Stone Warrior
(Part 14)

                   (Please see my post of 26^th Dec for 13^th part of the story)

“It is Zoran himself; he is very much alive and guarding the post,” said one soldier.

“Don’t be a fool. It is a statue and not Zoran.  He is dead. And even if he was alive why would he stand guard there like a petty soldier. He is the Captain of the post,” Roock said to the soldier.

But Brasian soldiers did not believe him.

Roock said, “Let two of you come with me. We will go to there. You will see for yourself that it is just a marble statue.”

Two soldiers volunteered to come with Roock. They quietly crawled to the place where statue was installed. The soldiers touched the statue and smiled. One of them said, “Yes, you are right; it is only a marble statue. It is not Zoran. We are not afraid of anyone; we will attack the post right now and not wait till sunset. We will capture the post even if a hundred soldiers are guarding it.”

Roock and the fifty Brasians soldiers attacked the post. But the Talavian soldiers were not taken by surprise; they had been keeping a close watch on the Brasains.  Talavians were well prepared and every soldier fought bravely and furiously.

Suddenly a Brasian soldier saw Zoran in front of him. Instinctively he  looked towards the statue. But to his surprise the statue had vanished. Brasian was stunned. He thought that the statue had become alive. Brasian soldier screamed in terror.

Every Brasian looked towards the screaming soldier. Everyone saw Zoran standing in the battlefield, ready to fight. Everyone looked towards the statue. Everyone saw that the statue had vanished. Everyone thought that the statue had become alive. Everyone was stunned and terrified.  

Zoran attacked the Brasian soldiers furiously. Many of them got seriously wounded. They all ran away from the battlefield for they were all frightened of Zoran. They had never seen a warrior fight the way Zoran was fighting. They all ran for their lives.

When the defeated soldiers were leaving for Brasia, they looked towards Eastern Post. They were surprised to see that the statue of Zoran was majestically standing at its pedestal.

“After his death Zoran has turned into a stone warrior. He was standing like a statue on that pedestal but when we attacked the post he became alive and fought with us like a tiger.  By some magic Zoran has turned into a stone warrior. No army can now attack Talavia. Stone warrior is protecting Talavia,” lamented one of the wounded Brasian soldier.

Soon word spread through all neighbouring countries that Zoran had, by some magic, turned into an invincible stone warrior. Every soldier of every army was frightened of fighting stone warrior.

King of Brasia, however, did not believe this story. He shouted at the Brasian soldier who was narrating events of the battle.

“You think I am a fool. You lost the battle and now you are telling me this cock and bull story. A statue of marble can never turn into a man. Talavians played a trick on you and, like silly girls, you fell for the trick.”

But when every soldier told him the same story he became suspicious. He was also very angry with everyone at losing one more battle with Talavia. He decided to lead the army himself and attack Talavia once again.

After a few weeks, five hundred chosen Brasian soldiers led by their king marched towards Talavia. They were all well-trained and well-equipped soldiers. They laid their camp in a forest near Eastern Post. The king sent out his spies on a secret mission.

Next day the spies reported to the king that there were about fifty Talavian soldiers at the post. Zoran was not there. He was dead. His statue had been installed near the post.

“Excellency, we have personally checked the statue. It is marble statue. It is firmly fixed to the pedestal on which it is standing. It could not have changed into a man. It appears Talavians did trick our soldiers during last battle. Our soldiers fell for the trick and ran away from battlefield. We should not fear the Talavians; we can easily defeat them.”

King of Brasia decided to attack Eastern Post. He was confident of a quick victory because Talavians were outnumbered.

Battle started when Brasians attacked the post. Talavians were prepared for the attack. They were aware of the arrival of Brasians soldiers in the area. Though outnumbered they fought bravely and fearlessly.

On the King’s direction Brasian spies were keeping a watch on the statue of Zoran. They were to quickly report to the king if the statue changed into a man. Spies were alert and were watching the statue without blinking their eyes. As the battle progressed nothing happened; statue did not change into a man. 

