Dwandv:: The Battle for the Gate

by Dinkar Goswami

  CHAPTER 37

  FEAR

  Still in shock, the defeated aghori slowly gathered their wits.

  They squatted in a circle, needing to know what to do next. The aghori had a strict hierarchy, and they followed it till their death. They sat silently staring at the ground, waiting for the leader to instruct them.

  The group leader knew he would have to face Bubba. There was no point in indulging in self-pity or remorse. Bubba set their code of conduct, and they would have to face the consequences of their defeat. No aghori could escape or run away. Bubba would find them, and then their fate would be worse. The leader of the group needed to calm down to think. He took out his pipe, filled it with marijuana, lit it and took a deep drag into his lungs.

  Bubba knew exactly what had happened. The vetala had instructed the tall aghori not to pursue Gerua and Danta any further. The vetala had told the aghori he would follow them instead. He had been watching the events transpire and Bubba had remotely seen everything through the vetala’s eyes. He had even seen the young naga being injured.

  Bubba was gratified that he had been right about the boy. The boy was surely born under the astronomic alignment and was the paragon the mountain people talked about. Karce had been disastrously mistaken. The boy was gifted and had the help of immortals. The appearance of Garuda was a sight that even Bubba had not seen in his long life. This is what he would have to face in future. It was an important revelation. He wondered if the Asura had ever faced Garuda. It was not important for now. He had to capture and convert the boy to his edict. The woman had help of the sadhu, and Bubba had still not been able to exactly judge the level of her skills. Bubba knew that she was on the mountain for a purpose, and he had to find out what that was. Bubba was not surprised that he was not able to see Danta and Gerua after they had disappeared into the forest. The Garuda had swallowed the vetala in a flash when he had left. Bubba had lost the woman and the boy for now. But it didn’t matter. He had a strategy.

  * * *

  Gerua and Danta continued in a southeasterly direction. Gerua quickly recapped the events of the day. She knew that the edict was after them. The fifteen aghori had attacked them in a very organized manner. She wondered what had happened to the young naga who had been hurt by the trident of the aghori.

  Danta interrupted her thoughts. “Mom, look, it is the Hamsa.” Danta was pointing north.

  Gerua looked up and saw the Hamsa. Danta halted, and Gerua established a telepathic link with Danta. The Hamsa greeted Danta and Gerua telepathically. Gerua heard the Hamsa ask Danta not to go southeast any longer but to move directly south and not worry about the cliffs.

  “Danta,” asked Gerua after the Hamsa was gone, “how did you know that the Hamsa would come?”

  “Mom, I told you that Kali talks to me. She told me many things before we left the ashram. She said Hamsa would come when we would be in naga country. Because we’re in naga country, we should be careful. They will eventually be our friends.” Danta smiled.

  They will eventually be our friends? Danta had delinked with Gerua, and she wondered what he meant. The arrival of the Hamsa gave Gerua some confidence, but she was still apprehensive. She could not let Danta demonstrate his siddhi, but she didn’t know what to do. She realized that so far whatever he had done had been controlled. She didn’t want to constrain her son. So she didn’t say anything and focused on her immediate objective, hoping that she would find the gate before they were exposed. Gerua had to find the banyan tree as soon as possible. She realized that now it was a race against time. Either the edict would find out about Danta’s powers, or she would find the gate. Which would happen first?

  The masters had told her that only one immortal knew the location of the gate at a time. She had been a little disheartened when Garuda had left without interacting with her at all, but such was his nature. She wondered which of the immortals knew, and more importantly, how would they find the one that knew? Then she realized that the Garuda could not have been the immortal that knew of the gate. He was not one of the eight immortals depicted in the inner ashram walls.

  Just as the Hamsa had told them, they moved through naga country heading directly south. Gerua was sure that the naga were watching them, but she was not too worried because the serpents were normally elusive. She hoped the naga would not bother them, unaware that during the battle with the Aghori, the trident of the aghori had cut the young naga’s skin.

