Stone Warrior
(Part 12)

(Please see my post of 22^th Dec for 11^th part of the story)

Roock, who had cleverly not joined the battle, had been intently watching the battlefield, hidden in a grove of huge trees. Outcome of the battle left him devastated.

Roock could clearly see that every Brasian soldier was terrified of Zoran. “He is such a fierce fighter that these soldiers will fear him even in their dreams. They will never dare to fight him again,” Roock muttered in dismay.

The battle was over in less than two hours. Not a single Brasian soldier could be seen in the battlefield. Most of them had died. Those who were alive had run away.

Many Talavian soldiers had also died. Those who were alive were standing near Zoran, shouting slogans of victory.

“Send a messenger to the King. We need reinforcement. I don’t think Brasian army will dare to attack again, but we must be prepared for every eventuality. And inform the King that Zoran too is dying,” Zoran said to a junior officer.

The officer was shocked, “Why do say that, Sir. The doctor is here and your wounds will soon heal.”

“Don’t waste time; I want to pay my regards to the King before I die. And I may die soon. Let the doctor do his job, but go quickly and inform the King.’ Zoran winced in pain.

A messenger left for the palace. When the King learnt of the grievous wounds suffered by Zoran he became sad. He did not want to lose a warrior like Zoran. He quickly summoned the royal doctor.

“Doctor, you are coming with me and we are leaving now. You have to use all your skill and expeience and save Zoran. We can’t lose him. He must be saved. He is a great warrior. He does not deserve to die,” King said to the doctor.

“If he is critically wounded then we must immediately attend to his wounds. Let us start now,” doctor was ready with his bag of medicines and instruments.

The King and his party left on the fastest horses available in the royal stable. But when they reached Eastern Post they were welcomed by sad news. Zoran was already died.

King was shocked.

“Where have you kept his body?” asked the King.

An officer led the King to the place where the body had been placed. King was surprised to see that every part of the body had received deep wounds.

“How bravely he must have fought? We salute the bravest warrior of our kingdom,” said the King and he saluted in the presence of everyone.

One officer said to the King, “My Lord, before his death Zoran had said that the news of his death should be kept secret. Even his parents should be told that he was alive. He had fought so furiously that the enemy soldiers would fear him even in their dreams. If they come to know that Zoran has died they will forget their defeat and start rejoicing. But if they think that he is alive then this defeat will haunt them for years. They will never dare to attack Talavia.”

“But some day they will come to know that Zoran is not alive?”

 “My Lord, Zoran suggested that we should make his statue and install it near the post. This way we can fool the enemy; they will think that Zoran is alive and is guarding the post.”

While the King was talking to his officers the royal doctor had been carefully examining the body of Zoran. He had also heard what the officer had told the King.

“My Lord, let us honour the last wish of this great warrior,” said the royal doctor. “And if you permit I will take Zoran to my hospital.”

King asked in dismay, “You mean you will take his body to the hospital?”

The doctor just nodded.  King agreed but reluctantly.

After coming back to the palace the King asked the royal sculptor to make a statue. It was to be a majestic statue.

King said to the sculptor, “It should be your finest creation; the statue should look exactly like Zoran; in fact everyone looking at statue should feel that he is looking at Zoran and not at a statue.”

The sculptor did not disappoint the King. He worked continuously for thirty days and then invited the King to his workshop. The King was amazed to see the statue. It was a beautiful creation. The King felt that he was looking at Zoran and not at his statue.

                                                                                  (To be continued)

                                                                                         © i b arora
           You can read next part of the story here

Stone Warrior
(Part 11)

(Please see my post of 20^th Dec for 10^th part of the story)

The Captain was fooled by this brave talk of Roock and he decided to attack Eastern Post. It was decided that the attack will begin one hour before sunrise.

Early next morning Brasian soldiers attacked Eastern Post. Talavian soldiers were taken by surprise. Many of them were dejected and demoralised because of the events of last evening. Zoran and Traytur had fought a duel. Both were seriously wounded. Traytur was running high fever. Doctor had administered him strong drugs. He was unconscious under the influence of the drugs.

