down my motherland. I had cut past the crowd of soldiers to seek your audience and to inform you about the peril that will ravage this world. But you never gave me a moment to speak."

The General struggled to lift his head high and look straight into the eyes of Sena.

"The Clown, Baasha, I am sure it has been risen. It’s evil in its purest form that knows no good. After destroying the Central Kingdom, it will move towards the other states. At any cost it should not reach the sea. None shall survive its venom, except the Magnificent Seven. But they are no more. King Sama Sayodhana brought your Father and his six companions to Central Kingdom. It was the first time I met your Father, the Saint of Killers. They did their best to lock the monster away from the humans. I have not seen it, but stayed at the entrance of the Deadly Caves. They informed me that it was the last monster alive on this world. I don't know why you father had left it alive inside the thickest jungle. But Vettaiyan knows its location and the way to awaken it."

"I shall not take part in the destruction of this world. I lived for my people and will die for their wellbeing. Idea may differ, but trust is the same. Dooming the entire planet in the name of control and power is absurd. I never stood for such an idea."

"As a Mentor I have won. Even though I wanted to take your life before you took mine, you are a proof of the Pupil who outshined his Master."

The General's neck could no more support his head. Mentor Manickam dropped his head drooling blood. He whispered softly, "When the seven seals are broken, Silence shall reign over the Heaven."

Sena slowly walked around the General. He positioned himself behind Mentor Manickam and pulled the broken armour. The General's head raised automatically and his eyes fell over Sena standing upon him.

"Where are the remaining two teachers ?", Sena demanded.

"Dead", came the weak reply, "They were killed ... Baasha ..."

Mentor Manickam was unable to speak as Sena pulled the armour around his neck choking The General and not permitting him to finish his sentence.

"I have heard enough of your pathetic story", Sena shouted from behind, "Any cruelty cannot be justified by emotions. It’s not about how we deal with our friends; it’s how we deal with our foes that make us what we stand for. You have lost the right to die by my hand. None shall even find your debris that could prove your existance. It shall be like you never existed, no, not even in the history books. You have been hiding like a cunning reptile, seeing the world with your eyes behind the mask swimming inside a lake of soldiers, just like the crocodile floating on the water exposing its eyes alone over the surface and waiting to pounce on its innocent and unaware prey."

Sena dragged Mentor Manickam on Karmegha towards the ditch. Blood dripped from the general's lips. His legs danced aimless on the ground as Sena hauled him towards the moat.

Baasha bent towards Mentor Maickam and whispered in his ears, "... and you are not my master, you filthy lizard."

With one shift action, Sena threw Mentor Manickam inside the moat. He stood at the border of the ditch watching a dozen of hungry crocodiles fighting with each other to get a piece of The General of the Emperor. Each pulled the struggling body in every direction and tore Mentor Manickam into pieces. Grabbing a piece of meat in their mouth they disappeared to the bottom of the moat. Sena looked at the flesh and pieces of bones floating on the water - whatever that was left of Mentor Manickam. He bent down and picked up the Mask of the General and threw it into the water.

The mask floated for a brief moment. Water entered through the eye holes. Slowly and silently the mask dipped to the bottom.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 4/6)

The End of the End

Rana, along with Kacha and his units of short swordsmen, stormed through the broken metal gate. They neutralised the enemy defence and started to mount on the stairways leading to the archer platform around the defensive wall. Rana sliced everyone out of his way and reached the first wall tower. He climbed the spiral wodden staircase and liberated the arrow thrower from the enemy hands. As soon as the first tower was taken over, Rana jumped and advanced to the nearest watch guard tower slashing anyone blocking his way over the platform.

Kalai watched the attack operation from the middle of the battleground. The draw bridge was taken under control by Kali and his men. Gudekesha's unit started to throw ropes and prepared to climb over the defensive wall. Sultan forcefully entered the gardens of Vettaiyan Palace with his camel cavalry mounted by long spearmen. Kalai turned and checked on Kanakavalli who commanded the quiver of archers near the Empire's United campsite. The military array set by Yesodha Putran operated towards victory and Kalai estimated that Vettaiyan Palace will fall into their hands before sunset.

Yesodha Putran attentively watched the enemy defence being exchanged with the Emperor's Secret Service. Ninjas dressed in white, black, blue and yellow uniforms started to swamp the garden area. White Ninja jumped from the corridors and ran over the staircase like water running down the hill. The black Ninjas concentrated their attack on animal cavalry, pulling down the spearmen to the ground by grabbing their lance. The blue Ninjas pushed the foot soldiers back towards the entrance gate fighting them with their nodachi, the long sword. The yellow Ninjas crawled over the defensive walls. They were specially trained super soldiers who climbed walls elegantly like the cats. They wore finger claws, and with specially designed spiked footwear, they moved around on vertical surface. Using the finger claws, they slashed the unaware enemies on platform and pulled them down. They quickly crossed the platform and jumped off onto the other side of the wall after attaching a rope into the manager rings, a metal ring attached to plates over the facade of the wall. Holding to the chord, they ran across the wall, slicing the enemies trying to climb inside the palace. They moved like a pendulum on the wall pushing, kicking and cutting the enemies.

After throwing The General into the moat, Sena moved to pick up his sword Arha. As soon as he turned, he was introduced to a peculiar pain inside his ears. He held both his ears tightly, covering them with his palms. The earache brought Sena to his knees. Sand particles beside Sena's foot jumped and danced colliding with each other. He managed to lift his head and gaped at Vettaiyan Palace. Several soldiers were crawling on the ground holding their hands tightly coupled around their heads. The torment descended to Sena's neck. Sena screamed in agony when the Vettaiyan Palace slightly trembled in the vibrating sound from the seven trumpets.

The handheld brass telescope fell to the ground, before Yesodha Putran hit the floor. His body twisted and writhed like a snail around newly-budding stems. When the seven trumpets were blown, the archers and foot soldiers in front of the campsite shrieked and fell to the ground throwing down their weapons. Blood oozed out of their ears and some died due to continuous pressure thrusted into their ears. Nobleman bleeded through his nose, but his eye was watching the battlefield.

The seven horns were blown in unison from somewhere inside Vettaiyan Palace at the middle of the battle and the high-pitched piercing noise from the ram's horn paralysed everyone in and around the palace building.

Quietness restored itself on Karmegha when the alarming sound stopped abruptly.

Vadhana Devi ran outside her tent towards the pavilion. She was accompanied by Swathi and Swetha. Together they lifted Yesodha Putran from the floor. Vadhana shook his shoulders and blood rushed out of his nose. He opened his eyes and started to look straight at Vettaiyan Palace in bewilderment.

"What kind of jarring noise was that, Wise of All?", Vadhana asked Yesodha Putran once he recovered partially.

"Salpingos", Yesodha Putran said with his eyes fixed on Vettaiyan Palace. Without looking at Vadhana, he replied to her, "a straight, narrow tube drilled through a ram's horn, inserted with a mouthpiece of bone and attached to a bell. Seven in total tuned in different cues. When the seven seals guarding the secrets scrolls of the Creator are broken, the priests sound the alert by blowing one trumpet at a time signalling the danger that shall fall upon His creations. A third of everything shall perish once the horns are blown - hail and fire shall burn the trees and grass; burning mountains plunge into the sea turning it into blood; a great star shall fall over the source poisoning water; darkness shall replace light from all three sources, the sun, the moon and the star; fifth trumpet is a warning to the world about the arrival of The Four; upon the blow of the sixth trumpet The Four will descend upon the living world unleashing death; the last horn sounds the peals of thunder and lightning that are immediately followed by an earthquake and hailstorm."

The ladies stood numb around Yesodha Putran. They found it hard to hard to comprehend the words of the wise man.

"Catastrophe has been casted upon us", Yesodha Putran blinked, "by blowing the seven trumpets together. Its sound power disabled movement. Seven horns were blown to guide an unspeakable danger towards Karmegha."

Yesodha Putran turned and looked directly at Vadhana's eyes and declared, "The End of the End has come."

The warriors slowly regained, but the ringing in their ears continued. Battle resumed and the soldiers threw their weapons weakly at each other. The white ninja beside Rana recovered faster than him and launched his katana at the chief of Empire's United. Rana quickly pulled Inesh, his bow that hung around his shoulders, towards his chest. The sharp blade of Katana stuck hard on the frame of Inesh sending sparks over the platform. Rana gathered himself and crawled towards the wall to grab Vajrastra lying on the wooden floor. When he picked up his sword, the white Ninja kicked him on his ribs. Rana fell down from the tall wall towards the ditch filled with crocodiles.

Sena saw his brother falling from the top of the defensive wall. He got up calling out his name. Rana, while falling, found that he was right above the rope line that ran across the moat. When he was nearer to the chord, he flipped his sword and using Vajrastra as a gliding rod, Rana slid over the zip-line over the hungry crocodiles waiting to catch their prey. The sharp blade of his weapon sliced the rope as Rana glided towards Sena standing on the other side of the ditch. Mid way, the rope slit and Rana landed over the floating siege towers on the moat. He tried hard to balance himself while quickly being surrounded by giant lizards with sharp teeth. They attacked the wooden tower with their tail to destabilise their prey. Rana managed to cross the moat by running over the dancing wooden platform. He stood on the last siege tower and looked at the bank of the ditch where Sena was standing. Rana knew that it would be a risky jump, but only one other option came to him mind - to be the lunch for the reptiles. After taking few steps backwards, Rana ran over the tiny platform and launched himself into the air towards Karmegha. At the same time a crocodile leaped from the water with its mouth wide open to grab Rana. Sena threw his hand and caught Rana. He quickly pulled him and the wicked reptile missed its prey. It splashed on the water and swam away seeing Rana safely landing beside Sena.

"The crescendo came from the underground of Vettaiyan Palace. What could be the reason to blow the such trumpets?", Rana inquired.

The silence on Karmegha was deafening. It reminded Sena of the last words of Mentor Manickam, 'When the seven seals are broken, Silence shall reign over the Heaven.'

"To call The Clown", Sena whispered.

... to be continued ...

Footnote:

Seven Symbolic Seals / Seven Angelic Trumpeters are phrases from the Book of Revelation, a book of the New Testament that occupies a central place in Christian eschatology. Significance of the trumpets are briefly given adapted to fiction.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 5/6)

Bark at the Bark

The dense vegetation of the Vettaiyan Jungle to the east of Karmegha started to wither. Black smoke rose to the grey sky and the odour of burnt plant life enveloped the battlefield. The grasses started to transform into dark strands of lifeless threads, while the trees above them toppled to the ground.

The scared war animals panicked as soon as the characteristic sound of a rattlesnake - the rattle shaking as a result of extremely rapid tail movement of a of venomous snake - pitched into Karmegha. The frightened camels and horses overthrew their riders and ran crowdedly through the broken metal gate, scattering themselves on the battlefield in a state of agitation. The recovering soldiers stopped throwing weapons at one another. The foes looked at each other wide eyed, their glance registered uncertainty and fear about the unknown.

A situation of panic and disorder installed itself on Karmegha when continuous rattling noise made the battlefield resemble to a pit of vipers.

Three beasty dogs raced past the fleeing war animals and ran towards the campsite. Rana and Sena watched the Emperor's pets running fast towards the fallen foot soldiers of Karimedai positioned at the centre of the battlefield. Vettaiyan Kukkuras darted past the line of defence to reach the quiver of archers where Kanakavalli and her bowmen were returning to their normal state.

Following the hounds, Sultan rode on his camel over the drawbridge. He managed to control his camel during the frenzy situation, when he noticed three dogs running down from the palace stairways supervised by a fourth hound sitting on top of the stairs. Picking up Kacha, who was beside him on the ground, Sultan chased the Hounds from Hell. The camel ran angrily on the battlefield grunting with its mouth open and showcasing its sharp canines and the cavity spread molars. Their tongue rolled in and out its jaws, drooling sticky fluids over the battlefield. The ship of the desert sailed over Karmegha by bringing its hind legs close to its forelimbs without bending its knees. It galloped by stretching its forelimbs forward. The flat and thick hoofs sent sand dust into the air each time the camel picked up speed carrying Sultan and Kacha between its humps.

Images from her childhood projecting her family being attacked by deadly hounds flashed before Kanakavalli's eyes - a horrific incident that traumatised her and made her speechless since then - when she saw Vettaiyan Kukkuras approaching her fiercely. She felt faint at the sight of the one eyed beast that tore apart her brother Arasuvendhan in front of her eyes. Kanakavalli fell to the ground.

Utta, Antha and Kaaga circled around the unconscious woman warrior.

The arrows from the unsteady archers were unable to stop Antha, the one eyed Kukkura, from dragging Kanakavalli over the battlefield. They moved away from their position when Utta, the earless dog and Kaaga, noseless hound, ripped off the throats of couple of bowmen sending a warning to others. The beasts calmly followed Antha which carried Kanakavalli between its teeth. Amidst the non-stop rattling sound, the calmly moving dogs sent chills down the spine of the watching archers.

Kalai was taken by surprise when three dogs rushed past him and his men. Before he could react, Kanakavalli had fell down to the ground and stayed motionless. He ran towards the hounds when he saw one of them dragging Kanakavalli. He raced as fast as he could while witnessing the horror the hounds unleashed on Karmegha. The one-eyed dag threw Kanakavalli into the air. The earless one pounced forward and slapped her back onto the ground using its heavy paws. The noseless wild wolf turned and looked at Kalai with its cold eyes. The attacking dogs buried their sharp canine teeth into Kanakavalli’s armor tearing the metal with their powerful jaws. Kalai sprinted to be on time before the body armour gave away exposing Kanakavalli vulnerable to the hounds which were playing with her body using her as a toy.

The third beastly watching dog jumped at Kalai. He rolled over the ground and escaped the deadly pounce of Kaaga. It halted elegantly behind Kalai and turned to face him. Seeing its victim lying on the ground, Kaaga quickly leaped and landed on its prey.

Kalai saw Kaaga on top of him in mid-air hiding the sun with its body and preparing to land on him, menacing him with its protruding sharp finger nails. Kalai reacted as fast as he could and Kaaga landed over his body. The hound buried Kalai under its weight, but stayed on him without moving. After a moment, Kaaga rolled to the side and Kalai got up soaked in the blood of the beast.

When the present moment passed its hand to the next moment, Kalai had brought his sword and held it tight making the blade face upwards. Kaaga had landed hard on the sword of Kalai which buried itself into the beast puncturing its heart.

Kalai pushed Kaaga and griping his sword he ran towards Kanakavalli. The silent death of their noseless brother maddened Antha and Kaaga. The earless dog turned ferociously and leaped towards Kalai. The angry beast had all its nail and teeth sprouting out of its body and it was in an advantageous position before its standing enemy. Kalai knew he could not escape the second attack as the earless dog was quicker and targeted his face. He knew that before he could raise his sword, the beast would have separated his nose from his face. Kalai opened and closed his eyes while standing before pouncing Kaaga counting his last moment on the battlefield. When he closed his eyes, the dog was close in front of his nose, and when he reopened them, he saw the beast flying to the side and getting pinned to the ground by a golden spear.

Sultan ordered his camel to gallop faster while watching the deformed dogs pulling away Kanakavalli from the quiver of archers. Kacha stared the wolf dog when Kalai pushed it away from him. He turned and gaped at Kanakavalli who was being torn apart by two hounds. Sultan was aware that he would be late to save Kalai, when he witnessed the earless dog pouncing at him. He quickly brought his golden spear to his shoulders and released it towards the beast with full force. The golden spear landed on the neck of Kaaga just a moment before it could crush the nasal bones of Kalai with its hard teeth.

Antha blinked its single eye when its second brother glided to a stop and failed to get up. It painted its annoyance around its mouth with its white sharp teeth. It launched itself over Kanakavalli and ran towards the approaching camel. Antha elegantly jumped and reached the neck of the camel. Tearing a piece of meat along with the respective parts of bones from the camel's throat, Antha landed back on the ground. With blood dripping out of its mouth, it turned and looked at the fallen enemies. Antha covered half of the ground between itself and Sultan by foot, and when it had gained enough momentum it sprang in the air towards Sultan. The merchant from the sea maintained his ground until the one eyed beast was close enough. He rolled to his side and a short sword drilled itself into the active eye of Antha.

