CHAPTER 45: Sacrifice for Good

Aryaman could not gauge the reason behind this.

As he flew back to Pallava, he was shocked to see his father Rajaveera, fly right ahead of him.  Instantly he took the form of a crow and then that of an ant to follow his father enter Ravichandran’s chamber.  He was very disturbed when he overheard their conversation. 

It was distressing for Aryaman that despite making Ravichandran understand the harmful effects of war, he still possessed the desire to win Amlanagar by force.  He was now certain that there was some ulterior motive behind Ravichandran agreeing to all that he wanted until now. 

More disconcerting was that of his father whose character had not undergone an iota of change in all these months after his disappearance!  Some uneasy thoughts troubled his mind. 

Although his clan was known as Dhanavas and those from Prithviloka as human beings, where was the difference in their characters, he wondered?  Both of them possessed similar ill qualities of hatred and greed and thus appeared to be two sides of the same coin! 

As he was thinking in these terms, he met Aditi whose touching recollection of her past soothed his heart.  Soon he decided upon his next course of action.      

It was often in times of adversities that people learnt the most precious lessons in life.  With this view in aspect, Mrutyunjay decided to sacrifice his life to make his father realize the ineffectiveness of war.  He made up his mind to fight Chandrashekar and his army in a lone battle under the eyes of Ravichandran and his father. 

There was always a grudge in his heart that his father was unaware about his powers and fighting skills.

Thus, this war would also provide him with an opportunity to highlight his talent before his father, before he died.  He was certain that ultimately owing to frustration Chandrashekhar would release the deadly arrow of Sage Ananya, which, he felt, was sure to slay him in the battlefield.  He sensed that when his father would realize that Aryaman was none other than his own son, he would feel the pain of his death and curse this war for snatching away his child from him. He also felt confident that his sacrifice could also bring about a change of heart in King Ravichandran. 

Aryaman decided to write down everything for his father to read so that he understands the essence behind his actions. 

As he flew over, he happened to pass by the Amalanagar river.  A thought passed his mind of creating a smooth and easy route for the children so that they do not face any hardships to cross the river after his death. 

Thinking about the massive gate, he decided to take its custody in return for agreeing to fight on behalf of Ravichandran.  He was able to create the chain of arrows that did not separate from each other, irrespective of the force applied, owing to the boon of Sage Ananya.  He managed to separate a portion of the gate from the rest with the help of a divine arrow of Sage Ananya that could be summoned only once.

In the battlefield, when King Chandrashekhar was about to invoke the boon arrow of Sage Ananya, Mrutyunjay realized it.  He did not want to counter-attack the astra with his arrow for it belonged to the sage.   Yet he had to keep his enemy in check for otherwise he would proclaim victory!  Thus, he released an arrow, which wound up his opponent. 

Mrutyunjay had no qualms in revealing himself for he was anyway going to die.  When he revealed his true self, there was a red scroll tucked in his waistband.  It was here that he had written everything for his father and it even contained the mantra to later release King Chandrashekhar and the others whom he had tied with ropes! 

No one except Mrutyunjay was aware of this mantra!  He had raised his hands as the astra came towards him indicating that he was completely surrendering himself to it.