Zoran was also seriously wounded. He was not unconscious but he could not take part in the battle. A young officer said to him, “Sir, you don’t have to come with us. We are good enough for these coward Brasians. The battle would be over sooner than they think. This time we will not spare them and we will kill all of them. We will show no mercy this time.”

Battle began. It was a fierce battle. Zoran was not with Talavian army. Roock shouted towards the Captain, “You see, Zoran could not come to the battlefield. He is as good as dead. Let us fight like brave heroes of the past and win this battle.”

Brasians were well trained and well equipped soldiers. When they did not see Zoran in the battlefield their confidence rose. They fought bravely. Slowly but surely they started gaining ground. Talavian suffered heavy losses and started retreating.   

When Zoran learnt that his soldiers were on the verge of a defeat his anger rose like hot lava in a volcano. He quickly got ready to join the battle. He ignored the doctor who was saying that it would not be good for him to leave his bed.

“You have lost a lot of blood in that foolish duel that you fought yesterday. If you get wounded in today’s battle you will surely die. We all need you. Even if we lose this post it would not matter. We can always win the post back. But if die in the battle it will be a great loss.”

“No, as long as I am alive we will not surrender the post. You are making too much of my wounds. I had suffered worse wounds in the last battle and still I survived. You don’t worry; nothing will happen to me.”

Thus saying he brushed aside the doctor and left for the battlefield. And what he saw there made him angry; rather very angry.

His soldiers appeared tired and dispirited. They had not yet left the battlefield. But Zoran could sense that any moment his soldiers would be running away from the battle. He felt he was staring at an impending defeat.

Zoran was a warrior who would not accept defeat, not as long as he was alive. He forgot his wounds, he forgot his weakness and he entered the battle like a wounded lion. He moved like a raging storm. One moment he was here, another moment he was there; one moment he was fighting with a sword, another moment he was fighting with a spear; one moment he was thundering like an angry cloud, another moment he was exhorting his dispirited soldiers to fight like tigers.

But brave Brasisans were not to be cowed down. They kept suffering wounds and death but they kept fighting heroically. Talavians were outnumbered. They had underestimated the courage and desire of Brasians to win. They began to retreat.

One by one Talavian soldiers got wounded and killed. Some of them ran away from battlefield. Only Zoran remained on the battlefield fighting the enemy. The numerous wounds suffered by him did not slow him down. He kept fighting. He was unstoppable. No Brasian could match his strength, ferocity and bravery.

Brasians soldiers fought bravely but eventually lost heart. Many of them got killed; many got seriously wounded; many ran away from battle. It was an unbelievable situation, for they had almost won the battle. But Zoran had almost singlehandedly fought the Brasian soldiers and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

                                                                               (To be continued)

                                                                                       © i b arora
                 You can read next part of the story here

Stone Warrior
(Part 8)

(Please see my post of 15^th Dec for 7^thpart of the story)

Zoran was taken aback but he had no option but to accept the challenge. In those days and in that country no brave man could refuse to accept a challenge to fight a duel. A man who refused to fight a duel had to bow to the man who had given the challenge. He had to remove his headgear and had to lay his sword on the feet of challenger. For every brave it was dishonourable to refuse to fight a duel.  

Zoran reluctantly accepted the challenge. It was decided that they would fight a duel next day, one hour before the sunset.

Next morning, when he was no longer under the influence of alcohol, Traytur felt that he had made a mistake by challenging Zoran. Not that he was scared of fighting Zoran; he thought that it was foolish to fight because Zoran was a decent person who always respected him. And he was worried that the King would be displeased if he killed Zoran in the duel.

He was angry with himself; he thought he had acted rashly and foolishly. He came to Moon’s Inn for a drink. There he met Roock and said, “I have done a foolish thing; I have challenged Zoran to fight a duel.”

He did not recall that it was in fact Roock who had cleverly incited him to challenge Zoran. He believed that Roock was a friend.

