"Dad, what's this?" the child pointed at the side of a lotus petal and asked.
Kush frowned and studied a series of letters carved into the face of the stone.
Little bastard, having fun staying in my palace? Fool, did you really think I ran away because I was afraid I would lose?
He he he…I always knew you were a mudbrain. Didn't I once tell you?
No matter how numerous grass is…it is extremely easy to cut up.
Come my rival. I will be waiting for you in the southwest, beyond the tall ridges shaped like a half-moon, where ocean dances with the shore. We shall have our confrontation there.
Your friend
Cactus.
"This bastard! I am really going to kill him! Aaarrghhh!"
It took yet another year before the place mentioned by the Martanda was located and the armies were able to march over there. It wasn't that the place was too far. Just that the mainland soldiers were unable to bear the heat of the desert. This far away from the empire, supplies were scarce and they also had to keep guarding their back against Pranaya which wanted to take advantage of the fact that the empire's armies are unable to survive in the desert.
However, despite all the obstacles, the emperor trudged on. He didn't even let his son, the first prince and his successor return. 'When father was your age, he too had to trudge on this desert and even fight the barbarians. Believe me, you're having it quite easy.'
One fine day, when the dawns first rays fell on the mountainside that was shaped like a half moon, rows of soldiers were illuminated, dotting the tall ridges for as far as the eye can see.
A lone man dressed in white-gold armor stood at the foremost point on a vertical cliff. His straight hair danced in the wild wind from the ocean, his lustrous eyes narrowed ever so dangerously as he looked for the enemy.
'We finally found where the two countries disappeared to.'
In front of Kush was a strange landscape. Right below the half moon, ocean lapped against the jagged rocks on two sides. Only a strip of narrow land could be seen at the center appearing like a bottle neck connected the mainland to a gigantic gourd shaped country with plenty of mountains and lush forests. Emperor Chandra Kush could hardly believe it was a place connected to very same desert he had travelled through. The climate changed the closer he got to the ocean, there was more greenery, palm trees dotted the desert roads for as far as the eye could see. But still, this was too much of a change. The emerald drop in front looked like god's own country that evoked so many passions within him. The blue ocean surrounding it was enthralling in its rhythmic beat of waves, the bright laughter with which it reflected the sun rays would make all the world's gloom disappear.
The distant mountains on the gourd shaped land took on a sensual blue hue, as though the sky was having a secret affair with land right under the sea's nose. The gentle yellow rays of the sun looked like they were excited to reach this place, they rushed forward turning the dim sky of the dawn into a splendorous morning.
Perhaps it was because Kush had never seen the ocean himself, but more likely because it was his nature to covet Vajra's things, he began to salivate early morning.
"What do the scout's reports say?"
A general promptly replied, "Supreme Emperor, the scouts were unable to find any other connected path to the land in front. As you can see, it was too risky to infiltrate directly. We could only use the boats we built in order to survey the coastline. But even that was highly dangerous. If it wasn't thanks to the ancient records, we wouldn't even know this land was gourd shaped."
"Hmm…"
Kush saw the ancient records fetched by the Chandra faction. Back then, they mixed with The Voyagers who had connections to the barbarian lands. They spread the belief in Rudra by using that channel. It was a sporadic project that took place over nearly seventy years.
"So you found nothing," Kush said.
"Not exactly. After difficult surveying, scouts were able to notice some flags flying at high elevations. Indeed it was as we suspected. The two nations of Abhaya and Rtadhara have migrated to this place that is almost an island. One can only assume that Abhaya was here first to lay the foundations and all the clans of Rtadhara migrated later on in phases so that no one suspects anything."
Kush thought about it and shook his head. "When we conquered the kingdoms of the Southern Valley, we found certain items in their treasury that were believed to be Abhaya's. The Southern Valleys are surrounded my mountains. The main mountain range actually extends as far north as the drylands. There was a theory back then that the Abhaya people arrived south by choosing to travel the difficult mountain paths that no other people in the world can follow. Yet, even after we took the Southern Valley, there was no sight of the Abhaya people. However, the treasures suggest the Southern kings certainly did shelter them. Only now am I reminded that there are some discoveries made when people crossed the tall mountain ranges to the west. There was an ocean there…The people of Abhaya arrived at the ocean west of Southern Valleys and must have crossed it…No one thought about it till now because the ocean routes have not been explored by those who live on land. The Voyagers are a mythical people that the Chandra faction found by happenstance."
Nevertheless, the general didn't understand why the emperor disagreed with him by shaking his head. "Yes, Supreme Emperor," he said dubiously.
"Now I understand why Cactus wanted the desert from me back then…Because he always suspected there's a sea connected to it! He had what…five, six years to explore before the allies took down Abhaya? Also, I heard that at one point, he gifted a peculiar tribe to Abhaya called the Saathis who are best at travelling, transporting and exploring. They were said to be the true descendants of Mitra. Wasn't this all so that the Abhaya people will find an escape route in a time of emergency? Even after Abhaya warded off the allied invasion by the four major kingdoms back when it sheltered me, it wasn't completely out of the woods…Considering how it was Vajra's nature to prepare, he must've planned it a long time ago for Abhaya to migrate when the time comes."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Kush shook his head again and sighed. "In the end, Abhaya still had it better than Rtadhara. Abhaya could escape through the mountains and the sea, but Rtadhara could only take the desert route. With the resources of all of Dhatri, we still took a year to reach this place. How difficult would it have been for an isolated country to secretly shift all its citizens through these inhospitable places? I have heard reports of blight, of drought, of plague and several other calamities that weakened Rtadhara over the years. Evidently, it was all a smokescreen to secretly migrate the tribes that live there. They couldn't leave any traces either, for that would allow Pranaya to find out exactly what they've been up to. They couldn't take just one route through the desert either, so every time they would have to set up new supply routes and it must all be done in secrecy. I guess whenever the secrets were compromised, people had to be sacrificed. Whole tribes would've died stranded in the desert where there was nothing."
The general who listened to the emperor's dark monologue couldn't imagine what was going through his mind. "It is indeed not easy to migrate the whole country, Your Majesty. Especially these dryland people who have long since become settlers, their nomadic nature has weakened unlike our own mainland people. They must've suffered."
"Isn't it all because of me?" Kush said, his eyes suddenly becoming hot for no reason.