Karna & Arjun - The Union of Brothers

12. The Next Level

"What's happening to his armor?" Arjun asked Eklavya.

"What armor?" Eklavya said as he turned around to see.

"How is his golden armor glowing?" Arjun persisted.

"This is bad news," Eklavaya said as he noticed the high frequency pattern in which Karna's armor was glowing.

"What?" Arjun's impatience was evident in his voice's decibal.

"It's not just an armor. It's a part of his body. It's like an additional layer of skin made with an indestructible metal. There are theories about it being a divine gift. He belongs to the family of charrioters but is considered a prodigy as a warrior. Nobody can tell with confidence but people believe that he came from the stars. It is believed that there's a divine energy that's protecting him and his armor can sense any potential threat. This glowing pattern is a signal that something is approaching us," Eklavya expressed his concern.

"I don't need a divine armor, my knowledge is my divine power. If there's someone coming, I hope it's ready to face me," Arjun said as he raised his bow with confidence.

Arjun became more attentive and noticed something strange on the ground. A fast moving shadow of a cloud amidst moonlight. It didn't even take a second for Arjun to realize that it was a cluster of arrows approaching them from the sky. He immediately ran towards Sahdev, stood in front of him, raised his bow towards the sky to counter any arrow that could come in their direction. He could see the arrows splitting in different directions but none came towards them. While most arrows fell at places where Arjun's vision was blocked by trees and bushes, there was one arrow approaching the area where they were stationed. Without giving it a second thought, Arjun shot an arrow to counter it. Arjun's didn't miss his mark but his arrow disappeared as soon as it hit the approaching arrow which was glowing like ruby. Within acouple of seconds it hit the torso of one of the boys standing in front of Arjun, and the boy along with the arrow disappeared, leaving behind momentarily occurring red smoke.

Arjun, Karna, Eklavya, Sahdev, and Ashwathama were all shook by what they had witnessed. The exchanged glares with each other in search of answers.

"Let's split and look for others on the island," Ashwathama suggested.

"Sahdev stays with me," Arjun expressed the concern for his brother.

"Alright, you head to the North. Eklavya, you check the caves in the East. Ashwathama there could be incoming threats from the heights, you check the hillocks in the West and I will check the beach. Let's return in the next 30 minutes and share the information with each other," Karna shared the plan and there were no reasons to challenge it.

They went in different directions to look for the others. Most of the young warriors were getting some sleep to makeup for the tireful evening as the dawn was still a few hours away. There were a few who were looking for the ones that were hit by the mystic arrows. There was a sense of astonishment but little fear considering the caliber of the chosen warriors. The warriors that were awake didn't panic but were curious about the attack.

"We lost about seven boys here," Rukmi said as he saw Eklavya approaching the cave.

"I understand most of you taking refuge here for safety reasons, but how could .." Eklavya said as he was trying to make sense of the situation.

"How could the arrows enter the cave? Considering their tracing ability, I believe the arrows were Anveshak Astra. I was standing at the door and none of the arrows hit me. I could see them going past me and targeting others," Rukmi explained.

"Well who would want to mess with a mountain of a warrior who's trained by Bhagwaan Parashuram and Druma Rishi," Eklavya said and both smiled.

As agreed, all the warriors gathered near the central part of the beach.

"Ashwathama, what do you think happened here? Did Gurudev share anything with you before we left," Suyodhan said as he was looking for answers.

"I am as clueless as you are, Suyodhan. We are missing about thirty odd warriors. It seems like it's some kind of test," Ashwathama responded.

"It's not a test, it's the result of the first test," Sahdev spoke.

"True, every warrior who was actively involved in the first test is present here. They basically got rid of bench warmers," Rukmi contributed to the conversation.

"That does make sense. Well, let's spend the next few hours at the beach. It's safer than the woods. We can start moving post the Sunrise," Ashwathama said and lead the way towards the beach. Rest of the warriors followed his lead while chit chatting amongst themselves.

"We lost thirty seven warriors today, but that doesn't add up," Arjun whispered to Sahdev.

"Because there were only thirty four arrows in the air," Karna said as he overheard their conversation while walking past them. Both the warriors nodded as a sign of appreciation to their observational skills.