“Sunita, wait!” Ekluvya called out. His voice echoed in the forest as the damsel ran into the woods away from the tribe. Ekluvya chased relentlessly but was unable to catch her. Sunita’s stamina was comparable to an athlete!

Soon the duo reached deep in the forest where Sunita stopped in a clearing, panting heavily. She just didn’t know where to run to or what to do.

“Sunita! Wait…huff-huff…!” Ekluvya panted, “it’s not like I was going to ditch you or anything,” he lied.

“What’s ditching?” Sunita frowned, confused by the future idiom, “you don’t want to marry me, isn’t that right? Why didn’t you just say so earlier? Why do this the night before our marriage? Has your heart died off somewhere!?” she began to cry.

Ekluvya sighed, overcome by guilt. He had only been thinking of himself, and not about the others around him. Even if he wasn’t the original Ekluvya, he was still here and as him and all these people were humans with emotions. One can’t just up and leave. Humans are tied down with responsibilities. The communal bonds are deep psychological chains that tie everyone together. It has merits and demerits both. Ekluvya could be free and safe from his impending doom, but the tears of a beautiful girl were stronger than the fear of death.

It wasn’t that Ekluvya had fallen for Sunita but he was awkwardly stuck in an unprecedented situation and didn’t know what to do. He could fight a hundred guys but couldn’t extricate himself from loving people.

“It’s okay, I understand,” Sunita spoke solemnly, “you’re a warrior, always training to better yourself. Settling down with me wouldn’t be on your mind. I was so silly believing we could be together for the rest of our lives.”

As Sunita lamented, Ekluvya sighed. For the first time in his life, he wanted to hold his girl and calm her down but he couldn’t. The truth was, he didn’t want to marry her. He wanted to leave her to her fate here in this doomed tribe. He was…selfish. And there was nothing wrong with that. But that doesn’t mean that people won’t be hurt with his disappearance. Sunita made him realize that and he didn’t know what to do about it.

Swrrrrr…!! Something shiny spun rapidly, cutting through wind, passing above Sunita’s shoulder and stabbing towards Ekluvya who quickly dodged. This shiny thing was a dagger that got stuck to a tree behind him.

“Who is this!? Who dares!” Sunita suddenly shouted, enraged.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Multiple shadows leapt down from the trees and surrounded the couple. They were all tall and athletic men with thick mustaches and black clothes.

“Kali tribe!” Sunita exclaimed, jumping in fright. Ekluvya quickly approached her and pulled out his sword. His memories flashed, reminding him of the Kali tribe which lived near the Nishad tribe and had been their mortal enemies for decades despite serving the same king. The Kali tribe was cultist and would often launch sneak attacks on nearby tribes to make human sacrifices to their Goddess of destruction: Kali.

“Hehehe, such a sweet young couple, out on a full moon night to consummate their love,” one of the Villain sneered.

“We will help you out!” Another one said.

“Boy, don’t worry about your girl hehe, she will have a lot of fun with us here and then stay in our tribe her entire life!”

“You can thank your stars to have been chosen as a sacrifice for our Goddess Kali”

“Hey-hey, look at this girl’s bosoms; they can put even mature women to shame!”

“Hehehe you’re right! I must check if they are real!”

The men continued to speak nefariously. Ekluvya narrowed his eyes and clutched his sword tightly.

“Give it to me,” Sunita suddenly said. Ekluvya glanced at her, “the sword. I must cut their tongues with it myself!”

All eyebrows arose before the villains started cackling aloud.

“Hahaha! Little girl with big melons and a small brain; you will be a good slave.” One of the villains sneered.

“Hehehe, that is a sword not a knife for cutting vegetables,” another one taunted.

“Why don’t you drop that sword and grab my sword instead?” One of them dropped his loin cloth and revealed his bushy ugly groin. Sunita’s mouth twisted in hatred while her cheeks flushed red.

Shwak! Shwak! Shwak! Sunita’s sword flashed and chopped that man’s flute before slashing his chest and cutting his throat. Blood splattered and then fell down in agony, squirming as he died.

“Shit! Little rascal!”

“Kill her! Kill this bitch!”

“Chop off her melons!”

The villains lunged at Sunita in rage. She lunged at the ones before her and swung her sword speedily. She was Lokesh’s daughter after all. How could she be lacking in swordsmanship? Ekluvya was impressed. He fought the villains in front of him with merely an arrow in hand as his weapon. Naturally, he dodged more and attacked less. Meanwhile Sunita had already slain the ones she was fighting and turned around to take on the remaining ones.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Sunita’s bloody sword glinted in the moonlight as it claimed one life another! Within a few moments, all the villains were dead.

Sunita turned around to face Ekluvya. Her beautiful face had blood splattered on it. Her clothes had turned red. As she held the bloodied sword in her hand she gazed deeply at Ekluvya who was mesmerized by her warrior mode. His heart unknowingly beat faster.

