"It's a misconception that mages are born with magic," Jyran said, "We are not. Nobody is. In reality, we are born with raw talent. The talent to draw the strength which helps us wield magic from one specific source that's been buried somewhere beneath the ground of this country. We utter a spell, urging the source to give us the power to see them through. Same as how humans pray to the deity, expecting her to listen and give them great gifts. Knowingly or unknowingly, we draw power sometimes, but the Paramarashtrian study of Magic teaches mages the long and the hard way to draw with precision and methodically use magic. Everything needs practice, and so do we. That is what I'm going to teach you today, Rahu. So, listen carefully and do as I say."
"What is this source?" Rahu asked, folding his hands. If Jyran wanted him to listen, then he deserved more information. Give and take. "I want to know more about it. If it's something that interests me, then I'll decide whether or not to learn anything from you."
Jyran stood upright, outwardly calm but jittering internally. He gaped at his son, his jaw constricted. In the bleak, soulless room somewhere in the basement, Jyran's expression seemed stern with pomposity. "Lady Drishtika," he said with a powerful tone. "She is the one who gave birth to magic. Our country redefined itself in extraordinary ways since the inception of supernaturality, which is unknown and indiscernible to the minds of humankind even today. Lady Drishtika decides which human is worthy enough to wield magic and continue her legacy. Thus, making her the power source of magic in Paramarashtra."
The story of Lady Chandrika trapping a boy in order to gain Shaatrumani stone raced through Rahu's mind. "Drishtika? Do you mean Lady Chandrika's relative? Isn't she older?
"Yes. The relationship between Chandrika to Drishtika had been the same as that of Haimavathi and Chandrika. The famous women who spent their entire lives checkmating each other. While Haimavathi and Chandrika were the two High Priestesses in their era for their sincere devotion towards Vrindahina, Lady Drishtika on the other hand was known as the High Demoness, for she was the unimaginably better and skilled performer of magic."
"Checkmate?" Rahu asked, getting involved in the story. It was getting hard to keep his face expressionless. "Because Chandrika stole Shaatrumani from Drishtika's son? Is that it?"
"The animosity is beyond that," said Jyran. "According to the legend, the prevailing clash between humans and mages started way before the era of Lady Chandrika. Drishtika handpicked certain humans and turned them into mages with or without their permission. This was deemed as slavery. In turn, provoking a wave of strikes and protests. Normal humans condemned the existence of the transformed mages. They tortured and abused the mages in their own way while the mages exploited their powers to dominate humans.
Drishtika desired to demolish the classification among humans, that is humankind on the whole. This could be grounded as an act of kindness, that is to make everyone equally powerful and eradicate the sense of fear and defeatism from everyone's minds. The number of mages began to grow. The Great Transition, they called it. But those who wanted to stay humans and preferred to have classification among humans could not agree with the mages placing stranglehold. It had to be the normal humans leading the country. It had to be the High King."
"Let me guess," said Rahu. "This must be why Lady Chandrika introduced the concept of Samagraha. To fight them. We are neither normal humans nor mages, but we're humans stronger than mages."
"Correct."
"Wasn't Lady Chandrika a witch herself?"
Jyran gave a single nod, the corners of his mouth twisting into a prideful smile. "A clever and daringly innovative witch. Owning the powerful Diamond guaranteed that the Deities were on her side. Humans trusted her. They revered her. They sought her help to which she listened. She promised to slow down the growth rate of Great Transition, and let humans lead the country on a condition that they allowed her to introduce Samagraha to the country and let her practice limited magic that improved the welfare of humans."
"How did she do that?"
"Those who knew her intimately could readily testify that she was unfalteringly keeping her word. Killing the mages was not an option, for Chandrika wouldn't want to enrage Drishtika and risk losing her magic. She rather favored indulging in unsavory practices, starting from building a relationship with Drishtika's son and ending with waging war on the older mage. With sheer subtlety and profound use of magic, Lady Chandrika succeeded in trapping and locking Drishtika's spirit in a specially designed strongroom called The Molten Vault. This vault is what we call our very source of magic."
"Molten Vault?" Rahu asked, ears flushing with excitement but the dark magic ruling his mind, body, and soul drowned the emotion down. "Go on. Explain."
