by T. G. Ayer
Fire burned in Maya’s hand and in her heart.
Maya and the goddess of shadows slipped quietly out the window and tiptoed to the trellis. Chayya floated down while Maya struggled to make her way to the sidewalk, snagging her hair on the tree and pulling loose countless number of purple blossoms.
Sabala waited, his expression almost disappointed as Maya set foot on solid ground. "Come. We are unseen for now. Let us get far from this place."
Chapter 32
As Maya and Sabala ran the two streets home, the distant song of sirens closed in.
Maya held her injured hand to her chest and her steps slowed as she drew closer to her house. Her parents would've wondered what had happened to her, but if they were worried they would've called. Was her mom giving her time to think, time to cool down? Maya’s heart still beat furiously, the whole scene in Ria’s room replaying itself over and over again every few minutes.
Sabala clacked along beside her. Once in a while, he exhaled through his nose as if about to sneeze but decided at the last minute he didn’t need to. Chayya followed within the darkness, one moment visible, the next shrouded in shadows thrown onto the sidewalk by the trees and the leaves and the dark clouds skidding across the moonless sky. The goddess hadn’t spoken since they left Ria’s house.
Chayya didn’t need to speak to her for Maya to know she’d been stupid, and hasty. Just because she had arrived in time to save Maya's ass didn’t mean the whole escapade was justified, no matter what Maya’s intentions had been. But somewhere within the fiasco there'd been a tiny bit of success. Maya had killed the demon. Removed it right from Ria’s living body.
It still gave her chills- the sight of Ria burning, eaten by white-hot flame. The sight of Ria’s hand, skin melted, flesh burned off, revealing the shriveled arm of the Rakshasa, had been horrific enough. But Maya had died a thousand deaths when she'd seen Ria on fire.
In the end Ria had survived, and she’d been fine, not a burn in sight. But Maya still felt responsible. Because despite her friend’s lack of physical injury, she emerged from her possession by the demon catatonic. Unable to walk or talk, unable to be herself. Who knew if she would ever regain consciousness?
Maya shivered to think about the consequences of Ria’s condition. With the kind of father Ria had she'd end up hidden away in some institution somewhere far away where she’d be unable to sully her father's pride or his reputation. And Ria’s mother would stand by, powerless to do anything to help her daughter, as powerless as she had always been and always would be as a Gupta bride.
Maya glanced around, to be sure she and Chayya were still alone on the street. It wouldn't be good for her reputation to be seen having conversations with shadows. All was clear so she asked, "Is there something we can do for Ria?"
From within the veil of darkness and shadow, the goddess Chayya sighed. Maya blinked as a light breeze kissed her cheek and for the briefest moment, she was sure Chayya danced around her in the dark.
Chayya spoke from the air right beside her. "Maya, you have seen what happened to your friend Ria. It is not uncommon. It happens all the time to people all over the world, every time a Rakshasa possesses a human body. They absorb life like a parasite. And more often than not, they leave behind the husk of a person, a corpse at best. It has become more and more common in recent times. We should be grateful she has come through the possession alive."
"Alive? You call that alive? She’s a vegetable." Maya choked off the words, taking a breath and then another before blinking hard at the tears threatening to mess with her composure.
"Would you rather she be dead?" came the enigmatic response. "It can be arranged if you wish. If you feel she will suffer you can request she be taken now and not when her allotted time arrives."
Maya stared at the air beside her, stopping in her tracks, a sob and a moan stuck in her throat. "You seriously think I'd prefer Ria dead?"
"No, Maya. I am merely advising you that you have an option. If you ask I will see to it the request is received by Lord Yama."
Maya chewed on her lower lip. "So you're on speaking terms with Yama?"
"Yes. I go where shadows live. From the snow-capped mountains to the depths of the underworld, wherever a shadow is cast you will find me or my servants. I know all the gods in all the realms, all the rulers in all the lands." Chayya raised her hand waving it in a circular motion which Maya assumed indicated the realms and lands the goddess knew.
