Slayer of Kamsa by Ashok K. Banker

Author:Ashok K. Banker [Ashok K. Banker]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Religion
ISBN: 9789350290002
Published: 2011-05-22T06:00:00+00:00

twenty-four

Kamsa bellowed a warning as he galloped forward and threw himself off his horse. He fell upon the pair of assassins, bringing them down to the ground, where all three of them sprawled, the two attackers struggling, twisting, vying furiously to stick their knives into him as they rolled in the dust. He tasted blood and knew that one of their knives had slashed his lip and cheek. He felt hot blood spilling down his neck. He ignored it and grasped the assassin’s neck. With some surprise, he found that it was a girl, her head shaven and disguised with a scarf. She bit into his forearm, drawing blood. He roared and threw himself back, slamming himself onto the ground as he used the force to jam her head in a death- lock. He felt her neck crack satisfyingly and released her, just as the second assassin flew at him with a dagger curved like a bull’s horn. This one was barely a boy. They struggled in the dust for a few seconds, then Kamsa swung the boy down with a sudden, jarring impact, smashing his shoulder and loosening his grip. With a second swift action, he rammed the hilt of the curved blade back towards the boy, through the assassin’s own chest, punching through the bone and into his heart. With a moan and a gurgle of blood, the boy died.

Kamsa rose to his feet, looking around warily, ready for more attackers. But there were none. Jarasandha dismounted his horse, examining the dead assassins quickly. Behind him, the city they had just ransacked echoed with the clash of fighting and the screams of the dying. Kamsa leaned against a brick wall broken by a downed elephant. The beast’s tusks lay close enough for him to touch. The house upon which it had fallen lay exposed to the sky, filled with muddy water from a huge cistern that had broken and spilled nearby. Chaos reigned.

‘Gandaharis,’ Jarasandha said, even as Hansa and Dimvaka came up at a gallop, dismounting and joining their master. They stood with swords drawn, ready to fend off any further enemy, but it appeared that there were none left. After a three-day siege, the city had betrayed itself, Jarasandha’s Magadhans rising from within to slay their lords and neighbours before opening the gates to let in their emperor, to whom they had secretly sworn allegiance. ‘Do you know what this means?’

Kamsa shook his head, catching his breath. He was almost too tired to stand on his own. He had no recollection of when he had last slept, and only a hazy memory of eating some kind of roasted meat the previous night, or was it two nights ago? His body ached all over, bleeding from a dozen or more superficial wounds, and his hip felt as if it had been dislocated badly. He had lost count of how many he had slain, and he neither knew the name of the city they had just ransacked, nor the kingdom.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.