Tiger’s Destiny (22 page)
“Beware the Rakshasas in the forest on the other side. You will find the Rope of Fire hidden near the City of Light, but you will have to defeat the Lords of the Flame to take it. Also, should you have the opportunity, try to save the herd of Qilin that used to roam freely in the fire forest. If they are freed, they will make their way back here on their own.”
The Phoenix addressed Kishan. “She will need her amulet to travel. Once past the safety of my nest, the heat will soon kill her without it. The two of you regenerate well enough on your own to survive.”
Kishan nodded, placed his precious Phoenix egg into his backpack, and then took off the fire amulet and fixed the clasp behind my neck.
Ren took Fanindra from his bag and slid her onto my arm. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
Kishan tested the climb to the cave and back while Ren guided him verbally. I stepped onto the edge of the nest, took Kishan’s outstretched hand, and then abruptly turned back.
“I almost forgot,” I explained and then mumbled a few words.
The nest filled with mounds of large, reddish-orange fruit that looked like a cross between a dragon fruit and a prickly pear cactus fruit. The pineapple-sized fruit had a leathery-looking skin with soft leaves that narrowed into a sharp point, much like the Phoenix’s talons.
Sunrise flapped its wings with excitement. “Ah! Firefruit!”
“Maybe when you’re done eating them you can plant the seeds and grow more trees.”
“I will plant a grove! Please, take one with you to taste. The juice will revitalize you.”
I thanked the Phoenix, stuck my firefruit into the backpack, and stepped from the nest onto the ledge with Kishan. He clung to the side with feet firmly planted, one hand wrapped protectively around my waist. Only when Ren came behind to hold me did Kishan move forward.
We didn’t have far to go. Kishan swung his body into the tunnel and reached out for my hand. I squealed when he yanked me into his arms but recovered quickly. Soon, Ren joined us, and we began making our way down the dark passage. Fanindra’s eyes gleamed as we descended into the heart of the black cliffs heading toward the mysterious place not even mentioned in Mr. Kadam’s prophecy called the Cave of Sleep and Death.
I
trailed my fingers across the surface of the tunnel and found it was smooth in sections, almost like the facet of a cut stone. Chunks of loose black gemstone lay on the floor of the tunnel and jagged stalactites hung overhead. I shivered as I passed under them, remembering the Kraken’s underwater tunnel.
I told Ren and Kishan about my new vision of Lokesh and that the queen’s piece of the amulet controlled water. In great detail, I explained what happened and caught Ren and Kishan glancing at each other, obviously worried that my connection to Lokesh was getting stronger. I didn’t blame them. I was worried, too.
Changing the subject, I asked the Scarf to make me new clothes underneath what I was wearing, because a golden dress didn’t fit my idea of hiking-through-a-scary-tunnel wear.
After ten minutes of walking, I started to feel claustrophobic and jittery. I knew we had to get through the tunnel without sleeping and that it would take two days at best. Ren and Kishan talked of their childhoods to pass the time and to distract me from hyperventilating.
We stopped to rest often because my new skin bruised easily, and I no longer had calluses protecting my feet or heels. At the end of the first day, I had so many blisters that Ren bandaged my feet, made me a pair of soft slippers, and he and Kishan took turns carrying me. While the royal treatment felt nice, my eyes soon started to droop.
I fought off sleep and tried to keep up an animated conversation with Kishan, but during the long evening, cradled in Kishan’s arms, I actually nodded off and quickly came to understand the Phoenix’s warning. As my eyes fluttered closed, something dark sucked at my consciousness. My head became heavy, and I could actually feel the flow of blood in my veins slow to a stop.
Alarmed, I tried to rouse myself but couldn’t. It was as if I was back with Sunrise and the topaz-colored egg, teetering on the edge of a cliff and had just lost my footing.
I drifted into another vision of Lokesh. My mind seemed to lock with his, and I knew he sought information about another piece of the amulet from a poor servant.
