"I know you're down here, Hayley," Ben shouted. "Why don't you come back and we can talk things through? All entrances to this floor are blocked. You're not going anywhere."
I glanced around, searching for a way out. At the end of the hallway, I saw a yellow sign indicating the location of a stairwell. With no other option available, I discarded my shoes — unwilling to be burdened with their weight as well as that of the statue — and veered towards the sign and the beckoning stairwell beyond.
To my dismay, the stairs only went down. I was already beneath the main level of the building and was reluctant to enter the sub-basement when I didn't know if there was a way out, but footsteps sounded along the hall and I knew I had no choice. I slipped through the doors, down the stairs, and onto the lower floor.
Upstairs had been deserted but familiar. This level was anything but. The eerie silence was broken only by the soft pad of my bare feet on the marble floor and the ragged gasp of my breath.
I thanked my lucky stars that the main lights hadn't ignited automatically and given away my position, but I moved slowly in a darkness punctured only by the glow emanating from the stairwell I'd left seconds before.
I rounded a corner and came face to face with a giant bear. My heart leapt into my throat, and I let out a surprised gasp before common sense took hold of me and I covered my mouth to avoid any more sounds escaping.
The bear towered over me, its mouth open and teeth bared. I edged around it and found myself in a corridor lined with stuffed animals from bears to foxes and birds. The smell of dust and mothballs was overpowering. Bleak patterns of light created dense and unsettling shadows, and it was hard to rationalise the creepy feeling of being leered at by a hundred glass eyes. I rubbed at the pain forming in my head and wound through the dusty animals before I came to a large room stacked full of empty display cases and crates. I searched the room, but was unable to find any other exit.
The light was all but gone, and I cursed my foolishness. I should have stayed on the floor above and found another way out. Instead, I'd cornered myself in a graveyard for ancient stuffed animals. Great!
I raced back the way I'd come. Maybe, there would still be time to find another way out, but before I reached the end of the Hall of Horrors — as I now affectionately called it — and rounded the corner, I heard the stairwell door creak open and I knew I was too late. The distant sound of whistling reached my ears. Ben had found me, and this time, I was well and truly trapped.
I froze and held my breath. He couldn't know I was there, not with any certainty. I fought off panic and looked around. There was nowhere to go but the room I'd just left, so I ran. My feet as silent as they could be, I slipped through the ghoulish display of taxidermy and ducked behind a large crate in the room.
Lights came on overhead, so I sunk into the deepest shadow I could find. I clasped a hand to my mouth to still my breathing and looked at the statue. It looked back at me with its sage eyes and I knew what I needed to do. I begged forgiveness as tears streamed down my cheeks at the thought of losing the statue, just as the Buddhas of Bamiyan had been lost, but I raised it above my head and smashed it on the floor. The crash reverberated along the corridor and I heard Ben curse.
"Damn it, Hayley," he shouted. "How c—" The rest of his words were lost as time seemed to stand still.
I brushed away the stone and collected the green jewel buried within the rubble. As soon as my fingers touched it, a light flared in my hand like a beacon in the night sky, and I knew, with all my heart, I knew, magic was real.
"How about a little help here?" I asked. "If you truly are magic, then you must be able to give me something useful, something to get me out of here, or better yet, get me out of here yourself."
I closed my eyes, feeling more than a little foolish at talking to a stone, but opened them again when I felt a sudden warmth in my palm. The light from the stone had spread, and my hand shone with the same green glow of the jewel. My fingers tingled, as though cursed with a bad case of pins and needles, but then I felt the energy all around me. Line upon line of power crossed each other's path in one magnificent spot in front of me. I relished the feeling as power I instinctively knew came from the lines seeped into my bones and infused me with energy.
Magic swirled beneath my skin, and on instinct, I reached out my hand. A blast shot from my fingertips and a portal appeared before me where the lines converged. Not caring how this was happening or where the doorway would take me, I stepped through.
