The thirisdai lurched to the side as water poured in from the massive damage the rakshasa had caused.
'Abandon ship!' the shipmaster shouted. 'May Shiva protect you all!'
Barely glancing at the rakshasa, the crew reacted at once, slipping or jumping into the sea from the rapidly tilting ship.
'It seems that we will both die here,' Melcorka said. 'Come, creature.' Slicing off another of the tentacles, Melcorka again thrust at the rakshasa's eye. Once again, Defender bounced off. The rakshasa lunged with its beak. 'My arms will grow back, Melcorka.'
'Not yet, they won't!' Melcorka said, just as the ship gave a final lurch, tilted heavily forward and sank. Melcorka fell backwards into the water, narrowly avoiding the rakshasa's final swing with its remaining tentacles. When a current dragged them apart, Melcorka found herself swimming in tepid water among the wreckage of battle and the circling fins of sharks.
Failed again! That's twice I've fought that thing, and twice I've failed to kill it.
Treading water, Melcorka searched for the rakshasa. She only slid Defender into her scabbard when she thought it safe. The battle continued to rage all around as Chola and Thiruzha ships clashed, recoiled and manoeuvred across the sea.
'Mel!'
Bradan leaned over the side of a small boat. 'Out you come! I tried to come to help you.' He hauled her into the boat. 'You were too fast.'
'I was fighting that rakshasa for hours,' Melcorka pointed out.
Bradan shook his head. 'No you weren't, Mel. It was barely two minutes.'
'Two minutes? It seemed like ages!' Melcorka dried Defender on Bradan's jacket. 'I couldn't kill it, Bradan. Not even Defender could kill it.'
'You chopped off its legs, though.' Bradan pointed to the tentacles that still writhed on the surface of the water.
'It will grow new ones. I could not kill it.'
'You'll find a way,' Bradan said. 'We'll find a way.'
'Did you see Kulothunga? Did you see what happened to him?'
Bradan shook his head. 'I was watching you, not him.'
'He was fighting the other rakshasa,' Melcorka said. 'They fell into the sea together.'
'He's gone then,' Bradan said. 'I never liked him, but he was a brave man.'
'He was the best warrior I've ever met.' Melcorka looked at the sea with its litter of battle-wreckage. 'God only knows how we can kill these rakshasas.'
'We'll find a way if we can work out the Siddhar's riddle.' Bradan repeated it again. 'Use the steel from the west bathed in the water from the north to defeat the evil from the south when the sun sets in the east.'
Melcorka shook her head. 'I have no idea what that means. Why are these very clever people always so obscure with their sayings?'
'Perhaps they are so clever that they don't know they're obscure.'
With both rakshasas back under the water, Rajaraja regrouped the Chola fleet. He ordered the larger ships to resume their positions and divided the loolas, with some searching the battle site and the remainder returning to their primary tasks of scouting around the fleet.
'Forget the rakshasas.' Rajaraja sounded grim. 'We have the Thiruzha to defeat. Make sure we pick up all our survivors. I'll not leave any of my people for the sharks.'
The fleet sailed on, grimmer now with the loss of a battleship, grieving over the death of Kulothunga. As seamen buried their comrades at sea, marines sharpened their swords and counted their arrows. Melcorka perched on the ship's rail and began to clean Defender.
I'm not dead. Melcorka, we have a bond. I'm not dead.
The deep-voiced words resounded in her head. Melcorka looked up. 'Kulothunga? Was that you?' She scanned the sea; wreckage and the occasional dead body, a twirl of blood around a floating arm, the fin of a shark. 'Look! Over there! What's that in the water? It's Kulothunga! Is he alive?'
'Steer for that man,' Rajaraja ordered.
Kulothunga lay on his back amidst a welter of nautical litter, with his leg bleeding, a fresh scar across his chest and his sword still firm in his hand. Willing hands dragged him onto the flagship as morale soared.
'Kulothunga's alive! The Rakshasa could not kill him!' The news spread round the fleet to loud cheers.
'He's unconscious, though!' Bradan pumped the seawater from his lungs while Melcorka tended to his wounds.
'He has two deep cuts and a few bruises and scratches,' Melcorka said. 'But he's alive.'
'I defeated the rakshasa,' Kulothunga said, as soon as he stopped spewing seawater. 'After I cut off all its arms and legs, it could not swim.' He grinned to them. 'It sunk to the bottom of the sea.' Being Kulothunga, he preened his moustache. 'Am I not the best? I am Kulothunga, the best warrior there has ever been.'
