The Wrath of Gammon

Chapter 14

The Wrath of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 14

Rajapura, Kalinga Kingdom, Dwapar Yuga

Karna POV

"What happened to Duryodhana?" I heard the voice of Ashwatthama, who was standing beside me. I was looking at my friend who was sitting in the garden. He had a marigold flower in his hand, and slowly tearing the petals one by one. I saw his face, and realised something.

"He is in love. I knew those expressions in his face."

Ashwatthama smirked at me. Then we both walked towards our Mitra. I slowly placed my right hand on his shoulder. Duryodhana hurriedly stood up.

"What happened, Mitra?" He asked me.

Ashwatthama burst out in laughter. I was smiling too.

"Tell me, Duryodhana, who is the lucky lady who stole your heart?"

Duryodhana looked at me with a shocked face.

"How'd you know?"

"This is written in your whole face. Now, answer my question."

"I am that easy to read?"He looked at us for a moment.

"Yesterday, at the temple, I met Rajkumari Devapriya. But I didn't know that at the time. I saw her..."

"And you fall in love." Ashwatthama completed the sentence, "that means, you must win this competition at any cost. Only then, you can win her. But there is one thing you must remember."

"What is it?"

"This is a mace fighting competition. Now, in case of powerful mace fighters in Aryavart, Jarasandha is imprisoned now. Rajkumar Bheem is not attending this swyamvar. Haldhar Balrama is not here. So, that means your main opponents are two warriors. Both of them are excellent mace warriors."

I was silently listening to my friend. He was right. Both of us went to a walk yesterday. Our main mission was to check the other kings who would attend the ceremony. We collected a lot of information about them. There were only two Kshatriyas who could throw a proper challenge to my Mitra.

"Who are they?" Duryodhana's voice became hard. His body became straight, like he was standing in battlefield.

"Maharaja Shalya. He is here too. You know that he is a great mace warrior. The other is Kichaka."

"You mean the brother-in-law of the king of Matsya kingdom?"

"Yes, he is here too. I heard him bragging that he will defeat all the other kings and make the Rajkumari his."

Duryodhana's face became hard.

"Like hell he will. Karna, Ashwatthama, get your maces and meet me in the ground. I need some practice."

A few moments later, I went to the ground. Ashwatthama was already there, wearing armour and mace in hand. The two of us were ready to face our Mitra. '

With a war cry, I charged at him, mace ready in my hand, and took a swing at him. But with a lightning speed, Duryodhana ducked the blow, and in the next moment, his mace clanked with my golden armour. But that blow was so heavy, that it pushed me a few steps backwards. Ashwatthama was beside me, he charged at Duryodhana, but Duryodhana blocked the blow using his own mace. The two of us attacked him together, but Duryodhana was fighting like a possessed being. He was fighting like an angry tiger, and in a moment both of us found ourselves on the ground.

I stood up, mace ready in my hand, preparing myself for a second round. Duryodhana stood ready in front of me. But suddenly I saw his eyes falling on something and he literally froze. I turned my head, and saw a beautiful woman standing there, holding a golden platter full of flowers and other things used in worship. She smiled at my Mitra. But she was not alone. Some other young ladies were standing behind her, each one of them having a similar platter on their hands. My eyes fall on the second one standing at that line, and I froze too. Then suddenly, my vision became dark.

I saw myself, standing on a dark path, bow and arrows in my hand. Behind me, I saw two dark human structures, one male and one female. The male was forcefully holding the right hand of the female. They were just silhouettes; I did not see their faces. But the man seemed familiar to me. Then suddenly, I saw a huge number of dark male silhouettes charging at us, weapon in hands. I started raining arrows on them, and in a moment, those dark silhouettes were vanished. The man behind me dragged the woman on a chariot. But then, another woman ran towards us, and before I could say or do anything, she jumped over the chariot.

"I will not leave my Sakhi alone!" I heard a woman's voice. The voice seemed familiar to me. It felt like I knew her very well.

"Mitra Radheya! Karna!" I felt someone shaking my shoulders. In a moment, my vision became normal. I saw Ashwatthama standing in front of me, shaking my shoulder.

"What happened to you now? First, Duryodhana froze after looking at the Rajkumari, and now you too are looking at a Sakhi of her. Do you like her? If you say so then I will go and talk to her parents." Ashwatthama lightly patted my shoulder.

"Supriya. Her name is Supriya." The words came from my mouth before my head could process anything.

"What did you say?" Ashwatthama curiously asked me. I somehow masked my shock.

"Nothing, Mitra. But where is Duryodhana?"

Ashwatthama just smiled and turned his head. I looked at that direction, and saw Duryodhana standing in front of Rajkumari Devapriya. She took a sweet from her platter, and handed that to my Mitra.

"Both of them looked beautiful together, isn't it?" Ashwatthama whispered in my ear. I nodded affirmatively. But my mind was following Supriya, my Supriya.

But how did I know her name? Why I felt a connection towards her?

So this is chapter 14.

Sorry for this delay, but I was suffering from a serious writer's block again. But I have somehow recovered a bit from it. I think that I can upload the next episodes with normal schedule.

Please read, vote and comment.