Tantrics Of Old (5 page)

Adri’s mind raced. He had never needed to infiltrate an educational institution before; he would usually be seen in places darker and dirtier, greeted by beings far nastier than the noble Guardians of New Kolkata. Adri had taken on Guardians in the past though—the law did not allow him to live in New Kolkata, and occasional encounters with these law-keepers were inevitable. Almost every time he had ended up in jail—every time that he couldn’t run away, that is. Adri went to a roll shop and bought a chicken roll, mentally figuring out his options.

The university had several gates, but there were sure to be Guardians on all of them. Adri munched on the chicken, looking darkly at the gates. The old JU, the original university in Old Kolkata, had a secret entrance underground, one that he knew about. Adri looked around with great distaste, at the students with their blind trust in MYTH, their illusion of independence. But that was another business altogether. A girl, having ordered a roll and waiting for it, had been occasionally glancing at him. Best not let this pass. ‘Excuse me, er, Miss,’ Adri fumbled. ‘Would you happen to know a certain Maya Ghosh? I’m supposed to get in touch with her, it’s quite urgent, but I happen to have lost her contact information.’

The girl looked taken aback for a few seconds before she recovered and asked warily, ‘Which department is she in?’

Bloody Fallen hadn’t mentioned that. ‘I have absolutely no clue,’ Adri spoke, attempting a smile. He wasn’t very good at this.

‘It’s actually a very big university,’ the girl said. ‘I don’t know her, but if you go in and ask around near the central field, you might find someone who knows her.’ She got her roll just then and hurriedly walked away, betraying her eagerness to get away from the strange man with long hair.

Not much of a plan, Adri thought, glum.
Think, man. You deal with Demons, this is just about finding a girl
. Time was ticking, he had better come up with something fast. When the idea finally hit him a couple of moments later, Adri cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier. He looked around for a restaurant. There, above him, on the first floor of a building. Striding in, he made a beeline for the bathroom. He locked himself in an empty cubicle and sat down on the commode. The bathroom was spanking clean, Adri noted, yet another example of MYTH’s penchant for perfection. A hurried search of pockets. Chalk. Circle swiftly scratched on the floor. Furiously quick. Star, runes here and there. Pentacle.

‘Arrive,’ he spoke in the Old Tongue. A deafening siren sounded throughout the building almost immediately. A Familiar had materialised, hovering in front of Adri inside the cubicle, waiting for orders. The smoke from its body had set the damn fire alarms off. Adri heard rapid footsteps. ‘Meet me on the roof,’ he barked, and the Familiar nodded, making its way towards a ventilator. Stamping out everything he had drawn, Adri stepped out of the bathroom right into a sea of distressed people. It took ages to cross that sea, answering queries, denying accusations of smoking in the bathroom, and shirking responsibility for setting off the alarm.

The Familiar was waiting for him on the roof. A humanoid form of smoke and gas, it hovered on the roof silently, looking like the discharge from some ancient diesel machine. Adri approached the Familiar. ‘Distraction purposes mostly. You are to enter the gates of the university, and lead the Guardians on a chase so that I may gain entry. Understood?’

The Familiar nodded. Drifting closer to the edge of the terrace, it peered at the university gates across the street, and then, turning back to Adri, it spoke in a murky rumble, ‘There are two Guardians as I see, my Master. Only one of them will come after me.’

‘Split yourself.’

‘I understand, my Master. But when they catch up with me, I will be submitted to questioning. And as you must be aware of—’

‘You do not lie to any man, yes. You have permission to dissipate before they get too close. A few minutes are all I need.’

‘Very good, my Master.’

The Familiar melted to the floor, a thin carpet of smoke at foot level. It crept alongside Adri as he made his way down the stairs through the crowds, towards the university gate. Adri stopped at a safe distance from the gate as the Familiar continued. It split into two just before it reached the gates, and passed through, picking up speed.

The twin Guardians opened their eyes together. ‘INTRUDER’ one thundered, as they leapt off their pillars, landing on the campus grounds, their swords and shields ready. Dust erupted as they recovered from their jumps, straightening up and looking ahead. The Familiars swooped away like shadows of a cloud. The Guardians gave hard chase, running surprisingly fast for their size. Someone screamed as the Guardians pushed past them, but most of the students simply fell back in silence, giving way—none of them had spotted the Familiars; they were far too stunned to see the forever-still Guardians move.

