Tantrics Of Old (12 page)

‘Yes,’ Gray answered her. ‘It’s the term they use for the complete eradication of anything that can harm the common people.’

‘A slow and thorough process,’ Adri added. ‘They send patrols of Commandos and Guardians, headed by a Sorcerer or a Tantric, into every single building, every single street and alley, covering every single square inch of the land, and kill anything magically dangerous, even remotely so. They move with a calculated plan, with great precision, and clean up the city like a wave; it takes a
lot
of manpower and good planning, not to mention time.

‘MYTH was about to launch one in Old Kolkata when the Free Demons opposed them and the territory wars began. I guess you would know about the Free Demons.’

‘Of course,’ Maya said. She did. Every word.

‘New Kolkata was far easier to purify because all it had were spirits,’ Adri continued. ‘But this city? This city hides too much under its breath. No one, not one soul, knows all of this city’s secrets; and I personally think a purification is impossible.’

‘Ah, they’ll do it,’ Gray spoke with confidence. ‘The Demons have to either die or get out of their way.’

Adri smiled to himself. Gray did not know Demons. After all, there was a reason why the war had been raging for ten straight years now; it was a different matter that the war itself wasn’t covered by the New Kolkata newspapers, except for the occasional vague article. The territory wars had been strictly declared as government business, and no citizen had a right to its information. Not that the citizens wanted to know anyway. Old Kolkata was too dangerous and unattractive a city for most people, and its fate did not bother them. All they wanted was for their government to stay strong so that it could continue protecting them as it had, and if it won the war, it would only get stronger. And MYTH was an incredibly strong government already. Adri had been a part of it in the past and he knew the extent of MYTH’s power. He had seen the sheer number of forces MYTH had at its disposal; yet it was forever training new Commandos and making Guardians—Necromancers and Sorcerers were fewer in number, but that was so only in comparison with its standing forces. The fact that MYTH had continuously been waging a battle for a decade proved this point if nothing else.

‘I must admit that after studying Demons I have more respect for our government,’ Maya spoke thoughtfully.

‘‘Exactly! MYTH
is
powerful. And you
have
to be strong to fight Demons!’ Gray finished triumphantly.

‘You ever fought one, Adri?’ Maya asked.

Adri simply smiled and continued walking. He felt more comfortable here in the streets of the Old City than he did anywhere else, especially New Kolkata. Sure, there was danger looming over his head. Sure, Death itself was after him. But he was on familiar ground now, a city which he mostly knew, and knew better than most. Danger lurked everywhere here, but it did not give off a false sense of security like New Kolkata; there was a charm to the lawlessness here, a certain beauty in the sense of chaos. It was something that could be admired only by those who had lived here and could defend themselves—the rest had moved or were dead. Adri’s mind naturally began connecting old memories to the familiar landscape that he saw, and the young Necromancer entered a pensive, lonely mood. He looked at tree stumps that had once been trees, at old hideouts and places where unexpected and amazing things had happened. He walked a little ahead of the other two, wanting to breathe in his city once more.
I have come back to you
.

‘He was born here, but was moved to New Kolkata as a child,’ Maya told Gray softly.

‘He stayed in that one-room flat?’ Gray asked incredulously.

‘No. He was coached in his arts at MYTH Castle. Then he went back to Old Kolkata for a while supposedly.’

‘When did he get banished?’

‘I have no clue. I more interested in knowing
why
, though.’

‘He seems okay to me,’ Gray shrugged. ‘I don’t see this guy murdering the both of us.’

Maya nodded. ‘He’s more learned in his art than I thought. You know the popular saying about young Tantrics?’

‘What, the girls’ thing?’

‘No, the rumour that they make too many mistakes. And
what
“girls’ thing”?’

‘Nothing, nothing,’ Gray muttered in reply.

‘There’s something about him, Gray. Something I can’t get a hold on.’

‘Something like what?’

‘I can’t really describe it. It’s like a feeling in my gut. Adri is
more
than he seems to be.’

‘You’ve just met your first Necromancer, I bet you’re just tripping on the whole magic thing.’

Maya threw him a dirty look. ‘I
know
what I’m talking about.’

‘No, maybe it’s in your subconscious or something, but you’ve just met a guy who can practically
summon
the very creatures you have spent four years studying about. I would say you’re just thrilled.’