Chapter Nine
A flurry of sensations greeted me as I travelled through the doorway. I was trapped in a tumult of light and colour. A vortex carried me between two shimmering curtains, and I felt as though my body was a whirling mass being pulled in every direction at once.
I closed my eyes, unsure if I could take any more. I was in this strange space for only a brief moment before my feet planted on solid ground, but my stomach churned with uncertainty and my mind swam. I’d done the impossible.
"Welcome, Traveller," a warm voice said over the distant sound of chanting.
I opened my eyes and took in the large hall around me. Incense filled the air in a bitter sea of smoke, which snaked and twisted around the endless line of columns circling the room. Buddhist murals adorned the walls, depicting apparent scenes from a history unknown to me. On the main altar rested a twelve-foot high golden statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. It shimmered in the clouds of smoke, creating the brief illusion of movement.
I turned my head to see a monk dressed in the maroon Buddhist shamtab robe. His ceremonial yellow namcha robe confirmed him as a fully ordained monk and one of great standing in his religion. He rushed to my side and grabbed my arm, helping to steady my footing.
"Where am I?" I asked when my dizziness subsided.
"Welcome to the New Sun Monastery of New Lhasa," he answered. "I am Kaie."
I turned around and spied the lush green field beyond the open doorway. I rushed outside and saw a hundred monks sitting cross-legged in the lotus position, many chanting or playing a vast array of instruments. The soothing sound rose and fell like the waves on the ocean. Surrounding the temple grounds was a city: a sprawling sea of colour, energy, and life. As far as the eye could see, flat planes were adorned with village houses or row upon row of no more than three storey buildings. All featured colourful valances of red, yellow, blue, and green hung around the windows and doors. Vast forested areas mingled amongst the buildings, a garden city on a scale I'd never seen before. The temple I'd emerged from stood against a small hillside, splendid in its ornate grandeur.
"This doesn't look like any city I know."
Kaie looked at me and then to the stone in my hand. It was no longer glowing and seemed no more than a simple jade rock. Instinctively, I hid it behind my back.
"You are in no danger here, Traveller." Kaie smiled and motioned me back inside the temple. "But, perhaps we should talk."
I nodded, and once again took in the strangeness of my surroundings. "That might be a good idea."
Kaie motioned to a young monk, no more than seven, and whispered in his ear before leading me back into the temple. He turned to look at me with an expression of concern on his face.
"Do you know how you came here, Traveller?" he asked.
I thought about the portal and the magic I could still feel in the air, but decided against sharing with Kaie. Something about the magic was different here. It felt more dangerous and volatile. Kaie seemed kind and trustworthy, but so had Ben. I wasn't getting burned twice in one day.
"It's complicated," I said.
"Not as complicated as it seems, Traveller."
Kaie motioned for me to sit opposite him at a small table. Plates of food were laid between us: a rich table of fresh fruit and colourful rice dishes. The succulent aroma caused my mouth to water and my churning stomach to rumble.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked after accepting a glass of water to still my queasy stomach.
Kaie looked
deep into my eyes. "Magicai who cross between one world and the next are known as Travellers. That is what you have done, so that is who you are. Although, most people come here by choice, it seems to me, you have come because you are truly lost."
His head tilted as he sought my acknowledgement of his words, and my eyes flashed to the stone in my hand.
Was I truly lost? I'd destroyed an ancient relic and stolen another. What hope was there for me to return to the life I once knew?
I shook my head and sighed. "You could say that," I said. "Although, I’m afraid you may also have to explain what a Magicai is."
Kaie nodded and reached out to place his hand on top of mine. I flinched and he withdrew it with an apology.
"I can see that you have been hurt." He motioned to the bruises on my neck, and I realised for the first time that during my escape from Ben I'd lost my scarf.
"It's nothing," I said, even though it was far from nothing. "An old bruise that will be gone in a few more days."
"Even though the flesh heals, some wounds often sink deeper. You are in a place of safety. Whatever you were running from will not find you here."
