Circle of Time: An urban fantasy (The Kazi Chronicles Book 1)

by Riverr Ravenswood

  I stumble back. “What do you mean?”

  “What do you think of her? Really think of her. What do you feel when you look at her?” he looks at me again and this time I know that I cannot escape his intensity.

  “I… she is beautiful, Vee. Fuck, she is beautiful. And kind. We have never known kindness and gentleness. She is in a different league altogether. I don't know what I feel for her, but I cannot escape her,” which is a lie of course. I know what I feel for her. She has gotten so deep under my skin that I breathe and smell her on me and in me.

  “I think you do know what you feel for her. Please tell me Enzo. I would never want to come in the way of you,” Vee says quietly and it is a punch to my gut.

  “Hey! What makes you say that you are even allowed to put yourself away from the situation? You like her?”

  The look he gives me tells me that I have lost my damn mind.

  “If you need to ask me this then you are not really as level headed as you think you are. Have you not seen everyone with her? You feel for her knowing her for a few days. We have spent months with her. Before her powers came on. Hell, Ry and Ash lived with her. Do you think they don't feel for her? God Enzo!”

  Why is he so angry?

  “Why are you so angry?”

  “Because I don’t fucking know what to do!!! I know they always had feelings for her. God you should have seen Ry and Ash when she had first moved in. They were like love-sick puppies. Then I met her when I had gone to their house, and there she was…. And I had known with every fibre of my being that I would be a lovestruck puppy too. That was more than a year ago. I figured that we will figure it out, depending on who asks her out first. My mind said that it would be easier to know that she is dating someone, and then I wouldn't have to deal with it as I don't live with her. Now, when she is with us, a part of the family, how the hell are we supposed to deal with this? What if she dates one of us? What if she shares a room and her bed with one of us? How the fuck do I deal with that?”

  I am shocked, not because of his words. But, because everything he says is resonating deep within me. I had not even thought of it. I had been so focussed on everything that I hadn't considered what will happen if Ada dates someone who is not me.

  He must have seen the fear on my face, because he immediately comes to me and wraps me in his arms.

  His whispered words reach my ears, “I will give everything up for you. That's why I wanted to talk to you,” he leans back and I see tears in his eyes. He really thinks that he is saying goodbye to his feelings for her. “I will never stand in your way, you deserve the very best, and she is the best. I can talk to others also, just say the word.”

  He steps back to leave but I clutch his arms and stop him.

  “Do not be absurd. We will figure it out. But one thing I will never allow is to keep my happiness above yours.”

  Vee smiles and starts to step back but I call my magic and hold him place. “Let me get this straight to your head. Nobody is stepping down. And what your little mind cannot seem to understand is that her happiness matters the most. She needs to be with someone who she wants to be with. So no more of this letting go shit. You get me? If she wants to be with you, then she will be with you and nothing can stop that from happening. And if she wants to be with me or Ry or Ash, then also the same. We will figure it out brother,” I say the last words as I step forward and pull him into a fierce hug.

  “Have you considered what your Pa will say?”

  Vee and I freeze and turn around to the voice. Sensei. Standing there with eyes lit with amusement.

  I don’t need to look at Vee or in the mirror to know that we are pale as fuck. He steps forward, a menacing step forward. Vee and I take a step back.

  “Or what I would say, for that matter?” he says, raising one eyebrow.

  “We were just talking things out Sensei,” I tell him, bowing my head. Out of nowhere, his robe is hitting my jaw and pulling my chin up, so that I am looking at him straight. He hasn't moved from his spot. But I see his magic flaring around him.

  “Gudiya will never be with someone who doesn't have a spine of steel. You don’t bend and don't bow your head. In reverence is okay, but being afraid is not.”

  It takes my mind to register what he is saying a moment. But when it does, I stand straighter. Something he seems to appreciate and releases his hold on my chin. His robe releases my chin.