Kacha, who hid behind Sultan, raised and held his sword tight with his strong arm, on which Antha collided head-on. Kacha walked and removed his sword from the dead dog. Antha's face was punctured with two eye holes.

Kalai carried Kanakavalli and doubled to the campsite. Sultan knelt before his dead camel with his eyes closed. A moment later he got up and followed Kalai along with Kacha.

The attack of the deformed dogs started and ended fast, between the time it took for Kali to join Rana and Sena from the draw bridge to the bank of the ditch.

A howl from Vettaiyan Palace mingled with the rattling noise. Chintha, the mother of Vettaiyan Kukkurras, sat at the top of the staircase letting out a long, sad cry after witnessing Antha, Kaaga and Utta dead on Karmegha. It turned and looked towards the east. It lifted his head to the sound of a mild whistle. It got up and followed the shadow of its Master.

The sky darkened when Vettaiyan Palace was submerged under a thick shadow. Heavy destructive noises of breaking walls and exploding barrels came from corner of the palace facing the forest. Sena saw the source of destruction - a wide and large mid body of a viper with the rattle replaced by a long sharp knife like bone at the tail end. Whatever was above the body of the snake threatened the surrounding by moving its tip of the tail and the series of hollow hard bone released a warning rattling sound. The lower half consisting the body of snake was covered with a multi green colour skin, padded with big, fat scales that tapped with each other whenever the tip of the tail moved, increasing the note of the frightening noise. The snake's lower body was bordered by a series of triangular rigid plates that opened and closed spitting thick green liquid. The toxin completely damaged everything that came it came in contact with. The dense vegetation crippled and dies instantly when the poison was sprinkled on them.

Rana and Sena watched the lower part of the last living monster break its way into the gardens of Vettaiyan Palace. Soldier under the reach of the undulation of the reptile started to escape from being crushed by the immense monster. A huge human hand holding a broad heavy sword fell over the platform of the defensive wall crushing the structure and sending the warriors nearby flying into the air. Another palm caught a dozen startled men suspended in mid-air and threw them over Karmegha. The soldier fell on the battlefield as though it rained humans from the sky. An immense metal shield swept the ground crushing the terrified army. A fourth hand lashed a thick black whip and the thong travelled to the other end of the palace and when it returned the fall of the whip tumbled several wall towers to the ground taking all the trapped soldiers along with them.

Shamu and his team wondered about the sounding of the trumpets and stood confused not knowing the source of the rattling noise. As soon as Shamu saw the palace wall being crushed under the weight of a gigantic snake body, he quickly jumped into the control room. He blindly pelted the devilish creature with cannonballs that ejected nonstop from the multi cannon barrels. The metal shots resembled as pellets when they fell on the monstrous body of the unknown beast. Even though the cannonballs could not damage the creature, the rapid fire managed to push it back into the jungle. Shamu stopped firing when the cannonballs flew awry all over the forest. He checked the surrounding under the periscope and found only stillness. Suddenly the thick vegetation trembled as though an enormous creature was dashing through it. Shamu followed the rapid motion which was moving away from the palace.

Sena and Rana watched the jungle keenly along with several soldiers who looked around them in extreme fear. Vadhana and Yesodha Putran were terror-struck seeing a colossal monster attacking everyone around Vettaiyan Palace. Vadhana followed the movement in the jungle that stopped abruptly behind the burnt building of Fort Ayan. She got to her feet and walked to the edge of the raised platform. The momentary silence was scary.

Shattering Fort Ayan into pieces, The Clown made its entry into Karmegha.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 6/6)

The Clown of War (part 1/3)

One human head faced south staring at Vettaiyan Palace in silence, the other behind it screamed fiercely at the campsite, when the remaining two heads - the one facing the west surveyed the battlefield growling at the disbanded soldiers and east facing head was hung as though it was in a dead state.

The four heads of The Clown looked around Karmegha without moving the neck as soon as it sprang out of the jungle exploding Fort Ayan.

The heads were attached to their respective bodies joined together by the shoulders. The human-like anatomy shared an arm with each other and each body controlled two arms respectively. A weapon was held in each of the four hands - a vector shield made out of a rigid material, a Ba Gua broadsword, a whip and a sickle – and The Clown juggled them between the hands like a circus clown. The four frames of the body were glued around the midriff and joined to a snake's lower body which formed the lower part of The Clown. Large scales covered the green skin of the reptile bordered by hard skin plates. A pointed white bone swung to either side vigorously as the tipping the tail of The Clown.

The creature sat on the coiled lower part, terrorising everyone on Karmegha. The continuous movement of the scales and the tail tip generated non-stop rattling sound when four pairs of eyes looked at every direction at the same time. With a swift movement, the creature turned its waist around and the heads altered their positions.

The cloaked head over the body covered with rugged tunic and holding a sickle and whip in its hands watched the soldiers on Karmegha. The chin touched the chest making the head hanging down completely and it coldly watched the warriors with its sunken eye raised towards the sky. Few warriors had the courage to point their spears at the monster. The cloaked head brought its hand carrying the sickle flat on the ground. The action provoked a force breeze that disturbed the tunic covering its body exposing its rib bones. The monster of a man swept the ground with the sickle chopping the heads of the warriors nearby.

Sena immediately removed Europa from his hip belt and held it before his left eye. He watched the last living monster of the world through the diamond lensed mythical telescope.

"The Reaper", Sena Exclaimed. He closely watched the other three bodies and whispered, "The Darsider, The Punisher, The Rager." He looked at the coiled lower part of the creature's body and declared, "Naga Kaliya."

The four bodies from the waist up were of different colours:

The Reaper had a pale white face on a skeletal body embraced by a rugged grey tunic and the hairless scalp was crowned by a cloak. The thin pale skin pulled over the facial bones upon which a pair of half opened horrible human eyes shinned like emeralds. The lips were wrinkled covering the decayed teeth chanting the verses of pain and death. Also known as Soul Eater or Harvester, The Reaper stole the souls by killing the body with the sickle. The souls emerging from the dead bodies energised its eyes.

The Darksider had the torso and the human face painted pure black with long dark hair pouring down from the head over the shoulders. The eyes flared like rubies above the partial grown facial hair. Referred as The Farmer, the red eyes announce famine and drought. The vegetation turns lifeless and the fleshes of the victims are sucked out through their mouth after choking them with the whip.

The Punisher had a body totally shining in white with a healthy face covered with dense, long white facial hair surrounding a pair of eyes glittering like blue spinel gemstone. Cited as The Judge, the huge metal shield blocked goodness and sucked the victims into an abyss of despair, making them experience harsh tormenting punishment.

The Rager had a body completely covered in red supporting the human head with medium long hair pushed back. The eyes shinned yellow bringing chaos and confusion. Referenced as The Executioner, the broad blades of the Ba Gua stung the victims like molten lava drilling through their skin.

"What is this ... whatever ?", Kali muttered. Amidst the rattling sound and the heavy breathing noise of The Clown, Kali's loud voice felt like a whisper.

"They are the monsters Our Father had encountered", Rana recollected, "I have read about them at the Santuary of Truth inside Gulf of Bairavi."

"Our father met with The Reaper who posed as an aged man sitting under a tree before he met with The Rager at the The Fort of Kathipara that stands on top of the mountain Vanvayil in Kalingapuri. He confronted the Punisher in the Majantha Caves situated in the middle of Indhamaan Islands and jailed the Chudails inside a bottle. During his sea adventures, He slayed The Darksider that terrorised the sea routes and chopped the green serpent which attacked his crew members on his ship, Anagha."

"The creature standing before us is a merger of all those monsters confronted by Our Father to save His Children by stopping The Reaper from claiming healthy bodies; The Darksider from disrupting the weather; The Punisher from penalizing the guiltless; The Rager from tochering innocents; and Naga Kaliya from poisoning the world with manipulations."

"It's not real, it's an illusion", Sena cried out loud, "Monsters ceased to exist. It's just a trick played to believe the unbelievable through hypnosis on the entire population of the world who are not prepared to come in terms with each other. Using their differences, the magic was performed inside their mind to stop them from thinking."

"Who could be the magician who pulled off such a hallucination on every living being at the same time ...?", while Sena was wondering loudly, the image under his lens shrunk. His right eye closed pressed tight and his mouth opened wide in awe when his left eye saw a one eyed rabbit moving its noses rapidly up and down under his lens.

"It all makes sense", Sena spoke to himself softly.

Immedaitely the words of Vettaiyan resounded in his ears, 'The Three Supreme laughed and then, one of them replied, "Run. Hide. You are just a hare."'

Sena started to talk rapidly to Rana:

"The Emperor spoke about the dispute between the one called Rakshas and the Creator during the fifth day of war. His version stated that the Creator cheated the Ruler of Darkness by not sharing the Light with the Second World. The Devine Ones teamed up and murdered Rakshas who sworn revenge. Since then, Rakshas had been hiding somewhere in the universe to gather an army to fight the Creator and reclaim his throne. He master planned to acquire the Light, the power source of the Creator, with an intention to share it with rest of the world.

And that's not the Truth. It's a manipulation of Rakshas upon the weak to create his army to go against the Creator.

The Creator did not refuse to share; He had highlighted that the power of the Light could be destructible in the hands of the Unknown. When Rakshas attacked the First World, The Creator had no other choice but to destroy the Second World. Rakshas escaped with a legion of demons and entered the Thrid World, our world. The harmony between the worlds was broken, resulting in the closure of the portals permanently. The Creator knew that Rakshas will find a way to reclaim the Light, after all he is the Devil born out of the Creator's own Desire. The Devine One devised two actions - one to eliminate the threat from this world, and to hide the Light from Rakshas.

Our Father was thrusted with the duty of sending back lost souls to their respective worlds. His prime mission was to find and eliminate Rakshas. He had even consulted with Dhavoma and Yaksha to know his whereabouts. When he came across the creature that terrorised the jungle of the Central Kingdom, he knew that it was not real but a mirage of fears, a trick deployed by the Devil. He met The Emperor inside the Dark Caves and to make the scared boy a valiant heir to the throne and to allow him to become a symbol of courage, Our Father neutralised the creature so that The Emperor could slay it later and stand as the hope for his people. The intentions of Our Father were true, until later, The Emperor's father sent him to find the rabbit in the jungle.

The Creator had hid the Light inside his creations; the realised souls carry them back to Him again. But Rakshas was not aware of it, and he was still looking ways to reach the Kingdom of Light. Just like how The Creator hid the Light in plain sight, Rakshas too took a lesser suspecting disguise. He roamed on this world as a rabbit hiding inside a burrow of a dense jungle.

Who will look for a devil inside a harmless hare? Thus, Our Father was unable to find him. Even Chakora failed to point him in the right direction. At a point in time, Our Father knew that His days as the trusted ally of the Creator were coming to an end. He had chosen The Emeperor to pursue his search. He had offered him the Sword of Destruction to slay Rakshas. But before The Emperor could figure it out, he fell for the sweet words spoken by the one eyed rabbit, which served as an aid to his wounds during the helpless time. The Emperor started to believe the unbelievable. That night The Emperor entered into a pact with Rakshas. He agreed to assist Rakshas to find the artefacts that shall open the portals again in exchange to power.

The Emperor used me to stay in power and he used you to collect all the artefacts. Together we became a threat for him. This war, he agreed so that he could eliminate us. And when it did not happen as he had planned, he awakened The Clown. He was under pressure to deliver what he had agreed with the Devil, and we were blocking it from happening. The Clown in one of the Devilish forms of Rakshas.

Mentor Manickam ... The General of the Emperor struggled to win this war, as he knew that The Emperor would unleash terror if he lost the battle. He was confident that victory was the only chance to stop The Emperor from bringing doom upon this world. On the eighth day, the dissatisfaction of The Emperor over the proceeding of the war may have triggered the fear inside The General. As the last resort, he had sent his entire army to wash us out completely from the battlefield, but he failed.

Rakshas is the illusionist orchestrating our fears. Vettaiyan is his stage and we are his puppets."

Sena stopped talking and let out a breathe of despair, "Only the Magnificent Seven - Our Father and His six companions - were equipped and have the courage to slay such a beast. In their absence .... with none to guide ... we have to fight with our own demons", Sena brought Europa to his side and looked up at the sky covered with grey clouds.

The Clown stood tall on Karmegha blocking the mid-day sun, the torsos of the creature appeared that of a warrior.

Rana felt drizzy. His visions from lake of woes came rushing to him - the oar changing into a white snake; that swam across the river and joined the four men sitting on the horse backs. He closed his eyes tightly to escape from the rattling noise. The sound of the seven trumpets had alerted the arrival of The Four, he thought.

Rana turned and smiled weakly at his brother, "Saints sit and talk, warrior's get into action."

Saying so, Rana plucked the Demon Eye that hugged Sena's neck without his permission and took off on foot towards The Clown, before his brother could stop him.

... to be continued ...

Footnote

The Clown - It is an imaginary creature inspired from several such mythical monsters that roam inside our mythologies. Navagunjara is a creature with nine different animals sharing the same body. It appears in Poet Sarala Dasa's version of epic Mahabharatha and Prince Arjuna challenges the creature. Reachisey is an animal with a head of an elephant and the body of a lion. Naga (serpent) creatures are depicted with giant sanke bodies and upper torsos of humans. Uluchi, half-maiden and half-serpent, is the second wife of Arjuna. Several such Naga creatures appear in folklores, myths and epics - Kaliya, Karkotaka, Astika, Manasa, ..., etc.

In greek mythology, Geryon, the son of Khrysaor, is a giant with three bodies from the waist up (with three heads, six arms and six legs).

The Clown does not appear in any mythology or folklore. It is a hybrid of Naga creature (Mahabharatha) and four supernatural riders of the apocalypse (Book of Revelation). The Reaper, The Punisher, The Rager & The Darksider and their descriptions are imaginary. The Clown is designed to adapt to the flow of fiction and is created as a 'pre-climax climax' mini-boss fight (a term used in gaming language).

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 6/6)

The Clown of War (part 2/3)

Rana violently shook the vial which was half-buried in his left hand while on the move. When the Demon Eye was stirred vigorously, a spectrum of coloured liquids swam over each other in the interior of the tiny container. The droplets collected themselves together and started to mingle with each other. A vertical eye appeared and occupied the inner surface surrounded by colourless liquid.

A huge shield flew above Rana.

Before Sena could react, Rana snatched the vial from him and ran towards the battlefield. Sena could only yell his brother's name; but his call failed to chain Rana. At that moment, a huge shield flew above his head.

Shamu was quick to react when he saw The Clown emerge from the jungle and stand tall on Karmegha replacing Fort Ayan. He aligned the optical instrument and started to work with the hand levers to position the multi cannon targeting The Clown. When the creature was in line with the cannon fire, he operated the pedals. The outpouring cannonballs did not miss their mark. Each shot landed on the four headed monster and perforated the serpent tailed beast.

The Clown swung around and The Punisher faced Vettaiyan Palace. The swaying tail knocked the nearby soldiers off their feet. The Punisher gave a cold stare at the dome of the Vettaiyan Palace with its icy blue eyes. It lifted the broad shield high above the heads and launched it towards the palace with immeasurable strength.

The vector shield thrown by The Clown flew over Karmegha cutting above Rana, who was running into the battlefield, and gushing in the air over Sena, who was desperately calling out his brother.

Before reaching the palace garden, the broad metal shield weapon whistled past the broken gates with a speed of a lightning and swore higher than the palace building striking the six barrel heavy artillery like a thunderbolt. It cut through the mouths of the cannons and sliced the metal barrels like a hot knife through butter. It halted after craving half of the multi cannon, separating each cannon barrel into respective halves. The loaded shots were trapped inside and exploded causing an internal damage to the multi cannon. Black smoke rose in the air when explosive powder burnt metal.

