Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

54.

Shakra wondered what the deal was with the little piece of parchment he was given. Rajkumari Valli had sent him the information she knew from Pragnvamsa about the Kanakotika's army that had advanced. Shakra knew that it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart. She was expecting something.

"Manas, what do you think?"

"I think she wants us to leave Pragvamsa in return for the information. She doesn't mention what she is expecting from us in return for the information she's shared."

"I think that there's something she needs that we have." Shakra burned the piece of parchment and picked up a new piece. He wrote a message quickly and sealed it. "Send this back to Pragvamsa."

Manas took it and looked at Shakra. "What are you planning to do now, Yuvraj? What if this information makes us pay a huge price? We can't claim that we didn't use her information. Yet, if she demands something insane in return for it, we will be in huge trouble."

Shakra patted his shoulder. "One problem at a time, Manas. If the information seems to cost us too much, we either negotiate and try to come to more acceptable terms or we set out Maukali to handle things. Stability at the center is more important. Borders have soldiers who monitor them. They fight a straight war, but we need a very stable internal system to make sure they are protected and their lives aren't pawns used as we wish. I am going to follow that part."

Shakra's army and commanders were out to conquer the enemy. He stood out on the battlefield with the sword, prepared to take over his enemy. The Kanakotika Kingdom has been a thorn in his side for a while, and he has wanted to crush them for a while now. He had already set up an opposition there that could take over once Shakra had taken down the king right now. The King's brother, Bhaskar, had met with Shakra two years ago, hoping to get his side.

Shakra looked at the army ahead of him. Abhinav and Abhijit were with him.

"Abhi, go take over the left side. I want them completely controlled there with as little bloodshed as possible." Abhijit nodded at Shakra's order.

"Manas, go right. I want the same result from there. Both of you take over from the side and return from the back. I want you to slowly surround the Kanakotika army. I'm leading the front battle."

The two set out to perform their parts. Abhinav was ready and excited to finally prove himself. Shakra patted his brother's eagerness. "Take it easy..."

"Annaiyya!! Come on. I'm a big boy now. Let me get a little more air. I can tackle it."

"Leave Adrij to me. You purely focus on his general Partha. Dead or alive, bring him to me."

Abhinav nodded yes. Shakra got up on his elephant and prepared his bow. The bow strung over and was ready to wreck havoc on the army. Vijaya's trunk was covered in powerful armor that had spikes on the outside. Vijaya hit the enemy soldiers with its trunk, killing them with the force of the attack and the spikes. Shakra began shooting arrows from the top of the elephant.

The arrows that he released hit right through the enemy. His aim was perfect. An arrow flew towards him, and Shakra blocked it with his bow.

"You need to try better!!!" Shakra taunted the enemy. The arrow that Shakra released hit him right in the chest, and the soldier fell off the elephant. "Unfortunately, you won't be getting the chance to do so until you manage to find yourself out of Naraka."

Shakra's arrows began to rain over the enemy forces.

The battlefield, bathed in the golden glow of the sun, bore witness to the clash of two mighty kingdoms. Shakra's bowstring pulled taut as he exchanged deadly arrows with Prince Adrija of the Kanakotika Kingdom. The air crackled with the resonance of bowstrings and the thunderous trumpet calls of the war elephants, setting the stage for a battle of epic proportions.