The Hunt for Xanadu

by Elyse Salpeter

  Shingen shook his head, his voice bitter. “You mean until Kelsey fights it for us.”

  “Only time will tell, brother. We’ve made a vow to protect her and our order protects Xanadu. We’re on our own mental continuum to keep that promise.” He stared out across the glen at the city of Xanadu. The lights in the temple’s windows sparkled in the night sky. “Come. There’s nothing else for us to do there until she returns to our world. What will be, will be.”

  With that, they closed their eyes and disappeared.

  * * * * *

  Kelsey opened her eyes. “You brought me to Xanadu.”

  The Abbott shook his head. “Not I, child. Shojuharu and Shingen and the other monks took you. They only wanted to protect you. The reason we never said anything is because we didn’t want to call Raul’s attention to you. He had thought he killed you and he was now spending his life seeking out the monks at all the other monasteries to decipher the map. For the moment, you were safe in his ignorance of your true fate.”

  “So you believe he’s Mara’s minion, brought here to murder me? To finish what he started?”

  The Abbott nodded. “I do. Raul searched for members of our sect throughout the world in his efforts to destroy Xanadu at the wishes of his master. We scattered, trying to protect the secret, but he kept finding us and attacking us. We never contacted you directly for fear he was watching, so instead, we kept our distance. But we still needed to teach you so we astral projected ourselves into your dreams to continue your lessons. It was the only way to bring you deeper into your inner self and take you to Xanadu where you could grow and learn and become an integral part of that world. To help you see the true Clear Light and way of the path, yet protect you at the same time. If your own spiritual father tried to kill you hundreds of times before for rejecting his ways, we had to find another way to let you live and grow without his constant influence. We wanted to keep you hidden without calling more attention to you. To spare you the horror of reliving your attack again.”

  Kelsey shook her head. “I think it’s more than that. You knew I would hate this man. Maybe you thought I would bring Raul there and that I would do something to hurt Xanadu.”

  The other monks bowed their heads. “We knew your hatred of Raul would be one of the defining things in this lifetime and if we said you needed to protect this world from him, it would possibly hurt your path in this life. Sometimes knowledge isn’t always the best thing to have. By telling you all this history too early, we believed it would influence you and sway your destiny. We just didn’t want to stop your spiritual growth.”

  Kelsey stood up, incredulous. “Stop my spiritual growth? Sway my destiny? Are you actually still worried about my samsara? Trust me, I’m definitely not ascending to any higher level in this lifetime, Abbott. Do you have any idea what horrors I’ve committed redeeming myself and my family? I’m lucky I don’t come back as a roach scavenging for food in the depths of the New York City subway system or living in the Arbuda Naraka hell plane, naked in a frozen wasteland with oozing blisters covering my body for the next hundred thousand years.”

  Desmond spoke up. “Kelsey, please.”

  She turned on him. “No, Desmond. I’ve been a pawn my entire life for these people, because they think I’m the descendant of an evil temptress who happens to be the daughter to the Buddhist equivalent of Satan. My parents died for those beliefs and I’ve killed many people because of it. My samsara is already set.”

  “Kelsey, we were only trying to save your soul,” the Abbott said.

  I’m disgusted by all of you. “You shouldn’t have spent any time worrying about it. I’ve created my own fate. You were worried about my karma? Well, let me tell you something. I’ve killed nearly every person who was part of that night. I murdered them, stole from them, did everything Buddhism finds reprehensible and I haven’t lost one single night’s sleep about it. In fact, I enjoyed every moment of it.”

  “That’s Tanha’s influence on you.”

  Kelsey pounded her chest. “No! That’s my influence on me! You want to talk about the three poisons and how they lead to evil and suffering? Well, Raul had greed, had hatred and was ignorant. I’m not. But there was no way I wasn’t going to avenge my family. And yet you still think I’m needed in Xanadu to fight some sort of battle that’s coming down? You think I should fight alongside bodhisattvas and arahants after what I’ve done? You live and breathe this world, travel to it, protect it, yet, do you even know what exactly is supposed to be coming there to threaten them? Is it Mara?”

