Tantrics Of Old

by Bhattacharya, Krishnarjun

  ‘Now you have my attention, Adri Sen,’ Kali said, gritting his teeth. ‘You could never have made it out of here alive either way. I could smell the death of my Nishis on you.’

  Adri gasped for air and fought to sit up. He managed, after an enormous amount of strain. ‘They deserve to die, Nishis,’ he said.

  ‘I will kill you and then make you a Nishi,’ Kali said, laughing suddenly. ‘I wonder what Victor would have to say about his son serving me?’ He unleashed more spirits on Adri. Adri gestured back, deadlocking them yet again, knowing that he was going to run out of spirits before the other Tantric did.

  Fayne received a tremendous kick from a hoofed foot. He was thrown across the courtyard and into a wall. He took half a second to recover, and rolled away just as the morning star smashed down, destroying the wall he had landed on. He danced away, throwing daggers; Rudra caught them on its shield, one landing on its breastplate. Nothing had even scratched it yet, but Fayne was not worried. He played his battles well, and impatience was the last thing on the perfect warrior’s mind. Fayne knew he could not tire the Demon out; but he could, perhaps, force it to make a mistake by persisting. One mistake was all he needed.

  Fayne sensed Adri was not doing well. Even if he wanted to help the Tantric, he would not be able to. The Demon gave no breathing room. And besides, he would always be more concerned about Maya’s inert body lying where it was. But Fayne did not dislike Adri. In fact, he was having fun after a long time; journeys with Adri Sen were eventful, if nothing else. Fayne held no desire to stop Death from breaking the seal. The Apocalypse was not something he dreaded; he would deal with it if it did happen. For now, he was happy that the young Tantric always faced danger. It let Fayne keep his skills sharp, and he was grateful. In fights, he felt alive.

  He somersaulted to where he had dropped his swords upon receiving the kick and picked them up. Rudra charged again, and Fayne retaliated, dodging the huge morning star as he went. The assassin marvelled at the Demon’s ability to move so fast and use such a heavy weapon with such speed and accuracy. He also liked that the Demon did not speak. He knew though, that Rudra was not skilled enough to kill him, and that sooner or later, it would die by his blade. If the Demon warlord had sensed this, it did not show it. Rudra fought on with increasing speed.

  Get up, Adri. Pull yourself together.

  Adri unleashed another spirit at Kali, and tried to stand up. He failed. His strength had deserted him. There was nothing he could possibly do.

  ‘I can’t!’ he cried.

  You cannot give up now, you idiot! the Wraith hissed.

  ‘He’s too powerful,’ Adri mumbled.

  ‘Yes, acknowledge my power,’ Kali shouted. ‘Admit it to yourself, you will die here. There is no other truth.’

  ‘Why did you answer my questions if you were going to kill me anyway?’ Adri groaned. He reached in his pocket and, fingers fumbling, put a cigarette to his mouth.

  ‘I may have let you go if you hadn’t killed my Nishis and had given me the girl.’

  Adri’s fingers trembled as he smoked. He was holding something tightly inside his left fist, and Kali saw it.

  ‘Hiding something, Tantric?’ Kali laughed. ‘A secret weapon?’ With a wave of his hand, he sent more spirits at Adri.

  Fayne realised that Rudra was using techniques. His swinging the morning star was not as random as it might appear; every time before he brought it down, the Demon would swing it in a set fashion. Every technique had its weakness, but identifying the technique inside a fast fight wasn’t easy. Fayne looked for clues, and found them. In a corner of the Demon’s shield, was etched a small horse, its hooves on fire. This was bounty armour, a gift for having completed training at the hands of a sensei.

  ‘Adri!’ Fayne shouted as he dodged a swing. ‘What is the sigil that has a horse with burning hooves?’

  ‘What?’ Adri asked, not able to catch it.

  A horse with burning hooves, the Wraith said. The assassin wants to know what sigil it is.

  ‘Narcasra!’ Adri shouted in seconds.

  Spirits attacked him at that very moment. His own spirits were weakening and beginning to die; Adri knew he would have to resort to personal defence techniques now. His left hand still clenched, he put his right hand in his pocket and withdrew a piece of chalk. Then he drew a circle around where he sat, and started to scrawl runes around it.

