TANDAVA
[Lord Kalki will mount white horse Devadatta which is as swift as the lightning and a sword named Ratnameru in hand. He will travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic powers. He will display his unequaled effulgence. He will kill innumerable those thieves who have dared dress as kings.] -Kalki Purana
The wind intensifies, naturally. The night in the sky is dark but bulbs are illuminating the station, revealing a horrible battle.
Despite the wind, I hear battle cries of Nirbhaya troop under biological change and troop of Tarun’s father. They are all in same dress code so it’s hard to decide for us that who is on which side but that confusion doesn’t affect battle at our side. The troop covering us is surely on another side and our enemy.
Tarun’s father and his troop are fighting almost with fifty Nirbhaya against them. The positive thing is both sides have the same weapons and same training. No one is greenie there.
Clash rages around all.
My people are untrained. We have all greenies for battle, except ten people no one is trained for it. They never have been to a battle before and still fighting. Pain, revenge, and adrenaline are driving my people on. The sound echoing off the station building is a cacophony of terror – my people screaming, swords clashing against agriculture tools, arrows flying in the air, shouts of Nirbhaya troop, battle cries from both sides, arrows piercing in bodies, swords slicing, some yelling for help. Everything is chaotic, bloody and merciless.
Karina and Mohit are keeping themselves away from Nirbhaya and busy using their daggers. I know daggers are their favourite weapons. On the training ground, they were best with it. I’ve seen them, throwing daggers after practice hours. Once Karina has stood against the tree trunk as a target and Mohit has thrown seven knives around her but none of them hit her, all pierced in tree stream around her. They have done that crazy thing as a test of their true love. Karina wanted to show how much trust she has in his boyfriend. Once I have asked Mohit how he can aim the target so easily. His reply was – you have to think of this as a mental exercise, not a physical exercise. You need to learn the right arm motion and think as if you are knitting a sweater for your beloved one.
His answer has bounced over my head as I’ve never knitted a sweater for anyone.
Today their skill was hard for the Nirbhaya troop.
Yards away them are Rakesh and Pavan both Pavan is fighting with sword and Rakesh is using arrows, constantly giving cover to Pavan. I remember Tarun’s words – if your friend is watching your back in battle, you can fight freely. The same is in front of my eyes.
All the trainees are doing well. I can see Tarun and Teena fighting back to back, using all their skill.
But the rest of my people aren’t ready for a fight. Though they are fighting but with spikes and spades and agriculture tools which aren’t sufficient to fight against swords and skilled fighters. I try to find my father but I can’t. Instead, my father, my eyes found my people dying.
The sight of my people dying drives me mad, removing every trickle of fear from inside me and filling it with pure rage.
“Samrat,” I hear a voice among thousand.
I turn back to see Kirit. He is fighting against a Nirbhaya soldier. I don’t think he needs my help, then why he shouts is confusing me.
“What?” I shout back. He is just several steps far to me.
“Kajal,” he says, blocking blow of Nirbhaya on his sword, “she is in danger.”
“Okay,” I say, loudly enough to hear among battle and turn to the direction his eyes have pointed at.
A Nirbhaya is above her: a giant, a fierce monster. He raises his sword, and its blade glitters in the light. Kajal is too scared to move, to breathe, to cry. She closes her eyes.
Nirbhaya tenses, ready to swing his sword.
My first dagger hit his chest before his sword could reach Kajal.
She opens her eyes as the death-cry escapes from Nirbhayas mouth and sees the Nirbhaya above her collapse to one side, like a puppet we see in fair whose strings have been suddenly cut by the puppeteer. His sword falls, tip-first and then the hilt hits the ground.
The next two daggers I use to help Kajal, to save her from another Giant Nirbhaya. Once she gets the help she overpowers remaining enemies against her.
Two other Nirbhayas have fallen too, dagger pierced in their throat: Their blood is spreading in the sand.
I look at Kajal. She looks back. Neither of us says anything.
Then, I take out draggers and start to throw, remembering the training.
The next dagger hit a Nirbhaya who is about to kill one of Sunya who has a stick in his hand as his primary weapon. The second and third daggers also saved the lives of my people.
I’ve total nine daggers at my waistband and on my jacket. I use all of them. None of them missed the target. Each saved each life but then I’m out of daggers and I noticed in saving people and throwing daggers I’m unaware a troop has covered me from the back.