The whole structure of the dome reacted to the impact of the shield launched by The Clown. The heavy artillery was completely destroyed. The two pipes behind Shamu trembled violently as the cannonballs rushed down to the source area where they were stocked. The entire control room vibrated. Shamu started to exit the control room when mild explosions occurred near the foundation of the palace.

Sena followed the flying shield and witnessed it striking the multi cannon. The destroyed mounted gun looked like the cannons pushed their metal tongue out. The ground around Vettaiyan Palace quaked. A soundless explosion occurred in the basement that shook the earth around Karmegha. The Vettayan statue wobbled and after swaying for a couple of times, it came back to its installed position. The palace building rocked when cracks began to appear on the floor of the garden stretching past the draw bridge and running down Karmegha. Several crocodiles were thrown into the air along with large jets of water from the moat. A moment later, the effect of the impact stopped and the strong palace building stood unmoved over the fissured floor.

The Clown turned its attention towards the warriors on the battlefield. Venom secreted from Naga Kaliya and ejected through the thick skin plates bordering the snake body. When the toxin fell over the soldier, it burnt their flesh dissolving it completely. Only skeletons and bones fell back to the ground.

The Demon Eye blinked at Rana. Suddenly, the ground quaked around Rana and threw him on his knees above a pool of blood. Without hesitation, Rana broke the seal and drank the portion from the vial on the trembling battlefield. As the thick, tasteless liquid entered Rana's throat, he felt an external force tearing apart his gullet. He sensed his body being pulled in every direction and his head started to pound heavily. He placed both his hands on the ground and watched his own reflection on the red water. A part of Rana was still hanging inside and he watched his own eye turning redder than the blood. His lips parted revealing the canine teeth. A blaze started to appear around him as a response to his burning sensation. Rana sight altered and he no longer saw the objects as they were to be seen. Everything turned grey and humans on the battlefield were moving as scary dark shadows.

Rana, while completely surrendering to the influence of Demon Eye, recollected the scary vision he had when he fell into the Lake of Woes - 'the picture moved downwards and flashed what looked like a war zone. Soldiers were running. It was raining liquid and then fire. Suddenly the warriors were ablaze. Rana saw teeth of beasts. Rana experienced through the images flashes of his brother. Sena acted inhumane.'

Rana before turning into a demon realised that the reflection he saw through his vision at the Gulf of Bharavi was not Sena, but himself turning inhumane.

Sena briskly walked and talked to Kali, "Height is our enemy. It's an issue to reach the top of the creature as it is standing tall on a vacant ground. The heartless creature has to be beheaded."

Kali ran madly towards The Clown yelling at it. Sena picked up Arha and watched Rana. What was unknown to him until then, played before him in the form of his brother. He witnessed himself turning into a Demon at the Malai Kadu Thiruvizha, the festival massacre that claimed the life of his wife and daughter. Rana did not change physically contradicting to the witness of the festival massacre, the shepherd boy, who had stated that Sena transformed into a flaming monster. Sena knew that everyone present at Malai Kadu Thiruvizha - whom he had slaughtered unknowingly - were drugged too, which made them to hallucinate. But there was a tremendous alteration in Rana's movement. He found Rana multiple times faster than usual and looking in every direction as though he was surrounded by a group of dangerous wasps. Rana did not stop moving his head while rotating his sword in his left hand. The golden frame of Inesh had a peculiar shine as though it was placed over a flame. Covering the distance between him and The Clown in few steps, Rana bolted towards the four headed monster.

Throwing the vial away, Rana dashed at The Clown. He felt a coldness subdued by high temperature inside him. The heat and cold sensation acted as a fuel igniting Rana with extraordinary power and allowing him to feel invincible. He suddenly felt an unspeakable strength. His head felt lighter and his heart beat grew multiple times faster than usual, pumping blood to generate continuous energy. Rana found himself moving rapidly, and his legs raced with each not permitting the feet to touch the ground. Holding Vajrastra in his left hand, Rana pounced on The Clown that resembled as a monstrous dark jelly inside his burning eyes.

The Punisher punched Rana. He was tossed in the air and came to a stop by breaking his skid with his bare right hand placed on the ground. A cloud of dust covered Rana. He shook his muddy armor and threw himself at The Clown as a fierce bull.

Naga Kaliya slapped Kali with the tip of its tail. The strong man was pushed to the ground. Kali got back onto his feet. He picked up a heavy axe hammer and rushed towards the serpent targeting its hard knife-like bone tail.

Sena avoided Rana, as he knew that his brother was not in a mental or physical state to distinguish a friend from a foe. The Demon Eye saw no good, but only the evil in everything.

Ignoring Rana, The Clown followed Sena who skidded under the serpent body. He held Arha tightly in his left hand and prepared himself to block the Ba Gua sword.

To the right of the monster, Rana stormed his attack, and to the left of the creature, Sena stood defending its massive blow.

The broad sword met Arha and the force was completely absorbed by the divine sword. But Sena found it difficult to hold on to the pushing power of The Clown with only his left hand. His wounded right shoulder ached. Sena yelled at the top of the voice, while holding Arha as the barrier between him and the giant sword above his head. He slipped and rolled to his side after removing Arha from blocking the Ba Gua. The sharp blade of The Rager dug the earth.

Rana inserted Vajrastra into the belly of the snake. The Clown let out a huge cry with all its four mouths opening at the same time when the divine sword drilled its flesh.

Kali got the moment he waited for and brought the hammer part of his weapon hard on the tail bone of the serpent creature.

The Clown launched its whip. Rana cleverly jumped over the whip thong, and Kali was quick to fall back. The whip made a full circle around The Clown. Sena dodged the deadly swing while getting back to his feet. The rotation of The Clown was dynamic. When The Reaper’s torso changed its position, the hard handle of the sickle struck heavily on the left shoulder of Rana. He felt no pain, but Vajrastra fell to the ground as though his arm was paralysed. Rana picked up his weapon using his right hand, and with his left hand moving loosely like a pendulum beside him, he moved towards Naga Kaliya to position himself in front of the Reaper. His face raged with anger and his eyes glowed like a vermillion.

Kali was once again thrown away by The Clown. Sprays of venom fell around him. Sena watched Kali struggling to evade the toxic attack of The Clown. The sickle of the Reaper threated Sena. he dug himself under the green eyes of The Reaper. The Rager slayed soldiers running for their lives. The Punisher collected dust from the ground and blew it into the air in order to blind every one near. Chaos and terror settled over Karmegha. Eventhough Rana was sacrificing himself to buy time for Sena to find a way to defeat The Clown, Sena was unable to invent any. One side his childhood friend was drowning in venom and on the other side his brother was suffering from an untold pain. Between them Sena stood under a demon which refuses to give up until it swallowed the whole world. Mentor Manickam's final words rang in his ears – 'None shall survive its venom, except the Magnificent Seven. But they are no more.'

Through the dust storm, Sena noticed Rana running madly towards him and there was something weird about his preferred hand. Looking at his bloodshot eyes, Sena's heart leapt in sorrow. He wanted to take his brother inside his arms and end the agony permanently. Sena fell to his knees. Arha caressed the ground.

At that moment Sena knew that his brother will kill him. Death by the hands of Rana will make the prophecy come true - 'And in the battle of three, only one will stand.'

Sena thought that soon the remaining army of the Empire's United will bring the monster down with the guidance from Yesodha Putran. He was glad that he kept his promise to Vadhana. He was delighted that Rana shall stay alive to slay The Emperor and shall become the 'one who will stand'.

It started to snow on Karmegha and Lalli was running on the soft white floor wearing a white gown and carrying a red rose in her hand.

Sena smiled.

… to be continued …

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Day One Zero - Falling Upward (Part 6/6)

The Clown of War (part 3/3)

Rana swung his sword to his side slashing the scared soldiers who were still trapped under The Clown. They all belonged to his army. The glowing eyes of Rana marked a smoky image in front of them under The Reaper. Rana gripped his sword and ran towards Sena yelling at him fiercely. Tiny lightening danced over the sky.

Suddenly, a climbing rope fell beside Sena. He lifted his head in surprise and saw the four commanders of the Empire's United floating above him. Sena was not sure whether he was still in a dream state or it was actually Kanakavalli, Sultan, Kalai and Kacha who had thrown the chord with climbing knots. They were standing on a star shaped wooden platform with a canvas wing attached to either side.

After carrying Kanakavalli to safety, Sultan, Kalai and Kacha met up with the queen and the strategist on the platform. They witnessed the terrorising monster along with Vadhana and when the dome of Vettaiyan Palace was destroyed, Sultan called out to Kacha and Kalai. They ran towards the mountain cliffs and entered the engineering division, where Sultan's merchants were building a flying machine referring to the Vimana Records collected by Kanakavalli and Sena.

Not heeding to the warnings of the engineers that the flying saucer - named The Aigle - was yet to be tested, the three men climbed onto the wooden floor of The Aigle after learning few basic on how to fly the machine. Kanakavalli had recovered inside the nursing tent and had enquired about what had happened after she had blacked out. The three men were wondering how to take off as The Aigle needed four pilots to operate it. They were glad to see Kanakavalli joining them and the four off them took off over Karmegha.

They noticed Sena knelt under the monster. Positioning themselves on top of him, they helped Sena to climb aboard. Sena looked at them postioned at the four corners of a star shaped wooden platform. He examined the flying machine with his eyes and the knowledge about engineering theory behind the machine, which he had read in the Vimana Records. The engineers had pulled out an impress work. He was astonished to stand upon the first flying machine.

The design of The Aigle was identic to the one illustrated in the Vimana Records. The hexagonal (star shaped) wooden platform supported a trident in the middle, on which a metal coil was thickly bound into the shape of a double lotus and inserted to the centre prong of the fork. The remaining two prongs, opposite to each other, were attached to cables that ran connecting the three external and three intersecting points on either side of the hexagonal wooden platform respectively. At the four corners of the star shaped floor, a cylinders was vigorously cooking a chemical element that had a dark grey surface. The process to produce the special chemical was mentioned in the Vimana Records. It was fabricated by burning a special type of stone called cinnabar rock. The chain of mountains behind the campsite was made of such peculiar ore and the rocks pocessed decent flammable properties.

The boiling cylinders acted as the engine, and the speed of The Aigle was controlled by operating each engine individually. It needed four pilots to fly The Aigle. The four boilers were connected to the pole of the trident through tube cables. The hot air from the burning chemical produced energy and travelled through the pole up to the double lotus. The thickly bound coil converted the energy into power and transmitted it to the six intersecting and external points of the hexagonal platform via the cables attached to the prongs. Two huge wings made out of stubborn cloth material were attached to the sides of the flying machine. They moved up and down as and when they received power from the trident.

The four commanders stirred The Aigle and maintained their position on top of The Clown. Sena smiled standing on Kaara right above The Clown. He recollected the meeting with the Twelve Lost Sailors whom the Time brought to shore - 'there are different kinds of Vimana - to fly over land or to fly under water - what should interest you is Kaara. Without it, you will be doomed before the one He calls the Clown. Build the Vimana, float in the air, before it's already late.'

The four headed creature started launch violent attacks when it saw a flying object revolving above its heads. Venom fountained out of its snake skin, threatening Rana and Kali who were trying to approach The Clown from the front and the rear respectively.

Kali and Kacha identified the source of the toxin. The sticky green solution was oozing out of the skin plates bordering the Naga Kaliya. They left their posts and walked to either side of The Aigle. They jumped down holding their short swords. Each landed below the waist on either side of the serpent body and fixing their blades on the border of the snake frame, they slid to the ground aided by the slippery skin of the reptile. Their strong arms holding the blades chopped every fin as they descended. Kacha and Kali rolled over Karmegha escaping the leaking venom. The Clown let out a huge cry of pain when its skin plates were removed from its body. The dripping venom burnt its own scales.

As soon as Kalai and Kacha moved from the cylinders, The Aigle started to lose power and began to sink. The flying machine took a hard punch from the knuckles of The Punisher. It spun several times, until Sena took over an empty engine and stabilised The Aigle. Sultan saw the thong of the whip raise higher above him. Before he could react, the lash tore the right wing. The damaged wing fluttered independently destabilising the flight of The Aigle. Kanakavalli and Sena pumped the cylinders vigorously and kept the wings flitted. They looked at each other; all three exchanging a similar thought that the machine shall not hold for long. At the same moment, the broad sword of The Rager landed on the star shaped platform. The shock disconnected the cables and the unoccupied cylinder bursted. The Aigle was giving away by preparing itself to leap into the dark abyss between the four torsos of The Clown.

When The Clown was busy in destroying the flying object, Kali turned his weapon and brought the axe onto the tip of its tail. He hammered the bone tail continuously until it detached it from the tip of The Clown, permitting the rattling noise to fade away. Kali was not merited by time for his achievement. Before his lips broadened into a satisfactory smile, a heavy kick landed on his shoulder and threw him sideways. Kali fell to the ground and stayed motionless.

The reptile cringed in pain when Kalai and Kacha stabbed its lower part of the body with their short swords. Kalai checked on Kali who lay beside the hard bone piece of Naga Kaliya. He worried for him and rushed towards him recollecting the fast moving image over the serpent body when he was dropping down slicing the skin plates - while Kali and Kacha were descending cutting the fins of the serpent, they saw someone resembling to Rana running over the serpent's body faster than fire.

Rana dodged the sickle of The Clown by going underneath it and the smoky image in front of him disappeared when he lifted back his head. He turned to his right and rushed towards the tail of The Clown. He found another grey image beside the tip of the tail. He kicked the cloud of grey, sending Kali flying sideways. He jumped over the bleeding tail of the serpent and ran towards the waist of The Clown. The torso of the creature revolved and The Reaper watched Rana dashing towards it. Immediately, it brought the sickle forward, but Rana quickly dived and stepped over tunic of The Reaper. The Reaper missed Rana and before it pulled its weapon back onto to him, he climbed its torso using the rib bones as a stair way. When he reached its neck, he threw himself into the air and fetched Vajrastra hard on The Clown. The divine sword separated the head of The Reaper from one of the torso of The Clown. Its green eyes blinked and faded away before rolling on the ground. The headless torso invited terrible pain to The Clown. The other three mouths cried out loud.

Rana fell back on the soft stomach of the serpent and glided towards the ground wetting himself with the venom leaking from the snake's skin. His metal armour melted and the molten metal stuck to his flesh. For the first time after consuming the Demon Eye Rana felt pain. The effect of Demon Eye was withering away. He blacked out mid-way and only his unmoving body hit the ground. He was inflicted with severe burns caused by the melting armour plates and the leaking toxins from Naga Kaliya.

Sena, Sultan and Kanakavalli waited for the right moment over the sinking Aigle. They saw the creature shouting out its pain loudly when Rana chopped one of its heads. It fell the ground unable to control its agony. When Sena, Sultan and Kanakavalli were beside the three heads respectively, they drew their swords and jumped on The Clown which was shivering in pain on Karmegha. The Aigle crashed into the face of The Rager blinding it completely, when the wooded platform pierced its left eye and the shock detached the chemical cylinders form the Aigle; all three exploding near its right eye.

Sena brought Arha and separated the head of The Punisher. The white face with pale blue eyes rolled beside him when he landed back on Karmegha. Sultan chopped the head of The Blind Rager and Kanakavalli sliced the neck of The Darksider.

The Clown convulsed, collapsing to the ground.

Sena rushed to Rana, while Sultan ran past him to assist Kalai who was attending to Kali. Kanakavalli joined Kacha and together they carried the wounded warriors to the campsite.

Vadhana stood behind Sena who was standing on the platform watching the sun diving behind the mountain. Sena turned and faced her when he heard her footsteps.

"He is awake, but has not stopped muttering", Vadhana informed Rana, "His left arm is broken and his burns are being attended to. His body is punctured with several holes and the molten metal has hardened over his skin. He cries in pain when the doctors try to pluck out the armour plates from his flesh."

Tears ran down her face when she announced, "He will live."

With trembling lips she said, "Kali is still unconscious and his left arm has completely turned blue. The kick he received had blocked the circulation of blood. He may risk losing his arm functions."

Sena nodded his head slowly and said, "He had lost his audibility to save me, and now he sacrificed his arm to save Rana. He is an angel."

