Dwandv:: The Battle for the Gate

by Dinkar Goswami

  “We will meet the Makara again soon.” Danta beamed. Gerua nodded. Her wet clothes glistened slightly in the sun. She wore skin-hugging pants till her ankles. She wore a body-hugging, full-sleeve blouse, or choli that partly covered the belt around her midriff. Around her waist, she also wore an odhni, a scarf with intricate designs tied in a knot to her side, which complemented the outfit and concealed her belt. The rudraksh bead necklace adorned her long neck. The urumi lay safely in a drum encasing on her right hip and the choli sleeves covered the bracelet on her arm. Her shoes looked like common slip-on shoes, but the soles were designed for explosive movement providing traction over any terrain. The clothes concealed her lean and athletic frame as well as partly concealing the armaments she carried.

  To Danta’s left, farther upstream, they could hear music. In the distance, he could see large creatures that were half bird and half woman. Each had a beautiful woman’s body from head to waist with the lower body of a goose. They were playing musical instruments, looking at him and his mother.

  “Do you know what they are?” Gerua asked curiously. “Kinnaras?” he replied quizzically.

  “That’s right.” The Kinnaras swam upstream and disappeared around the bend.

  They dried off quickly. Whilst they sat drying, Danta wondered what marvels lay ahead in the dense and sometimes dangerous forest across the river. The forest permitted the pure, the innocent, and the sinister to coexist, just as it allowed both prey and predator. Strange, scary creatures dwelled in the forest, and people were afraid to venture there. But Danta could not sense any negative forces in the forest, and he was not scared at all. He was only curious with a sense of caution. He was ready.

  CHAPTER 29

  DREAD

  Bubba’s aghori and paranormal spies were everywhere, and it was just a matter of time before Gerua and Danta were detected entering the forest. It was now almost six years since the green-eyed woman had disappeared. It was five years since the astronomic alignment had occurred, which was supposed to herald the birth of a paragon. He had been so close to possessing her six years ago, but the mountain had swallowed her, depriving him of his prize. She had simply disappeared as a normal woman and reappeared to purge the village as an exceptionally trained yogini. Bubba was quite sure the masters had managed her destiny, just as he had tried to do so when she had first arrived on the mountain range. There was little that the masters could not achieve. Bubba wondered if the masters knew of his own transformation and of the powers he had obtained since leaving the ashram. Could they anticipate his moves?

  After escaping from the ashram and becoming the siddha he was now, Bubba had searched for it many times, but the ashram’s location had eluded him. He had realized that no one could find the ashram if its occupants didn’t want it found. His apprentices and minions could not survive on the snow-covered upper mountain and hence were of no help. It was very likely that the masters had moved the ashram since his departure. How the masters were able to relocate the whole ashram was still a mystery to him.

  Now the woman with the green eyes had appeared for the third time, and this time she had a five-year-old boy with her. Bubba did a reverse calculation. The facts and the numbers added up. He was convinced she had never left the mountain and the boy was her son. He had given orders that she had to be followed at all times. He had to know the reason she was on the mountain and where she was heading. The fact that the masters had trained her left little doubt that she was a yogini on a mission. He had been right to seek her. And this time he would not fail.

  Two aghori followed Gerua and Danta closely. The aghori had seen them travel through the forest and cross the river. It was clear that the boy was her son. The aghori observed the affection the two had for each other. They saw how the monkeys behaved with the boy. The aghori saw the unusual appearance of the Makara and its behavior toward Gerua and Danta.

  It was abundantly clear that something unusual was going on, and the aghori had to let Bubba know. After seeing Gerua and Danta interact with the Makara and safely cross the river, the two aghori decided that one of them would continue to trail them, while the other would report to Bubba. They could not decide which one of them should go back and who should continue to follow them. Also, the Makara’s appearance scared them; they didn’t want to cross the river. They pulled sticks and decided that the taller aghori would follow the duo and the short one would report to Bubba. As the shorter aghori left for Bubba, the other aghori summoned all his courage and entered the river. He was more scared to face Bubba than the Makara. He crossed the river and did not see the Makara, which he hoped meant that the Makara had gone away for good. By the time the aghori reached the opposite bank, Gerua and Danta had disappeared into the forest. But he was an expert tracker and could follow them easily. They ought to be more cautious, the tall aghori thought, since Bubba was after them. If they were as brilliant as they seemed, they would already know this, but Bubba was exceedingly cunning and would not reveal his intentions or presence until it was too late.

  Bubba was outside the cave system surrounded by his aghori minions when the breathless short aghori returned to report to him. Bubba listened as the small aghori excitedly narrated the events he and the other tracker had observed, especially the details about the interaction with the Makara. The short aghori expected to be rewarded for being the first to report to Bubba. He desperately wanted Bubba’s approval. If Bubba was favorably inclined toward him, the small aghori could exert much power and live well. He finished narrating the events and waited for Bubba to respond.

