The Black God's War Page 5

  “Those things will have to wait.” Rao lowered his hands to his sides.

  “You expect me to wait here all by myself?”

  “No, Cousin,” Aayu said, “we decided you should pick up a long spear and fight. Doesn’t that sound good? Come right along.”

  “I can’t wait here. I hardly know anyone in this city. You can’t go, Rao. I swear it here and now. This is my sankalpa: I will not be separated from you.”

  Rao stared at Aayu, but his bhai also had no answer to her solemn resolve.

  Narayani pointed her index finger forcefully as she talked. “And if you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

  “No, that’s not possible,” Rao said. “It wouldn’t be safe.”

  “But I can help. Don’t they need healers? If you’re ever hurt, I can help you.”

  “Cousin, you’re insane. No. I promised your father I’d watch out for you. That means you’re staying in this palace, where you’ll be safe.”

  “You’re not in charge of me. If you go, you can either take me or I’m going to follow you.” Narayani let out her frustration with a scream. She grabbed a pillow off the bed and threw it against a wall.

  Rao found Aayu sticking out his tongue at him.

  I really wish this was funny. “If I could convince you we’re going to be safe, would you agree to stay here?”

  Narayani sat on the bed. Her eyes darted between the two of them. “Probably not. You can try.”

  Rao sat beside her and held one of her hands. Her long eyelashes brought out the sparkle in her brown eyes, even when she was angry. “Promise me, my love. Please.”

  “Only if you can absolutely convince me.”

  Rao looked over at his even darker-skinned friend. “I want to tell her about our abilities.”

  With an inflection both joking and serious, Aayu said, “Oh. Really?”

  Rao shrugged his shoulders. “Do you have a better idea?”

  Aayu scrunched his lips to one side of his face.

  “I’m sure everyone tells their wives anyway,” Rao said.

  Aayu’s round belly shook as he nodded. “I still wouldn’t do it, though.”

  “Are you two done keeping secrets from me? It’s rude.”

  Rao looked in Narayani’s eyes again. “Could you promise to keep everything I tell you a secret?”

  “You sure about this, bhai?” Aayu asked.

  “I solemnly promise that I will not tell a soul,” Narayani said.

  Rao looked down at the intricate dark patterns on his sheets. I may regret this, but somehow this decision feels right. “Aayu, feel free to interrupt me at any point.”

  “I think I can manage that.”

  Rao let out a deep breath. “Early in our training, each of us is tasked with mastering a state of awareness, something unique. This is called your sadhana, and our gurus choose this focus for us early on. The hope is that someday you can teach other sages how to achieve your sadhana, too. Later, we develop a secondary sadhana.”

  Rao took both of Narayani’s hands in his own. “Aayu’s sadhana allows him to become transparent to the physical senses. When he focuses his mind with the aid of certain mantras that came to him after years of meditation, his consciousness changes enough so that no one can see, hear, touch, smell, or—”

  “Don’t say it, bhai.”

  “Or taste him.”

  “Disgusting,” Narayani said.

  “Forget that part. Since he and I have always been partners, I know something about his sadhana. I’m not as good at it as he is, but I can do it. He can make others invisible too, and sometimes I have been able to do that, as well.”

  “Hopefully I can do this for a lot of people someday, like an entire army,” Aayu said. “I’ve already taught some of our gurus how to do it on their own. It’s really not that difficult.”

  “Then let me see you use your ability now,” Narayani said.

  Aayu stood and closed his eyes. One breath later, his physical form vanished. Narayani jumped off the bed and ran to where Aayu had been standing. She waved her arms around, finding nothing. “Amazing!”

  “We haven’t figured out yet how to influence the physical world while in this state—we call it shunyata. Right now he’s aware of us much like he was before, but he can’t do anything to us.” Rao leaned back against the large pillows and the wall. “Occasionally other people can see through our shunyata. We believe this has something to do with the other person’s state of mind and their own spiritual awareness. Some of our teachers can see us in shunyata if they reach a deep enough state of meditation.”