  “It could be Mara or his minions, or something else entirely,” the Abbott said. “But I can guarantee you it’s something evil that is going to try to destroy that realm.”

  She crossed her arms, her voice suddenly very cold. “Maybe the evil is me. You ever think of that, Abbott?”

  “Kelsey, it isn’t you. I promise you that.”

  She cocked her head. “But you don’t know for sure now, do you?” She stared around at the other monks. “Do any of you know for sure? Maybe my spiritual father’s influence has been stronger in this lifetime. Maybe I came once to tempt Siddhartha, and now I’m coming again to help destroy all that’s left of humanity once and for all. Maybe it was our evil master plan all along.”

  “Kelsey, come on. Stop it,” Desmond said.

  She stared at the monks, but no one said anything.

  “You don’t know what to say, do you, because none of you have an answer? I’m done here.” She turned towards the door.

  The Abbott appealed to her. “Kelsey, please! You can’t just leave those in Xanadu unprotected when you have the power to save them.”

  She shook her head in amazement. “And just what do you expect me to do? I’m only one person. A human person, Abbott. Nothing more, nothing less. And for that matter, they are dream people to me. They’re not even in this reality.”

  “But they are real and you must help us. It’s your duty. It’s the least you can do.”

  She glared at him. “The least I can do? My duty? Listen to me. You may have been bidden to protect Xanadu, but all of you had a responsibility to protect me as well. That was your duty and you failed miserably. Instead, you let Raul and his men kill my parents, let him abuse me and left me in ignorance for many, many years. Those are your own poisons you’ll have to bear.”

  She turned to leave the room, and then glanced back, her eyebrows raised questioningly. “Desmond, are you coming with me or not?”

  He jumped up and followed her. “Where we going, Kelsey?”

  She turned to him, ignoring the monks behind her, her voice low. “I figure we’re going to go find Xanadu.”

  He leaned towards her. “You know how to get there?”

  She nodded. “Apparently, I’ve known all along. The map is going to bring us right to one of the portals. Right to where a set of devas might be. We’ll figure it out as we go along. Come on, we have a long walk ahead of us.”

  Chapter 29

  BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

  Desmond and Kelsey moved through the worn trail, their guns drawn and ready. Raul could be anywhere, waiting to make his move, but they didn’t think he’d shoot Kelsey. He didn’t know how to get to Xanadu and he needed her, if only for a little while. Desmond, on the other hand, was expendable.

  The trail was barely visible through the undergrowth, but even after all these years, Kelsey knew it well. She’d traveled this path daily for nearly two years.

  They circled a stand of rocks and slid down a slight ravine. At its base, with the mountains stretching magnificently above them, was a clearing and within the clearing was the remains of a small building.

  I can’t believe I’m back here. Mom and Dad, I miss you so much. Kelsey stood there for a long time, just staring at the pitiful structure. The sadness nearly overwhelmed her. The hut’s walls had caved in and in the twelve years since, the forest had reclaimed much of it, but she could still tell it had once been a home. With a deep resolve, she
walked towards it and stepped inside.

  She turned to the first room, kicking aside decaying tree branches and dead leaves and stared at a small object resting within the springs of an old, rusty bed. The bedding was nothing more than strips of cloth, the decrepit mattress riddled with holes from burrowing animals and insects. Kelsey bent down and picked up the object, turning it in her hands. A sigh escaped her.

  “What is it?” Desmond asked, moving to her side.

  She held it up. “A doll Bantu Shingen had given me.” The wooden face was a blank, rotting surface as the paint had ebbed away over the years. The clothing was nothing more than a strand of string and the rest of the wood frame was warped and wet. She laid it back on the bed and moved out into the rest of the home.

  Kelsey stood in the middle room, the sky open above them and stared at the ground. Desmond recognized where he was. They stood right in the very spot where Kelsey and her parents had been attacked. The blood stains were long gone, but he was sure nothing could get rid of the stains in her heart.