  Bubba snapped his fingers, and a flame appeared on the tip of his forefinger. He grabbed the aghori at his neck and pulled him closer, in a flash changing into his huge windigo form. The dangling aghori gurgled terrified, unable to scream. Bubba touched the aghori’s forehead with the metal ring on his right thumb. The aghori shook violently, and energy transferred from the aghori’s head to the ring. When the energy transfer was done, Bubba rubbed his flaming forefinger on the aghori’s lolling tongue and released him. The small aghori landed on the ground gasping but unable to breathe.

  Suddenly, the aghori doubled over in pain, holding his stomach. He suddenly arched backward, screaming. The aghori was burning from inside out. One by one his organs burned—the liver first, then the kidneys, followed by the stomach and intestines. A shower of sparks erupted from the aghori’s belly button, followed by fire bursting from his belly. The organs in his belly had burned first, his chest remaining intact. Finally, his lungs incinerated, and his still-beating heart and brain started burning.

  Bubba had sent a tiny fire demon down the small aghori’s throat. Setting the aghori’s skull on fire, the fire demon came out of the small aghori’s mouth and returned to Bubba’s extended hands, which closed around the demon. When Bubba opened his hands, the demon was gone.

  Bubba kicked the dying aghori onto the other aghoris that were watching the horror unfold. The other aghori scuttled cringing, as the small aghori’s skull exploded violently, spraying pieces of burning brain and fragments of skull. The watching aghori raised their arms to protect their faces, but they could not take their eyes off the horror, only closing their eyes instinctively when the skull burst. When they opened their eyes again to watch the last crumpled remains burn, Bubba was nowhere to be seen. The aghori horde sat there in shock, their minds numb, unable to comprehend the reasons for the horrific event that they had just witnessed. They wondered what the small aghori had done to deserve this kind of punishment.

  Bubba was infuriated that the aghori had defied his orders and had returned to the cave when he was supposed to follow the woman and the boy. How dare he return to report when Bubba had other ways to get the information! Bubba concluded that the Makara must have scared the aghori and he didn’t want to cross the river. Bubba could not tolerate that kind of fear, especially fear of some creature of myth and folklore. Bubba knew that the Makara would not reappear to the aghori crossing the river. Humans and animals cross
ing the river would normally never see the mythical creature, and in any case, that was no excuse for the aghori to defy him.

  Bubba was not aware of any other disturbance, and so he knew that the other aghori had made it to the other side of the river and was still tracking Danta and Gerua. Bubba would send others to help with the surveillance, but first, he had to confer with the Asura.

  Bubba walked through the maze-like cave system, ignoring adherents of his edict sitting within till he reached the inner cave where he had meditated for twelve years, to which no one else but he had access. He gave a voice command into a recessed piece of the rock by softly reciting an incantation. The rock began to move inward, and a gateway opened for him. He entered the cave. The inner cave looked very different than it had when he had spent years there, first being tormented by the purple-red fist-sized pishachas. The cave had been redesigned into a high-tech hall Bubba called the Great Hall. It bustled with Asura technology.

  The cave was one to one point six-unit rectangular hall, approximately ten meters wide. The walls were gray with engravings of strange animals etched inside the smooth outer surface. On each of the length side of the walls was a huge greenish-golden throne built to seat a giant with massive back support. On the front center below the seat of the throne was a crystal half orb, an inch in diameter with a slot for a prism in the center. The throne was adorned with precious stones of various colors. Each throne had four armrests. The cushions of the thrones were covered with the unearthly pelt. The material was leathery but bright with a hint of color underlying the outer hue like a tiger-eye stone. Behind the throne, sculpted into the white wall, was a massive pentagram within a circle much bigger than the throne.

  At each of the four corners of the hall, there was a crystal obelisk. The tip of each of the obelisk was exactly below a small inverted pyramid hanging upside down from the roof, above each obelisk. The tips of the oblelisks were perfectly aligned with the tip of the pyramid, barely touching each other. The floor of the room was made of bluish granite, also polished to perfection. In the center of the hall stood an enormous rectangular table made of enamel-like material with four chairs of the same material on each side. The center of the table protruded a larger obelisk also made out of crystal. On top of the obelisk was an inverted pyramid just like the other four obelisks. The tip of this obelisk also aligned precisely with the tip of the inverted pyramid on the roof.

  The cave looked nothing like a crude aghori cave but a high-tech control center. Bubba entered, and the gateway closed behind him. Instantly, all the four tips of the obelisks began to draw energy from the inverted pyramids hanging from the roof above each one of them. The rectangular hall lit up brightly with a bluish-white light emanating from the five obelisks. Bubba went to the center table and inserted the metal ring on his thumb that he had put to the dead aghori’s head into the console on the top of the table. The table lit up with all kinds of orbs, dials, and different spaces for inserting objects. He uttered several commands, and after a few seconds, the side of the obelisk on the center table cast a multidimensional image of Gerua and Danta traveling through the forest until they crossed the river. He knew exactly what he had to do.

