Ghost Monkey

by Paul R. Davis

  THE COURT STARED AT Dameneh and Sugriva. Children whispered until parents nudged them to shut up. Even Prince Anka fidgeted on his throne. General Humbari scowled, and from time to time he huffed. It pleased Sugriva immensely.

  "I bring this court to session," Prince Anka said. "There are men from the Empire off to the east. They encroach on Bahimatt. Every group—except the desert rats—veered to miss the city, but these warriors head straight for us. Our spies tell us the banner is of the Dian family, a powerful warlord in the Empire. While the Empire cast him out, it is possible this is a ruse."

  Prince Anka sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's impossible to deny Dameneh foresaw this incursion and said we would need Sugriva for it. The Ashtadash guide him, even though he turns his back on them for another spirit. So we will listen to him going forward."

  Dameneh said, "Thank you. The One looks over us. The Ashtadash are spirits created by His hand, given no more wisdom than old age awards. My wisdom is found in fear of the One. He shows me the light when darkness surrounds us."

  Humbari roared, "He mocks us. He thinks his God protects him? Strike the boy down on the spot and clean him off with a wash cloth. He is nothing."

  Prince Anka raised a hand and the general huffed again, but at least he was silent. "I ask that you and Sugriva meet them in the field. If I have someone brave enough, I would ask they go along as a witness."

  Divyan stepped forward. "I will watch them."

  Prince Anka asked, "Are you sure?"

  Divyan nodded. Whispers ripped through the chambers. "He saved all of us. Without him, we would all be enslaved or eaten. As for the boy—" Divyan shrugged.

  DAMENEH SPENT MOST of the day talking about the One. Sugriva was fairly sure by nightfall they had heard every story there was in the history of the religion. They set up camp at dusk, and Dameneh informed them how important it was they believed. He said it was a great blessing that Sugriva converted. Divyan remained stoic in the face of a heretic.

  After the camp was set up, Divyan said, "I'll scout ahead." Divyan went up in his hawk form.

  Dameneh said, "You did something to him. But he doesn't seem angry, or you would be dead."

  "No." Sugriva collected kindle and started the fire. "I gave his daughter the confidence to disobey him. I think in another life, when we were of the right caste, the idea of me marrying her would excite him."

  "Is she still alive?"

  Sugriva nodded, staying by the fire as the plains cooled in the night. "She flew off. Her husband died bravely. She rewed shortly after."

  "Do you still talk to her?"

  Sugriva howled, his eyes crescents from mirth. "Divyan would kill me. That and she strings me along pretty well. I'm outcaste already, so what's it matter?"

  "There are strict rules on being outcaste, but here you are. I heard the story of you leaving, but never of you returning."

  "That story is a ways off. But I was not accepted back. I forced my way back."

  "Your people are harsh." Dameneh poked the fire, his voice somber.

  "All people are harsh. Gentle people are rare."

  "True. My people nearly turned on me more than once, fickle and faithless. I’d go away to see the One. He tells me what to do. By the time I return, they curse the One, profaning His name with idols and indecent acts. The world is harsh, but one day He will remake it."

  Divyan swooped down and landed in the grass. "We should reach them tomorrow," he said.

  Sugriva asked, "Do you want to watch over us? We could visit them alone with you acting as a scout to go back if something happens."

  "We face this together." Divyan put a hand on Sugriva's shoulder. "They seem more refugees than army, though they are well-armed. It seems Bahimatt is a place for the broken. A humble purpose for a city lifted up as powerful and amazing."

  Dameneh pulled out food and warmed it over the fire. "I don't know much about the city. My people aren't meant to stay long, just long enough. We haven't reached our promised land."

  Sugriva said, "But Bahimatt is the promised land. It's a place of wonder and knowledge."

  "When we leave, you decide. Stay in the city or come with us. You can follow the One either way, but it is much easier when surrounded by believers."

  During dinner, Dameneh told his story of arriving in Bahimatt. Divyan taught Dameneh about their faith, which the boy was very interested in. Then Dameneh went to sleep.

