Chapter 7: In the Shadow of the Elders

6

The elders’ residence is at the northernmost, deepest part of Kaveripur.

Here, trees are dense and grass lush.

Eighty-one bronze pillars soar into the clouds, and above them, the ashram palace is shrouded in mist, with pavilions stacked high.

I followed Guruji all the way up to the elders’ kutir.

There are many ranks in sadhana:

Foundation, then Core, Soul, Out-of-Body, Divided Spirit, Merging, Tribulation, Great Perfection, and finally Return to Spirit.

The elders of Kaveripur Hill have reached Great Perfection.

It’s said they can condense souls and produce vatis, helping outer disciples quickly reach the next stage.

Guruji’s title is Ishwarananda; he’s lived over two hundred years, but before these elders, he’s just a child learning to speak.

He respectfully saluted in the courtyard. “Pranam to the Grand Elder. This is the newly accepted disciple, Aryan.”

I also bowed my head in pranam. “Disciple Aryan greets the elders.”

After a long time, from beneath the ancient and solemn hall, came the hoarse voice of an old man:

“Generation after generation of newcomers. Ishwarananda, when you first entered Kaveripur, you were about his age. In the blink of an eye, over three hundred years have passed, the world has changed…”

I cautiously raised my head, folded my hands, and said:

“The world is uneasy, but thanks to the ashram and sadhaks who act for the people. I also wish to stand tall and be worthy of my heart.”

The Grand Elder laughed. “Look, your words are not much different from when you were young.”

The air in the hall was thick, almost sticky, as if the incense smoke itself was afraid to move. Through the ancient teakwood window, I could clearly see, coiled in the hall… a giant monster.

I didn’t dare meet his eyes.

I just stared hard at the carved patterns of peacocks and lotuses on the wooden window,

letting my gaze go blank, then using the corner of my eye to catch every detail I could.

The Grand Elder was no longer like a person.

Several metres tall, his abdomen swollen, bulging veins covering his whole body, and his face, also swollen several times over, was covered in layers of fat.

The whole figure looked like a bloated steamed modak.

And at his nabhi, a sticky tentacle poked out.

It must have been a sucking mouth, full of fierce fangs, twisting in the air for a moment, then spitting out a golden, radiant bead.

“Here, the Foundation elixir. Give it to this young friend.” The Grand Elder gently supported the bead and handed it over.

It passed through the wooden window and landed in Guruji’s palm.

And I was already cold from head to toe.

I had thought these sticky worm monsters were a means used by the Kaveripur authorities to control people.

I was even thinking of finding the nest and destroying it all at once.

But I didn’t expect…

I never expected…

Everyone in Kaveripur Hill…

was shrouded in the shadow of these worms.

How could the Grand Elder be called a person?

He is the breeding ground for insect eggs.

At that moment, the lines of tradition and evil twisted together in my mind like a kalighat painting—distorted, almost beautiful in its horror.