Tantrics Of Old (38 page)

It had initially been a small football field, Adri realised when they reached the place; he could still see the goalposts on either end. Now it was crowded with a sea of tents, large and small, soldiers moving and sitting in large groups in and around. It reminded him of a typical war camp in the medieval times; how a besieging army would lay camp in an area while they whittled down a castle in the attempts of breaking through. They were still trying to do the same thing, and this
was
war.

The buildings surrounding the field were mostly empty, though they saw movements on certain floors, where the other troops were stationed. The field was evidently well watched and guarded. Groups of Commandos were already watching them; new arrivals attracted interest here. As they were taken near the field, Adri saw a man walking towards them, his black robes billowing in the hot afternoon winds. Adri recognised him. The smooth black hair and clean-cut goatee were unmistakable.

‘We have guests, it seems!’ the man shouted from afar as he made his way towards them. His tone was gleeful and there seemed to be a bounce in his step. His smile though, spoke of sadism.

‘Arshamm,’ Adri sighed, looking at him and pulling off a forced half smile.

‘Don’t smile,’ Arshamm replied, still grinning widely. ‘You don’t get to smile. You are banished and you are here, I have you now. You don’t get to smile.’

‘You know what happened was an accident,’ Adri said, still trying to maintain the smile, sounding dreadfully like someone pressing a lie forward.

‘Not an accident, Adri Sen. A lot of things it was, yes, but not an accident,’ Arshamm replied.

‘Does Adri do this to everyone?’ Gray whispered.

‘Shut up,’ Fayne said.

‘And you’ve brought guests!’ Arshamm exclaimed cheerily, looking at the Gray and Fayne. ‘Guests who, no doubt, have been fully convinced by you of the hospitable welcome they will get here!’

‘Our business is not with you,’ Adri said, the smile finally leaving his face.

‘And neither is mine. Lock them up, boys. And chain them while you’re at it,’ Arshamm said, still smiling.

‘Sir, they have come here to meet—’ a Commando started.

‘I do not care. They are outlaws and for their own
protection
, we should do what we do,’ Arshamm replied, talking fast. ‘You will now proceed to the red building and lock them up in the basement.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the Commando replied. The entire group changed its direction, moving away from the field and towards the adjacent buildings.

‘This is ANGEL business, Arshamm!’ Adri shouted at the top of his voice, all of a sudden. ‘You don’t know what you’re obstructing!’

‘Hardly,’ Arshamm said. He looked unsure for a moment, but then the expression was gone. ‘I don’t see how
you
would have anything of interest for
them
.’

Adri was the only one in the group protesting violently; the others had simply turned and started to walk. Adri struggled, refusing to walk and was pushed roughly with quick threats from the Commandos. Then a loud, deep voice broke the fray and everyone stopped.

‘You, Arshamm, are not the judge of our business,’ the voice said, clear and deep.

Everyone turned and saw a figure approach from the direction of the tents. Dressed in pure and complete black, the figure was tall and well-built—he walked with imposition, a long cloak wrapped around his shoulders, covering his entire back and front. One could catch a tiny glimpse of his boots beneath, coal black like the rest of him. He was fair-skinned and his face stood out in all the black that covered him; he had wild hair and black tattoos circling his piercing eyes, beneath which was a black cloth that went all around his face and trailed down, hiding his nose, mouth and neck. Adri, with his Second Sight saw the wings. They were undoubtedly one of the largest pair of wings he had ever seen; they were folded neatly behind him—but that wasn’t what made him stare in awe. No, he stared because the wings were black, unblended black—each and every feather.

An easy enough description. This was the Dark Angel.

Arshamm turned around and froze. ‘I merely assumed—’ he began.

‘Know your place, Sorcerer,’ the Angel spoke without looking at Arshamm who stopped immediately. The Angel then, amidst the perfect silence, walked up to Adri.

‘And this better not be an excuse to escape our prisons,’ he continued, his bold voice echoing in the silence, his eyes transfixing Adri.

‘Our business is with Kaavsh,’ Adri said, trying not to stammer.

The Dark Angel stared at Adri and then at the others. Adri saw his gaze pause as he looked at Gray, and then at Maya. The siblings were here, and Adri knew that the Angel would have to honour the magical contract of their kind. Now he had permission to see Kaavsh, he had permission to see his wings in Second Sight.

‘Let them go,’ he told the Commandos, and then turned to Adri again. ‘Follow me.’