  Sugriva poked at the fire idly, watching the sparks as they exploded.

  Divyan asked, "Why come back?"

  "Prisha."

  "Makes more sense than what Humbari thinks. He thinks you wanted your dharma back." Another moment of silence. "But why? Prisha betrays you every time. She treats you like dung."

  "I love her. I will always love her. We were destined, just not in this life."

  "If you are destined for Prisha, Sugriva, you are destined to suffer. Prisha is not a good woman. You deserve better. At the very least, you deserve the sanity you lost for coming back."

  "Did I ever tell you about meeting the Ashtadash?"

  "No. I heard rumors and saw glimpses of your power when we defended Jaya. Tell me about it."

  Chapter Eighteen

  The False God

  Age of Men 813

  Sugriva stopped a little girl who walked by him in the tribe's village center. "I am looking for the spirit Pankatav. Have you heard of her?" The girl's eyes went wide and she hurried into a nearby home.

  "Not a great sign," he muttered.

  The tribe straddled the Sankive Jungle and savanna, a trade hub between the two worlds. He admired three massive tusks, each with the history of the tribe carved into them. The third neared completion, and then another hunt would take place.

  Sugriva accosted several other tribesmen for information between admiring the ivory craftsmanship, but they all hurried on. Then he saw an old man with black skin, darker than the others in the village. He stayed off to the side, with long matted hair and a haphazard beard. He sat on a box, staff in one hand and the other hand outstretched for scraps.

  Sugriva sat by the old man. "I can get you food. Can you get me information?"

  "You aren't from here." His voice was slow and weak.

  "I'm not the only one. Your skin, it's different. Why are you here?"

  "That is a very long story that includes a lot of poor choices and a little bit of slavery. But I am free now, and begging is better than working under a whip."

  "Fair enough. Want to earn some food?"

  "You have my interest." He smacked his lips in anticipation of the meal.

  "I'll come back with some food—enough to last you a few days. Then you tell me where to find Pankatav. I hear she lives around here."

  He laughed more boisterously than Sugriva assumed the fragile beggar could. "Pankatav is a rat. She is self-serving, but the people here cannot see it, and I cannot shut her up. But if you want to find her, go southeast of here about a day. There will be a tall hill with a small shack on top. It will overlook Lake Dyashka. You can find her there."

  "Thank you. I will be back shortly."

  "You won't feed me, boy. Pankatav will kill you and use your bones as utensils."

  Sugriva left the old man, the words rattling around in the monkey's head. Mulling over the warning, he grabbed what food he could through barter, work, and deceit, then gave it to the old man. The beggar wept with joy.

  Then he grabbed Sugriva's arm and said, "I beg you not to go. Young men are Pankatav’s play things. She consumes their souls. She isn't a divine spirit."

  The monkey ignored the beggar and took off, stopping briefly in the middle of the night to rest.

  The following day he found Lake Dyashka. Lions stalked gazelle in the tall grass. Elephants lazily ate and drank. A hippopotamus, a creature Sugriva had only heard of, tossed a wildebeest to remove it from its mud. Sugriva felt sick as jackals snapped at the dead creature once it bounced on grass. Such a powerful creature, the hippopotamus, yet
it did not eat what it killed.

  To the west, there was a small shack with skins hung out. A beautiful woman sat on the porch stitching together leather to make clothes and pouches. She had a line of them already finished, with a line of skins and thread waiting to make more. The work did not stop, even when she saw Sugriva in the distance.

  "Hello. Are you the Ashtadash Pankatav?"

  "Who asks?" She flipped her hair, turning her back on him. Then she looked over her shoulder and grinned. His heart tingled, and he composed himself. She had sapphire eyes, and streaks of blue and purple lightly touched black, curly hair. If she wasn't a spirit, she was at least a water elementalist.

  "Sugriva. I'm a monkey janaav. Heal my corruption, please."

  She went back to sewing. "Drowning is the quickest way."

  "I get told that a lot." He sighed. "I want to be cured. There are things I still need to do."

