Daughter of the Naga

Chapter 18

"Nikita, we must go," she said. I had to tear my gaze away from where Amarisa was. Hopefully, I would get to see her again.

As we walked away, Tusita kept staring at me with a weird look as if she could sniff something naughty in me. I pretended not to notice.

Along the way, a group of people glided around in the shimmering light. They dressed in long flowing sumptuous costumes and golden headdresses. Some of them even walked straight out of the trees. I would have been scared and gone crazy, but I seemed to get used to all the bizarre things now.

"Are they ghosts?" I asked Tepi.

"No, they are the Devatas, minor gods," Tepi explained. "They guard palaces, temples, forests and other sacred grounds. They serve the Devas, the chief gods."

We arrived at a wide stone path leading to a high platform. The terrace was obviously named for the raised carvings of the famous parade of elephants with their mahouts. The middle section was decorated with life-size Garuda and lions. There were five outworks extending towards the Central Square. The soldiers stood out front with their spears and shields. They kneeled down as we approached.

"Here's our armory," the Guru said. I looked around but there was no building except the high platform before us.

"Where?" I said.

Sambo smiled and stepped towards one of the elephant figures. He pushed a block of stone on the elephant head and it slid inward. A moment later, the ground began to shake under our feet.

Then a large square of the stone floor slid open, revealing a set of stairs that led down to an underground structure.

"Wow!" I breathed.

"Come, children," Sambo motioned for us to follow him. He and the guards went in first. We were about to follow them when a high pitch voice called out to us.

"Wait!"

We turned and saw the girl I had seen last night running forward.

"Long time no see!" Atith greeted her. "You look fiercer, Vorac."

"So do you." She grinned back.

"I fancy you miss me too?" Tusita said to her.

But Vorac shot her a piercing look. She turned to look at me. Her silver eyes traveled from my head down to my toes. I felt a little uneasy under her gaze.

"Are you truly the one that my holy father told me about?" she asked.

"I'm sorry?" I said, blinking.

"Father told me about the Chosen Child," she went on. "When he came down from heavens, he spoke of the child he had marked."

"Marked?" I said. "Who is your father anyway?"

"Lord Chandra," the young maiden replied. "God of the Moon."

I started to get a familiar inkling in my gut.

"I don't know anything about being marked, but Chandra is my middle name," I said. "It's also my mother's maiden name. A mere coincidence, maybe."

"Maybe not," Vorac said solemnly. "A child of such importance naturally hides secret talents. There is one way to prove it, but I do hope it's not you."

I was confused but didn't know what to respond.

The armory was like an underground museum of weapons. It was cold and filled with metallic scent. The stone walls were lit all around by flame torches. Weapons were displayed on the ranges. Spears, swords, shields, javelins, axes, and maces were made of iron, bronze, and even gold. We saw armors of all shapes and sizes. Every corner of this place sparkled from their reflections.

"It must have cost a fortune to make all these weapons," I said.

"This is unlike any mortal wars, my dear," Sambo's voice echoed from the front as we moved through the hall. "The demons can only be killed by celestial weapons. Everything you use in the battle must be sacred, blessed by the priest, or given by the gods. Each avatar must possess an astra by his or her side."

The Guru picked up a golden mace and examined it admiringly. Then he did a test swing. Atith and Tusita had to dodge it before he smashed their heads to pieces.

"Twastar, the divine engineer of the gods, made most of these heavenly astras. He forged the Virajyudh, the Lightning Bolt, for Lord Indra, so that he could slay the demon Vritra, who couldn't be slain by metal, wood or stone."

"Who's Indra?"

"King of the Gods, my holy father," Tusita said. "He is the god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains and river flows."

"The King of Gods?" I looked at her wide eyes.

"Indeed, I am the incarnation of his seven daughters," Tusita said with a shrug. "What makes you think I can wield the mightiest bow if I'm not special?"

Vorac pretended to gag.

"Nothing compared to the three indestructible weapons that ever created by the gods," the Guru went on with his monologue. "Lord Shiva wields the Trishula, the mighty trident, which is used to destroy the three worlds: the physical world, the world of the past, and the world of the mind. Lord Vishnu slays his enemy with his Chakra, the hundred serrated edges discus that could destroy the universe."

Vorac looked like she couldn't bear with his long speech anymore. She went up to the Guru and whispered something in his large elephant ear. She was probably telling him about the mystery of my existence and how to put her theory to test. They turned to me again.

"Alright, Child of the Prophecy," Sambo began. "Seeing that you are in need of an astra, Vorac suggested that you go see the one we have been keeping for you."

"You have a weapon made for me?"

"It's not made by the hand of mortals," he said. "It's given by the Great Lord himself. Now come with me, holy pumpkin."