  “Then that’s a problem.” Narayani kept walking around the room, swinging her arms around and looking for Aayu. “Can you do this as often as you want to?”

  “For the most part, but it requires concentration initially. It also requires a certain amount of ojas, subtle energy that can only be gained through spiritual practices.”

  Rao cleared his throat as he thought about how to explain more. “The mind is the master of the physical world. The physical isn’t observed by the mind—it’s actually dependent on the mind. It’s more correct to say that the physical world is also mind. Remove or transform the mind, and the physical world has no independent existence. When you know the truth about reality, you don’t have to fear anything in the physical world. As sages, we are trained in this understanding, and we use this awareness to protect ourselves.”

  “But if Aayu’s sadhana doesn’t work on everyone, what if their Haizzem can see through it?” She was still looking carefully for Aayu.

  Rao stood and followed her around his chamber. “These aren’t our only powers. Like most sages, we also learn things that allow us to support our soldiers or to fight when needed.”

  “Rao’s sadhana is really strange.” Aayu appeared on the bed, lying on his side with one hand propping up his head, looking up at the ceiling.

  Narayani walked over to her cousin and pinched his full cheeks.

  “It’s really me,” he said.

  Rao pulled over the chair from his desk and sat down, leaning forward. “With enough training and awareness, it’s possible to attune ourselves to vastly different worlds and travel between them. Our bodies condition us to believe we are finite beings that exist in only one time and place. But other planes intersect our own world at all times. Distance is an illusion, and we can move between different vibrational states of being because at the heart of everything is a single, unified consciousness. My sadhana has been to contemplate the interconnectedness of all things. Because of this, I can travel to other planes of consciousness.”

  Narayani stared with her mouth open. Her body shook as she chuckled. “This is a lot to take in, Rao.”

  “I understand. You’re right.”

  “He can do more than he’s saying, too.” Aayu lay flat on the bed, his hands beneath his head, staring at the ceiling.

  “But that should give you an idea. Aayu can also use my sadhana. We can do more, plus we each have a secondary sadhana. Aayu can make a person appear exactly as someone else, while he takes on their appearance. Mine is more philosophical. It’s about instantly enforcing the principle of karma.”

  “I know that one,” she said with a proud grin. “It means the fruits of actions return to their sender.”

  “Right. These abilities will allow us to protect ourselves and fight for Pawelon. Remember, their entire religion and its magic is based on mythology. None of it is real, unless we allow ourselves to believe it is.”

  “Narayani, Rao is very humble but the things he can do—he’s gone so far beyond what our gurus ever expected. They say he’s the most naturally talented sage they’ve ever trained. He’s worked hard at his sadhana, too. Once Rao gains your father’s trust, I promise you, he’ll be able to defeat their Haizzem all on his own.”

  Rao focused on his breathing to keep his mind off Aayu’s praise.

  Aayu continued, “They think his ability has unlimited potential. And I’m really
good at what I do, too. Rao and I have taught each other things over the years.”

  “I wouldn’t go down to the citadel without Aayu, Narayani. He and I are more powerful when we work together. I’m confident we can help our army. If this Haizzem chooses to fight us, I’ll fight him on a plane of existence he doesn’t even know exists. They brought this war to us, and we have to defend ourselves.”

  Narayani seemed to be weighing her options. She walked behind Rao, put her hands on his shoulders, and remained quiet for a long time. “I’m sorry for what I said … I was being immature.” She paused again. “But I have one request. I want you to come back and see me once every moon.”

  “My love, it takes five days to travel between the citadel and Kannauj in good weather. Maybe I can come every three moons.”

  “Every two moons.”

  I’m going to regret saying this. “All right. If I can, I promise I will. We agree that you can never go down to the valley?”

  “Fine.”

  Aayu sat up and looked at his cousin. “You’re doing the right thing. Rao and I would be distracted, worrying about you the whole time. And your father would hate me and Rao for bringing you there. We’re going to be taking orders from him.”

