In the previous story I told you of the start of Ravana’s downfall: the meeting of Sita and Rama. This story follows the tail end of the glorious war to retrieve Sita from Ravana’s grasp. It was his kidnapping of the lovely Sita that drew Rama and his million animal army to the gates of Lanka, the city of demons. My mortal form of Devdas had passed on and I now marched with Rama in the form of an ape from the realm of Sugriva the Monkey King. I had been born and groomed for war. My arms were strong and I carried a great tree as a club.

When Sugriva called for an army to be raised to aid Rama, I stepped forward to provide my service. We marched, across cursed lands of Dandaka beset with demons, blasted, dead lands, until we came to the ocean. Once there, Nala, who could throw anything into a body of water and it would float, built a bridge. In five days he spanned the entire hundred leagues to the island of Lanka. We marched across that bridge and surrounded the city. I was near Rama and Lakshmana, close to the west gates. 

For two long days we battled the demons. We fought throughout the day and the night. I crushed many demons to death with my great tree trunk. Their swords bit my skin and I responded with hammer blows that drove them back. Into the third day the fighting continued. It was then that Indrajit, the demon son of Ravana, came forth from within the walls of Lanka to do battle with us.

Indrajit was a fierce warrior. He struck from hiding and felled many of my friends. He even wounded Lakshmana and Rama with horrid venom-coated arrows. This caused our mighty leaders to collapse as though dead. While I, and many of the other mighty apes and bears, were immediately stricken with despair, we managed to rally around their bodies. Indrajit dropped down from the clouds to finish his vile deed. The honor guard for Lakshmana and Rama stood before him. 

Indrajit cut down the ape to my right and the bear to my left. I brought my massive tree trunk down upon Indrajit’s head. He was stunned for just a moment as I drove him back, swinging the trunk like a giant club. Behind me a voice called out.

“Stand down, good Ape.” It was Lakshmana’s voice that spoke to me. “You’ve served us well in defending out fallen forms from this being. Allow me to face him in single combat. Indrajit, son of Ravana, I call you out!” 

I was elated to hear Lakshmana speaking to me. The venomous arrow hadn’t killed him and Rama. It had merely knocked them out. I backed away to let Lakshmana pass me, uttering a guttural grunt of approval. I took my place next to Rama to watch.

Lakshmana moved before the ranks of our remaining warriors and pointed at Indrajit. “Come forth, Indrajit! Hide not in your clouds where you can strike from safety!” 

“Oh, Lakshmana, I need not my clouds to slay you. I’ve the might of my father and the blessing of the great war god Shiva,” Indrajit said. His words came out in a low hiss, and crossed the battlefield so everyone could hear them. “Know this, million animal army, today Lakshmana dies. Tomorrow Rama dies. Flee now and you will be spared. Ravana is a forgiving lord.”

I didn’t need to look along our lines to tell that not a single bear or monkey or ape or even the tiny squirrels moved even an inch away. We had come to support our Lords and were not afraid of dying. 

Lakshmana drew an arrow from his quiver upon his back. “Now is not the time for idle threats, Indrajit. Rama is a kind man. Should Ravana return the wife he has stolen, Rama will, even now, forgive him and leave in peace. Should he not, the only result will be his death.”

“Speaking falsities doesn’t suit you, Lakshmana,” Indrajit said and drew another venom-coated arrow from his quiver. He nocked and fired it with such speed that only those with the sharpest of eyes would have seen him do it. 

Lakshmana possessed such eyes. He drew his arrow back and shot Indrajit’s arrow from the sky. Then, with a cheer from the rest of us, he drew five arrows quickly from his quiver and fired them in such a rapid succession that Indrajit was only able to knock one from the sky. The other four broad-tipped arrows struck Indrajit’s limbs and sent them falling to the sky.

Indrajit dropped to the ground and Lakshmana walked over to him. “You have fought well this day, Indrajit. Your father should be proud he has a son such as yourself. As you pass from this life, you shall have a place in heaven among the other brave fallen warriors. Go and be in peace.” 

Lakshmana struck Indrajit’s head from his shoulders with a long-bladed knife as he finished speaking. He then called out to the great demon warriors of Lanka, “Let the slaughter of today come to an end and funeral rites be commenced for both sides. I propose a truce until the rising sun of tomorrow!”

The demons - the mighty and meek alike - murmured quietly. At least until Ravana appeared upon the walls.

“I accept your truce, Lakshmana. You are honorable for giving time for the dead. My warriors! Come back to me and bring the body of my son!” Ravana shouted over the battlefield. 

The day’s battle came to an end and we sat drinking and congratulating Lakshmana on a job well done. The demons had suffered a terrible blow with the loss of Indrajit and we all knew that the end was to come soon.

Author’s Note: I originally intended this to be two battles. When my story hit close to 500 words and I hadn’t even really begun the fight between Indrajit and Lakshmana, I knew I would have to split it into two separate stories. In that fashion, I can see how my storybook is evolving as I write it. It’s funny how small things can change through the course of writing a work of fiction. You may start with an outline, but once you finish your story might not even resemble your original outline.

The biggest change from the original version, I think, is my point of view. While I could talk about that, I think I will only mention it in passing, as the point of view change is my frametale. The other major change I made was blending two different versions of the Ramayana together. I took the venom arrows from Narayan’s version and the bloody dismembering from Buck’s version. I also had the story end slightly different from both versions by adding the calling of a truce. I wanted this action to really mark the turn in the tide of the battle. Both sides have suffered losses, but the animals are celebrating the day and the dead while the demons are huddled in their city conducting funerary rites for the loss of a mighty warrior. I hope that came across, and set up for the end of hostilities in the next story.

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