A Match to the Fire

FOREWORD

Seven years ago

MUMBAI, INDIA

It was a sunny spring morning.

We were on the bus. The vehicle was taking us to school.

I was fifteen years old, and I was entering high school.

- Kali? - my friend called out to me. She sat next to me on the bench. - You need to listen to this song... - and handed me a headset.

I put it to my ear. There it was, the new single from the Indian singer of the moment.

I enjoyed listening to music with Deevi. She was my friend since childhood.

I had a complicated life. I was raised by my grandmother with many difficulties. Grandma had health problems, and she supported us with her pension. It wasn't much. We struggled to survive.

Grandma took me in when I was nine. At the time, my father ran away with another woman, and my mother sank into alcohol and pills.

So my maternal grandmother took me in.

It had been years since I had heard from my mother. Honestly, I didn't want to.

Grandma was a widow. We lived in a small rented house, and we couldn't afford to buy a cell phone for me. I listened to music on an old MP3 player that had broken months ago. Repairing it was expensive, and buying another one was out of the question.

Soon, I was now only listening to music when Deevi shared his headphones with me.

- Did you like it? - she asked.

I sank into the seat.

- Ahem. - I closed my eyes and relaxed.

That was a happy morning in a depressing life. Days like this were rare.

So I took advantage of it.

Deevi and I were unlikely best friends. She was shy, dreamy, and studious. I was a mess. Explosive, quarrelsome, and down-to-earth. A punching girl - not a book girl. At school, I beat everyone who tried to bully Deevi. She was known as Kali: the angry poor girl.

Sometimes I would catch teachers giving me pitying looks.

Poor thing, she'll never get married.

Ah, yes. The damn husband.

In India, marriages were arranged - and I was not a good match. Low caste, no parents and no money. No drop of femininity and subservience.

How could any man want me?

While I was reflecting, the driver made a sharp turn.

I realized what was going to happen before everyone else. My heart froze.

The traffic in India was a mess. On a curve, the school bus ran into a vehicle going the other way. The impact was inevitable.

I heard a loud bang and screams of horror. We were thrown forward violently. The only reason it wasn't worse was that everyone was wearing a seat belt. The impact of the synthetic leather bruised my ribs.

When the impact was over, I turned to Deevi.

- Are you okay?

She was livid. Her eyes were wide open.

- I think... I think so.

All around, pedestrians and motorists began to shout. From outside, they could see what we could not see.

After that day, I learned that fuel leaked from the engine. Within seconds, it was met with some flammable substance.

The driver saw the fire coming first. He stood up, gasping for air:

- Come out, children!

But we didn't even have a chance. As soon as he spoke, the explosion happened.

Our bus caught fire and incinerated the twenty children inside.

I had vague memories. The smell of burning flesh.... Dental arches and exposed bones.... The heat and pain of being burned alive....

I had a few moments of consciousness before I passed out. In them, I wondered why everyone had died but me.

I was supposed to be dead. Why wasn't I?

I could no longer conjecture. I blacked out.

***

I woke up in a hospital bed.

I looked around. I saw curtains separating beds. It was a shared emergency room.

Through the slit of the curtain, I could see two people talking. A man wearing a uniform, and a woman wearing a coat. A fireman and a doctor.

"This is impossible," the doctor was saying. "Was the girl inside a bus that exploded? Are you sure?"

"Of course," the fireman confirmed. "I rescued her myself. Our platoon is in shock. She doesn't have a scratch on her."

The doctor ran her hand through her hair.

"Were all the other children incinerated?"

"Absolutely all of them! How can she be alive?"

The memory of the accident came back, violent.

I looked down at my body. My clothes were torn. I was wearing a hospital gown. There was no burn on my skin. I felt completely fine.

How?

I remembered the pain! I remembered being burned alive!

I didn't know what to feel. I was in shock.

"There is no medical explanation why she is intact. But let's not panic. I'll ask the hospital to contact her family. In the meantime, try to keep the media outside."

"Okay, Doctor. I think we should..." suddenly, the man stopped in mid-sentence. His mouth hung open - as if frozen in a time lapse.

