Daughter of Kali- Awakening

by Shiulie Ghosh

  They were too late to save Javier, or Luka’s right arm which had been torn off in the fight. But they had killed the demons, then followed the GPS signal in my necklace. It had fallen off half a mile from the cave entrance. The Warriors had split up, trying to find me. It was Di who’d come upon a group of children stumbling round in the dark.

  The hellhole couldn’t be closed. They tried destroying the Sphere but since its power was gone, it had no effect. All they could do was seal the cave and erect barrier spells around it, so no more demons could leave. It wasn’t perfect but it seemed to be working.

  The surviving children had their memories altered. They all believed they'd been held by some deranged sacrificial cult trying to recreate the devil-worship of the seventeenth century. Scary memories, but not as bad as the reality.

  We had basically saved the world. But it made no difference for Mum. I kept my anger in check.

  "Did you get me the meeting with the Chairman?" I asked Darius.

  "Yes, but I don't know if it will help." Darius looked worried. "What you're proposing, it hasn't been done before."

  "I have no choice," I said. "It's the only way I can get them to keep her here. She'll die in an ordinary hospital. She'd be dead already."

  Darius nodded.

  "You'll need someone to second you," he said. "You know you have my full support."

  "I know. Thank you. But I have someone who can help me. The new Head of Training will speak on my behalf."

  "Who's the new Head of Training?" asked Em.

  "I am." Diaphanous Caine sashayed up the corridor in a brand new leather coat, the overall effect only slightly spoiled by her heavily bandaged hand. She looked like the cat that got the cream. "First female Head of Training ever appointed. Now I can give the boys even more hell."

  "Oh. Well done," said Em unconvincingly. She never had been very good at hiding her dislike for the Warrior. "Good luck at the meeting, Kaz. Let's go, Darius."

  "I'll catch up with you," he said. "Five minutes." Em hugged me and walked off towards the Jump Room. Darius waited till she was out of sight, then grabbed me by the shoulders. "Are you sure about this?" he said urgently. "Think about it Kaz. You won't be able to be just a normal teenage girl anymore."

  His turquoise eyes were worried.

  "He means, you won't be able to form normal relationships," said Di. "You'll have secrets. You'll be different. You can't have what normal teenage girls have."

  I felt Darius's hands warm on my shoulder, and had a moment's flashback. The feel of his body, the closeness of his lips. That moment of electricity. But you can't lose what you never had, I thought.

  "It's the only way," I told him gently. "I've made my mind up. Go on. I'll see you and Em back at the Mansion." He gazed at me for a moment longer, then shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

  "You're as mad as your aunt."

  "Don't call me that," Di snorted.

  "Later." He walked off, flipping a wave as he disappeared round the corner.

  "You sure about this, Deva?" asked Di, watching him go. "Relationships between Warriors are discouraged..."

  "He's with Em," I said sharply. I changed the subject. "Have you seen Mum?"

  "Yes. I wanted to put a pillow over her face."

  "What?"

  "She lied. She lied to all of us." Di suddenly looked furious. A few people in the corridor looked at us curiously. I pulled her into an empty side-room.

  "And what was she supposed to say?" I hissed. "'I've got a great big demon inside me, but don't worry about it'? No-one would ever have trusted her again!"

  "She should have told the truth."

  "How would that have helped?"

  "My brother wouldn't have felt he had to prove himself to her, for one thing."

  I closed my mouth, rubbing my face tiredly.

  "You're right. Dad may still be alive if Mum had told him the truth. But Di, you can't tell anyone what you saw. Not after what happened. She can't defend herself."

  Di pursed her lips.

  "I'll keep my end of the bargain. I won't say a word about Mari. But in return, you help me get that demon bitch who killed my brother."

  "And you'll help me with the Chairman?"

  She paused, looking at me thoughtfully.

  "You know Mari would hate it."

  "She's not here to argue. Anyway, I'm doing this for her."

  "You are one screwed up family."

  "We," I reminded her. "We are one screwed up family."

