Maayavi studied the hall, with its capacious ceiling. “Is this really the place you want me to perform the ritual?” he asked his hosts.
Ketuvahana was taken aback—the wizard’s body was that of an emaciated person, but his voice sounded young and strong.
“Yes, this is the most secure location we could think of and it’s set apart from the regular dungeons. We have everything ready for use like you had directed,” said Sakaala, who worked as an aide to Ketuvahana. “Er…we hope this is enough for you to work the spell to capture Prince Aditya.”
Prince Aditya was the only son and heir of Harideva and Gauri Devi, the previous king and queen of Thianvelli. With Harideva dead, the queen and her son fled for their lives.
Recently, though, they seemed to have gained the protection of a group of rebels.
Despite several attempts by his father, King NagaBhairava, they were unsuccessful in capturing the royal runaways. Then, Sakaala had advised Ketuvahana to bring in a wizard for assistance and had even gone as far as securing the services of one.
The wizard cast his gaze toward thehomam—a central square firepit, created by building an altar made of stacked bricks around it. He swept his arm outward. Furniture thatdotted the room was swept as if pulled by an invisible hand, splintering against the wall, reduced to kindling.
The people in the room shrunk back.
“I need the whole floor space, not just the paltry area you provided. The entire tower will no longer be in use,” he said, as if daring people to raise objections.
“Until when?” asked Ketuvahana, not flinching when the wizard turned his dead gaze on them.
“Probably forever,” he said.
“Now hold on. We thought you didn’t require that much space. Can’t you, I don’t know, restrict the spell to this area? The other levels haven’t been cleared of prisoners,” Nandiketu protested.
The wizard approached thehomamand upended the contents of his bloody bag into the kindling assembled there for his use. Chunks of flesh, wet with blood, drizzled the wood in red droplets. The smell of blood and raw flesh rose, ferrous and pungent.
A retching sound came from one of the soldiers at the back. Nandiketu, who stood a discreet distance away, a handkerchief held delicately to his nose, made a sound of distress but voiced no other objection.
Ketuvahana’s lip curled in contempt. Of course, his brother didn’t have the stomach for violence like him or their middle brother.
“You should’ve thought of that beforehand. I warned you,” said the wizard as he worked, unheeding of their objections.
He raised his staff high in the air.
“Wait! Can’t we perform this another time? We’ll get you what you want,” pleaded Sakaala, with a fearful glance towards his employers. Ketuvahana knew his reputation of being a harsh master was well earned, and it pleased him to see the people under him worry about his reaction.
The wizard lowered his staff and gazed up as if giving it some serious thought.
“Too late,” he said finally, pointing at the oculus that was embedded into the high ceiling. “The moon and stars align. The auspicious moment is upon us. There’s no backing out now.” He fixed the aide with a baleful stare. “And if you know what’s good for you, you won’t interrupt me again.”
Ketuvahana opened his mouth wanting to put the wizard in his place, but he was held back by Sakaala.
“Are you sure we can trust this man, Sakaala?” asked Ketuvahana in a low voice.
“Pardon me, Prince, but we seemed to have hit a dead end with the search,” said Sakaala in a soothing voice as if pacifying a child. “The wizard Maayavi has a reputation for delivering, so I implore you to give him a chance. And besides, we already paid him. It’s time for him to hold up his end of the bargain.”
“As long as he doesn’t forget his place.” Ketuvahana shrugged irritably, raising his voice in a warning to wizard.
Maayavi gave no indication of having heard his words, but he did glance at Nandiketu, who stood a discreet distance away, eyes wide above his covered mouth.
Maayavi touched his staff to the kindling and the skull on his staff opened its maw and spat out a stream of fire. The wood quickly blazed, crackling the twigs as it spread to consume the dry material, burning with a golden glow that changed to a red ochre.
From his bag, he retrieved a piece of chalk and drew a circle that touched the four points of the squarehomam. And then, another square enclosing the circle followed by another circle, in alternating patterns.
Every square had a “gate” open on one of its sides to allow for the flow of energy all the way to the center.
A bone with a hole drilled on one end, a shrunken human head, a rotten egg, and a lemon were placed at crucial compass points on the diagram.
Ketuvahana slanted his head, studying the pattern when Sakaala, who had a rudimentary knowledge of the dark magic, whispered in his ear that this was called ayantra, the physical form of a spell.