The man, who had been beaten severely, held out a fistful of crumpled papers and mumbled, “According to the records, two great warriors, Chandragupta and Seleucus, frequently met in battle prior to 305 BCE but then mysteriously, all war ceased, and they signed a peace treaty. Seleucus, who served under Alexander the Great, presented his daughter to the emperor to take as his wife, and the emperor sent him five hundred battle elephants in return. Seleucus took over his East Asian territories after the emperor died.”
“Continue,” Lokesh said to the frightened man after kicking him viciously. I felt Lokesh’s delight in the abuse, and I recoiled in horror.
The servant read Lokesh a letter. “Seleucus had offered Chandragupta lands that bordered the Indus River in exchange for goods and soldiers. Chandragupta replied, ‘I will consider your offer if you will agree to level the mountain that blocks the view from my palace. You have the power, after all.’”
“Stop!” Lokesh ordered and demanded to see the letters. When the servant handed them over, Lokesh used his magic, and wind swirled around him. Blue lightning crackled at his fingertips and shot into the unsuspecting man, who fell to the floor. Black lightning marks streaked his chest.
The vision shifted, and I was once again with Lokesh in a strange land. “You were hard to find, old man,” Lokesh smiled at the aged grandfather he had cornered in a hut. “Fortunately for me your ancestor Seleucus had a birthmark that was passed down to his sons and grandsons.”
Lokesh laughed derisively, “Do you know that Seleucus’s mother told him his real flather was the god Apollo and that his anchor-shaped birthmark was the sign of his favor?”
The frightened man shook his head.
“Seleucus thought he was destined for great things. Perhaps he was in his own small way.” Bending over the elderly man, Lokesh continued, “Between you and me, a great man makes himself great. Sadly, your chance to become great has long since passed. Perhaps you’d like to know how long I have been searching for you.”
Pulling a knife from his belt, a knife I recognized, Lokesh tested it with his thumb. “Five hundred years,” he said, “And that’s a long time. Even for me.”
The false smile Lokesh wore faded. “But, rest assured, I
will
punish you for every year I’ve had to wait. Incidentally, the last two years were the most interesting of my search. I traced Apama, the wife of Seleucus, to her Persian hometown of Susa. Then, several months and many deaths led me to you. They all wanted to protect you—their ancient grandfather who claimed to be one hundred and twelve years old.”
Lokesh leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “But between you and me, my friend, I believe that you are much, much older.”
The old man’s eyes gave him away. In a flash, he used the power of his amulet to shake the ground, but he was as feeble as he appeared. Lokesh froze the old man’s entire body in an instant and with his earthquake still rumbling; the man’s body slid from the chair and broke apart into scattered pieces.
Lokesh shoved aside the old man’s remains and pulled the amulet from his neck. Then he picked up a ring that had rolled away from the shattered hand. It had a smooth oval gem encased in a thick gold, molded edging. The stone’s flat blue surface had a marbled appearance that made it look slightly like a weathered map. Lokesh rubbed the Persian turquoise stone and slid it over the knuckle of his thumb.
Frowning, Lokesh kicked aside what was left of the old man’s body and mumbled, “I need to learn how to better control the water piece. They die entirely too quickly.”
He joined the new piece of the amulet to the others, and I felt the rush of power. The amulet invigorated Lokesh, and somehow I knew he’d found the earth piece. I watched as he tested its range and the scope of its power. With the old man’s piece of the amulet, Lokesh was able to bring precious gems to the surface, shift rock, and cause tremors. Together with his other two pieces of the Damon Amulet, Lokesh could call forth predators of the earth and sea to do his bidding.
The sharks! That was how he called them. It was also how he was able to use the bear, wolves, and snow leopards to distract Mr. Kadam during the swordfight.
Satisfied only momentarily with his new power, Lokesh set his sights on India and the remaining two pieces of the amulet.
My body jerked, and I snapped awake to find I was lying in the tunnel with my head pillowed on Kishan’s backpack. My connection to Lokesh was indeed getting stronger. It was becoming harder to remain at a distance, and I shook with revulsion at the thought.
