Page 126 of Tiger's Dream
“My…my body has absorbed the power of the gifts. I no longer need the scarf or the fruit to work their magic.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“I noticed it a short time after we returned from the past. Our teacher suggested that it could be the result of young Fanindra’s bite coupled with my merging with my past self. He surmised that in some species, a newborn snake’s venom is much more powerful than an adult’s. I don’t know if that is the case with Fanindra but my powers have grown ever since.”
Ana turned away from me and I saw the proud stiffness of her shoulders. Even though she refused to open her mind to me, I knew the expanded powers she now possessed bothered her. She hadn’t wanted to tell me and it hurt knowing that she still didn’t trust me.
Stepping away, she said, “Regardless, the fruit has served its purpose for us. Now it will serve again.” She murmured some more words and then said, “There. It is done. When Ren and Kelsey pluck the fruit from the tree, you will both gain back six hours as men.”
We created the handprint and the riddle. Ana only left her hand beneath mine long enough to create the lock that would raise the tree. Concerned about Ren and Kelsey, I mentioned the attacks on them I’d witnessed before and asked if she could limit her creations even further so they wouldn’t be hurt. She touched her hand to the stone baboon head and said softly, “They survived. Didn’t they?”
“Yes, I suppose,” I said, remembering how I had helped them before. “But a goddess could surely do more to—”
“And what of my creatures?” she asked. “Do you have more concern for Kelsey than for these beings who willingly serve me?”
Folding my arms across my chest, I answered, “Frankly? Yes.”
Ana gave me a sharp look. Her eyes went glassy and dull. We both jerked our heads when we heard a booming crash on the far side of the monkey city. Without speaking, we headed in that direction.
Sighing, I reached out to touch her shoulder but she shrugged me off. “Ana, come on. We need to talk about what’s really bothering you.”
“No,” she answered. “We do not. If you continue to feel anxious over the girl who walked away from you, then you can return to help her without making me watch.” I didn’t bother to tell her I already had. It felt like the wrong time to bring it up. We found the source of the noise and saw that the drawbridge had fallen halfway down. Since we’d just created it, we were surprised.
As I examined it, she spoke, turned away, and trailing her finger over a broken hinge, she said, “If you had bothered to ask me why I filled the river with gems, I would have told you.” Ana’s back was stiff, the epitome of the unapproachable goddess. “Despite your suspicions,” she continued, “I did not do it to tempt Kelsey. If you must know, the Kappa are like dragons with a hoard of gold. The gemstones lull them, keep them dormant and quiet.”
“You could have told me,” I said.
“I shouldn’t have to,” Ana replied, her eyes hot and distant.
Not knowing what to say, I asked if she was going to fix the drawbridge. It was a bad choice on my part. Ana clutched the amulet and shifted us in time and space without even touching me. She was right that her power had grown. My stomach wrenched as we arrived at the next stop—the Shrine of Earth.
Sparkling sunshine framed us in its light from the cracks in the ceiling. Turning, I examined the place in which we stood. I recognized it from pictures. “It’s the temple of Durga,” I said. “This is the first one.”
Ana strode through the space, examining the pillars. I noticed her footprints disappeared in the dust after she lifted her foot. Mine did as well. I wasn’t sure if she’d purposely arranged for that to happen or if it was a natural thing that came with her power. It reminded me of when the camel tracks disappeared in the past. She traced a hand over the smooth terra-cotta columns, purposely ignoring me.
“Wait,” I said. “Something’s wrong.” I spun around in a slow circle, trying to see what was missing. “The columns are blank. They should be filled with clues about the things that will happen on each of our journeys. The first quest should be here,” I said, pointing to a pillar. “The one with the shark over here. On that one is the City of Light and this one should have the Silvanae.” I slapped a hand on the back of my neck. “I supposed I can go get pictures from Kadam’s library. He took lots of photos…”
Ana shook her head. “That will not be necessary.”
Her body briefly phased as she closed her eyes, then, with a whoosh of her left hand, sand erupted from the pillar, and light glowed from within as the carvings I’d seen on photos materialized exactly as I remembered them, down to the last detail. She waved a hand over the second pillar, and I smelled the flowers that had been wound in Kelsey’s hair by the fairies.
At the third, I caught the scent of the sea, and the fourth quickly materialized into the Lords of the Flame and qilin. The tang of sulfur and a blast of heat assaulted me. I was studying a rakshasa demon on the recently completed fourth column when a brilliant light blasted a fifth pillar Ana had been working on. It was powerful enough to throw her across the room. I ran to her side quickly. “Are you okay?” I asked, kneeling at her side.
There was a gash on her arm and red powder covered her limbs and hair. “Bruised but not broken,” she said as her eyes took in the destruction.
“The fifth column,” I mused. “Kadam said I shouldn’t worry about how it was destroyed.” I bit my lip. “Did you…did you see anything?”
She glanced up at me. “Some. I recognized us as goddess and tiger with all the weapons. We were charging into a battle.” Ana touched a fingertip to the gleaming snake armband. “I saw the death and birth of Fanindra. Me talking with Nilima at the temple. The creation of the Cave of Kanheri and Kishkindha. Once it got to that point, a veil of darkness clouded my vision, and though I know I finished the carving, I was not allowed to see it. When it was complete, a power destroyed it. That’s all I know.”
“I wonder if we did that,” I said softly.
She shook her head. “It would be too dangerous. We would encounter ourselves.”
I nodded. Both of us knew there was only one other person with a motive and with the power to destroy the pillar. “It was him, wasn’t it?” I asked.
“It makes sense,” she said with a sigh.
Reaching out my hand, I offered to help her up, but she pointedly ignored me and got up on her own.
