Chapter 105 - Nimai

Ishit remained seated on the floor long after the dwarf with printed skin left. He dropped the idea that the strange intruder was one of the tamed creatures of his cousins. Because he knew no such creature that could dissolve into the air except the messenger dove. Not to speak even messenger dove couldn't sneak into the castle, eluding Amora, the house anima. 

Which brought the question, who was his visitor? Of course, the dwarf has told his name -Villi, the bookling. But what did that mean? Ishit had never heard or seen such a creature, not even in Suta's tales, and yes, not even in Illium. 

Then this Toshi, the man who had sent the dwarf here.  How did he know of his bugging suspicion that there was something wrong with his memory?   

Did his parents really feed him the legendary memory pill?  Ishit couldn't help but recall his family's strange behavior during the past few days. They didn't seem surprised at him knowing all the spirit paths and elementary knowledge without even going to school, neither did anyone ask him how he managed to pass the school test with such a good score, not even Esha.  As though they had already excepted this. 

And if his knowledge was fed to him in a pill, what was Illium? Was it a creation of Suta?

Questions, suspicions, distrusts, began to dance around him in the darkness of the night, laughing at him.

Ishit got up, ignoring the racing thoughts.  He walked over to the broken window.

Out in the yard, night roses were blooming; silver butterflies with glowing wings were fluttering here and there, stealing nectar from blooming flowers. The faintly glowing vines were swaying in the night breeze. In the distance, the guards were patrolling. 

Ishit stood there, staring into the night, without blinking. 

Memory Pill? 

A mythical pill concocted by a veteran magsman that could modify one's memory. That was all he knew about this mythical pill. or to put it more precisely, it was all Suta had put in the pill for him to know.

Ishit didn't know how he should feel. Should he feel angry? 

Ishit decided to ask his parents first. He wanted to know why they had to feed him the pill. It would also clarify whether the dwarf was telling the truth. With things going like this, he couldn't believe an intruder so easily. 

Suddenly, he recalled the dautya leaf. If the dwarf was right, it should be somewhere hidden in his room. But where? There wasn't much left in the chamber. A wardrobe with his clothes, a table--that was all he had.

Everything had been cleared away by the maids. 

Ishit couldn't help but cursed himself. If he hadn't been so foolish as to smash his own chamber, the leaf wouldn't have lost the leaf.

Now he could only pray that maids wouldn't have thrown it away already. He would ask Champa about it in the morning.

Ishit laid down back on his carpet bed with the blanket as his pillow. He had to take some rest. A long day was waiting for him ahead.

****

This chapter was posted a way ahead of time...now I'm putting it in the right sequence....

The young man was Urvi, the pearl of Sursena.  And Nupur is someone who would play a crucial role in the story. 

The news of a djall hiding in the nearby woods spread like wildfire in the city. What killed the malevolent being started many rumors. Magsmen and bards were badgering the city guards to fork out some information so they could spin a tale and a song to earn their livings. However, even the most venerated Suka, the divine bard, couldn't cajole the guards into opening their mouths.

However, the folks, spooked by ominous occurrences in Minaak, couldn't be denied a story, a tale that could lighten their nightmares. 

So Magsmen racked their creative brains and churned out their version of accounts of what had transpired in the heart of the Nimara wood. 

Of course, the juicy tale had a mysterious yoddha with a murky past, hunting for the embodiments of evils, the spirit defilers, and their dark companions like djalls. 

"As I always say," began Nupura, taking a sip from his mug of wine, relishing the taste of the expensive brew. You didn't meet such a wealthy and rookie customer every day. Apparently, the young man before him was new in the south. From his accent and golden skin tone, Nupura reckoned him to be from the northwest, maybe from Sursena.

Young spirit-wielders from all nine mahajanpadas (provinces) were coming to Minaak to participate in Inna's feast. Some were to fight and some to watch. As for the almond-eyed young man sitting before him, he seemed to be an archer, or he wouldn't have been putting on the arm-guards, made of dragon skin. 

Everyone, who was coming to Minaak, wanted to hear about the djall and the tale of how traitor Kruma eluded Lord Oman. And this handsome young man was not an exception. After entering the tavern, the first thing he had asked for was a magsman who knew the tales of recent happenings. And the tavern owner had pointed out Nupura. Of course, the young man wanted to hear the eyewitness account, but no one in the city knew what had occurred in the woods.

Nupura, with other magsmen and bards, had visited the site ten days ago. They found only a gaping fissure running through the charred land covered with white ashes—nothing gory, nothing inspiring. 

So they spun the tale, of course not a cow-bull story as some fools, ignorant of the ways of sutas, were saying. They invoked the all-knowing Vayu (wind) and listened to its whisper. Thus, they complied the tale of the lone yoddha cursed to live forever and watch the world dying. 

The gruesome tale had made their heart so heavy that they had to sit there in the night, wailing. But tell this to a young lord, full of hope and valor, you wouldn't get a single penny, let alone this lavish brew. 

A tell was not something that everyone could decipher. It required the wisdom of generations and the third eye of a man called faith. 

"Love can make a man anything. A hero or a heartless villain. Take the example of Evil Lord Mora, they say his love for his mother turned him into the devil what ..." 

"I didn't pay you for the tale I hear from my wet nurse." The young man cut off Nupura before he could finish the opening sentence. 

Nupura looked at the well-sculpted face with high cheekbones. He didn't mind the brass in his patron's voice. 

The haughty spirit-wielders treated others like dirt. 

"Tell me what befell in the woods. Was it really a djall as the rumours are flying? And save your folkways, I don't have time for them." 

The young lord said, tucking the dark lock behind his ear. 

Nupura took another sip as he shook his head. 

Too impatient to decipher the tale. 

"Yes. The child of Elanor was here. As for what..." Nupura looked into the dark eyes of the young warrior, "As you don't want to hear the tale. Then it's not clear. But something did burn the ban of all lives to ashes. Lord sealed the mouths of guards. So we have no secrets to share." 

He stopped and focused on his drink.

Weak as they were, magsmen had their pride too. And If the legend could be believed, they were not so weak. They had changed the course of history. They had forged heroes in the dark times. But Alas! this world would never know the river of blood; they had shed for mankind. 

"And what your folks think killed the djall?" The young spirit wielder asked after a moment of silence. 

"You said. You don't have time for our tale."

"I'm sorry. Now tell me."

Nupura gave a piercing look to his patron. No wielder had ever apologized to him. There was something different about the young man. 

"They were four. One mortal, two immortals, and last one... ." Nupura replied, "doomed to burn eternally." 

The young man's sparkling eyes widened.

Nupura hoped for a laugh, but it didn't come. Instead, the wielder said,

"But other magsmen say it was a yoddha. Now, who should I believe?"

"They tell a story. And the story goes like that. But you asked me what our folks think killed the djall." 

The young man shook his head, 

"Ok! Now tell me of this young lord of yours. Rumors say that he has mastered all the basic spirit paths in a week. Is it true?"

"Yes. He had visited the elementary spirit academy two days ago to give his exam and passed it with full marks, surprising all the academy and Minaak. They say Nidra, the fairy of dreams, trained him during his three-year-long slumber."

"And what's your take on this?"

"Same as the folks say," Nupura said, his eyes twinkling.

"One last question and the five ducats are yours." said the young man, giving a glance to the increasing crowd in the tavern.

"Kruma, the vice head of the falconry guild was really working for the spirit-defilers?"