Immortals of Meluha

ripped off his cravat and threw it away. He didn’t need it anymore.
‘I am the Neelkanth!’
All the soldiers looked up at the destroyer of evil mesmerised. They were overjoyed to see
him truly accept his destiny. The villagers who did not know of the Neelkanth’s arrival were
stunned at seeing the legend come alive right before their eyes.
‘I am going to fight these terrorists,’ roared Shiva. ‘I am going to show them that we are not
scared anymore. I am going to make them feel the pain we feel. I am going to let them know
that Meluha is not going to roll over and let them do what they want.’
Pure energy coursed through the huddled mass that stood in front of Shiva, straightening
their spines and inspiring their souls.
‘Who’s coming with me?’
‘I am,’ bellowed Parvateshwar, feeling the suffocating restraints imposed on him fall away
by Shiva’s pronouncement.
‘I am,’ echoed Sati, Nandi, Veerbhadra and Vraka.
‘I am,’ echoed every single soul standing there.
Suddenly the scared villagers and soldiers were turned into a righteous army. The soldiers
drew their swords. The villagers grabbed whatever weapons they could from the travelling
armoury.
‘To Koonj,’ yelled Shiva, mounting a horse and galloping ahead.
Parvateshwar and Sati quickly unharnessed the horses from the cart and raced behind
Shiva. The Suryavanshis charged behind them, letting out a cry louder than any Naga conch
shell. As they stormed into Koonj, the horror of what had transpired hit them. The
Chandravanshis had ignored the rest of the village and concentrated on the area that would
distress the Meluhans most - their venerated temple. Decapitated bodies of the Brahmins lay
around the shrine. They had been clumped together and executed. The temple itself was
ruthlessly destroyed and aflame. The sight of the gruesome attack enraged the Suryavanshis
even more. They charged like crazed bulls. The Chandravanshis had no chance. They were
completely outnumbered and overwhelmed. They lost ground quickly. Some of the
Chandravanshis were beginning to retreat when the five Nagas rallied them back. They fought
on against the crushing odds, clashing against the righteous Suryavanshis with unexpected
courage.
Parvateshwar fought like a man possessed. Shiva, who had never seen the General battle,
was awed by his skill and valour. Like Shiva, Parvateshwar knew that the key to victory were
the Nagas. As long as they were alive, the Suryavanshis would feel terrified and the
Chandravanshis would draw inspiration from them. He attacked one of them with frenzied
aggression.
The Naga skilfully parried Parvateshwar ’s attack with his shield. Bringing his sword down, he
tried to strike Parvateshwar ’s exposed shoulder. What he didn’t know was that Parvateshwar
had deliberately left his flank exposed. Swinging to the side to avoid the blow, Parvateshwar let
his shield clap to his back as he swiftly drew a knife held in a clip behind. He hurled it at the
Naga’s exposed right shoulder. His cry let Parvateshwar know that the knife had penetrated
deep.
The Naga roared in fury. But to Parvateshwar ’s surprised admiration, he swung his sword
arm, with the knife buried in his shoulder, back into the batde. Parvateshwar brought his shield
back up and blocked the slightly weaker strike from the Naga. He brought his sword up in a