  Kelsey holstered her gun. She took out the map and opened it up. “You see this line written on this margin?”

  Desmond nodded. “What does it say?”

  “It says ‘the path starts from where the mind is opened’. I think it means there’s always a portal or a way in once you know where to look.”

  Desmond thought about that. “Kelsey, when we were under the monks influence, they said the map was a diversion. What if nothing on this map is real?”

  She pursed her lips. “It’s possible, but then why make this map the burning goal of my father? Why reward him with this, unless…” She paused and squinted, as if in pain. Oh God, no.

  Desmond gently touched her arm in understanding. “Unless the map truly meant nothing and they toyed him with it to keep you in Tibet.” He let that thought hang in the air. It felt too true. Horribly true. “And, it also offered a layer of protection for the monks if the map got into the wrong hands.”

  Kelsey rubbed her temples. Everything to protect them. The monks, the beings in Xanadu. “Where was my protection, Desmond? Where was the protection for my parents?” She stared at the map again. “Maybe there’s more to this. Maybe the true path to Xanadu is anywhere the mind is opened. Maybe people themselves are the portals. In Colombia, the monks took us to Xanadu. Here, the monks from the monastery brought us.”

  “But you took us as well on the train, Kelsey.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Then I guess you’re a portal, too.”

  She shook the map angrily. “So this means nothing? My parents died for nothing?”

  A gunshot startled them both and with a grunt, Desmond fell.

  Kelsey dropped the map and reached for him, but more gunfire erupted. She threw herself to the ground and her holster snapped and broke off. Her weapon tumbled away from her.

  Raul loped into the clearing. A bloody gauze wrapped his arm and another fluttered uselessly on his leg. His pants were unzipped and his shirt was unbuttoned. He wore no jacket, though the temperature was close to freezing. In his state, he didn’t seem to mind. He trained his gun on Kelsey as he lurched forwards.

  She turned to Desmond. His leg bled profusely.

  “I’ve got her! I’ve got her!” Raul screamed to no one in particular. He raised his pistol.

  Kelsey closed her eyes and started moving her fingers… she had just seconds.

  “Kelsey, there’s no time. Get away from here!” Desmond yelled, watching Raul jerk his finger, a maniacal smile trained on his face. At the very moment he was about to fire, the air around them shimmered and Raul glanced up, the shot going wild.

  They disappeared.

  Chapter 30

  THE BATTLE

  Kelsey fell to the ground with a jolt, the grass doing nothing to soften the blow. As she lay there, momentarily stunned, she heard multiple long horns wailing fiercely in the distance.

  “Kelsey!” Desmond burst from the forest and into the clearing. “We’re here. You’ve brought us here again.” He was no longer bleeding, but whole and healthy.

  Kelsey glanced up, fear flooding her heart. “If I’ve brought you, then I could have brought him, too. Where is he?” She flew to her feet, her sword drawn.

  Desmond glanced at the sky, horrified. “Oh, my God. Look!”

  The heavens were filled with black, spidery streaks. The lines pierced through the aurora borealis ribbons, etching themselves like patches of blood oozing across the sky.

  The horns sounded again, calling the land to arms.

  Kelsey put her hands to either side of her mouth. “Ishu! To me! To me!” In a flurry of wings, Ishu descended into the glen alighting next to Kelsey and she jumped on. The creature whinnied and reared back to take off, itching to fly.

  “Desmond, call Dorje, now!”

  Desmond glanced up, but Dorje already flew across the expanse. The air shook with the thunderous fluttering of his massive wings as he landed next to them, whipping them about. Desmond jumped onto him and they took to the air, flying towards the monastery, along with the other riders.

  An ominous noise like a million pieces of glass shattering sounded as part of the sky broke away from the spidery streaks and opened. A gaping hole, like a cavernous mouth, widened. Thousands of daggers shot out of it, piercing the warriors and their steeds and sent them plummeting to the ground.

  Kelsey and Desmond reared back and away from the void. “Evade them, Desmond! Fly away from the opening.”