Vadhana wiped her tears and continued her briefing, "Kanakavalli is still under shock while nursing Rana. The three others are preparing themselves to fight the last battle and capture Vettaiyan Palace."

Sena turned and faced Karmegha. He watched the calmness on the battlefield where several soldiers were present. But they all were dead. The pupils of his eyes enlarged. His vision became sharper. Anger took over him when he saw the lifeless battleground crowded with the dead.

Sena stared at Vettaiyan Palace and spoke softly to Vadhana with his back at her, "Take care of Rana. Order others to standby. The war shall end today and only one more will die before dusk."

Sena stepped down the platform without waiting for a reply for Vadhana. Thunder echoed around Karmegha when Sena walked alone over the deserted battlefield and went to Vettaiyan Palace to confront Vettaiyan.

... to be continued ...

Footnote:

The Aigle (The Eagle) - The flying machine is inspired from early inscription describing the flying models constructed in ancient India. The chemical is mercury compound. The boilers (cylinders) are mercury vortex engine. The double lotus (the thickly bound coil) is a Tesla coil.

The Aigle, its design and description, is completely imaginary, written for fiction.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Confession of a Disturbed Mind

https://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/688152ChaturVettaiyan.jpg

Sena entered the empty palace garden and walked past the Vettaiyan statue. The Emperor's Secret Service was neutralised by The Clown when it first entered breaking the defensive walls. He watched the bow and the string held by the human size statue while moving forward to the set of steps that gave access to the Palace interiors. The staircase had several fissures, but the structure held to itself proving the potential of the architect who had designed the palace and the engineers who had constructed a building which stood tall after a severe quake that originated from its own foundation.

Sena halted on the pavement before the first step. Above him, at the top of the stairway, The Emperor's throne was sitting covered with dust. Behind the kingly chair, on the wall, a message was hand written in red ink:

Tic Tok Tic Tok
Whispered the Clock

The Twins I separated
Stand before me united
Upon one I had invested
The other I had created

All along good they served
The tasks their Master contrived
Alas, exhausted and unnerved
They angered the Master they served

Time has ripened
The twins shall be harvested

Tic Tok Tic Tok
The Clock halted its walk

"The Mirror Murders", Sena whispered in astonishment as he read the lines left for him by The Tic-Toc Killer. He solved the final mystery standing at the bottom of the staircase. Sena confirmed to himself that The Emperor committed those crimes, as a psychopath killing two victims at the same time and displaying them in the nature calling the dead bodies 'Two bored Twins'. Sena analysed that The Emperor was killing him and his brother Rana each time he murdered the innocents. Vettaiyan gained a sort of satisfaction by playing the Twin Murders repeatedly in his memory.

Kilaka, the mystical weapon to exorcise lost souls from their temporary body, hung from Sena hip belt pressing on his lap. Suddently, Sena felt warmth on his thighs.

"Hope has finally made to my stairs", Sena heard a voice speaking from above.

"Thought Hope would bring Faith along with it", Vettaiyan emerged from the shadows of the corridor and stood beside the throne looking down at Sena with a grin on his face. He kept on twirling his hair with his right hand, and placed his left hand over the arm of the throne.

"The power of Faith and the power of Hope come up against the pressure of revenge and violence", Sena replied holding his head high above.

"Absurd. Being unable to disprove something doesn't make that thing exist", laughed Vettaiyan, "Are you talking about God by any chance?"

"There is no god in this world", Sena spoke with authority, "The god is what preachers talk about to frighten knowledge and withheld anyone from thinking. And all of this is drilled into people from the day they have their first coherent thoughts as a small child. It's literally asking the kids to follow a mentally ill person who talks to god. People should start thinking for themselves to react to the tyranny of rulers like you. The biggest lie the Devil had spoken is not that he does not exist, its making everyone believe that god exists in this world. The Creator left us here for our own good. We have to realise that ourselves and carry what belongs to Him back to Him. The Devil hid like a coward seeing the world with only one eye. I have seen plenty of its victims, one stands right in front of me who was seduced by the Rhymes of the Devil."

"Think! What is that supposed to mean?", Vettaiyan mocked Sena.

"Discovering truth always brings genuine joy. Accepting truth takes the burden of guilt and shame, giving a true reason to rejoice", Sena explained.

"Isn't that already happening around us?", Vettaiyan enquired.

"No", Sena said strictly, "In the belief system called Religion, the preachers are psychotic persons experiencing delusions. They persuade to seek them to find the right path. But these fakers should be lead to the pillory. God exists, yes, but the god of this world not. God is experienced through realisation and not through belief. God is universal, same to any of His creations."

"I thought you were a warrior. At times it did occur to me that you and I are one. But you seem to lecture like a saint. Isn't our swords that should be doing the conversation right now?", Vettaiyan removed the Sword of Destruction from his scabbard and admired it while turning it in his left hand.

"Forgiveness", Sena replied, "is what is stopping me from climbing these stairs. But I have started to think whether you deserve a second chance after you had awakened The Clown. You killed many innocents. There were people who trusted you. Now, they lay dead on the battlefield. You murdered them. All of them. By doing so, you proved to be a fool. You failed to realise why my Father left the creature breathing inside the Dark Caves. He wanted you to slay it and become the people's hero when you were just a cringing earthworm."

Vettaiyan's laughter echoed around the palace. He abruptly stopped laughing and stared down at Sena as he spoke, "Your Father was my only friend. Why would I kill him, if this is what it’s all about - Revenge. I had great plans for him, as I had greater ones for his sons. It was you who failed to realise that. His death was like that of a butterfly chased by a kid playing in the garden. An accident. The butterfly was crushed under the feet of the unware child. The kid cried, but never could set things right again. So, I dreamt on passing what I wished for the Father to his Sons."

"And all I wished for myself is power", Vettaiyan spoke shrewdly, "I will not allow anyone to snatch it from me without paying the price with their head", Vettaiyan shouted.

"Be careful what you ask the devil for, you will probably get it", a voice came from behind Sena. Vettiayan looked ahead of him and Sena turned to see the speaker.

Rana, with his left arm bandaged, walked towards the stair case holding Vajrastra in his right hand. He refused to heed to the pleas of Vadhana and exercising his authority as the Chief, he walked alone tracking the path of his brother on Karmegha which led him to the staircase of Vettaiyan Palace.

"You deserve death", Rana joined Sena and stood to his right, "Painful it shall be", Rana warned.

"Your death", replied Vettaiyan coldly, "Consider it as your last wish. And that I promise to you."

Vettaiyan looked at the Brothers standing next to each other rubbing their wounded shoulders together. One had his right arm bandaged and the other had his left arm plastered. Each carried a sword in their functional hands. Vettaiyan witnessed a single soul sharing two bodies. He imagined Kochadaiiyan standing in front of him. Vettaiyan shook his head sceptically. He heard Sena speaking, "War and Peace are not solutions. Birth and Death are. Death does not bring any change. While being alive, we can bring the change."

"Change!", Vettaiyan laughed again, "Well then allow me to tell you a story, probably the last one you would hear from me."

Vettaiyan spoke as he walked around the throne before taking the kingly chair. He had his left hand holding the Sword of Destruction hanging beside the throne and he sat comfortably placing his right hand under his chin. He pulled the left leg over his right leg and started to talk about Power:

"Change is nothing but manipulation. You change the way people think, act or live by making them think, act and live as you want them to. Manipulation is a change brought to benefit the one who brought the change."

"A great traveller once brought a rock like material claiming it to be the tuber of a plant. The king was impressed with his explanations, which came as a solution to him during the time of food crisis. Crops were dying and the granary was filled with countable grains. The following season, the ruler had nothing to feed the population. The traveller said that the rock vegetable could replace half of the food served on the plat, thus minimising the consumption; that it can be grown easily and sought less attention. He cooked a dish for the king who appreciated how a single tuber had filled his stomach. He proposed it to the people, but they refused to accept his proposition. They found the vegetable ugly and hard. They revolted and threw the hard buds brought by the traveller at the kings men."

"The ruler manipulated his people. He fortified his garden and placed guards protecting it round the clock. He gathered several men - actors, models, sportsmen, authors, doctors, engineers and poets - the nobles and famous people around the kingdom frequented to his parties. The best and reputed cooks from around different regions of the empire secretly walked into the closed garden and returned collecting a secret ingredient hidden inside an enclosed sack. The king made every action and movement visible to the public eye, generating an interest on the onlookers. He launched a curiosity by making his men talk about the delicious food that was served in the King's party and about the secret ingredient that grew in the palace garden. He also made them share and speak high of fabulous recipes prepared by the famous chefs. The people became furious knowing that the king was having a happy meal, while they were starving."

"That night a group of revolters entered the palace garden and stole what was grown behind the fortification. The guards were aware, but looked away without stopping the thieves. Soon, the people started to eat what the king made them believe was dined on golden plates at the king’s party. It made them feel superior too. They found that the special vegetable can be grown in the back of their garden. In no time, the people accepted and cultivated the tuber that they rejected initially."

"My children", Vettaiyan stood up as he finished his story, "That vegetable got a name and it is called a potato."

Vettaiyan grinned at Rana and Sena and continued talking while walking around the throne chair. He pulled the sword of destruction along with them, its tip made screeching noise on the floor when he spoke:

"You have identified all my spies inside The Council Hall of Kottaipattinam brilliantly by reading their eyes, lips and face muscles that moved in anxiety. But you also heard from the ones you trust that anyone following me shall not suffer. That's a manipulation. That's the change. That's politics. And that's pure power."

"To accelerate the power, you turn the population one against the other. You install difference in them - by birth or by occupation or by religion or by spoken language or by whatever that is apt for the situation. You reverse the meaning of the sacred books or bring in a new law that impact the minorities or shut down the gates of opportunity for certain class of the society."

"I create thinkers to think what I want them to think, the way I tell them to think. Take for example", Vettaiyan pointed at Sena, "you with the red armour. You went behind facts, but talked to me about truth like a sage. Facts are the mirage of the truth, but certainly not the truth. I made you think that you are intelligent, and used you to eliminate threats. Yes, facts pointed that Opera Brothers and Mariam were guilty of treason and murder. But the actual truth is they were innocent and wanted to liberate this country by assassinating me, the same reason you are standing before me right now. So you tell me, what exactly is truth, rather than playing around with the word truth."

"The other gentleman here", Vettaiyan pointed his sword at Rana and continued, "Ignored history. He was so driven by rationality that he sought logical explanation for any existence. He valued everything and overlooked the purpose of the existence itself. Another fabulous thinker from my school. He brought to me invaluable artefacts without estimating the power he was supplying me. Moreover he was proud of his adventures with his friends. Ha! Sengodagan. Your enemy knows your strength and weakness. But your friend knows your secrets and your fear. A friend manipulated to turn into a foe. The change gained me information."

"Absolutely anything and everything will work. As an Emperor I exactly do what is needed for me and for my empire. If nothing works, I install identity, not by birth but by the place of birth itself. Funny but trust me, people grab it faster than freebees. And then, they take care of the rest by themselves. It is exactly what you refer as the Change. The only difference is that I bring whatever change I want and whenever I want. I create a problem and I solve that problem. They come to me; else I make them come to me."

"Give them the freedom to fight with each other. They destroy the freedom itself. My rule I call - Freedom from Freedom. They are my sheep and I am their shepherd", Vettaiyan laughed hysterically.

"And we wish to be the guidance to the lost souls", Rana yelled breaking The Emperor's laughter. "Yes", Rana said, "you made people quarrel over their differences rather than encouraging them to embrace their similarities. Your regime has to end for the people to think for themselves."

"The truth, the change and the thought we share are different - you benefit from it, we want it to be beneficial for every individual", Sena spoke calmly, "The self-realisation is the Hope which installs the Faith of enlightenment. Hope sparks the fire, Faith creates a placid ocean - a divine phenomenon where the two elements fire and water work together. Hope is the change that tiggers the thought to establish Faith. And Truth is the message delivered without ambiguity. Truth is God, a liberation from interpretations. The proof of that will be registered today by ending your reign. Once they are freed from your clutches, the people will learn from the walking in their life through good habits; they travel to places to gain experience; they start sharing knowledge of the known with the unknown; and Truth shall be the single sacred book of their future. Thus, The Light of God shall shine onto this world."

"Your God is dead", Vettaiyan shouted annoyingly.

"That's a lie …", yelled Rana.

"… As God never existed to die", roared Sena.

The Brothers raced together over the staircase to challenge the Emperor of Five Nations and Vettaiyan descended calmly down the steps taking one step at a time holding both his hand to his back. The Sword of Destruction followed him as his tail and its tip touched each step shadowing its Master.

Grey clouds gathered over Karmegha where thunder and lightning assembled announcing their reunion.

… to be continued …

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Boss Fight (Part 1/3)

In Battle of Three ...

Littleman, standing on top of the palace, watched Sena walking alone on the battlefield. He followed him with his eyes as he entered the palace through the broken gate. He turned and checked on Shamu who was lying on the laps of Maveeran. When the multi cannon were destroyed by The Clown's shield, Shamu had managed to escape from the control room before it crashed to the basement of the palace. As soon as he set his wooden foot on the terrace, a chunk of the dome collapsed on him.

Fortunately, the huge piece of rock crashed on his artificial foot, crushing him with its weight. Maveeran, along with his comrades had pushed the heavy stone and rescued Shamu. He continued to be in his state of unconsciousness. His wooden leg was broken to pieces and the sharp blade had held to the rock. The hardest metal sustained the shock limiting the physical damage of Shamu. His Sword Foot curved taking the weight of the stone debris. It was removed from his knee cap and placed beside him on the floor of the terrace. Littleman monitored the top of the palace which had taken severe damage when the rifts quaked the palace. Huge rocks of wall towers tumbled and blocked the exit. Littleman turned his attention towards the battlefield and saw Rana walking on the same path of Sena.

Yesodha Putran stood before Vadhana and the commanders of the Empire's United on top of the platform outside the pavilion. His sight was disrupted and he was unable to see the happenings across the battlefield. There was calmness around the palace as he watched Littleman standing on top of the palace. He brought down his telescope after he saw Rana disappearing through the broken gate. The fallen towers and pieces of broken wall structures blocked his sight rendering him visionless.

Kacha turned and checked on Sultan and Kanakvalli who were standing beside Nobleman. He found Sultan speaking to Kanakavalli rather than whispering into the ears of Nobleman. Kacha returned his concentration towards the palace.

When the three divine swords met, they celebrated their reunion under the shower of sparks.

Rana and Sena climbed the stairs and charged at Vettaiyan. The Emperor descending from his throne blocked their attack with his saw edged blade. The Sword of Destruction locked on to Vajrastra and Arha at the midway of the staircase. Vettaiyan kept pushing the Brothers exercising great force on them. They were unable to hold on to his thrust. The Brothers started descending the stairs backwards, along with Vettaiyan following their steps with his strides.

The Emperor turned his upper body towards Rana while holding back Sena with his sword. He kicked Rana on his chest. The sudden attack confused Rana and destabilised Sena. While completing his kick, Vettaiyan clutched firmly onto Sena's collars and pulled him towards him. He threw him above his head and Sena landed on the steps behind him, while Rana went tumbling down the stairs.

Sena regained quickly and checked on Rana. His brother had recovered from the fall and stood facing Vettaiyan at the bottom of the steps. Sena saw Vettaiyan moving down the stairs. Sena jumped high above the staircase gripping Arha in his left hand and holding it firmly above his head. When he was above The Emperor, Vettaiyan surprised him by moving to the side. Sena fell faced down hard on the stone stairs, and rolled down to join his brother. Rana helped his brother to gather himself. Sena felt enormous pain on his right shoulder. Vettaiyan walked down the staircase undisturbed. He fixed each eye on Rana and Sena respectively. His broad face beamed a big grin.

At the bottom of the stairs, the three Hunters exhibited tremendous swordsmanship. They crossed their swords with each other, moving together around the Vettaiyan statue. The longsword, the short sword and the broad sword clashed with each other demonstrating their power among one another. The setting sun infiltrated through the gaps of the statue zooming itself in and out while the three men circled around the monument.