"A beautiful fusion of lava and water- the Molten Vault is said to be a home of a plethora of tales and mysterious happenings. For instance, people whoever born as normal humans went there and returned as mages. The place oozes magic, the magic that defies the natural law, and every law of magic studied in Paramarashtra. Shashi Thribhuvan is the only person we know from our generation, who made an official trip into the vault and returned with magic. It's hearsay though, the truth is best known to him. He also claims that the place shows a fixed event from the past. An event that you most want to see. The reason why he befriended Zarina Khan is to get some attestation of what he had seen. But, Rahu, all you need to know regarding this place is that Lady Drishtika's spirit is trapped in this vault. She is considered both dead and undead. And we channel her spirit in order to draw strength from the source."
"So... nobody went there after Shashi?" Rahu asked, with slight greed and desperation in his voice.
"Technically," said Jyran. "Lava Viewing was another major tourist attraction until the demise of King Harsh's father. Guests preferred to live alongside hosts, and that's how the Clan of Vaquero evolved to live in the vicinity. Everyone wanted to have a glimpse of glowing lava surrounded by water. It was considered safe since there's been not a single case of an erupting volcano. It has been dormant for ages. But then the news broke that Shashi Thribhuvan, belonging to the Clan of Rajya, turned out to be a powerful mage trained by Almourah. Since then the place had been technically self-forbidden by humans. People were convinced that the place was capable of turning normal people into mages. Nobody wanted that. Besides this, many complained about noise nuisance, about hearing screeching sounds, and some of them claimed to have witnessed a shadow of a two-headed giant living in the place. Nobody dared to go inside. It was simply prohibited, officially and unofficially."
"Two-headed giant? Reminds me of Agnidaanav."
"Yes, that is it. The creature never caused any destruction. An entire clan happily resided by the hill which was its home. They almost forgot about the creature until Formation Samagraha fought with it. Its existence only then came to full light."
Rahu nodded remembering the day they encountered Shashi for the very first time."Let's get back to Lady Drishtika. So why take all the burden of leaving her undead? What happened if she dies?"
"Magic will be lifted off from this country forever," Jyran said, as a matter of factly. "We don't want that, do we? Lady Chandrika did the right thing."
"What if she gets out? What would be then the fate of this country?" Rahu wished he could feel the sense of greed in his voice.
"Every human today would be turned into a mage," Jyran said, his voice turning rougher. "That's her lifetime goal. And she would attain it anyhow only to take revenge on Lady Chandrika."
"The Maiden's cup is only one of the keys with the potency to unlock the Molten Vault," said Shashi.
One of the keys to open the Molten Vault? Maiden's Cup, was it? The cup that belonged to Leena, the cup that required her ability to operate? Ability! That's right, that's the actual key! There were four more such abilities chosen by the Firsts to pass down. That twin, the prisoner who Hayden punished, didn't he mention the Third Eyes? So what are they- the Cup, The Shaatrumani Stone, The Pride? Tyrell gasped. So that was why Shashi was hell-bent on acquiring the dagger. He wants it to open the Molten Valt. He wants to release the spirit.
Oh my god! Tyrell hyperventilate, He held a fist against his mouth breathing heavily and not letting any sound escape. The ritual, he decerned, had always been a word of warning. The Third-Eyes of the Pancharatna would release the spirit of the High Demoness into the country. Shashi Thribhuvan was on his mission to turn every human into a mage.
Tyrell was so baffled and infuriated that he wanted to scream. A few sparks escaped and crackled at the tips of his fingers.
"I held onto the Maiden's cup since then," Shashi continued. There was a click and clank as if a tap on the glass. Tyrell frowned at that. "But only knowing about the cup had me thinking about its importance. Everything about the Molten Vault was so tremendously exciting. About Lady Drishtika and her unique flair for transitioning humans to mages. About the rest of the keys. Rest of the Third-Eyes. Only the Pride was out of bounds. But I almost had it. I had it, mother. With the girl's support, I'd have already released the spirit by now."
A red mist descended and Tyrell felt his insides burning, anger bubbling so hot in him.
"Mother, I can imagine it so well," Shashi said. "The mages shall rule this country instead of some old dirty drunk Kings. Nobody needs to be scared of the Clan of Rajya anymore. Nobody needs to be indecisive about whether or not to use magic. No Samagraha needs to shoulder the burden of the country. How exciting is that, Tyrell Kissler?"
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