                                                                                  (To be continued)

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

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 6)

(Please see my post of 9^th Dec for 5^th part of the story)

He knew that he will have to stab Zoran with the magic dagger by treachery. He would have to deceive Zoran. And he would have to inflict just one deep wound; deep enough that his blood should fall on earth. Zoran would change into stone when his blood would fall on earth.

“But how am I going to do this? How can I stab him without going close to him? I don’t want to get killed? He is so quick and clever? I won’t be able to even touch him. What can I do to deceive him?” he kept asking himself. But he could find no answer.

There was soldier in Talavian army who was strong and brave. His name was Traytur. He had fought many battles and won many honours. He had a desire to become Captain of Eastern Post. But the King ignored him and Zoran was made Captain of Eastern Post. Zoran was young and had fought only two battles. Traytur was not happy. In fact he was very angry. He thought that Zoran did not deserve this promotion. Zoran was too young and inexperienced to be a Captain. It was he who deserved to become Captain.

Traytur became jealous of Zoran. Later when he was sent to the Eastern Post to serve under Zoran, he felt hurt and humiliated. He felt that the King had insulted him by sending to the Eastern Post.

Not far from the Eastern Post there was an inn, called Moon’s Inn. Roock was staying there in the garb of a merchant. He had hired a few shepherds as look outs. These people were keeping a watch on Eastern Post, and particularly on Zoran. Two of these look outs were remarkable spies. They had collected a great deal of information about the soldiers in Eastern Post and their daily routine.

But all this information was of no use to Roock because he had not been able to devise any plan. This made him desperate. He decided to challenge Zoran. But his courage kept failing him.

Eastern Post of Talavia was well protected. Every soldier of that post was a brave warrior. All were loyal to Zoran and they remained on alert every hour of the day. There was no way he could go near the post without being detected. Every bit of information that his spies had brought to him had disheartened him.

He was realising the folly of his plan. He could not stab Zoran without getting close to him.

“If I can’t even go near the post, then how can I go near Zoran? My magic dagger is of no use to me. I think I will have to go back to Arwiz. I must request him for such magical power as would help me to kill Zoran without going near him.”

Roock was losing heart and he was now certain that he would fail in killing Zoran.

Lost in such thoughts he was one day whiling away his time sitting in the inn, drinking beer. He was sitting in one corner of the hall. There were a few travellers having their food and drinks. It was quite a busy inn.

Couple of Talavian soldiers were also present in the inn. They were all drinking beer. Talavian king had forbidden use of alcohol by the Talavian soldiers.  He believed that alcohol made the soldiers weak and slow. No Talavian soldier drank when he was on duty at his post. But there some soldiers who could not resist the temptation of drinking. These soldiers would sneak into some nearby inn or tavern and drink.

Soldiers who were drinking at Moon’s Inn were from the Eastern Post and one of them was Traytur. They were drinking and they were talking animatedly among themselves. It appeared that Traytur was a bit agitated and his friends were trying to pacify him.

Roock was sitting on nearby table. He overheard what these men were saying to one another. He could guess that these men were Talavian soldiers and that one of them was angry and unhappy. He could sense that unhappy soldier was jealous of Zoran.

Rock smiled and came to the table where Talavian soldiers were sitting. He introduced himself as a rich merchant who was on his way to Sxandavia on an important business trip.

“Would you mind if I share a drink with you all?” he asked politely.

Talavian soldiers were suspicious of him. But before they could say anything Roock offered them the most expensive drink available in the inn, “This the best that I can offer you at present. On my way back from Sxandavia I will offer you the best wine available on earth.”

Talavians could not resist the temptation of tasting an expensive drink. Soon they were all drinking and gossiping like old friends.

When they were busy talking, a beautiful multi-coloured bird came from somewhere and landed on the window of the inn. 

(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