Chapter 173: Prelude to Patan

The night flowers bloomed under the dim moonlight. The silvery glow cascaded onto the lush forest. The midnight breeze was cool and fresh as it rustled the leaves. 

Smoke billowed in the distance as a village was burning. The thatched roofs of the small mud huts were burning and running smoke through the village. 

Villagers were running for their lives as the men on horses stabbed them with their lances. The ground was scarlet from the blood of the corspes riddled all over. 

The men were killed without mercy. The rancid smell of intestines and fluids permeated the air along with the black smoke from the hay burning. Moans and groans of the women could be heard in the distances. 

It was the Mughal army raiding a village along their path on the border with Marathas. The women's painful and terrified moans filled the village as they were raped by the Mughals soldiers.