Melcorka saw Kosala slide under the terrible swing of a tentacle to scoop up Kulothunga's bottle. He lifted it and threw, just as another tentacle grabbed at his arm, knocking the flask upwards, rather than toward Melcorka.
'Bradan! The flask!' Melcorka yelled.
The bottle rose high, spiralling in the air. The rakshasa reached for it with half a dozen tentacles.
'You cannot win, Melcorka. We will fight until I have removed every trace of you from the land. I am of the spirit, but you are corporeal. You cannot kill me.'
Bradan lifted his staff and batted the flask toward Melcorka, who leapt up and grabbed it.
'Do you know what this is?' Melcorka opened the flask and poured the contents onto the blade of Defender. 'It is Holy water from the Ganges. Kulothunga always carries it with him when he goes on campaign.' Melcorka rubbed the water along the full length of Defender's blade. 'It is now on my sword, which is already blessed by the goodness of my own people. You may be of the spirit, but now you face the spiritual good of two ancient cultures, one from the East and one from the West.'
The roar of the fighting intensified. An arrow flew over the most eastward of the mirrors, to skiff along the ground without doing any harm. Another followed and then came a crash as a tall man shoved over the mirrors on the westernmost side of the square. The genuine Kulothunga strode in, with a far-too-tight chain mail coat over his chest and a borrowed sword in his hand. He glanced at the body that looked like him, shrugged and strode on.
Behind Kulothunga, the final rays of the sun streaked along the narrow corridor of buildings, over the mirror he had dislodged, to reflect in the mirrors on the opposite side of the square. Melcorka smiled as the final piece of her mother's jigsaw clicked into place.
'I have steel from the west bathed in water from the Ganges in the north,' she said, 'to fight the evil from the south while the sun is setting in the east.' Melcorka pointed to the mirror that reflected the golden-red sun. 'There is my eastern sunset!'
That's my girl! Bearnas voice was proud in Melcorka's head. Now, fight and win!
You can't kill us, the other voice said.
Melcorka's first swing sliced off two of the rakshasa's tentacles. She laughed, dodged the vicious beak and thrust the point of Defender into the creature's eye. This time, the sword penetrated with ease, as far as the angled quillons of the guard. The voice intruding inside Melcorka's head screamed, as much in disbelief as in pain, until Melcorka twisted Defender left and right, ripped her sideways and dragged it free. She spared a moment to watch the rakshasa crumple to the ground.
The other three rakshasas leapt on her, flailing with their tentacles and thrusting with their beaks. Melcorka had expected nothing else and used Defender with her favourite figure-of-eight movement that was nearly impossible to penetrate. Slices of rakshasa body and legs flew through the air.
'Kosala and Kulothunga,' Melcorka yelled. 'Chop off the tentacles! I will take the eyes!'
One thrust, two thrusts and the nearest rakshasa recoiled. Melcorka finished it off as it writhed on the ground and killed the next with a single swing that sliced through its head. The remaining rakshasa charged at her, squealing inside her head.
'I am Melcorka of Alba,' Melcorka said, thrusting Defender into its eyes. She stood back, panting, as it collapsed.
It's finished. Oh, dear God, it's finished.
Kulothunga grinned at her over the hilt of his sword. 'Melcorka!' He was still unshaven and dirty but carried his borrowed sword as adroitly as ever. 'You've killed all of them. I wanted one for myself.'
'You helped.' Melcorka indicated the flask of Ganges water. 'Without your knowledge, without your foresight, the rakshasas would have won, and if you had not kicked over that mirror, the sun would never have set in the east.'
Rajaraja joined them, sheathing his sword. He looked at the dead creatures on the ground. 'Is that them all?'
'I believe so.' Melcorka began to clean Defender. 'Kulothunga's sacred water and my blessed sword have killed them all.'
'The remainder of the conquest should be easy then,' Rajaraja said. 'My son Rajendra has sent a messenger to tell me he has already captured Rajgana.'
'There will be no need for any conquest.' Melcorka inspected the blade of Defender. 'It was a false Bhim and Dhraji that led the Thiruzhas astray. The genuine Rani and Raja are in the dungeons. When you free them, there will be no cause for war.'
Rajaraja looked around the wreckage of Kollchi. 'That is good news.'
Melcorka slid Defender into her scabbard. 'It is finished,' she said. 'Peace may now come to this land.'
Chapter Twenty-Two
They stood on the deck of Catriona with the tide about to turn and all the colour and noise of the sub-continent behind them.
'You don't have to leave,' Jasweer said. 'We always have room for a skilled mariner in the fleet, while Kulothunga needs a rival to keep his ego in check.'
'Melcorka shook her head. 'Thank you for the offer, Jasweer. It is most kind of you, but the world is calling.'
'Where are you headed?'
'Wherever the sea takes us, or to whichever land that calls.' Bradan gave a final check to the stays that held the mast secure. 'I am a wanderer. It seems that I cannot stay long in one place.'
Jasweer nodded. 'You have restless blood in you both. One day, you will find your place.'
'Maybe…' Melcorka looked to the far horizon. 'Wherever we go, we will always carry a little piece of this land with us.'
'Chola is like that,' Jasweer agreed. 'You may be back.'
'We may well be back.' Bradan sniffed at the wind.
Kulothunga waded into the water, preened his moustache and held out a hand. 'You are a fine warrior, Melcorka. You are