  Kelsey glanced into the void that lay beyond the open wound in the sky, knowing now what lurked within. A hell plane she herself had once come from and had tried desperately to escape. A physical pain stabbed in her chest, but she ignored it, knowing now what it was. Her only goal was to get to the temple.

  They flew directly into the inner court where hundreds of warriors and their steeds surrounded the pavilion. The Arahants, her Emperor and Empress, rushed to the front of the group, their eyes searching and seeking. They found Kelsey and she ran to them, embracing them in a fierce hug.

  “I’m so sorry. It was me all along. Me bringing them here to Xanadu.”

  The Emperor shook his head, vehemently in denial. “Listen to me. We knew he would have come eventually. This is the path this lifetime has led us and we must end this cycle of death here and now.” The Emperor stared at the sky and drew his sword. “They come! To arms!”

  Another terrible rendering sounded, like a metal car being ripped in half. Thousands of monster demons on winged beasts streaked through the gaping hole, like ants pouring from an anthill. Kelsey recognized Raul, with his head sitting atop a hideously deformed mount, a maniacal smile plastered on his face. While the other riders took to the sky, their fedelias, fearless as they met the demon creatures head on, Kelsey stood her ground, watching and waiting for Raul to come meet her. The shrieks and cries of the battle echoed throughout the land. She now knew who all these people were in Xanadu. They were all protectors of humanity, and so was she. Trained for this very moment.

  Come to me. Raul flew towards her, his sword slicing through the air. Kelsey met him, ducking his blow, and rearing back, spun her body around to slash her sword right through his neck. His head rolled off his body and fell to the ground where he exploded into ashes.

  With no time to think, she turned to Desmond who battled a beast with the head of a falcon and the body of a grotesque, naked woman. Kelsey ran towards it and plunged her weapon into the demon’s side, its banshee-like death shrieks painful to her ears. The air was filled with screams. More and more hideous beasts poured out of the void and flew towards the pavilion.

  “Kelsey!” The Empress ran to her. She bled from a scalp wound. “You must shut the gap.” One of the monsters grabbed the Empress, its talons pushing her towards its yawning, reptilian mouth. An arrow flew through the air and the monster dropped in a crumpled heap as the Empress freed herself from its embrace.

  Kelsey turned to see from where the arrow had flown. S
he saw Desmond, his face set in an expression she’d never seen before. Deadly serious, his eyes blazed with intensity. His body radiated power, and confidence oozed from him. Again and again, he drew his arrows, setting them towards his targets, his aim true.

  “Desmond?”

  “I’ll cover you, Kelsey. Close the gap.” He shot another arrow and another minion fell to the ground.

  Kelsey turned towards the front of the pavilion, desperately searching the sky for a way to shut the hole, but she didn’t know how. More monsters tumbled through the opening. More than they could possibly handle. There weren’t enough warriors to fight them all off. Shrieks from the other fighters chilled her soul as she saw countless men and women falling from their fedelias to land in sickening, growing heaps on the ground.

  She had one idea, desperately hoping it would work. I’ve got to get control. She scanned the pavilion, searching for Desmond. Sprinting to him, she grabbed his hand. “Come with me!” She pulled him to the temple’s side wall, where for the moment, they were hidden.

  “Kelsey, what are we doing? We have to fight.”

  “I’m ending this right now. He wants to kill me? Then let the coward come get me himself instead of sending his minions. Now, hold onto my wrists and don’t let go. I need your karmic powers. Fate has linked us together somehow and I need to use that.”

  As Desmond gripped her wrists, Kelsey closed her eyes, ignoring the assault going on around her. She closed her ears to the cries of death that riddled the land, closed out all of it and brought her thoughts deep. “Come with me, Desmond,” she whispered. She started moving her fingers. Up and down, up and down. The sounds of the battle slowly faded away as the power of the meditation took over. Down through the centuries she plummeted, living life after short life in mere seconds, down and down until she was finally at the base of her father’s feet, staring at him and telling him she was leaving.