Page 102 of Tiger's Dream
I pressed my lips on her brow and gave her a chaste kiss. It took a moment for me to realize my hair, longer than I usually kept it, was fluttering on my neck. I lifted my head and saw the room had become bright, and a brisk wind stirred the curtains at the window. The dark sky outside lit up as lightning struck, and all the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end.
A voice echoed in the room. It was melodious, like the tinkling of bells, and yet it was so powerful it penetrated my mind and heart like thunder.
Anamika opened her eyes and turned to me. She gave me a sweet smile and said, “Sohan, your offering has been accepted.”
Chapter 23
Teacher
Anamika’s young body lifted in the air and a whirlwind encompassed her. I stood quickly, thinking to catch her, but otherwise not knowing what to do. I knew it was the magic of the goddess at work, and I hoped that it meant I’d finally done enough to be able to bring her back.
The young girl closed her eyes, and fingers of light, wind, and water tore into her at the same time they ripped into me. Heat rushed through me and my limbs trembled. The amulet I wore gleamed with white light that shot toward the girl and pulled out something shimmering. Ana screamed, and all at once, the glowing entity floating above her shot away like a star and disappeared into the darkness outside the window. Breathing heavily, I caught her body as she fell.
As I was setting her back in her bed and adjusting the blanket, her eyes blinked open. “Ana?” I said softly. “Anamika, can you hear me?”
There was no reply. I soon heard a stomping outside her room and her parents entered.
“What happened?” her mother demanded with alarm and a glint of hope. There was no censure in their eyes. They knew I often spent my time watching over her, even late into the night. Her mother almost seemed to have a sixth sense about me and believed that I possessed a touch of magic that could help Ana. I’d once overheard her telling her husband that I was a lucky charm and that the only reason Ana hadn’t wasted away these past few months was because I was sharing my life energy with her.
In a way, she was right. Anamika and I did have a bond. At least, in the future, we did. As to the sharing of energy, I couldn’t say, but I could understand where she got the idea. Bags had formed beneath my eyes, and though I was often exhausted, I rarely slept through the night. When I did occasionally fall asleep in the chair in her room, I’d wake to find Anamika’s mother had checked on me and tucked a blanket around me in the night.
“Maa?Baabaa?” Anamika sat up, rubbing her eyes with her palms.
“Here we are,pyaari beti.”
Ana’s mother pulled her daughter into her arms as I stepped back.
“Mika!” her father said with a choked gasp. “What did you do?” he asked me as he stepped closer and stroked his daughter’s hair.
“Nothing,” I answered. “She woke when the lightning struck.”
“I didn’t hear any thunder,” her mother said as she rocked her daughter back and forth. “Thank you,” she added with tears in her eyes. “You are a gift from the gods.”
Anamika grumbled, “I’m hungry,baabaa.”
As her mother shouted downstairs for a servant to warm up the tureen of soup and some naan bread, lightning struck the ground again. Ana’s parents seemed not to notice. I glanced out the window and saw a figure standing in the dark beneath a tree. When the lightning brightened the sky again, I sucked in a breath, recognition shooting electricity through my veins. It hit a third time and I saw that the person had disappeared.
“Will you excuse me?” I asked. “I’ll leave the three of you to talk.”
They didn’t remark upon my exit. I made my way out to the lone tree and looked all around but saw no one. A pair of footprints were visible in the soft ground, but there were no tracks leading away. “Are you still here?” I asked softly.
“I’m here, son.”
Kadam placed his hand on my shoulder and I turned. My pulse leapt, beating thickly at my throat as I swallowed. Overwhelming emotion coursed through me. I never thought I’d see him again. In fact, I never thought I’d see anyone I loved after my failure to save Anamika. I choked back a sob.
Almost as if he knew the turmoil in my heart, he took hold of my arm and pulled me close. I hugged him to me, desperate to cling to the little bit of my life that was left. His shoulders trembled. He smelled of tea and spices, books and home. I’d missed him so much.
“I failed her,” I lamented in response. The empty feeling I’d been nursing for months had grown in the center of my chest, slowly leeching all my hope and draining me of purpose. Even though Ana had finally woken up and Kadam was even now standing in front of me, darkness yawned, opening its mouth to swallow the small fragments I grasped at. He had come to say good-bye. Whatever my fate, I deserved it. Kadam was here to tell me it was over.
“No.” He stepped back; his hands shook my arms as he looked into my eyes. “No. You didn’t fail her. You saved her. This was how it was supposed to happen.”
Realizing I gaped at him dumbfounded, I shook my head and sputtered, “Supposed to have happened?” I remembered his hasty, cryptic words spoken so long ago. He’d warned me that something harmful was going to happen to Ana and I needed to accept it, allow it to occur.
I jerked away from his grip, but my effort was halfhearted and one of his hands clung to my arm. “I was supposed to let her be abused?” I accused incredulously. “Supposed to let her die? You knew this would happen and you didn’t do a thing to stop it. You’re not the man I thought you were.”
“Perhaps I am not,” he said softly. “I told you that traveling the paths of time has affected me. Certainly, we have all changed. The universe will decide if it is for the better or not.”
He winced as I moved back unsteadily; the righteous indignation that burned like acid in my veins slowly cooled to black misery. I felt sorry for myself but sorrier for Anamika. The sweet, young girl I knew didn’t deserve what had happened to her.
