Dr. Rao drew a deep breath, his hands resting lightly on the podium. The tension in the studio was electric; the audience, both present and remote, was collectively holding its breath for the inevitable ambush.
"Gauri mounted the horse not as a prisoner, but as a predator leading her prey into the perfect trap," Dr. Rao stated, his voice resonating with strategic pride. "Her decision to surrender was not submission; it was a necessary sacrifice to get the commander and her son out of the village, away from the innocent farmers who would have been slaughtered."
.....
The column of Saka riders, with Gauri and the humiliated, crippled Zarakan at the front, sped along the forest road toward the distant city. The path was narrow, strategically cleared years ago, devoid of thick flora, but flanked on both sides by dense, deep forest—the perfect hunting ground. The area was known to locals as a prime spot for traveling and finding few wild herbs.
The time was post-afternoon, and the sun was already beginning its slow descent. The weather, typically dry, had turned. A cool wind whipped through the cleared path, and dark, heavy clouds were swiftly approaching, promising a torrential downpour. The Saka riders, sensing the danger of traveling in the dark, urged their horses to a faster pace.
Gauri, sitting behind Zarakan, her face deadly calm, had anticipated this weather shift hours ago. Her vast knowledge of the regional climate and hunter's instinct told her the rain would start pouring in a matter of minutes. Her mind was a tactical chessboard, calculating how to use the elements to her ultimate advantage.
They covered the two kos mark—roughly two-thirds of the promised distance. The moment they crossed that boundary, Gauri acted.
Suddenly, and without warning, she violently yanked the reins, changing the horse's direction from the cleared forest road to a narrow, overgrown lane on the far left side. This lane, barely visible, had only a few trees and was known only to the most experienced hunters. Gauri skillfully managed to force the horse into the dense path.
The Saka riders behind her—a company of ten horses carrying fourteen armed men—were instantly shocked.
"Are you a fool?! Go to the right track!" one of them, a man named Karas, bellowed, spurring his horse to chase.
"Witch! Don't do this! It will be very bad for you!" shouted another.
"Your son is with us! Think about him!" yelled a third.
"Yes, don't go back on your word!"
Gauri turned her ears deaf to their threats and shouts. Zarakan, struggling desperately in front of her, tried to twist and throw himself off the horse, despite his injured leg. He was thinking clearly for the first time: It is better to endure injury than to go with this lunatic woman! I sense danger!
He began to shout, but Gauri delivered a swift, hard punch to his spine—a precise blow that stunned him and silenced his struggling.
The wind began to howl in earnest. A blinding flash of lightning, followed by a terrifying clap of thunder, shook the air. A few seconds later, the first large, cold droplets of water began to appear. The surroundings instantly became blurred and unclear.
And then, unexpectedly, the Saka riders lost her track.
Gauri, the master hunter, knew every alley, every turn, and every hidden refuge in this section of the forest. Her sharp, intellectual mind and her deep knowledge of the terrain helped her use the rapidly worsening visibility and the forest's twists to her advantage. She had skillfully disappeared into the gathering storm.
The Saka riders, utterly unfamiliar with the forest and suddenly blinded by the rain and poor light, pulled their horses to a skidding halt on the track. They didn't dare proceed further. They had zero knowledge of this labyrinthine environment, and the fear of the unknown—of an ambush, or getting irrevocably lost—was a powerful deterrent.
Gauri quickly dismounted her horse in the sudden, eerie silence of the tree cover. Zarakan instantly started shouting a string of desperate, guttural curses. Gauri, moving with professional efficiency, took the rope she had used to bind him and tied a deep, tight knot around his mouth, effectively muffling him. Zarakan whimpered, tears of pain and fury mixing on his face as he struggled for breath.
She quickly secured Zarakan to a sturdy tree using the horse's reins, ensuring he was visible from the main path but couldn't move or warn his men effectively.
In the distance, the main group of Saka riders heard the muffled shouts. They quickly discussed a strategy in their foreign tongue. They were confident in their numbers. She is just one woman. A clever trickster, but just one woman, they concluded.
They decided to split. Five horses and seven riders each, one led by a lieutenant named Chaman, would chase her, securing their commander as the first priority. The other group, led by Baras would stay put, securing Rudraksha and keeping watch on a short perimeter of the lane so they wouldn't get lost the track for main road.
Rudraksha, still seated on the horse of a Saka rider, watched the events unfold, his hope soaring. His mother was escaping.
Gauri knew they were coming. She sensed their movements and the sound of their approaching hooves. She had barely dragged Zarakan to the tree before she vanished into the forest.
Zarakan's men, seeing the tied horse and their leader's terrible condition, sped to his side. Three of them dismounted to free the general.
Zarakan, frantic with pain and humiliation, spat out his gag. "Idiots! Go! Chase her! Drag that cursed witch in front of me!"
His men tried to soothe him, their voices concerned. "Master Zarakan, the dark will fall soon. We can return tomorrow with more men."