Wordlessly they complied. Adri winked at a sullen Arshamm as they walked past him and into the field. The Angel led them without looking back, and they followed through lanes of tents and busy men shuffling around with papers and maps and food and weapons; civilians as well as Commandos, and also the occasional Sorcerer or Tantric.

‘I don’t know where you’re going with this Angel thing, Adri,’ Gray hissed as they walked. ‘We should’ve just named my brother.’

Adri knew that in all probability, Gray was in for a very nasty revelation. This was exactly what he had been afraid of, the exact thing the Gunsmith had warned him not to do. It did not bode well with his conscience, and nor did it bode well with the fact that Kaavsh would be angry as hell with him. But there had been no other way, had there? Adri had seen this coming the moment he realised that they would have to give themselves up to the Commandos; he knew the eventuality of the fact that Gray would know his elder brother’s secret. He had known it all along.

They reached a tent larger than the others and the Angel paused for a moment. ‘One of you, with me,’ he said and entered, sweeping the curtain on the entrance aside.

‘Wait here,’ Adri said needlessly, and entered.

There was a man inside, hunched over a table, writing something. He looked up as they entered the tent, first at the Dark Angel and then at Adri. He was clearly not prepared for battle or anything of the like—he was dressed in his pyjamas.

‘Kaavsh,’ the Dark Angel said.

‘Raven,’ Kaavsh acknowledged. The Dark Angel’s first name, not something many knew.

‘Intruders. Outlaws,’ Raven said, gesturing lightly at Adri. ‘Two more stand outside. Claims he has business with you. He has gained a right to meet you, hence I bring him to you.’

Kaavsh looked at Adri. The Angel was as majestic as Angels were despite what he currently wore; he was good-looking, with prominent features and an impressive built. His huge white wings were currently folded behind him. There was the slightest of resemblances in his face to Maya and Gray; but then that was how the Angels were assigned to families in the first place.

‘I’ve never seen you before,’ Kaavsh said in his clear, crystal-like voice, but Adri could sense the mounting alarm in him. ‘And how have you gained the right to see me in my form? Surely . . . surely not—’

‘Gray Ghosh is standing right outside this tent,’ Adri hissed.

It took a second to sink in.

‘What?’ Kaavsh asked, stunned.

‘Your earth brother is outside. He does not know your real identity. I suggest Raven take us somewhere else where you meet us as Abriti,’ Adri continued, speaking fast.

‘Gray is here? How?’ Kaavsh asked, lowering his voice immediately.

‘Does it matter?’ Raven said. ‘We will do as he says. The stone ring is empty, be there in a few minutes.’

Kaavsh nodded, looking sharply at Adri. Raven swept out of the tent and Adri followed. The Angel led the way once again, and the three of them followed, Adri explaining on the way how Kaavsh wasn’t in his tent and thus, how he explained himself out of his situation using Abriti’s name. The stone ring, an amphitheatre, was by and large empty when they reached it a few minutes later, except for a couple of Commandos who were sitting in the rear, smoking. They got flustered when they saw the Dark Angel and left quietly and wordlessly, making as little noise as possible. Everyone sat down on the stone seats, except for Raven.

Kaavsh did not waste time; they saw him walking towards them soon enough; he was dressed in a shirt and a pair of trousers. Adri spied a pen in the shirt pocket; clearly, this was the exact disguise the Angel lived by. Gray got up as soon as he saw Kaavsh approach. Kaavsh looked back at him seriously. Then his gaze moved to Fayne, and then Maya.

‘Maya?’Kaavsh exclaimed in disbelief. ‘Gray, is that
Maya?
’

‘Dada,’ Gray said quietly.

Kaavsh came to a stop in front of Gray. ‘Tell me what has happened,’ he demanded.

‘Maya was bringing Adri here, to meet you,’ Gray said, eyes low.

‘Adri?’

‘Adri Sen, him. He’s a Tantric. He needed to meet you.’

Kaavsh looked at Adri for a moment, his eyes calculative. Adri knew that he knew the purpose of bringing Maya.

‘He’s Victor Sen’s boy,’ Raven commented loudly.

‘I came along to keep an eye on Maya,’ Gray continued. ‘But—’

‘What happened to her?’ Kaavsh asked seriously.

‘A corruption,’ Adri spoke for the first time. ‘The Whisper of Dread. She’s currently under the Dreamer’s Brew so she’s stable.’

‘Incurable,’ Raven said, frowning.

‘Yes,’ Adri agreed. ‘But I have a plan.’

