The Venerable Order of The Prabandhakas: Patala Song of th Avatar Series: Book I

CHAPTER ONE

At last, Nara reached the tree line where he had hoped to find safety. His mind was dancing with confusion, his heart pumped fire and he was almost completely out of breath. He quickly glanced back, and seeing his team right at his heels, he squeezed sideways between two enormous Malakar trees.

He reeled around and squatted behind one of the trees with his back squarely against the trunk. He swallowed hard and clutched his asastra, keeping his finger firm on the trigger. One by one, his companions passed him with Leela bringing up the rear. He checked the path to make sure nothing had followed them, then darted forward into the forest, again assuming the lead. By running west, he was sure they would eventually reach the Leap point. Hopefully before the Sitaw caught up with them and ripped their human forms into tiny edible pieces.

Horrid creatures the Sitaw. Powerful but clumsy. Demons that conjure their physical form from any soil or dirt. Resembling a coyote, their giant, hairless heads hang low between their bony shoulders. Fierce, saber fangs able to puncture through solid tiluminum if need be, sprout from the sides of their snouts. Their skin is oily black, like a slippery tanned hide and their eyes are a pale, jaundice yellow. No tail, instead they use leathery, bat like wings for balance. On all fours, they are as tall as a grown human man standing, yet because their front legs are a bit shorter than the rear they can't run very fast. And that's what Nara was counting on.

A simple day trip to gather some supplies and spices had turned into a nightmare. This was the first time they had been to Patala since the collapse and were under the assumption that the chaos had lessened, yet they still took human form, to better blend in with the Patalites. However, in the human form their endowments were extremely limited and the regulation of weapons along the trade and export routes between villages was strict. They only carried in their asastras, a weapon designed by the demigod scientists long ago that hyper-charges the atoms in concentrated forms of natural substances then propels them to immobilize an attacker. Similar to a pistol, but larger, it has a top cylinder that extends back over the wrist and tapers down in the front; black in color with slots along the barrel to accept the vials of liquid ammunition. Not an overtly powerful weapon against demons, but it's their most basic form of defense and they all carry one.

Originally their plan was to visit a small, peaceful village close to the Leap point named Nam-Redips, but Leela was insistent they take the opposite direction. She was wanted to find combs for her long, silky black hair and maintained that the famous open markets of Regneva was a haven for merchants of the entire hemi plane. They accommodated her pleas and were happy they did, but upon returning, the road they were on, began to bend eastward and they needed to head west to reach the Leap point. The day was getting late and Nara wanted to make sure they were clear of Patala before the light source had faded out. No sooner had they stepped off the road to cross a field of Mandakini tulips toward the Malakar forest, then they were surrounded by the Sitaw. They did their best to fight them off, but in this human form without their endowments, escape was the only option.

Now still running, Nara checked his weapon. Not even one vial left. A frantic search of his hip bag revealed the same results. His black hair clung to his scalp; sweat ran down his face into his eyes. He was far ahead of the rest now, taking point. Although there was no official chain of command in the Prabandhakas, Nara always took charge. Nara is fire, and fire always leads.

Then he noticed something strange seemed to happen to the forest floor about twenty feet ahead. When he reached the peculiar area, he slowed, then stopped and saw the horror of it all. The ground under his feet gently sloped up to a calm embankment then took a dive about two hundred feet down at an angle just enough to not be considered a free fall. The only good news was that it plateaued and emptied into a field of Kankaon lilies across which was their Leap point.