‘Well, he was always exhorting me to be careful with the core material and not waste even small portions of it. I remember once when we had accidentally spoilt a minuscule amount of it. He was livid and had angrily rebuked us that this was all the daivi astra core material that he possessed; that we should be more careful.’

Shiva took a deep breath before turning to Gopal. ‘He has no more daivi astras.’

‘It appears so,’ answered Gopal.

‘And the Vayuputras are not with him.’

‘That would be a fair assumption to make.’

‘Shiva,’ said Brahaspati, ‘there’s more.’

Shiva raised a brow and turned towards Panini.

‘My Lord,’ said Panini, ‘I also believe that the secret Somras factory is in Devagiri.’

‘How can you be sure?’ asked Shiva.

‘I’m sure you’re aware that the Somras needs the Sanjeevani tree in large quantities. I was brought to Devagiri on a regular basis but only in the night, to check the quality of the Sanjeevani logs coming into the city.’

‘I don’t understand. Isn’t it a part of your normal duties to check the consignment before it is sent off to the Somras factory?’

‘That’s true. But I had a friend in the customs department with whom I checked whether the Sanjeevani logs ever left the city. He was unaware of any such movement. If such huge quantities of the Sanjeevani logs are being brought into Devagiri and not being taken out, then the most logical assumption is that this is the city where the Somras is being manufactured.’

Shiva’s expression reflected his gratitude towards the Brahmin. ‘Panini, thank you. You have no idea how useful your information is.’

‘Magadh has fallen?’ asked Parvateshwar.

Parvateshwar was in the office of the Meluhan Prime Minister Kanakhala. She had finally received a bird courier from Ayodhya after many months.

‘There’s more,’ said Kanakhala. ‘The entire army of Magadh has been routed. Prince Surapadman is dead. King Mahendra has gone into deep mourning. The Brangas are now in control of Magadh.’

Parvateshwar pressed the bridge of his nose as he absorbed the implications. ‘If they control Magadh, they control the chokepoint on the Ganga. They would only have to keep a few thousand soldiers within the fort of Magadh to be able to attack any Ayodhyan ship that attempts to sail past.’

‘Exactly! That means Ayodhya cannot come to our aid quickly enough. They will have to march through forests to their west and then move towards us.’

‘If Magadh has been conquered, it means the Lord Neelkanth can leave a small force in that city, sail up the Ganga with the rest of his forces and march into Meluha from Swadweep. We can expect an attack within as little as the next three or four months. We should ask our Ayodhyan allies to leave for Meluha at once. I will speak to Lord Bhrigu.’