Chapter 1

Kraal was standing at the edge of the devastation of the Angavani empire. He was well aware of the fact that the war was imminent if he followed through with his act. Thousands of lives would be lost, millions affected. But he had to do what he had to do.

Feeling for his grapple hook, he soldiered his mind for the task ahead. He threw the hook, but it didn't get stuck in the fort ramparts. He shuddered all the immediate thoughts if bad omen and marshalled on. He was a skilled assassin; he had no time for omens neither did he paid heed to them generally. But, today was different. He was not on the hunt of a normal rich merchant, he was after the General of the Angavani Empire, Aswath.

He tried for a couple of times before the hook applied itself. He let out a deep sigh, crossing the point of no return. He started climbing the ramparts of the Ajinkya Palace stealthily.

Situated on the banks of the calm flowing Suddhi river, Ajinkya palace stood mighty above the overlooking Pavnati hill ranges. Its name literally meant the Palace which cannot be won. Its geography had much to do with the fact that it had been never won by an enemy. The gorgeous yet unscalable Pavnati hills protected it from the back while the Suddhi river meandered in front creating a large lagoon, leaving only a single option of attack for the enemy and it was heavily guarded at all times.

Kraal had swum his way across the river, displaying amazing stamina and grit to cross its humongous width. Any commoner would've easily drowned and hence, this part of the palace was scarcely guarded. No one would expect an attack from here anyways. This very fact was exploited by Kraal.

He finally found his footing in the rampart and jumped on into the corridor that led up straight to the General's chambers. But before he could do anything, he heard footsteps. This part of the palace was supposed to be free; he was supposed to saunter into the General's chambers. Kraal was prepared for everything though. He looked around and quickly found a gap between two bricks of the roof of the archway and swung himself, landing on the roof above in a smooth arc action. He couldn't help but notice that it was a new moon night. He laid on his back so that he wouldn't be noticeable to that one sneaky guard. He could now see 3 guards approaching the position he was in a few moments earlier. He let out a sigh of relief.

He looked at the town that was at the base of the palace, all lit up this late in the night. After all it was the time of the boisterous nine-day festival of Navratri festival to mark the return of the bringer of life, the sun, journey to the north. It marked the death of the cold and a new start to life. No time could symbolize his actions more perfectly.

Most importantly, Aswath's wife was on a visit to her parents with their kids. This was her routine and even Aswath would've joined them later but the looming danger on Angavani had him tied to his chambers. This was perfect for Kraal's mission. He had strict orders from his master, the only man he had worked for his entire life, that no collateral damage was to be tolerated. His instructions were simple yet crystal clear. No one except the General was to meet Yama, the god of death, today.

Sensing the danger gone, he hopped down back to the corridor. He took firm yet calculated steps towards the General's chambers. He expected no difficulties in doing so. And he faced none. Soon enough he was at the corner from where he could see the Chamber. But before he could enter the room, he had to eliminate the guards of the room.

He had planned for everything though.

First, he covered his face with a mask given by his master to him. He had been instructed to cross the barrier within 10 seconds of breaking the vial, another tool to complete the task bestowed upon by his master. He broke the vial as soon as he had the mask covering his face. The vial gave off an odourless, colourless gas with a hissing sound. He had no idea what to expect of the thing but he had full confidence in his master. And it worked, fast enough to facilitate his entry into the chamber.

The guards slumped to the ground as soon as the gas hit them. They would've no knowledge of this 'gas' of course, no trace in their blood to determine its origin. All they would remember is that they were alert on their duty one second and the world was a blank the next.

Kraal on the other hand was dizzy. He had immediately recognised the scent of Datura, a well-known intoxicant which was supposed to be a strong somniferous agent. But surprisingly Datura had antagonised the effects of the gas of the vial. Everything comes at a price though. Kraal had lost his senses for a while.

When he started feeling himself again, he observed the room a little. Kraal noticed a manuscript of the famous commandments of Emperor Pridhwaj, father of the current Emperor, Ayayutas on the stand next to the General's bed. The General had fallen asleep whilst reading.

He also noticed the wine goblet was half full and the wick of the candle was still half-lit. The general had just fallen asleep after enjoying a good read and a glass of wine perhaps. A meaningful thing to do before getting to meet one's creator.

But what threw Kraal off was the sight of his face. Even after all these years, he could feel an immense hatred building up inside him. He couldn't think of anything but the course of events that had put him on this route. And the role that was played by this face in it.

It had all started when Kraal was just a teen, excited to be back home for the winter break of his gurukul. He had even saved some ingots and had bought gifts for his younger sister. He was finally going to get time to spend his older brother. There had been so much to learn from him, his experiences and the way he told them had always smitten Kraal. Smiling to himself, he edged the driver of his bullock cart to hurry. He just couldn't wait any longer.

