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

by Riverr Ravenswood

  She smirks at me. “Why, Ada, you scared of a bunch of stairs?”

  I scoff at that. “In the immortal words of the greatest warrior ever to have walked this earth, Po, my arch nemesis - stairs.”

  She sputters at the reference of Po and starts laughing.

  ‘Oh God, babe. Why didn’t you unblock your magic before. I could have found you before then. Your mind is an absolute delight. Walking next to Sensei and Cael, and calls Po the greatest warrior?’ Kali says.

  ‘Hey! No dissing my idols!’

  ‘Yeah yeah. Your idols alright. Speaking of, Ash has been eyeing your ass ever since we started this downhill trek.’

  I whip my head around and sure enough, Ash’s eyes are glued on my ass.

  I wiggle my eyebrows and ask, “like what you see?”

  His eyes widen and his entire face starts turning red. I cannot help the laugh that leaves my mouth as I turn back around and continue this downhill trek.

  Finally, we reach the ‘basement’. I am rolling my eyes so hard here, it’s not even funny.

  A large door, with a huge archway above it, stands ahead of us. I join Dad, Baba, Enzo, and Lexie there, as Ash, Ry and Vee come to stand next to me. I take in the surroundings. It doesn’t give me creepy vibes. But…..

  “Why the heck is it 7564849 metres down under?” I ask them all.

  “7564849 metres?” Enzo scoffs. “Drama queen much?”

  “Hey! It’s a legit question.”

  “Of course it is,” he rolls his eyes. Enzo. Rolls his eyes.

  ‘Even that is sexy on him,’ Kali chirps.

  “We are so far down so that even if by any chance their magic is still working, they won’t be able to reach us. These floors and walls have been warded especially by Sensei and Lexie,” Dad fills in the blanks for me.

  “Okay. Though I don’t understand it.” I take one more look around. “So what’s the MO? How are we doing this?”

  “You stay next to one of us, at all times,” Dad starts, and raises his hand when my mouth opens to interject. “Next to one of us. You ask questions if you want, but you are to stay next to one of us.”

  His eyes have taken on that lava furnace glow. I nod quickly. “Okay okay. But next to who? You or Baba?”

  “Any one of us. This is your first time being here in this capacity. And you have a bleeding heart my girl,” he smooths his hand over my head, his eyes back to normal. “You stay next to one of us, you hear me?”

  I nod again.

  Baba clears his throat. “Don’t worry Cael. Nobody will be leaving her alone,” he says. I am facing him so I can see the amused glint in his eyes. I narrow my eyes at him and he winks at me.

  Rolling my eyes, I say, “Okay then. Let’s do this.”

  I look at Lexie and sign this is so cool! We are gonna be meeting captives! Let’s have fun!

  “We can all sign gudiya,” Baba speaks in exasperation.

  “She is quietly plotting to have some fun Sensei,” Vee says from next to me.

  “Yeah yeah let’s go!” I dance on the balls of my feet as I say this.

  Everyone snickers and turns. Enzo opens the door, and we enter. Dad and Baba ahead, followed by Lexie, Vee, Ash and I. Behind me Ry, and Enzo at last, closing the door behind him.

  As soon as we are inside, they get into a formation. Like they have done this a lot of times. Baba and Dad standing facing them. Lexie comes next to me on my right. Vee and Ash walk straight and stand behind the captives. Enzo comes to stand on my left, and Ry on Lexie’s right.

  It is a big room. Huge. Right in the center of the room, the three are tied to chairs. They are naked. Burn marks on them. They look in pain. My eyes sting at their condition.

  “So,” Dad starts, and the captives flinch. “Which one of you would start by telling us who are the people who cloaked you, and which mage is powerful enough to try and find a way back to one of us through you?”

  Oh yeah, I remember Ash’s mental hijack.

  For a long moment nobody speaks. Then the one sitting in the center zeroes his eyes on me. A mix of emotion there. Enzo and Lex shuffle closer to me on instinct.

  “So you are the one,” the center guy says. His voice is soft. As if in pain. I wince at the sound, but Dad takes one step towards him. The guy starts, “imagine had we managed to take you? Everyone has been looking for you. And here you are. Strong and beautiful, standing in front of us.”

