The Sacred Vault

weapons, deadly blades shining in the firelight - several swords, a trident, the double-ended club of a huge vajra, even the disc of a chakram. One foot was firmly planted on the floor beside a small opening at the end of the passage, the other suspended threateningly above it as if ready to stamp on anyone trying to pass beneath.

The guardians responded to the sight with great reverence, even fear. Worshipping one Hindu god, such as Shiva, did not preclude also worshipping others, and as both Shiva’s wife and one of the most powerful deities in the pantheon Kali demanded respect.

Even Eddie felt a little intimidated. ‘I see why she’s the goddess of death. Ten arms to kill you with? She’s not messing around.’

‘No, no,’ said Girilal, almost amused. ‘There is much more to Kali than death. Do you see? Two of her hands are empty.’

Nina saw that instead of holding weapons, the thumbs and fingers formed symbols. ‘What do they mean?’

‘That one,’ he said, pointing with his stick, ‘is a sign that she will protect you. She may be fierce, but she is also a loving mother - and a mother will do anything to protect her children. The other means “do not be afraid” - you have nothing to fear if you trust her.’

Kit moved forward, gazing up at the towering figure. ‘So Lord Shiva left Kali to guard his Vault?’

‘Who else but Kali would he trust to destroy all intruders?’ Shankarpa said firmly.

Nina directed her flashlight at the statue for a better look. ‘The question is . . . will she destroy everyone who tries to get the Shiva-Vedas? Do you know how to reach them?’

‘That knowledge was also lost a long time ago.’

‘Swell. So we’ll have to figure this out too.’ She brought the light down to examine one of the statue’s weapons, but Kit blocked the beam. ‘Excuse me, Kit - I need to see.’

‘Oh, sorry.’ He moved away . . .

Into the passage.

‘Kit, wait!’ Nina shouted as she suddenly realised the danger - but too late.

The statue came to life.

The eight arms bearing weapons all moved at once as ancient mechanisms inside the statue ground into action, slashing down into the narrow tunnel. One of the swords stabbed at Kit. He jumped back in shock—

Not quickly enough. The giant blade’s tip hacked deep into his shin with a spurt of blood.

He screamed and fell, clutching the wound. Kali’s arms screeched back to their original positions and juddered to a stop.

Eddie was the first to risk advancing, pulling Kit out of the passage. ‘Let me see,’ he said, carefully easing up Kit’s blood-soaked trouser leg to find that he had been cut to the bone, a chunk of his calf muscle peeled back like dog-gnawed meat. ‘Shit, that’s deep. Nina, is the first-aid kit in your gear?’

She retrieved it, Eddie putting on a pair of disposable vinyl gloves and starting to clean the wound. ‘This’ll hurt,’ he warned Kit. ‘Sorry, but there’s no anaesthetic. I’ll go as easy as I can.’

Nina held the injured man’s hand. ‘Just try to stay calm.’

‘That is . . . easier said than done,’ Kit gasped through his teeth. ‘My parents always warned me that if I behaved badly, Kali would punish me. But I never imagined it would actually happen!’

‘You haven’t behaved badly. It would have happened whoever went into the passage.’ She looked up at the statue, its red eyes staring menacingly back at her. A booby trap, a last line of defence for the treasures at the heart of the Vault. But there had to be a way past it - the priests who had shown the Shiva-Vedas to Talonor obviously knew it . . .

‘Okay, I’m going to stitch it up,’ Eddie reported. ‘How’re you feeling?’

‘Like the goddess just chopped off my foot,’ Kit rasped.

‘You’ll be okay. Just try to breathe slowly.’ He pushed the needle through the flesh, and Kit’s entire body tensed.

Girilal and Shankarpa moved past to stare in awe at the statue. The old yogi hesitantly extended his stick into the passage, pushing the tip down on the first stone slab of its floor. Kali burst into movement again, the long sword arcing down. The blade chopped through the wood as both men jumped away, then returned to its original position.

‘And this was a very good stick,’ Girilal said sadly, holding up the truncated end of his staff.

Even while trying to comfort Kit, Nina couldn’t help turning her mind to the trap. ‘Anyone walking down the passage triggers it. And even if you could climb to the end without touching the floor, you still have to drop down to go through the opening at the end. And when you do . . .’ She indicated the giant stone foot poised above the gap. ‘You get stomped.’

‘Just like Shiva,’ said Girilal, thoughtful.

‘What do you mean?’

‘There was a demon called Raktabija,’ he told her, ‘who seemed impossible to kill in battle because every time he was cut, when his blood touched the ground another copy of him leapt up. Only Kali was strong enough to destroy him - she drank all the blood from Raktabija’s body, then ate his clones! But she became drunk with victory and danced across the battlefield, crushing the dead under her feet. To stop her, Shiva pretended to be one of the corpses, and when Kali realised she had stepped on her husband, she was ashamed and became calm again.’

‘Did she kill him?’ Nina asked.

‘No, she stopped just before she crushed him.’

Eddie finished stitching Kit’s injury. ‘Doesn’t help us get past, though.’

‘There has to be a way through,’ Nina said. She saw a spear beside another siege engine. ‘Shankarpa, try that. Maybe there’s a pattern to the way the arms move, a safe route.’

Shankarpa pushed the spear’s tip against the slab. The arms swung into action once more, blades flashing through the air. Nina’s hope that a route through the gauntlet might be revealed was rapidly dashed; the stabbing, hacking and crushing blows covered the passage’s entire width.

‘So much for that,’ she said as Shankarpa withdrew the shortened spear.

The leader of the guardians frowned. ‘But you are right - there must be a way. I will see if anyone remembers anything from our carvings.’ He turned to the other robed men.

Nina could tell from the tone of their responses that they were unlikely to be saying anything useful. She moved back to Kit as Eddie applied bandages. ‘Are you okay?’

‘This has not been my most fun day,’ he said in a strained voice.

‘Just hang in there. We’ve come this far, we’ve found the Vault of Shiva - we’ll get you home safely. Somehow.’ She looked at Girilal. ‘Is there anything in the stories of Kali that might get us past?’

He shook his head. ‘I am sorry, but I cannot think what.’

Her gaze moved back to the statue - and the two hands that had not moved during the attack. ‘The symbols she’s making: “I will protect you” and “do not fear”. Do not fear, I will protect you . . . from what?’

‘From her,’ suggested Eddie. ‘She’s the big threat.’

‘Kali is not a threat to those who trust her,’ Girilal insisted.

‘So how does she protect you if she’s the one attacking you in the first place?’ asked Nina. ‘Unless . . . if you believe she won’t harm you, you have nothing to fear?’

Eddie indicated Kit’s leg. ‘I don’t think a positive mental attitude’ll stop you from getting shish-kebabed.’

‘I’m not so sure. Girilal, can you look after Kit?’

‘Wait, what’re you thinking?’ Eddie demanded as the yogi took her place.

She picked up the spear. ‘I’ve got a theory - I want to test it.’

‘Couldn’t you just write a thesis, or whatever you PhDs do?’

Ignoring him, Nina went to the passage, stopping just short of its entrance. There was a splash of blood where Kit had been stabbed. Raising the spear, she held its broken end a few inches past the splatter. ‘Okay, let’s see what happens . . .’

She pushed the spear down - and held it there.

Another fearsome crash of ancient machinery, eight arms sweeping down—

And stopping short. There was a loud bang as something inside the statue arrested its movement.

Nina kept the spear held down. The arms retreated.