  “Now that I have your attention,” he says, clasping his hands behind him and looking at Vee and me. “You are right in putting her needs and happiness before yours. But you both seem to have forgotten that there are reasons for everything that happens. You need to stop thinking like regular joes and start thinking like the Gifted. That too the most powerful Gifted. Regular and normal standards do not govern us. And the same is for relationships too. So think hard before doing something stupid, like walking away from her or each other.”

  “What are you saying, Sensei?’ Vee asks him.

  “That you will figure it out as you go. For now, there are a lot of things that need to be done. First of which is helping her with her magic. Then finding Vyhdir. We have puzzle pieces and we need to fit them in a way that makes the most sense until we find what we are looking for. Got it? And do not even think of hurting her by thinking of walking away. I have seen how she looks at all of you like you are her family. And she got the sense of family from Shakti and Cael, and me. Nothing will hurt her more than finding her family hurt,” his eyes are boring into the both of us. I can relate to that. I am just like that. Pride unfurls in me thinking that my girl is the same.

  He smirks, seemingly understanding what I am thinking.

  “We will never do anything to hurt her, Sensei. It was the first time Vee and I even spoke about it. We will figure it out. And it will all depend on her. What she wants and her happiness,” I tell him, trying to show him my earnesty. He takes a look at me and then at Vee, then nods.

  He turns around to leave, but turns back with a smile and tells us, “whatever you decide or figure out, handling and convincing Cael will be on you.”

  Smirking, he leaves the room in a flurry of robes.

  His parting words, though spoken in good humor, drains the blood out of my face.

  “Well, fuck. Guess we didn't even consider if liking her is worth Pa’s wrath,” Vee says, and I hear the fear in his voice.

  I turn to look at him and find him staring at the door Sensei just left from. He feels me looking at me and as soon as he looks at me, wide eyed and slack-jawed, I cannot help the laughter that bursts out of me.

  He joins in a beat later.

  We are not laughing at the situation or at anything. We always thought we will have to face someone’s dad if we dated that girl. And though through the years, I had held a torch for Pa’s daughter, I had never found myself worrying over it. But in my wildest dreams I hadn't considered that the object of my desire will be the Kazi and that I will have to face not only Pa, but The Protector.

  Well, fuck me!

  Chapter 37

  Ada

  It has been an hour and I am sitting on the lounger looking at the note Mathew had given to me. Lexie is sitting next to me playing with her switchblade.

  “What do you think it means?” she asks me, looking at the note.

  “I need to know what sect he is involved in. Do you know?” I ask her. It has been nagging me that we don't know what sect Mathew belongs to. This note could mean many things.

  “I think he is with the Time and Karma sect. No?” she says biting on her lower lip, deep in thought.

  “Who else could he be a part of?”

  “Chaos,” she says, shrugging.

  I had read about Nibet, the God of Chaos. But not much was known about him. “Is he one of the good guys?”

  “I am not sure. There has not been much news of him. He usually sticks to the program… we should ask Sensei.”

  “What should you ask me?” Baba says, entering the room.

&n
bsp; “Mathew is from which sect? And what can you tell us about Nibet?” I ask him.

  Baba looks at us and at the note on the table. His eyes lose focus for a bit and then focus back on us.

  “Nibet, the God of Chaos, is known to stay away from the limelight. If he is involved with Betin, then he has covered his tracks well. What are you thinking?”

  “Mathew says to look where nobody is known to come back from. I was-”

  “Can we trust Mathew?” Lexie says quietly.

  That is a bloody good point. I look at Baba for direction, and he looks at me. He gives me a small smile and says, “what do you think?”

  “I would think so…? I mean, I never interacted much with him before that day. We have worked on assignments before, but that has been it. He is respectful and courteous. Nothing more. Nothing resembling the ferocity and anger I witnessed the other day when he gave me the note. What do you think?”

  “Follow your gut. It will never lead you astray. Lexie, what do you think? You don't trust him, I take it?” he asks her, looking so intently at her that the poor girl squirms in her seat.