  The young serpent had been watching Danta and Gerua out of curiosity when suddenly the first aghori had burst out of the bushes and the accident happened. Not seriously injured he had slithered away to a safe distance to watch the battle with the aghori. Then he had faced the most terrifying moment of his young life. The Garuda had arrived. Frozen with fear, he had watched the Garuda befriend Danta and lift him. He had seen Danta stand on Garuda’s palms and seen Garuda kneel for Danta.

  After the Garuda had left, the young serpent had gathered his wits and his strength, and went straight to his mother. He had found her with another nagin, his aunt. He had urgently narrated the events he had witnesses in exact detail. The two nagins heard the young naga’s story in awe and their hearts had filled with fear. Fear that Bubba would use to his advantage.

  CHAPTER 38

  GATEWAYS

  Fear, although sometimes necessary, opens gateways for sinister forces to work their designs on the fearful. Bubba possessed complete knowledge of these gateways. In addition, he had knowledge of the gateways that paranormal entities and other dimensional beings used to enter mortal worlds. He knew where such gateways could be created, when they could be created, and how they could be opened and closed. Paranormal entities, and other dimensional beings, looked up to Bubba for his knowledge of these gateways. Possessing complete knowhow and absolute mastery over these gateways, combined with the ability to create prisons for the paranormal, gave Bubba control over even the most terrifying paranormal creatures and other dimensional beings.

  After evaluating the events of the day, Bubba had come to the conclusion that he had to use the creatures and beings of the forest to fulfill his objective. He had recognized that if he could fill their hearts with hatred for Gerua and Danta, he could have what he wanted. And Garuda had provided him with an opportunity to do just that.

  Bubba dispatched a bee-sized blue pishacha with a message for the aghori leader. The aghori was to immediately return to him with the trident that had the young naga’s blood on it. Bubba needed the trident to implement his strategy. He ordered the blue pishacha to inform the aghori that since they had done exactly as he had said, there would be no repercussions. The blue pishacha was thereafter to follow Gerua and Danta relaying back everything they did, till Bubba instructed otherwise.

  The aghori leader was vastly relieved to hear there would be no repercussions. He immediately found the trident that had pierced the naga and was pleased to see that the serpent’s blood was still on the weapon. The aghori ran back as quickly as possible and delivered the trident to Bubba as instructed. Bubba had foreseen that the young naga would tell other nagas of Garuda’s intervention. There would be panic and fear in the naga nation as to why Garuda was in the forest and had shown himself. Bubba had calculated the exact nature of fear that would now be plaguing the naga. An opportunity had arisen and gateway had to be opened.

  Bubba began a ritual to corrupt the mind of the naga. He created a rancid concoction in the kapal of the Yaksha and began reciting an incantation. Invoking his power over the paranormal, he took the trident with the naga’s blood on its tip and dipped it in the concoction. Two slithering naga like pishacha appeared from the kapal in front of Bubba. They danced in front of Bubba, swaying like a hooded cobra. Bubba took a drink from the Yaksha kapal and spat a bloody spew on the pishachas, making them ecstatic. Bubba gave them instruction in a forbidden language and established a link with them to remotely control their actions if needed. Having completed the ritual, Bubba needed to do nothing but wait. He had opened a gat
eway for the two pishachas, and they would do the rest. The two pishachas automatically caught the scent of fear seizing the nagins’ hearts.

  The pishacha darted through the forest like an arrow seeking their target, the injured naga’s mother and aunt. They entered the body of the two nagins through the gateway their fear had opened. They clouded the nagins’ mind and increased their fear so that it turned into hate. Hate for Danta and Gerua who had brought Garuda to terrorize the naga world.

  Their eyes darkened and their pupils dilated, their expressions vicious. Their venom glands filled with virtue numbing, comatose causing venom. The possessed serpents in their full snake form slithered through the undergrowth, seeking Danta and Gerua. They moved quickly, their minds possessed with a single sinister purpose. It was not long before they found Danta and Gerua.

