When Vyom agreed to watch over the pupil, he had no wish to play nurse. His ruse was to find the damn map and take off. So, as soon as the rest of the party left in search of the silly water, he ransacked the sage's chamber, but there was no sign of the damn map. He even combed through the boy's room. Not a hint. All he found were some tattered old books on the art of Tantra and some carefully folded letters from what Vyom surmised the boy's mother.
He heaved a long sigh and sat defeated by the boy's bedside. Vyom thought of Sachi as a boy, but he knew Sachi would frown and protest. He chuckled at the thought. In the little time he had known him, Sachi had shown great interest and fair promise in Tantra. Vyom did wish the boy a full recovery, but small chance Sachi would ever wake up, an even smaller chance he would ever practice Tantra.
Didn't he say he wanted to face his fears? It seemed like he did, after all. And whatever he faced was not a common evil. The boy's color was slowly fading, the bones of his cheeks already showing. But he lay peacefully on two feather pillows with his palms clasped over his belly and a gentle cast to his face, as if he was watching the most pleasant dream.
A slow knock interrupted Vyom's thoughts.
"Yes?" Vyom called out.
It was the snake, as Vyom suspected. Luckily, Vyom remembered to tidy up after rifling through Sachi's possessions. Naga Rathi soundlessly crept in through the door and greeted Vyom with his oily smile.
"I hoped I would find you here," the naga said.
"Indeed?"
The serpent man slid by the bed to where Vyom was sitting beside the sick boy. It was a nice, airy room, ample for a modest inn in a small town. The enormously large window by the bed was covered unsuccessfully by a small, thin curtain. Sunlight seeped in through the curtain and warmed the mud-plastered walls of the room nicely.
"Sad business," Rathi remarked, slit eyes narrowing at the boy, "He is too young to leave this world."
Vyom gave a lazy shrug. "Not my place to say who can or cannot leave this world unless they are my mortal enemy."
The naga gave Vyom a sideways glance. He then began to place a hand on the boy when Vyom quickly grabbed it. "Better to keep away from the sick. Who knows what illness he has. I would not wish it upon you, my lord."
Naga Rathi snatched his ringed hand from Vyom. "Nagas are a tough breed," he argued pointlessly and then moved up to a cushioned chair at the foot of the bed before sliding on top of it. "I would not expect the tantric guild to teach you lot about the nagas."
"All Tantric Guild has taught me was to weave my threads. When it came to saving a life or taking one, I had to learn on my own. I presume you know that from birth."
"You know nothing of me or my people," Naga Rathi hissed as if his words were poison, "We did not have a guild to look after us, neither did we have the patronage of OneRealm's ruler. When the war for OneRealm ended, the Tantric guild had all the praise and the riches, and yet my people's valor went unnoticed. My tribe moved from place to place, building refuge only to be torched down by the locals." Naga Rathi's brilliant yellow eyes were flashing furiously.
Vyom offered a helpless half-smile. "I have no loyalty to the guild or the people of OneRealm, my lord. So, your words do not offend me. One thing the Guild did teach me was to deceive the world before the world deceives you. You wear your cunning like armor, and I respect that. Perhaps, now, you can tell me about the purpose of this visit." Vyom knew the best way to pull words out of wily characters was to be straight.
The naga watched the tantric for a moment, surprised at the frankness, and then cleared his throat. "I noticed that you do not have your Guild Amulet on. A forsaken then?" he guessed, pointing to his neck. The edge of his voice from before was now gone, replaced by his usual charm. "The Guild does not forsake one of their own so lightly, I have heard."
"They had good reason," Vyom explained with a smirk.
"No matter how grave it was, even they must bow to an order from the ruler of the OneRealm." Naga Rathi's eyes darted once over to the slumbering Sachi and then back to Vyom. "Leave this place now. You will have enough gold that will last for seven generations and a pardon issued from Guild. Then, it will be up to you what you do with that pardon."
Vyom quietly weighed the offer while Naga Rathi snaked over to the table near the door and poured a glass of water.
"How charitable! And what are your plans for the boy?"
"That does not concern you."
Vyom idly watched the naga spit into the glass. "I find your offer not up to my taste. So, I must politely decline."
Before Naga Rathi could move any closer to the bed, Vyom flung an air dagger at him. The naga ducked in time to dodge the weapon.
"NOW!" yelled Rathi and within a second, three figures sneaked in through the door, quick as shadows, faces covered with colorful fanged masks.
Vyom remembered crossing paths with the same assailants on his way to the naga village weeks ago. If these men were after the book and took orders from Naga Rathi, then it was not a common enemy the royal party was against. One of the men looked more distinguished, tall with a red mask that was vaguely familiar. It came to Vyom that it was the shadow in the night that had bumped into him.
The red-masked ghost brandished a steel sword and charged at Vyom. The tantric met it with his air sword, but the force of the blow knocked away the weapon from his hand. The man came at him again, and Vyom sidestepped just in time to evade the attack. The other two masked ghosts encircled Vyom, standing between him and the bed. They all wore black robes, the likeness to his own robe was startling, but Vyom felt no Tantra flowing through them. Their bodies had no sorcery, although they were lithe as a cat and quick as arrows, almost inhuman.
"You will be wise to step away, dear tantric," rasped Naga Rathi, "your magic is futile before them." He winded around the bed to the other side where the open window was, hovering over the sleeping boy. "Take your gold and forget about all this."
Naga Rathi brought the glass down to the boy's lips, tipping it slightly. There was a sudden flutter of the curtain, and without warning, a razor-sharp antenna tipped at his neck. It was Lord Bhringi, emerging from the window.
"Move! Away from the boy!" Bhringi threatened.
Naga Rathi froze for a moment, only his slit eyes flitting from man to man. Bhringi's other antenna caught Rathi in the hand, and the glass fell from his fingers with a clang.
Vyom uttered a long sigh of relief. "I have never been more pleased at your presence, Lord Bhringi. Our Lord Naga has been acting in the most unfriendly manner since you all left." He padded up to the bed, pulling the boy away from the naga. The masked ghosts remained at their posts and did not stop the tantric.
"Bhringi," Rathi growled, his downturned eyes fixed at the edge of the antenna against his throat, "it is in your best interest that you leave us now. The tantric has a death wish, but you need not fall fighting for these rats."
A snort escaped Vyom. "I believe it is in your best interest, Naga Rathi, that you tell us what you did to this boy." Vyom dragged the boy even closer, one hand across Sachi's chest, the other around his arm. The boy felt so thin and frail like a mass of bones under Vyom's hand. But the threads of tantra still flickered inside him from time to time.
"If you believe eliminating me will keep you away from the enemy's hands, you are gravely mistaken," Rathi gave a sharp warning, "You do not know who your enemy is."
"In my world, Naga Rathi, everyone is an enemy."
Vyom lifted the boy with one hand and with the other, he blasted the masked men with a gust of air. "Lord Bhringi!" Vyom shouted, and the bee demon shoved the naga away, diving across the bed towards Vyom and Sachi. He hauled both of them up, one in each arm. A moment later, Vyom was floating, and then the three of them flew past the large, open window, up into the clear morning sky.