Page 62 of The Burning Mountain
There was something wrong with him, but Veer couldn’t put his finger on it. He seemedmutedsomehow, quite unlike the vibrant man he had been in life.
“You know that it’s possible. A wizard’s death can become a lot more complicated than a simple passing of the soul. Provided some conditions were met,” continued Virat.
Veer’s sword wavered with his doubts. He lowered it cautiously but didn’t sheathe it.Preta atmaswere dangerous. Sane people were intelligent enough to run for the hills at the mention of one.
“How can I believe you are, indeed, Virat? You appear nothing like him.”
“You already believe me, Veer. You recognized me even when I look nothing like I used to. But go ahead, ask me anything. My memories are not all gone. The older ones are most preserved. Do you want me to tell you how we met, how we became friends, how we learned together? Do you want me to mention our various escapades, the things we did on the sly, the boundaries we pushed?”
Veer didn’t say anything, his doubts dissipating like dead leaves blown away by the wind. The wizard was right. He already believed him. He may not seem the same anymore, but he had known his friend practically all his life and could identify him blindfolded.
“How did you manage to come back?” he asked, returning the sword to its sheath at his waist. “People can’t return from the dead.”
“That’s not entirely true, and I know you don’t believe that either.” Virat paused and when he spoke next, his voice was deep. “I know you’ve tried to revive me. Isn’t that how you met that demon that lives in your arm now? No one has done such things or gone to such lengths for me. You are a true friend, Veer.”
Virat was watching him with some kind of strong emotion shining in his eyes, but all Veer felt was a vague sense of unease. A presentiment that something was very wrong. Then the answer came to him. Virat appeared like any other living person, but he didn’t have the body language of one.
Every human being had a way of conducting themselves, tiny mannerisms and small expressions of the face that gave away their real thoughts and feelings, but Virat was like an automaton, like a child’s toy that wound itself up when keyed, and then fell silent when finished, its actions giving nothing away. He acted like a marionette with no nuance or variation.
“You didn’t answer my question,” said Veer, a part of him wanting him to be done and leave. A faint scent of rot reached his nostrils, making them twitch. The strong scent of the banana grove had hidden it from him so far.
“Aprabharitual.”
Veer forgot his discomfort and stared at him in shock. “Don’t be ridiculous. That doesn’t work.”
“It does work,” countered Virat. “I needed to tweak it a bit, but oh yes, it does work.”
Veer frowned, recalling all that he remembered about the obscure ritual they found in an ancient text. “It demands animal sacrifice,” he said, scowling.
“It demands more than animal sacrifice, Veer. Which is why I kept it as secret that I had already finished it successfully. It needed to be performed before I actually died for it to work.”
Veer’s mind raced as he worked through the possibilities. What Virat said skirted the borders of possibilities. But did he really find a way to cheat death? If anyone could have found a way, it would have been Virat, who could be single-minded in his determination to get answers.
“If you have been…alive…or whatever it is all these years, then why didn’t you appear before now? Why didn’t you tell us?” Veer asked one of the questions at the forefront of his mind. “Haven’t you ever given a thought to those who mourned your loss?”
Virat lowered his eyes and went silent for a long time. “I couldn’t come forth. Because I was ashamed. Of what I had become,” he said, somber. “TheAprabharitual allowed me to come back, granted me powers far beyond what I had as a living being. But I had no body, and…my mind was left partially intact. I began losing memories and emotions. It took me a while to figure out that every time I switch bodies it tends to deteriorate more. I hadn’t counted on the side effects.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you need to switch bodies?”
“Because the only bodies I can inhabit are dead ones. And dead bodies decompose rapidly whenever I use my magic. I can’t possess someone who is still living.”
Virat suddenly took a step forward, his eyes fervent, making Veer tense. “This isme, Veer. This husk of a man who depends on death to eke out an existence. How could I show myself before any of you when I’m disgusted at what I’ve become?”
“And yet you revealed your existence to me today,” pointed out Veer.
“Couldn’t help it. I felt so happy to see you and it had been a long time since I felt that emotion. I couldn’t pretend anymore.”
Veer didn’t know what to say. He would be lying if he said there wasn’t a tiny corner of his heart that was glad his friend came back. He had spent more years than he cared to admit,grieving his loss, giving up only after he lost his arm in the Mathrika springs when confronting Ilavu. Shota’s lecture about Veer’s duty to his kingdom still rang in his ears. It was what had finally snapped him out of self-pity and made him abandon that path.
And all along, Virat hadn’t died like they thought. He wasn’t alive, but he wasn’t dead either. He survived. At a great cost, sure, if what he said about losing memories and emotions was true.
“And what have you been doing all these years? Besides helping random kingdoms?” asked Veer, still suspicious. He still had a lot of questions. “Why did you bring down lightning in the temple city? Why help Thianvelli? And don’t even bother to tell me you have no interest in the Lotus Key. Why involve yourself in all this?”
“Can I not help my kingdom when I know it’s in danger?” said Virat, turning away to sit on a large rock. Veer saw a weeping wound on his back, visible through the thin shirt made transparent by the rain. Virat didn’t appear to be bothered by it.
“Admit it, Veer, had I not sent that lightning into the confluence, you would have never known about the secret of the key piece.” Virat continued, not waiting for Veer to answer. “How I came to know about Meru and the Lotus Key is by happenstance. That tale is common around these parts. But you can imagine my surprise when I realized that the kingdom that would be destroyed, should Meru erupt, is none other than Rajgarh. I couldn’t sit still after that. Helping Thianvelli was only about finding the key pieces to complete the Lotus Key, nothing more.”
“So all this…is just helping us out?”