“My firend, I had cautioned you last evening. You had taken a drink too many. But now is not the time to regret. You can’t back out from duel without losing your honour; and what is a brave man without his honour,” Roock kept on inciting him.

“Yes, I know have to fight the duel for I cannot lose my honour.”

“I think I can suggest a middle way. You fight the duel for you can’t run away from it. But you don’t have to kill Zoran. Just inflict few serious wounds on him. That would be enough to prove that you are stronger than him,’ Roock said cleverly.

“But he will not give up easily. He will keep fighting till he has beaten me.  I fearthat none of us will accept defeat. This duel will end only after one of us is dead,” Traytur said. He was appearing sad and remorseful.

“If you wish I can help you. I have a magic dagger. If someone is inflicted a wound with that dagger that person will lose his strength. He will become weak. He will not be able to move any part of his body.  If you want I can give you that dagger. If you stab Zoran with that dagger he will not be able to continue the fight. He will lose the duel and you will be the winner.” 

“But that will not be a fair fight?”

“You were also not fairly treated by the king. You have to just prove to the king that you are stronger than Zoran. You can do that without killing him or getting killed.”

Traytur got influenced by this smooth talk of his friend. He agreed to said he would use the magic dagger but Roock was not to mention this to anyone.

“How can I mention this to anyone? Besides the dagger will lose its power if anyone comes to know about it. And mind you this dagger can be used only once. After that it will lose its power; therefore, use it with caution. When you are confident that you will be able to inflict a wound, use it and stab him. One stab and you will win the duel.”

                                                                         (To be continued)

                                                                                © i b arora
           You can read next part of the story here

Stone Warrior
(Part 4)

(Please see my post of 15th Nov for third part of the story)

Roock had read his mind. He knew that his time had come.

“Talavian army is nothing but an evil force; don’t you think so? And Zoran is the most evil soldier I have ever seen,” Roock said mildly.

“Would the king let me help our army?” asked Arwiz.

“No, never; he is great king and he will not even hear such a proposal,” Roock said.

“Then you must find out who is helping Talavians. I will reason with that magician; I will persuade him not to help Talavians,” Arwiz suggested.

“I can do that if I can go to Talavia. But I am afraid that if I enter Talavia, I may lose my vision permanently. Something worse could also happen. Zoran is an evil man; he will do anything to protect the wizard who is helping him,” Roock said and looked gloomy. But after a few moments he smiled as if a bright idea had struck him.

“But there is way out of this impasse. You give me some magical power to kill Zoran. We will not tell anyone about this. I will, with king’s permission, challenge Zoran. I will fight a duel with him. If he fights me like a true soldier I will not use the magical power. But if he uses any magical powers to defeat me or kill me, I will then use your powers and kill him,”Roock said.

“Even if you are able to kill Zoran you will still have to defeat his army. And you won’t be able to defeat them if the magician continues to help them. We will have to deal with this evil magician,” Arwiz said.

Roock became nervous; he knew there was no magician helping Talavians. He had just cooked a story to deceive Arwiz and get some magical powers from him. He only wanted to kill Zoran and show to the world and to his king that he was a great warrior. He knew he could not kill Zoran without magical powers.

“You don’t understand; once Zoran is dead the magician will not help Talavians. That magician is Zoran’s friend and he is helping Talavians only because of his friendship with Zoran. He will not help Talavian soldiers or Talavian King if Zoran dies.”

Arwiz was a simple person. He got influenced by this smooth and deceptive talk of Roock.

“I will give you dagger. It is the dagger of Tones. He was great wizard who lived two thousand years ago. If you stab Zoran with that dagger he will turn into a stone. You can stab him on any part of the body but his blood must fall on the earth. Even a drop of his blood falling on the earth would be enough to turn him into a stone,” said Arwiz.

Arwiz opened a safe and took a beautiful dagger gave. He gave the dagger to Roock. Roock’s joy knew no bound. He thanked Arwiz and left his palace.

