“Run!”
It was only a moment after she had exited the hut that it erupted in flames. It didn’t catch fire from something adjacent to it. The fire didn’t grow either. It was simply a sudden sharp combustion that took the entire hut at once. One moment the hut was there and then it was filled in flames. Both of them ran to the horse as everything around them seemed to rise into the air and the ground started shaking violently.
“Fuck!” Pradeep said as he unsuccessfully tried to untie the horse from the tree.
His hands were too shaky now to make it quick and the horse was too edgy and out of control with all the heat.
He pulled out his dagger and cut the rope.
“Let’s go!” he said to Veda, and hopped onto the neighing horse as the wall of fire approached them.
He pulled the reins hard, forcing the animal to remain stable. He lent his hand to Veda as she climbed onto the horse. She screamed as a jet of flame singed the calf of her leg as she climbed.
Pradeep nudged the horse forward and it galloped ahead, dashing across the dirt as fast as its hooves could carry. The world of heat and fire chased them down the path, coming deadly close every few seconds.
The trees on either side of the path caught fire as they passed them, as if lightning had struck them. The thick smell of smoke was dizzying him. He could feel Veda’s hands clutch him tightly from behind. He knew she was in pain. His legs were stuck to the animal’s side nudging it to speed up as much as it could. His breath was now breaking into a cough and so was Veda’s.
For a moment it seemed like they would outrun the fire, when suddenly a burning tree crashed ahead of them. Pradeep watched in horror as the great tree crashed onto the ground, blowing red cinders into the air. There was now a flaming wall of fire ahead of him. He looked back for a moment and saw the flames approaching. He couldn’t stop now. He could see Veda drift slowly out of consciousness as the air grew denser with the smoke. He sped up the horse.
The horse instinctively turned sharply, dodging the tree albeit only narrowly. Pradeep flinched as he felt a jagged edge of the tree branch cut across his leg below the knee, tearing away at his skin.
He quickly closed his eyes, held his breath and prayed that Veda’s eyes were closed too as they bustled forward at unstoppable speed and breached the wall of fire.
THE TOWERS
The inner sanctum was dark and smelled of incense. Roy walked in, his gun raised and ready. But it wasn’t necessary. The sanctum was empty. There was no sign of the Purohit.
C’mon you bastard. Show yourself. You killed her. He thought of Niv’s smile and her big dark eyes.
Inside the circular chamber, he saw the throne. A great big throne with a hood of stone snake heads with glowing gems.
You are one crazy motherfucker!
He looked down.
On the floor were scattered small blue pills. He accidently stepped on one of them, crushing it. White powder smeared the floor where it lay broken. Roy bent down, scooped some of it on his finger and smelled it. It smelled like Thuggee weed and rotten meat. He wrinkled his nose and dusted his hand.
Where the hell are you? He looked around for any exits other than the door through which he had come in.
He could see none.
The walls were decorated with posters showing the Sinless’ insignia, which Roy was tired of seeing at this point. That was all that he had seen since he had been brought to the towers. Fluttering flags, banners and posters carrying that symbol had filled each and every block and even the cells in which he had been held along with the Forgiven. That flaming sword and the disc had been etched into this mind forever now.
He walked up to the throne and examined it. He sat on it for a moment. It felt cold and hard. He rested his elbows on the armrests and fondled the smooth round edges with his hands, looking for switches or buttons. Under his right hand he felt a tiny plate of rock that seemed to slightly sink into the rest of the stone when pressed, like a sponge bubbling in water. He pressed it hard; pushing it until he heard a click and the plate locked into place and didn’t come back up.
Roy braced himself and waited for something to happen. Nothing did for a moment. Then as he was about to get up from the throne, suddenly the floor below it opened up and the entire throne started moving downwards into the floor. Roy clutched the armrests tight and readied his gun. The throne drowned into the floor and stopped after a moment of descent. All Roy could see in front of him was a black wall. Then the throne turned completely around its axle and left Roy facing a dark corridor of some sort with a dim blue light at the end.
