by J F Mehentee
The memory of holding Babu Zayar’s kidney stone sent me straight to the sink. I scrubbed my hands.
A quick check of the food cupboard and the refrigerator yielded nothing but a few vegetables and egg noodles. I eyed the chicken carcass and remembered Cubchick’s head up its butt. Fried vegetables with noodles it would have to be.
I filled a saucepan with water for the noodles and the kettle for two cups of tea. Next, I started peeling and chopping the vegetables.
After I’d cleared the table and a few cubes of shallot sizzled in toasted sesame oil, I heard Biyu on the stairs.
The anzu padded into the living area ahead of her. I wasn’t sure if my passive smoking had affected my eyes. The anzu appeared larger, the size of a domestic cat. Juvenile feathers had replaced the pin feathers, and there were one or two patches where it had moulted. Thanks to the feathers covering them, its wings no longer resembled stumps. A golden coat of fur covered its face, neck, shoulders and forelegs. The anzu raised its head, sniffed the air and then yawned.
‘Good thing you’re tired,’ I said to it, then pointed at the pans on the stove. ‘That’s our breakfast.’
Chubbychick stopped as if to consider what I’d said and then turned with obvious disdain. It sauntered over to the shoebox beneath the room’s sole window. The anzu sniffed the box we’d reared it in and placed a paw inside.
‘You’re too big for that now,’ Biyu said, before disappearing into the bedroom.
She didn’t have any books with her. Biyu always brought along some of her research to show me.
I turned to the wok and tossed in the vegetables that required longer to cook. I checked on the water in the saucepan I’d add the noodles to and then glanced over my shoulder. Biyu had emerged from the bedroom with a blanket. She unfolded it and arranged it so that its loose crumples and folds formed a nest.
The anzu cast Biyu an adoring gaze with its orange-brown eyes and waited to be lifted onto its new bed.
I wanted to roll my eyes. She spoiled the thing.
‘Did you find anything on the demoness?’ I said.
Biyu stood over the anzu as it circled the centre of its bed. It emitted a squeaky growl, jumped onto the floor and took one end of the blanket in its mouth. The anzu dragged its bed across the rug and under the table we were about to eat at.
Biyu’s mouth, which had hung open with a smile, closed.
‘I found nothing,’ she said. Her third eyelids floated across her eyes.
She was troubled. I sprinkled in the softer vegetables and stirred.
‘It’s not like you to come away from your research with nothing,’ I said, then dropped the noodles into the boiling water.
Biyu sat at the table. She checked under it.
‘I found something, all right,’ she said. ‘The pages in one book, those on demonic royalty and their symbols of sovereignty, were wiped clean of text.’
With a shaky hand, I added a dash of soya sauce to the wok.
‘What do you mean wiped clean?’
‘Just what I said.’
Biyu tapped her talons on the tabletop. She looked ready to tear into the wood with them. Was she angry at one of her books being vandalised or that the information it contained had been hidden from her?
I described my meeting with Zayar, the two islands, Arlanga and Anganera. As I drained the noodles, I repeated the diviner’s warning about something hidden and waiting on Arlanga.
‘This demoness,’ I said, ‘her magic. I mean, to wipe specific pages from a book kept in a warded vault. What the frit are we dealing with, Bee?’
I added the noodles to the vegetables, grateful I could occupy my shaking hands. When she didn’t reply, I said, ‘I’m scared. Finding this sceptre isn’t relic hunting. Zayar said the entire archipelago is in danger.’
Biyu got up and stood beside me. She lay a hand on my shoulder as I continued to stir the noodles and vegetables.
‘I’m scared, too,’ she said. She sniffed my arm and then punched it.
‘Ow,’ I said. The spatula fell into the wok with a clank. ‘What did you do that for?’
‘I smelled the magic and the weed on you from downstairs. What have you been doing?’
Her concern and the thought of something terrible happening to Biyu while we searched for the original sceptre again made my chest tighten.
I described how Zayar used his own kidney stones for divination and relied on hashish to control his pain. ‘I had to sit next to him,’ I explained. ‘There was smoke everywhere.’