  ‘A positive circle isn’t going to help you,’ Kali laughed loudly. ‘Not for long, anyway.’

  Narcasra had three teachers, Fayne recollected as he danced about, striking Rudra’s shield relentlessly. Two taught the art of shield and weapon. That made it simpler—Rudra was either using the long forgotten dual-hold technique, or the more recent fang-repeat technique. Fayne, of course, knew both—both were very similar, and thus it took him another minute to be sure of which one it was. If he were to be wrong, the result would be a very messy death. But then again, Fayne knew he could not be wrong.

  Fayne followed a textbook breakdown of the fang-repeat-flail. He attacked Rudra, forcing the Demon to bring up the shield and throw its other arm back to begin swinging the morning star. Fayne backed away slightly, and Rudra swung; but Fayne ran in low and with the hilts of both swords, hit under the shield with just the right amount of force and the perfect angle. It flew upwards and in the way of the spiked ball, deflecting it directly back into Rudra’s own helmet. The Demon was knocked over, the weapon having crushed its helmet and face. Fayne silently walked up to the fallen Demon and slit its throat. Then he looked at Kali and Adri.

  ‘Take Maya and Gray and run,’ Adri shouted with a sense of urgency. ‘Into the ruins, now!’

  Fayne was beginning to approach Kali, but he read the note of urgency in Adri’s voice. Something was about to happen. He silently turned towards where Gray and Maya lay, and sheathing the swords into his back, he started to run.

  Kali looked at Adri, a bit confused. He gestured with both hands, and two flames appeared on the ground, drawing two pentacles of their own.

  ‘You have many Demons, Kali,’ Adri said. ‘But like you said’ —he opened his left palm and let hang by the string the pendant of the crescent moon, and wore it—‘there are some foes beyond Demons.’

  Kali could not believe his eyes. He started nodding slowly. ‘How long had you taken it off?’

  ‘Long enough,’ Adri said, looking up at the skyline.

  ‘But what makes you think I will let you run?’ Kali asked, incredulously.

  ‘That,’ Adri said.

  Kali turned and stopped the dagger aimed for him in mid-air. Fayne picked up Maya and Gray and disappeared into the ruins at almost the same time as Adri got up and made a run for it, out of the courtyard. Kali roared and lashed out with his spirits, but Adri had saved some of his own, and they deadlocked. Adri, Fayne and the other two were gone, gone among the ruins.

  Kali did not get much time to react. Before he knew it, he heard them. Hooves. Coming closer and closer, getting thunderously loud. He waved his hands and two more pentacles formed themselves on the ground around him.

  Kali looked at the skyline and saw birds dropping dead towards the east. It was coming, it was almost here.

  ‘Arrive, Gosheel, Ashmm, Chhal, Sheyak,’ he said in the Old Tongue.

  Four Demons rose in their pentacles and awaited orders. Kali was silent. He looked at the forest towards the east. The hooves grew louder and louder. Ideally he should send the Demons after Adri, to drag him back. That would be his best way out here; but then again, the Tantric preferred to feel better protected. Perhaps the Horseman could be reasoned with to give chase. Perhaps at the end of whatever was to come, he could still heal and then offer the girl to the Mother. He would see.

  Before the arrival of the Horseman, the hooves got unnaturally loud; and in the distance Kali saw trees shrivel up and die as it moved towards the clearing, towards the courtyard.

  Death burst into the clearing, and Kali stared for the first time in his life
at the ancient rider and its steed. Death’s horse was a pale, almost-white mount; it was dead. Its skin had rotted in places, and its entire rib cage hung out, as did parts of the neck bones. Bits and pieces of broken armour hung on to its decaying body almost reluctantly, and it had two huge wings sprouting from behind the front legs—the wings were long gone though, just the winged bones remained, folded gracefully on either side. Its eyes were a menacing red, and it neighed angrily as Death pulled the reins. The grass beneath its hooves dried up and died as it trotted to a stop inside the courtyard.

  Death screamed in anger. It was a tormenting, terrifying scream, the likes of which had never been heard in the forest before. It was complete and utter anger; it made one shiver in fright, it made one simply want to give up. It screamed and then looked at Kali.