  "It might still kill you. Death is quicker. Cleaner." She looked up. "You want to suffer immense pain to be cured?" She licked her lips, and the look of an uninterested woman turned to that of a predator.

  "Please." He knelt, hands on his knees and eyes cast to the ground. "I beg you to cure me, or teach me how I can be cured."

  "Wash yourself in Lake Dyashka once a day for seven days. You can stay in my hut at night. Go."

  He went into the water. It was cool, even under the hot sun. He washed himself thoroughly, then just enjoyed the coolness of the water in the oppressive weather. He often went into the rivers of Sankive to refresh his spirits, and it was a reminder of times before the corruption. The sun neared the horizon when he got out. A howl rang out nearby. Wolves charged out of the bushes, and Sugriva was too far from his staff to retrieve it.

  Sugriva danced between the pack until he reached the staff. Then he struck the wolves in quick succession until they were dead, bodies battered and skulls cracked.

  He went into the shack where the woman cooked. She looked up with wide eyes and furrowed brow. "You survived the first day of bathing. Few do."

  "Does it get harder?"

  She shrugged, going back to the cooking. She willed water to exist, and it cascaded down an invisible waterfall into the cauldron. "I know this lake has healed others, long before I arrived. But it is known to deal with corruption more immediately."

  That night after dinner Pankatav said, "Lay with me."

  It was the first time Sugriva noticed the delight of her slight body. The contrast of dark skin and blue eyes was attractive. "I'm in love with a woman already."

  The following day he went back out and bathed early in the morning. He was going to leave the lake before sunset to avoid the attack, but hippos were so fast. Their bulk swam through the waters, large jaws and blunt teeth snapping at Sugriva for invading their territory.

  Learning from the other day, the staff was on him. He willed it to shoot him up, as the monstrous animals neared him. But the ground was soft and gave way. Just as they snapped at him, he dodged underwater, then the staff hit ground and catapulted him through the air. The hippos lost interest.

  Water spirits and elementalists were known for healing and toning the body to perfection, and Pankatav displayed these talents as she laid naked in the sun when Sugriva returned. "Lay with me."

  "No," he muttered, before he escaped to a nearby cliff to meditate and clear his mind.

  The following day, while he was bathing, he felt a tug on his staff, and he struggled to hold on. Teeth clamped down on his ankle, and Sugriva cried out. "Crocodiles," he bellowed. The staff extended, puncturing one crock straight through. Then he thrust it repeatedly into the skull of the one biting him, until it let go. He launched himself out of the lake to see three more waiting for him in water colored by his blood.

  He limped to the shack. Pankatav said, "Let me look at your wound." She was wearing a loose top, just thin enough to show Sugriva what was under it. The way the clothes pretended to give her modesty made it more alluring than complete nudity. Sugriva's heart thumped in his ears.

  Water wrapped around his ankle and soothed the pain. Within an hour, the wound was nearly gone and the pain dissipated. "For my services, lay with me."

  Viewing the woman for an hour while she tended him was nearly too much. Desire ached throughout his body as muscles tensed. Prisha made clear that she would never be with him, no matter how much she led him on. Why wait for someone who wasn't waiting for him?

  "I’m still in love with another," he forced out. Sugriva knew he wouldn’t hold out the next night.

  The following day, men painted red and white stormed the lake. They shook spears and wore headdresses and loin clothes. The mass screamed for blood in a reckless charge. They held Pankatav hostage. "Come out and we let woman go. Only eat you."

  "Cannibals. Where did your tribe come from? Her flesh is definitely better tasting than mine. You can even get some play out of her before cooking her."

  The cannibal looked confused. "You would throw her to us?"

  "If she wanted, you would all be choking on water already. Go ahead. Bite her."

  Pankatav glared as a cannibal sunk his teeth into her. Flesh turned to water, and her entire body splashed into his mouth. He grabbed for his throat and dropped to the ground. Then water burst out of his chest and Pankatav reformed. She said, "I can kill them. They can bite me, and I won't die. That doesn't mean I like it." She pursed her lips, but called on Lake Dyashka to surge into their lungs and drown them all.

