Daughter of Kali- Awakening

by Shiulie Ghosh

  They were all colours and races, dressed in clothes from all over the world. Some were in saris and dhotis, others in thobes and abayas, most wore jeans and T-shirts. I saw a group of women with the red bindi dot in the centre of their foreheads, marking them as Hindus. I saw a large man with a fearsome tattoo covering the bottom half of his face like a mask, and wondered if he was a Maori.

  Every now and then someone had to leap out of the way of a trundling toaster, which seemed to be the Guild equivalent of cleaning staff. A number of men and women were unmistakably Warriors. Not only did they share a leather fetish, they all carried weapons of some sort; swords, crossbows, even a staff.

  Around the edge of the dome stood more statues, this time more easily recognisable: a swan, a tiger, a sacred cow. On the ornate floor, picked out in gold and blue, marking the centre of the dome, the Sanskrit symbol of Om.

  "Are we inside the Taj Mahal?" I asked in awe, gazing round wide-eyed.

  "Not in it. Under it. Come on." He started across the central circle. Em pointed down a corridor signed as 'Inner Council'.

  "What's that mean?" she asked.

  "Management, basically. Chairman, heads of department, that kind of thing. Kaz, I told you not to stare!"

  He'd caught me eyeballing a couple of men carrying crossbows.

  "How come you all use such outdated weapons?" I asked curiously. "Why not guns, or bombs?"

  "They don't kill demons. They just piss them off."

  "Seriously? A gun doesn't work but an arrow does?"

  "No weapon works, unless it's been purified first. The purification ritual takes hours but once it's done, it remains lethal to demons forever. The trouble with guns is you have to purify every single bullet, and once you shoot them they're gone. Demons are fast, it's better to get them close up."

  A male Warrior came past carrying an automatic rifle. He barely looked fifteen. I looked at Darius and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged.

  "Some of the younger Warriors like guns, and here at HQ they have teams of spell-casters working round the clock purifying bullets. But at most offices, like yours in Mallow Bottom, you only have one or two spell-casters."

  "Mrs Peters and the Professor?" He nodded.

  "How many offices are there? How many Warriors?" asked Em.

  "Maybe a dozen offices around the world, plus HQ. As for Warriors, there are a lot fewer now. There used to be several hundred. I think there are only fifty or so now. The Guild hasn't needed many because demons very rarely broke out of the prison dimension. But lately, we've been working non-stop. Here we are."

  The Library wasn't down a corridor, it opened straight off the main area. Large steel doors made it look more like a bank vault than a repository of books. Darius leaned close to a panel set in the wall. A red light flickered over his eye. A disembodied woman's voice issued from a hidden speaker.

  "Darius. Warrior. Identification confirmed. Welcome, Darius."

  The steel doors didn't open, but a smaller section slid back noiselessly to give us access.

  "It's a lot of security for a Library," muttered Em, frowning. We walked in, and stopped, gobsmacked.

  The only time I'd ever seen anything like it was on a school trip to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. I remembered long rooms and ornate ceilings with gold inlays and delicate paintings. It was, we were told, one of the most impressive libraries in the world. But it wasn't a patch on this.

  The room stretched backwards an impossible distance, surely far longer than the actual width of the Taj Mahal above it. In contrast to the cool marble outside, this was all warm wood and pink stone. Intricate carvings were etched into pillars that supported the shelves, and when I looked closer I saw they were figures of people; round-breasted maidens carrying pots of water, fierce men astride horses. Between the pillars were shallow alcoves housing giant bronze statues carrying swords and clubs.

  The shelves themselves were organised haphazardly, easily five or six times as tall as I was. But there were no walkways or ladders, and I couldn't see how you were meant to reach the books at the top. The air smelled of leather and incense and sandalwood, as if we'd wandered into a Indian bazaar.

  But it was the ceiling that was truly impressive. A deep cerulean blue, studded with the constellations of the night sky picked out in diamond-bright specks. The whole effect made me feel very small, and somehow humble.

  Em made a strangled half-sigh, half-squeal sound of delight. She ran to the nearest shelf and tried to extract a book. It wouldn't budge. Puzzled, she tugged at it with both hands. It didn't move an inch. Behind her, Darius laughed.

