Nasteya Read online

  ‘Lie still until I get some herbs,’ Vedang said when I tried to sit up.

  ‘Forgive me, Vasu, I never knew our fight would end up with you in this condition. I shouldn’t have done that,’ Nasteya said with his hand on my shoulder.

  My mind went back to the horrific events of the previous night. ‘I’m sick, Nasteya, but it’s not because of you. There’s something else… something that you may not believe,’ I said.

  ‘There is no chance I won’t believe you, ever,’ Nasteya said. And so I narrated everything to him, everything that I had seen... When I finished, he looked as stunned as I had been.

  ‘Are you sure you were wide awake?’ he asked.

  ‘I told you that you wouldn’t believe me!’ I replied in a frustrated voice.

  ‘I do believe you,’ Nasteya said slowly, ‘but it’s something I don’t want to believe. Were those people from the Resistance?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but I guarantee you that those guards were Rudra’s men,’ I replied.

  ‘Then there’s someone who might know,’ Nasteya said. ‘You rest until I return from the training session.’

  All day long, the memories kept haunting me. I wished it was a nightmare because then at least I could wake up. But the truth was that all that I had seen was true. When dusk came, dark and cloudy, Nasteya returned.

  ‘How would she know?’ I asked Nasteya while we were on our way to the underground base of the Resistance after sunset.

  ‘Who else can we ask? If not the Resistance, who else would know what Rudra’s up to…’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Abhuva.’

  With tears in her eyes, Eshana said that one word. It was dusk and we were at the base where I had recounted everything to her.

  ‘That monster is Abhuva, a giant, blood-sucking, ferocious devil’s curse. He was tamed by Rudra who brought two of these monsters from the darkest lands of the far west.’

  ‘Where’s the other one?’ Nasteya asked.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  THE LOST KING

  ‘The other one was killed by that old man over there who has spent each day in regret for not being able to stick his sword into Abhuva’s heart as well,’ Eshana said as she pointed towards her father. How would it be possible for a mortal man to kill a giant of Abhuva’s size? Somehow, he seemed to have grown in stature, in my eyes.

  ‘But who were those people?’ Nasteya asked.

  ‘There’s something I need to tell you if you’re ready to believe me.’ Her words were followed by tears. Nasteya wiped them and said, ‘There’s no reason for us to not believe you… tell us everything.’

  After a pause, she took a deep breath and started: ‘Years ago, when Mehrgarh’s darkest days were yet to descend on us, it was ruled by a king blessed by God himself, King Vidhur, a king whose only purpose was to live for the people of Mehrgarh and to fill their lives with eternal sunshine. He was brave and he always kept the enemies from casting their vile shadows over the land of Mehrgarh. But sometimes, the damage done by the betrayal of a single insider outweighs the damage done by a million enemies. King Vidhur’s younger brother was a poisonous toad who was drenched with resentment on seeing his brother excelling in his kingship. Mutiny brewed from the resentment. One cold and dark night, that evil brother attempted to assassinate the king. But the king caught him in the act. Full of sorrow at being betrayed by his own blood, he sent Rudra—yes, yes, Rudra, he you call priest-king, was the king’s younger brother!—on a lifelong exile. Vidhur could have got him executed but the love he had for his brother forbade him from doing so. After Rudra’s banishment, harmony was restored in Mehrgarh. But something unanticipated, an event so dreadful that it scarred the pretty face of Mehrgarh once and for all, occurred with the help of his cunning. Rudra allied the darkest forces of the west and tamed two of their most ghastly monsters. With the dark warriors of the west and the two monsters as his dreadful protection, he advanced towards Mehrgarh. The Great War began.

  Vidhur and his elite warriors trapped Rudra’s warriors outside the centre of Mehrgarh, fought against them with all they had and just when Mehrgarh’s victory was within their grasp, Rudra appeared with the two monsters. On seeing them, some of King Vidhur’s soldiers fell back but other brave ones marched forward with their king. When the king saw his men being crushed, eaten to death one after another, he became determined to stop the monsters. He went to the top of a nearby building and leaped on to one of the beasts, brandishing his blood-stained sword. After a struggle, his sword pierced the monster’s heart.

  It sighed for one last time and fell down, dead. King Vidhur now turned towards the other creature but what he saw stopped him in his tracks. His queen and his little daughter were in the clutches of the monster, whose name is Abhuva.

  ‘Stop now or this is the last time you’re seeing your family,’ Rudra screamed. The king gazed at his family helplessly. The queen couldn’t bear to see her king helpless. With the help of a small dagger that she kept hidden in her waistband, she stabbed the monster’s claw, freeing herself and her daughter. The little girl dashed to her father but the queen wasn’t fortunate enough—the monster caught her and devoured her. The king and his daughter cried and shrieked and he made to attack the vile beast. But one of his warriors picked him and his daughter up and the three fled away on a horse. Mehrgarh had fallen into the devil’s hands. King Vidhur had lost everything. It was on that doomed day that he vowed to take vengeance for everything he had lost—his queen, his kingdom and his people. That king was my father…and I was the little girl who knows what it is like to be in the clutches of a monster…’

  We gazed at the old man who was not just Eshana’s father and the head of the Resistance, but the former king of Mehrgarh. I could feel the weight of the burden his shoulders bore each day.