  “I can accept all of that. And …” Narayani rubbed her chin and exhaled a long breath. “I’m really proud of you for all you’ve accomplished—even you, Aayu. I’m sure there’s a lot more I don’t know.”

  Rao reached up to his right shoulder and held her hand there. Narayani’s skin was flushed and her jaw tight. “We have to leave tomorrow. Their Haizzem must still be in Remaes. That’s where they do all their official religious ceremonies. He could join their army in six or seven days. If he’s traveling by horse, he could be there much sooner. We’ll try to arrive before he does.”

  “Get out of here, Aayu,” she said. “Rao and I need some time alone.”

  “All right. We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow, Rao. I’ll make sure we have enough soldiers and servants for the journey.” Aayu moved toward the door, then turned to Rao again. “I don’t know how you feel about this, bhai, but I’m excited to see more of the world.” Aayu’s face bloomed with a childlike grin.

  “Me too, bhai. Thank you. I owe you for arranging the details.”

  “Make sure you can still walk tomorrow. I’m not carrying you down there.”

  “Get out of here,” she pointed to the door.

  As Aayu turned to the door, he swung his arm with dramatic flair.

  Once the door closed, Narayani grabbed Rao, squeezed him with all her strength, and released the first flood of her tears.

  Chapter 8: Interlude: The Journey to Ilium

  RAO AND AAYU WALKED EASTWARD through lush country on their way to the mountains and the high desert beyond. Women carrying wicker baskets, farm workers, livestock, and beggars crowded the muddy thoroughfare as always, but on this day after the solar flash, streams of would-be warriors merged with the human river.

  Some fighters arrived in groups, representing their tribes and villages. Others showed up two or three at a time. Many fathers came with their sons. A great number looked too old, too young, or too skinny to fight, but they came raising their improvised spears and simple bows, shouting for the death of the Haizzem and the expulsion of the Rezzians back to their eastern lands.

  On the brink of subjugation, Pawelon had been shocked into action.

  Rao and Aayu traveled with an impenetrable wall of men around them. The full regiment of soldiers protected the rajah’s only son at all hours.

  The procession grew as the day went on, with newcomers flocking around the professional fighters. Behind them, dozens of servants in soiled clothes carried supplies and directed water buffalo pulling overloaded carts.

  The miniature army camped at the base of the green peaks of the Mahayana Mountains. In the morning, they marched again. A ravine cut through the towering landmass, with a river, fed by trickling streams and thin waterfalls, running through its center. The water flowed west to the farmlands and forests where the masses of Pawelon struggled in poverty.

  The caravan journeyed deep into the mountains. Two days in, the riverbed transformed into a swath of dry, smooth stones. Once they advanced beyond the range, modest hills took over the land from gorges. The greenery gave way to shrubs. Cliff walls surrendered the sky to desert panoramas.

  After the earth flattened out and only bare-branched trees stood taller than men, the troop caught sight of their destination. They spied Pawelon’s great fortress as a square speck on the horizon. The citadel’s majestic size was increasingly realized over the next two days. By the fifth nightfall, only a short march remained between them and the ancient structure that had kept the invaders at bay for nearly ten years.

  They pitched camp for the last time under the light of the bright, waxing moon. Rao and Aayu found themselves too anxious for sleep. They lay beside their campfire, enjoying the enchanted desert and speaking of their dreams for themselves and their people after the war’s end. Rao envisioned a more educated and enlightened Pawelon society. Aayu dreamt of traveling the lands beyond Pawelon.

  The next morning, excitement, pride, dread, and awe hushed the men as they bent back their necks and beheld the mountainous fortification. Throughout Pawelon, parents told their children stories of the great desert canyon dividing the lands of Rezzia from Pawelon, and of the mammoth fortress on the western rim which rivaled the valley’s grandeur. Scholars still debated whether men built the citadel in a long gone era, or whether the fabled race of giants constructed the monument. Enough heavy stone to bury a small city thickened the curtain walls, so much that men felt as small next to the structure as they did against the backdrop of the stars.

