“The wind is great. The Gods are on our side,” said one of Narendra’s deck crew confidently.
“Yes,” he replied, staring at the blue horizon. Then the Gods can’t wait to watch bloodshed, he thought grimly as Samudra Raksa swiftly sailed the open sea.
Three days had passed since they departed Palembang. One hundred and fifty sambau had been launched by Maharaja Sumatrabhumi—two dozen more joined when the armada passed Chaiya’s sea—to retake Champa and Khmer from the Mongols. The mission was to land as many men near Indrapura then marched west to liberate Khmer.
The whole fleet was at its finest condition, and so was Narendra’s. Despite the significant casualties in the Battle of Kediri, the morale of Narendra’s men was high. The Senopati himself had fully regained his health and felt as strong as a bull again.
But something had been bothering his mind since his arrival in Palembang. He had heard of some unusual affairs that were required of every Srivādist hulubalang: from praying in Candis to bathing in Musi riverbank. The whole ritual spent almost a week—and it was a direct order from the Maharaja.
Narendra had never been religious in his entire life. Grown as a fighter, he never found comfort in being spiritual. He believed that war was a practical thing: you win if you were stronger, or in some cases, cleverer. One could not get stronger or cleverer by worshipping statues, he often argued. But he never objected if his men were being pious, as long as they carry out their duties properly.
But of the recent rituals, he liked it not one bit. He got an impression that Sokei-An, the leader of the rituals, were trying to convince that through spiritual advancement, there would be some deities who backed the armies up, promising a certain triumph. He worried that overconfidence would cloud their men’s judgment in the battlefield.
On the sixth day, the fleet reached the coast of Champa. According to the plan, Narendra’s and Anathapindika’s host landed at south bank of Indrapura, while Bayutala and Vimala landed north. They would avoid open road to prevent encounter with Mongol riders—who gain advantage in open spaces—so they chose to march through the woods.
Apart from hysterical common folks who mistook the marching host as Mongol raid (but eventually calmed down after they saw the red Srivijayan banners), the journey to the outskirt of Indrapura was completed smoothly. The next strategy would be to unleash a small, vanguard team—comprised of a dozen men and led by Amar—to storm the city with the hope to lure the enemies out. But, unexpectedly, the vanguard returned with nothing more than a sheer confusion.
“It’s empty! Not a single soul we found there!” said Amar with disbelieving look.
Narendra and Anathapindika exchanged puzzled looks. The woman Senopati then said: “Not even dead bodies?”
Amar shook his head. “It was as if the residents were just… disappeared.”
“No sign of battles ensued?”
“None. I’ve never been to Indrapura before, but by the look of it, the city looks perfectly fine.”
“Did you check the palace?” asked Senopati Narendra.
“We have, but the gate was locked—so we didn’t come in there.”
“What should we do?” Anathapindika turned to Narendra for wisdom.
“Try again tomorrow morning, make sure to enter the palace,” said the old Senopati.
So, they stayed overnight on the forest. Some built makeshift tent, some chose to lay down on the ground with Malayadvipa’s night sky as their roof. Some stayed awake to keep watch at night, while some rested but could not sleep. Senopati Narendra was among the latter group.
Three hours before dawn, he rose from his resting place and went for a walk. He found most of his men were still wide awake. They waved at him casually as if he was just another comrade. Within Narendra’s host, the Senopati was never a feared leader—instead they treated each other as family.
“You should rest, Senopati Narendra,” someone’s voice suddenly heard.
Narendra turned and found Anathapindika behind him. He said with a smile: “For weeks I have lain on bed because of the poison, so I have enough rest already. What about you?”