Vettaiyan held his right hand to his back and blocked the attacks of Rana and Sena with only his left hand. He demonstrated immense mental clarity while single-handedly fighting the Brothers. His speed and control portrayed his state of calm concentration in the midst of Twin danger. He seemed to be relaxed as he already had an advantage in the sword fight - the Twins were using their unnatural hands as their favourable hand was wounded; the left-hander Rana's left hand was fractured during the battle with The Clown forcing him to use his right hand; the right-hander Sena's right hand was injured during the battle inside the Jala Vyuha leaving him with no other choice but to confront Vettaiyan with his left hand.

The Emperor surprised Sena with his melee attack. He brought his right hand that was hugging his back suddenly and with his tight fist he punched Sena on his face.

Sena fell to the ground gathering the dust onto his face. He shook his head spraying mud around him. After the melee attack on Sena, Vettaiyan charged at Rana mercilessly, storming his heavy strikes on him. Rana used the elevated pavement of Vettaiyan statue to spin around himself escaping Vettaiyan's fatal blows.

Sena stood up and kept his eyes on Vettaiyan. He realised that he had to fight Vettaiyan's pride and not his sword. He dashed towards the statue and brought his sword on Vettaiyan's back. The Emperor elegantly threw his weapon to his back, at the same time he caught Rana's neck with his right hand. He turned his head and stared at Sena with his fiery eyes. Throwing Rana to the ground, he started to attack Sena.

Keeping his body balanced, Sena gradually walked backwards deflecting Vettaiyan's attack. His foot work invited Vettaiyan to advace at him. Once Sena's back was to the statue, he held the position covering the setting sun that entered through the tip of the bow held by the statue. He quickly bent his knees and rolled forward allowing the sun ray to hit Vettaiyan's eyes. Blinded for a moment, Vettaiyan brought his sword to his side, and Sena used the opportunity to push Arha forward. Vettaiyan reacted quickly by stepping backwards. The use of environment by Sena did not surprise him but it costed him a piece of his flesh under his ribs.

Vettaiyan looked down at the blood painting his white dress. For the first time Vettaiyan had injured himself in a sword fight. He looked at Sena while biting his lips in anger. Rana got back to his feet and positioned himself behind his brother. Vettaiyan pounced at the Brothers like a wounded tiger.

The Emperor engaged The Sword of Destruction at his enemies and they could not match the strength of his arm. Not a single swing of his sword was reckless. His every strike was calculated. Sena tried to slide to his side, but Vettiayan did not give him enough opening. Rana tried to dodge the controlled attack, but Vettaiyan was quicker than him. They felt pain on their broken hand whenever the broad blade was blocked by their sword. The Brothers could not move away from Vettaiyan as he maintained the distance between them balanced all the time.

Vettaiyan ducked low and swung a powerful blow with his sword on the right thigh of Rana. He quickly brought himself before Sena and scratched Sena's face below his left with the tip of The Sword of Destrcution.

Tears of blood flowed down Sena's cheeks from the open wound under his left eye while he saw Rana floored in blood. He panicked and dashed forward. Vettaiyan waited him out and when he was closer, he kicked the ground sending mud particles in the air that hit Sena on his face blinding him. Vettaiyan immediately caught Sena by his hair and threw him violently to his backside.

Standing in the middle, he looked to his either side and found himself standing between the fallen Brothers.

Crawling on the ground behind Vettiayan, Sena's visionless eyes flashed his brother's agony who was wriggling on the ground yelling in pain. His ears heard the voice of Kalki:

"What is new is not true, what is true is not new. Truth works on the function of the past, and until that happens it shall be called a Prophecy. And in the battle of three, only one will stand, is truth less, until it becomes true. As a door opens two other doors, truth shall set itself free only through the right opened door, else the wronged will stand on this world."

Rana lifted his head and saw his brother creeping on the ground searching for Arha, his sword which he had dropped when Vettaiyan threw him to the ground. He saw Vettaiyan lifting his sword and moving it sideways as though trying to choose whose life he would take first.

Using Vajrastra as his support, Rana got back to his feet and hopped towards Vettaiyan. He weakly brought his sword at The Emperor.

Vettaiyan, exchanging his sword between his hands, watched Rana struggling to approach him. He casually flipped the Sword of Destruction into the air and caught it by its blade. When Rana raised his sword in front of him, Vettaiyan landed the handle of his sword into Rana's throat. Vajrastra slipped from Rana's hand and he fell to his knees holding his throat while coughing intensely.

"Stay", Vettaiyan ordered Rana menacingly who was kneeling under his feet, "Your brother seems to be lost. Allow me to show him the way, you shall soon follow his footsteps."

Vettaiyan calmly walked towards Sena leaving Rana linked to the ground.

Rana could neither warn Sena nor cry out loudly. He sat dumb watching Vettaiyan marching to kill Sena rotating his sword in his left hand. Vettaiyan's heavy strides pounded inside Rana's ears. Rana raised his head and looked up at the cloudy sky. His eyes were dry as though the clouds above have sucked all his tears.

A single lightening flew past the grey clouds above Vettaiyan lining itself with his wicked smile.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Boss Fight (Part 2/3)

... Only one will Stand

The irritation caused by the dust burnt Sena's eyes turning them blood red. With his left hand bandaged, he managed to get himself away from Vettaiyan moving like a snail hurrying to get into cover. A heavy kick landed on his back allowing him to fall face down on the ground. He turned and rested on his back. He blinked violently to regain his lost vision. He tried to focus, but could only make out a white silhouette standing above him. Sena saw Death watching him. Vettaiyan threw his sword into the air. It spun a couple of times before landing back on his left palm. He raised it above Sena's chest and brought it down at him with great speed.

Sena could not make out clearly what happened between the two fatal moments of his life.

A moment he saw the blurred vision of Vettaiyan bringing his weapon down at him. His eyes sparkled red. He closed them tight and exhaled heavily. He clenched his fist and hammered the ground counting his last moments of his life. His wounded hand ached no more. He felt no pain. His heart was light. It weighed him with guilt no more. His lips stretched. Sena smiled as he invited death as he remembered his promise to Vadhana - "My sins will be my present; He will be pleasant future."

The next moment he heard a heavy thud beside him. He turned his head to the left and opened his eyes to look at the direction of the noise. His eyes were still red, but they irritated him no more. His face was completely covered with dirt sticking to dry blood when his eyes gazed at Vettaiyan who had fallen beside him. A small breeze tickled his hair and Sena looked up above him. He saw Rana hanging in mid-air with his right hand closed into a tight ball. His body blocked the last rays of the setting sun finding their way through Vettaiyan Statue.

Sena saw his own reflection above him. Sena smiled. At that moment, Sena realised the prophecy coming true.

When Vettaiyan walked towards Sena ignoring Rana, the Chief of Empires United gathered courage while pressing the pain in his throat. No sound came out when he opened his mouth towards the sky. He removed his hand from his throat and clenched his fist onto his wounded thigh. The injured area around his throat had turned blue and purple, while blood sprayed out of the open wound inflicted by Vettaiyan on his right thigh.

Rana's soundless scream echoed his anger silently. It portrayed his disability to erase the evil from the world. His dry eyes flashed his pain when he jumped back to his feet. He shook his head side to side like a maddened barasingha. His hair raised and dropped on his head like the horns of the swamp deer. His eyes sparkled blue. He kept them wide open and inhaled heavily. He clenched his fist and hammered his wounded thigh stamping the important moment of his life. His wounded hand ached no more. He felt no pain. His heart was heavy. It weighed him with guilt of not being by the side of his brother. His lips shrunk. Rana closed his mouth after inviting fearlessness inside. He rushed dragging his wounded leg on the ground while keeping his eyes on the back of Vettaiyan.

Rana landed his wounded leg on Vettaiyan's back with enormous force. Without giving time for Vettaiyan to recover, he jumped into the air above the Emperor who had turned to lie on his back.

In that brief moment above, Rana saw his own reflection in the form of his brother watching him from the ground beside Vettaiyan.

Vettaiyan had raised his sword to break the stone chest of Sena, when he received a heavy blow to his back. While falling, he realised his mistake of taking his sight away from Rana. He underestimated Rana's will to get back to his feet when he had slashed his thigh and knocked his throat. Vettaiyan's fall was the payment for his mistake of turning his back at a wounded warrior. The Sword of Destruction flew away from his grip and settled on the ground before he landed on the hard floor. When the ground was nearing to his face, his eyes turned pale white flickering with uncertainty. He closed them tight while holding on to his breath. He clenched both his fist and hammered them against each other writing the passing moment as the biggest blunder he had committed in his life. His wound under his chest ached as he was falling. He felt pain. His heart was thumping hard over his ribs. It orchestrated his fear and guilt. His lips widened as he reached the ground. Vettaiyan fell beside Sena.

Vettaiyan quickly turned and saw Rana standing above him. He looked to his right and watched Sena's red eyes floating over his dusty face. He returned his gaze towards Rana and it was then it stuck to him - The End. The Prophecy. Finally, it was occurring - In Battle of Three ... Only one will Stand.

Rana stood over Sena and Vettaiyan who were on the ground watching him standing above them.

Time halted to witness the historic moment.

Vettaiyan looked at Sena lying beside him protected by his red armour. He lifted his head and saw Rana hanging mid-air above him. His blue armour that was blocking the sunlight glittered bringing discomfort to his eyes. Vettaiyan recollected the story narrated to him by the Hunter from the Sea. His friend's question rang in his ears:

"You are the most magical creature in the world", said the golden caterpillar, "I shall have two just like you - a red and a blue."

He tripped and fell down as he did not bother where he was stepping into. A raging red butterfly shared the grass with him and above them a beautiful blue butterfly was flapping its wings. The rays of the sun escaped through its flaps.

"Choice, the biggest task of life presented itself before the kid. The lad should either save the red one by killing the blue one, or stay with the blue one and let the red one die.

The mysterious man stopped abruptly and questioned Dashakantha, "What shall it be, Child?"

Dashakantha whispered, "The Beautiful Blue Butterfly."

"Save", Vettaiyan's lips moved when he realised what his friend had meant - 'Will you save yourself from being killed by the Red One or the Blue One.'

"Choice", Vettaiyan's mouth widened when he thought whether he was really gifted with one. He realised that his friend had hinted him about The End. And the actual choice that could save him was upon whom he used The Sword of Destruction. It was too late, as Vettaiyan had already made his choice.

Vettaiyan saw Kochadaiiyaan descending onto him from above. He blindly stammered his left hand on the ground looking for his sword.

Sena admired his brother floating above him glittering in blue. His borther reminded him of their Father.

Several voices echoed around the palace garden which were audible only to Sena:

"Do you believe in Prophecy, Stranger", asked the Blind Priest.

"Time to believe, young man, time has come for you to embrace the truth", announced the Deaf Priest.

"The prophecy is about the End and not a Prediction. One will Show the Way, the other will Guide", Speaker said.

"I wish Hope falls with the Evil, erecting Faith", The Monk spoke.

"The mighty forces, good or evil, must be directed aright - mouldering the good away from evil, and overcoming of evil with good", Kalki summarised the Prophecy.

"A union occurred. Kriya Yoga preached by Kri-sna liberated the brothers from Karma, when they realized the bright petalled flowers of Kri and understood their duty. The misery burned them no more. The dirt no more masked their vision. They were strengthened like an unbreakable chord. Together they were garlanded with wisdom. Thus, an upward outcome happened aided by acceptance of Kri."

"You and your Self is absolute", Truth declared.

Sena closed his eyes.

The halted time was triggered by the Prophecy and it started to spin slowly rolling itself towards The End.

A single droplet from the grey clouds grew heavier and dropped down towards Karmegha. It travelled cutting the space between the above and the below. It shined when it met with the last ray of the setting sun and collected brightness while on its way to its destination. The bright droplet approached fast and landed on the forehead of Sena between his eyes. The splash removed the dirt and blood around the area it fell.

The cleansed part resembled to a vertical eye.

Sena's eyes opened.

"Rana", Sena called out loudly at the sky.

His brother looked down upon him. Vettaiyan watched Sena while trying to get back to his feet. He moved his head side to side. Dust escaped and floated in the air when Vettaiyan's hair rubbed the ground. Vettaiyan noticed a third eye on Sena's forehead between his blood red eyes. He looked above him and noted the purple neck of Rana.

His face froze into a crooked smile, when Vettaiyan submitted himself to the Prophecy.

With one elegant arm action, Sena pulled Kilaka from his hip belt and threw it at Rana. He continued pulling down his left hand and landed it strongly over the chest of Vettaiyan. Sena held Vettaiyan down to the ground firmly.

Rana caught Kilaka by gripping the dragger's Shank. The eyes of the Makara opened flashing out a bright light in every direction. Rana aimed for the chest of Vettaiyan while descending on him.

Sena, pressing his forearms on The Emperor's chest, quickly formed Apana Mudra with his left hand fingers around Vettaiyan's heart.

Rana inserted the Blade of Kilaka inside the Mudra of Elimination.

The Blade pushed by Rana entered the tunnel formed by the middle and ring fingers of Sena. It sawed through the rib bones and pierced the heart of Vettaiyan.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Boss Fight (Part 3/3)

The Red, The Blue and The White

"Gatam Gataha", Vettaiyan heard Sena whisper when the dragger inserted by Rana tore his heart.

Vettiayan knew that his body along with his soul will be perished from this world - 'Gatam Gataha' meaning 'Past stays in the Past', where 'Gatam' prohibits the return of the soul into the departed world ; and 'Gataha' forces the reunification of the soul within its respective world.

Vettaiyan's body was taken over by an unspeakable pain as Kilaka prepared him for his final journey.

He felt his heart being squeezed out of him. Naga, the serpent spirits running as the tongue of the Makara and constrictoring itself around the Blade, suddenly came to life. The three green eyed snakes coiled around the heart of Vettaiyan licking his pumping organ with their pink tongues. The heads of Makara whispered divine verses giving the Naga the needed force to lift the soul of Vettaiyan:

समाहारः साम्नां प्रतिपदमृचां धाम यजुषां
लयः प्रत्यूहानां लहरि विततिर्बोधजलधेः । कथादर्पक्षुभ्यत्कथककुल कोलाहलभवं
हरत्वन्तर्ध्वान्तं हयवदन हेषा हलहलः ॥ ३॥

samāhārassāmnāṁ pratipadamṛcāṁ dhāma yajuṣāṁ
layaḥ pratyūhānāṁ lahari vitatirbodhajaladheḥ |
kathā darpakṣubhyat kathakakula kolāhalabhavaṁ
haratvantardhvāntaṁ hayavadana heṣā halahalaḥ || 3 ||

The Emperor's body rose and floated in the air. He trembled and shivered vigorously when the dark clouds above tore themselves open and Hayagreva, the arial horse galloped down to earth.

Vettaiyan's soul took the human form of his body and lifted itself from his materialistic body, making his lifeless earthly body drop back to the ground.

Completely chained by the Naga, the three Makara pulled Vettaiyan by his hair, shoulders and legs towards the hurricane in the cloud.

Vettaiyan struggled to liberate himself from the clutches of soul exorcists. He found himself rising higher and higher that Karmegha started to resemble tinier than his white coat button. The Hayagreva, the Defender of Hope, circled around Vettaiyan creating a safe message for his soul to enter the Other World amidst the chants of the Makara and the hissing noises of Naga:

अव्याकृताद् व्याकृत वानसि त्वं
नामानि रूपाणि च यानि पूर्वम् ।
शंसन्ति तेषां चरमां प्रतिष्टां
वागीश्वर त्वां त्वदुपज्ञ वाचः ॥ १२ ॥

avyākṛtād vyākṛta vānasi tvaṁ
nāmāni rūpāṇi ca yāni pūrvam |
śaṁsanti teṣāṁ caramāṁ pratiṣṭāṁ
vāgīśvara tvāṁ tvadupajña vācaḥ || 12 ||

Locked by the Devine creatures, Vettaiyan was unable to move himself. He looked around him desperately searching for a way to escape the imprisonment and to fight the mystical creatures. But he could only move his fingers against the strong grasp of the serpents. He looked down at Karmegha and found a glint hitting his eyes. Vettaiyan yelled violently at Hayagreva and threw his assonance phrase at the magical horse. He widened his left palm and pointed his five fingers to the ground. An item ejected from Karmegha and landed inside his palm.

