Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(76)
“Some lethal marmas kill instantly. Some offer a slower path to death. In those instances, I will try not to kill you.” He gave her a tentative smile. “If you promise not to be a brat.”
“Tell me how they work and we’ll see.” She returned his smile with a playful glare.
“Marmas are the vital pressure points found at specific junctures in the body. These areas are where the life force is believed to be located,” Jayesh began. “The points are concentrated where the flesh, tendons, veins, arteries, bones and joints meet.
“In kalaripayattu, we are trained to attack using these points to our advantage. An advanced kalari master can disable or kill his opponent merely by touching the correct marma with just the right amount of pressure. However, this is taught only to the most trustworthy students.”
“And those whose gifts are inclined for the assassin’s trade.”
“Don’t let this make you cynical, Sasha. We will approach this carefully. I will teach you the healing marmas right along with the painful ones so it is never more than you can bear.”
“And how many times will I have to experience each of these marmas?”
“Only once. Just so you may know how it feels and what it does to your body. If you will be using the lethal marmas against an opponent, you will understand through firsthand experience how it feels.”
“Then let’s get started, shall we? The sooner we begin, the sooner we are done.” She remembered saying the same thing her first day here. It felt like a lifetime ago.
“Marma points are grouped in three categories. Sanakha are those points found on the legs and feet. Madhayamanga are located along the torso, and jatrurdhara are found on the neck and head.
“The heart, forehead and throat are the most vulnerable areas of the body.” Jayesh pointed to each area. “These marmas will cause the most damage. The arms and legs are less vulnerable to severe injury, but can still cause a great deal of pain to your opponent with the right manipulation.”
“Show me.”
“We don’t have to start today.”
“I can handle pain, Jayesh. The agony of being here is way worse than anything you’re going to do to me.”
“Give me your foot.”
Sasha leaned back on her elbows in the grass and placed her foot in his lap. Jayesh looked as though he would like to be anywhere else in the world than sitting in the beautiful garden preparing to teach her such destructive things.
“I will not make you suffer any longer than you have to.” He massaged the pad of her foot, splaying her toes in preparation for her first lesson of verumkai. “You will pay attention to every movement as I explain it and once you have experienced the pressure point for yourself today, you will do the same to me tomorrow. When you can perform them perfectly, we will move on.”
“I have to hurt you too? This is barbaric, Jayesh.” He was older and would recover much faster than she would, but it still didn’t sit well with her that she would have to bring him pain. Kill him, even. Jayesh never talked about himself very much, but she got the sense that he had experienced enough pain in his three hundred years to last him an eternity.
“It is how it is done, Sasha. It will be nothing I haven’t experienced before.” He continued to massage her foot, coaxing her to relax.
“There are four marmas located in the foot. Here, just between your big toe and the second metatarsal.” He pressed lightly on the spot at the base of her toe. “This is called the kshipra and it affects the heart and lungs. She relaxed involuntarily as he gently massaged the area. “See how I’ve stimulated the marma with gentle pressure?”
Sasha nodded. It felt nice for a brief moment until he increased the pressure, focusing on the point that was as small as the tip of a needle.
Her breath came in short gasps as her lungs refused to cooperate with their lifelong rhythm of expansion and contraction. She saw stars dancing in her peripheral vision, her lungs like huge boulders in her chest.
Jayesh released the pressure, returning to the gentle massage.
“If I were to strike this marma directly with maximum pressure, it would stop your heart. And here.” His fingertips slid down to the pad of her foot. “At the juncture of the tendons where the plantar arteries are exposed is the kulcha. Watch what happens as I apply pressure.”
Sasha placed her palms flat against the grass beneath her, shaking as Jayesh pushed hard against the tender part of her foot. She gasped as her vision grew dark around the edges.
“I can’t blind you with this marma, but I can directly affect your vision.”
Sasha nodded, but didn’t relax until her vision returned. “You can control all of that just with my foot?”
“There are two more.” Jay’s fingertips wandered down to the arch of her foot. “This is the talhrdayam point. It can affect the lungs similarly to the kshipra point, although this one will cause your lungs to contract, where kshipra will simply make it difficult to breathe.”
With a flick of his thumb, Sasha’s lungs began to spasm and she couldn’t breathe at all. Her fingers sank into the grass beneath her palms. Her left lung collapsed and blood oozed between her lips when he released his hold on her foot.
Sasha curled on her side, choking as she fought to get her breath.
“Jay … I can’t … breathe,” she gasped, unable to fill her lungs.