  “I only do this because of their insolence to bite me.”

  Sugriva laughed when he got back to the hut, patting her shoulder. "Thank you."

  "It was supposed to be your battle. The lake will not be happy." She stood in front of him in only a loin cloth. If the lake wasn't happy, it had a strange way of showing it.

  Her look softened. "Lay with me for what I've done for you."

  SUGRIVA ITCHED AND smelled like rotting fish in the morning. He left the shack immediately, before Pankatav woke. She smiled in her sleep, a sated predator. As he approached the lake, he felt like it would try to more earnestly kill him for how he defiled the lake's woman.

  A fish so large that it left a shadow swam under Sugriva, then rose up to eat him. Sugriva burst through its guts with his staff and filleted the beast. In the distance, Sugriva heard Pankatav scream, as if he ripped through her belly instead. The fillets smelled like his crotch, so he threw it away and fasted for the day.

  He slept outside to avoid Pankatav. The very sight of her made him sick. He realized she controlled the fish and likely knew the cannibals.

  The sixth morning, Pankatav approached Sugriva. She said, "I have a child, and it is yours. I will birth it when the sun sets and you will have a son. I will keep him, and you will leave here cured in two days. Agree?"

  "I’ll finish my two more days, then we will discuss my son." He refused to look at her, the itch reminding him of his infidelity to Prisha. The war between staying faithful to Prisha and knowing the hawk didn't love him back tore at his insides until his neck and jaw were sore and stiff.

  He went into the water, but the water was thick and slithered around him. He looked off to Pankatav and understood. "You will kill me. You have your son, and now I die."

  The underbrush moved and men came out from it: the cannibals from the other day. She spread her arms. "Men come here for whatever reason. I seduce them. These are all my children, each one quite capable of using water magic. Each one starved for man-meat."

  "The crazy homeless guy was right," he muttered. "Are you even an Ashtadash?"

  "What is an Ashtadash?" she scoffed, disgust apparent on her twisted face. "I haven't seen an Ashtadash in my centuries wandering Ji-Wei. I don't believe in them. I believe in me. I believe in my children. You will live on through my most unique child: a janaav water elementalist."

  He thrust the staff down into the ground and propelled himself out of the lake and into the air. Water wrapped up his staff, trying to knock him off balance. The staff retr
acted, and as it lost contact with the lake, the water fell away. A brief and violent shower bombarded below. Sugriva fended off tendrils which formed in the deluge.

  Pankatav smiled, until Sugriva aimed his staff at her. The stone shot out and lodged down her throat, tearing her in two. She split and seeped into the ground. The men chattered, giving off clicks and howls. Sugriva landed and was lanced by a water spear through his leg, the pain searing his muscle. In return, the stone staff shot out and pierced three men. He swung and cracked one man's skull. A coil of water, like a sapphire serpent, lunged at him. With a thrust, the staff sent him flying through the air and away from the attack. He saw the lake was half empty.

  An adjustment with his staff sent him flying over the lake, though it barely cleared him over an orb of water. He splashed far away and launched himself to the opposite shore. When he landed, the pain in his lacerated leg made him wince. The men floated across the lake, water frothing as it propelled them, and the monkey grunted at them.

  He braced one end of his staff into a small mound, and the other he used to pick off the cannibals as they raced across. One after the other fell, until a half dozen made landfall. Three more died before they reached him. The fight was quick and brutal, as Sugriva knew he had very little energy to spare, especially with Pankatav still alive.

  The sandy mound grated against his back and shredded his clothes. The sun blazed down, baking him. "I didn't want to die like this," he shouted. Pankatav had to be around, listening. When she appeared, he would make her pay.

  In the distance, across the lake, he heard the cry of a baby. Barely a day, and she already pushed the kid out. Pankatav came out of the house, but she didn't look like the alluring woman Sugriva recalled. She was the water, a fountain floating in the distance, splashing over the sands. Sugriva cursed. He didn't know exactly how strong she was, but if she could spill into the cracks of the earth to escape him, she could likely take control of the lake.