Breakfast was ready. Biyu removed three bowls from the cupboard.
‘For the anzu,’ she said. ‘It’s on solids now.’
I ladled most of the noodles into the first two bowls and the rest into the third.
‘You and I haven’t eaten since last night,’ I said. ‘We have to keep our strength up.’
We sat. Sure enough, the anzu’s head appeared above the tabletop, its eyes locked on Biyu’s bowl.
Watching her feed Chubbychick from the third bowl gave me an idea.
‘You should stay here while I go to Anganera,’ I said. ‘If the Leyakians know we found the egg and it hatched, they’ll come after the anzu. Someone needs to stay behind and look after it.’
Biyu looked up from Chubbychick and the spoon it slurped from. Her eyes turned to slits.
‘And where’s the first place they’d come looking, moron?’
I hadn’t thought the suggestion through.
‘Good point.’
Biyu glowered at me. The anzu gazed up at her and reached for her chin with a paw.
‘We’re doing this together,’ she said. She dipped the spoon into the bowl and offered it to the anzu. It tilted its head and poked out its tongue. ‘And because Cubchick needs looking after, we’re taking it with us.’
We ate the rest of breakfast in silence. Biyu was right about the practice being the first place the Leyakians would come looking. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the three of us staying together would only make things easier for the demoness. Toojan’s confidence in our doing what we do best as relic hunters seemed unfounded. How could our past exploits help us against such powerful magic?
While Biyu held each of the bowls for the anzu to lick clean, I leafed through the Zadrinesian Air flight schedules for Bagh-e-Khuda to Anganera.
‘There’s an airship leaving at eleven,’ I said, ‘which only gives us thirty minutes to get ready. The next one leaves at four. Could you fly us there? We could leave at noon. That way, we’ll have more time to prepare.’
Biyu nodded.
‘No problem.’
I shook my head. I’d almost forgotten.
‘When’s your father back from his pilgrimage?’
Biyu waved a dismissive hand. She pushed away her chair and returned the anzu to its blanket.
‘Don’t worry. Dad’s back later this morning.’ She piled one bowl into the other. ‘I’ll leave a message with the retirement community warden. That way he won’t just turn up here.’
I returned the timetable to its shelf.
‘I’ll clean up and pack. Zayar mentioned Anganera being the home of a monkey god. Could you look into that—so we know what we’re dealing with?’
Biyu’s mouth opened a little.
‘Thanks,’ she said.
As if I might change my mind, she hurried out of the room.
I’d known her for twelve years and knew her foibles. Biyu loathed household chores. It had driven her father crazy. When the Lees had taken me in, after a consumption epidemic had claimed my parents, and Master Lee had made me his apprentice, chores had been one way to express my gratitude.
As I washed the dishes, I made a mental list of what we’d need. With Anganera only an hour away, we had no call for warmer clothing. Since our return from Kazera, there hadn’t been time to wash the torch’s battery with saline, find a replacement for my lightening revolver or roll some qi tablets. I sighed. With no time to waste, I left the dishe
s and wok on the dryer.
The bedroom was a mess. The bed hadn’t been made, the wardrobe door hung ajar and clothes lay strewn across the polished floorboards as did the contents of the rucksack. I gathered up those things we’d take while throwing anything we didn’t need onto the bed. With no sign of the orb of invisibility, I searched under the bed, in case it had rolled under it.
The anzu peered at me. Rather than a blanket, Chubbychick sat in a nest of Biyu’s underwear. It sat with its mouth open—as if imitating Biyu’s smile—and panted. A paw rested on the orb. Back in the temple district, Toojan had called it a thief.
The little kleptomaniac must have crept out from under the table while I was at the sink.
‘Don’t look so pleased with yourself,’ I said, reaching forward. The anzu hissed. ‘I need the orb. You can keep the knickers, you little pervert.’
The hiss became a growl, and the floor shook. I edged my way from under the bed, in case it collapsed on top of me.
‘Hey, calm down. I need that orb.’
The anzu pulled back its lips to reveal not just black gums but miniature teeth.
’That’s great,’ I said. ‘You can cause earthquakes and now you’ve got teeth. Please, Chubbychick, give me the orb.’
