BATTLE OF MATHURA: PART I

BATTLE OF MATHURA
PART I

A day may come when the courage of men fails…
but it is not THIS day.
Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

KRISHNA’s breath snagged as he was escorted out of the sinking Keep. A coughing fit clutched his throat, as sudden as a punch in the gut. He doubled up, his chest buzzing with each choking gasp. He felt a hand on his shoulder, a voice asking urgently: ‘Sir, your orders?’ Krishna stared back dumbly at the man who spoke, then up the bailey towards the Wall. A sea of scarlet flooded in through what seemed to be a hole in the Curfew.

Greeks in dozens. Hundreds. Arrows flitted from the Curfew down into them. Bodies fell on each other. But they kept coming. The Red Cloaks were everywhere now, slamming at shield-walls, charging at the soldiers, and hacking down any wounded that limped away from them. Krishna’s body shivered, he could not think. Ugrasen was dead. He had seen him die. No, he could not mope over that now. He needed silence to think, but his ears were full of the mad din.

Get out of Mathura! a voice within him roared. Too late to run now. He’d had his chance, and now the Greeks were everywhere. ‘Not without Satyabhama,’ he whispered.

The man who had asked him for orders must have heard him, for he answered that she was already out of the building and had engaged the Greeks. Krishna looked at the man again and realised he was one of the soldiers Balram had assigned to him. ‘Your orders, Sir?’ the man asked again, his squad behind him waiting earnestly for Krishna’s instructions, as if he had all the answers.

Krishna shook off the shock. ‘Ask Balram to reserve the best of our soldiers, and send them only when Kalyavan enters. The Archon is too naive to leave the fighting to his men. Kill the head, the body will die. The rest of you follow me. We will join up with the War Mistress’ forces. Do you know where she is?’

The soldier nodded and pointed. All Krishna could see was a Wolf standard in the distance. That was good enough. His squad formed a protective circle around him, and one of them handed him a shield and a helm.

As he donned the helm, Krishna saw that despite his low opinion of the City Guard, it had rallied swiftly, and now marched with pointed lances to the hole in the Iron Curfew, turning it into a barbed jaw. Not that it would matter. Mathura was lost. It would not be long before the Greeks overwhelmed the meagre Mathuran forces, or found the tunnels. It would be a massacre then. Good thing the rest of his family had followed orders and had been among the first to head into the tunnel. All he needed now was enough time to fetch Satya and escape. Provided I manage to survive that long.