Satori

Prologue

Rain dripped through the dirt filled Mumbai streets that afternoon, the city trading its soot filled skies trading for angry, grey clouds. Vendors cursed under their breaths as they rushed to cover their rickshaw stall with blue tarps, lorry drivers and lazy old men rushed into nearby dhaabaas and watched with a glint in their eyes as scared maidens ran past them into manless shelters. It was the middle of the summer, the day was predicted to be bright and shiny but the sky continued to shed tears.

Away from the honks and complaints of the bustling city, in a small cabin amidst tall, looming trees, laid an earth skinned beauty, her brown-black eyes struggling to stay open as yet another pained moan left her swollen lips. The cabin was dimly lit, and was warm despite the storm raging outside. It was completely bare and devoid of any life, except the goddess who was in pain, and the beating heart of the child inside her. Even her companions, three tall figures clad in black, seemed lifeless despite their flowy robes and the steady flow of soft words emanating from them. Their glowing fingers left trails of muted blue-green patterns across her skin, as they whispered consoling words in a language long forgotten, soothing her, encouraging her.

Bloody lips parted every now and then as the child inside her struggled to find it's way out. She could hear its soul trying to comfort hers, the little babe trying to escape its prison without causing more pain to its mother. Thunder rumbled above them and the babe suddenly pushed through its passage, its fear fighting the magic of the trio. Immeasurable pain racked the mother's body and she screamed, tears finally falling down her pale cheeks as the little one found it's way out. The earth beneath them shuddered as the babe exhaled and a wind blew so powerfully that the trees bent down in fear. Lightning tore across the sky as the sky weeped for the poor mother and her child.

"My baby." The words left her in a pained exhale, a teary smiling gracing her lips as her child looked at her, its big, blue eyes filled with wonder. "My baby." She said again, hugging the child to her warm bosom, smiling and crying as pain and fear battled inside her. "I'll never let you go, my love. Even.. even if I have to lose everything, I'll keep you safe. You.. you'll be safe. "

The three figures raised their hands and placed them above the child's head, humming an eerie tone, as their magic wove a cocoon around them, bright blues and greens and golds sealing the life of the one they had been waiting for.