  The nagins disregarded their instinctive elusiveness and discarded their virtuous nature that prevented them from inflicting harm to the innocent. The nagins moved in to attack, their sole intent to inject their venom into Danta and Gerua. Bubba had intended that the venom would put Danta into a deathlike trance, making Gerua who would receive a milder dose believe he was dead. Gerua would suffer agonizingly, even more so because she would believe she had failed Danta as a mother. This would leave her completely weak and vulnerable for Bubba to manipulate.

  Bubba intended to revive the boy and convert him to the edict, making him his disciple. He would mold him to be his ultimate weapon to serve him, and with him, he would control all creatures, including the immortal Garuda who protected and celebrated him. He would force Gerua to witness the rituals he would perform to taint the boy’s spirit. Her anguish, pain, and guilt would weaken her, and Bubba would easily turn her to his servitude. He would cloud her mind and taint her spirit and make her join him. He had finally understood from his interaction with the Asura, the treasure the masters possessed. Something he had not been able to understand correctly whilst at the ashram. He would find a way to extract Vital Knowledge from the masters using Gerua and Danta and become more powerful than the Asura.

  CHAPTER 39

  ACCORD

  Gerua slowed down and looked at Danta. “It’s going to be dark soon. We have to find a place to rest.” It was getting dark, and the moon was getting brighter. They would have sunlight for another half hour or so. Danta needed rest and before rest, nourishment.

  “Climb onto my back, Danta,” said Gerua, dropping the backpack to her left, and Danta complied. Gerua stood with Danta on her back and silently looked around. She needed to gather something to eat. Gerua saw bushes with red berries, and she picked some, collecting them in her bag. She saw that a few trees were bearing fruit. The monkeys following them brought down fruit to Gerua, which she graciously accepted. She put the fruit in the bag with the berries and began moving again.

  Just before darkness fell, Gerua saw what she was looking for—the lake. She and Danta would rest next to the lake. She saw a clearing surrounded by small bushes. She looked along the shoreline in both directions but was disappointed. She still couldn’t see the banyan tree anywhere. When the light faded, Gerua switched on the belt, shielding them both. She would keep in constant contact with Danta so the shield would protect them both.

  Gerua lowered Danta to the ground oblivious to the fact that they were being targeted. Both the possessed nagins had taken position in the bushes surrounding the clearing, ready to attack. Gerua continued to hold on to Danta as she brought him to his feet. Both the nagins launched forward attacking in unison, one targeting the boy and the other Gerua, each adjusting the amount of venom to be released. The woman and the boy had to stay alive so that Bubba could execute his plans. Mouths wide open, fangs exposed, they struck Danta and Gerua together.

  The attack was futile. The nagins fangs could not pierce Danta and Gerua. The snakes collided with them and bounced off, falling on the ground. They were both still standing as if nothing had happened.

  Danta reacted instantly. Holding on to his mother’s left hand with his right, Danta took off the necklace the sadhu had given him with his left. Meanwhile, Gerua had taken out the scroll and realized that the nagins were possessed. She quickly replaced the scroll in the backpack. Gerua took the beaded necklace from Danta in her right hand and Danta jumped swiftly on her back again while keeping contact. Once on her back, Danta reached for the urumi handle with his right hand.

  “No!” said Gerua. “They don’t know what they’re doing. Their minds are not their own. I’ll handle this.” The boy withdrew his hand and wrapped it gently around Gerua’s neck, hugging his mother. Gerua began to chant a mantra, and the necklace stiffened into a loop.

  Gerua had experience with creatures that were possessed, and she also knew that the nagins could not harm them. The nagins needed to penetrate their defense, which was impossible. Gerua also knew that pishachas could not pierce the shield even in their ghostly bodies. Realizing that the serpents would not want to harm them if they were not possessed, Gerua had to exorcise whatever possessed the nagins.

  Bubba was appalled as he watched the attack remotely. The little blue pishacha was watching the attack giving Bubba a bird’s-eye view. The pishachas that had corrupted the mind of the nagins were confounded. Why was the boy not writhing in pain? Why was Gerua not affected?

