Realm of the Goddess (17 page)

We walked in silence for some time, stopping only to rest briefly so we could make the most of daylight. At one point we were caught up in a monsoon shower that stopped as abruptly as it started, leaving us drenched. However, once the sun came out it took very little time to dry off. We seemed to be making good progress so we decided to stop and eat after a few hours of trekking through the jungle. According to Shiv’s calculations, we would be there by nightfall.

We were just finishing up and getting ready to leave again when I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye. I immediately reached for the
gada
, which I’d tucked into the waistband of my jeans. I looked toward the trees, where I thought I’d seen something move. But now there was nothing. Shiv noticed me standing very still and stopped as well. He dropped his backpack, reaching for his own dagger. For some reason my eyes were drawn to a particular tree. There was something about it that didn’t seem right.

I walked a little closer and stared at the trunk. The markings seemed uneven. Not that I knew that much about trees, but this one looked like it had...eyes. I jumped back just in time as a part of the trunk seemed to come to life. A figure seemed to peel itself right from the tree. It did not seem friendly. In fact, it came straight at me with arm-like limbs that ended in sharp claws. Shiv jumped in front of me and plunged his dagger into the creature. It staggered back, slowing down for a brief moment before straightening up and coming at us again. This time I put myself between the creature and Shiv, swung the
gada
and brought it down on the demon’s head. A piercing sound erupted from it as it fell to the ground. But just as swiftly it regained its balance and lunged for me again. I swung again, this time aiming for the torso. It fell again and this time it stayed down. Shiv had come up behind it and stabbed it again with his dagger. It screamed in agony and in that scream I was sure I could make out words. I could have sworn it said “Mahisha is coming for you.” Then it slumped down and its body turned to ash, leaving nothing other than a few tendrils of smoke that floated up into the air. Shiv and I watched, stunned.

“Did you hear what it said?” I whispered, terrified that he hadn’t.

“Mahisha is coming? Yes I heard that,” Shiv said grimly.

It was strange, the way hearing the words from the demon made this whole situation seem more real than all the conversations I’d had with the Rakshakari. I felt the dread growing stronger. At the same time it also had to mean that we were getting close. That gave me hope, and hope was something I needed badly right now. I could see by the determined set of Shiv’s jaw that he shared my sentiments. Our eyes locked for a moment and then in unspoken agreement we moved on.

“So...this
gada
,” I said, swinging it around as we began walking again. “It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, somebody sure enjoyed using it,” Shiv said, grinning.

“Hey, a girl’s gotta take care of herself, you know,” I said, playfully punching him on the shoulder.

I didn’t know how long we’d been going when it happened. One moment we were walking along and the next Shiv disappeared. It was as if he had been lifted right off the ground. It was a good thing I looked up, because there he was, hanging in a net from a tree branch, looking as stunned as I felt. But only for a moment. Then I took a few steps forward, too late to hear him shout out a warning. I felt my feet slide out from under me as I was hoisted high up into the trees. Once I’d caught my breath, I tried to find Shiv. Thankfully, I could still see him. He looked shocked, probably due to the profanities coming out of my mouth, or maybe it was the situation in general. Either way, we were stuck there, defenceless and at the mercy of whoever had set the traps.

“Are you hurt, Callie?” Shiv’s voice sounded shaky, which was exactly how I felt. I checked myself as well as I could, given the awkward position I was in. It didn’t feel as if anything was broken.

“No, I think I’m okay. What about you?” I craned my neck to get a better look at him, but the more I moved the more twisted the net got. It was hard to face in one direction.

“Yeah, I’m okay too, I think. Can you see anything from there? I don’t see anyone and I have quite the vantage point here.”

I looked around, turning my head as far as I could without dislocating my neck, but there was nothing. “No, Shiv, I don’t see anything either. Do you think it’s the locals trying to keep us away?”

“I think that’s about right. Remember how my uncle said they’re not very friendly? This is probably how they keep outsiders away.”

“Well, we need to figure out how to get down. Any ideas?” I was getting a cramp in my legs and it was starting to get dark. I did not want to be hanging all scrunched up in a net when night fell in the jungle. Suddenly I heard a loud thud and then a grunt. “Shiv?”

