“Those—those are the heads of Indrapuran!” Anathapindika shouted in disbelief—her voice trembled.
The catapult attack was occurring non-stop. Severed heads of men, women, even children were raining down the city.
“I will kill every one of those damned savages!” declared Bayutala with a booming voice. He then ran toward the source of the attack—west side of the city—followed by his men. Several of Narendra’s men, provoked too, without his consent, joined the attack.
On the spur of the moment, Senopati Narendra could see some of Srivijayan men were horror-struck—their faces turned a shade paler. The Maharatu’s words came back to him: the Mongols reign through fear. And fear indeed, they were trying to instill in the heart of Srivijayan army that day. He was fully aware, at that moment, that any strategy they had planned to face the enemy was already failed before it even began—the ranks have broken, the besieger had become the besieged.
Narendra then realized why the city was empty. Did they just cut every single head out of the people they met? If so, a single ear of a Mongol has cost thousands of heads of Srivijayan.
“What should we do, Senopati?” one hulubalang asked Narendra.
“We need to stay calm. The projectile cannot hurt us, we are safe here. We don’t know the exact location of the enemy yet, so don’t make any rash move. Tell the others to not to be provoked,” he commanded.
Then he realized he could not find Anathapindika. Before he could worry much about the lady Senopati, the palace was set ablaze.