‘May we proceed?’ Parshuram asked wearily.

‘Yes, of course,’ the other man said. ‘Right through the tunnel. You know the way. Your apprentice isn’t allowed, of course.’

‘She comes with me.’

The Chief let out a sigh. ‘Acharya, I don’t wish to make a fuss about this but I am the Guardsman of the Saptarishis, yet even I have not seen their faces for two summers. Kindly bear with me.’

‘Let them come.’ A loud sonorous voice reverberated through the space behind the Iron Order.

Balthazar smiled but it did not reach his eyes. He moved aside to let them pass.

III

Inside, a colossal set of white pillars ascended more than two stories to a vaulted ceiling, where torches blazed pure white light. A criss-cross of walkways and balconies traversed the space above them, dotted with orange clad figures who looked down ominously upon the pair walking across the hall.

In the middle of the vaulted chamber, more than fifty sheep were sculpted in wood, sprinting in a long line across the central space. The sheep in front were in different stages of leaping high in the air, sculpted to give the appearance that they were colliding violently with a glass wall that was beautifully designed to look as if it was in the moment of shattering. The glass itself shimmered in a blue haze, as if from the inside. As Nala crossed the shattering wall, she gasped at the high pile of sculpted sheep heads on the other side of the glass.

Parshuram gave a dry chuckle. ‘I can see why it would impress you. Art of the Daevas. I believe the sheep were meant to represent us, humans, symbolizing our lack of courage in diverging from the norm, even when running towards our own oblivion.’

Nala shuddered. She could never have guessed that was what the sculpture meant. She kept her eyes to herself as they were ushered through a door and down a long narrow stairway, curving downwards. Hand on wall, she began to descend gingerly. The steps curled on, winding ever deeper.

‘Do you think I’m dangerous?’ Parshuram asked.

The question brought Nala back. Was it a trick question? If the man singularly infamous for the annihilation of Ksharjas wasn’t dangerous, then who was? ‘Uhm, Master…’ she mumbled, then remembered what the Acharya had told her about lying. ‘Yes, extremely.’

‘The Saptarishis are far more dangerous than I,’ Parshuram said. ‘So, head low and shoulder slouched.’ Just then the stairs ended abruptly and they found themselves in a large open space. ‘We are here.’