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Evil spirits always do everything in their power to disguise themselves from human ken. Natives of the astral plane, they are invisible to everyone without the second sight, and they act through means so subtle most humans can\u2019t connect the deed back to them. But sometimes, you just can\u2019t ignore the elephant in the room.<\/p>\n
Or, in this case, naga.<\/p>\n
The creature looms over me, its enormous bulk reaching from the marble floor to the high ceiling. Its serpentine trunk and tail reaches from the living room to the dining table, his human torso and face easily double my size. Glaring at me with a stern expression, he crosses a pair of enormous arms over a herculean chest, while four more arms hold spears and swords.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why are you here, human?\u2019 he demands.<\/p>\n
I sense his voice in my head, a low, threatening amber.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m here to help my client,\u2019 I reply telepathically.<\/p>\n
\u2018She has violated the rules!\u2019 he booms. \u2018You cannot\u2014\u2019<\/p>\n
A deep growling interrupts him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Easy, Lupin,\u2019 I say.<\/p>\n
The sleek gray wolf at my right goes silent, but his teeth are still bared, his hackles raised, his tail lowered.<\/p>\n
\u2018There is no need for aggression,\u2019 a fresh voice says languidly.<\/p>\n
A scarlet lion materialises to my left, his magnificent mane brushing against my arm.<\/p>\n
The animals do not have a material form, but they are no less sentient for it. They serve as my spirit guides, and have been with me since I started playing the mage\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u2018Leonhard is right,\u2019 I say. \u2018There is no need for violence today.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018She is a rulebreaker!\u2019 the naga insists. \u2018She will be punished!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll listen to your side of the story later,\u2019 I say. \u2018Until then, I\u2019ll tend to my client.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018You dare ignore me?!\u2019<\/p>\n
Leonhard swats his tail back and forth. \u2018Do forgive Michael. He has social deficiencies, and is unable to concentrate on more than a single conversation at a time.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Hey,\u2019 I say.<\/p>\n
The naga chuffs. It almost sounds like laughter.<\/p>\n
\u2018Do what you will, magician. Know that nothing you will do shall stay my wrath.\u2019<\/p>\n
I look away from it, turning to the two women seated at the sofa before me while keeping it in my peripheral vision. If it tried anything, I had a surprise for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess that\u2019s the naga who\u2019s been troubling you,\u201d I say out loud.<\/p>\n
Diana Ho nods. A small, mousy woman, she slouches towards me, further shrinking her diminutive frame, and scratches idly at the crooks of both arms. Large scaly patches cover the bends and run down her forearm.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been over five years since I last saw her. She\u2019d lost a bit of weight since then, but her posture was still the same, and the skin disease was new. So were the deep eyebags.<\/p>\n
Eleanor Wang pats her shoulder. Eleanor and I have been many things over the years. Best friends, confidants, partners. One of the vanishingly few people I knew who knew my world and had gifts similar to mine. Today, she was the middlewoman who introduced Diana to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you tell me what this is all about?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n
Diana massages her temples.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s very complicated lah,\u201d she replies, her voice diminished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have time,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n
She sighs. \u201cSix months ago, I started visiting a temple. It\u2019s run by Somchai Saechao, a Buddhist monk. He trained with monks in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, then came to Singapore and opened his temple.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he wanted to teach people how to take charge of their lives, how to meditate, how to perceive the truth, all that jazz. But he also said his teachings are strict, unorthodox and secret. He comes from the Vajrayana tradition, and the teachings are supposed to be transmitted directly from teacher to student to prevent outsiders from harming themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first few weeks were okay. We performed prayers and pujas, we listened to lectures. But after that, he started\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She shudders. Eleanor rubs her again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d Eleanor says. \u201cHe\u2019s not here any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first he said we can only learn from him. We cannot study under anybody else, especially those from other sects. Then he started asking for \u2018donations\u2019 to keep the temple running. He didn\u2019t outright say we should pay him, but his senior followers said we should give him \u2018gifts\u2019 as gestures of respect. And then\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI never actually saw or experienced it, you understand, but I heard\u2026 he told them women to\u2026\u201d she squirms. \u201cWell, I heard he slept with them. To teach them tantra, you see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t he a monk?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n
“Well…” Diana squirms. “He\u00a0says<\/em>\u00a0he’s one.”<\/p>\n The naga hisses. I glance at him, see him still glaring at me, and ignore him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t approach you?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, never,\u201d Diana replies.<\/p>\n Eleanor was pretty plain, but next to Diana, Eleanor was plainly pretty. Where women had curves, Diana was just plain deflated, and her face was riddled with acne scars. Every inch of her exposed skin\u2014her face, her arms, her feet, is red and swollen and angry. She looks up at me, and in her eyes I see nothing but empty desperation, a constant clawing for something undefinable, just out of reach.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you do next?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u2018She broke the rules!\u2019 the naga howls.<\/p>\n Diana shudders. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d I said. \u201cGo on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, last week, after a puja, some of us stayed behind to clean up. When we were done, I went to look for Phra Somchai, to tell him we were leaving. But he wasn\u2019t in the worship area or the kitchen. So I went upstairs and\u2026 I saw what he was worshiping.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was it?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n She pointed at the naga. \u201cThat\u2026\u00a0thing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I am not a thing!\u2019 the naga declares, resting his fists on his hips.