Rudra attacked, and she watched as he punched Tantra over the stain of blood on his chest. Tantra let out an agonizing cry, and that brought her relief.
The evil man was in no position to fight, so he kept moving away from Rudra. The storm had settled down, and she could see deviousness in Tantra’s eyes. “I could have ended you, just like I made your parents vanish too if you hadn’t hidden like a coward.”
Rudra moved toward the evil man as he struggled to walk but did not attack him. Nandini could not bear to hear another word from the man’s mouth and wanted to call out to Rudra, but in a flash, Tantra pulled a spear out of the sand and charged into Rudra.
He reached the onslaught, but it was too close. She watched in horror as the sharp weapon pierced into Rudra’s arm, making him growl. The pit of her stomach seared, and she let out a cry of agony. “No.”
Rudra’s steps faltered as he pulled out the weapon, blood trickling along his arm before kicking Tantra away from him. The evil man did not budge like he was made out of stone.
Angry, helpless tears filled Nandini’s eyes.
Each punch to Rudra made her heart ache in pain.
Oh God. Please help Rudra. Don’t let evil win.
Even as she prayed frantically, she felt a warm embrace. She turned to see her brother Shivay standing next to her. Her other two brothers, Rishab and Nakul, also joined, standing behind her protectively.
The low buzz of murmurs made her aware that people from the clans were gathering around the fight. There were hundreds of people from various Singoor clans. She was shocked that they received information on Rudra and Tantra’s fight.
“Bhai…” she sobbed, hugging her brother Shivay.
Her brother squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.
“Rudra will destroy Tantra,” Shivay said with certainty.
But Nandini wasn’t sure how that was possible.
Rudra and Tantra continued their hand combat. The crowd began chanting something.
She wasn’t well versed in all the languages from Singoor, but she could understand they were saying something along the lines of ‘good over evil,’ and they were there to support the good. Rudra was fighting not just to retain his position as the Kabali clan head but also to fight for the soul of Singoor.
Suddenly, a calmness fell over her.
I know Rudra will win.
Rudra returned from London to fulfill his father’s wishes of taking care of his people and restoring peace to the region.
Rudra was a warrior who fought through many wars.
This fight has to be settled by a Kabali alone for the redemption of the entire clan, as a Kabali heir was the one who took Goddess Shakti away from Singoor.
The crowd closed in around the fighters, the chants getting louder. The combat continued vehemently, with Tantra's power hunger oozing while Rudra fought for his clan’s redemption.
Rudra and Tantra were covered in blood, but neither of them stopped to catch a breath.
The fight continued as the chanting got louder, and at one point, Nandini noticed the shift in the strength dynamic. Tantra was no longer on the offensive like he was earlier; he was not attacking or swiping his sword as much as he had.
Soon, Rudra took Tantra's sword from him and cut off Tantra’s arm. There was a metallic attachment, which explained why Tantra had unnatural strength.
“This is for stealing the Goddess Shakti statue,” Rudra growled.
The crowd cheered.
“They are no longer in holy land,” her Shivay said.
Nandini’s heart raced, knowing that Rudra must have deliberately maneuvered Tantra out of the holy land.
The crowd gathering, chanting, and walking in circles around the fighters was to move them away from the holy lands without Tantra realizing he was not safe.