Page 149 of Sumanika

He came near,“Agastya,” and murmured in my ear.“You have your thing pierced?"

My eyes widened. "How dare you change my clothes without my permission!"

He hid his smile.“I am just asking, man. Why? Is it good? Should I get it done, too? How did you get to know about it?”

He clearly made fun of me, and I gazed around, wondering who was hearing us.

No one.

"I mean, it's interesting. A small tribe inSindhiyadoes that. I have read about it in history books," I answered.

"Bhabhisa knows?"

I gritted my teeth, blazing."Unko muh fulane se fursat hogi, tab to janengi,""She will know only if she gets time from crying,"

Confused, he furrowed his brows, and I smacked his chest and asked,“I hope you didn’t change my clothes in front of the entire village.”

He smirked.“Um, not the village, just a few attendees who helped me change your clothes,” he said, and I shook my head in disbelief.

"I hate you, Eklavya. I hate you," I said, pressing my hand on my head; they had bandaged me.

"We should go now," I said.

"Yes, we should," the seriousness returned in his voice.

We both mounted our horses and rode to the highest point of the mountains on either side of the river.

Eklavya had already positioned the cannons on both sides—ten on each—hidden behind the bushes and trees, at twenty meters. All the placements also included the cannonballs.

The only thing we missed was the trail. We didn’t have time for the testing. But King Abhinandan explained to me how to use them effectively.

I looked at the soldier sitting there with the binoculars.

"What's the news?" I asked, raking it from his and putting it before my eyes.

"They are near,"

"Keep an eye on them," I returned it.

I sat on the stone with a bag in my hand, waiting for the boats to arrive. A wave of panic washed over the soldier as he gazed through the glasses.

“Did you find the king of the army?” I asked him, and he squinted his eyes.

“Yes,” he replied,“it seems like the army has a king,” though unsure.

Sailing the boat, I arrived at the cannon we had. Then, I took the gun from my bag and stood up.

"Light the fire," I ordered a small troop of soldiers with me. They lit the fire, took their arrows, and bowed out.

I bit my lips and fired a shot into the air, alerting the entire army of invaders.

Hundreds of boats were approaching. They drew their swords, and suddenly, the fireworks began.

A loud, earth-shattering sound erupted through the mountain ranges as we fired the first cannon, targeting the boat and killing around fifty soldiers at a time.

Eklavya handed the army from the other side of the mountains, and I watched the invaders jump into the water, trying to emerge from the river.

"Give me the bow," I asked the soldier. Tugging the arrow on the bow, I lit its oiled tip and pointed at the river’s shore, where the vast dried grass stood tall.

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