Preparations

The city lord started making his way towards the castle. The general and the steward of the city had already gathered at the entrance, waiting for the lord. They had received a message that the lord had been called to the city gate, so there must be some news. They studied the city lord's face and frowned. They neither expected good nor bad news, but the city lord's expression was dark, and the aura around him was chaotic. They knew that something bad has happened, or will happen soon.

He noticed the group at the entrance, they were all his close aides and confidants that he trusted very much. Just as they were about to bow to him, he signaled them to stop and urged them to follow him inside. With quickened pace, they moved to his office, where he dismissed all the servants and asked the butler not to disturb them.

He cleared everything on the table, spread a map of the city and its defenses, and started explaining the message he had just received. As everyone absorbed what was said, their expressions turned gloomy. The generals quickly started giving suggestions as to how the city could be defended effectively.

The steward looked a bit hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but was holding himself back. "If it's about the treasury, it can wait after the battle. The priority right now is the city's safety" he said in a stern voice, looking at the steward.

The old steward simply shook his head and denied, that he was not thinking about the treasury at all. "My lord, these defenses, and the whole battle strategy is too dependant on the fact that we will surely get aid from Lord Vishnu. We should also seek aid from the 2 other cities that will be next if the defenses are broken thro-" before even the steward completed what he wanted to say, one of the generals slammed his fist on the table and shouted at him.

"What nonsense are you spouting?! How can you think we won't be getting any aid from the Devas? The Asura army has a Daitya! This alone should be enough for them to help us! How dare you think on Lord Vishnu's behalf and deem our request not worthy of their grace?! Be careful before your blasphemous words land you in the dungeons." Even though the general roared, the steward had a calm demeanor.

"General, you say that how can I think on Lord Vishnu's behalf, but are you also not doing the same? You are still thinking that Lord Vishnu will definitely accept our request for help. Where does this confidence of yours come from, that you are so sure that we will in fact receive help from the Devas, and not only that, we can defeat the army of asuras without needing any extra troops. " The steward cleared his throat and looked towards the city lord and continued, "My lord, The army of those fiends have already pillaged three cities, meaning they will be equipped with armor and weapons of the quality same as ours. Even with devas' aid, we cannot defeat them, without the walls, with our numbers. We must also send the elderly, women, and children, who cannot fight through a safe passage to other cities. It would be best if they could be escorted by a few soldiers."

"My lord, please forgive me if I spoke out of turn, but we must be prepared for all possible scenarios." The steward bowed deep and waited for the city lord to speak.

"Your words have wisdom, old Anubhav, for that I thank you. It is my duty to think for all possibilities and outcomes, for the welfare of my people and land, and I clearly failed this time." The city lord said with a calm tone. "We must also prepare for the rejection of our request by the Devas. We will wait one day for people from the villages to make their way inside the city, then every non-combatant will be escorted to Sai city. Send a request for help to the two cities as well. Ask them to spare as many men and supplies they can, and mention that we are the last line of defense against the army of asuras. If we fall, they will be next. I will prepare the letters with my insignia on them, they should be dispatched at a moment's notice. Please see all this done quickly." The city lord sat on his chair as he dismissed everyone from the room, and started preparing letters.

Meanwhile, two soldiers carrying the wounded messenger entered the castle infirmary. "Lay him down gently on the bed, make sure you don't disturb the arrow." The doctor commanded the soldiers as he prepared the supplies for first-aid.

He examined the arrow and the wound and casually remarked, "I cannot pull the arrow out the way it went in, as it will tear more flesh, even damage the bone. In the worst case, the flesh will start rotting, and I'll have to amputate the leg." The messenger almost fainted by the doctor's casual remark of amputating his leg.

"Please" the messenger almost cried, "save my leg, I beg you." If he lost his leg, he will be disabled for life. He still had a long life ahead of him, he didn't want to spend it, either sitting in a chair or using crutches to move around.

"I jest, although the procedure will be painful." The doctor chuckled as he looked him in the eye and continued, "I will break the shaft at the fletching and pull the arrow out from the other side" the doctor said while touching the arrow and the wound. The messenger clutched the side of the bed with all his remaining strength as his knuckles turned white, yelping from the pain as the doctor prodded the tender wound.

"Here, bite on this lad, this will help." The doctor gave him a piece of leather, which even though was clean, had bite marks on it. He quickly bit hard on the leather, mentally preparing himself for the upcoming painful event.

"One of you hold his shoulders down, and the other one, hold down his legs." The doctor commanded the two soldiers again as he prepared a fine tooth saw, some alcohol, few sharp knives of different shapes and sizes, a couple of clean rags, medicinal paste, and lit a candle. He will need to cauterize the wound or the bleeding won't stop.

The doctor firmly held the shaft of the arrow and started sawing it. He bit down on the leather hard as he screamed, the vibrations from the saw agitated his wound. The soldiers who were helping had seen many injuries and had been through this plenty of times themselves, but there was nothing they could do to lessen the pain and suffering of this man.

The doctor sawed the shaft and swiftly pulled the arrow from the other side, dropping the two parts in a bucket that was kept nearby. The arrow was lodged into the messenger's leg for a while now, so the blood had clotted, stopping the bleeding. But as soon as the doctor pulled out the arrow, it also dislodged the clots, and blood started gushing out. The doctor quickly covered it with rags and asked the soldiers to apply pressure on the wound. The messenger was pale, white as a sheet, groaning in pain and perspiring profusely. It was expected, he was losing blood, and was in a lot of pain. The doctor then examined the wound to see if there was any rotting flesh or not, luckily, there wasn't. He then took 2 knives and started heating them on the candle. He passed a flask of alcohol to the messenger, some liquid courage, its the least he could do.

"Prepare yourself, lad, this may hurt a bit now." The messenger almost cursed the doctor's sense of humor, he was already in pain and everyone in the room knew it. While his frustrations had reached an all-time high, the doctor quickly pressed the red-hot sides of the knives on both the ends of the wound. He was already exhausted from screaming earlier, and now he just passed out from the pain.

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I woke up feeling the sunlight on my face, turning away I reached for the phone to check the time. Ten-minute nap, but it felt great. Getting up from the bed, I stretched my sore muscles, popped my neck to release some stress, and made my way towards the kitchen. I could hear mom and Nana talking in the kitchen, so I just went and sat at the dining table. I was hungry, and I could smell the pleasant aroma of Mexican food. Ah, it has been so long since we had good food. While we were in Jaipur, dad really rationed the food. Suddenly my thoughts snapped back to reality. We should be eating simple food, now that the country is still under lockdown, resources are limited.

"Ah, I should have stayed with them. I'm sure Nana is letting loose all the inhibitions because she's just happy to see us, but mother should have stopped her." I exclaimed as I kept staring at my phone, scrolling through the social media feed. "Anyway, now that it's being cooked, it will be my responsibility now to make sure nothing goes to waste. Today I'll dine like a king." I chuckled, it's not like I didn't like them making good food, I'll just have to go out and buy more stuff. But that's alright, I deserve a break now and then. Thinking about the food and smelling the aroma, my stomach grumbled. I couldn't wait any longer, so I decided I'll go help them in the kitchen, at least by tasting the food.