Beyond {UNDER EDIT}

S1-6- A Dance Of Swords

An old man sat serenely, unaffected by the blizzard around him. The strong gales uprooted the trees and the man opened his eyes. He quietly took a drag of his marijuana and released the puff of smoke. Abhay stood in front of him, shuddering with each passing moment.

"A man cannot be judged by what he does in public, his intentions are covered with a blanket of fear, fear of losing his reputation. Or the fear of losing his power. The moment you allow him to cover his face with a mask, the blanket uplifts and his nature is revealed. And then he does the wildest things. Things beyond imagination. "

And then the mountain behind collapsed, and the avalanche consumed the man and came straight for Abhay.

Abhay woke up frightened. He could hear horses running outside. Comprehending that he was dreaming, he ignored everything and closed his eyes again, while a dreamless sleep clutched him in its grasp.

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The bruised tribal spat on the dried dung ground of the Eastern squad camp.

"Go on bitches, get on with my 'punishment'. "

The three soldiers looked at him with disgust. The tribal observed the look on their faces and emitted an absurdity filled broken laughter. The arrow was still buried deep in his stomach.

And the pain was spreading fast. Faster than he had anticipated. Knowledge told him that an arrow in the stomach was the slowest and the most painful way to die. But his mind was strong. And that was what was needed.

He observed the three soldiers.

Three kings men, all armored. Two with swords, one without. Closest one with sword.

His feet were free. But his hands were tied. And his stomach pained like hell. But he knew they wouldn't kill him. Not until the King tortured him and extracted information about the Praveg's intentions.

But then, it was worth a shot.

He let out a loud cry of pain and dropped his head. The nearest soldier walked up to him.

"What happen-"

The tribal grabbed the hilt of his sword, tightly, with his free fingers and spat on his face. The Kingsman fumed.

"YOU BLOODY SON OF A -"

But it was already late. Just as he reflexively backed away, the sword slipped out of its sheath. When he bent again to pull it, the Pravegian lowered the point, such that its tip made its way through the gap between two armor plates and neatly ripped his flesh.

And then the tribal kicked his body as it fell lifelessly on the ground.

The other two got up, while the tribal rotated the blade with his free fingers and slashed the ropes of his other hand, releasing it. And then the sword skipped from his fingers to his liberated hand, which had to come near to catch, while one soldier reached near and brought down his sword as the clash of metals emitted an unsettling 'thunk'.

A dance of swords had begun. But the Kings Men didn't know that the man they were dealing with was the Dance Master.

The tribal pushed away the opposing blade and slashed the ropes of his other hand. But fleetingly he was vulnerable.

And that's when the Kingsman decided to bring down his blade.

Just as the Pravegian had expected.

He rolled sideways and the sword of his adversary embedded itself in the wood behind. And now the soldier was the one who became vulnerable.

Fate has its own crude sense of humor.

The tribal brought down his sword, but just as soon as it killed the soldier, he felt an immense sudden widespread pain on one part of his face. He looked sideways. The third soldier stood there, with a wooden vase in hand. He lifted it to strike him back, but the Pravegian kicked him hard on his testicles. A pain impossible to tolerate, and the man fell on the ground, moaning.

Now that he finally had the opening, he pulled out the bloodied arrow from his stomach. A new shrill pain broke out, along with the colossal one on his face.

'A broken cheekbone.' He reckoned.

He bent down, grasped the drenched hair of the Kings man and lifted his head up.

For a moment he stood there. Waiting for the pain caused by movement to slacken. And when it did, he placed his blade horizontally on the man's throat. Right above his larynx. And swiftly cut across. The man gurgled up blood, and released it in one short spurt, before his inert body hit the ground.

The tribal walked a few steps and then collapsed on the chair. The crickets chirped loudly outside. Then slowly the sound of horses came. But the tribal didn't move; it wasn't that he couldn't, but he didn't want to. In about half a minute, King Hriju stormed in, with two armed bodyguards and his messenger Rudra by his side.

The scene was quite a deplorable sight to feast on.

"Welcome, King of Surya."

The bodyguards instantly went to attack him, but the King stopped them.

He tolerantly looked at the killer. He very well knew that Pravegians couldn't be underestimated, and hence he stood rooted to his place.

"Where are the other men of Eastern Squad?" He asked Rudra.

"They've gone to chase other Praveg troopers in the forest my lord."

"AND WHO GAVE THEM THE ORDERS TO DO SO!?"

Rudra shuddered, "I..I don't know my lord."

"THEN BLOODY CALL THEM BACK!"

"I'll go alone my lord? In the depths of forests?"

"YES!"

The tribal choked and cleared his throat, "It will be of no use, o wise King. My troopers will have already slaughtered them by now."

The King sighed. "Praveg troopers have never come to the Eastern Squad. Tell me what you all are planning and I'll let you go."

The Pravegian laughed. Although his pain was becoming more intense now. "You...Could call it a security check."

The King didn't comprehend, "Security check? Of what? Security of your troopers? Or...security provided by the eastern part of forest?"

Before the King could get an answer, loud battle cries broke out outside. Through the window, the King caught a glimpse of several men running around with axes, swords, and spears, destroying everything which came in their way.

Pravegians.

For a second the King's eyes remained fixed and when he turned to the tribal for answers, he saw that the man had already stabbed himself in the heart and committed suicide. A smile beautified his bloodied dead body.

The bodyguards took the King to safety and Rudra was sent to fetch reinforcements. But by the time the other squads came, the Pravegians had already destroyed the entire Eastern squad and left. The fifteen man group which was sent to the forest for investigation never returned.

It was in the daybreak when the King realized. The 'security check' wasn't about the troopers or the forest....it was a check on the security of Surya town. In this 'check' itself, Pravegians had managed to terminate the entire Eastern Squad overnight.

The Praveg Clan was planning something big.