The Kuru War: A Mahabharata Fiction

6| Bed of Arrows

A barrage of flaming missiles emerged from the Bhishma's bow like lava and flames erupting from an angry volcano. They scattered at small angles from each other and multiplied in mid-air. The recoil was enough to uproot his balance, as he tumbled into the opposite direction, almost off his feet.

Rakshasa Yudh watched the unavoidably large cone of arrows that approached him. His startled look accentuated the irony of his last few comments towards Bhishma's skill as a warrior. He stood at his spot, frozen, unprepared for an attack of such magnitude. The giant curved blade in his hands, which he previously used to protect himself, suddenly appeared inadequate. There was no possible way to deflect them all. The exponentially replicating projectiles seemed to be racing with each other to draw first blood.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The Rakshasa screamed in agony and fell on his knees as the burning arrows pierced his flesh. The fire engulfed his lower half first, which was the least protected. And then it spread upwards. Eventually, the Rakshasa surged with flames that rose several feet above his head.

Such intense heat would have been enough to melt any creature, but Yudh survived and kept struggling. It was the organic fluid on the surface of his skin that preserved him from the fire. But his lips and eyeballs were not so lucky, and the extreme temperature burnt them away.

Shrieking in pain, Yudh scurried to dislodge arrows from his limbs that left holes in his body. Initially, those holes trickled blood, but the very next moment, they were clogged by the same protective fluid. Adrenaline flooded Yudh's system, keeping him focused through the suffering. He eventually pulled the last arrow from his leg and forced himself back on his feet.

Yudh looked particularly disoriented after losing his eyesight. He switched to depending on his sense of hearing and smell to navigate himself back into the fight.

"I underestimated you! But you will need to do a lot more than that to kill me!"

Yudh let out a barely comprehensible cry. His confident tone was reduced to a desperate screech. He clasped his hands together and conjured his blade which had disappeared following the impact by the arrows.

It was the second time on the same night that Yug Pralaya had surpassed Bhishma's expectations. Bhagavan Parashuram's gift passed down by the mighty Lord Shiva himself was like divine intervention paving the way for Bhishma's success. Even against followers of its owner, Lord Shiva's legendary weapon, in the hands of Parashuram's greatest disciple rained havoc and hell on the enemies of humankind.

Bhishma gained his footing after the attack and hurried towards Shantanu. The now blind, burning Rakshasa charged towards the sound of Bhishma's footsteps, recklessly swinging his blade in front of him.

Some of Bhishma's arrows had missed their mark and hit the ornamental drapes, setting them ablaze. This caused the fire to spread inside the hall quickly, and it had just reached the heavily decorated ceiling. Large ceramic body parts of statues rained from above, undoubtedly capable of crushing any unfortunate soul that happened to be under them. It was only a matter of time before one of the broken pieces landed on Shantanu who still lay helplessly in the middle of the room.

Bhishma managed to reach his father in time, but before he could pick him up to escape the collapsing building, inside a cloud of dust and smoke, Bhishma saw the wild flaming beast hurtling towards him.

Without much effort, the Rakshasa penetrated the crumbling debris with his massive body and shook the damage from any large pieces that descended upon him.

"Prepare to die!" he yelled and leaped towards Shantanu.

Bhishma's face twitched by the rising heat in the room, and his lungs begged to cough all the smoke he was breathing into them. With not much time to prepare for another attack, Bhishma rocketed towards Shantanu and poised himself up, shielding his father.

"NO! STOP!" he screamed.

Yudh hoisted his sword high and hammered it down on Bhishma. With a loud gasp of air, Bhishma raised Yug Pralaya holding it from its ends. The sword loudly clashed with the bow's grip. Both warriors stood firm exerting to push the other back. But soon, Bhishma's skin started to feel the heat. Sweat poured down his face and soaked his hands.

The Rakshasa engaged both of his arms to push down even harder. His massive body slowly towered over Bhishma's receding frame.

Bhishma, struggling to keep his eyes open, got a look inside Yudh's dark throat lined with racks of sharp teeth reaching for him. The Rakshasa's face dripped its oxidizing fluid on his trembling hands. And soon, Bhishma's grip began to fail, his arms were tired and struggled to push. He saw death, in the form of a glowing green blade closing in between his eyes.

Vajra fired an arrow from the palace hall entrance that penetrated Yudh's back. It was followed by his group of soldiers who began to shoot the Rakshasa while it continued to battle Bhishma. Two of them broke off from their formation and raced to rescue Shantanu from the sinking roof while the rest continued their assault on the Rakshasa's back.

Yudh saw victory slipping past him as the pain from the countless arrows inside him overwhelmed his will to drive his blade through Bhishma's face.

"You cowards! Ugly pests, I will squirm your bodies with my bare hands like a piece of rag," shrieked Yudh at the top of his lungs. But the arrows kept coming.

Bhishma's fading sight met Vajra's who had just recognized his true identity. The exiled crown prince of Hastinapur, the oldest son of King Shantanu. With this realization, Vajra ordered his men to push deeper into the hall and go all out on the Rakshasa until his back looked like a porcupine's shell, with no room to deal any more harm.

Bhishma could now feel the Rakshasa's waning strength over his own, so he mustered a jolt of energy and swung Yug Pralaya over his head. Yudh's sword slipped out of his hand, releasing Bhishma from under it.

"Yug Pralaya."

A much smaller set of arrows animated from Bhishma's bow and drilled into the Rakshasa's defenseless gut. It forced the brute to lose his footing and drop on his back. Yudh moaned in pain as countless sharp ends pressed deeper into his body, some of them reappearing from the front.

Vajra drew a blade attached to the side of his hip as he approached the downed Rakshasa who panicked at the sight and attempted to get back up.

"I curse you, Bhishma! Curse you to suffer a fate worse than my own. You will not die till you feel every bit of pain I endured today," mumbled Yudh as blood poured out of his mouth, choking him.

Standing over a bed of arrows, Vajra hacked Yudh's trunk-like neck until his dropped green sword disappeared next to his lifeless body.