1 | No Holds Barred [Among Thieves]

Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen | The City's Secret

ONCE YOU ENTERED THE temple and closed the door behind you, you heard Chloe let out a sigh. You knew your friend would not welcome Elena into your group with open arms, but at least she had not been openly unkind.

Well . . . not yet, you supposed.

Chloe had a very strong and unique personality. She was first and foremost a survivor; she was very willing to walk away from situations she knew were above her accepted danger and was frivolous with human life that was not her own.

Compare that to Elena's personality and they were pretty much the exact opposites of each other.

A fight between them was inevitable.

"Well, that's more like it," Chloe said, not even bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice.

You gave her a disapproving look. "Be nice," you warned.

"Aren't I always?" she smiled, batting her eyes with feigned sweetness.

You chuckled and entered the main room of the temple, stopping in your tracks as you marveled at the scene in front of you.

It was grand; the walls were a rich gold and red and a large statue stood in the room. The statue was of Vajrakilaya (རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུར་པ་), one of the eight Kagyé.

Buddhist traditions designated each of the Kagyé deities as individual faces of true enlightenment. Vajarakilaya, the fifth wisdom deity, was designated as "enlightened activity."

He was the most dangerous ally on the path to enlightenment. He was peaceful and wrathful, benign and dangerous. Legend identified this deity as the truest form of enlightenment. One must be ready to experience complete loss in order to receive everything.

Scroll paintings known as thangkas, sculptures, ritual items, and musical instruments were arranged on traditional Tibetan furniture according to the hierarchy they assumed in Tibetan Buddhist practices.

Stepping into the room was like a moment to reconnect to your inner self and remember your humanity.

"This is definitely the right temple," commented Nathan as he came up next to you. "There must be a hidden entrance here somewhere."

He pulled his ever-so-famous journal from his back pocket and flipped it open to a page. "It's something to do with the arms . . ."

You leaned closer to get a better look at his journal. A sketch of Vajrakilaya was on the left page, with an arrow pointing to the Cintamani Stone. On the right contained a more detailed sketch of the arms holding the phurba dagger, vajra, trident, and a flaming snare. It destroyed obstacles hostile to compassion.