  "Can't argue with that." She held out her good hand. "Shake on it, brat."

  We shook.

  The Chairman's office was open, and through the door we could see him sitting behind his desk, signing forms. He handed them to Benedict as we came in, his face breaking into a broad smile.

  "Di, Kaz. Welcome."

  "Hi, Aloysius," Di said, taking a seat.

  The former Head of Training's ascent to the head of the Guild had been rapid. As soon as it became known that the demons had been exercising a plan centuries in the making, a plan that had been discussed and dismissed twenty years before, Crepuscular Dark's days had been numbered.

  He had been summarily voted out, and a replacement elected.

  Aloysius gestured at his shirt and tie.

  "What do you think?" he asked with a rueful smile. "I wanted to keep wearing my combat fatigues, but Lucian insisted I wore a suit. He's terribly proud." I noticed a framed photograph on his desk, showing the two of them at a registry office. “Between you and me, I think the paperwork will kill me.”

  I smiled. Lucian had been inordinately pleased that his husband was now the Chairman. I’d spoken to him the day before, when I handed over the ring.

  “I’ll keep it safe,” he’d told me. “Locked away. The demons will never be able to use this negative energy again.”

  I looked at Aloysius.

  “Lucian is very proud of you. I thought perhaps he might get the Chairmanship?”

  “So did I. And it would have been right, a Hindu in charge again. But we’re still fighting the good fight, that’s what matters.”

  "You’ll do great," said Di. "Get your minions to do the paperwork, that's what they're for."

  "I wish I could. I miss combat already." He eyed her hand. "How is it? Bones healing?"

  "You know Violet. She's not taking any chances. She's already dosed me with the potions but she wanted a bandage on it to make sure everything healed perfectly." She held up her hand. "It's coming off tomorrow."

  "Glad to hear it. And you, Kaz? How's your mother?"

  I swallowed.

  "Still in a coma. Without constant intervention, she'll die."

  He nodded. "I received a full report this morning. She needs repeated spells to keep her body going. I'm sorry." He paused, then awkwardly broached a subject I already knew was coming. "I'll do everything I can for her, but Kaz, we can't keep her here indefinitely."

  "She's a Warrior, a valuable member of the Guild, surely you can..."

  "If it was up to me, I'd let her stay in the infirmary forever, if necessary. But you already know it's unlikely she'll ever recover. The doctors say she's permanently damaged, and she'll probably never wake up."

  "So what? She's risked her life for this Guild again and again, don't you have a responsibility towards her?" I felt my voice start to shake from anger, and with an effort I reined it in. "How long can you keep her?"

  "Maybe a week. Maybe two." He saw my look of incredulity. "Crepuscular Dark is still a member of the Guild. He's trying to weaken me already, he’s telling everyone I don't understand budgets and resources. He says keeping a near-dead Warrior on life support is a waste."

  "He can go to hell," I snarled.

  "It's not just a question of money. There's a reason we don't use magic to stave off death. It puts enormous strain on the patient, and it doesn’t cure them. It just delays the inevitable."

  "A delay is better than nothing."

  He sighed and clasped his
hands.

  "Perhaps you should prepare yourself, spend what time you can with her," he suggested gently.

  "I have a better idea," I said. "Let me join the Guild. I'll work for you, in return for my mother's care."

  "Join the Guild?" he asked, in surprise. "What as?"

  "As a Warrior."

  "Impossible," he said firmly. "Warriors are trained from the age of ten. You're what, nearly sixteen? You should be preparing to become apprenticed by now, experienced in all aspects of weaponry. You're too old."

  I slammed my hand down on the desk, making us all jump.

  "You're only in this office because I helped make it happen," I said through gritted teeth. "Me and Di, Darius, Violet and Henry, and even Em, we all went up against Dark when the rest of you wouldn't. You owe me."

  In the silence, Di cleared her throat.

  "Aloysius, I've been training with Kaz. She shows real promise. She’s a royal pain in the butt, but Warrior blood runs through her veins. Give me a year, and I promise I'll have her up to par."