Vettiayan gripped The Sword of Destruction firmly in his hand and let out a vicious war cry at Haygreva. But it was already too late. The mystical creatures pulled Vettaiyan into the hurricane and the mouth of the magical storm closed.

The final bit that entered the abyss was the tip of The Sword of Destruction held by Vettaiyan, that disappeared along with the fading vocals of Makara:

व्याख्या मुद्रां करसरसिजैः पुस्तकं शङ्क चक्रे
बिभ्रद् भिन्नस्फटिक रुचिरे पुण्डरीके निषण्णः ।
अम्लानश्रीर् अमृत विशदैर् अंशुभिः प्लावयन् मां
आविर्भूया दनघ महिमा मानसे वाग धीशः ॥ ३२ ॥

vyākhyā mudrāṁ karasarasijaiḥ pustakaṁ śaṅka chakre
bibhrad bhinnasphaṭika rucire puṇḍarīke niṣaṇṇaḥ |
amlānaśrīr amṛta viśadair aṁśubhiḥ plāvayan māṁ
āvirbhūyā danagha mahimā mānase vāga dheeshaḥ || 32 ||

Calmness restored over Karmegha when the last ray of the setting sun died behind the mountains.

Very heavy downpour started to hit Karmegha at the end of the tenth day of war.

... to be continued ...

Footnote:

The Devine verses are from Sri Hayagreeva Stotram sung by Sriman Nigamaanta Maha Deshikan (Swami Desikan) :

Kavitaarkikasimhaaya kalyaanagunashaaline
Shriimate venkateshaaya vedaantagurave namah

"May Lord Lakshmi HayagrIvan confer His choicest blessings on every one, who studies His sthothram composed by Swamy Desikan every day!"

Verse 3: The Hala-Hala sounds in the form of neighings emanating from the divine throat of Sri HayagrIvan, the Horse-faced Lord, is the aggregate of Saama VedA mantrAs, the word for word meanings of the Rg vedA and the abode of Yajur VedA manthrams. These Hala-Hala nadhams are the destroyers of all obstacles to true JnAnam about ChEthana-AchEthana-Isvara tatthvams; these Hala-Hala sounds are like the movement of the waves from the ocean of true knowledge (JnAnam). May these sunAdhams chase away the inner darkness (ajnnam) arising from the uproar (loud and confusing noise) of debaters whose minds are driven by their own pride, arrogance and viparItha JnAnam.

Verse 12: Oh HayagrIvA, the Lord of all VidhyAs! Before creation, this world was a shapeless and nameless mass (moola prakruthi or avyAkrutham). Out of that moola prakruthi, You created MahAn-ahankAram and pancha bhUthams and gave them names and forms. Then, You embodied them as well as entered into them as antharyAmi. Therefore, the worlds that describe them end up with You, who is the indweller of all of them. You also become their ultimate goal and destination. Hence, the VedAs that originated from You salute You adoringly as the primary source and the ultimate goal of this prapancham. The great ones, who have been specially blessed by You with the powers of Vaak (Brahma JnAnam and Vedic speech) recognize You not only as the “vyAkruthavAn” (creator of janthus and achEthanams with forms and names) but also as their ultimate destination (charamAm PrathishtA).

Verse 32: In His beautiful, lotus soft four hands, Lord HayagrIvan sports Sudarsanam, Paancha-janyam, JnAna Mudhrai and a Book. He is seated on a freshly-blososmed White Lotus and reminds the UpasakAs of the whitest-white fragment of a freshly cleaved spatikam. His lutre never ever fades. There is no limit (boundary) to His blemishless glories. May This Lord of Vidhyais shower on adiyEn His nectarine, white and cool rays! May He reside and preside over my HrudhayAkAsam in this manner !

Author’s Note: These verses were chosen to suit fiction. Hayagreva's presence is fictional and not related to any belief system.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

The Rain Song

When the first few drops of rain fell over Karmegha drenching the face of Yesodha Putran, he ran in great joy towards the battlefield. The whole army of the Empires United rejoiced while following the Wise Man.

Vadhana stood watching the broken gates of Vettaiyan Palace. She was still uncertain about the Prophecy. Irrespective to the result of war, she longed to witness the One who exited the gates of Vettaiyan Palace. She trusted Sena, nevertheless, she wished to see Rana as her personal victory. She kept both her hands over her stomach as though she was waiting with the unborn child of Rana for the return of its Father.

The heavy pours started to wash away the blood and cleansed the soil. The tree swayed welcoming the rain as Yesodha Putran sung in delight:

திக்குக்கள் எட்டும் சிதறி-தக்கத்
தீம்தரிகிட தீம்தரிகிட தீம்தரிகிட தீம்தரிகிட
பக்க மலைகள் உடைந்து-வெள்ளம்
பாயுது பாயுது பாயுது-தாம்தரிகிட
தக்கத் ததிங்கிட தித்தோம்-அண்டம்
சாயுது சாயுது சாயுது-பேய்கொண்டு
தக்கை யடிக்குது காற்று-தக்கத்
தாம்தரிகிட தாம்தரிகிட தாம்தரிகிட தாம்தரிகிட

dikkukkaL eTTum sidari-- takkat
dhIm tarikiTa dhIm tarikiTa dhIm tarikiTa-- dhIm tarikiTa
pakka malaigaL uDaindu-- veLLam
pAyudu pAyudu pAyudu-- tAm tarikiTa
takkat tadhingiTa dhittOm-- aNDam
sAyudu sAyudu sAyudu-- pEikoNDu
takkai aDikkudu kATru-- takkat
tAm tarikiTa tAm tarikiTa
tAm tarikiTa tAm tarikiTa

வெட்டி யடிக்குது மின்னல்,-கடல்
வீரத் திரைகொண்டு விண்ணை யிடிக்குது;
கொட்டி யிடிக்குது மேகம்;-கூ
கூவென்று விண்ணைக் குடையுது காற்று;
சட்டச்சட சட்டச்சட டட்டா-என்று
தாளங்கள் கொட்டிக் கனைக்குது வானம்;
எட்டுத் திசையும் இடிய-மழை
எங்ஙனம் வந்ததடா,தம்பி வீரா!

veTTiyaDikkudu minnal, -kaDal
vIrattirai koNDu viNNai iDikkudu
koTTiyiDikkudu mEgham kU-
kUvenru viNNaik-kuDaiyudu kATru
caTTaccaDa caTTaccaDa-DaTTA enru
tALangaL koTTik-kanaikkudu vAnam
eTTud-dishiyum iDiya mazhai
enganam vandadaDA thambi vIrA!

Yesodha Putran came to a standstill when he saw movements near Vettaiyan Palace. His face brimmed with glory when he saw Rana and Sena, both walking into Karmegha, together supporting Shamu on their shoulders. His tears of joy were washed away by the rain and ran down like crystal clear streams on Karmegha.

Vadhana’s body trembled in emotion when she saw Rana and Sena walking towards her. She took her right hand to her mouth and covered her overflowing happiness. She slowly bent her knees and rested herself over the platform without taking her eyes from Rana and the left hand from her stomach.

As the entire army was pouring out into Karmegha, Kacha saw Sultan and Kanakavalli standing beside Nobleman. The wounded counsellor who was attached to the bed received his last vision. He saw the Brothers emerging victorious. He lifted his single eye ball and rolled them above at the showering clouds. He blinked once and then showed no sign of life within him.

Kanakavalli wept silently. Sultan carefully dismounted him and carried him in both his hands. He walked past in the opposite direction of the racing soldiers, carrying Nobleman away from Karmegha. Kanakavalli watched Sultan passing the crowd of warriors, her face fully drenched with tears. She turned and walked towards Vadhana. She gently placed her hand on her shoulder watching Sena entering Karmegha. Vadhana, who sat over the platform, raised her hand and placed it on her shoulder gently pressing Kanakavalli’s hands. She did not take her eyes off Rana.

Kacha was unable to push his way through the flood of soldiers when he saw Sultan walking away. He turned and looked at the palace gate.

A group of men followed the Brothers out of Vettaiyan Palace. Littleman walked beside Sena smiling at the welcoming men who stood united forgetting which nation they belonged to. War had united them and victory had made them stand united.

Maveeran walked behind the brothers. He admired Hope and Faith supporting Dharma, who was walking on one leg over Karmegha, on their shoulders.

The throng of soldiers raising victory slogans at their Twin Commanders fell silent when Yesodha Putran sang holding his arms to his sides inviting the Brothers:

அண்டம் குலுங்குது,தம்பி!-தலை
ஆயிரந் தூக்கிய சேடனும் பேய்போல்
மிண்டிக் குதித்திடு கின்றான்;-திசை
வெற்புக் குதிக்குது;வானத்துத் தேவர்
செண்டு புடைத்திடு கின்றார்;-என்ன
தெய்விகக் காட்சியை கண்முன்பு கண்டோம்!
கண்டோம் கண்டோம் கண்டோம்-இந்தக்
காலத்தின் கூத்தினைக் கண்முன்பு கண்டோம்!

aNDam kulungudu, tambi!-- talai
Ayira-n tUkkiyE sEdanum pEipOl
miNDik kudittiDuginrAn-- disai
verpuk-kudikkudu; vAnattu dEvar
ceNdu pudaittiDuginrAr;-- enna
deivIkak-kATSiyai kaN munbu kaNDOm!
kaNDOm kaNDOm kaNDOm; -- Intha
Kalathin Koothinai KaNmunbu KAndom!

... to be continued ...

Footnote:

Rain Song- Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyaar's 'Mazhai' (Rain); from the collection of his poetries (Bharathiyar Kavithaigal).

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Confession of Dharma

Shamu entered the pavilion. Everyone present inside cheered him by calling him The Warrior Prince. He slowly walked towards Yesodha Putran with his face hung to the ground making strides which were heavy and measured. Shamu raised his head and greeted Vadhana who was standing beside Yesodha Putran with a gentle nod. When he gained her acknowledgement, he pushed his wooden leg backwards and knelt before the war strategist. He placed his sword on the floor between them.

"What is troubling you, Prince of Shambala?", Yesodha Putran asked.

"I am at fault, Wise of All", Shamu confessed, "On the ninth moon, I attacked the enemies after dusk. I found it suitable to take over the palace terrace after sunset when the horns were already blown. I have disobeyed the Declaration of War. I defied the direct order of Chief Rana. I have infringed the trust of the commanders and have let down the warriors of the Empire's United with my unruly behaviour. I am entitled to be punished."

The pavilion broke its silence and loud murmurs occupied every corner of the tent.

Yesodha Putran raised his hand to calm down the commotion.

"I adore your truthfulness, young man", he spoke when the pavilion immersed in silence, "None would have known or noticed this event that you have confessed, if you had not dared to reveal it now. I salute your honesty. You will be an able King one day."

"Amidst the glory and tragedy of war, the last few moons were decisive for both sides. Tension mounted when the gathered clouds grew darker, and the setting sun disappeared into the west quicker than the usual time. None can vouch the fact that the sun had dipped at the right time. Maybe it was still day without the light when you attacked the terrace of Vettaiyan Palace."

"Your decision to call an attack is pardonable and should not be considered as disobedience to direct orders. The act is completely excusable considering the actions of the enemies of liberating inhumanly creatures into a human war."

"Let you rest your guilt and be at peace with yourself. I shall explain the counsel and take the blame onto myself as the strategist of this war. Trust me, we have enough proofs to counter the panel of jury who shall investigate such breach of conduct."

Shamu bowed down in respect. He got back on his foot and said, "Then, Wise of All, I request your permission, as well as ask the Great Queen of Empires United to allow me to carryout my duty as the Prince of Shambala."

Yesodha Putran smiled at Shamu. He turned and looked at Vadhana. Seeing her speechless, he addressed Shamu, "One does not seek permission to perform his duty if he does not eye the fruit", Yesodha Putran granted his authorisation to Shamu.

Shamu turned away and walked back towards the entrance. His strides were heavy and measured. He looked at Kanakavalli who stood staring at him. His eyes locked on to Sena and held a silent conversation from the past with him:

"Whatever the truth maybe, I will lead them to victory, and then, as a Prince, I will arrest you and take you as a prisoner to Shambala."

Sena smiled.

Shamu halted in front of the Brothers.

He announced before the face of Sena, "Under the pronounced code of judgement by the noblemen of the great valley Shambala, I arrest you, Sena alias Baasha, for the crime of treason against the People of the Valley."

The pavilion brusted in emotional eruption. Several let out their anger and cried their discontentment over the arrest.

Ignoring the massive opposition, a group of armed guards of Shambala entered the pavilion carrying prisoner chains in their hands. Shamu halted them at the entrance by throwing his palm at them.

Rana, with uncontrollable anger in his face, took a step forward towards Shamu, but Sena stopped him. Kalai and Kacha looked at Yesodha Putran as though expecting him to stop the arrest.

Sena looked at Yesodha Putran and then at Vadhana. Their eyes met for a moment discussing about the arrest, which was a condition put forward by King of Shamabala to participate in the war. Vadhana hung her head down in silence. Kanakavalli kept staring at Shamu.

"Without the assistance of the brave men of Shambala, this victory would have been tougher to acheive", Sena shouted above the loud noise to calm the rioting officials inside the pavilion.

"I am not your hero. I am a criminal wanted by all the five nations. Charged for intimidation, cruelty, kidnap, murder and sabotage. My crimes remain unchanged post war and I have been proved guilty by the courthouse of Shambala. I accept the charges. No glory or any victory can remove the stains of my sins, which are painted in blood. My place is not amoung you. This land will be safer in the hands of Chief Rana. I ask you all to concentrate on your future rather than spending your valuable time fighting for a criminal. Please allow me to pass with my fate."

Sena turned and looked at Kanakavalli. She exhaled heavily when Sena smiled at her.

Shamu followed Sena to the exit and allowed him to enter the coach wagon. The carriage driven by eight horses departed to the courthouse of Shambala.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Trails of the War

First moon after the war ....

The Apprentice sat over the branch of a tree inside the dense jungle watching the calmness circling the battle field. It had not yet stopped raining, and after rejoicing their victory by sounding drums and blowing horns, the winning army retreated back to their campsite. None came to loot the Vettaiyan Palace, but maintained order and discipline.

The Poet's assistant looked at the moon hiding itself behind the rain clouds. Since he received the message from The Emperor to hibernate until the fall of Empires United, The Apprentice took shelter inside the forest. Every day he watched the fierce battle memorising every event as well as all the participants. When The Clown appeared, he had hid himself inside his underground cave and he resurfaced at dusk to find the war had ended. He kept surveying the palace garden for any movement, but it looked deserted.

The gushing rain was drumming on the battleground. The wind was held by pain and the breeze by suffering, allowing the dark clouds to cry over Karmegha. None of the falling tears woke the bodies lying wet and cold on the ground. The rain settled the dust and crystal clear streams cleansed the soil washing away the blood. The bathing forest took in all the dirt flowing out of Karmegha under its blanket of darkness.

A fragile man appeared from the corner of the palace. The Apprentice sat up straight on the branch. A wolf accompanied the fragile man. They both stood near the Brother's Cemetery beside the Third tomb. The river of rain water caressed their feet before flushing out of the cemetery garden.

Through the broken wall of the palace, a mysterious man wearing silver boots and carrying a dead body on his shoulders walked through the flood. His white uniform was completely drenched. The drops falling from the sky made tiny clings when they met the metal blades of the knives bordering his suit. The Apprentice recognised the Knife Suit worn by the Mysterious Man. His eyes glittered with familiarity with her saw the eagle eyes of the masked man. The Mysterious Man circled around the Vettaiyan Statue and halted before the bloody body of The Emperor floating on a pool of clear water.

The Mysterious Man threw the body, which was dressed like The Emperor, to the ground beside Vettaiyan. A small furry pup with a ring of white hair around its neck peeped out of his back collar. Two other cubs dug through his cloth and popped their head on either side. The three wolf kids - Child, King & Killer - turned their heads and looked around the palace garden.