The curtain on my bed was pulled aside. A person entered the cubicle.

My jaw dropped.

She was a beautiful woman. She wore a flowing, white sari. Lots of shiny jewelry, a gold nose ring, and a veil studded with precious stones.

I have never seen anything like it.

She smiled, kindly.

- Hello, dear Kali.

I frowned.

- Who are you?

- I work at the Pantheon and I have come to get her. Your human life is over. It's time to go home. - He held out a hand. - Will you come with me?

What the hell was a Pantheon?!

- Was it my grandmother who sent you to pick me up? Where do you know each other from?

And stunning woman laughed at my innocence.

- No, we don't know each other. Still, you must come with me. Your royal house awaits you.

- What house?

- The Swarga, the world of celestial beings. You are not human, my dear. You are a daughter of Dakti, the goddess of all Creation. You have gone through fifteen years of a human experience, but it is over. The time has come for you to go and find your brothers.

- Huh, my brothers?

That's when I understood...

She was crazy.

- Yes, your brothers live in the Pantheon, a place for children of gods to learn, study and train. There is their true home.

I raised my palms.

- Madam, with all due respect... I think we'd better call a doctor.

She tilted her head, puzzled.

- Do you think I am delirious?

- A little bit. No offense.

Shit. I shouldn't provoke a delirious person in a hospital. There were a lot of sharp objects around.

- If I am delirious, can you explain to me how you are alive when all your friends are dead? You burned inside a scalding pit, but here you are now... Without a scratch.

I exhaled, realizing what was happening. It wasn't she who was delirious, it was me!

I ran my hand through my hair, coming to my senses.

- I'm in a coma, aren't I? That's my half-burned brain hallucinating.

He rolled his eyes.

- If you are saying...

- That's got to be it!

- Right. Being a delirium, why don't you come with me? It won't hurt. Then you can go back to your vegetative body.

- Vegetative? - I swallowed hard. - If I go with you, will I die?

- You are going to die anyway.

- I can't go. Grandma will be devastated.

- Staying will be worse. She will either have to bear the hospital expenses for her survival, or make the difficult decision to turn off her devices. Is this the kind of suffering you want for her? - he arched an eyebrow. - Wouldn't dying quickly be easier?

The woman was right. Such hospital expenses would bankrupt my grandmother.

If it was a coma delirium, it wouldn't hurt to ask....

- I have no chance to recover, do I?

- No, dear. Your existence on this earth is over. As soon as I am gone, your body will fade away.

- Will I wake up one day?

- No. He will die in a coma.

Staying here would only create expense and suffering for my grandmother. She would spend years keeping me in a surrogate - in the vain hope of seeing me wake up. It was not an option.

I sighed, eyes watering.

- Is this Pantheon paradise?

I was only fifteen years old. I wasn't even old enough to commit serious sins. I needed to believe that I would go to a better place.

- Yes, you could say that. - She held out her hand again. - Come, my child. I promise it won't hurt.

With a frightened heart, I took his hand.

- That's fine.

Soon after, I died.

CHAPTER 1

CURRENTLY

I had lived in the Pantheon for seven years.

I remember with clarity the day I arrived.

My guardian told me everything.

The demigods lived in a parallel city. It was above everything and below nothing. Somewhere in the space-time of the celestial world.

Around here it was always spring. Days always sunny, and nights always starry.

The Pantheon was a school. A training center for children of gods.

It consisted of a huge Hindu castle, situated in the middle of the heavenly city. In fact, it was an exact replica of the Taj Mahal in India.

I remember being in shock when I first saw it.

"-Wait... Is that the Taj Mahal?

My guide shrugged.

- How do you think Emperor Shan was inspired?"

The story of the Taj Mahal was both beautiful and tragic. In the 17th century, Emperor Shan's wife died in childbirth. Distraught, he had a castle built over her tomb. The Taj Mahal was a mausoleum in honor of her memory. Its structure was studded with semi-precious stones, and became a World Heritage Site.

"- How did he find out about this castle?

- I may have whispered some details in your dreams...

- You? - then I stopped, having an epiphany. - Wait, what is your name?

