RAMAYANA SERIES: THE COMPLETE EDITION by Ashok K. Banker

Author:Ashok K. Banker [Banker, Ashok K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-09-14T06:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

With no room to leap aside and no time to think, all Rama could do was wrench his torso out of the way, twisting his body at a right angle backwards. The javelin skimmed the hair on his chest, the air of its passage searing hot, and it struck ground with a sound like a butcher’s blade chopping through a buffalo’s hambone. In his backward-bent position, Rama could still see the patch of sky visible between the high branches of the elm. A golden wink blinded him momentarily, like the sun reflecting off an armour-plated chariot, and he blinked involuntarily. In the fraction of an instant it took him to reopen his eyes, the thing above the trees was gone. Only a slice of the brilliant blue morning sky remained. He knew instinctively that attempting any kind of pursuit was pointless. How could he chase a flying chariot, if that was what he had glimpsed?

He was resting on his wrists, his hands supporting his bent spine. The posture was awkward but hardly impossible; he had his rigorous practise of yoga to thank for that. Straightening his spine slowly, flexing the larger muscles of his back and thigh rather than straining the backbone, he regained an upright posture. The javelin loomed above him, more a pole than a throwing rod. It had passed a hair’s breadth from his head and chest, yet he did not think he had been the intended target. That distinction belonged to the unfortunate being that lay pierced by the two-yards long fist-thick missile. Rama released a long breath as he looked down at the inert form of Mareech, the albino rakshasa’s eyes wide and screaming with terror. His taloned hands, their skin as webbed as a lizard’s, clutched the javelin embedded in his throat. The task that Rama’s arrow had begun was completed by this foreign missile.

A flurry of sound and movement drew Rama’s attention. His bow was fitted and ready in the time it took him to turn. He centred it on the breast of Lakshman, staring at him from across the patch of marsh, stretching the cord to the zenith.

‘Rama! It’s me. Lakshman.’

Rama kept the arrow pointed at the man who looked like his brother. ‘This disguise won’t serve you well, friend rakshasa. You should have picked a more innocuous one. A chital. Or a mithuna. Did you really expect to fool me by taking the form of my brother?’

Lakshman bent down and placed his sword on the ground, then raised his hands to show he was unarmed. ‘Bhai, listen to me. I’m Lakshman, your brother. I was with Sita at the hut but we heard you calling me, calling for help.’

Rama frowned. ‘If you’re Lakshman, then you would have ignored those cries. You would have obeyed my order to remain with your sister-in-law.’

Lakshman spread his hands in frustration. ‘How could I? It was you calling me! That rescinded your earlier order, did it not? Besides, if you were hurt or in need of aid, how could I just stand by and do nothing?’

A vein began to pulse in Rama’s head.

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