Page 31 of The Burning Mountain
They had nospatika lingato render thenagamaniuseless and remove it. Meaning the snakes would still follow him and kill anyone who was nearby.
Shota was beginning to understand why there were no guards posted above. And how Aditya was still alive despite living among people who’d love nothing more than seeing him dead.
Veer pinned Shota with his gaze and spoke again. “It’s time to take the rats out of the bag.”
Shota nodded in understanding. He crouched and carefully lifted out a small cage of rats. The rodents were unusually quiet and stayed still as he set it on the floor, then he opened the trap gate. They needed to bring in fresh rats since the ones that used to exist here were all consumed from a combination of the magical rite and then the appearance of snakes.
Shota didn’t like this part of the plan when Veer proposed it. He thought it was too dangerous and had a high likelihood of failing. But if it worked, it would solve many problems.
Veer took off his red ring. Shota tensed like he always did whenever it had to do with letting Ilavu have free rein.
The change that came over Veer was subtle. He stood straighter and stretched his body like he was waking from a deep sleep. Relief flooded Shota when he peered into Veer’s eyes and could still identify his friend. Veer maintained that Ilavu never took over entirely, but just enough to allow for greater use of magic. Veer still had his own will and controlled his own actions.
“Do you remember our plan?” asked Veer, flexing his shoulders and working out the kinks in his neck.
Shota glanced at their heavy bag. “Yes,” he said, his teeth gritted.
According to Veer, Ilavasura was the one who had put forth this plan. The demon claimed to have an affinity to snakes and was immune to their venom.
Veer seemed to have heard the unease in Shota’s voice and gave him a lighthearted smile. “Don’t worry, Shota. It’ll work.”
“If you say so,” bit out Shota, suppressing the impulse to abandon the plan altogether. It was most unusual—they previously had gone on many missions, and he never got the urge to back out midway. He wondered if some of the miasma from the arcane ritual seeped into the very walls, but disquiet coated his body like sweat. “Get a move on.”
Veer nodded and squared his shoulders. He stepped on the raised path that led to the cage. The snakes hissed, agitated by Veer’s presence, but they didn’t approach him, unlike before.
Veer took cautious steps toward the cage. The hissing increased in intensity. Snake venom landed on him, but didn’t appear to cause any harm other than burning through his clothing in patchy areas.
A big padlock held the door closed. Aditya had shrunk back into the shadows, visible only by a vague outline and the green glow from his eyes and the jewel around his wrist.
Veer grasped the lock with his left hand. One of the snakes wrapped around the bars uncoiled its body in a flash and sank its fangs into the fleshy part of his arm.
Veer calmly used his right hand to pull it off and threw it into the darkness behind the cage, its writhing body flailing wildly, its venom spent. Drops of blood oozed from the wound and dripped steadily. Veer wiped it off nonchalantly and went to work on the lock.
Shota wheezed out a breath. Like the demon had promised, Veer seemed to suffer no ill effects from the venom.
Veer grabbedthe lock once again and pulled. Muscles bulged and the demon’s strength came to his aid. The lock broke apart, and the door opened, its creaking noise loud and grating in the cavernous dungeon.
He glanced into the dark cage. “Shota, I need more light.”
Sudden brightness chased away the shadows. Shota must have touched the flame of the lantern to the tar waiting in the trench, igniting a blaze that ran quickly around the length of the circular dungeon, illuminating the dark corners. Throwing light on every gory detail.
Skeletons of small animals lay scattered more numerously here in the cage than elsewhere. Veer turned his head away, unwilling to speculate what the boy must have resorted to eating while trapped here.
Toward the back of the cage, Veer counted three, or maybe more, dead bodies in varying states of decomposition. They stillwore the livery of Thianvelli. Veer supposed they had been the scapegoat guards sent in by Ketuvahana to “rescue” Aditya from this snake trap.
Aditya appeared only a little better than the dead bodies, with his dirty, matted hair, tattered clothes, and spindly arms and legs. His eyes were prominent in his dirty face, with his shrunken cheeks and cracked lips.
“Please don’t help me,” he said, his voice thin and whispery. “You’ll die.”
“Not today, Prince,” said Veer shortly. “Give me your arm.”
Veer took his arm gently when Aditya made no move, absently noting the thinness that spoke of starvation, and examined the bracelet inserted with thenagamani. It was shaped like a spider, with the jewel forming the body and narrow clasps as spider legs wrapped around his wrist.
Veer didn’t have thespatika lingawith him, but Ilavu had assured him that unless one appeared in the vicinity, thenagamaniwould choosehimover other people—because of Ilavu’s affinity to snakes.
He put his wrist beside thenagamani. The clasps on the bracelet moved, unlocking itself from the boy’s wrist and fluttered in the air as if seeking a new target. Once it recognized Veer—and Ilavasura’s presence inside him—it wrapped itself around Veer’s wrist instead, leaving the boy’s hand bare. Veer felt a prick as the clasp inserted into the skin of his wrist, but he paid it no mind, his attention on Aditya.
The green glow from the boy’s eyes faded until only a slight rim around his irises remained. Aditya slumped suddenly in Veer’s arms, as if the recent events had finally caught up to him.
