Realm of the Goddess

by Sabina Khan

  “So, what do you think, Callie?” Vikram asked.

  “It’s so serene and beautiful,” I said. “Are these all students?” I looked at the people milling about, most of them young like myself.

  “Yes, these are all initiates,” Vikram said. “They come to us from various parts of the country and train here. We have some of the best teachers in the world here,” he added.

  “What about school? I mean, they all seem so young, aren’t they in the school system?”

  “No, everything they need to learn is taught here at the Academy. In addition to regular school subjects they also learn combat techniques and the intricacies of Hindu mythology.”

  I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Luckily, Vikram continued.

  “Why don’t I show you around the Academy? It’s quite large since we have residential halls and the school buildings. This is the main house. I live here, but it’s also our headquarters. We have Rakshakari visiting from abroad quite frequently, as well as conferences.”

  He turned around and led me out of the temple room, back into the spacious foyer. I followed him out the front door, around the corner of the building. From here I could see what he meant by this being a large compound. It was enormous. There were three multi-storied buildings forming a semi-circle about fifty feet on the right of the main house. To the left I could see a tennis court, a swimming pool and another large enclosed space where some students were sparring with swords. Beyond all that, stretching out as far as I could see, were trees, tall pines that towered over the buildings and created a rich green backdrop. Not a bad place to live and go to school, I thought. The sun was beginning to set and I took a deep breath of the cool, pine-scented air before following Vikram, who had already begun making his way toward one of the buildings.

  “This is our all-female dormitory,” Vikram said, holding the glass double doors open for me. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. We were in a lobby. In one corner was a flat-screen television with a seating area, which was empty at the moment. In another corner there was a set of square tables with stools around them. On each table was a small square wooden game board. I walked over to take a closer look and gasped. They were Carrom boards. When I lived in Kolkata, my cousins and I would play Carrom all day long during summer vacation. It consisted of small circular disks arranged in a circle in the center of the board. The players would have to use a larger disk, called a striker, and a flick of the finger to hit the disks and send them to one of the pockets on the four corners of the board. I hadn’t seen one of these in years. I must have had a smile on my face because Vikram came over.

  “Memories of childhood?” he asked, his voice gentle. I nodded.

  “I haven’t played for years. I’m sure I’ve lost my touch.”

  He pointed toward the hallway and gestured for me to follow. “The ground floor is mostly for activities. The first two floors are for senior students and the remaining four are for all the rest.”

  “How many students live here then?” I asked, smiling at a couple of girls who had just come out of the elevator. They looked at me curiously but smiled back nonetheless before heading out the door.

  “About one hundred and fifty in the girls’ dormitory and another one hundred in the boys’. Remember that our Academy serves the entire West Coast.”

  “What about the third building?”

  “That’s for staff, trainers and other administrators. What I really wanted you to see was our combat training room. I was hoping you might pick a weapon.”

  I looked at him in confusion. “A weapon…?”

  “Didn’t Dev and Nina tell you? We feel that you should stay here and prepare.”

  “Prepare...for what, exactly?” I began to feel a little irritated. I did not appreciate being kept in the dark like this. I had no idea how much Dev and Nina had told Vikram.

  “Well, Callie, you know what lies ahead for you...for all of us. You have no combat skills and you cannot attempt to face Mahisha, or any of his demons for that matter, without some training.”

  Okay, so he knew everything. What he said made a lot of sense. I did feel totally unprepared, and if I wanted to have any chance of saving my parents I would have to learn how to fight. There was a lot more I would have to learn, and this was the place for it. Plus it would be kind of a relief not to be so close to Shiv all the time. Or his mother.

  I nodded slowly. “So when did you want me to start?”

  “Well, you can move in tomorrow. Your combat training will commence immediately. You will also be working with Mr. Perkins, who is our resident expert on demonology. He will bring you up to speed on what you need to know. Given the urgency of our situation, there is no time to waste. Now let me take you to the combat training area.”

  I followed him down a dimly lit hallway until he stopped in front of a set of double doors. He pushed them open and stood aside to let me enter first. I stepped inside and looked around. It was a lot like the room in Shiv’s house, except much bigger. There was one part of the room designated only for weapons storage.

  “Some of these weapons are thousands of years old. They have come to us after being passed down to generations of Rakshakari.”

  “Do the initiates only learn the ancient arts of combat or do you also teach them other forms of martial arts?”

  “We certainly try to prepare our guardians in as many different forms as we can, After all, evil comes in all shapes and forms. We wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to think that our ancient combat techniques are all that we need to protect the world from evil.”

  There was a plethora of deadly looking weapons hanging on individual hooks on the wall, but once again my eye went straight to the whip-like sword that I had admired in Shiv’s house. Vikram followed my gaze to where the sword was hanging with its companions. He walked over, took it off its hook and turned to me with a knowing smile.

  “So it appears that you have a connection. The urumi was Kali’s weapon of choice as well.”

