Tiger’s Destiny (32 page)

Seeing his brother so severely injured, Shala stared at me bitterly, and then nodded his head. “Your life is your own. You are free to go. I concede the battle.”

He crouched down to peer at his brother. Stretching out his hands, he gave his twin some of his own waning heat.

“There’s something else,” I added, high on my victory. “I demand a boon for winning.”

Shala sighed heavily and pivoted on the balls of his feet to look at me. “What is it you wish?”

“I want the Rope of Fire.”

“How do you know of such things?” Shala sputtered, shocked by my request.

“It doesn’t matter. I just do. We need the Rope of Fire to complete a task.”

The Lord of the Flame stood, raised his hands into the air, and lowered them slowly. The poles shifted slightly, then began to descend back into the ground. I balanced myself carefully.

“The Rope was given to us by an Ancient. We were told that only when we were defeated in battle could the Rope leave our realm. Take it.”

He dismissed me with a wave of his hand and leapt down to assist his injured twin.

“How do we get it?” I asked, grateful to step firmly back on the black soil.

As he leaned over Wyea, Shala replied, “It’s wound around a fire tree at the base of this mountain. I can send you there, but you will have to get past the guardian who protects it.”

“Fine.”

“And . . . Kelsey, you are a formidable opponent, but I’d suggest you leave for the above world before we are fully recovered.”

Shala smiled slightly and nodded before both twins disappeared in a swirl of flame.

I ran over to Ren and knelt next to Kishan. “How is he?”

“His body is trying to heal, but I’ve been unable to remove the weapon.”

My hands shook as I gingerly touched Ren’s quivering stomach. “It has to be cut out. Remember? Can he heal from that?” I asked.

“It will have to be done quickly, carefully, and we should have the elixir ready.”

My eyes filled with tears at the thought of the pain Ren would continue to suffer. Kishan went to gather all our weapons so he could choose which one would be best for removing the
Gáe Bolga
. I put Ren’s head in my lap and stroked his hair. A tear dropped from my cheek to his forehead.

“Please don’t die,” I whispered.

He moaned and shifted.

“Shh. Try not to move.”

I used the Necklace to make a cup of water and pressed the rim to his lips. He drank but his chest bled again.

“It’s okay. This will all be okay,” I crooned, as much for myself as for him. I touched my lips to his forehead. “There’s so much I need to tell you. Please don’t leave me.”

He mumbled something but I didn’t understand. He whispered the word again.

Asambhava.

The translation came to my mind quickly—
impossible
.

I laughed wetly and said, “Good. Because I plan to keep you around for a while.”

Kishan returned with the trident and the swords. Pressing the golden blades together until they clicked, he twisted the handle and shrank the weapons down to the size of a knife. He knelt beside Ren and warned, “This is going to be difficult. The darts are in his lungs and heart.”

“Lokesh stabbed him in the heart before and drained all his blood, and he still came back,” I said hopefully.

“I’ve never been injured this badly before,” Kishan said frankly. “I don’t know how long this will take to heal. Give him a few drops of the elixir right after I remove the spear.”

I nodded mutely as I watched Kishan bring the knife to Ren’s chest. He plunged the blade in swiftly and began sawing. I couldn’t watch. I closed my eyes and kept stroking his hair, but I felt Ren’s twitching and then the jerk of his body as Kishan finally lifted the spear from his chest.

Immediately, I attempted to give him the elixir but he was gasping for breath and thrashing due to the damage in his lungs. Kishan grabbed his head and held him steady while I got some drops in his mouth. I couldn’t help but see the gaping hole in his chest. Crying, I used the Scarf to cover his exposed wound.

How can anyone recover from something like that?

Ren stopped thrashing and lay still as if dead. Fresh tears slid down my cheeks.

“Kishan . . . ?”

I couldn’t finish the question. I couldn’t ask if he was still alive or not.

Kishan cocked his head and listened. “He’s not breathing and his heart isn’t beating.”

“No.
No
.”

I cried and rocked back and forth, cradling his head in my arms.

“Please come back to me, Ren. Come back.”

I said this over and over until Kishan whispered, “Kelsey, shh. Wait.” Kishan touched Ren’s arm briefly. “I feel a faint pulse.”

