Tantrics Of Old

by Bhattacharya, Krishnarjun

  ‘My body cannot leave the crypt as long as I’m in it,’ Mazumder spoke.

  ‘You planned this crypt yourself right?’ Adri asked.

  ‘I was a different person back then. I have—improved over the years in the eternal sleep.’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘So what I was getting to, putting aside your direct criticism of my foolishness in trapping myself in, was that I will need to make the switch right now so that my body may be carried up.’

  ‘It’s a long walk,’ Adri said.

  ‘We’ll manage,’ Mazumder replied.

  ‘I don’t like the way you said “we”.’

  ‘Fool, you better get used to it.’

  Adri readied himself. His body was trained to resist possession, it would not be ready to accept the Wraith; he would have to override his subconscious defence systems.

  ‘Having second thoughts, are we now?’ the Wraith smirked.

  ‘Merely trying not to kick you right out of my mind,’ Adri said.

  ‘Anytime you’re ready, sweetheart. I’ve got all day!’

  ‘I haven’t got all day,’ Adri breathed, sweating slightly from all the focusing. ‘Okay, I’m ready.’

  The Wraith did not waste any time. It left its older body with a liquid like spin, erupting as a mass of black, a murky form covered with shadows and tentacles, radiating blue energy from cracks within itself. It spun in the air, and lightning fast, manoeuvred itself and shot straight into Adri’s body.

  For a few scattered moments, Adri’s mind experienced a loss of control, like he had upon initially entering the chamber. The feeling stayed until Adri fought it and calmed it down. It was simpler this time and put up lesser resistance; probably because of the Wraith controlling its magic, Adri thought. The turmoil was lessening and his vision, blurred and bleary until now, was clearing. But there was no more spirit energy around to act as a light source. He could see nothing.

  Cosy. A voice inside his head. Not bad, Adri. Not bad at all.

  ‘You found out my name?’ Adri asked incredulously.

  That’s not all.

  ‘Mazumder. You have to stop looking into my head,’ Adri said.

  Make me, the Wraith smirked.

  Adri sighed, then concentrated. Hiding information was simple enough if you had the right training for it. The Wraith realised what Adri was doing.

  No fun! All right, I lay off your stuff. Was just curious. It’s like entering someone’s house, you know—you see all their things and feel like snooping around a little.

  ‘Respect my privacy, Wraith. There are things I don’t want people to see.’

  I know. I caught glimpses. Most . . . interesting. But then again, how would I possibly tell someone? I cannot reach out to others while I’m in your body. And when I finally do leave, it will be to enter the next Plane. Your secrets are safe with me, even if you do choose to reveal them.

  ‘Ha!’ Adri gave a bark-like laugh. ‘I don’t trust you.’

  Well met. Was still worth a try, though.

  They were silent for a moment. Then Adri spoke, ‘We should go.’

  But you can’t see. Easily remedied.

  Adri felt something like water flow into his eyes, cold and liquid-like. He blinked, and immediately the liquid heated up. He could see in the dark. His eyes burned with blue flame and it took him a moment to get used to it.

  This is how spirits see the world, Tantric.

  There was a blue tint to the world and everything was blurry except what he immediately focused on. But the lack of light did not matter now, he could see everything in the small chamber, though whatever he did not focus on seemed to visually merge, ingrain, combine, expand, and contract like a slow kaleidoscope. It was weird, and he did not prefer it over his normal eyesight, then again, he would prefer anything over the darkness. He walked towards Mazumder’s now lifeless body on the floor.

  Handsome devil, the Wraith said.

  The vampire hunter had been handsome, yes. He must have been in his mid-years when he died. The man’s head was bald; the eye sockets had sunk back in with the eyes mercifully shut. A sharp, prominent jawline and a muscled neck lead to a well-built body, trained and maintained.

  ‘How do I get him to the top?’ Adri asked.

  There is a separate exit. That way.