Maya thought over what Gray said instead of retaliating. He was correct. She
was
quite fascinated by Adri because of his craft, and now, even more so because of her growing realisations of Adri’s knowledge; but that had nothing to do with this feeling. It had clung to her after her first conversation with the Tantric. Something about Adri—the way he walked, the way he began a conversation or chose to reply. It had nothing to do with attraction—she could not quite put a finger on it and argued with her brother about it. Gray agreed to try and notice this thing if he could in the future, but he had to admit that Adri looked perfectly normal to him. As normal as a Tantric could be anyway. He trusted his theory, but did not bring it up again.

They continued walking for a couple of hours and the landscape remained the same—empty roads, boarded up buildings, and a few people scattered here and there, most of them being homeless. They walked on until some water bodies came into view. There were roads that led by them. The water in the ponds was dark and murky and lay perfectly still, the land at the water’s edge choked with weeds. There was no sign of life beneath these waters and they looked dreadfully ominous, even in the morning sunlight. They walked some more. More ponds. And more roads along their edges.

Adri seemed confident about the roads and gave no warning about touching the water, so the siblings were not particularly worried. Not that they wanted to go near the water; Gray stopped to urinate along one such pond at one time, while Maya politely turned away. Adri waited impatiently. He now seemed most eager to reach the house he had talked about. ‘It’s not far now,’ he said. ‘We’re in Patuli already, my house is in the next sector. Just one thing’ —here Adri’s enthusiasm seemed to dampen a bit—‘my
father
will be home. Don’t get, err, offended.’

‘Offended? Why?’ Maya asked, confused.

‘He’s quite
delicate
.’

‘That’s not a problem at all,’ Gray said. ‘You should meet
our
dad sometime. I promise you you’ll live the rest of your days a lot happier, eh sis?’

‘Absolutely,’ Maya smiled. ‘I’m looking forward to meeting your father, actually. It’ll be nice to see your house as well, I guess.’

Adri nodded as they walked on.

‘What does he do?’ Gray asked.

‘You’ll have heard of him,’ Adri replied, rather drily. ‘His name is Victor Sen.’

Gray and Maya stopped in their tracks, their eyes wide in shock.

‘
The
Victor Sen?’ Maya asked.

‘Yes. Him.’

‘MYTH’s hero?’ Gray asked, not daring to breathe.

‘MYTH’s poster boy,’ Adri said. ‘I told you, yes. Can we walk?’

Maya wondered what was wrong between father and son. It was not just about awkward introductions and the following embarrassments as she had initially thought. There was more to this; there was a reason behind Adri’s reactions. Probably his father’s fame overshadowing his growing up years—Adri might have always been told that he was not as good as his father and of course, there was the bit about his banishment from MYTH. Now that it turned out he was the son of Victor Sen, everything changed. Everyone who had ever heard of MYTH had heard of Victor Sen, the hero, the Tantric said to be the most powerful of them all.

That seemed like the most likely answer, though Maya knew all the answers were perhaps written away in the diary she carried. It gave her curiosity a temporary gratification, knowing that she would soon be able to carry on reading it, and what she had read before made greater sense now that she knew who the father was.

Gray had heard about Adri’s father in equal measures, if not more. He had heard that MYTH’s hero still lived in Old Kolkata, and his mind’s eye had always created visions of an impenetrable fortress of sorts. He was slightly disappointed when Adri, on being literally hounded by him to do so, described his home as a simple duplex with a small garden. Doubtless, Gray consoled himself, the great Necromancer had other unseen forces guarding his house. Gray intended to talk a lot with Victor Sen and was extremely happy he had brought his camera. ‘Adri,’ he began hesitatingly, ‘will your father allow me to photograph him?’

‘Look, you can ask him yourself,’ Adri snapped, a bit tired after all the questions Gray had been asking. ‘You see that building there? My house is right around that bend.’

Maya was feeling extremely tired herself, and was glad they had arrived. She hadn’t slept on the train, and after walking for this long, she now felt her body protest. She would find a bed and sleep off, first thing for sure. She forced herself to walk the last long stretch she would walk in a while. They took the last turn, and it was then that Adri stopped short. The other two followed his gaze, and did not know how to react.

