Storytelling Week 6: "Revenge of Arjuna"

As Ashwatthaman went through the night, his brother, Ali, followed closely behind him. Ali and Ashwatthaman were on a mission to get revenge for their evil leader Duryodhan. Ali watched his brother climb the fence of the rival village and repeated his every step. His job was to be a scribe and write down the events of the night and what would happen. As they creeped through the village they arrived at the first hut. Ali watched as Ashwatthaman sneakily climbed through the window and slain poor innocent children of the rival village. And one by one Ali would follow Ashwatthaman through the village and watch him repeat the same events at each hut. Ali would fiercely write down the names of all of the victims of Ashwatthaman's wrath and mark them off of his list. Ali began to count and at least twenty-five names had been crossed off the list and only five remained. Ali had noted that these five names were the most important for the vengeance of Ashwatthaman and Duryodhan.

Ashwatthaman and Ali

Stealthily creeping through the village Ashwatthaman and Ali found the final secret hut where the last five names on the list resided. Ali watched as Ashwatthaman confirmed that Draupadi and her five sons were inside. Ashwatthaman used his magic powers from the emerald of his forehead to take invincibility when approaching the hut. Ali reported that the guards protecting the hut were no match for the stealth of Ashwatthaman and were slain just like the rest. Finally it was time for Ashwatthaman to make his move to kill the five sons of Draupadi. Ali watched as he had done before, and saw his brother creep into the window. This time was different however. Ashwatthaman did not appear for a long time and Ali began to grow worried. He was in no shape to fight or be a warrior to save. Then Ali heard the door open from the hut in which Ashwatthaman had entered. Quickly it was shut but something was first thrown out and rolling towards the feet of Ali. As the object came into the light he saw that it was the head of his brother. Ali looked at what was left of his brother in fear. At first he felt the urge to go back to Duryodhan and notify him of what happened. He thought he possibly could get revenge for his brother. However he began to feel regret for the side he was on of this rivalry. In feeling of guilt after peering upon the list of names of the village that had been sacrificed, Ali then sacrificed his own life, departing the earth.

Author's Note: My story was inspired from The Night Raid from the Mahabharata. I also took inspiration from trying to add a sidekick to the story so that the reader could view the acts of Ashwatthaman in a different way. I also twisted the ending so that all the sons of the Pandavas did not get murdered. I did not reveal in my story directly who ended up killing Ashwatthaman, but the title of my story leads the reader to believe that Arjuna could be the possible hero of stopping Ashwatthaman's rage. I also changed the storyline to that Duryodhan did not get satisfaction before his death. Instead he will wonder what happened in the night raid as he perishes for the last moments of his life. Ali's death at the end is nothing related from the Mahabharata or this particular story. It was just my twist for the end of the story. In addition, I changed the setting in which the events took place. Not much detail was given about raid and I wanted to add that to my story. Opposing from the story of The Night Raid, Ashwatthaman's gem did not save him from perishing in my story. Thanks for reading.

Bibliography: The prose is from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913), and the verse is from Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas, by Romesh C. Dutt (1898).