  ‘I can feel what is in his heart, trust me. Our story is no different at all except that you still have Mehrgarh to fight for but we, we just have vengeance as a reason,’ Nasteya said to her.

  ‘And before you ask, I shall tell you who those pitiable victims that Vasu saw last night were,’ she said. ‘You know very well about the taxes? Well, Rudra’s brutal policy is that if a family fails to pay the tax above a certain defined limit, it is fed to the monster without a second chance. Those poor victims might have failed to pay their taxes.’

  ‘I wonder why God sends such devils on earth,’ Nasteya commented.

  ‘Now you know why the Resistance needs you,’ Eshana said.

  Wiping her tears Nasteya gently held her in his arms and said, ‘We promise to help you any way we can.’ I could not disagree. I wasn’t that cold-blooded to value our purpose over their pain.

  ‘Let’s make a plan,’ I said.

  ****

  Knowing what we now did about Rudra made it hard for us to fake a smile at his jokes the next day after the training session.

  ‘… and then he was flat on the ground!’ Rudra completed his not-so-funny joke and laughed and our counterfeit glee followed his laughter.

  ‘Jokes apart, tell me what level has this training reached,’ Rudra asked.

  ‘The last lesson is left. This week is all we need,’ Nasteya said. Only I could understand the duality in Nasteya’s words. Yes, indeed, this week was all we needed.

  ‘My king, I need you to announce to all your guards and soldiers that they must gather outside the west wall exactly five days from now, for a final drill,’ Nasteya said.

  What was he up to, I wondered. I was sure of one thing—that there had to be a reason behind what Nasteya was asking.

  ‘Is it absolutely necessary?’ Rudra asked.

  ‘Of course it is! What would be the fun of having learnt all these skills without learning the tactics of how to put them into action in a real war?’ Nasteya said—and once again, it was just I who sniffed the ambiguity in his words.

  ‘You have a reason, so consent granted,’ Rudra said, approving Nasteya’s demand.

  The moment we reached home, Nasteya asked
Vedang, ‘Do you think you’re old enough to write about and be a part of another adventure?’

  ‘Where there’s adventure, Vedang fails to recall his age,’ he replied with a smile.

  ‘Then I guess we’re in for quite an adventure,’ Nasteya said. ‘Pack your bags everyone. We relocate tonight.’

  ‘Why?’ Savaan asked.

  ‘I’ll explain everything, just know that whatever I’m doing is for our good,’ Nasteya said. At night, under cover of darkness, we left. With all our packs, we sped sneakily towards the Resistance hide-out.

  ‘Will you please explain?’ Savaan asked for the tenth time, unable to contain his curiosity.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’re taking us to the Resistance…’ Vedang said.

  ‘You’re smart,’ Nasteya commented.

  ‘Oh dear Lord! I knew it,’ Vedang murmured.

  ‘The Resistance? Why are we going there?’ Savaan asked.

  ‘Silence!’ Nasteya commanded.

  By midnight, under a dark sky partly dotted with glimmering stars, we reached the underground base. The reaction of our fellows was no different from ours when we first glimpsed the hidden base.

  ‘I’ve spent my whole life travelling to different places in search of unseen and unheard wonders that dwell on this earth but I never even imagined there would be one right under my bedroom,’ Vedang said, completely stunned by the view. Ayaan was speechless, staring at every minute detail with his big keen eyes. We were in the middle of the main bridge when Eshana came to us and Nasteya said, ‘We’ll live here from now on.’ She took us to one of the platforms where she allotted rooms. Moments later, Eshana’s father, King Vidhur, came to greet us and it was then that Nasteya revealed his plan.

  ‘My king, exactly five days from now our battle for Mehrgarh begins. I have a plan to which I need you all to listen. First of all, I need fifty of your elite men so that I can show them the place where they have to hide themselves on the fifth day. They’ll remain in hiding until I bring all of Rudra’s men there. It will be outside the boundary of Mehrgarh.’

  ‘How are you going to bring Rudra’s soldiers there?’ Hira asked.

  ‘It’s been already taken care of,’ Nasteya said. ‘This way you’ll be provided with a clear passage towards the palace without hindrance. You enter the palace and abduct Rudra and meanwhile, we’ll keep his guards, all of them, engaged in the outskirts of Mehrgarh. I cannot guarantee that there will not be any loss of life but I assure you that this is the best I can do and a war can be prevented.’ Nasteya announced, ‘Sharpen your blades, warriors, forge your armours and prepare to fight for your king.’

  Nasteya had knitted quite an effective plot, but even the Gods cannot predict the outcome of a war. All of this was happening suddenly. All I could do at that time was be positive about what Nasteya had devised and believe in him. That night, a wave of fervour swept all through the Resistance. Vidhur cleared the dust settled on his armour and his eyes sparkled with renewed hope. Nasteya’s good humour, however, veiled a growing sense of disquiet. He was about to turn the tables on Rudra. The quest had already begun. The sounds of hammering echoed throughout the base. Everyone’s blood was warming up. The Resistance had begun preparing for the end of Rudra’s oppression. Rudra was oblivious of the way his destiny was about to change—or was he?