  “Umm… I don't know him to decide either way, Sensei. But, as I have learned, the mantra is do not trust until proven trustworthy.”

  Well that makes sense.

  “Tell you what? Let’s see what the meaning of this note is. Then we can see what we make of it. What do you say?” I ask them.

  “Yeah, let’s do that. Show it to me,” he says extending his hand. “Also, we will be starting our training tomorrow morning. Everyone. We all need to be on our toes and we need to get moving. So tomorrow morning, bright and early.”

  Lexie and I nod, while Lexie hands the note over to Baba, and I watch him as he takes in the hurried elegant handwriting.

  “Okay. First things, tell me the obvious things that come to your mind. What place is nobody known to ever return from?” he asks us.

  Enzo and Ash enter the room at that time, followed by Dad. Vince and Ryan are cooking in the kitchen.

  “Shall we take this to the kitchen so that Vee and Ry can also participate?” Dad asks, while coming to stand next to me.

  “Yes, let’s go.”

  Baba doesn't wait for anyone, just turns and leaves, and we all follow.

  “Hey guys. What’s up?” Ryan asks, stirring the pot. The rich aromas of the spaghetti sauce drift over.

  “We are working on Mathew’s note. So, first things, let’s go around the table saying what we think comes first to our minds when we think of someplace where nobody is known to return from. Lexie, go,” Baba says.

  “Umm… bermuda triangle?” she says.

  We all nod, as Baba looks at me.

  “Black hole?” I tell them, while shrugging.

  “Depths of the ocean,” Enzo says.

  “Schizophrenia,” Ryan says. When we all look at him in confusion, he shrugs and says, “what? Have you known anybody to have come back from that?”

  I look at Dad and Baba and they seem deeper in thought.

  “The first thing that comes to my mind is that no one is known to return from the feeling of true love, once they have found the one they were looking for,” Ash says.

  I am dumbfounded, yet again.

  Could it mean those things too?

  “Vee?” Dad asks.

  Vince takes some time to think about it. When he looks up, he says, “somehow I don't think it refers to an emotion. I think it is a place. And a place that is known to other sects as well, just that they have not yet thought of looking there, for whatever it is we are looking for here. And I have been thinking of what that place could be that everyone knows about….”

  “Hey, what about Arhanyth? Nobody even knows where that is, right?” I ask them.

  Baba takes in a breath, and mulls over all of this.

  “Cael? What do you think?” Baba asks Dad.

  “I am thinking more like the Bermuda triangle and the black hole.”

  Lexie and I smile at each other.

  Could it be that simple? To go to the Bermuda triangle and find whatever we are supposed to look for?

  “Umm… guys?” I ask, as something hits the center stage in my mind. “What about Kailamat? Do we know where and what Kailamat is?”

  I remember that story from The Book. The story goes that when Draidon, Wana-yu, Muro-s-aya, and Vala-di-Somi, the Elemental Gods, were granted the elemental powers, they didn’t quite know how to wield it better. It is said that the millenniums of fire age, lava and earthquakes, and the millenniums when the world was just ice and water, and continental drifts, was a result of the Elemental Gods learning to wield their powers and harness it.

  Paramaiah had sent them to Earth, telling them to find Kailamat as it would help them figure out their powers. They had come to Earth and walked aimlessly in search of something, anything, that would give them a clue as to the correct wielding of their powers. They were Gods, but nobody else knew how to help them. When they had reached a particular spot, they found that the strong hold and the burden of the elements on their bodies and minds started easing. It was there they harnessed their powers, and learned to master it. They gave the land back its prosperity by calling back the fires and waters. And the rest is history. That is why today, the elements and the Gods are said to hold a special place in every nature worship, mystical lores or mythological lores.

  “Kailamat… I had forgotten about it. What makes you think of that place?” Baba asks me, while everyone else is looking at me.

  “I remember that story and I don’t know .. it just came in my mind. Wasn’t it the place where the Elementals came to harness their powers, but the years they were trying to get a control on the elements, they couldn't leave the place? It was almost like a nature made prison, or rather, a training camp, for the Elemental Gods, who once they came, could not return before learning everything there was to learn about the elements?”

