Veer's POV

1 year ago

"Are we there yet?" Raghav asked.

"No, it will at least take a day or two to reach Vijay Nagar." I replied.

"Veer, everyone's tired. We should camp somewhere for the night. The sun's also going to set soon."

"There's a stream up ahead. We will camp there for the night." I instructed my crew.

"Finally!" Raghav heaved a sigh of relief.

The king of Somapura had entrusted us with an important job. Our task was to deliver the gifts from our king to the new king of Kshatra Gadh. It was tradition in our sub-continent. Whenever a new king/queen was crowned, the monarchs from the neighbouring countries sent gifts for them. It was seen as a sign of respect and it also meant that the monarchs welcomed the new king with open arms. 

This task was assigned to only the most trustworthy and high-ranking officials. Since, I was both, the king concluded that I should go. So, I made my way to Vijay Nagar along with my crew. Usually, whenever I left the kingdom, I travelled with Raghav and Chitra. But since, the kingdom was on high alert due to dark mages, I had to leave Chitra back at Som Nagari in case something happens. I left Bhimasura behind on purpose. I was better off without him. That old man hates me and not to mention, he annoys me to no extent - nitpicking at everything I do.

Somapura had five commanders - Raghav, Chitrasen, Bhimasura, Shalini and Samriddhi. So, if we exclude those two, I still had 3 commanders left. But the thing was, Shalini gave birth just a few weeks back and there was no way I was taking her away from her new-born daughter. She's a valuable member of our army and right now, she needs to rest. Also, her daughter needs her. I met her baby girl before starting this journey, she's adorable.

So, that just leaves Raghav and Samriddhi. The problem was, Samriddhi was the only high-level mage we had. She was an attack mage. Her partner, Shalini who was a high-level defense mage, was out for the considerable future. Our crew consisted of just 15 members, excluding me, Raghav and Riddhi. And, only three members from the remaining crew were mages. So, we had 1 high-level attack mage and 3 low-level defense mages, all thanks to Bhimasura. The rest of us were non-mages. It was highly risky. We were travelling with valuables without any extra protection.

Bhimasura insisted, emphasis on insisted, that the dark mages have begun to surface so, Som Nagari needs all the protection it can get against those dark mages. He deliberately kept all the mages with him under the pretext of protection. 

That old man is a sneaky bastard. He loves throwing obstacles in my way. There was no way that I was accepting defeat in front of him. So, I took some of my best warriors, who were also non-mages, along with me. He had no problem when I selected low-level mages to go with me. 

I can't just go up to the king to snitch about him. It would make it look like I can't handle the army. And that's what he wants. He keeps on challenging me and getting in my way so that I mess up and he can get rid of me, once and for all. 

Although, our crew had one of the best warriors, they were no match against those dark mages. Samriddhi was one of the best mages we got. She had 15 years of battle experience. But if those dark mages sprang up in front of us, there was no way she could protect us all. I knew that it was risky, but I had no other choice. 

The only good thing was my crew trusted me. They had my back at all times. And so far, everything's fine. We had entered Kshatra Gadh's borders and only a day or two's journey was left.

"We are here gang, let's set up the camp. Rest your horses for the night, we still haven't reached our destination." I barked out the orders.

Everyone got down from their horses and got to work. The forest which was quiet earlier was now filled with the murmurs and chatters of the crew.  Soon, the sun set and the sky was enveloped in darkness.

Since, the camp was almost set, everybody sat down for dinner around the camp fire.

"Samriddhi. How's your son doing?" Someone asked.

"Oh, he's fine. But I am sure that he's missing me. I am glad that Vasant's there with him. Ah, I miss my family." Vasant was Samriddhi's husband. He's in charge of training the new recruits of the army. "My boy, Samarth understands how demanding my job is. He's such a sweet child and so mature for an 8 year old. He even goes on to say that he wants to be a commander when he grows up."

"If he's sweet, then I'm sure he doesn't take after you." Raghav said with a laugh.

"You don't say." Samriddhi replied with raised eyebrows. "Enough about me, how's your search going, Raghav? I heard that you are looking for a bride. Any success?" That shut him up.

I laughed at her question. "That's a sore subject Riddhi. Our commander Raghav over here is a women-repellent."

Her brows knitted in confusion. "Women-repellent? Why?"

Surya, one of the crew members, replied, "Every girl he has ever approached ran away because of his corny pickup lines." The whole crew erupted in a bunch of laughter.

"Shut up, everybody." He grumbled.

"Surya, how's your father doing now?" I asked.

"He's much better. He even started a taking a few walks. We were worried that he may not be able to walk after that accident but the medicines you imported from Anantveda really helped. Thank you, general." Anantveda's medicines were much more advanced in comparison to any other kingdom.

"Glad to know that he's doing well. Alright gang, head back to your tents and get some sleep. We have a long day ahead."

As the dinner was done, everybody cleared the area and headed back to their tents for the night. I, on the other hand, wasn't able to sleep. So, I decided to go on a small walk.