The anzu hissed again. I screwed my eyes shut, expecting the floor to shake. Nothing moved. Why would the anzu hiss when I hadn’t tried to reach under the bed?
After our trip to Kazera, I had got the impression that not only was the god Yahata a trickster, his pet anzu had similar tendencies.
‘Do you understand what I’m saying?’
The anzu rested its chin on the orb.
I had used a corruption of the name Biyu had given it. Could a day-old anzu be smart enough to understand such a thing?
‘You don’t like me calling you that name, do you? You want me to call you Cubchick, like Biyu does—don’t you?’
The anzu rolled onto its side and held out a paw.
My cheek muscles tightened, pulling my lips into a grin.
‘You do understand, Cubchick,’ I said. It rolled onto its back and stretched out both of its front paws. I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Just how smart are you?’ I cooed.
Khuda, you’re starting to sound like Biyu, I told myself.
I straightened my arm slowly until I could rub the space between a paw’s pads. Cubchick purred.
‘What else can you do? Can you ta—’
A loud knock on the practice door interrupted me. I turned, thinking Biyu would be right behind me. And then I remembered the demoness knocking on the door early this morning.
‘Stay here,’ I told Cubchick. It had rolled back onto its stomach, unbothered by a second knock.
I got up, left the bedroom and closed the door behind me.
Stay in the vault and keep the trapdoor closed, I said to Biyu, hoping she wasn’t so engrossed in whatever she read to not hear me.
At the top of the stairs, I stopped. If only I still had my lightening revolver.
Whoever it was outside knocked a third time, and a little louder.
‘All right, all right,’ I said under my breath. If the demoness waited outside, she could use magic to neutralise the wards or blow the door off its hinges. It wouldn’t do to make her impatient.
I halted in reception and took a deep breath.
Whatever happens, stay where you are until I tell you it’s safe to come out.
Before Biyu could reply, I touched the top, middle and bottom wards to unlock the door.
6
A man, his head shaped like an ellipse and his hair thinning, stood on the practice’s doorstep. He wore a grey three-piece suit and carried a briefcase. The cool flush of relief I experienced meant several seconds passed before I recognised the Shani’s Susilo Tarigan.
‘Mr Tarigan,’ I said, sounding delighted. ‘How can I help you?’
The intelligence officer pushed past me and stopped beside the reception counter. Tarigan checked his surroundings before settling his attention on me.
‘Are you ignoring me, Mr Chopra?’ Tarigan clutched the handle of the briefcase with both hands. ‘You returned from Kazera yesterday morning. I haven’t received news from either you or from the Ministry about an anzu’s egg coming into its possession. Care to explain why?’
‘Um…’
I didn’t know what to say. If I told Tarigan about the anzu, he’d likely take it away. Hadn’t Toojan told us to protect it until it could fly off in search of a celestial master?
‘Well, Mr Chopra?’
Banging came from upstairs. Thankfully, the building didn’t shake.
Tarigan squinted at me.
‘I wonder what that is?’ Tarigan said. Before I could answer, he strode to the stairs. ‘Try to stop me, Mr Chopra, and I’ll have you arrested.’
I’d made it halfway up the stairs when Biyu called out to me from the vault.
What the frit is going on? What’s all the banging about?
The guy from the Shani, Tarigan, is here. And I don’t think Cubchick enjoys being locked in a room.
I’m coming up.
I turned the corner into the living area. Tarigan stood by the bedroom door. From behind it came a yowl followed by a bang. Had Cubchick head-butted the door?
Tarigan gestured at the bedroom, both eyebrows raised.
‘Biyu has a new kitten,’ I said.
‘Mr Tarigan,’ Biyu said, standing behind the dining table. ‘What are you doing in our home? I didn’t hear my husband invite you in.’
Tarigan performed a shallow bow of contrition. He gestured at the bedroom again.
‘I came to see your new kitten. I’m very fond of cats.’
Biyu glared at me.
It was all I could think of.
She rolled her eyes.
Idiot, she said, and huffed. Biyu crossed the room to open the door. Tarigan already knows.