How poetic
Chayya's movement drew specks of shadows from the inky night around her, little drops of darkness that spun into a tiny tornado of blackness. The goddess dropped her hand and the shadows scurried away disappearing in the time it took to blink.
Maya shook her head, directing her attention to Chayya again. "So you can speak to him for me?"
"Maya, do you really wish for him to take your friend now?"
"No. That's not what I meant." Maya thought about how best to approach the goddess with her idea. "Could you speak to him on my behalf? Ask him what I need to do to bring Ria back."
"Maya, you do know you can ask him yourself. You are much more likely to get a positive result than if you were to send an emissary." Chayya’s words floated to Maya on the shadows. A silence followed, stretching out as Maya struggled to think of how to convince the goddess to help her. "Lord Yama has already sent for you Maya. He is a just and generous god, but it would not be wise to keep him waiting. We are all depending on your answer."
Chayya's words chilled Maya to the bone. "What do you mean you all?" Maya frowned. Nik had mentioned something similar. That whatever Yama wanted from her would affect everyone else in the world too. "What's going on that's now suddenly my problem to solve?"
"Maya, I am afraid I cannot speak of it. Lord Yama will tell you himself. But what you need to know is the whole world depends on this. The fate of the world is reliant on your choices."
"Thanks a lot for the pressure," Maya mumbled, unhappy Chayya was taking up where Nik left off.
"Come, you must speak to your parents as soon as possible. You must tell them about your friend."
Maya walked the rest of the way in silence, wondering what was so darned important her decision could make or break the existence of the world. It all sounded a bit far-fetched and dramatic for her.
A tiny part of her was dying to know what this big secret was. Why was it she had to go all the way to visit Yama anyway? It seemed to Maya the gods had the ability to travel wherever and whenever they liked. Hadn’t Kali visited her? And Chayya’s been hanging around quite a bit too.
How would Maya even get to Patala anyway? And what happened to all of this just being make-believe? Just being stories to teach people lessons to live better and more righteous lives?
Well if these gods really exist, and that depends entirely on whether or not I am still sane, then they can darned well help Ria.
In an instant, she made her decision. Sure, she’ll go to see Lord Yama, but he'd better have justice for Ria or else Maya wouldn't do a damned thing to help him.
Maya let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.
A weight lifted from her shoulders. Now, at least she had hope she was doing the right thing, first for Ria and then for the god of the underworld.
Chapter 33
The house was brightly lit and voices drifted to Maya from the kitchen as she entered the empty foyer. Sabala walked sedately inside and Maya shut the door behind him. Chayya had been silent for so long Maya assumed she’d gone off to wherever shadow goddesses go when not saving the lives of idiotic human girls.
Maya trudged into the kitchen, her back stiff, her bloodied arm hanging innocently beside her, ready to cop all the flack she knew waited for her. By now, her mom would have filled her dad in on all the afternoon’s action. But the room was a bustle of comfortable banter as her dad toiled over a steaming pot and her mom and Claudia fiddled with vegetables at the scorched table. Maya’s heart thumped as the scene set her off
-balance.
Claudia looked up, and grinned at Maya. She raised one eyebrow, glanced pointedly at the burn mark on the table right next to her hand, and rolled her eyes. Maya grinned back. Trust Claudia to find it funny. Still it did seem strange she wasn't receiving a thorough scolding.
"Hey, honey." Her mom twisted around and smiled at Maya. But the smile ebbed and Maya knew the whole Nik/Yama debacle wasn't totally resolved. Not for Maya at any rate. "Where have you been?"
"Ria’s," Maya answered.
"Oh hey, Maya," Dev called from the stove. "Your mother’s been filling me in on the happenings of the day. We do need to talk, honey. You okay to wait until dinner or you want to hash it out- Wait a minute, did you say you went to Ria’s?"
Everyone stared at Maya with worry and consternation thwarting their jovial expressions, the banter of minutes ago now silent. Maya sighed and pulled up a stool. Her legs refused to hold her any longer- especially when she had to report on the whole Ria-burning incident.
