The Third Key (GUARDING THE LIGHT) (6 page)

Jason did not exactly have
a
perfect ‘work history’
with Durjay
but p
erfect or not,
Durjay
alone could provide the
Weapons
, Armor
and Power
of the Guardian
.
It was one of his
obligations – he
had
lived
much longer
than
other
living
material
entities
and acted as
controller of all
the
power
s and principals of destruction.
Durjay alone could
t
est candidates and decide who was ready and who was
n’t.

The g
olden light of
Vimāna
(
the
‘
inter dimensional transporter
’
)
looked
as
shiny
as the
Sun
on E
arth
,
but
here on
Kailash
it looked
like the
weak light of a
glowworm
.
While traveling
,
Jason
kept his thoughts on Durjay
.

“
I will probably have to face Durjay but there is
no tim
e
to waste
, and he
knows that
.
I
just hope I can
get my
weapons and
tools back
without
re-doing the
whole
initiation
test
.
It needs to be quick
so I can track down and
kill that monster before he get
s
us al
l killed and ruled by
the
Demonic Alliance
. Maybe
after that
, I
will figure out a way to simply
go on with my life.”

Jason
slowly opened
his
eyes
.
He was
again
floating in drop of
blue
‘protective energy’
but this time
he faced
the
powerful
Durjay
, himself
.
Durjay
actually
looked
very attractive,
even
beauti
ful
if you disregard
ed
the snakes around his neck, a
garland
o
f skulls,
and his long matted hair
.
Jason
could not help but feel overwhelmed
by his powerful and attractive appearance
.
His mind erased all bad memories
.
A controller of
this
universe
was right before him, peaceful
in
meditation,
bel
ow
the
huge banyan tree.

“
I need to go easy -
forget
all the events
in the past. After all
,
he is a great wise man
.”
Jason
tried
to think clearly and come up with
a
strategy.

Before
one came
,
he saw
the
big
lotus-
like
eyes on
Durjay
’s face
opening
and their eyes met. Out of respect
that
he
actually felt,
Jason
bowed down. J
ust as
he
opened his
mouth
to offer
verbal respect
,
the
powerfully
deep
vibration
s
of
Durjay
’
s
voice stopped him
. His words were calm
,
but
his
voice filled every space
, making a
ll objects
and the spaces between vibrate - as if caught in a dance
.

“I see
you
do
remember me, O
human warrior. And you came
again
to demand powers from me
.”

“
O glorious Durjay, who could
forget your all-powerful grace.”
Jason
tried to
sound as humble
as he could
, without being servile
. “I was
simply
sent
to you on a mission
,
I do not
demand
from you -
”

“
Of
course you do!
I
, I, I
…I this
,
I that.
You have not
change
d
much
since our last meeting
. If you
came to ask me
something then ask, human
.
”

“
In t
hat case, with your permission,
I was hoping
that
you could kindly bless me with
the
Armor
, Powers
and Weapons of
a
Guardian
of the Light
. It is
the
opinion of
the
Council that I am…”

“Stop with
singing your glories! Y
ou are playing with my patience …
again. Y
ou
came to me and
want to become a
Guardian of the Light
again.
And since we know you are eligible
then you can
just pass the
initiation tests
as
is
customary
.”

“
All-powerful One,
I was sincerely hoping
that
we
could put it aside
at this time.”
Jason
racked his brain
for a way to please him. “Agents of Evil are
a
few moves ahead of us
and -
”

“You
would spend your time
better
in preparation
for the initiation test
rather than flattery
. Do we not know
that time is short
?
It has ever been thus.
No one
has ever bypassed
the
initiation. W
hat makes you think
that
you
deserve special treatment
?”

“I humbly beg you to
reconsider
, O
Ruler of Kailash.
” Jason was getting desperate.
“
After all
, saving E
arth
and its inhabitants
is important for you as well….”
Jason’s voice drowned out
due to
the
t
remendous
ly powerful
words pouring out of the mouth
of the
Demigod.

“You seem to lack
the
abi
lity to understand simple words!
I think humans use
this
one expression….
I hope you can understand this
: tick
-to
ck,
tick-tock
,
tick-tock.”

S
aying this,
the
mighty
Durjay
closed his l
otus eyes and
re-entered into
meditation, entirely
disinterested in more discussion
.

This
way of dealing
with him
made
Jason
angry, furious
.
He felt frustrated and humiliated,
mistreated and offended
all at the
same time
, and wondered if Durjay
was subject to the desire for revenge
or if this was just an early test
. But
,
he was
determined
to fulfill
the
mission
that was given to him
.
Stakes
were
just
to
o
high
and
to
o
valuable
for Jason to indulge further in hurt feelings
.
And, he
could
see
th
e reality;
there
was
nothing
he could do but surrender to
Durjay’s
decision
.

“It is just
a
pure
waste
of time
.
”
H
is ego
grumbled and
ground
its teeth
,
but he said nothing.

He knew
he could pass the test without serious difficul
ties,
the
same as
he did
the
last time
, but t
he
Initiation test
was never easy
.
Th
ere were three parts
to the
test
:
physical, mental and spiritual
skills
.
Just
as
every man and woman on earth needs to
strive with heart and mind
while
trying to achieve something big,
one
could
pass the
initiation test
in
the
same way
.
However,
these tasks
were
not of
an
‘
Earth
ly’ nature.

IX.

“
All right. L
et me out from this bulb and
let’s
start!”

As soon he finished that thought, he felt a sudden turbulence and
shifting around him. The n
ext moment he s
aw
the
bulb,
the
energy layer that protected him from getting in touch with the atmosphere of
Kailash
,
expand
multiple times.
In front of him, between
Durjay
and where he was standing
,
various
object
s
started to manifest out of ‘nowhere’.
Jason
realized
that
despite his contemptuous words
, Durjay
was
not willing to
waste
time either.

S
till trying to calm down
from anger and frustration, Jason knew he badly
needed to
focus.
“Great. This will go fast, let’s do it!” h
e said softly, as if just for himself
. He
took
a
few deep breaths and s
ettled
down in a lotus position.

“R
eady!” With a
loud and
clear voice
Jason
gave the
sign, announcing that
testing could begin
.

“I am
Jason
, 318
th
in li
ne of
the
Guardians. I came to request
the
Armor, Weapons and Shakti (mystical power) of Light!”