'You fought well.' Melcorka kept her voice solemn. 'It is a pity you ended up floating in the sea so that a foreign woman and a man with a stick had to save you.'
'I killed the rakshasa.' Kulothunga lifted his sword. 'Nobody else can say the same.'
Melcorka nodded. 'I hope you are right, Kulothunga. I only hope that you are right.' She did not doubt Kulothunga's words; she only doubted that the rakshasa would stay dead after he had killed it.
* * *
Thiruzha lay ahead, with the walls of Kollchi waiting behind the island fort of Kalipuram. The defenders were ready, with the sun flashing on helmets through the ominous smoke that clouded the island. 'Now we will see how the Chola can fight,' Melcorka said.
'Bradan.' Rajaraja beckoned Bradan closer. 'Remind me about the defences of this island of Kalipuram.'
Bradan explained about the catapults, the boom and the bolt-firing machine.
'It is a formidable fortress then,' Rajaraja said.
'It is. You lost about a third of your fleet at Kalipuram,' Bradan said. 'By the time the remnants eased past, they were low in spirits and bereft of ideas, I think.'
Rajaraja grunted. 'You confirm what I thought,' he said. 'We will not make the same mistakes again. I will not lead my ships through a narrow channel under fire from hundreds of thousand archers and fire-throwing catapults. We will take Kalipuram Island before we enter the harbour.'
'That would be best.' Bradan noticed Kulothunga watching from amidships. He wondered what that warrior was thinking. 'I am sure Your Majesty remembers that I was only an observer. Any military man knows more than I do.' Bradan saw Kulothunga grunt in disgust, shake his head and walk away.
I never liked that champion, anyway. Bradan joined Melcorka in their cabin.
'Did Rajaraja tell you his plans?' Ever since the curse had been lifted, Melcorka had eaten sufficient for two. Now, she munched on a banana as she lounged on her bunk.
'No.' Bradan slumped to the deck. 'He listened to all I said and told me nothing. Kings don't often share their plans with me.'
'Nor with me.' Finishing her banana, Melcorka started on a handful of nuts. She looked up as the cabin door opened.
Kulothunga stood in the doorway with his sword at his side. Silhouetted against the dying sun, he looked even taller, with the breadth of his chest emphasised. 'It will be a busy day tomorrow, Melcorka. You will need some company.'
'I have Bradan,' Melcorka said.
'You need a man, a warrior, not a man who walks with a stick.' Kulothunga pushed into the cabin. 'You, Bradan, get out.'
'I am going nowhere,' Bradan said.
'Go, or I will throw you out. If you were not Melcorka's friend, I would kill you where you stand.'
'If you put one finger on Bradan, you will no longer be my friend.' Still gripping a handful of nuts, Melcorka stood up from the bunk.
'I thought you were a warrior. We fought side by side together. We have a special bond, you and I.' Kulothunga put a hand on his sword. 'A warrior needs another warrior, not a weakling who avoids battle.' He glanced at Bradan again. 'I could kill him before you drew blade.'
'Your weapon is too long to use in this confined space,' Melcorka said. 'I think you have made a mistake, Kulothunga. For the sake of our friendship, it will b
e better if you leave.'
Kulothunga stepped inside the cabin. 'I will take you willingly or by force, Melcorka, and I will send out your half-man, or he can stay and watch.' His lips twisted into a smile. 'You know I can best you at archery, wrestling or in swordplay, Melcorka, so why fight it?'
Melcorka swallowed her nuts before she spoke. 'You are a personable and handsome man, Kulothunga. You can get any woman you wish, and they would come willingly. Why do you want me when I already have a man?'
'You are different,' Kulothunga said. 'You are worth fighting for.'
'Goodbye, Kulothunga,' Melcorka said. 'Find another woman.' It was only when she pushed Kulothunga outside that she noticed Bradan had her dirk in his hand. 'You are not a fighting man, Bradan.'
'No,' Bradan agreed, 'but I am still a man.'
'There was never any doubt about that.' Melcorka perused him for a long moment. 'You are more man than any other I have ever met.' Before Bradan could reply, she changed the subject. 'I've never known Kulothunga act like that before. He was always arrogant, but never aggressive. Killing the rakshasa has altered him, somehow.'