  ‘Horseman. Haven’t seen any of your kind here in my forest,’ Kali said.

  ‘I sensed him here!’ Death hissed in reply, ignoring Kali. ‘He was here!’

  ‘If you’re looking for Adri Sen,’ Kali said, ‘I know where he is.’

  Death was silent.

  ‘He went that way,’ Kali said, pointing a finger truthfully towards the ruins.

  Death stared at Kali. ‘You’ll have to do better than that,’ it rasped.

  Adri was running. Ahead of him he saw Fayne lope heavily with both Maya and Gray slung across his shoulders. The assassin was still faster than Adri.

  I thought you could not stand up, the Wraith said.

  Adri, silent, continued running among the ruins, trying to keep up with Fayne.

  Oh I see. An act, for Kali. Make him believe he’s got you. Until the right moment.

  ‘Only way to beat him,’ Adri panted.

  They ran through a path they had not taken before. They ran and ran until they reached a small tunnel leading inside a half devastated hall. Adri paused in the tunnel to catch his breath, as did Fayne.

  ‘What now?’ Fayne said, in between gasps.

  ‘The Horseman is here,’ Adri panted back. ‘We have to hide somewhere secure.’

  Fayne nodded and darted into the hall. Adri followed him.

  ‘I cannot bring him to you. He’s already escaped my grasp,’ Kali said. He was slowly beginning to get nervous. This was not how he had hoped it would be.

  Liquid darkness swirled around Death, and Kali found his gaze wandering off, mesmerised by the darkness, again and again.

  ‘You would not bring him to me either way, human,’ Death said. ‘I think you are hiding him.’

  ‘Rot! I just tried to kill him!’ Kali shouted.

  ‘Or so you would want me to think,’ Death growled. ‘You are a Necromancer like him. I think—you protect him.’

  ‘You are wrong!’ Kali spat.

  ‘Why is he not here then?’ Death asked.

  ‘He just ran.’

  ‘And you allowed it?’

  ‘He distracted me.’

  ‘Convenient. But it doesn’t work for me, I’m afraid. I sensed his presence here a while back, and now I can’t sense him anymore. It has something to do with you, Tantric.’

  ‘He’s wearing a moon pendant, that’s why you can’t sense him. You are a fool, you are running after the wrong prey.’

  Death’s steed neighed angrily. Death calmed it with a stroke on the half-melted neck.

  ‘Curious,’ Death said. ‘If he is hiding from me with a moon artefact, how does he lose possession of it and then gain it again?’

  ‘Bait,’ Kali said. ‘I would have killed him. He did it himself to distract me.’

  Death laughed, a laugh that froze Kali’s blood.

  ‘He will know better than to bait me. He does not stand a chance if he stands up to me and he knows that. Why does my coming here distract you anyway, human?’

  Kali looked at the Demons. His hands tightened, his fingers beginning protective gestures. ‘He thinks you will kill me.’

  Death looked straight at Kali, his gaze boring into the Tantric’s eyes. ‘I think,’ the Horseman spoke, ‘I shall oblige him.’

  ‘There is a vault here,’ Fayne spoke.

  ‘That means only one way in or out,’ Adri said. ‘But we might be able to temporarily seal it off from the inside.’

  ‘If the vault was meant to hold magic, it will hide our vibes well,’ Fayne said.

  ‘Worth a shot. I don’t see many options anyway, and this is much better than playing hide-and-seek among the pillars.’

  They entered the small door inside an ancient fireplace; most lords hid their vaults behind fireplaces, where a magical fire burned around the clock. There was no magic in the fireplace now, but hopefully the vault would still work. They entered a narrow tunnel, constructed out of rock, and light diminished rapidly as they progressed through it. At the other end of the tunnel was a spiral staircase, leading down.

  ‘Well, down then,’ Adri said.

  They began making their way down, but the stairs seemed to go on and on. The darkness grew steadily, but Adri was too afraid of using magic with the Horseman so near. He trusted Fayne’s vision, who was leading the way.

  ‘Whaa—?’ Adri gasped when all of a sudden, he felt a stone beneath his foot give way. It wasn’t the only one. With a roaring scream, all the stones gave way as the staircase beneath their feet collapsed. There was nothing to hang on to; Adri’s hands clawed only air as the four of them fell into darkness.