  Why is he talking like this? This doesn’t make any sense.

  “Why are you talking like this?” I ask him, perplexed. Dad and Baba turn to look at me in question. “He can see, can’t he? Or hear? What is it?”

  The guy stammers, “wha-what are you t-t-”

  I take a step forward. “Do you really think nobody here would catch on to that?”

  The one of his right starts laughing, and then groans. But he laughs again. “Nobody here figured that out the last time they were here. They are always watching. Always listening. You shou-”

  “Shut up!” the middle guy seethes. His eyes have lost all their pain and colour.

  Mind control.

  I look at the two guys on either side of him. The righty is looking at me. Something in him is tugging at my attention. I cannot put my finger on it. My eyes zero in on the middle one.

  “What are your names?” I ask them.

  Righty opens his mouth but the center guy glares at him. Lefty, speaks softly, “there is no harm in telling our names.”

  They look at each other, and observe their non-verbal communication. I take in their looks, their eyes. Their singed skin. Must have been a hell of a fire that burned their clothes off. I can see that the Lefty and the Righty are not really as stubborn as the middle one. God they need to tell us their names. This right, left and center isn’t gonna cut it much longer.

  “No!” Center one exclaims.

  I step back to Lex and ask her in a soft voice, “can we let them to different rooms? Not keep them together?”

  She nods, then turns to speak to Ry.

  The righty is looking at me, and gives me a soft smile. It is a resigned smile. Dad must have seen it, because his entire body lights up with his lava magic. Righty’s eyes widen. And it hits me!

  “Stop!” I shout before I can stop the word.

  Baba looks at me and raises his eyebrow. I gulp and look at Lex. She nods and clears her throat.

  “We think that we should separate the three,” she says. Surprisingly, her voice is even and robust. Yeah! My girl is a warrior!

  “Is that so?” Baba says, but looks at the captives. Then gives a decisive nod. “Let’s go then.” He points at Ry and Lex, “Take him,” pointing to the Lefty. Then he points at Enzo and me, “take him,” jerking his head towards Righty. He looks at Ash and Vee, “you stay with him,” he points to the middle one.

  “No! You keep us together. What do you think you will achieve by taking us aside!?” the middle one screams frantically, spittle flying from his mouth.

  My eyes catch Ash’s and he gives me a smile. I turn to look at Baba, who is looking at me. I jerk my eyes towards Ash, and hope that he takes my message. He does! He nods, then looks at Enzo. “You stay with him, A, come with us.”

  Ash raises his eyebrows in surprise, then moves from the back wall. Dad and I follow Ash, as he takes the arm of the righty and leads him out. The others take charge of their charges.

  As soon as we are out of the room, I unwrap my stole from my neck and hand it to Ash. He raises his eyebrow, and I point towards Righty’s waist. His lips tug up, and he wraps the stole around Righty’s waist. Dad looks on, questions in his eyes.

  Righty gives a soft smile. Then he says, “I am Jacob.”

  I nod. Ash tugs him towards the room on the far right. Once the four of us are in the room, I offer him water, which he takes gladly. Ash and Dad look on, letting me do whatever I am doing, but not interfering. Yet.

  Once Jacob has had his fill, he looks at me. “Atti and I are muscle for hire. We wer
e just hired to help increase the numbers and bring in a package. I never realised that package would be you,” he says apologetically.

  “What do you mean? And why the fuck did you not say anything before?” Ash asks.

  “You can go in my mind and see. Earlier, they had control over our minds, but since we are not from their sect, they couldn’t re-establish their control once the big man inside burned it.”

  At my look, Dad blinks once, fast.

  E. Enzo.

  I nod, trying to make sense. Dots are connecting, but the picture isn’t full yet.

  “So why hire you?” Dad asks.

  “Because this is what our sect does. Have you never noticed?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He is from Nibet’s sect. Right? Chaos?” I speak up.

  Jacob looks at me and nods, slowly. He isn’t as badly burnt as the middle guy though.

  “And how are you related to Mathew?”

  Jacob looks surprised, so do Dad and Ash.