'Maybe he's excited at the prospect of tomorrow's battle,' Bradan said.
'It could be that,' Melcorka agreed. She did not share her doubts.
The night before a battle was always tense. The ships' crews checked their weapons, or grabbed what sleep they could. Some sang, or had a last meal. Some prayed to Shiva, Ganesha or Krishna. A few secretly wept, wishing they were safely at home. Others boasted of the deeds they had done in the past and the heroics they would perform in the future. Melcorka slept most of the night, woke up to feast on fruit, fish and nuts and slept again. She woke before dawn and reached for Defender, with her movements awakening Bradan.
'Another battle today,' Bradan said.
Melcorka looked up. 'Another battle,' she agreed.
'What then, Mel? What will we do after that?'
'We will finish this war and move on,' Melcorka said. She looked away. 'Sometimes I think I have had sufficient wandering, Bradan. I want to settle somewhere.'
'I thought you did,' Bradan said. 'Can you defeat these rakshasas?'
Melcorka gave Bradan space to think. 'I don't know, Bradan. I can injure them, I can lop off their tentacles but I cannot kill them. Even Defender did not make any impression on their eyes. Kulothunga says he killed his rakshasa, so perhaps it can be done.'
'Perhaps,' Bradan said. 'You sliced bits off yours.'
'It still lived, and it told me it could grow more arms.' Testing Defender's blade, Melcorka began to sharpen it. 'The marines tried fire, and the archers must have hit it a hundred times, and it did not flinch. I don't know what else we can do. That riddle of the Siddhars means nothing to me.'
'You could ask Kulothunga,' Bradan suggested. 'He may know some new tricks.'
'Maybe so.' Melcorka added candle wax to Defender's scabbard so the sword would slide free more easily from her scabbard. 'Do you remember that woman back in the islands?'
'Hadali. She said she saw a tall man standing over you and one day you would meet a warrior whose sword is superior to yours.'
'That's right,' Melcorka said. 'What if the rakshasa is that warrior? Oh, I know these things don't have swords, but even so, I can't continue to be victorious forever.'
'You have Defender,' Bradan said.
'I know I have.' Melcorka tested her draw, added more wax and hung the sword on the bulkhead.
'Defender is a magic sword.' Bradan tried to cheer her up.
'It won't be the only blessed sword in the world,' Melcorka said. 'Someday, I will meet somebody who has a sword with equal powers and then it will depend only on my skills.' She faced Bradan, her face troubled. 'Bradan, I don't have many skills of my own.'
'Your skills are growing with every fight,' Bradan tried to reassure her. 'You are constantly learning new techniques.'
'When I did not have Defender, Kulothunga defeated me with ease.'
'Kulothunga is a superb warrior. He would defeat anybody with ease,' Bradan said. 'This attitude is not like you, Mel. What's wrong?'
Melcorka forced a smile. 'I'm probably only weary, Bradan. I don't think I have fully recovered from that curse, or my time in the dungeon while you were romping with that rakshasa-woman.'
'Romping is one word for it,' Bradan said. 'Surviving is another.'
'Tell me.' Melcorka crawled toward him with a new light in her eyes. 'What was she like?'
Bradan met her smile with one of his own. 'There are some things a gentleman does not discuss.'
'I might have to make you discuss them.' Melcorka crept closer. 'Kulothunga taught me all about pressure points.' She smiled. 'I also have other methods of persuasion.'
Bradan laughed. 'I know some of your pressure points too, Mel.' He rolled toward her. 'Here, let me demonstrate…'
* * *
Rajaraja stared at the island. 'Well, Bradan, there it is.'
Kalipuram looked no different from Bradan's previous visit, long and lethal, with the fort taking up most of the space. Smoke drifted across the battlements, while the masts of a few ships hugged the rocky coastline.
'I'm going closer,' Rajaraja decided. 'Bradan, come with me. You'd better bring your bodyguard as well.' He raised his voice. 'Signal for Jasweer. She and her sharks are the best in the business for this sort of thing.'
The instant Jasweer brought her loola alongside, Rajaraja stepped on board with his giant bodyguard at his side, followed by Melcorka and Bradan. As soon as their feet touched the deck, Jasweer had the oarsmen take them toward Kalipuram.
'They'll send out their scouts to warn us off,' Jasweer said, 'or maybe lob a few rocks at us.'
