NOVEL: Beasts of Jambavan

MANUSCRIPT NOMINATED BY THE TIMES-CHICKEN HOUSE NOVEL COMPETITION: https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/blog/its-longlist-time/

THE BEASTS OF JAMBAVAN

(Fantasy Novel) Part I

Written by Nikita Mor

Chapter One: The Avatar

Far, far away in the land of Indu, the temperature at Mount Kashi had dropped below freezing point. Towering high above the others, the mountain loomed dark and foreboding against the blue night sky. The peak resembled the tip of a lotus with petals turning inwards, towards the heart of the Greater Parbatan range.

There was no sign of movement besides the twinkling of stars. As the stars slowly dimmed, the sun rose, painting the snowy ridges a glorious orange.

A shaft of golden sunlight scaled Mount Kashi slowly, from the bottom of the mountain to the topmost pinnacle. The base of the mountain revealed two scrounging goats, their long shaggy beards trailing the ground. Higher up, there was no sign of life at all. None had dared to undertake the perilous route upwards.

As the sun rose higher, the golden shaft fell upon the peak of the mountain bathing the rigid silhouette of a lone man.

Holding his spine erect, Daiko sat perfectly still, his expression one of utmost concentration and tranquillity.

His hair was matted into a loose knoll at the top of his head. From the base of his neck, streamed long black locks, which extended beyond his hip brushing the snow crusted ground below. His body was bare except for a piece of roughly hewn leather, which was wrapped around his lower torso.

Legs crossed, the soles of his feet facing skywards, he held the tips of his forefinger and thumb together in a mudra. His lips moved without a sound as he whispered secret incantations of a past, more ancient than the Greater Parbatan range itself.

It seemed like he had not moved, not even a single muscle in many months. Like a resolute pillar, he was the only mark of permanence against the ever-changing landscape. He seemed to barely notice the passing seasons, unperturbed by the fury of even the worst snowstorms.

The only sound now was that of a loud ringing silence.

Suddenly the long-standing silence was pierced by a low humming sound. It was emanating from deep within his throat, rising and falling like the natural ebb of nature’s song.

As the sound gradually rose to a thunderous volume, the great mountain began to shiver and shake.

Massive icy boulders dislodged near the base, and the mountain goats scurried away barely escaping the snowy shower.

The very heart of the mountain reverberated with the power of the sound, amplifying it across the Parbatan range.

As if in answer to the mountain’s call, there was the sound of the heavy beating of wings, growing increasingly louder as it neared Mount Kashi.

The mountain goats looked upwards.

If they were not mistaken, they had just seen a tiger flying above their heads.

If they looked unsurprised, it’s because they were.

One could argue that mountain goats always looks unsurprised- it was just how they looked, but strange things often happened at Mount Kashi, and this was simply one of them.

A slight smile playing on his lips, Daiko slowly opened his eyes, which briefly shimmered like molten gold, before returning to its natural blackness.

 ‘About time, don’t you think? ’ said Nasuya, tossing her luxurious black hair, with an air of impatience. A low growl accompanied this rhetorical question.

Daiko turned around quickly, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.

A tall beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face and thick eyelashes had appeared behind him. She was mounted on a tiger, who was just folding his wings to settle down, apparently having flown here.

She was dressed in a simple sari, with a few ashoka white flowers adorning her windswept hair.

Daiko glanced amusedly at the disapproving look on her face, ‘Is something wrong, my dear Nasuya?’ he asked mildly.

Nasuya shook her head, attempting to look disgusted and failing terribly because she had such a beautiful face, ‘The dark forces of Anka are approaching,’ she said meaningfully, ‘It is time for the Seventh Avatar to arrive,’

‘Indeed it is,’ said Daiko, relapsing into silence. 

Nasuya waited for a moment as if hoping for a further reaction from Daiko, but when it seemed like none was forthcoming, she burst out, ‘The kingdom of Aaban has- it has really gotten out of hand!’ she said, her voice rising to a high pitch. ‘You might think they had some shame, but no...downright irresponsible,’ she ranted on. ‘Celebrating like a bunch of buffoons and of course, that stupid elephant, what’s her name now...’ she mused.

‘Hatina?’ he suggested.