  As the elephantine gates opened, the vibrations of creaking metal shook the air like a belching whale. Pawelon’s two great leaders awaited Rao and Aayu in the courtyard: Devak, Rao’s father, the giant rajah of Pawelon, and his steel-eyed general, Indrajit, Aayu’s uncle. The young sages feared what their reunions might bring.

  A woman in the guise of a servant hurried forward for a better view of Pawelon’s titanic leaders. A ragged brown robe covered her completely, just as it had for the last five days. Narayani peeked out from behind the hood and stared at her father—a man she barely knew—and Rao’s father beside him.

  Chapter 9: Fury of Priam

  AAYU LOOKED UP AT RAO’S FATHER and tried not to stare at the rajah’s pockmarked face. The man hulked over Aayu and Rao in the shadowed courtyard. Aayu tried to shake a disturbing image from his mind. I’m going to try not to think about how many harlots you’ve crushed with that big body of yours, Devak.

  “Why are you here?” The rajah demanded an answer from his son in his deep, rumbling voice.

  I’ll let you handle this, bhai, Aayu thought.

  “Aayu and I finished our assessments. After we saw the solar flash, we had to come. We want to help.”

  Devak and General Indrajit had waited to receive them at the gate. A third man, a high-ranking sage, stood beside Indrajit looking annoyed; he too wore a saffron uniform, but with seven green stripes at his collar. Thousands of clamoring troops marched out of the fortress through the opposite gate in the east, to the sound of deep-bellowing horns.

  A brisk morning wind swept through the courtyard. The sun would not rise over the citadel’s curtain walls for some time. Devak stared expressionlessly at his son.

  Aayu pulled at his uniform’s collar. I wish I could thank the tailor who decided to constrict the blood flow to our hands, feet, and neck all at the same time. He decided that Uncle Indrajit’s stern face made Rajah Devak look, in contrast, like a whimsical seven-foot boy. Indrajit’s aquiline stare reminded Aayu how intimidating his uncle could be; if he were half as good at waging war as he used to be at scaring children, Pawelon’s military was in expert hands.

  Indrajit made a fist and held it up in the air. Rao quickly matched his salute. Aayu clenched his right fist too, after recovering from th
e awkwardness of the greeting. So wonderful to see you again after all these years, Uncle Indrajit.

  The third man, whom Aayu decided must be the world’s most sullen and ugliest sage, stepped forward. He might have been forty, or thirty with ten years of constant stress. The sage’s dark eyes quivered as he pronounced his judgment on Rao: “You’re not ready for this.”

  “Who are you?” Aayu shot back.

  “He is your superior,” his uncle said. “He has been defending your freedom since you were a boy, and you will address him with respect.” He turned to the sage, “My nephew still has not made the acquaintance of the virtue of discipline.”

  You old flatterer.

  Indrajit continued, “Prince Rao, Master Aayu, this is Briraji. Watch and learn from him. I recommend you observe his conduct and model yourselves after his subservience to his duty.”

  Briraji’s eyes wouldn’t stay still; the black orbs seemed more attuned to another plane than the here and now. “Neither of you is prepared for this.”

  Rao’s father sounded detached as he said, “Briraji may be right.”

  “We have earned the chance to fight for Pawelon, have we not, Father?”

  “My Rajah, if I may.” Aayu bowed his head. “Rao finished his training with the best assessment since you’ve ruled Pawelon.”

  The rajah’s deathlike eyes yielded no ground.

  Briraji’s voice broke to a higher pitch. “Is that right?”

  “As I said.” Aayu stared unflinchingly into the high-ranking sage’s dark eyes.

  General Indrajit and Briraji shared a skeptical glance. Rajah Devak’s stony face held steady.

  “Congratulations,” Briraji reached out to shake Rao’s hand. The sage stood almost a foot shorter than Rao.

  “Briraji, I have so much to learn.” Rao sounded sincere, but Briraji’s heavy staring made Aayu want to smash an elbow into the sage’s gloomy face.