Kali

Artemis and her troupe went to India next, and there they met an enormous group of gods and goddesses. Artemis was surprised and delighted to find that these gods and goddesses were still being worshipped, unlike Artemis' own family or the Sumerian deities. However, the continued devotion made it impossible to find a time and place to meet with all of these deities at once. Instead Artemis and her troupe traveled between different temples and festivals to find where each god or goddess was staying at any given time.

It was near the end of their stay in India when Artemis finally tracked down the goddess Kali at her temple in Dakshineswar, near Kolkata.

Artemis bowed her head, showing respect to Kali in her temple. "Hello, Kali. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt in old Greece. I have been visiting India for quite some time now, and meeting with all the deities I've come across. I would be honored if you would agree to spend a night exchanging stories with me."

Kali stood from the dais where she had been seated. She towered over Artemis, and even without the weapons held casually in each of her four hands it would be obvious from the way she held herself that she was a fierce warrior. Her smile revealed sharp fangs, but also radiated a kindness that seemed at odds with her fearsome appearance.

"Yes, I've heard of your travels through our land." Kali glanced around behind Artemis, then frowned in confusion. "I had also heard that you were traveling with a whole troupe of companions. Have them come here, and we can all get to know each other."

"Actually, Kali," Artemis said, "one of my companions is unable to enter the city, due to a curse. If you would not mind coming with me to our camp outside the city limits, I would prefer not to leave them out there alone."

Kali nodded approvingly. "Loyalty to your followers is a noble trait. Of course, I want to meet all of you newcomers, and I've never been opposed to leaving the comfort of my temple. Lead the way to this camp of yours."

The two goddesses went to where the rest of the troupe was waiting and, after introductions had been exchanged, they all spent the night exchanging stories. Kali left her most exciting tale until just before sunrise.

"Long ago, the demon Raktabija, Blood-Seed, was terrorizing the people of India, as demons sometimes do. None of the gods could defeat Raktabija, because every time a drop of his blood fell on the earth, it grew into a copy of himself. No matter how fiercely the other gods and goddesses fought, every blow they landed on the enemy only increased their numbers.

"And so, the gods combined all of their powers to make me, a stronger warrior than all of them combined, in order that I might rid the world of the demon.

"To me, the solution to the blood problem that had so troubled the gods before me was obvious. I took up a bowl in one hand, and used it catch any blood that sprayed free when I killed the demons. Then, before their bodies could hit the ground and drip blood onto the soil, I swallowed them whole."

"Wasn't it hard to keep the bowl balanced while you were fighting?" Iphigenia asked. She was clinging to Asushunamir, practically sitting in their lap, but she was also leaning toward Kali, clearly eager to hear the rest of the story.

Kali laughed. "Well, child, it might have been difficult for a lesser warrior than I, but it gave me no trouble. I fought my way through the entire army of copies this way, and then defeated Raktabija himself. By that time, I was so filled with the lust for battle that I just kept looking for any other wrongdoers to kill in the same way. I might have destroyed the entire world, had not my love, Shiva the destroyer, thrown himself at my feet and snapped me out of my rage."

There was a moment of stunned silence after the end of Kali's story. Finally, Artemis spoke.

"Truly, you are a formidable warrior. If you ever wanted to travel with us-"

Kali shook her head. "No. That sounds like it may be fun, but I have responsibilities here. The people still worship me, still need me. And besides, you are very clearly the leader of this group, and I would never be content to follow you or anyone."

Artemis nodded. "I understand. May we visit you if we ever return to India?"

Kali smiled. "Oh, I insist that you do. It's been ages since I've had such an appreciative audience for my stories, and if you keep going the way you do, I'm sure you'll have some new members for me to meet by the time you get back here."

Author's Note: Kali being created by the gods to fight Raktabija is just one version of her birth myth. In other versions, the gods create the goddess Durga to fight the demon Mahishasura, and Kali is later born out of Durga's forehead as a being made of the other goddesses concentrated rage. There is also a version where Kali was created by the goddess Parvati, Shiva's wife, combining herself with some poison in order to defeat a demon who could only be killed by a woman. I went with the Raktabija version because it's the one I was most familiar with. Every version of the myth I could find had Kali simply eating Raktabija and his clones and using her tongue to catch their blood, but I remembered her using a bowl in the version I first read, so I decided to include it anyway. One of my professors in the religious studies department does her research at the Dakshinewar Kali Temple, which is why I mentioned it specifically. I thought Artemis would definitely enjoy meeting Kali and want to offer her a place in the troupe, but I also didn't think Kali would go along with joining, especially since she's still worshipped in India.