In front of them, at the end of a long road, was a house. It was not in the condition they had expected it to be, however. The entire facade of the house had fallen away, like a cut-out from a cake; debris stood testament. The two floors they could see openly were black, charred beyond recognition. From where they stood, it looked like a house devastated from a bombing run; except in this case, it had evidently been a fire.

They stood looking at the ravaged thing for the longest time. No one spoke. Then Adri started walking towards the house, silently looking at it as it came closer. The garden was gutted, devoid of any plants still alive. Glass crunched beneath Adri’s boots as he neared the house and he noticed the broken windows, their frames hanging loose, remnants of burnt curtains trembling in the afternoon winds. Wordlessly, Adri stepped in through the doorway—there was no door there anymore.

‘The building can collapse, right?’ Gray asked Maya. ‘Maybe he shouldn’t go in there.’

‘He won’t listen,’ Maya replied, still recovering from the shock. Both of them walked towards the house slowly.

Ground floor. Burnt objects. Objects recognisable, objects belonging to Adri’s family, to his father. The library was in ashes, an irrevocable loss. His father, no doubt, would have done anything to prevent this from happening—and Victor Sen was no pushover. Adri carefully crept up the wooden stairs to the first floor; half of the stairway had crumbled away and one had to stick to the wall.

The first floor told a very similar story, but the more important thing was that Adri could not find, try as he might, a burnt corpse. There was still a chance then, he thought.
Father might still be alive
.

He relaxed, his tense muscles calming for a bit as he slowly began looking for things that weren’t ashes. His father’s wardrobe was completely gone, as were almost all pieces of furniture. Some magical artefacts had survived, but his father had a habit of casting very strong security measures on these. Adri did not try touching them. Possessions did not matter here, most of his own belongings were back in New Kolkata, but Victor Sen had been a connoisseur of a lot of things, and he would never allow them to burn away. Not like this. Adri’s mind drew a possible explanation—captured, but alive.

He looked around and examined the ash. It wasn’t too fresh, but not too old either. Still, he needed to know what exactly had happened here.

He drew a quick pentagram on the floor with a chalk and added runes. ‘Arrive, Familiar of this house,’ he spoke in the Old Tongue. Nothing. Adri had anticipated this. He made his way down to the ground floor once more. Maya and Gray were waiting quietly by the kitchen.

‘He’s not dead,’ Adri said as they looked at him anxiously. ‘It takes more than this to kill my old man.’

‘What happened here?’ Gray asked.

‘Not an accident, that’s for sure. The house spirit is missing, he must have been removed.’

‘What about your mother?’ Maya asked.

‘She passed away a long time ago. My father lived alone.’

‘I’m so sorry!’

‘You didn’t know.’

There was a pause.

‘Um, so what now?’ Gray asked in a low, polite voice.

‘Right now, I need to know what happened here. We’ll have to wait till nightfall.’

‘How will you know?’ Maya asked. ‘Everything is in ashes, right?’

‘I’m a Pyromancer as well,’ Adri said. Maya’s eyebrows jumped, but Gray was still looking for an explanation. ‘Fire Reader,’ Adri explained further. ‘It’s very much possible you haven’t heard of it.’

‘I have,’ Maya said. ‘The art is said to be lost.’

‘I knew someone who knew it; grew up practicing. I need to wait till dark, however.’ He looked at Maya. ‘Why don’t you get some sleep? I don’t think you slept at all last night, did you?’

‘Yeah, I sort of need to sleep,’ Maya replied.

‘Do that then. Gray, watch her. I’m going to do some asking around. We had neighbours in those buildings’ —he pointed across the pond—‘and I think they should’ve seen
something
. And please don’t touch anything that might seem remotely interesting. A lot of my father’s possessions are cursed.’

He left. Maya pulled a bed-sheet out of her backpack. She wandered rooms until she saw the spacious library, and lay down, away from the ash of books burnt. She was asleep in seconds.

Gray checked on Maya once before he began to wander the rooms himself, camera in hand. The house was now dead, but had once been home to one of the best Tantrics in the land, and his son, who seemed to have too many surprises up his sleeve. Gray was not cautious about Adri any longer, now that he knew Victor Sen was his father; he had a house to see as well, albeit a devastated one. No, Adri was definitely who he claimed to be, and impressively so. Gray found Adri’s calmness at this turn of events quite inspiring.