Shadows

Damayanti walked out to the gardens on the Eastern side of the hotel. The entire conversation with Sir Terrance had gone wrong. She bit the inside of her cheek. He had berated her and his words had stung. She had tried to drown her frustrations in the willing arms of her submissive, Mercedes. Unable to sleep, she had gotten up, wanting to find someplace quiet. The gardens were immaculately manicured. Lush growth was elegantly curated, wisteria trees hung their graceful limbs over a still pool. Japanese beech and cedar reached towards the sky. Lights from the city of Tokyo twinkled through the branches in lieu of the unseen stars. She sat down on a bench near the edge of the pool. The waning moon was low in the sky, it’s cool glow painted the edges of the trees silver.

This was the first time that she had been away from her husband and worry had filled her heart. He was off on his quest and she did not know where he was going or if he was to return. He had been filled with so much pain when she left. They had agreed that because of their separate obligations, they had to be apart for a time. Hopefully, it was not forever. She had the pressure of her own quest along with her pregnancy. There was also what had caused her flight to the Land of the Rising Sun. Grief rose in her heart, threatening to overwhelm her. Her parents were gone! Assassinated by thugs that someone had hired. They died protecting Ishanti, who was now trapped within the walls of her own mind. Maya had plunged into a dark mental state. She trusted Max to watch over them in her and Arlo’s absence.

Damayanti fought back tears as she pulled her knees up to her chest. She gazed at the purple blossoms of wisteria, her mind idly mulling over the fact that Chicago didn’t have trees like this. Her gaze drifted to the stillness of the pool. A few blossoms drifted on it’s surface, they lazily drifted in the play of light and shadow. Her thoughts drifted and she let out a deep breath. Her family was back at home, trying to pick up the pieces. She had lost so much over the last couple of months. Faces of those she had lost drifted in her mind’s eye. Valentino, who now calls himself Genaro; his negative side in ascendancy. Homera, Ryker, and Javier, among others, all gone somehow. Tears sprang to her eyes she laid her head against her knees. Her skin darkened to ebony. Despair filled her heart. The prick of her own nails brought her senses to the present.

“No!” she hissed as she spied her now claws and darkened, scarred skin, “I have to be strong. I’m smart, I will figure this out.” Damayanti balled up her fists, as she turned her attention inward, seeking a calm center. Cracks formed in the walls that she had built against her helplessness and grief.

Another blossom fell into the pond, rippling its obsidian surface. The clouds had moved in and had dimmed the ambient light from the city. Her mind formed the faces of her parents, Aakash and Nisha in the fading reflections of light on the water.

The dam holding back her grief broke with an almost audible sound within her mind, lightning shattering a boulder.

“Amma! Abba!” she cried out in the shadowed garden. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hands gripped her upper arms with a bruising pressure. Damayanti rocked in her seat as guttural sobs erupted from her. “What are we going to do now?! Who will protect us? There’s no home for us to go to! I miss you so much!” Her tears drowned out the features of her surroundings. Loud cries of loss left her as she gave in to her pain.

“Niraasha…” came a soft whisper. Damayanti looked up as she blinked away tears. Her eyes were drawn to the still pool once again.

“What?” she whispered to herself. A slight breeze rippled the water for a moment. The waters were inky black. She rubbed her hand along her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears. A serene kabuki mask rose from the shadowed waters.

“Niraasha…”

“Who?” she whispered.

An image appeared upon the surface of the water. A pleasant autumn scene, the falling leaves made a thick carpet of golds and reds upon the ground. Two children, a boy and a girl ran through the leaves as Arlo and Damayanti looked on, smiling. Aakash and Nisha laid out a blanket and started to set out a picnic.

“I can help you…” came the whisper, the mask floated above the scene, serenity flowing from it. “I heard the cries of your birth. They echoed through the underworld.” Damayanti closed her eyes, she got a feeling of detached amusement from this being. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, there was the icy grip of primal fear.

“This is not possible.” she said softly, “I know that this cannot be possible.”

“I can give you what you truly want, Niraasha…”

“Who are you?” she asked as she watched her skin turn dark as the overcast starless sky above her again. She felt her fangs curve over her bottom lip. Her sense of loss crashed over her, it sucked her down. Damayanti slowly got up from her seat and made her way over to the edge of the garden pool. The brightly lit fantastical scene faded to black. The mask hovered above it, casting no reflection.

“I know what you want Niraasha… the original perfection…no suffering…”

Damayanti looked deeply into the pool. The familiar emotion and simplicity that the void offered pulled at her. Her lips parted as she gazed into the nothingness. The memories of her talks with Ogma and Parvati rose within, but it was Tezcatlapoca’s opinion that was embedded like a hook in her mind.

“Of course it’s a game; and it’s rigged against you. Take all that you can get! Grab everything that you wish for and love. Win or lose, that is the way you win the game.”

“So it is a trap?”

“Yes, my fine girl. Know that it is ultimately a trap. Play everything, cheat where you can. Play to win!” She drew in a swift breath as she closed her eyes again. She turned away from the mask and the pond. She needed to go back to bed and set her feet on the path back into the hotel. She steeled her mind, she had to focus on the tasks ahead. Now was not the time for wishes.

“Niraasha…”

Damayanti hissed and bared her fangs again. The shadows from the dark corners of the garden started to spool out around her.

Yoshida Tokaji stepped out the hotel door. A cool silver glow surrounded him and his face shone against the darkness. The shadows started to draw back. He spied her and could tell by her face that she was not in a good place. He beckoned to her with one hand.

“Damayanti, come away. Please follow me inside.” he said softly.