Devasena - Bride of the War God

Chapter 6

Devasena knew time was ticking, she felt sweat beads trickle down her back. The General's brows were furrowed in concentration, "You raise valid points, child" he admitted.

"My Lord!" a triumphant yell sounded, from the area, right behind the Tent, "We have breached the Net"

Devasena felt her blood turn ice cold, the General smirked "Now, that was such good entertainment you gave us, child. Much better than all those mesmerizing dancers the Asura Court has seen"

"Charge" the General thundered, Devasena clenched her fists, today was the day she was going to die, so be it, she thought, bitterly to herself.

A blast of fire, burnt neatly to crisp some of the men charging from the front lines. The temperature rose to alarming levels, causing severe skin burns on the Asuras. Devasena realized that she was safe from the Deva attacks, the Net still protected her because the front side of the Net was not yet been breached. Blinding golden light flashed around, several Asuras lay dead on the ground. An inferno of swirling flames formed a fiery tornado, burning everything in its destructive path.

Devasena saw it was her Uncles, Surya and Agni, on horseback. The General recovered from his shock and shouted to his men, "Charge!"

Hundreds of Devas clashed against an equal number of Asuras. The infantry and mammoths of Asuras fought against the lightning swift flying cavalry of Devas.

Devasena winced when she saw a few Asuras swing their heavy clubs, crushing Deva soldiers to pulp. She winced when she saw the divine arrows shot by Devas, pierce straight through the hearts of the Asuras.

The battle raged for at least eight hours, Devasena kept the medical equipment ready to heal the wounded, she waited for the battle to end. Devasena heard a gruff 'woof' and turned around to see her father's black dog, Sarama, appearing out of thin air. It dashed outside and dropped a few wounded Devas at Devasena's feet. Devasena hurriedly treated the wounded, ordered Sarama to fetch more. Within seconds, Devasena had her hands full, with innumerable Deva patients.

Outside, it was a pandemonium of noise - roars, bellows, growls, clanging of weapons, sound of metal against metal and death cries tore apart the air.

Devasena's hands shook as feared how many lives would be lost but she steadily ploughed on.

____________________________

Agni obediently submitted himself to being treated and hissed in pain, when Devasena dabbed the ambrosia a little too forcefully.

"Go easy, child" said Surya, only to receive the same treatment. The two warriors, were reduced to howling heaps.

"You have every right to be furious with us, but, it was Indra's idea" said Surya gently

"Indra wanted the Asuras to believe that every one of our battalion was headed to rescue Jayantha" added Agni

"Indra's dog guided us here" chuckled Surya, "a clever creature"

Devasena recalled that her father had left the dog beside her when he left to fight the war but the creature was nowhere to be seen, barely an hour, after Indra left.

"Indra knew as well as any of us, that at least one Asura battalion would be dispatched to target Indra's daughters. Speaking of which, where is Jayanthi?" asked Surya

"I don't know" Devasena said, her voice shaking slightly, the past few hours felt like a lifetime of anxiety and despair.

"We will find her, rest assured" promised Agni, he ordered his best Deva soldiers to search for Jayanthi.

"Have you rescued Jayantha?" asked Devasena

"That war is still ongoing..." said Surya, grimly

"How is..." Devasena hesitated, but brushed her embarrassment, aside "How is Skanda?"

Her two Uncles raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances, as if they knew something that she did not.

 "What?" she said defensively

"He is doing very well, a valiant warrior" said Agni and elbowed Surya, who hastily agreed. 

"Get some rest!" scolded Devasena

                                                             ____________________________

"Want to know what happened, Devasena?" whispered Agni, glancing at a sleeping Surya

Devasena nodded, kneeling down, next to the mat on which Agni lay.

"The boy was initially extremely shy and socially awkward. He would accidentally drop his weapons and stutter. When he would be asked something as simple as leading a hunt into the forest, he would barely speak loud enough for the people around him to hear him, as a result of which I had to take the lead in these areas."

"Indra would privately talk to me and Surya in his tent, he would go on and on about how disappointing he found Skanda. Indra began to show his disdain for Skanda, he believed that his contempt would motivate Skanda to prove himself. He would appoint Skanda as the head of an operation, it could be hunting, leading the training drill, leading mock battles at the camp; but Indra would then appoint Surya as second in command. Skanda was made to feel like a puppet leader"

Devasena felt tears trickling down her cheeks, Agni squeezed her hand reassuringly and said, "Direct insults are better than indirect ones, Devasena because direct insults hurt your pride but indirect ones hurt your heart. Skanda was never openly mocked by Indra or Jayantha because Indra is a shrewd diplomat but instead, he gave extremely tough targets for the novice Skanda and if he failed to live up to them. Indra would seemingly speak sympathetically but every word was laced with contempt."

Devasena was shaking, with suppressed anger and tears poured freely. Agni half-rose from the sleeping mat and placed a hand, gently on her shoulder, "Skanda's life became living hell when Indra ordered Manyu to mentor the boy' Devasena felt bile rise in her throat, she knew that the War God Manyu, was said to be a battle-hardened and bitter man.

"As a talented soldier who once served as the prized right hand man of Shiva, Manyu did not hold back at all. He said often, "if he can manage to be even an average foot solider, I would cut off an arm.' Manyu believed wholeheartedly that Skanda was there only because of nepotism"

Agni hesitated and added, "I often saw the boy move away to a corner, wipe tears and come back to try even harder. I never was mean to the boy, I tried my best to encourage him."

Devasena thanked her uncle Agni for his kindness, she wanted to desperately go to Skanda, hug him and reassure him. Devasena left the tent to cry outside overwhelmed by what Skanda had to go through. She felt her heart ache for Skanda - how lonely, lost and friendless he must have felt, how stressful it must have been to have people place so much expectation and how hurtful to not be able to live up to the hype.

Surya who had pretended to sleep the whole time, turned around and added, "Why did you say all that? Are you crazy? She is going to hate Indra"

"Skanda needs at least a few people who believe in him. If it was not for the cursed lack of time with that damned Taaraka, we need not have put Skanda through so much emotional turmoil"

"Do you seriously think Indra enjoys this? Do you need to assume the worst of our brother, Agni?" snapped Surya, "He has got no damn choice in the matter!"

"I know" Agni agreed, miserably, "I just feel bad for that boy"

____________________________

The next morning, rested and recovered, with their injuries healed, Surya and Agni left with their battalion to fight alongside Indra and Skanda.

Jayanthi, her husband Shukra and physician Dhanwantri returned with Agni's soldiers. The two sisters embraced and cried onto each other's shoulders. They set up the medical camp and waited for news of the war against Taaraka.