part0086

Ratri led Kali inside her house, but Kali chose to walk around. He scanned his surroundings, Ratri noticed, like a hawk, smelling and letting his ears move back and forth, as if he was trying to get a sense of the place. Ratri led him to her study, but Kali sent Koko and Vikoko out in the back, to check the other rooms.

“I apologize,” he said, his voice cold and calculating. “I have grown to such a stature that many want to kill me. It’s customary to do a formal checking and recce. Please, lead me.”

Ratri did, sitting on the opposite side of her study, while Kali came forward and sat in front of her. “You have a fine Yaksha servant at your disposal.” He patted the Yaksha’s head. “Thank you for the water, but I won’t take it.” Kumar went back, mumbling to himself.

Kali studied the room, while Ratri continued to watch him. The silence was killing her and thanks to the Gods, she had a basement ready, where there was a passage leading out of the house and out in the open. It was for emergencies just like this, since she was heavily mired in propaganda and knew one day she had to escape when her house was cornered by swordsman and archers. They must have left, since Koko and Vikoko returned, shaking their heads, and Kali nodded back at them. Koko and Vikoko were popular by now, the twins that had taken the city under their fist. They were everywhere and most people were scared of their towering, brute personalities.

“I never thought I’d be meeting you.”

“Why is that? I mean, Vedanta had told me so much about you. It was a shame he took away your seat in the government and put you in-charge as a librarian with a fancy title to it. But we both know it was to get rid of you.”

Ratri smiled forcefully. What was this man getting at? At a closer look, Ratri could see how his veins were popping out of his skin. He used to look different, she recalled, with a rather handsome face, long hair and a charming, disarming smile. At least that was what she had seen when Vedanta was announcing the new leaders of the city and she was amongst the many nobles, forced to clap and applaud.

He had changed. But what had made him like this, only he knew.

“Vedanta had a poor sense of judgment in your case, so I’ve decided to replace him.”

Kali smiled as if it was obvious.

“Oh,” smugly Ratri nodded, “you.”

“Yes. I have decided to be the king now, since matters have forced my hand. I can’t do anything but agree. Many in the government feel that way. We tallied and saw.”

“Why wasn’t I invited?”

“I asked Vedanta. He said it didn’t matter.”

For all she knew about Vedanta, he couldn’t have said that. Perhaps the so-called absurd tally was bribed, forced or even fictitious.

“But I, an upstanding citizen now of this city, decided this would not be the case. So I came here to take your vote. What do you propose? Do you think I am capable of being a king?”

He was acting strangely. It did not seem likely that a person like Kali would bother to travel to the house of a mere functionary, in order to get her vote to legitimize his rule.

“Your silence assures me of a positive response,” he nodded. “I’m glad and, of course, thank you for this invite,” he signalled at his guards who went outside, his voice raising high. “You have been gracious enough to do that. I always believe books are a way of to heaven. And we can all go on that path if more of us tend to be readers. You have built a healthy, literary heritage.” He nodded to himself, as his guards came forward with huge terra cotta pots in their hands. “When I see what is happening in the city, I’m often reminded of a time back in the village I had been temporarily staying at. It had a small tailor’s shop I worked at, just as a roller. You know what a roller is?”

Ratri shook her head.

“It’s the least important and most boring job you can come up with,” Kali said. “You need to take the clothes the tailor gives you, roll them and keep them packed. That was it. Anyway, we worked at a barn. We got a customer one day, asking us to refund the money we took. And mind you, we took nothing but meager coins for the work we did. We asked why. He showed us his garment, which was torn. It was odd. When he left after receiving his coins, we began to look around, and you know what we found?”

Ratri remained quiet.

“Rats. All inside the hay, hiding. Whenever we tried to catch them, we couldn’t, because they were able to escape, those little creatures. We tried to ignore them, but they managed to tear our clothes and we were losing business. People said we didn’t do our jobs well. We were on the brink of unemployment when my master, the tailor, got an idea. You know what he did?”

“No. What did he do?”

“He burnt down the barn.”

“What about his employment?”

“He could build the barn again, but he couldn’t kill the rats. So he burnt down the barn. It was a lovely sight.” He paused. “I realized that day in order to win some, you lose some.”