  Aloysius leaned back, looking at me appraisingly. He glanced at Di.

  "You would take full responsibility? You would be her mentor?"

  "I accept full responsibility. One year."

  He shook his head.

  "Six months." She opened her mouth to protest, but he raised a hand. "It's not negotiable, Di. I can't take you out of the game for a year. You have responsibilities now. You have six months to get her combat ready, so she can be apprenticed with the rest of her class. Can you do it?"

  Di hesitated, then glanced at me. I nodded fractionally.

  "Six months," she agreed.

  "And you, Kaz." Aloysius steepled his fingers, looking at me gravely. "It won't be easy. There will be those who want to undermine you, who will say you don't belong. And if you fail to make the grade, you will be expelled and I won't be able to help your mother. Do you accept these conditions?"

  I looked at him neutrally, but my head was buzzing.

  I had a plan. I was going to find out about the prophecy. The one that seemed so important to Belzael, the one that seemed connected to me.

  Then I was going to use that as leverage, to make Belzael possess my mother again. Heal her. Make her whole.

  I was going to save my mother, and in the process, find out what the hell I was. The girl who couldn't be possessed, the girl who commanded demons.

  And to do that, I needed to join the Guild.

  I held out my hand.

  "It’s a deal.”

  ◆◆◆

  Read on for a Preview of Book 2 in the series Daughter of Kali: Unholy Alliance

  Unholy Alliance Chapter 1

  The young man strained at his chains, snarling and snapping as saliva flew from his jaws. His skin had a greyish pallor, and there were deep shadows under his bloodshot eyes. He hawked up a great gob of green snot and spat it towards Diaphanous Caine, who sidestepped smartly.

  “Possessions are different for different demons,” she continued. “A Named One will dissolve the soul immediately, but is able to wear the body for days, even weeks, before it physically falls apart. This means they can disguise themselves as humans. Luckily for us, possessions by Named Ones are extremely rare.”

  The man lunged for Di, hurling himself towards her with arms outstretched. But the Head of Training was made of stern stuff. She didn’t bat an eyelid as he was pulled up short like a dog on a leash, his flailing hands inches from her face.

  I watched from a safe distance with the rest of the trainees, as his tongue lolled from his mouth and he licked his lips obscenely. Di carried on with the lesson.

  “Now, this unfortunate was possessed by a drone in Canada. He was backpacking in the wilderness when he happened upon a hellhole, sadly for him. Generally the lower demons prefer killing their prey and eating their brains. However, sometimes they’ll take a soul instead. Unlike Named Ones, it takes them a while to complete the process. So we have a small window to exorcise the demon and save the victim. Yes, Ali?”

  The Syrian boy had raised his hand.

  “How long, generally?”

  “One or two days, depending on how strong the victim is. The longest recorded possession which was successfully exorcised is 72 hours, but bear in mind the longer the person is possessed, the greater the mental damage.”

  I knew about the mental torment left after a cleansing. The victims were never the same afterwards. The chained man looked directly at the six of us watching him, and vomited a fluorescent green stream of bile down his front. It stank. Di grimaced.

  “This one has had about 8 hours. So there’s still a chance for him. You’ve all revised the procedure, now let’s put it into practice. Who’s first?”

  Without hesitation a tall, slim girl with skin the colour of caramel strode gracefully into the training arena. I gritted my teeth. Of course Farah would go first, she was always top of the class. She took a bottle of purified water and sprinkled it on the possessed man. He screamed and strained at his chain, drool and mucus flying. She hesitated, then pressed a purified silver blade flat against his forehead, reciting the words of an ancient Sanskrit exorcism rite. The man struck like a rattlesnake and bit her savagely on the hand.

  “Ow! Shit.” She cradled her arm, blood everywhere. I hid a grin, but not fast enough. Farah glared at me. “Think you can do better?”

  Di sighed expressively.