<\/p>\n \u201cThe naga,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. He was praying to a statue of this\u2026 snake. This huge snake with many heads. He laid out offerings and incense for it on the floor and he was kowtowing and praying to it.<\/p>\n \u201cThen he got up, saw me, and\u2026 started screaming at me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cScreaming?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. He saying I shouldn\u2019t be here, that this was forbidden, and I had to go immediately. I ran downstairs and left.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you go back?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026\u201d she hangs her head. \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n I suppress a sigh. Idiot.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy did you go back?\u201d Eleanor asks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a scheduled lecture. I wanted to ask him about what I saw. But during the lecture, he stood up and started scolding me in front of everybody else. He told me I had broken the rules, I was practicing the wrong thing, I was condemned to hell, all kinds of horrible stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all lies, isn\u2019t it?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, yeah. But he just kept screaming and shouting at me and\u2026\u201d she shakes her head. \u201cThe worst part of it is that his followers joined in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey said the same thing. They agreed with him, they said I was damned, and when I tried to speak up they shouted me down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just\u2026 I don\u2019t remember much. I just took my things and left.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSmart move.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut the next day\u2026 these patches showed up. All over my body. I went to a doctor and he gave me some creams but they don\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n Eleanor nods sympathetically. \u201cYeah, creams don\u2019t work for me also.\u201d<\/p>\n Eleanor has full-body ezcema. Her skin is a desolated ruin of scars, dark pink patches and white flaps of dead skin. Yet seated next to Diana, Eleanor\u2019s skin looks positively radiant.<\/p>\n \u2018It is punishment,\u2019 the naga says. \u2018And there is more.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIs that when you contacted Eleanor?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. It was so damn itchy and so painful I couldn\u2019t do anything else. I couldn\u2019t even sleep most of the night. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of this huge\u2026 snake. The naga. The same one I saw on the upper floor of the temple. When I woke up, I saw that naga over there.\u201d<\/p>\n She points at the spirit. The naga sniffs contemptuously.<\/p>\n Most people couldn\u2019t see astral beings, and would never see them. But Diana was different. In my crazy teenage days, when I had stumbled into magic and the occult and the hidden truths behind the veil of the material world, I\u2019d experimented and trained and did all kinds of stupid things only stupid kids would do. I discovered Eleanor had psychic talent too, and so did a couple of others in my circles. Eventually we admitted Diana into our group, and we continued our explorations. One fateful evening, Diana said she could sense spirits.<\/p>\n That was over a decade ago. All of us had gone our separate ways, bearing our own scars, but apparently Diana had never quite left the metaphysical behind her.<\/p>\n \u201cYou couldn\u2019t get rid of it?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was too strong. Everything I did\u2014banishing, prayers, magic\u2014they didn\u2019t work. I told Eleanor, and she told me to contact you. Can you help?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll do my best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what does that mean? You have to help me. I can\u2019t sleep, I keep itching all day, and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n I hold up my hand. \u201cI\u2019ll do what I can, but I cannot guarantee results. There\u2019s no such thing in this field. You should know that.\u201d<\/p>\n She covers her face with her hand. \u201cFine. Just\u2026 What are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTalk to the naga.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEh?\u201d<\/p>\n I turn to the spirit. He coils and uncoils his tail restlessly, his torso undulating back and forth. Leonhard and Lupin continue watching the creature, ready to pounce at the drop of a hat.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s your turn,\u2019 I say. \u2018Did you set a curse on her?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Of course!\u2019 he boasts. \u2018She tried to break it, so I\u2019m here to finish the job.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Why did you do it?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018She broke the rules. She violated the teacher’s private sanctum, she betrayed the secrets of the teachings to outsiders, and she cast aspersions on his name. She has to be punished.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018You sound loyal to Somchai.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018He has treated us well, and we enjoy an excellent relationship with him.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Us?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Our entire kingdom, of course. Surely you didn\u2019t think he prays to a single naga.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018And you\u2019re here to represent your kingdom.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Yes. Our king decreed this punishment, and I am here to carry it out.\u2019<\/p>\n Banishing a single stubborn spirit was difficult enough. But if I did that here, the naga\u2019s king would simply send another minion, and another, and another ad infinitum.<\/p>\n I sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Eleanor asks.<\/p>\n The naga had restricted his telepathic conversation to me. I explain what he said to the women.<\/p>\n \u201cThis just got complicated,\u201d I conclude.<\/p>\n \u2018Leave,\u2019 the naga says. \u2018Leave now, or you will make an enemy of all of us.\u2019<\/p>\n His eyes glow like sparks. He draws himself to his full height, spreading his shoulders and scowling at me. He points his weapons at my face. Lupin growls a warning, while Leonhard quickly circles around the naga.<\/p>\n I stand. Rest my hands on my waistband. Meet the spirit\u2019s gaze.<\/p>\n \u2018No.\u00a0You<\/em>\u00a0leave.\u2019<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n If magic, sci fi and martial arts is up your alley, check out my latest novel\u00a0HAMMER OF THE WITCHES<\/a>. Please nominate HAMMER OF THE WITCHES for the Dragon Awards\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Cheah](\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/0x0\/https:\/\/cdn.steemitimages.com\/DQmPXASYDfPZ2VNvSyL1XXyaoEEaynKsUnp92PnWKfJotyW\/Cheah%20Git%20San%20Calligraphy.jpg\")
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