Ratri pursed her lips, as she looked at the terracotta pots the guards were holding onto, finally realizing what it was about, the entire story.

“What is going on?”

Kali stood up, announcing, “A sign of my respect.” He signalled to Koko and Vikoko, who began to spill water everywhere. “I am blessing you with the holy liquid,” he smirked.

But the smell was a giveaway. Ratri stood up and pulled out the knife from underneath the table, where it had been glued.

“Hence, it’s holy. For fire is where I grew up in and it’s fire where you will die.”

“Why are you doing this?” She plunged her blade in the air, but it didn’t reach Kali for he was quick enough to grab her by the throat, pushing her against the wall.

Koko and Vikoko used the fire lamps in the house, letting them race across the spilled oil. As she was held captive against the wall, she could see her house burning down around her, the smell of charred wood and paper engulfing her nose.

“I have ravens in the city that speak to me, whisper in my ears about the infidels that have corrupted my city. And guess who they whispered of recently?” he whispered in her ears, his voice raspy.

Of course. Spies. Informants.

But who? Padma. Was it her? No. Was it Kalki? Oh no. Did Kali follow them here when they were returning? It could be possible.

“We should leave, my lord,” Vikoko said, hearing a sudden noise.

And that is when Kumar entered with a sword, trying to attack and succeeding in doing so, as he sliced Vikoko’s armoured leg. Koko came forward near Vikoko and slashed the head of the Yaksha. Ratri yelled in shock, her lungs burning with the smoke, as she coughed and cried. Vikoko groaned, touching the bloody stump on her body, as she kicked the head of Kumar across the room.

“They are always such little idiots,” Kali sighed, pushing her against the wall, as she felt pain blurring her vision. Ratri flung the dagger that had fallen to the ground, piercing deep into Kali’s neck.

Kali stopped. His hand reached out for the blade. He calmly pulled it out, looked at his blood, and touched the back of his neck. It didn’t even affect him.

“Nice try, my lady. Perhaps in the after life, you can learn not to hit a God with a mere blade,” he winked, leaving her in the fire. She staggered on the floor.

She tried to save herself from the fire that had begun to engulf the entire room. Ratri could feel the burn in her lungs, because; the room was slowly running out of clean air to breathe. Her last coherent thought before she passed out, was noticing a pair of feet near her head. But wasn’t Kumar already dead?

No. The feet belonged to none other than Bala, who had come to rescue her. “What happened?” he cried to her, but words wouldn’t make their way out of her mouth.

“You returned,” Ratri smiled weakly, as Bala broke through the burning wreckage around them, trying to get them both to a safe place.

“I had to. I couldn’t leave the most amazing person I met to die,” he stopped. “Ugh, the basement door is closed.” When the ceiling suddenly caved in, she realized, dimly, that she could see stars in the sky. She swivelled her head, focusing her vision, when she realized her entire house was on fire. It was over. Everything she owned or she would ever own, her partner, Kumar…

And then she felt a sudden change in her position, as Bala’s arms weakened and she fell to the ground. She looked up. There were two arrows in Bala’s chest. Ratri turned and saw Kali with Vikoko and Koko, who were using bows and arrows. Bala took out his mace, breaking the arrows, even as blood spilled from his chest.

Kali yawned, as he came forward, letting Koko and Vikoko rest their weapons, his eyes blinking as he turned to Ratri, who was still on the ground. “I told you. Rats just come out when there is fire. And then they die.” He was close to her, with a sword in his hand, when Bala blocked her.

Ratri yelled, trying to make Bala understand that Kali was somehow immune to blades and other weapons, when everything happened all at once. Bala smashed the mace, but before it could hit Kali, his hands stopped him and he twisted Bala’s thick, burly arm with ease. Ripping his shoulder joint and bones out, Kali pierced his sword into Bala’s neck at the same time, skewering him, and his eyes went lifeless. He then twisted the sword upwards, shattering his skull. Bala’s body, lifeless, lay on the ground, as tears stung Ratri’s eyes. She reached out for him, seeing his face, destroyed by Kali’s ravage.

And she turned, rasping, her eyes venomous, as she reached for the mace that Bala held. Kali brought a sword down on her back, neatly piercing and tossing her to on the ground. She retched then lay still, her eyes seeing nothing.