'If they knew I was on board, they would send out half their battle fleet,' Rajaraja said.
'Oh, that's no problem.' Jasweer was quite confident speaking to her raja. 'We can outsail and outmanoeuvre anything the Thiruzhas have, and with that ugly foreign woman on board,' she jerked a thumb at Melcorka, 'we can probably outfight them, too. She's nearly as good as Kulothunga.'
'She's better.' Bradan ignored the frosty looks.
Jasweer approached Kalipuram at speed, as she did everything. 'You stay near the stern, Rajaraja. If the Thiruzhas start to fire at us, keep your head down; I don't want to be known as the captain who lost her raja.' She yelled a mouthful of orders that saw the loola veer from left to right. 'And keep out from under my feet, Your Majesty, if you please.'
'I won't get in your way,' Rajaraja promised. Bradan noticed the smile that twitched the corners of his mouth.
Two Thiruzha scout boats sped from the lee of the island, both wearing a giant flag.
'Here they come,' Bradan said.
'Archers! Port bow!' Jasweer shouted orders. 'Helmsman, on my mark, two points to starboard. Trim that foresail, you lubbers! It's flapping like your granny's sari on a windy day.'
The Thiruzha scouts closed rapidly, with their archers opening fire the moment they thought they were in range.
'Amateurs.' Jasweer shook her head as the Thiruzha arrows fell well short. 'Helmsman: now! Archers: fire at their quarterdeck!' The loola eased to starboard, giving the archers a clear view of the closest Thiruzha scout. They fired in a body, with a dozen arrows flying toward the Thiruzha boat. 'Marines, take your shields and cover the raja, but for Shiva's sake don't make it obvious!'
As the first Thiruzha ship veered sharply away, the second joined it, so both were side by side, observing rather than attacking.
'Lookout!' Jasweer shouted. 'Keep your eyes open! The Thiruzha might try to block us from returning. They're up to something.'
The first rock landed fifty yards from the loola, raising a large fountain of water but doing no damage.
'That's what they're up to.' Jasweer had not flinched.
'Take us closer to the fort,' Rajaraja ordered. 'I want to see this place for myself.'
Dodging the occasional rock and keeping a wary eye on the two scout ships, Jasweer steered
them to within two hundred yards of the island, where the sea shattered on ragged rocks. Thiruzha archers tried vainly to reach them with the lightest of their arrows.
'There, Your Majesty.' Bradan pointed to a cleft in the rocks. 'The Thiruzha have a chain boom beneath the water at that point. When the previous fleet sailed that way, the Thiruzha allowed some to pass and then hauled the chain up from the seabed to block the remainder.'
Rajaraja nodded. 'All right, Jasweer, I've seen enough. Take us back.'
Melcorka saw the movement on the battlements and looked up. She knew instinctively who the figure was, even at this distance, and nudged Bradan with her elbow. 'Can you see that woman?'
'That's Dhraji,' Bradan said at once. 'She's been watching us ever since we left the main fleet.'
'How could you see her all that time?'
'I couldn't.'
'So how?'
'I don't know how,' Bradan said. 'It feels like she is still inside my head, as if she is watching everything I do.'
Melcorka shivered. 'Maybe she is.' She looked back at the fort. Dhraji was still there, with her glare never straying from the loola. Melcorka wondered if Dhraji was the rakshasa she had fought two days before. Walking slowly to the mast, she climbed until she could balance on the yard and directly face Dhraji.
'Have a good look, Dhraji. Next time we meet, I will kill you.' Melcorka could feel the power of Dhraji's gaze like a physical force.
'Helmsman!' Jasweer yelled. 'Now!'
The loola eased round, followed by two catapult shots that soaked half the crew. The marines adjusted the shields that protected Rajaraja.
'It's all right, men, I've been wet before,' Rajaraja said. 'I'm not completely fragile.' He smiled. 'I've learned a lot this trip, thank you, Jasweer.'
The disturbance in the water erupted two hundred yards in front of them, raising a surge that crashed against the loola's hull.
'Hard a-starboard,' Jasweer ordered. 'Pull, lads! Pull!'
'I don't like the look of that.' Melcorka slid down the backstay to the deck. 'Or that!' She pointed to the tentacles that had just thrust out of the water, waving in the air as if seeking something to hold onto.
Melcorka Of Alba Page 25