There was no reply. I tried to swing my body to face in his direction. There was nothing to push against, so the best I could do was a rocking motion to get myself moving and hope that I ended up facing the right way. After several attempts, I ended up facing where I thought Shiv had been hanging. He wasn’t there. I swung around again, changing directions, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Shiv, where are you? Shiv, say something if you can.” Panic began to set in and I fought the urge to scream. The next thing I knew there was a tug from above me, and I was falling. As the ground raced up to meet me, I screamed in terror and then mercifully everything went black.

Chapter Seventeen

When I came
to, I couldn’t move. I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again as the bright light assaulted them. I tried again, just opening them the slightest bit. I didn’t know how I was being restrained because I couldn’t even move my head to get a look. The only thing I had to rely on was my vision. At least there was light.

I squinted against the brightness and slowly my eyes got used to the glare. I looked around and gasped. I was in a very small cage. It was barely large enough to fit me, which explained why I was stuffed in there like poultry. I strained my eyes as far as I could to get a better look. I was about to scream for help when my cage was rattled loudly. I heard the door being opened and then I was pulled out unceremoniously. My entire body hurt from being all twisted up for who knew how long. I looked at my captor. He was about my height, all of five feet tall, but stocky with curly salt-and-pepper hair. He wore only a loincloth and a held a staff in one hand. His eyes bristled with anger. Clearly I had pissed him off. Then he spoke to me. I didn’t understand the words, but the way he was jabbing at me with his fingers made it abundantly clear I was not welcome. Something twisted in my stomach. I didn’t see Shiv anywhere. I tried to open my mouth and speak, but my throat was dry and scratchy. All that came out was a croak, which made my captor look at me in confusion. I tried again.

“Shiv?” I called out. Nothing.
Where is he?

The man yanked me roughly forward. I tried to get a better look around. There was a circular arrangement of shelters made from what looked like bamboo and dried grass. The structures had no walls and only provided cover on top. A few women and children were outside. The children chased each other while the women called out to them every now and then. But I still couldn’t see Shiv.

“Shiv,” I called out again. This time some of the children stopped to stare at me, and the women turned around to look too.

My captor regarded me disdainfully before turning to his right and shouting something. A few seconds later Shiv appeared, hands behind his back. He was dragged over to where I stood by another man with a similar build as my captor. Shiv looked disheveled, his T-shirt torn in a couple of places, but other than that there didn’t seem to be any visible damage. As soon as he saw me his eyes mirrored my relief. Now we just had to figure a way out of this pickle.

When he came closer, I pulled away from my captor’s grasp to reach out to him. That earned me a hard knock on the head.

“Callie...” Shiv shouted, pushing toward me. His captor hauled him back roughly. Then we were both thrown to the ground and pulled back up so that we were kneeling in the dirt. Shiv’s captor produced a knife and held it to Shiv’s neck. I screamed and tried to pull away. I must have dislodged my skull pendant during the kerfuffle because it began to glow and I felt a familiar warmth at my neck. Our captors staggered back, dropping their knives. They exchanged words then turned around to gesture wildly at the women and children. I stood up, watching them, not moving a muscle as the women herded their children into the shelters. The captors looked at us, but their eyes held a very different look now. I recognized it as fear and confusion. My pendant was still glowing, and the way that the two men were eyeing it told me that they knew something we didn’t. Shiv got up to stand beside me, rubbing his wrists.

“They’re afraid of the pendant,” I whispered.

“Do you think they know something about it?”

“That...or they’re just freaked out by the light.” I touched the pendant and moved toward them. They backed away. It wasn’t warm anymore and when I looked down I saw that it had stopped glowing too.

“It’s okay,” I said coaxingly as I inched slowly forward. I had a feeling in my gut that these people knew something. If they had really never been in touch with the outside world for so many centuries then the stories might even be true. Maybe they knew where the temple was and what was hidden inside.

