Kali Ch. 02 - Gold Warning

An in-between story in Kali to introduce a human

Gold, I should have known better. I mean it's one thing to mistakenly take it from one man's claim, it is a far different thing from a god's. Really, a god? You'd have thought that they would leave a warning or something.

First off, I am Ryan Clint, gold prospector. Well, pretty much. I was trying a new find I had developed with satellite imaging in India.

I had seen what looked like a chamber but dismissed it as a ghost image. Now? I wished I had paid more attention. After breaking into said chamber, I was shocked at the glowing gold lying around everywhere.

As I said, I should have known better. It was a good twenty-five feet to the bottom of the chamber. Ignoring everything, I went down, not once looking around, not feeling the eyes that were following my every move.

My god, I thought, what a find! Had I left it at that, I might have been fine, but the green monster raised its head, and before I knew it, I was stuffing my pockets with any gold small enough to fit.

Another problem, I didn't stop when I felt the powerful presence that was peering over my shoulder.

"You know, it's more than rude to take what isn't yours. I mean really, you didn't even ask," a voice said quietly behind me.

I slowly turned to see a rather stern-looking, blue-skinned, being? Hell at this point I wasn't sure. "I thought that this was just another burial crypt," I told the blue being.

The blue male stared at me for a moment with a disbelieving smirk. "Please, I am, after all, a god, I can see the green monster of greed within you. Though I have to admit, it took far longer to affect you than I thought it would."

I quickly dropped what I had in both my hands, my mouth having dropped open. "I'm sorry?" I stammered.

"Uh-huh, yeah, uh no, nope, sorry, not going to be enough," the blue male said. "Oh yes, by the way, the name is Shiva."

Again, my mouth dropped open. Holy shit, I thought. Shiva! The destroyer, I was dead for sure now. I stood tall, deciding that if I was going to die, I was not going to grovel or beg.

It was at that moment that I noticed Shiva smiling at me. So, I thought he was going to torture me after all. I tightened up and prepared for the extreme pain I knew was about to come.

I watched Shiva as his face went from anger, to pity, then a smile lit up his features. "So, you're not afraid to die, interesting."

"Not so much as not afraid as, if I know it's coming, then I won't die surprised," I told the God before me.

"Hmmmm," Shiva said as he stared at me. Taking my head, he looked deep into my eyes, then nodded. "Yes, I can use you, most definitely. Unfortunately, the green monster needs to be tamed. Ah, a reminder."

I stared at Shiva incredulously, "Use me? What in the fuck are you talking about?" I slapped my hand over my mouth, not believing what I had said.

"Yeah," Shiva said, "I had that same problem a while back. Kali kicked my ass understandably. Fortunately for you, I understand far more than you think."

I looked at Shiva confused for a moment before he touched my head. For a moment, it felt as if someone was trying to split my head with an axe. I saw Shiva nodding his head as I dropped to the floor, holding my head, and screaming out in pain.

As soon as the pain stopped, I stared at Shiva with intense anger. "What in the hell was that!?" I screamed at a calm-looking Shiva.

"Hmmm, like me, you too don't stop to think about who you are yelling at. I made the same mistake myself when I started to yell at Kali. Ooph, that did not go well."

I shook my head; Shiva was sounding more and more human!

"Ah, yes, for a number of years I was human. Kind of what can happen when two powerful gods fight. Never mind, as I said I can use you," Shiva said. "Also," he started as he touched my left hand, which turned to solid gold. "Still have the punishment." This, of course, hurt like hell, causing another round of screaming in pain on the floor.

Thankfully, I passed out a moment later. I awoke outside, nowhere near where I had been. I stood up shaking my head. That had been a really crazy dream, that was, 'til I looked down at my solid gold hand.

I could only stare at the solid gold appendage, then I heard a whispered voice, "break off the middle finger. Take it, sell it. That should take care of your money problems. Don't worry, it will grow back in two days. Then, when you have completed what I need you to do, your hand will revert back to normal."

"So, you expect me to go out there with this? I believe it will be noticed," I said.

"You forget who you're talking to, no one will notice," Shiva said.

I took a deep breath and broke the middle gold finger off. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt.

"No, it won't, I'll contact you as soon as you get that done," Shiva said.

I was shaking my head, turned and headed back to the city. One thing was for sure, this was really starting to grow weird. Well, looked like I had no damn choice.