Nine: Vengeance of the Warrior (29 page)

There was a momentary dazed expression on Tejaswi’s face. Her cronies watched her silently, curiously. Tara’s words were having an effect. Raakin indicated that she should keep talking. ‘You are a good person, Tejaswi. Your life will be better if you live it on your own terms. This nasty spirit is from a different dimension and he should not be taking advantage of you. He does not belong on earth, Tejaswi, he has no right to be here. You have to let him go. Let him go …’

Tejaswi softly whispered, ‘It’s true. I don’t need to do this. Why have you controlled my life so much? I don’t—’ And then, as though she was fighting with an imaginary person, she shouted obscenities. ‘You have to leave! I don’t want you in my body. I want to be left alone!’ she screamed. ‘Go away, Kalingan!’ The daggers hovering above Zubin and Akash fell to the floor.

Then, as if someone had stabbed her, Tejaswi doubled over and fell to the ground, moaning in pain. She squeezed her eyes shut and cried as if she was being tortured. No one moved. She was a cowering woman when, only a moment ago, she would have murdered with her bare hands. ‘Okay, I’m sorry … I won’t fight you …’ Taking deep rasping breaths, she moved and stood up very slowly.

‘Tejaswi, we can help you. Zubin will heal you and then we can move on. There’s no need for violence.’ Tara glanced at Zubin. He approached her slowly, kneeled to touch her.

‘Stay back, you bloody cunning dogs,’ she shrieked and smacked Zubin’s face with a hard slap. Zubin fell back. The stooges grabbed hold of him. Tejaswi approached Tara, eyeing her with hatred. ‘You are the one being manipulated by these Ashoka rogues. You are the bitch they picked because there are no men worthy enough to fight me. So you better shut your smart-ass mouth. Ha! I am the powerful warrior and you will all be dead.’ Akash lunged forward and slammed into Tejaswi. Tejaswi retaliated, hitting Akash in the gut with a full swing of her leg, the heel of her boot causing him sharp pain. Akash fell against the wall and landed on the ground, hard. He took a few deep breaths. And before the guards could get hold of him he rose up to the ceiling.

41

Zubin

Zubin was tempted to return the slap and char her with a lightning strike from his finger, but the guards were holding blades against Tara and Raakin’s throats. Frustrated and angry, Zubin turned to her. ‘Okay, I will tell you where the Chintamani crystals are located. Let them go.’

Akash yelled first. ‘What are you doing, Zubin?’

Tara next.
She will kill all of us.

‘Shut up!’ Tejaswi pressed a blade on Zubin’s cheek. ‘Tell me more.’

‘The three of us have to join hands and the vision of its location will appear,’ Zubin lied. ‘Let her go. Get your slaves out of here. We don’t need the black energy near us or else we cannot do anything.’

The Kala Yogis watched without a word.

Tejaswi smiled. ‘Either you are lying or you are telling the truth. I am not sure which. Okay, done. Raakin will stay here until I get the information.’

Tejaswi punched Raakin in the gut. Then a hard blow to his jaw. ‘I will keep this up until you agree to tell me where you have stored the Chintamani.’ Blood spurted from Raakin’s mouth.

‘Stop!’ Zubin shouted.

Tejaswi looked at them. ‘The three of you better decide who is going to tell me! Remember, anything stupid and your guardian is dead.’

The Three stepped outside the farmhouse.
Let’s tell her the truth
, Tara communicated.

Akash was upset.
No. The mad woman will kill him anyway.

We have no other choice
, Zubin said.

I can zoom inside and release Raakin. Three seconds. But I cannot carry him out at that speed. My powers are limited if I carry another person. It slows me down, I cannot zoom at the speed of light or defy gravity.

We will negotiate with her. Let me do the talking
, Tara said.

The guys agreed.

42

Tara

The Three stepped back into the warehouse. ‘Let Raakin go and I will tell you what you want to know,’ Tara said. She was flanked by Akash and Zubin, who kept a close eye on the Yogi guards.

Tejaswi smiled. She came close to Tara and whispered through gritted teeth, ‘You know it’s interesting how fate draws us all together. And then we repeat the laws of nature, of fighting our battles.’ She shouted out an instruction to one of her Yogi guards. The guard injected a brown liquid into Raakin’s arm.

‘What are you doing?’ Tara stared in shock.

‘You have an hour to tell me what I need or this man dies. You want him alive? Tell me the location and I will give you the antidote.’ She held up a small bottle of liquid and slipped it into her pocket.

‘How dare you?’ Akash said fiercely. ‘You are nothing but a crazy murderer.’

‘Don’t mess with me. You are the arch enemy of my people. I am fighting the age-old war that was won by unfair means. Where is the Chintamani?’

‘You are wasting your time on the earthly plane, Kalingan. You have chosen to defy the laws of nature. Taking hold of a human to do your dastardly deeds is an act of cowardice. For a great warrior, you are nothing but a weak soul,’ Zubin added.

‘Shut up!’ Tejaswi screamed. Three daggers whistled past their ears. ‘You think you can stand here talking to me like that without getting hurt? I can kill you like this,’ she said, clicking her fingers. ‘But I won’t. Not until I have the Chintamani fragments.’