‘Yes, yes. It’s bad enough with her having five trunks...she’s been trumpeting a storm up....even Hudi shooting lightning thunderbolts across the kingdom, really now...’ she said, hardly believing her own words, ‘He’s quite the show off, no worse than that elephant of his,’ she shook her head.

‘Nasuya, my dear, I see no harm in a little merriment...’ began Daiko, ‘We haven’t had a celebration in ages…not since the dark forces of Anka have ruled Indu. Now that the Avatar has come of age,’ said Daiko, ‘there is hope for the forces of good.’

‘The entire Parbatan range has been shaking with all the chaos in Aaban!’ Nasuya fumed, ‘Oh well, what can I expect!’

‘Come now Nasuya,’ Daiko’s eyes twinkled at Nasuya’s flashing ones, ‘Aaban celebrations are one of the best after all. Why I’d daresay you could do with a dance or two yourself.’

Nasuya’s tiger nodded enthusiastically in approval, and Daiko winked at him.

The expression on Nasuya’s face was murderous, and she opened her mouth for an angry retort before she caught Daiko’s teasing glance.

Shaking her head in exasperation, she turned away from him. ‘If the Seventh Avatar does not arrive soon, all this partying,’ she wrinkled up her nose like it was a dirty word, ‘It simply won’t stop!’

‘Don’t worry,’ he said seriously, ‘It is indeed time for the Avatar to arrive.’

A bit mollified, Nasuya continued ‘I bring news from the Tower of Raaz...I wonder if you too...,’ she said softly as if dreading the answer.

‘I have seen it,’ said Daiko gravely, inclining his head.

Nasuya gasped out aloud with widening eyes, as if her worst fears had come true.

‘But, but...’ said Nasuya, at a loss for words, ‘...but they said that the Avatar is the Queen of Anka, Rekha’s daughter-Arya,’ and she stopped abruptly seemingly reluctant to continue.

Daiko closed his eyes, as if recalling a particularly painful memory.

There was a silent moment.

 ‘... but you know that Anka is on the dark side,’ reminded Nasuya, though Daiko hardly needed reminding. ‘So do you think it’s her then-Arya?’ she persisted, and Daiko nodded soundlessly, his head bowed.

Nasuya brought her hand to her mouth, her fingers gracefully curving against her supple lips. ‘That is terrible,’ she said, gravely, ‘Couldn’t you do something about it?’

‘It is in accordance with the force of Shakti,’ said Daiko humbly. ‘I am simply the preserver.’

‘The force of Shakti is supreme,’ nodded Nasuya.

‘Dark forces have reigned in extreme,’ said Daiko his expression sombre, his eyes still pained, ‘Now it is time for the opposite forces to gain power.’

‘What can we do?’ Nasuya asked, batting her thick eyelashes worriedly.

‘We must let its nature be fulfilled,’ said Daiko, with a tone of finality, ‘It is not about what should be, but rather what is,’ he said, petting the tiger, who was rubbing its neck against Daiko’s legs.

‘Even if it is evil?’ asked Nasuya worriedly.

 ‘An evil Avatar would surely dampen the celebrations in Aaban,’ said Daiko, with an air of amusement, ‘That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? You should hardly be complaining.’

‘That is not funny!’ said Nasuya hotly, ‘I wonder how your sense of humour is at its peak during a catastrophe!’

‘My dear Nasuya,’ Daiko said with a hint of playful mockery in his eyes, ‘It is during times like these that a sense of humour is most needed.’

Nasuya bit her lip in exasperation, ‘What about the beasts?’ she asked.

‘The beasts of Jambavan are on our side, of course,’ said Daiko, and the tiger gave him a smart nod.

‘What about the beasts of Soham?’ asked Nasuya.

Daiko sighed.

‘The cobras have vowed their allegiance to the dark side,’ said Daiko sorrowfully, ‘...as have the Vetalas, the Pisachas, almost all the others and...’ he added somewhat reluctantly, ‘...the Raska.’

‘No!’ said Nasuya, with an unmistakeable tone of fear in her voice.

Nasuya sighed, ‘There is nothing to be done about it, except that it must be done,’ she said with an air of resignation, ‘Dark times lie ahead.’

‘We can’t be entirely sure...’ said Daiko.

Nasuya looked up in surprise. ‘What do you mean?

‘There is hope in Arya,’ said Daiko.

‘She has cold blood,’ said Nasuya in a contemptuous voice.