  “Both of you have similar eyes. Especially, the way they widen. Same colour. And same energies. So who is he to you?” I reiterate.

  Jacob gulps, then looks me in the eye, licks his lips, then whispers, “my son.”

  My eyes widen at this. But, I can work with this.

  “He is from your sect too?” I ask him. He shakes his head. But does not offer anything more.

  ‘Must be a secret thing,’ Kali says.

  I nod.

  “Do you want something to eat?” I ask. Ash and Dad sputter a laugh, while Jacob looks confused.

  “We have been feeding them,” Dad tells me.

  “Oh, okay. So, ummm, you want to tell us what happened and who that zombie out there is? And how come now you are not under their control?” I start my volley of questions.

  “Our sect,” Jacob says, taking a seat on the chair present there, while we keep standing, “has been known to take jobs for hire, not getting involved directly in anything. That is how chaos is maintained.”

  “I don’t understand,” I say.

  Jacob looks at me for a long beat. He licks his lips again. He is nervous.

  ‘No shit Sherlock. Of course he is. He is standing in front of the famed Kazi and The Protector.’

  Okay, yeah makes sense.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I have no doubt that you might be the Kazi. But right now you are not,” he says, slowly, eyes darting towards Dad, as if trying not to spook him.

  “What do you mean?” Ash asks.

  He licks his lips again. “We have been told that Kazi is the reincarnated soul of Ida-Samara. Right? But it isn’t so. The reincarnated soul is just that - God’s child. But being a Kazi, takes the God’s child to another level.”

  “Do not talk in riddles, Jacob,” Dad seethes.

  Jacob nods. Runs his hands over his eyes. Then, as if making some decision, sits up straighter. “I don’t know who you have been talking to, or which books you’ve been reading. But Ida-Samara reincarnated is God’s child. She has to be coupled with compassion, intellect, and something else, to be the Kazi. I am not saying that Ida-Samara wasn’t intelligent or compassionate. We all know that story. But finding such a soul in these times is a challenge. So even assuming that your intellect and compassion matches that of Ida-Samara’s, you still need one more thing to become the Kazi. Until that happens, you won’t come into your powers.”

  “What is that thing? How do you know all of this? And what powers? Who have you been talking to?”

  Jacob gives a small smile.

  “Our sect talks to the messengers of Nibet, who speak to him directly. He doesn’t have anything against Kazi or Vyhdir or even Betin. What he is against is those holding onto tradition or organisations, rigidly. Not giving any place for chaos to flourish. I will answer the rest of your questions if you answer one question of mine.”

  Ash laughs. “Do you really think you are in a position to negotiate? This isn’t a negotiation. The Protector is here. He can burn you to a crisp!”

  Jacob dismisses it, keeping his gaze intent on me. “No. He isn’t The Protector yet, because you aren’t the Kazi. Even if I wanted to answer your questions, I won’t be able to. It is called subliminal programming. Nibet is highly intelligent. He doesn’t want his things being discussed with those he deems lesser than him. He is against controlling our minds. So he put a caveat. That we will be able to answer anything if we can ascertain that person’s mental horizons. There is a question. If we get satisfactory answers, then I can answer without getting strangled.”

  Is that why he was licking his lips? Dad is about to step forward, when I keep my hand on his arm. I step forward and hand him one more bottle of water.

  “Ask.”

  Jacob finishes almost half the water in the bottle, and then looks at me.

  “I am assuming you know that the religions and faiths on Earth follow ideologies. Not Gods, per se. Because their identity is a secret. So understanding what you can, and knowing what you do now, Nibet has been the primary blesser of one or a few ‘Gods’ who walked this Earth. Can you tell me the name of one of them? And since there is more than one ideology that faiths follow, because the more ideologies they can respect, the more power or blessings they get from Gods up above. Right? So, which other ideology do you think works closely with the chaos ideology??”

  What?

  ‘What does that even mean?’

  I look at Dad and Ash, who are busy glaring at Jacob. Who is busy looking at me.

  “Oh I am sorry, am I to solve it alone?” I ask Dad and Ash.

  “Only you can answer this. If you are a Kazi candidate, then trust me, nobody could answer this the way you can,” Jacon chimes in.

