"mending bonds", the union duology, book 1✔️

prologue, the strange dream.

Karna lay in his courtyard, tired. The stars twinkled above him as he stared at the moonlit sky. A sweet smile spread across his face as his eyelids grew heavy, and slowly, he began to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

He found himself standing on the battlefield. All around him was nothing but destruction. Dead corpses surrounded him, and the stench of blood filled his nostrils. Karna felt dizzy as he witnessed this horror. Why was he here? What was going on? he wondered as the scene changed.

There was a grand sabha taking place. Someone was laughing maniacally as the screams of a woman echoed through the room. He saw himself seated on a throne in the middle of the gathering, but the faces of the people around him were unclear.

"You are nothing but a whore," he heard himself say from the throne. "Let's disrobe her and show her raw beauty in front of the entire sabha," said the person sitting next to him.

He was frozen as he watched another man wickedly running toward the woman and tugging at her sari. The woman screamed for help, then he saw her fold her hands in prayer, as if to a god. "Krishna, Govinda, my sakha. Help me. Help me keep my dignity amidst these filthy creatures who are worse than animals," she cried. Everyone around him laughed loudly, while all the other men hung their heads in shame.

"Oh, oh," the man next to him said sarcastically to the woman. "You think that cowherd will save you, huh?"

He watched as the man tugged at the woman's sari; more garments appeared on top of her. The man tried and tried until he grew tired and fainted.

The scene changed again as Karna's heartbeat quickened. What is going on? Why am I involved in all this nonsense? he thought as he returned to the battlefield.

He saw his own dead body being held by a woman. "He's my sun, he's my sun!" the woman cried, her heart breaking.

The scene changed once more, and he found himself back in the courtyard. He stood there, wondering what had just happened. "Was it all a dream or reality?" he questioned into the emptiness.

He heard a melodious chuckle fill his courtyard. He looked around to find a divinely beautiful man standing before him, a serene smile adorning his face. He wore yellow clothes and had a peacock feather in his crown. Anyone who looked at him would say he was royal, yet there was something so different about him. His eyes shone with knowledge and wisdom. He looked charming, and Karna felt as if he were drowning in those eyes; all his worries seemed to vanish with just the man's smile.

"Who, who are you?" Karna asked.

"I am someone, and no one," the man replied. "See you tomorrow," he said before vanishing into thin air.

Karna felt disappointed and confused. He felt like he was losing it. He gasped and woke up in his courtyard.

So, it was all a dream? Karna thought as he stood up from where he lay and went inside his house, a million unanswered questions racing through his mind.

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at writing a Mahabharata-based fanfiction. I hope you like it. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I'm open to suggestions and criticisms. Your feedback will help me improve my writing.