Page 44 of Tiger's Dream
Fanindra often stayed behind in Ana’s room, even when we left to help others. It was almost as if she knew she wouldn’t be needed. Most of the time we’d find her coiled up and sleeping in the sunlight of Ana’s window. Only rarely did she grace us with her presence. Anamika stroked her pet’s head, and the snake settled down, her tongue flicking out as she looked at me with jeweled eyes.
Ana stepped next to me then, placed one hand on my neck, and channeled the power of the goddess. Dozens of images flashed before us. Shouts and prayers, death and destruction assailed our senses. Both of us reeled from the impact. At first, we tried to shuffle through the requests to see which needed to be attended to first, but we learned that sometimes the loudest pleas were not always the ones that needed help first.
We’d discovered soon after she accepted her role that the power Kelsey and Ren had wielded, the power once shared between a pair of goddesses and tigers, fell upon us completely. We got it all. As a result, every prayer uttered in every temple, no matter the decade, flooded our senses. It took a monumental effort to shut it off, but we found we were able to do it together. Turning it back on was like breaking open a dam. We dialed back the power until only the most dire, the most frequent supplications rose to the surface.
“We have been lax in our duties as of late, Damon.”
We have, I replied in my mind.
Lifting the Rope of Fire, Anamika wove it in a circle, and a gateway into another place opened before us. When it was stable, she climbed onto my back, and I raced forward, leaping into the breach. We landed with a heavy thump onto a worn trail and I sped toward a city.
Smoke billowed overhead as soldiers set thatched roofs on fire. Ana used the scarf to gather the winds. The scarf billowed out behind us, bucking and kicking, as large as one of those hot air balloons I’d seen on television. Ana didn’t even need to hold it as air rushed into the bag, filling it to bursting. Then, with greater ease than either I or Kelsey had displayed before, Ana twitched a hand and shot the terrific gusts ahead of us to blow out the fires.
With great bounds, I maneuvered through fallen soldiers covered in the red rust of dried blood. We’d entered the battle when the tang of prayers was a burnt scent on the breeze and the day was stained with the first coloring of purple night. It leached across the sky like contusions beneath the skin. The smoke that hung over the ground like thin fog stung my nostrils and eyes.
By the time we reached the crooked stones and the ruined buildings that looked like broken teeth, I knew we were too late. Fresh blood spattered the ground like paint. We came upon soldiers in the act of wanton destruction. Children and babies had been slain along with the elderly and the infirm.
I sensed a few survivors cowering in the shadows of homes not yet ravaged, but the village was surrounded. There would be no escape. My paws slid on the slime of death and I sunk my claws in and roared. That served to bring all action to a resounding stop.
It only took a moment for the whispers of recognition to turn to naked horror. Many soldiers dropped their weapons and fled headlong into the darkening night. They ran like an uncovered nest of rats, each one scurrying toward the nearest hole—a jangle of boots, creaking leather, and hooves. But there were many who remained. They licked their lips and turned feverish eyes on the beautiful goddess. I snarled, gnashing my teeth and snapping at the air.
Durga rose from my back into the sky and hovered above me, her body held upright by a cushion of air. Lightning crackled at her fingertips. Her shadow danced on the lingering smoke from the fires that had consumed the village home after home. In her eyes, I saw naked fury and burning embers. With a cry she called forth the lightning power once wielded by Kelsey and struck, taking out the first wave. A clap of thunder shook the ground and many fell, but others rushed forward into battle.
Deftly, she landed on her feet beside me, and we began our deadly dance, striking down soldier after soldier. The hired mercenaries met her sword to sword and sword to trident, but she was too lethal, too magnificent for anyone to gain headway. Those who came close quickly learned that Fanindra was a force of her own. The snake slashed out with lethal bites.
Anamika fought six, seven men at once, ducking and weaving and moving her arms and body in such a way that all I wanted to do was sit down on the bloody battlefield and watch her, but I had opponents of my own to fight. The pile of bodies around her grew, some dismembered, some bitten, some stabbed.
When the bodies obstructed her, she rose in the air and levitated to a new position, but always, she remained close to me. I should have felt emasculated knowing she was protecting me as much as I was her, but I also felt proud to be the companion of such a warrior.