  “Go get the ‘casters to fix you up, Farah. Ali, you next.” One by one, the others tried to carry out an exorcism. They all yelled good-natured encouragement at each other. They were a tight-knit group.

  When it was my turn, I didn’t fare any better than the others. No matter how loudly I recited the words or how much purified water I flung on him, the demon would not leave the man.

  It may have helped if the other trainees had urged me on; but as usual they watched me in silence.

  “What happens to him if we can’t exorcise him?” I asked eventually. Di shrugged.

  “Not my department. If Henry or Violet can’t get rid of it, they’ll have to eliminate the host.”

  “You mean… Kill him?”

  “He’s pretty much a goner already.”

  Di walked off dismissively, scribbling notes in a small book. No doubt recording our latest abject failure. The man was now clawing at himself and leaving deep welts all over his arms and chest.

  If it wasn’t obvious he was possessed, I would have known anyway. My own special gift would have told me. Dark shadows curled at the edge of my vision; an in-built early warning demon alert. I felt a prick of conscience as the man gouged at his own face; it wasn’t his fault he’d been possessed, and now here he was being used as a training tool by the Guild.

  Farah walked back in, her hand healed by the medical spell-casters. The others crowded round to see the newly formed skin. I rolled my eyes. Trust her to make it into a drama. Di was still off to one side making notes. No-one was paying any attention to me. I made a split-second decision.

  I closed my eyes for a second to summon the other. Then I leaned close to the man and whispered a single word into his ear.

  Leave.

  Immediately black smoke started pouring from his mouth, his nose, his eyes. The man screamed at the top of his lungs and everyone whipped round in shock. Di dropped her notebook.

  “What did you do?” she yelled at me.

  “I just chucked more water on him,” I lied, backing away.

  The black cloud started to solidify, taking on the suggestion of multiple arms, tentacles, teeth and claws. The drone was rematerializing outside its host. A high-pitched alarm started shrieking throughout the headquarters. Without breaking stride, Di unclipped a canister from her belt.

  “Everyone down, now.”

  She triggered the canister and threw it straight at the demon taking shape in the middle of the training room. The cold blue flames of the narakagni engulfed it, turning its snarls into shrieks of pain. The black smoke dissolved into ash,
then nothing.

  The sirens continued to blare until Di impatiently called up security, confirming all was well. In the sudden silence, the man sat up.

  “Hello?” He looked around uncertainly. “Who are you?” His eyes lighted on Di, with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and peachy skin. “Am I in heaven?” Di smiled.

  “Almost. You are one lucky young man.” She gave him a swift uppercut to the jaw and he collapsed back down, unconscious. Di unchained him. “You.” She pointed at me. “I don’t know how you did it, but you win the prize.”

  The other five trainees were staring at me with undisguised loathing. If Farah could spit fire, she would have torched me right there. Sucks to be you, I thought with satisfaction.

  “Great. What’s the prize?”

  “A trip to Canada.”

  “A trip to…?”

  “After an exorcism, we take the Cleansed back home. It’s usually simpler to leave them outside a local hospital. He’ll probably be a little mentally foggy. Come on, chop chop.”

  I felt the others smirking at me as I lugged the man to his feet, groaning under his weight. He was still covered in demon vomit, and the stench was hideous. Di turned away, covering her mouth.

  “Everyone else, class dismissed.”

  “Have fun, Deva,” Farah called out brightly. I was left to half-drag, half-carry the Cleansed one to the Jump wall. He dribbled into my ear, and started snoring.

  It was going to be a long trip.

  ◆◆◆

  The adventure continues in Daughter of Kali: Unholy Alliance, available on Amazon now at http://mybook.to/unholyalliance

  Book 3 is also available. Daughter of Kali: Infernal Destiny concludes the thrilling series. Find it at http://mybook.to/infernaldestiny.

  If you enjoyed Book 1 in this series, please leave a review, it is hugely appreciated. The Amazon page for Awakening can be found at http://mybook.to/daughterofkali.

  Thank you.