Don’t antagonize her.

Tara took a step forward. ‘Yes, the truth sucks. But that is the way your ancestors, long dead and gone, will see you. The Kalingan who cannot let go. The Kalingan who brought shame to the clan, the Kalingan who is not a true warrior. Give up this baseless fight.’

‘Never!’ Tejaswi spat out. She towered over Tara like an Amazon goddess, her shoulders drawn back, taut. Tara didn’t budge, she matched Tejaswi’s seething expression and saw the glitter in her one good eye.

‘For a small woman, you pack a punch,’ Tejaswi said.

‘Tejaswi, you can have everything you want in life. You stood up to that bastard who hurt you; no one, not even the police, helped you when your father was killed. You went to the ancient tribe in Assam to get your powers. That was a clever thing to do. If humans don’t help, then get help from the paranormal. But the deed is done, you don’t owe the Kalingan anything. You are doing him a favour by letting him stay in your body.’

Tejaswi’s expression changed. Tara saw her eye turn red as tears welled up. She hesitated and then, very slowly, out of nowhere a dagger materialized in her hand. She held it at Tara’s throat.

‘Don’t try to change her mind.’ Tejaswi’s voice was gritty and rough. The Kalingan spoke through her, her eye was molten lava. ‘Tej belongs to me, she is my puppet. One more word from you and I will squeeze her heart, and it will stop beating. But I will make sure all of you are dead before that. When my spirit roams free, it will find a willing host.’ And, as if to demonstrate his power, he made Tejaswi stumble, her eyes squeezed shut and her body doubled over in pain. ‘Please tell him to stop.’ She looked at Tara pleadingly. ‘Please tell him to stop.’

‘Stop it, Kalingan! I will tell you what you want.’ In a swift move, Tejaswi had Tara in an elbow grip.

‘Tell me and I will release the old fart,’ Tejaswi shouted.

‘Release him first!’ Tara hissed.

Tejaswi tightened her grip, but Tara didn’t relent.
Akash, be prepared to act. You know what to do.
‘Okay,’ Tejaswi said and nodded at one of the guards. He removed the restraints and the gag.

Raakin stumbled and fell. Zubin rushed in to his aid. ‘Stand back!’ Tejaswi shouted. The blade had cut Tara’s skin and blood oozed out. ‘Get out and stay out. One tiny flame from your finger and she is history.’ The Yogi guards shoved Zubin and dragged Raakin out of the warehouse.

‘Tell me the location of the Chintamani!’

43

Akash

Tara stood her ground. She was good with words, they were like verbal stabs and seemed to hit where it hurt. But the Kalingan was not giving up his fight. Tara was in Tejaswi’s taut grip. Akash wanted to lash out at the woman, but he kept his cool. Tara was guiding him on his plan of action. He wished Zubin could have stayed put and vaporized Tejaswi. She had daggers coming out of nowhere. His back was smarting—bloody hell, it was as if she had rubbed salt on the daggers. She was one hell of a black-magic woman.

‘Tell me!’ Tejaswi repeated. Akash noticed the shades of light playing on her face, it was almost as if she was turning into the Kalingan right before his eyes. Her expression was fierce, her skin taut and rough.

Are you guys okay outside?
Tara asked Zubin.

There are dozens of Kala Yogis surrounding the area
, Zubin responded.

‘Tell your Kala Yogis to get the hell away from the men or Zubin will incinerate them,’ Tara demanded. ‘And keep them away from me. I can manipulate their minds too.’

Tejaswi dragged her to the window. ‘Move back,’ she ordered her men.

Get in the car
, Tara said.
Be prepared to move.

The antidote is in her pocket. Zubin, do not vaporize the Kalingan
, Akash said.

‘The Chintamani is …’

‘Where? Damn it, where?’ Tejaswi’s voice had a masculine edge.

Tell her!
Akash said. What was she stalling for? He had already told her he would save her. Tara had trust issues with him.

I trust you, Akash!

‘In Indonesia,’ Tara whispered and pushed Tejaswi.

But Tejaswi still had her in a tight grip, the sharp blade angled at her jugular. ‘Where in Indonesia?’

Tell her! It doesn’t matter, she can’t get to it anyway.
Raakin’s feeble thoughts came through.

‘Borobudur Temple.’

As soon as the words were out of Tara, it would only be a split second before Tejaswi plunged the dagger into Tara’s throat. Akash zipped across in a millisecond, lunged forward and pushed her down. Tejaswi fell flat, the dagger clattered on the ground. Akash acted quickly and pulled out the antidote from her pocket. ‘Run, Tara, get out of here!’ Tara was already on the move. Swift as air, Akash was in motion. Before he rose into the air, he plunged the dagger into Tejaswi’s stomach. But he couldn’t complete the job—the Yogis were approaching fast.

Tara raced towards the car. Zubin had already revved it in gear, the tyres squealing and spitting up earth. Tara jumped in and Zubin gunned the engine, speeding out of the perimeter on to the dirt path. Akash was close behind, thirty metres in the air. He avoided the trees, bounding across branches, until the car reached the road. Akash hit the ground running. He jumped into the car and they headed towards civilization, where they could find a syringe to inject the antidote into Raakin’s body.