- Aryumand.

I rolled my eyes.

Aryumand was the name of the Emperor's wife! The one for whom he built the Taj Mahal!

- Were you his wife?

- One's own.

- Are you a demigoddess?

- Of course. Why do you think he fell so deeply in love with me?"

Aryumand, my guardian-guide, told more.

Celestial beings had many lives on earth. The Princess was just one more of their incarnations.

Aryumand called herself "a soul seeker."

She guided me around the Pantheon, explaining every detail.

Hindus worshiped three main gods. Brahma, the god of creation. Venum, the god of permanence. And Shikram, the god of destruction.

There were several other gods in Hindu mythology, but these three were the main ones.

Each god had his avatars, or incarnations. That is, forms that they used to come to earth to accomplish great things. Each incarnation had a name. Every time one of them came down to Earth, it would relate to humans and beget children.

Children like me.

These semi-celestial beings lived on Earth until they were fifteen years old. At this age they suffered terrible accidents and died. Then they could pass on to their true home.

The Swarga. Or the heavenly world.

Here, these immortal children were trained for decades, and became guardians of humans. Guardian angels, spirit-mentors, guides.

Or as humans wanted to call us.

Our jobs were to carry out the legacies of our fathers. To promote spiritual justice and to guard humans from evil.

We stopped aging at twenty-five. Our lives lasted for centuries.

When a descendant child showed aptitude to be a guardian, it was born with divine blood. My previous generations did not show the spark of divinity. It happened very rarely.

So the bus explosion didn't kill me. I was an immortal half-goddess.

That bus would explode anyway. It was marked in destiny. But my destiny, specifically, was to be there. To die at fifteen and come to fulfill my destiny as a guardian.

A demigod needed three decades of training to become a guardian. I had only been in this school for seven years. There were still twenty-three years of training left.

Aryumand told me my story.

I was the daughter of Dakti, a powerful goddess.

The goddess had several avatars. That is, human incarnations that she used to come down to earth.

My generation came from her fiercest avatar, Kali. Ironically, I was baptized with her name. Our connection was really strong.

"Kali" was called by Hindus the Mother of Darkness. She was represented by a woman with blue skin and a frightening expression. She wore a necklace of severed heads and a skirt of bones. In one hand she carried the severed head of her former lover, Shikram.

Dakti/Kali was the former wife of Lord Shikram - the god of destruction.

Their love was intense, yet destructive. A troubled relationship with a painful separation. An unresolved love.

Since then, Dakti's sons and Shikram's sons did not get along. In the Pantheon, they were rival factions.

Kali was Shikram's greatest enemy.

In the Pantheon, there were other students descended from Dakti - but they came from her other incarnations. Never from Kali.

I was the only one in the lineage.

There were other children of Kali before me, of course, but they had all left. They had completed their training and come down to earth to work.

Dakti's children hated Shikram's children. The feud was so strong that we could not be alone in the same environment. There were always fights.

Unfortunately, coming from the fiercest lineage of Dakti, my case was worse.

Every time I saw a descendant of Shikram, my blood boiled. Kali's feelings for Shikram were mixed. Soon, so were my feelings for all his descendants. Hatred and unresolved love were dangerously similar.

Because she was a daughter of Kali, she could not walk alone in the Pantheon. I could be attacked by a Shikram. Like animals, we would growl at each other and fight to the death.

Or at least until we get kicked out for bad behavior.

I could never fight them head-on. I only had seven years of training. I was a rookie.

The first years here were... Difficult.

Shikram's children were everywhere. In the classrooms, in the cafeteria, in the hallways, and so on. This put me at constant risk. I was a novice and helpless demigoddess. I didn't know how to use my powers, nor how to fight. I had to walk beside a teacher all the time.

Shikram's sons were giving me bloodthirsty looks.

A direct descendant of Kali? The worst version of Dakti?

My presence was a catalyst for her hatreds. She must die.

The feelings were not ours. They were our parents'. Unfortunately, rivalry consumed us and made us irrational.

In the first year, the teachers feared for my physical integrity. I was a powerful demigoddess - but so was everyone else here. They couldn't kill me, but they could do a lot of damage.

