Page 30 of The Burning Mountain
“Need help?” she heard Matangi say.
14
THE PRISONER IN THE DUNGEONS
Darkness billowed from the dungeons as Shota and Veer descended the stairs of Giridah Fort. Veer raised his lantern, as if focusing on the spiral staircase hugging the walls to the lower levels. Shota brought up his rear, carrying a heavy bag over his shoulder.
Their footsteps echoed against the stone walls. The stairs had no railing and were narrow and uneven, and they needed all their wits to keep themselves from falling down the central hollow, which was pitch-black and past the reach of the lantern’s light.
“It’s weird that I haven’t seen a single cobweb here,” remarked Shota after they had been walking for a while. “The upper chambers were fairly draped with them.”
“The spiders, and for that matter, all manner of animals, are scared to come here,” said Veer. His voice echoed weirdly in the tower, sentences falling over one another, words jumbling together, needing all of Shota’s concentration. “You’ll know why in a moment. But it’s the reason we’re bringing in some rats.”
Shota suppressed a shiver of distaste. The heavy jute bag contained a lot of things they needed, like tools to break downsimple locks, flint stones, candles, and lanterns. He didn’t want to think aboutotherthings inside the bag. It had taken them considerable effort, and they had to scour graveyards and cross a lot of palms with coins to get what they needed.
The steps abruptly ended at the bottom of the dungeon. An iron cage stood in the middle of the large circular floor, with a raised, stone path leading up to it. Many skeletons of small animals lay scattered around the tightly secured cage. Hissing sounds emerged from the shadows and the air smelled of rotting garbage. The steady drip of water somewhere was loud in the silence.
A sudden gust of air made the flame of the lantern wobble in Veer’s hands. Shadows continued their weird dance along the walls, keeping in rhythm with the flickering flame.
The hissing grew louder. Pinpricks of green light came to life in the darkness that hugged the iron cage. Outlines of snakes slowly became visible as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Hundreds of them, coiled over themselves, hanging from the bars of the cage or moving sinuously on the floor.
“I thought snake eyes didn’t glow green,” whispered Shota.
“These aren’t ordinary snakes. Some of them are real, others are illusions, but all are powered by thenagamaniand their venom is strong enough to melt stone,” said Veer, pointing at a pockmarked stone.
As he spoke, snake spittle landed at their feet, even though they were close to twelve yards away. The stone bubbled and hissed as it dissolved, creating the distinctive pockmarks.
They lurched away and Shota stumbled, his fall caught by Veer. The bag he had been carrying dropped with a dullthudto the ground. He turned around to inspect what caused him to almost fall and saw the skull of a small animal. But beyond that, he spotted a shallow trench that ran along the wall, filled with some unknown viscous fluid.
Veer moved toward it, raising the lantern. He dipped a finger into the liquid and brought it to his nose. “Tar,” he said with a grimace. “This will burn like hell once lit,” he said with a pointed look at Shota. “It might be enough to partially burn a human body if we laid it across the trench.”
Shota pretended to ignore his words and the way they curdled his stomach and shifted his gaze toward the cage. He was barely able to make out the figure of a boy, crouched, with his head resting on his bent knees. Green fumes, likely poisonous, hung suspended in the air around him.
“Is he even alive in there?” Shota wondered aloud.
“Hey!” shouted Veer as he came to stand beside him.
The boy gave a sudden start and raised his head. Both Veer and Shota flinched—he had glowing green eyes, similar to the snakes. Veer increased the flame on the lantern. More details came into view. Tear stains ran down the boy’s face, but they were blue green instead of transparent—the color of venom.
Shota turned a questioning glance at Veer, who shrugged as if he didn’t know the reason why. Who knew what the effects of the prolonged wear of thenagamaniwere? If it actually dripped poison into its wearer.
“Are you Prince Aditya?” asked Veer.
The boy didn’t speak for a long time. He simply stared at them with no expression.
Shota wouldn’t have been surprised if the long captivity had broken his mind. He gritted his teeth. Whoever did this took things too far. While he understood the reason behind holding political prisoners, the level of torture this boy must have suffered from isolation, fear, and possibly starvation pissed him off.
Just when Shota was concluding the boy couldn’t speak or understand, he nodded.
“We’re here to rescue you,” called Veer, holding up his arms, palms out, indicating he meant no harm. “Your mother sent us.” He took a step toward the cage.
To Shota’s surprise, the boy’s eyes widened, and he inched away, shaking his head. A scraping noise from the floor made Shota realize the prince’s feet were bound in irons.
Immediately the snakes stirred. Instead of lying languidly, they rose up, hoods flaring, fangs bared. The fumes in the cage became denser. A curious rattle started like that of a pit viper, making the hairs rise up on Shota’s arms. “Now what?” he whispered.
If they went near, the snakes would kill them. Even if Veer somehow managed to reach Aditya, there was still the poisonous vapor to contend with.
If by some miracle, he got past those obstacles and freed Aditya from his chains and brought him over, thenagamaniwould still be attached to his arm.