It was several long, agonizing moments later when Ren first took a breath. Wetness rattled in his chest, and his body barely moved.

“He’s been a long time without oxygen,” I whispered, more to myself than to Kishan.

Kishan rubbed my back and inspected Ren’s chest. “All we can do is wait, Kells. He’s still a mess, but he’s starting to heal.”

I held onto Ren, clutching him desperately as if to physically keep death at bay and didn’t realize that I was pouring fire power into him until I saw a twinkle through my tears. I blinked to clear my vision and gasped when I saw that the two of us were bathed in a golden light. The special magic that happened when we touched was helping him to heal.

After I realized what was happening, I concentrated my efforts and kept pushing the energy back into his weakened frame as it circled between us. Before long, his breathing settled and deepened as if he were asleep. Kishan announced that Ren’s heart had a stronger beat and that the hole in his chest had closed.

My eyes grew heavy. I was so tired. I shifted to a more comfortable position and lay my head on Ren’s shoulder. I almost blacked out, but then a hand caught my wrist.

A warm voice said softly, “
Priya
, you must stop.”

“Can’t stop,” I mumbled. “Ren needs me.”

“I will always need you.”

The body I’d been lying against moved, and I moaned in protest. Suddenly I was weightless. Someone had picked me up. I felt a soft kiss against my cheek and heard quiet voices.

“She wore herself out trying to save you,” Kishan said.

I felt the rumbling of a chest against my arm.

“She needs time to recover, to rest.”

Ren. Ren was holding me. But how? He was injured.

“I can take her. You’re still weak.”

“I’m strong enough.”

Ren had said it in a way that brooked no argument, but Kishan tried to protest anyway. Finally, Ren said quietly, “She’ll be yours for the rest of your life, brother. Let me hold her for now.”

There was no response from Kishan, and the quiet lulled me into a deeper sleep. I felt a brief burning sensation in my stomach, and then I was aware of nothing.

When I woke, I was ravenous. Ren and Kishan were sleeping on either side of me, and we were no longer atop the mountain. Instead, fire trees surrounded us.

Ren stirred first and touched my arm. “Kelsey? How do you feel?”

“Hungry,” I whispered. “And thirsty too. Where are we?”

“We called to the Lords of the Flame, and they set us down here, along with our weapons. Your bow and arrows were returned, and we have the Scarf and the Fruit as well.”

“Are you . . . healed?”

“I am well. And you?”

“I’m just really hungry.”

“Will you two be quiet?” a sleepy Kishan grumbled.

I patted his back and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry. Go back to sleep.”

Kishan was soon dreaming again, but Ren watched me through cobalt blue eyes. We spent a long time just looking at each other. Neither of us spoke. I felt safe. We weren’t touching at all, but it felt as if he was cradling me in his arms. My hunger diminished, twisting into something else, a different need entirely and all I could do was return the gaze of my blue-eyed tiger.

Too soon, Kishan opened his eyes and decided it was time to break camp.

I was sore and stiff all over my body. Even my pinkies hurt. I tried to stretch out. “Ugh. I’m not at my best this morning,” I announced.

Ren started walking over to me but he hesitated when Kishan approached me instead.

Kishan hugged me close. “Are you strong enough to continue on today? There’s still a guardian to fight.”

Ren intervened. “There’s no rush. She expended a lot of energy yesterday. She may need more time.”

I grimaced. “There
is
sort of a reason to rush. The Lords of the Flame made it pretty clear that we should vacate the premises before they get back to full strength.”

Kishan reassured, “We’ll take it slow. We’ll keep Kelsey on the sidelines while we battle the creature.”

Ren gave me a long look; then he turned and gathered our belongings.

I nodded to Kishan and wandered over to a fire tree. I felt guilty as I greedily lapped up whatever energy the trees were willing to share. If I’d had to choose between destroying them and saving Ren, there was no contest, but I would have grieved for the friendly trees later. The warm vines slithered around my arms and stroked me gently. It wasn’t long before I felt renewed and refreshed, but my mind was still tired.

I was exhausted from the constant battle, the stress of being in danger, and the monsters and villains who waited for us around every corner. I thought of my little home in Oregon. How content and happy I was. A deep longing for a lost dream swept through me. All I wanted was to be surrounded by those I loved. To know they were safe and nearby. One by one, the people who were the most important to me had been taken away.

