His superior strength and weight told and Melcorka staggered, to find Kulothunga's blade at her throat.
'You're dead,' Kulothunga said. 'Don't look so depressed, Melcorka, I am the best there has ever been.'
'Does the Chola Empire give praise for modesty?' Melcorka was annoyed at the ease with which Kulothunga had bested her.
'If it did, I would win that, too.' Kulothunga threw Melcorka's sword back to her. 'Defend yourself!'
'No!' Melcorka said. 'You defend yourself!' She attacked with speed, feinted to Kulothunga's right, ducked low and slashed at his legs. Kulothunga gasped, jumped to avoid Melcorka's blade, landed to her left and landed a stinging whack across her backside with the flat of his sword. 'There! You nearly got me, woman!'
'Oh!' Melcorka rubbed at herself. 'You pig! Defend yourself!' She attacked again, feinted left, then right and thrust left, nearly catching Kulothunga, but once again the warrior dodged her sword, and again his blade thwacked her.
'Oh!' Melcorka yelped. 'That's enough of that, Kulothunga.'
'Would you prefer that I used the edge of the blade?' Kulothunga asked. He looked around. 'I think that is sufficient for just now. The sun has risen, and people are beginning to gather. 'You have some skill. I have more. We will leave it at that. Besides,' he smiled, 'you may need to nurse your bruises.'
'You are a pig, Kulothunga,' Melcorka said. Despite this man's posturing, she liked him. She met his smile, as he replaced the borrowed sword with his own.
'You will be glad that we are on the same side,' Kulothunga said. 'That way, you will not have to face me in battle. I am the greatest warrior there has ever been.'
'Yes,' Melcorka said. 'I am glad that I won't have to face you in battle.' But not for the reason you believe. I would not like to kill a man that I am beginning to like.
Bradan was standing under the trees. He was leaning on a staff, his face impassive and his eyes thoughtful.
Kulothunga claims to be the greatest warrior there has ever been. Dhraji is scared of one man, said to be the greatest warrior there had ever been. Is this the warrior who is destined to kill her?
Bradan was also aware that Kosala was standing at the gate, watching everything that was happening, with his gaze fixed on Melcorka.
I thought you were back in Ceylon, Kosala. What are you doing here?
Chapter Seventeen
Rajaraja held his council of war in the public Durbar room, with his son Rajendra, half a dozen commanders and three admirals present. Torches sent out flickering light and cast shadows over the faces of the gathered men who studied the map of the Chola Empire that was spread over the low, carved table.
'What we did wrong last time,' Rajaraja said, 'was to divide our forces too quickly. We struck too far apart. If we had attacked both places at the same time, we might have been more successful. Nobody, not even a rakshasa, can be in two places at once.'
The generals and admirals nodded. Melcorka thought they looked a professional bunch; warriors experienced in the art of war, men who knew that one setback did not mean the end of a campaign.
'What do you suggest, your Majesty?' one grizzled admiral asked. A white scar ran down his face, removing his left eye, a souvenir of some half-forgotten campaign when the Chola Empire was expanding at the expense of its neighbours.
'I suggest we plan our campaign to strike at Kollchi and Rajgana Fort the same day, so this Dhraji creature cannot face both our forces. Man for man, we are better than they are. There is no doubt about that. We have the skill, the numbers and the knowledge.'
'Skill, knowledge and manpower might not be sufficient. We don't have supernatural powers,' a younger man said, rubbing a hand over his chin. 'We are not immortal, while this thing they call Dhraji is.'
The silence lasted a good minute as the men looked at each other. Fighting against warriors was one thing; combating an immortal rakshasa was something else.
Melcorka looked from man to man. 'May I say something here?'
'Who are you?' The assembly of warriors and admirals stared at her as if they had not previously noticed the strange foreign female in their midst.
'I am Melcorka of Alba. You do not know me, and there is no reason that you should,' Melcorka said. 'This man,' she indicated Bradan 'is Bradan the Wanderer. We both have knowledge and experience that you may find useful.'
'I invited these people to this council-of-war,' Rajaraja said. 'Listen to what they have to say.'
At Rajaraja's words, the assembly settled back and the hostility eased, although Melcorka still felt tension and scepticism.
'If I may speak?' Bradan stood up and salaamed. 'Melcorka was a prisoner of Dhraji. She also fought her before, when Dhraji had assumed her rakshasa form, so she knows what we are facing. I was immured within Dhraji's palace for some weeks, and I witnessed the Chola naval assault on Kollchi harbour and Kalipuram Island. Both Melcorka and I were present at the Empire's abortive assault on Rajgana Fort.'
A general with long, curling moustaches spoke directly to Rajaraja. 'They could be spies.' He shot the Albans a suspicious look. 'If they were as close to the rakshasa as they claim, they could be here to gather information about us.'
'They are not,' Rajaraja said. 'I invited them.' The word of the King of Kings was sufficient to quash any but the most suspicious of doubters.
'In Alba and elsewhere,' Melcorka said, 'I have been reckoned as something of a warrior, a swordswoman. If Rajaraja permits me to regain my sword, I will walk in the forefront of the battle and face Dhraji's forces. No spy would do such a thing.'
'If you are with us,' Rajaraja said, 'you will certainly fight the enemy.'
'Dhraji and Bhim defeated us by sea and land on our last attack,' the one-eyed admiral reminded the assembly. 'Any information about the reasons will be helpful.'
'Let the strangers talk,' Rajaraja said.
Bradan
