He also knew that another contingent of the Neelkanth’s army, being led by Sati, had just sailed out of Mrittikavati. They would reach Devagiri in a week or two. Knowing full well that Ganesh would be delayed, Parvateshwar expected Sati’s army to reach Devagiri first. He also knew that this was a force of a hundred thousand soldiers against his own seventy-five thousand. Once Shiva and Ganesh’s army sailed in, the strength of the enemy would rise to two hundred and fifty thousand. Parvateshwar knew that his best chance was to attack Sati’s army before Shiva and Ganesh arrived.

The only problem was that he had no answer for the unstoppable Vasudev elephant corps under Sati’s command. Until now.

‘Chilli and dung?’ asked Parvateshwar. ‘It just seems so simple.’

‘Apparently, the elephants don’t like the smell of chilli, My Lord. It makes them run amuck. We should keep dung bricks mixed with chilli ready, burn them and catapult them towards the elephants. The acrid smoke will drive them crazy; and, hopefully, into their own army.’

‘There are no elephants to test this on, Vidyunmali. The only way to test this would be in battle. What if this doesn’t work?’

‘My apologies, General, but do we have any other options?’

‘No.’

‘Then what’s the harm in trying?’

Parvateshwar nodded and turned to stare at his soldiers practising in the distance. ‘How did you get this information?’

Vidyunmali was quiet.

Parvateshwar returned his gaze to Vidyunmali, his eyes boring into him. ‘Brigadier, I asked you a question.’

‘There are traitors in every army, My Lord.’

Parvateshwar was stunned. The famous Vasudev discipline was legendary. ‘You found a Vasudev traitor?!’

‘Like I said, there are traitors in every army. How do you think I escaped?’

Parvateshwar turned and looked once again at his soldiers. No harm in trying this tactic. It just might work.

Devagiri, the abode of the gods, had become the city of the thoroughly bewildered. Its two hundred thousand citizens could not recall a time in living memory when an enemy army had gathered the gumption to march up to their city. And yet, here they were, witness to unbelievable occurrences.

Just a few weeks earlier, they had seen a large fleet of warships race past their city, rowing furiously up the Saraswati. It was clear that these ships were a part of the Mrittikavati-based Meluhan fleet and that it was now in control of the enemy. Why those enemy ships simply sailed by without attacking Devagiri was a mystery.

News had also filtered in about a massive army garrisoning itself next to the Saraswati, about ten kilometres south of the city. The normally secure Devagiri citizens now confined themselves within the walls of the city, not venturing out unless absolutely necessary. Merchants had also halted all their trading activities and their merchant ships remained anchored at the port.