Black Avatare

48 | SQUAD

The old bo tree presided over the covert gathering of five.

Binara, Piumi, Sandun, Dasun and Vinod stood on the oval of sand under the tree, staring silently at Chandrahasa, which perched on an iron rack that previously held incense pots. The great sword was barely visible, since the many clay lamps remained unlit, lest they attracted unwanted attention from other rookie agents.

Lightning flashed and bathed the weapon in dramatic bursts of light. Binara stood next to it, arms folded over her chest. She drummed her fingers and picked at the bandage on her hand. Above her, the wind whistled through gnarly boughs, and heart-shaped leaves rustled as if to mirror her agitation.

"This is the sword from the epic," Vinod muttered for the third time and adjusted his glasses.

Binara didn't reply. She didn't even bother to unsheathe the sword to show them the runes and the craftsmanship. Everyone present possessed the Sight, so she knew that they all sensed the anti-demon energy that hummed within Chandrahasa. It registered like the sharp twang of a well-tuned guitar or a scintillating beacon amid the gloom—unimaginable power bottled into a massive sword. One strike would no doubt rival the destructive potential of a whole bag of palingu—with lethal precision at that.

The hushed silence spoke volumes about the effect it had on the others, though it only came after a barrage of questions and exclamations.

By the time Binara had arrived at the Makara Hall, where the rookie agents were penned, Piumi had dragged Vinod and the twins outside as promised. According to Piumi, it was easy to convince Vinod, since he was restless about being left to babysit rookies. Then it had taken five precious minutes to get them up to speed about Chandrahasa, building upon the information Piumi had already fed them. It didn't help that Binara had to quell the outbursts of disbelief throughout.

There was no time to let them digest everything, so Binara reached for the sword. "Okay, here's the plan."

Sandun blinked at her, as if slapped awake from a trance. "You didn't tell us how—"

"No time." Piumi elbowed him. "Let Binnie speak."

"As you know now, this is the weapon that can stop Mahasona," Binara continued, projecting confidence despite the icy tendrils that curled in her stomach. "Needless to say, I have to go through a battlefield to get to the big boss."

"So you want us to deal with the small fry?" Dasun asked. "Clear the way?"

"Better hope the fry is really small," Piumi said nervously. "Anything above a four on the scale would be...hard to fight."

"The senior agents could help us here." Vinod frowned. "But we'd have to find Molamure or Ginige and convince them of, well, everything."

Binara strapped Chandrahasa to her back again. "Actually, the first objective is to find Alambara, the Drum of the Crab."

A beat of silence passed between them while thunder rumbled through the clearing.

"Is it just me or..." Sandun looked from one to the other. "Does it sound, um, impossible?"

Piumi elbowed him again, though it was half-hearted.

"It's hard to say anything without getting there and assessing the situation," Binara said, her brain struggling with countless variables and complications. "We don't know how many demons have come in through the portal so far—among other things. I did get a note to Diyan, so he would be expecting us. We can plan on the way."

"Alright." Vinod straightened up, his glasses glinting under bursts of lightning. "I'm going to show the rookies to the dorms. Can't send them home in this weather and...Well, just get your armor and weapons and meet me at the van. I'll be there ASAP."