~*~|| Apprehension ||~*~

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Night had descended like a blanket of calm over the crimson battlefield of Kurukshetra. The carcasses of men strewn all over the toxic land were spread like an open feast for the gleeful scavenger birds circling atop the empty sky.

The sounds of crackling fire pervaded the mourners circling every pyre, irrespective of assignment. At nightfall, both sides were finally equal. 

After all, dead men had no loyalty to give to any Sovereign.

The air around the encampments of the Pandavas was stifled with despondency. They had lost quite an enormous amount of infantry, in the massacre that today's battle had wrought.

Courtesy of Bheeshma. 

The man was proving to be a lethal machine of war and absolutely relentless. 

The eldest Pandava was trying his best to up the morale of his disappointed men. 

"Mahaan mahim needs to be stopped. Post haste. If we want any chance of a victory, that is", Viraataraja, the sovereign monarch of Matsya Pradesh spat, rather rhetorically. He had just spoken what everyone was thinking anyways. 

The main issue wasn't that his opinion would be disputed, it is more a question of how do they stop the wizened super warrior. 

Maharathi Bheeshma had managed to hold even Lord Parushrama at bay. 

The man was near invincible. 

But Yudhishtira had to take control of the situation before the fear of their grandsire gets permanently engraved in everyone's minds. It would do them no good when they have to face him tomorrow, again. 

"It is a setback definitely, but I am sure that we will be able to make up for it, tomorrow. If we keep Pitamaha engaged with someone and divert his attention from our soldiers, we can retaliate properly", Dharmaraja announced gently, his defined features carefully arranged in a serene expression. 

The warriors seemed to latch onto that sliver of hope quite readily and began an enthusiastic discussion, on the pros and cons of that method. 

His brothers though, were not so easily appeased as they, once use to be, eons ago.

Yudhishtira mentally lamented that fact, more than he thought should be prudent.

But he was their oldest brother after all, and nothing pained him more than seeing his once so ebullient rowdy gang of siblings, so morose and silent.

He wondered when was the last time, the Madriputras had ganged up on their older brothers and played a prank. He pondered when had his beloved Vrikodhara, roughhoused his younger ones and laughed so hard that the very pillars of their palace shook.

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