  CHAPTER 30

  FOREST

  Gerua and Danta moved into the forest on the other side of the river. Danta walked alongside his mother, sometimes running to keep pace with her. She moved athletically. The tree-dwelling primates buzzed with excitement. The primates on this side of the forest were larger than those on the other side. There were deer with beautiful antlers in different shades. Some deer had thin multicolored striped coats, and others had golden coats that shone in the sun. The forest was abuzz with the sound of buzzing insects and chirping birds. There were many different types of trees, plants, and flowers, including yams, laurels, magnolias, typhonium, lilies, and orchids.

  Danta was fascinated with the shapes and colors of the flowers. “Look! Mom, it looks like a cobra,” he said excitedly, “but it’s growing on a tree!”

  “It’s a cobra lily,” explained Gerua. “Look, there is a parrot orchid. The flower looks like a parrot. And that’s a swan orchid.”

  “Yes, Mom, this looks like the Hamsa,” said Danta, touching another flower. As he did so, the flower fluttered. Moving ahead, he saw a potted orchid with flowers that seemed to have a monkey’s face. He pointed to the flower and said, “Mom, look, it’s a flower with a little vanara in it!” Gerua looked in the flower and saw a tiny monkey’s face staring out at them. She smiled at Danta. Moving further, they saw the tiger orchid, which had the face of a tiger in it, and also a flower mimicking a dove. There were other flowers on the trees and shrubs, and Danta seemed engrossed, moving from one flower to another. Suddenly, Gerua froze, staring at a tree.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” Gerua was visually excited.

  “It’s a Narilatha tree! It’s real! I am so excited!

  “Danta, this tree is legendary and very rare. Very few people have seen it. It is said to break the hermit’s trance. It blossoms only once in twenty years, and it’s blossoming now. We are so lucky to see the blossoms!” She held Danta close with one arm around his shoulders. “Do you see the Narilatha flowers? The flowers look like tiny green women, legs together, with hands crossing at their wrists and resting on their thighs.” She pointed to the blossoms.

  “It is a tree of fairies,” Danta remarked innocently, staring at the blossoms.

  Gerua laughed happily. “Yes, it is truly a tree of fairies.” This was an entirely different Himalayas than the one she had been on earlier. The Himalayan forest was stunningly beautiful, and the trees were blooming at this time.

  “Can you pick me up? I want to touch the fairies.” Danta pointed to the Narilatha flowers.

  “Climb on to my shoulders,” Gerua instructed, and she bent her knee lowering her frame. With an agile leap, Danta climbed onto her shoulders, and she stood up straight. Danta reached up, and she moved forward so that he could touch the flowers.

  Danta leaned forward to touch two of the Narilatha flowers, pushing Gerua’s head down when he did. When he caressed the flowers, their hands uncrossed, their wings grew on their backs, and their eyes opened. They began fluttering their wings, swan-like tails growing on their backs, and they flew away, looking like miniature Kinnaras. Danta smiled and exclaimed joyfully, “Look, Mom, the fairies are flying away! They will keep us safe!” Gerua gave him a heartfelt laugh as she squatted again, and Danta leaped to the ground, looking behind them.

  “Did you see them!? Did you see them!?” It was Danta’s turn to get excited. He had always been a happy child, but she had never seen him like this. He was being the child he was, curious and full of wonder. She gently pulled him close and nodded, even though she had seen no fairies. He smiled back at her, pleased. Gerua did not notice that whenever Danta touched a flower that looked like an animal or insect, it shuddered.

  They walked through a clearing in the forest, and Gerua identified a number of flowers and trees for Danta. She pointed out teak, juniper, rhododendron, and deodar, and Danta absorbed all the information like a sponge. He was soon able to identify the trees and flowers himself. They saw musk deer, wild blue sheep, palm civet, and red fox. The animals seemed curious about the two unusual humans traveling through their forest. Danta was utterly fearless and to Gerua’s surprise seemed to have an enchanting effect on the animals. The animals would trail them from time to time and would leave only when Danta waved at them.

  Birds travelled with Danta and Gerua constantly; finches, babblers, nuthatches, and quails flew with them. And higher in the canopy, there were birds of prey, like eagles, which Danta recognized from the three-dimensional images he had seen at the ashram. The sun was now high above them, and the forest shadows were cast east. Gerua began to wonder if they were lost. She had been following Danta for the last hour as he walked slightly in front of her. The forest had not been that dense, and they had been able to cover a lot of ground.

  Ge
rua began to wonder again how they would find the gate to fulfill the prophecy. They had become distracted and, at times, were more interested in absorbing the beauty of the forest than in finding the gate. She wondered if they had been wandering aimlessly in the forest. They had been travelling south as she had been advised. The largest animal they had encountered so far was the deer, but Gerua was looking for an even larger animal. Gerua knew there were black bears, wild cats, and even Asian elephants south of the forests, but she had not seen any. Why? Deodar trees and oaks surrounded them. They were huge trees, and each direction looked alike, densely forested. Gerua sat under a tree, and Danta sat in front of her.

  “Let’s rest a while and get our bearings,” said Gerua. “Are you hungry?”

  “Yes, Mom, I am really hungry.” Danta rubbed his belly. Gerua took some fruits out of her pouch and handed them to Danta, who ate them slowly and appreciatively. “What are you thinking about, Mom?” he asked and then took a bite out of an apple.