Adri was already inside. He walked past parked cars and bikes, heading deeper inside towards the academic buildings. Students stood in groups all over the central field, talking and gossiping. Approaching them, Adri began asking questions, for some inexplicable reason, introducing himself as a journalist. When he finally found Maya, she was busy in conversation, and Adri was curiously inspected by three of her brawny friends as he went and introduced himself.

‘Journalist?’ Maya asked suspiciously. Olive-complexioned, long black hair tied back in a neat ponytail, and sharp features, Maya had a certain calmness about her. It made one think of quiet places immediately. Coupled with the intelligence in her eyes, one would probably add knowledge to the equation, knowledge of some sort. A library in the lonely, pretty forests, Adri thought. That’s what she reminded him of.

And so he was meeting a girl, rather pretty, right before setting off on a long, dangerous journey into a treacherous land. Adri shook his head and ignored the cliché. He just wished her male friends would stop glaring at him. He hated fistfights. For a second he wondered darkly if the Fallen had intended one to happen.

‘Okay, no. Tantric,’ he replied.

The girl’s eyes widened. Her burly friends drew back. Whispers erupted as distrust turned to awe, and on to deeper distrust.
Good
.
At least they know what a Tantric is capable of
.

‘Am I in trouble?’ Maya asked. She had lost her calm. Far behind her, he saw a Guardian still on the chase.

‘No,’ he spoke. ‘I…um…I need your help. Something important.’

She did not look entirely convinced. ‘
My
help? Why me?’ A part of her wondered if this was a joke. Adri did not look familiar. ‘Are you with MYTH?’

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t say anything in front of all your friends.’

‘Then where?’

‘Anywhere. Your friends can stay around if they don’t eavesdrop, that’s all.’

‘How ‘bout Banerjee’s classroom?’ someone prompted, evidently excited about the idea. Much more than Maya. ‘It’s empty.’

Maya looked unsure. ‘Fine, but my friends will come along and stand right outside the class,’ she spoke.

‘Please,’ Adri said. ‘Lead the way.’

The group moved together and Adri shuffled a short distance behind. He could hear them whisper. Adri was secretly quite satisfied with the developments so far—it seemed he was not altogether incapable of having conversations with young women after all. Still, too many of the common people nursed all kinds of grudges against Necromancers. They were going to a lonely spot—it was best to be careful, he thought. He kept looking around nervously for signs of Guardians, but thankfully there were none to be seen.

A confusing jaunt across college buildings, a flight of stairs, and a few corridors later, they reached a spacious classroom. The group turned to look silently at Adri, who entered without a word. Their eyes went to Maya. She looked nervous.

‘Just stick around, okay?’ she said.

‘We’ll be right here, if he tries anything,’ one of the guys growled.

‘I don’t think so,’ Maya replied. She entered the classroom.

Adri was sitting in the back row of the class. She sat down on another bench, keeping distance. He looked complicated, she thought. Adri was looking down at a desk—evidently thinking of how to begin. This had better be good. She doubted his claims of being a Necromancer. Anyone could pretend to be a Tantric. ‘Are you with MYTH?’ she asked again. A lot depended on his answer.

Adri, however, continued to look at the desk in front of him. A smile dawned on his face. ‘They don’t let you guys write on the desks anymore,’ he spoke suddenly. ‘Like everything else, even these are clean and white. Untouchable.’

Maya was taken aback, but she caught on. ‘You’ve seen the old desks? The desks in New Kolkata have always been like this.’

Adri looked at her. ‘I’ve seen them,’ he said simply.

Maya looked at him, her eyes a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

‘And no,’ Adri continued, ‘MYTH has not sent me. I have been banned as a practicing Tantric for many years now.’

‘Don’t mind me,’ Maya began, ‘but I don’t take things at face value. If you want me to believe you, prove it.’

Adri was beginning to like how she was. Logical rather than emotional. Curt, yet she’d been polite so far. Maybe this had a chance of working out. He rolled a sleeve of his kurta back.

‘Tattoos of the Necromancer,’ she spoke softly, looking at the black, swirling writings. ‘Fine. I believe you. Go on.’

‘My name is Adri Sen, and I have been involved with the magical arts for a long time. But right now, I need help, help from a certain person who’s quite close to you.’

