05

"Get out of my way!" Karma roared.

Soldiers struggled to restrain him on the ground. But failed. He pulled one arm free and with all the strength on his waist, got up. Then his other arm easily pushed away the soldier. They tried again. But they were like farmers holding a raging bull. Whoever came, Karma threw him on the ground.

"Let him," Aryasita calmly ordered the soldiers who gladly drew back.

"I do not consider you an enemy, child," he said to Karma as he rushed beside Ahinara and shook him on the shoulder. He moved his head in response. His teeth gritted in pain. The wounds were serious. He could lose consciousness anytime and never wake again.

In a swift move, Karma plucked out half of his mayastones and pressed them on the prince's back. Praying for it to work.

Green smoke slid lazily across the skin. Ahinara's body clung towards the light healing him. Arrows could not be taken out yet. It would spill too much blood and the healing was too slow. He was too weak to draw the stone's power properly. They needed to go to a physician fast.

"Tell me," Aryasita continued speaking, "is the prince worth it?"

"I will protect him no matter what," Karma said with contained anger.

"Because it is your honour?" Aryasita said, considering. "Honour is something that give significance to a man among others. But right now, no one honours you. Not your army men, not your family, not I, your teacher."

Karma paused.

"Is this what you were seeking in life when you came to the palace with me?"

"I…"

Ahinara faced Karma. He could not speak from the pain, but the eyes pleaded desperately not to listen.

"The prince," Aryasita said pointing down, voice high in proclamation, "has rejected the light of our goddess that once guided him. And now he lies in dirt and blood. Helpless before his own death. See with your own eyes! And do not follow him in the darkness. You can still come back."

The teacher's words pulled out feelings of lost and confusion again. He wanted for things to be simple and clear again. He did not want to abandon his rank and his men. He wanted to reach toward the light.

"I am," Karma said, "sorry but we have to go."

It was not the light his teacher guided.

"There is no honour in helping a heretic!" Aryasita spat out. "A warrior fights for what is right - this is something I taught you not him. But what is the right thing you fight for? How do you know he is right and not me?"

Karma lifted his friend in his arms, his long braid hanging down, and matched eyes with the teacher.

"Then there is fault in what you have taught me. Because I do not know."

And with this, Karma walked away. Soldiers moved awkwardly toward him but Aryasita stopped them.

--

The monk saw them coming first. He was looking around outside the hut after finding both Karma and Ahinara gone. From far away he could tell the situation and sent his boy to get help.

Then others spotted them with alarmed faces. They were scared that soldiers would come after them. Mahasita calmed them down and called for bedding and hot water as Karma approached nearer.

Karma said nothing as he laid the prince on the cotton bedding inside a hut. Then settled down against the wall. More people poured inside.

He watched Ahinara, blood being washed from his back and arrows pulled out. They could not gather enough green mayastones. So Karma gave whatever he had left. These people were not important enough to earn much stones.

He was lost in thought when he realized Mahasita was not inside. Karma stood up to seek out the monk.

He did not have to go far outside. The bald man sat on his knees just beside the hut. Head bowed over his joined hands. He wondered who these people prayed to.

As if reading his thoughts, the monk turned to look at him. Face ever so calm despite everything that had happened. "Come join me. We must ask the Guided One to show our prince path back to recovery."

"Isn't that man dead?"

"He has merely freed himself from his body."

Karma nodded absently and ambled toward the monk.

"I have lost my honour," Karma said sorely. "I failed to protect my friend. I abandoned my standing in the empire. And I no longer know if I am going the right way."

"You are on the right path," Mahasita said.

"Tell me," Karma said testingly, "if we are supposed to abandon everything, then why are we born in a world like this? If not to strive for something out here?"

The monk nodded and looked away. "That is a good question. But no matter what our body chases after in this world, our soul is to leave in the end."

"So it does not matter if the world is ruled by good or evil. You just want to run away from the problems until you die." Karma shook his head. "There is no honour in that."

This was what bothered him. No one had it right.

Mahasita fell silent so Karma turned to leave. But stopped when he heard "Wait." He found the monk standing up. Then he asked to follow him.

"Take this."

He presented a spear from one of the huts of his followers. It was no ordinary spear. Its pole was made entirely of metal. Not exactly iron, Karma judged in awe. But it looked like it. The blade tip was larger and designed with thin streaks of gold.

"My men kept this for me from the days of my kingship," Mahasita explained calmly, arms folded inside the long sleeves.

Karma met his eyes and weighed them. They spoke of a past. He had faced a sorrow that led him to change his own life and desperately reach out to Ahinara as a monk. This was all too much.