The men had stopped moving backward, which I took as an encouraging sign. When I finally came close enough, one of them picked up a small stick and began to draw in the sand. Shiv came over too and we watched as the man worked fast and furiously. As we watched, it became clear what he was trying to depict. He had drawn a structure that resembled a temple. He had also drawn the figure of a woman. I bent down to get a closer look. It was unmistakeable. He had drawn Kali. She held a sword and a
gada
, along with an assortment of other weapons. It was a crude drawing but clear enough to erase all doubt in my mind that the inhabitants of this island knew about Kali.

He must have sensed my excitement because when I pointed to the sword and mimed a question, he nodded vigorously. I hoped that meant he would help us. But it appeared I would have to wait to find out. He turned to the women, who were peeking out from the shelter, and waved for them to come out. At first they hesitated, but then slowly a few of them ventured out with their children in tow. Soon they were standing behind the two men with shy smiles. Other men had also joined them.

A little girl with curly black hair came closer than any of the others. She hid her face bashfully but then reached out to touch the hem of my shirt. A collective gasp rose from the little congregation. I kneeled down so that I was at her eye level and gently touched her hair. It was dry and springy, no doubt from the salt water and sun. I smiled at her and she returned a shy smile of her own. Then she ran back to her mother to hide her face in her lap.

I stood up. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, but this one wasn’t bad. It was the first time I had a sense of being part of something much bigger than myself. Something that had been in play for millennia. After all, these people had inhabited the island for over sixty thousand years and had never relinquished their independence and original culture. They were untarnished by the trappings of the modern world. It was no wonder that Kali’s priestesses had chosen this piece of paradise to keep the sword safe for all this time.

I bent down once again and pointed to the sword in the sand drawing. The men both nodded. I spoke to them in Bengali, even though I knew they spoke a different language. But I felt weird miming and speaking in English didn’t make much sense either. After a lot of gesturing I was able to deduce that they would show us the way to the temple. At least I hoped I was right. It was already dark by now, so when they urged us to sit and brought crude bamboo mats for us to sleep on, we didn’t argue. There were several fires going by now, and the women prepared a meal of fish and some kind of vegetable I couldn’t identify. It was simple and delicious. After we ate, we went to sleep. It was strange that neither of us felt the need to keep watch after the way they had initially treated us. We agreed that they were just defending themselves against outsiders and that they must have been very suspicious of two strangers who had dropped in uninvited. After the almost reverent manner in which they had been treating us the whole evening, I could not bring myself to mistrust them.

We slept soundly through the night and awoke to the happy squeals of children running around. After a breakfast of bananas, our former captors waved us over to where they sat on their haunches looking at another drawing they had made in the sand. As Shiv and I joined them, we realized they were showing us the way to get to the temple. Apparently it was accessible only through a series of caves and tunnels. Then the drawings became quite graphic. We saw bodies that had been torn apart by enormous wild-looking creatures. At first I was confused but soon I realized what I was seeing. The passage to the temple was guarded and the bodies were those of others who had attempted to get there. Over the centuries numerous people must have tried to get to the temple and the sword. Even without tangible proof, there were always those who believed. The Sword of Knowledge, as Kali’s weapon was referred to in the many accounts I had read, was known to have many powers. One of those was the power to do away with evil and ignorance. This must have made it attractive to both good and bad people. After all, who wouldn’t want to have such glory?

If the two men had intended to alarm us with their drawings, they had succeeded. But one look at Shiv and I knew that like me, nothing was going to deter him from trying. On the other hand, it was good that we knew what to expect. The last thing we needed was a surprise attack while we were in the caves.

We gathered our meager belongings and followed the men back into the forest. We had no way of knowing just how far we were going, but we were grateful nonetheless for having personal guides. We ended up walking for about three hours with a break for some coconut water and mangoes. It was a nice change from the bananas we’d been eating since we got there. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be eating that particular fruit for a long time after we got back home.

After that it wasn’t long before we came to a clearing. There, a few feet from the center, was a large rock covered in shrubs growing right out of it. The sides were also covered by greenery, and as far as I could see there was no entrance of any kind. Puzzled, I turned to the two men. They pointed to the rock and said something. I didn’t understand most of it, but one word was perfectly clear. Kali.

