Nara Narayana ( Part 1 )

Exactly eighteen months after Kush gave that order, Abhaya fell.

Kush has yet to receive the war report when he got a belated answer for the question he asked at the same time. The spymasters were late in delivering their report, but they did manage to find out the truth. As it turned out, the fourth princess really did betray Cactus and it was not his plan to secretly ally with Pranaya! The announcement Rtadhara made disowning the fourth princess was not a smokescreen. They truly disowned her.

Kush finally understood he was right all along. It was not Cactus's style at all to ally with others, especially not the four greedy kingdoms in the coalition. It was too late for regrets though. Abhaya already fell.

Even as Kush was feeling at a loss, he felt even more perplexed when he looked at the war report. He was a little surprised that the campaign only took a year and half to be completed. Even if the four kingdoms ally with one another and get support from the Asuras on the other side of the mountain kingdom, Abhaya's soldiers were not easy to deal with. The mountain kingdom had truly insurmountable defense systems. One can only lay down a siege and whittle away at their forces slowly. Kush was expecting the process to take at least four years and six if Rtadhara helps.

However, Rtadhara did not go to too much lengths to show their supports. They did not even send troops, only supplies, further propagating the belief that the alliance between the Guardian of the West and the Land where Rta Flows has broken and its true alliance was with the Sun kingdom now. Kush almost couldn't believe Vajra would do that, and now he understood that he didn't!

In the final battle when the last defense line fell, the allied armies sang victory songs and the Asuras sung songs of happy plunder as they together marched up great mountains and trekked to the Abhaya capital.

The city was empty. There was not even a single human being there, not even a chicken or a dog was to be seen. The palaces were empty of the handwoven rugs and gold gilded chairs. The treasuries were empty of the piles of jewels they were known to have. Abhaya was the richest kingdom in the drylands! But there was nothing left. Not even a grain was to be found in the granaries, even the husk was emptied out!

It was a ghost town.

Later it was found out that even the soldiers that guarded the final defense line were not Abhaya soldiers. They were mercenaries!

For thirteen years, it remained a great mystery to Aryans all over where the people of Abhaya went. At first they thought that Rtadhara sheltered them, but that didn't prove to be the case after much investigation. It was like the whole country up and vanished! And it only took eighteen months.

Thirteen years…

It was a long time in the life of a young man. In thirteen years, Yuga-dheera united all the dryland nations apart from Rtadhara. First he made everybody his vassals and then slowly, took away the power to rule from each one of them. The fourth princess of Rtadhara became the empress of the unified nations. She was still not acknowledged by her homeland.

In thirteen years, Manas has given birth to its first monarch who then went on to conquer all the lands south of Central Plateau. He married the first princess of Dhupa of the original four kingdoms that surrounded Manas and with the country's help and his own consolidated forces, toppled the throne of Amaravati! The monarch left Manas shortly after and declared that it shall stay an autonomous entity until the next chosen one arrives. He brought all Aryan nations under one rule and created the empire of Dhatri.

In thirteen years, all the Devas of the land bent their knee to Chandra and acknowledged him as their leader. Their individual factions were disbanded or removed from power. The wars were brutal. The Chandra vansh later declared war on the Surya vansh that ruled the drylands. With no expertise in guarding the mountain passes of the lost kingdom of Abhaya, the emperor of Pranaya quickly lowered his head and became a vassal. He no longer had the title of emperor.

At the beginning of the fourteenth year, Emperor Chandra Kush brought his armies to the final frontier that remains to be conquered. He stood in front of the walls of Rtadhara.

He rubbed his ten year old son's head. "Kiddo, I'm going to show you one of the most stubborn men on this planet…and you can see him crumble in front of me. He he he."

The young boy looked at his father. Tall, strong, handsome. These were the words generally used to describe him. "Dad, you look so creepy."

"He he he! I am so happy today. You don't know how long I waited for this."

The child looked at the inhospitable land, the dry fortress that seemed not to contain a shred of life, the quiet wind that seemed to have nothing to say at all.

"What's so special about this place? I don't understand why I must be dragged all the way here in this heat just to see a stupid wall."

"Not a stupid wall…" the emperor locked his elbow around the child's neck and rocked him to and fro. "The wall of Rtadhara has never been breached. It is the oldest kingdom in history!"

"So what? Maybe no one ever cared to breach it because it is so far away!"

Kush was mighty upset that his son didn't share his enthusiasm. "You kid need a summer training session with your grandmother. Your mother spoils you too much." He eyed the boy seriously, "When I was your age…oh don't even compare yourself to me. You'll just feel sad and insignificant for the rest of your life."

"Dad, you're so mean! You're the one that needs a summer training session with grandma!"

Kush frowned and then started laughing creepily again. "When I finally win against Cactus, I bet teacher will be so proud of me and say that I'm the best. She might even make cookies like she did when I beat the mercenaries in the caravan."

The boy groaned, throwing his head full of curly mane back. "This is just a tiny little kingdom! You're the lord of the world. You're bullying them and yet you still want to feel proud?"

For once Kush turned absolutely serious. He patted the boy. "Child, you're really mistaken if you think this is going to be an easy victory. You have no idea who the adversary is."

"I know!" the boy moaned, "It's a god. A real god! But so what? You brought the weight of the world on him. Even a god can't take it!"

"No, you're wrong. It's not just a god. It's Little Cactus."