Village at the base of Nildiri Hills
In the eyes of these people, the few slender men in black and the guy with the covered face were too weak when standing in front of the brawny, muscular blacksmiths.
Emboldened by this thought, they cheered and egged the two brothers on.
Princess Anara frowned and cursed inwardly.
She didn't know the capabilities of the guy in front of her but her shadow guards were few of the best trained people especially sent by her maternal grandfather for her protection. They were always around her whenever she stepped out of the palace.
Her mother must have expected her action of running away and hence these guys managed to trail her till here.
But Princess Anara didn't want a big spectacle to happen here. It may attract the attention of the General's people and she wouldn't be able to hide her real identity then.
Dushyant raised an eyebrow at the insolence of the villagers around him. It seemed that he had been away for too long for such kind of behaviour to breed amongst the civilians here.
He had been assigned to the border post of Mandhaar and Adra for the last few months. Prior to that, he had taken his core team of soldiers to train in different terrains across the kingdom. He hadn't really stayed at the army post in almost two years now.
Even as of now, he was travelling incognito without any of his lieutenants trailing behind.
"It seems that you guys have forgotten the benevolence of General Chandraveer who allowed you to settle down in this place," Dushyant's words were brazenly provoking and taunting, targeting the people.
The two men along with the villagers flared up instantly.
The leader of the shadow guards looked at the stranger with a complicated gaze.
It seemed that the hidden strength of the man was not shallow. He indicated to his men that they should stay vigilant but not attack yet.
"Boy, even your Adam's apple hasn't sprouted out yet. Why are you in a hurry to die before you can enjoy the pleasure of being a man?" The man with the scar breathed down Dushyant's neck.
Dushyant stood at 6 feet but the man opposite him still had a few inches more than him both to his length and breadth.
Nonetheless, his stature didn't seem to intimidate the young man.
"Are you sure that you don't want to back down peacefully?" Dushyant cocked an eyebrow and asked him with a raised eyebrow.
By now, Princess Anara's attention was fixed on the guy who stood between her and the two bullies. Even though his face was well-hidden, she could guess his strength and ability by his posture.
Seemingly lazy on the first look, his limbs were in the position of ready to strike. It reminded her of a languid python which closed-in on its prey without the latter even being aware of it.
For some reason, her heart started to thump faster.
In response to Dushyant's provocation, the man raised his right hand in a fist towards the young man's face.
Crunch!
Suddenly, the man found that his fingers of the left hand were hanging loosely from the knuckles while his right fist was in the grip of the young guy. They were standing face-to-face and the man could see the ruthless light in the opponent's eyes.
The haziness of alcohol trickled out of his body along with the muted scream of pain from his mouth.
He never even saw the guy move. How did both his hands get attacked and blocked at the same time? What kind of a technique was this?
Dushyant twisted the man's fist, causing his wrist to dislocate. All of this happened within a blink of an eye, making the people around them look at the two strangely.
Arghhhh.
The man with the scar had turned pale. From the corner of his eye, Dushyant saw the other guy lunge at him. He pushed the injured guy away swiftly in the direction of his brother, causing the latter to stumble under the unexpected weight.
Dushyant walked upto the clumsily fallen men and put his foot on the chest of the other man.
He pulled out the sword which had been hidden under his black cloak. "You and your brother will leave the village in the next half hour and never appear within 50 miles of this area. If I see either of you again, I will personally carve out your tongues and feed them to the birds. Understood?"
"General Slayer! It's General Slayer… it's definitely him!" Someone suddenly shouted in the crowd.
A few older people in the crowd started murmuring as well.
'Slayer' was a nickname given to Dushyant after his first success in the military.
At the age of sixteen, he had led his first expedition against the foreign invaders. The attackers had tried to set their camps stealthily in the no-man's area before trying to advance into Mandhaar's territory, with the strategy of slowly coming up the mountains.
With a team of only a hundred young lads trained purely by him, the young captain at that time had led the charge and absolutely decimated the opponent using guerilla tactics.
Rumour was that he had a few poison masters and animal tamers in his troop who were extremely effective during covert operations like these. Moreover, he liked to make his own rules when he fought with the enemy.
The army formations and even the traps which he laid for the opposite side were unique and didn't follow the conventional war handbook.
He rose rapidly in ranks after that mission and so did the secrecy of his tasks. In the past couple of years, he hadn't been seen around the Nildiri hills due to the mysterious life that he led.
But the old man who shouted out his name just now had been one of the first settlers in this area and had seen this amazing lad grow up in front of his eyes. He was vaguely familiar with Dushyant's style of fighting since the old man's own son was part of his troop.
Moreover, Dushyant had helped make this village safe for the civilians from the nearby jungle, a few years ago.
Hence, the older settlers knew him well.