on his shin. It was similar to the blades Aaditya had seen the previous night, no more than six inches long and slightly curved at the end, but with its razor sharp edge glinting even in this faint light, it looked deadly enough. The man moved the shiny blade in a circular motion in front of his face and then suddenly extended his arm straight, stopping it when the blade was pointed straight at Aaditya's face.
'I am told you know how to fight. Believe me, I would love to indulge you and perhaps cut your eyes out and carry them back to feed my dogs.'
Aaditya involuntarily took a step back as the man continued. 'But I have been told to just have a chat and learn a bit more about an item we are interested in. So shall we?'
It was hardly a request as the man grabbed an arm in such a vice-like grip that Aaditya felt as if his entire right hand were on fire.
Five minutes later, he was back in his apartment, sitting on his sofa. The two larger men were standing behind him, ready in case he tried to make any trouble while their leader was sitting on the sofa next to Aaditya. He was leaning back, his legs crossed, as if he had come to catch up with an old friend.
'First, Aaditya Ghosh, please be so kind as to hand over the cylinder.'
Aaditya figured lying would serve little purpose so he reached behind his back and pulled the cylinder out of the elastic waistband of his shorts, handing it over. The man handled the cylinder almost reverentially, passing it between his fingers lightly, bringing it close so he could peer inside, though even now he had not taken off his glasses. He then handed it to one of his men. In the light of his apartment, Aaditya had got a closer look at his tormentors. The two larger men were not only as dark as he had remembered and had the distinctive ridge over their eyes, but parts of both their faces were covered in hair, looking strangely more like bears than men. As one of them took off a glove to handle the cylinder, Aaditya saw his hand was also covered by a thin lining of hair.
He had little time to observe further as the man seated next to him prodded his prosthetic leg with his knife.
'So now they have an army of cripples to fight us.'
As the two men behind him sniggered, Aaditya felt anger rising within him.
'You have your cylinder, now leave me alone.'
The man picked at his fingernails with his blade.
'It's not as simple as that. You were there when so many of my daityas were crippled or killed. I had to burn them myself lest they be discovered. What a waste, but I don't tolerate failure.'
Aaditya now remembered that the man with matted hair had also called the attackers by that term.
'So first of all, will you tell me how you are involved in this? Are you one of them inserted to live with men? Or are you a paid agent?'
Aaditya had no idea what the man was referring to, and when he said so, the reaction was as instantaneous as it was brutal. The left hand shot out at blinding speed, landing a stinging blow on Aaditya's face. His lip cut and bleeding, Aaditya recoiled in pain and surprise.
'We know who you spent your morning with. How do you know my old friend Narada?'
A second's delay in answering and the man lashed out again, but this time Aaditya was ready. He blocked the man's blow and struck back, landing a solid punch to the temple. The man rocked back, and as his two men grabbed Aaditya's shoulders from behind, he bellowed in rage.
'I will cut your heart out and eat it myself! But first, I will extract every drop of information you possess, even if I have to bleed it out of you.'
Till that point, Aaditya had harboured hopes that they would take the cylinder and be gone, and he had cooperated with them. However, he had no intention of being slaughtered like a lamb. He rocked his head back, connecting with one of the men's jaws. As the man loosened his grip in surprise and pain, Aaditya slammed his fist into the other man's eyes. Free now, he vaulted over the sofa, and ignoring the pain in his right leg from the impact, ran into his bedroom, locking the door behind him. He picked up his mobile, wallet and good luck patch from his bedside and climbed up to the roof, hoping to escape down the fire ladder on the other side of the building. He never had the time. The three men were barely a few feet behind him, having battered down his bedroom door in seconds.
Aaditya saw them climb on to the roof, and suddenly remembered what Mr Muni had said. He looked in his wallet for the visiting card and dialed the number. Before he could say anything, the larger of the three slammed into him, sending him down to the ground. Their leader was now upon Aaditya, landing a series of hammering blows. Aaditya blocked one or two, but the man was too strong and too fast, and Aaditya fell back. He saw the man bring his blade up. Aaditya landed one last desperate blow, a kick that was perhaps more painful for him than for the man. He stepped back, pivoted on his left leg, and landed a roundhouse kick with his right leg. The man swerved out of the way, but the kick slapped him across the face, sending his dark glasses flying. The two other men had now pinioned Aaditya's arms and held him against the roof's railing. The smaller man stood over Aaditya, blade in hand, and without his glasses on, Aaditya got his first look at the man's eyes.
They were not the eyes of a human being, but slanted, green and scaly, the eyes of a serpent.
That was when Aaditya began screaming.
***
The blade was but inches from Aaditya's right eye when an explosion of light shattered the darkness. His attackers turned to see what was happening. A streak of light streamed through one of the big men holding him, turning him instantly into a pile of ash. The two remaining men rolled away from beams of light aimed at them, producing small handheld devices no larger than a mobile phone through which they fired back with streaks of light. Aaditya took advantage of the chaos to hide behind the water tank, as he watched the bizarre battle unfold on the rooftop.
The white aircraft with the curved nose that he had seen the previous night was back, hovering a few feet above the roof, and beams of light were streaking out of its fuselage, targeting the two men on the roof. Then realizing that this strategy was not working, the craft came lower till it was just a couple of feet above the rooftop, and two figures leapt out.
Aaditya had seen both of them before. One was the man with the matted hair, still dressed in tiger-striped tights, who leapt through the air, stabbing the remaining large man through the neck with his trident. The other was the woman Aaditya had seen earlier. She was still dressed in white, with a long red mark running down her forehead. She engaged the man with the snake eyes.
Aaditya watched in fascination as they traded blow for blow, the snake-eyed man armed with the curved blade that had been about to pluck out one of Aaditya's eyes. They seemed to be blocking each other's blows till the man got an opening and lashed out with his right foot, sending the woman staggering back. She recovered in a split second when the man with the matted hair came to her rescue. He had already reduced his opponent to a pile of smoking ashes. Now he leapt through the air, his agility belying his height and bulk, and landed a crushing kick on the face of the snake-eyed man. His sunglasses destroyed, and his snake eyes revealed for everyone to see, the man reeled back, and slashed with his blade. The man with the matted hair avoided the blow by inches and landed another kick that sent Snake Eyes flying, landing on his back.
It was now two against one, but the man with the snake eyes seemed to be holding his own, staying close so that his opponents could not use their handheld weapon, and countering them blow for blow. The man with the matted hair was however slowly but surely gaining an edge and Aaditya guessed that it was but a matter of time before he struck a killing blow.
That was of course till further pandemonium was created by the arrival of two saucer-shaped flying vehicles. Six dark giants rappelled out of them, and the tables were neatly turned, with the man in the matted hair and the woman with him now going on the defensive. Seven against two turned out to be odds too heavy for them, and even though one of the attackers was soon lying lifeless on the ground, the others pressed home.
If Aaditya had thought he had seen it all, one more flying vehicle appeared. This one was blue and seemed to be painted to resemble a peacock. It landed on the roof feet away from Aaditya, and a solitary figure leapt out and joined the melee. The newcomer was smaller than the other men, but moved with the grace and agility of a gymnast. He cartwheeled and rolled through the five men in black, striking so fast with a concealed blade that