The first thing he noticed was the sound. A dull clamour of heavy machinery. The thumps and clanks of metal grinding and locking.
He waited for a moment, making sure the throne didn’t move any further. Then he slowly got down and started walking down the corridor. It was narrow, almost like a tunnel. The stone walls shone dimly with years of wear.
He hoisted his gun and drew his katana. He had always felt safer with his katana. He could hear muffled sounds of human movement amidst that entire din at the end of the corridor.
I am coming for you, you sick fuck.
He walked as silently as possible. His katana grazed against the corridor wall for a moment. Tiny sparks flew and there was a screeching noise for the tiniest of moments. Roy stood still and waited.
There seemed to be no response from the end of the corridor. He proceeded again, carefully placing one silent step after another towards the light. He was going to avenge Niv at last.
Tell Pradeep, I lo…Niv’s last words started echoing in his mind.
Not now, he told his mind. Now is not the time.
He kept walking.
He reached the end of the corridor. Ahead of him, the corridor opened into a huge circular room with no bottom. The semi–circular floor only covered half of the room like a stage. The rest of it was out of his sight but felt like an endless pit. The room looked like an unending stone cylinder that bore through the centre of the tower, all the way down. The floor was only half a cap that tried to cover this bottle of dark void. The whole scene was bathed with a dull bluish light that cast long shadows. It reminded him of this hunts in the moonlight. He waited at the end of the corridor looking for any signs of the Purohit.
When nothing happened for a minute, he slowly stepped into the open area. Suddenly there was the sound of a gun going off and a sharp pain in his abdomen. He was lying on his back the next moment. The muscular figure of a shirtless bearded man hovered in sight for a second before the man’s fist connected with his jaw. Roy could feel his teeth loosen. A sensation of pain exploded in his mouth and nose. His hands were on the floor now. He was doubled up on his knees. All he could see was the floor and the weird red shape that the blood dripping from his mouth was making on the shiny stone floor. In the dark blue light, the blood looked almost black. There was a voice above him.
“You have made this too easy for me,” it said.
Roy tried getting up. His vision was still blurry and incoherent. He fumbled with his hands on the ground for his katana and found it. He had managed to curl his fingers around its grip when a foot swung out of nowhere and kicked him hard on the knuckles. His katana clanged as it slid across the floor and out of reach. Someone was picking him up now.
He was now on his feet and facing the Purohit, who was now holding him up. The complex tattoo on the Purohit’s forehead blurred in and out of focus as Roy staggered. He felt the cold hands of the Purohit on his neck.
“Who are you?” the Purohit asked.
Roy answered by kicking him with his knee in the abdomen. The Purohit staggered for a moment. Roy was still groggy. His stomach and mouth were burning with pain. He ran his hands over his abdomen and found a bullet lodged deep in his vest. The moment he looked up, the world blurred as the Purohit punched him again.
“Only the Ashvins have those vests. Where did you get one? From that traitor Vikranth?” The Purohit asked.
Where’s my katana? You killed her. You killed her.
He was not sure if he was saying these things aloud or only in his mind. The world stopped spinning for a moment, a fist loomed quickly into his vision and then Roy saw only darkness.
Veda’s lips were chapped and peeling. The fire also seemed to have burnt her eyebrows a little. Her breath was still strained and the cough still came back for a few minutes every half an hour. She didn’t mind the cough. The taste of smoke in her mouth was what troubled her. A thick suffocating taste that refused to die down. Two tiny gulps each –that was all she and Pradeep could get out of whatever little water was left in their bag.