Kishan leaned over me and asked, “Another dream?”
I nodded. My cheek stung, and I rubbed the tingling skin. The tips of my fingers were gray and had no feeling. “What happened?” I asked.
With a strange expression, Ren answered, “You fell asleep. We couldn’t wake you. I’m sorry, Kells.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I had to slap you to get you to wake up.”
“Oh. Don’t worry about it,” I said as I caressed my slightly numb cheek. “It barely hurts.”
“That’s what worries me. Can you move your legs?”
“Of course I can.”
I tried but nothing happened. Grabbing Ren’s arm, I painfully pulled my body into a sitting position and looked at my legs. The skin was gray. I poked my calf and found the muscle hard, almost like stone.
“What’s happening to me?” I whispered desperately.
Ren took my hand and massaged my fingers gently. “Your face was gray too but it’s starting to return to normal color. We just need to get your blood moving.”
My fingers began to turn pink, but the tips stung as if they’d been stuck with thousands of hot needles. I whimpered despite my attempt to tough out the pain, and my eyes stung with tears. Kishan pulled off my socks and began rubbing my feet. It wasn’t long until I felt burning prickles shoot through my feet and legs.
“It hurts!” I exclaimed.
Ren pressed a kiss on my forehead and wiped away a tear. “We need to do it, Kells. Can you stand it for a little while longer?”
I nodded and he worked on the other leg while Kishan focused on my toes. The fingertips on both of my hands ached, but the sharp pain was gone. After a half hour, Kishan announced that my legs were no longer gray and offered his arm to support me standing up. I did and hobbled around, feeling shooting pains travel up my legs.
Leaning heavily on Kishan, I continued down the path, grateful for my painful blisters that ensured I would stay awake. Ren asked me to tell him all about my dream and kept me talking until my muscles screamed in protest from the constant walking.
I was dead tired. A new body, combined with sleeping in a nest and almost burning to death, had exhausted me. I felt like a walking zombie, and all I could think of was my soft bed back home at Ren’s house. Every footstep I took seemed to repeatedly whisper, “Bed, bed, bed.” It was late into the night, or perhaps early morning, when Ren suggested we take a short break and taste the firefruit.
Kishan produced a knife and cut into the layers of leathery skin. The fruit separated into two halves. A thick red rind surrounded the soft, reddish-orange flesh. Like a kiwi, the fragile interior was filled with black seeds. Kishan handed me a wedge, and I bit into the juicy fruit.
It had a slightly sour but refreshing tang. The seeds were crunchy but edible and had a nutty flavor. The fruit had the texture of a soft grainy fig but the flavor was like a burst of watermelon and grapefruit combined. As I reached for another piece, I felt heat on the back of my tongue as if I had eaten something mildly spicy.
When we finished eating the fruit and began walking on through the cavern, I felt invigorated, suddenly realizing the pain was gone. I inspected my heels and murmured with awe, “I’m better! The firefruit healed my feet!”
Ren and Kishan felt recharged as well and decided I needed to constantly munch on firefruit as we walked. Instead of eating the messy and sticky fruit, I created a gourd filled with firefruit juice and sipped it whenever my feet started to hurt. We came to a fork in the tunnel and while Ren took Fanindra and explored ahead a short ways, I stopped to rest with Kishan. He leaned against the tunnel wall, and closed his eyes.
I was talking to Kishan while rummaging through the bag when Ren returned. Immediately, he ran to his brother and shook him. I spun around and gasped. In the few short moments I’d had my back turned, Kishan had fallen asleep. His face had turned gray and his body slumped against the ground as if he were dead.
We shouted and Ren even slapped him twice, but Kishan wouldn’t awaken. The gray color visibly crept from his fingertips up his forearms and inched from his face down to his neck. I worried that if it reached his heart he wouldn’t be able to recover. As Ren tried to shake him awake, I doused him with water, but the life-giving liquid, though safe to us, was poisonous in the fire realm. It hissed on the rocks and ate through several large stones like acid.