The place where we had set up the camp was located on a hill. It was a good vantage point, overlooking the entire valley. I could even spot a village in the valley. I stood near the edge of the cliff and admired the beauty and silence of the night.

"Can't sleep?" I heard a voice from behind. It was Samriddhi. Because of safety concerns, we took turns for the night duty. Tonight, it was her turn.

"No."

She came up and stood beside me. "Something's bothering you. Out with it."

I smiled. "You always know when something's up, don't you?" She shrugged. I sighed and continued, "I can't help but think that I jeopardized everyone's security because of my ego. We have been lucky so far as we haven't encountered any major threats. But we have to stay on guard at all times. It is unnecessarily tiring everyone out. Maybe, if I had admitted defeat in front of Bhimasura, we would've been in a better situation. Have I been an arrogant and selfish leader?"

"Veer, you are not a selfish leader. It is so obvious that you care about each and everyone of us. I have seen my fair share of leaders in the past 15 years and none of them were like you. You're the best we've got. Nobody blames you for what Bhimasura did. He's a sly fucker, everybody knows that. He's got to go for peace to be restored in the army. Too bad I can't too anything about him. He has dug his claws so deeply within the kingdom that it's not easy to remove him from his position. Stop blaming yourself for what he did. You know, I would've done the same if I were in your place."

"Thanks Riddhi. I really needed to hear that."

"Anytime."

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of some horses' hooves. 

"What was that?" She asked, focusing her attention on the valley in front of us.

"My thoughts exactly." Who was here at this time of the night? It wasn't just one, we could hear the sounds of multiple horses.

"Hide!" Samriddhi whisper-shouted. Both of us instantly hid behind the nearby bushes.  That's when we saw it - it was a group of masked men, everybody on horsebacks. They were approaching the village. Who were these people?

They stopped at the village's entrance. An old man emerged from the village with a cart full of goods. The old man kneeled on the floor and joined his hands to say something to them. The masked men unloaded the cart and loaded the goods on their horses. A man appeared from the group, who I was assuming was the head of the group. He said something to the old man but we couldn't hear anything from the distance. After he was done talking, he kicked the old man's shoulder. That asshole! After that, he climbed up on his horse and the group left, leaving a gust of wind behind.

"Veer, I am guessing they were bandits." 

"Bandits? Which group of bandits is brave enough to loot a village which is so close to the capital?"

"Only one way to find out. Get some sleep, we are going to that village in the morning."

The next morning when everybody woke up, we briefed them about what we saw last night. They were equal parts shocked and angry.

"So, what's our next move general?" Surya asked.

"We have to go down to the village to know about the situation. The problem is, if some of our men approached the village, the villagers may assume that we are also bandits."

"Can't we just tell them that we're here to help them?" Raghav questioned.

"I am not so sure that they'll believe us. Who knows how frightened and wary they are of the outsiders." Everybody nodded in agreement. "There was something I noticed last night - All of those bandits were men. What if we send out the female members of our crew to check out the situation? They are less likely to suspect women as bandits. Not to mention, many people perceive women as harmless."

"That's actually a good idea." Raghav said.

"Samriddhi, I want you to go down and check out the village. Take the portable communication artifacts so that we can listen in to your conversations with the villagers. Send emergency signals if anything goes wrong."

"Yes, general."

"Mohana and Vaishali shall accompany you."

"Alright."

The three of them got ready and headed towards the village. They left their horses on the outskirts of the village and ventured inside.

"Arre kaka, hum rasta bhatak gaye hai. Kya aap hume sahi marg bata sakte hai?" Samriddhi asked one of the villagers. We were listening in to their conversation through the artifact.

("Hey uncle, we have lost our way. Can you tell us the right path?")

"Sure, why not? Where are you headed?" The villager asked.

"We are going to Vijay Nagar."

"Oh, then you are on the right path. There's a stream on that hill. Follow that stream and you'll be able to cross the forest to reach Vijay Nagar."

"Dhnyawad. Kaka, humara bhojan bhi samapt ho gaya hai, kuch khane ko milega?"

("Thank you. Uncle, our food is also finished, can we get something to eat?")

"Khane ke liye toh humare paas bhi paryapt bhojan nahi hai."

("We don't even have enough food to eat.")

"Par kyu? Aapke yahan toh hare bhare khet-khaliyan dikh rahe hai, phir kaise paryapt bhojan nahi hai?"

("But why? You can see lush green fields and barns here, then how come there is not enough food?")

"Kya bataye beti, woh log sab lut ke le jaate hai..."

("What should I tell you, daughter, those people loot and take away everything...")

"Kon log?"

("Which people?")

"Woh lutere. Pure gaav ka jeena mushkil kar diya hai."

("Those robbers. They have made life difficult for the whole village.")

"Have you tried complaining about this to the officials?"

"We did. Multiple times but there was no appropriate action. The inaction of the army officials has made the situation worse. When we went to complain about it, the vice-commander assigned some young and inexperienced soldiers to our village. They are no match for those bandits."

"I am sorry to hear that but there's nothing we can do to help you. Thank you for your help. We shall be on our way now." With that, the three of them left the village and came back to us.