  Adri tried to lift the body and couldn’t. Grabbing a leg, he started dragging the body in the direction the Wraith motioned to. If the Wraith was offended by the dragging of its past body, it refused to show it. He saw one of his revolvers on the floor and picked it up. There was a secret switch built into the wall; and once the new passageway opened up, the exit was a few minutes away. Adri watched the door open with surprised anguish—he walked out, dragging the body behind him, into bright sunlight. He wished he had known about this route instead. He looked up and saw the silhouette of an Angel against the sun; the exit was built on the base of a giant Angel statue, right outside the church. He left the body there and walked inside to inform his companions that he was back. The Wraith remained quiet, but removed its energy from Adri’s eyes.

  He found them where he had left them. Fayne was watching the entrance, while Gray was lolling around lazily, carrying Adri’s bag with him. He had been exploring the church, apparently.

  ‘I’m glad you made it. You were beginning to take some serious time down there; we have to get back to JU before nightfall, remember?’

  ‘I haven’t forgotten, Gray,’ Adri said.

  ‘You look like hell. What happened to the shirt?’ Gray asked, looking at the scraps Adri was wearing.

  Fayne was facing Adri. ‘I can smell a Wraith on you, pashlin,’ he said before Adri could react.

  ‘I had an encounter with one,’ Adri replied.

  There was a red blade in Fayne’s hand, Adri noticed. A dagger, something red and translucent; Fayne was toying with it as he faced Adri.

  ‘Are you sure you are still the same person who walked inside the crypt?’

  ‘There’s no way to confirm that, is there? If I were possessed, the creature would have access to all my memories. Thus it would answer any question you put to it. Enough of this, assassin. We should move, I’ve already have had a hard time inside the crypt.’

  ‘If you are a Wraith you will have access to Adri’s memories,’ Fayne said, unmoving, ‘but not his skills.’

  Adri looked at him with a mixture of exasperation and anger.

  Fayne pointed at a mural on the wall. ‘The black knight—you see the black knight? Fire a shot and hit his helm.’

  The target wasn’t near. It was quite a shot with the free hand and though Adri knew why Fayne was doing this, he couldn’t help but be annoyed at this lack of trust after his ordeal. Fayne had seen him shoot though, and he would be able to easily see if the same person was firing the shot. Adri did not dally; he roughly yanked a revolver out of its holster and taking aim, fired the shot. Without even waiting to see if it hit, Adri turned around and walked out of the church.

  Fayne and Gray stood, watching the black bullet hole exactly in the centre of the knight’s helm.

  ‘It’s Adri,’ Gray said.

  ‘The Wraith was a vampire hunter, bound to have been an equally good shot,’ Fayne said.

  ‘Then now what?’

  ‘I was watching the way he drew the weapon, not the shot. He’s used to it. It seems it is indeed Adri. Khayer, I will still keep a watch on him,’ Fayne said. They turned around and followed Adri out of the abandoned, silent church.

  Interesting how you didn’t mention little old me in front of your friends. Scared, Adri? Scared they’ll stop trusting you?

  ‘Shut up,’ Adri murmured. ‘Don’t make me talk to myself.’

  You could always open up your mind to me. Then you’d merely have to think it.

  ‘I said shut up.’

  The Wraith obeyed. Adri looked around to see if either of the other two had been watching him. Thankfully, Gray was checking the open road for Demons, and Fayne ha
d gone scouting ahead. The vampire killer’s body lay in front of him, wrapped up in a sheet. They were almost back at the university—Adri could see its gates in the distance.

  The young Tantric was having troubles of his own. Having to cope with another creature living in his mind, for example. It was very distracting; the Wraith talked all of a sudden and would always take him by surprise, mostly being its usual sarcastic self, an entity Adri could not learn to trust. It observed a lot, seeing through his eyes and hearing through his ears. It did not share any of Adri’s physical pains or mental pressures though—and he always had to consciously hide his secrets from the creature, though he would know immediately if the Wraith tried to dig around for them. He didn’t know yet what would happen when he slept; he was sure the Wraith needed no sleep.

  He slapped his forehead without realising it. He was getting himself into more and more trouble. Not something he needed.

  ‘There’s a problem, Mazumder,’ he said.

  Yes?

