THE CURSE OF BRAHMA by Jagmohan Bhanver

wishes to see her decapitated head as evidence of her death, by end of the day, tomorrow,’ he continued, filled with the importance of the task given to him by the most feared being in Pataal Lok.
    The kalakanja shifted his feet uneasily. His intuition told him that this kill was of particular importance to their master. He found it difficult to understand why then, the relatively unknown pisaca was chosen to lead the mission. The other thing that bothered him was the urgency. Any upanshughatak worth his name knew that you had to stalk your prey and wait patiently for the right time to strike. Yet the pisaca said that they had been commanded to do the deed by the end of the next day. What’s the urgency? he wondered.
    The bonara felt the same way. But he was made differently. He could hide his feelings far better than any of the other upanshughataks and focus on what had to be done. This was one of the reasons he had survived more contract killings than any of the other members of the Zataka Upanshughatak tribe. He spoke softly to the pisaca. ‘What is the plan?’ he asked. The pisaca turned one of his tentacles towards the bonara, while with another one, kept the kalakanja in his sight. The other six tentacles looked around, scouring the area for any possible eavesdropper.
    ‘I have observed Devki’s movements over the past few days,’ he said. ‘She never steps out of the palace without her companions, and there are always a few guards close at hand.’
    The kalakanja sneered as he interrupted the pisaca. ‘Afraid, are we?’
    One of the tentacles of the pisaca turned menacingly towards the kalakanja, but the other seven tentacles restrained the maverick limb. ‘Not afraid!’ he hissed. ‘Just smart!’
    ‘What’s so smart about this? Can’t we kill a couple of dozen guards and a few female attendants?’ The kalakanja spat out the words.
    ‘Of course we can,’ the pisaca replied, a little more patiently now, as if he was explaining the basics of an assassination to a five-year-old. ‘But when the three of us kill Devki in front of so many witnesses, there are bound to a be a couple of them who may escape in the middle of the bloodbath. Do you think the Dark Lord would be pleased to show his hand so soon?’
    The mention of the Dark Lord subdued the kalakanja to some extent. Seeing him vacillate, the pisaca pressed his point. ‘If anyone sees us and escapes, Ugrasena and everyone else in the kingdom will know that Pataal Lok has sent assassins. This is bound to come to the notice of Shukra. Once he knows of the Zataka Upanshughatak’s involvement, how much time do you think he will take to connect the Dark Lord to us? Whatever the Dark Lord is planning, he was clear on one thing—Shukra should have no whiff of his involvement till the Dark Lord himself reveals it.’
    The bonara looked at the pisaca with grudging respect.
The Dark Lord had chosen the right person to lead them in the plot to assassinate Devki
. he thought. ‘Which is why we need to wait for Devki to be alone to kill her? Is that right?’ he said aloud.
    The pisaca nodded, glad that at least the bonara was in sync with him.
    ‘But if Devki never comes out alone, how are we going to kill her without anyone else seeing us do it?’
    The pisaca’s body seemed to wriggle again; it seemed that he was laughing but there was no way to be certain, since the eight tentacles representing his face were almost impossible to read. ‘Tomorrow she will be going to the Shiva temple to pray for her brother’s peace of mind. The temple is on the top of a hill, a quarter of a yojana (one yojana being equal to eight miles) away from the main palace compound. If she is accompanied by any attendants, they will wait for her at the base of the hill since only the royal family goes to this particular temple. The soldiers, too, will wait there as the hill is supposed to be a holy zone. No mortal would dare to carry weapons on that hill, as a mark of respect