  “Can I ask supplementary questions?” I ask him.

  “No. I am afraid not. But you can ask for clarification if you need one.”

  I nod. But I think back, before asking him for any clarification. You never know, there is a caveat that nobody should ask clarifying questions too. My eyes catch Jacob’s. No hint, no emotion. But I feel what needs to be done. He doesn’t want me asking questions.

  “But we can ask questions, right?” Ash asks, catching on to my silence. Bless his soul!

  Jacob gives a slight smile, and then nods.

  “Why would that even be a question? Any God could be a blesser.”

  Jacob shakes his head, but it is not a no shake. It is a cannot help it shake.

  As far as I can tell, there are no faiths or beliefs based on the principles of chaos. Everyone has believed in actions, worship, truth, etc etc. But….what if….

  What is it isn’t about principles. What if it is about freedom? And free will. Of respect? Or simply put, what if it is about someone embracing the beauty and the structure of chaos, and identifying ways to walk within that framework?

  I know I am onto something. I take a moment to listen closely to my body. Nothing screams I am wrong. So I take the chance. “Budha,” I answer. “He never said to avoid chaos. Or fight chaos. Yes there are translated scripts that hint at him telling ‘how’ to avoid chaos. But let’s take it as they are - translated scripts. What Buddha always maintained is that there is a natural order of chaos in everything around us. Our minds, our worlds, the nature around us. Everything. And he said that we are to walk diligently in the face of all this chaos. To let our actions find peace and solace. Not to disrupt the disorganisation of things. But to find a system that works for us within that disorganisation. Hence the principles of meditation, being in the present, and so on.”

  I take a deep breath before continuing. “Going by that logic, the ideologies of free will, choice, and karma work best. And, I am not too brushed up on my knowledge, yet. But is there a God of patterns? Because chaos is just the pattern that we do not understand. Like Charles Addams had said, what is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. It is easy to let go of our senses when confronted with chaos. But with mindfulness and compassion, we hold onto the respect which ev
ery other belief and being deserves. And if you stop to look at it, you find there is beauty in chaos.”

  By the time I am done and I turn around to look at Jacob, he looks completely healthy. No singe marks, no hollowness in cheeks. It is like his health is reinforced!

  I look to Dad in alarm, but he is looking at Jacob. Without anger. Without his protector senses tingling. So that is good, right?

  “What is happening? Why do you look so...so...well?”

  Jacob laughs, an indulgent laugh. He looks at his hands, touches his face and neck, his hair. He has hair!? What the fuck! It was singed, and almost burned.

  Instinctively, I slide closer to Ash, as Dad is way ahead, standing closer to Jacob.

  “I take it your curiosity is sated now?” Dad asks him. “Now how about you take care of ours?”

  Jacob nods and still smiling, looks at me.

  “You are on the way to becoming a Kazi!”

  “What makes you say she isn’t?” Ash asks.

  “I’ll tell you. I have just been blessed by Nibet. His condition has been met. That when we talk to someone who deserves our respect, all holds on our minds will be null and void. I know this is a lot of mumbo-jumbo at this point. So let me start.”

  Dad, Ash and I nod.

  Jacob stands too, since now he is not exhausted or in pain. And starts taking slow steps around the room.

  “Just like you follow the precepts of the Preservation sect, we follow the Chaos precepts. Now those precepts are never clear to somebody outside of our sect. As I am sure you know. So I won’t share the precepts, but I will share things that may make sense to you.

  “When Nibet had formed our sect, it was about letting the madness and the crazy fly. Because ultimately, that is what leads to anything good, right? If there wasn’t any chaos, then no invention or discovery would have happened. It is upto the others to decide what they want to do after chaos. So the beginning of everything is chaos. Like even with The Four. Their chaos led us to have the mountains and oceans. Sure, most of it was controlled later on, but they learned to let their chaos be beautiful and within a framework, as you very rightly identified. Our sect is known as the 'mercenary' sect. We take on jobs, on a freelance basis, with other sects whenever there is a need for chaos. Like kidnapping you. But, our work has never been to hurt or kill, unless absolutely necessary. It was told to us that we are going to talk to a girl, and convince her to come with us, should the need arise.