“We must hurry!” Sunita suddenly spoke, “Kali tribe always sends more than 1 group every time they hunt us Nishads. I’m afraid they might target the tribe village!”

Swoosh! Both of them ran speedily. Ekluvya held his bow in his left hand, Sunita held the sword in her right hand. Together they rushed into the village and noticed a few torches moving suspiciously towards the village from different directions.

“This is no longer a mere hunt. This is war.” Ekluvya deduced.

“We must wake up everyone!” Sunita exclaimed, “there is a warning bell on that tower! I’ll go ring it!”

But by then the Kali tribe had barged in.

“No time for that, I’ll handle it.” Ekluvya said, nocking an arrow on the bow.

Swoosh! He released the arrow which traveled several meters up and forward, reaching the tower and hitting the large bronze bell.

Dong! The bell rang!

Sunita’s jaw dropped. She had heard rumors about Ekluvya’s marksmanship but was seeing his skill for the first time.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Arrows were released one after another, hitting the bell perfectly and making it ring.

Quickly, Nishad tribe awoke and haphazardly came out to face the danger. Kali tribe no longer sneaked. They roared and blew their war bugles, announcing their conquest. Nishads were a warrior tribe. They used to sleep with their weapons in range. How could they have come out barehanded? The battle broke out immediately and both sides splattered blood. Ekluvya’s heart was pounding madly. He had never taken a life, but if he hesitated now, innocent people will die. But these were the same people he was willing to abandon just minutes ago!

“What are you doing?! Start fighting!” Sunita called out to Ekluvya as she rushed at an enemy, who aimed his bow towards her and hurled a swift arrow.

Clang! Ekluvya shot the arrow down with his own arrow while Sunita reached the enemy and lopped his head off!

“Kill!”

“Kill them all!”

“Let’s settle this once and for all!”

Both sides were in high spirits and battled hard. That night, the full moon witnessed carnage and the forest heard the screams and battle cries for hours.

Ekluvya and Sunita stayed together fighting and killing while Hirandhanu and Lokesh led their tribesmen in a haphazardly deduced strategy. It failed halfway through due to too many factors. Battles always have unpredictable elements.

But eventually Ekluvya and Sunita climbed up the bell tower and that was the end for the Kali tribe. While Sunita protected her man from any dangers, Ekluvya assumed the role of a sniper, taking down the seemingly leading figures of the Kali tribe. His aim was perfect. His archery, phenomenal. Not a single arrow was wasted! Thanks to him, the battle ended quickly in Nishads’ favor. All the enemies were humbled and brought to their knees.

“Goddess Kali will destroy your tribe, just you wait!” The Kali tribe chief snarled. Hirandhanu leaned forth to sneer at his face.

“Are you sure? It seems that Goddess Kali had decided to destroy your clan instead. See how she led you all to your doom?” Hirandhanu mocked.

“…you bastard, kill us! And our children will avenge us in a decade!” The enemy chief shouted. Hirandhanu shook his head.

“It is so like you to poison the minds of the younglings, you must have sowed hatred in their hearts already,” he spoke, “as such, when they come to die at our hands in a decade, the sin of their deaths will be upon you and not us.”

“Chief; Ekluvya and I were ambushed by their team in the forest. The location is quite off from the rest of the Kali tribe teams,” Sunita spoke up, having climbed down with Ekluvya a while ago; “we should investigate that area. We might find clues of their younglings.”

The Kali chief’s face revealed panic. He indeed had the younglings of his tribe planted there so they may witness whether the glory of their clan in victory or their fall in defeat. It would either bolster their confidence or sow the hatred deep in them. If Nishad tribe found them, they would definitely be killed or worse; enslaved!

“I’m opposed to this!” Ekluvya spoke up immediately & all eyes turned to him, “the children are innocent. We must not harm them. Let them go. We only need to fortify our defenses so they may never take revenge.”

“A noble thought, my son, but weak…” Hirandhanu spoke, “to lead a tribe means soiling your hands with blood, even if of the innocent.”

“I will not let anyone murder children. You’ll have to cross my corpse to reach them.” Ekluvya stood firm.

Silence lingered for a long few moments.

“You...why are you doing this?” Kali chief asked. He was perplexed. Empathy was not a common trait in tribals. It was limited within everyone’s own tribe too.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Ekluvya answered.

“We killed many children of your clan in this ambush,” the kali chief muttered.

“And you shall pay for that with your lives, but not with the lives of your children,” Ekluvya said, “if an eye for an eye was to become the norm, justifying revenge; then the world would soon turn blind!”

“…” Kali chief’s face turned livid with expressions of realization, epiphany and sorrow. His eyes teared up and he slammed his head on the ground in front of Hirandhanu’s feet, startling everyone.

