“The dagger?” Her eyes go wide.
“Yes. We must retrieve it. It is the only way to trap him in the vessel he now inhabits.”
“But only Leela can wield it. Only she can trap him.”
“Which is why we need to find a way through those shields. A way to find her and bring her back here in secret. On our terms.”
“Then we keep testing the shield until we find a weak spot.”
But I have something more proactive in mind. “There is another way…”
She frowns up at me, reading my face. Her eyes go round. “You cannot be serious.”
“Deathly.”
“Death will be the word if you try to activate the obelisk. It’s warded and guarded by the most powerful Asura.”
“I know, which is why they won’t be looking at the portways.”
“The portways are dead,” she says. “Useless. They’re decoys for the devouring force to waste time on…Aren’t they?”
“Most of them, yes, but there is one that can still be activated, and if I can get to the portway in Shahee Kshetra, then I can get to the ground. I’ll find Leela and bring her back. But there is no point bringing her here if we do not have the dagger.”
Her eyes brighten. “Where is it? The dagger?”
“In the palace.”
She curses softly. “My spy barely managed to go undetected last time. I can’t send him in again, especially when the layout is so unfamiliar. The risk of him getting caught is too high, and then…What if they torture him and discover our plans?”
“He won’t need to traverse the whole of the palace. All he needs to do is get to one room. To one being.”
“Oh…Leela’s anchor, Blue?”
The first thing we’d done was to find out who the primordial evil was surrounding himself with at the palace. Blue, it seemed, is a favored guest. One he’s kept close the past week since he took the throne. Blue is connected to Leela and seemingly as unaffected by the primordial evil’s influence as she was.
Arpita chews on her cheeks. “Blue is in a cage.” Her eyes narrow. “Cage locks can be picked.” She nods. “It’s a risk we have to take.”
We’d agreed to leave Blue where he was, to not draw attention, but the plan has changed. “We need to get a messageto Blue. The location of the dagger and a rendezvous point so he can hand over the item and we can get him out.”
“How large is this dagger?” Arpita asks. “Will Blue be able to carry it?”
“It’s small enough. He’ll be fine.”
She nods. “Very well. I’ll speak to my woman and get a message to Blue. Where is the dagger hidden?”
“There is a secret compartment in the bottom drawer of the desk in my study. Blue will find it.”
“If he’s caught…”
“He won’t be.”
She sighs heavily and drains her cup. “I’ll speak to my spy. You had better get ready for our meeting. The ambassadors will be arriving within the hour.”
The pari and the rakshasa are free of influence right now, trapped like us. Their domains are patrolled by Asura to keep them locked in, but there are hidden passages between the domains that the primordial evil does not know of. Passages older than the Authority. Ones put in place by Vijayroodra and the Danava king, and those passages will allow us to convene against a common enemy now.
“It is no easy feat to fight an enemy when his goal is unclear,” Arpita says softly.
She clips out of the room, leaving me to the crimson skies and my guilty thoughts because I know exactly what the primordial evil’s intention is. And soon, so will everyone else. I hope I can stop him before he begins.