I nodded and looked at my hands, unable to make eye contact. I wasn't the sort of person to bare my soul to a stranger — or many people at all, for that matter — even if he was a Buddhist monk.
The child Kaie had spoken to earlier returned holding a small metal box. Kaie acknowledged his presence and motioned him to wait before turning his attention back to me.
"Do you know the power of the stone you possess?" he asked. "In my world, it is called the Cintamani Stone."
My attention snapped to him and a throaty laugh escaped Kaie's lips.
"I see in your world it is known by the same name. I suspect it has something to do with you being here, but I must ask a favour before we continue. The stone belonging to my world is very close, and the discord created by its sister's proximity is troublesome. The stones call to each other. Should they meet, I fear for the safety of both our worlds."
I stood to leave. "Then it was wrong to bring me here," I said. "I should go."
Kaie shook his head. "No, there are things I think you need to learn. For your safety as well as that of others." He motioned the child forward. "This is Dawa,” he said, patting the child on the back.
I smiled in greeting. Dawa blushed and smiled back.
“The lead in this box will diminish the power of the stone and leave you safe to remain for a short time. Please, place the stone inside for safekeeping."
I backed away, unsure of what to do. After all I'd been through, I was reluctant to part with the stone, no matter the cost. I fought down the panic welling inside. Every instinct told me I was safe, that I could trust Kaie, but my reluctance was palpable.
"We would never seek to keep the stone from you," Kaie said, as though reading my thoughts. "The box may remain on your person at all times."
I hesitated a moment longer, glancing from Kaie to Dawa and the box. Dawa’s warm joy at my presence radiated from him, and I knew that I could trust Kaie. I accepted the box and sealed the stone inside. Instantly, the feeling of the magic around me changed. The volatile sense of danger vanished as though it had never existed, but the magic remained. The power of the lines still called to me, a constant well of energy replenishing my soul.
"I don't think it worked," I said to Kaie. "I can still feel the… the magic."
Kaie smiled and patted my hand, and this time, I didn’t flinch away from his touch. "The magic is yours now," he said. "Nobody can take it away from you. You are one of the Magicai."
Chapter Ten
Kaie was right, there were things I needed to learn, and the monk's world was as good a place as any to learn them. Better. Ben and Mr Davenport couldn't find me, and I was as safe as I could hope to be.
For days, I woke up at sunrise and went to bed at sunset. I worked with Kaie to control my powers, while Dawa brought me food and laughed at my efforts.
I learnt that ley lines circled the Earth — invisible lines of power that provided a source of magic for those who could call it. Magicai, which somehow, thanks to the stone, I now was.
Cool, in a way, but also terrifying. My head swam with possibilities. How much of the world lay within arm’s reach that I’d never seen? It was amazing to discover everything that lay hidden and inaccessible to those without the power to see them. Things I'd never even dreamed of as possible.
Not all Magicai, it seemed, were able to become Travellers. Just as Ordinaries — non-magical humans — failed to see the magic in the ley lines, most Magicai failed to see the doorways hidden at the points where ley lines converged. Those that could were called Travellers. In the museum, the Cintamani Stone had granted me the power of both a Magicai and a Traveller, and I'd opened a doorway to an alternate reality.
"Each world is different, but the same," Kaie had said. "One decision made, one road taken or not taken. When these differences occur close to an intersection of ley lines, the world branches in two, and each branch follows a new path."
The whole Buddhist philosophy was that the world had been created over and over again, a million times a second. With such a philosophy, it was easy to see how Kaie readily embraced the concept of alternate worlds. For me, at first, it was hard to take in, but it was surprising what I was coming to believe, and it brought a smile to my face to think that out there, in a large number of worlds, my parents could still be alive. Maybe one day, I would see them again.