“I admit defeat! Take us as prisoners and let our younglings go. So, they may not be tainted by hate!” He shouted.

“…” Hirandhanu stared down at the enemy’s head near his feet. This arrogant powerful enemy had been defeated by a display of ‘empath’ that Hirandhanu used to consider a weakness. Once again, he looked at Ekluvya and realized that this young lad might actually become a better Chief than him!

“Sigh, so be it. You and your warriors here will be arrested and handed over to the king for imprisonment! Your younglings and women may continue to live in peace in your village without fear from us.” Hirandhanu announced.

“Thank you…!” The Kali chief did not raise his head.

---

Hours later as the sun rose up and everyone was done with treating the injured and putting aside the dead, two families gathered.

“It was quite a tragedy and it could have been us dying and enslaved instead of the Kali tribe if not for the two of you,” Hirandhanu said to Ekluvya and Sunita.

“Yes, you both have earned great merits!” Lokesh praised.

“Oh I’m so glad that our children are safe and that everything ended well for our tribe.” Mita spoke emotionally.

“Yes, there will never be another instance of the Kali tribe harming us. This was a blessing in disguise!” Sunita’s mother Kanchan spoke. She was a housewife, seldom making an appearance outside.

“But I’ve been wondering…” Hirandhanu uttered as he looked at Ekluvya and Sunita, “what were you two doing in the forest outside the village?”

“…” Silence lingered. Sunita and Ekluvya exchanged glances. Eventually Sunita blushed and ran away. She took the blame to save her man from getting found out about his desertion! Ekluvya was moved by her selflessness.

“Hahaha! So it was like this!” Hirandhanu cackled aloud, “I’m glad that you became a man, Ekluvya,” he patted his back.

“…It…it’s not like that…” Ekluvya said awkwardly but everyone was fully convinced that he and Sunita had consummated their relationship in the woods!

“Ah, it’s such a lovely full moon tonight too,” Mita smiled.

“Yes-yes, I’m glad that my daughter managed to claim her prince tonight,” Kanchan said.

“Haha, look at how red his cheeks are, you are quite shy still eh Ekluvya?” Lokesh chuckled, “do not worry, marriages are holy rituals but love is a greater thing. You don’t need to be shy about it. We all approve of you.”

“…” Ekluvya didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Even though Sunita saved him, the misunderstanding she caused for it had further tied him down. Confused by the numerous emotions, Ekluvya could only smile awkwardly and let things take their turn. Inwardly he had realized that perhaps he’ll never make it out of the tribe and that Krishna will inevitably kill him.

“I can only brace myself at this point,” Ekluvya thought, looking around, “fighting a God is not going to be easy. Heck, we’ll be lucky if even the tribe’s children and women make it out alive!”

“Father!” He suddenly shouted, surprising himself as he began to weave a long plan.

“Yes?” Hirandhnau looked at him.

“I have an idea to propose,” Ekluvya spoke, “what if we merge the Kali tribe into the Nishad tribe? There will no longer be any possibility of conflict and our territory will enlarge and we won’t have to burden King Jarasandh for handling our enemies.”

“What!?” Both the parents exclaimed at the seemingly impossible idea. But Hirandhanu pondered seriously. He had seen how his son was capable of performing miracles as he made the hardcore Kali tribe leader to lower his head in defeat.

“The boons will be greater,” Hirandhanu spoke as he deduced, “it’s worth a shot, but it requires the enemy’s approval and a lot of intermarriages. There will still be lingering hatred.”

“Only for a generation at most. I’m sure that with the two chiefs’ intervention and control, peace will not be difficult.” Ekluvya said.

“Are you serious!?” Lokesh could not believe his ears. He had been friends with Hirandhanu for decades and knew him too well. He had never seen him relent so much. Even though Ekluvya was a prodigy whom even Lokesh thought highly off; it was quite a thing to make such a big decision!

“Yes, it’s worth a shot. Of course, before implementing this decision, we will need to discuss with the whole tribe,” Hirandhanu said and Lokesh nodded after a sigh. He wasn’t a person who’d hold onto grudges.

“Well, while we sort this out, why don’t you go celebrate tonight’s victory with Sunita?” Hirandhanu said to Ekluvya and winked.

“Yes-yes, we approve hehe. Use my hut since I and Kanchan will be out, doing all sorts of duties.” Lokesh grinned.

“Father, Uncle…you embarrass me,” Ekluvya blushed, “and how can I ignore all that needs to be done? The injured still need to be helped. The dead need cremation. I dare not ignore basic humanity.”

“…!” The two parents felt mesmerized by this young lad’s nature. He had such a nice heart!

And so Ekluvya got busy along with the rest of the tribe while Hirandhanu and Lokesh discussed the merge proposal with the Kali tribe.