I thought of the Phoenix again and the lessons it taught me. Sunrise had promised that I’d see my parents and Mr. Kadam again. It also said that I needed to follow the truths and the love in my heart. I stood up, brushed the dust from my jeans, and made my way back to camp.

Throwing my arms around the one I loved, I said, “I’m ready.”

Half an hour later, the three of us were crouched behind some bushes.

“So the Chimera is a cat?” Kishan asked. His nose twitched, and he ran his fingers lightly along some claw marks on a fire tree.

“Sort of,” I replied. “It’s built a bit like a lioness but also has the head of a goat and a snake for a tail.”

“We’re in its territory,” Ren added.

“Yes,” Kishan rubbed his jaw. “Do you smell it?”

Ren nodded.

Just then a series of rumbling roars echoed through the trees.

“That cinches it,” Kishan said.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

The brothers looked at each other knowingly. Ren shrugged, then Kishan said, “
She’s
looking for a mate.”

“
Oh
.” I stammered lamely. “What . . . um . . . what does that mean for us? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“It could be a good thing. We could work it to our advantage,” Kishan said.

At my look of confusion, Ren explained, “What he means is that she will be easily distracted.”

Kishan cleared his throat with a deep chuckle. “And I vote that you should be the one to
distract
her while I get the Rope.”

“How about you distract her, and I’ll get the Rope,” Ren countered.

“Why don’t you both go, and I’ll get the Rope,” I suggested.

“No,” they both answered in unison.

“I’ll go,” Ren volunteered with a sigh. A low moan shook the ground. He grimaced. “Just make it fast.”

“Of course.” Kishan grinned and winked at me as Ren disappeared through the trees.

When we next heard the plaintive roar, it was answered with a deep growl.

“That’s the signal.” Kishan kissed me quickly and slunk off through the trees.

I sat there listening to a loud series of snarls, growls, and hissing. Time passed, and the noises grew louder. It still didn’t seem angry or violent. I was trying to figure out which sounds were coming from which parts of the Chimera when a new roar split the air. It was answered with a matching roar. I knew both of those voices well, even as tigers. Kishan had joined the pair for some reason. I was needed.

Carefully and quietly, I made my way through the trees, skirting the area where the racket was coming from. Finding a good place to hide, I peered through the undergrowth and saw Ren and Kishan fighting as tigers. The female cat lay nearby, licking her paws while surreptitiously watching the two tigers battle.

She didn’t look exactly like I expected. From all my reading, I thought the Chimera would be a double-headed monster with a snake head on its tail, but she was more like the Qilin. Though she appeared to have the traits of many different creatures, the Chimera had only one head and six legs. Her body was the basic shape of a cat, a lioness maybe, but much larger. I’d say she was around twice the size of a lion.

Instead of having the coat of a cat though, the Chimera’s skin appeared a tawny reptilian gold. It was scaled like the Qilin except for a flickering mane of fur that was aflame. Two long horns sprung from the top of her head. Chimera’s feet were clawed and her tail moved back and forth sinuously like a snake, but I could see no head or fangs on the tip.

The Chimera sat at the base of a large tree. I scanned the branches for the Rope of Fire but couldn’t make anything out from where I was hidden. I bit my lip trying to figure out what my next move should be. Ren and Kishan appeared to be making a lot of noise, but they were mostly posturing. They pushed each other around and snarled loudly but didn’t really use their claws or teeth.

As soon as I started to move, the creature immediately turned her head into my direction. The beast sniffed the air and got to her feet. When the Chimera leapt toward my hiding place, Ren ran to her side and batted her feet with his paw. Distracted, the creature turned to him and rubbed her head over his back while peering at Kishan. Her snakelike tail wound around Ren’s.

Kishan roared as if challenging Ren once again for the Chimera’s affection. The Chimera moved off as the two of them recommenced their feigned battle. The beast arched her back while lowering her fore body, then settled next to a boulder to watch. She growled softly and snapped the air with several sharp teeth. Restlessly, she kneaded her claws in the soil and thumped her horns against the rock. The sound was like a woodpecker drilling into a tree.
If the woodpecker was the size of a rhinoceros.