Vayu The Air Orb

Chapter 2 - The Elemental Orbs

Both of them twisted their faces at the ridiculous title and asked in a chorus, "The Protector of the....? What?"

Their mother's face scowled at their disrespect. She added a touch of much needed seriousness to her voice, "The world exists due to five elements that you already know - earth, fire, air, water and space. The creator made these to retain the balance in the world. Each of these elements was attached to five sacred orbs. Only four of these have been passed on through the generations. These four orbs were given to four clans, handpicked by the Maker, which were believed to be pure hearted. The fifth orb was like the Mother of all the remaining orbs. It was too powerful to be in the possession of humans so it was hid in the womb of the land that is now called by the name, Antartica. The existence of these five orbs has ensured balance of these five elements of nature. Our ancestors were privileged to acquire the orb representing air called Vayu and passed on the responsibility of safekeeping to the first born. We just happen to be on the line of succession, which makes us lucky or unlucky, only the future can say. Vayu's power is spread throughout the family."

Realization dawned on Gaurav, suddenly, his paper rocket flying straight, him landing gently on his feet after falling from the first floor of his school, his dreams of floating in air, the wind speed changing according to his moods, all made sense!

"Mom, wait a minute. What nonsense are you blabbering?" Padma's voice cut Gaurav out of the fantasy. "You've seriously gone mad", her forehead creased and she looked at her mom with worry. Her eyes darted up and down her mom's face looking for any sign of a joke. Not finding any she said, "Mom, please come with me to a psychiatric hospital. We need to seriously get you checked." Gaurav wasn't sure who to side with. His mind tried to think straight, 'My sister surely sounds saner than my mother. So, is my mother insane?! Or is all this true?'

His mom looked at his sister gravely, "Padma, all of this is true! Trust me."

His sister's eyes were saying that she didn't believe her one bit, "Mom, I am going to get help for you. Gaurav hold her until I come back with a doctor." Her eyes welled up with tears as she rushed out to get psychiatric help.

His mom just shook her head in dismay.

This orb business with his mom made Gaurav very curious so he wanted to hear the full version of her story.

'She hasn't said anything about the chaos at home.' His mind voice reasoned.

"Well, mom, you haven't said anything about why our house has been violated." He asked with frank curiosity without a hint of what happened moments ago.

"I was getting to that part until your beloved sister interrupted me, Gau." She then added to herself, "She does behave insane sometimes." 'Is she insane or are you?'

She shrugged, "I'll make up to her later. Now, as I was saying about the four orbs, our family is keeping Vayu, the orb associated with air. Its power is distributed among our family members and only the closest of relatives. They do not believe in such things so they cannot control the power and do not realize it's even there. Your sister comes under that category. Your dad and I can control it, but him most of all as the orb was passed to him. The safe keeping of the orb will go to your sister as she is the first born child. You will have the ability to control powers manipulating air too but less than your sister and only when you are an adult, will you actually feel it." 'Well, that makes me a fast bloomer. Slipping from the first floor of my school and landing safely on my feet like a feather, without a scratch? Definitely is the power of the orb!'                            Gaurav kept his little adventures to himself.

"But... what happened at our house?" Gaurav asked biting his lip, dreading the answer.

His mom continued, "Yes yes, I am getting to that part. Unfortunately, with great power comes great evil. The successors of the protectors of the other orbs weren't so pure hearted. Two of the protectors turned out to be greedy and wanted all five orbs for themselves. This led to a battle between them. So they've fought against each other for a very long time. They must be still fighting. They are the supposed protectors of Agni- the fire orb and Jal- the water orb. The protector of Prithvi– the earth orb, has been trying to stop the conflict but by the looks of it, has been unsuccessful so far. Your father has gone in search of them to put an end to all this. The problem is he took only half the Vayu. The other half was left behind by him for our protection. It was hidden... "

"In the secret compartment of your drawer and this half is now missing." Gaurav finished for her.

"Exactly! You believe me?!" she asked raising her eyebrows, no doubt, surprised.

He replied sincerely, "I do mom. It's too much to take in but it really makes sense."

'Might as well be dreaming now.' His young inexperienced mind struggled to adapt to the completely new world, revealed to him, out of the blue. It was like... a fantasy but with a touch of reality!

She pursed her lips nervously, "Now the problem is finding the missing part. I think one of the protectors emerged victorious and traced Vayu to our house to procure it. He or she might come back any time now for the second half."

"It's a she not he." A cold raspy feminine voice said behind them. They turned around swiftly to find a stranger with glowing red eyes, looking nothing less than a demon from the underworld. The long nails growing out of each of her fingers seemed to glow red. Her look sent a shiver down his spine. She had apparently crept up on them when they were busy talking. She seemed to have come from under the ground for all they knew.

She surveyed around. "Ah finally I meet my prey. I had a hard time tracing you. She looked at his mom with an evil grin and ignored Gaurav completely as he was just the second born and he didn't seem to have powers yet. "Your husband has placed powerful charms around the house. But nothing is more powerful than the secret book that I have obtained from the Temple Of Elements. Looks like all my years that I sacrificed searching for it was worth it."

The pleasantly cool room seemed to heat up, literally. Their bodies glistened with sweat. They started having difficulty breathing. A jar of water kept at the middle of the dining table started boiling. The heat was unbearable. Gaurav and his mother wanted to run, but they could do nothing but stand and stare wide eyed at the demonic woman.

She was, without a doubt, the protector of Agni. In a flash, she was across the room and her hand was around his mother's neck to his obvious horror. His body was paralyzed with fear. His mother's neck started steaming. Her skin under the petrifying mad woman's palms darkened due to the pressure and heat. His mother's face turned pale and she was definitely choking with only a few minutes to live. His mother's tear-filled defeated eyes seemed to say, "Run! Run and don't look back!" 

Gaurav came to his senses and his jaw tightened. He couldn't see his mom die in front of him! Protective instincts took over and he looked around to find a chair and threw it at the intruder with all the force he could muster in that heat. To his terror, it just vaporized mid-air. That demon had just turned a full sized chair into dust! There seemed to be absolutely no hope of either of them surviving the encounter.

"Get your ass out of here boy! You're nothing but a piece of garbage." The intruder growled and shot him a threatening glare. Gaurav knew he would die, but he decided he wouldn't back down without a fight. He started moving forward until a blast knocked him off his feet and sent him back with a force that could not be fought against. He was hit hard against the edge of the glass table shattering it.

"Noooo!" screamed his mother with all her might. "Where is it??" The intruder's expression hardened tightening her grip around his mother.

And that was the last thing Gaurav saw until the world darkened.