So I decided to learn how to defend myself.

After six months at the Pantheon, I signed up for physical classes. I started training like crazy, and learned all kinds of fighting. Of this world and the others.

Within seven years, I had become an expert.

Now I knew how to protect myself. I stopped walking in the company of teachers.

Although she was good at fighting, she was not dumb. She avoided the Shikrams' communal halls and large groups. However, she no longer trembled with fear when crossing paths with them in the corridors.

It was already a breakthrough.

Everyone in the place was Hindu. We had brown skins and dark hair, without exception.

My hair was long and wavy. I always wore it in a tight braid. It was good for fighting.

I spent most of my time training, and the other part studying. I had goals. In twenty-three years, I would become an official Guardian, and descend to Earth to protect humans. I was eager to fulfill my mother's assignments.

Why wouldn't I be? It was my purpose in life. My mission.

It was morning.

I was walking with my friends down the main corridor of the Pantheon.

- Ah, damn - Shantai grunted. - We're late.

At that hour, the place was teeming with students. The bell rang, indicating the beginning of classes.

I ran with Shantai and Rajan to our first class. Human chakra alignment.

Our uniforms were dark blue. They carried the crest of the Pantheon: a Hindu god with five arms. Each arm represented one of the factions of the Pantheon.

After three classes, the bell rang again. Time for lunch. Being half human, we still needed to eat.

We went to the big dining hall. Students from all factions gathered there for meals.

We were five main factions. Each had its own table, and they went around in closed groups.

The most important ones came from the Divine Trinity. Sons of Bramva, Venum and Shikram. Then came two other factions - one degree down the hierarchical scale. The sons of Ganisha and the sons of Dakti.

The latter was the only female goddess.

Unfortunately, she went on to become involved with the worst of the other four, Shikram. And now our factions were eternal enemies.

Each faction had its subdivisions. These subcategories represented the human incarnations of our fathers. I was the only one in my division. This made me a bit lonely.

Luckily, I had made two good friends. Shantai and Rajan. Both were sons of other, less fierce incarnations of Datki.

Shantai had wild, curly hair. Rajan had shoulder-length hair, always tied up in a ponytail.

We arrived in the same year at the Pantheon. The affinity was instantaneous. We were a trio.

Our faction was huge. There must have been about 200 students. Our rectangular table went from one end of the hall to the other.

There were four other large tables in the dining hall. Each faction grouped around one.

The Dakti were in one corner of the hall. The Shikram in the other corner. A strategic distance. The teachers kept us as far away as possible.

I sat at the table with Shantai and Rajan. We had lunch and chatted.

Suddenly, Shantai raised his eyes to the door of the hall.

- Oh, no.

- What was it? - I asked.

- Don't look now, but Kamala's cow is back.

I froze. Ah, fuck. She was back.

Kamala was a daughter of Ganisha. Unfortunately, she did not inherit the same qualities as her father. She was a cynical and vile creature.

Kamala was about to graduate. She had gone to the human world on a test mission, guided by teachers. Veterans did this from time to time. It was necessary for training - since they would soon become guardians.

I glared at her and gritted my teeth.

Argh. The cretin was only hanging out with her entourage. A group of friends as treacherous as she was.

Unfortunately for me, Kamala was my ex-girlfriend. We broke up three years ago. She kicked me out to be with another woman - and broke my fucking heart. Since then, I never believed in love again. I avoided Kamala like the Christian devil avoids the cross.

Your mission spared me from your presence for a month.

Unfortunately, she had returned.

Our eyes met. She raised an eyebrow, smiling cynically. I know you still want me.

I huffed and looked ahead.

- Bitch.

Rajan clicked his tongue.

- There it is... The Kamala effect.

- What do you mean? - I grunted.

- You always get in a bad mood when you see her.

- No, I'm fine. Or at least I will be after punching some walls.

Shantai sighed.

- Shit, Kali. It's been three years. You need to get over this story.

- I don't feel anything for her anymore. Only anger.

- I know. But you've never trusted anyone since she kicked you.

- Am I wrong? She betrayed me and humiliated me in front of the whole school. Love cannot be trusted.

