The disciples of the goddess Kali, the Kali'ka, are broken. Believed to be myth, their arcane order has for centuries rescued those who have awakened from the drug-induced pleasure and religious fervor of the city of light and Logic, New Corinth. Now, the Kali'ka have been fractured from within by extremists turned violent against the world above their underground cloisters, and New Corinth, a city where fear and anger are censured, is unable to cope with the dissident faction's brutal emergence.
Elara Aeve - Kali'ka ascendant, warrior and teacher, sister to a family left behind in New Corinth - may hold the key to salvaging society. She rails against the ineffectual, divided leadership of the Kali'ka, insisting they take action, swiftly and decisively, to seal the rift in their order before it consumes Kali'ka and Corinthian alike in a bloody conflagration.
But Elara harbors a secret far more dangerous than any extremist force. A dire power swells alive inside of her, growing conscious, hunting her with cataclysmic visions, demanding blood for peace. Soon, Elara is targeted for death and caught in a conspiracy that takes her beyond the walls of Kali'ka cloisters, all the way to the heart of New Corinth and through the planes of reality itself.
Branded as a savior by some, destroyer by others, she may be the only one willing to do what is necessary to protect her home and kin, even if it means succumbing to the dark thirst within and awakening the once-living goddess Kali, Herself.
About the Author: Author Richard Milner took his practice of Aikido and Zen Buddhism - from time spent living in Japan - and fused it with his later practice of Krav Maga, creating an original, hybrid philosophy and martial art for use in Vessel of Kali, one that the disciples of Kali practice in the book.
The novel was inspired by a single image of the goddess Kali, seen in a book of sacred art. In that moment, the core plot points, the main characters, and the overall purpose of the story came to life. It was written over the course of six years, including a full year of near-isolation, while traveling and finishing a post-graduate degree.
Vessel of Kali is an intensely personal work chronicling a spiritual journey to overcome abuses of power, whether they be institutional or individual. It's written as a myth-in-progress, a series of events that later generations will recount as an allegory of ancient times.