  “Hmm yes. But.. they returned from there. Didn’t they?” Enzo asks.

  “Yes, they did. But they were known to not return from there for years. Ages even. I remember reading that other Gods had gone to that place to get them back to Arhanyth because the world was going to shambles, yet the elemental Gods could not leave. It was almost like a magical barrier keeping them inside. And that makes me think, is there an invocation or something to enter that place? I mean, how could only the Elements Gods enter and not the others? I am sure that book is missing something.”

  I am frowning at the end because I don't like it when I am not able to connect the dots.

  “Gudiya, I think you may be onto something.” I can see the deep thinking lines on his face. He nods, making up his mind. “Vince, I will need your help to decipher where Kailamat is. Whatever hints there are of the place are from millennia back. The earth and land has changed and so has the water and vegetation. You and I in the study. Gudiya, Lexie and Cael, you connect the dots of what Gudiya questioned. Ash, Ry, the shed has some really old maps and manuscripts. Bring them back. You have to make multiple trips, and ensure that no part of the maps and manuscripts gets damaged. Enzo, on guard. Guard the most precious. And then we will reconvene and put our magic to work.”

  “Aye aye captain!” I say with a mock salute.

  Baba rolls his eyes and turns around to go to the Study, and Vince hurries after him.

  Everyone disperses. Lexie leaves to get The Book from the Study. Dad and I make ourselves comfortable on the floor, while Enzo goes and stands guard at the window, facing outside.

  “Enzo,” I called out to him. “What are you guarding? What is the most precious? Is there a ring and I didn’t know about it? Where is your precious,” I say hissing, as Gholem did in the LOTR.

  Enzo smirks and says, “it is here alright. My precious. I am on duty. Don’t disturb me because I am not too keen to face Sensei’s wrath,” he says, turning back to the window, but I hear him mumble something that sounded like and Pa's.

  I shrug and let it go from my mind.

>   “Baby girl, I will bring water and some things to drink. You want coffee?” Dad asks me, getting up.

  “I come help you,” I get up, in a hurry to leave the room, before Enzo and I are stuck alone.

  “No, sit and meditate. I will be back.” He squeezes my shoulder and leaves.

  Fuck. I am acutely aware of the thin line of sweat that trickles down my back. Enzo is still looking out the window, and I take in his well sculpted shoulders and back. That man is cheese on toast. Waiting to be gobbled up. By a very very hungry, no - ravenous, me.

  I sit in lotus position and try to focus on meditating.

  But all I am aware of is Enzo. What the hell are these guys doing to me? And talk of their strength!! Enzo can literally pick up things from a distance. Throw it or carry it. I remember when Enzo had carried me upstairs in my state of post-foodgasmic-bliss. Those fucking shoulders and chest. So secure. So warm. So hard.

  I release a heavy breath, and with my eyes closed, I take deep breaths in. I need to control myself from spiralling out of control. The guys are playing havoc with my mind. And I need to calm the fuck down.

  ‘Look at them muscles!’

  I startle.

  Enzo looks at me with a question and I just shake my head.

  ‘Kali, dude, stop fucking scaring me!’

  ‘Oh I am sorry, the fact that you forgot about me is my fault, how?’

  ‘I didn’t forget about you. I just didn’t remember for a moment.’

  ‘I had thought you and I were gonna be best of friends. But it's hard to be besties with someone who keeps forgetting you exist.’ Kali says in a miffed tone. And I am filled with guilt.

  ‘I am sorry Kali. I will be better for you. I am sorry. Please forgive me.’

  I am fighting back tears that threaten to escape my eyes.

  ‘I would like that Ada.’

  It is the first time I have heard Kali sombre.

  ‘I promise.’

  I resolve to be better. Better for Kali, for Dad, for Baba, and for everyone around me.

  I hear footsteps and Dad clears his throat loudly.