  "You can only take what the Library lets you," he said.

  "What do you mean, 'lets me'?" said Em, looking cross. "It's a library. Its job is to lend books!"

  "This Library has a mind of its own. And it doesn't like it when you're rude. Uh oh, here comes security."

  I looked round, expecting to see large men in uniforms. What I saw made my mouth go dry.

  "Stay still, both of you," said Darius calmly. "These are the guardians of the Library and they're just making sure we're friends."

  Three enormous cobras were rippling sinuously towards us, their bodies gliding silently across the Library floor. I estimated they were each more than twenty feet long, their scales gleaming a dull black, their eyes as golden as the sun.

  One headed to Em, the other to Darius, the third to me. Coiling at our feet, they reared up until they were eye-level. Close-up, their bodies were thick and muscular, almost as wide as I was, but strangely sensuous. I felt the eyes of the one in front of me lock onto mine.

  "Don't be scared," said Darius softly. "They're Nagas, the protectors. They're just scanning your mind for any thoughts of treachery or wrong-doing."

  "Does hacking into homeland security count?" asked Em nervously.

  "They only want to check you're not demonic. Stay calm."

  It was hypnotic, looking into those golden eyes. The cobra's hood flared, but I gazed at it steadily, unblinking. I was dimly aware of the other two snakes leaving Em and Darius, and sliding over to me. Now, three sets of golden eyes were boring into me. I felt a gentle pull on my memories, and without a murmur I sank into the past.

  I was watching Mum lift a truck, and she had silver eyes. I touched Miss Smith, and she was a corpse possessed by a demon. I went back further.

  I was watching Mum in the mirror, and there were shadows over her face. I was a baby, and Mum was wiping black blood from her sword. Still further.

  Now I was small and curled up. It was warm, and I could hear Mum's heartbeat. I was on my own, but somehow not alone. There was a presence surrounding me. Warm yet cold. Comforting yet frightening. We were one.

  "Kaz! Kaz!" I blinked. Darius had his hand on my arm. All three Nagas were still weaving in front of me, and Darius had stepped in front of me. "That's enough!" he said to them. "Your duty is done. Let us pass!"

  For a moment I thought the snakes wouldn't move. Then they slowly withdrew, their bodies rippling as if they were gliding through water, silently vanishing among the shelves.

  "Are you okay?" Em was next to me. "They stared at you for a long time. Is that normal, Darius?"

  He looked shaken, but gave a little laugh.

  "If they thought she was a threat they would have attacked. Sorry, Kaz. They normally don't react like that."

  "It was weird, they were rummaging through my memories. I think I even remembered being a baby." I felt drained, as if I'd just sat a very long and difficult exam. "Why the hell are there snakes loose in the Library?"

  "Animals are good at detecting demons, and snakes are the best. Plus, they're sacred to Hindus. Those were Shesha, Vasuki and Manasa. They've been here forever."

  "Which is which?" asked Em, peering around in vain for them. Darius shrugged.

  "Who knows? They all look the same to me. Come on, we need to make a borrowing request."

  We followed him through a group of reading tables to a large wooden
lectern set in an alcove. The lectern was empty, but Darius placed his hand, palm side down, on the flat surface and closed his eyes.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  "Shh. I'm thinking of the right words. If you don't make the borrowing request precise enough, you end up with the wrong book." Em and I looked at each other, bewildered. "Okay, here goes. Darius cleared his throat, and raised his voice. "I request information on the crystal globe that was last seen in Rwanda, which may have a connection to demon activity." He took his hand away. "That should do it. It'll take a moment."

  "Is someone fetching the book for you?" I asked, looking around for an intercom.

  "Sort of," said Darius. "I think it's better if you didn't try to understand everything that goes on in the headquarters. I don't understand half of it myself."

  Em was staring round her with wide eyes.

  "So many books," she breathed. "What are they all?"

  "Pretty much anything connected to demons or the supernatural. Every religious story, every myth, every legend is stored here. Information about the Guild, about Warriors past and present. Prophecies, predictions, anything any clairvoyant or seer ever said. Anything that could help us defeat the demons once and for all."

