Blurb
January,
2022: A dark monstrous twin-headed apparition – Apophis –
feverishly races past the expanse of the Milky Way galaxy and bolts
to the edge of the solar system. Recklessly accelerating, the
sinister rock-dyad enters the gravitational keyhole of the blue
planet and continues its resolute inebriated journey – to soon
arrive with an apocalyptic impact on Earth.
December,
2012: Five sentient beings born in different cities – New York,
Hong Kong, New Delhi, Azores Islands and Istanbul, discover amongst
haunting memories of their phantasmal past lives, that it is their
destiny to save humanity from the evil forces unleashed by the alien
fiends – the Skyllats.
And
now, the reincarnated 9-year-olds must rely on their shared, ancient
wisdom to prepare humanity for the war across the galaxy that is
imminent.
Excerpt
28.032848N,
85.530342E
Helambu.
Langtang National Park, Nepal
January
23, 2022 (1100 hours)
“Agasthi,
you must learn to draw the sacred symbol accurately,” implored the
Ban-Jhakrani or the forest shaman, wrapped in a resplendent white
dress with a crown of tall peacock feathers. Her extraordinary life
etched on a relucent wrinkled face, she continued to pry stirring
sounds from her shaman’s drum that reverberated across the
mountains.
“Nata,
what does ‘sacred’ mean?” asked the playful six-year-old
moon-faced Agasthi with light gray eyes. Her loose, white, flared top
and pants, twirled in the wind along with her.
“The
‘sacred’, is a space and thought held within the folds of the
benevolent earth mother,” explained the Ban-Jhakrani.
“Nata,
what does ‘benevolent’ mean?” the left-handed Agasthi,
wondered.
The
forest shaman laughed, “You are certainly an inquisitive young
shaman; blessed by the primordial essence that unites us all. Now
help me to place these peacock feathers, rice, and leaves within this
sacred space. For I have much to teach you, but my time in this
form…is limited.”
The
large geometry drawn vividly on the forest floor, with red and yellow
colors, was part of an ancient shamanic invocation to contact the
mysterious forest spirits that remained nestled within these thick
jungles. The forest adorned with the reverberant sounds of birds,
animals, cicadas, scrambling waterfalls, and a bone-chilling wind
that swooped across the Himalayan mountain range.
Agasthi,
her name embodied in an indecipherable wisdom, followed her
grandmother’s instructions while the Ban-Jhakrani added her
chanting to the pulsating sounds of her shaman’s drum, to open the
doorway of a limitless realm beyond time. And a beguiled crested
goshawk swooped down and perched itself on her left shoulder.
The
Ban-Jhakrani’s ancient incantations to initiate the young shaman
began to increase in pitch and intensity as Agasthi sprinkled water
over the rice, leaves, and peacock feathers. Soon the young girl
became assiduously immersed in the spirits of the forest, before her
eyes began to dilate and magnified all that surrounded her.
Agasthi,
held within a trance, became drawn to a prodigious green leaf lying
within the sacred space. She dropped to her knees and meticulously
examined the giant blade; her dilated eyes following the mid-rib and
the veins that branched off it as well as an occult dewdrop, which
hovered just above the surface of the leaf.
Mystified,
Agasthi peered deeper into this amplified, spherical, translucent
world – seeded with infinite moons and stars – when an eerie,
dark colossus with a serpent-like head and carmine eyes emerged.
Swimming within this dark sea, it swallowed entire moons and numerous
stars, before it turned and glared at a petrified Agasthi.
The
charred monster abruptly shot across this uncommon convex world with
its fangs bared, and a roar that pierced the young girl’s skin. A
trembling, horrified Agasthi let out an unrelenting, terror-stricken
scream that echoed across the forest before she collapsed,
unconscious.
The
Ban-Jhakrani stood over her granddaughter and smiled. What she had
hoped for had become – the forest spirits had acquiesced. Agasthi
had travelled across an immeasurable realm, and experienced an
epiphany – a vision – for the very first time. The forest shaman
patiently waited for several hours for the young girl to step out of
her dreamworld.
“What
happened, Nata? Did I fall asleep?” Agasthi asked when she finally
stirred.
“No,
my dearest Natini,” the Ban-Jhakrani whispered. “You drifted into
a shamanic dream. An unerring state of being when multiple truths are
revealed if your heart is pure. Search yourself and then speak of
what you saw, for it is very important.”
The
young shaman stared at her grandmother, while the recondite, eerie
charcoal-black serpent reappeared and a petrified Agasthi began to
quiver.
“Do
not be afraid, my child,” assured the grandmother and held her left
hand.
“A
darkness that shamans have meditated upon…for thousands of
years…has arrived,” mumbled Agasthi, lost within her trance.
“Why?”
the bewildered forest shaman inquired.
“For
a balance disturbed for so long…must be remedied…a justice
delivered,” answered the swaying Agasthi and turned to stare in the
direction of the sun.
“Who
delivered this message?” questioned the Ban-Jhakrani, overwhelmed
by the young shaman’s inconceivable first pronouncement.
“It
was the Whisperer!”
About
the Author
Savinder
Raj Anand is an architect and has been teaching Architecture &
Design at various Universities in India for more than 12 years. A
long-distance runner with a wanderlust to explore the world, and
write stories that traverse across diverse cultures. He lives in Goa
with his daughter, a dog, and two cats.
Inspired
by his then 18-month-old daughter – when she quoted Socrates –
while they together sat in a children’s bookstore in Bangalore
(LIGHTROOM) in early January of 2015, he has completed this – his
first book – as she turns 7 years old.
The
book is $0.99 During the Tour
One
randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com
gift card.