The anzu bounded into the centre of the room, found the space in front of it empty and wheeled around. It took a step towards Biyu and then halted when it spotted Tarigan.
‘My,’ Tarigan said, ‘what an unusual kitten you have there, Mrs Chopra.’ Both eyebrows rose as a smile lit his face. ‘I’m afraid it isn’t a breed I’m familiar with.’
Biyu folded her arms.
‘Okay, you got us, you know about the anzu,’ she said. ‘What do you want, Mr Tarigan?’
He pointed at the table.
‘Mind if I sit down. It’s not even nine thirty and I’ve been rushed off my feet.’
We both shrugged.
Tarigan sat down and unbuckled his briefcase. He pulled out some papers.
‘Security clearance for Mrs Chopra’s… kitten,’ he said, and laid two sheets of paper on the table. ‘There wasn’t time to charter a flight, so return tickets to Anganera, and’—he waved an envelope—‘a letter of introduction to the island’s governor, who’ll meet you at the airport.’ Tarigan wrinkled his nose as Cubchick rubbed its head against the trouser leg of his crisply pressed suit.
I had to sit down. Biyu did, too.
Tarigan raised a hand before either of us could ask.
‘We’ve been monitoring you both.’ He shook his head and then cast a wary eye at Cubchick’s antics. ‘And you’re not the only ones to pay visits to Master Toojan and Babu Zayar. They often assist us with our investigations. You must understand, we are all on the same side and after the same thing: to keep Zadrinesia safe.’
For now, my relief at hearing those words outweighed my concern over how many of our conversations Toojan had shared with the Shani.
Cubchick ran his chin up and down Tarigan’s leg.
‘It likes you,’ Biyu said.
Tarigan grimaced.
‘We’ll be keeping an eye on you both,’ he said. ‘However, we won’t break cover unless it’s a dire emergency, and even then, there’s no guarantee we’ll save you.’
Biyu leaned on the table and bent forward.
‘There’s no guarantee? What
the—’ She sunk back into her chair. ‘What does that mean, Mr Tarigan?’
Tarigan tried to push Cubchick away. The anzu began to rub his chin against the intelligence officer’s dust-free and fur-free trouser leg.
‘We still don’t know how the Leyakians compile their intelligence and share it. It’s vital we understand how they’re doing this. If sacrifices are required to avoid alerting the Leyakians, we’ll make them.’
My mouth dried. I’d forgotten it wasn’t just the demoness we had to worry about. We had the fritting Leyakians to consider.
‘It’s safer if you left the island,’ Tarigan continued. ‘It’s likely the Leyakians will visit the practice.’
Biyu pushed her head back and groaned.
‘Dad,’ she said. ‘He’s back later this morning from his pilgrimage. I have to leave a message with the warden at his retirement community. Sometimes, when we’re not here, he turns up with a newspaper and drinks Sanjay’s gin.’
Tarigan nodded.
‘We’ll keep an eye out for your father. In the meantime, I’ve bought you seventy-two hours to locate the sceptre and do whatever needs doing with both it and the anzu.’ He waved a hand. ‘That’s the best I can do. After that, and because of the danger it poses, the Ministry will dispatch Shani operatives to find the anzu and destroy it.’
7
It being Sixth Day, we took an autorickshaw and not a taxi to the airport. The city’s main thoroughfare wasn’t gridlocked, however a rickshaw’s size made it easier to dodge and weave our way through the traffic.
It was only ten o’clock and already a demoness and a Shani agent had visited us with threats. Armed with three pairs of return air tickets and security papers for Cubchick, Tarigan expected us to neutralise the demoness and get the anzu as far from Zadrinesia as possible.
Biyu, Cubchick and me were fritted.
All we could do, as Biyu had put it, was catch an airship and go pay a visit to Anganera and its governor, Delon Utsmani. Based on events so far, neither of us pinned much hope on Utsmani helping us find the sceptre.
One advantage a taxi had over a rickshaw was the size of its motor. The one inside our rickshaw sounded as if it belonged in a washing machine. We took a turn-off and trudged up the road to the summit of a table-topped hill and the airport.
