She ascended the steep and dizzily winding spiral stairs to the top of the Northern tower. Every step was difficult as her body screamed in exhaustion. Bruised and battered, after two weeks of waging war against the enemy, it was not altogether unexpected. But this was no time to succumb to the wounds of the flesh.
She stepped into the chamber, that was small, no more than a big walk in closet, and yet it was ornately decorated. This was no ordinary chamber. Few knew about its existence, one of the most secretly guarded places in the entire castle. The room itself was circular. The walls were made of white marble covered with ancient and sacred inscriptions, beautiful and precise. The ceiling was gold and copper inscribed with the sacred symbol OM, the divine sound of the cosmos. Such was the craftsmanship that the symbol seemed to shimmer with power, subtle yet palpable. The floor was white marble inlaid with multi colored stones in the form of more inscriptions and signs. The entire room was divided into four sectors. The sector to the east inlaid with red and orange symbols on white marble representing fire, the west inscriptions were in blue and sea green signifying water, the north was almost colorless because the symbols were white on white representing air, one could just make them out if one looked very carefully. The south borne sector was inlaid with brown and green inscriptions to represent earth. The place throbbed with power and magic, ancient and intense.
Right in the center of the room was a stone basin, black and ordinary looking, after the opulence of the room. Devika approached this basin on a narrow path etched into the floor that was free of symbols. Inside the basin, was a patch of rich, brownish red earth, with a few sprigs of grass. The patch of dirt was completely submerged in crystal clear water, glistening and ripples less, like spun glass. Onto this water, she poured a spoon of oil from a vial she carried in her ripped and torn tunic. She struck a match and touched it to the surface of water. It ignited immediately, and a small tongue of flame licked at her fingers like a hungry serpent. She took a deep fortifying breath, and plunged her hands into the fiery basin touching the earth at its base. A moment of sharp searing pain as the fire burnt her skin. And then, the pain vanished, to be replaced by a blissful sensation of being caressed, by soft hands, warm and the same time cool. She chanted in Sanskrit.
Akala mrithyu haranam, sarva vyadhi nivaranam.
Soft and firm and mystical. She repeated it seven times. With each repetition, the room began to hum and vibrate, subtle yet powerful. The walls and their inscriptions began to blur, like a thin layer of water was running on them. At the end of the seventh time, she chanted OM. Her young voice rose high and clear and drawing out the chant for what seemed like an eternity. The gold ceiling lit up like a beacon and the fire in the basin went out. The water rose like a small cascade golden and fiery with streaks of earthy brown, like the fire and earth had melted into in. The air around the basin twirled in a mini tornado, twisting the water into a funnel, and from above a spear of golden light plunged into this funnel. For an instant, air, water, fire and earth fought to merge into each other, twisting and coiling, and then with a flash of light, a white ball of energy hovered above the now empty basin. She slowly turned her hands over and gently clasped the pulsating ball of light in her hands. It immediately disintegrated in her palms. Suffused with a pearly grey light she felt all her exhaustion drain away. The bruises and lacerations slowly began to heal. Her skin became smooth and unbroken again. She was healed and filled with vitality. She felt like she could wage a hundred more wars. Slowly the light around her faded away. She then folded her hands and placed them against her chest, like she was praying.
Softly and humbly she said, "I give for what I have received, with gratitude and humility and no regrets."
A small light, silvery bluish and achingly delicate, emerged from her chest and drifted into the stone basin. And once again the basin was replenished with earth and water, exactly as before.
