Page 35 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“All types of god,” Priti said. “Except the drohi, ofcourse. I think the drohi are like us, in a way…spawn of the gods.”
“I need a break from thinking,” Dharma said. “My brain hurts. Let’s play a game.”
“Well,” Remi said. “We can’tallplay chess, so cards it is. I know a fun game called bullshit.”
Time passed quickly,and the game helped us to relax and get to know one another a little better. I learned that Joe was a mechanic and lived on his own. He’d been a foster kid and didn’t know his bio family. Sylvie was a caregiver for her ailing mother, and worry was etched across her face in tight lines. Because who would care for her mother now? Eve, the mouthy bitch, wasn’t anxious to share, but she did say she was a primary school teacher. Worrying, considering her prejudicial attitude toward Dharma yesterday. There was Poppy and Regina too, sisters like Priti and Dharma. They seemed to know a little about the whole god seed thing.
By the time Umbra returned, I’d almost forgotten why we were in the cabin.
“It’s almost time,” she said. “Line up. Quick.” She carried a small bowl containing a clear liquid which she used to anoint each of us with.
“I feel like a sacrifice,” Dharma muttered.
Umbra tutted. “Don’t be silly. This is the exciting part.”
Exciting? “What are the Shaktis anyway?”
She blinked sharply. “Did I not explain that?”
She had, briefly, but there had been so much information thrown at us in such a short space of time that a refresh was essential.
“Can you explain again?”
She sighed. “Goodness. Maybe I should have instructed you to take notes. The Shakti are oracles. They prophesize and advise. They are a trinity of power connected to the chakra of divine power. They are all that is left of the Deva influence, and tonight…” She took a deep breath and stepped back to capture us all in her gaze. “Tonight, they will bind each of you to a drohi.”
We were getting boundto a drohi? What did that mean? They were going to tie us to one of those angry males? I exchanged a confused glance with Remi.
A stunned silence fell because I doubt any of us knew how to interpret her statement.
“Um…” I raised my hand. “What do you mean when you saybind?”
Her brow cleared. “Oh, oh I see. It is a mystical binding. A connection of essence and soul.” Well, thatsounded even worse, and my face must have reflected my thoughts because she quickly followed with, “It is good news. You will each have a drohi of your own to assist you in training and guide you through the pareekshan. A drohi is a powerful tool, and he or she will be at your disposal night and day. You will eat together, sleep together, and?—”
“Sleep?” Sylvie squeaked. “We have to sleep with them?”
“Yes, you will share quarters. It is the only way to become a fluid unit because if you ascend, your drohi will be your steel. Every ascended god has one.”
I didn’t like the way she’d called them tools, as if they weren’t sentient beings with thoughts and feelings of their own. And why was my heart beating so hard?
“I don’t like this,” Sylvie said. “They were frightening.”
“They will not harm you. They cannot,” Umbra said. “The Shakti always pair wisely. There are a handful of drohi who have been with us for decades and never been paired. They are eager to be chosen. And there is one who will reach his centennial at dawn. You met him on the road here if you recall. Araz?”
How could I forget? But if he was due to be freed tomorrow, then he probably wouldn’t be in the running for this binding thing tonight. Good, that was good because he was an arrogant asshole.
But I couldn’t help but ask, “Why hasn’t he ever been paired?”
She shrugged. “Only the Shakti can tell you for sure, but the consensus is that some drohi are too dangerous to be put in ajodiwith a mortal. And Araz is unique. The only agni drohi in existence. The Shakti obviously don’t feel he’s a suitable match for any demigod due to his fire element. Agni means fire,” she explained. “And fire is an element that aside from an agni djinn, only a Deva can harness.”
“But I thought you said the drohi can’t hurt us,” Sylvie pointed out.
“They can’t, but they aren’t obligated to protect you either…” She let that sink in before continuing. “The Shakti choose those that they know will protect you.” She glanced out the window. “There is nothing to fear. It’s time. Follow me.”
We stepped into a night sky where stars nestled like plump gems. The air had teeth that bit at my skin through the thin material of the ceremonial outfit as I hurried after Umbra, up the steps and onto the platform, which turned out to be a vast ring with a donut hole in the middle. A separate platform, almost the same size as the arena, sat below us, lit by flickering flames burning in recesses in the wall.
The ring ledge was two meters in diameter and covered in dark etchings that made no sense to me.
“Spread out along the platform,” Umbra said. “Come along.” She maneuvered us to stand a couple ofmeters apart along the ring, and when she was done, Dharma and Priti were small figures on the other side of the vast chasm.