I know their formation trap when something slices my arm. A sharp stab passes through my back and I turn back to fight with all my strength, pushing myself forward, refuse to pause, refuse to surrender, and refuse to die. Only I want is revenge, to kill as many enemies as I can kill.
Then I saw Daxa, a group of Nirbhaya is around her. I feel terror instead of a heartbeat drumming in my chest. There are four Nirbhayas around her. One of them has an ax, he is just behind her and she is unaware of his presence. I can hear the blade whistling in the air as the one at her left side moves his sword. She is helpless against them. Her face is covered in blood. One of her arms is wounded badly. She is unable to fight back. The Nirbhaya around her are stabbing her viciously into the back, into the side and into all of her body.
I’ve no dagger left. If I have I’m able to help her but now I’m too helpless until I reach her.
I see something unexpected. The Nirbhaya with an ax isn’t there to kill her but to save her. He swings his sword and kills the enemy at the left side of the Daxa who has just stabbed her. His back blow missed the target and the Nirbhaya next to him also notes what I’ve noted. He understands the man with an axe is hidden Nirbhaya who has no effect of the biological change. He stabs a man with the ax from the side, into his lungs.
I managed to kill remaining two enemies in front of me and run to help Daxa, my throat is burning, and with each step, I feel tired, have to wrench my legs forward. My thighs are shaking from the effort as I force them. Before I reach near I hear a throat-scorching wail of her, the sign she is dead. It's her death cry. For a moment the cry overpowers the other sounds of the battle or maybe just my ears but I can’t hear except it. It echoes in my ear. I feel my heart tremble.
“You merciless...” I shout and leaped on the group that has just killed Daxa.
“Yes,” one of them yelled back, “we are merciless and here to kill you.”
“Try it,” I say and cut him into two with a single swing of the sword. Now I feel the Avatar inside me. Death of Daxa has released the Kalki inside me. Now my blows are unbearable and unblockable. The backhand blow of the same swing cut another one and then I scream, fighting and pushing them to the tunnel.
Then I reach near Daxa. She is on the ground. Her shirt is red, and for a second I think it's a trick of the light, but then I realize she's soaked in blood. She is still on the ground, her body is immobile. I don't think I have ever, in my life, seen anything more terrible than that. Her eyes are open as though seeing me but I know they are lifeless and she never can see anything.
My eyes flooded with tears. I wipe my eyes and the same moment someone tries to grab me but I kick him and he flies through the air. Another one leap on me but I cut him into the midair. I behead him while he is airborne.
“Tandva,” I hear the voice of Tarun, “Avatar is doing Tnadava.”
But I ignore the words. Still, the word Tandava is unknown to me. I don’t know its meaning.
I keep fighting.
I keep swinging my sword, slicing enemies, kicking them, pushing them, leaping over them, ducking and sidestepping sometimes. I keep killing my enemies like a madman.
“Lord Kalki is at Tandav,” I hear the sound of Teena.
Then my gaze falls on Kirit. He is on the ground among many bodies, some of my people and some of Nirbhayas. Kirit is looking at me through the water in his eyes, across the enemies around him. He I rush at him. He never takes his eyes off me till I reach near him and kill the two surrounding him.
I kneel near Kirit. I put my hand on his head and I notice his hair is wet, with blood. His eyes are blazing with the light of the bulbs, more light than all the bulbs in the station, more light than the generator could ever produce if it runs for thousand years.
And When Kirit opens his mouth and his mouth forms the last words I realized the light in his eyes was hope. It was his trust in me.
His last words are: Avatar, save our people.
He closes his eyes and his chest stops heaving. I close his eyes lightly and get on my feet.
I hear many sounds, crying and screaming and yelling and cursing. But the last words of Kirit are like rising pulses behind my ears, they are blocking every other sound.
Now I’m unaware of what’s happening around. I want to kill them all. I want to kill all the Nirbhaya responsible for the death of my people. I want to kill all of them who have killed 230 innocent people beyond the wall.
I’m fighting and fighting and fighting, my eyes can see nothing but the blood-soaked face of Daxa, my ears can hear nothing but the last words of Kirit until I exhausted and fall to the ground, panting, and unable to stand again.
*
To be continue.....