"Yeah, I went to Ria’s. She sent me one of our special code texts. We used to do this a long time ago. Ria would send me a blank text and I’d go over."
"Why the blank text?" Claudia asked, holding her hands up in apology. "Sorry, just curious."
"Years ago, before Ria’s mom had her brothers, Ria’s dad used to use her as a punching bag." Maya’s voice was bland, her emotions dead, as she watched the color drain from Claudia's face.
"I’m sorry, Maya." Claudia’s hand fluttered to her throat as she shifted in her seat.
"It’s okay. I used to go to comfort her. Sometimes she just needed a hug and some support. Her father would lock her in her room and most times he’d forbid her mom from going to Ria at all." Maya ran her finger along the little valley she’d scorched into the table. Her skin came away black with soot. She held her finger and thumb together, smudging the dark color between her fingers. "So I always went. Every time she texted. This time when I saw the text, I think a part of me was on automatic. But the other part felt guilty because I knew the Rakshasa was trying to get to me through Ria. I guess I thought I owed it to her to go."
In the silence that followed, Maya deliberated on how to tell the story.
"Maya, start at the start and end at the end," said her father. She looked up and caught his wink. He’d always said that, ever since she was a little girl. When something troubled her and she didn’t have the faintest idea how to tell him he always said the same thing. So now, she started at the start.
She told them everything, then waited while they absorbed the events. "Oh and I did managed to come away with a little souvenir." Maya lifted her injured arm to the table, the clotted blood in stark contrast to her almost bloodless skin. She knew they were all in shock when they didn’t immediately fire questions or admonitions at her.
Then, in a sudden burst of activity, Leela had grabbed a first aid kit and together with Claudia began to clean out and bandage the cuts. Thankfully, they didn't ask any further questions about the wound itself.
"So we have no idea if Ria will recover?" asked Maya’s father, his pot on the stove all but forgotten. It seemed he spoke more to himself than anyone else.
"Well, I plan to ask for help with that," said Maya. She stood, not really caring the chair dragged on the wood floor.
"What do you mean? Who could help Ria now?" asked Claudia as she toed the pedal on the trashcan and threw away bloodied swabs and bits of bandages. She looked from Maya’s mom to her dad and Maya began to wonder if perhaps they hadn’t shared the information of Nik's parentage with Claudia. Strange. Maya sent a questioning glance at her mother, who returned it with sad nod.
Maya turned to Claudia. "Nik’s father wants to see me. Apparently he needs my help with something."
"Nik’s father?" Claudia asked, her face darkening. "What does Nik’s father have to do with anything?"
"He is Yama, Lord of the Underworld etcetera etcetera," Maya said, waving her hand about.
Claudia’s lips formed a silent ‘o’. She drew in a breath, opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Then she clamped her jaw shut, glared at Maya’s mom and asked, "You don’t look very surprised at all Leela. Why don't I know any of this?"
Poor Claudia looked confused and furious and that wasn’t a very safe combination in anyone. "I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you, Claude. I wanted to, but Nik made us promise not to tell anyone about it. Even Maya didn’t know until this afternoon."
"Maya still doesn’t know what’s going on, so don’t feel bad Claudia." Maya couldn’t resist the jab at her parents, and she felt a stab of satisfaction when the expression on her mother’s face fell. Maya was still angry with them but her displeasure slowly faded.
"So what now, Maya? What are you planning on doing?" Maya’s dad had given up on cooking apparently, pulled the pot off the heat and come to stand beside her mother.
"Well, the next logical step is to see Yama." Maya sighed. Yup. That sigh was the sigh of a person with the weight of the world on their shoulders. And why does it have to be me?
"And how are you planning on getting there?" Claudia raised her eyebrows, leaning back in the chair, folding her arms tight against her body. Maya knew what it meant. Claudia was worried. Yeah, I’m worried too. No, scratch that, I’m terrified. So you have company, Claudia.
"That's a very good question," Maya said, wondering herself how she was meant to make that particular trip.
