‘Because she is not a Vasudev,’ spat out the partner. ‘She doesn’t know how to fight.’

‘My Lords,’ said the mahout to the riders, ‘our orders are to follow the General’s orders.’

The Vasudev turned in irritation to the mahout. ‘Did I ask you for your opinion? Your order is to only follow my orders!’

The mahout immediately fell silent as the distant shout of the brigadier’s herald came through. ‘Shields!’

Another volley of arrows. Again, no casualties.

‘Enough of this nonsense!’ barked one of the elephant-riders. ‘We’re Kshatriyas! We’re not supposed to cower like cowardly Brahmins! We’re supposed to fight!’

Sati saw a few elephants on the far right of her formation, the ones that were the closest to the Meluhan brigade, begin to rumble out.

‘Hold the line!’ shouted Sati. ‘Nobody will break formation!’

The messengers carried forward the orders to the other end of the field immediately. The elephants were pulled back into formation by their mahouts.

‘Nandi,’ said Sati, looking down. ‘Ride out to that end and tell those idiots to remain in formation!’

‘Yes, My Lady,’ said Nandi, saluting.

‘Wait!’ said Sati, as she saw the Meluhan archers loading another set of arrows. ‘Wait out this volley and then go.’

The order of ‘shields!’ was relayed again and the arrows clanged harmlessly against the raised barriers. None of Sati’s soldiers were injured.

As Sati put her shield down and looked up, she was horrified. Twenty elephants on the right had charged out recklessly.

‘The fools!’ yelled Sati, as she jumped onto her horse from the platform.

She galloped forward to cover the breach opened up by the recklessly charging elephants, closely followed by Veerbhadra and Nandi. While passing by the cavalry line, she ordered the reserve cavalry to follow her. Within a few minutes, Sati had stationed herself in the position left open by the Vasudev elephants that had charged out of formation.

‘Stay here!’ Sati ordered the soldiers behind her as she raised her hand.

She could see her elephants sprinting forward in the distance, goaded on by their mahouts, bellowing loudly. The Meluhan archers stood their ground bravely and shot another round.

The order resonated through Sati’s army. ‘Shields!’

The Vasudev elephant-riders screamed loudly as they crashed into the archers. ‘Jai Shri Ram!’

The elephants swung their powerful trunks, tied to which were strong metallic balls. Meluhan soldiers were flung far and wide with the powerful swings. The few who remained were crushed under giant feet. Within just a few moments of this butchery, the archers began retreating.

Though it appeared as if the twenty Vasudev elephants were smashing the Meluhan archers to bits, Sati shuddered with foreboding as she felt a chill run down her spine. She screamed loudly, even though she knew that the elephant-riders couldn’t hear her.

‘Come back, you fools!’