One man spun away from me, his chest oozing blood. Another clutched his spilling innards after I ripped him open with my claws, while a third screamed when I clamped down on his neck. His cries were cut off with a gurgle when I snapped his spine. Leaping into the air, I came down on one man, crushing him beneath me with my weight, and then I circled back to Anamika to swipe at the legs of two men attacking her.
I could see the moment when their violent natures turned inward. The fear they’d inflicted gnashed and bit at them, turning their resolve to water along with their knees. I bit into the arm of one man trying to escape and his weapon fell to the ground useless. Then Ana slashed through his arm with her sword, severing it from his body. He shrieked and clutched at the stump where bare bone peeked out.
Despite our efforts, there seemed to be an endless supply of men seeking their death. We took them down, one by one, suffering barely a wound at all, save for one on Ana’s arm that somehow managed to get through her armor. Her blood gushed freely from a lucky cut someone had gotten in.
The idea that a soldier had stolen past my defenses enraged me, and I lashed out with renewed fury. I struck with raw power again and again, taking down men with tooth and claw. I was unmitigated lethality wrapped in fur. We fought together, our movements a fluid dance. My only regret was that I wished I could fight alongside her as a man. Though I enjoyed fighting as a tiger, I would like to face my enemies as I once did long ago. I imagined standing with Ana, my back pressed against hers as we took down all our opponents.
Finally, the battle was over. Ana stood, panting. Not even the dirt and blood on her cheeks could mar her beautiful features. There were a few who’d been smart enough to escape but they weren’t worth a chase. We’d slain the leader, the one who’d caused the trouble in the first place. Greedy man.
We’d discovered that the village mined the mountain for ore. It was a meager income for them, and yet the warlord wasn’t happy with his returns. He decided to punish the village as an example to others under his reign. If it hadn’t been for the cries of the faithful, we wouldn’t have even known where to go. The runner could have been talking about any mountain, any village. It was luck that we’d found the right one.
Durga summoned those who’d survived and raised her arms to the sky to bring down soothing rain. Sweet, plump droplets fell on the war-ridden land. When the fires were finally contained, we assessed the damage. Out of a community of hundreds, only dozens remained. Most of them were women. The fire had strafed the village and taken down most of the buildings. The protective wall that had surrounded the homes was broken and burnt.
We stayed long enough to dispose of the dead, burning them to ash using the fire portion of the amulet, and we used the kamandal to heal the wounded. Ana accessed the power of the Golden Fruit to provide nourishment that would last several years, and when she touched it to the ground and linked it to the amulet, new crops grew where the old ones had burnt away.
When we were satisfied that we’d done the best we could for the people, we left them and leapt through the ring of fire once more, seeking the next place that needed us, and then another. It took the better part of three days until we reached the last location.
Having been summoned to a land east of India, I set my feet down upon ground so dry that dust blossomed around us, coating both her skin and my coat. Though I’d spent most of my life in a sweltering jungle, the sun beating down on us was merciless and hotter than anything I’d ever experienced before. I wasn’t sure how long we could last.
“Where are we?” she asked. There were no people nearby and I couldn’t even make out a village. The heat was unbearable, so Ana sent away our armor and used the amulet to rain down on us from time to time to cool us off. Even Fanindra shuddered and changed into her metal form. It was as if she’d done her duty in protecting her mistress and we’d now be fine on our own. I took it as a good sign.
When Fanindra was inanimate, she required no food or water. I hadn’t realized she was ever thirsty or hungry before. Not until she spent a lot of time as a real snake living among us. I murmured a silent thanks to the snake for protecting us before. I might have imagined it but I thought her eyes sparkled as if she’d heard me. I’d gained a real appreciation for Fanindra, especially after seeing how she’d saved both Kelsey and Anamika countless times. If it hadn’t been for her, we would never have survived let alone defeated Lokesh.
The few trees we passed were stunted and dry. The leaves that clung stubbornly to the trees had curled up and hung blowing in the hot wind like thin brown ribbons. It reminded me a bit of the wishing trees at the star festivals except this one belonged at a festival in hell. We soon came upon furrows of dirt in long rows but nothing grew there. Not even weeds.
Finally, we found an abandoned village. Strewn bits of refuse and straw littered the ground. I lifted my nose to the air. It was so dry I barely caught a scent, but I traced through the town, poking my nose into each dark building until I came upon a small temple with a mound of desiccated offerings.
This is where they prayed to you, I said.