‘Who?’

‘Your elder brother.’

‘Abriti?’

‘Yes. Abriti. He has something I need, something that will get a certain
debtor
off my back.’ Adri had never been any good at simplifying things, and this was all that he could come up with at the moment. It wasn’t the worst explanation in the world, and it left a lot of questions unanswered, but for now, it would have to do.

‘What does Dada have that belongs to you?’ Maya asked. Dada was a term of respect and endearment for an elder brother, and betrayed Maya’s closeness to him.

‘I’m sorry, but he wouldn’t want you to know,’ Adri replied. It worked. Maya looked a little less suspicious than before.

‘Dada’s not here,’ she said after a pause. ‘He works for MYTH. He’s in Old Kolkata, working in one of their protected research camps.’

Research camps?
Adri thought. His human guise must be that of a scientist or something. The part about him working for MYTH, however, was true. For now, the Angels, the Necromancers, and the Sorcerers were all fighting against the Free Demons under MYTH’s banner, in a battle that had been raging in Old Kolkata for about ten years now, with neither side showing any signs of a definite victory. It made sense, Adri realised, for the Angel to tell his adoptive family that he was working for MYTH—lesser cover-ups and alibis to come up with.

‘I know he’s in Old Kolkata,’ Adri said. ‘But I can’t get to him.’

‘Obviously,’ Maya replied. ‘They don’t allow us outside the gates.’

‘The problem isn’t Old Kolkata. The problem is MYTH. I have been banished by MYTH. If I am found anywhere near a MYTH facility, they’d do me in.’

‘They will do that to any civilian,’ Maya spoke. ‘The Old City is anyway out of bounds for civilians of New Kolkata.’

‘They’ll go easier on civilians. And besides, not if we disguise you as a random civilian of Old Kolkata, then they won’t.’

‘Disguise
me
?’ Maya exclaimed, surprised.

‘Ah,’ Adri said. “Ah” hardly cut it though. He hadn’t mentioned that she would be tagging along to Old Kolkata with him—she had simply, and quite naturally, assumed that he was just seeking information. The revelation of the extent of her involvement had been fast and brutal. He should’ve broken the news more slowly, more gently, perhaps. But Maya’s eyes were brightening.

‘
You’re
asking
me
to go to
Old Kolkata
?’ she asked, her voice thinner.

‘Was about to ask, yes,’ Adri ventured.

‘But that’s incredible! You know how to get there?’ she asked, clearly betraying excitement.

Adri stared at her. How did he get so lucky? Maya was practically
dying
to get to Old Kolkata. With a complete stranger, even. Maybe she wasn’t as mature as she had seemed. But Adri wasn’t complaining.

‘I can get us to your brother,’ Adri spoke.

‘Old Kolkata is dangerous,’ Maya said, her enthusiasm unabated. ‘Will we see Demons?’

‘Hopefully not,’ Adri replied. ‘Like I said, I can get us to where your brother is. All
you
have to do is bring him out to me. I need to talk to him.’

Maya turned thoughtful all of a sudden. ‘Look . . . er . . . . Adri . . .’ she began awkwardly.

‘It’s fine, call me Adri,’ Adri stated impatiently.

‘Yes. Adri. Thing is, I don’t know you. You could be anyone, any rogue Tantric who takes me out there and . . . er . . . does black magic on me or something.’

‘Why are you so keen on going then?’ Adri asked her. ‘You’re obviously interested in Old Kolkata. Weigh that with the risk.’ He had given Maya an ultimatum. He expected it to work.

‘I need time to think about this,’ Maya said.

Adri nodded understandingly. ‘I can give you half an hour.’

‘Half an hour?’ she repeated, incredulous.

‘I have to reach Old Kolkata before dawn. It’s a
very
strict deadline.’

Maya got up and walked towards the blackboard, her fists clenched. One of her friends, a girl, came halfway into the classroom. Maya gestured that everything was all right and her friend went back. After a while, Maya followed her outside. Questions. Whispers. Giggles. Adri suddenly realised everything had been dead quiet so far. Bloody eavesdroppers.

It was an hour later that Adri hurried down the stairs, with Maya in tow. One hour. An entire hour, half an hour more than he had bargained for. This wasn’t good, Adri thought. He couldn’t afford to be
this
lax with his time, not with what was waiting beyond the deadline.