Shiv and I went closer to the rock, looking for a way in. The vines of whatever plants were growing on top stretched all the way across the top and down the sides. I tugged at one of them but it was thick, with a diameter of about an inch. Unfortunately, upon touching it I realized it also had tiny, sharp thorns. I quickly let go of the vine and looked at my fingers. There were tiny puncture marks with blood dotting the tips. Other than a little stinging, I was fine.

“You okay there, Callie?” Shiv asked. “Looks like the entrance is pretty well concealed. We’ll have to cut through.”

I nodded, turning around to look at the two men. They hadn’t moved from where they’d been standing a few moments ago. When I gestured to them to come and help us, they shrank back. Clearly they had come as far as they were willing to go. I walked back over to them and Shiv followed. Since words were not an option for me, I communicated my deep gratitude by putting my arms around first one and then the other man. When I pulled away, the looks on their faces were priceless. They smiled, their embarrassment evident in their downcast eyes. I hoped they knew just how much they had helped. After a moment they began to retreat into the forest. I waved and then they were gone, swallowed up by the dense vegetation. We were on our own.

“Okay, so I’m going to cut the vines. Hopefully there’s an opening in there somewhere.” Shiv pulled his dagger from the waistband of his jeans and walked purposefully toward the rock. I rummaged in the backpack for my Swiss Army knife. I watched as Shiv slashed a couple of the vines closest to him and then made his way down toward the ground. I started hacking away with my little blade in another spot. After a few minutes I turned to look at where Shiv was working. He had made a lot more headway than me, but there was still no trace of any sort of entrance. It was getting dark and I was worried that we would end up spending the night out here. It was frustrating because we were so close. We worked as fast as we could and then suddenly Shiv called out.

“I found something.”

I scampered over. Sure enough, there was an opening, still partially covered by thorny vines, but large for a person to squeeze through. I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, a break.

“I’ll go first,” Shiv said, grabbing the backpack and pushing his way through the entrance. I followed as soon as he was fully inside. It was pitch black, and I was glad that Shiv still had a working flashlight. An added bonus was that my pendant began to glow as soon as I entered the cave. A pattern was clear. The skull pendant would glow and emit heat whenever I was in danger. Now it didn’t get warm, and the light was blue rather than red. Based on prior incidents, red was for those times when I was in mortal danger and blue for when I just needed some help. I counted my blessings for the handy little skull pendant. The light cast an eerie glow on the walls of the cave, bathing everything in a bluish hue. It also bounced around as I walked, making me feel slightly nauseated. I took it off, thinking it might be better to hold it by the string like a little lantern. But as soon as I dropped it from my fingers to let it dangle, the light went out. That was weird. I picked it back up. The light came back on. Shiv turned to me in confusion.

“What are you doing?” he whispered, his voice echoing off the cave walls.

“The pendant...watch this.” I demonstrated.

“Huh...I guess it has to touch your skin to work.”

We walked along the narrow passage, the walls cold and hard whenever we brushed up against them. The light from the pendant and the flashlight was enough to prevent us from slamming into the rock or each other as we carefully navigated the unexpected twists and turns. Eventually the passage widened, opening up into a fairly large chamber. I almost tripped over something as soon as we came out of the narrow part and shone my light on it. A scream escaped me as I looked in horror at a skull on the floor. Shiv shone his flashlight all around and we both gasped. There were more skulls and other assorted bones strewn all over the ground. I looked at the pendant. The light was still blue, not red. Hopefully this meant that no wild creatures were lying in wait to kill us and rip our limbs off. But something had killed all these people. I counted at least twelve skulls and didn’t bother with the other bones. I wondered who they’d been...these people who had dared to come in here, risking their lives. I couldn’t help thinking that this might very well be a trap, one set by Mahisha or his minions. They could have led us to believe that the locals were being helpful, when in fact they were leading us straight to our deaths. I could feel the paranoid thoughts threatening to take over, and right now, here in this dark cave, so close to my goal, I was not about to allow that to happen. So I took a deep breath and stood up straight.