The Mysterious Man with a white mask checked the body he had brought and compared it with Vettaiyan's still body. He examined the wounds around the chest on both the bodies. He, then, carefully lifted Vettaiyan from the ground and placed him on his right shoulder. The cubs dug themselves back into his white suit. Using his left leg he slowly pushed the other body and positioned it exactly at the same spot where Vettaiyan had fallen. He looked at the new body he had laid on the ground, which looked identic to Vettaiyan. The Mysterious Man turned towards the fragile man and the wolf and started to walk towards the Brother’s Cemetery carrying The Emperor on his shoulder.

Huge thunder blasted above the damaged dome of Vettaiyan Palace as the Mysterious Man walked over the rain water. He halted briefly and turned his head towards the jungle. A lightning bolt fell beside the tree on which The Apprentice was standing on a branch. The brief brightness brought down by the bolt allowed their eyes to meet momentarily. The Mysterious Man continued walking away from the jungle.

Vettaiyan's body moved up and down matching the heavy strides of his carrier. His head was loosely hung and his forehead dashed on the back of the Mysterious Man. Under the dim moonlight, The Apprentice observed closely the free fallen hands of Vettaiyan. They were swaying from side to side and the fingers danced together to the rocking movement.

Suddenly, the left hand of Vettaiyan stopped moving and held itself straight like a rigid wooden log.

The Apprentice's eyes opened wide. A chillness installed inside him when he heard the assonance phrase of Vettaiyan echoing all around the jungle.

... to be continued ...

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

Into a Brighter Dawn

Revolts exploded in several parts of the Central Kingdom when the Suyodhana Dynasty fell. With no one left to take over the Empire, the furious lineage involved in violence tearing apart anyone supporting the Empires United.

Commanders Kacha, Kalai along with the captain Gudakesha controlled the agitated crowd by force and restored order around the heart of the Central Kingdom.

Six moons later ...

"The Rain is forever embedded in our minds and the accomplished history shall be retold forever", the Queen of victorious Empires United addressed the crowd.

When the loud cheers dropped, she continued addressing the first social gathering after the war. People from all the states and union territories assembled on Karmega along with their Kings and Rulers. Every social division in the society consisting of families or communities unlinked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a uncommon culture and dialect, and having a seperate recognized leader assembled under a single roof below the blue sky, standing warmly next to each other beneath the brightly shinning sun.

Standing on an elevated podium constructed at the middle of the battlefield, Vadhana shared her vision with the Citizens of the World:

"We are not born to fight. We are not born to survive. We are born to live every single moment of our life - Happy and Healthy."

"Our victory has marked the end of the Rule of Leaders."

"How long are we going to follow a self-employed leader or lookup at someone to rise and lend his hand for us to hold and follow his path rather than following our own dreams? When shall we start thinking for ourselves and make decisions that fit our life?"

"Everyone is a leader, he who does need a leader. He is the leader of his family; he is the leader of his friends; he is the leader of the society; and he is the leader to himself. He shall report to none, rather to himself. He shall be his own court, judging his own actions."

"The word Freedom was wrongly preached by the Rulers. It shall be left buried in the past. But the present still resonates with completely mistaken understandings."

"Pay attention to what I have to say - Freedom imposed on you was merely a dictation to choose your Leader. No, that’s not Freedom. That's soaping the new ideas of enslavement inside your minds. Freedom is Responsibility. If each one is responsible for his actions, and accepts the responsibility to teach the irresponsible, then, there is no need for freedom, as you are already freed. Each, irrespective to age, shall construct a factory built upon responsibility. The industrialisation of our thoughts develops a machine that drives us forward together. We shall work for ourselves; we shall work for our family; we shall work for our future. We let no one to take away what we are and what we stand for from us."

"As a fresh start, we have to understand that we all are different and use it as the fuel to the machines in the factory of responsibility within us. We walk together on the same path of difference shaping each other for a mutual wellbeing. No boundaries shall mark the end. This World is limitless. This world is infinite to the one who wishes to explore. No nation or state can be boxed into territories. They all are unique. Imaginary lines that mark our differences shall be erased. The map of the World will have only single line joining us all. And that line shall be called Humanity. And that's real Freedom."

"Travel brings prospects. It feeds with experience for the starving mind. A World free from separation. By the individual expedition, this world full of natural resources shall be shared and not exploited."

"No. I am not talking about bringing a Change. I don't want to be in the never ending list of Leaders who wish to bring a change."

"A change happens naturally. It’s in our growth, a natural process."

"Thus, I propose we rebuild this world where everyone is respected. Worlds without a Leader run by us collectively, strengthened by our unity. Together we think about what we need. Together we work to fulfil them. Every thought is a drop of water to the seed called idea. Together let us grow the Tree of Knowledge. Together we shall taste its fruits."

"All five nations shall become one, as a single force to build a flawless future."

"Crime stops advancement. Policing invites fear. Murders and harassment gain much of our daily routine not allowing us to focus. Violence is a result of unemployment. The list of blocks goes on. And we are the ones who placed them there in the first place. And we are the one who are hurdling over them during our day-to-day life cycle."

"On this bright dawn, we swear to take up the responsibility to shatter such barricades that hinder our advancement. For an individual to be free, he has to have control on his freedom."

"In our World cleansed by the rain, there shall be no activity that promotes an individual and boosts him to abuse his powers. None shall possess absolute power. They will be just the eyes and ears of the empire that The People shall rule. He reports to none, but only to his Ruler - The People."

"Everyone who is assertive will automatically be uplifted over the stairs of the future. The rest shall rot in the present complaining about the past."

"This end has brought us a new genesis. I take the oath in front of you and promise that my children will work with the people, choosing the activity they wish to contribute just like any Citizen of this World. They will study in the public schools and work for betterment of the society. They will not grow up in the palace, but will live by the status they had worked for themselves. They, as a Citizen of this World, shall rule none but themselves."

"I issue an order to convert all the palaces and stately homes into orphanages, schools, communal halls and hospitals. The chosen leader will live under the same roof along with his ruler - The People."

"Does liberty of speech alone shall gain us food? An abuse without any control over the words crumbles the society, makes the educated worse than an uneducated. Talking may put us to sleep caused by tiredness, but the dawn will be darker. And can the change bring us a new roof through discussions?"

"These are the false values thrusted upon us to make us feel better and stay like the tadpoles free to roam in dirty waters. We don't need directive freedom."

"Responsibility should start from within through good habits and good thoughts. The actions must begin from the first step and remain true until the last step. The glory of nature should be kept intact. A clean environment reflects the purity of its dwellers."

"We will introduce a pyramid structure for the flow of information. The needs from below will be raised to the above where the all-seeing eye will descend to fulfil the needs. The eye shall not be the Ruler, but the representative of The People. He will have an eye always open, until no need arises. With the other eye he will monitor the activities of other representatives appointed by the people. Thus, the pyramid constructs a virtual tunnel that carries information freely without any overflow. Anyone can become the Eye, but he has to prove his vision to The People. Accept no more the blinking eye that lie. Choose the one that can stare straight at the sun."

"Crime can be stopped by employment. Employment leads to development and education leads to employment. Everyone shall receive education that shall not be valued by grades, but by the interest shown by the individual. Intelligence cannot be contained. We will teach our kids how we had learnt from each day of our life. Healthy food and good habits are necessary to achieve the fixed goal. They provide concentration under the roof of shelter. Food comes from agriculture and I announce farming as the primary occupation of our World. I announce farmers as the First Citizens of this World as they produce the energy for the society. Cheerful they are, healthy we all shall live."

"A barter system shall be introduced with immediate effect. We shall trade with what we have to get what we we don't have. Thereby, an Empire shall be valued by its natural resource - fertile lands, rain forests, water source, along with active citizens and the experience of inactive citizens."

"Laws shall be made to strength the society and not cripple its advancement. No law shall be permanent, but shall be amended according to the need and will of The People. Law governs the governors and will focus on punishing the elected who fail to fulfil their promise. Responsibility will teach the citizens to abide the law as well as not use it to waste the time of the court of justice."

"As I speak, the counsellors of the Empires United, including the members of the Great Central Kingdom, are discussing to elaborate the vision of our future."

"Littleman, the official clerk of The People, will read out the First Code of the Constituent Assembly of the World."

"Together we make progress."

Rana climbed the podium and took the fingers of Vadhana amidst loud welcome cheers. He guided her down the wooden stairs towards the campsite crossing the ocean of citizens who praised the couple.

Rana smiled at the happy faces floating like the bright foams on the ocean waves. He whispered to Vadhana, "You should be aware that this new system is complicated. A major reorganization has to be planned and it will take several years to implement it. On this bed of society, the flowers of victory shall fade soon, but to have a strict directive ..."

"It's a beginning, my Love, just a baby", Vadhana interrupted Rana and placed her head on his shoulder while hugging her stomach with both her hands.

... to be continued ...

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Chaturmukha Part 3 - mRdayopaliptaM

Chapter Six - The Master, The Monkey and The Monster

And the Lord spake upto the Angel that gaurded the eastern gate, saying Where is the flaming sword which was given to thee?
And the Angel said, I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down somewhere, forget my own head next.
And the Lord did not ask him again.
- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch By Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Journeys End

Six months later ...

"Thank you for accepting my proposition", Sena smiled and said with the utmost sincerity.

Shamu nodded in dismay. "The people need you. We need you ..."

"They are in the hands of the good", Sena pointed at Rana and Vadhana, who held to their first born infants in their arms.

Shamu trapped along with the group of men had found a way to drop from the Palace terrace after he had recovered. Couple of his men descended using the artwork on the wall and collected the thick curtains decorating the palace corridor. They made a long rope by attaching the cloth together and used it to slide down from the top of the palace to the floor of the garden.

When Shamu arrived near the Vettaiyan statue with Littleman and Maveeran, Sena was standing over two fallen bodies. Shamu identified Rana lying on the ground beside The Emperor - both floating over a pool of blood. They approached Sena and he welcomed them with a broad smile. He sat on his knees beside Littleman and shared his gladness with him on seeing him again. He nodded his head at the others welcoming them into the free world. He took Shamu from Maveeran and supported him on own his shoulders. Shamu placed his hand on Littleman's shoulder to gain balance while staning on single leg watching Rana.

Sena spoke to him softly:

"He will be alright. Listen to me while I ask you a favour. Arrest me as soon as we reach the pavilion. Allow the court of Shambala to banish me. Make it an official order issuing a judgement that states the accused to leave the region as a punishment. My brother shall not allow it to happen. None should know about our deal. Be authoritative to make the councils of Empires United to obey the decision of the People of the Valley. Can you do that for me?"

Shamu's eyes widened. Littleman raised his head at Sena with a surprised look on his face.

"Why", Shamu asked, "Is it because I said so? I was a different man then, Prince of Shambala. Now I am Dharma, leading the abandoned to the doors of equality. I shall never do what you ask me to do after all that we have seen together."

"There is no place for sentiments, Shamu", Sena explained, "I have to pursue the path of my Father. I sense something not right about all of this. I should find out what my Father had known. He lost everything once he possessed a particular detail; also, he had trusted Dashakantha. I have to know the particulars that are held inside the Mandala Bibliotheque. What if this is a just the Beginning of an End? I have to track down Rakshas before he takes over this world. Rana will not believe a word that I say to him on this matter. And I cannot deny him if he asks me to stay by his side. So, I request you to be a part of my wild search and allow me to travel the path of my Father."

Shamu stared at Sena for a long time and then, nodded his head in agreement.

Rana opened his eyes and saw Sena, Shamu and Littleman sticking together. He saw himself, Sengodagan and Hunchbadra smiling at him. Rana smiled back at them.

When Rana took Shamu on his shoulders, Littleman searched for the Sword of Destruction around the fallen Emperor. The pouring rains flooded the garden and Littleman blindly searched with his fingers under the running water. He was unable to find the Devine Sword.

Sena and Shamu walked from the wagon toward the people gathered to receive them. Kacha and Kalai walked toward Sena. Swetha and Swathi were holding Maya and Mira, the rescued sisters from the fire of Fort Ayan, beiside Vadhana. Kali and Kanakavalli stood beside each other behind Rana.

Sena looked around him as he approached Kalai and Kacha. As though reading his eyes, Kacha said, "Sultan left the campsite carrying Nobleman when it started to rain. His destination is known to only one person", he pointed at Kanakavalli and said, "The secret lies between her lips."

"A true friend", Sena said,"He neither waited to be asked nor expected any gratitude. He had reached us at the right time, silently performed his duty without fretting over the result. He took the insults and dissolved them in his gracious smile. None consulted with him, yet he carried out the orders without any objection. Leaving us alive and well, he has gone to the place he likes to call as 'Nowhere '. Sultan, may success sail with you."

Yesodha Putran honoured Rana with a graceful smile and Littleman brimmed with happiness beside him. Ayus stood together in group holding their children in their hands who were waving at Sena. Gudakesha and his men saluted their second in command.

Rana's face showered with contentment when Sena stood before him. Sena's face lighted up with joy when he saw Vadhana and Rana, each carrying a new born.

"Just like us", Rana announced, "Our daughter Lokhaleela", he passed the infant onto Sena's arms.

Sena's eyes glittered when he saw the pleasant face of Lokhaleela. Her eyes balls moved in her sleep.

"He is Kusela", Vadhana introduced her son to Sena.

"Exiled for twenty five years", Rana spoke harshly to Shamu.

"Not his fault", Sena corrected supporting Shamu, "You reap which ye have laboured."

Sena handed over Lokhaleela back to his brother.

Rana smiled and said, "She is your daughter now. We call her Lalli."

Emotion weighed Sena's heart. He was about to refuse, but remained speechless when Lali kicked his chest in her sleep with her tiny feet.

"Make sure you bring her back to us", Vadhana expressed her trust on Sena.

Kali joined Sena and they both walked towards the jungle. Sena whistled, but Nameless stayed with Kanakavalli who was looking at him with mild shivers around her lips.

Sena continued few steps looking at Lalli opening her eyes. He admired the white and pale blue flowers. Suddenly he turned to face the crowd assembled for his farewell. He directly looked at Kanakavalli and nodded his head inviting her to join him.

Kanakavalli ran towards Sena and held on to his left arm tightly. Nameless followed her. Sena took a final look at his family and friends and turned to enter the jungle.

Sena smiled at his daughter and Lalli smiled back at him.

End of Part 3

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Rajini Rewritten Trilogy (Part 3) - mRdayopaliptaM

Epilogue

Six years later ...

It was about sunset. Seven children chased a butterfly inside the rain forest. The blue butterfly with red outline flapped its white ringed wings hurriedly. It floated in the air and settled on a green leaf. The children cautiously walked over dry twigs taking care not to alert the butterfly with any noise.

The child with a thick soft black hair and tiny sharp eyes over his pointed nose and small lips approached the multi-coloured insect discreetly. He slowly raised his left hand and moved his palm over the butterfly. He brought his thumb and index finger together and pushed it towards the many-hued moth.

When he was about to grab the butterfly by its wings with his fingers, his mother called out for him loudly. Her shout echoed around the jungle and the tiny leaves shaked in fright. The butterfly flew away and his friends ran to every direction disappearing into the forest. They did not want to take the blame along with him for being late, as they were all scared of his mother. The child panicked. A cold shiver ran over his body.

Tensed and agitated, the child's little feet hurried to carry him to the hut where his mother was waiting at the entrance showing her annoyance on her face.

The child walked past his mother with his head hung down to the floor and Yamuna Devi, the daughter of Kochadaiiyan, saw her son born to Sengodagan preparing himself for the evening prayers.

Yamuna's son sat before the eastern wall facing the hand drawn art. The random lines on the wall connected with each other which resembled to three abstract human like images levelled around a dust of universe. He started chanting:

I Salute You, the All-Pervading One.
I Salute You, the All-Victorious One.
I Salute You, the All-Auspicious One.

