This is it then. Karnan accepted his fate. He was on his knees with eyes dripping tears as the lion roared. Its rancid breath made him want to throw up. Air gushed past him. Tendons stretched as its maw widened unnaturally. At least it won't be painful.
I will miss you all. His recent memories flashed before his eyes. Shri, Amitabh, Vanu, the tavern.
The beast's mouth eclipsed his head.
And stopped.
An ear-deafening growl came from the beast. Spittle rained on his face, and his head spun, unable to take the stench any longer.
The beast pulled back, or was made to by a white wooden arm. Assembled from broken pieces of the bench he had torn through. The beast snapped at it, its huge canines churning the wood to dust. But, the next moment, the arm would reform from the bits and pieces. Huge bars formed into fingers, clutching the python away from Karnan.
The other end of the snake was still attached to the Patriarch's shoulder. He snarled. Like an elastic band, the snake hybrid snapped back into him, smashing the woody arm. Splinters exploded. Karnan ducked behind a chair.
"Get out of there!" a woman screamed. Somehow Karnan knew it was meant for him. Still on all fours, he ran like an animal. Behind him, the broken benches were clicking together. He rolled, the winged creature and the patriarch both were to his left. Staring at the mammoth puppet before them.
Karnan stood, tumbling and skittering away from the impending clash of the monsters. Benches clasped tight to form a headless golem; its arms and legs were thicker than the hovering telescope. Wood groaned into a fist.
"Who are you?" demanded the Patriarch. He stood near the golden table, at an angle to his left. Straight across was the woman, the tiny exit was directly behind her. To her side was her golem.
The room had grown heavy with all the prana being channelled. Maha Nayaks could change the very density of the air around them. When using prana, they could create vacuums. That's why lower-stage artists should never be in the vicinity of their fight.
Karnan's chest clamped under the suffocation. He clawed his throat desperately, vision blurring.
"Channel!" the woman shouted. Karnan sucked in air. Prana moved into his chakra, and the burden eased.
She moved her arm. The golem's punch landed on the patriarch. Wood exploded with a boom. She slammed down her other arm. The golem punched in tandem. Another explosion. The floor shuddered, and his ears whistled from inside.
The woman facing him wore leather armour and a red mask that entirely covered her face. Around her, the floor was littered with snapped pieces of furniture. The golem lifted both its arms. Patriarch Vikramaditya rose from the woody carnage. His hair was dishevelled, scraps of white powder stuck to his face and beard. His black clothes were marred with splintered wood and broken blocks. Yet, there wasn't any blood on him.
He thundered, "Woman, I hope you know what attacking me means?"
"I know, still I did it. Do you still think it's wise to indulge me, Patriarch?" she answered without hesitation.
Karnan recognised the tone. He had heard it just hours before in the tavern. Shravni! What is she doing here?
She clapped, and her puppet swung horizontally at the Vikramaditya, who then backflipped and landed on the golden table.
A few minutes more, and the final bell of the curfew would sound. Shravni was a wood puppeteer. For some reason, she only used broken pieces to create puppets. The still intact ring of seats around the telescope was a perfect source for her. If he could break a lot of those, she could create more such golems.
Karnan pried his focus from the fight and on the bird-man still hanging onto the telescope. A thought occurred to him. He yelled at the creature, "Hey, bird. Come at me if you dare!"
Vikramaditya's laughter bellowed. He dove at the woman. The fluttering of wings came next. Karnan was on the topmost level. His eyes on the winged thing, he ran backwards towards the pyramid wall behind him. The creature came for him. Hooves slid at his face. Karnan ducked right on time, missing the kick by his teeth and sprinted. The glass wall cracked behind him.
The bird screeched; its hooves were stuck inside the broken glass. He reached the edge and jumped down to the lower level.
The bird wrenched free. He vaulted over to the next level just when it smashed into the seats behind him.
Heavens! I am still alive! He fell flat on a long bench and rolled down to the floor.
She looked his way and nodded.
"Now!" he yelled.
The broken planks formed into an arm. It caught the creature by its wing and threw it. It flew past the telescope, over to the other end. With a loud thud, it landed. Broken chairs erupted.
Mid-air, formed a leg and stomped over the beast's head. More of the chairs broke under the impact. They clamped to create another gigantic leg. The bird was kicked. It wrapped itself with its wings and skidded back, hurling wreckage over both sides.
Vikramaditya was on the ground before the table and wrestled with Shravni's golem. Both his arms held the golem's fists, while his familiar snapped its torso to pieces.
Shravni waved her hand. Two humanoid puppets clicked to life right near him and rushed to attack the patriarch.
He roared. Karnan closed his ears with his palms. The lion's roar, a high-level acoustic attack. Shoved him over the benches. Shravni was thrown back, she hit a section of the glass near the door and crumbled down. All her puppets were blown to pieces. Vikramaditya lunged. In a single leap, he crossed ten rows of seats and stood before her.
His familiar bit her shoulder. She screamed. It then pulled her up before its master. She needed wood. A lot more wood. Karnan looked at the huge telescope; it was the size of an ancient banyan.