Kaavsh looked at the man sitting beside his sister. ‘Who’s the masked man?’

‘I am Fayne of Ahzad,’ Fayne said without moving. ‘I have been charged with protecting Maya Ghosh.’

‘An assassin. Quite the group,’ Raven said.

‘Take them away, Raven. Anywhere, but here. I need to talk to the Tantric. Alone.’

Raven shrugged. ‘Figure this out,’ he said. He walked out, gesturing the others to follow. Gray seemed too afraid of Kaavsh to question him; he obeyed meekly. Fayne left Maya lying down and got up. Kaavsh waited for them to get out of earshot, all the while looking at Adri.

‘I am going to cut you up, Tantric,’ Kaavsh finally said when he did.

‘It was not in my intention to have Maya come to harm,’ Adri said, looking Kaavsh in the eye.

‘I’m not afraid of your father, or what he will try and do to me if I end you right here,’ Kaavsh said, his face slowly starting to betray his anger.

‘My father has been kidnapped and if not already dead, is certainly facing death. In his current situation, I don’t think he would be much of a threat to you.’

Kaavsh paused for a moment. ‘Tell me why you were tracking me down,’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t have needed Maya’s help if you didn’t have that magic protecting your identity,’ Adri said. ‘I need your blood, and that’s why I’m here.’

Kaavsh shook his head in distaste. ‘A Fallen’s errand. That’s what has landed my sister in this state.’

‘She landed herself in that state,’ Adri said, knowing the Angel would not believe him. ‘She ran off inside Jadavpur University, away from me. I could not reach her in time, and Ancients had her. Rescuing her from the vampires was another thing; but in the end, she ended up with a corruption in her veins. It was the best I could do under the circumstances.’

The Angel did not negate his story. Kaavsh looked at Maya lying motionless on the steps near him. Slowly, he walked and sat down beside her. There was silence and Adri did not break it. Kaavsh gently put his hand on Maya’s forehead. ‘Foolish girl,’ he said softly. ‘This was meant to happen.’

‘What was she after, Kaavsh?’ Adri asked slowly.

‘Nothing you need to bother with,’ Kaavsh said sharply. ‘You are not getting away with this, Tantric.’

‘You do not understand,’ Adri said. ‘This isn’t about me or her or you. There is something else that is happening. There is a disturbance in the entire universe, in the land and the air. And I know you have felt it, Angel.’

Kaavsh exhaled. ‘I am angry,’ he said. ‘I want to see you punished, I want to see you suffer for what you have done to my innocent earth siblings, playing on their curiosity for your own ends, for the ends of some Fallen. But you’re not lying. I can sense that. Yes, I have sensed the change, the pollution. It is everywhere. I have felt it in the very fabric of existence; all the Angels have. But how do you know of this?’

‘It’s a conspiracy, Kaavsh. Something is about to happen, and as a part of it, a Horseman has been unleashed to collect my soul.’

Kaavsh could not hide his surprise. ‘A Horseman?’

‘Death,’ Adri spoke.

‘How are you still here?’

Adri lifted the pendant around his neck slightly so that the Angel could catch a glimpse of it before letting it fall. ‘A Fallen has been helping me get to the bottom of this,’ Adri spoke. ‘And you know how every Fallen has his price.’

‘Then it is true,’ Kaavsh said, falling into deep thought. ‘Then the universe is indeed rearranging. If the Horsemen are riding again—’ The Angel looked troubled and doubtful, his anger gone. ‘What about my sister?’

‘A Devil Mask is loose,’ Adri said. ‘Making it accept her, then extracting her is the plan.’

The Angel shook his head. ‘It’s never been done before. There is no guarantee you can do it.’

‘Is there an alternative?’ Adri asked roughly.

‘There are MYTH Necromancers, well-versed, experienced, more in number,’ Kaavsh said. ‘They would have a greater chance at what you said.’

‘Someone has paid for your sister’s protection, Kaavsh, and it’s not you,’ Adri said. ‘She is involved in this machination. Like it or not, she is already a player on the board. Fayne is here on the orders of someone who knows much more about this than we do. And we sure as hell need to know more. It is me who has to try and save Maya’s life; she is a part of the puzzle, don’t you see?’

‘I do not want to see,’ Kaavsh replied suddenly, standing up. ‘I do not want to entrust her life to you.’

‘You are making a huge mistake, Angel,’ Adri said, coming closer. ‘Whatever is about to change in this world needs to be known beforehand and stopped if necessary.’