  He held out the sword. I hesitated for a split second before grasping the handle. Nothing happened. I don’t know what I had expected, but maybe a part of me had hoped that holding a weapon that had been a favorite of Kali’s would impart some magical powers to me. But that didn’t happen, so I was left standing cluelessly with the urumi in my hand and no idea what to do. Vikram looked as though he too had been expecting something along the lines of Xena, Warrior Princess. But he recovered quickly, arranging his features into an encouraging smile.

  “Maybe we can start with the training right now,” he said, calling over one of the trainers with an imperious wave. A young woman just over five feet tall walked over. She wore a white tunic over a pair of loose-fitting white pants. Her hair was in a long braid that swung down to her hips. As she came over, she bowed slightly to Vikram. He returned the gesture with a quick nod and then turned to me.

  “Callie, this is Tara, one of our most talented trainers.” Tara’s face exhibited the barest hint of pleasure at Vikram’s praise, but then she turned to me with a broad smile.

  “Callie, it is so great to meet you. We have been waiting.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” I said, feeling a little awkward at the thought that most people here knew about me, but I knew nothing about them.

  “Would you like to try your hand at a little swordplay?” Tara asked, pointing to the training area. I looked over at the students working there. They all seemed very skilled, thrusting and parrying quite effortlessly.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I said hesitantly. “I’m not really known for my hand-eye coordination.”

  “Well, you have to start sometime, so why not now?” Tara said matter-of-factly.

  I couldn’t think of a good reason, so I just nodded.

  “Okay, Tara, I will leave Callie in your capable hands, and when you are done, please bring her to the main house.” Vikram turned around and left.

  Tara gave me
a cursory glance, no doubt regretting her earlier offer. Unfortunately for me, it looked like I was not getting off that easy, because she guided me to the other end of the gym and into the locker room. Except it wasn’t your typical high school locker room — far from it. It looked more like a spa than any changing room I’d ever seen. There were large mirrors along the walls. One section of the room had large lockers, beyond which I could see the entrance to the showers.

  “I thought you might be more comfortable in something less restricting,” she said. I was wearing skinny jeans and a T-shirt, probably not the most suitable for sword fighting.

  “Yes, I think you’re right,” I said, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Tara just smiled and walked over to a shelf that held stacks of white clothing. She dug around for a bit before pulling out a tunic and pair of pants just like the ones she was wearing.

  “These should fit, I think,” she said, pointing toward a changing area. I took the clothes, thanked her and went to change. I emerged a few minutes later, suitably attired for battle. The linen tunic was soft against my skin. The pants were of the same material and were probably the most comfortable I had ever worn. We walked back out into gym. Tara brought me a sword, not the urumi that I had held earlier, but a regular sword.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to start out with the urumi. It’s a tricky weapon to handle, even for skilled warriors,” she said, handing me the sword. I put my fingers around the hilt. It felt odd at first, cold to the touch, but then my fingers warmed the metal. I brought the hilt closer to look at the intricate design. It looked like it was made of bronze, with a leafy motif in silver. All around the top were engravings of Hanuman and Ganesha, as well as peacocks, all intertwined in floral scrollwork.

  “This is absolutely beautiful,” I told Tara, who was brandishing her own sword.

  “Well, are you going to just stand there and admire it all day or are we going to see any action?” she said with an impish grin as she waved her sword around. I decided that I liked her, but not enough to let her cut off any of my body parts. I backed up a little, my competitive nature taking over, and arranged myself in what I hoped was a combative stance. Far from impressing Tara, it seemed that I was amusing her, because I could see a little smile playing at the corners of her mouth. I couldn’t believe it, but I actually stomped my foot a little and let the blade of my sword drop to the floor.

  “So are you just going to laugh at me or are you actually going to teach me something? I thought Vikram said that you were one of his best trainers,” I said, making no attempt to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

  It had the intended effect, because Tara immediately bristled.

  “First of all, I am not Vikram’s trainer. I am Rakshakari, not his employee. And secondly, yes, of course I will teach you, but I was having too much of a good time watching you pose.” The last bit was accompanied by a grin, and in spite of myself I smiled back. It was hard not to like her. I made a mental note to ask Shiv about Vikram and Tara, because I detected a definite note of resentment in her tone.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent quite productively. I learned the basics of sword fighting, which, contrary to my understanding, had nothing to do with combat itself but more to do with the different parts of the sword and handling techniques. I got the strong feeling that Tara wanted to make sure I didn’t cut of my own or anybody else’s parts while flailing around. I didn’t blame her but I would have liked to have learned some actual fighting.

  Later that day Shiv came to get me and Tara and we met up with his parents at the main house, where dinner was waiting. Vikram asked me if I would like to shower and change before dinner and I gladly accepted. Tara took me upstairs and showed me to a bedroom. It was luxuriously decorated in deep purple and gold, a bit too rich for my taste, but beautiful nonetheless. There was an adjoining bathroom and I marveled at the huge shower as I stood under a jet stream of hot water. A bit later I rejoined the others downstairs, wearing my own clothes and feeling refreshed and ravenous. Dinner was a feast, with spicy, fragrant biryani, fried fish, assorted vegetable and a sumptuous dessert of rasmalai. I would have happily skipped the main course for the deliciously soft, sweet balls of milky dough swimming in clotted cream.