He bolted straight at it. From the corner of his eye, he saw Vikramaditya watching him. He jumped over to the table and began to climb. The scope was made of copper, polished to transparency. Tiny pits were dug into its body to aid in its maintenance. He was halfway when the metallic stench of blood reached his nose.
No! Shravni! He looked down in horror, expecting to see Shravni dead.
Blood flooded the hall. Not as a river, but as monstrous beings. About a dozen shapes, three-legged, four-armed, ten-headed. There was a myriad of forms. Straight out of a nightmare. Some of them had swarmed the feet Shravni had conjured, immobilising it. The others held the broken pieces, forcing them from being used by her.
"Stop this foolishness." The bird-man croaked.
He was unhurt. Red mist seeped from his body, solidifying to ichor on touching the floor. From that, emerged the blood-puppets. Like Shravni, he was a puppeteer. But, far more powerful and terrifying.
Karnan quickened his climb. He had to get to the top anyhow.
"You think that will help you?" the creature howled.
He heaved himself up. The convexed lens was warm. He looked closely. On the rim of the lens, tethers made from solid prana extended to the top of the pyramid. That gave the illusion of hovering. He had read about it in one of his classes. The prana-strings were held together by a mantra of condensation, marked over the edge.
The bird-man opened his wings. Karnan clasped both palms on one of the strings. He prepared two spheres of his art and pushed them into his palms.
Gusts blasted his face. He looked up. The man flew before him. His hooves nearly touched the telescope. His mask slipped.
Karnan's stomach twisted. That couldn't be called a man. It was a demon. Jagged teeth grinned at him within a lipless mouth that stretched from one ear to another.
Without thinking, he unleashed his heat strike.
The prana-string snapped.
Pop! Broke a nearby one.
Pop! Another.
Pop! Then another.
The demon's smile faded, eyes widened. The telescope groaned and leaned.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Blood vented into his brain. The weightlessness came over and was rapidly gone. Karnan hurled down with the huge telescope.
It thudded on the table. The lens ruptured. The scope tilted and fell. Karnan pushed with his legs. He touched the floor right when the huge chunk of metal slammed over the seats, a few meters left of the patriarch. It destroyed all ten rows at once.
"Kill her now!" the bird shrieked. But it was too late. Shravni raised her hands. The broken slabs levitated.
She clenched her fist. Like arrows, they rained on him.
The patriarch caught one. Another struck his waist, his knee was next and then his head. Each blow like a booming curse.
Vikramaditya roared as he was pushed back by the onslaught. No longer blocking the exit.
Karnan had already reached the door when he heard Shravni shout, "Run!"
He ducked, sliding underneath the barrage of debris screaming above his scalp. The patriarch's enraged shrieks tore through the hall, close enough to rattle his bones.
He rolled out through the doorway. Light swarmed him, the air welcomed him with the scent of fresh grass, and the city woke up with the twenty-fourth bell as he dashed for his life.
"Hurry!" Shravni screamed beside him.
"When did you?"
"Follow me!" She veered left. Karnan struggled to keep up. She was of a higher stage. Probably top-tier Nayak.
They crossed the cobbled road that led to the main gates. Shravni had taken the lead. Something broke through the top of the pyramid and flew skywards. Shravni's palm glowed green. She flicked her wrist, and a green ball bounced before her.
A fig tree suddenly popped up from that sphere. Shravni dove into it and was gone.
"Wha-" before he could finish, a hand pulled him in.
Karnan slammed into her. Her hands wrapped around him from both sides. Their eyes stared into each other, her breath warming on his face.
She whispered beneath her mask, "Don't move. The illusion will break."
Karnan nodded curtly. A hiss came from behind. Leaves rustled.
Something slithered on his back before moving over to his shoulder. Slimy like a snail, its breath reeked of rotten flesh. He trembled. The patriarch's familiar glared at him from his left. It then coiled around Shravni's shoulder and peeked at him from her side. Its mouth was smeared with blood. The creature sniffed her shoulder for a moment and then moved down to Karnan's ankle. The thing was heavy, its body thick and scaly. But, unlike the yellow and black spots of a python, this one was uniformly golden.
Shravni gawked at him, eyes wide with fear. Her body too shuddered like his. She squeezed him tighter, her nails digging into his back. Karnan held onto her like a drowning man clutching a stick. The serpent had looped around his right leg, while its tail squiggled near his ear.
As it took whiffs from his bleeding ankle. An alarm went off in the distance. The head abruptly twisted towards the gate. It gave off a bassy growl before slipping off to the ground and sweeping away towards the entrance.
Shravni pulled away from him and took a step back. The tree vanished. Her shoulder bled, and she was panting.
Karnan bent, placing his palms over both knees. His chest throbbed. Now that the adrenaline had retreated, pain had begun to radiate from his ankle.
She pointed at it, "Get it checked, that thing isn't poisonous. But, have it checked," she huffed.
Karnan asked, between gasps, "How…did....you?" He inhaled deeply. "Know?"
"No time for that. We will discuss it later when you visit our inn. And please," she brought her palm up, "don't tell Shri anything about today."
With that, she turned and was gone.