THE CHRONICLES OF DAGAD TRIKON
Instalment 7
Hangker’s troops had by now completely sealed the mountain that sheltered the wizard’s den. The mood was somber. Lidholon spent the rest of the second day in the Sand Keeper’s refuge, resting or chatting with Agnorth. He wanted to probe the young librarian who had strong academic qualifications from the Falkiliad College of Creative Projection. “You see,” commented the scholar as they sipped cinnamon tea in the Chamber of Healing, “being knowledgeable is helpful only under certain conditions.”
“Is this the reason why access to the library was so restricted?” asked Lidholon. “Why wasn’t the master teaching students at the Shambalpur Academy and sharing what he knew?”
“The lore of the Deep Way is a bit treacherous, in a sense.”
“That’s a strong word. Can you explain?”
“Well, it’s full of tricks for the tricksters and of locking mechanisms for the rest of us. We cannot ascend if we don’t find the right entry point. To squeeze through these narrow gates takes inner work. The wizard could only give one-to-one teaching. To simplify, the Deep Way can be transferred on condition that the student establishes a subtle balance between three organs.”
“Three organs?”
“Exactly. The heart, the liver, the brain. Here I am quoting him: ‘The heart projects the intuition which has the capacity to touch reality from inside; the liver projects the attention, which has the capacity to grasp reality from outside; the brain projects the integration of all this into the consciousness.’ It sounds simple to say, but it is difficult to achieve. Today’s students are too agitated; their attention has lost the staying power to achieve the necessary fine-tuning. The lord wizard says this is one of the reasons the Age of the Avasthas has come to its end.”
Lidholon was going to ask another question but Etakir, followed by the Sand Keeper hastily entered the room and walked to the small circular window. The window of the Chamber of Healing also served as an observation post. Carved high in the cliff, it hung over the nearby spur and the neighboring foothills. In clear weather, the wizard’s sentinels could see the high walls, golden domes and minarets of Shambalpur far below in the valley formed by the Gundaldhar fault. But now the billowing smoke of the blazing forests and the burning of the city hid the sight of the bottom of the canyon.
Taking an arrow from his quiver Etakir slowly removed some branches of the hanging foliage and addressed the elder in a low but tense voice as they peered outside.
“Look at the pterodactyl down there. It was circling in front of the window of the Chamber of Healing. It had sniffed something and its rider tried to peer through the camouflage curtain of hanging vegetation. If I had shot, they would have found us out. The eagles have long gone; we are defenseless against these damned birds. But now he has landed on the buff to the left, about hundred meters below; the spy has dismounted and is reporting to this group of enemies.”
Lidholon joined them and carefully removed more foliage. The three heads were now straining to see the movements of the enemy below. They could make out a party of about thirty soldiers. The flying spy was kneeling before two tall silhouettes in the centre and looked like the leaders of the group. Etakir’s glance was piercing. He trained it on them and could not repress a shriek of horror. He asked in a strangled voice, “My lords are you seeing what I see?”
The wizard did not respond. He grabbed the small binoculars from his pocket and adjusted them. But Lidholon was another Yuva platoon fighter with excellent sight. He noted that all the party was wearing the grayish armors of the troopers of Hangker, with the exception of the man on the left who was draped in a large violet robe. The silhouette next to him, however, was wearing the long tunic that was worn by the dignitaries of Dagad Trikon.
“What are you seeing, children?” asked the wizard in a whisper.
The son of the Nizam exclaimed in a horrified tone. “Oh my God, no, it is not possible.”
Etakir could not speak.
The wizard swifly replaced the binoculars in the ample pocket of his mantle. Grabbing the two yuvas by the shoulders, he pulled them hastily away from the window.
instalment 8