The lead ship of the Magadhan navy passed the Bal-Atibal Kund. Kartik’s army had heard the low monotonous sounds of rowing and the drumbeats of the timekeepers long before they had sighted the Magadhan ships.

Kartik motioned for a signal to be relayed by hand over a line of men who had been positioned for this purpose, till the message reached the southern end of the camp, more than a kilometre away. A group of soldiers pulled a rope quietly, releasing a net that had been tightly cast over a flock of birds. The birds took off suddenly, startled by their unexpected freedom. Kartik detected some movement in the Magadhan ships. They had clearly heard the birds.

Kartik strained his eyes. The Magadhan soldiers had their eyes pinned towards the top of the main masts.

‘Shit!’ whispered Bhagirath, as he realised the implications.

A small wry smile of appreciation for a worthy enemy flickered on Kartik’s face. He turned to Divodas who stood right behind him. ‘Divodas, send messages to our tree-top soldiers that the Magadhans have lookouts stationed on their crow’s nests. Our soldiers should remain low to avoid detection.’

A crow’s nest is built on top of the main masthead of the ship, where sailors would be stationed as lookouts to survey far and wide so as to report to the captain below on deck. This was a common practice on sea-faring ships, but was rarely used in river ships. Surapadman was obviously a cautious man for he had built crow’s nests on his ships. Divodas left quietly to carry out Kartik’s orders.

‘The ships are pulling back their oars,’ said Bhagirath, pointing forward.

As they were sailing against the natural flow of the river current, the Magadhan ships slowed down quickly. The sails were re-adjusted to bring the ships to a halt. Their earlier speed was such though, that at least ten ships passed the area where Kartik stood before Surapadman’s fleet came to a standstill. The soldiers on the ships stared hard into the dense forests on the western banks.

‘Now we wait,’ said Kartik.

Bhagirath leaned over to Kartik. ‘Their scout is a short distance behind us, close to the water’s edge.’

Kartik stretched his arms in an exaggerated manner and then spoke to Divodas, loud enough for the Magadhan scout to hear. ‘Check if their ships have started moving up ahead.’

Divodas moved towards the river, making the scout fall back silently. He returned almost instantaneously. ‘Lord Kartik, their scout is swimming back to the ship.’

Kartik immediately rose and crept to the edge of the forest. He could see the Magadhan scout swimming noiselessly away.

‘I expect the attack soon,’ said Bhagirath. ‘We should fall back to our positions.’

‘Let’s wait a few moments,’ said Kartik. ‘I want to see which ship he boards. It’ll tell us where Surapadman is.’