Book excerpt: Victory is Temporary the Battle is Eternal Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered; its citizens are scared, and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon, and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of Sindhuvarta... The only silver lining is that the deadly Halahala is safe. For now. Bent on vengeance, Indra is already scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to Shiva? Doortodoor salesman, copywriter, business journalist and assistant editor at The Economic Times, SHATRUJEET NATH was all this before he took to writing fiction fulltime. He debuted with The Karachi Deception in 2013, followed by The Guardians of the Halahala and The Conspiracy at Meru, the first two books in the Vikramaditya series. At present, he is writing volume three of the series. Shatrujeet lives in Mumbai, but spends much of his time in the fantasy worlds of his stories. He can also be found at facebook.com/ShatrujeetNath and @shatrujeet.