Tiger’s Destiny (48 page)

“I am glad he is gone,” Durga said quietly as she walked slowly toward us, this time accompanied by her brother.

Sunil leaned heavily against his sister and watched us with a look of awe, but I wasn’t in the mood for introductions.

I turned away from the pair. “Can we go now, Kishan?”

“Just a minute, Kells.”

The goddess quickly handed Kishan the
kamandal
. It was then I saw the terrible wound in his side.

“Drink,” she commanded.

He took hold of her wrist and her eyes darted up to his. “Drink,” she said again, softer this time.

Kishan sipped the mermaid’s elixir and then she brought it to me. I pushed her hand away.

“You need to heal, Kelsey,” she said.

“The pain I feel isn’t going away.”

“Please, take some.”

After glaring at her and seeing she wasn’t going away, I took the
kamandal
and drank. Immediately the pain in my muscles started to diminish.

As I handed the shell back to her she asked, “Is there anything you can do . . . for them?” She indicated the troops that stood around us, frozen in stone and ice.

“I can try,” I replied.

I rubbed the amulet between my fingers and sensed through the pad of my thumb which piece represented water. The power of rivers, streams, oceans, and rain filled me, and at that moment, I felt as if I could dissolve my body and sink through the ground I stood on.

Though I stood still I felt the movement of rocking water as it swirled through me. Stretching out with my mind, I found the men who were frozen and slowly breathed warmth into their bodies. Water molecules quickened, and the men began to move.

My thumb shifted and I found the Earth piece. My body suddenly became heavy, unbreakable. Earth’s power grounded me, gave me a center. Earth does not despair or feel loss, I realized, for all living things come from it, and all living things return to it. Refocusing, I found the stone objects dotting the area around me and asked the stone to return life to these beings. The stone obeyed and melted back into the landscape. The men took a breath and lived.

Durga wove between each man and bid them drink from the
kamandal
. She was full of compassion, and they each dropped to their knees and gazed upon her with worshipful, trusting eyes. I folded my arms across my chest, determined not to be moved by her display.

When she had administered to every man, they gathered close and she turned to us. “These people need rest and food. We must lead them to camp and help them recover.” Then the humble goddess turned to Sunil in deference. “If that is acceptable to you.”

“No. You’re right, Mika. We should take care of them,” he replied, stepping back.

She nodded and gave instructions to return to the camp. Flanked by Durga and Sunil, the men set off immediately.

With a graceful sweep of his arms, Kishan lifted Ren’s tiger body, and we solemnly followed our troops. Ren’s white tail brushed the ground and his head lolled as it hung over Kishan’s arm. My breath caught and I had to swallow several times.

Back at camp, I used the Pearl Necklace and the Scarf to create a bucket of warm water and cloths and cleaned the blood from Ren’s fur. Kishan had left me alone for a time, saying he’d return to bury Ren after the camp was settled. There was something comforting about being alone with my tiger and preparing his body. It was a final act of service I could do for the man I loved and I spoke softly to him as I worked.

The light dimmed and I started when I heard a noise.

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked Kishan.

“Long enough,” he answered with a tight expression.

He came into the tent and was followed by Durga and her brother.

A moment later, the tent flap parted and a bald head poked through.

“May I come in?” Phet asked.

“Please!” Durga responded.

Phet caught sight of Ren at that moment and shook his head. “This is a most unfortunate turn of events,” he said as he lowered himself on a cushion.

“You have a gift for understatement,” I replied with fresh tears.

Phet took my hand into his wrinkled brown ones and said, “There is hope, my flower. Do you have all the pieces of the amulet?”

“Yes.”

“May I see them?”

I took the fire piece from my neck and placed it in his hand then I picked up the one worn by Lokesh that I’d set down next to me and handed that to him too.

As he removed the fire piece from the ribbon and handed it back to me with Kishan’s golden key, he explained. “The Damon Amulet is an Astra. An Astra is a cosmic weapon or a tool, if you will, that channels great power when properly invoked.”

“Invoked?”

“Yes. A deity will respond to an incantation and endow a weapon with their gifts. For example, an Agniastra creates inextinguishable flames, a Suryastra generates brilliant light, and a Varunaastra produces vast quantities of water. The greater the god, the more power the Astra wields.”

“Well, which one is this?” I asked. “And how do we invoke it?”

“You have already used many of the forces contained within these individual amulet pieces, but what you haven’t had access to is the power of the combined amulet.”

With a snap, Phet fit the fire wedge into the empty section of the amulet disk. The edges of each piece briefly glowed with a white light, and then the five pieces became whole. He held the Damon Amulet up, and firelight glinted off the stone.

He handed it to me, and I ran my finger over the carved tiger in the center. “We know that Lokesh had power over elements and even living creatures,” I said. “Now that the amulet is whole, what do you want us to do with it?”

“Well, the first thing
I
would do is bring back your handsome prince,” Phet said with a wink.

I gaped at him.

Softly, I asked, “Can I really do this?”

“
You
can’t. The Damonastra can. But you must invoke the power of Damon.”

“Damon as in Durga’s tiger?”

The shaman hesitated and carefully chose his words. “The one and the same. Damon sacrificed himself, giving the tigers life in the very beginning,” he explained gently. “He can grant the same gift again. All you have to do is read the incantation.”