 ‘No one can predict the future, Nasuya, not even me.’ said Daiko wisely, ‘All we can do is observe. A wise man does not choose because he knows it is the force that chooses... It is not about what we do, but rather what we don’t.’

Nasuya still looked doubtful.

‘How will we know when the time is right?’ she mused, apprehensively.

‘The force of Shakti will show us,’ Daiko ascertained, ‘I have already sent the silver stag to bring her to Aaban.’

‘I suppose she will train with the University of Nalanda?’ asked Nasuya.

‘I hope that she does,’ said Daiko optimistically.

‘You think it wise to bring her to Aaban?’ asked Nasuya.

‘Arya is the Seventh Avatar after all,’ said Daiko.

‘What if she chooses the dark side?’ asked Nasuya, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

 ‘Well,’ said Daiko, ‘Then there will most likely be war.’

‘…and if she chooses the good side, what then?’ asked Nasuya, still unsure.

‘…There will be war anyway,’ confirmed Daiko grimly, ‘But if the Avatar is with the forces of good, victory is certain.’

Nasuya agreed grimly, putting the matter to rest, ‘Come now, we must depart for Aaban soon.’

Daiko nodded, closing his eyes and clearing his throat. The low humming sound of Aum resonated once again all the way from the pit of his stomach.

He paused, listening to it echo across the Greater Parbatan range. As if on cue, thunderous rain clouds began to gather around the peak of Mount Kashi.

Daiko picked up a trident that lay by his side, glistening silver in the sunlight. He walked over to the edge of the drop-off, facing the horizon.

He stood there for a while, taking in the glorious view of the sun-kissed, snow-capped peaks, the edged ridges of which were blurred in a bluish-orange haze.

The brute gushing force of the mighty river Vamini had gorged its way around the left of Mount Kashi, its source in the Cave of Vama, which lay inside the heart of the mountain, barely a few metres below, from where Daiko himself was standing.

‘It is the beginning of the seventh Yuga, Nasuya,’ Daiko’s voice resounded powerfully, ‘The forces of good and evil are shifting. What path they will take, we do not know...But before we depart for Aaban, I will need to renew my kundalini energy for the task ahead...’

Daiko’s eyes glazed over as he slowly closed them. He moved his head almost imperceptibly at first, then more vigorously from side to side. He curled his fingers inwards and outwards, like the crashing movement of the crest of a wave. He raised his arms towards the sky, murmuring under his breath.

He held the trident up high, its three-pointed edges, piercing the blue sky. There was a flash of lightning, and drops of water began to fall as faint sparks of silver erupted from the razor-sharp tips of the trident.

Daiko shook his head exuberantly, raising his left leg, bending it at the knee. He put it down, then raised his right leg, then the left again, moving his arms in synchronicity. The Trident seemed to emanate a faint glow, radiating with a new found energy, and the lightning bolts flashing above the mountain began to thunder and clash against each other.

Daiko’s matted hair was coming loose, the dreadlocks taking on a life of their own, as they waved around like the branches of trees caught in a storm. It was as if Daiko’s graceful movements were reflecting the forces of nature, though it was really the other way around.

The drops of water began to fall with more intensity until the entire peak of Mount Kashi was engulfed in a thunderous downpour.

Nasuya who was miraculously dry, watched Daiko, her expression a mixture of pride and admiration.

Nasuya’s tiger was however, not so lucky.

He nudged her hand with his wet snout, purring pitifully as if to remind her that cats do not like the rain, though he was hardly an ordinary cat. 

She brushed him aside and turned to look towards the west of the horizon.

Far out in the distance, the kingdom of Aaban, nestled in the heart of the Parbatan range, shimmered like a hazy mass of colourful lights. The imposing Tower of Raaz, though much smaller than the surrounding peaks, towered high above the other settlements in the kingdom.

The University of Nalanda with its many turrets, stood farther out at the northernmost point, its dazzling white crystalline marble reflecting the light of the dawn with a fierce intensity.

The bottomless Peelapani lake to the far east glinted like a pool of molten gold. To the east of the horizon, the vast green cover of Jambavan stretched far out into the horizon, engulfing the tall peaks of the Parbatan range obscuring from Nasuya’s view, the dark kingdom of Anka that lay beyond.

***

End of Chapter One