They could hardly tell this unknown boy that they were from the future! They themselves were finding it hard to believe.
Noor had a flash of inspiration. ‘We are from a land far, far…extremely far away…from the south, you know.’
Thankfully for them, Alexander started speaking again, and they all turned to look at the stage. Alexander was looking at Porus with admiration. ‘What spirit! Even injured and at a disadvantage like this, you demand honour!’ He held out his arms and said, ‘O King, come, let us be partners. We will conquer the world together.’
As they hugged, the short-statured Alexander’s face was squashed into Porus’s chest. It was a ludicrous sight.
The unknown youth looked at the four children and said, ‘Ahh…Dakshin Bharat. I have heard so many tales of that place. I would love to visit one day…if my teacher ever gives me leave.’ He sighed.
‘I am Chandragupta, Chandragupta Maurya,’ he said with a smile. ‘And what are you all doing so far away from home?’
Zoya’s eyes started bulging in amazement when she heard the name while Rohan stammered, ‘Well…actually…’ He was desperately trying to think up a reason when there was a commotion up ahead.
By now, Porus had been escorted off the stage. Alexander was sitting next to a pure black horse lying lifeless on the ground. Weirdly enough, the horse’s head looked like a cow’s, and there was a white star mark on its forehead. Tears were streaming from Alexander’s eyes.
‘What is happening?’ whispered Noor. ‘Why is he crying? I’m so confused…’
Chandragupta turned to her with an exasperated tut. ‘His horse died,’ he said. ‘This Yavana twerp is the oversentimental sort. A bit too in touch with his emotions if you know what I mean.’
‘Looking at how he cries over every little thing, you’d never imagine his absolute ferociousness on the battleground. I’ve heard he’s never lost a battle in his life…’ He sounded glum.
Meanwhile, Alexander was moaning, ‘O Bucephalus! My old friend, you’ve been by my side since I was thirteen… What will I do without you? How can I bear to ride another steed?’ He began weeping in earnest, laying his head on the dead horse’s neck as his generals went and stood protectively behind him.
When Alexander finally stood up, eyes red, back straight, and still hiccupping sporadically, he proclaimed, ‘I declare that a new city shall be raised near here. It will be named after my beloved horse – Alexandria Bucephala. And so my loyal four-legged friend will be remembered eternally.’
A Greek soldier standing close to the children sniggered to his neighbour, ‘Another one? Don’t we have enough Alexandrias already?’
‘Twenty in the last eight years,’ retorted his friend with a short laugh. ‘Perhaps our Great Leader could name a few cities after his loyal soldiers once in a while.’
Rohan, though, was touched by Alexander’s devotion. He turned to Elfu and told him misty-eyed, ‘I love you, Elfu-pelfu. When you’re gone, I’ll definitely name a place after you, even if it’s just a small neighbourhood park. After all, we can’t all be world conquerors.’
Elfu let out a scandalised harrumph and stepped back hastily. Death? Why was Rohan talking about killing him? He was still a kid! He had places to go and treats to eat.
Uneasy, Elfu wandered off on his own. Up ahead, he saw a herd of the world’s largest elephants. Ooh! Other Elfus to play with, he thought excitedly. But when he went up to them, he realised they were massive brutes – almost twice his size – and not particularly friendly. Their tusks were nearly as long as as Elfu was tall, and they were covered in nasty-looking metal spikes. They had metal armour around their battle-scarred legs and very uncomfortable-looking structures on their backs. These even had people sitting in them. Just looking at them made Elfu’s back scratch and ache.
Then he saw a gigantic elephant covered in sparkly metal and jewels glaring at him; five or six big arrows were sticking out of him at various places. Oh, it also had a star mark on its forehead! Excited at this discovery, Elfu approached him. It harrumphed to him, ‘Pesky little calf! What are you doing here among your elders and betters? Go back to your mother!’
Elf sidled back up to Rohan, trying to ineffectually hide behind him. ‘I’m fine here. I don’t really need anyone else to play with,’ he squeaked to himself. When the kids turned around, they saw that Chandragupta was patting Elfu’s trunk. The elephant was bowing his head lower and lower. His eyes were shut, and he looked like he would topple over in relaxed bliss. If there was an elephant heaven, Elfu was in it at that moment.
Chandragupta said affectionately, ‘I love animals. And they seem to love me back. Somehow, they always listen to me.’
The children were so engrossed in their conversation, they had lost track of their surroundings. Suddenly, Ansh started to surreptitiously kick Noor. As she turned her head to snap at him, her eyes widened.
The group heard a loud voice exclaiming in Greek, ‘Over here!’ The children were surrounded by Greek soldiers, whose long spears were pointing dangerously at them. They were looking at Elfu suspiciously. ‘Whose elephant is this?’ they demanded to know. ‘Don’t you know that all war elephants belong to our commander, the mighty Alexander?’ The children gulped. They were in for it now, especially poor Elfu!
Excerpted with permission from History Hunters: Chandragupta Maurya and the Greek Onslaught, Shruti Garodia and Archana Garodia Gupta, Hachette.