  ‘We can’t possibly take on the Ancients. You know how powerful they are; and there are perhaps fifteen or more of them waiting in there.’

  Fifteen?

  ‘Yes.’

  You walk in there and you are not walking out. Getting the girl is out of the question.

  ‘What would you suggest?’

  Leave the girl. She’s clearly a liability. And, you have already hit her with a corruption. She’s not going to turn, she will just die and have her peace afterwards.

  ‘Not possible. I have made my oaths.’

  And I have made mine, human. If you die, your body is useless to me, and I cannot wander free like other spirits. I will be trapped in your loathsome body without a foreseeable future. That’s not possible either.

  ‘There’s a word called compromise, Mazumder. I can stay alive and get Maya out of there.’

  So what’s the catch, fool?

  ‘The catch is the assassin. He must not know of your presence. That will make me a threat to him, and he will kill me. Immediately.’

  So that is why. Your survival is my survival. I shall show no signs.

  ‘Which also means that I can’t count on your help in taking care of the Ancients. You must be invisible. I can use no help you give me, not even the sight of spirits.’

  Or you could convince the assassin to not come along.

  ‘His charge is to protect the girl. He’ll come. We’ll have to think of something else.’

  I love the way you are already saying ‘we’.

  Fayne was back soon. ‘The road is clear. I thought I had seen something, but it was a dog, hiding among corpses,’ he said to Gray and Adri.

  ‘No wait,’ Adri said. ‘Before we go on, I think we should talk about this.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Fayne nodded.

  ‘You’re not expecting a fair handover, are you now?’ Adri asked.

  ‘Hold on,’ Gray spoke. ‘Yes, I was.’

  ‘There’s going to be none. We hand over the dead body, they slaughter us and Maya.’

  Gray’s eyebrows climbed.

  ‘How many Ancients are in there, Tantric?’ Fayne asked.

  ‘Fifteen, maybe more.’

  Fayne did not reply. The eyes of his mask shone without expression; yet it was clear what his silence indicated.

  ‘You could take them out if you were fortunate and fast enough,’ Adri continued. ‘But you will not be able to save the girl.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me about this!’ Gray protested.

  Adri stared at him. ‘Shut up. There is much I did not tell you about. There are more complications after I save Maya.’

  ‘What complications?’

  ‘I have had to choose the lesser evil,’ Adri replied.

  ‘Don’t talk in riddles man!’ Gray shouted.

  Fayne interrupted. ‘The sun is almost gone and the fatiya’s life hangs in the middle. You speak the truth, Tantric’ —he turned towards Adri—‘I cannot take out all of them and yet fulfil my charge. So what is it that you suggest we do?’

  Adri looked at the setting sun, casting the usual red sky in more red.

  ‘I need to call upon a spirit,’ he said.

  They entered Jadavpur University on a run and headed straight towards the Demonology building. There was no time to be lost; it would be too late once the sun had set. And after all I’ve done, Adri thought, I cannot allow Maya’s life to be lost in the balance. They settled near the building. Adri quickly cleared the ground and fishing out his silver knife from his bag, started the lengthy process of scratching the call-sign on the ground. It was complicated, but he remembered it like the clearest picture he had seen, his hand having a life of its own as he remembered and etched the sacred runes in the soil.

  ‘Candles. From my bag, now!’ he hissed. Gray hurried over to his side and started groping around in his bag. Fayne stood by them, his gaze moving from the sign to the sun and back. Once the candles were arranged according to Adri’s instructions, Gray lit them, all in the specific order they were supposed to be. Adri placed a tiny red mask, as big as his thumb, in the centre. Then, one of the Lost Pages. And finally, the silver knife between two runes. Then Adri started the incantations, slowly and softly.

  ‘The sun,’ Fayne said. ‘She sets.’

  Adri kept chanting, and long moments later, he felt a gust of wind pass through his very bones, a wind that did not bother the candles. Something was here.

  ‘Reveal yourself,’ Adri said.

  ‘Blood,’ a voice said out of nowhere. ‘I need blood.’