  “Again!” Bubba ordered the pishacha remotely. The nagins began to coil in an ‘s’ form, preparing to attack again. They bared their fangs, dripping venom, ready to spring. The nagins attacked again, rasping and hissing. Like springs uncoiling, the nagins launched themselves at Gerua in unison. Gerua was ready holding the necklace in her hand, forming a perfect circle.

  Gerua raised her hand and stepped slightly back. The rudraksh beads necklace swallowed the two snakes. A loud howling sound was heard as the serpents came through the other side. The pishachas could not pass through the necklace and were forced to release the nagins. The pishachas were ripped out painfully as the nagins’ long bodies passed through the necklace. Upon regaining their composure, the pishachas turned and launched themselves with fury and viciousness at Danta, but they too could not pierce the shield that protected the boy. They were too small to separate the boy from the mother. Then they heard Gerua commence a mantra the pishacha feared. Before Gerua could finish the mantra that would immobilize them, the pishachas howled in frustration and took off into the forest, zipping away as fast as they could toward Bubba. Filled with rage, Bubba punished the pishacha by imprisoning them in a brightly glowing stone. The pishacha would exist in a void within the stone without access to any hosts, tormented forever.

  Seeing the pishacha bolt, Gerua lowered Danta and turned her attention to the nagins. The nagins lay on the ground, confused and unable to comprehend what had happened. Not possessed anymore, their expressions turned normal, and they assumed their naturally shy and benevolent serpentine form. Gerua brought her hands in front of her sternum. “Namaste,” she said, humbly bowing. “This is my son, Danta, and I am Gerua. Two pishachas possessed you and clouded your mind. They made you believe that we are your enemy. But we are not. We have no quarrel with you or your people and mean you no harm. Please forgive us if we have done anything to make you feel otherwise.”

  “But... but Garuda, the destroyer of naga, protects you. We didn’t even know that Garuda was on Earth, leave alone on the mountain, but we know what happened after the aghori attacked you. We thought that Garuda had abandoned our world,” one of the nagins stammered, still dazed. “Why has he come back to Earth?”

  Gerua smiled politely. “I do not know why Garuda is here. But please think back as to how and why the pishachas possessed you. It was your fear that opened a gateway for them to enter. You are reasonable and peaceful people. You do not seek to hurt anyone, and you would rather keep to yourself and remain hidden than hurt a boy. You attacked my son and me, although neither my son nor I harmed you, nor do we intend to. I wanted you to see clearly again with your own minds. Hence, I got rid of the pishachas. My son saw the you
ng naga get hurt, and I can make a pretty accurate guess who caused the pishachas to control your minds. It is the work of a very powerful aghori master who controls these inorganic beings, causing terror and despair.

  “The pishachas and the aghori are all part of the edict this master aghori controls. The aghori master wanted to somehow harm my son, which is why you were caused to attack us. The edict has tried to hurt me earlier but failed. Garuda chose to help us. He has very sharp eyes, and he must have seen your son, the young naga who was injured. Yet, as you know, Garuda did not harm him. Even though you think of Garuda as your enemy, you know Garuda despises all that is evil and sinister. He told my son that he despised the aghori that attacked us because they were sinister. And if he has been around, he has not harmed your people.”

  “Do you control Garuda?” The nagins seemed genuinely concerned.

  “No one controls Garuda. He is a great immortal and does what he wants,” Gerua responded. She discreetly switched off the belt, lowering the shield. “Garuda came to us of his own accord. Even the sadhus and I were awed and a little scared. We have not broken the peace your ancient king made with Garuda. I pray that your people will also help me protect my son. You are the people of this dominion, and you seek peace and prosperity and we respect that. Neither my son nor I bear you ill will, we are just passing through. We know it was not you who tried to harm us, and we wish to be friends with you.” She bowed low.

  The nagins looked at each other. They were convinced that the boy and his mother had only the naga interests in mind. Not only had the serpents been spared, but they had also been saved from the pishachas. The nagins had been wrong to attack them, possessed or not.