- No, Kamala is not reliable. She will fuck anything that moves, man or woman. She broke your heart, yes, but you don't have to run away from love forever for that. You are projecting your traumas onto the rest of the world.

I rolled my eyes.

- Therapy session right at lunch? I'll pass, thank you. I've had enough love dramas for one lifetime.

Rajan snorted.

- And that is why Kamala knows that she still has power over you.

- And will dating someone else heal my heart?

- No. But at the very least it will wipe that little smile off her lips.

- That's true," Shantai pointed with his fork. - The bitch's ego couldn't take that blow.

- Okay, okay. Enough about my love life. - Or lack thereof... - What will be your next class?

I just wanted to change the subject. It was uncomfortable.

No, I didn't love Kamala anymore. I don't think I ever loved her. I was just stuck in an abusive relationship.

Kamala was the first - and only - woman I had a relationship with.

In the Pantheon, love was free. Many immortal gods liked to experiment. Nobody minded.

Kamala and I dated for a few months. It was the first time I fell in love. Or thought I did. Our breakup was painful and humiliating. I found out that she was cheating on me with a veteran. Since then, I have stayed away from any romantic relationship.

Once in a while I had casual sex - but nothing deep.

Around here, it was inevitable. There were lots of parties. Everybody had sex with everybody.

Still, I refused to surrender my heart again. The trauma was too great.

I invested my focus in training and studying. I wanted to be the best of the guardians and graduate with honors. I aimed for a position in the Hidden Guard.

The Hidden Ones were soldiers who fought on the front lines against the darkness. In other words, the demons of Paatal - the Hindu version of hell.

Only the best guardians got positions in this Guard. They went on the most dangerous missions, and faced the worst evil entities. They had to be exceptional fighters and deadly assassins. The training was intense. It required self-denial and total dedication.

Applications for the Guard were open only every ten years.

That was my goal in life. I wanted to work with the best. The soldiers on the front line.

After lunch, I separated from my friends. We had different schedules.

At the end of classes, I went to meet them both in the gardens. We always studied and talked on the social lawn in the evenings. It was our ritual.

I walked through the corridors. As I walked, I could hear groups talking. There was a lively buzz running through the Pantheon.

"He's coming back!"

"Are you sure? It's been ten years..."

"By the Gods... If it's true, this Pantheon will come crashing down."

According to the whispers, someone overheard a conversation in the teachers' lounge.

Another group was debating.

"Which position will he usurp? Surely someone will be fired. The Pantheon won't miss the chance to have him as a teacher."

I frowned, puzzled.

Who was coming back? And why did everyone seem to care?

I arrived at the front lawn of the Pantheon. There, students were gathering to study and talk.

I saw my friends sitting by a tree. I sat down next to them, throwing the books on the grass.

- Okay, tell me. Who is coming back and why is everybody freaking out?

It was Shantai who heard the gossip.

- Parvati from the Hindu Mythology class told me... It seems that some Guardians are returning to the Pantheon tonight. They were on a secret mission that lasted ten years.

- Ten years? Wow. - I was amazed. - But why all this frenzy?

Rajan said:

- It is because of the captain. The Chief Guardian of this squadron is none other than Aryan Razam.

I almost choked.

- The Soul Eater?

- Self.

By Dakti...

Aryan was a Guardian of the highest rank. Around here, his name was a legend.

He was said to be the greatest demon fighter in the world. A fierce, irritable, dangerous creature. A disciplined and deadly soldier.

Aryan left the Pantheon ten years ago for a mission in the underworld. His job was to exorcise demons in the most remote places on the planet. He was the best soldier - and the worst nightmare of the underworld.

I have never seen it up close.

There were several stories about him in the Pantheon. I didn't know which were lies and which were real.

I heard that when he was born 65 years ago, the gods feared him. He had a different soul, powerful and wild. A soul with an evil inclination. If seduced by the demons, it could be dangerous.

So, as a way to control his great power, the gods appointed him as head of the Hidden Guard. That way he could channel all that rage - while fighting evil and serving the gods.

Basically, the guy was a legend.