  During dinner Vikram casually asked me questions about my childhood, the nightmares and everything that had happened afterwards. I couldn’t help but feel he was not entirely sure I was the real deal. I didn’t blame him. I was still struggling with this new reality. I felt as if my old life had been replaced with this new one where everything was unfamiliar and everyone was a stranger. I missed Ben and all the fun we had together. I missed my parents. But most of all I missed feeling that I had control over my life. I hadn’t felt this out of control since I’d first started having the nightmares. But I had built a new life after that, found my tribe and was comfortable again. And then all this happened. And I had no choice but to deal with it. I forced myself to come back to the moment. Vikram was asking me something about my father.

  “I’m sorry...I’m exhausted.” I really did not want to answer any more questions, but I also didn’t want to be rude, especially since Vikram was being such a gracious host. Luckily, Dev saved me from having to answer.

  “Vikram, I think Callie has had a very long day. Maybe Shiv should take her home so she can get some rest.”

  I could tell that Vikram wanted to continue, but he couldn’t really say anything without appearing insensitive.

  “Of course, you must be well rested for tomorrow, Callie. You have much work ahead of you. Dev and Nina, I will have a car take you home later.” I thanked Vikram, said my goodbyes and then waited at the front of the house while Shiv pulled the car around.

  Chapter Seven

  The next afternoon I was looking at the sword in my hand as I stood in the huge training grounds of the Academy. It backed onto a green belt, so there was no chance of anybody seeing us. We’d been training for only a couple of hours and already I was exhausted. Tara watched me expectantly. Did she really think that I would just magically know how to swing the sword around? The thing was heavy.

  “Callie, you have to focus. Watch me, remember the stances we went over, and follow my steps.” I watched as she jumped around the field, expertly wielding her sword as if it were a feather. I stepped forward, imitating the stance Tara had started with. I held the sword straight in front of me as she had shown me umpteen times then sliced a clockwise arc through the air. That didn’t seem too bad. I tried again. This time I stepped into it at the same time. Unfortunately, my hand forgot that it had to hold onto the sword while I was doing the fancy footwork and it slid out and into the air, straight toward Tara, who’d been watching me with a bored look. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid having her nose cut off.

  “Callie, you have to hold on tighter. And you have to concentrate.” She was exasperated, as was I. We’d been working on this particular set for hours and I wanted nothing more than to rest my aching feet and eat a cheeseburger.

  “Do you think I don’t know that? I’m trying, Tara.” I took a deep breath and started again. Step forward, swing clockwise, bring it down, step again, swing counter-clockwise, don’t drop the sword. I repeated this a few times, feeling quite pleased with myself. I deserved credit for not maiming anyone, didn’t I? I did a few more turns then came to a stop in front of Tara.

  “That’s much better, Callie. Now we’re going to go over sparring techniques.” She spent the next two hours teaching me complicated maneuvers to use while sparring. I tried to focus and absorb as much as I could. I’d always been a quick learner, but this was a little bit different than balancing chemical reactions or solving algebraic equations. As the afternoon turned into evening, I reflected on how unprepared I was to deal with all the challenges coming my way. I was so deep in thought that I didn’t realize when the air started shimmering and Tara and the clearing we were standing in disappeared.

  One minute I was flail
ing about with the heavy sword and the next moment everything around me dissolved. I was standing by a lake, the surface rippling softly from a gentle breeze. I was surrounded by trees laden with luscious fruits I didn’t recognize. Flowers bloomed in abundance, their unfamiliar but intoxicating fragrance tickling my nose. I knew this was no dream, but it still felt unreal. I spotted two figures under a tree. They were locked in an embrace. I was drawn toward them, so I went, taking care to tread softly, afraid of interrupting a romantic moment. When I got close enough to see them properly, I stopped. The man was facing me and I tried to blend into the foliage as best as I could. His face was hidden in shadows so I couldn’t see it clearly, but he seemed young. Curly hair hung down almost to the top of his broad shoulders, and when he leaned back a little from the embrace, I could see the muscles ripple across his shirtless chest. The girl was gazing into his eyes, the fingers of her right hand entangled in his curls while her left hand cupped his cheek. He leaned in and their lips met in a passionate kiss. It felt oddly voyeuristic to watch them, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

  They were lost in each other for some time. It was strange, but even though I was just watching, I could feel the chemistry. A tingle began somewhere deep inside me and worked its way to the rest of my body as I watched the two of them consumed by their passion. It was a tangible thing, this heat between them. Then they broke their embrace and began to walk toward the water. Just before they turned away, the girl turned and I got a glimpse at her face. I froze. At first my mind was too stunned to register it. I closed my eyes and held them tightly shut for a moment. When I opened them there was no mistaking. I was looking at myself. Not that I would ever wear what she had on. It was too much, like the kind of outfits my parents would make me wear to Indian weddings.