I squinted at the Sanskrit words circling the amulet. Nervously I wet my lips and looked up. “Kishan? Could you read it?”

Kishan nodded, sat beside me, and gave me a quick but tender embrace.

Pursing his lips and tracing the words around the amulet with his forefinger, Kishan murmured,
“Damonasya Rakshasasya Mani-Bharatsysa Pita-Rajaramaasya Putra.
It says:

The Amulet of Damon
The Father of India
The Son of . . .
Rajaram.”

trading places

T
he word
Rajaram
had barely escaped his lips when the Damon Amulet began to glow. The Sanskrit lettering seemed to float up from the stone, and the outer section of the disk started to spin. The words circled faster and faster until they became a solid white line.

“Now, use the power of Damon to bring life back to your brother,” Phet instructed.

“But how?” Kishan mumbled.

“The difficulty is not in the knowing; it’s in the choosing.”

Kishan closed his eyes and his body burned with a white energy. He gasped and trembled.

Alarmed, I asked desperately, “What’s happening to him? Is he in pain?”

Phet replied, “Kishan must choose whether or not to accept the price in order to save his brother.”

“A price? What price? Kishan, don’t do this. I can pay whatever price is necessary.”

Phet squeezed my arm. “This is something Kishan must choose, Kahl-see. This is
his
destiny.”

Kishan panted. Sweat trickled down his face. His head and arms jerked back violently, and he cried out.

“Kishan!” I started toward him, but Phet held me back and shook his head.

As Kishan writhed in pain and agony, a small light rose from his chest and headed for the fallen white tiger. As the bright beam passed by me, I swore I could see the Sanskrit symbols twisting and swirling in an arc around Ren. A thin mist materialized and hovered over Ren like a silky funeral shroud.

Suddenly the blanket of light melted into Ren’s body. Kishan stiffened and fell forward on his hands and knees, groaning, and breathing heavily. I threw my arms around Kishan’s trembling shoulders. As his chest rose and fell, I became aware of another chest moving.

The white tiger inhaled deeply, and Phet said, “Anamika, hurry. He must drink from the
kamandal
.”

She positioned herself at Ren’s side and dribbled the elixir into his mouth. The spear wounds on Ren’s body began to heal.

“Now, it’s your turn, Kahl-see. Heal him with your golden flame.”

“But . . .” I faltered. “I don’t have the fire amulet anymore.”

“The golden flame comes from inside you. It always has.”

Leaving Kishan for the moment and cradling the body of my white tiger, I channeled what was left of my energy into him. I sent him my thoughts, whispering to him in my mind and heart, willing him to live. I felt the warmth of the golden fire run through me. Ren’s body hummed in response.

Gaping wounds healed rapidly and within a few minutes he was able to roll toward me and sit up. As he huffed softly, I buried my face in the white fur of his neck and wrapped my arms around him. I cried with joy.

Ren shifted form and held me tightly against his body. Pressing his lips against my temple, he murmured words in Hindi as he stroked my back. Finally lifting his head, he asked, “How has this happened?”

Phet answered, “Your brother has made the necessary sacrifice,” Phet said somberly, and we all turned our attention to Kishan.

“What does he mean?” I asked.

Kishan cleared his throat. “It’s hard to explain. A life restored is no easy thing. To bring him back, I had to give up a part of myself.”

“I still don’t understand.” Reluctantly, I slid away from Ren and knelt at Phet’s feet.

“What did Kishan give up?” I asked.

Phet sighed, and said, “His immortality. Fortunately, he was strong enough to survive the process.”

He patted my hand as a tear dripped onto my cheek. “Do not fret, Kahl-see, Kishan will still live for a long, long time—much longer than several human life spans.”

I nodded and knelt by the man with the golden eyes, the man I had relied upon since leaving Oregon, the man who was in love with me. His elbows rested on his drawn up knees. Little tremors still shook his body and his breathing was shallow. When I touched his shoulder, he gave me a distracted smile.

“Thank you for saving Ren,” I whispered and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Kishan stretched out his legs and took hold of my waist, shifting me onto his lap. He searched my face and with naked emotion said, “I’d do anything for you, Kelsey. You know that, don’t you?”

Softly, I smiled and stroked his cheek. “I know that.”

The brothers gave each other a long look. They didn’t utter a word, but I could tell from their solemn faces that much more than gratitude was conveyed in their silence.

Kishan wrapped his arms around me and held me close. When I pulled away, Durga and her brother were gone and Ren was studying his hands as he rubbed them slowly together. Phet stood and announced, “You must eat and rest tonight. Tomorrow we will discuss the future.”

Then he stepped outside the tent. Kishan took my hand and rose to follow. Ren stood too, and I was momentarily lost in his gaze as I passed him. Cobalt blue eyes captured mine, and my heart fluttered like a butterfly caught in a net. Ren ran his hand down my arm and our fingers brushed together briefly before Kishan led me outside the tent. Phet had disappeared.

The five of us regrouped to eat around the fire, but after giving Kishan and me the once over as we stood side by side, hands clasped, Durga narrowed her eyes, said she wasn’t hungry, and stalked off into the darkness.

Kishan called out, “Ana, you need to eat something,” but the Amazon warrior goddess with an attitude disappeared.

With raised eyebrows, Kishan gave me a peck on the cheek before leaving to retrieve the Golden Fruit. Ren readily took his spot next to me.