--

Four soldiers marched on the farm roads, several teams like them doing the same. It was not clear on under whom the military worked anymore. But these men were definitely deployed by prince Druva to find his rebellious cousin. Before he could flee.

These soldiers were unfortunate to be lurking near the target. A rustling sound came from the tall crops.

In the next moment, someone jumped out like a beast and knocked two men down. The other two fell into fighting stance when fists came at them so quickly, they joined their comrades on the ground.

Karma looked over the unconscious soldiers and called others to come out.

Helen rustled out from the crops first, having changed into white langotti, long tunic and a knife on her side. Then followed Mahasita and some farmer families he had managed to collect. Their armed men guarded the wounded prince. They carried him in a cushioned cloth wrapping hung under a large stick, two men lifting its sides.

"Since prince Ahinara is injured, Lady Helen will lead the group in his place," Karma announced. "Mahasita will guide and I will be the captain of the men."

Everyone nodded and moved along. Karma fell beside Helen who gave him his spear. She walked tensely. Sweat dripped from the side of her forehead. Green eyes alert. Others had gaped at her foreign looks but the situation demanded their focus elsewhere.

"You okay?" Karma followed.

"I am telling myself I am," Helen said, voice edged with nervousness. "We are fighting against the odds and I don't want to be the one holding us back."

"Hey, we will be there in no time. You just worry about finding a good man to go on philosophical adventures with. Eastern men like to ponder a lot on this world, from what I see."

Helen chuckled which made Karma feel better too. He had pressed everyone to move now, despite Ahinara's condition and soldiers lurking everywhere. It might not be the right move. He had not thought this through. But he was not going to stand around like a clueless soldier waiting for orders. He had resolved to act.

A few moments of silence passed before Helen spoke again.

"How about we marry?"

"Huh?" The question caught Karma off guard.

"Think of it," Helen said perkily. "We can go all around the world. I do my study and you keep me safe. We will grow rich from counselling kings and improving people's lives with philosophy. Then settle down somewhere with a nice weather, souvenirs from all the travels and lots of kids."

"I- when have you been planning all this?" Karma asked, red-faced and completely dazzled.

"I can imagine it easily when it's you." Finally she blushed as well. "I mean if you want."

Karma did not get the chance to answer that. They were going along a forest path when cries of soldiers and horses came.

Farmers formed a line beside Karma, spears forward, shielding the rest. Thankfully, the soldiers only had swords with them. The two sides clashed, spears rammed into legs or horses. Some farmers got hurt from the panicking horses or soldiers who managed to stab. They were not trained men. Karma had to handle this himself.

He threw aside his spear and yanked one soldier down. Then threw him under another's horse, which stumbled and made him fall. The rest drew back after realizing who they were trying to fight. And fled.

They will call more men, Karma thought and cursed.

The path further went on with extreme difficulty. Soldiers chased. Fought. Some died. Some killed the farmers. Helen made use of the women who focused on carrying the journey on and guarding the prince. Which let all the men to focus on defending. But they were increasingly getting outmatched. More and more of them fell.

Karma received wounds himself. He was terribly exhausted. There was no mayastone to help him. This was getting hopeless.

No, he thought, I have to protect them even if I die.

An elevation came on the land and they climbed it eagerly. But when they did, only a terrifying sight waited when they looked behind. A gilded elephant carried a huge box of glowing mayastones, and Druva sat on top of it. A stream of soldiers marched around with him. Coming to kill them.

"We have to scatter in the forest. There is no way we can face him!" Helen said.

Karma stopped her command. Something clicked in his mind. If Karma stayed, Druva won't chase Ahinara and the rest.

"You people go. I will face him myself."

"You will die!" Helen cried.

"I won't. I promise." He said, although it did not work. "I have some unfinished business with him. After we are done, I will catch up with you."

The finality in his voice silenced any objection. Her eyes lingered onto him before she joined the leaving party. There were no words to assure her. He turned to face the direction Druva was coming from.

Anyone could tell this battle was a hopeless one. A single wounded man with no power of the stones, the soldiers alone could kill him. But that did not seem to be Druva's intention.

'When did your heart grow this cold, my friend?' He thought.

It was Karma's fault for being such a simple-minded idiot. War and glory, he played this game with his friends without realizing what it was doing to them.

Druva, who had saved Karma's life. Who he thought as his own brother. One night of opportunity, and he threw himself away to reign a palace of mayastone. No hesitation. No remorse. He was ready to kill him and Ahinara.

But. Karma would not stand him sinking any lower.

Alone, he stood at the edge. Spear held before him, blade pointed towards the sky.

"Please," he whispered, eyeing somewhere above the blade. "Whoever you are, who rules this world and guides men, please, help me."

Then he waited.