As soon as they were back, everybody encircled them. Samriddhi was the first one to speak. "It's more serious that we thought. What do we do now?"

"Simple. We help them in defending their village." I responded.

"Veer, I am not so sure that we have the right to intervene."

"What do you mean?"

"This is not Somapura. We cannot just barge in there to help them. It is the internal matter of Kshatra Gadh." She was actually right.

"I know. I know what you're worried about. But we can't just leave them. There's no time, we have to strike them tonight."

"Yes, general." Everybody agreed.

That night, we secretly headed towards the village and waited for the bandits to show up. As soon as we heard the sound of the hooves at the village's entrance, we took our positions.

I started whistling and went up to stand in front of them.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"Me? The name's Veer and I am here to stop you." Was that corny? Yes. But was that the truth? Also yes.

My statement made them chuckle. "Do you really think that you alone is enough to stop us."

"Uh, who said that I was alone? I have an entire crew of soldiers with me. Let me show you the way we treat vermin like yourself back in Somapura. Riddhi NOW!!"

Samriddhi emerged from the top of a hut and used her attack magic to hit the first three bandits. It was a distraction. Raghav and the rest of the crew emerged from the shadows to take care of the rest. I also unsheathed my sword to take down the leader.

He launched himself towards me and our swords clashed. He tried attacking me from different angles but I was able to defend myself with ease. He was skilled but not as skilled as me. I have held a sword in my hands ever since I learned to walk, there was no way he was defeating me. Our sword clashing continued for a while. I could hear similar clashing sounds in the background.

"Is that all you've got? I have seen new recruits of the army perform better than you." I provoked him on purpose. His ego must be hurt because he grunted and started attacking me even more violently. In doing so, he made a critical mistake - he left his belly exposed. I kicked him in the stomach with all my strength and he landed flat on his ass, groaning in pain. 

I kept the sword on his neck and said, "How does it feel when someone kicks you the same way you kicked others. No longer amusing, is it?" He looked up at me with terror in his eyes. I relished in his fear.

"Everybody alright?" I shouted. 

"Yes." They replied in unison.

Surya came up beside me and said, "These guys are awful warriors. Defeating them was as easy as plucking flowers from a field."

"Aksar jo log dusro ko darate hai, wo itne balshali nahi hote jitna hum sochte hai." I said with a smile.

("Often those who scare others are not as powerful as we think.")

The commotion drew out the villagers. One of them came up to me and asked, "You saved us. Can we know who you are?"

"I am Veer, Somapura's army general and this is my crew. We were camping here last night when we saw that you were in trouble. So, we decided to help."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"There's no need to thank us, it was our duty."

My eyes landed on a few boys who were standing at the back. I was assuming that those were the young and inexperienced soldiers that uncle was talking about. 

"You there." I called one of them. "Tie these people up and report the situation to the higher officials. I think there's something the new king of Kshatra Gadh needs to know."

The next morning, we resumed our journey. As a thanks, the villagers had let us stay in their houses. We were glad because we really needed some rest in warm and cozy homes.

It took us the entire day to reach Vijay Nagar. By the time we reached there, it was already nightfall. 

We received a grand welcome at the Kshatra Gadh's palace. I had only heard about the amazing hospitality of Kshatra Gadh but it was my first time experiencing it in person. They didn't disappoint, at all.

But my eyes were searching for someone. A certain someone with honey brown eyes and beautiful smiles. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her anywhere. I should really forget about her now, it's already been years.

Next day, the king summoned us for a private meeting. By us I mean, Raghav, Samriddhi and me. We reached his office and knocked twice. The door opened to usher us in.

As soon as we entered, we saw that the king had taken a seat in the sitting area. When he saw us, he said, "Veer, I have been waiting for you." The king grinned.

"Your majesty." We bowed in greeting.

"It's so nice to meet you again! How many years has it been?"

"You remember me?" I was surprised. I thought that maybe he would've forgotten about our first meeting.

"When a warrior like you makes an impact, it's hard to forget. Just do me a favour and call me by my name, we're the same age."

"As you wish, Yash." I said with a smile.

"Can we go on a little stroll in the garden? I want to have a little chat with you."

"Sure."

We headed towards the palace garden and exchanged a few words about ourselves. We also engaged in some small talk. Once we were away from the palace, Yash said, "I am so thankful to you and your crew. Your people helped our people.

You brought my attention to such a grave issue. I had no idea that my subordinates were slacking off to such an extent. Although, I have to admit, witnessing such a sight as soon as you entered Vijay Nagar's borders might not have been pleasant. I haven't even properly assumed the role of a king and I am already messing up."

"It's nothing like that Yash. You have a huge responsibility on your shoulders. There are times when some things may go unnoticed. The fact that you took appropriate action as soon as you came to know about the situation shows that you're doing great. I am sure you'll be an amazing king in the future."

"Such kind words. Thank you, Veer. If you need any help in the future, any help at all, don't forget that you've a friend in Kshatra Gadh."

"I won't, Yash."

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Hello Lovelies🌷

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