  Something about his words jolted me, bringing a half-forgotten thought tantalizingly close to the edge of my memory. But I couldn't hold it, and it slipped away.

  "But you have defeated them, haven't you?" asked Em. "The demons are trapped in the prison dimension."

  "But they can still get through the hellholes. And even if we found a way of stopping them, they'd still be there. They'd still exist. Watch out!"

  Something flew through the air straight towards my head. Darius moved like lightning, grabbing me around the waist and spinning me out of harm's way. We fell against a bookshelf, his body pressed against mine. For a long second, we didn't move. I wondered if he could feel my heartbeat speeding up. I raised my gaze and found him looking at me with an intensity I hadn't seen before.

  "Look at this!" Em's voice broke the spell, and Darius let me go. I peered towards her. A huge, leather-bound tome had landed on the lectern.

  "It nearly took my head off!" I said. Darius gave an apologetic smile. "The Library can be temperamental sometimes."

  "You're talking about it as if it were alive," I said irritably.

  "Not alive exactly, but we think it's sentient. Something to do with having all this knowledge in one place. What has it sent, Em?"

  Em read the title. "'Demon Artefacts; Origins and Uses'. Cool." She hefted it over to the nearest reading table and started flipping through it. Darius leaned over her, his shoulder unconsciously touching hers.

  "Look at this, Kaz," Em said enthusiastically. "It's a list of things made by demons when they first appeared. They're all supposed to bring good luck to people but they actually cause great harm." She read out loud. "'The Glass of Babylon shall give the viewer great beauty when they look upon their reflection, until the three hundredth and sixty sixth day. Then the unfortunate shall be trapped in the reflection, until they wither from the passage of time.' Gross."

  "That's not the worst one. Look at this one." Darius flicked through a few more pages. "Whosoever possesses the Nineveh Stone shall drink the blood of his enemies. But the Stone shall not be faithful, and it shall leave its master as a corpse, seeing and feeling all, but unable to move to speak." Darius looked at Em. "So if you looked like a corpse you'd be buried, but you wouldn't actually be dead."

  Em made a face. "So where are all these artefacts?"

  "Some are in the vault here at HQ. We found the Nineveh Stone some years back. But others are still out there."

  "Including the crystal thing, so get a move on," I reminded them.

  Darius snapped a salute, and they bent over the book again. I wandered to the lectern, remembering what Darius had said. There was information on Warriors here. Warriors like my father. I cast an eye back at the other two. They looked engrossed. Quietly, I stepped to the lectern.

  "I request information on..." I hesitated. Mum had always told me my father was called Sam, but now I wasn't sure if that was true. And anyway, I didn't know his surname. "...information on Mari Deva, Warrior," I finished softly.

  "Kaz, what are you doing?" Darius was looking at me sharply. "You're not a member of the Guild, and the Library knows that. It won't let you borrow a book."

  I shrugged.

  "I was just trying it out. No harm done." I looked round the vast room. "Sorry, Library. My bad," I called out. I shot a look at Darius. "Happy?"

  He tightened his lips but didn't pursue it.

  "Come on, we need to go. We can take the book."

  "Doesn't it need to be stamped and checked out?" I teased. Darius shook his head.

  "The real book stays here. When we step through the doors, we'll only have a copy. It looks and feels the same, but after we've found what we want, it gets deleted."

  "I wish our school library was like this one."

  "How do you know it isn't?" said Em. "You've never set foot in it, to my knowledge."

  "Ha ha. You're funny."

  Darius cradled the book under one arm, and started for the big steel doors. I heard a thud behind me. A slim folder had landed on the lectern, the type of ledger you'd find in a filing cabinet.

  I glanced at the others but they hadn't noticed the new arrival. I looked back at the folder, then up at the shelves. It felt as if the Library was watching me. What the hell. The Library had given me the book, hadn't it? I picked it up and stuffed it partially down the front of my jeans, covering the top with my sweat shirt.

  "Come on, Kaz," yelled Em from the doors.

  "Coming!" I shot a glance at the lectern. "Er, thanks," I said, feeling a bit daft for talking to a piece of furniture. But it seemed the right thing to do.