“Remember, you can use it against Zoran only. It will lose its magical power if you use it against any other person,” Arwiz warned Roock and wished him victory in his duel against Zoran.

(To be continued)

 © i b arora

You can read next part of the story here

Stone Warrior
(Part 3)

(please see post of 7th Nov for second part of the story)

Zoran had now acquired a formidable reputation. Even in far off countries people knew of a fearsome warrior who was invincible; who fought like ZZaraan the legendary warrior of times gone by; who could not be defeated even by hundred soldiers.

The king of Brasia was wild with anger. He could not believe that his army had been twice beaten by Talavian soldiers. He was angry because the attack had been planned for months. Still his soldiers could not even capture one post. They had all been badly beaten. When he saw his soldiers he was shocked; they did not look like soldiers, they looked like dirty street urchins.

The king of Brasia was thirsting for revenge. He wanted to teach Talavian army a bitter lesson. But he knew that as long as Zoran was guarding Talavia his army would never succeed. Zoran had to be killed before his army attacked Talavia again.

There was an ambitious soldier in Brasian army. His name was Roock. He was not a brave soldier; he was not even well-trained. He had fought Talavian army; but every time he was sent to the battle he had managed to cleverly run away from the battle field; every time he escaped being killed or wounded.

Roock was a wicked and a dishonest person. He wanted to rise in the esteem of the king but did not want to work hard. He did not want to face any danger; he did not want risk his life in the battle field. He wanted rise in the Army by deceit.

He had befriended a wizard, Arwiz, who lived in an old palace in a dense forest. Arwiz, the wizard, knew every type of magic and sorcery. But he was a kind man and did not hurt even a fly. He spent all his time in his forest palace, experimenting with magic wands and magic potions and concoctions and with fiery dragons and what not. He had some faithful and loyal assistants who stayed with him in his palace.

Roock was son of one of these assistants of Arwiz who had, unfortunately, died young. Arwiz had looked after Roock after the death of his father.  But he was not happy with boy’s unruly behaviour and bad manners. He advised and admonished Roock many a time but the boy was not willing to change himself. One day Roock asked him to leave his palace and join the army. He thought that military training and discipline will do him some good.

Roock joined the army. He remained in touch with the wizard. In time, he learnt to pretend that he had become a brave and disciplined soldier. Arwiz was pleased with this change. They became good friends, even though Arwiz was much older than Roock.

Roock visited the wizard in his forest palace. He pretended that he was badly wounded and some rest to recover from his wounds.

“What happened?” asked the worried Arwiz.

“Did you not hear? Our army fought a battle with Talavian army. It was a fierce battle. We had almost beaten the enemy who were trying to capture our country. But then they played a dirty trick. They took help of a vile magician. We fought like true and brave soldiers but enemy fought us with magic and sorcery. All of us lost our vision in the battlefield; we became blind temporarily; we did not know what was happening to us. And soon we were badly beaten. I too was badly wounded. But I refused to give in and kept on fighting till my friends dragged me away from the battle field,” Roock lied smoothly.

“That’s very unbecoming of Talavians. They should have gallantly fought like soldiers. But I hear they have a brave and a great warrior in their army. I think his name is Zoran. Was he there in the battle?” Arwiz asked.

“Yes, and he was leading the enemy. It was he who took help of the magician. No doubt, he is big and stong, but he is not a brave soldier. Now that they have an evil wizard to help them we can never beat them. They can attack us any time they want. They can capture our country whenever they want. It is so disgusting for us, any day our women and children will become slaves of Talavia,” Roock spoke as per a plan.

He wanted to take help of Arwiz. But he knew that old man would not help him to fight an army of brave and chivalrous soldiers. He was too decent to help him in the treachery he was planning. He had planned to deceive Arwiz and take his help in killing Zoran.

Arwiz was fooled by false story that Roock had told him. He thought that Roock was speaking the truth and that made him angry. He was angry for he believed that magic and sorcery should never be used against soldiers in a battle field. Magic could be used only to fight and crush evil forces.

(to be continued)

© i b arora

You can read next part of the story here