She didn’t fully remember passing through the fire though. It wasn’t until much later when they had dashed out of the purge zone and she had enough clean air to breath that her mind stopped being a mush. Her calf hurt where the fire had singed her. Her skin appeared to have darkened to a deep red blemish across her right lower leg when they inspected it. Nothing a couple of days of healing could not take care of. Their only problem was to survive a couple of days. They had been searching for something to eat and drink for almost ten long hours now. They felt barely awake. She silently watched from behind as Pradeep struggled to stay awake and in control of the reins.
She loved the man in front of her –of that she was sure. This wasn’t the first time. She had loved before. Other men.
But this time it felt different. This time it felt right; not because the world had ended and they only had each other. He seemed right even in a world full of happy possibilities.
She held him tightly from behind and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Will we make it?” she asked.
Pradeep didn’t reply. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. Suddenly he was nudging the horse to trot faster. She could feel the horse accelerate. She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked ahead. Now she could see it –in the far distance.
Fires.
Not purge fires but human fires and tents.
A huge campsite.
A circular ring of fire that was lit to mark the area, glowed over the horizon in the dark. She laughed in excitement and Pradeep joined.
“Yes!” there was hope in Pradeep’s voice now. “Yes, I think we are going to make it!”
Veda heard Pradeep shout cheerfully into the wind.
Shukra’s pale face shone in the flicker of his chamber lamp. He was standing at the door looking at Vikranth. But Shukra’s eyes were glued onto the object in Vikranth’s hands. The head of his pet kinkar.
“Listen!” said Shukra. “I don’t know what Urushi might have told you but she is lying. She is a blasphemer and a betrayer. Do not trust a word she says. Her words are poison,” he mumbled quickly.
“Is it so, Shukra ji?” Urushi’s voice said, as she stepped aside from behind Vikranth.
Her eyes were red as coals. Her hair fell to her breasts in matted curls. Her thin frame made her look like a living corpse –a ghost –a nightmare.
Shukra slowly stepped backward as Urushi advanced towards him like an apparition.
“You can’t –You can’t do this,” Shukra’s breath was trembling. “I am an Avadhani. Don’t you dare lay a hand on me,” He squealed.
“I am an Avadhani too, Shukra ji!” Urushi taunted him. “A far better Avadhani, in fact.”
Shukra quickly walked backwards until he hit his table. He pointed his dagger at her.
“Don’t come any closer, bitch. I’ll carve you up.”
Urushi looked at Vikranth and nodded before turning back to Shukra.
“Not the language that tastes good on an Avadhani’s lips, Shukra ji!” she smiled.
Before he could react, Urushi’s fist hit him square on the nose.
“I am not just an Avadhani. I was a rebel warrior once, you see,” she said.
Shukra fell on the table from the impact of the punch. Vikranth walked up to the table and placed the kinkar’s head on it. With a quick jab to the still reeling Shukra’s wrist, he quickly disarmed him. The dagger fell with a clang to the floor. Urushi picked it up.
Shukra was bleeding from his nose.
“Please let me go. I beg you!” he screamed.
Vikranth held Shukra’s face from behind with his elbows locked beneath Shukra’s armpits.
“All yours, darling!” Vikranth said to Urushi.
Urushi brought up the dagger to Shukra’s neck.
“You remember what I told you that day? I told you that we would rip you open and feed you to your own pet,” she smiled. “This is the part where we will do that,” she paused. “Hmm … now let me see … Where shall I begin?” she said, examining his face.
She slowly ran the dagger across his face, first on his neck and then up his jaw, finally stopping at his right ear. Shukra was now breathing rapidly and trembling all over.
“How about this?” Urushi asked, tapping the dagger on his ear.
“Please no! Plea–” Vikranth’s hand covered Shukra’s mouth, and Urushi went to work.
She hacked at his ear with a feral rage, like cutting through a stubborn piece of cardboard. She bluntly cut through the tissue and the muscle, pulling the ear away with her other hand.
Shukra’s screams though muffled by Vikranth’s hand were still chilling to behold. Tears streamed from his bulging eyes.