  ‘I have no argument with you, Horseman,’ Kali said, backing away slowly.

  ‘I believe you do,’ Death said. ‘Your confidence that I was summoned here by Adri Sen to kill you will in no way arouse my sympathy. And I feel you think you are well prepared for me, with these Demons and these spells you conjure under your breath as we talk.’

  Death held its steed lightly and dismounted. The chains around him rattled noisily. Turning to Kali, it took a step towards him.

  ‘I am only defending myself,’ Kali said, now beginning to feel fear. ‘I do not need this, Horseman.’

  ‘Of course you don’t. You already know how it will end,’ Death said.

  ‘No! Keep away!’ Kali shouted with anger, backing away steadily.

  ‘Where is Adri Sen?’ Death rasped.

  ‘Keep away from me! He went that way, I told you! He’s hiding in the ruins.’

  Death stood for a moment in silence, extending his senses.

  ‘You lie,’ it hissed at length. ‘No moon pendant can hide him if he is as close as you claim. No, this is an artifice. One that will not end well for you.’

  ‘Kill the damn Horseman!’ Kali roared at the Demons, jabbering in the Old Tongue, weaving protective enchantments of all kinds around him, calling more and more spirits to his aid from the other side.

  The Demons dutifully rushed at Death with their swords and maces. Death extended a gauntleted hand from beneath his black shawl. A weapon materialised in his grasp—an enormous scythe. It was a beautiful and terrifying weapon, fashioned out of metal and rotten wood, a chain circling its entire length, two mammoth blades at one end, one above the other, both rusted beyond time. At the other end were a series of gems embedded in the wood. It seemed heavy, but Death wielded it easily and carelessly, spinning it like a toy.

  ‘I was calm before, human,’ Death whispered audibly. ‘I was very calm, and happy. I had found the means to my salvation. I had found the key.’

  The Demons came at him together. He sank his scythe into one, killing it instantly. Turning around in a spin, he beheaded the other. A Demon struck with a giant sword, and the Horseman melted into darkness as the blade went through, only to materialise a second later behind the hapless Demon. Raising his scythe, Death sliced the Demon into two from the centre. It was a clean blow, and the two bloody pieces separated and hit the already blood-splattered ground. The last Demon came thundering down with a mace. Death caught the mace with its left hand and snatched it from the Demon; the Demon gaped in bewilderment as Death’s right hand swung the scythe, the last thing the Demon was ever to see.

>   Death turned to Kali. ‘But he escaped, this young human. He has been avoiding my gaze well. It has been angering me. This one human has infuriated me, frustrated me, and I have been hunting for him all over the Old City. Sometimes I think I sense his presence, or the vibes he leaves behind somewhere. His journey has been eventful, I think, and yet I do not find him.’

  ‘The ruins,’ Kali said, terrified, as the Horseman approached him. ‘For the last time, you will find him hiding there.’

  Death stood before Kali. ‘Protective magic,’ he breathed. ‘How—quaint.’ He extended an open palm, and for a moment Kali thought something had exploded. It was the death knell of a hundred spirits that cried out before being ended from their state. His shields were gone.

  ‘Tell me, why do you wear a necklace of skulls?’ Death asked, breathing on Kali.

  Kali felt the breath taking away his essence, his life force. He could not reply.

  ‘It is funny,’ Death continued. ‘You do it to terrify your victims, to strike fear in their hearts. You imitate the Dark Goddess whose power and grace you could never dream of touching. But right now, you are afraid. I can smell it.’

  Kali was losing touch with consciousness, an invisible hand was beginning to choke him. What was he even thinking? There was no way he could have defeated this creature. He had known it from the start.

  ‘There is some truth in what you say, human. Before you die, die knowing that Adri Sen’s soul is mine, and mine alone. I will hunt him down no matter where he is, and if he has indeed tricked you as you say, you will have your revenge through me. After your end, I am headed for the ruins you pointed at.’

  Something moved within the dark eyeholes in the Horseman’s mask. Kali screamed.

  ‘Now I am truly wounded,’ Adri said.

  ‘I cannot carry all three of you, pashlin,’ Fayne replied.