  ‘So we’ve got ourselves a practical joker here,’ Adri sighed. ‘Why do your types always have to receive my call?’

  Of course spirits didn’t need blood. He would have called a spirit he knew, but that would take much more time, something he didn’t have.

  ‘You seem to be in a hurry, Necromancer,’ the spirit replied, its voice now sharper, in control.

  ‘I give you the chance to move to your next; complete a charge for me in return,’ Adri said.

  ‘I obey your terms. What kind of charge?’ the spirit asked to Adri’s immense relief.

  ‘Reanimation. Of the simple kind,’ Adri replied.

  The sun had just set when Adri opened the door and moved into the darkness, another makeshift torch burning in his hand. He walked in silence, his boots crushing tiny rock, the noise echoing loudly in the caverns beyond. Adri knew where he was, and it unnerved him. This was someplace no one dared, no citizen of Old Kolkata, no matter how experienced or powerful. Heck, his own father had warned him of this. Along with warnings against Wraith possession.

  ‘Ancients!’ he screamed, waving the torch around.

  He knew he was being watched from the moment he had entered. He heard the soft snapping noise start in droves as bodies unwounded from around stalagmites and rocks, making their way towards him. He could only see the empty, airy darkness all around him, and though he could hear the Ancients approaching, not being able to see them made him very, very uneasy. He was not used to them; his work had never let him deal much with vampires. He had dealt with Wraiths before, but that was a long time back; Adri cursed himself for not remembering the sharp smell of the Wraith. Not that any damage had happened, but he would have been able to plan things out a bit earlier. Planning was always where it was at. Planning had saved his life on countless occasions.

  One of the undead vampires slowly emerged out of the darkness, the black hollows of its eye sockets glaring at Adri. It looked at the flame in his hand with great distaste before turning to face Adri once more.

  ‘Where is the body, human?’ it rasped angrily. ‘It’s not with you!’

  ‘The girl,’ Adri shouted. ‘Let me see the girl.’

  This time the other Ancient entered from behind him, bringing Maya’s limp body in its hands. Adri turned around and found Maya’s face incredibly close to his own, mere inches away. He looked at her and it seemed it had been a long time since he had last seen her. Here she was, right in f
ront of him, but she was not with him. Yet. Her eyes were shut, and her skin was paler now, a bluish tint creeping up her face; her hair seemed to be losing its lustre and looked dry, hanging as if it were not a part of her. Adri slowly extended his free hand and first felt her neck for puncture marks and then checked her pulse. She was alive and unbitten; a rare feat for the Ancients.

  ‘Let me hold her and you will have your body,’ he said.

  The Ancient did not speak. It considered.

  ‘Either way, I cannot walk out alive without your leave. Let me hold her,’ Adri said.

  The Ancient remained silent. Then, slowly, it nodded. Maya was handed over to Adri roughly, and her sudden weight overcame him for a few moments. But then, he was standing, supporting her limp frame with his shoulders, careful to keep the burning torch away from her. He pointed at the door from which he had come. ‘There’s Mazumder. I got him, but with a bonus.’

  The door opened and the dead body of Mazumder walked in, slowly but surely. The Ancient’s heads whipped towards this spectacle, staring without reaction, unable to believe what they saw. There stood their hated vampire hunter, dressed in a torn tuxedo, standing tall and defiant and looking at them with his usual unusual hatred; his skin unexpectedly fresh when the Ancients were expecting a creature of bone and dust.

  That’s supposed to be me? An insult. I do not stand like that.

  Adri ignored Mazumder’s complaint in his head. ‘A gift for the Ancients; this gutless worm who was hiding away, still very much alive,’ he spoke.

  The Ancients were hypnotised. They did not react, did not speak; they only stared at the dead body of Mazumder which stood watching all of them. Soft snapping broke the silence as more and more Ancients slowly gathered around Adri. Three emerged softly from the darkness to his left. Adri could hear one more right behind him. Then another one next to the first one, and another one to his right. Everyone stood transfixed; until Mazumder’s body broke into a sudden run and disappeared into the darkness of the cavern in the other direction.