The ear came away clean in Urushi’s hand. She stopped, panting. She pried open the mouth of the kinkar’s head and dropped the ear inside as if depositing a coin in a piggy bank.
“Plenty of space in there, Shukra ji!” she said, pointing to the kinkar’s mouth.
“Now for your pet’s next treat, your fingers please,” she said and held up his hand.
Shukra’s eyes widened with terror. Vikranth tightened his hold on Shukra’s mouth and then closed his own eyes.
SINNERS AND THE SINLESS
As they approached the fires, the excitement in Veda was mingled with a simmering sense of dread. She hoped the campers would be friendly enough to offer them food and shelter for the night and supplies for the rest of their journey.
“What if they are hostile?” she asked Pradeep.
“I hope not. Stay close until we figure out who we are dealing with,” Pradeep replied.
She could see a small band of men walking towards them from the camp. They were dressed in old age clothes –presumably scavenged from a store. No weird robes and no armours. No blue skins either. They didn’t look dangerously armed.
A rare sight in the wastelands.
She counted three men and two women. The flames from the torches in their hands danced in the winds as they walked to them.
Pradeep pulled the reins, slowly bringing the horse to a halt. Veda jumped down and Pradeep followed. A pang of pain shot up her calf where she was burnt. She staggered before regaining her balance.
This is going to take some time to get used to, she thought. Fire and its ugliness.
Even in the torches of the men approaching them, she saw the ugliness dance. Maybe it’s how the light from the fire lit their faces, but she felt their faces were tainted with an uncanny look about them – a mask of strangeness that she couldn’t quite place. Something didn’t line up. Maybe it was their unflinching eyes and their look of deep oblivion or maybe it was their content smiles that didn’t belong to the End Age. She shook the feeling away. Now was not the time to be paranoid, she told herself.
As they came closer, Pradeep raised his arms in the air.
“We mean no harm!” he said.
Veda raised her arms too. The man leading them, a young bearded man with wide shoulders and strong arms seemed to inspect them for a moment.
“No need for that,” he said, pointing at their raised arms. “You can’t harm us even if you meant to!”
Pradeep and Veda dropped their arms.
“We are just looking for some food and water,” Prad
eep said.
“And somewhere to rest for a while!” Veda added.
“You both are in some pretty bad shape,” said the man, looking at Pradeep’s bleeding leg where the tree branch had cut him.
The man seemed to say the words, but Veda felt they were coming from somewhere else as if he was only a medium to deliver the words.
What is it with me today? She thought.
The man’s eyes now lingered on their blackened clothes and smoked faces.
“A Purge?” the man’s words asked.
“Narrow miss,” Pradeep replied, grimly.
“No problem! Boss’s going to take good care of you. Purges aren’t anything to be afraid of,” the man said. “We are going to take care of the horse,”
He walked up and took the reins in his hand. He gently tugged at the reins walking the horse along with him.
“C’mon, follow us!” the bearded man said, as the group turned and walked towards the campsite.
That was easy, Veda thought. Too easy?
She looked at Pradeep and caught him looking at her. If he had any apprehensions, his hopeful smile didn’t show it. He nodded at her reassuringly and she reluctantly nodded back. They silently walked behind the men into the campsite.
The circular campsite engulfed them as they entered it. As they walked through the numerous tents and burning fires, Veda could see other men and women –some young and some old, staring at them silently through their tents.
They all wore a mismatched jumble of tattered clothes assorted from various scavenged sources. Many of them smiled as her eyes briefly met theirs. Some looked away swiftly, refusing to confront or acknowledge their presence. Those who smiled did so in a dreamy way –like a stoned teenage kid, high on fission grass–a smile directed not at you but something else they saw in you, something else they saw in their mind’s eye.
She silently stepped forward, neither returning the smiles nor staring at those who looked away. They walked in a straight line among the tents to the centre of the circular campsite.
Sinners- The Dawn Of Kalki Page 18