"Your health is low, master, with your broken arm and leg," said another, trying to calm the enraged Commander.
But Zarakan ignored them. His hatred consumed him. Finally, two of his men, Rohak and Niras, agreed to stay and guard him, while the remaining five—Feroz, Jawan, Karas, Chaman and Zaki—mounted three horses and sped off in the direction Gauri had vanished.
The five Saka men rode for less than a minute before they spotted a horse tied to a tree. They grew instantly vigilant, stopping their horses. The surrounding air was thick with mist and the low growl of thunder, and the rain now began to pour mildly heavy.
Suddenly, a blur of silver flashed through the rain.
Fwip! A heavy hunting knife, thrown with unimaginable speed and force, slammed directly into the eye of the lead horse, plunging deep into the socket. The poor animal screamed, rearing violently in blinding pain, throwing its two riders—Feroz and Jawan—hard onto the muddy ground.
Before they could recover, a second knife shot from an unknown direction and embedded itself into the front leg of another horse. The animal collapsed, whinnying in terror, tossing its rider, Zaki, to the earth. The remaining two riders, Karas and Chaman, riding the last horse, scrambled off immediately, drawing their swords and dropping into a defensive stance.
These two initial attacks happened in a matter of seconds. It was a precise, brutal, and horrifying execution.
Gauri, having thrown the knives, moved with the speed of a striking viper. She was upon the three fallen Saka men before they could register their injury.
Feroz was cut clean across the neck; his jugular severed in one powerful, silent swipe.
Jawan suffered the same fate—Gauri's sword, Zarakan's captured weapon, was deadly sharp, cutting through flesh and bone with brutal ease.
Zaki was dispatched with a swift, merciless stab to the heart.
The three killings happened in quick, brutal succession, all in the span of perhaps five seconds. It was a display of calculated savagery.
Gauri moved on, now marching towards the two remaining men who had dismounted. They heard the muffled screams and whimperings of their comrades, but the heavy rain and poor visibility prevented them from seeing the carnage.
"What happened, comrades? Report!" Chaman yelled, his voice laced with confusion and mounting fear.
The two men then saw a silhouette emerge from the mist at terrifying speed. They thrust their swords forward. Gauri, moving with pure instinct, ducked and twisted her body, smoothly dodging the synchronized attack. She brought Zarakan's sword to bear, the polished metal gleaming even in the dull light.
The sounds of clashing steel rang out, a metallic cacophony that, moments later, was faintly heard by the two Saka guards, Rohak and Niras, waiting with Zarakan.
Zarakan, in spite of his pain, recognized the sound of a desperate fight. "Go! Go now and help them! This is your chance, idiots!"
The two guards, Rohak and Niras, reluctantly took off running toward the sounds of the battle.
Gauri, fighting Chaman and Karas, felt the cumulative toll of her years of training. The rain made the ground slick, making every parry and thrust difficult. After a minute of furious clashes, Chaman managed to land a blow—a glancing stab that caught Gauri in the shoulder. It was not deep, thanks to her swift evasion, but the pain was sharp.
Ignoring the injury, Gauri used the momentary distraction of the pain to deliver a fatal strike: she expertly cut Karas's arm clean off at the elbow, followed immediately by a decisive swipe that decapitated Chaman.
Karas screamed, clutching his spurting stump, but Gauri had no mercy left. She followed through, stabbing the sword directly into his head. She glanced at the sword in her hand. This Zarakan's sword is indeed very good and sharp, she thought, a cold flicker of professional satisfaction in the midst of the bloodbath. It holds its edge beautifully even after such heavy work.
Suddenly, Gauri sensed danger from behind. She twisted her body, narrowly avoiding two simultaneous sword thrusts aimed at her back. Rohak and Niras, the two newcomers, had arrived.
The fighting began anew, a brutal, desperate skirmish in the torrential rain.
The heavy downpour was now muffling the sounds of the blades, shielding the violence from the remaining Saka group further down the lane. They were chatting normally, confident in their superior numbers, completely unaware of the bloody carnage unfolding just moments away.
Lieutenant Baras and his six men continued their search down the short area of lane connecting the main road, dismissing Gauri's escape as a momentary distraction.
"That idiot Zarakan," muttered Jivan, a rugged Saka rider. "He just lost his nerve over a peasant woman."
Anuj, another rider, scoffed. "She is a princess, remember? But so what? They are heading straight to the city. She's just delaying the inevitable. She cannot hide from our large group in this open forest."
"True," Baras agreed, scanning the path ahead with disinterest. "The Commander is just humiliated. Once Chaman comes here with him, we will leave even if we couldn't find her as our main priority is only the Commander. If she is alive she will sure come to find this kid here." He eyed Rudraksha's small frame amusingly.
They are now waiting under the tree shades in these heavy rain and chatting relaxedly, their confidence based entirely on misinformation and arrogant certainty.