The air moved beside Maya and everyone else in the room froze. Shadows twisted and twirled, every color from darkest pitch to a deep smoky grey. Slowly, the smoke coalesced into Chayya, whose beauty seemed to be all the more evident in the bright kitchen.
Chapter 34
"Hello, Maya," the goddess said. She turned her attention to Maya’s parents, bestowing them with a regal nod. "You must be Maya’s mother and father." They both nodded, no doubt as taken aback as Maya had been when Chayya had first appeared to her.
Chayya threw a quick glance at Claudia. "And who are you?"
The muscles in Claudia’s face tightened, and her dark eyes darkened as she glared back at Chayya. Maya marveled at how Claudia could completely disregard the fact that an honest-to-goodness, in-the-flesh goddess stood before her. "My name is Claudia and I’m a Kali follower like Lee and Dev here." Claudia bit out the words. As each fell, it became potently clear she did not like Chayya.
Maya had no time to think about what was happening between Chayya and Claudia, as interesting as it would be to nut that out. She had to figure out how to get to Yama. Ria’s future depended on it. "Look, guys, I need to-" a text pinged through on her phone and she grabbed it, flipping it open to check if the message was from Ria. Maya’s parents and Claudia were most certainly on the same wavelength as Maya. All three leaned forward, waiting. "Oh, it’s Joss."
Almost as one, they sat back, as disappointed as Maya. "It's not really as if Ria is going to call. She was unconscious when I left her." Maya’s words were more for herself than anyone else, as she stared at Joss’s message, wondering if she could get away with avoiding it.
The phone pinged again. Are you home?
Maya sighed, then texted back. Yes.
When she didn’t get a response she shut the phone and turned her attention to the kitchen and the broiling antagonism Claudia made no effort to hide. Maya threw her mom a glare, flicking a glance at Claudia but from her mother’s shrug Maya knew she had no idea either.
From the looks of things they were wasting time. Maya needed to see Yama and Chayya was the best person to tell her how. So she asked, "How do I get to Patala?"
"Maya, I don’t think you should be hasty about this," said Claudia, and both Maya’s parents frowned. "Ria is unconscious, yes, but that doesn’t mean you need to go the Underworld of all places."
Maya opened her mouth to respond but didn’t get the chance. Instead, Chayya spoke. "It is understandable you are concerned about Maya’s safety. But Yama has requested Maya’s presence. As such, she will be complet
ely safe in her travels to his abode."
"And pray tell how will she get there?" Claudia asked, her forehead a mass of creases, her eyes dark and glaring.
Chayya answered with an enigmatic smile. "I control the shadows, and I can move through them from realm to realm. It will be a simple feat to take Maya to Patala."
Claudia's expression fell, and her cheeks tinged pink. Maya felt sorry for her. But what had possessed her to challenge a goddess?
Chayya continued, "It is good you decided to go. Lord Yama should not be made to wait."
"Maya, I know going is probably the best thing to do, but are you sure you want to do this?" Maya’s dad walked to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know you feel responsible for Ria but her situation is not your fault at all. You shouldn't be making a decision based on saving Ria. If you go, you need to be sure that decision is for you and you alone."
Maya nodded, but kept silent. Ria is my responsibility and I will fix it no matter what I have to do. But she plastered on a smile and bobbed her head again. "Yes, Dad. I know what I’m doing. Frankly, I don’t think I have much of a choice, really. Both Nik and Chayya have reminded me that the fate of the world depends on my decision. What kind of a choice is that?" Maya shrugged.
"Well, I agree you do need to see why Yama needs you. It may be important." He turned to Chayya and asked, "But why Maya? What does a powerful god like Yama need with Maya? How do we know she is not walking into danger?"
"You cannot know what will happen when she gets there. Nobody does. Everything depends on what Maya agrees to do once Lord Yama has spoken," Chayya replied, her face expressionless.
Claudia shot the shadow goddess a stiff glare, and Maya understood her need. Chayya hadn’t been in the least bit helpful. But it was funny watching the two of them battle each other in silence; Claudia with her outright dislike and Chayya with her enigmatic, unaffected expression.