  As we stepped out of the Library, I felt as if we were being watched and wondered if the Nagas would reappear. But there was no sign of the guardians.

  We walked back through the central dome and down the corridor leading to the Jump wall, passing the monkey statue once more.

  "What's it meant to be?" I asked curiously. "It looks like a monkey but it's wearing clothes."

  "Haven't you heard of Hanuman? The one who helped Rama?"

  "Who and who now?"

  Darius shook his head in exasperation.

  "I can't believe your Mum never told you this stuff. The Ramayana is like the most famous Indian story ever."

  "In case you hadn't noticed, Mum hasn't told me a lot of things," I said shortly. Em sensed my irritation.

  "Well, I don't know the story either," she said. "Who's Hanuman?"

  "Monkey god. Commanded a monkey army who helped Rama defeat a powerful demon king."

  "Sounds very heroic," Em said. Darius smiled at her.

  "It's actually a story of love. Rama was trying to rescue his sweetheart, Sita. He risked everything for her." His eyes rested on Em.

  "Lucky Sita," she mumbled.

  "So the statue...?" I prompted.

  "Said to be one of Hanuman's monkey soldiers. It was discovered in Sri Lanka centuries ago, where the demon king was supposed to hang out. Legend has it when an enemy attacks, it'll come to life and defend the Guild." He smiled at Em. "Don't worry, it's never happened yet."

  "Snakes, statues... you have a very odd security system," I commented.

  There was a queue at the Jump wall. Several people were waiting for their turn, including a shaven-headed man in front of us. I stiffened when I saw he had a symbol that looked a bit like a swastika on the back of his neck. Shaven heads and swastikas were not a good combination for people like me. The man turned round, and his face broke into a broad smile.

  "Darius! Me old mate! 'Ow ya doing, kid?

  "Max! Long time no see. How's the training going?"

  "Bleedin' nightmare, mate. I'm off to Paris, I need an 'oliday. I tell ya, recruits today aren't a patch on what they used to be. One even 'ad the cheek to ask me
about 'ealth benefits! 'Ealth benefits, I ask ya!" He glanced curiously at me and Em.

  "Oh, this is Kaz and Em, they're training to be Guild researchers," said Darius smoothly. "We were just raiding the Library." He nodded towards the book under his arm. "Taking it back to the Mallow Bottom office."

  "Oh yeah? Heard you 'ad another Named One there. For the smallest office of the lot, Mallow Bottom seems to be getting a lot of action," commented Max. His eyes were fixed on me. "I 'ear Mari took it out. That's the second Named One she's faced."

  "Well, she's a good fighter!" I said evenly.

  "I don't dispute that," said Max slowly, "It's just, there's only ever been three sightings of Named Ones in the past twenty years, and Mari's taken out two of them."

  "What happened to the third one?" asked Em.

  "Escaped." His eyes were still on me. "Are you related to Mari? Only you look very..." Darius interrupted him.

  "You're up, Max. Jump wall's free. Have a good trip." Max looked at Darius for a long moment, then back at me. I felt hot under his gaze. Then he gave a smile and clapped Darius on the back.

  "See ya, kid." He dialled up Paris, and made the jump.

  "Why did that man have a horrible Nazi tattoo on his neck?" Em asked in disgust.

  "Believe it or not, it's actually a Sanskrit symbol important to Hindus and Buddhists. The Nazis stole it and completely ruined its significance, but some of the tougher Warriors choose to wear it."

  "You 'd have to be tough, walking round with a swastika on your neck," I said. Darius laughed.

  "Max is a good man. Anyone calling him a racist is in for a world of hurt." He dialled up Mallow Bottom, the incongruity of the name standing out next to the likes of Beijing, Washington and Sydney.

  "Why Mallow Bottom, why not London?" I asked, watching as Em jumped through first.

  "It used to be London. But the office was burned down in the Great Fire. Which I believe was actually started by narakagni, but we don't talk about it. One of the Guild's more embarrassing moments." He bowed and gestured to the wall. "After you, my lady. And try not to hurl your guts up this time."

  I remembered to close my eyes and hold my breath. He was right, it was much easier on the stomach.