New Lhasa stood where New York stood in my world. I’d travelled through the portal to the exact same location I’d left. In Kaie's world, the Tibetan Empire had extended during the eleventh century, and slowly encroached on the world. America was known as Bardo Dewachen: The In Between State of the Pure Land. Peace prevailed, and the Magicai were an open and valued part of society. As the only Magicai in the temple and a fully ordained monk, Kaie had immense respect and power amongst his people. In other worlds, the Magicai were feared. They lived in secret societies, hidden amongst the Ordinaries, afraid to show their true nature for fear of persecution.
I briefly wondered if Zoe Stark was a Magicai in hiding. That would explain her reaction to my questions.
The monks had taken me in and welcomed me as one of their own. They'd given me food, shelter, and clothing — relieved to find that fashion was much the same on this world as my own. I'd never felt such peace or contentment. It warmed my heart like a soft blanket on a winter's day and restored my faith in humanity.
Day after day, I studied under Kaie's patient tutelage. At night, I told Dawa extravagant tales of life in London. I wished I could stay there forever, but I knew my time at the temple was running short. The box was proving insufficient in keeping the magic of the stone contained, and a strange sensation reverberated through the air around it.
~
Early Thursday morning, with Kaie away from the temple for the day, I wandered outside, basked in the glory of the unusually hot spring day, and decided to take a walk through the lush green city surrounding the temple. People ambled along the pavement, popping in and out of houses and shops. Traffic moved slowly, as though no-one was in a rush to get anywhere. The whole pace of life was a stark contrast to the manic existence I was used to. Everyone I passed smiled and nodded in greeting.
The hot sun beat down on my head, and I was considering the cost of an ice-cream when a cab raced passed. A young monk jumped out of the cab at the entrance to the temple and ran into the grounds. Even from my considerable distance away, I saw a look on his face that spoke of worry, so I forwent my ice-cream and raced to the temple.
Tears streamed down his cheeks as he ran into the arms of a monk called Jampa. Through sobbing gasps, we discovered that Dawa had tried to rescue a fox from a forest cave, and a devastating rock slide had caused him to become trapped. Many monks were desperately trying to save him, but the entranceway was too narrow to get machinery down, and the rock slide had blocked off the cleft he was trap
ped in.
My hand flew to my mouth in shock and my heart sank. I wanted to run to him as fast as I could and sweep him into a protective bear hug.
Jampa turned to me with a look of concern on his face. "Kaie is not here and it may take hours to reach him," he said. "You are the only Magicai we have. The only one who can save Dawa."
Despite my training, nausea built in my stomach as I journeyed with a gaggle of monks to what I thought might be the site, in my world, of Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan.
The birds still sang and the insects still buzzed as we passed through the forest. To them, it was just another day. The incessant noise thrummed in my head. Agitated, my fingers flew involuntarily to my mouth, and I snatched them away before I could begin gnawing on my nails. The air was fresh and cool beneath the canopy. At any other time, I would have enjoyed the earthy scent of the trees and shrubs, but when we passed a patch of ground where the unmistakable scent of sulphur hung in the air, the touch of decay reminded me that a life depended on my untested skills.
We travelled deeper into the forest for what seemed an eternity until the trees grew dense around us, blocking out the light and limiting the dense undergrowth.
Soon, a cluster of maroon became visible in the distance. A wizened, old monk detached himself from the group and hobbled to Jampa.
“Where is Kaie?” the monk asked.
Jampa shook his head “Away. Hayley is Magicai; she will help.”
The monk regarded me with obvious disappointment on his face, but eventually, he sighed and patted me on the back. “Come,” he said. “You must save Dawa.”
"I'll do my best," I said.
Dawa’s beaming smile filled my vision as a growing worry built in my chest.
Unable to stand the thought of failure, I turned my attention to the cave system in the forest ahead. Already, there were at least two dozen rescuers, ranging from police officers to mountain rangers, along with a large dose of monks: Dawa’s true family and friends.
Hidden Magic: A Ley Line World Urban Fantasy Adventure (Relic Guardians Book 2) Page 5