Just as they were nearing his village, the bulls refused to move forward. Strange, thought Kraal for it had never happened before. The driver concluded that he couldn't get the bulls to move ahead, so he suggested Kraal to continue on his own. Kraal was more than delighted to continue on his own. Skipping along the tracks, humming his favourite tunes, he reached what used to be the entrance to his village. Now, it was just burnt rubble. He immediately became alert. Now he could see smoke in the distance. The only thought in his mind was the safety of his family.

He started charging towards his village. Now he was truly horrified. All the houses were either burning or were razed to the ground. He couldn't make any sense of what was going on. Who would even want to hurt his peaceful villagers, who were naïve enough to believe that rain was a blessing of gods, how would they plan an uprising against the Emperor. He took hide behind what was left of a hut when he noticed a lithe figure atop a majestic black horse. He was shouting to his soldiers, maybe barking orders. He had to be the head of the platoon. And then, he turned, revealing a face Kraal would never forget. A face which will haunt him for his life. A face, from which retribution would become his only motive. The face belonged to Aswath.

He was filled with sudden rage. He started breathing deeply. With only his wooden sword in his bag, he started taking steps towards the figure. He hopped over what seemed to be a charred body and hid behind the fence that was in front of him. He started to slowly crawl towards the figure. He was finally within the striking distance. One clean hit to his temple, that was all left in between. He started to prepare for the jump when a hand grabbed him from behind. Before he could shoot, the hands had gripped his mouth and a strong blow to his head made him unconscious.

When he woke up, he found himself in a cave, with a young monk, about the same age as his brother. He had a calm demeanour about him. They had a fire in between. All he could think about was his family and the splitting headache he had.

"Why did you stop me, monk. I would've gotten him. You stopped me from killing the vacuous bastard, why…."

Before he could continue, the monk gave him a herbal suspension in a coconut shell.

"Before I answer all your questions, have this. It will help with your headache."

Kraal had to admit about his headache. He gulped down the drink and immediately he felt better. Not suspecting the monk now, he sat down. The day had taken a toll on both his mental and physical health. He started sobbing, for he didn't think anyone would've survived from his village. He had lost his family. He knew it as a fact from the beginning but the reality of it has started to sink in just now.

Putting a compassionate arm around Kraals shoulders, the monk tried to distract his mind from the eminent loss.

"You seriously think you would've killed him with just a wooden sword?"

"I would've first hit him in the temple, rendering him unconscious. Obviously, I had the element of surprise. So, the shock of a sudden attack would've helped my case. Then, when I would've had him incapacitated, I would've struck him on the neck, destroying his body's connection to his brain. That was enough to kill him."

The monk was in awe. With the resources he had, Kraal definitely intended to kill. Moreover, he knew that he had to do more than to strike him on his temple to kill. He had been taught well. More importantly, he could think clearly even in the time of adversary. Maybe Master had some use for him. Maybe.

"Have you taken into account a dozen soldiers around him? Even if you would've managed to get him unconscious, you wouldn't have been able to finish your task. They would've killed you before you could've thought of striking again."

"Now there is no way of knowing monk, thanks for that."

"Let's assume, for a moment, that even if you would've succeeded in killing Aswath, the military general for the Emperor, what do you think would be the effect of this kill. In my opinion, you should let the enemy live, and strike when they are most vulnerable."

Not able to comprehend what the monk meant, and also because of the disgust that was building up in him, he looked away.

With the same disgust in him, he looked at the figure of Aswath in front of him, sleeping peacefully. He pulled out his dagger, the one he had specially saved for today and crept close to the General. So close that he could hear his breathing.

With a surgeon's precision, he cut the vocal cords of the General. Aswath woke up from his sleep, terror written large on his face. He stared back into a figure. A shadow. He couldn't make out. The shadow moved a little and whispered into his ears with an oddly eerie voice, "This is what you get for killing innocent people".

Before Aswath could get a chance of registering the threat, Kraal injected the paralytic he had with him into the carotid. The paralytic went directly into the brain affecting all the motor activity of the body.

Then Kraal sat back watching his prey with interest. But he had the brains not to waste time gloating. He quickly found the femoral artery in the thigh and nicked it. Now, he could relax. He had the satisfaction of seeing the General's life ebb away into oblivion. Femoral is one of the major arteries of the body, any damage to it without repair confirms your ticket to heaven.

The blood started pooling around the General's legs. He couldn't shout, neither could he do something. Eventually, he slipped into unconsciousness.

When the General became unconscious, Aswath took his dagger and slashed the Carotid, confirming his kill. He couldn't leave things to destiny, not with a mission of this level.

He took a piece of cotton from the General's kurta and dipped it in his blood, and proceeded to write a message that would haunt the Emperor for his entire life.

He made his exit the way he had entered. Kraal, the shadow, disappeared into the darkness. Lost to the light. Again. What he couldn't do was remove the message from his head,

"The heaven greets your Hell Emperor."