  Just a day before the final showdown, Nasteya disappeared. We kept waiting for him and neither I, nor Eshana and Ayaan slept that night. I didn’t even have my dinner. We were worried. ‘Didn’t he tell you anything?’ Eshana asked.

  ‘No! I don’t even know when he went out,’ I answered, agitated.

  And then, late, past midnight, we saw him coming towards us, walking at a snail’s pace on the bridge, his clothes stained with blood and dirt.

  TWENTY-SIX

  THE PLOT THAT FAILED

  Though he limped a bit, he looked all right and when he came to us he said, ‘I know what questions you’ll ask.’

  ‘Nasteya, where were you?’ I demanded.

  ‘I fell off my horse,’ he said.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Eshana asked him in a concerned voice, taking his hand.

  ‘I am fine,’ Nasteya answered with a smile. ‘I’m starving though.’ Eshana hugged him. I wish I could describe the joy that washed over his face at that moment. But my mind was dealing with something else. Nasteya had had a fall? That was most unlikely. Was he hiding something? But I was glad to see him in one piece and nothing else really mattered. We took him inside and Eshana gave him fresh clothes. Then the three of us dined together.

  I hardly remember if anybody slept that night. The day dawned cold and cloudy. The clang and clash of tools could be heard. Saddles were being mounted on horses. There was a separate platform for all horses where they were kept, fed and exercised. Warriors wore armour and leaped on to the saddles. We stood on the main bridge among the lined up warriors. Vidhur, who was clad in his bronze armour with his sword in hand, came and said, ‘For all the souls wandering out in the open, the souls of those who died because of Rudra, I’ll behead that devil, for my queen and Mehrgarh,’ Vidhur said.

  ‘Bless us my king so we can deliver our best,’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Blessed are the ones who bear the courage to stand against evil,’ Vidhur said.

  When in war, the clouds of death hover over warriors and there’s never any certainty that they won’t burst open in a downpour. I knew those clouds were already approaching. Yet I bore no fear. Even if they rained, it would be our enemy whose backyards would be flooded.

  ‘We leave in an hour. After all of Rudra’s men have gathered outside Mehrgarh, I’ll send a messenger upon whose arrival you shall head for the palace,’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Let’s go!’ Nasteya announced. I looked at his scabbard and asked, ‘Do you reckon we’re going to need this?’

  ‘Kushya’s sword? It’s just in case,’ Nasteya said and turning towards the others, he said in a commanding voice: ‘Be ready, the messenger might come anytime!’

  ‘May you bring victory to us,’ Vidhur blessed us.

  We marched with our armours shining on our chests and our swords glinting, thirsty for enemy’s blood. We walked along the boundary of Mehrgarh towards the spot where all of Rudra’s men were supposed to gather. I could see a streak of shiny bronze armour on the horizon. Nasteya looked into my eyes and sighed in relief—the guards were there; the plan had worked! As we drew closer, we realised that almost all of Rudra’s soldiers seemed to have come. Nasteya immediately signalled the messenger who was hiding behind a thick bush to set off for the Resistance. There were fifty others waiting for their orders. We went closer.

  ‘You’re late,’ Sarvin said. ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’

  ‘The wait is over,’ replied Nasteya.

  ‘You know what? There’s something you must know, northerners,’ Sarvin said. Why did he say exactly what we were meant to say to him? ‘There’s something you must know’. Then he started to laugh.

  ‘Why do you laugh?’ Nasteya asked.

  ‘Because you’ve been fooled,’ he said, even as he continued to laugh. Why would he say that? I felt my heart beating faster, as if a trap was closing around us…

  ‘Rudra was always a step ahead of you,’ sneered Sarvin. ‘He knew what you were up to and today, you will be punished.’

  My head was beginning to spin. After a moment of indecision, Nasteya said, ‘Then you must know one more thing—that you and your filthy men have nowhere to run!’ And he took out his sword.

  ‘You think that the ones behind me are my men? Oh! I pity you. Poor fools! Behind these shiny coats of armour are no warriors—these are the commoners of Mehrgarh who didn’t even know why they were being hired by Rudra!’ he said, giving us another awful surprise. The men behind him, buried in those heavy armours, seemed clueless about what was going on.

  If not here, then where were all of Rudra’s guards? The terrible truth dawned on us—the palace! The hideout! They would massac
re our friends from the Resistance!

  Sarvin’s eyes gleamed as he saw realisation dawning on our faces. He grinned even more.

  ‘At this very moment, my men will be ridding us forever of that Resistance scum,’ Sarvin said. Nasteya was as stunned as I was. We never saw it coming.

  ‘Your men don’t even know where to find the Resistance…’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Do you mean that hole of theirs?’ Sarvin said, ‘Well, there’s always a rat in every house.’

  Who could be that rat, that filthy traitor? But this wasn’t the question we wanted answered. The biggest and the most horrible question was how we would deal with things now that we were trapped from all sides? Many people had shown immense faith in us and I didn’t want this fate to transform into a lifelong regret.