I, the Grandson of Rishikodagan, deliver my prayers as sweet as the honey dew on broad leaf.
I, the only son of Yamuna, deliver my prayers as the rise of lighting flashing the bright garments.
I, the mourning son of Sengodagan, deliver my prayers as decoration on the beautiful locks of hair.

I seek to You who sits on the Lotus Flower;
I seek to You who holds the Chakra;
I seek to You who wears the king of snakes as a garland;

Prepare me to conquer the army of elephants.
Train me to shatter them into thousand pieces.
Sharpen me to tear them like a fiery lion.

O! Devine Three,

Honour me for bringing an end to the evil minded.
Gift me with the Golden Arrow.
Allow it to turn reddish when they cling to my enemies.

Permit me to befriend the ghosts of depair.
Like Ta-Tha-Theyi, Ta-Theyi, the rhythm of the Devine Dancer,
Let them crawl under my feet that moves Ku-Kutha, Ga-Gada.

Let them howl and growl in fear and pain.
Let the world which trusts them hear their cries.
Let everyone wake up to the song of their sins.

Entitle me as the Ruler of the World.
Make me destroy the indestructible.
Show me the path I shall lead them to their destiny.

Guide me in this land ruled by the Twin Demons.
Strengthen me to get back what rightly is mine.
Give me the force to take back those snatched from me.

Make me strong to face the Dual Demons,
Allow me to bathe in their blood.
Toughen up my fingers to rip those responsible for the Death of my Father.

O! Best of all Gods,

Grant me Victory, when I dry the foolish pride of Dual Demons.
Grant me Power, when I bestow the fate of Kansa upon Dual Demons.
Grant me Dominance, when I shred the fake masks of Dual Demons who pose as Hope and Faith.

O! Sum of Infinite,

I give myself, the grandson of your Son,
As the sacrifice to bring forth Your blessings.

I Salute You, the All-Pervading One ...

Lingaa continued chanting as the moon hovered above the hut shedding its beam of dim white light upon him through the gaps of the thatched roof.

<<<<<>>>>>

END OF CHATURMUKHA TRILOGY

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Forth Coming Attractions (Fake Preview)

Extracts from Ronin Trilogy:

Prajanam Brahma. Ayam Atma Brahma.
(Pure consciousness is God. The soul is God.)

The Haunted Hill

Rana opened the book he held in his hands.

"Am I lost?", he thought, while he flipped through the pages quickly. He backtracked few pages and examined the hand drawn map at the centre of his book.

"Am I on the right path?", Rana asked himself while looking at the dim darkness before him.

He turned to check if his comrades have found their way back. The adventurers were separated when they had set their foot on the slopes of the Haunted Hill while looking for the entrance to access the Treasures of the Lost Temple.

Rana advanced through the darkness. "A trap?", he thought again. "At the enterance of the Temple? Did Komokuten devise these safety measures himself? And The Broken Key! What ..."

Mild movements around the Temple made Rana to fold his book and watch the flames of a troch light approach him. The instincts of a warrior sensed trouble. He quickly brought his left hand to his hip, in order to use his long sword Vajrastra if need may arise. But he found his scabbard missing. "The fall", he whispered to himself. He searched the darkness around him with his eyes.

A strong wolf with two different coloured eyes and a ring of white hair around its neck jogged past the silhouette and came straight at Rana. It obeyed to its master's whistle and sat before Rana keeping its different coloured eyes on him. Rana did not move. His breath halted momentarily when he lifted his head and identified the man dressed in a white assassin uniform standing in front of him. In the shadows of the flame, Rana noticed the cold smile behind the white face mask. The white bandana covering the mouth of the assassin stretched.

"Not possible", Rana cursed to himself, "No, my eyes can't lie", he shouted, "I saw you die."

"Child", The Mysterious Man whispered and the big dark wolf pounced on Rana.

Book Mandir

A squad of military soldiers entered the Street of Shops. They looked straight ignoring the activities around their path and halted before a platform. There were three wooden racks placed next to each other over the pavement, carrying several books. The wall of the building before which the mobile library was stationed was painted with a sun upon a reading man. Above the art work it read in bold 'Book Mandir'.

The captain of the squad heard a man reciting lines from a book. Another man punched holes on a white embossed paper:

"Your God is dead", The Wind growled threatening The Water and The Fire.

"That's a lie", The Water replied as though The Wind had no power over it.

"As God never existed to die", The Fire sparked floating over The Water

Thus, The Wind descended from above forcibly; The Water rose like an angry wave; and The Fire soar high up shining in its many-hued flame ....

The loud reader, Adikavi, stopped reciting when the captain called out. The punching man, Purush, turned to the direction of the command. The captain stepped back looking at dark pupil floating over the white iris of the punching man. He regained himself and spoke to the man who was lying on the bench with an open book covering his face.

"Kusela, the son of late Chief Rana and Her Late Majesty Vadhana Devi, has sought your presence immediately", he spoke loudly.

The hair above the book shielding his face swayed gently in the tender breeze. His white tunic top exposed his chest and he had his left leg placed on his right knee, both covered under blue pants. The blowing wind kissed the buckles of his brown boots allowing them to dance to the tunes of the tiny ringing bells. The Librarian reacted as though the captain's order went unheard, washed by the wind.

Maanvizhi, who ran a stall of baked rice flours opposite to Book Mandir, silently watched the scene that unfolded in front of her. Her sister, Malarvizhi waited eagerly to watch the brawl. Her faint smile predicted the fate of the soldiers. Kozhavan who repaired shoes started to walk towards Book Mandir. He was joined by Guhaya, the key maker, on the way.

Energy to Create

The corridors echoed with the rhythmic footsteps. A young man dressed in blue marched briskly and opened the huge doors. He stood at the entrance with his sisters Maya and Mira looking at the Presidents of Greater Focus, a guild of creators monitoring the programme targeted at innovators, researchers and scientists.

"You are late", one from the seven member panel announced his displeasure.

"I shall rather be late, instead of reaching nowhere", Kusa replied.

They walked to the centre of the large squared hall. Mira and Maya cleared the table while Rana bowed before the spectators. When the presentation desk was ready, Kusa placed a tiny object on the table.

"Is it a joke?", another member asked him while trying to look hard at the tiny object.

"No, My Lord, It is a Pin", replied Kusa.

The Prophecy

The aged man couched blood. He spoke softly to Lingaa:

The Supreme One descends into three fold nature - Intellectual, Instinctive and Spiritual. All three present within one body connected to the different mental construct. There is always Three Ones in this world - Creator, Mediator and Destroyer. Every time the body and the mental construct differ, allowing the Intellect of the Creator to create destruction; not permitting the Instincts of the Mediator to prevent the destruction; and not giving enough Spiritual power for the Destroyer to control the destruction. Yet, all three are one, trying to balance the Nature of the Supreme One.

Alas, Remember, The One who destroys is The One who dies is the One who kills first.

The aged man stopped talking. Lingaa starred back at the lifeless eyes of the stranger not understanding what was spoken and what he heard.

Knowledge meets Power

Lingaa lit a candle beside the bed. He sat comfortably on the chair beside the cot watching the sleeping Prince Kusa. A moment later, he moved his hand over the desk and pushed the neatly arranged plates to the floor.

The noise awoke Kusa. Siting on the bed, he looked at the man glittering under the brightness of the candle light. He was clean shaven and his hair was clumsily groomed. He wore a white dress. Kusa turned to verify the locked entrance door and then, watched the intruder wide eyed.

"You seriously should think about your princely security", he stranger spoke.

"Who are you?", the scared prince asked.

"Lingaa, the Librarian."

After a vague thought, Kusa climbed out of his bed. He pulled a chair and sat facing Lingaa. The identic images started to converse with one another.

"What do you know about the Black Gold", Kusa asked.

"The location is mentioned in this book", Lingaa kept his reply short.

Without issuing a warning he threw a fat book at Kusa. The Prince caught the flying book thrown at him while keeping his eyes on Lingaa.

"Part Three - Chapter Four - Days of Battle - Episode - Words can Kill - Segeent One - A Lizard in the Graveyard", Kusa flipped through the pages as Lingaa guided him with the contents of the book.

"We travel at dawn", Kusa declared.

"No time better than dawn", Lingaa accepted.

Meeting of Three

She carefully carried the oval plate filled with water in her palms. She placed it on the grass at the corner of the garden. She picked up tiny pebbles from the ground and drowned them in the flat plat of water. When water was trapped between the tiny stone, Lalli smiled.

A moment later, a red butterfly flew into her garden. It circled around her head before settling on a tiny pebble. The butterfly drew water from the plate without getting itself drowned.

Lalli carefully walked past the sleeping giant carrying Inesh in her left hand. Several kids giggled while playing around with the arm of the snoring giant.

"Twin predators threaten the villagers", Lalli recollected the horror told to her by the villagers while she climbed up a tall tree, "The tigers worked together and trapped their preys who entered the jungle to gather wood. They have been spotted recently."

Siting over a branch on the top of the tree, Lalli surveyed the surrounding. She watched out for moments around the bushes. She quickly armed Inesh by drawing two arrows inside the Devine Bow and aimed it to her right when the corner of her right eye signalled intruders. Her twin arrows pointed at two young men on their horses riding into the jungle.

Lingaa and Kusa smiled at each other while Lalli kept the strangers locked under Inesh.

Return of the Hunters

Anangan, Aathiban, Iranyan, Eesan, Udhayan, Urjith, Ezhilarasan, Yega, Aiyamuthu, Ottakoothan, Oviyan, Avvainambi - known as the Deadly Dozen - were assassins trained by an unknown master. The brothers reached the festival of Colourful Mountain. The entire valley surrounded by thick forests was decorated massively. At the centre of the town there was a tall pole running vertically and almost touching the sky. Spikes were installed at regular intervals to permit someone with long limbs to climb. They were separated widely from each other and were arranged circularly around the pole rising from bottom to the top. The wooden post was coloured yellow with red power dusted all over it. The villagers maintained silence. Varieties of instruments of sound were laid on the ground and the musicians waited calmly.

Anangan asked a man beside him, "What is everyone waiting for?"

"Koothadi", the man replied.

"Who?", Anangan made a funny face.

"The Dancing Saint", the man answered furiously.

"Should I know him?", Anangan querried.

"No one knows Him", the man said, "For the past twenty Five years, The Saint whose face is painted blue and red walks into the Colourful Mountain during the festival. After dancing around the pole, he climbs up the wooden pillar. He showers flowers from the top and then disappears into the sky. He will then reappear only the following year to bless this mountain with rain of flowers."

Anangan found himself hard to control his laughter. He looked around and silently ordered his brothers to spread and mingle with crowd.

The gentle breeze turned into a mighty wind. Dry leaves flew carrying the dust along with them. Sound of anklet bells rang around the valley. It grew louder when a man covered in red and blue garments appeared from nowhere and danced towards the wooden pole. His face was painted red and blue. His lips were glowing bright white.

The last noise the Deadly Dozen remembered was a sound of finger snapping beside their ears. They had no memory of what had happened after that. When they regrouped, the man whom the villagers worshiped as Koothadi had disappeared. It seemed as though he never existed.

Anangan shook his head side to side to help himself to overcome the dream like state. He suddenly remembered and checked his pocket. The message from his Master was missing. His Master had briefed:

"The Saint has surfaced. No need to look for him, he will find you if he assumes you to be a threat."

Anangan took it as a challenge to deliver the message to the anonymous man called The Saint by finding him and handing it over to him in person. But he stood awed wondering who The Saint was!

Red and blue colour paints coated the surface of the crystal clear pond as Koothadi washed his face in the water from the pond. His dark long hair swayed in the wind as he read the message:

Ha Ha, I laugh at the law.
Sa Sa, I spit beside your paw.
Ga Ga, I think how to draw,
Ma Ma, A man without a flaw.
Pa Pa, Cries the broken jaw,
Da Da, Flinching his own claw
Ha Ha, Turning his flesh red raw.

Ra Ra, Come and collect Rana.

The long grey strands of his hair flew to every direction. The head lifted and looked up at the sky. The eyes were tightly closed. When the eyes reopened, they shined as amber in anger floating above a grey long beard.

Sena emptied his lungs when he shouted at the dark blue sky.

The War of the World

"On the blackest day I will burn brighter than the sun. And then, there shall be WAR!", he declared holding the Sword of Destruction in his left hand.

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Chaturmukha Trilogy : Character Tree
(DRAFT VERSION 3.08 - 28th day of August 2016)

https://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/597957CharacterFlowchart.jpg

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Chaturmukha Trilogy - Credits

Chandramukhi & Vettaiyan - created by Writer/Directer Thiru P.Vasu.
Features in the motion picture Chandramukhi (Tamil, 2005).
Production Company: Sivaji Productions.

Kochadaiiyaan, Rana & Sena - created by Writer Thiru KS Ravikumar and brought on screen by Director Thiru Soundarya Rajinikanth.
Features in the motion picture Kochadaiiyaan (Tamil, 2014)
Production Company: Eros International, Media One Global Entertainment, Cinemorphic.

Thiru SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth plays the lead roles in these film works along with respective co-artists portraying several characters that were adapted in Chaturmukha Trilogy. Only the threads from the mentioned film works were taken by retaining the characters names to create a new story under a different story-arc through mingling both the story universe - Chandramukhi and Kochadaiyaan.

Few character names played by Thiru SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth in other films were adapted to the original story of Chatrumukha Trilogy.

All characters were given a new dimension where their psych is completely different from the original versions.

Referenced books and other materials are included under respective chapters as FOOT NOTE.

Chaturmukha Trilogy is aimed to entertain Thiru SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth fans and book readers alike.

[mappi]

Disclaimer

Chaturmukha Trilogy:

- is a Political Epic Fantasy Mystery Action Science Fiction happening inside a multi-universe.

- takes place within the fictional universe which is a part of a larger multiverse.

- showcases an oppressive controlled system.

- portrays a fictional world plagued by environmental destruction, resource scarcity and pandemic catastrophes.

- depicts social classism.

- explores the virtues and vices of human nature.

- refers to no religious beliefs or contains any source of propaganda.

- is destined for Matured Audience for its occasionally strong language and violence; Readers discretion advised.

- does not include any controversial subjects or any structure which are unusual.

- is a realistic depiction of fictional events.

Chaturmukha Trilogy is a work of fiction and is not intended to offend racial, religious or political sensibilities. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

Chaturmukha Trilogy is meant for entertainment purposes only and does not intend to hurt the sentiments of any individual or community.

All images and videos shared within are copyrighted to their respective owners. The contents were taken from public domain. Such contents were used to fill the pages, and are not a part of the work. If any violation of their policy and procedures, please contact the AUTHOR either by leaving a message in this thread or through private messaging system available in this forum. They will be removed and appropriate apology statement from the AUTHOR will be issued.

[mappi]

To differently abled fellow-men.

[mappi]

Author's Note

The AUTHOR would like to thank all the anonymous readers of his fictional work Chaturmukha Trilogy. He gratefully acknowledges the support shown by the moderators of this community - THE HUB. He would like to render special thanks to administrator of THE HUB - NOV (an alias name) and each member who had called him and/or left a feedback. He appreciates everyone (the list is long) who had accompanied him during this journey providing moral support and everyone who willingly shared information to him based on which several episodes were constructed. He would like to make a special mention of book keepers, librarians and tour guides who have assisted him to gather needed materials to complete the trilogy.

[mappi]

Chaturmukha Trilogy - Version Control

START DATE - 13th day of July 2015

FIRST DRAFT (unpublished) dated March 2016

DRAFT 2-5 (unpublished) dated June 2016, August 2016, November(2) 2016

ORIGINAL VERSION - DRAFT 6 (unpublished) dated January 2017

REVISED VERSION - DRAFT 7 (published) - 17th day of September 2017

FINAL DRAFT 8 - Undergoing revisions / Editorial sweep in progress.

Substantive Changes : undisclosed

[mappi]

https://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/978828ChatumukhaYoursTruly.jpg

Ovoru Udampum Koyil, Ovoru Uyirum Theivam.
Ondrae Sivam Ena Arium Arivae Thagum Arivu.

Sutha Arivae Sivam.

yours truly,
mappi.